After several Sheiko cycles and Westside templates, 5/3/1 feels like a lot less work. Funny thing is, it's working -- the weights keep getting easier and the total keeps going up. I have to say, I'm loving this.
Usual bench warm-up (translate: not nearly enough) and w-u sets.
Bench:
190 kilos x 3 felt kinda heavy, actually -- start to worry
200 kilos x 3 super easy -- stop worrying
220 kilos x 3 easy, beezy, Japanezie, though my butt came up on the last rep
130 kilos x 5 x 10 felt good, though right shoulder started aching a little toward the end
fat (2") db rows, Kroc-stylee, 5 x 10 w/ 50 kilos too easy, need to go up
skull-crushers 70kg on an ez-bar, did a bunch without much heart in it
Called it a day with a lot left in the tank. I feel really good about today. Head doesn't hurt much, feel ok, lifted (and finished) strong. Good stuff.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday Deadlift Day
Finally got a fan for the gym -- what a wonderful thing. So, yeah, still hot, but much better.
I swear I must grimace and grunt the whole workout, because DL and squat days leave me with vicious headaches. My head is going to explode.
Anyway, on to it:
dynamic warm-up and usual w-u sets
DL:
260kg x 3 felt heavy
275kg x 3 felt heavier
290kg x 3 thought I'd pop
I did pop my Spud DL belt open and had to reseat and start over. Nuts. Think I popped some capillaries in my eyes on this set, for some reason. Not a PR by any stretch, but just felt heavy.
SSB Good mornings with 50kilos and a bunch of chains: 5 sets of 8 Felt easy. Go figure. Took them slow and worked the tightness in my hammies. I just love the way that feels.
Reverse lunges from a 6" box
All in all a pretty good day. Got started early enough that it wasn't too hot -- thanks to the wifey for kicking me to get on with it. Felt good even though the DLs felt heavy. If I can shake the headache, I should have a decent day.
Still need a Swiss bar and El Gordo. Gotta go sell something to fund them...
I swear I must grimace and grunt the whole workout, because DL and squat days leave me with vicious headaches. My head is going to explode.
Anyway, on to it:
dynamic warm-up and usual w-u sets
DL:
260kg x 3 felt heavy
275kg x 3 felt heavier
290kg x 3 thought I'd pop
I did pop my Spud DL belt open and had to reseat and start over. Nuts. Think I popped some capillaries in my eyes on this set, for some reason. Not a PR by any stretch, but just felt heavy.
SSB Good mornings with 50kilos and a bunch of chains: 5 sets of 8 Felt easy. Go figure. Took them slow and worked the tightness in my hammies. I just love the way that feels.
Reverse lunges from a 6" box
All in all a pretty good day. Got started early enough that it wasn't too hot -- thanks to the wifey for kicking me to get on with it. Felt good even though the DLs felt heavy. If I can shake the headache, I should have a decent day.
Still need a Swiss bar and El Gordo. Gotta go sell something to fund them...
Friday, July 24, 2009
Military press
I got a late start and really just wanted a nap, so I can't say it was an inspired day of work in the gym. Nonetheless, I worked.
Military:
110kg x 3
120kg x 3
130kg x 3
90kg x 5 x 10
Chins: 5 x fail
ab work
other stuff
Still hot. I'm getting a fan for the gym tomorrow.
Military:
110kg x 3
120kg x 3
130kg x 3
90kg x 5 x 10
Chins: 5 x fail
ab work
other stuff
Still hot. I'm getting a fan for the gym tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Squat day
Still hot around here, at least for what passes as hot around here.
Usual warm-up after dynamic w-u, foam rolling, etc.
squat:
275kg x 5 not bad
290kg x 5 pretty easy
310kg x 5 easier
180kg x 5 x 8
Hise shrugs
Pendlay rows w/ 70kg on the bar super-setted with the 180kg squats too easy -- need to go up
All in all, a good day. Everything seems to be working right now, so it's time to get careful.
Played around with the video camera for checking depth (which was a lot better this time). I'll try to get one of them up on the youtube channel asap.
Usual warm-up after dynamic w-u, foam rolling, etc.
squat:
275kg x 5 not bad
290kg x 5 pretty easy
310kg x 5 easier
180kg x 5 x 8
Hise shrugs
Pendlay rows w/ 70kg on the bar super-setted with the 180kg squats too easy -- need to go up
All in all, a good day. Everything seems to be working right now, so it's time to get careful.
Played around with the video camera for checking depth (which was a lot better this time). I'll try to get one of them up on the youtube channel asap.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Bench
Still hot around here, inasmuch as it ever gets hot around here. SoCal has nothing on Arizona/east Washington State/anywhere in the Southeast for heat. But I cooked in my home gym again today.
Usual warm-up stuff with extra for shoulders.
Bench:
180kg x 5
190kg x 5
200kg x 5
120kg + a bunch of chains x 5 x 10
Fat db rows 50 kg x 3 x 10 Backed down to 30kg x 2 x 10 and think I get more from it. I'll back down for good for a while, I think.
Skull-crushers to nose 60kg x 5 x 8
I felt really strong today. Things were working for some reason, even though it's the beginning of this 5/3/1 cycle. Still, I'm quite happy with the way the day felt. No headache afterward, for whatever reason -- must be about straining, I guess, and I wasn't at the beginning of this cycle.
Right shoulder still a little crunchy, but no pain today.
Usual warm-up stuff with extra for shoulders.
Bench:
180kg x 5
190kg x 5
200kg x 5
120kg + a bunch of chains x 5 x 10
Fat db rows 50 kg x 3 x 10 Backed down to 30kg x 2 x 10 and think I get more from it. I'll back down for good for a while, I think.
Skull-crushers to nose 60kg x 5 x 8
I felt really strong today. Things were working for some reason, even though it's the beginning of this 5/3/1 cycle. Still, I'm quite happy with the way the day felt. No headache afterward, for whatever reason -- must be about straining, I guess, and I wasn't at the beginning of this cycle.
Right shoulder still a little crunchy, but no pain today.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Deadlift day
Lifted yesterday, but just getting around to posting now.
Standard DL day. Hot as stink in the room -- need a big fan in a bad way.
245kg x 5 sumo
260kg x 5 sumo
275kg x 5 sumo
170kg x 5 x 8 mixed
Reverse lunges from a 6" deficit with weight 3 x 10 each
Fat(2") db clean and press 30kg x 2 x 10ea; 50kg x 1 x 10ea (felt heavy)
Lots felt heavy today, though I think it was just the heat. Maybe I'm becoming a wuss.
Standard DL day. Hot as stink in the room -- need a big fan in a bad way.
245kg x 5 sumo
260kg x 5 sumo
275kg x 5 sumo
170kg x 5 x 8 mixed
Reverse lunges from a 6" deficit with weight 3 x 10 each
Fat(2") db clean and press 30kg x 2 x 10ea; 50kg x 1 x 10ea (felt heavy)
Lots felt heavy today, though I think it was just the heat. Maybe I'm becoming a wuss.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Military press
Saturday, 7/11. Hot as stink, but back to the weight again.
Military:
100 kg x 5
110 kg x 5
120 kg x 5
100 kg x 5 x 10
Chins x 5 x 10, bw
ab roll-outs x 5 x 10
Did I mention I hate chins? And the air up there is a good five degrees hotter than at the floor. Whining, I know.
Weight went up ok, though my left shoulder was a bit crunchy still. Felt funny below the shoulder toward the back, but no real pain. Just odd -- getting old, I guess.
Sunday the 12th I unloaded a storage unit I've had since 2003. Decided it was time I quit paying to house a bunch of stuff I never see. Craigslist and eBay will be my friend, I have a feeling.
Still, it was several hundred pounds of deadlifting, essentially. Since my next workout is to be deadlift, I will wait until tomorrow (Tuesday) to do the workout.
Military:
100 kg x 5
110 kg x 5
120 kg x 5
100 kg x 5 x 10
Chins x 5 x 10, bw
ab roll-outs x 5 x 10
Did I mention I hate chins? And the air up there is a good five degrees hotter than at the floor. Whining, I know.
Weight went up ok, though my left shoulder was a bit crunchy still. Felt funny below the shoulder toward the back, but no real pain. Just odd -- getting old, I guess.
Sunday the 12th I unloaded a storage unit I've had since 2003. Decided it was time I quit paying to house a bunch of stuff I never see. Craigslist and eBay will be my friend, I have a feeling.
Still, it was several hundred pounds of deadlifting, essentially. Since my next workout is to be deadlift, I will wait until tomorrow (Tuesday) to do the workout.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Deload day 3 -- bench
My shoulders always have a tougher time with deload days, though I'm not sure why. I suspect I don't warm up as diligently or thoroughly, and my lifts may be a bit more ballistic. Whatever the case, my upper hinges feel crunchier on light days.
Bench:
140 kilos x 5
160 kilos x 5
180 kilos x 5
120kg x 5 x 10
Really concentrated on pulling the bar apart, which helps the shoulders a lot under load.
Kroc rows 80# x 5 x 10 each
Tried some of Smitty's Grappler Presses with 70# on a fat EZ curl bar. I like them, but I'll have to play with the load to get it right for form and difficulty.
Did some curls with the ez curl while it was loaded, but not in the squat rack. Promise.
No headache today. Hot -- no breeze, but a fair day.
Bench:
140 kilos x 5
160 kilos x 5
180 kilos x 5
120kg x 5 x 10
Really concentrated on pulling the bar apart, which helps the shoulders a lot under load.
Kroc rows 80# x 5 x 10 each
Tried some of Smitty's Grappler Presses with 70# on a fat EZ curl bar. I like them, but I'll have to play with the load to get it right for form and difficulty.
Did some curls with the ez curl while it was loaded, but not in the squat rack. Promise.
No headache today. Hot -- no breeze, but a fair day.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Deload day 2 -- deadlift
Hot as stink in my home gym today. I really need a fan.
Supposed to be a deload day, so I kept the weights down. But I tried a couple of new things and they pretty much clobbered me. We'll see if I pay later.
Usual dynamic warm-up and warm-up sets.
180kg x 5 silly easy
200kg x 5 still silly
220kg x 5 no different
160kg x 5 x 8
Super-setted the 160kg DLs with SSB reverse lunges from a 5" deficit with 100kg on the bar. The bar's 60#, more or less, so it was about 275#. These pretty much kicked my butt sideways and dragged it around the room. 4 sets of 8 on each leg.
Some Pendlay rows once I'd stripped the DL setup down to 50 kilos on the bar, but my right elbow hurt oddly and letting it warm up didn't help. So I bagged them after a few.
SSB GMs, playing around more than anything. I used the bar with 100 kilos, but I didn't take them very seriously. I'd had enough by then.
My head is going to split open. I wish I knew why, because I'm not executing a constant valsalva maneuver and I'm not taking anything that consistently causes it. But every DL day sports a fresh, new headache. We all have our cross to bear.
AtLarge Results prior to, Surge Workout Fuel during/after, and some protein in my near future.
Supposed to be a deload day, so I kept the weights down. But I tried a couple of new things and they pretty much clobbered me. We'll see if I pay later.
Usual dynamic warm-up and warm-up sets.
180kg x 5 silly easy
200kg x 5 still silly
220kg x 5 no different
160kg x 5 x 8
Super-setted the 160kg DLs with SSB reverse lunges from a 5" deficit with 100kg on the bar. The bar's 60#, more or less, so it was about 275#. These pretty much kicked my butt sideways and dragged it around the room. 4 sets of 8 on each leg.
Some Pendlay rows once I'd stripped the DL setup down to 50 kilos on the bar, but my right elbow hurt oddly and letting it warm up didn't help. So I bagged them after a few.
SSB GMs, playing around more than anything. I used the bar with 100 kilos, but I didn't take them very seriously. I'd had enough by then.
My head is going to split open. I wish I knew why, because I'm not executing a constant valsalva maneuver and I'm not taking anything that consistently causes it. But every DL day sports a fresh, new headache. We all have our cross to bear.
AtLarge Results prior to, Surge Workout Fuel during/after, and some protein in my near future.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Deload day 1 -- Military
Hot for Sandy Eggo today, or at least I am. I am a large space heater after all. Thought I was going to puke and still feel queasy, which will make it hard to get my lunch down.
Today's the start of deload week and a military press day.
Mil:
80kg x 5
90kg x 5
100kg x 5
70kg x 5 x 10
chins and reverse rows: 5 x 12 bw
fat db clean and press: 3 x 10 w/ 70# Not a lot of weight -- just to move a bit
ab roll-outs: 5 x 10 ouch, ouch, ouch
Been an awesome weekend. Went to the beach yesterday and swam a little in the freezing water; walked with my wife a while on the beach and watched the throngs of sunburned people (actually, it wasn't as packed as I thought it would be). Went shopping for dinner and cooked sauteed/glazed scallops with a Caprese salad using tomatoes and basil from the yard and mozzarella from pastured local buffalo. Awesome stuff. Started Slumdog and went to bed halfway through -- will finish tonight. She's off playing tennis and I'm sweating on my keyboard.
Everyone be sure to check out the MotoGP from Laguna Seca today -- go Rossi.
Hope everyone had a great, safe Fourth.
Today's the start of deload week and a military press day.
Mil:
80kg x 5
90kg x 5
100kg x 5
70kg x 5 x 10
chins and reverse rows: 5 x 12 bw
fat db clean and press: 3 x 10 w/ 70# Not a lot of weight -- just to move a bit
ab roll-outs: 5 x 10 ouch, ouch, ouch
Been an awesome weekend. Went to the beach yesterday and swam a little in the freezing water; walked with my wife a while on the beach and watched the throngs of sunburned people (actually, it wasn't as packed as I thought it would be). Went shopping for dinner and cooked sauteed/glazed scallops with a Caprese salad using tomatoes and basil from the yard and mozzarella from pastured local buffalo. Awesome stuff. Started Slumdog and went to bed halfway through -- will finish tonight. She's off playing tennis and I'm sweating on my keyboard.
Everyone be sure to check out the MotoGP from Laguna Seca today -- go Rossi.
Hope everyone had a great, safe Fourth.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Squat day
Had a date night with my gorgeous wifey last night. Lots of fun, but didn't eat enough, had a glass of wine and a cocktail, and generally could have done better. So what? I lived.
Big, heavy squat day today. While my bench progress has slowed, my squat keeps getting better.
Usual dynamic warm-up and warm-up sets for lots. It was a cool morning, which was nice, and I'd only had a small protein shake before lifting. Just didn't feel like a big feed before squatting, as yacking in the yard wasn't an inviting prospect. So a little protein (40g or so), AtLarge Results, and Surge/Surge WOF mix and off.
265kgx5 super easy -- gonna be a big day
310kgx3 again, went up fast
350kgx6 PR. Walkout was easy, reps were pretty easy, torso was tight. Depth was ok (filmed it to verify) but not perfect on all -- need to set my pins one slot lower or get a training partner.
But a big result. 350 kilos six times -- that's big. After the first rep came up fast I knew it'd be big. I probably had another rep in me but don't like to go to failure and particularly with 700 pounds on my back (and alone).
Supersetted Hise shrugs with lunges. Used the same bar with 100kilos loaded; just didn't put it down. The lunges were deep, but I was tiring out by the end.
Hise/lunges 100kgx5x10
Big, heavy squat day today. While my bench progress has slowed, my squat keeps getting better.
Usual dynamic warm-up and warm-up sets for lots. It was a cool morning, which was nice, and I'd only had a small protein shake before lifting. Just didn't feel like a big feed before squatting, as yacking in the yard wasn't an inviting prospect. So a little protein (40g or so), AtLarge Results, and Surge/Surge WOF mix and off.
265kgx5 super easy -- gonna be a big day
310kgx3 again, went up fast
350kgx6 PR. Walkout was easy, reps were pretty easy, torso was tight. Depth was ok (filmed it to verify) but not perfect on all -- need to set my pins one slot lower or get a training partner.
But a big result. 350 kilos six times -- that's big. After the first rep came up fast I knew it'd be big. I probably had another rep in me but don't like to go to failure and particularly with 700 pounds on my back (and alone).
Supersetted Hise shrugs with lunges. Used the same bar with 100kilos loaded; just didn't put it down. The lunges were deep, but I was tiring out by the end.
Hise/lunges 100kgx5x10
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