Lol's New HST Log

Tue 9/07/13

Incredible weather here at the moment. Early-evening session. Short-but-sweet, before going out. Time to slam bars...

Warmup
Nekid bar clean and jerk
Nekid bar front squats

Clean & Jerk
3 x 40kg - 2 jerks each rep
2 x 60kg - 2j
2 x 70kg - clean, then c&j, plus extra jerk
2 x 80kg - clean, then c&j, plus extra jerk
2 x 90kg - clean, then c&j, plus extra jerk
2 x 95kg PR - clean, then c&j, plus extra jerk

A double clean with 95kg is a PR of sorts. It's the double jerk with 95kg that I was most pleased about; lowering 95kg back to the rack position before jerking it up again really adds to the fatigue.

Notes
Something 'clicked' tonight and many of the jerks just felt so much smoother/easier than they have before. I stayed tighter for the 'dip and drive' and was more aggressive with my front foot. I think I wasn't reaching out far enough with my front foot before.
 
Wed 10/07/13

I didn't have a great day today and I was in two minds about taking the evening off. Decided against that and just did a short workout again.

General Warmup
Shoulder dislocates
Air squats
Nekid bar snatches

Snatch
3 x 30kg
3 x 40kg
2 x 50kg
2 x 60kg

I tried doing these outside. There was a bit of a slope to deal with and nothing seemed to feel right. Not a good session. Cut it short.

Press
15 x 40kg
In the sun. To get some blood flowing around my shoulders.

High-bar Back Squat
W-U: 5 x 40kg, 5 x 60kg, 5 x 70kg, 5 x 90kg, 5 x 110kg

5 x 130kg (286lb)
5 x 130kg (286lb)
5 x 130kg (286lb)

O-shoes; knee sleeves; no belt

Toes-to-bar
Some. Forgot to count!

Handstand-against-wall
70 secs
70 secs

The final 10 seconds were killer!

Notes
The HBBS were harder than I would have liked, but I think my form was ok and that's what this is all about now. I'm still way off my best low-bar loads and my previous high-bar loads (where I wasn't going as deep) but I'm now doing these for strength transfer to the O-lifts so depth is where it's at.
 
It's far more impressive to do high bar full squats with that load, than to do low bar half squats with a huge load, like so many gym rats do.
Heck, that is amazing to me that you can do high bar ATG squats with that weight. I can't even hardly do them with a naked bar! I really need to work on my leg flexibility.
 
Haha! You guys are too kind!

I always feel my squats are weak because I watch so many vids of Olympic squatters who are around my weight and who squat 2 x bw (and more) for sets of 5 rock-bottom reps. I have my age against me but I'll keep trying to get there. My main concern is not getting injured which is why I'm placing so much emphasis on my form these days. It can never be too good!

I think low-bar squatting is perfectly fine if you are into the powerlifts and want to handle maximum load over a reduced ROM (same goes for box squats), but that's not my goal any longer. Funnily enough, I think that high-bar has the potential to develop greater leg mass in folks with average genetic potential (like me). Low-bar always seems much closer to deadlifting to me with much more emphasis on the posterior chain. I can deadlift for that. I always found low-bar fairly unforgiving on my shoulders too, although I did eventually get used to it.
 
Thu 11/07/13

No knee problems following yesterday's squats. That's good news. Form improvement seems to be helping.

General Warmup
Shoulder dislocates
Air squats

Press
W-U: 10 x 20kg, 10 x 30kg, 10 x 40kg

10 x 50kg (110lb)
10 x 50kg (110lb)
10 x 50kg (110lb)

Push Press
9 x 60kg (132lb)
7 x 60kg (132lb)

Nothing much left in the tank for Push Press. :)

Single-arm BB Rows (load added to end of O-bar)
W-U: 15 x 20kg, 15 x 30kg, 15 x 40kg
15 x 50kg (110lb) - straps
10 x 60kg (132lb) - straps

Last couple of reps with 50kg and 60kg were a bit sloppy with my left (weaker side).
Note to self: remember to start with weaker arm first!

10 minutes in deep squat position
Weight transferred from left side to right side with emphasis on improving dorsiflexion of right ankle.
 
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Sat 13/07/13

I think I must have strained something on the left side of my upper-back when I did those single-arm BB rows the other night. It might be a bit of my traps or rhomboid. Not sure? I hammered it with a tennis ball massage session and that just made it worse. I don't think it's a muscle spasm (which I get sometimes) because that usually feels better after a good massage session. Whatever it is, it's very uncomfortable. Overhead pressing is still fine(ish) though.

I was in two minds about having another rest day, but my mate came over to train and so I decided to join in—what the heck!

General Warmup
Shoulder dislocates
Air squats

Clean & Jerk
2 x 40kg
2 x 60kg
2 x 70kg
2 x 80kg
2 x 90kg

Back and left shoulder felt a bit tweaky so I decided to quit jerks for this session.

Clean
2 x 95kg (209lb)
2 x 100kg (220lb) PR
1 x 105kg (231lb)
1 x 107.5kg (237lb) PR
0 x 110kg (242lb)

Not too bad for a broken man. :) The double with 100kg was actually a triple as I slightly messed up the catch on the second rep. So I dumped the bar and did a third rep which I'm counting as the second rep.

Deads
15 x 110kg (242lb) - O-shoes; no belt
5 x 172kg (380lb) - socks; belted

Hook-grip for all reps.

I wasn't going to do any more deads after the set with 110kg but then my mate got a PR with 172kg so I thought I ought to do a set too.

Notes
Very pleased I got the 107.5kg clean. Only 2.5kg to go now to reach my current goal. I know it should be possible as I can definitely pull the bar high enough now. I just need to persuade myself to get down under the darn bar. It's such a psychological thing.
 
Mon 15/07/13

So, on Sunday I was carrying a large, awkward and heavy planter containing a large rhododendron. I almost made it to where I was trying to get to, when I lost my footing, slipped and the whole lot when flying. Pot was destroyed. I thought I was completely ok but the next day my left shoulder was worse. I must have damaged it and now I have a dull pain in my arm and numbness in my hand so I've evidently got some swelling that's impinging some nerves in there. Anything overhead is uncomfortable to say the least, so I'm not going to be snatching or jerking overhead until it's recovered. The joint seems very 'clicky' now.

I tried some light rows and they seem to be fine, so pulling might still be ok. Chins are not as comfortable, mainly due to having to get my arm above my head, but, once there, pulling up and lowering back down are ok-ish too. Hoovering, on the other hand, really sucks!

Got detained tonight so not much time.

Quick warmup of air squats then...

Front Squat
W-U:10P x 40kg, 10P x 60kg

5 x 102kg (225lb) - last rep paused
5 x 102kg (225lb) - last rep paused
5 x 102kg (225lb) - last rep paused
1 x 120kg (264lb)

Thought I might try for a double with 120kg but my legs were shot.

And that was that. :-/
 
Wed 17/07/13

Bit behind with my log due to a busy week. Here's what I squeezed in on Wednesday:

General Warmup
Shoulder dislocates - performed very carefully due to my left shoulder issue; 50 reps
Nekid bar work

Power Clean (no jerks)
5 x 40kg
5 x 60kg
5 x 70kg
5 x 80kg
3 x 90kg

Partial-ROM Parallel-grip Chins
30 x BW
25 x BW
15 x BW+10kg
12+3 x BW+10kg
15 x BW+15kg
12+3 x BW+15kg

Used a false-grip for all these with a relatively close hand spacing, ie. instead of holding the handles in my fingers, I'm hooking my hand around the handles just like using a false-grip on gymnastic rings.

Full-ROM single-arm negative chins
3 with each arm.
Used the first finger on my free hand to get to the top position before lowering with as little help from the finger as possible.

Warm Down
More shoulder dislocates - 50 reps
C2 Row: 500m in 1:45; damper on 3

Notes
Left shoulder felt much better after it was thoroughly warmed up, but overhead work is still a no-go area.
Cleared out my mates' gear so I could use my C2 again. My cardio fitness currently sucks so I'll have to attend to that.
 
Sat 20/07/13

General Warmup
Shoulder dislocates
Air squats

High-bar Back Squat
10 x 70kg (154lb), 10 x 90kg (198lb)

10 x 100kg (220lb)
10 x 100kg (220lb)
15 x 100kg (220lb)

Belted for work sets; no knee sleeves; last reps paused for all sets.

Dips
W-U: 20 x BW
15 x BW+10kg
15 x bw+15kg

Nice and steady with these so as not to bug my shoulder.

Partial-ROM Parallel-grip Chins
W-U: 20 x BW
7 x BW+20kg
7 x BW+20kg
7 x BW+20kg

False grip, à la rings; top-half of ROM; hands spaced about 10" apart.

Full-ROM single-arm negative chins
3 with each arm.
Assisted by first finger of free hand.

Notes
Left shoulder definitely on the mend now but will take things carefully for another week. That means no overhead pressing movements.
With my new deeper squat form, 15 reps for the final set with 100kg was quite tough. I'm hoping I will be able to control the decent of a single-arm negative chin without any help from my free hand soon.
 
Mon 22/07/13

Held up this evening so only time for short w/o. Legs and pecs still sore from Saturday's session.

Warmed up with some parallel-grip chins

Single-arm Negative Chins
10 x 1 x BW
Alternated arms; reps performed max-stim style.

Eg. To perform these for my right arm: I held the right handle with my right hand; I attached a lifting strap to the left handle and grabbed hold of it with my left hand as near to the end as possible; then I raised myself up to the top position and lowered under control, applying as little lifting force as possible with my left arm. Initially, I could maintain a slow decent with almost no help from the non-training arm. Towards the end it was much tougher.

Scapular retraction/adduction is the first (and last) part of the lift. I find that if I keep everything tight at the very start and not let my body hang loose, my shoulders feel happier.

Parallel-grip Chins
12 x BW
Last two reps were weirdly tough in that I knew I could do them but I could only move very slowly. Great pump in lats and arms.

BB Single-arm Rows
10 x 20kg
15 x 40kg
15 x 50kg

No heavier on these tonight as I want to do some cleans tomorrow.

Notes
Although my right arm is still a little tweaky from the tendon issue I had earlier in the year from regular chins, I can definitely say that parallel/neutral-grip chins are way more comfortable for me. Being able to do negatives with my right arm is great.
Entire back is now feeling very fatigued.

Here's a pic of my one-arm chin set-up for performing negatives:

one-arm_chin_setup.jpg
 
Tue 23/07/13

Short on time again so no cleans. Some as-deep-as-possible squats instead...

General Warmup
Shoulder dislocates
OHS
Lunges

Front Squats
W-U: 10 x 40kg, 5 x 70kg, 5 x 90kg

5 x 105kg (231lb)
5 x 105kg (231lb)
5 x 105kg (231lb) @ RPE 8.5

Belted for work sets; knee sleeves.

Good depth throughout. No knee issues, apart from the usual click or two.
 
Wed 24/07/13

General Warmup
Shoulder dislocates
Parallel-grip chins

Single-arm Negative Chins
10 x 1 x BW
Alternated arms; reps performed max-stim style.

This time I used my third and fourth fingers on my free hand to assist me with the concentrics and then used only the third finger for slight assistance with the eccentrics. Fairly brutal.

Parallel-grip chins
5 x BW+25kg (55lb) @ RPE 10

BB Single-arm Rows
(Weight of bar not included)
W-U: 10 x 20kg, 15 x 40kg, 15 x 50kg

5 x 60kg (132lb)
5 x 60kg (132lb)
5 x 60kg (132lb) @ RPE 7.5

Straps for work sets. 60kg for 5 was not easy but it wasn't that hard either. Great feeling.

Parallel-grip chins
5 x BW!

Thought I'd use these to stretch everything out a bit. Back seriously toasted after only 5 reps. Enough already!
 
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Thu 25/07/13

General Warmup
Shoulder dislocates
Air squats
Lunges

High-bar Back Squat
10 x 70kg (154lb), 5 x 100kg (220lb)

5 x 130kg (286lb) - last rep paused
5 x 135kg (297lb)
5 x 135kg (297lb) @ RPE 9
10 x 100kg (220lb) - no pause at top for any reps; nice burn set.

Belted for work sets; knee sleeves.

Dips
W-U: 25 x BW
15 x BW+20kg (44lb)
9 x BW+20kg (44lb) - not quite enough rest
10 x BW+20kg (44lb)

A bit heavier tonight; left shoulder was mainly fine.

Partial-ROM Parallel-grip Chins
25 x BW - to get some blood flowing around my sore back. :)

Notes
First time I've squatted this close to 140kg with my increased depth. Looking forward to reaching 150kg for a set of 5.
 
Fri 26/07/13

Watching Crossfit Games today. Between workouts got a chance to do a quick workout myself.

Rack Pulls (below knee)
5 x 70kg (154lb)
5 x 110kg (242lb)
5 x 140kg (308lb)
5 x 160kg (352lb)
5 x 180kg (397lb)
5 x 180kg (397lb) - straps for this set only

Flat-soled gym shoes; belted from 160kg; hook grip for all sets barring final set.

Haven't done any rack pulls in a long time. Thought I would work up to some reasonably tough sets of 5. Could feel my lower back tightening up after second set with 180kg so called it a day there. Hook grip held up well for first set with 180kg

Finished up with a bunch of toes-to-bar reps and some gymnastic stuff (front lever attempts).

Stretching.
 
AlexAustralia said:
Why belt? (for anything)
Click to expand...
Because I'm not particularly fat. Because it feels good. Because otherwise it wouldn't get used. :)

I'm not using my big fat PL belt, just my regular weightlifting belt: narrow at front, 4" at rear, not very thick. I can immediately tell if I start to lose extension because the belt feels looser. I like the feedback. It makes me think more about staying tight.
 
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