Journal of peace

[Riccardo]

Thought I would start a strength journal and keep it separate from my bodybuilding one, looking to compete in both sports next year (will post my contest prep in the other journal) and will most likely do the CAPO comp next year as I had other commitments this year which meant I had to give it a miss.

Will definitely do the deadlift comp in December and will be aiming for around 275/280+ so will log all my progress in training for this comp.

Today I just competed in the University of Auckland comp which was really good, around 30 lifters including 7 women. The lifters were mostly novices and lighter guys but all had respectable lifts (It was a raw plus comp). There were quite a few cool prizes (supplements gym membership etc) and was overall a successful meet.

I will post the last couple weeks worth of workouts before posting a summary of my lifts at the comp today. Until 3 weeks ago I had not really been doing any specific training just a bit of everything really some oly lifts, mixed in with normal bbing style training but going fairly heavy on the major compounds.

PBs up until today

Squat: 205

Bench: 142.5

Deadlift 262.5

Week 1

Squats

High bar back squats

60kg x 10

100 x 5

122 x 5

140 x 5

160 x 8

80 x 15

100 x 10

1 legged leg press

1 pps x 20

3 plates x 15

4 plates x 8

3 plates x 20

Leg extensions

work upto 15 rep max

triple dropset halving the stack each time, AMRAP.

Dumb bell hamstring curls

40kg x 15

40 x 10

40 x 8

Chest Day

Flat barbell bench press

bar x 20

60kg x 10

80 x 5

87 x 5

100 x 5

115 x 5

80 x 12

Incline dumb bell press

35kg x 10

42.5 x 8

50 x 6

Dumb bell flies

15kg x 20

15 x 15

25 x 12

Finished off with some side laterals both mid and rear. French presses for triceps and rope cable push downs as a finisher.

Back day

Speed deads

60kg x 10

100 x 5

140 x 5

180 x 9

200 x 5

200 x 4

220 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1

Pendlay Row

60kg x 15

80 x 10

100 x 6

120 x 5

Lat pull down

3 x 10-20 reps

Seated row

3 x 10-20 reps

Barbell curls

40kg x 10 x 8

25kg x 20

Accessory day

Front squats

40kg x 10

60 x 10

100 x 5

120 x 6

140 x 2

150 x 1

160 x 1

80 x 15

RDLs

60kg x 20

80 x 15

100 x 12

100 x 12

100 x 10

Overhead press

40kg x 15

60 x 10

80 x 8

100 x 5

105 x 5

Will post week 2 soon...

[Riccardo]

Week 2

Can't remember much of the accessory work I did so will just post up the lifts I performed on the main compounds, most of the accessory work is the same as in week 1 anyways.

Squat

60kg x 10

100 x 5

132.5 x 3

150 x 3

170 x 6

100 x 12

100 x 10

120 x 8

Bench

60kg x 10

80 x 5

95 x 3

107.5 x 3

122.5 x 6

Squat

60kg x 10

100 x 5

140 x 5

160 x 3

180 x 5

bench

60kg x 10

80 x 5

100 x 5

115 x 3

130 x 5

140 x 1

UoA powerlifting comp:

Thought my lifts would be pretty average at this meet as I felt I had stagnated somewhat and hadn't been making much progress. Had only completed one cycle of 5/3/1 and wasn't expecting any great numbers or PBs.

Warmed up on the squat and felt good so opened on 200, easy lift. Second attempt 210, easy lift again. Third attempt 220kg, good lift, maybe very slightly high but still passed.

Warmed up on bench and warmed upto 140, was supposed to open on 137.5 but decided to go 140, good lift, came up fast no hassles. 145, same as 140, good lift. 150kg bit of a grind but still came up quite smoothly.

Deadlift, was supposed to open on 240kg, warmed up to 230, felt good, went for 240 and felt good also, lifts were fast even though I had not deadlifted for 2 weeks. Opened on 250, good lift, very quick. jumped 20kg to 270kg. Huge mission to get 270 up, very slow because I locked out my knees a bit too early. Still wasn't gona let it go, good lift.

raw plus division:

Squat 220kg

Bench 150kg

Deadlift 270kg

very pleased.

[tomsammce]

Good lifts mate. f*ck.

[Riccardo]

Cheers bro, forgot to mention weighed in at 94kg, dehydrated heaps a la matt kroczaleski to get my weight down because there are a couple of competitive guys around the same level as me. (Sam and Raveen). Weighed tonight, 97.8kg lololol

[tomsammce]

U going soundcheck u Cheeky c*nt?

[Riccardo]

Nah man unfortunately got a shit tonne of work to do but will catch you at the real thing! :shifty: (no homo)

[tomsammce]

Sweet bro.

[maccaz]

hey bro do you study at uoa? how do you find the gym there? I havent had a look yet was thinking about moving there when my current membership runs out

[Riccardo]

hey bro do you study at uoa? how do you find the gym there? I havent had a look yet was thinking about moving there when my current membership runs out

Yeah man, It gets a lot of shit because it can get quite busy at peak hours and its mostly young guys who don't really know what they are doing and can lack a bit of gym etiquette at times but it's generally a very good gym. Very reasonable membership fees and lots of equipment. It has everything you need plus some cool stuff you don't but wouldn't find at your average gym like camber bars, trap bars, axles, bands, chains, drop plates a good lifting platform etc. Dumb bells go up to 60kg too. Staff can be a little anal but it's no biggie.

[red machine]

strong work mate! looking forward to seeing a big 280 in dec, smash it!!

[bar-belle]

raw plus division:

Squat 220kg

Bench 150kg

Deadlift 270kg

Great lifting :clap: Looking forward to smashing some tin with you at the CAPO comp in December :twisted:

[tinytraps]

Made some massive gains bro, must be the majic that is gillies ave :pfft:

[Riccardo]

Hahaha cheers guys. Yeah having a good training environment definitely helps get your mind straight and does push you. Gillies is awesome in that respect. Everyone in there is on the same buzz, it's a good atmosphere.

[AZIDE]

.

[Riccardo]

Cheers man!

Had a good few days off training to let the nervous system recover. Developed a bit of lateral epicondylitis as I usually do after a meet for whatever reason so was good to give the elbows a rest too. The last few days I have been in the gym getting into the swing of it again, nothing really heavy of note but did some overhead pressing working up to 80kg x 6 followed by some lateral raises. Also did some back the next day went decently heavy on barbell rows:

60kg x 10

80kg x 10

80kg x 10

120kg x 8

60kg x 20

Followed that up with some pull downs and seated rows, also jammed some of the hammerstrength machines to get some blood moving but nothing real heavy.

Today did some front squatting, didn't go too hardout on the legs but got in some decent volume:

Front squats

40kg x 10

70 x 10

110 x 5

130 x 5

150 x 3

110 x 10

110 x 8

110 x 6

70 x 15

Leg extensions

4 sets between 10-25 reps, starting at the upper end of that range and adding weight each set till I was only getting out 10 reps.

Been doing a bit of boxing and cardio as general conditioning work this week as well, will get back into my proper programming in the next couple of days.

[bar-belle]

Developed a bit of lateral epicondylitis as I usually do after a meet for whatever reason so was good to give the elbows a rest too.

Have you tried band pressdowns for the elbows as a prehab/rehab? We do it religiously after a bench session or more often if the elbow pain is flaring up (esp after heavy benching). You need to do them for a few weeks consistently but it really helps. Just my 10c worth :grin: Painful elbows can be a real bastard

[Riccardo]

Chest/Delts/Tris

Warmed up with some shoulder dislocations and dynamic stretching as they felt a bit stiff and it was cold. I typically start off a training cycle with a decent amount of volume and high reps before things start getting heavier and getting into triples/singles over the course of a few weeks. Got a decent amount of assistance volume in today, trying to put on a bit of weight too, wanna be the top end of 100kg class for next year.

Bench Press

Bar x 10

60kg x 10

80 x 5

100 x 5

117.5 x 10

80 x 20

Incline Dumb bell press

36kg x 10

40 x 8

46 x 8

Fatigued as from the set of 20 on the bench.

Flies

Stayed fairly light and did 3 sets between 10-20 reps just to move some blood around.

Klokov press

Bar x 5

40kg x 5

40 x 10

40 x 11

40 x 8

Side Laterals

12kg x 10

14 x 12

16 x 10

JM Press

Bar x 10

40kg x 8

40kg x 9

First time I had done these so didn't want to go too heavy considering my elbows have been giving me grief but it felt good and will definitely make these a regular assistance exercise. Didn't do anything else for tris as I wanna ease them back into a bit more volume.

Have you tried band press downs for the elbows as a prehab/rehab? We do it religiously after a bench session or more often if the elbow pain is flaring up (esp after heavy benching). You need to do them for a few weeks consistently but it really helps. Just my 10c worth :grin: Painful elbows can be a real bastard

Definitely a pain in the arse! Will give these a go after my bench sessions from now on. Have you tried wrapping the elbows with knee wraps and flexing your arm? Someone told me that this also helps relieve the pain a bit?

[Riccardo]

Legs

First back squat session since the comp so nothing too heavy, just getting in a solid session

Squats

60kg x 10

100 x 5

140 x 5

160 x 5

180 x 5

100 x 15

Leg extensions

4 sets of 10-25

1 legged leg press

2 plates x 20

3 plates x 15

4 plates x 9

Back day.

No dead lifts today, working on a few other bits an pieces, mostly accessory type work,

Pendlay rows

60kg x 15

80kg x 10

100kg x 12

Kroc rows

36kg x 10

42 x 10

44 x 10

50 x 20

Lat pulldowns

4 sets of 8-12

Seated row

4 sets of 8-12

[Riccardo]

Chest day today, had a bit of a weird experience in the gym so I couldn't do the workout that I had planned and spent half the session in a daze. I took half a serving of that x-speed pre-workout. Its absolute shite. I'm usually very tolerant to any kind of stimulants and I dunno what it was but this stuff made me feel like an absolute space cadet. My training partner took some as well and suffered the same fate as me, felt really spaced out, light headed, dizzy/disorientated. Shit was horrible. Maybe we just had a bad batch or something? Regardless, I would advise people against purchasing it. Any way onto what I was able to manage to do in the gym before nearly passing out.

Bench Press

Bar x 20

60kg x 10

80 x 5

100 x 13

100 x 12

110 x 10

70 x 20

Hammer strength machine press

1 plate x 10

2 plates x 10

2 plates x 8

Incline Dumb bell flies

16kg x 15

20 x 12

26 x 10

Cable push downs

3 sets of 10-30

JM press

bar x 10

40kg x 10

40kg x 10

Was annoyed that I had such a bad reaction to that pre-workout because I had a day of heavy triples planned for bench but couldn't manage it as I was just all over the place, so the workout ended up with a lot of sets in the 10+ rep range with light weights. Will pick up from where I left off next week.

[Riccardo]

Legs

Front squats

40kg x 10

60kg x 10

80 x 5

100 x 5

120 x 10

140 x 6

80 x 10

Leg extensions

4 sets of 8-20 Increased the weight each set and reduced reps

One legged leg press

2 plates x 15

3 plates x 10

4 plates x 8

RDLS

70kg x 15

100 x 10

120 x 6

Front squats felt good, reps were all fairly easy. Been trying to lay down a good foundation over the past couple weeks and will pick up the intensity in the next week or so. Surprising how long it takes you to get back into things after a meet!

[Phedder]

Solid training going on in here and wicked results from the comp :clap: Jelly of those front squats.

[Riccardo]

Quick update on what I've been up to over the past couple weeks. Been busy with study so haven't had time to update but still been trying to keep up in the gym. Back into it this week though will continue to log the rest of my lifts starting today.

Here are some notable lifts from the past couple weeks:

Legs

High bar back squats

185kg x 6 (fairly easy, looking for 5 reps at 200+ by the end of the year.)

120 x 10

120 x 10

120 x 10

120 x 10

120 x 10

Front squats

170kg x 1 (too easy, wanna hit 180 x 3 by the end of the year hopefully.)

Back

Deadlift from deficit

250kg x 1

Chest

Barbell bench press

132.5 x 6

Shoulders

standing Press

90kg x 5

seated dumb bell press

50kg x 5

Today I did some arms :oops:

Close grip bench press

120kg x 6

80 x 20

Followed this up with some french press and some dumb bell bicep work. Did a little bit of skipping and speed bag drills because summer is round the corner after all :pfft:

Still to come this week are Bench, dead lift and squat which I will get in before Sunday hopefully. If not the benching will spill over into next week.