26 Feb 2016
Intensity squats/volume bench/Deadlift LP It was a big night at the gym. Things went well and things should be looking good for testing in a couple of weeks...

 

 Squats - a standard warm up with bands on the knees up to 180kgs x1 and then a rest for a few minutes to get ready for my work set at 205kgs x3. I made all 3 reps but the weight was there tonight and I ended up making a little noise.. depth was pretty good but the middle one was just slightly high.


Bench Press - tonight was a lighter night with just one set on the bench. No problems with 105kgs x5

Sumo deadlifts - hookgrip -ht again tonight but no big issues. I am locking in a decent form on sumos but not to the point to make it my go to for competition yet...

Deadlifts - hookgip - heavier tonight but I think the sumos lend some fatigue and that affects the conventional. So I am not to worried that the reps weren't as fast as I might have wanted. Also after 9 sets my grip was still going strong.. I also wore my lever belt to deadlift and was able to be comfortable. I'm not sure if it is the tweaks to my form or the losing weight but it was good to have the extra support.

24 Feb 2016
Recovery Night Home from work on time for a change and off to the gym for a nice relaxing workout.
 

SSB Squats - I screwed up and did the same as last week. Not a big issue really since the jump was supposed to be 10 kgs. I might jump double next week. I'll see on the day how things feel. Today though was good, I got some good depth and stretched the hips nicely.

OHP - I realized that I hadn't advanced weights and moved these along. For a lift that I had despised for a long time I am happy that tonight was a 3 rep PR at 82.5 kgs x3. I didn't get video to check on how much bend my back may have had in it but I pushed up all 3 reps.

Barbell rows - No problem with rows. Next week it is up to 2 plates

Cable Pulldowns V handle- added weight again this week and finally had to put in some decent effort to get it done. Next week I'll add more and do it again.

Cable Pull throughs - Added a little weight and got some good pulling in and some good stretching of the posterior chain.

Looking forward to Friday and heavy squats...

11 April 2015
Canterbury Powerlifting Championships
Over the past few weeks I have been really trying to focus on my lifting and had a lot of outside things trying to drag me down. The focus really paid off on the platform on the day with 2 good PRs and a breakthrough with some insight into my training methods and needs.

I lifted in the afternoon and not being worried about making weight I had a couple pieces of French toast for breakfast and a protein shake. After weigh in I picked up the wife and went for some real powerlifting fuel... a whopper with cheese fries and diet coke... 

I was pretty nervous about how things were going to go but once I started warming up I felt pretty good.

My numbers for the day looked like this-
Squats -
205kgs good lift
210kgs good lift
220kgs no lift 1 white, 2 reds

Bench Press-
125kgs good lift
135kgs good lift
140kgs good lift PR

Deadlift
175kgs good lift
185kgs good lift
190kgs good lift PR
Comments-
Squats - my squats felt really good. My last warm up was 190kgs and it flew up. After that I was ready to go. my first 2 lifts went smooth. My 220kgs attempt felt really good but 2 judges called me high. a couple guys commented I had it but the judges' call is what counts. I'll be going 225 and my next meet.


Bench Press-
I have really worked my bench press and it has paid off. My first lift of 125kgs is a weight I missed a couple times last season but now I rep it. My second attempt went easy. 140kg was my goal for this meet and I was able to go 1 rep no worries. I think I might have been able to hit a double. My new goal is 150kgs by the end of the year.


Deadlifts-
My deadlifts have been my biggest worry but I have figured out how I need to train for it. Andy Bolton doesn't lift his max during training he goes up to 85% or so and saves the big stuff for comps. This is my training strategy going forward. I am going to be doing more speed work with low reps and high sets. I'll also push the RDLs like I have been.
Hitting 190kgs was a huge boost for me. My back felt good and I came right up with it. I will make 200kgs by years end.


I'm really happy with the way things went and that I am showing progress. I am feeling good that by the end of the year I will squat 127.5kgs, Bench 150kgs, Deadlift 200kgs

Thanks to all of you that have been here for me and stay tuned for bigger and better things.

1 December 2014
Volume Night
Well I thought I would get this logged on the day since I actually had a great feeling day in the gym. I'm not sure why (certainly not extra sleep, we had the grand daughter most of the weekend) maybe it was the giant can of Monster, 2 Reese cups and gummi alligator I had 45 minutes before the gym.... Whatever it was it was nice to finish a workout feeling good about how it went.


Squats - I had to wait in the rack (no surprise on a Monday) so I put some time into some much neglected mobility and stretching. I have been rushing to get to the gym and skimping on the stretching and tonight I realised how much it has effected my lifting. Once I got squatting my hips felt much looser than they have in awhile. My warm ups were smooth and fast right up to my work sets. I decided to add 2.5kgs on my work sets My middle set felt a bit suspect on depth and checking the video I thought I needed a couple more inches and on set 3 I took my time and adjusted depth for 3 good reps.

Barbell Rows - Since I had to wait in the bench I reordered things a little. While I was squatting a few clowns were doing bent over rows with about 40kgs. it was the blind leading the blind and so sad but they didn't ask me for help and I don't usually offer clowns. They finished about the time I finished squatting so I grabbed the bar doubled the weight they were using and smashed out 3 sets. I could them checking me out in the mirror. More work and less play is the way to go.

Bench Press - it is hard to figure what to do at this stage. I have felt like my bench has been a little off so I warmed up to 100kgs and I was going to do 5x5 but I decided to step up and do some paused reps to prep for competition. 3x3 at 110kgs felt good Friday I will be doing heavy pauses for more prep work.

Cable Pull throughs - I think the stretching helped on these also I didn't feel it as much as I have been. I still got a good stretch in and post comp I'll look at moving these up to help the back out.

After I did some distractions on my left hip and walking out of the gym I noticed how well my hip was moving. Tomorrow it is off to the physio to see what he can do for my back. Hopefully I'll get cracked and stretched so I can loosen up.

29 November 2014
Intensity day
I don't make it to the gym on Saturdays very often but the place was all but empty. It was lovely to not have to wait on anything and no dweebs getting in my way.
 
Squats - I was considering where to go on these tonight and settled for 200kgs which is going to be my opener in Melbourne. I decided 2 singles would be a good place to be. Between 160, 180 and 200's I slowed up and took a couple minutes break to try and be a bit fresher. I watched the clock when I started and finished all of my squats in about 17 minutes. I had a good sweat going by the time I was finished and ready to move on.

Bench Press - The one draw back to no one else in the gym is there is no one to spot the bench. Benching in the power rack is nice and safe but the catches are either too high or too low. It takes almost half a rep to unrack the bar. I opted for more volume at a higher weight and 110kgs was about where it was comfortable in the rack I did an ugly rep at 120kgs but he set up was not good to do more.

Deadlifts - I thought I would stick with higher reps and go up. I did the 60 and 100kgs off of two plates and 120kgs off of one plate. The reps fatigued my quite a bit and when I went for 160kgs my hips and back were screaming. I won't be deadlifting again until competition time.

Next week I will keep Volume and Light day as usual but intensity day will be similar with the exception of deadlifts.

Also thanks to all you guys who keep checking in on me. I have been really slack on checking in and my brothers. So cheers and after this competition I'll try and be more on to supporting my brothers and sisters.

27/11/14
Light night
I am catching up on some logging from this week. I have been slack this week in posting but I have been getting the work in. This week is a day off which hasn't made a lot of difference. With 2 weeks to go now I am being careful not to get hurt and screw my self. I was going to bench again tonight but the kids were tying the bench up.


Front Squats - the safety bar is doing a good job. It is surprising how much your leverages change by pushing the handles forward and shifting the weight. Breaking at the knees and sinking down also changes the dynamics. I held at 120kgs again to do a little kind of taper to competition.

OHP - I have been concentrating on benching and not so much accessory work so with the bench held up I thought it was a good chance to get these in. I went back to 60kgs and got 3 set of 5 with not problems. Still felt heavy but not real stresses.

Barbell Rows - I was considering deadlifting again tonight but I could still feel the volume from the other night. So it was a slamming 90kgs rows. This shut up some of the kids yapping all over the weight room and it always feels good to make some noise.

Stationary bike - my hips and hurting from the deadlifting so I hopped on a bike in the hopes of some wind down might help out. Its only 15 minutes of intervals but it gets the heart pumping for 15 minutes and it felt pretty good.

Light night done and on the intensity day.

25 November 2014
Volume night
I missed working out last night due to work keeping me late. So tonight I was going to get there for sure and get my work in. Also, I have had a lot of interruptions in the gym lately so I decided to go back to the hoodie and went with headphones rather than earbuds. I worked well, I didn't have people wanting to shoot the breeze all night long.
With a chance to concentrate things went really well. This was one of those workouts where you end up with shakey hands when your done and you know you put in the work.


Squats- these felt good tonight, better than they have in awhile. Reps went smooth and everything kept tight. We'll see how the heavies go on Friday

Bench - I adjusted volume on these to 3 sets of 5 reps for work sets. Not a bad weight for sets and they went well. I need to work on getting tight all over and get more leg drive going. When I got tight reps went up better. Bench is feeling pretty good right now.

3" Deficit deadlifts - These are to work on the bottom of my deadlifts. I elected to go more for volume on these instead of any big weights. When I was warming up I just decided to go for 10 reps and see how things went. After 2 warm up sets I went with straps to concentrate on getting work in on the lower back and hamstrings. I didn't worry much about a hard lockout either. I did try to keep a flat back and the bar back and close to my shins.


Cable Pull throughs - Getting a good stretch out of these on the hamstrings and back. I just wish there was a faster way to get things stretched out.. I'll get there in time...