Give me strength, or give me death!

[Phedder]

^ I wish I could use that excuse, my wingspan is exactly the same as my height :?

RTS Intensity Block W5D3

Deadlifts

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg

1x180kg (B)

2x3x200kg (B)@9s - Almost lost my grip on the 3rd rep 2nd set.

3x210kg (B) @9.75 - Held at the top for 10 seconds to remind me my grip isn't an issue I would have put that as a 10RPE but I've done far too many 5-7 second grinder reps to rate it that way, final rep was a 3-4 second grinder...

3 Second Pause Squats

lots x 60kg - no pause

3x60kg

3x100kg

3x120kg

4x2x145kg (B)@9,9,9.5,9.5

Romanian Deadlifts

12x60kg

3x10x100kg

Guy who was waiting for the rack after me asked a few questions about squatting so I spent about 15 minutes help coach him during my Romanian sets. He probably had the best initial squat technique I'd ever seen from a lanky indian guy, pretty clean for having horrible leverages.

[OnlyHuman]

^ I wish I could use that excuse, my wingspan is exactly the same as my height :?

........

4x2x145kg (B)@9,9,9.5,9.5

I am the same wingspan wise :?

Strong pause squats mr!

[Phedder]

Thanks mate, they didn't feel strong :pfft: 2nd reps on the 9.5 sets were getting a bit loose on form, but still coming up well enough. I've done a 160kg paused before so think I may give that a shot next week, or at least work up to a single at 9.5-10.

[Phedder]

RTS Intensity block W5D4

Bench Press against blue band

lots x bar

5x60kg

3x80kg

3x3x95kg

Floor Press

10x50kg

3x80kg

1x100kg

1x110kg @8.5 -PBs from here onwards

1x115kg @9

1x120kg @9.25

0x125kg - So close!

7x100kg - Rep PB

Seated DB Press

10x15kg

10x22.5kg - Na, flared up some tendinitis with the failed floor press

Tricep Rope Pressdowns

3x25x36kg

50x36kg

Out of time, I'll do a bunch of back work tomorrow and some more tricep/elbow flushing work. Not happy with two failed bench movements this week, maybe pushing myself a bit far. Next week I'll focus on a bit more volume, still keeping it in the 9-9.5RPE range.

[OnlyHuman]

Just throwing it out there...

I noticed that when I smash my self on 1 or two board... the next one or two sessions of bench suffers a bit. Could be something similar in your case?

[Phedder]

It definitely could be, have pushed myself fairly hard this week and sleep hasn't been ideal, so faitgue is always a factor. In todays case I think it was just over reaching. I know I'm not as strong with floor pressing as I am with a standard bench press, so trying to match the numbers wasn't a good idea. The 120 just came up smooth enough to convince me I had the 125.

[Phedder]

Finishing off Fridays session yesterday;

Pull ups

4x10xbw

6xbw

Lat Pulldowns - Leaning back for a horizontal row

4x12x56kg

Face Pull

4x25x42kg

SS

Tricep Pushdowns

4x25x42kg

Blue band pullaparts

4x20

SS

Ezy Bar Curls

4x25x20kg

Attempted ab wheel rollouts but my elbow didn't agree with that, so just did 3x12 cable side bends.

[M.T]

Mirin chins man. Do you find them quite easy?

[Phedder]

I wouldn't say easy, but I like to keep on top of them. Finding it hard to push past sets of 10 reps now though, most sets are 7-8 reps and then a quick grip reset to finish the 10. That's with pull ups though, not sure what my chins would be at currently, haven't done them in a while. Back when I was low 90kgs my PB was 18 reps for chin ups, I stopped doing them for a few months and gained a few kg and was down to 5-6 reps despite all other back movements getting stronger :doh: So now I just make sure I can keep lifting my own bodyweight haha, will be adding weighted pull ups and chin ups when I'm in The House

[Phedder]

I knew this session would be tough when I rolled out of bed this morning, and for some reason my lower back was in a constant state of ache. Despite not doing anything back intensive since Thursday, and it felt absolutely fine when going to bed last night. Didn't come right at all today despite plenty of rolling, stretching and mobility. Very frustrating :evil:

On the bright side, my crappy little gym now has a whole bunch of new toys. Couldn't be worse timing though, when I'm leaving in 10 days But now there's 2 more oly bars, one with fantastic bearings and seems to be a 27-28mm, definitely thinner than the others. There's also Kettlebells up to 24kg, which I definitely would have used had they been here all summer. A few bumper plates, some bands, and a trap bar :grin:

Anyway, todays sorry session...

Squats

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x120kg

2x140kg (B)

3x2x170kg (B) @9,9.5,9.5

5x140kg (B)

Trap Bar Deadlifts - Never done these before

5x60kg

3x100kg

3x140kg

3x180kg (B) @8

2x200kg (B) @9 - PB

3x180kg (B) @8.5

Front Squats SS High bar Back squats

2x10x60kg ss 2x10x60kg

And done. Really frustrating session for me, lower back not cooperating, possibly the hottest day we've had in the gym all summer too (only 1 fan working) and considering I wanted to nail 3x3x180kg, to do 3x2x170kg is quite a disappointment. I used the trap bar next to spare the back a little, but mostly because I just couldn't resist. I really like the movement, and felt I could easily shift the work emphasis to either the quads or the glutes and hams depending on how I pulled. Could be a great higher rep movement to finish off lower body days.

[marshallbenji0]

wow, intense stuff! Awesome transformation. :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Phedder]

Cheers mate, long way to go yet. Never satisfied! :grin:

RTS Intensity Block W6D2

Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x80kg

2x100kg

3x110kg @9

3x115kg rep PB @9.25

3x117.5kg rep PB @9.5

3x5x100kg

Pull ups

4x10xbw

Face Pulls

3x20x66kg

SS

Side raises

3x10x12.5kg

Chin ups

2x10

Blue Band Pullaparts

2x20

Another awesome bench session, good way to make up for last weeks efforts. Should manage a few sets of 120 for doubles next week :nod: I did 3x5 for back off instead of moving to incline as my right shoulder was giving me a bit of grief. Manageable on flat bench but I knew paused inclines wouldn't agree.

[Phedder]

RTS Intensity block W6D3

Morning weigh in: 101.6kg - Slowly heading in the right direction

Deadlifts

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg

2x180kg (B) @7.5

2x200kg (B) @8.5

2x220kg (B) @9.75

2x200kg (B) @9

3 Second Pause Squats

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x120kg

1x140kg (B)

1x150kg (B) @8

1x160kg (B) @8.5

1x170kg (B) -PB @9.5

1x180kg (B) @8.5 - No pause.

Romanian Deadlifts

4x10x100kg

Ab wheel rollouts

10xbw

10xbw+20kg

6xbw+30kg drop set

6xbw+20kg drop set

10xbw

Really good session, pretty happy with the outcome. Deadlifts are still well off where they were, but slowly getting there. Pause squats felt great, at 150 I was thinking I'd make 160 to tie my PB. Then 160 came up without much more effort than the 150, so I managed to nail a 10kg PB there. Felt smooth, slow but smooth. Decided on a normal squat at 180kg to see how it felt, felt like nothing in the hole when bouncing after pausing with 170 haha. Bodes well considering on Monday I was struggling with doubles at 170, then today I manage it with a 3 second pause. Yeah buddy!

[OnlyHuman]

Big paused squat ... Great stuff as always :clap:

[Phedder]

Big paused squat ... Great stuff as always :clap:

Cheers mate, very pleased with that. Considering when I tested before starting this cycle I got a grindy 170kg squat, to be pausing that weight now I'm really pleased with. Would be nice to hit a 200kg paused squat by the end of the year

Last nights training;

RTS W6D4

Bench Press against blue band

lots x bar

5x60kg

2x80kg

2x90kg

4x2x100kg - Volume PB

Floor Press

8x50kg

3x80kg

3x100kg

3x3x110kg - Rep and Vol PB

Pull ups

10xbw

5xbw+10kg

5xbw+20kg - PB

2x10xbw

Miltary Press

10xbar

4x8x40kg

SS

Lat Pulldowns - Leaning back for horizontal row

4x12x56kg

Face Pulls

2x20x66kg

[Phedder]

Went white water rafting down the Buller river yesterday. Up at 6am on a Sunday to get there in time, though a price worth paying when you're getting the trip for free (usually $130 per person :shock: ) Amazing fun and absolutely stunning scenery, a lot of history on that river. Good upper body workout too, shoulders were feeling it today and lower back a little bit fatigued.

RTS Intensity Block W7D1

Squats

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg (B)

2x160kg (B) @8

2x3x180kg (B) @9.5,10 - Equal rep PB there. Will be doing 5s with 180 before CD Champs :nod:

3x170kg (B) @9.5

Sumo Deadlifts

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

3x140kg

2x3x180kg (B) @8.5s

2x3x140kg (B) @7s - Tech work.

Ab wheel rollouts

12xbw

3x10xbw+20kg

So the program offically ended last week, but I won't be testing until next Monday/Tuesday so decided to hit some heavy work today and tomorrow, maybe a light speed and mobility session on Thursday and then rest up over the weekend during the big move, and be ready for a test on my first day in 'The House' :grin:

[OnlyHuman]

Just the atmosphere alone will give you a few xtra kgs on your 1RM :wink:

[Phedder]

Just the atmosphere alone will give you a few xtra kgs on your 1RM :wink:

That and a solid floor to squat on :pfft: Can't wait to be free of this squishy bloody carpet!

[Phedder]

RTS Intensity block W7D2

Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

2x80kg

2x100kg

1x110kg

3x2x120kg -Rep and Vol PB \:D/ @9,9.5,9.5

3x5x100kg

Pull ups

5xbw

5xbw+10kg

5xbw+20kg

5x5xbw+10kg

10xbw drop set to 6 chin ups

10xbw - Chin ups

Blue band pullaparts

3x20

Stoked with todays efforts, bench feeling really strong and my pull up performance is still rising quickly. The 10 at bodyweight after all the weighted work felt like nothing, going to be hitting some big volume and weights with the pull ups this year, should have never let them slip.

[OnlyHuman]

.......Stoked with todays efforts, bench feeling really strong and my pull up performance is still rising quickly....

Nice steady improvements Phed \:D/

Impressive stuff :clap:

[Phedder]

Finally got internet sorted at the new flat, pity the updates aren't really worthy

Moved up to Welly last Friday, went into The House for a test on Sunday the 24th to underwhelming results, it went something like this;

Squats

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg (B)

1x160kg (B)

1x170kg (B)

0x180kg (B) - Hit the safeties and threw me off

1x180kg (B) - Better, but still a grind. Repping this for sets of 3 the week previous and then barely managing a single wasn't exactly what I had been hoping for.

Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

2x80kg

2x100kg

1x110kg

1x120kg

0x127.5kg - Still haunting me. The 120 flew up and I felt confident but hit the same old sticking point and couldn't budge it.

Deadlifts

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg

1x180kg (B)

1x200kg (B) - That was far enough, slow and tough. Again had been repping that the weeks previous so not good at all.

Ab Wheel rollouts

2x10xbw

3x10xbw+10kg

Figured I must be fatigued from the move, shifting a truck load of furniture and boxes the day before probably didn't help and I wasn't used to lifting in the morning. Yeah, that must have been it...So I figured I'd try again on Wednesday the 27th, which went something like this;

Squats

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg (B)

3x1x160kg (B) - Wasn't feeling right so did a few singles here

1x170kg (B) - Hard enough again, knew I wasn't going to get much further so called it there. Basically called off the test from here.

Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

2x80kg

2x100kg

1x110kg

1x120kg

5x110kg - rep PB

10x100kg - rep PB

Stoked with the rep PBs at least, something positive.

Power Cleans

3x60kg

3x70kg

2x80kg

1x90kg

1x100kg - PB

2x0x105kg - Close, but couldn't rack them. Need more confident to get under the bar.

Pull ups

3x10xbw

So testing didn't go anywhere near as well as expected, and I'm at a loss as to why. Squats and deads were going great in training before moving up, and bench was stronger than it's ever been. A bit demotivating to be struggling with weights I was recently repping. Squats felt like I couldn't really get any stability, each rep felt slightly different and out of groove. Deadlifts just had no gas, again reps feeling all over the place and like I couldn't maintain positioning. Bench was feeling fantastic but just couldn't translate that to a 1rm PB, it'll fall soon enough.

Todays session;

Deadlifts

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg (B)

2x2x180kg (B)

3x180kg (B)

Squats

2x5x60kg

2x3x100kg

2x3x120kg

3x3x140kg (B)

Glute-Ham Raise - Attempted Been a long time since I'd done these.

3x5xbw +assisted

Lying Leg Curls

10x25kg

10x35kg

10x45kg

3x10x25kg

Todays session feeling better, hopefully back on the upwards strength trend. Focus is now strictly on the CDs champs and nailing that 600kg total, will start a new RTS volume block on Monday, hopefully be repping 180 for squats and 220 for deads in 2 weeks or so. Afterall, I'm not allowed to actually get weaker in The House

I also got plenty of video the last few sessions, nice to actually have space to set up a camera. Will put that together and get it up sometime over the weekend.

[Old Bull]

Todays session feeling better, hopefully back on the upwards strength trend. Focus is now strictly on the CDs champs and nailing that 600kg total, will start a new RTS volume block on Monday, hopefully be repping 180 for squats and 220 for deads in 2 weeks or so. Afterall, I'm not allowed to actually get weaker in The House

Ain't that the Truth we will be watching

Welcome to The House Phedder :clap: :clap: and The Mighty Green Machine :clap:

[OnlyHuman]

Don't let it get to you Phed.

Changing living arrangements is one of the most stressful situations you can have(alongside a change in relationship or work environment). It is that slow continuos low stress that comes with it that wears your system out... Don't even give it a second thought! Strength doesn't just evaporate only your ability to display it impaired due to a change in your living arrangements.

Give it a few weeks and your numbers will soar to new heights I am sure of it.

A quality lifting environment like the house will push you along nice and steady... big things to come soon enough!

Eat and rest up

[Phedder]

Cheers OH, definitely need that

Strength doesn't just evaporate only your ability to display it

Love that line as well, will bank that one :nod:

Here's the videos from the week, they're not pretty You can see on my first rep at 160kg the weight went forward onto my toes, heels even came off the floor slightly. Horrible technique, nothing felt right. The 200kg dead was probably the slowest I'd ever pulled that weight as well, felt horrible. Still pretty stale on Wed and Fri sessions as well, I don't think a single squat rep would have been to depth :doh:

Plenty to work on, and it will return quickly. Have been doing a lot of mobility work and stretching over the weekend, bodies feeling primed to start a new block tomorrow. Cannot wait to get in there :twisted:

Test

Wed + Fri

This was mostly trying to feel out the weights and technique again, happy to bank two bench rep PBs though.

[drizzt]

Agree with OH bro, it'll come. Good to have you in The House :clap: