#drizzt

[red machine]

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.

great stuff, its a bloody nice feeling when you hit that sweet spot in the suit!! if your have no probs with it, why not, cut it loose and own 300+!!

[drizzt]

So just saw the footage on a big(ger) screen, must say most of the depth didn't quite appear to be there - although not the best angle for depth viewing - but reps here and there looked like they might have scraped in.

Ah well I know I'm capable of depth, I just need to learn where that is as I had no idea! :shifty:

[bar-belle]

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,

I agree I find the same with the hip support...everything just feels so much more stable.

[Big john]

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,

I agree I find the same with the hip support...everything just feels so much more stable.

+1 there BB

awsome stuff as usual going on in here bro!

[drizzt]

Cheers guys!

10.07.2012

104.6 today, happy with that I think I've found what is causing the weight fluctuations, just need to be more consistent.

• Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  Working
  6 x 2 @ 180kg (b) - @8
  
• Bench
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 3 @ 100kg
  1 x 2 @ 120kg - @9
  5 x 5 @ 100kg - @8
  
• Rowing
  5 mins @ 1350m-ish

Comments

• Not much to write home about, shoulders were pounded from the weekend's efforts so the squats were rough just in getting under the bar and upright. Felt slow but never in danger of failing (or close to it), just one of those days where everything from warmups onward are all a little bit of a battle.
  Bench hurt the shoulders and the biceps so I didn't go as high as I wanted, just 5 x 5 at a light weight which wasn't too challenging. But it also didn't hurt so I kept it there.
  
• I think tonight may be my last raw session before the comp. I'm pretty much decided I'll squat in the superior at nats, so I need to get used to it with the limited time available to me. May also bench in a shirt but depends how well I take to that, as it could be a bit risky without much time in it.

[drizzt]

11.07.2012 - Deads

106 today. Have been off work a couple of days sick, so eating has been "comfort" level, not surprised with a spike.

• Deficit Deads - 48mm Block (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  1 x 2 @ 180kg
  1 x 2 @ 220kg (b) - @9
  1 x 1 @ 220kg (b/superior) - @10
  1 x 3 @ 220kg (b) - @9.5
  
• GHR superset with RHE
  4 x 10 @ bw & 10 @ 25kg
  
• Rower
  1500m @ 5min 22sec

Comments

• Just wasn't happening today, body felt fine, no niggles, no tightness. Mentally I was fine - not bouncing off the walls but not lethargic or anything either. Just the strength. Wasn't. There. No where near the level of awesomeness I felt creeping into my deadlift last week.
  Pity, because I wanted to push things a little higher today, haven't really been higher than 220 for some time.
  Tried the suit for one set, that was a massive fail. Straps up, couldn't get down to the bar (was told afterwards a trick on how to do it), straps down felt really awkward and completely changed the position of my lift. That and they had bunched up on my thigh so the bar caught on the suit when I was bringing it up, causing me to hitch to get over it.
  So I went back to normal shorts for the last set which felt way better. Got my first nosebleed on this set from the effort wow, never had that before.
  Video footage shows the bar was moving in pretty much a perfectly straight line (had it directly side-on tonight), hips were quick to lockout, back was a bit rounded, but less movement before I start (hips higher which was successful last week). Basically everything clicked but the muscles themselves haha.
  Trap thinks its CNS fatigue after the heavy stuff on the weekend, so I"ll take his word for it. Maybe after zero training for 2 months, then within 6 weeks of being back doubling more weight than I've ever singled on a squat has the body not entirely impressed. So hopefully things are running a bit smoother on Saturday as I want to run some more sets in the suit.
  
• Some minor assistance to finish off. Still quite phlegmy so the rower was hard, relatively good time considering I thought. GHRs and RHEs bucked the trend by feeling more awesome than they have done in quite some time.

Won't bother with the video tonight, painful to watch. Back to the grind on Saturday, maybe some assistance/cardio tomorrow or I might take the time to rest up. Fingers crossed things get back to somewhere around normal.

[drizzt]

14.07.2012

105.5 today. Fine with that weight as I know I can lose 500g on the day if need be (this was also prior to the normal morning bathroom activity :pfft:)

• Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  No belt
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  1 x 2 @ 180kg
  Add 48 Superior, Straps Down, + Belt
  1 x 3 @ 180kg
  1 x 3 @ 200kg
  Straps Up
  1 x 3 @ 220kg
  Add Wraps
  
  (loose wrap) @7
  
  (loose wrap) @7
  
  (firm wrap - one revolution left in the tank for the top set) @8
  
  (cranked wraps) [+15kg PB] @9
  
• Bench
  bar
  1 x 5 @ 60kg
  1 x 3 @ 100kg
  1 x 2 @ 120kg
  Add (loose) 48 F6
  1 x 3 @ 140kg (3-board)
  1 x 3 @ 150kg (2-board)
  1 x 2 @ 160kg (1-board)
  1 x 0 @ 160kg (touch - missed lockout right arm)
  1 x 0 @ 160kg (touch - tried cranking the shirt, no dice)
  1 x 3 @ 140kg (touch)
  1 x 3 @ 130kg (touch)
  1 x 3 @ 120kg (touch)
  1 x 3 @ 100kg (touch)
  1 x 5 @ 60kg (touch) :pfft:

Comments

• So, pretty good session today. Decided to flag the raw work and concentrate on just suiting up for the day.
  First off a HUGE thankyou to the Beast and Old Bull for hanging around and helping me out today (due to a TP no-show). Without their watchful eye and assistance, I probably wouldn't have gone above 260.
  Probably the last session I can push things a bit hard, as we're only 3 weeks out from Nats now, going to back off a bit and just focus on openers/depth for the remaining sessions as I'm now starting to get a little bit of confidence as to how far the suit can take me.
  
• Weights themselves were alright. Suited up from 180 onward, noticed with the extra kilo of weight the suit felt a lot tighter than last week, massive difference and I found it a lot harder to get depth - took me about 260 to get it without having to fight to get lower. Struggled to get the legs of the suit up past mid-thigh, but the rest of the suit (including the top of the glutes) is ridiculously loose. Either its a funny shaped suit, or (more likely) I've got a weird shaped body :pfft:
  220 was high, fast, but high. Tried to fight to get deeper but just wasn't happening so accepted where the depth was going to get to and popped up from there.
  240 was only slightly better, still had to fight the last inch or so to get depth (think I might have scraped it on one of the reps from memory), but they popped up quick as well.
  260 was where I think the suit started letting me hit depth without a fight. Let it push me down and popped up, along with the 280s this was probably my best set.
  280 as mentioned above was good, depth scraping there or thereabouts, as I mentioned last week I can get it, it's just a case of knowing when to pop up - which is different with chucks instead of heels, and obviously the suit and wraps on. Just need to adjust to everything that has changed from a simple raw set-up. Suit at this point had rode up a bit (past mid-thigh, back of it on camera footage was under the glutes), so wasn't getting as much pop out of it.
  The big 300 was ok. Really cranked the wraps on this set to be safe. To tell the truth I almost psyched myself out. Walked out after wrapping up, tried not to look at the plates but my eyes accidentally crossed over them which scared the f*ck out of me 7 Plates! Tried to ignore it, swallowed the fear, unracked, walkout felt really good which gave me a boost of confidence. Had me thinking; "This ain't so bad"...
  Then I descended and thought; "F*CK, this is HEAVY!!". Didn't manage to keep as upright as I did for the other sets, so I felt like I should be getting ok depth but it was my upper body going over. First rep popped up alright though, so decided to try for a double. Second felt a little better, popped up easier, footage looked like they both had the same depth, but arguably worse upper-body position on the second.
  Neither hit depth, but both were very close. I believe I'm capable of it, it really is just time under the bar with this level of weight and learning when to pop up. Wasn't a "10" effort either, felt like there was a little left in there, but was pretty glad to get the bar off my back tbh :grin: Suit was also high on this one, feel like I can maybe pull it down a bit in future to get a little extra pop, but will worry about depth before I start mucking around with stuff like that.
  
• After the success of squats, I was riding a bit of a high mentally, and pretty much had the week off benching due to fatigue/sore shoulders, so was nice and rested for this. Also had the new (well, used but new to me!) F6 to give a whirl.
  Raw warmups felt really good, best they've felt in a long time.
  Slipped into the F6 for 140 - it really is like a t-shirt on me, can put the arms down comfortably at my sides. Kinda tight around the shoulders but everywhere else is... shall we say, comfortable.
  The board work on 150 was probably the only set where I really felt like I got something out of the shirt. Battled with the 160s and just felt like it wasn't giving me anything. So decided to drop down in weight and see where I could touch with.
  Could touch with 140, slightly surprised but happy with that, got a dusty triple... dropped down again, and could touch with 130. Now I started to get an inkling of how much I was actually getting out of it. Touched with 120, 100... and then 60!
  All good, I did intend this to be a training shirt to get me used to pressing in a shirt, so it will definitely serve it's purpose :nod: A part of me is slightly disappointed I'm not getting more out of it though - I'd estimate maybe 5-10kg? It's funny to me, because I seem to get a decent whack out of a squat suit because it basically assists my weak point... but the bench shirts that I've tried really only help me where I'm already strongest (i.e. off the chest). I think if I had a tighter shirt on (like last week) it helps to cover up my weakness by speeding me off the chest faster and through the transition (my weak point), but that's not fixing anything...
  So OB reckons I need to do some higher rep work at lower weights to work the transition point - once that is fatigued, I'm shot for the session, so I'll look to fatigue it and drop down in weight.
  I can get singles, doubles, even triples at higher weights without fatiguing too bad because my speed off the chest can get me through it, but throw anything higher into the mix and you can count me out. No grinding capability is really what it boils down to!

Anyway, good session. Was too stuffed to do any assistance work, will probably make the trek in tomorrow and throw a little cardio into the mix.

Vid:

[PeterDolan]

:-s

:shock:

:clap:

[Northland Powah]

Hey drizzt!

300! Awesome work mate. Depth was pretty much spot on. Keep up the good work

[drizzt]

Cheers guys!

Thanks NP but I'm doubtful either would've passed in a comp! It'll come though will be working on just getting deep enough in the remaining couple of weeks before Nationals.

More than any strength issues (which I don't really think there have been any in the suit thus far), it's just I can't quite tell where I should be popping up. As it is, I pop up when I feel the suit beginning to work... maybe I just need to drop a little past that point.

Really doesn't count and is only a "gym lift" until I can get at least a couple of white lights to prove it :grin: But nice to be under that kind of weight and not get crushed by it all the same :nod:

[Phedder]

Awesome squatting as always D, making it look easy :nod:

Did you switch to flats to try and sit back into the suit more? Have you tried heels with the suit? Could help depth out, but not worth it if it throws the groove off I suppose. Definitely not that far off depth anyway, a few more sessions or an extra 10kg on the bar and it'll be there no worries

[soundsgood]

That was probably the most well written journal post ever on these boards. Really took me on your journey :nod:

Pretty bloody close with those 300s, that was damn impressive! Keep pushing hard, can't wait to see what you do at the nats :grin:

[startinfromscratch]

awesome bro! incedible. yes depth was not there but only by a whisker! another inch imo and youd be there. 320+ i reckon youll be doing shortly 8) 8)

[Gym rat]

Good work bro and mean squats as well looking forward to watching you kick some butt at Nats

[drizzt]

Did you switch to flats to try and sit back into the suit more? Have you tried heels with the suit? Could help depth out, but not worth it if it throws the groove off I suppose. Definitely not that far off depth anyway, a few more sessions or an extra 10kg on the bar and it'll be there no worries

Thanks bro.

My very first suited session (i.e. a couple of weeks ago ) I tried it with heels and it felt terrible. Just wrong straight off the bat.

I have a wider stance in the suit, and my toes are pointed out a bit further. With the heels on in this position, it feels hellishly unstable to me. I did try this with a slightly better fitting suit though, and the suit tried to drag me forward, and in a combination with heels, that was a recipe for losing the bar forward :nod:

I mentioned this on the PH forums, but basically I'm happy with heels for Raw, and flats for Suited. Reason being, I think my Raw squat and my equipped squat are two completely different movements. My raw involves a lot of quad, slightly higher bar, narrower stance - and I think the heel caters to this quite well. But the flats I find suit my wider stance, allow me to sit into the suit better, and recruit more of the Posterior chain.

So I've been asked what I get out of the suit and wraps - and I find it a hard question to answer. Because for me personally, I feel like they are different movements. Maybe over time my raw will adapt to be more like my suited squat, but we'll see how it goes.

Sorry went off on a bit of a tangent there! :pfft:

[drizzt]

That was probably the most well written journal post ever on these boards. Really took me on your journey :nod:

Pretty bloody close with those 300s, that was damn impressive! Keep pushing hard, can't wait to see what you do at the nats :grin:

Shucks, thanks SG!

Would be scary to see you get into a suit!

awesome bro! incedible. yes depth was not there but only by a whisker! another inch imo and youd be there. 320+ i reckon youll be doing shortly 8) 8)

Thanks bro! Yeah after Nats might have a play in the new Super Cent and see where she takes me :shifty:

Good work bro and mean squats as well looking forward to watching you kick some butt at Nats

Thanks GR!

[drizzt]

15.07.2012 - Assistance & Cardio

• Cardio (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  Rower - 2500m in a little over 10mins
  Stationary Bike - 20km in a little over 30mins
  
• Side DB Raises
  3 x 10 @ 35lb/ps
  
• Rear DB Raises
  3 x 12 @ 10lb/ps
  
• BB Rows
  1 x 10 @ 60kg
  2 x 6 @ 80kg
  
• SSB Good Mornings
  2 x 10 @ 60kg
  2 x 5 @ 100kg
  
• Face Pulls superset with Ab Crunch Machine
  4 x 10 @ 150 & 10 @ 42 (?)

Comments

• Little bit fatigued today, plus, the weather is crappy, so it kind of made it hard to make the long trek into the House for some assistance. But once I got in I wasn't going to waste the travel, so I hit the cardio pretty hard today. Haven't done that much for quite some time and it felt pretty good. Still clogged up with the lingering cold that is going around though, so it's annoying to have the sinuses play up while you're breathing heavier than normal. Good sweat going though, was drenched afterwards.
  Body isn't too bad after yesterday's efforts, just a slight pinging in the Lower back which feels like a bit of a strain. Made good mornings hard, but I also just suck at them so wasn't fully the back's fault :pfft:

Back in on Tuesday for some more squats. Maybe even tomorrow if I'm feeling good.

[drizzt]

16.07.2012

achoo107coughcoughcough

• Squats (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 5 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 140kg
  1 x 2 @ 180kg (b) - @8
  3 x 10 @ 140kg (b) - @9-10

Comments

• Really did intend to do more than just squat tonight, but decided to try on my new Super Cent after the last set to see how easy it would be to get on. Answer? Not easy. Not easy at all. Haha.
  I figured seeing as I can get into OB's old 44 pretty easily myself, with it still being fairly snug, a new 44 would suit ok. The difference between the two is like night and day, haha.
  Struggled along with various people trying to help me into it - btw thanks all, especially Brett for the slip loan, and Beast for some rough handling to slip it up a half inch or so! - but it just wasn't getting past the engine room (aka glutes). Could get the bottom of the legs up above the knees a decent way, but nothing was getting past the glutes. I guess being 107 tonight didn't help!
  I'm going to try and struggle into it tonight, and wear it around in the hopes of loosening it up a little for future wear. If not, may need to pass it on and look at something custom :shifty:
  
• As for the squats themselves that I did tonight, I attempted to do everything in my suited style to see the difference compared to my usual raw. So I widened the stance, kept my chucks on, set the rack height one pin lower to set the bar further down and exaggerated the break at the hips first.
  Actually felt pretty good. 180 was nice and breezy, but intended tonight to be a speedy kind of session after the near max stuff of Saturday, so I dropped it down to 140 and decided to get sets of 10 out with only a little rest between sets. Was dripping with sweat afterwards which is probably what made the suit a bit harder to get on too. Felt the glutes working for the first time in ages as well with the change in style, so that's probably a good thing in terms of getting better power out of my raw squat.
  
• After all of that, I tried to struggle into my new F6. With some help from Beast and a couple of plastic bags, I managed to get it most of the way on, but crap is it tight! I'm imagining it's going to take something crazy large to touch. But that's half the fun of equipped stuff, is it not?

[red machine]

hahaha that new suit feeling, its crazy the 1st time you try and slip in, i was the same only just went upto the knees but after 3 or 4 sessions i could easily slip it on all the way up by myself

[HarryB]

BANG!!!! Awesome man!!! Love the vids and write ups!

[drizzt]

hahaha that new suit feeling, its crazy the 1st time you try and slip in, i was the same only just went upto the knees but after 3 or 4 sessions i could easily slip it on all the way up by myself

Haha yeah had no idea how tough it was gonna be! Had deluded myself into thinking it might be a 5minute jobby by myself... no such luck!

The Mrs and I managed to get it most of the way up last night, enough that I could get the straps up but still maybe an inch or so from the crotch sitting right. Wore it around for a couple of hours, suggested to the mrs I was going to sleep in it but she wasn't having a bar of it :pfft: Still, pretty happy I can get into it, I was worried I'd have to sell it for a bit! Definitely need to buy me some suit slip ons (used my old CCC leggings in lieu of real slip ons which helped).

Can feel the rigidness in the suit, such a huge step up from the Superior I'm in currently, expecting some big things out of it!

BANG!!!! Awesome man!!! Love the vids and write ups!

Cheers bro! I'm surprised anybody reads the write ups, I get bad cases of typing diarrhea where boring play-by-plays of my session spill out, so it doesn't make for a very easy read! :shifty: Haha.

[drizzt]

17.07.2012

• Bench (sets x reps @ weight - RPE)
  bar
  1 x 8 @ 60kg
  1 x 3 @ 100kg
  Add 48 F6
  1 x 3 @ 100kg
  1 x 3 @ 120kg @8
  1 x 3 @ 130kg - @8
  1 x 2 @ 140kg (first rep paused) - @9
  1 x 6 @ 120kg - @8
  
• DB Curls
  1 x 10 @ 30lb/10 @ 20lb/10 @ 10lb/10 @ 5lb (one continuous set)
  
• DB Flyes
  1 x 12 @ 25lb
  2 x 10 @ 35lb
  
• Tri Pushdowns
  3 x 15 @ 150
  
• Cardio
  Stat Bike - approx 15km @ just under 30mins

Comments

• Pretty breezy today, put the shirt on to get used to the line more. With it on normally I really don't get anything at all out of it, even 100 still felt as hard as it usually is. So for 130 and 140 I really tried to jack it, and locked it in with an old work belt of mine. I found this gave me a good bit of pop out of it. Not huge, but maybe 10kg or so.
  Wanted to do more reps at the lower weights, maybe 4 x 6 @ 120kg, but the left bicep really started hurting on the descent - reminiscent of when I pinched a nerve in my shoulder/back last year during Smolov, and it put some huge pain into the arm. Hope it's not the same thing! I have moved my squat grip in a finger width or so, AND moved the grip out a little on bench (for the shirted stuff), and that is exactly how I did the nerve last time, so here's hoping it's just a big coincidence otherwise I'm going to have to start moving stuff around again.
  Just when I start to get comfortable with it, typical.
  
• The arm made a lot of the assistance really tough, so the weights stayed light. I wanted 20km on the bike too, but started getting some unbearable cramp just after the 10km mark in my calf. Attempted to ride through it, but it kept worsening so I had to pull the pin on it. Not too worried, just the calves haven't been getting so much work in quite a while and they're starting to react...
  In saying that, I'm starting to notice a trend of things beginning to play up on the left hand side again. Calf, arm, shoulder, and hip are all quite sore lately, all on the left side of my body. Hopefully nothing, but last time this happened my body was working overtime to make up for some alignment issues I had in the pelvis/hips, so the left (uninjured) took the brunt of the work that the injured right side couldn't do. Might have to book in with the Doc for a look.

If I'm feeling good tomorrow, I'll do some deadlifts.

[bar-belle]

Wanted to do more reps at the lower weights, maybe 4 x 6 @ 120kg, but the left bicep really started hurting on the descent - reminiscent of when I pinched a nerve in my shoulder/back last year during Smolov,

Hope the arm is all ok Drizzt.

Don't know if you have used Osteos before for treatment.. but I have found them really good in diagnosing and treating all kinds of injuries. We have referred a few of our lifters to our local osteo and they have all found it helpful. Just a thought?

[steak]

Yeah Ive had this..it suxs. I iced it hard out then bunged a 100mg voltaren in for 2 days and it settled down.

[drizzt]

Cheers guys, yeah I'm pretty sure I had it last year during Smolov (just before doing the Auckland Novice), I think the common theme is trying to get my hands in closer for my squat grip. Definitely feels better on the squat but the effort pinches the nerve.

Might look at an Osteo if I can afford it BB haha, too much equipment purchased lately! :shifty: