18 October 2014
Intensity Night
Intensity night had to wait a day this week. I got home from work and had water flowing all over the sidewalk and driveway and going down the road. The pipe coming off the main failed from age and was blowing water all over the place. It was close enough to the main that the Council works contractor fixed it. It took him 3 hrs to show up and an hour to fix it but it got done.
So it was a Saturday morning workout this time which worked out pretty good. There was only a few people in the gym and there was no waiting for the rack but when it came time to bench there was a guy in the way.


Squats - Reducing to triples and doubles at this point is working good. I think that some of the lighter squats made me a little complacent on bar placement on the shoulders. The rear views of some of my squats have shown the bar not being level across the shoulders. I paid attention to the bar from the time it went up off the rack until I reracked. It felt like I was letting the left side sit too low from the start. A few adjustments and tightening of the shoulders did the trick. The bar felt good and stayed good and steady on my back.


Bench Press - When it came time to bench the bench was in use and with so few people in the gym to aske for a spot I decided to bench in the rack. Last week I forgot to add enough weight to the bar and going for an additional heavy set ended up one rep short. So today it was 117.5kgs again. All my reps felt really good and I blasted right through my work set no problem. Next week is going to be a good one adding 2.5kgs..


Sumo Deadlift - No big problems here. I am feeling more comfortable with sumos and in time I might be able to get some good weight up with these. Brandon Lilly and Andy Bolton both do sumos along with conventional DL saying that they kind of feed off each other. Next week I'll add another 5 or 10 kgs.


Deadlifts - I am using the last weight from my sumos as the warmup weight for conventional deadlifts. So I ended up with 2 warm up sets and then 2 work sets. The back tightened up a little but not as bad as it has been. I just need to keep moving forward with these. A young guy asked me about deadlifting and I gave him the technical stuff about neutral back, looking forward, pull the bar back.... and watched him do a few reps. It highlighted to me again how short my arms are.....


About 7 weeks to go until the Asia/Oceania Championships.. flights are booked.....

15 October 2014
Light night
Was running late from work tonight but got to the gym and got the main lifts done. I have decided that it is time to drop benching on light night now. I am still hitting 6x6 on volume night and my intensity night set is getting to a point where I need the recovery. I was happy tonight to finish up and get out of the gym. I can't understand how some smelly buggers can stand their own stench.. I was like damn dude do some laundry or go jump in the ocean or something..

I have a bit of DOMs in the traps and upper back from Monday's benching and RDLs but it will pass. I'll be paying attention on Intensity night and see if it is time to change things up.

 

Front Squats - These went well and the safety bar is working well. I went up 10kgs from last week and it felt good in the quads. You wouldn't think that a few changes in the location of the weight and how you begin a lift can change things. I am going to keep these moving steadily up slowly.

OHP - warming up 60kgs felt heavy so I held things there. It is supposed to be light night after all. I figure that the bench volume isn't getting a good recovery opportunity with OHP being heavy. I am going to just hold here at 60kgs 3x5 for awhile.

Rows - these felt good but I am going to hold at 90kgs for a few weeks. This will let me build up and make sure my form is dialled in nicely. and I'll still get work in but also get some recovery in from volume night.

13 October 2014
Volume Night
Well qualifying and getting selected to compete as a part of the NZPF team at the Asia/Oceania Championships has sunk in. Now I need to make sure I get the work in to make a good showing. I have been looking at my volume day considering whether the volume is enough to illicit the stimulus needed to keep intensity day moving forward. I think a couple more weeks of 5kg jumps on squats will be good.


Squats - Tonight I went up 5kgs from last week and it wasn't a big issue, I've been here before... My reps all felt good except I need to watch the rocking in the hips in the initial break to descend. I felt a slight twinge in the lower back on the right side on one rep but then everything seemed good.


Bench Press - Then bench felt good tonight. I have been having some elbow issues, the usual tennis elbow making an appearance, I will do some wrist work and that usually seems to balance things out some. The shoulder felt good and the neck has settled down for the most part, at least it doesn't bother my benching. I think moving up in 2.5kg jumps will work again next week and then it will be time to look at the next progression. sooner or later there will need to be a switch to 3x5 and then 3x3..


RDLs - I moved up on RDLs to get the back working more. I tried to get the hit to the hammies and I think I did. I am debating on more reps per set or adding on another set to get alittle more work in I think I am getting some benefit here but I would like to push it a little more.


Cable pull throughs - I upper the weight on these and I sure did feel it. There was quite a stretch in the hammies and lower back during some reps but everything was good when I was done. The hope is for some better mobility along with strengthening the lower back. I am thinking that next week will be the same weight and move up in a couple of weeks as strength builds.

 

10 October 2014
Week 7 Intensity Night
Cowboy (Bench) Method
Not a bad night at the gym but I did start to feel some fatigue set in after squats. I need to get back to the honey before and during workouts. The natural carbs give a good charge up fast.



Squats - today was a day for a rep PR on squats. Doing 3 reps at 90% 1RM was the goal and I hit them pretty nicely. I went for a second set but only hit two reps. I didn't fell like I had the last rep in me so I racked it. All the reps felt pretty good but I did want two full sets. Tonnage wise I still got in 5 reps. Monday I am upping the weight on Volume day to start reducing the gap between intensity and volume day. I will assess how things feel next week and see if I advance or not on intensity day.


Bench press - I was a little pissed off with myself on the bench. I had a brain fade and when I went for my work set I loaded 115kgs when it was supposed to be 117.5kgs. Its not a big jump but I was supposed to move up. As soon as I racked the bar I realised the screw up. To make it up I loaded the bar with 117.5kgs but I only managed to hit 4 reps . Next week I'll hit 117.5 for 5 for a new rep PR.


Sumo Deadlifts - I am feeling more comfortable with sumo deads. I still don't think I am ready for it to be my primary deadlift but I am getting some additional work in to assist with my conventional deadlifts.


Deadlifts - I got up to 140kgs tonight and for the first time in ages I didn't feel my lower back pulling. I guess the RDLs, cable pull throughs and back extensions are starting to do their work and I am getting some strength in the back. 150kgs wasn't a problem and to go up and not have my lower back feel tight and lake everything was being stretched was great. I have to remember to concentrate now and keep the bar back so I can get a good straight bar path going up. Next week, depending how I feel, I'll do this weight again. If the warm ups and first set feel good I might bump things up again.

 

8 October 2014
Week 7 Light night
Cowboy (Bench) Method
Finally after weeks of waiting I took my new Safety Squat Bar to the gym. I'm thinking it may need a tweak on the handles but I am going to give a good break in first. I think the angle on the handles could be a little less so you don't need to push them so far up. Its not a hard fix, just need some heat and bend them to the desired angle.
When I got my camera out tonight my memory card was not there. I think the grandkids were making movies and I forgot to check the camera. So tonight I listened to gym music.. blah.. and used my phone for a few videos. 12 videos drains a battery right down.


Front Squats- The new safety bar worked pretty good. The ends could have been machined 1mm smaller. The safety clips barely go on the ends of the bar. I'll pick up some different collars and that will take care of that. The way the bar is set up is when you push the handles up the weight pivots forward about 3 inches (75mm, 7.5cm, .075m) shifting your center of gravity. It gets you pretty upright and by sinking down you really hit the quads more, just like a front squat.


Overhead Press - I did these before the bench because there was a coupe of kids playing on the bench. 70kgs is felt heavy tonight and the back was getting a bit of an arch on a couple of reps. On my first set I forgot to change shoes and my oly shoes put me off and had me leaning forward. I changed into my flat shoes and that was sorted. I'm going to stick at 70kgs to build up some strength still.


Bench Press - just getting some work in. The shoulder is getting a twinge so I might look at my benching or add facepulls back in to hit the shoulders from a different angle.

Rows - Hard, loud and mean.... .. I think I am going to have a bruise again.. 


Back Extensions - I could feel the lower end of my hamstrings tonight, which is a good thing. It means I am getting some work in on the hammies and lower back.

A good night at the gym and looking forward to Friday's intensity work.

 

6 October 2014
Week 7 Volume Night
Last week I ended up using most of the week as a rest week. Wed I ended up with a blood pressure monitor all day so working out was off for the day. Since I had a couple of niggles I thought I would just make it a rest break for the rest of the week. My traps said I could use the rest.
I have been looking at my program and I am sitting low on volume day and I need to adjust light day's bench or put it on hold for a few weeks. Light day should be light and provide stimulus while allowing for recovery, its a delicate balance.

Tonight felt pretty good. The gym was kinda crowded and I had to wait a few minutes for the bench and by the time it came to do cable pull throughs there were a couple of people on the cables so I flagged them and headed home.


Squats - tonight things went well. I paid extra attention to getting my shoulders tight and making sure the bar was centered on my back. My rear view videos have shown that the bar was lower on the right side as I squatted. This appeared to be a looseness on the left side of my upper back. Today's back view looked better the bar was much straighter across the back. I noticed too on one set that as I unracked the bar dipped on the left. I took this as being off center on the bar. I filmed my warm-ups up to my first set to show how I use my warm-ups to help with some mobility. On the first two sets I totally exhaled to get lower and stretched out. I warm up this way every time I squat and it seems to really help get my stretched out. As I get heavier I go to my usual speed for squatting. Once I hit 120kgs I start dropping a rep to save some energy for my work sets.


Bench Press - No big problem on the bench tonight. I kept the weight the same as last week because I wanted to make sure I was getting all my reps in with good form and consistency. Next week it is going up 2.5 kgs again.


RDLs - felt a good hamstring stretch on these. I am getting better at the form on RDLs and I think I am going to see some benefits. I'll keep adding weight on to these and try to get the back built up. I'm using straps on these sometimes. I am not working on my grip I'm working on my back so straps are ok by me.

 

29 September 2014
Week 6 Volume Night
A good night of lifting tonight. The neck and shoulder has come back to almost 100% and the hip has settled down some. I still find myself favouring the left hip flexors and I am going to need to find some way to work on that.



Squats - tonight felt good on squats. I have developed a bit of an issue with bar position that I need to sort out. The bar is riding lower on my left side than the right. I'm not sure if its a tightness thing or some other bad habit I am developing or some of it could be the camera angle. I need to get a good shot from directly behind instead of off to one side. I also so need to work on tightness of my core, I see my back has a lot of movement to watch out for,


Bench Press - looking pretty good here. I am in a bit of a groove at the moment. I'm not sure how far I carried 6x6 the last time I ran a Korte bench program. I'll have to look back, this could be getting close to a volume PR. Next week at 95kgs 6x6 is going to be a good push.


RDLs - increased the weight slightly this week. Still really working on the stretch on these. Had to begin off the floor which I think is a good thing for the most part. It gives that one rep feel for feeling the form off the bottom.

Cable pulls throughs - upped the weight 4kgs and let 'er rip. these are getting more stretch in the hammies if you keep the legs fairly straight. Working everything here to get the deadlift up..

Great work out tonight. I was soaked by the time I finished things up and I really felt like I accomplished something.