#drizzt

[thatwaslight]

Awesome effort man and awesome progress! 8)

[drizzt]

M.T - yep just bought myself some Choc pudding to make up for missing the feed and seeing those pics, damn you OB! :pfft:

Cheers TWL, I gotta say after failing a 190 squat at my first comp in March, if I had even entertained the thought of attempting a 600lb squat 8 months later I'd have laughed hard.

Happy with the progress in my short time with the sport, just need to up my woeful bench and keep improving in the other two, then I'll celebrate :nod:

[Old Bull]

Ah damn I knew I should have hung back! if it wasn't for the other 2 being so tired from a hard night out

The Pav was so yummy I had yours late last nigh 120s now

[Big john]

the house knows how to dish up the cakes!

and OMG choc covered strawberrys nom nom nom!!!!!!!!!!

[red machine]

lovin the new title bro!! yeaoooow into it! 8)

[drizzt]

Cheers bro! Honestly if I knuckle down and focus, I think I can attain it before too long... stay tuned :nod:

29.11.11 - Post-bbro Deload

102.2 today - not sure how that happened, after half a kilo of pudding last night (which I had to have after OB teased me with pics of the feed I missed out on :shifty:)

Just a bit of a muck around today, getting the body moving again, mid-back is quite tight so nothing too strenuous. Walked into the gym which took about 1.5-2 hours-ish.

• Front Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  bar x lots
  2 x 6 @ 60kg
  2 x 5 @ 100kg
  
• Incline Bench
  1 x 10 @ 50kg
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 8 @ 80kg
  1 x 3 @ 100kg (ran out of gas!)
  
• GHR
  3 x 10 @ bw
  
• Good Mornings
  3 x 6 @ 60kg

Comments

• Nothing to say really, good chat with OB. And the bro and I just blowing the cobwebs out. Will probably be back in tomorrow.

Immediate goals are to drop a few kilo of fat, after seeing how ripped up Leti is on the weekend and how strong he remains, I don't think I need to be at this weight. I can probably safely drop 3-5kg without effecting anything terribly. Might look at targeting say, 98ish kg? I'll get this not so much by dropping calories, but by upping my work output. Probably get in 5 sessions a week and make them quite intense. See how things go anyway.

[HarryB]

Nice lifting bro, massive improvement from your first comp!! Well done!

[drizzt]

Thanks Harry! Had a bit of a chat to Supry at the BBro, your name came up, saying it was a shame you couldn't get along to compete yourself! Next time huh :grin:

[Mike Zero]

Great work at the BBro mate, you're making bloody good progress. 760 no suit/shirt would be an epic total. What's your plan for your bodyweight now?

[drizzt]

Thanks bro! To be honest, anything under 105 is fine by me as long as I keep getting stronger. I think there is room to drop a few kilo of fat, so I'm going to play around with that in the immediate future, but strength is the main priority so if the weight needs to go up, I'll let it do it's thing. Hopefully I can do it all in the U105s though.

While I've got you here - you've got an awesome dead, how do you go about training it? Lockouts are a huge weakness for me, but getting it past the knees has never been an issue - was thinking maybe I should shift focus to more rackpulls than full deads... but then it could just be a technique thing, as my knees lock really early, leaving the hips with a lot to do. Thoughts?

[Mike Zero]

Lockout is usually a technical issue, I'm the same. You should be theoretically be able to lock out any weight you get above your knee as leverage improves drastically from there. In my experience it's either due to:

a) a core weakness, your midsection breaks and your shoulders are left behind which is easy to fix. Just hammer the beltless work, ab work, good mornings (especially with the SSB and beltless again). Weight isn't important on the GMs as long as you are keeping everything tight. It's easy to round your back and "cheat" the weight up but it won't help your deadlift. These have worked the best for me but I'm sure you know what works for you in terms ov strengthening your core. I've seen you do heavy as beltless squats so it's more likely to be:

b) you're too slow at slamming your hips through. This is a bit harder to fix as it's needs a bit more ov a mental approach. The best remedial exercise for me was deadlifts against heavy bands (I used the second biggest band doubled over each end ov the power rack), deadlift paused for a 2 count just below the knee, then explode hips through to lockout. I noticed a drastic improvement after a few weeks ov doing these. Other than that, time "over" the bar, a lot ov total reps over the months and with a high focus on smashing your hips through perfectly on each and every rep.

My problem was a combination ov the two, I'm still not perfect (my lockout is STILL my weakness) but I am far better than I used to be.

And don't worry, I'm always here. I just lurk

[drizzt]

Awesome thanks man - b) sounds a lot more like me (I don't think I get a huge amount of carry-over from the belt in my deadlift, and even my squat).

So pretty much deadlift to the knees (ala Sheiko?) with heavy bands? 2 count sounds good though! I'll get these into my program asap, and as you say, will start upping the amount of dead work I do :nod: I've always kinda suspected the slow hips were troublesome, but just assumed I could force my way through the issue... ah well some hard thinking work ahead I suppose!

If I can fix this lockout issue I'm pretty confident of getting 1/3rd of my goal before too long :think:

[soundsgood]

Very impressive progress Bro, especially on your squat! :clap:

Lolled when I saw a pic of your socks on Facebook! Good for you, good cause. You should try get sponsors on board next comp to donate $1 for every kilo increase on your total or something to be donated to breast cancer research or similar. A bit of added incentive. Just an idea, I know I would be in.

[drizzt]

Thanks bro! Yeah pleased with the squat, probably more pleased that there is still a good bit in the tank the way that the - albeit high! - 272.5 went up. If I keep chipping away at it, a 300 should be on the cards in the not-too-distant future :nod:

And bro, awesome idea on the socks! :grin: I think most people just thought I was being a dork (maybe was a little :pfft:), but a few did make the breast cancer connection which was good.

Will see if I can get something going for my next comp - get people to sign up for $1 per kilo increase in my dead, to go towards Breast cancer foundation sounds good! Motivation for me too :nod:

[HarryB]

Thanks Harry! Had a bit of a chat to Supry at the BBro, your name came up, saying it was a shame you couldn't get along to compete yourself! Next time huh :grin:

Good old Supry, he's a cool guy. Next time lol always next time. Not with you shifting the stuff you're shifting!

[M.T]

Think there will be some empty pockets with your sick gains brew.

I'll back that up also between the 2 of us should be able to raise a bit I think, What's a bit of sweat and pain for a good cause.

[morattigirl]

Once again great day and so cool too for your Dad and bro to be there getting amongst it aswell! Family of lifters! 8)

42.5 gain which is awesome! :clap:

Had a bit of a chat to Supry at the BBro

I just googled Supry and realised I was talking to that guy for ages! Didn't even realise nor click when he started showing me photos of him & Kai Green on his phone lol. I had no idea who he was :oops:

[drizzt]

Once again great day and so cool too for your Dad and bro to be there getting amongst it aswell! Family of lifters! 8)

42.5 gain which is awesome! :clap:

Thanks MG! Yeah we actually have a tank of a younger brother we call "Ferigno" who could outlift all of us if he tried :shock: Thankfully for us, he's too preoccupied with Uni to give lifting a decent go :pray:

I just googled Supry and realised I was talking to that guy for ages! Didn't even realise nor click when he started showing me photos of him & Kai Green on his phone lol. I had no idea who he was :oops:

Haha yeah he's a really cool guy aye, always up for a chat. I used to workout at Cityfitness when he was one of the trainers there, gave me some great tips along the way, never too busy :nod:

[drizzt]

30.11.11 - Post-bbro Deload

101.8 today :shifty: Maybe I should've gone to the all you can eat ribs with the House guys/girls tonight!

Eats have been down on purpose, good to know the body responds as I've expected. Tired though so might have cut a bit too far back on the cals, balancing act I need to learn again anyway...

• Pendlay Rows (sets, reps, weights)
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  2 x 10 @ 80kg
  
• Pulldowns
  3 x 10 @ ? (light-moderate weight)
  
• Side DB Raise
  3 x 10 @ 25lb
  
• Rear Delt Raise
  3 x 10 @ 15lb
  
• Facepulls
  3 x 10 @ stack

Comments

• Boring, nothing to say really, concentrated on more bodybuilding-ish kinda work where I just wanted to feel the target areas working rather than shift big weight. Except for face pulls! Flipped it around on that and went as heavy as possible, good for a change there.

[startinfromscratch]

loving the new title bro. all the way big dude :nod:

[drizzt]

Thanks bro, looking forward to seeing you well and back into it :nod:

01.12.11 - Post-bbro Deload

102.4.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  bar
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 10 @ 100kg
  2 x 10 @ 120kg
  
• Close-Grip Bench
  bar
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 10 @ 80kg
  1 x 10 @ 90kg
  
• EZ Bar Curls superset with Rope Pushdowns
  1 x 10 @ 10kg/ps & 1 x 10 @ full stack
  1 x 12 @ 10kg/ps & 1 x 12 @ full stack
  1 x 15 @ 10kg/ps & 1 x 15 @ full stack
  
• OH DB Tri Press superset with Chins
  3 x 10 @ 60lb & 3 x 5 @ bw
  

Comments

• Nice and fast, short rest periods, getting a sweat going. Felt like bodybuilders 8) :pfft:
  

[OnlyHuman]

A bit late to the party but.... Outstanding comp lifts once again :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[drizzt]

Thanks OH! Wee ways to go yet, but I would've been pretty happy with those numbers if I had picked them after the Auckland Novice in July. Only real disappointment is I know I'm capable of more, plenty of time to the next comp though 8)

[Phedder]

A bit late to the party but.... Outstanding comp lifts once again :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

And even later myself

Great results mate, and amazing progress this year. No doubts you'll be hitting those new targets soon enough :clap:

[drizzt]

Thanks Phed! Yeah would be awesome to hit them by CDs in March, but will need a lot of things to fall into place for that to happen.

03.12.11

102.8 today.

• Box Jumps (sets, reps, weights)
  lots @ 43" box (just the standard box)
  2 @ 44" (box + 1 mat)
  2 @ 45" (box + 2 mats)
  2 @ 49" (box + 6" box)
  1 (& LOTS of misses) @ 50" (box + 6" box + 1 mat) [+1" PB]
  LOTS OF MISSES @ 51" (current House record)
  
• Deads TTK w/ Bands
  1 x 6 @ 40kg + single dark blue bands
  2 x 6 @ 60kg + single dark blue bands
  15(?) x 6 @ 60kg + double green bands
  
• Bench
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg (3-board, paused)
  1 x 1(+1miss) @ 160kg (3-board, paused)
  1 x 2 @ 160kg (3-board, paused)
  1 x 1 @ 170kg (3-board)
  2 x 0 @ 180kg (3-board)
  1 x 1 @ 140kg

Comments

• Cool session to have a bit of a muck around. Walked in today and had a weird urge to jump, so spent about an hour mucking around with box jumps. The 43" felt really good, so thought I'd have a crack at the record. The heights are all pretty much guesses, I think the current record is 51", could be 52" (whatever it was I was using the same height stuff, checked the vid of the record). But I do know the single high box on it's own is 43".
  Had a few goes at (what I think was) 50", kept getting the balls of the feet on the edge but couldn't quite stand up to complete the jump. Very nearly did it a few times, probably had 10-15 shots at it! And then Doc calls me over, cracks the back in one spot, says "Try it now!". Walked up to the box and BOOM, landed it first attempt. I thought that was = to the record, but turns out it was beaten by 1 mat the week before the BBro :doh:
  So back into the grind, had about the same amount of attempts + success with the 51", kept getting half of my feet on it but was "tucked" when I hit the platform and I couldn't stand up from that position - my weight was too far back. So I thought I'd stand a step further back (the guy that holds the record does it like this), and maybe the momentum would carry me forward so I could land... OR, maybe I'd just kick the front of the boxes, and fall backwards :pfft: So yep, the latter happened, and I had a pretty spectacular tumble from high up! Managed to keep my wits about me though, and fall flat onto the mid-upper back and not my neck thankfully! :pray:
  After shaking it off (glad I didn't injure anything), I had another couple of attempts, got close again, but just wasn't gonna fly today so threw the towel in.
  Think I might have a crack at this every Saturday :grin:
  
• Deads were awesome, took both of Mike Zero's suggestions and ran with them - time over the bar and the dead to the knees with bands. We didn't actually count sets, so what I've written above is a rough estimate, just did it until we were struggling to do it anymore. Could really feel the glutes working on this which I assume is good, as I don't usually feel them when deadlifting :nod: Nothing too heavy today partially because the callus is still healing, but mainly because we want to get used to this movement and thinking about snapping the hips through without too much weight just yet.
  
• Bench was another muck about, just wanted to feel some weight in our hands again. I'm really annoyed because my lockout seems to be pretty poor lately. Usually it's off the chest I'm bad at, but if I can get past my sticking point I can lock it out... now it's the opposite! I seem to break everything off the chest quite easy, but hit a wall close to lockout :think:
  That was the case on the first 160 set, left arm could lock (usually my weak side!) but the right arm just couldn't make that transition to lockout, stalled about half an inch out.
  And frustratingly, the same happened for the 180! Have never held 180 above me before so it was a whole new ball game, but it popped up ok, the left locked out, just coullldddnnn't quite get the right to go. There's no pain or obvious sign of injury, just feels weak! Had another crack and barely broke it off the boards.
  Thought after all that work, we'd better do a full rep, so got a single at 140 each and that was us. 140 flew up pretty quick (especially off the chest) despite the tiredness, which was pleasing.

Might be back in tomorrow for some assistance, I'm enjoying the extra work at the moment :nod: