Hey you should test your VJ im am curious since you are lighter, have less BF, but haven't done a lot of PC work.

VJ?

vertical jump

Oh right. Is there a Correct Method[tm] for testing VJ?

Thinly veiled brag.

Heh wasn't really intended as such, always been this way.


No WAY I'm buying one of those things just to test my VJ

i think your vertical jump is 22".

mkay?

I've never had a particularly good jump, so not expecting a lot.

Miles is probably correct. I was just wondering if it might be unexpectedly higher due to your lower bf% and lower BW.

At my work there is a beam that comes down from the ceiling that is the lowest part and it is pretty much exactly 24" above my finger tips out-stretched all the way and I finally jumped and touched it, clearing it by about 1".

That how I measured mine.

2010-09-28


Back on the cho-cho train, feels good.


Squat
3x5x97.5 kg (215 lbs)

Form is better, but some reps are still shady. Strict focus on form will continue but will increase in weights.


Bench Press
3x5x72.5 kg (160 lbs)

Reset by 5 kg. Was struggling at +5, so why the hell not. We'll see if the surplus is enough to drive gains here for a while.


Deadlift
3x5x110 kg (242 lbs)

Videoed warm-ups + work set. I need to set up a bit closer than I have been, not quite Rip-style but close. In addition I've apparently thought it's a good idea to set the bar down SLDL-style with straight knees, good move bro.


Side planks
2 x each side

First time, these were pretty hard. Just like the normal plank it's a question of willpower to some degree.


Feeling good, now to nomz a triple xxl burger king.

Do you treat the weighted sit-ups and planks as assistance to you your other lifts or as assistance to your pursuit of hot women?

50/50

2010-09-27
1,5 hours LFD (ditch digging)


2010-09-29
1 hour HIIT ditch digging (lots of nasty roots included)
45 mins "hill sprints" (carrying wood down a steep hill)


Woke up on Thursday and I was all like 'lol no wai I'm training today' and stuff. So I skipped it, since I would have squatted the bar at best.


2010-10-02


Press
3x5x55 kg

Ez.


Squat
3x5x100 kg (220 lbs)

Ez. Form getting better. It's fun how eating at a surplus for a week helps a lot, these felt pretty light.


Kroc Rows
Warm-ups then
1x 22/23 reps x 22 kg (48.5 lbs)


Back Extensions
2x10x20 kg


Good workout. Now to eat a lot of meat + additional nomz like mushroom stew and good wine.


ETA: my wrist still isn't better, which is irritating and hindering me from doing PCs. Lame. Think I'll just buy some wrist wraps and try them anyway.

2010-10-05


Squat
1x5x102.5 kg
1x3x102.5 kg
1x5x102.5 kg

Dunno what happened middle set really. Everything was wrong. Form is still meh-ish, I dunno wtf is wrong with me


Bench Press
3x5x70 kg (154 lbs, +2.5 kg/+5.5 lbs)

Noticed I typed up last BP session wrong, should've been 67.5 kg. Pretty sure I'm gonna need Tate's 6-week cure to get my BP up beyond previous PRs.


Deadlift
1x5x115 kg (253 lbs, +5 kg/+11 lbs)

Felt good, apart from the shoulder feeling every so slighty iffy afterwords. Gonna switch to straps.


I also discovered I'm the stupidest person to ever wear a weightlifting belt. For some reason I've just never pushed out against the belt, always tightened my core in order to extend my back rigidly. This great epiphany struck me between sets on the bench for some reason. For funsies I did an air squat while pushing against the belt and almost passed out, lol. Feel free to mock me extensively.

mock mock mock. This does make more sense as to why you thought you needed the belt as tight as possible.

Yeah. I'm pretty embarrassed.

no

http://startingstrength.com/resource...t=18834&page=3

I thought rip was being sarcastic there. :\

http://startingstrength.com/resource...ad.php?t=18964

Yeah just read that. I have been using the Gary Gibson advice linked in that thread. But as some of the posters say, maybe they are the same action with 2 different descriptions.

I also read this a long time ago:

From here: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...om_head_to_toe

i'm sure it is. he mentions loosening the belt to get the feeling, but once the belt is tight i see no way to do anything but flex the abs. btw when i extend my stomach out, it is soft.

orly

When I contract my abs it certainly doesn't make my waist any bigger, if anything it's the opposite. That's probably because I suck the air into my chest and not my diaphragm though.

I recall Rip saying him and Tate basically describing the same thing. However, if I just naturally take big breath I suck the air into my chest. It's possible to push it downwards into the diaphragm instead, which results in another sensation entirely. Which one is better for squatting?

You gotta admit, those fat power lifters do look like pyramids when they are at the bottom of their half squats.



I wear my belt pretty tight, but there is a difference between how my abs are if I was bracing myself to take a punch, and how they are if I am "pushing them out" into the belt. I extend them out when I'm not wearing my belt as well, very possible i'm doing it wrong.

When I extend my stomach out into my belt I can tighten the abs pretty easily - while they're pushed out. When you take that deep breath of air before you squat, you definitely want the air to push your stomach out & into the belt as much as possible.

Dave Tate mentioned this concept in something he wrote. Louie Simmons told him to do it during a powerlifting meet after he had failed a rep. The next rep went up pretty easy and I think he said something about adding ~50 lbs to his squat just by doing that. It is pretty simple physics. You widen your base and it makes you more stable & stronger.