Drizzt Lifts Things

[haakuturi]

Took a trip to google to understand that

heh - me too!

So is/was drizzt a closet D&D player? 8)

[Ronin]

Took a trip to google to understand that

heh - me too!

So is/was drizzt a closet D&D player? 8)

Hey, there was nothing wrong with playing D&D :x

[haakuturi]

I didn't say there was!

(I'm a WoW player which is far worse than playing D&D )

[drizzt]

Heh, no, have never really played D&D (although my oldest sister used to be into it). More I used to read a lot of Fantasy novels :oops: Not so much anymore, but the handle has kinda stuck from when I first used it. Suppose there are worse things one can be associated with! 8)

Played Rugby yesterday (openside flank), we scraped a narrow win (20-17). I think I personally played ok after being out for about 2 months, and this being my first week back in full training. I got about 60mins game time in before the back started tightening up a little, so I asked the coach for a sub. Pretty sore today but just usual Rugby/contact soreness, nothing really specifically related to the existing niggles. Need to get match-fitness back up, was sucking in the big ones just before half time :pfft: That'll come though...

The Prems coaches have asked if I'm ready to come back up yet, I'll have a think on it. Personally I think it may be a week or two too early - I need to get some games under my belt before making the step up IMO - but they are having a bit of an injury crisis, so I may not have an option. I actually really enjoyed playing for the B team too, a lot of them are in it for the love of the game, it makes playing a lot more "fun" than it usually is when playing for the top side. We'll see how it goes...

Have a couple of shiners around each eye today and a lump on my forehead, aaah how I missed the battle scars :grin:

[Big john]

Heh, no, have never really played D&D (although my oldest sister used to be into it). More I used to read a lot of Fantasy novels :oops: Not so much anymore, but the handle has kinda stuck from when I first used it. Suppose there are worse things one can be associated with! 8)

Dark elf triogly FTW 8)

[drizzt]

Dark elf triogly FTW 8)

:rockout:

26/04/10

Weighed in at 92.5 today, been eating like a machine since the Rugby game on Saturday :pfft: Have definitely noticed the energy requirements rise since I've resumed full training :nod:

• Squats
  Bar warmup/Stretches/Form work
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 70kg
  5 x 70kg
  
• Bench
  5 x 90kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 110kg
  4 x 120kg
  3 x 120kg
  5 x 100kg (drop)
  5 x 60kg (drop, pause, explosive)
  
• Power Cleans
  6 x oly bar (form set, on bumper plates)
  6 x oly bar (ditto)
  5 x 40kg
  5 x 40kg
  5 x 40kg
  

Comments

• I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but I think I've solved my squat form problem :grin: I was doing a bit of technique/form watching side-on (in the mirror, jerk, I know :roll:), and saw exactly where my back rounds, and I think I know how I need to rectify it. Tried to set up my phone to record it but it was a little awkward. Anyway, it seems when my hips start to drop below parallel, my back stops dropping and my hips continue down - which is where the rounding of my lower back is happening. At this point, my chest is down too. I've figured if I point the chest up (aka boobies to teh sky Miss R?), eyes forward, and concentrate on keeping the natural arch in my back on the way down, the rounding disappears when I get down to the hole. I guess what I have to work on is how I'm getting out of the hole, which will take more than one session.
  I'm not saying my squat is almost perfected - far from it! But I believe I've successfully identified the issue (well, the one that has caused me trouble), and shouldn't be far off from fixing it.
  As for the weights themselves, they were easy - especially after the adjustment to my form was made. No twinge whatsoever in the lower back. Really do need to see myself on camera to be a bit more critical of it though.
  
• I was feeling a bit banged up in the arms today (from Rugby on the weekend), so bench was a little tougher than I had expected. In saying that though, I was surprised at how easily 120 flew up, and probably could've got a 5th rep but wasn't confident enough to give it a blast without a spot. Same on the last set - probably could've pushed 4 there as well. Setup is feeling really good, I'm bloody happy with the technical aspects of it, but can improve on my leg positioning and how I use them in the lift, which is currently limited to just trying to keep the feet firmly planted. Will work on that. Aim to hit 140 in a few weeks
  
• First attempt at power cleans since the injuries, so started light to get the technique right. Felt really good, only niggle was the upper back (have a large bruise there from Rugby - absolutely no idea how it happened :pfft:) which was a little tight but otherwise form and everything felt good.
  

Great session, good to be running back on almost normal again :nod:

[rose]

I used to read a lot of Fantasy novels

LMAO! Mills & Boon? :pfft: Jeez :shock:

Getting out of the hole, tits and arse sir, tits and arse :grin:

[nate225]

Shot Drizzt,

Always a great feeling when you get up an running again after rehab (maybe thats why so many people go to rehab over & over again... :grin: ).

[teamfatboy]

I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but I think I've solved my squat form problem :grin:

Great session, good to be running back on almost normal again :nod:

Great to hear you're well on the mend. :clap:

I can relate to that squats problem, for me it really turned out to be heads-up, moobs-to-ceiling, from the moment I hit the hole til I got to the top. But diagnosis is the hard part, now you've worked it out, the rest is just practice practice practice :grin:

[Growth]

I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but I think I've solved my squat form problem

Sweet deal Im sure the weight will fly up now you have your form down

Aim to hit 140 in a few weeks

Awesome man, 3PPS @ 92 indicats great upper body strength :nod:

[drizzt]

LMAO! Mills & Boon? :pfft: Jeez :shock:

:shifty:

Getting out of the hole, tits and arse sir, tits and arse :grin:

Yes Ma'am :salute:

Shot Drizzt,

Always a great feeling when you get up an running again after rehab (maybe thats why so many people go to rehab over & over again... :grin: ).

Cheers Nate. Such a good feeling! :grin: Especially identifying where I went wrong to start with (semi-accidentally spotting it myself was cool too 8)) and hopefully minimize the chance of future injury... in this area at least. I can also take this over to other lifts (e.g. Deadlift) and look for the same rounding that is/was causing issues on teh squats.

Sweet deal Im sure the weight will fly up now you have your form down

:pray: Still, going to take it slow and try to keep nailing technique. Also with the shift in form I want to make sure I'm getting out of the hole ok while the weight is still light.

Awesome man, 3PPS @ 92 indicats great upper body strength :nod:

Cheers! Yeah, with the injuries hitting when they did, I'm a little bit behind schedule (had hoped to hit 140 before Rugby season, think I got to 135), but two things that have given me a HUGE boost on bench is working on tips by both Dave Tate and Reuben Simanu :notworthy: I've got no doubt that the (seemingly) small shifts in technique that I've applied have added weight to my lift :nod:

[drizzt]

Great to hear you're well on the mend. :clap:

I can relate to that squats problem, for me it really turned out to be heads-up, moobs-to-ceiling, from the moment I hit the hole til I got to the top. But diagnosis is the hard part, now you've worked it out, the rest is just practice practice practice :grin:

Cheers TFB. Yeah, I always thought I was tits up/head up, but somewhere along the line (which I only noticed today when I was "checking myself out" side-on) I've started to fold the chest down. The head is still up somewhat, but the chest down is causing the rounding of the back (tried to squat both ways to notice the changes).

But yep, will be back to 3x squats per week, so should have plenty of time to practice

[drizzt]

Damn, mentioning so much "tits and arse" in this journal means I can't access it from work :pfft: Ah well...

28/04/10

91.5 today, a small drop in weight which is probably due to the massive circuit we got tortured through last night at Rugby training. Felt a bit lethargic on the gym floor today, thinking it was due in part to the tough/intense training session, mixed with a slightly shorter sleep (7ish hours) than I've been getting lately (usually 8-9 ).

• Front BB Squats
  6 x bar (form + stretches)
  6 x bar (form)
  5 x 40kg
  5 x 50kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg (back squats for video)
  
• Deads
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 70kg
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 80kg
  
• OHP
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 65kg
  5 x 70kg
  5 x 75kg
  5 x 75kg
  
• Core/Roller work
  Various balancing/crunch exercises etc
  

Comments

• Front squats felt good, videod the last set @ 60kg and thought while I had found a good spot for the camera I might as well bust out a set of back squats to see what they look like. May post up the vid if I get a chance for scrutiny, but the angle is a bit meh so... nyeh.
  
• Felt good to get 5x5 on deads, videod a set of this too which showed I start getting sloppy after rep 3 - which correlated with what was happening in the squats from what I saw. Obviously a concentration thing, so I just need to focus more. Could have something to do with my feelings of lethargy today though... Weights were easy though, still easing the back into this and squats. Don't want to do too much too early and re-injure myself. As I've said, perfect opportunity to work on the form (on this and squats) while the weights are light.
  
• OHP was ok, muscles were a little tired from all the goddamned lineout lifting/pushups/contact work we were doing last night, so a little tougher than I was expecting again, but still pretty clean. Last set at 75kg were blatant push presses, which I'm fine with due to closely resembling a lineout lift anyway. All sets before it were fairly strict, videod a set at 65 or 70 I think? And the legs barely moved so wasn't pushing off as much as I thought I was.
  
• Lots of core exercises prescribed by the physio, like balancing on the swiss ball (which I'm getting alright at ), crunches lying on a foam roller (going down the spine) which really shows the disparity in strength between each of my sides. Lots more stretching etc too.

So was a good session considering I felt quite tired. Was good to get some video in as it allows me to see from a 3rd person viewpoint how my form looks, which I've never had before. Interesting if nothing else Will see if I can get these vids up later for you lot to pick over.

[Growth]

Will see if I can get these vids up later for you lot to pick over.

[drizzt]

30/04/10

91.5 today, did a light ass workout due to Rugby tomorrow. Will look at moving my Friday workout back a day... still light-ish weights, but would feel more comfortable squeezing a couple more lifts in if it weren't so close to Rugby. Would shift all workouts back a day if I didn't also need Sunday for recovery from Rugby.

First game playing/starting for the prems (this season) tomorrow too, so needa be fresh...

• Squats
  Bar warmups, stretches etc
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  
• BB Bench
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 80kg
  
• Core/Stability Work + Stretching
  Balancing on swiss ball w/ twists
  Situps/raises on foam roller
  Swiss ball "leg curls"
  + stretches etc...
  

Comments

• Squats were easy, ready to ramp the weight up a bit next week. Wanted to keep it light today because of being the day before Rugby obviously. Feeling better about form, concentrating on tits up and controlling a tight midsection.
  
• Bench, easy, not much to note. Wanted to do incline but some dude was using about 4 stations at once :roll: (incidentally, I've only ever seen this guy work chest/arms/back - he was doing a "giant set" of 4 x chest exercises)
  
• Stability/core was good, I'm noticing that my core bias is beginning to correct a bit. Swiss ball leg curls are tougher than they sound! :pfft: Gettin real good at swiss ball balancing, could barely get onto the ball just a few days ago (Tuesday), but can now not only kneel on it, but I'm throwing twists in too

[drizzt]

Haven't updated in a while because it's just been me easing myself back into things with low weights, and also trying to figure how best to fit my workouts in around Rugby.

I think I've touched on it before, but the Friday before a Saturday game is no good for obvious reasons, and often on Sundays I'm too sore to do anything but chill out on the couch :pfft: I'm also wary of doing these workouts two days in a row...

So what I'm thinking of doing, is keeping the Monday-Weds as Heavy/Heavy, and doing a very light (DE possibly?) session on Thursday. Not neccessarily moving what I would do on Friday back, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Suggestions/input?

For now, here was todays workout:

10/05/10

93.5 today! Lots of eating still + moving the weights up/back into squats and deads is what has packed on a couple kilo I reckon. Mainly the food and the complete lack of care for what I've been eating lately :pfft: But ah well, not too fussed unless it balloons majorly, as it hasn't affected my fitness levels at all.

• Squats
  Warmup/bar work/stretches
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 90kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  
• Deads
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 110kg
  
• OHP
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 70kg
  3 x 75kg
  3 x 80kg
  3 x 82.5kg
  
• Stretches/Core
  Foam roller crunches
  3 x 10 Superman holds (1 sec pause at top of each rep)
  Swiss ball leg curls
  Kneeling on swiss ball for 30sec periods (keeping upright and tight, 3 sets)
  

Comments

• First week back at 100 on squats, and it felt good Technique is feeling solid since I've been doing Superman holds for the lower back (discovered my issue was this, so I've been taking the suggestions in that article on board). Can get just below parallel now without my lower back rounding. Only trouble was contact soreness from Rugby on Saturday (particularly side of hip/glutes where I got tackled a few times). Otherwise was sweet. Will look to up the weights next week.
  
• Deads, similar story to squats. 100 felt really easy, form/lowerback felt good so I upped it to 110. Feeling great about these again Weight to continue upwards...
  
• OHP was strict for the first 3 sets, last two I didn't even bother trying to be strict, just push pressed to my hearts content Felt really easy though, can feel this getting up to where it was before my injuries.
  
• Long stretching/core session, everything is tightening and getting easier so can't wait to show the physio my progress :nod:

Feeling great, have the week off Rugby this week because I'm heading up to Auckland to get my Ta Moko on Friday-Monday, so will concentrate on smashing what I can this week! 8)

[drizzt]

12/05/10

Bodyweight is back down to 92 flat today, shows what a couple of days of clean eating can do :shrug:

• BB Bench
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 110kg
  5 x 115kg
  4 x 120kg
  5 x 100kg (drop set....ish)
  
• Front Squats
  Bar warmups/stretching
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 70kg
  5 x 70kg
  5 x 75kg
  
• Power Cleans
  5 x oly bar (on bumper plates)
  5 x 40kg
  5 x 40kg
  5 x 50kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  
• Stretching/Core Work
  Foam roller raises/curls/crunches
  Kneeling on swiss ball (2 sets x 60sec holds with twists every now and again)
  Superman raises (3 sets x 10 with 1sec pause at top)
  Swiss ball leg curls (3 sets x 10, + 3 x 5 single leg)
  

Comments

• Bench felt really good, all reps were quick touches, no pauses today. Fairly fast/dynamic reps. Could've got 5 reps on the set @ 120, but didn't want to risk it without the spot :? Final set was not an immediate drop set, just as quick as I could unload the weights (hence drop set... ish). Setup feels good, probably still needa work on what my legs are doing a bit though... just feel like I'm not incorporating them at all, and maybe I should be.
  
• Front squats were comfortable, easy. Resisted the urge to pile more weight on, want to remain cautious where squats/deads/cleans are concerned.
  
• Power cleans started a little tougher than I had expected, but seemed to get easier as I warmed into the technique. Heaviest I've gone for quite some time.
  
• Finished with stretches/core work again. I'm favouring doing this instead of what would usually be the 4th exercise (dips/pullups etc). Actually visibly noticing my body symmetry improving (right side abs are gradually catching up to the left side in development) which is awesome. I can still feel a little bias when doing certain things, but it isn't as bad as it was.

Feeling like I'm really back into the swing of things, loving it 8)

[Growth]

Front squats were comfortable, easy. Resisted the urge to pile more weight on, want to remain cautious where squats/deads/cleans are concerned.

Any physical residual niggles still? or just easing back into it?

[drizzt]

Any physical residual niggles still? or just easing back into it?

Not really, just contact soreness from Rugby which I'm still getting used to combining with the workouts. Lower back is tight but that's from stretching/working it more often.

[drizzt]

14/05/10

Last workout for a few days, heading up to Auckland to get my Ta Moko done tonight, exciting 8)

92 flat today.

• Squats
  Bar warmup/stretches
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 80kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  
• Deads
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  
• OHP
  5 x bar
  5 x 65kg
  5 x 65kg
  5 x 75kg
  5 x 75kg
  5 x 80kg
  
• Stretches/Core work
  Just foam roller stuff + 1 token set each of dips and wide pullups
  

Comments

• Squats were good, bit fatigued today (went to and participated in 3 rugby trainings last night :pfft:) so was tired early on and sweating like the proverbial criminal.
  
• Deads were easy, but man I'm sick of the Cfitness floor - the bar was rolling everywhere :x Had to forcefully hold it in place rather than just being able to leave it to sit there. Sucked but got through it. Only 3 sets as I've placed a lot of stress on the lower back with daily supermans + 2 dead sessions etc, so thought I needed to cut the volume back a bit.
  
• OHP was easy, first 2 sets were strict, last 3 push pressing.
  
• All the good swiss balls were taken, and I was getting frustrated with the gym, so just did some quick foam roller curls/crunches/raises and flagged everything else (including supermans).

Got a couple of vids of deads and squats, will mash em together and post em up later if I get a chance before flying to Akl tonight.

[drizzt]

18/05/10

Forgot to weigh myself today, I'm sure it'll be ugly after another weekend of eating excess whilst away :pfft: Ah well!

• Squats
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 110kg
  5 x 110kg
  
• BB Bench
  5 x 100kg
  5 x 110kg
  3 x 115kg
  1 x 120kg
  3 x 122.5kg
  
• Power Cleans
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 60kg
  5 x 65kg
  
• Foam Roller/Swiss ball work
  Crunches/raises on foam roller
  Leg curls on swiss ball
  3 x 10 superman holds (1sec pause at top)
  

Comments

• Squats were tough with the fresh tat going right along where the bar rests, padded the bar up which made it slightly better but still quite sore. Weight itself was surprisingly tough, probably because the weights were all odd sizes/brands. Still, got it up quite easily.
  
• Bench was tougher than expected too (and squeezing the shoulders together/driving into the bench was hard due to the fresh tat as well), maybe it was the weekend away still having me in holiday mode... the 1 rep @ 120 was bloody tough work, but 122.5 went up surprisingly easy after that, I think it was due to a better setup. Will likely be increasing by 2.5 (sets of 3 at the top set) each week from here on out.
  
• Power cleans were good, intended to get 3 sets up, and lucky too because the end of the bar came off on the last rep of the last set! :roll: I was even being quite gentle when putting the weight down after each rep... Bloody cityfitness.
  
• Usual end work.

Promise I'll get these vids up eventually, just needa find a bit of time...

[Beef]

good stuff bro, how often do you train?

[haakuturi]

And how was the Ta Moko? Pics!?

[drizzt]

And how was the Ta Moko? Pics!?

Was good, 9ish hour sitting (+2.5hours of drawing/design) so the accumulative pain was starting to get to me a bit towards the end! But well worth it, I'm very proud and happy with the result Here's a photo of the back/side:

It also wraps around the inside of the arm etc... as you can see, the bar goes right across it when squatting which is a tad annoying at the mo, can't wait for it to heal properly!

good stuff bro, how often do you train?

Cheers man. Try to train 3x a week (with Rugby on 3 other days), but depends on how I am after the Rugby game as to whether the body can handle 2 or 3 days work. Just 2x this week because I only got back from Auckland last night.

[haakuturi]

Looks sweet!

Where'd you get it done? I promised myself I could only get that amount of ink done *after* I'd gotten rid of the gut and put on some muscle, so I'm getting closer & closer.