I have been rather busy recently, with University and Work so my training has gone downhill somewhat. I was doing UD2 for a few weeks but sick of that cos I cant lift heavy all the time and I hate depletion. So I am basically back into my own quasi conjugate system that focusses on my main lifts and their weak points. I am dieting to get my bodyfat back into the normal rhelm, but also to maintain muscle mass and some strength. Program is set up around my old style of thinking, as well as a few other nice points that I have picked up from others (lyle McDonald amongst others). Nothign too fancy, but hopefully will provide some nice results for me. So far I have only done 2 days, so here are the results to date. Monday 10 May 2004 GPP warmups: L Flyes, front raise, side raise Speed bench: Warmups, 85x3x7 (bands), 85x3 (nil) Push Press: Warmups, 60x5, 70x5, 80x5 H/S Row: 30x8. 45x6, 55x6x3 Elbows out ext: 15x12, 20x12, 25x12, 30x8, 20x12 H/S pulldown: 42x12, 52x12, 57x8, 62x8 Pulldown Abs(lb): 70x12, 90x12, 110x12, 130x12 Db Hammer Curl: 15x8. 20x8, 22x8 Stretch Notes: First day of program and I was actually feeling good. I paused all of my benches and I was FAST off the chest. Pushpress was just a getting used to week, and was not a RM, everything else felt good. Weights on the H/strength rows n stuff are the single sided weight, since they have 2 plate stacks the weight should actually be doubled. Tuesday 11 May 2004 Warmups - walked every where Squat: 100x2x2, 120x2, 140x1, 160x2x4, 150x2x2 Paused box (5): 100x5x3 Speed DL (sumo): 100x1, 125+chains x1x6 Dimels: 60x15, 80x20, 90x15 Single leg Hyper: 0x12, 5x12, 0x12 Give up, go home Notes: SORE. Best exercise for calf, carry heavy stuff for long distances, calfs get pumped to bits. Cramped during sumo deads. Squats sucked, as I Havent done them in awhile, reduced the load and still speed wasn’t perfect, but OK. Paused box squats were hard, 6sec pause at just below my sticking point. Not enough sleep and sore from yesterday.
Thursday 13 May Heavy bench + assistance work Bench: Barxlots, 60x8, 100x2, 120x1, SHIRT on, 120x1, 140x2, 145x2x5 3board: 140x5, 150x5, 150x4 Pulldowns: 80x20, 160x6, 190x6, 210x6, 230x4 JM Press: barx12, 60x12, 90x8, 100x8, 90x8x2 Facepull: 80x12, 100x10, 100x12, 120x8 H/strength ab: 25x12, 35x12, 45x8, 50x8 Stretch, look at hot chicks doing assisted pullups go home Notes: Nice day. The weight was meant to be 140 for the bench, but I was fast with the shirt on, so I upped it by 2.5kg. Ok for the first proper training day back. 3board was #### as the bar kept touching my bungy on the board (how i hold them down.) I forgot my extra board, so I added a 10kg plate instead of a bottom board. Upperbody felt good, and strong.
Friday 14 May 2004 Yaaay Speed squats + DL assistance Box squats: Warmups, 100x2x10 Deads from Plates: 60x5+chains, 100x5+chains, 120x5x2+chains Nat Glut/Ham Raise: 0x6, 5x6, 5x5 Pullthru: 80x20, 120x20, 150x20, 180x20 Notes: Excellent, absolutely excellent. I felt horrible comming into today, posterior chain was sore and I was feeling off. I finally got Box squats working for me, with thanks to a few comments from Kelly Baggett at one site or another. I started altering my form, and pressing outwards more on my shoes, and bingo, the entire squats were perfect. If all follows well I may have overcome my problem with squats in general (they turn into GMs rather than squats). I tried the same trick my my DLs as well. I did them off 20kg plates (higher would be nicer but it does the job) and chains draped over. The weight was much better off the ground than it used to be, more upright body and I also KILLED my hammies with this. The other two exercises were enough to make me think my hamstrings were going to leave my body for a safer environment, where they are not tourtured into submission. B)
Monday 17 May 2004 First early morning session Speed bench + assistance shoulder warmups Bench: 60x3, 92.5x3x8+contrast Bench: 92.5x8 no contrast Push press: 60x3x2, 85x3, 92.5x3, 97.5x1 easy but bar doesnt work right H/Strength rows: warmups, 45x8, 60x6, 70x4, 75x3 Db Elbowsout ext: 15x8, 25x6, 30x6x2 H/Stregnth pulldown: 55x8, 65x8, 75x8 Pulldown abs (lb): 80x12, 120x12, 140x12 Notes: nice day, too bloody early for me, but nice. Speed was ok, will take a bit of getting used to the time tho. Pushpress sucked because the bars collars didnt rotate correctly. Everything else was awsome.
Tuesday 18 May 2004 Heavy squat + assistance Squat: warmups n stuff, 100x1x2, 140x1, 165x2x4, 160x2x2 Paused box (5): 100x3, 120x3, 140x3 Speed deads: 60x1x2, 100x1, 137.5x1x5 Dimels: 60x20, 100x15, 107.5x15 Single leg hypers: 0x12, 5x12, 10x12 Notes: Tired. short bad sleep and up early. Squats were hard, but better than last week. Hips were sore and i droppd the weight on the last two because of lack of speed. Paused box'es were hard as were the speed deads. Hips didnt appretiate teh width, or the cold, or the time of day...
Thursday 20th May 2004 Bench: Lots o warmups, 60x5x2, 100x2x2, 120x1, shirt on, 120x1, 145x2, 150x2x3, 145x2x2 3board: 150x3, 160x3 (well 2+1 cos I had to reset) Pulldowns(lb): 90x12, 180x6, 230x4x2, 200x6 JM press: 100x6, 110x6x2 Face pulls(lb): 120x8, 130x8, 120x8 Notes: Sucked a big one. My strength doesnt seem quite there on the early morning sessions, but I will adjust. dang 3board really sucks, but I think that has to do with the stupid early mornings as well. All others were fine, midback was fried I am contemplating making a change to my system, mainly in terms of timing. I need to do soemthing with my squat, and make it a priority, so I will swap bench and squat days around as that means I am doing squat first, and that allows me to be as fresh as possible
hows unipol going now? have they upgraded anything? im now doing my masters in cardiac rehab in dorkland, the gym attached to the clinic is ok....often only 3-4 in there....loads of free weights, 4 power racks, olympic platforms/rubber weights etc etc. what are you doing at the mo? are you still involved with the nutrition department?
Unipol is pretty excitin got a lot of Hammer Strength stuff which is nice, but its pin adjustable weights, so I am at the limit for various machines... They are lovely tho Still doing my masters, well I should say, almost finished my masters, I wish it would die. Gym sounds excellent.... some people have it good, I have to put up with retard students.
Friday 21 May 2004 Speed squat: warmups, 110x2x8 Deads from plates: 60x3, 100x3, 140x3, 170x3 (all with chains added) Natural G/H raise: 0x8, 5x8, 5x6 Pullthru (lb): 90x12, 90x15, 70x20, 80x15 A1: Pulldown ab (lb): 70x30x3 A2: V situp: 0x12x3 A3: Facepull(lb): 70x20x3 Notes: Later into the gym today, bad sleep due to kids Squats were perfect and very quick, deadlifts were great, at least off the ground. I struggled at the top on the 170, it just killed me. But my midback is fried. Did ab/facepull superset to kill everything off but the Nat G/h was excellent.
Monday 24 May 2004 Heavy squat + assistance Squats: warmups, 60x2, 100x2, 140x1, 170x2x6 Paused Box (5): 150x1, 160x1, 170x1 Speed deads(sumo): 100x1, 150x1 <span style='color:red'>PAIN</span> Speed deads (conv): 150x1x5 all with chains added Dimesl: 100x20, 110x20, 115x15 <span style='color:blue'>pray for forgiveness from the iron gods for being such a pussy and wanting to puke from stupid dimels</span> H/Strenght ab: 25x20, 45x15, 50x10 Notes: Much better squatting today, forgot my camera so I am still unsure about depth, but it seems ~ok. Hips hurt for sumo deads so I changed to conventional and I am MUCH faster with these. Much better training squat on monday this week. While I was cold, my back wasnt fatigued, adn I could arch my upper back into the bar too which helps the technique.
Missed training on tues due to no sleep + sick kids Thursday 27 May 2004 Speed squats box: warmups n stuff, 120x2x8 Deadlifts off plates: 60x2, 100x1, 140x1, 180x1(all inc Chains) Glut/ham stuff: 0x8x2, 8eccentric Pullthrough: 130x20, 180x20x2 Notes: The day sucked. Spine felt like it was snapping, deads went ok, but I stopped there just not to push it. The speed squats were extremely slow. I videoed myself and discovered my box was too high, so I had to go down to lower, which sucked and had to bring my legs in so I could get there properly. Friday 28 May 2004 Heavy bench Bench: Warmups x lots, 60x3x2, 100x1, 130x1, shirt on, 130x1, 145x2, 150x2, 155x2, 160x2, 150x2x2 3board: 150x1, 170x1, 180x1 Pulldown(lb): 80x20, 180x6, 230x4, 240x3, 200x6x2 JM press: 60x3, 100x3, 120x3x2 Facepulls(lb): 130x20, 150x20, 165x20x2 Shrugs: 100x20x4 Notes: Started becnh light to see how I was considering the lack of sleep, and it went well. Upped the weight until 160 where I started to slow down, dropped back to my proper weight for 2 sets, speed dropped off quickly. 3board sucked, cos I kept clipping the bench. 180 for a single is sad, I have done 205 before I could have done more, but something wasnt working right Gotta meaten up my upper back
Monday 31 May 2004 Squat: Warmups, 60x2x3, 100x2, 140x1, 177.5x1x6 Concentric only GMs: 100x5x2, 120x5 Speed deads (1/2 sumo 1/2 not): 125x1x6 Dimel deadlifts: 100x20, 115x12, 115x15 Pulldown abs(lb): 70x20, 110x20, 140x12x3 Notes: Tired and feeling awful, squats were ok surprisingly, and relatively fast up until the last set. Concentric GMs were 2 different rack heights, as the first one was tooo low. Speeds/dimels hurt Need more sleep
Looooooooooooooooooooooong day yesterday Tuesday 1 June 2004 Speed bench: Warmups, 85x3x8 (+ chains and Bands) 2boardwithchains: 85x5, 120x5, 135x5 Rows to chest(lb): 80x6, 150x6, 180x6, 200x6x2 Elbows out inc: 12x8, 20x8, 22.5x8, 20x8 Swiss ball abs: 0x20x3 Bench machine shrugs (lb): 120x6, 220x6, 265x6, 285x4, 285x6 St arm pulldowns(lb): 30x20, 50x20x2 Notes: Tired, long night since month end was last night. Bench was ok, took a couple of sets to get into the swing of speed but it was good in the end. 2board with chains is my new heavy exercise. Cool. DId shrugs on the bench machine becuase the rack was in use and I was feeling too ill to do a DL session... Tired again,.
Thursday 3 June 2004 Speed stuff Speed squats: warmups n stuff, 100x2x10 + CHAINS COnv Dead rack: 100x5, 140x5, 180x5, 210x5 Rev hyper(lb): 40x12, 80x12, 110x12x2 Pull thru(lb): 110lbx20, 150x20, 180x20x2 V situps: Med ballx12x3 Notes: Well, adding the chains to squats feels good, arched the bar outta the rack ala Goldie, but I kept clipping the rack slightly on the way up. Conv deadlifts killed my hands, but it was easy enough, well as easy as a deadlift can be. Rev hypers done on a pulley machine with the hyperextention benched turned backwards. Kills me back. All in all a nice day, not even too tired getting up at 6.30 for once.
Friday 4 June 2004 Heavy bench - Im sick Bench: warmups, 60x8, 60x1, 100x1, 140x1, shirt on, 140x1, 160x1x2, 165x1x2, 160x1x2 4board: 160x5, 180x4, 160x5 (long pause) Facepulls(lb): 40x20, 100x20, 150x20x4 Kelso shrugs: 57x12x3 Notes: Tired and felt like death, sinus flu or something. Strength seemed to drop off very quickly, especially with the 4 board, I couldnt hold the weight into the groove and I just stopped so I didnt die (No spotter, no safety). I did some Loooooong pauses on the last set of 160x5. Sucked still. I did high reps of face pulls and did bb kelso shrugs which nailed my lower traps to an extreme. Feels awsome, but I dont.
Tuesday 8 June 2004 Speed bench: warmups, 60x3, 92.5x3x8 (+bands+chains) 2board with chains: 92.5x3, 130x3, 150x3 Rows(lb): 120x8, 180x6, 210x6, 220x4 Elbows out inc: 10x12, 20x8, 25x8 Shrugs (bench)(lb): 180x12, 220x6, 290x6x2 Hammer curls: 10x12, 22x8, 25x7 Notes: Everything was ok considering im still getting over the flu. Speed bench were fast, especially the eccentric. 2board was great off the board but hard to lockout. I shut it down with 150, could have done more but no use killing myself when sick. Everything else was good.
Thursday 10 June 2004 Speedsquats: warmups, 110x2x8 (+ Chains) Conv dead from pin: 60x1, 140x1, 180x1, 220x1, 240x3, 250x1 #### Seated GM: 60x8, 60x12, 60x20 Rev yper(lb): 80x12, 120x12x3 Pull Thru(lb): 120x20, 150x20x3 Pulldown ab(lb): 120x12, 150x12 Note: I felt like death before this, and speed was ok. Deads, well, I felt sore in the spine all the time anyway, but perfect after the 220x1, so I jumped to 240 to be on the safeside adn did a powerful 3, I possibly could have got 5 but 3 is all i needed. I wanted 250, but obvious 240 tired me out too much, and the bar moved extremely slowly so I shut it down after one. Everything else was to get Loads of blood in to the lower back and hammies. Seemed to work.
Weak as a neutered kitty Friday 11 June 2004 Bench: warmups x lots, 60x1x2, 100x1, 140x1, shirt on, 140x1, 165x1, 170x1x2, 172.5x1x2, 165x1 4board: 165x3, 185x3, 190x3 Facepulls(lb): 120x20, 150x20, 165x20, 180x20 JM press: 60x8, 100x6, 110x6 Kelso Shrugs: 35x12, 55x12, 75x12x2 V situps: 0x12, big med ballx6x3 Notes: 6.30am sucks, I didnt sleep well again, and i was not feeling great. Bench went ok, up until the second 172.5, slowed down significantly. 4board sucks, 15kg down on my best, but closer grip too, so that effects it slightly. Everything else went fine.
I had last week off as I am up to my ears in thesis, and havent been sleeping much, almost done tho... Tired, grouchy and tired again I trained mid-morning but still got up at 7.30 for some stupid reason, ah yea, my boy was cute Back is screwed at the moment, I need sleep for it to recover and its just not been doing that, even wtih a week off. Change over to new 3x week program, cos I am running out of recovery Monday 21 June Squat: Warmups, 140x2, 150x2x2, 155x2x3 Wide Box squats: 100x5, 140x5x2 Pullthroughs(lb different cable): 40x20, 80x20, 100x12 Windmills: 20x20, 35x20, 45x12 V situps: 0x12x2 Notes: Felt awful. Tired and lowerback pumped up from my warmups. Wearing my belt helps but its just awful today. Windmills I think I did right, whatever way they have torched my midsection