Drizzt Lifts Things

[drizzt]

pbs out the wazzzooooo! wtg bro! awsome stuff :clap: \:D/ :clap:

Thanks man, actually some credit should go to you as I probably wouldn't have tried 200 if I didn't see you giving it a go in your log Seeing big lifts spur big lifts in me 8)

[Peachy]

LOL I always read it as Drizzty. Like Peach-ee. Drizz-tee.

Haha :oops:

[Big john]

pbs out the wazzzooooo! wtg bro! awsome stuff :clap: \:D/ :clap:

Thanks man, actually some credit should go to you as I probably wouldn't have tried 200 if I didn't see you giving it a go in your log Seeing big lifts spur big lifts in me 8)

:grin: right back at ya man, glad to see ya hit the 2 hundy...ill hit it then take a much needed deload, think steaks got something instore for me

[drizzt]

LOL I always read it as Drizzty. Like Peach-ee. Drizz-tee.

Haha :oops:

Haha, I've never seen it that way before :-s

:grin: right back at ya man, glad to see ya hit the 2 hundy...ill hit it then take a much needed deload, think steaks got something instore for me

Yeah, I'm about to reach the peak I think, will back off when I get to 220 I reckon (maybe attempt in 3-4 weeks?)

Goals for the near future are:

Bench = 135kg (touching chest)

Squat = 150kg (ATG)

Dead = 220kg (would be =PB, might push to 222.5 to beat it :pfft:)

This will take me over 500kg total lifts, and part of the goal is to keep at 95kg or under bodyweight Once I've hit these, I'll deload. They aren't too far off either, but just far enough that they will take a little work to get to :nod:

Edit - I've worked out some smaller goals for the other exercises I'm doing too (all single reps, all would be PBs):

OHP = bodyweight (probably do 95kg)

Pull-up = +30kg

Power clean = bodyweight (again, probably 95kg)

Front squat = 120kg

Dip = +80kg (if I can get a belt :pfft:)

[rimma]

Congrats on the 200kg+ deadlift, more than 2x bodyweight, thats impressive :shock:

[drizzt]

Thanks Rimma, I know there is more in the tank, hopefully 2.5x is hittable this half of the year :nod:

Tell ya what though, had some pretty badass DOMS yesterday :shock: So wore some Skins overnight which seems to have helped a bit. Hopefully loosens up before the game today!

[drizzt]

First Rugby game today (against Avalon), 4 quarters with 20 minutes each quarter, I got about an hour game time.

Felt good, we technically won (6 tries to 2 I think it was) but we weren't really keeping score I think. Good dominance though, we had at least 3/4 of the possession throughout the game, just a bit of finishing that we need to bring in, but that'll come.

Personally I think I played alright, bit of a slow start but got involved a lot after my first quarter. Played Openside and Number 8 in about even parts, got quite a few hit ups, quite a few tackles, and wouldn't be a proper openside if I didn't give a few penalties away :pfft: Got pinged by the "new" law once or twice, :shifty: Will have to adjust to that....

Overall, fitness was fantastic - especially in the heat! - speed felt really good (I pulled down a winger who had a head start of about 10m on the last play of the game 8)), and strength felt awesome in the rucks in terms of staying on my feet and not getting knocked around.

Bad points? Probably just to do with gametime, i.e technical things in terms of where I should be, body placement etc, but again, they'll come once I get a few games under my belt.

Feel good now, little bit sore but that was to be expected. The real test will be when I wake up tomorrow :pfft: Little bit of a sore upper arm/shoulder, hope it doesn't affect my gym/tyres training tomorrow.

So this was the first test of my prep work for the season, and I think my preparation has paid off

[drizzt]

Ok Sunday got mucked up a bit due to a couple of reasons. First of all, I found out our next game is to be over in Martinborough on this coming Sunday. This meant a bit of a shuffle again in workouts, as I could do the Mon-Weds-Fri for this week.

Second muck up, remember how I said above the test for how the body held up will be found out on Sunday morning? Well, I found out Saturday night that my right knee wasn't in too good of a state It was basically locked straight out, and anything to knock it in any direction resulted in SEVERE pain. Actually probably only managed a couple hours sleep Saturday night due to finding a sleeping position that didn't affect the spot to be incredibly hard, and when I did fall asleep, rolling over immediately woke me up :cry: Sunday was even worse, walking around with a stiff leg all day, so had to postpone tyres and gym (wasn't going to do gym anyway, but this confirmed it). The injury isn't sore anywhere that I can touch, it is something internal, and appears to be in the rear/outer section of my knee. Fingers crossed it isn't anything too serious!

Workout A

So woke up this morning, and the knee was feeling a bit better, finally was able to get some bend in it, so decided I'd at least try to just hit the upper body in the gym. Weighed in at the low 94s before todays workout, weight has been pretty stable for a couple weeks now I think.

• BB Bench
  5 x 60kg
  3 x 100kg
  2 x 120kg
  2 x 130kg
  10 x 100kg (drop)
  
• V-Squats (Hammer Strength Machine)
  10 x 64.5kg (note on machine says starting weight is 24.5kg, so this includes that)
  10 x 104.5kg
  6 x 144.5kg
  
• Hang Cleans
  Bar Warmups/Wrist stretches
  5 x 60kg
  3 x 70kg
  3 x 70kg
  
• Good Mornings
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  

Comments

• Bench felt great despite the leg niggle (found it hard to tuck the feet back as far as I like to). Managed to call a random over for a spot who was really good - he didn't touch the bar at all, but followed it nicely :nod: - and 130 flew up like nothing. Both reps touched but didn't bounce, so very happy, and very confident I can quite easily break the 135 mark next week - if not 140 in a couple of weeks. Because I didn't have much in the way of a warmup, I thought I'd add some volume by way of repping out 100 in a drop set (as fast as I could unload the plates) and got 10 pretty easily too.
  
• I attempted squats with just the bar, but as soon as I hit parallel, the knee started screaming out. So I thought I'd try the V-Squat machine (which I haven't used for ages) and this seemed to take focus completely away from where the issue in my knee was. They went up quite easily, and mainly hit the quads. The injury actually felt a bit better once I was done, which is promising.
  
• Hang cleans were hard - the impact from where I "jump/stamp" into the clean position really jarred the knee injury, so I didn't go too heavy with this, and cut the sets shorter than I had intended.
  
• Good Mornings - was going to do dips, but after ruining the gyms belt, I was forced to do something else. These good mornings were probably the cleanest I've ever done (I never quite feel comfortable under them) which makes me think they will come along if I keep doing them consistently.
  

So apart from Bench, it was a bit of a disappointing session due to the knee. Good signs on how quickly it is recovering though (going from barely able to put weight on the leg yesterday, to walking quite freely today), so hopefully I'll be right for the weekend, and possibly some light squats later in the week. I wanted to hit 140kg squats today so I'm annoyed I couldn't even try them, and I may use this opportunity to deload the squats and start again from a lighter weight. Bench is looking up though, and I'm not far from my goal of 135, and my PB of 150 (set when I weighed 107ish from memory) is in sight 8)

[Big john]

good to see the legs commin right bro...touch wood it heals up b4 yr nxt game...Kicking it up on the weights bro good to see :nod:

[rose]

How's the knee Drizzt? Funny re ripping the belt!

[drizzt]

good to see the legs commin right bro...touch wood it heals up b4 yr nxt game...Kicking it up on the weights bro good to see :nod:

Cheers mate, will keep trying. May not be able to go heavy on Deads tomorrow, but will see how it goes when I'm there.

How's the knee Drizzt? Funny re ripping the belt!

Knee is coming along well, but I'm yet to test it. Can walk freely which is a huge improvement from every tiny movement in it hurting on Sunday, but I can still feel it there slightly. Skipped Rugby training tonight in favour of giving it a bit of rest, we'll see if I can do some light squats tomorrow.

Heh, funny re: belt, but a tad embarrassing at the time :oops:

[drizzt]

Dammit, wrote this out but lost it when I took too long to post it and had to re-login :doh:

Workout B

93 today. Think the loss is due to poor eating recently, and have been feeling a tad under the weather.

• Deads
  5 x 100kg
  3 x 140kg
  1 x 200kg
  1 x 210kg
  1 x 210kg
  5 x 140kg (sumo)
  
• OHP
  5 x 60kg
  3 x 70kg
  3 x 85kg PB
  3 x 85kg
  5 x 60kg
  
• Squats
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  
• Pullups
  3 x +20kg
  3 x +20kg
  3 x +20kg
  

Comments

• The leg injury didn't affect deads thankfully, so decided to try for 210. As I mentioned above, wasn't feeling too well so cut the volume down a bit. 200 went up easy - probably should've led up to 210 with a lighter set, but I've learnt from that now - and the first 210 went up really smoothly. The 2nd 210 attempt was ugly, but I got there. Start was slow which set the tone for the rest of the rep, just managed lockout through pure stubbornness before almost dropping the weight :oops: No belt or straps still, just chalk.
  
• OHP was tough, used a fair bit of leg drive for the 85s but it wasn't too bad really. May need to peg back the increases to 2.5 from here on out.
  
• Squats weren't too bad surprisingly considering the knee injury (which I didn't feel during the lifts), but didn't want to tempt fate so kept the weights down. Think I'll take this session as my new starting point and work up from here. Was a bit worried about the knee because I woke up with a bit of pain in it this morning, but it didn't affect these squats.
  
• Pullups were good. Managed to use the belt I broke (albeit at a smaller hole than before) which was handy. Will increase this weight next week, and with the two pullup sessions I may make one session underhand, and one overhand (I've been doing 2x overhand sessions)
  

So I guess I've deloaded squats earlier than I'd hoped, but I'm not too fussed. I may look at deloading deads as of next week too. I know I was shooting for 222.5 (to beat my 220 PB) but I'm not sure my body is handling all this max effort lifting too well, so I may have to gather my winnings (passing the original goal of 200 to hit 210) and give it a shot on the next cycle.

I will push on with most, if not all of my other current lifts though. I feel I have a 140 bench in me before deloading, so will shoot for that, and all other lifts are still improving so I'll ride them out before deloading. It's really just the Squats and Deads that I'll be backing off on.

[Big john]

So I guess I've deloaded squats earlier than I'd hoped, but I'm not too fussed. I may look at deloading deads as of next week too. I know I was shooting for 222.5 (to beat my 220 PB) but I'm not sure my body is handling all this max effort lifting too well, so I may have to gather my winnings (passing the original goal of 200 to hit 210) and give it a shot on the next cycle.

good call at deloading bro....startin to feel the same way with my workouts, i think i got one more shot at the 200 before deload nxt week. ya trainings been on a very good high lately so wont hurt to peg it down abit for scouple weeks and come back even stronger bro :nod:

[teamfatboy]

Wow, wicked deads, man :notworthy: all the more for using nowt but chalk.

Well done :clap: :clap:

[drizzt]

good call at deloading bro....startin to feel the same way with my workouts, i think i got one more shot at the 200 before deload nxt week. ya trainings been on a very good high lately so wont hurt to peg it down abit for scouple weeks and come back even stronger bro :nod:

Cheers man, will be interesting to see how gaining in the weights room turns out while the body takes the hits from Rugby too, but I hope to mingle them together somehow.

Also agree with you on the deload. I think I have more in the tank on deads (got a "feeling" ) - probably enough to get me to 222.5 in a week or two if I wanted - but I've also got a feeling that my body is beginning to hit a wall, and not taking to all this big 1-2 rep lifting well. So I'll listen to the old thing and back off before it calls it quits on me, haha

Wow, wicked deads, man :notworthy: all the more for using nowt but chalk.

Well done :clap: :clap:

Cheers TFB. Thank goodness the grip hasn't thrown the towel in yet (nor the lower back niggle rearing it's head without a belt), and has shown no signs of failing which is promising for the future :nod:

[drizzt]

Rugby training tonight revealed a bit more pain in the leg than I was hoping

Sprinting on it was painful (basically when the foot hits the ground and springs out was the hard part), light jogging was ok, but it was ever-present. Playing this Sunday isn't looking good, but I'll assess it day-by-day.

If it's still affecting me by early next week, I guess it's off to the physio :cry: Will be an incredible blow if I've done something to put me out after my first game! Fingers crossed it's nothing to serious.

[Chillicat]

Fingers crossed it's nothing to serious.

Will keep fingers crossed for you - except while lifting as I suspect that might be dangerous!

[teamfatboy]

That sux - but if it's any help, the physio at Bodyworks (at least the one I've used, who works Tuesdays and Thursdays) is pretty damn good.

Was able to diagnose and treat my lower-back niggle clearly and effectively.

Good luck for the game on Sunday

(and CC, no don't cross your fingers while lifting... that won't help when you start 5x5 :grin:)

[drizzt]

Cheers guys. TFB - went to book in with the BW physio, but the reception said they didn't take bookings for them, and the guy had gone home for the day (lucky for some at 1pm!) so told me to call them on Monday

Workout A

92.8 today, wait is going backwards which has coincided with the end of my Novedex/ZMA/Trib stack. Definition has come back a tad. Final day of creatine cycle today too so will probably drop a tad further...

Knee was pretty painful today, I guess the (attempted) running at training on it yesterday didn't do it any favours. Walked with a bit of a hobble all day, not a happy chap as playing this Sunday is now looking bleak

Gave me a bit of a fuel up for my workout though :twisted:

• Incline BB Bench
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 80kg
  4 x 100kg
  4 x 100kg
  4 x 100kg
  
• Power Cleans
  5 x 60kg
  3 x 80kg
  3 x 85kg
  3 x 85kg
  
• Squats
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 120kg
  4 x 130kg
  4 x 130kg
  
• Dips
  10 x +25
  10 x +25
  10
  

Comments

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• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

[drizzt]

Cheers guys. TFB - went to book in with the BW physio, but the reception said they didn't take bookings for them, and the guy had gone home for the day (lucky for some at 1pm!) so told me to call them on Monday

Workout A

92.8 today, weight is going backwards which has coincided with the end of my Novedex/ZMA/Trib stack. Definition has come back a tad. Final day of creatine cycle today too so will probably drop a tad further...

Knee was pretty painful today, I guess the (attempted) running at training on it yesterday didn't do it any favours. Walked with a bit of a hobble all day, not a happy chap as playing this Sunday is now looking bleak

Gave me a bit of a fuel up for my workout though :twisted:

• Incline BB Bench
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 80kg
  4 x 100kg
  4 x 100kg
  4 x 100kg
  
• Power Cleans
  5 x 60kg
  3 x 80kg
  3 x 85kg PB
  3 x 85kg
  
• Squats
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 120kg
  4 x 130kg
  4 x 130kg
  
• Dips
  10 x +25
  10 x +25
  10 x +25
  

Comments

• Incline bench was good, was aiming for sets of 3 @ 100kg but each time I had a little something extra in the tank so managed to up it to 4 reps. All reps pausing on chest for about half a second. Probably could've hit 5 reps each set, but wasn't so sure that I'd attempt it without a spot. As an aside, chest definition is looking ok at the moment which I'm happy with. I tend to develop the lower part of my chest first with the top lagging a bit, but it's looking more like a complete "panel" at the moment which is pleasing.
  
• Power cleans were ok, knee was affected a bit again by the "stamp" at the clean, but not too bad. If I'm being honest racking on the chest/shoulders was a bit sloppy, probably to do with the stamp and getting under the bar properly with my arms. Felt a bit woozy at this point, don't think Jack3d is agreeing with me.
  
• Squats were the surprise of the workout. Intended to just rep out on 100 again, but it went up so clean without any niggle in the knee that I decided to pump the weights up a bit. 130 was very comfortable, knee probably affected depth a tad but was still getting below parallel. Sorely tempted to head for 140s but self-control won in the end.
  
• Someone further broke the weights belt (another notch gone!) so had some trouble getting into it :pfft: But (just barely) managed. For fear of breaking the belt further, I decided to just go for sets of 10 @ +25. These were alright, not terribly happy with how far forward I was leaning when I saw in the mirror, but that was more a fault of the machine not having room to do it (it's an assisted pullup/dip station) than my own technique. Still, wasn't happy with it, too much tris involvement for my liking.
  

Ok session, pleased with incline and to be hitting triple figures on it for reps again. Power cleans is almost bodyweight which is a goal, would be confident to get 1 rep at 95 anyway. Squats felt good despite the knee injury, and I really need a better belt/station to push myself on dips - I may do them exclusively at Jville Cityfitness from now (*gasp* :shock: )

I'm actually wanting to rescind my glowing initial view of Jack3d. The first time was great, awesome focus etc, so much so that I forgot about the sides.

I've taken it 3x since then, and each time I just haven't had that same focus. I've toyed with the dosages; first dose was 2 scoops = awesome, second was 1 scoop which = meh, third was 2 which = meh again, and today I took 3 which SUCKED. Today, I just seemed to get a bunch of sides with no positives - felt the tingles everywhere, bit queezy, sweating lots, slight headache, disoriented. Still feeling slightly nauseated. Will hold off for about a week before I try it again. It's not like I've been taking it daily either (there has been at least a day between the doses I've taken so far) but maybe a week off it will do good.

[teamfatboy]

Cheers guys. TFB - went to book in with the BW physio, but the reception said they didn't take bookings for them, and the guy had gone home for the day (lucky for some at 1pm!) so told me to call them on Monday

That's odd... was it the new, short-ish blonde girl on the desk? maybe they didn't know. Normally there's a sign-up sheet behind the counter, but perhaps you could see if the website lets you shortcut the system :pray:

The guy in the next squat-rack at lunchtime owned up to how he'd broken the weight belt... Bodyworks needs to look after their gear better :grin:

[drizzt]

That's odd... was it the new, short-ish blonde girl on the desk? maybe they didn't know. Normally there's a sign-up sheet behind the counter, but perhaps you could see if the website lets you shortcut the system :pray:

Actually, yeah, it was, although she did confirm it with the chick next to her... ah well. I did see the form on their website, but they didn't list Thorndon as an option (although it is mentioned on the site). I'll give it a go anyways.

The guy in the next squat-rack at lunchtime owned up to how he'd broken the weight belt... Bodyworks needs to look after their gear better :grin:

Haha, yeah it's been well softened up. The "synthetic" type belts are a bit better for weighted exercises than that (now very broken) leather one, though.

[Luigi]

looking strong all round mate :clap:

[drizzt]

looking strong all round mate :clap:

Cheers mate

Hit some tyres tonight despite the sore knee because I promised my mates I'd be doing a session to finish the week... sure enough, only one guy showed up :roll: Getting a bit over trying to get people along after they show interest and just doing it by myself, or with 1-2 others if I'm lucky. I think they've got a good opportunity to get some great, different fitness into their routines, and they're missing out :shrug:

Did 3 sets, made them a bit longer, this is how each set went:

• With the Behemoth tyre: I do 2 x flips, mate does 2 x flips, I do 2 x flips etc... alternating like that until we get 20 flips each in. I think they call this "The Indian Run"? Read the term/got the idea from the Ontario Strongman site I think. Done at a very high pace anyway, as soon as the tyre drops on the second rep the next guy is straight on it to flip the next 2, and so on.
  
• Jumping in and out of one of the big tyres (about knee height), I do 10 x (in and out is once), then mate does 10, then I do 10, then back to him.... for a total of 20 in and outs each.
  
• Farmers walk with two mid sized tyres, roughly 100meters each as fast as we could (managed to get to about a jog - was more awkward to go fast than hard)
  
• Overhead press with a smaller tyre 10 reps, then immediately into 10 pushups with the tyre on our back
  
• Finish with tyre drags, roughly 100meters each

Very tough session, I liked alternating the reps like this with a partner because we got a little more work in without dropping the intensity. It was really good on the tyre flips - I don't think I could get 20 by myself with that big tyre - especially on set 3 - but alternating 2 on, 2 off made it possible.

We were going to shoot for 4 sets, but by the end of set 3 we could barely stand so decided to call it quits there.. Easily the hardest tyres session I've done yet.

The Knee held out ok, just a little pain on tyre drags but wasn't too bad, just prevented me fully striding out.

[drizzt]

Workout B

93.8 today, not surprised the weight is back up on last week as I had some pretty big eats over the weekend :pfft: Including a very nice dinner with the Mrs on Saturday night at Crazy Horse steakhouse - I ended up polishing most of hers off on top of my big entree + big main (+ 2 x sides) + dessert

• Squats
  Bar/60kg warmups + stretches
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 120kg
  5 x 130kg
  3 x 140kg
  5 x 140kg
  
• Rack Pulls
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 140kg
  1 x 140kg*
  
• OHP
  5 x 60kg
  3 x 70kg
  3 x 85kg
  3 x 87.5kg PB
  3 x 90kg PB
  10 x 60kg (drop)
  
• Pullups (underhand)
  5 x +20kg
  5 x +20kg
  4 x +20kg (failure)
  

Comments

• Squats felt great, I could feel the knee when I was walking downhill and down some stairs this morning, but oddly the wider stance on squats seems to take the niggle out of the equation. 140s went up easily, very happy with how the lighter week seems to have given these a kick up the bum. Was tempted to go for 150, but again, commonsense prevailed.
  
• Rack Pulls were going well, sticking with the deload theme I wasn't going to head above 140. Pins were about an inch below the knees. On the second set at 140... the dreaded back niggle re-emerged just as I had locked the hips out Immediately dropped the bar on to the safety pins and quit the exercise. It wasn't a huge, lingering pain like I got the first time it happened, but it was enough to stop me doing the exercise. Ah well, one more thing to bring up with the physio I guess.
  
• OHP was great, another PB here. 90 didn't use too much leg drive, but I did use some to get it up there. 85 was very clean, 87.5 was so-so. Was also very happy with being able to get a tired 10 x 60kg out at the end. Probably would've been pushing to get 7 reps up on any set - let alone a drop set - at the beginning of the year.
  
• Pullups were ok, failed on the last rep in my attempt at 3 sets of 5 @ + 20kg, but they went up clean enough, and due to the chin up bar being different to what I was used to, the grip was very narrow which threw me off a little. But all in all they went up ok.
  

Good session. Am doing another tyres session again tonight, had A LOT of the Rugby boys show interest yesterday when I said I'll be doing it, so we'll see who turns up this time (I'm not holding my breath :roll:)