Looks like you have been through a ringer, Lol. I'm so glad to see you logging again - and yes, high rep deads are among the most brutal, life-force stealing, nap-inducing things one can do. Looks like you are back, sir.
Tue 24/2/15 Home gym - short evening session Warmup Hip and ankle stretches, lunges, shoulder band work. Muscle snatches 20/10, 30/5 & OHS's... Hang-snatch - from high-hang (kg) Warmup: 40/3, 50/3, 55/3 60/4,3 65/3,3 67.5/3 70/3 Straps throughout. Notes Snatching from the high-hang means that the bar starts in the crease of the hips with the knees unlocked slightly and with torso remaining just about vertical. The task is then to explode into triple extension and then to aggressively pull down under the bar. 70kg is just over 82% of my all-time snatch 1RM, so that's not too bad for a high-hang triple.
Fri 27/02/15 Early morning shed workout Warmup Various band stretches for shoulders; air squats; nekkid bar work: muscle snatches, OHS's, presses etc. As part of my warmup, I thought I'd try some light HBBS's. Last time I tried these was back in August last year ('14). Left hip was still sore at the time. High-bar Back Squat (kg) 40/10 60/10 80/5 90/10 - about 1 sec pauses in hole for all these reps Bench Press (kg) 40/10, 60/5, 70,5 80/5 90/5 - RPE 9.5! Cleans (kg) 60/5 70/5 80/5 90/3 No pause between reps. Full squat. Bar held the whole time, ie. no bar dropping. I shall call these "air-suckers" as that's what they make me do for a minute or so after each set. Front Squats (kg) 90/5 100/5 110/3 - belted from here 122.5/1,1,1 - RPE 9 Sleeves throughout. Notes Not much volume but it was early. Not my favourite time of day to train. No hip discomfort for HBBS, but then load was light. I'll take small steps each week. Last time I benched over 80kg was in May 2013! Shoulders felt ok. I think I should do enough benching to keep my strength up a bit in this movement. I'd like to think I can always knock out a set of 5 with 100kg. Not there at the moment.
Sat 28/02/15 Short on time. Quick session while prepping dinner. Warmup 70kg/10 deads Snatch-grip High-pull (kg) 70/3 80/3 90/3 100/3,3,3 Pendlay Row (kg) 100/5 Immediately after last set of pulls. Notes It's always surprising to me how relatively light the bar feels if I use the same load for rows as for snatch-grip high-pulls. It's as if it's 20kg lighter. Sore traps, pecs, delts, upper-back, quads, adductors, hams and calves from yesterday—just about everything! @NTB: I hear you!
Impressive front squatting. Wish I could do those, but I think they're probably off the itinerary for me from now on. I have a sneaking suspicion that they contributed to the injury - or rather, bringing the underlying issue to the forefront/climax. Damn good exercise though.
@Jester: Thanks. You're too kind. I always feel like I'm playing with little iddy-biddy toy weights after I check out your log. I am taking my time to increase the loading while doing my darnedest to keep my form solid. So far, my knees are doing ok; my left hip is getting better; my bottom position is improving; my torso is more upright than it's ever been. There's still room for improvement form-wise but at least I am heading in the right direction. If I can add 20kg to my current front squat 1RM by the end of the summer I'll be happy enough as that'll be an all-time PR by 10kg. It is a shame that front squats are now off your itinerary. But, hey, if you aren't doing cleans then there is less reason to do them. Not much in the way of carry-over to your big lifts.
Mon 2/3/15 Home-gym - evening session Warmup 500m C2 row: 1:57 @ 25 SPM - gentle pace Band stretches and dislocates; walking lunges; nekkid bar work: snatches, presses, squats. Snatch (kg) W-U: 30/5, 40/3, 50/1 55/1,1,1,1,1 (5) - On-the-minute 60/1,1,1,1,1 (5) - OTM 65/1,1,1,1,1 (5) - OTM 67.5/1 70/1 72.5/1 75/1,1,1,1,1 (5) - every 2 mins 77.5/1 80/1 85/1 - matched old PR 87.5/1 - new PR Front Squat (kg) 60/10 80/5 90/10 110/5 Bench (kg) 40/10 60/10 80/10 92.5/5 Pendlay Row (kg) 60/10 80/5 102.5/5,5 112.5/3,3,3 Shrugs (kg) 112.5/20 Just to demonstrate the movement to a trainee. Unlocked hips and knees for slight forward lean throughout. Notes Snatching 87.5kg (192.5lbs) is the first time I've gone above bodyweight. Getting close to 200lb now.
Wed 4/3/15 Shed session - 9pm Warmup Stationary bike for 5 mins Band stretches 40kg/10 thrusters Snatch-grip High-pull (kg) 60/5 70/3 80/3 90/3 100/3,3,3 Straps throughout. Bar pulled to sternum. Focussing on consistent positions. Better than last time. Paused reps below knee on some eccentrics. Clean-pull (kg) 110/5 130/5,5 Hook-grip; no belt. Bar shrugged aggressively and with full ankle extension at top. Deads (kg) 140/1 150/1 162.5/5 Oly shoes; hook-grip; no belt. Notes Deads at the end were for fun. Good test of hook-grip too. I reset my grip each rep but I don't think it was really necessary. That's all the weight that's available in my bro's shed. More now required.
Fri 6/3/15 Shed session - 7:30am (ugh) Warmup Walking lunges Band stretches/dislocates for shoulders Air squats Front Squat (kg) 40/10 60/10 80/5 90/3 100/3 112.5/3,3 122.5/3 Belted for last 9 reps; sleeves throughout. Push Press (kg) 40/10 - no push! 52.5/5 62.5/5 72.5/5,5 - belted High-hang Snatch (kg) 40/3 50/3 60/3,3,5 HBBSquat (kg) 10/60 80/5 100/5 122.5/5,5,5 - belted Notes I've decided that I will track back squats with front squats and work hard at maintaining form as much as possible. That way my hip will have time to adapt without the load being any more than for front squats which haven't been a problem. I will do more reps as long as I feel my form is rock solid.
Sun 8/03/15 Home-gym session - 7:30pm (Musically accompanied by Steven Wilson's new album: "Hand. Cannot. Erase.") Warmup 500m C2 row: 1:43.7, Av. 28 SPM; 39 cals Lunges; band dislocates. Nekkid-bar muscle-snatches Snatch On-The-Minute (kg) W-U: 30/5, 40/3, 50/3 60/1,1,1,1,1 (5) - OTM 65/1,1,1,1,1 (5) - OTM 70/1,1,1,1,1 (5) - OTM Snatch Every-Two-Minutes (kg) 75/1,1,1,1,FB,1 (5) Snatch (kg) 77.5/FF,FF,1 80/1,1,1,FF,1,1 85/FF,1 90/FF,FF,FF 80/1 + OHS (think I managed to power snatch this one) Sleeves; no wrist wraps. FF - fail to front; FB - fail behind. Front Squat (kg) 80/5 100/5 - belted Sleeves. Notes All snatch attempts at 90kg were fairly close. Think I was just a little tired and my form was a bit off tonight. OHS after snatch with 80 was a PR for OHS. Tougher on wrists than anything else. After two sets of front squats I decided it was time to eat. I'll squat tomorrow.
Home gym - 30 min session, 2pm Warmup Band stretches, dislocates etc. Air squats, lunges, duck walks. C&J (kg) 40/3, 50/2, 60/2, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1 - all reps with extra front squat and extra jerk 95/1,1,1 97.5/1 100/1,1,1 Notes The day after my last snatch session on Sunday eve, I had some pain and discomfort in the left groin area, where I had my hernia op and lymph nodes removed in two separate procedures. Just to be on the safe side, I elected not to squat yesterday and instead did plenty of stretching and hip mobility to try to determine what the problem was. I didn't think it was anything to worry about and so I decided to do some C&J's today as a bit of a test. As it was, I only had time for a short 30-minute workout. Would have loved to have done 15-20 reps @ 100kg. Everything was going well and I particularly need to practice my jerks. I have neglected them for a while now. Shoulder mobility seems to have improved a bit which helped me to drive my head through and to lock out the load a little more over the back of my head rather than directly overhead. Feels very solid and stable when I get it just right—which isn't often enough. Jerking 100kg was quite straightforward, although I didn't do enough reps to get properly tired—that's when consistent form becomes so important. Travelling around a lot this week so it will be difficult to get in any proper training sessions.
12/3/15 Shed gym - early evening session Warmup Band stretches, dislocates etc. Air squats, lunges. Front Squat (kg) W-U: 40/10, 60/5, 70/5, 80/5, 100/5 110/3 120/2 127.5/2,2,2 70/15 RDL (kg) W-U: 50/10, 70/10, 90/5 110/5,5 Straps Deadlift (kg) 160/5 177.5/2 Hook-grip; O-shoes Pull-down on P/Tec Station (kg) 50/10 80/10 100/9 - just failed 10th rep Notes Training in another friend's shed-gym this evening. He has free-weights, a pair of squat stands and a Powertec Workbench Lever-Gym. (Don't know how much the leverage system changed the actual load I used for pull-downs?) Helped my friend with his squat form, after which he was rewarded with a new PR for his 1RM HBBS. My front squats went ok too. Getting close to a double with 130 kg. Deads were done after RDL's as a quick test. 177.5 was all the weight available. Fairly certain I have 180 in me, possibly for a double. Hook-grip was solid. Might try for 200 once I'm back in my gym again.
14/3/15 Shed session - 6pm (Lack-of-sleep week) Warmup Walking lunges Air squats Rubber band dislocates Nekkid bar muscle-snatches Snatch (kg) 30/5 40/5 50/5 - Hang-Sn 60/6 - P-Sn 60/6 60/10! - Hang-Sn Straps throughout. Push Jerk (kg) 60/5,5 65/5 70/5 75/5 Front Squat (kg) 75/5 90/5 100/5 110/5,5- belted Sleeves throughout. Back Squat (kg) 110/5,5,5 122.5/5,5 Belt & sleeves throughout. Notes Feeling rather tired but wanted to do something physical after many hours of sitting and traveling over the past couple of days. Too much sitting makes my hips tighten up a lot. Ten consecutive hang-snatches with 60kg was an interesting experience. Almost a CrossFit WOD! Ha! After that, I decided to try some push-jerks. I have only rarely done these before but I think they are definitely good to be familiar with. 75kg isn't heavy but I wanted to focus on form rather than load for this session. Even at 75kg I was finding that it was easy to end up pressing the bar to full lockout rather than driving myself down under the bar ballistically. Squats were ok but felt heavy. I'll put that down to a lack of sleep. (Legs are nicely sore as I type this.)
Tue 17/3/15 Home gym - short, late session, 11pm Warmup 500m C2 row: 1:44 @ 29 SPM Walking lunges Air squats Rubber band dislocates Front Squat (kg) 40/5 50/5 60/5 70/5 80/5 90/5 100/5,5,5,5,5 - belted Sleeves throughout. Last rep paused on several sets. Notes Decided just to do squats with my limited time. Focussed on consistent form, hence the multitude of increments on the way up to 100kg. Pleased to say that the sets across with 100kg were not all that difficult.
Wed 18/3/15 Home gym - short, evening session, 7pm Warmup Air squats Rubber band dislocates Clean & Power-Jerk Complex (kg) (Cl + 2 x p-j) 40, 50, 60, 65, 70 75/1,1 80/1 85/1,1 90/1,1,1 No knee sleeves. Power-clean (kg) 90/10 - practically a CF WOD again. ;D No sleeves or belt. Snatch-grip High-pull (kg) 90/4,3,3 Straps Notes My power-jerks suck. I figured doubling them up for each clean would be useful practice. I hadn't intended to do a set of 10 power cleans at 90kg. The first 5 reps were ok so I decided to carry on and made it to 10 (which must be a PR). These had me breathing pretty hard by the last rep.
21/3/15 Shed session - 7:30am Warmup 5 min stationary bike Air squats Band dislocates Lunges Press (kg) 40/10 50/10 BTN Push Press (kg) 60/5 70/5 Clean (kg) 60/3 80/2 100/1,2 Bench (kg) 40/10 60/10 Front Squat (kg) 40/10, 50/5, 60/5, 70/5, 80/5, 90/5 100/5 115/5,5,5 - belted (3rd hole) 127.5/3 - tighter belt (4th hole) Sleeves throughout Notes All lifts prior to squats, with the exception of cleans, I'll count as warmups. I was working in with my bro (who's into endurance/triathlon racing) on a few things until he finished up and then I was able to squat. He currently has a few injuries that he's rehab'ing but lifts weights each week to help maintain strength: works up to one heavy set of 5 for 5 compound exercises. When he deadlifted, I did a few cleans with the same load but I couldn't dump the bar so had to lower under control. Front squat triple with 127.5 was my best triple for a while. I think that translates to ~135kg for a single, so I'm still making a bit of progress.
Sat 21/3/15 Home gym - short'ish', evening session, 7pm Warmup Pushups Band dislocates Bench (kg) 40/10, 60/5, 80/5 90/5,5,5 70/11 - met set Pendlay Row (kg) 60/10, 80/5 100/5,5 110/3,3,3,3 Hook-grip Notes Between each set of bench and rows I did 10 band dislocates for a total of 150 reps. All were full rotations from front of thighs to back of thighs. Double-thickness of green band held in each hand. Hand spacing gradually reduced until it was really tough to bring my hands back up over my head. As a test, I widened my grip a couple of inches for each bench set @ 90kg. Final set was with pinkies on the rings. Definitely felt more stress on anterior delts with a wider grip. I think my shoulders preferred my initial hand-spacing which was a couple of inches in from the rings on either side.