#drizzt

[drizzt]

Cheers guys, can see the finish line now, just gotta grind out these last few weeks

[drizzt]

30.06.11 - Smolov Intense Cycle, Week 2/Day 2

100.5 today.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmup Sets
  bar stuff
  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)
  3 x 3 @ 190kg (b/kw)
  1 x 3 @ 200kg (b/kw)
  
• Bench
  Warmup Sets
  bar stuff
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  Working Sets
  2 x 8 @ 105kg
  
• Standing Band Crunches
  3 x 10 @ green band

Comments

• Squats were pretty good again, tried what OB suggested and attempted to "wrap the bar around my back" to lessen the movement at the top of the rep a wee bit. Alongside this, I slowed a few of the reps too which wasn't too bad, but I did feel I was kinda limiting my power slightly. Still a work in progress
  OB also filmed us from a bang on side view so we could see our form better, and I must say I was pretty happy with how I went. The bar - in most of the upper sets - was kept in the middle of my feet for most reps which is where it should be. Just lagged a few times towards the end of the sets.
  As for the weights, 190 and 200 were pieces of piss, really annihalated them all and the only reps I found tough, were when I started to "search for depth" by lowering the upper body, or (upon review of the footage) my elbows shot back because I had forgotten about slowing the ascent down a bit/wrapping the bar around my back.
  200 in particular felt like water on my back, I've just completely lost all fear and respect of this weight and probably could've got a couple more reps out on top of the 3 I did. Happy with how this went, and the rest of the program now looks even more achievable than it did at the beginning of the day :nod:
  Another good note is that the legs felt fantastic today, no complaints whatsoever, even from the wrapping. However on the flipside, wrapping the bar around my back has really aggravated my bum shoulder, to the point where my arm would lose feeling for a few seconds at a time after sets. Wee bit worrying, but as long as I can squat for now I don't mind too much.
  Bench was good too, managed all reps for a change! And crunches felt easy as well compared to the other week when we did these.

Almost at the half-way point of this cycle, finish line is in sight :gunfire:

[teamfatboy]

30.06.11 - Smolov Intense Cycle, Week 2/Day 2

200 in particular felt like water on my back, I've just completely lost all fear and respect of this weight and probably could've got a couple more reps out on top of the 3 I did. Happy with how this went, and the rest of the program now looks even more achievable than it did at the beginning of the day :nod:

Wow, great work, D :clap: ! Nice to hear that this programme is working for you. Did you expect to be saying that about 200kg squats when you started ?

[drizzt]

Wow, great work, D :clap: ! Nice to hear that this programme is working for you. Did you expect to be saying that about 200kg squats when you started ?

Cheers, G! And tbh, by the end of the program I did hope to be able to get a comfortable few reps @ 200, so I guess I'm slightly ahead of schedule :nod: Just the way last week was (tough), it's good to follow that up with a few really good sessions in a row

[bar-belle]

sounds like things are ticking along nicely. I like the "water on my back comment" that's a great description. Once the fear and respect has gone you can only go one way and that is up...good stuff :nod:

[drizzt]

sounds like things are ticking along nicely. I like the "water on my back comment" that's a great description. Once the fear and respect has gone you can only go one way and that is up...good stuff :nod:

Thanks BB, 200 is definitely a good milestone to get used to I think...

Now I just need to do that with my 140 bench :shifty: :pfft:

[bar-belle]

Now I just need to do that with my 140 bench :shifty: :pfft:

Don't sweat it mate the bench is just the rest between squat and dead

[startinfromscratch]

sounds like things are ticking along nicely. I like the "water on my back comment" that's a great description. Once the fear and respect has gone you can only go one way and that is up...good stuff :nod:

Thanks BB, 200 is definitely a good milestone to get used to I think...

Now I just need to do that with my 140 bench :shifty: :pfft:

you have a 140 comp bench raw. i think you are not that hard done by brah!

huge efforts as always :clap:

[Big john]

Now I just need to do that with my 140 bench :shifty: :pfft:

Don't sweat it mate the bench is just the rest between squat and dead

[drizzt]

you have a 140 comp bench raw. i think you are not that hard done by brah!

huge efforts as always :clap:

Thanks bro! But 130 comp bench :shifty:

And cheers BJ!

[M.T]

you have a 140 comp bench raw. i think you are not that hard done by brah!

huge efforts as always :clap:

Thanks bro! But 130 comp bench :shifty:

And cheers BJ!

Week 12: 142.5 single we got dis one

[HarryB]

you have a 140 comp bench raw. i think you are not that hard done by brah!

huge efforts as always :clap:

Thanks bro! But 130 comp bench :shifty:

And cheers BJ!

Week 12: 142.5 single we got dis one

Considering you exhaust yourself before you bench you do well with it. Maybe some more specific bench work once you finish this phase?

[HarryB]

Now I just need to do that with my 140 bench :shifty: :pfft:

Don't sweat it mate the bench is just the rest between squat and dead

Sacrilege!!!

[drizzt]

Considering you exhaust yourself before you bench you do well with it. Maybe some more specific bench work once you finish this phase?

Yeah I'm thinking either bench or dead specific following this cycle, and leaning towards bench as it's quickly becoming my weakest lift :nod:

And I can't really use the exhausted from squats excuse, as M.T seems to be improving really quickly with the same workload (dammit)

[Viking Power]

Considering you exhaust yourself before you bench you do well with it. Maybe some more specific bench work once you finish this phase?

Yeah I'm thinking either bench or dead specific following this cycle, and leaning towards bench as it's quickly becoming my weakest lift :nod:

And I can't really use the exhausted from squats excuse, as M.T seems to be improving really quickly with the same workload (dammit)

keep at it brother 8) you'll both doing really well :clap:

[drizzt]

Cheers VP 8)

02.07.11 - Assistance Day

100.2kg.

• Bradford Press (sets, reps, weights)
  4 x 6f/6b @ 30kg
  
• Face Pulls superset with Rear DB Raise
  3 x 15 @ 30 & 10 @ 10lb
  
• Box Jumps
  6ish jumps @ belly button height
  
• Lat Pulldowns
  4 x 10 @ 45kg
  
• Band Pushdowns
  3 x 15 @ purple band
  
• DB Hammer Curls
  3 x 10/ps @ 35lb
  
• Skullcrushers (ez bar)
  3 x 10 @ 15kg/ps

Comments

• Nothing to say really, light assistance stuff focusing on getting the neglected groups going. Back into Smolov for the end of Week 2 tomorrow.

[red machine]

I've just completely lost all fear and respect of this weight

owing it bro!! great call, so much in the mind sometimes, once that feeling comes, number just sky rocket

[drizzt]

Cheers RM, feeling good :nod:

03.07.11 - Smolov Intense Cycle, Week 2, Day 3

Holding steady @ 100.2.

• 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 @ 137.5kg
  1 x 3 @ 157.5kg
  1 x 4 @ 177.5kg (b)
  4 x 5 @ 190kg (b/kw)
  
• Sled Drags (recovery)
  1 x 5forward/5reverse @ 50kg sled

Comments

• Squats felt pretty good today despite not really feeling into it. Had a slight right hip niggle flaring up but it wasn't too bad. Shoulders were a bit roasted from yesterday's assistance, but they didn't affect much really.
  Happy to only have to introduce the belt after the 157 set, everything before that felt pretty good with no belt on.
  Top sets were good, lost the line once or twice which made some reps harder, and every now and again would forget about my "bouncing" at the top of the reps (until I heard the plates clanging) which was pulling me forward. But smashed the last set nicely so was happy to finish on a good note.
  Makes Thursday's 5 x 5 @ 190 seem much easier going by how today's 4 x 5 felt. Finding my forearms are getting a lot of work with this wrapping business too!
  Remembered recovery drags today, basic.

Just 6 more sessions to go 8) Vid to follow later if I can be arsed cutting it together tonight

[drizzt]

This week's highlights, bit of a tough week for M.T but should be better now he's dropped the max by 5%:

(p.s. couldn't be bothered with music this week, let the sound of clanging weights soothe your soul)

[Phedder]

Just 6 more sessions to go 8)

Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel \:D/

Any thoughts on where your training will be heading next?

[drizzt]

Oh, didn't see this post, cheers Phed

Following Smolov there is a couple of weeks break for us, not really because I want to, but because I'm heading to Vegas for a week a couple of weeks after Smolov, so any training between Smolov and Vegas would be token stuff to keep the body going. In this time, I'm likely going to play a couple of games of footy too as my club needs a bit of help, and I've been missing it a little bit. Also with the week in Vegas, I should be able to recover from the bumps and bruises quite nicely.

When I get back, we're looking at a bench-specific cycle. Mainly because it's my weakest lift, and I'm currently not really worried about my Dead as it holds it's own fairly well.

After bench, we'll probably have enough time to do a 7 week comp buildup to the Bledisbro in November.

Those are the rough plans, anyway

[drizzt]

05.07.11 - Smolov Intense Cycle, Week 3, Day 1

101.1kg, new high for the cycle. Finished my 12 days on DAA yesterday, and I'm a couple of weeks into creatine now.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmup Sets
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 6 @ 80kg
  1 x 4 @ 100kg
  Working Sets
  1 x 3 @ 127.5kg
  1 x 3 @ 147.5kg
  1 x 3 @ 167.5kg (b)
  5 x 5 @ 190kg (b/kw)
  
• Bench
  Warmup Sets
  bar
  1 x 6 @ 60kg
  1 x 4 @ 100kg
  1 x 1 @ 122.5kg
  Working Sets
  1 x 1 @ 137.5kg (ww)
  1 x 1 @ 137.5kg (ww)(comp commands)[paused PB]
  5 x 3 @ 120kg
  
• DB Side Bends
  1 x 10/ps @ 65lb
  2 x 10/ps @ 70lb

Comments

• I had an incredibly bad day today, one of those days where everywhere you turn something goes wrong. So heading into today's session I was high on stress, low on morale, and just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep :oops: Feeling sorry for myself really! Just didn't want to be doing anything, much less squatting 5x5 @ 190.
  However, after treating the first couple of sets @ 190 with utter disdain, the spirits started to lift a bit. The next 2 sets were comfortable as, and depth was good too. For the fifth and final set, The Beast suggested I not wrap so tightly (I have been trying to get as much as I can out of my wraps) and just save the tight wraps for the really heavy weights. So I listened up and did a pretty loose wrap. As an example, I usually get an x across the knee, with 3 rings over the top of it and almost another ring to spare. For the loose set, I got the x, and barely two rings :-s You could also see a lot of skin through the wrap on the footage, which usually doesn't happen at all.
  Anyway, the first 4 reps of the final set were ok, wouldn't say easy, but they weren't grinders either. Then, on the 5th rep... I got a little cocky. Last rep of the day, was feeling good until then, and attempted to drop deeeeeep. Got up to my sticking point of the past and had a big battle to get through it. But thankfully - with the encouragement of a few spectators that had gathered :oops: - I got through it and completed the rep/set/session.
  Learnt my lesson there - the loose wraps were fine (obviously not as much pop as the tight ones, but good enough at this weight), but my depth should only be as low as it needs to be, and I shouldn't be letting my ambition to drop deep get the better of me (at the moment, anyway). In future, I think I will begin with looser wraps, and get tighter if I need the extra boost.
  
• Bench was the surprise package of the day! Was kinda dreading the 137.5 tbh, but once under it, it really didn't intimidate me. Absolutely smashed the touch'n'go, everything seemed to align; form, tightness, mental state... and it showed in the rep.
  So I thought rather than say; "Oh I could've got a paused rep today, the touch'n'go felt that good", I'd put my money where my mouth is and do the extra single to prove it. So got the Mighty TrapFat to give me comp commands (start/{pause}/press/rack) and the weight flew up again! Almost as easy as the touch'n'go rep was. Really stoked with this, as my bench has been atrocious lately, and this is the heaviest pause I've ever done (135 was the heaviest previously). There was nothing really to indicate that today would be any different, but I'm thankful it was.
  The 5 x 3 @ 120 also went up without any real trouble. Finally, I've completed the prescribed bench reps after failng the past couple of heavy sessions \:D/ Bring on 140 next week!

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:

[Big john]

good stuff bro....Absolute Disregard for the bar!

140 coming at ya!

[drizzt]

Thanks bro, just enjoying things at the moment, and am riding a relatively injury-free wave for the time being (touch wood)

[poos_n_wees]

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: