#drizzt

[HarryB]

Awesome work on the squats and damn that bench is coming up.

Yep sure looks like 300 is definitely on it's way.

[Panzer]

what's your best Squat to date Drizz?

[drizzt]

Awesome work on the squats and damn that bench is coming up.

Yep sure looks like 300 is definitely on it's way.

Cheers bro, yeah the bench feels much stronger than it did last time through 5 x 5 in Oct/Nov. That wrist thing you pointed out to me has paid off, bench feels more powerful because of that, and I feel it a lot more in my pecs now? Weird not sure if I'm imagining things ha! But yeah I only ever really get to do bench after squats, so I reckon if I took squats out of the equation for a little bit I could get a bit more out of it :nod:

what's your best Squat to date Drizz?

Hey bro, I got a 280 (belt+wraps) on New Years eve, but I don't really like to count them until they're done in comp. Best comp lift was 260 set at the end of Nov, tried 272 and got one white + 2 reds (depth).

[Panzer]

Hey bro, I got a 280 (belt+wraps) on New Years eve, but I don't really like to count them until they're done in comp. Best comp lift was 260 set at the end of Nov, tried 272 and got one white + 2 reds (depth).

MONSTER!

Imagine suited!

[drizzt]

Thanks bro, not quite at Monster status yet though, need a bit more on this total first!

[drizzt]

01.02.12 - 5 x 5, W4/D1.5

105.4 today.

• Paused Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg - 6
  1 x 5 @ 100kg - 6
  1 x 3 @ 120kg - 7
  1 x 2 @ 140kg - 8
  5 x 2 @ 160kg (b) - 9
  
• Dips
  1 x 5 @ bw - 5
  1 x 5 @ +20kg - 6
  1 x 5 @ +40kg - 8
  1 x 5 @ +50kg - 9
  
• Chins
  1 x 5 @ +10kg (dead hang) - 8
  1 x 5 @ +20kg - 10
  1 x 2 @ +30kg/dropset/3 @ bw - 10

Comments

• Pretty quick and easy session, nothing was terribly difficult, but I felt tired and lazy. Dips really hurt the upper bi/front delt on the right arm, wee bit worrying. Was meant to do +60 for the top set but didn't want to push the niggle that hard.
  Chins sucked but have come to expect that from them.
  Aaaand swapped paused squats in instead of the "light" 197.5kg @ 5 x 5 I was supposed to be doing. Would've had to have wrapped and really can't be arsed doing that two days in a row.

Back in for deads and push press tomorrow.

[drizzt]

02.02.12 - W4/D2

106 flat ooouuuch.

• Pin Press (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 3 @ 60kg
  2 x 5 @ 90kg - 9.5
  1 x 4 @ 90kg - 10 (missed 5th rep)
  2 x 5 @ 85kg - 9.5
  
• Deads
  Warmups
  1 x 2(sumo)/2(con) @ 70kg
  1 x 2(sumo)/2(con) @ 120kg
  1 x 2(sumo)/2(con) @ 160kg
  1 x 1(sumo)/1(con) @ 190kg
  Working
  1 x 5(con) @ 240kg(b) - 9.5 (misload :doh:)
  1 x 5(con) @ 230kg(b) - 10
  1 x 2(sumo) @ 230kg(b) - 10 [PB](missed 3rd)
  1 x 3(con) @ 230kg(b) - 10

Comments

• Sooo wasn't a terrible day today. Pin press felt off though, just never got into the groove. Tried a belt for one set like MT was doing as my back was a bit fatigued, but I think I was using it wrong because I kept trying to force my gut into it ala squatting, when I think I should be doing it differently for a press... mucked up my breathing and somehow made it harder (coincidentally the set I failed the final rep)
  Missed the final rep of the 3rd set, so dropped it 5kg (was meant to be 87.5 anyway had just rounded up for easiness' sake), was still kinda tough though!
  
• Then Deads... warming up equally with both sumo and conventional probably wasn't such a great idea, got quite fatigued pretty quick.
  With OB able to catch this session, we got a few more tips on how to do it. Apparently I was doing it pretty wrong :pfft:
  Still wasn't quite getting it when I hit the 230s (new PB btw), and the 3rd rep I just couldn't get the set up right, grip was failing, so lost it just before lockout. Different feel to how I was doing it previously... before it was harder to break off the floor, but once it was, I could pretty much guarantee a lockout. Today with the tech adjustments, it was the opposite, fast up above the knees, and then a slight struggle to lockout.
  Also, first working set I misloaded the bar :doh: So I ripped out a set of 5 at 240 instead of 230... thought it felt tough, but honestly, was kinda what I had expected 230 to feel like. Think that took a little out of me, because the correct loading on the next set didn't feel any easier!
  And after the couple of sumo reps, I took a minute or two to rest before finishing off with a kiiiinda good 3 conventional reps @ 230 to complete my 15 for the day.

At that point, the session had already run 30mins longer than I had anticipated so I had to jet to the gf's graduation thing before I got a chance to kick off the banded deads.

Met the infamous Gym Rat, good guy, hung around while we deadlifted. Nice to get some photos with the movie star himself 8)

Videos just need to be uploaded and edited, don't think I'll do that tonight, too late... probably tomorrow night.

Will be an incredibly rough one on Saturday, which we'll also be doing quite early due to going out for the Sevens stuff afterwards. So need to pump myself up for this one!

[drizzt]

Ok, a day late, but here it is... the special edition of... ummm... our training video:

[HarryB]

Nice work on the deads!! Could still sit back a bit more before you start the pull on those deads though.

How long before gymrat's management seize the rights to this and own all your asses? lol

[Big john]

Gym rat Biby! :grin:

good wrap up to the week bros, youve got some truely explosive speed off the deck too!..mirin!, basterd haha:twisted:

M.Ts killing it with the deads too, just a word of caution with ya deads when you Hyperextend your back when you lock out..if you watch your knees then unlock and the refs might ping you for that

keep it up fellahs!

[drizzt]

Nice work on the deads!! Could still sit back a bit more before you start the pull on those deads though.

How long before gymrat's management seize the rights to this and own all your asses? lol

Cheers bro! Yeah guilty, sorry :shifty: I've had quite a bit of back fatigue lately which has made me a bit lazy when lifting, and introducing these sumo deads means "thinking" about conventional has gone out the window a bit, and I just do it... Will try to think of it next time though!

Gym rat Biby! :grin:

good wrap up to the week bros, youve got some truely explosive speed off the deck too!..mirin!, basterd haha:twisted:

M.Ts killing it with the deads too, just a word of caution with ya deads when you Hyperextend your back when you lock out..if you watch your knees then unlock and the refs might ping you for that

keep it up fellahs!

Thanks bro! Yeah speed off the floor has always been my strong point, just the lockout is my nemesis :x

Yeah it's been something that has crept back into MTs game a bit, we've identified it in the past I think he just needs a reminder...

[drizzt]

Posting a day late as I was errr, out of action yesterday (and most of today :shifty:)

05.02.12 - 5 x 5, W4/D3

106.5 wooooah!

• Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 2 @ 140kg
  1 x 2 @ 160kg
  Working
  1 x 5 @ 187.5kg (b) - 8
  1 x 5 @ 202.5kg (b/loose wrap) - 8
  1 x 5 @ 217.5kg (b/loose wrap) - 8.5
  1 x 5 @ 232.5kg (b/w) - 8.5
  1 x 4 @ 247.5kg (b/w) - 10 (missed 5th)
  
• Bench
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 2 @ 100kg
  1 x 1 @ 115kg
  Working
  1 x 5 @ 127.5kg - 10
  4 x 5 @ 120kg - 9-10

Comments

• So it was an ok session for us today. Had the honour of meeting properly (and being spotted by) Tonka for my last couple of sets of squats - glad he was there for the top set where he pretty much bicep curled my 106kgs and the 250-odd on my back for the missed 5th rep :shock:
  First set was pretty easy, good start to the session. Second with very loose wraps felt about the same, still happy with that.
  Third set things got a wee bit tougher, but not too bad, so I decided I'll start cranking the wraps up for the 4th set.
  The 5 reps there were ok, I reckon I probably had 1-2 more in the tank but it was still a relatively tough set.
  The 5th set was rough! After the first rep, I knew 5 of them were going to be tough to achieve. About rep 3 I started doubting myself, 4 was a massive struggle - think Tonka may have given me a bit of a hand on this one, but not a lot, would've got through it ok without it though. But at this stage I was on pretty shaky ground leading into the final rep...Which was atrocious!
  On the way down, I kinda realised that it was likely it wasn't gonna go back up :shifty: So my thoughts in that split second were rather than try, I'd just dump it on the pins... Tonka had other ideas for me though, and pretty much curled me up out of the bottom! So I went with it and came back up very shakily, absolutely nothing left in the tank, couldn't rack the right side properly, so again, Tonka pretty much one-handed the 250ish kg onto the racks for me. Very handy person to have as a spotter!
  Wee bit disappointed not to get the full 5 reps, but when I look at the last time through the program, the corresponding week back in October I was only doing 5 x 215 as the top set, so I've come a fair way since then!
  
• After pushing past failure for the squats, I had nothing left in the tank, so bench was equally as atrocious as my final squat rep. The working sets were meant to be 5 x 5 @ 127, but after MT and I both had one shot at it and both almost failed, we realised it likely wasn't going to happen, so we dropped it back down to 120... at which point Tonka came over for some critique.
  Surprisingly he couldn't fault a lot with my set up, but gave us some really good things to work on with arch, and potentially grip.
  Did the final set with a metal militia kinda set up, hard to explain but basically feet were pointing down (not flat), and we had slid a massive way down the bench to get that arch going. Felt ok but quite gassed as mentioned so will be keen to have a play with it this week for our "deload"

So the 5s are done with for this cycle, really looking forward to the 3 x 3s! Massive thanks to Big Tonka for the advice and spotting today, really cool to get to chat with a legend like him.

I've got video of the session, but my camera is at MTs house where we were pre-sevens yesterday, so I'll try grab that tomorrow and chuck the footage up :nod:

[M.T]

Was gonna drop it in to ya but figured you'd be out to it for a while, i'll drop it tomorrow if you don't pop in beforehand.

[drizzt]

Che bro that could be good, got my bag and wallet and stuff there too I might go for a walk and pick it up in the morning.

[HarryB]

Bro 247.5 for 4!!! That's great squatting, that 300 is definitely looking close.

[Panzer]

Bro 247.5 for 4!!! That's great squatting, that 300 is definitely looking close.

yeah awesome Drizzt! Jelly

[Phedder]

1 x 4 @ 247.5kg (b/w)

Awesome!

Wee bit disappointed not to get the full 5 reps, but when I look at the last time through the program, the corresponding week back in October I was only doing 5 x 215 as the top set, so I've come a fair way since then!

Even more awesome! When you put it like that it's staggering, still making ridiculous progress at your level :clap: Congrats on making it to the deload, what's your top set on week 9 supposed to be? Must be around 3x270? :shock:

Bring on the vid

[steak]

Strong squats bro :nod:

WTF have you done to double your Test levels like that...srs

Ive got a client that was up until lately, a natty lifter (a bit older than you though, 46) and hes desperate to compete but cant get a TUE for the HRT (odd/anal I know but the IPF is scared of the word "testosterone") and I'd happily pass on any info you can offer. He's tried pretty much all the diet recs, OTC products, creams (prolly most banned anyway) and finally went to HRT.

[drizzt]

Bro 247.5 for 4!!! That's great squatting, that 300 is definitely looking close.

Thanks Harry, feeling pretty good at the moment, still a wee bit disappointed not to get that 5th rep but not too far off.

yeah awesome Drizzt! Jelly

Thanks bro!

Even more awesome! When you put it like that it's staggering, still making ridiculous progress at your level :clap: Congrats on making it to the deload, what's your top set on week 9 supposed to be? Must be around 3x270? :shock:

Bring on the vid

Thanks Phed, yep, final week is 3 x 270, should be interesting... without further ado:

[drizzt]

Strong squats bro :nod:

WTF have you done to double your Test levels like that...srs

Ive got a client that was up until lately, a natty lifter (a bit older than you though, 46) and hes desperate to compete but cant get a TUE for the HRT (odd/anal I know but the IPF is scared of the word "testosterone") and I'd happily pass on any info you can offer. He's tried pretty much all the diet recs, OTC products, creams (prolly most banned anyway) and finally went to HRT.

Thanks big guy!

Honestly with the T levels, I was more surprised than anyone due to how run down I've been lately. I think back when my T levels were on the lower-side of normal, I was restricting food intake a bit (worried about weight gain :roll:) and I wasn't lifting heavy all the time (this was pre-smolov days).

Doc believes all of the heavy squatting I'm doing (/have done) is stimulating the body to produce more T. I think coupled with that, just letting the body gain weight for once has helped things along here too.

I noticed my 2nd set of blood results last year coincided with a bit of a gain in T levels too, and that was the same time I had taken D-Aspartic Acid. I only did it for 12 days, but I think I gained 6-7 points on my T levels at the time (from memory - should be somewhere in my log). Was also at the end of Smolov, so again, heavy squatting was in there too...

So DAA could be something to look at if he hasn't done so already? I'm probably going to jump back on that along with the creatine this week :nod:

[Panzer]

Damn you dropped hard on that 5th Drizzt! Nice grind up!!

:shock:

[HarryB]

Nice squatting man, very strong on the first 4 and very upright. Must be motivating having a monster like Tonka pushing you along. At least you know you're safe lol

MT coming up as well!

[I Declare War]

drizzt, please remove that quote from your signature. What you're doing is working for you and you're having fun doing it. Keep it up.

[drizzt]

Damn you dropped hard on that 5th Drizzt! Nice grind up!!

:shock:

Haha, yep, that was actually me deciding I was going to dump it on the pins... then Tonka just goes "nah" and bicep curls me up. About 100kg carryover right there :pfft: 5th rep was pretty much all Tonka :nod:

Nice squatting man, very strong on the first 4 and very upright. Must be motivating having a monster like Tonka pushing you along. At least you know you're safe lol

MT coming up as well!

Ha definitely! Him in the ear growling "chest up, chest up!" helped a lot! Cheers!

drizzt, please remove that quote from your signature. What you're doing is working for you and you're having fun doing it. Keep it up.

Ha, sorry man, I honestly hadn't even noticed it lately. Tell you what, give me a good quote to replace it with and I'll get rid of it

[HarryB]

drizzt, please remove that quote from your signature. What you're doing is working for you and you're having fun doing it. Keep it up.

LOL'd hard!!!

That's the basic thing isn't it, if it's working you can't argue with it.