Koalala getting strong for rugby season

[Koalala]

Hello all,

I decided to create my own log because I was not satisfied with the results of the first 6 months of SS.
Its definitely my own fault because I did not have solid technique yet and was not eating enough.

My goal is getting a 200kg DL 150squat 100kg benchpress.

I am weekly running 5k for some rugby conditioning aswell and would like to get under 22 minutes. (Strength has priority though)

Its getting better now these are my lifts at the moment. (196cm 100kg)

3x5 squat 116kg
3x5 bp 80kg
1x4 145kg DL
5x3 70kg PC (still struggeling with technique but its improving
press 3x5 60kg

Still doing the basic novice programm:

3x5 squat
3x5 bp
1x5 DL

3x5 squat
3x5 press
5x3 PC

Diet :

Breakfast :

4eggs
3 slices of bread with chicken/peanut butter
Large bowl of Oatmeal with milk
Fruit

During the day :

10 slices of bread with chicken/peanutbutter
2 Liter milk

Dinner :

Vegetables/meat/salad :

evening
Nuts& Quarkcheese :

Squat form check :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HZStbLT228


Feedback is greatly appreciated and I will do my best to keep this log reguraly updated with form checks

[burnsco]

squats look good, but you are raising your head on the way up. keep your gaze on the same spot on the floor or wherever you are looking the entire rep.

[Koalala]

Yes this was a foolish attempt to get better lumbar extension.

I will try to raise my chest and keep looking on the floor like Gwynn told me

[Koalala]

3x5 117kg squat: Was a real grind failed to follow instruction I guess I tried but the weight was so damn heavy that I immediately fell back in old habits.
10 min rest was required.


3x5 61 kg press: Felt easy belt wasn't helping so I did not use it after the first set. Probably was bugging me during the squat to.
Little rest was used here.

5x3 70kg Powerclean: Pretty decent technique should take longer rest between sets. 1-2 min rest is too short.

Pretty decent training : Not happy with squats but maybe my legs were not fully recovered yet from the sunday 5k run.
Two day rest will give me some room to get ''perfect'' technique on 118kg.
Got a larger belt that will actually help me during the lifts

[Koalala]

Pfff was already tired before lifting my first weights

3x5 118kg squat Real grind with some heavy grunting on the last rep.

3x5 79kg bench press, did not need much rest felt good.

1x3 145kg was not sure about my lumbar extension will try to videotape it asap so I know what I am doing.


Not so good training but got the stuff done.
Do you guys think I am at an intermediate level already?
Raising squats with 1kg and its getting more and more difficult.
Other lifts seem to be progressing fine though.


Will film my powerclean next saturday :-)

Feedback on diet/training would be grealty appreciated.

[PVC]

Nice press.

If you're training for rugby, wouldn't you be better off doing sprint training instead of longer distance running?

[PVC]

Also, instead of adding 1kg to your squat three times a week, you'd be better off adding 2kg twice a week. It's an "advanced novice" thing, where you program in a light squatting day in the middle of the week. All the other lifts are programmed the same way you're doing them now (although the next step, eventually, will be to reduce your deadlift frequency). For squatting it looks like this:

Workout A
Squat heavy, 3x5, add 2kg to most recent "A" workout weight

Workout B
Squat light, weight is 80% of most recent "A" workout weight, 2x5

And your weekly schedule is ABA.

So two weeks worth of squatting workouts for you would look like this:

Week 1
Workout 1
Squat 120kg 3x5

Workout 2
Squat 96kg 2x5

Workout 3
Squat 122 kg 3x5

Week 2
Workout 1
Squat 124 kg 3x5

Workout 2
Squat 99 kg 2x5

Workout 3
Squat 126 kg 3x5

[Koalala]

Very usefull indeed :-).

Is there a certein percentage I should be using for the light squats?

I will indeed skip 5km and add sprints for metcon.

Though 5k is not considered long distance is it?

[PVC]

Very usefull indeed :-).

Is there a certein percentage I should be using for the light squats?

I will indeed skip 5km and add sprints for metcon.

Though 5k is not considered long distance is it?

The percentage used for light squats is 80% of the most recent heavy squat workout, as I said in my post.

As for 5k being considered long distance, it depends who you talk to. Most athletes will tell you that it's not a long distance at all, since most athletes probably run that distance frequently in their training.

However: metabolically, a 5k is pretty similar to longer distances - i.e., well within the aerobic threshold. For rugby you need strength and the ability to run very fast for brief periods of time; weight training helps with both, and sprinting helps with the latter. Running a 5k does not.

[Koalala]

Very stupid to miss the 80% you said previously.

Read your post several times to make sure not to miss it

I am pretty clueless about conditioning but if you increase your vo2 max from runnings 5ks then I assume you would be able to recover faster from sprints?