Workout B - 30/05/12

Workout 17

SQUAT

2x40kgx3 PAUSED

60kgx5

85kgx3

3x105kgx5 PR

PRESS

40kgx5

3x55kgx5 PR



BB ROW

40kgx10

60kgx5

2x77.5kgx5 PR

77.5kgx8 PR

Worked out with T, and we had a blast. Squats went awesome, I smashed 105 and T squatted 2 plates for the first time ever! He ended up with 2x100kgx3 and his last set was 100kgx4 PR!!! He's gotten a lot stronger recently, and his depth was about 2 inches below parallel which made it even more impressive. Press was good, short rest times made things hard but overall really smooth. T got 40kgx10 on his last set, it was big. Rows were easy, held the 8th rep on the last set at the top for about 5 seconds, I might start doing dropsets as well soon just to get that extra poundage into my workload. 1.5xBW squat here we come!

Rant of the Week

Don't be fooled by the title, this 'segment' I am now including may not even last past this singular post. Though judging by how much hatred there is inside me, I could fill the Death Star with it all. Now time to push on through to my rant in full.

Despite what many of the people that know me may think, I don't have a problem with bodybuilding. It's a competitive arena, a recreational pasttime, and an artform of sorts. Now you can see I am reasonable in some domain, I'll get on with the juicy details of my rant.

Many guys who are training purely for size think that doing so is the fastest way to 'get hyooge'. They assume this because the people on the cover of the magazines are massive, and so they think they simply need to get in the gym and do a circuit of the machines and the bench, and hey presto they will be demi-gods of the aesthetic religion. Not true (not to mention that the guys who are on the covers of muscle mags are using anabolics and could do almost anything in the gym and get bigger).

Firstly, most will look at Arnold (hallowed by thy name) and say 'Hey, that guy is the biggest thing I've ever seen, I'll do my workout, get a nice pump every day, and eventually I'll end up like that.' Arnold had some great things going for him, including incredible insertion points, great proportion, and just overall fantastic genes. But what modern day weekend warriors forget is that Arnold was fucking strong. He entered strongman competitions, with a career-high deadlift of well over 300kg, a bench press of 180kg for sets of 5 and above, and squatting 240kg until he passed out from exhaustion. He also was an accomplished weightlifter, regularly snatching and cleaning as part of his workouts.

The point of the matter is, Arnold was strong before he became Mr Universe. The analogy that is handy in understanding this concept is the potter and his clay. A bigger slab of clay is a better foundation for artwork than a piddly small lump. Bodybuilding is about shaping muscles and creating the illusion of size through carefully proportioned muscles, so what is impressive about an immaculately shaped bicep if it's on a 65kg runt? That one's rhetorical by the way.

Guys who are bodybuilding recreationally do so to be alpha males, to stand out, to be noticed. But when I see a presumably massive alpha male doing barbell rows with less than I overhead press, the illusion is gone. So wouldn't it be better to be strong rather than just appearing so? And isn't being strong the most foolproof method of all to putting on size? So here's my message to all these jokers - get off your padded machines, pick up a barbell, and remember that size is a byproduct of strength.

Workout Misc. 26/05/12

Workout 17

DEADLIFT

60kgx5

80kgx5

110kgx3

120kgx3 PR DOH

130kgx1 PR

BENCH

60kgx5

70kgx5

80kgx5

85kgx3 PR

80kgx4

INCLINE DB

3x25kgx8

DIPS SUPERSETTED WITH PULL UPS

3xBWx10

CABLE FLYES AND PUSHDOWNS

WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCK

Went to a commercial gym with my friend, hated working out with limited equipment and bros all around. I'm going to get on my high horse here (in this case a clydesdale) and say that 99% of the people there were absolute chumps that were wasting their time. I have no problem if people train differently to me, but I take umbridge when people are training for an hour and leave having achieved nothing whatsoever.

You can probably guess by now that I hate isolation exercises, and this workout did nothing to stem that flow of disdain. Why would I use some machine when there is a barbell on the floor that gets me stronger faster, in more muscles, and hones my nervous system at the same time? Why train at all if you don't want to become a more athletic specimen?

I can go on and on and on about this, but I'll save some of my rage for the gym. The point is, barbell training trains your psyche, your willpower, and your body; machines train your ego.

Workout A - 24/05/12

Workout 16

SQUAT

2x40kgx3 PAUSED

60kgx5

90kgx3

3x102.5kgx5 PR

BENCH

40kgx5

65kgx5

3x77.5kgx5 PR

DEADLIFT

60kgx5

90kgx3

110kgx5 PR

Before anyone says anything, yes I realise the 4th deadlift rep looked horrible, I knew it as soon as I pulled it and I should have set my hips lower.

Now that that's behind us, time to get on my soapbox and talk about this workout. Squats were tough, harder than I would have liked them to be. I truly think it's because I got drunk the night before while watching State of Origin, as squats were tough on 97.5kg on Saturday as well after a night of drinking.

Bench was easy as, the last set was a tad tough, but that's only because I had restless feet and only had 1-2 minutes between each set. Other than that, turns out getting back to benching BW is not so hard after all. Working out with Scott on Saturday, and he doesn't do full body workouts, so I'm thinking instead of Workout B I'll just find my squat 3RM or something, as well as bench 3RM. Nice to break up the workouts every now and then, and a good tonic to the system to shock myself into adaptation.

Workout B - 22/05/12

Workout 15

SQUAT

2x40kgx3 PAUSED

60kgx5

90kgx3

3x100kgx5 PR

PRESS

40kgx5

45kgx5

3x52.5kgx5

BB ROW

50kgx5

65kgx5

2x75kgx5

75KGX8

DIPS

BWx5

3xBW+20kgx5

As always, I was worried that I would fail on squats and my life would be ruined, however I smashed them and so the rest of the workout was then made awesome. Filled with energy, short rest times, held the last rep of rows to my stomach for about 5 seconds, got a line of blood blisters there this morning.



Motivation Monday vi

I just finished watching Friday Night Lights, the TV series (which is now my favourite show ever, and if you get to see it, it will be yours too). The AV Club describes the show thusly:

'Coach Eric Taylor tries to lead a small-town football team to the state championship in a series we weep just thinking about.'

You see, Eric Taylor is a wonderful contradiction; he is a winner, but he believes in the process even more so than he does the result (much like former Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou). Do your best, and apply the process with that intrinsic effort, and that is what makes a winner. Success is a byproduct. Taylor's motto reflects this honourable take on competitive sport: 'Clear eyes, full hearts. Can't lose.' Because the loss is in the process, not the result.

Give what you can in the smartest and most courageous way possible, and the result is a moot point. That is the heart of today's motivation, and the reason I will put up two motivational quotes instead of one, in honour of Coach Eric Taylor and the town of Dillon, TX.

'If somebody beats me, its not because they outworked me.' - Layne Norton

'Full effort is full victory.' - Gandhi

Workout Misc. - 19/05/12

Workout 14

SQUAT

Barx10

2x50kgx3 PAUSED

70kgx5

90kgx3

2x97.5kgx5 PR

100kgx3

POWER CLEAN PRACTICE

10x30kgx3

MUSCLE SNATCH

6xBarx3

SNATCH SQUAT

2xBarx FAIL

PULL UPS

2xBWx15

Another miscellaneous workout to open up the home gym of T Pain. Mitch was there so we decided to get him to guide us on doing power cleans and show T and Phil how to do muscle snatches. Shouldn't have drunk the night before, everything felt weak, and the snatch squat fail only compounded that feeling. I will practice them until I get it, because strength isn't the issue, it's my body positioning. 

Workout A - 17/05/12

Workout 13

SQUAT

2x40kgx3 PAUSED

60kgx5

85kgx3

3x95kgx5

BENCH

Barx10

40kgx10

60kgx5

3x75kgx5

DEADLIFT

60kgx5

85kgx5

105kgx5 PR

If you remember correctly, last time I squatted I almost failed on both the 1st and 2nd sets, this time had no such trouble, made chump change of 95kg. I know I'm squatting deep because I ripped another pair of boxer shorts (that's 3 pairs since I started SS). I was worried about bench because when I did 60kg it almost flattened me, but I psyched up, got a strong base, good arch, and some super duper leg drive, and it was really easy in the end. Deads felt great, I literally do all 3 sets of deadlifts in about 5 minutes, will need to rest more when the weight gets heavier. 

Monday Motivation v

I realise this is coming two days late, but I was not at a computer on Monday, and then was lacking inspiration yesterday. So here we are.

Dan John and Pavel wrote a great book called 'Easy Strength', full of gems of simple wisdom that makes too much sense to not convert anyone that reads it to their side of the fence. The book is about becoming strong in the sense of proper 'functional' strength. Pavel argues that the beginning of the functional training movement was made by strong guys looking to plug trainees' weaknesses in their training. Unfortunately, as Pavel notes, this 'training' has been taken too far, and now people are essentially doing cardio with a barbell (and more often than not on a bosou ball). Pavel discusses how most of these devotees to the contemporary version of 'functional training' have turned it into a way to get up a sweat but not actually make any discernable strength gains, nor actually improve their athletic ability. Pavel pleads with these chumps to see the light, get off the wobble board, and actually put some weight on the bar and do some meaningful exercise:

'Stop your complicated weakness, and get strong in the traditional sense of the word.' - Pavel

So if you're squatting under your BW to work on 'form', or benching like a mad man with a caved chest to impress the lycra bound hotties in the corner, just stop. Do yourself a favour.

Workout Misc. 14/05/12

Workout 12

SQUAT

2x40kgx3 PAUSED

60kgx5

80kgx5

2x90kgx5

100kgx3 PR

CLEANS

Barx5

3x40kgx3

15x60kgx1

MUSCLE SNATCH

15xBarx3

5x25kgx3

Worked out with ma buddeh Mitch, he helped me out with my clean form, and got me to do muscle snatches because I want to learn how to snatch and he wants me to learn the right way, just the same as he is doing. I honestly thought 90kg on squats would be tough, but once I knew I hadn't lost strength after 2 weeks off and while still sick, I just went to 2 plates for a bit of a test. The triple was easy, last rep was a bit slower but I was fatigued already from the sets on 90kg, could have gotten 5 anyway. I'll do 92.5kg squats next workout anyway, I want to stay on the gravy train of linear progression for as long as possible, so no skipping ahead for the sake of boosting my ego on my weak as lifting. Feels great to be back!

Life lately

I had a two week break from working out for a string of reasons:

1) It was my darling fiancees birthday on the 3rd of May, so we had a lot of celebrating to do and so no time to work out between that and work
2) Got a cold/flu on the Monday after her birthday, and didn't even feel up to going light for the next three days up to Friday
3) On the Friday, Ash, Heidi and myself went to Moreton Island for her birthday present from me (3 nights on Tangalooma Beach Resort), and we had such a relaxing time

My diet was pretty good while I was away, eating buffet breakfasts with bacon and eggs. I'm feeling much better now, with a slight cough and a bit of phlegm still hanging around, but nothing too major. Today I restart my assault on nutrition and the Iron, I'm resetting my squat by 5kg and continuing on unabaited with everything else.

After my holiday I'm feeling great, and I'm ready to step up my game in every facet from work to being loving at home to being a mongrel in the gym. Let's do this!

Some great reads for motivation and sanity

I love a good read, especially when it is about lifting weights. So you could say I am a connoisseur of them, and I'm that guy that likes to reread articles that I enjoyed the first time.

I idolise guys like Bill Starr, Bill Kazmaier, Dan John, and Pyrros Dimas, each for their own various reasons. Whether it is their strength, power, attitudes, or knowledge, there is something within them that I want to know; something that could possibly extend my knowledge or simply motivate me further.

This is the reason why the articles I read with the greatest voracity are the one's from personal experience. They have a depth to them that makes you buy into their wisdom all the more, and almost seems like you're peeking behind the curtain of some of the greatest athletes the world over.

So without further ado, here are some of my all-time favourite articles that are written from personal experience of some of my idols.

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/couldthisbeit.htm 

Dave Tate is one of those old-school stiff upper lip kinda lifters, and he has come through some tough times. In this awesome article, after picking up an injury that he can't grit his teeth and work through (needing shoulder surgery), Dave has to ask himself the tough questions and find out whether the payoff is worth all these setbacks he is constantly pushing through to keep lifting.

http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/site/how-to-get-bigger-without-curling/

Bill Starr's wisdom is irrepressible, with his stories making stone-cold sense without over-complicating the issue. In this piece, he and his burly Uncle give the third degree to the typical chest and arms warrior in brisk and no-nonsense fashion. You will read this and wish that you too had run in to Bill Starr outside a local seafood joint when you were just starting out!

This next one isn't weights-related, but really goes to show the lengths some people will go to have no accountability for their own unhappiness.

http://blogs.news.com.au/bossy/index.php/news/comments/im_sick_of_eating_junk_food_and_being_fat/

This is one to make your blood boil. 'Bossy' is a straightforward blogging psychotherapist, who sets out to proverbially whip the whining and often oblivious fools of this world through her own brutally honest rationalities. This one poor girl is obese and 'can't control herself', but she really really hates being fat and wants it to change magically! Lack of accountability+denial=obese wreck.

ENJOY!