Time for me to stop f***ing around

[Snatchy McClean]

Sadly my numbers aren't as epic as some of the other journals in this forum, there are some real beasts in here!

I'm an extremely keen trainer but tend to over research and never stick with something long enough to do it justice, which probably holds my results back. 2 weeks ago I started my "latest" routine and will be posting my workouts on here to force myself to stick with it (hopefully with no changes!!) for at least 8 weeks.

Anyway due to sh*tty recovery abilities my schedule is:

Sunday - weights

Monday - box jumps + active recovery

Tuesday - bench and row / indoor soccer

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - weights

Friday - interval cardio + active recovery

Saturday - NRL from my couch.

My previous maxes are 85kg power clean, 170kg deadlift, 95kg x 5 front squat, 110kg bench, 57.5kg x 3 standing overhead press.

I am currently weighing 91kgs first thing in the morning, 182cm tall and around 15% body fat when last caliper'd. I eat a 3500-ish calorie diet with decent distribution and balance.

My training "purpose" is to gain explosive strength and maintain decent muscle mass.

*I'm on my way back from a nasty rotator cuff injury during which I got lazy in all exercise... so my initial goal (hopefully within the 8 weeks) is to get back into these weights for all lifts, although TBH the bench weight was over a year ago when I actually trained bench. Hardly touched them in the last 8 months or so.

I'll start by posting my 2 workouts for this week so far, and continue on from there.

*if anyone sees anything obviously retarded in my routines, do point it out!

Cheers, Jay

[Snatchy McClean]

29-5-11

POWER CLEAN (all multiple reps with drop and quick re-set)

55 x 5 (1 min rest)

60 x 5 (1 min rest)

62.5 x 5 (2 min rest)

65 x 1 (1 min rest)

67.5 x 1 (1 min rest)

70 x 1 (1 min rest)

72.5 x 1 (1 min rest)

75 x 1

FRONT SQUAT

45 x 5

70 x 3

85 x 1

90 x 5 (3 min rest)

90 x 5 (3 min rest)

90 x 5

PULL UP / MILITARY PRESS SS

MP 47.5 x 5

PU x 5 (1 min rest)

MP 47.5 x 5

PU x 5 (1 min rest)

MP 47.5 x 5

PU x 5

Ab Wheel Roll x 8

Thoughts: everything went well; hoping the military pressing combined with pull ups will help build up the shoulder endurance for when I start getting into decent weights again. I lost a bit of explosiveness in the final power clean.

[Snatchy McClean]

31-5-11

BENCH PRESS

40 x 5

60 x 3

65 x 2

75 x 5 (2 min rest)

77.5 x 3 (3 min rest)

80 x 3 (3 min rest)

82.5 x 2 (4 min rest)

85 x 1

BENTOVER DUMBBELL ROW

30 x 6

30 x 6

note: I separated out benching from everything else as I don't really like doing it so don't want it to mess with my other lifts, but my ego hates my weak bench. So giving it a separate day seemed logical, plus it's a nice quick session haha.

[poos_n_wees]

Rotator cuff injuries suck bigtime.. I've had one in the past and it can get so fricken frustrating.

My previous maxes are 85kg power clean, 170kg deadlift, 95kg x 5 front squat, 110kg bench, 57.5kg x 3 standing overhead press.

Nice! :twisted:

Good luck with this Jay, will be keeping tabs :grin:

[Snatchy McClean]

^ cheers!

3-6-11

DEADLIFT (CONVENTIONAL)

50 x 5

75 x 3

100 x 3

125 x 2

140 x 1

150 x 1

160 x 1

170 x 1 (switched to mixed grip for this lift, overhand hook for all previous)

182.5 x 1 (new PB and first ever 400lb lift )

PUSH PRESS

50 x 3

55 x 1

65 x 2 (3 mins rest)

65 x 2 (3 mins rest)

65 x 2 (3 mins rest)

65 x 2

PULL UP (bodyweight)

x 5 (90s rest)

x 5 (90s rest)

x 5

Ab Wheel Roll

x 8

thoughts: New personal best on deadlift (up from 170kgs) on only my second session deadlifting in 2 months, rapt as. I usually start with Push Press but felt kind of strong (by my standard ha) so had a go and it went great. Videoed it and form was excellent - was going to try for 190 but felt a slight twinge in my hammy.

[Snatchy McClean]

5-6-11

POWER CLEAN

57.5 x 5 (1 min rest)

62.5 x 5 (1 min rest)

65 x 5 (1 min rest) ...had one rep hit my knee on the way up, argh.

67.5 x 1

70 x 1

72.5 x 1

75 x 1

77.5 x 1

FRONT SQUAT

50 x 5

75 x 3

85 x 1

95 x 3+2 (shoulder did something weird so I dropped then re-set) (3 mins rest)

95 x 5 (3 mins rest)

95 x 5

MILITARY PRESS / PULL UP SS

MP 50 x 5

PU x 5 (1 min rest)

MP 50 x 5

PU x 5 (1 min rest)

MP 50 x 5

PU x 5

AB WHEEL ROLL x 8

...felt pretty good. The squats were awesome apart from a pinching kind of feeling slightly to the right below my neck. After re-setting the bar to right against my throat this went away. Power cleans were sweet apart from one knee knock. Military press starting to get tough again - hopefully feel stronger next week.

[Snatchy McClean]

...oh and I got re-caliper'd the other day and actually at 12% body fat and 92kgs. Not that it means much to me, but nice to see progress since pre-christmas which had me at 15% gut and 87kgs.

I've been slack with cardio lately though, should really put more effort into it.

[poos_n_wees]

...oh and I got re-caliper'd the other day and actually at 12% body fat and 92kgs. Not that it means much to me, but nice to see progress since pre-christmas which had me at 15% gut and 87kgs.

Awesome.. Your hard work is paying off! No doubt you must be seeing the changes in the mirror and the way your clothes fit too?

DEADLIFT (CONVENTIONAL)

50 x 5

75 x 3

100 x 3

125 x 2

140 x 1

150 x 1

160 x 1

170 x 1 (switched to mixed grip for this lift, overhand hook for all previous)

182.5 x 1 (new PB and first ever 400lb lift )

\:D/

Wheres the vid of the push press?

[Snatchy McClean]

...oh and I got re-caliper'd the other day and actually at 12% body fat and 92kgs. Not that it means much to me, but nice to see progress since pre-christmas which had me at 15% gut and 87kgs.

Awesome.. Your hard work is paying off! No doubt you must be seeing the changes in the mirror and the way your clothes fit too?

DEADLIFT (CONVENTIONAL)

50 x 5

75 x 3

100 x 3

125 x 2

140 x 1

150 x 1

160 x 1

170 x 1 (switched to mixed grip for this lift, overhand hook for all previous)

182.5 x 1 (new PB and first ever 400lb lift )

\:D/

Wheres the vid of the push press?

Cheers!

To cut a long story long, the body fat is a funny one. When I very first started training I was 75kgs and lean as.

After a couple of years training (not always overly logical routines though - ie 4 months of exercising the upper body ONLY for example haha) I was a lot more "filled out" but after reviewing FB photos of me at the beach (damn tagging), realised I'd also piled on a fair bit of fat. And 2 pant sizes from 82-86+... Calipering confirmed this.

I reviewed my diet (previously just counted protein and ignored the rest) and dropped my shitty supermarket protein powder and spaced my meals a bit better.

I now seem to be getting back to a lean look and have also gone back to 84 in pants, though my thighs have beefed up loads from front squatting and cleans so I now wear loose Dickies instead of jeans ha.

...Will hit up my flatmate to video my next push presses! Love that lift aye. One day hopefully I will be man enough to strict press the same amount :pray:

[Old Bull]

DEADLIFT (CONVENTIONAL)

182.5 x 1 (new PB and first ever 400lb lift )

Nice PB SM, :clap: :clap:

Like you Monday workout's too good effort. :clap: :clap:

OB1

[Snatchy McClean]

DEADLIFT (CONVENTIONAL)

182.5 x 1 (new PB and first ever 400lb lift )

Nice PB SM, :clap: :clap:

Like you Monday workout's too good effort. :clap: :clap:

OB1

Cheers! Was pretty stoked to get past that little milestone. I imagine the pathway to 500lb could be a bit longer though...

Yeah I find the Power clean / front squat are very complimentary. My Thursday workout could probably use a bit of tweaking but I'm trying my best to not change things up for a while as that usually makes me lose focus.

7-6-11

BENCH PRESS

40 x 5

60 x 3

65 x 2

77.5 x 5 (2 min rest)

80 x 3 (3 min rest)

82.5 x 3 (3 min rest)

85 x 2

BENTOVER DUMBBELL ROW

30 x 7

30 x 7

...felt decent today, was a bit fried from 2 games of indoor prior to doing weights though. Hence why I have my least favourite lift hidden away on its own day

...my active recovery days on Monday and Friday are probably the smartest addition I ever made to my regime. Completely nail the DOMS and make me feel quite energetic.

[PeterDolan]

Explosive strength is quite a rare goal (or atleast rarely mentionted), why is it yours?

Good to see another serious log mate

[Snatchy McClean]

Explosive strength is quite a rare goal (or atleast rarely mentionted), why is it yours?

Good to see another serious log mate

Hi Peter. A number of reasons.

I've always been fast-twitch oriented (ie I hate any endurance sport hah) so naturally gravitate towards more explosive sports - was a pretty good track (sprints) and field athlete when I was younger; I currently play as a goalie for a number of social teams.

I'm ultra competitive so I try to gear my training to be useful for my sport. I haven't any ambitions to get massive or compete in strength sports. I'm a big rugby league fan and think the power the trainers create in their athletes is simply amazing - my "ideal state" would be that of a pro NRL second rower/centre. Also I obviously love the olympic movements and their derivatives.

Cheers and hope the novel explains my goals

...had a read of your journal; your strength is impressive! I don't have the mana for doing epic volume like some of you guys haha.

[steak]

Good job on your Deadlift SMC :clap:

[PeterDolan]

Haha yeah the novel explained it well. Keep working hard mate

[Snatchy McClean]

Today is fairly miserable after a disjointed sleep thanks to loud flatmates. Anyone keen to provide an alibi if I “vanish” them?

10-6-11

PUSH PRESS (2-3 min rests)

50 x 3

60 x 1

67.5 x 2

67.5 x 3

67.5 x 2

67.5 x 3

67.5 x 2

CLEAN HIGH PULL (2-3 min rests)

70 x 3

80 x 3

85 x 3

90 x 3

OLYMPIC GOOD MORNING (45 degree bend; up and explode to toes)

20 x 10

50 x 5

60 x 8

ARNOLD PRESS (I do quite a lot of these, don't usually bother listing assistance stuff though)

12 x 8

12 x 8

HANGING PIKE

x 5

x 5

x 5

notes:

I’m deadlifting 2 week on, 2 weeks off. This week is off so I replaced them with high pulls and oly gms.

Push presses felt great – though I videoed them (will post when I work out how) and can see a somewhat uneven press out, with my injured (mostly recovered) shoulder being the slow one of course. This is just aesthetic but hopefully it vanishes with time. Any suggestions??The 90kg high pulls were coming easily high enough for a power clean catch – I didn’t attempt any catches though. Probably require a bit more speed under the bar.

Hadn’t tried the Oly GMs before – they were weird but kind of cool.

Hanging pikes another new one – was impressed by how hard they are haha.

Another point: was reviewing my deadlifts from the other day and though my back stays nice and flat, my hips are rising fast on the pull, leading to more of a SLDL. I don’t get any lower back pain; have a fairly strong core, but I assume this is inefficient and probably means I could lift more with better form. Does anyone have any coaching cues for keeping the hips down???

[Big john]

nice work mate :clap:

[drizzt]

Nice work SMC :nod: Sorry if you've mentioned, but where in Wellington do you train?

though I videoed them (will post when I work out how)

Upload it to Youtube (or similar - vimeo I think is another one), then chuck the link to it into the video tags like I've done in the example below.

[video]http://www.yourvideolinkhere.com/[/video]

but I assume this is inefficient and probably means I could lift more with better form. Does anyone have any coaching cues for keeping the hips down???

Not always a bad thing, but think about sitting back and dragging the bar up your shins.

[Snatchy McClean]

Nice work SMC :nod: Sorry if you've mentioned, but where in Wellington do you train?

though I videoed them (will post when I work out how)

Upload it to Youtube (or similar - vimeo I think is another one), then chuck the link to it into the video tags like I've done in the example below.

[video]http://www.yourvideolinkhere.com/[/video]

but I assume this is inefficient and probably means I could lift more with better form. Does anyone have any coaching cues for keeping the hips down???

Not always a bad thing, but think about sitting back and dragging the bar up your shins.

*Awesome, thanks for the pointer on video posting. Will sort it out after work.

*I mostly train at home; have a platform + decent oly bar and loads of bumpers + cheap rack in my basement. What I do lack is a power rack. I go to Massey (study part time) BPM gym to do cardio and box jumps from time to time.

*Hmm, I will post deadlift video and see what people think of my form anyway. I only oly front squat for legs; no back squatting, could this impact my deadlifting? I don't think it should, not at my light weights anyway.

cheers

[Snatchy McClean]

nice work mate :clap:

cheers man, love the quote!

[Snatchy McClean]

12-6-11

POWER CLEAN (1-2 min rests)

60 x 5

65 x 5

67.5 x 5

70 x 1

72.5 x1

75 x 1

77.5 x 1

80 x 1

OLYMPIC FRONT SQUAT (3 min rests for working sets)

50 x 5

77.5 x 3

90 x 1

97.5 x 5

97.5 x 5

97.5 x 5 (PB for reps)

MILITARY PRESS / PULL UP SS

MP 52.5 x 5

PU x 5 (1 min rest)

MP 52.5 x 5

PU x 5 (1 min rest)

MP 52.5 x 5

PU x 5 (1 min rest)

notes: was totally fried at the end of this workout.

Power clean form felt pretty good; I need to work on my jump and speed under the bar. I'm catching with pretty much no dip, which means with a bit more speed I could clean a lot more.

Front squats were fantastic; there were a couple of "pause and breathe for 2 seconds" moments, but all were full mechanical depth and felt strong.

MP / PU supersets going nicely.

I'm at week 4 of my post-rehab routine and have hit my 6-8 week targets for front squat and deadlift and pretty close for power cleans.

Military press is slowing - the last set yesterday was hard work. Bench press is still pitiful, but who cares about benching anway .

[Snatchy McClean]

Right, had a 7 day break for exam week, which was fairly miserable. But back into it last night, refreshed and mentally destroyed haha.

I had to re-arrange my workout days a bit because I didn't want to miss any sessions.

19/6/11

PUSH PRESS (2 min rests)

50 x 3

60 x 1

65 x 1

70 x 2

70 x 2

70 x 2

70 x 3

70 x 3

HIGH PULL (1 min rests - ugh)

60 x 3

70 x 3

80 x 3

85 x 3

90 x 3

95 x 3

100 x 3

BENCH PRESS (big rest times)

40 x 5

60 x 3

70 x 1

80 x 5

82.5 x 3

85 x 3

87.5 x 2

90 x 1

BARBELL ROW (2 min rest)

70 x 8

75 x 8

HANGING PIKE (1 min rest)

x 5

x 5

x 5

notes:

This workout went really well.

I've been getting exertion headaches every Monday, so I took a glucose pill prior to the workout and also drank Loaded during it to keep my blood sugar levels up. This really helped me stay fresh throughout and not have a neural dive afterwards.

Push presses were fantastic. High pulls were solid until the last set where I lost a bit of speed. But I still was pulling the bar high enough for a power clean catch - feeling quite positive about this at the moment.

Hanging Pikes continue to be very miserable - feel like I've been stretched on the rack afterwards.

Was a nice way to cheer up after the Warriors ruined my weekend. :evil:

[Snatchy McClean]

Don’t usually post my recovery workouts which I do after most workout days, but I’m bored today…

21/6/11

Bodyweight / light weighted circuit:

1. 60 star jumps

2. 20 spider push ups

3. 20 walking lunges

4. 20 hindu squats

5. 20 dumbbell Arnold presses (10 of each variety)

6. 15 reverse pull-ups (lying under bar)

7. 5 burpees

8. 50 high knees

1 minute to catch my breath then repeat for a total of 2 – 3 circuits.

I do a few different circuits similar to this one. They don't tax your muscles much but really get the blood flowing and help avoid DOMS; I feel nice and energised afterwards.

[Snatchy McClean]

23/6/11

POWER CLEAN (1-2 min rests)

60 x 5

65 x 5

70 x 5

72.5 x 1

75 x 1

77.5 x 1

80 x 1

82.5 x 1

FRONT SQUAT (2 min rests)

50 x 5

77.5 x 3

90 x 5

95 x 4

100 x 3

105 x 2 (90% of max)

MILITARY PRESS (2 min rests)

40 x 3

47.5 x 2

55 x 5

55 x 5

55 x 5

PULL UP (1 min rests)

x 5

x 5

x 5

notes:

Power clean: Missed the 82.5 twice before landing it. Checked the videos and I was just failing to get under the bar fast enough. Almost all my power cleans are caught with pretty much no dip. I really have to work on the drop and catch – pretty sure that with better catch I could make over 100kg power clean. Maybe I need some coaching.

Front Squats: Built up to 90% of my previous max, feeling pretty good. With a couple of weeks to run on this routine I feel I will be PBing at the end of it.

Press:Pretty solid, last set was hard as. Dropped the super sets and just did pull ups afterwards because after last week I knew I wouldn’t get them both together.

...I must upload some videos so people can criticise me haha.

[Snatchy McClean]

26/06/11

Push Press (2-3 mins rest)

50 x 3

60 x 1

65 x 1

72.5 x 2

72.5 x 2

72.5 x 2

72.5 x 3

72.5 x 3

High Pull (2 mins rest)

60 x 3

70 x 3

80 x 3

90 x 3

95 x 3

100 x 3

Bench Press (long rests)

40 x 5

60 x 3

70 x 1

82.5 x 5

85 x 3

87.5 x 3

90 x 2

Barbell Row (90s rest)

70 x 8

70 x 8

Hanging Pike (90s rest)

x 5

x 5

x 5

Notes:

Happy with Push Presses. Keeping the weight increasing every week and not feeling like I’m nearing a stall. I haven't been lifting my feet at all, just quarter squat leg drive and press from 1/2 to 3/4 of the lift with a short hold at the top.

High Pulls decent until 95 and 100kg sets where I lack explosiveness.

Bench Press felt great. Concentrating on my form and a solid pause at the chest.

Barbell Rows were weak.