Bergstedt's Intermediate Log

[Bergstedt]

LISS bike: 12 km in 25 minutes @8 (I was not particularly out of breath, but the lactic acid build-up in the legs was to the point where I could have gone on pedaling for an indeterminate amount of time but would not have been able to increase the resistance by much at all, because then the legs would have shut down. I kept the cadence around 70-71 RPM.)

Chins: 40 reps total in 8 minutes (My left elbow and, what I believe is the distal bicep tendon - front inside of the left elbow - ached pretty bad during pin squats yesterday. It got worse by the sets. This morning when doing chins it continued to ache. The pain left around 30 minutes after completing the chins. I will ease off movement aggravating it, though I don't really know what set it off. I have changed my squat racking position to having the arms and elbows a lot more "down", having the elbows point almost entirely to the floor, together with having started wrapping my wrists to prevent them from hurting from the increased strain. This has helped my lower back and hyperextension thereof greatly, but could maybe be a cause of this sudden pain.)

Plank: 1+1+1+1 minute x2 of regular, R side and L side planks and rest time

[Bergstedt]

HIIT bike: 20:100 sec x6 rounds (Horrible.)

Sitting row: 45 kg*15*3 (V handle. Focus on staying tight. Slightly explosive concentric with slow eccentric. Full control at all times. Pause at "top". 45 sec rest between sets.)

Reversed hypers: 3*15

Sitting DB OHP: 11 kg*12*3

I decided to not do chins or planks this morning, in order to hopefully spare my left arm. I also did the light rows to get some blood flowing. There was no pain. However, now (a couple of hours later) I can feel an ever-so-slight ache at the same place (distal medial part of the bicep), though it is almost not noticeable.

Yesterday I also bought a pair of knee wraps (SBD Training), which I will cut in half (length-wise) and convert to wrist wraps during the weekend. They were quite a bit softer than I anticipated, but they seem to provide quite stable support anyway due to the heavy "pull"/contraction after they have been extended. I have never quite liked wrist wraps, but after being gifted a pair of halfed knee wraps by a friend I have grown quite fond of them on squats. They feel a lot more secure and heavy duty than the often short wrist wraps.

[Bergstedt]

I have of course managed to get quite the cold, so I have had a sore throat, headache and blocked nose since Friday lunch. I did last week's last workout yesterday before lunch, coming down to the gym feeling kind of sick and aiming to only do heavy-ish singles and then go home, to hopefully at least get some CNS stimulation in and practicing heavier weights without straining the recovery too much.

Deadlifts: 160 kg*1*3 EMOM @very easy, 170 kg*1 @6, 180 kg*1*3 @7, 9, 8 (I got a little bit out of position on the second single, but the first and third felt really good.)

Bench press: 90 kg*2 @6, 95 kg*1 @6, 100 kg*1 @7, 105 kg*1 @8, 110 kg*1 @9,5 (tied PR), 115 kg*1 @9,75 (5 kg PR!) (This was the first time in 15 months (!) that I PR'd my bench! It was such a great feeling to not only get it, but to feel as if there are a couple more kgs left on the bar before a true 1RM.)

115 kg PR bench:


Tonight is week 7's first workout, which is supposed to be one of the heavier workouts during the whole program. Hooray for me! We will see how it goes.

[slowmotion]

I have of course managed to get quite the cold, so I have had a sore throat, headache and blocked nose since Friday lunch. I did last week's last workout yesterday before lunch, coming down to the gym feeling kind of sick and aiming to only do heavy-ish singles and then go home, to hopefully at least get some CNS stimulation in and practicing heavier weights without straining the recovery too much.

Ah, so you got that one too? Everyone here got it.

Deadlifts: 160 kg*1*3 EMOM @very easy, 170 kg*1 @6, 180 kg*1*3 @7, 9, 8 (I got a little bit out of position on the second single, but the first and third felt really good.)

Bench press: 90 kg*2 @6, 95 kg*1 @6, 100 kg*1 @7, 105 kg*1 @8, 110 kg*1 @9,5 (tied PR), 115 kg*1 @9,75 (5 kg PR!) (This was the first time in 15 months (!) that I PR'd my bench! It was such a great feeling to not only get it, but to feel as if there are a couple more kgs left on the bar before a true 1RM.)

115 kg PR bench:


Tonight is week 7's first workout, which is supposed to be one of the heavier workouts during the whole program. Hooray for me! We will see how it goes.

Nice work, Levi! Congrats on the PR! Well done!

[Bergstedt]

Ah, so you got that one too? Everyone here got it.

Unfortunately, yes! I haven't been sick in several years, but it hit me hard this weekend. I went to the gym again on Monday, but yesterday I had a fever, so I am resting up a couple of days. I have a pretty sweet Barry White voice, though, so that's always something!

Nice work, Levi! Congrats on the PR! Well done!

Thank you, Jan! It was such a great feeling to finally PR the bench again!

[Bergstedt]

I was feeling a bit sick also on Monday, but decided to get the intensity in and to decrease volume overall, to at least get to feel some weights. I must of course get sick 2 weeks before the meet...

Squats: 160 kg*1 @6, 170 kg*1 @7,5, 180 kg*1*2 @8,5-9, 155 kg*3*2 @6-7,5 (Belt and sleeves. The squat singles felt surprisingly good, with decent speed out of the hole.)

Bench press 030: 85 kg*3 @6, 90 kg*3 @7,5, 95 kg*3*2 @9-9,5

Reversed hypers: 3*15 (This was supposed to be paused deadlifts, but I started to feel a cold sweat building up and feeling rather faint-ish in general, so I took it easy and did some reversed hypers before packing it up and heading home.)

I will not be working out for a couple of days, since I got quite a lot worse yesterday, and is hoping to be back in business to the latest of next week so that I at least get the last week of training in before the meet.

[Bergstedt]

I was dealing with a pretty nasty cold all last week and only trained last Monday and Sunday (yesterday). The meet is on Saturday, and, despite the cold, I am feeling quite hopeful.

Squats: 170 kg*1 @6,5, 185 kg*1 @9,5, 180 kg*1 @9 (Belt and sleeves. Despite being sick for a week, squats felt alright. However, after this meet I will have to work harder on re-learning the habit of over-extending my back on heavier weights. It is impossible to not do it at the moment. I think about it every rep, but feel the butt leaving and abs relaxing as soon as it gets really heavy. The weight also doesn't feel overly heavy on the back, but I am just not feeling the groove.)

185 kg:


Bench press: 100 kg*1*2 @7,5, 107,5 kg*1 @9, 110 kg*1 @9,75 (I tried with wrist wraps on 100 kg, but the angle became all wrong so I decided to do the heaviest weights without them.)

Deadlifts: 170 kg*1 @6, 180 kg*1 @7,5, 190 kg*1 @9 (Definitely an RPE PR at 190 kg, which feels promising for Saturday.)

[Bergstedt]

Squats: 150 kg*2, 160 kg*1 (Belt and smaller sleeves. This felt okay, but nothing special.)

Bench press: 90 kg*2*2

Deadlifts: 160 kg*1*2

All weights felt heavy but were kind of light, so RPE is impossible to gauge. Everything hurt and felt like shit. I even hurt in new places. This feels very promising for the meet on Saturday! Hopefully I will rest up nicely and be ready to rumble come Saturday afternoon. I can't wait!

[Bergstedt]

Last Saturday was 2018's first meet. The training period leading up to the meet has felt really good and all weights have increased nicely, but I can't say that I am especially satisfied with my performance during the meet. I only went 5/9, with two missed benches. The next meet is in May, so I'll just have to reload and get ready for that one!

Squats: 175/185/192,5F kg (I chickened out a bit on the third attempt and didn't commit enough, so the descent was too slow and I got a little bit off in the hole with no real rebound. I did manage to recover pretty well, but got stuck around 2/3 of the way up and failed.)

Bench press: 105/112,5F/112,5F (The pauses before the press signal was longer than usual, but I really feel like I should've had at least 112,5 kg, but I just didn't have it in me that day. 105 was very easy, and 112,5 just felt exponentially heavier.)

Deadlifts: 180/192,5/202,5F (I got the third attempt to mid-shin and then it was nothing left to beg for.)

All in all a pretty poor performance, but I still had a pretty fun time and got to watch my team mates put up some really nice numbers with lots of PR's. I have decided to take this week off from training to allow for some extra recovery. This morning I also went to the chiro and got some much-needed work done, and I am going back on Tuesday next week.

[57bergstrm]

I think you did a great job, not bombing out, consider you have had a back hurt for quite a while during the last year, if Im not totally wrong.