I haven't trained since Friday. I started my written finals yesterday. One paper yesterday, one today and two tomorrow. Not too bad so far. Hopefully tomorrow goes well then I'll be benching in the shirt tomorrow evening!
Once the exams are over things should be back to normal
Ok, so I seem to have figured out what may be the problem with viewing videos on my blog. I'm running Firefox and after reinstalling Adobe Flash Player and Firefox I still had no luck. I then opened Internet Explorer to see if it would work...and it did. So, it must be an issue with the Firefox-Flash Player combo. Therefore I don't think I can do much to fix it. As far as I remember there was a Flash update not long ago and this may be the time that I started experiencing difficulties with viewing videos embedded on my blog. Hopefully Adobe +/ Mozilla get the finger out and get it sorted.
EDIT: Finally got it fixed. Had to delete Youtube cookies and bingo, works fine. Dunno why this became an issue, but glad I've got it fixed
Reverse band bench press. I have just written the bar weight here. At the bottom the bands were taking about 70kg off. At the top I'm not sure but it felt heavy. lol
Warm ups then
150kg x1
170kg x1
190kg x1
210kg x1
225kg x1
235kg x1:
Paused close grip reverse band bench press of 3 board 190kg bar weight 2x8
Decline band resisted push ups (small) x10
superset with
Triceps cable push downs x20
This superset was completed 3 times
Face pulls x15
superset with
Dumbbell lateral raise
superset with
Fat Gripz dumbbell biceps curls x15
This circuit was completed 4 times
Good workout and the first time I have used reverse bands. Loved it! :)
EDIT: For some reason my Youtube videos are no longer working on the blog. I am using the blogger tool and it's not working and also trying to embed using HTML and it's still not happening. I have no idea why this is to be honest. Very frustrating, but as before if you click the title it should take you to view it on Youtube.
Ok, so I just assumed that I deadlifted on the 12/11/12. This means I would have completed the Coan Phillipi up to week 7. I am now gonna add 10% of my previous underestimated 100% and take this 110% as my new 100%. So in maths speak:
265kg/10 = 26.5kg. 265+26.5 = 290kg (roughly)
From here it's a simple case of going back to the % table and plugging in the values. Band tension will now be introduced on the speed pulls. I'm gonna use 12" minis. These shouldn't be too taxing at all and will really help me develop some snap on my pulls. I had considered adding 5% to 265 but I'll see how I go with 10%. If it goes nipples up I can always adjust
Unfortunately no videos as I am just nipping in and out of the gym these days. One thing on the band resisted chins. These worked great. At the top the bands were giving a resistance of around 25kg. So total added was 35kg at the top. They didn't feel like this at all. I have a feeling these are going to work very well. I will post a video of the set up at some point when I have a little more time.
Trap bar power shrugs + bands no straps 140kg + 12" minis 5x10
Seated dumbell shrugs 45lb 5x20
This was a tough one. Fairly sore and tight from last night and trailing myself out of bed to get down to the gym early wasn't much craic. I had planned to go 10x5 on the dips but my pecs are still sore from the illegal wide bench on Wednesday so I just halved the volume and took the reps nice and slow but the sets close together.
No videos today unfortunately. I was just trying to get in and out as fast as possible. Blog just hit 1000 views! :) Tells me someone is reading it at least, hopefully more people begin to comment over time. Time to study now
Looking at this now it was moving a lot faster than it felt. lol. Working on my timing and it's looking a lot better. Upper back and head are moving before my hips. I'm happy with this. EDIT: Video doesn't seem to be working on blog page but if you click the video heading at the top of the video window it should go to Youtube and seems to work that way
Seated goodmornings 100kg 3x8 1x15
Lunges 35kg dumbbells
superset with
Hyperextensions 25kg x20
This circuit was completed 3 times. I dropped the lunges to 20kg a hand on the last set. Gassed
The band set up was not ideal as they pretty much almost deload at the bottom. This was just a gauging day really. Next time the bands will be choked and there will be more tension and more bar weight if all goes to plan! Not sure how much band tension there was exactly, but enough for now :)
Had a few more kg in me here. These went better than I had expected
Incline dumbbell press 35kg 2x30
Barbell skullcrushers 40kg x10
superset with
Supermini band triceps push downs x20
This superset was completed 3 times
Supermini band pull aparts x15
superset with
Dumbbell lateral raise x15 (can't remember weight, but light enough)
superset with
Biceps dumbbell curls 10kg x15
This circuit was completed 4 times
I was cooked after this. Triceps are taking a lot of work these days, which is great. Hopefully I will see some increases in my bench - both raw and equipped.
A well earned post workout Thai red curry stir fry... 500g noodles, 450g chicken, 250g veg. Over indulgent I know. But tasty!
I decided to throw a few thoughts up on deadlift technique as I have facepalmed so many times as a result of many peoples' attitudes to it...
"The deadlift is the number one technique lift. If you don’t have technique in the deadlift, you just can’t muscle it up"
Ed Coan
This illustrates what I'm getting at. People go on all day about squat and bench technique. When was the last time you heard someone really talk about deadlift technique? It seems the attitude of most people is that you just pick it up. Not so simple. Try a 1RM deadlift with the bar starting 6 inches in front of you or with your arms bent. See what I mean?
I'm gonna run through a few pointers on deadlift set up. It may help some people, but it should also act as a refresher for myself and also allow me to vent a little :)
I'm gonna address conventional deadlift as I know very little about sumo pulling and conventional pulling is just 1000x times cooler anyways. Quite frankly, a well performed conventional pull just looks sharp and stylish. You will know one when you see one. A bad one will almost bring tears to your eyes
There's only two guys who make sumo pulling look good. Malanichev and Belyaev...
Many of the points I'll go on about should still be applicable anyways.
First off - stance. Conventional stance I take around about shoulder width apart. If you are using a proper deadlift bar there will be no knurling in the centre. This is so it doesn't get caught on your thighs. It can also give you a decent idea of where you should be setting up for the path of least resistance. Don't roll onto your toes at the start of a pull, likewise don't roll back on your heels at the end of a pull. Distribute your weight evenly across your feet. The bar should be against your shins when you pull. Bleeding shins are to be expected. The closer the bar is to you the safer your lower back is
Gripping the bar - I use a mixed grip. My stronger hand goes underhand and my weaker hand goes overhand. I have started mixing this up during my warm ups and speed sets but on heavy sets and comp it is always right under left over. Grip should not be excessively wide or excessively narrow. Wide = more biceps tears. Narrow = getting in the way of yourself. We want the most efficient pull here so get the grip in as close as is comfortable. Grip the bar hard
Arch your lower back - arch your lower back like you would with a squat. Keeping your lower back arch is key to avoiding injury. Once this goes you're in an extremely vulnerable position. IMO you should be holding your arch whenever you are performing all accessory movements and they should be designed in such a way to strengthen this arch. (Reverse hypers are an exception)
Upper back position - bone of contention for some people. In an ideal world it should probably be in a straight neutral position. But this isn't an ideal world. Personally I know I pull with my upper back slightly rounded, but tight. Big pullers like Konstatinovs and Tom Martin do this so I don't see too much wrong with it. As long as you have the strength to finish through at the top of the pull and you keep your chest proud it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Taking your air - again take your air like you would a squat. Something a lot of people do wrong. When you take a big breath you breath into your abdomen, NOT your chest. This means that you shouldn't be shrugging your shoulders up, raising your chest excessively or making a huge noise when you take your air. A good breath into the abdomen will not need to sound loud and your abdomen should expand for a period before your chest begins to and your shoulders have absolutely no need to be moving upwards. Your diaphragm moves down when you breathe in, shrugging your shoulders just counteracts this. Breathing into your abdomen will help brace your lumbar spine. I have also heard complete idiot "personal trainers" advising people to tighten their abs by trying to pull their belly button towards their spine. WTF. What the actual... This is completely counterintuitive. Don't do it.
Belts and breathing - breathe as described above. Your belt should be tight enough that you can slide your hand between it and yourself. When you take a good breath it should then be snug against your abdomen. I don't recommend putting on a belt as tight as possible. How will you breathe in and contract your abs then? Pulling with a belt choking you is asking for an injury
Lats - lats should be tight when you engage with the pull. As you are warming up you should almost be able to screw the bar off the ground with a mixed grip purely by engagement of your lats.
Hip position - this is all about economy of movement so don't keep your hips low if you are only gonna shift them up before you initiate your force on the bar. I see this commonly with olympic lifters trying deadlifting. These guys have phenomenal weightlifting technique, don't get me wrong; but they tend to squat into a deadlift, begin to stand up and don't move the bar until their hips are well on the way up. There are few people that are built to almost begin their deadlift with an efficient hack squat type movement. I'd recommend not pulling like that. When you move your hips the bar should be moving IMO. This is something I have worked on a whole lot over the last few years and my pull has benefited as a result. At the top of the pull focus on tightening your glutes and forcing your hips forward.
Chin - yes, chin. The deadlift is a whole body movement :p Keep your chin down
Arms - keep your arms straight. Pulls have resulted in many unfortunate biceps tears. Just ALWAYS think arms straight. Even on warm ups. Biceps are small muscles and tear easily.
Knees - knees should not come together or swing out. They should be neutral and extend at the top (obviously). Also - do not let your knees drift over the bar. If you pull like this your timing will be sucky and your deadlift fugly.
Hyperextension - do not hyperextend at the top of a deadlift. Totally unnecessary and risks injury.
Shrugging the bar at the top - do not do this. It's a deadlift, not a deadshrug and you will only look stupid
Speed - speed kills on the deadlift. Train to be fast, but don't jerk at the bar and let your technique fall to pieces.
Engage the bar -you should feel everything engage just before you pull. Hamstrings, glutes, forearms, lats etc Everything should be tight and ready to go
Timing - timing is everything on the deadlift. Like I said, a conventional pull should look sharp, fluid and stylish. Your body should not be horribly unfurling like some sort of mangled millipede. There's not much I can say about timing really. Well there is, but it would be really wordy. If you're concerned about it an experienced lifter should spot it a mile off, because your deadlift will look damn awful. They should be able to help you address it
A sexy conventional pull...
Lovely timing and smooth movement despite the astronomical amount of weight
Equipment in the deadlift
- Belt - yes
- Deadlift suit - yes
- Straps - yes if you are a strongman, no if not
- Wrist wraps - no. No need
- Knee wraps - no. They will get in the way
Thanks for reading. There is a good chance I will update this with more guff as it comes to me
Fat grip T bar row with bands 60kg plus 2x doubled super minis 5x20
Set up:
Last set:
Dumbbell row 52.5kg 5x10
Russian Twists 20kg plate 5x10
Ab rollouts 35kg of plate on back x5. I had planned 5x5 on these but my abs were shot. Here's the one and only set:
Seated cable row 120lb x20
superset with
Kettlebell triceps extensions 20kg each arm x20
superset with
Biceps dumbbell curl 30lb x12
This circuit was completed 5 times.
I decided not to pull tonight as I somehow managed to upset my lower back while doing some thoracic mobility stuff last night. There was some spasm going on so I figured I'd leave deadlifts out and save risking injury.
The fat gripz T bar rows with bands shot my grip. These were tough. I varied up my pulling angle throughout the sets. In the set in the video I am quite upright.
I had planned to do some rowing with the 42kg Inch replica tonight but that was never going to happen with the state my forearms were in after the T bar.
Similarly with the ab rollouts I was fatigued from the work I had put in last night and so I cut these short unfortunately. One thing on these - I keep my arms bent on them as when I did them with straight arms a good while back I only succeeded in really upsetting my elbows and developing a tendinopathy which took a while to shift.
This workout was a bit of a slog but I felt great after getting through the complex I threw together at the end. I will definitely be giving this a go again. I started to press the kettlebells a little more than extend with them as I got fatigued, but that's ok. I still felt them really hit the back of my elbows which was the aim
Everything is ticking along nicely at the moment. Bodyweight also drifting upwards - in and around 122kg now so things are going where I want them to at the moment. Thanks to wee Paul for the videos
Foam rolled
- upper back
- lower back
- IT bands
- Hip adductors
- Calves
- Dorsiflexors of the foot (tibialis anterior area)
Tennis ball on delts and pecs
Goblet squats with 41" super mini doubled round my knees holding 16kg kettlebell held in bottom position for 10 seconds then stand up and back down ten times
Happy enough with the depth on these. Very happy with bar speed.
Deadlift raw (no belt or suit) 225kg x2
Read my training diary wrong and did 3x3. Whoops
Speed deadlift raw (no belt or suit) 185kg 3x3 (120 second rest permitted. I took 40-60)
I added bands to this to see how the set up worked. Holy lower back pump
Kettlebell pistol squat 36kg 3x3
Zercher deadlift 95kg x5
I had planned to do 3x5 on these but took a really bad pain in my shoulder trying to get set up on the second set so I shut it down.
Russian twists 16kg kettlebell 5x10
Kettlebell front squat double 20kg 5x10 in 4 min 30 sec
Kettlebell 1 arm swing 32kg 5x5 each arm total 50 swings in 3 min 30 sec
BUSTED
I won't be training delts and traps this weekend as I have a medicine course all weekend. Quite frankly I wish I hadn't booked it, they will be very long days.
NIPF unequipped powerlifting champs are this weekend. As always, the best of luck to everyone lifting and hopefully there are plenty of PBs and records to be had!
First time in a shirt in just a little under a year. Very happy with how things went tonight.
Raw bench
100kg x6
120kg x3
150kg x2
Equipped bench
3 board 170kg x3
3 board 200kg x3
3 board 220kg x3
2 board 250kg x3
Press ups neutral grip feet on bench 20kg plate on back x10
superset
1 arm band triceps pushdowns (supermini) x20
This circuit was completed 3 times
Rear delt dumbbell raise x15
superset
Lateral dumbbell raise x15
superset
Zottman curls x12
This circuit was completed 4 times
Fairly happy with tonight. Technique was off and some reps were sloppy on the bench but otherwise things were good. 250 in my hands for a triple is definitely a good starting point for me. It will just take a little while for the CNS to really get firing again, but I should see some improvements when it does :)
Thoracic spine was in bits last night. Badly locked up. I asked my girlfriend to walk on it but unfortunately she's not heavy enough to get the cracks out. lol. It's still not great today despite doing a lot of foam rolling last night and getting a few cracks out of it myself; so I did the usual and went about doing some research and found this video:
Seems short, sweet and simple. I'm going to implement these additional movements and really focus on my thoracic spine while foam rolling tonight. I'll also do the usual 5x10 27.5kg weighted vest ab rollouts.
I've managed to get my hands on a copy of Relax into Stretch by Pavel Tsatsouline so I plan on trying to read my way through that in the next while, although my reading is largely limited to medicine with the exams coming up.
Looking at the results from the GPC Ireland open yesterday it looked like a good competition with some impressive numbers. Hopefully everyone's pleased with how they got on. I think that's about it for today
Arnold press 60lb 5x6
superset
Chain lateral raise/pull apart 5x12
Set 3 of 5:
Inch replica press 31kg 5x8 each arm
Set 4 of 5:
Trap bar power shrugs 135kg 5x10
Seated dumbbell shrugs 45lb 3x20
2nd set of 3:
Triceps cable push downs 40lb (1-6) x6
Had a mare today trying to embed this videos from Youtube. Dunno what's going on with it. Had to embed the final one with html rather than just using the blogger facility.
Happy with the kettlebell pressing. I hadn't done these in months so I was a bit wary about picking a weight that was too light or too heavy. 36kg was just right for me. The added movement with the bell also got a lot of pops and cracks out of my shoulders which has loosened them up a bit.
Just a note on the chain lateral raises - have to be careful not to jerk these too much as the chain can whip at the top if you're over-enthusiastic and could end up removing some teeth.
By the time I got to the Inch replica my delts were toast so this, like the log press is for a bit of conditioning too.
Decent workout despite feeling fairly tight and beat up from last night. I was very tight in the thoracic spine coming into the gym and this is one of the reasons I decided to go for the seated shrug movement. They helped pull my scapulae apart a bit and loosened things up. Foam rolling this evening should help too
Wide stance goodmornings with chains (no belt) 80kg bar weight + 60kg chains 4x8
Bulgarian split squat isometric hold 3x30 seconds each leg
Close stance band resisted goodmornings (mini and supermini bands) 3x20
It totally slipped my mind to get a few videos tonight unfortunately. We rattled through this at a good pace. Just as well as the gym was freezing! Knees and hips felt rough as though in the cold
