#drizzt

[drizzt]

The wackiness of perception is normal. You'll have days where you feel awful and training is amazing, and other days where you think you feel great and then the warmups feel like two tons of lead.

The saying covers it all: how you feel is a lie. Overtraining [sic] is an illusion created by your brain in response to tissue inflammation and psychological stress, and it has little to do with performance.

Thanks mate, good to keep in mind - finicky things, these bodys.

We will probably have a few at the novice comp in July bro...more than happy to help you out should you need a handler or wrapping and slappin :nod:

Thanks bro, will keep that in mind

[drizzt]

12.05.11 - Intro Cycle, Week 2, Day 2

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  1 x 12 @ 60kg
  1 x 10 @ 80kg
  1 x 6 @ 100kg
  1 x 4 @ 110kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 3 @ 130kg
  1 x 2 @ 135kg
  1 x 2 @ 140kg
  1 x 1 @ 145kg
  1 x 3 @ 152.5kg
  1 x 12 @ 120kg
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  
• Bench
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 6 @ 80kg
  1 x 10 @ 100kg
  1 x 8 @ 100kg (w/w)
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  
• Cable Rear Delt Raises superset with Face Pulls and Standing Calf Raises
  3 x 10 @ 10kg/10 @ 30kg/20 @ 60kg
  

Comments

• Felt great with squats today, in fact, felt so good that I made ALL reps prior to the top set down to ass-on-calves.
  Top set @ 152.5 first two reps hit deep, third rep kinda changed my mind about depth halfway down and as a result, there was a slight grind getting it up! No belt or anything today, which is a huge change from Tuesday where I didn't feel like I could even get one rep @ 152.5 without the belt, but today I felt great heading into the set. Intend to not belt up unless I feel I need to.
  I still had some gas in the tank after that prescribed top set, so dropped back to 120 and hit 12 reps ass-to-calves which should be some kinda "rep PB", but I'm not really counting. I DID hit record on my camcorder before doing the set, but my TP then decided to hit record on it as well when I got under the bar... turning it off :doh: So there is footage of me walking to the rack and thats it! Still, this set felt incredible, really happy to get so many reps at such a weight, have never really tried to go more than 10 above 100kg before.
  We've also decided that on days like these where we feel strong under the bar, we'll squeeze what we can out of the tank and do extra sets/reps where possible, but if the gas isn't quite there (kinda like Tuesday) we'll just hit what is prescribed for the day and leave it there.
  
• Bench was average, think I blew my load on the squats - which is fine, as today was intended as a "rep day" for bench anyway. First set of 10 was a bit of a grinder for the last few reps, second set I failed on the 9th rep, third one I grinded out 5 and called it a day there as I could tell I would barely get the 6th off the chest. Somewhere on the inner arm (pec insertion?) hurts a bit after that session, gonna ice it soon.
  TP just got a pair of RPM wrist wraps, so tried them on for a set at the 100s.
  
• Assistance work = nothing to say. Did them all together as we were a bit short on time.
  

[Big john]

We've also decided that on days like these where we feel strong under the bar, we'll squeeze what we can out of the tank and do extra sets/reps where possible

Milk those gains bro...and milk them hard!

[startinfromscratch]

milk them like a cat!

[steak]

nice squat session 8)

[drizzt]

Cheers fellas, will milk vigorously.

[drizzt]

14.05.11 - Intro Cycle, Week 2, Day 3

96.6 today, up there for a Saturday so I'm pleased the weight is beginning to climb, and steadily too. Not just packing it on like I probably would've in the past.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  warmups...
  1 x 15 @ 60kg
  1 x 8 @ 80kg
  1 x 6 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 110kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 3 @ 130kg
  1 x 2 @ 135kg
  1 x 2 @ 140kg
  1 x 2 @ 145kg
  working set...
  1 x 5 @ 152.5kg
  extras...
  1 x 6 @ 140kg
  1 x 8 @ 130kg
  1 x 13 @ 120kg
  1 x 20 @ 60kg
  
• Push Press
  bar warmups
  1 x 10 @ 40kg
  2 x 8 @ 60kg
  
• DB Side Bends superset with One-arm DB Rows
  2 x 10/ps @ 70lb & 8/ps @ 70lb
  

Comments

• Squats were ok today, didn't feel as strong as Thursday. Video footage is showing me getting a lot of forward knee travel again, more laziness than anything - because when I thought about it before a rep, I'd sit back really well and the knees would stay nice and upright. Something for me to keep in mind. Didn't seem to be a problem with the lower weights, but when the weights got heavier I'd slip into old habits. Also probably due to me dropping a little fast sometimes and throwing tech out the window a bit.
  So really, just need to concentrate!
  The leadups were a little tougher than the other day, threw in an extra few reps. Right hip is giving me a little trouble, but once properly warmed up I didn't notice it too much.
  I wanted to belt up for the top set, as I wasn't confident (judging by my effort at 145) of a full 5 reps beltless, but the belt was locked up in The Wise One's office, and he'd ducked out. Tried on some of the other belts but none suited, so bit the bullet and went for it.
  Didn't feel too bad, just when I let the form slip it made the rep twice as hard. Checked the footage, and I think I hit depth 4/5 of the reps, so I'll take that for a day where I wasn't really in the zone.
  Didn't have much left in the tank, but decided to back off sets anyway because the TP was into it. Wanted to get 12 x 120 on camera due to the mishap from Thurs, and managed to push an extra to beat it as well. Probably could've got 15 but laziness kicked in. Still, I was pretty well drained at that point.
  OH and for shits and giggles, I threw in a "no hand" squat on the last set of 60s. First time trying, pretty sure I hit depth but we weren't recording the lighter sets... will have to try get one on film.
  
• All else was pretty standard, we were quite rooted so it made the extras feel like cardio, but all good. Supersetted the last ones because the TP had to go somewhere, and cut it even shorter than intended so we could duck out for a feed.
  

So it turned out to be a pretty good session. Nothing scheduled for tomorrow, but we'll go in and do some assistance stuff anyway, and maybe some light squats depending on how the hip is feeling.

Decided we'll probably be running something like a Brad Gillingham 12 or 8 week bench program alongside the Smolov, just calls for a heavy and a light day each week so shouldn't take anything away from our squats and hopefully we have enough gas left to give the bench enough attention as well. We're just concerned our bench (and deads) will suffer from us concentrating so hard on the squatting, so we're keen to get some kind of structure going.

Will gather and edit the last week of training into a vid, and probably post tonight.

[drizzt]

Here's the wrap up for us from the past week:

Note: messed up a couple of the captions on the vid before anyone points em out :grin:

The set of mine where it says "Day 3, 8 x 130", it should be "Day 3, 13 x 120". And one of Muay Tyler's where it says "Day 3, 7 x 127.5", it should be "Day 3, 7 x 120".

Should really proof-watch these vids before posting. My bad.

Also CBF doing music for it today, so you get the sultry sounds of plates crashing around 8)

[drizzt]

15.05.11 - Extra Assistance

Today wasn't scheduled in the program, but went in to loosen up some of the tightness, and practise some stuff to get the knee travel under control.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  1 x 10 @ 60kg (w/ bands around knees)
  2 x 10 @ 100kg (w/ bands around knees)
  1 x 10 @ 100kg
  
• GHR
  3 x 10 @ bw
  
• Side Lateral Raises (cable)
  3 x 10/ps @ ?
  

Comments

• No huge point to today's session, just a bit tight so wanted to squat it out. Also after reviewing the footage, I wanted to work on this knee travel while it's still early in the program.
  I tied a band around both knees - as suggested by one of the guys at the House - to use as a cue when squatting down that I'd force my knees apart. I'd know when I was doing it, as the band would get tension on it.
  Theres also a decent case to be made for my just being lazy, as I found when I really focused on it, I would sit back properly and it'd be noticeable on film from the beginning the change in my tech.
  So throughout the program, I just need to concentrate, sit back, and push the knees apart. The footage shows I get a lot further below parallel than I was getting, with the same amount of effort. It also seems to put slightly less stress on my hip which is feeling a bit troublesome at the moment.
  

[drizzt]

17.05.11 - Base Meso, Week 1, Day 1

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmups
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 8 @ 80kg
  1 x 6 @ 90kg
  1 x 6 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 110kg
  1 x 3 @ 115kg
  1 x 2 @ 120kg
  Working Sets
  3 x 9 @ 125kg
  1 x 10 @ 125kg
  
• Bench
  Warmups
  1 x 6 @ 60kg
  1 x 3 @ 100kg
  1 x 2 @ 110kg
  1 x 1 @ 120kg
  Working Sets
  1 x 1 @ 132.5kg
  5 x 3 @ 120kg (w/w for final 2 sets)
  

Comments

• Squats were so-so today. Weight didn't feel particularly heavy - and it shouldn't - but the right hip was giving me a buttload of trouble which complicated things a bit.
  Doc gave me a once-over in between the 3rd and 4th working sets, which helped nicely, just gotta keep stretching it and doing my agile 8 (which I've been doing religiously each session!).
  Footage looked pretty good though, sitting back isn't too hard once you get into that groove, but I'm kinda stuck into pretty much divebombing down now as I've not quite found the spot that I'm comfortable calling parallel. Bonus is I'm getting deeper than I've ever gone, negatives are this isn't gonna fly with the heavier weights, and it's somewhat taxing on my lower back. Threw an extra rep on to the last set - kinda intended to go to 12, but the 10th was ugly and a bit of a grinder, so I threw it in there.
  Can see Thursday being a little tough if the hip doesn't cooperate again.
  Still no need for the belt, pleased with that.
  
• Decided to do a Brad Gillingham 12-week bench prog alongside the Smolov. We'll be jumping in on week 3 for a couple of reasons - 1, this makes it finish the same time as Smolov (in time for the Auckland Novice) and 2, for the past couple of weeks we were more or less doing the same sort of workload on bench that the program specifies for you.
  Anyway, today on bench was tough, which I expect to be the same every (heavy) bench session as we'll be going into it pretty spent from squats in the same session. 120s were rough, the last rep of the last few sets were grinders. Wrapped up for the last two and they seemed easier, not sure if that was placebo or not but I won't argue.
  

Happy with this session in that I got through it pretty easily, but I think it's shown me how tough the rest of this prog will be. Particularly if this hip doesn't play ball.

However in my favour is that I have belt + wraps in the bank should it get tough, I'd like to pull these out only when necessary, but it bolsters my confidence for whats to come knowing that I can bring them out if it gets hard.

[Big john]

good sesh bro..just keep hammering the aigle 8..add in supine bridges/leg swings to hit that hip too!

[drizzt]

Cheers bro, good thinking on the hip work, will chuck those in :nod:

[drizzt]

19.05.11 - Base Meso, Week 1, Day 2

97 flat today woop woop, just flip that M upside down and call the program Swolov.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmups
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 8 @ 80kg
  1 x 6 @ 90kg
  1 x 6 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 110kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 2 @ 125kg
  1 x 1 @ 130kg
  Working Sets
  5 x 7 @ 135kg
  
• Bench
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  2 x 8 @ 95kg
  
• Chins
  1 x 8 @ bw (on the rings)
  1 x 6 @ bw (close/neutral grip)
  1 x 5 @ bw
  

Comments

• Another so-so day on the squats today. Didn't feel too bad heading into it, but man, up until that first working set my hip was a ball of fire, feels like it's getting a little worse. In saying that, though, it didn't really affect the working sets which was pleasing. Did some leg swings in between sets and that seemed to help (I think). Also have an appointment with the Doc tomorrow (a proper one!) which will hopefully iron some kinks out, looking at making it a regular visit during Smolov.
  Not a lot else to say, thought I may have to belt up for this session, but got through it without which was pleasing. I was a bit intimidated by the look of the weights on paper today, but once I get over that fear, the weights feel easier. TP and I also found the quicker we bust the sets out, the easier they are. Just don't think about it and go! You'd think form would go out the window this way, but we seemed to hold it up surprisingly well... footage will show anyway.
  
• Bench was surprisingly tough... well, actually, I'm expecting a decent amount of toughness whenever we bench, due to the squats being so taxing. Just didn't expect a light day to feel quite as heavy... there was still a bit of residual soreness from Tuesday's bench session which no doubt contributed to the toughness slightly.
  

All good, looking forward to Saturday 8)

[drizzt]

Today, I went and saw the Doc at his Surgery for a better look into what's going wrong in this fragile frame of mine.

Diagnosis; the pelvis is a long way out of alignment - the right hand side has a good range of motion, where the left is tight like tiger. The right side is where I'm getting all of the pain, so naturally this is where I thought the issue was. However, Doc says that because the left side has such poor mobility, the right side is picking up the slack.

Thinking about it, I can feel this in the warmup sets where one side feels off and the travel of the right knee goes further out than the left, which is more of a straight line - I just put it down to not being properly warmed up. Maybe this is why I have so many warmups before the business sets - my body adjusts as required to make up for the weaker/less mobile left hand side :shrug:

Solution; Doc has given me an exercise to do whenever I get a chance, to hopefully strengthen up this weak left hand side. I'll also be popping in twice a week to get Doc to pop things back into alignment, which he says will gradually strengthen the surrounding ligaments and musculature to hold it in the correct postiion. On top of this, I need to remember to keep my posture in line (which I'm incredibly bad at - slouching over my keyboard for 8 hours a day :shifty:).

Doc also cracked out a neck issue that I didn't realise existed... and I immediately sat up straighter. But that's no excuse for my poor posture, I just need to stay focused and maybe set up a couple of cues at my desk to remind me.

Anyway, it's great to have some clarity in what is happening with these persistent niggles, and hopefully this all results in a stronger power transfer for my lifts 8)

Doc has also written up a form for me to get some bloods done, so I'll post up with results when I get them :-)

[Old Bull]

Got to love The Doc the point of pain is never the issue just the end result of somewhere else.

Good to see he has got you sorted. :clap: :clap:

[drizzt]

Haha so true.

Yeah it always seems to feel great straight after seeing him, but seems to slip back to it's bad position throughout the rest of the day. Be good to have it fixed permanently :nod:

[drizzt]

21.05.11 - Base Meso, Week 1, Day 3

96.9 - TP is at a personal high of 95.4 today! When he started at the House, I think he was 88 or so? As a comparison, I think I was sitting around 93-94 when he joined.

He's been a member for almost 3 months now, so big gains for him! 8)

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmup Sets
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 8 @ 80kg
  1 x 6 @ 100kg
  1 x 4 @ 110kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 2 @ 130kg
  1 x 1 @ 135kg
  Working Sets
  7 x 5 @ 145kg
  
• Rear DB Raises
  3 x 10 @ 10lb
  
• Lat Pulldowns
  3 x 10 @ 40kg
  
• Dips
  3 x 10 @ bw
  

Comments

• Think the prescribed weights are beginning to catch up with me, because today was tough!
  Hip was still a bit painful today, but I think because I have an understanding of why it's painful, I'm feeling like I can focus on it, and manage it slightly better.
  Today I didn't drop as deep as I have been doing all week (apart from a rep here and there) because the weight was simply too heavy to do so. This is kinda good, because I did what felt to me like half-reps, but turned out to be still marginally below parallel when reviewing the footage. Pretty stoked with that, the deep reps seem to have set me up for easy parallel ones
  First 5 sets were strugglers - after set 1 (the ugliest of the lot!) I grabbed the belt from OB1s office just in case :shifty: - but the last two sets I reckon I hit my stride and they were probably the best sets out of the 7. Maybe an indicator that I probably cut the warmups 1-2 sets shorter than I should've.
  Didn't end up using the belt, but I've got a feeling it may come out tomorrow unless I'm feeling fantastic. 10 sets of 3 @ 90% is pretty daunting!
  
• Assistance was all good, because it was the weekend we can fit in a little more than we do on weekdays. Good to get dipping again, although I'm feeling a weird pain just above my sternum when dipping, like a bone needs to be clicked. Annoying.
  

Good meal at Joes, followed by some impromptu cardio as the TPs car broke down on our way home! :doh: Good to stretch the legs out though.

Also saw AprillaRS' Knee Sleeves today (that I'm putting an order in for next week), look like they'll be a tight fit! Should be ok if his massive legs can fit in them :grin:

[drizzt]

22.05.11 - Base Meso, Week 1, Day 4

Topped in at 98 today! Must admit, had a pretty heavy dinner the night before (and a night on the town :shifty:). This is about the max I want to see my weight at, so at this point I'll look to maintain and add in some walking a couple of nights a week just to keep the calorie expenditure going

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmup Sets
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 8 @ 80kg
  1 x 6 @ 100kg
  1 x 4 @ 120kg
  1 x 3 @ 130kg
  1 x 1 @ 140kg
  Working Sets
  10 x 3 @ 152.5kg
  
• Standing Calf Raises
  4 x 15 @ 90kg
  

Comments

• Felt pretty good today despite the night on the town. Part of the reason was finding out that I was pencilled in to do less than I thought (was thinking today was 162.5 - that's next Sunday) which lifted the spirits a bit.
  Hip also gave me very little trouble today, so that helped a lot.
  All 10 sets were pretty good, from about set 4 onwards I was able to drop deep as I've been doing through the week and bounce up off the bottom.
  No belt again, so I made it through the first week of the base cycle without using it once \:D/
  Calves were thrown in as we want to be doing these at least once a week. Took the day off for upper body stuff but still did shoulder savers alongside the agile 8.

Looking forward to the 10kg jumps coming in this week! Will have the vid of the weekly wrap coming up later on today.

[Pseudonym]

Topped in at 98 today!

:shock:

So jealous. What do you reckon your body fat is now? (Hint: It needs to be over 15% for me to forgive you. )

[drizzt]

Haha, lets just say my abs have disappeared over the past wee while unless I try hard to get em to show :grin:

My BF was done when I was 95kg via some Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis thing, and I was given 15% then, so with a 2-3 additional kilos I'd say I've gone up another % point or two...

Have let the eating get pretty loose while I'm trying to build the squat up, so I'm not terribly worried where the fat is tbh, although I don't want to stray more than 5kg away from my weight class (93kg).

Legs are holding a lot of the weight, which I know because pretty much all of the pants/jeans etc I own are very tight now :shifty:

[drizzt]

Base Mesocycle, Week 1 wrap up (just put together the final sets for each day, otherwise the vid gets pretty long)

[drizzt]

Got my blood results back today when I went in for another "panelbeating" session with The Doc. Results turned out boringly normal! :pfft: Good news :nod: Here it is (Test name/my result/recommended range):

eGFR = >60 (results only reported if they're <60)

VitaminB12 = 1205 pmol/L (RR: 130-830 pmol/L)

Folate (serum) = 32.2 nmol/L (RR: 9-45 nmol/L)

T4 (free) = 20.2 pmol/L (RR: 12.8-20.4 pmol/L)

T.S.H = 1.1 mIU/L (RR: 0.4-3.8 mIU/L)

T3 (free) = 5.1 pmol/L (RR: 4-6.8 pmol/L)

Testosterone = 16.1 nmol/L (RR: 9-25 nmol/L)

IFCC = 38 mmol/mol & HbA1C = 5.6% ("excellent range" is 42-53 & 6.0-7.0, lower appears to be even better)

Creatinine (serum) = 100umol/L (RR: 65-110 umol/L)

Haemoglobin = 146 g/L (RR: 130-180 g/L)

HCT (PCV) = 0.428 (RR: 0.38-0.52)

Red Cell Count = 4.99 x 10*12/L (RR: 4.5-6.5 x 10*12/L)

MCV = 85.8 fL (RR: 80-98 fL)

MCH = 29.3 pg (RR: 27-33 pg)

MCHC = 341 g/L (RR: 310-360 g/L)

Platelets = 237 x 10*9/L (RR: 150-450 x 10*9/L)

White Cell Count = 9.2 x 10*9/L (RR: 4-11 x 10*9/L)

Neutrophils = 6.2 x 10*9/L (RR: 2.2-7.5 x 19*9/L)

Lymphocytes = 2.2 x 10*9/L (RR: 1-3.9 x 10*9/L)

Monocytes = 0.7 x 10*9/L (RR: 0.2-1 x 10*9/L)

Eosinophils = 0.1 x 10*9/L (RR: 0-0.5 x 10*9/L)

Basophils = 0.0 x 10*9/L (RR: 0-0.2 x 10*9/L)

ALT = 35 IU/L (RR: 0-40 IU/L)

Iron = 18 umol/L (RR: 13-30 umol/L)

Transferrin = 2.3 g/L (RR: 1.9-3 g/L)

Iron Saturation = 34% Saturation (RR: 21-50% Saturation)

Ferritin = 171 ng/mL (RR: 30-400 ng/mL)

Don't ask me what some of these mean as I haven't a clue, but I'll do some more research into them tonight :nod:

Doc thought I was overtraining - and that my tests would reflect that - but all seems as normal as normal can be, and even really good in some aspects. Vit B12 is off the charts and apart from a multi-vit whenever I remember (every few days lately :shifty:) I can't think of what else I eat that would up these levels so far.

I'll look to get another test done in 7-8 weeks from now (in the thick of the intense cycle) and see if anything is different re: overtraining markers and stuff. Another test I may do while I have the opportunity, is start taking something like DAA at the beginning of the Intense Cycle, and compare blood tests when I'm about to cycle it off.

Anyway, with the "structural" problems I've got, I'm happy that something is normal :grin:

Also, the hip seems to be improving steadily, along with my posture, so hopefully I see some carry-over to my squats in the near future

[ThePman]

Doc thought I was overtraining - and that my tests would reflect that - but all seems as normal as normal can be, and even really good in some aspects.

I'll look to get another test done in 7-8 weeks from now (in the thick of the intense cycle) and see if anything is different re: overtraining markers and stuff.

I don't think I'd even worry about it. These would be better called stress markers rather than overtraining markers.

Interestingly, the 1-hour time trial power in these individuals with symptoms of overtraining did not decline (p > 0.05). These data demonstrate that markers of overtraining do not parallel a decrease in performance and should be interpreted with caution.

Which matches what Pendlay and Michael Hartman told me about having squatters come in with crashed-out test/cortisol ratios after five straight days of squatting and still setting PRs.

"Overtraining" markers don't even indicate performance drop-offs.

[Big john]

Have let the eating get pretty loose while I'm trying to build the squat up, so I'm not terribly worried where the fat is tbh, although I don't want to stray more than 5kg away from my weight class (93kg).

i thought you were gonna cut loose and go for the big 3 digits! 8) :grin:

[drizzt]

Thanks Pman. I'm still keen to see what the bloods say in 8 weeks, but interesting about the markers not affecting performance...

i thought you were gonna cut loose and go for the big 3 digits! 8) :grin:

Ha, nah, I'm (hopefully) a long way off hitting 100 again, I don't think I carry it around too well. When I hit 98 I just felt bloated, unfit, heavy etc... Will be a year or two more until I can fill out 100 well I think. Ideally I think I carry around 93-94 quite well, good mix of leanness + look fairly "filled out", but I'm happy to sit a few kilo higher and not worry about diet so much while I'm trying to gain strength :nod:

I think this fairly decent cold I'm going through right now is causing me to retain water though (has done in the past) - very clogged up, phlegmy etc, so I wouldn't be surprised if the weight settled closer to the high-95s/low-96s once it clears up.