Drizzt Lifts Things

[morattigirl]

Awesome Drizzt! So what was your BW at 93/94? You're dead nearly 3x bw!! :clap:

Hey I noticed that you do the same as me just before enitial lift... kind of tug the bar and bend your elbows, it was pointed out to me that by doing that it's a bicep tear waiting to happen... i'm working on recitifying that now. Not that i'm an expert but just thought I'd mention anyhow :grin:

[Gasp]

Just saw the video...bloody brilliant especially the deads!

:clap: :clap:

[Big john]

shot on the lifts bro, come along way in the deads department :clap: :clap: :clap:

[PeterDolan]

Impressive deads chief :nod:

Motivating for us lagging behind

[Ronin]

Top stuff bro. Nice to see you're rocking the buzz-cut too \:D/

[drizzt]

Hey Bro,

Shame we missed the 140kg Bench that you got. Here's the Video

Awesome, thanks for doing that OB, much appreciated Sorry I went for the 140 without ya, I was "in the zone" so didn't think to look if you were there or not. Pity not to get that on film as it felt easy, would've been interesting to see how it looked 3rd person.

Thanks for the comments everyone 8)

second that bro mean deads!

Third that Outstanding deads, D :clap:

Just saw the video...bloody brilliant especially the deads!

:clap: :clap:

shot on the lifts bro, come along way in the deads department :clap: :clap: :clap:

Top stuff bro. Nice to see you're rocking the buzz-cut too \:D/

Cheers lads

Yeah Ronin, got the buzz cut the day before. Thought my afro mess wasn't very powerlifter-like, so shaved it off :pfft:

No pause at the top of the press on the 135kg bench!

:pfft:

Good lifts drizzt. Epic deads :clap:

Haha yeah actually got told off straight after that lift for doing that! Will definitely have to be something I remember when it comes to comp time :nod: Cheers bro

niiiiice liftin drizzt!!! super soild, great speed off the deck on the deads!!very motivating for me as im round the same weight, bit back strength wise and also a full on ruga player (alought gunna ease off abit this season), who is also playing round with some power lifting. Are you gunna have a crack at a comp some stage? Keep up the good work mate!

Hey RM, thanks mate. Actually speed off the floor was one thing OB picked up on that I need to work on a tad, I think it actually looked ok on the 260 attempt but that was because OB had told me of it just before the lift, so had it in mind I'm hoping to back off on the rugby a bit too while I'm still in the country (want to go overseas to play around halfway through the year), so hopefully that'll give me a bit more time to improve my lifts. Somthing that holds me back each year is I pretty much just maintain strength (at best!) through the rugby season, which is a big chunk of the year and leaves me with only 4months or so to go hard and then back into training for rugby. So my thinking is to play a social kinda grade and hopefully keep making strength improvments through the season :nod:

And yep, hope to have a crack at a comp at some point, hopefully CD Novice in March Good luck with the rugby/lifting bro, keen to see how you get on.

Awesome Drizzt! So what was your BW at 93/94? You're dead nearly 3x bw!! :clap:

Hey I noticed that you do the same as me just before enitial lift... kind of tug the bar and bend your elbows, it was pointed out to me that by doing that it's a bicep tear waiting to happen... i'm working on recitifying that now. Not that i'm an expert but just thought I'd mention anyhow :grin:

Thanks MG, yeah weighed in at 92.2 on the day (I think I lost a kilo when I shaved my head ), so 3x bw is a goal for this year, for sure. Want to stay under 93 for the 83-93 powerlifting category, so cycled water a bit in the leadup to these lifts to get under 93 as I would do for a comp :nod:

Good observation! It's not something I've really thought about before, so thanks. I alternate grip only on the max/near-max lifts, and hook grip on all other sets. I hope to eventually be able to hook grip on all sets, but not quite there yet unfortunately... 185-190 is about my limit at the mo - hopefully when I can hook grip at the top sets, bicep tears aren't something I'll need to worry about too much...

Impressive deads chief :nod:

Motivating for us lagging behind

Thanks PD, but you're hardly lagging! :pfft: You're smashing me on Wilks! :nod:

[drizzt]

That's the first time I've seen the vid too, and showed me how goddamned woeful those squats were! Odd, because out of the 3 lifts, I was feeling most confident about the squats - 170 shot up nice 'n easy + real deep on skills assessment a couple weeks prior to these lifts.

Definitely something I'm going to improve on this year :nod:

[OnlyHuman]

:clap:

[PeterDolan]

What are Wilks? Haha

[drizzt]

What are Wilks? Haha

The Wilks Coefficient - basically a formula that compares powerlifter's totals (or individual lifts) when they are different bodyweights. Calculator here if you want a look.

05/01/11

Bit of a muck around today to get back into things, treated it almost circuit like in that it was light weights/short rests. Was a nice change to the usual Sheiko stuff.

• Incline DB Press (sets, reps, weights)
  1 x 10 @ 24kg
  3 x 10 @ 30kg
  
• BB Bench Press
  4 x 10 @ 60kg
  
• Chins
  3 x 10 @ bw
  
• Hack Squats superset with Standing Calf Riases
  3 x 10 @ 1pps & 3 x 20 @ full stack
  
• GHR (ghetto style on lat pulldown station)
  2 x 8 @ bw (pretty much just controlling the downward part)
  
• Good Mornings
  1 x 10 @ bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 90kg
  2 x 5 @ 100kg
  

Comments

• Not much to say really, worked up a good sweat. Good mornings were technically a PB, but that's only because it's the most I've tried. Want to start going heavy on these to help improve the core strength, particularly for the squat.
  GHRs were tough! Definitely need to do more of these.

Then went to my tyres and flipped the big one a few times. Couple of sets of 10. First try in a while, wanna get back into these weekly leading into rugby season. Taking the knee out of the flip is starting to feel better.

[PeterDolan]

Ooooooh I see.

So why do you think your core is weak?

[drizzt]

So why do you think your core is weak?

Always had a pretty weak core, never really trained it properly! Has lead to a few injuries in the past. I've got a fairly small waist for a guy my height/weight (annoying when buying clothes = baggy waist/tight legs!), and I'm beginning to think this could also be a sign of a weak core when the surrounding parts - upper torso/legs - are probably disproportionately bigger.

If you watch the vid on my squats, you can see me shaking in the hole when I'm leaning forward - the core isn't able to support the weight properly and get me into an upright position. However once out of the hole and the torso is more upright, the legs take over the weight feels easy.

This is just my take on it, OB may be able to explain better....

Anyway, hopefully once this is solved my squat numbers will fly up and I'll have a more respectable total :grin:

[PeterDolan]

Yeah noticed that. I think your structure (hips, shoulders etc) can determine the weight you can lift and it makes sense with yours being smaller that it's harder for your to squat. To you train your abdominals (the superficial muscles as opposed to your TVA) directly?

[drizzt]

To you train your abdominals (the superficial muscles as opposed to your TVA) directly?

I don't train the core directly at all (which I know is a big mistake) apart from some token weighted crunches here and there. But for the Sheiko cycle I didn't have enough time to squeeze it into my sessions. That's probably a cop out though, because I definitely had time on other days to do the work, just didn't do it. Probably partly due to fatigue from the volume, and partly because I was too lazy :shifty:

But yeah whatever I do next, I want to incorporate whatever I can to strengthen the core, as obviously the compound movements on their own aren't enough for me. Heavy good mornings are a good start IMHO (as it's pretty much the part of the squat motion that I get stuck on), but will add more than that when I work out what sort of program I'm doing next :nod:

Suggestions for core work?

[red machine]

yea true bro, i see what u say about speed now, just had a closer look, but once its off the ground shes sure is movin the 1st 3/4s, good luck with contract 4 code over seas mate, just make sure u fill out those visa apps right, i stuffed mine up few years back and got the big reject!!!

[PeterDolan]

Guys like Nate and Warren probably have a better insight but I'd suggest heavy (10-12 reps) exercises (2-3) to add some strength and muscle. I'm probably not the best for this cause my core is just naturally strong, I don't ever use a belt on any exercises no matter how heavy

[drizzt]

07/01/11

Had a big run around yesterday (cricket, volleyball etc) in lieu of weights, so cracked a session in today. Still not quite sure what I'm going to start on next week. Considering a 4-week Sheiko again, but I KNOW that will be tough coming into rugby season, and possibly counter-productive for both weights and rugby, so not sure at this stage.

• Standing OHP (strict, knees locked) (sets, reps, weights)
  1 x 10 @ bar
  1 x 10 @ 40kg
  1 x 8 @ 50kg
  2 x 6 @ 60kg
  
• Side Raises superset with Rear Delt Raises
  3 x 10 @ 10kg & 3 x 10 @ 7kg
  
• Single-leg Press
  4 x 10 @ 1pps (per leg)
  
• Single-leg DB RDLs
  3 x 10 @ 12kg (per leg)
  
• Weighted Crunches
  3 x 18 @ 10kg (6 hugging weight, 6 weight held straight above head, 6 twists per side at top of the last rep - weight held in front)
  
• Standing Cable Crunches
  3 x 10 @ 50kg
  

Comments

• Not much to say again, more light weights + high intensity.
  Want to get into single-leg stuff for rugby season, so gave leg press a go (let it rest at the bottom on the pins before exploding back up), as well as the RDLs which I haven't done for a while. Balance felt good.
  Liking the standing cable crunches, get more ROM than the kneeling ones, feel like there is less body english involved and as a result they feel a bit tougher. Grabbed a copy of "Combat Core" which is apparently good core work for athletes, will give that a read/view when I get a chance.
  

Will hit some agile 8 tonight, have been doing it each evening to loosen up. Might start waking up half an hour earlier and doing them in the mornings, probably better than the evenings but at least I'm getting them in at the mo :nod:

[nate225]

Just a tip bro,

Hit your abs from different angles, rather than just crunch / situp type movements. Add some landmines, old school DB side bends, plank variations, russian twists (though some rugby S&C guys say avoid these?).

Also learning to engage your TA's when lifting will help.

Nate

[tinytraps]

Developing a thicker waist will help your squat immensly (Im not talking fat btw ) A favourite of mine is decline situps with straight legs along with hypers and side bends as nate said. I think the one lift that is affected most by waist size is the squat. A pyramids much stronger with the wide base rathere than the tip :wink:

A bit late to the party but mean lifts bro! That dead will be something to reckon with in the new year!

[drizzt]

Just a tip bro,

Hit your abs from different angles, rather than just crunch / situp type movements. Add some landmines, old school DB side bends, plank variations, russian twists (though some rugby S&C guys say avoid these?).

Also learning to engage your TA's when lifting will help.

Nate

Thanks Nate, will add these in, appreciate the input Frequency suggestions?

Developing a thicker waist will help your squat immensly (Im not talking fat btw ) A favourite of mine is decline situps with straight legs along with hypers and side bends as nate said. I think the one lift that is affected most by waist size is the squat. A pyramids much stronger with the wide base rathere than the tip :wink:

A bit late to the party but mean lifts bro! That dead will be something to reckon with in the new year!

Thanks bro, yeah core is definitely the big focus for me at the moment, the poor squats have hammered this home for me so will be doing whatever I can to thicken this waist of mine up (hopefully with muscle )

[PeterDolan]

russian twists (though some rugby S&C guys say avoid these

Hope these aren't the same guys that got the AB's ready for the last RWC?

I gues the torques on the spine could be bad for you. The BB version with the BB jammed in a corner looks more useful than any other I've seen

[drizzt]

10/01/11

95 today which is bang on where I wanna be :nod:

• Decline Bench (sets, reps, weights)
  1 x 10 @ 70kg
  1 x 8 @ 80kg
  1 x 5 @ 90kg
  1 x 8 @ 80kg
  1 x 10 @ 70kg
  
• Incline DB Bench
  4 x 10 @ 25kg
  
• Overhead DB Tri Press
  4 x 10 @ 30kg
  
• Dips
  4 x 8 @ +20kg
  
• Rope Pushdowns
  4 x 15 @ 50kg
  
• DB Side Bends
  3 x 10 @ 25kg (per side)
  

Comments

• First time Decline benching in quite a while, was slightly harder than I anticipated but not too bad.
  
• Dips were tougher than I expected, I did them after Overhead DB Press and Decline/Incline presses though (belt was in use when I went to do them first), so the tris were pretty smoked at that point.
  
• All else were pretty standard, side DB bends were tough, been a while since I've directly targeted the obliques like that. Have resolved to do one ab exercise per session, rather than try and get a whole bunch done at once. Reason is it'll take less time this way and it means I'll be more likely to throw them into the workouts.
  

So the plan at the moment is to follow a powerbuilding type of template. My initial thought was to go for another 4 week Sheiko cycle, but that would start to impinge on rugby training and things. The Powerbuilding templates (set out by Doc Squat) seem like something I can adapt without too much trouble for use during Rugby season... and in the leadup to it.

I'm not gonna go around calling myself a Powerbuilder or anything... not that there's anything wrong with that! - but it's just the template seems to suit what I'm after at the moment.

Also had my first BJJ rollaround tonight, lots of fun! Not as tough on the cardio as I thought it'd be, but I can imagine the more advanced you are, the harder it becomes :nod: Either way it was tough on the core, my flexibility wasn't quite as bad as what I thought (although it could be much better!), but it'd definitely be something I'd like to continue. Only thing is I can see it being hard squeezing Rugby + weights in on top of the BJJ. That, and the cost is more than my gym fee :shock: So would be wanting to go more than a few times a week to make it worth it.

Vaguely considering playing a social grade kinda rugby this year to keep the skills going before jetting off overseas, but also to allow me to continue with the BJJ/weights programs. Just an idea at this stage, but something I can see gathering momentum.

[drizzt]

11/01/11 - Upper Back/Bis

95 today.

• Chins (sets, reps, weights)
  2 x 10 @ bw
  2 x 6 @ bw
  
• Lat Pulldowns (hammer strength)
  1 x 10 @ 20kg (per side)
  1 x 8 @ 30kg
  1 x 5 @ 35kg
  1 x 8 @ 25kg
  1 x 10 @ 20kg
  
• Seated Rows (hammer strength)
  4 x 10 @ 20kg (per side)
  
• Bent DB Rows
  4 x 10 @ 30kg (per side)
  
• Face Pulls
  4 x 10 @ 40kg
  
• DB Hammer Curls ( :oops: )
  4 x 10 @ 15kg (per side)
  
• Standing Cable Crunches
  4 x 10 @ 50kg
  

Comments

• Chins were pretty sweet, until toward the end of the 2nd set where I really started to struggle. Forearms started to cramp and bis were rooted! Haven't been in this rep range for quite a while, particularly for the muscle groups involved here, so I'm thinking that's why I burned out when I did after an easy first set. Wanted to do these first so I could fatigue the bis a bit, keep them out of the back movements as much as possible.
  
• All of the row movements were using fairly light weights (although form started going a bit off on the pulldowns) as I tend to involve a lot of bis in the movement. They were fatigued from chins, but wanted to get the movements down properly to involve the upper back. Worked well.
  
• Core was still a tad rooted from yesterdays BJJ (and even the side bends!), so did some simple standing cable crunches. Will try russian twists for the next session.
  
• As for the curls... well, I can't remember the last time I did any! I wanted to do Preachers, but the station was taken when I went to do 'em so was forced to change it up.

Will do some Agile 8 tonight as I've missed out on doing it the past couple of days.

Rest day tomorrow, though might go for a run.

[nzmusclemonster]

Vaguely considering playing a social grade kinda rugby this year to keep the skills going before jetting off overseas, but also to allow me to continue with the BJJ/weights programs. Just an idea at this stage, but something I can see gathering momentum.

J'ville are in the social grade this year aren't they? :pfft:

[drizzt]

Haha I thought that'd draw something out of ya. I agree, although the coaches seem to be going a bit more intense this year than they did last year :shock:

So I guess more social in that I don't have to attend a certain amount of trainings and things like that :shifty: