#drizzt

[drizzt]

Hi drizzt

Good to see you have a new goal to work towards! And good on you for aiming high! At the moment I'm on my second round of the base cycle of smolov and loving it. Although I've got a question for you... What did you do for you benchpress during your time on the base cycle? Did you follow a program or auto reg?

Cheers bro!

Benchpress, we followed a low-volume Brad Gillingham template.

[drizzt]

20.06.2012 - Assistance

104.9.

• Ham Curls superset with Leg Extensions
  4 x 10 @ 40kg & 10 @ full stack
  
• "The Beast's" Single-leg Leg Extensions
  3 x 15/per leg @ 10kg
  
• GHRs
  4 x 10 @ bw
  
• Standing Calf Raises
  1 x 12 @ 60kg
  4 x 20 @ 80kg

Comments

• Short, sharp, easy (besides GHRs!), just doing what I didn't have time for yesterday.
  Beast leg extensions were with the leg turned out a bit, to target inner thigh. I'm naming them this because the Beast showed me, and it's easier than explaining it in a title.
  Back in for Deads tomorrow.

[drizzt]

21.06.2012 - Russian Strength, W2/D2

• Deads (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 70kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 2 @ 170kg
  Working
  6 x 4 @ 200kg - 8-9
  
• Bench Press
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  Add 3 board
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  1 x 3 @ 160kg (w/w) - 10
  1 x 2 @ 160kg (w/w) - 10 (failed 3rd)

Comments

• Deads were ok, decided to go beltless. Noticing (thanks Beast) that my back is rounding a lot more, earlier than it would in the past too. Bar is still moving pretty quick, and the weight doesn't feel terrible, but the back has weakened up. So tried to change the lift to mimic my squat a little bit more, and angled the back further upright. The reps where I managed to maintain that form felt really snappy (generally reps 1-2), but when I begun to tire I found it hard to maintain the tightness, and the back would curl up straight away again.
  No belt today, so that probably had a little bit to do with it, maybe I just need to do beltless stuff more, get this core strength back up (and upper back by the looks of it).
  Bar also threw me off a few times, one end comes loose, so the bar slides down to the point where your hand is almost touching the plates. Just on one side. Was worst on the final set, had a little bit of a battle on my hands heading into the final rep, psyched up for it, and as soon as I broke it off the ground I felt the left side lag. You'll see on the vid of the final rep, the end of the bar has slid down and the middle of it is poking out. Will probably use a different bar next time.
  And after a couple of months, what toughness my hands did have has disappeared, making grip much more painful than it used to be while the calluses return. Dammit.
  
• Did some boards as a bit of extra bench work. Back was fatigued which made it quite hard to arch properly, but no excuses really, my bench is piss-weak at the moment. 140 felt tougher than it should, managed to grind my way through the first set of 160, but the second set I used too much shoulder and not enough tri and lost the third rep halfway up. Just a case of practising them really, hope it doesn't take too long to get back where I was.

No time for anything else, so left it there. Will try to do a decent amount of assistance on Saturday. Vid:

[drizzt]

23.06.2012 - Russian Strength, W2/D3

105.3.

• Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  Working
  
  
  1 x 4 @ 185kg (b) - 8
  
  
  1 x 4 @ 185kg (b) - 9
  1 x 4 @ 185kg (b) - 10
  
  
  Pauses
  
  
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  
• Close Grip Bench
  6 x 2 @ 110kg
  
• Bent BB Rows
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  5 x 5 @ 80kg
  
• DB Flyes
  3 x 12 @ 20lb/ps

Comments

• OK today, nothing spectacular. The back was really fatigued from beltless deads a couple of nights ago, so the upright-edness of my squats deteriorated pretty quickly! First set was ok, then as the sets went on it got harder and harder to hold the tightness in the back. Big grind on the final rep which was hard to swallow for me with the first couple being pretty good. Just lost mental focus.
  Still, got through it. Although I was capable of this before I left, I don't think I had done much volume at this amount of weight without wraps before, so in a way it's kinda breaking new ground for me. And a couple of Saturdays ago, we did half as many reps and probably found it just as tough, so improving nicely.
  I'm anticipating next week to be a little rough.
  
• Close-gripping my light bench day on the advice of Beast. My lockout used to be the strength in my bench, but now it's easily the weak part. I can break most weights (well, those I've attempted) off my chest easy enough, but through the transition my shoulders are taking a lot of the strain instead of my tris, and when I do get my tris to fire, they're so underutilised right now they aren't doing as good a job as they once were.
  On the plus side, things felt very snappy today, will see how Tuesday's bench goes, may up the weight another 2.5-5kg.
  
• Token assistance to finish.

Vid. Used the Digital SLR today to record it as I had it with me, forgot to focus the first set for both myself and MT so it's a wee bit fuzzy to begin with. Bear with it, it gets better.

Not only was the TP late today, he also left me to fend for myself in the Post Workout meal. Walked into Joes Garage, fittingly, to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" on the sound system.

[cMac]

This the Russian Strength program you are doing?

http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Weig ... rator.html

[drizzt]

No, I think I have that one stashed away also, but the one we're doing is a 9-weeker (cutting it short).

Sorry, keep forgetting to post it while I'm at work, will try remember this week.

[M.T]

This the Russian Strength program you are doing?

http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Weig ... rator.html

extrussianpower.xls

[cMac]

Thank you. Looking for a fresh program just now.

[drizzt]

26.06.2012 - Russian Strength, W3/D1

105.6 today, ouch! Eats have been pretty good lately, I feel a lot leaner than I have at any point over the past few weeks, and I'm still within a kilo of the weight class, so I'm not worrying just yet. Creatine is usually worth at least a kilo for me, and I've been on it for 3 weeks now so will be interesting to see what the weight does when I drop it after next week.

Also suspect the calorie-dense Raw Milk I've been downing with reckless abandon isn't helping things :lol:

• Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 145kg
  Working
  6 x 2 @ 185kg - @8-9ish
  
• Bench
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 2 @ 100kg
  Working
  4 x 5 @ 110kg - @7-8
  2 x 5 @ 112.5kg - @9
  
• Dips
  4 x 8 @ bw
  
• Standing Band Crunch
  4 x 10 @ green band
  
• The Beast Single-leg Extensions
  4 x 15/ps @ not much
  
• Leg Extensions superset with Hamstring Curls
  3 x 15 @ 80kg (?) & 15 @ 40kg

Comments

• Squats were pretty good. Went beltless for the session which wasn't too bad. Had the odd shakey rep here and there, but never in danger of failing, and the first rep on all of the working sets was usually pretty snappy. Squat is catching back up nicely, given a few weeks ago 180-190 was very close to a max with a belt on, now I can double 185 without a belt with a bit left in the tank :nod:
  Looking forward to 6 x 5 on Saturday :shock:
  
• Bench was easy, shoulders are sore though. First 4 sets were a bit too easy, so I upped the weight a tad. Will probably keep it there for now, and look to up it again if it is easy next week. Feel like this is beginning to catch up as well, although not quite as fast as the squats are. And the shoulder soreness is undesirable. Made dips feel terrible too, so I cut those shorter than what I was capable of.
  
• Got picked up from the gym as opposed to my usual 30mins walk/train ride home, so managed to squeeze in a fair bit of assistance this evening. Probably enough that I won't worry about coming in tomorrow for an assistance day, which is good, I think the day off will be handy before deads instead of punishing my legs the day before like last week :shifty:

No vid today, figure me squatting 185 is getting pretty boring to watch these days :pfft:

[drizzt]

28.06.2012

106.2 today, chucked some bread into the diet the other night and have felt bloated since, bread always seems to be my enemy Still, plenty of time to tidy things up some more before the comp. Will come off creatine at the end of the week which should mean about a kilo drop. Hopefully weigh in high-104s for the comp which would be perfect.

• Deads (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 70kg
  1 x 5 @ 120kg
  1 x 3 @ 170kg
  Working
  
  
  1 x 5 @ 200kg - @8
  
  
  1 x 5 @ 200kg - @9
  1 x 5 @ 200kg - @10
  
  
  
• CG Floor Press
  bar
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 2 @ 100kg (Beast looked it over and said I was doing it wrong so stopped there and readjusted for another set)
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 100kg
  3 x 3 @ 110kg
  
• Face Pulls superset with Tri Pushdowns
  3 x 12 @ 120 & 12 @ full stack
  
• RHE
  3 x 10 @ 20kg

Comments

• Deads started off really well, went beltless for the whole session, which I wouldn't have thought possible if you had asked me after the last dead session. Just before the session I thought one beltless set would be fine, but ended up carrying through with it the whole way.
  I would call the first two sets an 8 RPE - the bar just felt really light in my hands. Flew off the floor, lockout was easy - wasn't overextending like I can do when I find it tough.
  From set 3 I begun to feel things slow. Didn't feel bad at all, just things weren't firing as they had been for the first couple of sets. I'd call sets 3-4 a 9 RPE.
  Set 5 wasn't too bad, made a conscious effort not to kick up my right leg when I was in trouble on the 5th rep, and I managed to grind through it to the finish. This tells me it's definitely more of a reaction than a weakness (i.e. not being able to do it without the "assistance"), so I just need to remember to not do it :pfft:
  Set 6 was horrible. Had a false start (was using straps for all but the 5th set to save my wussy hands that are feeling beat up) where the strap slipped sideways and I didn't even end up breaking it off the floor. Take 2 went ok, first 3 reps were passable (barely). Rep 4 the right leg kicked in to help me up... so I knew rep 5 would be a battle. Got it above the knees, and I knew it wasn't going to go up. Rather than drop it, I hitched my way out of it just to get to lockout.
  Disappointing end after such an awesome feeling at the start. Still, don't think I can be too gutted, I think the beltless work is helping a lot, and overall I'd say things felt faster than last week, so improvement is definitely being made.
  
• Good bit of assistance to finish. Beast gave us some tips on floor press, wanted us to do it more close grip, and we paused with out upper arms on the ground for a 1-2 count before exploding back up. Tris were fried after this, which was the goal.

Vid:

[drizzt]

30.06.2012 - Russian Strength, W3/D3

106 flat.

• Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  Working
  1 x 5 @ 185kg (b) - @9
  2 x 5 @ 185kg (b) - @10
  1 x 3 @ 185kg (b) - @10
  
• CG Bench
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 2 @ 100kg
  Working
  1 x 2 @ 110kg - @7
  5 x 2 @ 112.5kg - @8

Comments

• So bit of a fail today! Ha. Had 6 x 5 prescribed, wasn't feeling too bad to be quite honest when I walked in, just a bit tired.
  First set was tough, bar speed wasn't there. Back kicked up straight after racking. Mid-back was very inflamed from the beltless deads on Thursday. Hadn't actually troubled me yesterday or even this morning until I started squatting which sparked it up.
  Second set was tougher, definite 10 RPE here. Thought 4 was all I had in the tank but managed to squeeze a rusty 5th out. Back started to spasm on the 4th rep which made it hard to stay upright.
  Pretty much the same for the 3rd set, felt things head downhill after the 3rd rep but managed to get the 4th and 5th in by the skin of my teeth. 5th rep was borderline depth, probably high in all honesty. Doubt I would've got it if I dropped much deeper.
  Having got through all of that, I had a little inkling of confidence that I had made it halfway, I could grind out the session if I put my mind to it. 'Cept, the back had other ideas. 3 reps in the 4th set was all I had left. On the way up from the 3rd I just had nothing in the tank to continue, could barely stand upright with the weight of the bar on me.
  Racked it, got the wraps, thought I'd knock out two sets of 6 to finish things off. Wrapped up loosely - just needed a little kick to get things up - unracked the bar, but just couldn't force myself to descend. The back had had enough of it. Had a couple of cracks at it, but as soon as I broke at the hips the back tightened and it was like trying to press my arse back against a wall. It wasn't budging. So threw in the towel there disappointingly.
  So in the end, it's not an injury or anything - not even painful - just severe inflammation. Some areas where this happens, I can get through it after loosening things up. But back and adductors get worse as the session goes on. As much as I wanted to get through this one, the body just wasn't co operating so there wasn't a lot I could do. Pity, as Tuesday with the beltless squats felt really snappy, and I thought that boded well for today's session, but the beltless deads less than 48 hours before the heavy squats for the week just isn't working for me.
  I need to change the volume somewhere I think, either in the squats, or more likely in the deads - as the volume there is something that has always taken me a long time to recover from. My body is a lot happier with lower reps. M.T suggested sliding the squats back to Sunday which could be another option.
  Racked 60kg up for good mornings but even that wouldn't budge after breaking at the hips, so knew it was better not to force stuff and just call it.
  
• On a bright note, bench is feeling great. Had less of an arch than I usually do due to the back, but things still felt nice and snappy. Paused reps here and there which still came up nice and quick.

Vid to follow a bit later, for now I'm gonna have a sleep.

[Phedder]

That's a bugger about the back, should be right in no time though. The magical Doc wasn't in to put you right?

Deads looked really snappy the other day, wicked speed off the floor :nod:

[drizzt]

That's a bugger about the back, should be right in no time though. The magical Doc wasn't in to put you right?

Deads looked really snappy the other day, wicked speed off the floor :nod:

Yeah as I say, not an injury, just sometimes the muscles inflame a lot from previous work I do. A lot of it I can work through, but today wasn't one of those times!

Doc turned up after I put all the plates away But he did have a look, and there is nothing really he can do about inflammation but recommend ibuprofen/ice/rest :nod:

Pretty sure I'll drop deadlift volume next week. Just do a few heavier sets for 3 reps or so instead of the 6 x 6 @ 200 that is prescribed :shock:

[drizzt]

Here's todays vid. Added the fail set in for laughs :shifty: Should be able to see the moment it just kinda wouldn't go, had two cracks at it with no luck.

[drizzt]

03.07.2012 - Russian Strength, W4/D1

106 flat again. Last creatine intake was Sunday so hoping a bit of water weight falls off soon. Otherwise will need to add a GPP session in also :shifty:

• Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  Working
  6 x 2 @ 185kg (b) - @7-8
  Backoff
  1 x 10 @ 140kg (b) - @8
  1 x 5 @ 100kg - 7
  
• Bench
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 3 @ 100kg
  Working
  6 x 6 @ 110kg - @8-10
  
• DB Flyes superset with CG Bench
  3 x 15 @ 20lb/ps & 15 @ 20kg

Comments

• Squats felt great today, cut the rest periods right down to roughly 90 seconds (maybe less on a couple of sets) and found when I let the body just fall into the position it is used to without worrying so much about setup, my squat feels a lot stronger because of it. I think in these situations I need to remember exactly what it is I end up doing so I can try to replicate it all the time.
  Tried the slower descent, with a fast drop at the bottom which seemed to work quite well, would like to trial that more. Also tried a different way of gripping the bar - not in hand width, but kind of rolled my hands over the top of the bar and pushed it into my traps more, felt a lot more secure and upright with my squat :nod:
  Added in a couple of backoff sets, pretty much stripped the plates (kept the belt on) and went for it. 140 felt really powerful right up to and including the 10th rep, the only thing limiting there was the lungs. Could've stood there and gathered my breath to keep going, but I wanted a quick snappy 10 and I got it. That's how it went with the set at 100kg (and why I didn't do more) as I was just too buggered to continue :oops: Paused the final rep because I felt bad about finishing it early.
  
• As is usually the pattern, one lift is good, the other not that great. Bench was a wee bit shakey from the outset. Somehow managed to grind all 36 reps without failing, but it was a close thing. Surprising, as bench endurance has never been a strongpoint of mine - once the muscles are fatigued, that's usually it for the session. I felt towards the end of set 4 I would be lucky to get the reps for the next set, so it was very unusual to pop the next 12 reps up as planned :nod:
  
• Some very light DB Flyes and CG Bench just to flush the muscles a bit.

Thinking I might move the Thursday deadlift session forward to tomorrow - given nothing entirely strenuous is really done on Tuesdays - and see how that goes with an extra day of recovery for the hard squats on the weekend. As it is, I feel like I'm peaking on Tuesday with how easy the squats are popping up, so I want to give Saturday every chance to come into the game.

Could also be a thing with training in the morning on Saturdays (as opposed to 4.30pm onwards through the week), but I'll have to get used to that as I believe I'm lifting in the morning at Nats, so it's probably best left the way it is.

See how I feel tomorrow arvo anyway.

[Viking Power]

Looking sharp Drizzt, keep smashing mate 8)

[drizzt]

Looking sharp Drizzt, keep smashing mate 8)

Thanks VP, much appreciated mate.

04.07.2012 - Russian Strength, W4/D2

105.9, well it's only 100 grams which I guess can be put down to statistical insignificance within a 24 hour period :pfft:

• Deads (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 70kg
  1 x 5 @ 120kg
  1 x 3 @ 170kg
  1 x 3 @ 200kg - 8
  1 x 3 @ 220kg (b) - 8
  
• Deficit Deads (48mm board)
  1 x 5 @ 170kg (b) - 7
  1 x 5 @ 200kg (b) - 8
  1 x 4 @ 220kg (b) - 9
  
• CG Floor Press
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 110kg
  1 x 2 @ 120kg (failed 3rd)
  1 x 0 @ 110kg
  1 x 1 @ 100kg
  1 x 1 @ 120kg (comp grip)

Comments

• As intended, moved my deads forward a day. Didn't feel too bad. Well, I lie, they felt terrible to begin with. My hands are still as rugged as an 8 year old girl's, so the calluses are coming off with regularity and causing a lot of pain... so I'm strapping up for the working sets (much to the disgust of big Trap :pfft:). I figure toughing it out through programs with hook grip, only to rip a callus in pretty much every comp I've competed in so far isn't working, so something needs to change! Maybe straps will help. Will keep doing some sets without just to keep the grip going, but grip strength has never been a problem for me, only the callus tears I get.
  Anyway, Deads. They sucked. So I asked the mighty Beast for advice, and he said I'm far too slow off the floor. Immediately I thought "Seriously, that's my strong point!", but when I took a moment to settle down, I realised he was right. I'm starting so slowly that everything is moving before the bar does... resulting in the upper back being used as the go to muscles. The start lacks the snap that I had before I took some time off. I've also been mucking around with my start position which has done nothing but hurt my lift, but I'll get to that.
  So the Beast said to fix it, try some Deads off a block instead. Stripped a 25 off to make 170, 5 reps flew up with ease. 200 x 5 after that was no sweat. But at this point, it occurred to me that I had begun to get my aggressiveness off the floor back, and start with my hips higher (thanks to OB and Alex for also pointing out the hips to me)
  I've spent the time since I've been back trying to turn my Deadlift into a squat - which is a strength of mine - so I thought I could try and get the lifts resembling each other. And I've been watching a lot of bigger guys deadlift and trying to replicate their styles - maybe in future, some of these little pointers will help me, but I've tried to implement too many things at once, and it's costing me. The Deadlift for me was around the same level weight-wise to my squat before I went away, however it used a completely different muscle set to get up there. Yeah, my lockout was crap (still is), but it was improving before I took time off.
  So I went back to my old style. Hips higher, bar closer, wee bit of a round in the back (not on purpose, but in the interests of going back to the old style I left it that way), and things flew up.
  The set of 220 deficits was much easier than the set of 220 off the floor. Did an extra rep because I could, but that was a hard 9 so I dropped it there. I know I've given myself an extra day before my Saturday squats, but I still wanted to keep the dead volume lower than prescribed (6x6 was set out for today!).
  Got Beast to thank for the changes today! I think from now I'm going to do a bit more Deficit work, and switch back to pulling from the floor a couple of weeks out. Feeling much better about my dead now :nod:
  
• Was going to do some token assistance afterwards, but Beast called me over to do some CG floor press. My bench muscles were still quite rooted from yesterdays tough session, but I'm a sucker for punishment, so jumped in there.
  Happy I did, as Beast knows how to get a little bit extra out of everything you do, input on the movements were all spot on, and got a couple of reps here and there I didn't think I would.
  The ones on the way down I failed were drop sets I was trying to get but just wouldn't move. The tris fried on the first set of 120 and after that point, getting much out of them just wasn't going to happen.

Cheers again to the Beast for the advices tonight, much appreciated. Vid to follow.

[drizzt]

Wooo Queensland! Time to sleep.

[drizzt]

05.07.2012 - Assist/Cardio

Lets just say I'm heavier than yesterday Knocking calories back doesn't seem to be working, and I don't want to knock them back any further (I already feel like I'm not eating enough!) or I might start sacrificing my strength gains, so I'm going to add in a bit of cardio a few times a week.

Whenever I go to The House, it's a 30 minute walk to get there, and then another 30 to get back to my train, and I kind of hoped that taking that at a brisk pace would be enough "extra" work to keep things in check, but it isn't happening, so I need to add a bit more in.

• Cardio
  5mins Rower
  15mins Stationary bike
  
• Gunz
  Tri Pushdowns - 3 x 10 @ full stack
  Face Pulls - 3 x 10 @ full stack
  DB Curls - 3 x 10 @ 30lb/ps
  Overhead DB Ext - 3 x 10 @ 30lb/ps

Comments

• Cardio; wasn't trying to break any records, but got a good sweat going which was the goal. Legs are sore from the bike so working some muscles that haven't been worked for some time.
  Assistance afterwards was just filling in some gaps. Have been neglecting bis so should probably be doing a bit more than token DB curls every week, might start throwing chins in.
  Enjoying the tri work though, as I reckon I can already feel some benefit on my bench from the hammering I've been giving them.

[bar-belle]

Wow deads looking strong! :clap:

[drizzt]

Thanks Ma'am! Getting back to where they were hopefully :nod:

07.07.2012 - Russian Strength, W4/D3

104.6 today WOOHOO! Bit out of the blue, especially considering Thursday night's 107.5 :shock: Oh well will have to remember what I did over the past couple of days and just keep doing it :nod:

Note, as my first logged equipment session, this will be a long, boring, analytical write-up. You have been warned :pfft:

• Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  Working
  1 x 6 @ 185kg (b) - @8
  1 x 3 @ 200kg (b) - @9
  1 x 1 @ 210kg (b) - @10 (10 because I missed a second shot)
  1 x 0 @ 220kg (b)
  Add 48 Superior Straps Down
  1 x 5 @ 180kg (b)
  1 x 3 @ 200kg (b) - @7
  Add Wraps/Straps up
  1 x 3 @ 220kg (b) - @7
  1 x 3 @ 240kg (b) - @8
  1 x 3 @ 260kg (b) - @8
  1 x 2 @ 275kg (b) - @8.5
  1 x 2 @ 285kg (b) - @9 [PB]
  
• Bench
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 3 @ 100kg
  1 x 2 @ 120kg
  Add loose 48 Fury
  1 x 5 @ 120kg (4board)
  1 x 3 @ 140kg (3board)
  1 x 1 @ 160kg (2board)
  1 x 0 @ 160kg (2board - missed lockout on the right arm)
  1 x 3 @ 140kg (touches)
  Swap Fury for a 46 F6
  1 x 3 @ 140kg (3board)
  1 x 3 @ 140kg (2board)
  1 x 1 @ 160kg (1board)
  1 x 1 @ 170kg (1/2 board)
  1 x 0 @ 175kg (attempted touch, not quite)
  
• Finished with
  Light DB flyes/Lateral Raises to flush blood in a bit

Comments

• So, bit of a marathon session today! 5 hours in the gym, hard yakka.
  Was really the "Russian Strength" program in name only. I figured it is getting a bit close to the comp to be mucking around with 6 x 6, so lets start putting some weight on the bar.
  And that kinda led to me trialling a suit for training purposes... which kinda led to hitting PBs :pfft:
  
• First set of the programmed squats wasn't too bad, more cardio than anything. Afterwards I just thought flag it lets start climbing up.
  200 x 3 was quite comfortable, so thought I'd climb again.
  210 was interesting, first rep popped up easy, and if I had called it there, I'd have given it an 8 on the RPE scale... but I came down for the second, lost tightness popped up a bit, didn't want to grind so just gave up on it. Probably could've really pushed to get through it but I had a feeling it was gonna be a long session, so didn't want to blow the load there (so to speak).
  Had a crack at 220, but for some reason I changed out of my knee sleeves and squat heels into my chucks, and just everything felt wrong. Probably not the best idea to do that at near raw max. Also tried to slowly descend, and speed the drop into the hole to rebound me out. None of it worked haha and I dumped the bar on the pins. That signalled the end to me for the raw work, stripped it back to 180 to start the suited stuff.
  
• The Superior suit for those who don't know is intended very much as a beginner suit. Given the size of it (a 48 - I could slip into a 44 Centurion by myself and get the thighs up pretty high), I thought it'd make a really good suit to train with. It doesn't have the harnessing that the newer/better suits have on it, which means you really don't get a lot of rebound out of it. What it will hopefully do, is "hold everything together", and teach me the suited lines without throwing me around like the more extreme suits might.
  The thighs on it are quite tight for me, but the suit seems to be disproportionately long, so the straps are actually a few cms from sitting on my shoulders. Sooo that means straps up is really kind of the same as straps down, just the belt holding the bottom up a bit higher than it would otherwise be :pfft:
  To give you an idea of the sort of resistance I got from it, I could hit depth with just the bar.
  That said, what seems to benefit me hugely with it, is it holds me upright, and keeps my hips together really well. This alone seems to be worth a huge amount of weight for me, more than any rebound the suit gives (or doesn't)
  This was my second time squatting in a suit, the first was a few weeks back where I had a go in OB's 46 which was really loose too. Much tougher to get depth in it though, but got close-ish with a 260 double (no wraps).
  I also used my chucks instead of heels for this session, which felt WAY better than the heeled attempt did last time. And widened the stance a foot-width or so either side.
  
• With the big speil out of the way, down to the squats. Everything up to 240 was incredibly fast, learning the line, the suit still riding up a little extra after every set. Was very near depth on everything - if not hitting (relied on the guys around me to say and they said it was there or thereabouts), just a confidence thing mainly though. When I dropped faster I got deeper and better rebound, so it's just a case of feeling good about it. Generally the reps got better as the set wore on and the suit settled.
  260 felt heavy, I tried wrist wraps on for this one and it just felt weird. Walkout was crap, but still, the bar speed ended up really good which I was surprised with, and Wa reckons I hit depth on these.
  275 was better than 260, good double there, could've gone on but wanted to save some for an all time PB attempt.
  Loaded up 285, walkout felt brilliant, nailed exactly where I wanted everything nice and aggressively. Dropped confidently, popped up good - had only intended a single - and everyone asked for a double, so I obliged and that popped up pretty safely too. Wa reckons depth was there again so was stoked with that.
  Loaded 300 up as I wanted a crack, but for a few reasons the wait between sets was too long and I had cooled down before everyone was ready to go, so I threw in the towel there.
  All in all, happy with this session considering that is what will be my "training suit"! Can't wait to see how the better stuff goes :nod:
  
• Went and had a mid-workout feed, came back an hour later feeling a bit sluggish, but wanted to give some shirted bench a go, so sucked it up and had a bash.
  The Fury I had on was one of Old Bull's "well worn" stash, and again, I could get the bar to touch the chest with this, and reach behind my back to do up a belt to give you an idea of the sort of shirt this is.
  Didn't feel like I got much at all out of it, and it didn't allow me to arch, so it changed my style completely. Managed to get 3 (touched) 140s out of it with relative ease though which was cool. 160s were tough for me in it though.
  So at this point, OB pulled out an F6 which I haven't had the opportunity to play with yet. Immediate difference, couldn't quite get this one on myself, needed a little help with the arms, but felt much better than the 48 Fury. And I could arch again!
  That alone gave me a lot of weight by shortening the ROM. Was stoked to lockout 170 to a half board, but the last inch or so heading down onto the chest was a bit of a fight so not quite heavy enough to get a touch. We upped it to 175, dropped fast but still couldn't quite touch so tried to bang it up early and just lost it.
  Happy with this session, and nice to know the F6 suits my style better. Felt a lot more support in the arms which is where I need it :nod:

Unfortunately forgot the camera today! But OB got some of the squats on film, so he'll post those up in due course (or I'll nick them off him tomorrow and do a separate cut to save him the trouble).

Happy with only my second session of equipped work, onwards and upwards from here :nod: Apologies for the long read! Cheers to OB and the boys for the help today.

[ManawatuMonster]

Awesome journal man! your a freak!

[drizzt]

Cheers bro, nowhere near you and Hayden in terms of freakiness though!

Maybe when I can deadlift 300 without a belt :pfft:

[red machine]

awesome weights in a blinkin massive 48 superior!! your gunna be smashing some out of it weights once you work down 2 or 3 sizes yeoooow!!! are you going geared up at nats?

[drizzt]

Cheers Red! Yeah can't wait to give something a bit more serious a crack, I'm finding (really luckily) that it just fixes the small blind spots that are holding me back - mainly keeping upright and channelling my hip power better.

As for nats... maybe. I'm really undecided between Classic, wrapped or giving the Superior a run. Seeing as how easy depth was to get in it I wouldn't mind giving it a run at a comp.