Workout C - 27/09/12

Workout 12

BENCH

Barx10

40kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

80kgx3

85kgx1

90kgx3 Meh

SQUAT

Barx10

40kgx5

60kgx5

80kgx5 QUIT

POWER CLEANS

3xBarx3

3x30kgx3

PULL UPS

BWx5

BWx5

BW+10kgx5

BW+17.5kgx5

BW+17.5kgx5

BW+17.5kgx6

CURLS

18kgx12

18kgx12

Depressing workout. Bench was fine, squats felt horrible and tight all over so I didn't even bother. The bright spots in the workout were the power cleans and pull ups. I have finally got my hip extension sorted, doing freeze frames of the video show that everything is extended at the start of the second pull, no hip creases were found. I can't stress how good these felt. Pull ups were easier than last week, which was a great sign that soon I will be back to where I was when I was 70kg. Overall terrible workout.

This workout was made worse by all the progress that my mates have been making lately. I know you're meant to be happy for others when they progress, and I am, but the essence of competition is the overriding will to win. And I lost. Fran pulled 185kgx1 and squatted 130kgx1 in the past week and Chris benched 93kgx5 and 102kgx2 after I'd been ahead of him for ages. Don't know why I can't seem to pull it together and making fucking progress, it feels like I'm never getting stronger. 

Workout B - 24/09/12

Workout 11

POWER CLEAN

2xBarx3

2x25kgx3

2x30kgx3

2x40kgx3

45kgx3

2x50kgx3

2x55kgx3

PRESS

Barx10

40kgx5

50kgx5

55kgx5

61kgx5

55kgx5

55kgx5

55kgx8 PR

DEADLIFT

60kgx5

80kgx5

100kgx5

120kgx3

137.5kgx3

140kgx3

Finished the workout without doing rows as I was dog tired even before the workout began. Power cleans were feeling snappier than ever, and my hip extension is finally improving! Press was poor, I wanted 9 on that last set desperately. Pretty happy that I followed up 61kgx5 with that much volume though, can't be too displeased. Deadlifts were swift, I was pulling these with ease  even on the last set. Looks like soon I'll be back to 150kg, and then from there a 4 plate dead is on the horizon. 

Workout A - 22/09/12

Workout 10

BENCH

Barx10

40kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

76kgx5

84kgx5

76kgx5

76kgx5

76kgx11 PR

INCLINE FLYES

2x16kgx15

SQUAT

Barx5

2x40kgx5

60kgx5

80kgx5

92.5kgx5

102.5kgx5

92.5kgx5

92.5kgx5

92.5kgx10 PR

PULL UPS

BWx13

BWx13

BWx13

Worked out with Phil and we nailed it. Bench was fine, the squats are the real killer, it will be interesting to see how I'm going in a month when I'm squatting 3x100kgx5, 110kgx5, 100kgx5+! Great stuff from both of us, am ready to kill press and deadlifts next workout.

Workout C - 19/09/12

Workout 9

PRESS

Barx10

40kgx5

50kgx5

55kgx5

63kgx5

45kgx10 Dropset

FRONT SQUAT

40kgx5

50kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

82.5kgx5 PR

PULL UPS

BWx5

BWx5

BW+10kgx5

BWx16.25kgx5

BWx16.25kgx5

BWx16.25kgx5

21s

11kgx21+light resistance band

11kgx21+light resistance band

Everything went exactly as planned this workout. Press felt heavy until I realised I was only resting 30seconds between sets, so I had a longer rest for the heavy set and it flew. I feel much stronger off the shoulders lately; before I used to grind the first rep past the sticking point and now it just locks in and goes up, even the 5th rep wasn't a grinder. 

Front squats were easy until the last rep of 82.5kg, which was tough but easily had it. All reps were ATG and with slow descent. Pull ups are getting stronger again, will be hitting up 3xBW+20kgx5 again in just 3 weeks, then from there I'll be up in PR territory. 

Workout B - 17/09/12

Workout 8

BENCH

Barx10

40kgx8

60kgx5

75kgx5

83kgx5

75kgx5

75kgx5

75kgx11 PR

POWER CLEAN

2xBarx3

30kgx3

2x40kgx3

45kgx3

50kgx3

60kgx1

DEADLIFT

60kgx5 (clean pull)

80kgx5

100kgx3

120kgx1

2x135kgx3

BB ROWS

60kgx8

67.5kgx8

67.5kgx8

67.5kgx8

67.5kgx11

60seconds rest between sets (-30seconds from last week)

Completely killed it this workout. Somehow the bar was flying again on bench, this is a 2 rep PR. Cleans felt good, not as good as last session but good all the same. Deadlifts felt heavy off the floor but so speedy the rest of the way, overall I'd say they felt light and I'll be adding 2.5kg a workout. The rows were intense because of the shortened rest times, watching the clock and getting ready for the next set while I was still puffing was an interesting experience. 

Workout A - 15/09/12

Workout 7

PRESS

Barx12

40kgx8

46.5kgx5

54kgx5

58kgx5

54kgx5

54kgx5

54kgx10 PR

LATERAL RAISES

5.5kgx12

8kgx8

5.5kgx12

SQUAT

40kgx8

50kgx5

60kgx5

75kgx5

90kgx5

100kgx5

90kgx5

90kgx5

90kgx12 PR

PULL UPS

BWx13

BWx13

BWx10

90 seconds rest between sets

CURLS

13kgx12+light resistance band

13kgx8+light resistance band

13kgx8

Trained with T, we both learnt something new about high volume squats: they are too hard. Press went well for both of us, and everything after that was a good challenge. Was surprised with 90kgx12 on squats for the last set, happy with the outcome overall. 

Workout C - 12/09/12

Workout 6

BENCH

Barx20

40kgx5

60kgx5 

70kgx5

75kgx3

83.5kgx7 PR

60kgx16 PR

SQUAT

Barx12

40kgx8

60kgx5

80kgx5

90kgx5

100kgx7 

CHIN UPS

BWx5

BWx5

BW+10kgx5

BW+15kgx5

BW+15kgx5

BW+15kgx5

CURLS

13.5kgx12 +light resistance band

13.5kgx10 +light resistance band

13.5kgx8 immediate dropset

Overall a solid workout. As soon as I benched 60kgx5 and the bar was flying like it was weightless I knew it would be a good day on the bench. The last rep of 83.5kg was a grinder, but not horribly so. It feels awesome that a weight that 4 months ago was a 3RM is now something I can get 7 with. 60kgx16 was a complete farce, I was aiming for 12 but the reps just kept coming, so I didn't stop. Probably could have got 18 if I was willing to let my arms go wonky.

Just was not feeling squats, hip flexors were blocking me at the bottom which never feels nice. Tried to roll them out which helped a bit on the last set, but I wanted 8 anyhow for a PR. Next time.

Chins and curls were ridiculous, I was going to go heavier than I did on chin ups but I figured I'd make the muscles work a bit harder. 2 second deadhang at the bottom of every rep left me struggling by the end, and the curls compounded the burning in my arms. Good intensity workout, looking forward to press & squats x5-5-5-5-5+ with T on Saturday. 

Workout B - 10/09/12

Workout 5

POWER CLEANS

3xBarx3

2x25kgx3

2x30kgx3

2x40kgx3

3x45kgx3

2x50kgx3

PRESS

Barx12

40kgx5

51.5kgx5

56.5kgx5

51.5kgx5

51.5kgx5

51.5kgx9 PR

BB ROW

51.5kgx10

65kgx10

65kgx10

65kgx10

65kgx12 

(60seconds rest between sets on a timer)

High intensity workout, didn't want to deadlift when I was so fatigued from work on Sunday night and when I had such little sleep. This went well, power cleans felt great to start with. I was really feeling the shrug on 50kg, I just tried to make it one fluid motion and really shrug hard and it felt better than it ever has.

Press was a mission because my energy levels weren't all there, but ended up making light work of all the work sets. The 9th rep was not a complete grinder but I didn't care to try a 10th anyway.

BB rows felt great also.

Massage therapy 07/09/12

Went to see the massage therapist on Friday after what felt like a pinched nerve in my pelvis on Monday during front squats. It was indeed a pinched nerve, and things like this will continue to come up if I don't change a few things.

1. My quads and ITB have poor muscle length and tone, so it's creating a lateral turnout of my feet
2. This means I shove some of the work of the quads off onto the outside of my hamstrings, which got too tight and pinched the nerve.
3. This means I should be stretching my quads and rolling on my ITB more (ouch)

During the actual appointment, he got stuck into my psoas first just to see that they weren't too tight, then tried to release the nerve by painfully massaging my hamstrings, glutes and quads. He then helped me out on another level by really going into my back, particularly my spinal erectors to try and get rid of the'jarred' feeling in my lower back. 

On Saturday it was still feeling dodgy, but after my workout it felt loose and almost no pain, then Sunday the pain was gone. The plan from here is to really stretch my quads at least 3x per week, and then add in more rolling on my hip flexors and ITB to really take the slack off my hamstrings. Sounds like a good plan to me. 

Workout A - 08/09/12

Workout 4

POWER CLEAN

5xBarx3

2x25kgx3

2x30kgx3

3x40kgx3

2x45kgx3

BENCH

Barx12

40kgx8

60kgx5

74kgx5

81.5kgx5

74kgx5

74kgx5

74kgx10 PR

PULL UPS

3xBWx12 <90seconds rest

INCLINE FLYES

16kgx16

16kgx16

CURLS

5.5kgx15 +light resistance band

11kgx15 +light resistance band

11kgx12 +light resistance band

Worked out with T, and we had a really solid session. The cleans were looking snappy from T, we started to let our minds wander near the end but they looked good from him and felt good for me for the most part.

Bench was really easy actually, I was expecting 81.5kgx5 to be a challenge but it turned out to be very fast and compact, I enjoy the whole concept of microloading 1kg a week because I can barely feel the difference.

Pull ups were nuts because of the short rest times, we both had big time fatigue in the last set but came out with the numbers thankfully.

The flyes felt better than they did last time, I got a groove going and really got down to slow contractions and getting the mind-muscle connection with my chest. Really sore chest yesterday and today as a reward. 

Tried curls with resistance bands, and these really worked well. I was getting heaps of tension at the top, which is where the curls normally tapers in terms of difficulty. So I held the reps at the top for a beat and really went slow and got that squeeze. Will definitely be doing them this way from now on. Overall it was a very good day, and I feel better with this routine the more I do it. 

Nutrition 03/09/12 - 04/09/12

Monday 04/09/12

1750 Calories

220g Protein
130g Carbohydrate (poor effort)
45g Fat

Tuesday 05/09/12

2000 Calories

235g Protein
180g Carbohydrates
50g Fat

So obviously the thing I need to work on a little bit more is simply getting up my protein and carbohydrate intake to reach 250P/200CHO/50F consistently. I'll simply add in another shake with water I think, because at the moment I'm not even feeling that hungry or getting cravings like I was before.

I'm going to put my 60kgx6 PR on press down to increased carb intake recently, which has obviously made a big difference in my day-to-day and ongoing energy reserves. 

Just a quick cut update too: I only lost 200g in the past week, which I'm fine with because obviously increased glycogen and subsequent water retention is a big factor in that from my upped carbohydrate intake. That puts me at 77.2kg, and so I'll be aiming to continue on my weekly losses of around 400-500g from next week onwards. 

Workout C - 03/09/12

Workout 3

PRESS

Barx10

40kgx5

50kgx5

55kgx3

60kgx6 PR

42.5kgx12 PR

CHIN UP

BWx5

BWx5

BW+5kgx5

BW+10kgx5

BW+15kgx5

BW+22.5kgx5 PR

FRONT SQUAT

Barx10

40kgx5
50kgx5

60kgx5

67.5kgx5

75kgx5 PR

80kgx5 PR

HAMMER CURLS

16kgx12

16kgx10

Best workout in so long. I have no idea where the press PR came from, 50kg felt heavy and 55kg felt just fine, but somehow I brought everything together and ripped 60kgx6. My lats were tight, my bar path was perfect, and the first 4 reps just flew. Chins went great from there, took a wider grip than usual and it felt much more comfortable, will be doing this from now on. Front squats went well too, got a bit of my iPhone headphones caught between the bar and my clavicle on the last set, hurt so much I had to finish the set asap. 

End of week 1 of this new program and I have to say I'm in love. Two days of volume work followed by one day of blasting strength, seems like it will do the trick for me. 

Nutrition: 31/08/12 - 02/09/12

Friday 31/08/12

245g Protein
180g Carbohydrate
45g Fat

Saturday 01/09/12

180g Protein
230g Carbohydrate
75g Fat

Sunday 02/09/12 (Fathers Day, go easy on me)

190g Protein
180g Carbohydrate
75g Fat

Ok, so these last few days of properly outlining everything I eat tells me a few things (keeping in mind I'm aiming to hit 250gP/200gC/50gF each day):

1. I need to get more protein in. 
2. Fats need to be kept in check.
3. Until now, I was not getting in 200g of carbohydrates a day, no wonder my workouts have gone the way of the sewer rat.

I'll put this in perspective by saying that yesterday was Fathers Day, so I realised I was not going to hit the appropriate macros. I had eggs benedict for breakfast, roast beef and roast potatoes and sweet potatoes for lunch, and a chicken paella for dinner. Not bad for a 'falling off the bandwagon' day. The day before that I screwed up my fat intake by having 40g of fat in one meal, will not let that happen again. So in the end my only obstacle is getting in enough protein, which I can fix by upping my nightly intake. Apart from that, I was rather pleased with these results considering I'm still fine-tuning my necessary diet. Onwards and upwards

Workout B - 01/09/12

Workout 2

BENCH

Barx20

40kgx5

60kgx5

72.5kgx5

80kgx5

72.5kgx5

72.5kgx5

72.5kgx10 PR

POWER CLEAN

5xBarx3

3x30kgx3

3x40kgx3

40kgx4

DEADLIFT

60kgx5

80kgx5

90kgx3

105kgx3

120kgx10 PR

BB ROW

60kgx10

60kgx10

60kgx10

60kgx16 PR

 I really enjoy this program already. I started everything very conservatively to get the feel for the layout and volume, and I already am getting in the groove. Bench is bench, felt fine and all that. I am happy with the shrug I'm getting in the power cleans, but that pesky hip extension needs a lot of work. Will need to watch more videos and ask Mitch about what cues to use to help with that.

Deadlifts were fun, started at 120kg because I wanted to keep my form mint and it worked a treat and I was pulling fast off the floor even on the 10th rep. First 3 sets of rows were super strict, but the last set I just ripped them fast and made it explosive. Looking forward to progression while leaning out.