2009-12-28

Inspired by Thremp:

1x go to IKEA and lift heavy-ish stuff into car
1x put together bureau (??), pretty good metcon
1x put together bed frame, ez pz
1x put together work bench/storage thingy, really ****ing hard work for fingers screwing screws into hardwood plate (didn't have an awl, which would have been really really handy). Mini-injury thingy in elbows from squats got worse

Took 8-10 hours all in all, pretty good workout.

Will not work out again till after new year's. I have failed the Christmas planning and packed way too much stuff into too few days. Plus my elbows hurt like a sonovabitch.

Yeah good point, I'm def going to be eating less right now and then doing a more hardcore cut when it gets closer to summer.

And that would be over training for thremp i believe


(sick burn)

2010-01-05
I am riddled with the fail of skipping more workouts, even though it's been unintentional. It has now been 9 days since my last workout. I've seen Avatar and it left me severely unimpressed. Sherlock Holmes was even more meh.


Press
1x5x50 kg
2x4x50 kg

Sigh.


Squat
3x5x90

Bar slipped down my back twice today, and made me have a proper-like epiphany; I've been keeping the bar too low on back, very probably contributing to my bicepts hurts. Weird how little **** like that can sneak in.


Semi-Sumos
0x100

Wtf...got a really bad cramp after 2nd to last warm-up set, finished the last one and it got worse. Couldn't even stand. Sat down for 2-3 mins and it basically went away. By then I had to leave for an appointment, and wouldn't have felt safe doing the workset anyway.


So pretty much a fail. I'm not taking a break this long again for a loooooooooooooooooong time.

Here comes the DOMS, sucks not working out for that long, though it seems to be a trend. Just extra motivation for not skipping any more.

And you might like this http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/76...oilers-675844/

Haha, cool. I thought of Dances With Wolves, 2150 edition as well as I watched it. Waiting for Kevin Costner to sue the **** out of James Loleron.

2010-01-09

Hm whoops, skipped another day. Felt like **** on Thursday, pretty bad DOMS, lack of sleep, lazy etc.


Squat
3x5x92.5 (204 lbs)

Pretty good, surprisingly wasn't as hard with bar in proper position on shoulders. Could probably have gone for 95, will increase to 97.5 next time. Looking forward to squatting a massive two plates!!


Bench
3x5x62.5 (138 lbs)

Reset before before New Year's, continuing where I left off.


Semi-Sumos
1x5x100 (220 lbs)

Skipped a warm-up set, my conditioning is pretty lol atm. More out of breath than anything else at the end of the set. Increase by 5 kgs for the next few times me thinks.


Pretty good workout, 2nd one coming back is always better. My workout partners are finally back this coming week as well, looking forward to that - working out alone is boring.

No. You shouldn't skip increases. Each step is part of the foundation of the next one. Make regular steps or you won't be able to judge your ability for recovery accurately.

Although Rip does preach that (and for good reason) I did skip one loading on my squat in order to get to 2 plates one workout sooner, and I was feeling very good at the time.

I don't think it's the worst thing you can do, but I would recommend just doing the same incremental jumps, as Genz said

I know man, but I've lifted 95 before - I started lower now due to the long break. You still don't think I should go for 97.5, even though it's only 2.5 more than my previous max?

I accelerated too quickly in my squat and I think I didn't get enough reps under the bar. It really screwed me up a few months ago, but I sorted it out all the same.

no reason to rush, this is a marathon

if anything, it gives you another weight you can confidently lift with solid form

Ok guys, good points, thanks.

2010-01-12


Squat
3x5x95 (210 lbs)

Felt great.


Press
2x5x50
1x4x50

Bah. Lost balance on last rep and failboated. Will try to microload next time to 51.


Pendlay Rows
3x5x60 kg (132 lbs)

First time trying these. Tried 70 kg first, that was too heavy. Rather start lower and get the technique down. Felt a pretty sick burn in my lats, so great success. Hopefully my ****ty bench can start moving upwards again.

Where does the barbell hit your torso during the rows?

Eh...pretty high I think, around the same spot where barbell hits during bench, possibly a bit lower. I'll film it next time to see if you guys can give me some form feedback.

Yeah, that's a minor form flaw and happens to everyone doing rows the first time.

You want them to hit your upper gut/lower rib cage, not the upper rib cage. To do this, think about pulling your shoulder blades back and down as you drive the bar upwards into your gut. That's a critical part of the "Pendlay" row.

Yeah I was aware of the shoulder blades thing, found it a tad hard to implement. I'll be sure to focus more on that, thanks.

It is a pain and took me awhile to figure out. However, once you do, it pretty much eliminates any chance you will cheat because you can't dip your torso at the top of the concentric portion while retracting your shoulder blades.

It's also worth noting that while it changes the exercise slightly, it's not that big of a flaw. You're just doing regular barbell rows without a stretch reflex now.

Just to be clear, the shoulder blade retraction happens as you do the rep right? You don't set up with retracted shoulder blades, like when benching?

Good example of Pendlay rows right?

Right. That is a good video.

you'll have a lot more hip action than that when you use heavier weights. just don't drop your chest to the bar and you'll be fine. and obv don't get your torso to higher than 45 degrees.

2010-01-14

Squat
3x5x97.5 (215 lbs)

I can smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell the double plates!


Bench Press
3x5x65 (143 lbs)


Semi-Sumos
1x3x107.5
1x2x105 (231 lbs)

Managed to load the bar unevenly, 5 lbs at one end and 10 at the other. Messed me up.


Starting next week, I'll do a 3 week RFL cycle, followed by 2 weeks of maintenance. I ****ed up the bulk too much, what with breaks both for squat and DL due to injuries/form issues. So need to drop some weight before continuing. Going forward I'll probably eat more modestly, around 3k cals daily until I stop making progress, then upping it to 3.5k.

And no more daily pastries and chocolate, I'm such a giant sweet tooth :/

So much for "...stop ****ing around and do SS properly." WTF is this nonsense? Your lifts have progressed very little, you don't squat 2 plates, and you apparently have major body issues because you keep doing stupid RFL cycles and other bull****. This is highly annoying and counterproductive. At least have your log title changed to "Soulman is borderline anorexic and is a typical Western European who doesn't want to lift heavy things and eat food" rather than the misnomer that exists right now.

Shrug I know it'll make the novice phase a bit last longer, that's ok by me. I'll get there.

Edit: I'm aware lifts haven't progressed a lot, re: injuries/form issues.

While I don't need to defend myself, I still can't help doing it...

Two posts from the n00b thread, in reference to JF/myself asking about cutting in the novice phase and whether that's smart or not:

My goals have always been dual: get stronger (for fun, I don't need it for a sport) and look better, including a decently low body fat % (around 12%). Staying healthy, i.e. no back problems, better posture etc is of course important too but pretty much inevitable given good form and increased strength. Probably about 50/50 strength gains/aesthetic reasons.

I just see it as a huge hassle to go up even more in body fat % then cut later. I'd rather have a small delay, then get back on SS. Given my earlier experiences with RFL, I'm pretty optimistic about strength loss or rather lack thereof.