#drizzt

[nate225]

Met ya TP tonight bro. I take it you trained earlier? Next time we down we'll catch up.

Nate

[drizzt]

Oh true, I thought you were in tomorrow? Yeah, I finished up just after 5 I think. Sweet sounds good!

[Dontrunwithknives]

240 :shock: that's a nice number. Haha maybe 'pretty lean' was bad choice of words but just wanted to get across the point that your BF% didn't look very high.

OB introduced me to a few of the other guys but you were the first person I remembered from the forums :pfft: , seen a lot of your posts around. Good meeting you to, it's interesting to meet people from the forums in person and find out what they are really like.

Ha well in that case thanks! I try not to look like too much of a fat bugger :pfft:

Yeah there are a few guys (and ladies) from the forums at The House, nice little community we've going there :nod:

Shit, those barbell ones look tough Vee! I'll stick to my DB ones thanks :grin:

Yeh it's nice there, real friendly bunch of people. Felt a bit like the odd one out when I was doing bodybuilder type training as opposed to big squats, bench press and deadlifts :oops:

I need to get back into the squats but since I stopped I have not had a tingling back like I used to get, trying to make up for the squats with lots of leg press :pfft:

[drizzt]

Yeh it's nice there, real friendly bunch of people. Felt a bit like the odd one out when I was doing bodybuilder type training as opposed to big squats, bench press and deadlifts :oops:

I need to get back into the squats but since I stopped I have not had a tingling back like I used to get, trying to make up for the squats with lots of leg press :pfft:

Haha, you're not the only one there doing that sort of training - dunno if you've met Trapfat aka "International Deep Squat" yet? He likes to dabble in that sort of thing in amongst his PL training :pfft:

[M.T]

Yeh it's nice there, real friendly bunch of people. Felt a bit like the odd one out when I was doing bodybuilder type training as opposed to big squats, bench press and deadlifts :oops:

I need to get back into the squats but since I stopped I have not had a tingling back like I used to get, trying to make up for the squats with lots of leg press :pfft:

Haha, you're not the only one there doing that sort of training - dunno if you've met Trapfat aka "International Deep Squat" yet? He likes to dabble in that sort of thing in amongst his PL training :pfft:

The Trap is always looking bb training buddies if your keen

[drizzt]

01.09.11 - Conditioning

101.1 today. Standard, weight is holding around this point again which is fine.

• Front Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  bar
  4 x 10 @ 60kg
  
• Push Press (fat bar)
  3 x 15 @ bar (30kg?)
  
• Deads
  bar
  1 x 4 @ 70kg
  1 x 3 @ 130kg
  3 x 8 @ 160kg
  
• Chins
  1 x 6 @ bw
  2 x 5 @ bw

Comments

• Pretty basic again today. Front squats were easy as, thinking I'll make Fronts our Wednesday squat session (program says it's a "light" squat day), and still keep with the lightish theme, maybe as far as moderate. I'll probably start @ 5x5 with 60, and progress at the same rate as squats. Just conceptual at the moment though, and will only be as far as week 5 or so anyway - because when we hit triples, the Wednesday squat session gets dropped (to focus on the deads that day, I assume).
  Did fat bar push press for a change, that was kinda fun/challenging.
  Deads were all hook gripped/no belt. Hands are feeling pretty raw. Starting on 170 next week so wanted to get close to that with the 8s today. 170 should be a breeze. 160 today wasn't too hard, hook grip got pretty tough in the latter reps though.
  Chins were tough right after deads - I can see this becoming one of my least favourite exercises, right when the grip and back are chewed up from deadlifting :roll: Wanted to get 3 x 6 out but just didn't have it in the tank. Did "dead hang" reps for the first set, but couldn't do it for the last couple.

[Traps]

Get into it mate, looking forward to seeing some big numbers. 8)

[OnlyHuman]

• [*]Pretty basic again today. Front squats were easy as, thinking I'll make Fronts our Wednesday squat session (program says it's a "light" squat day), and still keep with the lightish theme, maybe as far as moderate. I'll probably start @ 5x5 with 60, and progress at the same rate as squats. Just conceptual at the moment though, and will only be as far as week 5 or so anyway - because when we hit triples, the Wednesday squat session gets dropped (to focus on the deads that day, I assume).

I'm thinking to do the same (I'm thinking to do Madcow/intermediate) and swap the Wednesday''s squat for front squat. I could actually do the numbers as it is prescribed for my back squats as they would be fairly easy for me. Eg my first Wednesday would call for 2 sets of 5 @ 90 which is less than my usual warm up on fronts. So I was wondering to just do the normal back squats 2 sets of 5 and throw 2 sets of 5 of front squats on top of it @ prescribed back squat numbers. Which would be fairly easy for me until week 9 when it calls for 5 @ 110. (Which is not that hard for me at the moment.) I always found that they build the start of my conventional deads pretty good, so hesitant to give them up. Your toughs? :think:

[drizzt]

I'm thinking to do the same (I'm thinking to do Madcow/intermediate) and swap the Wednesday''s squat for front squat. I could actually do the numbers as it is prescribed for my back squats as they would be fairly easy for me. Eg my first Wednesday would call for 2 sets of 5 @ 90 which is less than my usual warm up on fronts. So I was wondering to just do the normal back squats 2 sets of 5 and throw 2 sets of 5 of front squats on top of it @ prescribed back squat numbers. Which would be fairly easy for me until week 9 when it calls for 5 @ 110. (Which is not that hard for me at the moment.) I always found that they build the start of my conventional deads pretty good, so hesitant to give them up. Your toughs? :think:

Absolutely, I see no issue with chuckng them in. If they build your Dead well, maybe it'll work as a good warmup, particularly if you say the numbers will be fairly light for you :nod:

[drizzt]

03.09.11 - Conditioning

101.7 today, big whanau bday feed last night. OD'd slightly on Steam Pudding :shifty:

• Squat (sets, reps, weights)
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 4 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 3 @ 130kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  1 x 3 @ 150kg
  
• Bench
  bar
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 80kg
  1 x 5 @ 90kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  
• Power Cleans
  1 x 5 @ 40kg
  5 x 3 @ 60kg
  
• Turkish Get-ups
  3 x 5/ps @ 10lb (+1 token rep/ps with 20kg bar)

Comments

• Squats felt ok today, but there was so much going on in the gym today (trying to watch a stuttering Junior IPF Worlds feed on the House comp) that I had major breaks between sets. As a result, the first rep of most of the sets were quite dusty, but generally finished pretty well. No belt or anything. Hope to go beltless for the whole of the first week, and some of the 2nd.
  Bench felt really powerful today, I'm really pumped with how this is feeling lately. Can feel some big numbers coming on if this shoulder keeps in shape \:D/
  
• Powercleans I was really happy with, I finally feel like I'm nailing form. I'm starting to bounce the bar off my hips after a high-pull, as opposed to the lower thigh after a deadlift kinda start in the past, and then letting the bar drop onto the delts/clavicle as opposed to dragging it up with arm strength. All about speed here! We'll see how it goes as the weight gets heavier.
  
• Turksih get-ups were a mission - now that we're doing them properly! Got the blood pupming a bit. OB challenged me to try one with a bar (was just using 10lb DB until that point), and got a messy rep on each arm up. Should get better the more we practise.
  Also had a token set of GHRs thrown in at the end, not worth counting.

Great session! Good to catch up with HJP for a bit. Roll on the start of the prog on Tuesday...

[runveerun]

Go the Turkish getups with the bar! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Damn! :shock:

[MARS]

Powercleans I was really happy with, I finally feel like I'm nailing form. I'm starting to bounce the bar off my hips after a high-pull, as opposed to the lower thigh after a deadlift kinda start in the past, and then letting the bar drop onto the delts/clavicle as opposed to dragging it up with arm strength. All about speed here! We'll see how it goes as the weight gets heavier.

I'd be really interested in a vid of these power cleans mate. I struggle to stay over the bar long enough so it comes in to my hips. Do you do the first part of the movement relatively slowly?

[drizzt]

I'd be really interested in a vid of these power cleans mate. I struggle to stay over the bar long enough so it comes in to my hips. Do you do the first part of the movement relatively slowly?

Hmmm, yeah, I never really "got it" before, as in, I didn't know wtf I was supposed to be bouncing it off. Still not entirely sure I'm getting it right, but it feels a hell of a lot cleaner than the brute-force kinda method I have used in the past.

I suppose I'm kinda slow off the floor, and then the bit just before I high-pull - maybe knee-highish - is where I speed up (just so I get it above... the errr.. you-know-region), big thrust forward with the hips to kick the bar up, slight tip-toe to carry the momentum on, swing the elbows under like a hinge, and bam. Got a nice bruise just above the errr, pelvic region, where I was consistently hitting it with the bar.

I very much doubt I've got perfect form, hell I'd be surprised if it's even at a "good" level :pfft: All I've been doing is studying Pyrros Dimas (from this vid) very closely, and just trying my best to do what he was doing.

But yeah, happy to take a vid next time if I remember :nod: Will be good for my own reference as well.

[drizzt]

Go the Turkish getups with the bar! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Damn! :shock:

Thanks! And just Turkish getup, no plural for my one rep per side :pfft: They were pretty ugly too, but was surprised I was even able to stand up, and keep my arm relatively straight. Not sure what my legs were doing though :pfft:

[OnlyHuman]

I'm thinking to do the same (I'm thinking to do Madcow/intermediate) and swap the Wednesday''s squat for front squat. I could actually do the numbers as it is prescribed for my back squats as they would be fairly easy for me. Eg my first Wednesday would call for 2 sets of 5 @ 90 which is less than my usual warm up on fronts. So I was wondering to just do the normal back squats 2 sets of 5 and throw 2 sets of 5 of front squats on top of it @ prescribed back squat numbers. Which would be fairly easy for me until week 9 when it calls for 5 @ 110. (Which is not that hard for me at the moment.) I always found that they build the start of my conventional deads pretty good, so hesitant to give them up. Your toughs? :think:

Absolutely, I see no issue with chuckng them in. If they build your Dead well, maybe it'll work as a good warmup, particularly if you say the numbers will be fairly light for you :nod:

I will just throw them on the end of my back squats sets See how it feels after a few weeks. Cheers

[runveerun]

Go the Turkish getups with the bar! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Damn! :shock:

Thanks! And just Turkish getup, no plural for my one rep per side :pfft: They were pretty ugly too, but was surprised I was even able to stand up, and keep my arm relatively straight. Not sure what my legs were doing though :pfft:

Came across this by accident just now on you tube,thought you'd be amused. This is the next step in getups! (no I'm not volunteering) :shock:

[steak]

^hardcase

[M.T]

Go the Turkish getups with the bar! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Damn! :shock:

Thanks! And just Turkish getup, no plural for my one rep per side :pfft: They were pretty ugly too, but was surprised I was even able to stand up, and keep my arm relatively straight. Not sure what my legs were doing though :pfft:

Came across this by accident just now on you tube,thought you'd be amused. This is the next step in getups! (no I'm not volunteering) :shock:

I reckon we could use Vee for that

[runveerun]

Thanks! And just Turkish getup, no plural for my one rep per side :pfft: They were pretty ugly too, but was surprised I was even able to stand up, and keep my arm relatively straight. Not sure what my legs were doing though :pfft:

Came across this by accident just now on you tube,thought you'd be amused. This is the next step in getups! (no I'm not volunteering) :shock:

I reckon we could use Vee for that

:shock:

[drizzt]

:shock: Turkish get-up stunts! Wonder how much the lady weighs...

[drizzt]

06.09.11 - 5 x 5 W1/D1

101 flat. Excited to be back in the game! \:D/

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmup sets
  bar
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  1 x 6 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 2 @ 140kg
  Working sets
  5 x 5 @ 150kg
  
• Bench
  Warmup sets
  bar
  1 x 6 @ 60kg
  Working sets
  1 x 5 @ 70kg
  1 x 5 @ 80kg
  1 x 5 @ 85kg
  1 x 5 @ 90kg
  1 x 5 @ 95kg
  
• Power Cleans
  warmups @ bar
  1 x 5 @ 50kg
  2 x 5 @ 55kg
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 65kg
  
• Dips
  1 x 5 @ +5kg
  1 x 5 @ +10kg
  1 x 5 @ +20kg

Comments

• Squats were ok, want to do this week completely raw so no belt today, but we'll see how Friday goes. First few sets at 150 were very easy (hit the calves on every rep) but for the final 2 sets I begun to hit a bit of a wall. Wasn't really tired or anything... just, strength had diminished for whatever reason. Would've thought I was better conditioned than this, what, with the volume I went through in Smolov. Oh well!
  
• Bench was pretty good, felt strong. 'Twas pretty light weights prescribed today though.
  
• Power cleans felt average, wasn't quite feeling as good about the technique as I was on Saturday. Every now and again I'd hit a good rep, but once or twice I bounced the bar a bit lower than intended and hit... yep :cry: This kinda blew my confidence a wee bit and I was less keen to "thrust" at the bar so hard :pfft: Maybe some "adjustments" need to be made before the next PC session.
  
• Dips were ok, but got the funny pain in the sternum area again. Would've thought the bench would warm that area up nicely, but it turns out that was wishful thinking! Still, I did higher than intended, as I was throwing the +5/+10 around easily enough (underestimated my 1RM as +20 - probably closer to +40 at the moment). So I did a +20 for the last set instead of a +15. Can always back off if it gets too hard, but I can't see that happening (after a peek at the coming weeks)

Also have a bit of a weird rib problem (cartilage?). Sort of feels like a stitch, but lower down, at the bottom of the rib cage. Feel it when I breathe hard into it (i.e. yawning), and it's been hanging around for a couple of days. Hope it's temporary! But it's more of a nuisance when I breathe, as opposed to hindering any of my gym work. So far, anyway (touch wood).

[drizzt]

07.09.11 - Assistance (gunz and calves)

101 flat again, good to know that massive helping (err... almost the whole lot :shifty:) of home-baked shepherds pie last night didn't put me into the 120 class :grin:

Srs though, need to get this diet underway, I'll jot something down over the next day or two when I get a chance. Work has been busy for the first time in quite a while! Makes the days go faster though which is good.

Enough of the yappin.

• DB Curls (sets, reps, weights)
  1 x 12 @ 25lb
  2 x 10 @ 35lb
  
• Skullcrushers (EZ Bar)
  3 x 10 @ 15kg/ps
  
• Preacher Curls (EZ Bar)
  3 x 12 @ 10kg/ps
  
• Rope Pushdowns
  3 x 12 @ 50kg
  
• Standing Calf Raises
  3 x 15 @ 80kg
  
• Seated Calf Raises
  3 x 12 @ 35kg
  
• Standing Band Crunches
  3 x 12(1sec pause at bottom) @ green band

Comments

• Have been reading a bit on Charles Poliquin and his training methodologies lately, and his are some that I haven't dabbled in before. So I decided to implement a couple of small ideas of his today (and maybe for future assistance days, see how we go), and did one set agonist/rest 1min/1 set antagonist/rest 1min/back to agonist etc. So the first two exercises were run alongside each other, and the same with the next pair. Calves I kinda supersetted with crunches (for no other reason than to save a bit of time).
  Also paid attention to lifting tempo, moreso a slow eccentric which I don't always do.
  
• Anyways nothing really of note, except the elbows were giving me a LOT of trouble on Skullcrushers. Kinda trouble that I've never had before - I've felt a bit of elbow tenderness in some tri exercises before, but never pain like this. I think all it means is I've neglected my tri work a bit, and need to get back into it :shrug: Not panicking just yet.

This will be the first of 2 assistance days each week. Need to get used to getting into the gym 5x per week again... feeling lazy :pfft:

[drizzt]

08.09.11 - 5x5 W1/D2

100.2 today. Think the extra day helps here, as well as shorter rest periods while everything is light. Diet is still pretty much seefood.

• Front Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmups @ bar
  Working sets
  5 x 5 @ 70kg
  
• Push Press
  Warmup sets
  1 x 5 @ 40kg
  1 x 1 @ 90kg (just trying it out to make sure I still had it!)
  Working Sets
  5 x 5 @ 60kg
  
• Deads
  Warmup sets
  1 x 5 @ 70kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg
  1 x 2 @ 140kg
  Working sets
  5 x 5 @ 165kg
  
• Chins
  2 x 5 @ +5kg
  1 x 5 @ +10kg

Comments

• Front squats were good, easy. These should progress to a moderate-ish weight for me in week 4, at which point they drop from the program.
  
• Push press was fine. Rep at 90 was very easy, 100+ was there but fine with how it is right now. Will up the weight in the 3x3 weeks if I feel I need to.
  
• Deads were really good, all hook gripped (apart from a couple of reps where the bar was rolling with the weights, which put some pretty uncomfortable torque on the hands - swapped it out for the next set), and no belt. Sorta thought it might be tough given a fairly low deadlift workload this year, but no troubles at all. Needa start shaving these calluses back again though...
  Never really done 5x5 for deadlifts, so interested to see how it works out. For 5x5 programs in the past, it's been - at worst - 3 sets of 5, ramping up to the top weight from set 1-3. Ah well, not complaining, just interested!
  Oh, threw in a token attempt at a 165 sumo deadlift, actually felt really easy. But I shall stick to conventional as it's where my strength lies right now. Maybe when I start squatting like a boss I'll switch :grin:
  
• Chins were ok, as usual fatigued on the last set. Hands were pretty torn up. Program is a bit funny - I put in +10kg as my one rep max (it's probably closer to 25-30, but underestimated it due to being after deads), and they have me doing 5 x +10kg in the first workout! Expect a lot! :pfft:

Sweet workout, roll on Saturday...

[drizzt]

10.09.11 - 5 x 5 W1/D3

100 flat.

• Squats (sets, reps, weights)
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 6 @ 60kg
  1 x 3 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 110kg
  Working
  1 x 5 @ 125kg
  1 x 5 @ 135kg
  1 x 5 @ 145kg (b)
  1 x 5 @ 155kg (b)
  1 x 5 @ 165kg (b)
  
• Power Cleans
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 40kg
  Working
  5 x 5 @ 60kg
  
• Bench
  Warmups
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  Working
  5 x 5 @ 95kg
  
• Turkish Getups
  1 x 5 @ 5lb
  1 x 5 @ 10lb
  1 x 5 @ 15lb
  
• Face Pulls
  1 x 15 @ 15kg
  1 x 12 @ 15kg (form change)
  1 x 10 @ 30kg
  
• Side DB Raises
  3 x 10 @ 20lb
  
• DB Rows
  1 x 10/ps @ 80lb
  2 x 10/ps @ 100lb

Comments

• Squats were a wee bit tough today, just wasn't particularly feeling it. 155 was a bit of a grinder, so wasn't sure how 165 was gonna go up (even briefly considered wrapping! :shock: ). But sanity prevailed. Threw ACDC/Back in Black on the stereo, pumped up for it a bit, and got 5 reps easy.
  Trouble here I think, is I need to "find" my depth again. I've spent the last few weeks bouncing everything off the calves, so now I've got to rediscover exactly where I need to stop and head back up. Will come, just time under the bar.
  
• Power cleans were ok, got a few sets on vid I'll post up when I get a chance. The 40kg warmups felt really good, but I think my form starts dropping at 60kg. Got at least a few good reps out of every set, but probably just as many shady ones.
  
• Bench was good, was meant to do 90, but M.T was doing 95 so thought to save mucking around with minor plate changes I'll do it too. No troubles.
  
• Turkish getups were tough as is to be expected, lot of sweat after that!
  
• Did the assistance today, as there wasn't much for us to do, so it saved us a trip into town tomorrow.

Good day in the house.

[drizzt]

Just got the last set of mine and M.T's Powercleans here, form critique is more than welcome. I'm still learning the "pop" off the hips which seems to go better on some days than others... ah well.