What training are you doing/have you done today? Vol.2

[Art0ir]

chris watton said:

Art0ir said:

5x6 75kg Bench.

Failed on fifth rep of last set

Feel really fatigued this week, yesterday was miserable too. Going to eat plenty and take it easy for a few days.

Volume has really jumped the last few weeks and think I'm just feeling the cumulative effects of that. Will maybe deload next week if Friday is poor too.

I felt like that last week, 6 days a week caught up with me (shoulder area especially constantly aching), so this week (and maybe the next three weeks), I am doing a Reg park 3 day per week program (with Deadlifts on Fridays only). After doing so much during the past four months, it doesn't seem enough and only takes an hour for the main exercises. However, I am starting to feel a lot better, so perhaps it does has its merits..

Crisis averted, PR on 4x6 Wide Grip Bench today! Day off and some extra carbs did the trick.

[chris watton]

Art0ir said:

Crisis averted, PR on 4x6 Wide Grip Bench today! Day off and some extra carbs did the trick.

Excellent! What did you have for the extra carbs?

[Art0ir]

Just added some oats and extra pasta to my lunch. I normally try to avoid carbs before the afternoon and get the bulk of them after training, but it obviously had its drawbacks in the long term.

I'm around 80kg first thing in the morning still and trying to stay below 82.5 for competing in August.Don't want to up the BF too much meaning I'll have to cut.

[chris watton]

Art0ir said:

Just added some oats and extra pasta to my lunch. I normally try to avoid carbs before the afternoon and get the bulk of them after training, but it obviously had its drawbacks in the long term.

I'm around 80kg first thing in the morning still and trying to stay below 82.5 for competing in August.Don't want to up the BF too much meaning I'll have to cut.

I too have oats (porridge) around 12.00, with a protein shake for breakfast (then a shake before and after training, then a fairly light tea in the evening), but I think I'm putting on too much weight again. Am usually around 73kg in the mornings, but now am around 75-76kg in the evenings. Haven't been over 75 since before December. Perhaps the diet's too much for a 3-day per week workout routine. I never really took any pics of myself, so can't tell if the weight increase is muscle or fat..

Are you competing in strength or bodybuilding?

[Art0ir]

chris watton said:

I too have oats (porridge) around 12.00, with a protein shake for breakfast (then a shake before and after training, then a fairly light tea in the evening), but I think I'm putting on too much weight again. Am usually around 73kg in the mornings, but now am around 75-76kg in the evenings. Haven't been over 75 since before December. Perhaps the diet's too much for a 3-day per week workout routine. I never really took any pics of myself, so can't tell if the weight increase is muscle or fat..

Are you competing in strength or bodybuilding?

I dont mind putting on weight as long as it's muscle! I'm just checking the scales once a week to make sure I don't screw myself over.

Powerlifting. Don't expect to do amazingly but I think getting the bug for competing should give me an extra push in the gym.

[chris watton]

Art0ir said:

I dont mind putting on weight as long as it's muscle! I'm just checking the scales once a week to make sure I don't screw myself over.

Powerlifting. Don't expect to do amazingly but I think getting the bug for competing should give me an extra push in the gym.

Cool, good luck! I would imagine the competition bug could get quite addictive. Something perhaps for me to think about in another year or so..

[Art0ir]

chris watton said:

Art0ir said:

I dont mind putting on weight as long as it's muscle! I'm just checking the scales once a week to make sure I don't screw myself over.

Powerlifting. Don't expect to do amazingly but I think getting the bug for competing should give me an extra push in the gym.

Cool, good luck! I would imagine the competition bug could get quite addictive. Something perhaps for me to think about in another year or so..

You should check the results for your local federations, you might be surprised at how competitive you could be!

[22s]

LordGrover said:

22s said:

Finally hit 200kg deadlift It's been a goal of mine for years and so happy I finally hit.

Was stuck around 190 for 4 months-ish, tried 200kg week before last and couldn't even get it off the ground, today went up like it weighed nothing. Could have done 205 I reckon but didn't want to push it with sloppy form. Very happy chappy.

Haven't weighed myself in a month or so, but most recent weigh-in was 90kg on the nose.

This was after a sorely needed deload week - I can't recommend deloading enough if you're regularly lifting heavy. I'm completely re-energised and since I've been dealoading every four-six weeks I haven't been injured.

A great milestone.
Just another 20kgs to get to the five-plater.

Thanks! I know, 5 plates is when st starts getting serious.

Hoping for a three plater on the bench in the next year or so too!

lost in espace said:

Amazing! Keep getting stuck at 95kgs :-( 83kgs bw.

Thanks! What routine are you on currently?

For me the best routines for putting on strength have been 5/3/1 (best but exhausting) and Westside (very good, but need extra equipment like bands if you want to do it properly). Using a spreadsheet for 5/3/1 revolutionised my lifting - having the cold hard numbers in front of you to say you have to lift X amount for Y reps today really pushes you to your limit. What would ordinarily seem impossible in terms of numbers really becomes achievable when you can effectively chart your progress from week-to-week.

For anyone's that's intersted, I used the 5/3/1 spreadsheet that's downloadable under the 'About StrongJournal' section here: http://www.strongjournal.com/

Also, one thing which made a big difference to my deadlift is really bracing against the bar before the lift. By bracing, I mean there is absolutely no slack in your arms or back - as soon as you push through your heels the bar is leaving the floor. Pay attention to this when you next deadlift - although you may think you are bracing properly, if there's even half a second between you pushing and the bar leaving the floor that is too long. If there's slack, once the bar leaves the floor your motion is interrupted and it's much easier to lose momentum (and form). I missed this for a long time which really held back my progress.

Edited by 22s on Saturday 9th May 15:38

[Art0ir]

Hurt my SI joint today deadlifting. Was only warming up too!

[LordGrover]

What's an si joint and have I got one?

[chris watton]

I'd like to know, too!

Was a bit bored today, so after messing around with my car in the garage, I couldn't help but do a 'mini-session'

Dumbbell side bends, 2 sets of 20
Seated Pulley Rows - 5 sets of 12-20 reps
Lat Pull Downs - 5 sets of 10-16 reps
Pull ups - 1 set of 12
Good Mornings - 1 set of 20 reps
Alternate Dumbbell Curls - 1 set of 10 reps

[Art0ir]

Where your sacrum joins your ilium

[Johnny]

A couple of laps of Richmond Park on the road bike on Friday.

[Halb]

Manchester 10k, 52 mins/108kg. Happy.

[ALawson]

Bimble around Hampshire on the bike.

https://www.strava.com/activities/301708334

[Digger]

Johnny said:

A couple of laps of Richmond Park on the road bike on Friday.

It's a good little circuit that, which I used for training back in the day. Out of interest do you have a preference for either clockwise or anti?

[didelydoo]

Legs>

Squat: 180kg x 10,6,7,6,5,2
Leg press: 200kg x 20,20,20,20
Ham curls: 3 sets, last one triple drop.

Goosed. Squats were mentally draining....

[LordGrover]

Halb said:

Manchester 10k, 52 mins/108kg. Happy.

Congrats dude.

Are you going back to proper training now?

[Halb]

LordGrover said:

Congrats dude.

Are you going back to proper training now?

Ta, yeah, although mates are challenging me to do other 10ks (and a half-marathon...fk that!). It's funny how my weight went up just eating carbs and that in the last few days.

I wanna do the weights and trim fat. I think I'll do some strength testing this week and start smolov squats and the coan bench program next week. I'll still do the parkrun on the Sat.

[Johnny]

Digger said:

Johnny said:

A couple of laps of Richmond Park on the road bike on Friday.

It's a good little circuit that, which I used for training back in the day. Out of interest do you have a preference for either clockwise or anti?

Yep, it's a cracking little route tbh. Was riding with a mate on his first road bike ride, he was shocked how much he felt it compared to on his MTB.

Always anti for me.