TFB - to Nationals and Beyond!

[teamfatboy]

Wednesday 29 May

Sheiko #29, Week 4, Day 2 - well, kinda

Bench

[Warm-up]

1x 5x 65, 1x 4x 75, 1x 3x 85, 2x 3x 90 (mis-read template, doh!), 2x 3x 100, and then the wheels came off... should have been doubles at 107.5 but could only grind out singles... but hey, 4 singles will do.

Finished off with 3x 3x 90 for back-off...

Deads

1x 5x 100, 1x 5x 120, 1x 3x 140, 2x 3x 160... all no-belt.

The 160s went up well, although I did find, like Jim Wendler says in his book, the second and third are always better, still haven't quite mastered the set-up. Should have carried on up to 190, but with no belt, and a lumbar niggle, I figured to call-time. I can always deadlift again tomorrow....

[teamfatboy]

Monday 3 June

Sheiko #29, Week 1, Day 1, Part 1

I have GOT to get better at scheduling, and bring an iPod.... first, to ensure I can complete WoDs as programmed, and secondly, to avoid talking....

Squats

Warm-up 1x 5x 60, 1x 5x 100

1x 5x 120, 2x 5x 140, 5x 5x 160.....

And bench will come tomorrow, honest....but since this four-weeker is to firm up 1RM and then build for the 5week run to NZPF Nationals, I'm not unduly concerned. The 160s were "70%" so I'm reasonably content that there's some gains to be had... if I can remember to sink my third competition lift this time, and not pull it high like i was in Shinyland.

But I've been talking up the sport, got at least three guys from CF Thorndon who're interested in coming along to next weekend's Novice comp for a look-see.

[teamfatboy]

Monday 10 June

Sheiko #29, Week 2, Day 1

Squats

[warm-up 1x 5x 60, 1x 5x 100]

1x 5x 120, 1x 4x 140, 2x 3x 160, 5x 2x 180 - belt and sleeves for the 160s upwards. 180s felt good, second rep always feels heinous... but a total squattage of 3920 kg.

Bench

Grr - the chest-and-arms brigade were hogging the benches at Shinyland, so did token DB bench. :x

1x 5x 25s, 1x 5x 30s, 1x 5x 35s then the clock ran down... accessory work at home.

[teamfatboy]

Wednesday 12 June

Sheiko #29, Week 2, Day 2

Paused deads

[warm-up 1x 10x 60, 1x 5x 100]

1x 5x 120, 1x 4x 140, 2x 3x 160, 4x 2x 170 - nice and light today.... belt for the 160s up.

Bench

[Warm-up 1x 10x 40]

1x 6x 65, 2x 6x 75, 4x 6x 85 - more volume than I'd done in a while

but it went well.

Flies

5x 10x 20s - nice

Should have thrown in rack-pulls, but for once all four racks and the cage were in legitimate use...

Caught up with Leti - who was smoothly squatting 200s no belt, no nothing... man's a machine! (at least til his trackies tore... )

that is all

[teamfatboy]

Tuesday 18th June

Sheiko #29, Week 3, Day 2

Deficit Deads

1x 10x 60, 1x 5x 100 to warm-up then

2x 3x 120, 2x 3x 140, 4x 3x 160

Done with feet on four rubber floor tiles, bar just grazing the strap on the shoes. Felt like touching my toes....

Belt for the 160s, they felt pretty good, although I tweaked a lumbar (or something in that area) on the last rep of set 3...

Bench

1x 10x 40, 1x 5x 60 to warm-up then

1x 5x 65, 1x 4x 75, 2x 3x 90, 3x 2x 100, 2x 2x 107, 2x 3x 100

Reasonably happy with those - the doubles at 107.5 were good, although spotter had a finger under the bar for the last rep of the second set... but when I consider my competition PB is 115, that's not too shabby.

Plan called for some rack pulls to finish, but the lumbar niggle suggested a tactical retreat... they'll be there another day.

[teamfatboy]

Thursday 20 June

Jeepers I can be a muppet sometimes....

So, i torked something in the lumbar spine, or possibly the attachment of a hip flexor, on Tuesday while deadlifting.  

Fortuitously, there's a very good massage therapist who comes to our building every second Wednesday, and yesterday was her day. She worked miracles, and I almost felt human.... too human.

Tonight, after some press work, some more deadlifts.

The 100s felt good, the 120s felt good, even the 140s felt good, but on the second rep of the first set of 160s... booyah! instant muscle spasm....

Thanks to TMQ for the very good advice to hit the muscle fast with a roller. I ended up lying on top of a small medicine ball, which eased the spasm enough.

Didn't stop me benching, though. 10 at 50, then 5s at 65, 75, 80, 85, 90 and 90.

And now, to go roll it some more... a lacrosse ball should be about the right size and hardness...

[teamfatboy]

Monday 24 June

Sheiko #29, Week 4, Day 1

Squats

[warmups 1x 5x 60, 1x 5x 100]

1x 5x 120, 1x 4x 140, 2x 3x 160, 5x 3x 160

Bench

[warmups 1x 5x 60, 1x yell at the kids trying to nick plates off the bar]

1x 5x 70, 1x 5x 82.5, 5x 4x 95.

Squats - was still nursing the back, so belted up from the 140s, which went OK, added sleeves for the 160s. The five-set should have been 180, but was not feeling it, so opted to scale back (180 is 80% of target, 160 is 80% of current 1RM).

Bench - went better than I expected. The weights were scaled off the target 1RM, not my current 1RM, so to complete all five sets without getting stapled was a good result.  

[teamfatboy]

Wednesday 26 June

Sheiko #29, Week 4, Day 3 - yes out of order, didn't want to hit the deadlifts just yet.

Squats

[Warm-up 1x 10x 60, 1x 5x 100]

1x 5x 120, 1x 4x 120, 2x 3x 160, 5x 3x 180

Token micro-bench

1x 5x 60, 1x 5x 70, 1x 5x 80, 1x 5x 85 and 1x 5x 90

Done... back handled the squats well enough, and I'm back to the top sets being 80% of goal 1RM, which is higher than comp 1RM, so I hoping that I can continue to handle it for another five weeks... 

Bench was abbreviated, had to cut and run and abandon TMQ to it... but he carried on and had a good hit-out, so that's OK  

[teamfatboy]

Friday 28 June

Sheiko #29, Week 4, day 2

Bench - a little bench'll do ya

[warm-up 1x 10x 40]

1x 5x 65, 1x 4x 75, 2x 3x 90, 2x 3x 100, 3x 2x 107.5

More Bench

1x 5x 65, 1x 5x 75, 4x 5x 90

This was supposed to be bench-deadlift-bench, but I'm taking no chances with my back after last week's brain-explosion so just whipped the deads out...

Happy with Bench - considering that my best lift at CDs was 110 and my all-time PB is 115, two good doubles and a solid 1+1 at 107.5 is worth taking. 

Five-week Sheiko Comp programme starts next week... time to rock-n-roll 

[teamfatboy]

Tuesday 02 July

Sheiko 5-week Comp, Catch-up day

Squats

After a brief warm-up to get some heat into the ancient kneezles...

A couple of triples at 160, a couple of doubles at 180, and some gym-squats at 190... wasn't feeling it today, but more on that anon...

Bench

1x 10x 60, 1x 5x 70, 1x 5x 80, 1x 3 (I think) at 90, 2x 3x 95, 1x 2x 100, and 1x 1.5x 110.... one good rep, one stalled at the usual point.

Walk-outs, knee-breaks or partials

1x 5x 200 - pins too high, dropped them, giving about a 30cm ROM

1x 5x 220, 1x 3x 240, and a 10-second hold at 260 (waiting for a 'Squat' command I hope would never come... 'cos I'd never have stood up again. But one day, it too shall fall :gun: ). Felt reasonably confident at the 220s, the 240s, well I could walk them out OK, but the 260, well, I salute those who can.

Only later did I remember that I'd done a boxing class in the morning.. that might explain a few things :doh: Gotta pay more attention for the next five weeks! 

[teamfatboy]

Tuesday 30 July.

Having flown under the radar most of the month, just trucking along with my favorite Sheiko 5-week competition programme, Nationals are only 3 days away (well, four for me 'cos I'm on Sunday).

Pretty much picked my openers, nice and safe... second-lifts are pretty clear in my mind too, and thirds, well that's always a lottery.

Lifting with the equipped guys, I'm just hoping I can pick up a place on last year... but the main focus will be on getting ready for the Classic Champs in Christchurch at the end of September, and maybe qualifying for the Oceanias in Auckland.  

Good luck to everyone who's travelling to Wellington, and white lights all!

[teamfatboy]

Sunday 03 August

2013 NZPF Nationals, at The Powerhouse.

What an awesome day... so much strength on display!  [not a lot of it mine, I hasten to add]

Ended up in SHW, cos of too many pies, but can fix that for the Classic Championships... so decided to use it as a tester. 

Squats - opened on 190 after seeing a lot of people getting pinged for depth, wanted to make sure of the first lift... easy. Second at 200 was good, but my third at 210, I cut about a cm high, so two reds.  The Doc from Powerhouse reckons there's some assymetry going on which causes me to drop one hip more than the other, so there may be some panel-beating done!  For all that, the 210 felt good and strong, just got to back myself a little more...

Bench - opened on 100, flew up, second was 115, an equal PB, but third stalled a little, missed it. It was 122.5, if I'd been less cocky I'd probably have got 200. 

Deads - opened on 190 to post a total, it flew up, so jumped to 210, equal PB and good and strong.  Put my attempt in at 215 but after some wise words from my training partner and others, upped it to 220, and it came up sweetly for a 10kg PB. Total of 535 might be an equal PB, or even an 5kg new pb.... but I'm happy.

From here, onward to Christchurch, where I want to improve significantly and qualify for Raw Oceanias in December.  

Lots of awesome folk in the flight today - including great folks from Auckland, Christchurch, WBOP.  Huge numbers being moved... Inspirational.  

[Pseudonym]

A belated congratulations on your lifts, TFB.

Goals - got myself a three-tier plan:

a. top goal and gold-medal standard is 575kg - 225kg each in Squat and Deadlift, 125 in bench - why? Psychologically, there's something about a bar full of red plates - four/side for the big lifts, two reds/side for bench. No little biscuits, just red plates and the bar - oh, and it's also the black standard for 105s, which I could reach with attention to diet;

I just found this ^ at the beginning of your log, mate. It's not looking that far away...

[teamfatboy]

A belated congratulations on your lifts, TFB.

Goals - got myself a three-tier plan:

a. top goal and gold-medal standard is 575kg - 225kg each in Squat and Deadlift, 125 in bench - why? Psychologically, there's something about a bar full of red plates - four/side for the big lifts, two reds/side for bench. No little biscuits, just red plates and the bar - oh, and it's also the black standard for 105s, which I could reach with attention to diet;

I just found this ^ at the beginning of your log, mate. It's not looking that far away...

And an even more belated 'Cheers' back

I'd completely forgotten I'd written that... 

It's now three weeks out from the Classic Champs in Christchurch, and I'm thinking about my approach.  My training partner threw down the gauntlet after the NZPF Nationals, where I hit 535, he's challenged me to hit his raw PB of 560.  The way things are going, I'll probably come damn close.. 

My goals for Christchurch:

a. first, qualify for Oceanias - just the chance to compete would be epic. So, no missing with the openers.  Qualifying standard for a geezer like me is 455kg (NZPF "Brown" standard);

b. secondly, hit 560 to keep training partner quite *dirol* and

c. hit at least one of those three *25 totals...

Oh, and now I'm wiser about things powerlifting, my "gold standard" is the gym one of eg five 20s/ side etc... the actual NZPF gold standard is 680, which is a ways off  

 

[teamfatboy]

Tuesday 10 Sept

Cardio
Should have done my Tabata last night, but was flatter than a very flat thing... so for penance, instead of 15m of Tabata, did boxing class...ow

Sheiko 5 week comp, Week 3, day 1

Squats
Warm-ups to 160, then
Working sets - 2 doubles at 170, 2 doubles at 180...the taper has begun

Bench
Warm-ups to 90 then
Working sets - three triples at 100, a single at 110. Fought the single to 3/4 height, then had to rack it one hook down from lock-out... - but since it's close to my actual PB, and the boxing had given pecs a good hammering, I'll take it.

All good - will be minding my form on Thursday for deadlifts though... I was reminded by the person in the rack next to me - I think probably a sports-medicine student, who was deadlifting, and it was clear to see hips coming up first, then back... that's what does me in...

[teamfatboy]

Sunday 22 September

One week out from the Classic Championships down in Christchurch - training's been trucking along nicely, managing to avoid aggravating the back injury, just being cautious.  

Goal's to hit the Oceania qualifying total on the openers, which should be do-able... but after openers, however, the caution has to go out the window....

Training partner threw down one challenge - beat his best raw total, and now RunVeeRun's challenged me to a double-BW deadlift at the BBro, so I need to get close to that at Christchurch, cos BBro is only six weeks after that. 

[teamfatboy]

Tuesday 24 September

Cardio
Boxing class... that'll get the heart-rate up.

Later on in the day....

Tuesday 24 September

Sheiko Five-week Comp, Week 5, Day 1

Deadlifts
Warm-ups at 60, 100, 125, then
Working sets - two triples at 140, two doubles at 160, one double at 170

Bench
Warm-ups at 70, 80 then
Working sets - four triples at 100kg.

Doneski...

[teamfatboy]

Sunday 29 September

NZPF Classic Championships

Squats
190 -rrr sat back too far, lost it (thanks, spotters)
195 -wwr - depth
205 -rrr - depth

Bench
100 -www, but lucky not to have been called on a bounce on the chest that HJP and Marie (who wasn't judging) both spotted
115 -rrr stalled in the usual space
115 -rrr this one was kinda hunky. I reckon I got the call to press before I'd touched, so rushed it, got off-line and stalled.

Deadlifts
190 -www
212.5 -www
220 -www
Finally, three good lifts in a row!

Diagnosis: squats was about both head-work and prep. I forgot how easy I normally do a 190, over-though it, and got off-track.  I sat too far back, the weight of the bar wend behind the heels and I lost balance, spotters made a good catch.   Got it back for the second, but then pulled the last one high.

Bench, the conservative opener nearly cost me: I know that HJP and a non-working ref both saw a bounce, but the three working refs didn't. Just as well, because that was the only good 'un. First attempt at 115 was power thru the transition, it came up ok but stuck. The second -well, I let calls confuse me, my fault.

Deadlifts - opened conservative in case there wasn't much left, but took confidence from an easy 190, equalled the standard with second, and equal PB with third. I thought about 225 or 227.5 - they "might" have been there, but by then the tank was about empty.

Performance against goals: I had set myself three goals for this champs:
1. Qualify in U120 (455 for Oceanias, 510 for Commonwealth);
2. Beat a couple of NZ M2/U120 records (which were standards); and
3. Break 550.

1. Achieved, although Commonwealths barely;
2. Achieved, kinda. Equalled the squat (195) and took the deadlift (220 beats 212.5);
3. Nope, no way. With squat down at least 15, bench likewise, that goal is still ahead of me.

Lessons learned: I think I left the cut too late - from mid 120s after Nationals to weigh in at 117.35 left me with no time to build energy, and I think I was under-hydrated, which affected my mental energy. These are things I can fix. I need more time under heavy squats - off the pins in the cage if I have to; and bench - well, it's as weak as it always was. Will get more expert help -Pere was generous but I didn't have time to apply his advice.

So, a weekend of mixed results, but probably one I needed to help me think about the strategic picture -and the goal for December, if I'm accepted for the team.

The event - the spotters and others worked hard, the field was huge and high quality, and the Green Machine whanau was awesome as always.

[Monarchking]

nice work on the records. you looked like you were thriving in the enviroment

I didnt see your bench, but i think it was the 105s I was wartchign and thinking "man thats gota be red" but hey, some epic displays of strength over the weekend!

the feed was good too.

[teamfatboy]

nice work on the records. you looked like you were thriving in the enviroment

I didnt see your bench, but i think it was the 105s I was wartchign and thinking "man thats gota be red" but hey, some epic displays of strength over the weekend!

the feed was good too.

Yep, it was a great environment - bet you wish you'd been able to have a crack, but it was good to meet you, and Abby did awesome... 

My bench... has always sucked, but that just means it can only improve *dash1* - and judging is what it is.... 

Yep, good feed, certainly very few vegetables were harmed in the making of it!  

[teamfatboy]

Entry forms for Oceanias/ Commonwealths posted on Wednesday... so now we wait...

[teamfatboy]

and the wait was worth it - had my nomination for Oceanias and Commonwealths accepted.... seven weeks to nail the form, find some strength... sounds easy when you say it quickly!

[Monarchking]

What day you lifting?

[teamfatboy]

What day you lifting?

Sunday morning - raw comes last, should be in the early flight.. goodness I don't want to be in the same flight as the Super heavies and the U120 open guys... 

[Pseudonym]

and the wait was worth it - had my nomination for Oceanias and Commonwealths accepted.... seven weeks to nail the form, find some strength... sounds easy when you say it quickly!

Awesome!

Have I hassled you to enter our Powerlifting Challenge, TFB? If not, consider yourself hassled. (Win a year's supply of protein, etc, etc...)