A log from the other side of the world

Tall

Good lifting. You're still way ahead of me strength wise

CMinOZ

You seem to be catching me up on the deadlifts! I think your squat is heavier than mine though?

CMinOZ

On Saturday I was without my training partner so the following set was done pretty quickly and unfortunately ended abruptly due to injury .

All began well with Squats:

W/ups then:

5 x 135
5 x 145
5 x 155
1 x 165

Then

EZ Curls (Concentration)

20 x 42kg
15 x 52kg
10 x 57kg

Military Press

Warm ups then...

Injury, same as last shoulder injury (brought on this time by carrying slabs of beer earlier in the morning - not for me either)

So we gave up on miltary presses and tried inclince DB curls, still hurt the shoulder. So then we went for cable rows, which hurt also so we gave up.

As I said, short session, good squats and curls though pretty sh!thouse after...

Not happy

CMinOZ

after a couple of weeks filled with injury and easter I finally made it back into the gym yesterday for a wicked session, which began with my coach standing all across my back to free up ther joint that is causing me problems in the shoulder - all sorted it was time for deads, bench, close grip rows and my favourite - hamstring curls

So deads started of with some easy warm ups, felt really good and was looking forward to a set of sixes.

140kg
160kg
180kg - this was surprisingly easy and I reckon I could have a couple more up my sleeve, though this is not programmed until two weeks time so I will be patient.

Bench

This week we going for triples after warm ups, really just to test out the should/back issue.

Work weights were 90kg for 6, 100kg for 6, 110kg for 3 and 120kg for 3 - all felt pretty good, though last rep at 120 was pretty slow and messy (though unassisted). These reps were all to the chest and pressed from the bottom, makes a big difference.

Close grip rows - I quite like these, and despite my back issues, this seems to actually help because of the stretch. Weight range was 60, 70 and then 80kg for 30, 20 then 10 reps. Burned a bit, though not as much as it does today...

Finally hamstring curls - hate em, just get em done and leave...

Today I am feeling nicely tight and looking forward to squats on wednesday.

This week my weight was 98.5kg so we are slowly getting towards the goal...

Tall

Are your workouts all planned on a Spreadsheet Mr M...?

Tall

I think your doing more reps than me - I'm just bumping my numbers up at the moment - so from a strength perspective, you are definately ahead.

I'm managed to knacker my shoulder so I'll just be training legs for a while

CMinOZ

Yes mate, all workouts are planned out well in advance - we sit down every 12 weeks and set goals and then the program is adjusted to achieve the goal.

CMinOZ

So last night was squat night and I was ready for it - or at least I thought I was...

Just an update on the diet - all is still current as per previous diet log though I will be changing things up next week for a 10 week trial. We will begin with 40%P, 40%F, 20%C and the following week change to will drop my Fats by 10% and spread the 10% across C & P - keeping cals the same though increasing volume of food to hopefully keep growing but leaning out some more - I am about 13% still though gaining weight slowly but surely - I weighed in at 98.5kg last night.

I am also changing up my supps and gonna add some GABA before bed - has anyone used this - is it just BS?

Anyway, onto the workout...

Squats - Warm ups - Oly bar for 20, 60kg for 15kg, 100kg for 10

Work sets - Sixes

120kg
130kg
140kg
150kg

then the fun began - I was programmed to do 2 reps at 160kg - I know I can do this but it is at the upper limits. Anyway, first one was OK, not great form but I got it up. The second was totally f*cked and I bottled it at the bottom and my spotter helped me up.

After a good 10 minutes reviewing my form with my coach and the gym owner, a champion powerlifter we ascertained that two issues were stopping me from getting these reps - neither of which was strength.

The first was my set up - belt needed tightening a bit more so I could press my stomach against it, so out came the screwdrivers. Next was the positioning of my hips at the top of the movement, I was bracing the weight through a straight back and therefore my hipsand torso were folding at the bottom, which is of course the weakest point.

Secondly, due to being a bit of scaredy cat I was not going low enough, I would get to paralell though needed another inch or so at the bottom to use the natural rebound - though I was stopping at paralell and then trying to drop the extra inch which is nigh on impossible.

So, we went back to the set - First rep felt brilliant, straight down and straight up - good agression and positivity.

Next rep, I was too confident, not agressive enough and forgot everything that I had done in the rep before, which saw me fold in the pocket and collapse, thank goodness for safety bars... next week?

On we went to Military presses,

Warm ups then

95kg for 15
105kg for 10
115 for 5

Wide Grip BB Curls - I have been having problems with my shoulders and the wider grip on the EZ Curl bar reduces the pressure on the shoulders.

Had to go lighter because of the reduced leverage though.

Warm ups then

35kg x 30
40 kg x 20
45 kg x 15
50 kg x 10

We had to leave it there for the night as the squat session had taken us past time.

I will get that squat next week

CMinOZ

Do you know those days when training just knocks the stuffing out of you? Well Saturday was one of those days – not that it wasn’t enjoyable, I just felt hollow – like I needed more food inside me. I know it sounds like I am whining but I thought I would outline how I felt on Saturday.

On the upside, I hit a PB on my deadlifts and bench so I can’t have been that bad, I just think I could have been better.

Saturdays session went like this:

Deadlifts – warm ups then

12 x 130kg
8 x 140kg
17 x 150kg

Flat Bench – warm ups then

12 x 100kg
8 x 110kg
3 x 120kg
1 x 125kg
0 x 130kg (tried and failed)

Close Grip Rows – Warm ups then

20 x 60kg
15 x 70kg
12 x 80kg

DB Skullcrushers

15 x 12.5kg
12 x 15kg
10 x 17.5kg

My shoulder is still giving me grief so I am trying to protect it a bit still. Got a good massage booked tomorrow night so looking forward to that…

CMinOZ

Well talk about a rubbish week - torn rotator cuff from Saturday has meant lots of painful massage and physio and resulted in a revised program that looked like this:

Reclining Cable Curls -

20 x 20kg
15 x 25kg
15 x 30kg

Leg Extensions

50 x 60kg
40 x 80 kg
20 x 100kg

Wide Stance Leg Press

30 x 280
20 x 320
20 x 340

Calf Presses

50 x 80kg
40 x 100kg
30 x 120kg

This was boring - I'm gonna take a week off and allow myself to repair.

CM