Mike goes to the OC

[Mike Zero]

Day 8: Thursday 26/04/2007

Deadlifts:

140 x 5 x 2 (unstrapped)

170 x 3 x 2 (strapped)

140 x 5 x 2 (tried unstrapped but couldn't)

I also did a bit of other stuff mostly related to grip work. I tried out underhand/overhand grip with a light weight on deads and I didn't see too many problems occuring. Mainly just balancing the weight evenly.

I also did a shyte load of forearm/grip work. I loaded up the smith machine with my deadlift weights and did some holds, but I didn't like that too much. Then unloaded it and gripped pretty much every plate until failure before putting it away. Then I did some more plate grips using multiple plates and holding them together. I probably ended up doing about 15 sets of grip stuff. Loved it too... So grueling. It would be good to get my hands on some of those CoCs (:pfft:) but they're pretty costly. Does any NZ gym have them? Because that may just influence what uni I go to next year (nah, not really).

Oh, and then I did some curls. To umm... Help support my biceps when I'm doing the alt grip. Yep... And then I went and posed in the mirror.

Anyway next thurs I'll do 5 x 5, as I don't want to burn out. Unless my training partner dude is in the gym because then I'll get him to help my form when I go heavy. And then I'll do a crap load of plate pinches. I'm tucking into a powerade now then I'll go have a shake. Catch yas tomorrow.

[Mike Zero]

Day 9: Friday 27/04/2007

Bench Press:

60 x 8 x 1

70 x 6 x 1

80 x 4 x 1

87.5 x 2 x 1

90 x 2 x 1 PR

90 x 1 x 1

85 x 2 x 1

80 x 3 x 1

75 x 4 x 1

65 x 10 x 2

Phew! Massive bench workout. I have the shakes right now. Also massive PR. This session was with my training partner/coach/gym mentor who is a veteran powerlifter. I got some serious tips on my form, which is really coming together. See: the massive PR (admittidly I got a little bit of assistance on the second rep, but considering my 1RM was 90 ten or so days ago, it's good enough to be a PR for me) My lift seems really solid and secure now! Hell, just thinking about it more now and I don't shake at all like I used to because my back is so tight on the bench and shoulders are secure.

I didn't only learn about my form but also just stuff about lifting in general. Very productive session and I'm feeling great right now.

Glenn's also coming in for my heavy squat day tomorrow!

[Mike Zero]

Day 10: Saturday 28/04/2007

Squats:

60 x 10 x 1

100 x 6 x 1

140 x 5 x 2

162.5 x 3 x 2 PR

165 x 3 x 2 PR

Yay PR. Gawd I need a good pair of shoes. My one's have zero grip and zero support. And they have 'speed' holes. But I find it seriously hard to balance in them late in a set. I'll post a pic up sometime .

I also finished fine tuning my program. So we'll get fully planned volume next week. Catch yaz Monday.

[Varven]

Bench = box for squatting.. yes it will get you only one fixed height.. but hey its a good variation.

keep the bench coming... Im the same.. my bench got stuck at 90kg after an injury then i lost interest and bench never moved lol

[Mike Zero]

Bench = box for squatting.. yes it will get you only one fixed height.. but hey its a good variation.

keep the bench coming... Im the same.. my bench got stuck at 90kg after an injury then i lost interest and bench never moved lol

Yeah, I did my rotator mid last year. Crappy injury. I rested it for a couple of months, went to dumbbells and just recently back to barbell. It sucks... I'm finding that training with dumbbells isn't as applicable to barbell as I once thought. But hopefully I merit some massive newbie gains in the near future.

I'll have to try the bench squat thingy too.

[Varven]

Bro another thing is.. "hunt" down PL type gyms.

Turn up to a few novice PL meets in your area and talk to the guys there.

I did that and found a few PL'ers in my area that had home gyms where they all pooled in a bit of resources and worked out togeather. ... give it a go.. youll be surprised at what you may find.

[Mike Zero]

Day 11: Monday 30/04/2007

Bench Press:

60 x 10 x 1

72.5 x 8 x 3

Incline Bench:

70 x 3 x 3

Close Grip Bench:

60 x 6 x 1

70 x 3 x 1

80 x 2 x 1

80 x 1 x 1

Shoulder Press:

28 x 1 x 1

26 x 4 x 3

Dumbbell Lateral Raises

16 x 5 x 3

My triceps were absolutely fried, I forgot how sudden fatigue is in Close Grip. First set of 80 I didn't want to risk a third rep but thought I'd safely pump out another 2 sets of 2. Second set of 80 I had to call for a spotter mid rep... :oops: Massive ego shot lol.

VV, Nelson is probably smaller than you think. I don't actually live in Nelson either, I live in a town 40 mins down the road. The other two gyms in my town are crap. One is a womans one, it's really good for woman because the machines are all hydrolic so you don't have to eat cottage cheese and stuff to make gains :roll: (sister's words...). The other one is also purely machines.

Novice PL comps: At first I thought no way, but maybe there is in Nelly... Who knows? I'll try and do a bit of research, maybe pop into a gym over there sometime and get some info.

[Varven]

Check up the calendar or Tonka's posts.. I think someone put up an N.Z. PL meet .

Keep in touch with other organiser on the net of PL meets.

I highly reccomend a meet.. novice or otherwise.. it'll open up your eyes and give you sooo much more motivation.

Dont shun away from it.. its not like your opening lifts on your very first meet have to be qualifying you for the worlds elite class...

besides its great experience before your actual "big day"

[Mike Zero]

Day 12: Tuesday 01/05/2007

Squat:

100 x 8 x 1

120 x 5 x 1

140 x 5 x 1

140 x 8 x 3

Box Squats:

60 x 8 x 1

100 x 8 x 1

140 x 5 x 2

Calf Raises /superset/ Leg Extension

Weight: I dunno, does it matter? x 10 x 3

I did box squats on a bench, and I like them. Apart from the glute/ham/back workout I found it's also great for conditioning your upper back. When I sit down the flex of the bar hurts more then the standard squat on my traps.

[Varven]

Nice work bud.

A PL coach once told me about China squats.

I asked him why theyre called China squats.. and he said Chinese Pl'ers use them to get freaky big legs ;-)

Load the bar.. position.. and squat down.

Go to rock bottom.. or at least deeper than a comp squat by a fair margin.

From here rise upto halfway or 3/4ths of the way to the top.

Stop and descend.

Get them out in sets of 6 reps.

I imagine the fatigue would be quite intense

[Mike Zero]

Day 13: Thursday 03/05/2007

Deadlifts:

100 x 5 x 1

140 x 3 x 1

150 x 5 x 5

Smith Machine Static Holds:

120 x failure x 3 (about 25 seconds on the first set)

120 x 15's x 2

High Incline Sit-Ups (on elevated sit up bench):

BW + 10 plate x 15 x 3

My grip was dead for the DL's, had to use the straps the whole way through pretty much so I hammered my grip with the statics. The '15's' are sets of 15 seconds hold, 15 seconds rest, 15 seconds hold. Smashed my grip. The sit-ups were mint as well. Next week I'll make the addition of a few sets of sumo deads - just a light weight work on my form and increase 10 kegs a week until it's conditioning that's holding me back not confidence in my form.

Those china squats sound intense, I'll see if I can give them a go after this cycle of box squats (which will probably be a while considering I'm new to them).

Oh and V, I checked out your videos on youtube. Good work, brother! When were they recorded? And how's your training going?

[Big_J]

hi, whats your 1 rm bench press, squat and dead atm?

and what do you weigh atm?

[Mike Zero]

I'm 17.

Bench: 95ish (have hit 90)

Squat: 185ish (have hit 180)

Deadlift: 200+ (have hit 200)

And my weight is early 90's.

[Big_J]

thats really good by my standards.. im also 17.. weight like 83 my bench is decent but your squats and deads are awesome. althought ive never tried for 1 rm on squat or dead i would never get 185 or 200

[Mike Zero]

thats really good by my standards.. im also 17.. weight like 83 my bench is decent but your squats and deads are awesome. althought ive never tried for 1 rm on squat or dead i would never get 185 or 200

Oh mean. Where ya from? When do you turn 18?

Day 14: Friday 04/05/2007

Bench Press:

60 x 8 x 1

70 x 6 x 1

80 x 4 x 1

85 x 2 x 1

90 x 2 x 1

90 x 1 x 1

80 x 2 x 1

75 x 3 x 1

70 x 4 x 1

60 x 10 x 2 (negatives, working on negative form)

60 x 12 x 1

Chin Ups:

BW x 6 x 1

BW x 4 x 1

BW x 2 x 1

Seated Cable Row:

80 x 6 x 1

85 x 8 x 1

90 x 8 x 2

D-Curls:

36 x 6 x 1

36 x 4 x 1

31 x 9 x 1

Bench was really crap today, even though my form was better. I got a lot of assistance. Just a flat day, but I worked through it as ya do. Did my lats first time in ages today as well as I was going through a massive plateau a few weeks back. I geuss I should explain D-Curls as well. Elbows in front of body, curl up to chest, lock back traps/shoulders, drag bar down your body, repeat. Done with a close grip on an EZ Curl bar.

Next week I'll be going really heavy on bench. Doubles of maybe up to 110 but heavily assisted just for conditioning/getting used to bigger weights.

[Big_J]

auckland, mainly into bodybuilding not power lifting, but getting strong is always good.

[Mike Zero]

Day 15: Saturday 05/05/2007

Squats:

150 x 5 x 2

160 x 3 x 2

170 x 2 x 1 PR

182.5 x 1 x 1 PR

A 1RM and a 2RM personal record in the same workout has to be a good thing. My head felt like it was going to 'splode on 182.5. I was going to do some box squats but the fire alarm went off and I lost 15 mins...

Might sneak in and do some grip work tomorrow. :shifty:

Edit: Woooo! Just realise 182.5 breaks the 400 pound mark.

[Mike Zero]

Day 16: Monday 07/05/2007

Bench Press:

60 x 10 x 1

72.5 x 8 x 3

Incline Bench Press:

60 x 8 x 3

Close Grip Bench Press:

65 x 8 x 1

67.5 x 8 x 2

Shoulder Press:

24.5 x 6 x 1

24.5 x 3 x 2

DB Lateral Raises:

13.5 x 8 x 2

16 x 6 x 1

:evil: I can't do Shoulders on my Bench Day, it just doesn't work...I might have to do them on my Deadlift Day next week... My CGBP is about 4 inches in from my regular grip and my Tri's stay perpendicular to my torso. I reckon this'll be more applicable to bench than the other way to do close grip's.

[Mike Zero]

Day 17: Tuesday 08/05/2007

Squats:

140 x 8 x 3

Box Squats:

130 x 8 x 1

135 x 8 x 1

140 x 8 x 1

Static Smith Holds:

120 x 30 sec x 3

[Mike Zero]

Day 18: Thursday 10/05/2007

Deadlift:

150 x 5 x 4

:cry:

I was feeling really flat - these were really hard... 1st rep of 5th set my back massively tweaked and I had to drop the weight. I've had a constant niggle in my back for the past I don't know how long, but it hasn't affected my lifting. Now it seems to have gone away but it might just be swollen or something so I called it off anyway. Whether it was a freak cure or something less happy I geuss I'll know tomorrow morning. Either way I'll postpone my next workout 2-3 days. It's crazy - lately I have been getting more sleep than usual but have been feeling more tired. Maybe I'm coming down with something...

Night.

[Varven]

Hey bud.. as you said.. take some rest.. time off pays...

middle back twinge.. th ats a new one.. lower back is quite common u sually.

are you flexible ?

could it be a flexibility issue ?

If I dont stretch enough I get middle bback twinges trying to stay in good position during squats.

Regarding shoulders... I usually do them after deadlifts and usually do upper back after bench.

Keep that bench coming.

Might be a matter of getting your position etc worked on in deadlift.. cause generally your deaadlift will be a good 20kgs stronger t han squat.

think about it.. you use almost same muscles: glutes/halms/lower back/abs.... My dead was ahead of my squat by 30 kg... I am sure you will be nailing 200+ deads at this strenght level with technique work or similair

[Mike Zero]

It was lower back, V. Same old f*cken back issues... Nothing to do with flexibility. Not exactly sure what it's from tbh. But I seemed to have bounced back alright, and it's probably better than what it was last thursday. So I hit the gym today, just a bit of catch up, next Monday I'll be back into the normal routine.

Day 19: Monday 14/05/2007

Bench Press:

60 x 8 x 1

70 x 6 x 1

80 x 4 x 1

90 x 2 x 1

95 x 1 x 1

100 x 1 x 1

95 x 2 x 1

90 x 3 x 1

85 x 4 x 1

80 x 5 x 1

60 x 12 x 1

Most of this stuff was assisted conditioning work. The highlight was hitting 90 so clean on the way down the pyramid, that I thought I'd be able to get the three. I didn't, but I geuss that shows how much potential I have with working on my form. Then I did a bunch of Incline and Curls and stuff. Good to be back in the gym.

[2guns]

yr getting stronger eh..

[Mike Zero]

Day 20: Tuesday 15/05/2007

Squats:

60 x 5 x 1

100 x 5 x 1

160 x 3 x 1

165 x 3 x 2

167.5 x 3 x 1 PR

Well, I wasn't in the mood to workout tonight and I was slugging my way through the sets feeling kinda flat (not physically). So I decided the only way to go was attempt a PR. Attacked the weight real aggressively and hit that record EASY. It was mint, and made the whole workout well worthwhile.

[poos_n_wees]

yr getting stronger eh..

:ditto:

LIGHTWEIGHT!!!111!1