#drizzt

[drizzt]

24.09.2012 - Pavel-Simmons, W1/D1

• Deadlift
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 110kg
  Working
  15 x 1 @ 165kg

Comments

• Easy, fast session. Every second rep or so felt great, while it felt like I kind of missed nailing the technique on the other ones. It'll come.

[drizzt]

25.09.2012 - Pavel-Simmons, W1/D2

• Deadlift
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 70kg
  1 x 5 @ 120kg
  Working
  12 x 1 @ 175kg

Comments

• Little bit tougher than yesterday, I think this is mainly due to the previous session being about 12 hours before this one (won't happen again hopefully). Could also be down to the time of day. Haven't lifted this early for years.
  Reps felt better as they went on - guess it was me waking up.
  Can already feel the hands starting to tear up a bit, and it's only day two... will need to keep on top of the handcare.

[drizzt]

26.09.2012 - Pavel-Simmons, W1/D3

• Deadlift
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 70kg
  1 x 5 @ 110kg
  1 x 2 @ 150kg
  Working
  10 x 1 @ 187.5kg

Comments

• Someone else beat me into the House this morning... and to the platform! :shock: Thought that would be one advantage of the early time - not having to compete for a spot. Got on soon after though so all good.
  Otherwise, not too bad today. Things feel like they're slowing down a bit, and the body is starting to feel creaky, but the reps were never a grind, and the form never fell apart. Left bi is starting to get some familiar throbbing pain, but it's all the way up the arm so that indicates my shoulder nerve pinching again. Need to stay on top of rolling and stuff.
  Hands are a little worse for wear than yesterday, but still manageable enough. Can see straps entering the fray maybe at the end of next week. Also coming down with something (unsurprisingly), bit bad in the mornings, headache, blocked nose, raw throat, but clears up mostly by the afternoon. Unfortunately doesn't help the morning deadlift session though, but the work is good to clear the sinuses a bit.
  In and out in less than 20mins all up, nice and quick, keeping the rests to a strict 30 seconds is speeding things up really well :nod:

[OnlyHuman]

Glad you are back updating your journal. I enjoy your comprehensive write ups, it is always a good read

How much time between your morning session and you getting out of bed?

[drizzt]

Thanks OH! Glad I've got at least one reader :grin:

My alarm goes off at 5.50, make a quick coffee and head straight to the gym. Last couple of mornings I've got in around 10 past 6, so I'd say I'm lifting about 25mins after waking up :shifty:

Haven't thought about it that way, but I like it because it's a quicker wake up than the usual way of slowly coming to my senses around 8am :pfft:

[Viking Power]

Hey brother, I'm starting to train in the mornings from tommorrow onwards also less people in the gym I'm hoping our gym is always to busy at night time.

[OnlyHuman]

Intervertebral disk hyper-hydrate overnight, (normal process) but until they are in a hyper-hydrated state, heavy spine loading exercises are not recommended.

Takes about 30 min for them to loose the extra fluid they accumulate over night... just make sure you give them a chance to loose some fluid in the morning before you do the heavy pulls.

Don't want to sound like a know it all, just looking out for a fellow lifter.

Good luck with the program, I will be reading your progress regularly

[drizzt]

Oh ok, fair enough thanks for looking out! Definitely not something I had considered.

So possibly wake up 5-10mins earlier? The timing of the workout works well for me at the moment, as I get into work on time so don't really want to work out any later, but I suppose I could wake up slightly earlier :pfft:

[OnlyHuman]

I think it be wise to give yourself an extra 10 min in the morning.

Just get out of bed and move around, do what ever you do in the mornings. Make a cup of coffee check your e mails etc ...

Have fun!

[drizzt]

Sweet mate, will do, thanks for the tip!

[PeterDolan]

Oh ok, fair enough thanks for looking out! Definitely not something I had considered.

So possibly wake up 5-10mins earlier?

Do a light cardio warm up or some dynamic stretching dude?

I was training 1st thing in the morning 3x a week prepping for WGTN's and loved it. Only the oldies in the gym so no one using the equipment I wanted and no one to distract me so my workouts got done quicker

[drizzt]

Do a light cardio warm up or some dynamic stretching dude?

Yeah was thinking along the same lines - get into the gym 15mins earlier and hit some stat bike for 10mins or something :nod:

I was training 1st thing in the morning 3x a week prepping for WGTN's and loved it. Only the oldies in the gym so no one using the equipment I wanted and no one to distract me so my workouts got done quicker

Yeah I hear you on the distractions - I enjoy the banter with the House boys, but my god is good to just zone out and get a workout done. Fast!

[Phedder]

I love deadlifting but bugger doing that much of it :shock: Good on you for giving it a crack. Are you still doing afternoon training as well to keep everything else in check? How's that structured?

[drizzt]

I hate deadlifting... which is why I'm doing so much of it :pfft:

Yep, still sticking to pretty much 4-5 days a week in the afternoons (well, thats the plan). The morning deadlift sessions are so fast that I struggle to think of them as anything substantial, so I definitely want extra work.

For this week, there is no structure to the afternoon lifts, but I might start 5/3/1 with decently underestimated maxes next week - once the shock of deadlifting so frequently has worn off (I'm thinking of this as a conditioning week) - with a view to continuing on with 5/3/1 into next year.

[Phedder]

Solid plan :nod: I'm planning on doing the same after the BBro, running 5/3/1 over summer and smashing the assistance to bring up weak points.

[drizzt]

27.09.2012 - Pavel-Simmons, W1/D4

• Deadlifts
  Warmups
  (10mins stat bike)
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 70kg
  1 x 5 @ 110kg
  1 x 2 @ 150kg
  Working
  8 x 1 @ 200kg

Comments

• Very sore, and the sickness is starting to escalate = tough session. Chucked in 10mins warmup on the bike this morning before deadlifting thanks to OnlyHuman's suggestion.
  All reps were slow. Not quite grinders though, and I think I managed to keep my form for the most part, but I did extend the rest periods by about 10-15 seconds for each rep (over and above the usual strict 30 - i.e. head out to deadlift at 20 seconds, complete the lift and lap the stopwatch at about 30-35).
  Got it done, that's the main part.
  Feels like I constantly need to click my neck, which might indicate I need to be more aware of my head positioning, traps feeling swollen could be playing a part too. Either way, not a great combo with the headache from whatever it is I'm coming down with.
  Legs are probably the worst hit in terms of muscle soreness, but the back is surprisingly fine. Hands held out ok today, not any worse than they were yesterday.
  Might need to belt up for tomorrow's 212 x 6, but see how it goes. May also rest tonight instead of going in for an afternoon session, giving me a good crack at the 6 singles in the morning. Did some moderately heavy benching last night which may or may not have had an effect on this morning's session, but looking forward to how tomorrow morning goes.

[drizzt]

28.09.2012 - Pavel-Simmons, W1/D5

• Deadlifts
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  1 x 1 @ 180kg
  Working
  6 x 1 @ 212.5kg

Comments

• The House was actually kind of packed at 6am today - I was beaten in by 3 people, and 1 came in while I was deadlifting. The House has an underground early crew, didn't expect that!
  Skipped the bike this morning, just woke up at the earlier time and stayed on my feet, walked around a bit instead.
  Deads felt ok considering this was day 5 of 5 for the week. I wasn't confident given yesterday was a pretty tough session, but I think taking the afternoon session off helped somewhat. Also just having the 6 reps to do was a nice feeling mentally.
  Reps felt about the same as yesterdays actually, body wasn't particularly sore this morning, and the hands haven't worsened since Wednesday (I've been keeping up with the Donny Shankle handcare routine).
  All in all, it was a good morning, and glad to have survived the week with no hiccups. Looking forward to next week :nod:

Just out of interest, here is my stopwatch for this morning (noting I started the time after completing the first deadlift), each lap indicates resting for 30 seconds following the previous rep, completing the deadlift, and then hitting the button to complete the lap. So pretty much bang on that 45 second mark for a rep + rest.

[drizzt]

01.10.2012 - Pavel-Simmons, W2/D1

• Deadlifts
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 70kg
  1 x 5 @ 110kg
  Working
  15 x 1 @ 167.5kg

Comments

• Not quite as fast as I had hoped today. Weight never felt heavy, but I just couldn't put the force on it that I wanted to. Daylight savings may not be helping here, given I had only just begun to adjust to waking up at 5.40... now the clocks have gone forward an hour, the body has to adjust slightly again.
  I think I might be a bit more fatigued than my mind realises - I'm feeling great, and the mindset to smash the weights out (even at that time of morning) exists, but the bar and body seem to have other ideas :shifty:
  Found the same when I was benching on Saturday; I felt great mentally, just the body didn't respond as well as I had hoped.
  Pretty fast today in terms of time - slowest rep + rest for the day was almost 38 seconds, quickest was 30.5. Total working set time came in at about 8minutes for the 15 singles.

Today's final few laps/total time (noting the time starts following my first rep)

[drizzt]

02.10.2012 - Pavel-Simmons, W2/D2

• Deadlifts
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 70kg
  1 x 5 @ 110kg
  1 x 2 @ 150kg
  Working
  12 x 1 @ 180kg

Comments

• Felt really sharp today, had a light but high intensity workout last night, so I wasn't sure how this morning would feel. Ended up great.
  Technique felt spot on this morning, loaded the hammies just right, bar speed was fast, posture was great, everything just clicked. Rest + rep periods were all around the 30 second mark (apart from the first set with an outlier of 38 - wasn't sure how it was going at that point so took a bit longer), so it was a very quick workout and got a decent little sweat worked up.
  Surprisingly, after a few days of pain at the beginning, the hands have really toughened up and I've had absolutely no complaints from them. So I'm stoked with that too.
  Looking up! Can't wait for the 10s in tomorrow's session.

Todays last few times:

[OnlyHuman]

:-s ???? No updates?

[drizzt]

Sorry! Have been off work for a week, legit sickness. May have managed to sneak in all of my deadlifts though :shifty:

Suffice to say, all is going well, pretty happy with the progress :nod: Will start back with the logging when I'm back at work.

[drizzt]

Back at work today, so on with teh logs.

11.10.12 - Pavel-Simmons, W3/D4

• Deadlfits
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  1 x 1 @ 180kg
  Working
  8 x 1 @ 210kg

Comments

• Got in nice and early today (before 6!), saw no cars outside, so I thought I would have the gym to myself. But I was beaten by one guy - not only to the House, but to the platform :cry: So it was the second session in a row with the steel plates - which I'm not hugely fond of - but it worked out ok.
  The first 4-5 reps were alright, I can definitely feel things getting heavier and harder, but they weren't grinders. Reps 6-8 were toughies, with number 8 pretty much a max effort. Can feel my hips coming through quicker on the grinder(s) though, so I'm happy with the progress there which I can pretty much put down to the small changes in technique. Hands are feeling a little beat up, have been slack on the handcare (my bag balm is at work) so will get back onto that asap.
  6 @ 222.5 tomorrow is going to be interesting! Will keep the belt handy, hopefully can see out the first 3 weeks without one, but will fall back on it if things are looking dire. Also have up to 45 seconds rest I can use, so will dip further into that pool before I pick the belt up. Looking forward to the deload week.

Today's times below - about half were on or around the 30 second mark, the other half up around 35. Forgot to set the timer after the first rep (damned early mornings) so 2 reps were off the clock.

[drizzt]

12.10.2012 - Pavel-Simmons, W3/D5

• Deadlifts (sets x reps @ weight)
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 70kg
  1 x 5 @ 120kg
  1 x 3 @ 170kg
  Working
  6 x 1 @ 222.5kg

Comments

• Decided to move todays session to the afternoon. End of the week and (what should be) the toughest session on paper meant I was keen for the 8-9 hours extra recovery I'd get.
  Seems to have paid off, because today was probably the sharpest session this week! I think it was due to a combination of things; being back comfortable on the oly platform, lifting in the afternoon when I appear to be strongest, the extra rest, shorter warmups, and thinking hard about the tech.
  First 3 reps shot up like warmup weights, loaded the posterior perfectly. 4 and 5 I started to get a little sloppy and just couldn't seem to activate the posterior properly again, so they went up a little slower. The final rep was a bit tough as there wasn't a lot left in the tank. Still, very happy with how the session rolled on, and quietly chuffed I got through the first 3 weeks without touching the belt.
  I think I'll keep the remaining Friday sessions as afternoon ones, and, due to being only 6 reps, the shorter warmup routine seemed to click well also.
  Deload week next week, so with only 2-3 prescribed "speed" sessions (3 x 20 @ 70ish kilo), I won't bother logging. Will still do other weights, but dems secrets However will probably be taking it easy to prime the body for the charge at the last 2 weeks of this program - so not too interesting in either case.

Today's rep+rest times, all under 30 seconds :grin:

[Gym rat]

What is team beetroot?

[drizzt]

Inside joke Gym Rat