#drizzt

[HarryB]

So what was a complete and utter downer of a day for me, turned the corner after a really successful session with the iron. Can always rely on it to pick me up out of a bad mood :kiss:

Choice Drizz.. And its funny how people watching can affect your lifts :grin:

Romance but so true!!! A good weights session makes everything a bit easier to cope with!

Nice work on the bench bro, just when you think it ain't happening, it happens! You should be videoing that!

[drizzt]

Choice Drizz.. And its funny how people watching can affect your lifts :grin:

Thanks PnW, yeah probably wouldn't have stood up if there wasn't a few people watching me :shifty:

Romance but so true!!! A good weights session makes everything a bit easier to cope with!

Nice work on the bench bro, just when you think it ain't happening, it happens! You should be videoing that!

Cheers bro! And yep, the last couple of weeks I haven't been recording bench because I've not been caring about it too much (and after M.T had got his paused 140 I don't think he cares about anything below that either).

But after the tng yesterday I was thinking maybe I should get the camera out for the last set... but seemed like a bit of hassle at the time when I was in the zone. Will have it out from set 1 next week when we attempt 140 again :nod:

[HarryB]

Choice Drizz.. And its funny how people watching can affect your lifts :grin:

Thanks PnW, yeah probably wouldn't have stood up if there wasn't a few people watching me :shifty:

Romance but so true!!! A good weights session makes everything a bit easier to cope with!

Nice work on the bench bro, just when you think it ain't happening, it happens! You should be videoing that!

Cheers bro! And yep, the last couple of weeks I haven't been recording bench because I've not been caring about it too much (and after M.T had got his paused 140 I don't think he cares about anything below that either).

But after the tng yesterday I was thinking maybe I should get the camera out for the last set... but seemed like a bit of hassle at the time when I was in the zone. Will have it out from set 1 next week when we attempt 140 again :nod:

Niow I feel slack cos the only video I have up is one of me benching a 120... didn't realise under 140 was a no go ha ha ha ha

[drizzt]

Niow I feel slack cos the only video I have up is one of me benching a 120... didn't realise under 140 was a no go ha ha ha ha

Haha for us mere mortals with small bench presses we'll ony post up the "improvements", you can post up what you like because you're a tank!

[bar-belle]

As usual nice roundup of your training back there Drizzt. And how cool to have not felt in the groove for training but to have smashed out a PB :clap: NICE

[drizzt]

As usual nice roundup of your training back there Drizzt. And how cool to have not felt in the groove for training but to have smashed out a PB :clap: NICE

Thanks BB, was a nice surprise for sure :grin:

07.07.11 - Smolov Intense Cycle, Week 3, Day 2

100.2kg today, pretty standard.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmup Sets
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 6 @ 80kg
  1 x 4 @ 100kg
  Working Sets
  1 x 3 @ 125kg (paused)
  1 x 3 @ 147.5kg
  1 x 3 @ 167.5kg (b)
  2 x 3 @ 200kg (b/kw)
  
• Bench
  Warmup Sets
  bar
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  Working Sets
  2 x 8 @ 85kg
  
• Sled Drags
  1 x 5forward/5reverse @ 50kg
  
• Deficit Deadlift Loosener
  1 x 10(sloooooow) @ bar
  
• Box Jumps
  5-6ish at .5-1 inch higher than the other day (somewhere between belly button and sternum height?)

Comments

• Short and sharp today. The 200s were my prettiest reps at this weight yet, really comfortable, not troubled at any point. Probably did the wraps a wee bit tight, should've backed off a little bit on them. I do have probably one extra wrap-around in the bank though if I really want to get them tight, so I'll keep that handy for the upper weights when it comes time to test.
  Bench was short and sharp, the rest of the assistance stuff was done to stretch out, and kinda to kill time as we waited for Professor Calculus to come in for his test day (he nailed 220 btw, awesome result for him :clap:).
  Been a while since we'd done the deadlift stretches, they felt great.

Easy peasy, roll on 4 x 3 @ 200 on Sunday.

[Big john]

some mighty squating as usual bro :clap: :clap: awsome to hear prof.cal nailed 220

[drizzt]

Cheers bro!

[drizzt]

09.07.11 - Assistance

99.7 today, didn't have much cals yesterday which explains this, but also did sod all in terms of exercise/moving around which is why I cut back on the eats :pfft:

Everything today was slow and controlled, trying to feel the weight in the areas we're going for. Everything was pretty much you go-I go.

• Chest-supported Rows (sets, reps, weights)
  4 x 10 @ 20kg
  
• Bradford Press
  4 x 6f/6b @ 35kg
  
• Tri Pushdowns
  4 x 12 @ 50
  
• Lateral DB Raises
  4 x 10 @ 20lb
  
• Chins (dead hang after each rep)
  1 x 4 @ +20kg
  1 x 6 @ +10kg
  1 x 7 @ bw

Comments

• Nothing much to say, usual Agile 8 and a little bit of shoulder stuff to kick us off.
  Getting some weird pains in my inner elbow, which Doc reckons is stemming from my shoulder injury. Has been getting so bad lately, that at times the arm goes limp and is unable to grip things. Wee bit worrying, but Doc did a little bit of work on it today which made it feel a bit better. And none of the upper body exercises were badly affected by it so I'm not stressing too much about it just yet. Will ibuprofen up before the remaining sessions if it's still an issue.

[Viking Power]

crikey drizzt tank squatting mate between you MT, PC, Beast, Trap the bloody list goes on I'd better up my game you powerhouse guys are on fire :shock: keep it up

VP

[drizzt]

crikey drizzt tank squatting mate between you MT, PC, Beast, Trap the bloody list goes on I'd better up my game you powerhouse guys are on fire :shock: keep it up

VP

Thanks bro! Yeah it's a good environment to train in, everybody gets behind each other (nohomo) 100%, there's no negativity it's just SFW

10.07.11 - Smolov Intense Cycle, Week 3, Day 3

98.7 today :shifty: Didn't think I had cut the cals too badly yesterday, but they were a little on the low side.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmup Sets
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 6 @ 80kg
  1 x 4 @ 100kg
  1 x 2 @ 120kg
  Working Sets
  1 x 3 @ 137.5kg
  1 x 3 @ 157.5kg (b)
  1 x 3 @ 177.5kg (b/kw)
  4 x 3 @ 200kg (b/kw)

Comments

• Bit of a tough day in the office today, but I suppose if you look at it as having had consistently good sessions for the past couple of weeks, I had to have an off day at some point.
  The shoulder was in immense pain today, shooting right down the arm to the point where I couldn't use my drink bottle out of the left hand. Nurofen'd up around the beginning of the warmup sets (when I started to feel it) which didn't seem to make much of a difference.
  Couldn't really feel it during the sets, but definitely in between I was hurting. Hope I can get some sort of improvement out of it soon.
  157.5 with just a belt felt a little tough, so I decided to do some pretty loose wraps for the 177.5, which again, felt a little hard.
  First set or two @200 were a wee bit shady with a tighter wrap, so I decided to bust out my (as-yet untried) super tight wrapping technique, and it made the remaining two sets a breeze. Good to know that I have this weapon in the bank for max attempts as I was feeling really weak today, but 200 still went up no sweat with the added tightness around the knees. Actually felt like I was doing very little work with the extra-tight wraps which isn't what I'm wanting at the moment, but glad to just get through it.
  Was pretty stuffed after that so threw in the towel there.

Last week coming up! 3 or 4 sessions to go (depending if we do the session prescribed in the deload week).

[drizzt]

Weekly wrap-up:

Looking a bit tired this week, will be glad to get this week out and then a nice deload before test day :nod:

[HarryB]

Nice squatting as usual mate, sitting down better in the squat and elbows a bit better, body more upright. Def getting there. Absolute disregard for 200k!! Nice to see it's not til the real hard going that your hips come up before your head does. Bring on the test!

[drizzt]

Cheers Harry - yeah I find with the elbows, I sometimes remember to roll them under the bar after I walk out, which actually usually makes for a nice clean rep. Unfortunately depending on my headspace at the time, I don't always remember to do this, and it's not quite automatic yet...

But definitely getting there, slowly.

Cheers!

[Big john]

2:16 M.T rocking the Waewae express!! :nod:

good round up drizzt for the week,be good to hit a deload.

Seemed M.T had a really tough week with the depth this time round. Is it just fatigue with the top sets?, or a flexibility issue?

you guys are smashing it keep at it

[drizzt]

2:16 M.T rocking the Waewae express!! :nod:

good round up drizzt for the week,be good to hit a deload.

Seemed M.T had a really tough week with the depth this time round. Is it just fatigue with the top sets?, or a flexibility issue?

you guys are smashing it keep at it

Haha that's how he likes it.

As for his depth, yeah I think it's mainly a confidence thing with him at the moment. I think the strength is there (as well as flex/mobility being decent), it's just trusting himself to come back up from the right depth. He's changed a few things in his technique lately, and is still getting to know the wraps, so there are a few uncertainties in his squat.

But yeah, comes down to just trusting his strength really.

[M.T]

2:16 M.T rocking the Waewae express!! :nod:

good round up drizzt for the week,be good to hit a deload.

Seemed M.T had a really tough week with the depth this time round. Is it just fatigue with the top sets?, or a flexibility issue?

you guys are smashing it keep at it

Bit of both bro to be honest, been a bit too relaxed with my flexibility since PL I was pretty good in the Muay Thai days. Then fatigue settles in at the top sets and I go back to being lazy MT as OB calls it survival mode.

I'm gonna give the final week hell stay tuned.

[M.T]

Also agree 100% with Drizzt need to get more confidence under the bar legs will do what the mind tells it to. :nod:

[Big john]

Haha that's how he likes it.

As for his depth, yeah I think it's mainly a confidence thing with him at the moment. I think the strength is there (as well as flex/mobility being decent), it's just trusting himself to come back up from the right depth. He's changed a few things in his technique lately, and is still getting to know the wraps, so there are a few uncertainties in his squat.

But yeah, comes down to just trusting his strength really.

with technique adjusts and getting to know thew wraps still, understandable..Just some fine tuning needed i reckon, then that squat will be right as rain :nod:

Bit of both bro to be honest, been a bit too relaxed with my flexibility since PL I was pretty good in the Muay Thai days. Then fatigue settles in at the top sets and I go back to being lazy MT as OB calls it survival mode.

I'm gonna give the final week hell stay tuned.

Hahaha...sounds TOO FAMILIAR!! in regards to being to relaxed/lazy to bother with flex/mob work and it took me ages to get the confidence and the flexibility needed to get down to depth when i 1st started out. couple things that did help thou, were..

1) always push thous knees out either with or w/out wraps allows the body to sit back more therefore get deeper into the squat

2) and this one i learnt from nate and OB...belt tight for squats..Belting tight triggers the body like OB says into Survival mode, its either fight or flight. which inturn allows you to push out more from you abs/obliques

3) make that 1st rep count at all cost :twisted:

just my 2c anyway bro...with Team PH at your back ...your in the best hands..smash it!! :clap: :clap:

[M.T]

Hahaha...sounds TOO FAMILIAR!! in regards to being to relaxed/lazy to bother with flex/mob work and it took me ages to get the confidence and the flexibility needed to get down to depth when i 1st started out. couple things that did help thou, were..

1) always push thous knees out either with or w/out wraps allows the body to sit back more therefore get deeper into the squat

2) and this one i learnt from nate and OB...belt tight for squats..Belting tight triggers the body like OB says into Survival mode, its either fight or flight. which inturn allows you to push out more from you abs/obliques

3) make that 1st rep count at all cost :twisted:

just my 2c anyway bro...with Team PH at your back ...your in the best hands..smash it!! :clap: :clap:

Thanks Bro I really take everybody's comments and suggestions on board and OB1 has mentioned points 1&2 to me many times I just need to apply it.

Not to make any excuses here but 6 months ago I was barely squatting 100kgs at Les Mills and had no idea what depth was :oops: fast forward to now and I have rep 5X5 @ 150 it's just insane! But the House gives you some sort of will power and amazing bar bending abilities :jive: have big ambitions for this year for both Drizzt and myself

Sorry for the hi jack bro back to you lol

[HarryB]

Also agree 100% with Drizzt need to get more confidence under the bar legs will do what the mind tells it to. :nod:

Well said!! Mind tells the body. Biggest lesson I give my guys is that you have to have faith in the process and just let your body do what your mind tells it to.

[drizzt]

12.07.11 - Smolov Intense Cycle, Week 4, Day 1

99.9kg today. Standard.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmup Sets
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 6 @ 80kg
  1 x 4 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  Working Sets
  1 x 3 @ 147.5kg
  1 x 4 @ 167.5kg (b)
  5 x 5 @ 190kg (b/kw)
  
• Bench
  Warmup Sets
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 4 @ 100kg
  1 x 1 @ 125kg
  Working Sets
  1 x 1 @ 140kg (ww)
  2 x 3 @ 122.5kg (ww 2nd set)
  
• Standing Band Crunches
  2 x 10 @ green band (1sec pauses)

Comments

• Squats were ok, weren't terrible but not my best work.
  Wrapless stuff was pretty comfortable, but the top 5x5s were a wee bit tough.
  First set was shady depth-wise, but the next couple were better. 4th was (from memory) a bit shady again, but the 5th was ok.
  Technique felt - and looked - bad today, seemed to be breaking at the knees before the hips on a few reps which I haven't done for aaaaages. The wraps hurt more than usual today. I just think being the last week and all I've got one eye on the deload week next week, and am not completely mentally here.
  Will need to be for the next couple of sessions, as I've got some tough work at 200 coming up.
  Shoulder is still giving me a lot of hassle but was bearable today.
  
• Bench was pretty good, 140 touch'n'go went up fairly easily (got it on film), but not easily enough that it gave me confidence for a second attempt at a pause rep.
  Then there was a prescribed 5 x 3 @ 122.5kg, but at the beginning of the second set the arm/shoulder started feeling so bad that I just didn't feel safe under the bar - felt like my arm could pack it in at any moment. So I grinded out the rest of the set and threw it in there.
  As I've said before, I'm not terribly worried if I don't get all of my bench reps out so I'm happy to cut the session short and save my arm/shoulder. Was also nice to get the 140 up - sore shoulder and all - after missing it a couple of weeks back, so wasn't a complete failure of a session.

2 more sessions to go.

[devil_911]

good work with the 140k bench bro

[drizzt]

good work with the 140k bench bro

Thanks bro, good to clear the mental hurdle of missing it recently, and hopefully begin to lose fear of this weight (which I think there is still a little bit of lingering apprehension towards it).

[samuelNZ]

Finish lines close now KP. You've definitely got a large set of nungers to attempt and finish a program like this so I take my hat off to you. :clap:

Feel the pain, enjoy the power!

-Not sure when or where he said it, Big J has it on his sig and I thought it would be appropriate. Plus its just king.

Keep it up bro. :nod: