21 November 2014
Intensity night
Well it has been a week from hell and today was no exception. Lack of sleep the past few weeks has taken a toll on me and today was so busy I forgot to eat lunch. By the time it was quitting time my stomach was growling and I had a banana. I was feeling pretty weak and shaky on the way home and I debated on whether it was worth going to the gym. I am going out of town to watch a powerlifting meet tomorrow so I figured I would go and get done what I could.
The gym was almost empty so it was nice to get in and get some work in undisturbed
 


Squats - I warmed up as normal with hardly any rest between sets right up to 160kgs and then took a couple of minutes and hit 180kgs for a single and went for 200kgs but not tonight. It felt so heavy when I started down that only lowered half way and went back up and racked it. I did another one at 180kgs but when I went for another single I dropped the weight and it crashed. Squats were done for the night. The safety on the rack came off. Good thing I got out of the way.

Bench press - the bench went surprisingly well after the squat issues. I did fewer warm ups than I usually do to limit fatigue but I still kept rests to a minimum until the biggest set. I took a couple of minutes and then hit my 130kgs pretty easy. I had a slight grind but the weight went up at a good speed. I gave 135kgs a go but I only got it up about halfway. I am happy with the way the bench went consider my other factors. I think if I was rested and fuelled up properly I could have hit a new PR but I can wait for the competition for that.

1 1/2 deadlifts - this is where you come up to about the knees and back down to the floor, then a full deadlift. Once again this is to help work the bottom of my deadlift. These  hit my lower back hard. Mostly because of the tightness of the muscles. I'll get this sorted eventually and break a 200kg deadlift.

19 November 2014
Wed. "Light Night"
I missed Monday's volume day due to a stomach bug and work commitments taking too much of my life right now. I was tired and with the tummy I thought it better to not risk an accident at the gym.
The work stuff is killing my motivation at the moment which really sucks. I have a couple more weeks of good lifting before heading to Melbourne and I need the work.
I spent 5 hrs today driving to Christchurch and back for a meeting and tomorrow I have to do it again for another meeting. Just more crap getting piled on me at work that I have to deal with.

Tonight there were kids playing in the rack so I started with some back extensions and cable pull throughs before I finally got to the rack.
I also changed up my deadlifting to work on the bottom of the lift.

Back extensions - done hugging a 20kg plate using the preacher curl bench. Good to get the back moving and start to loosen up.

Cable pull throughs - trying to get a good stretch on the back and hammies with these by not bending the knees too much and reaching way back. I am thinking that this might be the way to start all of my sessions. I need the back work and sometimes I skip the cables when the machine is busy. Earlier it might be easier to get the machine.

Front Squats - still holding at 120kgs. I am thinking that when I reset the program I might look at how these get programed. I'll keep them in but I might move them to a ladder progression instead of multiple sets.

Half Deads - done off of a one plate deficit. Instead of doing full deadlifts I lifted to the knees or just above and put the weight back down. Rack pulls showed me that the top of my deadlifts are good (multiples reps at 190kgs) but I need to work on the bottom and get the lower back stretched out. I think this is one way to get there.

I am going to watch a club lifting comp this weekend and support my association. I'm not lifting because in a few weeks I m competing and it is not the time to be maxing out hard. I am going to talk to some of the other lifters about my deadlifts and see what advice they come up with. Could be interesting.

15 November 2014
Today was to be a deadlift day to see where things sit but it seemed like a good time to do the box squat challenge in tribute to a online friend " Coach" RIP John... I have never done box squats before so I used the warm up sets to get the feel of how they go. and then I got some deadlifting in...
 

Box Squats - After 7 sets I started to feel these in the legs and by set 12 I was happy to be done. I do think there is a place for these in a training program and I will definitely be considering them in the future.

Deadlifts - After the box squats some fatigue set in and hopes of a new PR went out the window. That was not a big deal though. I just need to get the work in. Rack pulls the other day showed the top of my deadlift is fine but I still have issues with the bottom of the lift. For the next few weeks I am going to work the bottom of my deadlift using paused lifts and lifts to the knees from a deficit. That should help get the back stretched out and get my lift moving.

13 November 2014
Light night
Light night was a day late tonight due to work commitments. I thought about skipping all together but I need the work. I had to wait on the squat rack for some 3/4 squatting butthead to get finished pretending to squat 1/2 his body weight. I decided to just reorder and do some back extensions, benching and drop OHP for the day.


Back Extensions - I thought these were a good place to start the night off. Still doing these holding a 20kg plate using the preacher curl bench. The back felt good after getting warmed up.

Bench Press - Since I was still waiting on the rack I decided to work in with another guy on the bench. I wasn't looking for a lot of volume so I ran up into a heavy single. The work felt nice and not hugely heavy. Even the 130kgs went up easy. I am going to be ready to hit some heavies on intensity day.

Front squats - Finally I got into the rack and hit my sets. 3x5 hit nicely and was easy enough to lift but just heavy enough to need some work to push back up. I am going to look at moving these to get more volume at some point to change up how the legs get worked.

Rack Pulls - these are new for me but I am looking to get more help on my deadlifts. I pulled from about 6 inches below my knees and from 160kgs on I used wrist straps to get the work done. These felt surprisingly good and when I started I thought about doing just a few reps but they went so well I kept going with 5 reps. My best deadlift has been 185kgs so when I pulled 180 x5 I thought what the heel and went for 190kgs. I pulled 5 reps at 190 without too much trouble. While its not a deadlift it did boost my confidence for deadlifts going forward. I guess you could say this is a kind of PR for me on rack pulls

 

Doing some catching up on blogging
14 November 2014
Volume Night
I has been a hectic week at work so I have gotten behind logging.
I had a pretty good volume night and had a go at some extra work on the bench. I'm feeling pretty good about where I am right now. The body is holding good except for the lower back still being tight. The hips seem to come right when the bar gets on my back and I get going.
 

Squats - 3x3 worked well tonight and still gives volume enough to get muscles cranking. Next week will increase in weight and move on...

Bench Press - I wanted an idea of where I am. I hit singles up to 130kgs but 135 just didn't want to go. I decided to get some volume in anyway so I did triples at 110kgs. 5 sets worth was enough to get some good work in and feel it in my chest and lats. I need to work singles on intensity day now and incorporate a pause.


RDL - I am getting the hang of these now and I have been able to move the weight up steadily. I am looking forward to some deadlifting to see how things are going when everything gets put together. I added 10kgs again to my top set and decided to add another set for some extra work. Everything is feeling good to go.

5 November 2014
Light night
Cowboy Bench Method
It was a good night in the gym but I wish they wouldn't advertise and offer a free week on facebook.. The place was packed, at least I only had to wait a few minutes for the rack. I got in some stretching and back extensions waiting. So that wasn't bad.


Front Squats - I held the weight at 120kgs tonight looking at 2 things. I need to watch going too heavy because intensity night is going to need all the recovery I can get. and secondly I have been considering whether or not to taper into my next comp coming up in just over 5 weeks. I'll make the plan after intensity day this week.. Besides 120kgs on a front squat still requires some effort to get in. Certainly not maximal but it takes a push..
SSB squats 120kgs x5 set 3/3

OHP- I jumped in between a couple of guys squatting to get my sets in. I didn't warm up at all just grabbed the bar and started. I actually felt better on these than I have in a long time. Maybe I should practice what I preach and cut back on some warm ups. The blood is already pumping from squats so why put in the extra sets,.. These went up great but I am not moving the weight until post comp. I went ahead an did a couple extra reps on my 3rd set.
OHP Set 3 of 3

Barbell rows - hard and mean like they should be. Holding at 90 kgs until post comp..

Over all a good workout and has me thinking about the next few weeks and my lead up to the Oceanias....

3 November 2014
Volume Night
Cowboy Bench Method
Well a few days off seemed to help out. The fishing trip didn't yield any fish. Somehow trying to row a boat in a gale doesn't get many fish in the boat  . but it was worth the time to relax and enjoy time away with my wife and friends.
Lifts tonight felt good and the DOMS from last week was gone after a couple of days.
 

Squats - Tonight's squats went good. I have gone to 3x5 on volume day squats now. With Intensity days getting bigger recovery seemed to be coming an issue so a tweak on volume was in order. I caught myself loosening up on the left side again so I need to pay attention and keep the bar level.


Bench Press - The bench was the thing I was concerned about the most tonight. After the DOMs last week it was good to get under the bar and push some weight. 100kgs 6x6 was a good go for volume and I got all my reps with only a few needing any serious extra effort. Friday should go well going by the way Monday went.


RDLs - I have decided to go with an ascending type of rep scheme on my RDL sets. The plan is to warm up going up to a weight higher than the last workout. Last week my work sets were at 130kgs so I worked up to a set of 140kgs. Next week I will work up to a set at 150kgs and so on. Once I get to where I miss reps I will hold and than start to go up in 5 kg jumps.