Training for competition has started

Now that we have got the warm up week out of the way it is now on to the real training. This cycle is going to be a lot of volume, eg sets of 10 reps. At this stage my first competition this year is going to be the Canterbury Benchpress Champs which is generally held in March with my first 3 lift competition being the Canterbury Powerlifting Champs. While I want to be putting up some good numbers at these competitions they are not "targeted" comps. My first Targeted comp will be the South Island champs to be held in June. By this time I hope to be on for a go at a few New Zealand National Records.

Today it was Squats with a straight bar for 3 sets of 10 reps @ only 100kg. Felt a lot better than last week and I had more power, speed and focus for them.

Front squats went pretty well, Could feel myself using my butt a lot more this week than last. happy with them.

Back work consisted of Bentover Rows for 4 sets of 10, D/bell rows of 3 sets @ 35kg and Cable rows for 2 sets at 78kg for 10 reps. All the sets went pretty good and right now I am happy with how it went. A few more weeks of this and I should be getting back on track a lot more.

Go to my training program page to see what I did yesterday

Benchpress and Tricep Training

Wow I got to get into the gym 2 days in a row. Today I was just getting my body back into doing benchpress and tricep work. Again volume work, set are for 10 reps and anywhere from 3 to 4 sets.

Didn't feel to bad after yesterday so was able o get back into it reasonably quickly. Wasn't pushing things so my benching was 3 sets of 10 @ 100kg. Was able to get them out reasonably well. Stop press was pretty good with some speed and power of the bars. Just straight weight.

Close grip bench I was a little light and could have probably got been able to get 80kg done but will take the 3 sets @ 60kg all things considered. Flat back tricep extensions were okay but were a little down on what I might have expected. Tricep pressdowns went well and was getting a good pump out of the exercise.

Buffalo bar good mornings went okay and I was able to get a bit further over than I thought I would be able to. 3 good quality sets. Finished off the train with 3 sets of prowler pushes with 60kg on it and about 15 mtrs each way.

23 sets done in 85mins and a total volume of 13174kg

Benchpress: 3 x 10@100kg
Stop Press: 4 x 10 @ 100kg
Close Grip Benchpress: 4 x 10 @60kg
Flat Back Tricep Extension: 3 x 10 @ 25kg
Tricep Pressdowns: 3 x 10 @ 32.5kg
Buffalo Bar Good Mornings: 3 x 10 @ 60kg
Prowler Push: 3 x 30mtrs @ 60kg

Just Getting Back Into It

First time back in the gym in such a long time (5 weeks) due to personal matters and the fact that there was so much work for me at this time of the year. Long days at work. Got the chance to go in yesterday and start the process again.

Have some pretty big goals and plans for the next 12mths so will have to get it all done. Have targeted 3 big competitions for 2015 with the possibility of a 4th towards the end of 2015. Individual lift wise I have some big goals on that as well. We will go into them at a later date.

Yesterday and for the next few weeks it is a lot of volume and to make sure the body is working fine. I am going to be making a few changes to timing and that sort of thing as well. For the first couple of cycles when I am doing the big heavy weight sets the time between sets is going to be 6 mins for the first week, 7 mins for the second week and 8 mins for the third week. The timing between my accessory sets is going to be 2 mins. So as you can see the speed is going to be up there, However when you go to a competition generally you will have 10 -15 mins between attempts so if you can do this during training it should be quite easy at competition time. All he time I will be trying to push my limits in relation to both weight and reps.

An interesting thing in regards to the workout from yesterday that while I am a little stiff and just a tad sore if I was to rate it I would put stiffness at a 2.5 maybe a 3 out of 10 and soreness at about a 2 just. And this was with 5 weeks off training anything at all.

Total reps for the Day was: 230
Total volume for the Day was: 12590kg

Squats 3 x 10 @ 100kg
Front Squats 4 x 10 @ 60kg
Bentover Rows 4 x 10 @ 60kg
D/bell Rows 3 x 10 @ 25kg (way to light)
Cable Rows 2 x 10 @ 72kg
Reverse Hypers 3 x 10 @ 60kg (love this exercise)
Cable Obliques 4 x 10 @ 42kg

All of this was done in 67 mins from start to finish.

     

Benchpressing with bands

A new Cycle and it looks like I am going to be able to get in some good training plus my injury seems to be dissipating and is not stopping me from doing certain things. I have not been able to feel anything for the last few weeks so am starting to push a little harder. And yes the band tension is just for the bands.

So this is how my benching went on the 28th of October

Set 1
230kg + 45kg of Band Tension
Pretty happy with this set which is probably the best of the day. Wasn't quite sure whether I was going to get 2 reps. 1 !/2" Board and the bands give 45kg of tension at the top and 14kg at the bottom. reasonably happy with the speed off the board but could be a little quicker.

Set 2
230kg + 45kg of Band Tension Set 2
Pretty happy with this set which is probably the best of the day. Wasn't quite sure whether I was going to get 2 reps. 1 !/2" Board and the bands give 45kg of tension at the top and 14kg at the bottom. reasonably happy with the speed off the board but could be a little quicker.

Set 3
230kg + 45kg Band Tension
230kg on the Bar and I have weigh the bands and they give 45kg of tension @ the top and 14kg @ the bottom. Miss time the second more than anything Felt pretty good doing all the sets and I notice I am getting a good tuck on the way down. By the way the board is 1 1/2". All these reps are PB's to the board. Had a lot more weight on the bar but only to a 2" board.

A bit of a test

Went in to do deadlifts today and it just felt like a day to do a bit of a test to see how I was going as I slowly work back from my glute injury.

Set 1 220kg x 2 reps
What a crap set here. I was wobbling all over the place and made this look real hard. Haven't done anywhere near enough and in particular this set shows it. Way to slow and no ping in getting my hips though. This should be a real easy weight for me. Take a look at how bad it is here

This is real bad

Set 2 240kg x 1 rep
This is a lot better as I am a lot more stable. A bit slow and it took a bit of time to get my hips though however there are a number of issues for this. Not much else to say

240kg x 1 rep

Set 3 260 x 1 rep
This is the best that I have pull since my Glute injury about 5 months ago and just the relief of knowing that what I been doing is slowly paying off is why the celebration at the end. Way slow and all sorts of things but as I said before I know why.

260 x 1 Rep

Did some shoulder presses and the some Machine shoulder press after that. Could have done a couple of other exercises today but did not want to push my luck. As you can see there is no aggression or intensity to this rep, I just wanted to see how I would go. Also as you can see there a bit of time just getting it into my head.

Deadlifts
220kg x 2
240kg x 1
260kg x 1

Shoulder press
4 x 6 @80kg

Machine shoulder press
3 x 8 @ 66kg

Buffalo Bar Squats with 30kg Chain
First day in all week due to stocktake at work. Felt pretty good but just not up to the 265/295 (30kg Chain). Depth and speed were pretty good but I was searching for the bottom a little more than I wanted to. Feet could have been out a bit wider as well. Still happy all things considered . This is part one of 2 today. Was doing sets at about 10 mins. Set alarm to go off at 8 mins then would wrap and set video going then do my set so about 10 mins. Seemed to be about right.

225kg + 30kg Chain

Zercher Squats
Should have been 140kg but forgot to take my notebook in. Sets were done at 2 min intervals and things went pretty well. Good depth and speed off the bottom. Wasn't to worried about feet width or anything like that. Trying the time thing to see if I wasting to much time and whether I get a better overall workout.

Speed work

Safety Squat Bar/50% Chain = 60kg, 2 Mats 90 seconds between sets.
Not to bad for not having done any speed work for a while. A little slow on the first few sets but then was able to get some good speed going. Feet weren't as wide as they could have been however I will work on that over the next few weeks/cycles. Gone back to what I was doing of sitting on the box and relaxing the glutes then contracting hard as I stand up. It seems to work. Didn't have a timer but it would have interesting.  Need to work on getting wider stance and quicker speed off the box.

No#2 Bands 90 Seconds between sets
Really Really need to work on this as I am WAY to slow. If I want to go into the big weights then I need to get quicker. The main reason for being so slow is that I have been doing the big stuff but no where near enough of the speed work. 2 things I need to work on is shear speed and way stronger lockouts. Need to start using the video camera again.

60kg of Chain 90 seconds between sets.
This is about the only thing that I would give a pass mark to just. Sumo lifts were pretty good and quick and with the lighter weights I was able to get back to my old style of deadlifting which felt stronger and faster. Need to work on speed and power off the floor and a lot stronger on the lockout. Normal stance was good but plenty of room to work on.

Buffalo Bar Max Effort

Buffalo Bar Squats (Max Effort)
Blue Bands = 75kg Tension. Pretty good day today. Good warm up and had a good mindset. 290kg (215 on the bar) was good and strong and fast. Went for 307.5kg on the second for a PB within this exercise. Slowed down a bit in the centre of the rep but got it out pretty good. Went for it on the last with 312.5kg. Good rep down and 1/2 way up but just could not outrun the bands and with the lack of speed work just could not get it done. Do know what I have to do now. Overall a good day today with Buffalo Bar Squats. Will be back to them in a dew weeks time however this time with 30kg of chain.

Zercher Squats
Good reps just couldn't ge my feet where I wanted them. Good depth and plenty of speed out of the bottom. Could feel my erectors and butt working by the end of these.

T/bar Rows
Good solid reps tonight and the weight was right up there. Could feel my back working hard. About time, had good control of the whole rep.

Dumbbell Rows
Tough work with the 70kg weights but got the work done. Back was feeling real good by now. First time I have been over 60kg in years and it felt good. Slowly getting stronger on these. Again good control of all the reps.

Reverse Hyper
Glad I have put these back in over this cycle as a few little niggles I was having seem to have gone away. Getting the full benefit out of them. Good control of the reps.

Warrior Twist
Slowly getting better at these as I am remembering to twist right around with my obliques and as the weight goes up it is a lot tougher to stop the rotation of the bar. Happy with how these have gone over the last few weeks.

Another good night

Today is benchpress day.  Been able to get a bit done over the last few weeks with my shirt on so the numbers are getting better. This cycle I want to push myself a bit so I am using chains and have about 20kg deloading on and off.  Manage to get 3 sets of 2 done with 240 plus the chain.  First set was a lot tuff but the next 2 sets were a lot better. Plenty of speed on the first rep but need to work a bit on the second. Lockouts were a little tuff on the second but it is the sort of thing I need to do more. Overall a good train.
A number of other exercises were done and they are coming along as well.

Benchpress: 3 x 2 @ 240kg plus 20kg of chain.
Fat bar floor press with a stop: 4 x 80kg plus 40kg
Close grip benchpress: 4 x 6 @ 100kg
Flat back D/bell ext: 3 x 8 @ 30kg
Band BTN ext: 3 x 10 with the blue band
Shovel Lifts: 3 x 6/side with 5kg on the end.

A good night

Had a good night in the gym tonight. First time in a while that my head has really been into it. Refocus has helped and now I have a really big goal that when it happens will put me up with the best in my country.

Safety bar squats went real well with good setup and reps.  Depth was bang on however speed of the rep could be a bit quicker but I will take it at the moment.
The rest of training went pretty good as well. Feel pretty happy at this stage.

Safety bar squats: 3 x 2 @ plus 30kg of chain
Front squats: 4 x 4 @ 130kg
Bentover rows: 4 x 6 @ 110kg
Cable rows: 3 x 8 @ 96kg (stack)
Warrior twist: 4 x 10 steps @ 10kg each end.

Starting to use again

Just a quick note to let you know I will be starting to use a bit more now. Moving away from Facebook so will put more things on Youtube, Goggle+ and Blogger.

A little behind but here is an update.

Have been feeling like shit for the last few days while I fight a strong cold. however I tried to keep moving.

Wednesday:

Got to do some deadlifting today but with light weight and no power or aggression, more of a use it or lose it thing. Did 3 sets of 3 at 100kg and then 3 sets of 3 at 140kg. Sumoed the first set of the different weights then back to my normal stance. Couldn't really feel my my lower butt or top of the hamstring which is where I have been having problems over the last few weeks. Still good to get them out of the way.

Stopped shoulder press, Pronated D/bell press and Bentover Band Lat Raise's finished off the night. Happy to get though this with no major pain.

Stop Shoulder press: 4 x 5 @60,65,70,75 kg
Pronated D/bell Press 3 x 8 @ 27.5kg
Bentover Band Lat Raise: 3 x 10 with the No#2 Bands


Friday;

Went in to do a bit of speed work. As I am trying a few things it was not the normal speed day. As I have not done a lot of speed over the last few months for various reasons I am working my way back into it.

Box Squats: I don't give a shit what anybody thinks anymore I will work off a 2 mat every time and if people want to say it ain't lower enough then that's their opinion. Need to work on a few things but I am going back to what I know works for me. No# 1 Bands and 60kg on the bar (about 100kg at the top) 6 sets of 2 reps. Next week I will go to 8 sets of 2 reps.

Speed Press: Person there with a slingshot so I had a play with that tonight and was only using 100kg for slowish sets of 3 reps. Not to worried about things this cycle. Slingshot is interesting to use. Wasn't what I expected however that could be because I wasn't using any real power/speed or aggression. Put all those factors together and be using 140kg and it might be a different story. However good to have a play.

Right now on to next week although I have got some stretching to do on Sunday so that will be interesting to see what it does for me over the long term.

Benching.

Was able to get in and do some benching in my shirt today which is good as I have now been able to put 3 times in a row together for the first time since the Canterburys. Some of the ugliest benching I have done in a long time. I am trying to push myself into to doing doubles and sometimes at the moment I can get it right and sometimes I can get it wrong. 3 set of 2 reps with 260kg off a 3" Board. Only got one of the second reps but was willing to have a go at them all. Just one of those days I think. Got to take the good with the bad. I know the good days will come.

Stop presses, Close grip bench, Single arm d/bell ext for the rest of the workout.

Stop presses 4 x 4 @ 120 with 10kg of Chain
Close Grip bench 4 x 6 @ 100kg
Single Arm D/bell Ext 3 x 8 @ 15kg.

Didn't want to destroy myself tonight so kept within my limits. Will put more intensity into it over the next few weeks.

The Start of a long journey

This is either the start of my build up to the Canterbury Powerlifting Champs next year or Recordbreakers at the end of the year.

Safety Bar Squats today, have not done any squat in a few weeks due to a number of factors so I just brought the weight back to 185 (bar weighs 25kg) with the No# 1 bands on for a total of about 225 at the top and probably 200 at the bottom. 3 sets of 3 reps with the last rep of each set being the hardest. Depth and speed were real good. No real power or aggression in the reps as it is the first week. Just used the Titan Gold Knee wraps.

Did some Front squats, Bentover rows, D/bell Rows, Very light Hyper Extensions and Warrior twist for the rest of the workout.

Front Squats 4 x 4 @ 100kg
Bentover Rows 4 x 6 @80kg
D/bell Rows 4 x 8 @ 45kg
Hyperextensions 3 x 10 @ 40kg
Warrior Twist 4 x 10 Steps No weight on the bar.

Max Effort Monday

Well the bug is just about gone and it is now week 3 of this cycle. This bug has taken approx 2 weeks out of my training for the Nationals. Bloody thing.

Still had to have a go just to see where I was up to. First up was Safety Bar Squats, First set I got wrong as I was searching for the bottom when I should have been hitting it right. Speed was good on the ascent on all the sets although I had to work a bit for the last set. 2nd and 3rd set I hit depth real well and was quite happy with them.

Front squats were good and strong. T/bar rows and Dumbbell rows  Were pretty good as well. Also added in some Hyperextensions and Band Obliques.

Overall pretty happy with how it went all things considered however I would say that I am at about 85% - 90% where I would like to have been. That shows you how much this bug beat the shit out of me.  3rd set of safety Bar squats equals my PB for weight on the bar and I think with the 20kg of chain that would be close to PB material as well. Just got to get my timing sorted and who knows. On to something else next week.

Right lets have another go at this......

Okay as most of you probably know a couple of weeks ago I got a real bad man cold that stopped me for a few days. While I have been back in the gym it has taken until now for me to feel like I can start to push myself a bit more. I did say this was going to take about 10 days off my training and it has been pretty close to that. As this is the 3rd week of my cycle I will be trying to hit some better numbers that will carry me into the next cycle. Have been trying to get my timing on my squats back so it will be good to see how that goes and the other day struggled real bad with 220kg for a bench so it will be interesting to see how that goes this week. Deadlifts are coming along nicely even though the weight isn't great at this stage.

On another note a great friend of ours Sonia Manaena is looking at getting to the Open Raw World champs in South Africa so please follow this link and help her out
http://www.youcaring.com/other/going-for-3rd-world-powerlifting-gold/164106

And on another note I would like to give a BIG congrats to Craig Hirota from Canada for his brilliant performance at the Canadian Raw Powerlifting Champs on the 2nd of April. I have followed Craig's Blog for the last 2 - 3 yrs and have enjoyed his writings. Follow the link and it will put you on to Craig and his google+ site and lead yo to his blog. WELL DONE CRAIG. Hope to see you in Vancouver next year.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/115071678231829996713

New Cycle into the Nationals

Right this is the start to a new cycle for my build up to the nationals.

The goal of this cycle is to get back into handling more weight on the bar across the board and getting in some good reps.

Squats I want to be getting back down to depth or below and on Fridays (speed day) I will be using only 2 mats on the box. Also need to work on getting my feet out a lot wider as I feel I have been in way to close. This is probably going to hurt in my glutes for a while but it NEEDS to be done.

Benchpress: I need to be putting in more reps doing whatever I am at the time. Speed also needs to be worked on both on Wednesday and Friday.

Deadlifts: I need to go back to doing strong consistent pulls, not this crap I have been doing. Also Fridays I need to work a lot more on speed.

AND I NEED TO ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO DO A STRONGMAN TRAIN COME RAIN, WIND SNOW OR SUN.

The road to redemption starts............

After a less than successful Canterbury Powerlifting Championships ( I bombed on my squats) as I could not get low enough although I thought my second attempt was good and it was only 290kg but whatever. I now have to regroup and restart from way behind the 8 ball. I have 5 full cycles into the National Powerlifting Champs from the 6th of August to the 9th of August. I have had a recovery week in the gym over the last week just doing about 40% of what I should have hit at the Canterbury Champs. In that time I have also had a think about what I may have changed/not done in my training and or build up to competitions and what I should change. I am not to worried about the bomb as it is only my second one in 11yrs of competing. Once every 6 1/2 yrs I can handle that. Hey maybe I am not pushing hard enough and it should be every 3 yrs Haha. Any way I am going to go back to some of the ways I was training last year as that was working. Also I won't be doing a deload cycle again as I feel that while it gives my body time to recover a bit my mind also becomes lazy and especially on the last week when I am down around 55% - 60% of my Max effort week from 3 weeks before hand it is so easy that I psychologically turn off and I am not at the top of my game come lifting time. You gotta try these things to find out whether it works or not. It may work for some people but not me. Another thing I have worked out is that I need a lot more weight on the bar than I have been using so again I will be going back to that concept. Squats will need that part especially as while I have been able to put up some big numbers using 60% - 70% of the weight on the bar and the rest with bands or chains again it has not been good enough for me. As with before it may work for some people but not me. Benches don't need a lot of changing as I haven't played around with them to much and it shows in that my competition benching has held it own or even progressed (re 260kg bench at Canterbury Benchpress Champs). My Deadlifts especially on the Wednesday need a big overhaul however I will stay with the speed program on Fridays (50% - 60%). I am going to go back to increasing the weight each week and going back to the 10 x singles reps training I was doing last year as it was working (re 300kg at last years Canterbury champs). Also squat and bench day need a lot more accessory work put in and this will also be happening.
Mentally I also need to change my mindset as I think I have/have not done 2 things that I needed to do. The first thing I think was that I became to blase' about what needed to be done and therefore thought that I could put up a big number without the hard all out training I was doing before hand. The second part was that I did not reset the goal and lost focus and desire to improve.

In the big scheme of things the bomb may have been the best thing that has happen as now I want to go and prove that I am a lot better than that. I now have 5 cycles to change that.

Filler Week

Just doing a filler week this week as I am competing next week at the Canterbury Powerlifting Champs. Had gone to far in my training program when they brought out the actual date for the competition however had enough time to think how I would go about things. This week on the big 3 lifts I am doing about 65% - 75% of what I want to use on either my 2nd or 3rd attempts next week.

Today was squats. Only had 275kg on the bar. First 2 reps were slow and just could not find the right grove. Got them done and never felt like I was going to miss them but the could have been a lot better. The 3rd one was good with plenty of speed on the way up. Think I may have been into it a bit more to. This is the way I should be doing them.

Here is the link to the 3 lifts
275kg x 1 rep Set 1
275kg x 1 Rep Set 2
275kg x 1 Rep Set 3

Been busy so a bit late

Well how did it go on Saturday at the Benchpress Competition. Not to bad. Didn't target this competition as such but had to do it to qualify for competitions later on in the year. My opener  (250kg) felt pretty good although it was a little slower than I would have liked but got 3 whites so wasn't to worried. For my second attempt I went for 260kg and this one felt real good. Came up pretty good and also got 3 white lights. Since I had 2 in the bag and it wasn't a targeted competition I thought "what the hell" and went for 272.5kg. Set up and handout felt good, good and solid to my chest but just not quite enough speed off my chest and missed it about 1/2 way up. Still pretty happy with the day 1st in my weight class, 1st overall, 145.7820 wilks points and a number of Canterbury and South Island records as well as 8th best all time in New Zealand in the IPF Federation. I would also like to say a big thank you to all those people that help me out on Saturday especially my wife Rene for helping me warm up then get me into a shirt and then become a referee as well. Also thanks to Elijah for the handouts.

Monday I am still deloading into the Canterbury Powerlifting Championships so go in and did some squats @ approx 75% of my Max Effort week. Real tough to get the weight down even with my straps down. 242.5kg + 20kg Chain. Speed on the way up was a little slower than what I would have liked. Ground out my 3 sets of 2 reps then moved onto my accessories with front squats, bentover rows, machine rows, dumbbell rows and reverse hypers and shovel lifts being done.

Tuesday was a tough day as I was still a little sore from the weekend however I still went for it. Got to take the good days with the bad. 270kg off a 3" board was okay however the sleeves weren't on right and it caught me with the press right to the top. 280kg off a 3 " board was a lot better but just needed help to finish off the top of the press. 300kg off a 3" board was okay but needed more power though the whole lift. Not to worried as I think a lot of it has to do with the after effect of the competition on the weekend. Next week should be a lot better. A few other exercises were done after the benching as well.

Today was a "what the........" day. My deadlifts felt heavy for some reason. Had to work hard to get any of them done. Got out what I had to do which was 3 set of 2 reps @ 232.5kg. What a grind. Think it was just one of those days. I also think I need to go back and have a think about my goals for deadlift this year and to get my head and drive back into this lift as well. I am wasting to many Deadlift trains on not getting that part right BEFORE I walk into the gym. After this I was able to get some shoulder work done

An Update and a Notice

The update is for deadlifts on Wednesday. Was feeling a little sluggish due to the Night Before or just didn't have my head into it properly. I am in the first week of my deloading phase into the Canterbury Powerlifting Champs so all the weights are coming back in percentages.

The weight just felt heavy off the mats for some reason. However on looking at the videos it seems like a reasonable amount of speed and a good "solid" pull to the top. Nothing fancy just hard work. All the rest seems okay but not much to say.
Deload 1 260kg off 3 Mats Set 1
Deload 1 260kg off 3 Mats Set 2
Deload 1 260kg off 3 Mats Set 3

On another note on Saturday I am going to compete in my first competition since the Commonwealths in early December last year. It is the Canterbury Benchpress Champs and while not a targeted competition I still want to do well. Unfortunately I have moved into the Master 2 class (IPF) this year, however on the other side there is lots of room for records and things like that. No real competition as there is no one in my class for the next couple of years. DAMN. Not looking for to much at the moment however I am a COMPETITOR and when we get to the comp things will probably change. At this stage a 250kg opener is probably on the cards and then if I get that I will probably go for a play so to speak. I will update you after the competition.

On another note it will be good to catch up with a few people that I have not seen for awhile.

Tuesday is for benches

Who would think I have a benchpress competition on Saturday. I am in the process of learning a new shirt (a Superkat Xtreme) As this is an angle sleeve I have to learn a new way of getting the shirt down. Putting it on has to be relearned. Getting better at that part however there is a lot to learn and I have only done 7 presses in total so can't expect to much. However we did decide that we were going to take the shirt for a ride. Used the 2" board on all attempts.

The first press tonight was just to get it sighted in so only had 240kg on the bar. Felt a little slow off the board. However I will take it.

Second press was with 260kg on the bar and still to the 2" board. Good speed off the board and a good lockout.

Third press was what the hell lets go for it. 270kg on the bar and a pretty good rep. Good set up and I tried hard to tuck in real tight. Pretty happy with this.

Fourth press was "right lets go for the ride" 300kg. It is either going to squash me or I am going to be able to do this. Well not quite both. Pretty good control on the way down and some press on the way up. However a great spot from Elijah made me do as much as I could for the rep. The best thing is he did not pick it up off me but just took enough to keep the bar moving. Not fully claiming it but I now know it is doable. Just need the time to work things out and spend more time under that sort of weight. This is the first time I have tried this weight in about 12 months so can't expect to much on the first attempt.

Deload Cycle Week One

Today was the first day of my deload cycle into the Canterbury Powerlifting Champs and add to that, that I have the Canterbury Benchpress at the end of this week.

Man was today tough, not from a weight side but from the side of trying to get low enough with my squat suit on. The weight on the bar was only 275kg with 30kg of chain. I was using about 87.5% of my goal weight today and doing 3 sets of 1 rep. Next week that will change. As the chain comes off it makes it harder for me to get down and on the first set I was really struggling to get there. Speed on the way up is not a problem. The second and third sets were a lot better and I felt like I was low enough. Overall happy with how it went and looking forward to next week.

Went on to do 5 sets of front squats using the getstrength front squat harness. if you have never tried one of these before give it a go as it takes all the pressure off your shoulders and allows you to concentrate on using the right muscles and getting the long term benefits of front squats. 5 sets of 4 reps @ 120kg

Bentover rows (4 sets of 6 reps @ 100kg), Machine rows (3 sets of 8 reps @ 100kg)  and Dumbbell rows (3 sets of 10 reps @ 50kg)  were done for my back. Big heavy compound weight always feels better when I go back to them.

Reverse Hypers (why did I go away from them) for 3 sets of 8 Reps @ 80kg as a finisher for my lower back/glutes felt good and as I have said before I just love the way it stretch's my back after a workout.

Did a new exercise today called Shovel Lifts ( have a look for it on my youtube page). It is really good for your Ab's, Obliques and Lower Back. Something completely and a great way to get that area strengthen up.
Shovel Lift for 6 Reps

Deload Cycle and a bit

Well I got though my Circa Max week just and not the way it should have gone. What with weather making it a little hard on one day and deadlifts being done out of sync, I was lucky to come away with a 910kg Max Effort week.

However I now go into a deload cycle and have to put in an extra week as the date of the Canterbury Champs came out after I had started my build up to the champs. So my plan is to deload by 12.5% from the top weights of my max effort week, each week for the normal 3 week cycle and then to do an extra week as a filler at 70% of my third attempt weights at the Canterbury Champs on the 12th of April.

So for this week it means that I will be doing 3 sets of 1 rep at 315kg including 30kg of Chain for squats, 3 x 1 at 240 to a 2" Board for benchpress and 3 sets of 1 rep at 262.5kg off 3 mats. Since the big 3 amounts are coming down one of the things I will be doing is keeping my other work high in both reps and weight used. Even the filler week will like this. My idea is to lessen the main lift load however replace that with the extra effort in the other work I do.

Here is a link to the big lifts of my Max Effort week,
360kg incl 135kg of Band tension
260kg off 1 1/2" Board in an Xtreme Shirt
225kg + 65kg Band Tension

The bench is in a Superkat Xtreme shirt for the first time and it needs a few tweaks on my part to get it to work better.

Deadlifting for a good total for the week

Have had a pretty good week this week with some nice weights being lifted. Today was deadlift day and I was hoping to finish off the heavy part of the week with some good numbers. Using the metal platform to deadlift off as this allows me to loop my No# 1 bands over the bar and had plenty of tension to the lift. 65kg of tension.
Set up is still the same except you have to adjust for the bands not allowing you to roll the bar. Also you have to try and place it in the right place so you are not to far forward or back thereby not giving yourself room to lift. Have a look at my lifts and you will see how it is set up. Speed off the floor could have been a lot better as well as during the pull in the center of the lift although you do get a lot of tension very quickly. There is 225kg on the bar plus the 65kg of band tension so 290kg at the top. Lockouts could have been a bit stronger as well.
225kg + 65kg Band Tension Set 1
225kg + 65kg Band Tension Set 2
225kg + 65kg Band Tension Set 3

However I am happy with the 890kg weekly total which is 5kg ahead of the third week of the last cycle and with 1 more week (which is max effort week) to go there is going to be some big numbers. Still gotta be happy.

Also did some Shoulder presses 4 sets of 60kg for 6 reps as well as some pronated dumbbell presses 3 sets of 8 reps with 30kg and 35kg dumbbells and finished it off with some band rear delts using the No# 2 Bands.  

Benchpress Work Week 2

Pretty good day today with my benching. Felt a little stiff when I first got there and didn't think I would be any good. Warmed up with my usual weights (60,100,140,180,220) then put my shirt on. 240kg off a 3" board went well but not as good as I wanted. So went to 255kg off a 1 1/2 inch board and the weight flew up. Then put the 10kg chains on with the 255kg bar weight. Good strong set up and great hand off's from both Elijah and Andrew. First 2 sets were off the 1 1/2" board and found it well. The presses were good and the lockouts pretty good as well. Speed could have been better but I will take it. The last set I thought I might as well go to the 1" board and see how it goes. Good set up and strong control on the way down. Good touch and plenty of speed on the way up. Just needed to push my elbows in to make my arms straight and was able to do that.
255kg + 10kg of Chain off 1.5" Board Set 1
255kg + 10kg of Chain off 1.5" Board Set 2
255kg + 10kg of Chain off 1" Board Set 3

4 sets of Stop presses for 6 reps @ 100, 120, 120 and 140kg and 4 sets of alternating close grip benchpress for 8 reps @ 120kg and I was done for the night.

Happy with how the day turned out and this sets me up for a big bench next week.

Its been awhile I know

Life has been in the way over the last couple of weeks so that is why no updates. However here we go.

Week 2 of t his cycle and I started a new exercise last week where I put the stands for the buffalo bar inside a power rack and the add 2 x No# 2 bands and 1 x No#1 band looped over the bar for some tension. How much, well we worked it out last week and it is 65kg/side.

Down to 3 sets of 2 reps this week and some more weight. Wanted to do 200kg + 135kg band tension however going in I was not sure how it would go. It went real well. A lot more solid than last week and I felt good. Control on the way down is good and plenty of speed on the way up. The only thing is my feet could be out wider, although I got a good set up on my second set. Not sure what the tension is at the bottom however I would say somewhere between 50kg and 65kg. Pretty happy with everything tonight and looking forward to the challenge next week.
200kg + 135kg Band Tension Set 1
200kg + 135kg Band Tension Set 2
200kg + 135kg Band Tension Set 3
Did some front squats with the Buffalo bar just for some thing different. The bar could swing around a lot if you aren't solid though your core. Can feel your butt work though. 3 sets of 6 reps at 100kg

Bentover rows and Machine rows and I was done for the night. Bentover rows of 4 sets 6 reps of 100kg and 4 sets of 8 reps for the Machine rows.

Strong Deadlifts and a good weekly total

Today was deadlift day and now is a good time to consolidate what I had done last week. Felt good going into the gym and also knew I had some work to do. Strong stance and a quick pull off the ground with some power through the rest of the rep.

Set 1 230kg + 50kg Chain off 2 mats
230kg + 50kg Chain x 2 reps off 2 mats
Good set up at the bar and a strong mindset. The bar took a bit more to get off the floor than I thought it would. A little slow on the pull however never thought I was going to miss. Reset the second and it seemed to come up better. Pretty happy with this as it gave me a 840kg week.

Set 2 230kg + 50kg Chain off 2 mats
230kg + 50kg Chain x 2 reps off 2 mats set 2
A lot better on this set with a better pull off the floor. Weight seemed to come though the center of the lift a lot better. Good lockout. Second rep I twist a little however was still able to get the weight to the top. Speed wasn't great but I will take it.

Set 3 230kg + 50kg Chain off 2 mats
230kg + 50kg Chain x 2 reps off 2 mats set 3
A lot tougher than I was hoping for. Seemed to struggle to get the bar moving and the weight seemed heavier. Was able to lock both reps out. Pretty consistent through both reps. Good way to finish a heavy week so happy with that side if things.

Overall a pretty good workout with reasonable speed off the floor and through the rep. Lockout was good as well. Probably could be a bit quicker/stronger through the first 2/3rds of the rep. Good to see some better results already with my deadlifting.

On to
Log Press. 75kg x 6 reps
Log Press
Don't know why but this was one tough exercise today. Just had no real power on any of the sets and the reps were crap. Struggled to get all the reps done but somehow got there.

Machine Press 100kg x 8 reps
Machine press 100kg x 8 reps
These were a lot better that the log press and I was able to get out some good reps here. Could feel my shoulders working hard. It is a different exercise and works from a different angle. I like it so I will cycle it in and out over the year.

Bentover Band Lat Raise
Bentover Band Lat Raise x 10 reps
Should have used the blue band here but just did not have the power today to use them. went back to the red bands and got some pretty good reps done. Could feel my rear delts by the end of the last set.

Overall a reasonable workout however some more power and strength during the shoulders part would have been good. Some days you have good days and some days you have mediocre days. Today was the latter.

Benchpress Day

On to benchpress today. Last week went well so was hoping today would also be a good day. Again being week 2 down to 2 reps/set still off the 2" board. Set up and speed off the board with a strong lockout is what I am looking for today. Have been working hard on pushing right though the ep on speed day so also hoping some of that is starting to pay off.

Set 1 250kg x 2 reps off 2"board.
250kg x 2 reps off 2" Board
A good strong set up at the start with a good handout. Weight felt good in my hands however a bit far back towards the head so had to make the adjustment. 2 cleans touch's on the board and some good speed to the top. Strong lockout. Reps felt real good and was quite happy with how this went.

Set 2 250kg x 2 reps off 2" board
250kg x 2 reps off 2"board Set 2
This set was real good and it started with a great set up and handout from the spotter (Andrew), He was able to help me get the bar a lot further down my body. This helps getting the weight to touch. I don't like to "blow my own trumpet" however even I have to admit the first rep is pretty quick and it was a good lockout. The second isn't quite the same but I was able to catch the wave in the middle and still lock it out. This is how every set/rep should be however Alas.

Set 3 250kg x 2 reps off 2" Board
250kg x 2 reps off 2" Board Set 3
Good set up and was feeling pretty good going into this set. Got the first one real well however on the way down on the second I pulled my head up which made the weight tip to the right. Still had to have a go at pressing it. Just stalled half way up. Will have to have a think about the third set as this also happen last week. Is it a start of a trend or just bad luck. Need to start getting that last one.

Overall a good bench workout. with plenty of speed on all the good reps as well as some good strong lockouts. Got to keep working on the lockouts and getting the bar down my body. Could always use more speed.

Move on to
Decline Benchpress
Decline Benchpress 120 x 6 reps
Still getting use to these. Felt a bit better this week. Feel out of energy a bit here after having a lot taken out of you from the big benching however have to get this stuff done so pay my dues. The fact that the bench itself moves around doesn't quite inspire confidence.

Close Grip Floor Press
Close Grip Floor Press 130 x 4 reps
Surprised a little here as I had such little power left that I had to back off a couple of reps/set. Set up and the first 2 reps are pretty good but the next 2 felt like another 100kg had been added to the bar. Not quite sure why. It could have the triceps taking a hit from the benching or to much weigh or not enough energy or a combination of all the above.

Tricep Pressdowns
Tricep pressdowns 54kg x 8 reps
Really starting to feel my triceps lack of power here. Just trying to get the job done as very little power left. This is the sort of thing that I have to do to get more power on my bench's. Got the reps done however only just.

BTN Dumbbell Extensions
BTN Dumbbell Ext 15 x 10 reps
Working hard on actually extending with the Triceps here and not just moving the arm. Done properly you don't need a lot of weight. By now my triceps are out of there, very little power or strength left in them at all.








 

One of those weeks

Let me explain. Due to a number of factors I have not been able to put up any posts until today. So here goes for Monday. Hmmmm. Into week 2 of this cycle so the reps are down to 2 per set. I have added another 20kg onto the bar but left the chains at the same weight as last week. Straps will now be up and I am trying to work on my setup as well. The counting has not been going as well as I hoped. Also wanting to se a lot more drive out of the bottom. So a few things to work on.

Set 1 260kg + 50kg Chain.
260kg + 50kg Chain Set 1
Felt pretty good with this however the set up was a not quite the way I wanted it to be. Could have been out a little wider and used the full 5 count. Knees were okay but depth could have been a bit more. The drive out of the bottom is pretty strong and never had any doubts about the second rep. Feels good to have this much weight on my back again.

Set 2 260kg + 50kg Chain
260kg +50kg Chain Set 2
Got the 5 count done a lot better on this set. Feet were out a bit more and as you can see the knee to ankle is a lot more upright. Could have been a little deeper however the speed on the way up is pretty good. The depth part surprised me a little as I felt I was deep enough. Something I will have to work on. No excuses just a little surprised that's all.

Set 3 260kg + 50kg Chain
260kg + 50kg Chain Set 3
Even I can have problems. As soon as the third step hit the ground I knew I was going forward and I just had to get it back on to the pins. This annoyed me a little so made me more determined to do this. The rest was easy. Plenty of speed and power just need to get down more.

So all in all the power and speed off the bottom was good however the set up and depth will have to work on that over the next few weeks.

Pin Squats 320 x 2 reps
Pin Squats 320kg x 2 reps 16th pin
Crap set up and feet nowhere near where they should have been and hands in the wrong place. Ground out a couple of reps. Have to sort that out real quick as well.

Zercher Squats
Zercher Squats 120kg
Reasonable set up however I felt I was down on power here. Could feel my butt and erectors working hard here though. Speed was okay.

Machine Rows
Machine Rows 110 x 6 reps
Getting a bit stronger on these and the reps felt good. Still need a lot more power from my back.Still felt pretty good though.

T/bar Rows
T/bar Rows 75kg x 8 Reps
This felt like it was about the right weight. Good strength and power however have to keep pushing for more out of the last two exercise's.

Straight Bar Good Mornings
Straight Bar Good Mornings
Had to use the straight bar as the safety bar was being so a different position. The weight was about right for this week. It is keeping the form that is the hard part.

Reverse Hypers
Reverse Hypers 80 x 10 reps
Ahhhh Reverse hypers. If you are not doing this exercise start and put it in at the end of your squat day. it is just a good exercise. It makes a big difference for me as well as making me that little bit stronger.

Time for another update

On to Deadlifts on a Friday ( read my other posts and you will find out why). Now that we have got the first cycle out of the way I can start working on some of the things that I feel I need to work on to bring my deadlifts back up and beyond what they were last year. I need to add in a lot more variety as well as a better attitude toward's he whole rep.I need to be stronger and faster off the floor, more aggressive though the center of the rep and build a stronger lockout.

Deadlifts 220kg + 50kg Chain x 3 reps off a 3 mat (each mat is 20mm) Set 1
Deadlifts 220kg + 50kg Chain Set 1
Wasn't to sure how this was going to go due to a number of factors, but did not need to worry. Strong off the floor and pretty good speed though the middle part of the rep and a good lockout. I like to place the weight and reset before the next rep as I believe it teach's you how to get the weight off the floor better.

Deadlifts 220kg + 50kg Chain x 3 reps Set 2
Deadlifts 220kg + 50kg x 3 reps Set 2
Another good set here although I am slowing down a bit on the whole rep. Reasonable off the floor, however not quite as quick as I wanted in the middle of the rep. Okay lockout.

Deadlifts 220kg + 50kg Chain x 3 reps Set 3
Deadlifts 220kg + 50kg Chain x 3 reps Set 3
The first 2 reps are pretty good here even though I am a little slow through the middle of the rep. The last rep I have to work for as I am not lifting as strong on that one as I should be. Also the lockout is not as strong as it could have been.

Overall a reasonable way to start deadlifting big again, still plenty to work on. I should be happy that I got what I wanted in the way of reps. I think the rest will come it is just if I am not hard on myself now why would I want to change later on.

The rest of the workout went like this
Trap Bar Deadlifts 280 x 3 reps Goal is 5 reps
Trapbar Deadlifts 280 x 3 reps
I have put these in in the same vein as the pin squats and benchpress. One set to over load the body. The best I could come up with so if you have a better idea please let me know. Once I get to 5 reps then I will increase the weight.

Log Press 70kg x 6 reps
Log Press 70kg x 6 reps
These felt pretty strong for a change. I am working on getting back up in to the bigger weights for this exercise to get my shoulders a lot stronger than they have been.

Standing Machine Press 80kg x 8 reps
Standing Machine Press 80kg x 8 reps
A new exercise for me or one I haven't done in a very long time. Just wanting to hit my shoulder from a different angle Felt good even though it is a machine.

Sled Pulls 80kg x 1 (there and back) Approx 12 mtrs each way
Sled Pulls 80 x 1, approx 12mtr each way.
These were a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have changed to this for something different just to use that posterior chain at the end of the workout.

Overall a good workout with a lot to work still to be done in regards to the deadlift. The shoulders part has to be worked on and with my bodyweight coming back the strength will come over time.

The Blue Screen of Death and an Update

As you can probably work out we have had the blue screen of death happen to our computer and therefore it has been a little hard to do much on this front. However have got into the gym and done some work. Days are a little out as well as I have been doing stocktake at work on a couple of days (Monday and Wednesday). A couple of late night finishes. Read midnightish.
Anyway got in to do some benching on Thursday and this was the first time I have put the shirt on since the Commonwealths. Back then I was about 134 now I am somewhere around that 138 mark so the shirt was feeling a bit tighter than the last time I used it. Wasn't sure how things were going to go so it was a bit of a lets see night. Wow how things have changed. Down to a 3" board just to check and I had plenty of control and a lot of power and speed on the press. Man it felt good to have that much weight and a working shirt.

Benchpress 240 x 3 off 3" Board Set 1
240kg x 3 reps off 3" Board Set 1
The set up was good just needed to talk the liftoff out a bit. Found the board real well and had plenty of power on the drive. Even getting a strong lockout. Was a little surprised at how easy it felt and I felt that way though all 3 reps.

Benchpress 240 x 3 off 2" Board Set 2
240kg x 3 reps off 2" Board Set 2
Again another good set up and liftoff but this time down to a 2" board as the first set went so well. Felt strong on the first rep but then started wave around on the second and third reps a little. Still getting pretty good drive off the board and a reasonable lockout. Everything else felt good and I didn't think I was going to miss any of the reps.

Benchpress 240 x 2 off 2" Board Set 3
240kg x 2 reps off 2" Board Set 3
Good set up and liftoff. First and second reps felt good and strong. Went for a third and got stuck about 1/2 way up on it for some reason. Press off my chest and lockout were pretty good but both need a lot of work to make sure.

THINGS TO WORK ON.

• Probably a stronger setup before I start the rep
• More power off the board (can never be happy with that part)
• More speed though the whole rep
• Stronger lockouts. 

Overall I was happy with how things went. Wasn't to sure what was going to happen so was pleasantly surprised at how well things went. Will stay with 2" board next week but increase the weight. Gives me the confidence that I can go back into the big weights again and get them. 

As I have said new cycle so new exercises,

Decline Benchpress 3 x 6 @ 100kg 

Decline Benchpress 

Have not done these for a very long time, However it is now time to put them back in. Using them in the same way as the inclines from the last cycle. As you can see the bench makes for plenty of confidence for when you want to lift some big weight. It moves under you quite a bit so makes for some fun. 

Close Grip Floor Press 4 x 6 @ 120kg

Close Grip Floor Press 

Reasonably happy with these however could have been stronger and had a bit more power off the floor. Probably could have tucked my elbows a bit more. Will need to keep that in mind for next week.

Tricep Pressdowns 3 x 8 @ 48kg

Tricep Pressdowns 

Used a different machine to do these this time and because of only 2 pulley wheels the tension feels like there is a lot more weight on the bar. Trying to keep my elbows in tight and press though my triceps. Good strat to the cycle.

BTN Dumbbel Tricep Ext 3 x 10 @ 12.5kg

BTN Dumbbell Tricep Ext 

Nice little finisher for triceps. Haven't done these for a long time so just getting back into them. Need to keep my arm from swinging around and the extend with my triceps not drop the weight or throw the weight up on each rep. A work in progress.

Band Obliques 3 x 10 reps Blue Bands

Just keeping these in however this time using a different way of getting them done. Next week either a step out or a bigger band. 

Overall a good workout all things considered (work, different day and lack of sleep) pretty happy with ho the shirt and my benching went so can take that into next week.

 

Squats on a Tuesday Hmmmm.

Okay due to work things some of my training days are going to be a bit screwed up this week. Please bear with me. On to a new cycle which means that i am changing everything I do, So something different to look at and read about. Because the Canterbury Champs have been brought forward I am getting into my gear a bit early than I would have. I have added in a new exercise that I am going to trial for a while to see if it helps or not.

Squats are being done with a normal bar with 50kg of chain added this week. My goal for this week was to do 240kg + 50kg of chain for 3 reps/set. Suit on, Straps down with knee wraps on loose compare to how I will have them by comp time.

Set 1 240kg + 50kg of Chain 3 reps.
240kg + 50kg of Chain Set 1
Weight felt pretty good as I picked it up. Hit the rack on the step out which put me off a bit. Still need to work on the step put count. Real bad on all three sets. Reps are pretty good with a bit more speed than I thought I would have. Depth seemed pretty close although I could be a bit lower. Not to bad for not having my suit on for 8-9 weeks. Didn't throw me around as much as I thought it would.

Set 2 240kg + 50kg of Chain. 3 reps.
240kg + 50kg of Chain Set 2
Again hit the rack on the way out although I managed to get my feet out a bit wider. Knees came way to far forward on all the reps and while I got the reps done I was not to happy with this set. For all the  problems the reps were pretty good speed wise. As above Step out was crap.

Set 3 240kg + 50kg of Chain. 3 reps.
240kg +50kg of Chain Set 3
Again hit the rack on the way out (now you can see why I have racks in at competition time). Set up was a bit better and my feet were out probably the widest on this set. Knees stayed a bit more upright on this one however still came forward a bit to much. Might need to turn my feet a bit more. 3 good solid reps with a bit of speed on the first one.

Overall I am pretty happy with how it went today with it being the first day in a suit since the Commonwealths and that much actually on the bar. Speed was okay and the weight felt good. However,
Things I can work on.

• Not hitting the rack
• Counting my steps out 
• Getting my feet wider due to the count
• A bit more depth
• Sitting back a bit more

and knees over my toes.

Safety Pin Squats 320kg x 5reps
Not Shown
I have worked out that when I am standing up at the start of the squat I am level with the 23rd hole in the rack and at the bottom as I go to stand up I am at the 12th hole. What I want to try is to overload the body with a big weight and slowly work my way down and back up. So today I was on the 19th pin hole and I stepped out with the 320kg sank down in a squatting fashion to the pins the drove back up. Everything else is the same as a normal squat. Got 5 reps.

Zercher Squats 3 x 3 @ 105kg
Not Shown
Gone back to that number as it allows for some reps but you don't run out of breath. Good deep squats and power back up. Getting my feet out wider for this one as well. However not to worried about that one on this exercise.

Machine rows 3 x 6 @ 80/100kg
Not Shown
First set was a sighter as I didn't know how much weight I would need. The next 2 sets were at about the right weight and got a good feel out of it.

T/bar rows 3 x 8 @ 60kg
Not Shown
About the right weight for this week. Clean form and plenty of power. They have raised the front of the machine and now you don't feel like you are going to fall off the machine. GOOD MOVE.

Seated Safety Bar Good Mornings 3 x 10 @ 45kg
Not Shown
Trying something new here. Box was probably a bit low but was still able to keep a straight back and use my erectors. As it is a new exercise I thought I would not push it to far today. Next week I will find a bench to work off and see the difference.

Reverse Hypers 3 x 10 @ 70kg
Not Shown
I love this exercise as I find it stretch's my back out after the beating from the squats.It also seems to work my glute area as well. Great exercise, If you have access to one, USE IT.

Overall a reasonable workout with room for improvement around the squat area. Speed is good, However as listed above there is a few things to work on. Can't be perfect on the first day so can't be to worried about things.

Strongman/GPP for Week 3

Getting there slowly, On to Saturday and Strongman/GPP work. This has been going pretty good over this cycle. First week was tough but hey I got through it. Next week was better and I had a lot of power. Same thing with this in that I would do lots of it at the start of last year and then tapered off over the second half of the year. Love doing this stuff even though it can be hard at times. I think not having the ability to do it indoors during the winter didn't help. Trying to set it up that I can this year. I use this sort of training to help with my overall fitness and provide strength and power from a different position. I did 5 sets of everything today.

Hammer Hits 5 sets of 10 reps 6lb Hammer.
Hammer Hits
Felt a lot better doing this today. I was also trying to add in as much power and drive to each hit. Still need to get a heavier hammer though.

Tyre Flips 5 sets of 5 reps.
Tyre Flips
Not quite as much power and speed today as I had last week. Not sure why, however it could have been something to do with the extra weight on speed day. The tyre wasn't heavy, it just didn't have the same ping. Still got it done.

Log Press 5 sets of 5 reps
Log Press
Easy. really need to think about a heavier log. Speed on the exercise was good. However if I get to take everything into where I train I could use their steel log which is 70kg.

Tyre Pulls 5 x 1 25mtr pull.
Tyre Pulls
These are a bit like the tyre flips in that it did not quite have the same ping as last weekend. Got it all done but a bit tougher than I thought. Still i could feel my back by the time I was finished.

Tyre Drags 5 x 1 down the drive and back 80mtrs.
Tyre Drags from my point of view.
Good solid steps today and was able to keep up my pace there and back. Could feel all of the posterior chain working by the time I got back

Overall I am happy with how this went over the cycle. Can feel that I have better from a GPP standpoint. As it is a new cycle some of the exercises will change to keep my mind interested and to challenge me with new exercises. I WILL be pulling out the MONGREL from next week on and hope to keep it there unless I have to go inside.

Speed Work for the end of the cycle.

And now on to Speed work Friday. As this is the end of the cycle I am now doing 60% of what I did on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Does speed work I would say yes. My squats and benches are all quick especially my bench (it is the lockout I need to work on) however I think my deadlift is a little slower than what I would like it to be. That is why I do it.
Using the 60% for this week makes the weights as such,
Box squats          160kg
Benchpress         130kg
Deadlift               150kg

Safety Bar Box Squats     160kg No# 1 and 2 Bands 90kg of tension and bar weighs 25kg.
Safety Bar Box Squats Set 3
Safety Bar Box Squats Set 7
Safety Bar Box Squats Set 10
Set 3 Good set up in the first video, however a little to slow on the up part of the rep. Feet could have been out wider and knees stayed back a bit more. I appear a little high however I think that is either cause I am wearing shorts or the video makes it appear that way as it is a touch and go.
Set 7 A bit better speed on this and part of that is the wider stance. Also as I am changing from a stop to a touch and go every now and then my body just says stop. that is why that part happens. I stopped on the box for about 2 years and have only been doing touch and go for the last 3 weeks so it is going to take a little while to get use to that part.
Set 10 A lot better form and speed wise. Feet out wider and a good touch and go. Knees stay back a bit more. Also could feel myself keeping my knees out as well  Good speed off the box as well.

Overall a pretty good speed workout for box squats. There were/are things that I still have to work on and get sorted. I will have to think about the mat thing (1 or 2) and getting my feet out wider from the first set onwards.

Speed benchpress 130kg incl 60kg of Chain
Speed Bench 130kg with 60kg of Chain Set 3
Speed Bench 130kg with 60kg of Chain Set 7
Speed Bench 130kg with 60kg of Chain Set 10
 Set 3 Set up good and speed off my chest not as bad or slow as I thought. However had to remind myself to press through the whole movement and not slow down or stop to early. Didn't think this was quick enough.
Set 7 Set up was good and taking out strong, pretty quick off my chest and this time I was driving a lot further in the rep. Speed could have been a bit better. Also touch point a bit further down the body and a tighter tuck in the elbows should help my overall speed.
Set 10 A lot better pressing over this set and a better tuck. I think I might have been a little further down the body. Speed off my chest was good and as you can see I was pressing right through the rep. A lot happier with this set. Just need to start doing it on all sets.

My speed benching is coming along however if I want to hit my goals for this year or next year I will need to focus on this exercise a lot more while I am actually training speed bench in all it forms.

Speed Deads 150kg 2 Mats
Speed Deads 150kg off 2 Mats Set 3
Speed Deads 150kg off 2 Mats Set 7
Speed deads 150kg off 2 Mats Set 10
Set 3 Still doing the first 5 reps in the sumo style. Hips a little high. A good strong pull but not a quick as I would want it to be. Hips are coming through reasonably good at the moment.
Set 7 Back to my normal deadlifting style. Good speed off the mats and you can see me driving my hips through a lot better this time. Better concentration on what I want to do as well. By now the weight feels really light.
Set 10 Probably one of the best sets of the day. Quick off the floor and through the whole rep. In fact a bit more speed than I thought as you can see me have to correct the over balance.

Overall I am a lot happier with how my deadlifting is going at the moment. Both from a heavy day ((Read my previous blog post though) stand point and the speed work.

Over the 3 week cycle speed day has come along nicely and it give me something to build on. There is still plenty of work to do on Squats and Bench especially. I think to get the best out of this day I need to go into the gym with a lot better focus and think of it that way. Part of the reason that I might not be thinking and focussing properly on the day is because the weight is so much lighter (50% - 60%) and my thinking is "I can handle this". With big weight you have to be switched on or it not going to happen. Something for me to think about.    

End of Cycle Deadlifts

On to the next one. DEADLIFTS. Another one of those "last year started off good" things but then went backwards. At the start of last year my best competition deadlift was 285kg and with a goal of 300kg by the end of the year. That goal was achieved at the Canterbury Champs in April and even though I reset the goal to 310kg at the Commonwealths it just didn't happen and by the end of the year I would have been lucky to pull 290kg. WHAT WENT WRONG!. Not quite sure, could have been to much weight, not enough targeted variety, could have been an attitude thing. However that is the past and now I have to regroup and focus on this year. I have given my deadlift program a major overhaul in how I approach it.

With Wednesday being the last day of heavy deadlifts for this cycle it was to see where I am at and to set myself up for the next couple of cycles. Even though it was the last week I wanted to do doubles.

Set 1 220kg 2 reps
220kg Set 1 2 reps
Set up is pretty good and speed off the floor is okay. I could have dropped my hips a little at the start of the first rep. I like to put the weight on the ground and reset before doing another rep. It teaches me to pull off the floor and not to bounce. The second rep is a lot better as I get my hips down a lot more. The weight felt pretty good.

Set 2 240kg 2 reps
240kg Set 2 2 reps
Set 2 I increased the weight to 240kg. I was a little slow off the floor on both reps and could have got my hips down a bit more. I make the second rep look a lot harder than it really was. Speed on the rep was also a little slower than I would have liked.

Set 3 250kg 2 reps
Set 3 250kg 2 reps
This set was a lot better. I don't know why I have started to do the roll but whatever works at the moment. Just have to get the timing right otherwise it looks a bit like the second rep. Hips are still to  high but the speed off the floor and though the rep is good although the second rep is a little slow. Felt pretty good.

Happy with how these went and a reasonably good finish to the cycle for deadlifts. Could have gone to probably 260kg and still got a double.

Overall for the cycle I am pretty happy with my deadlifts however I will have to continue to push myself on these over the year. As for the other exercises I do on Wednesday it is a bit of a hit  and miss affair. Shoulder press and bentover rows went pretty well however I could have been a lot better on pronated dumbbell presses. Cable pull-throughs and any other form I will do them in are a wok in progress, however over the year my strength should come through in that area. Prowler pushes I am happy with especially being back up to 100kg on the prowler. They however have shorten the matting for it which is a bit of a shame.

Max Benchpress at end of cycle

On to Benchpress day. Last year was not a good year for me in terms of benchpress. I competed in 5 competitions that had a benchpress component in them and out of a possible 15 successful lifts I only got 6 successful reps. This is NOT acceptable from my standpoint. This is way less than a 50% success rate. I should be getting 12 to 15 successful attempts. I know nobody bats 1000 and if you are really pushing yourself in reality 12 to 14 successful competition reps is more realistic. To that end I have to do way more work on benchpress to be more successful at competition time. Again end of a cycle so time to see where I am at.

Set 1 220kg with Green bands 2 reps
Video (not shown) shows set up was pretty good and the handout solid. The first was clean on the way down and reasonably good off my chest with a tip to the left on the way up. This may have put me off a little as the 2nd rep was good on the way down and an okay hit but stalled about 1/2 way up. Needed a spotter to help to the top. Again I have access to some real good spotters and he never lifted it off me but just made the bar move slowly. Probably in reality a lack of tricep power at the moment is the main cause. I am working on that so it should get better over the next few weeks/months.  

Set 2 220kg with Green bands 2 reps
Again the video (not shown) shows a good set up and a lot better handout. The first rep was nice and strong and a quick press out from the chest. I actually come up pretty straight. The 2nd rep the same thing happens as in the first set. Just could not get my triceps under quick enough and with enough power. Once again the spotter only guides the weight up and does not lift it off me. Just the way I like it because it makes me have to keep pressing.

Set 3 220kg with Green bands 2 reps
Set 3 220kg with Green bands 2 Reps
As you can see from the video the set up is pretty good and the handout is good as well. Good first rep although I could have touch a little further down the body. I find I tend to touch high when I am not in a shirt. A good stop and press. The bar appears to come up straight as well. The 2nd rep I wimp out a bit by doing a touch and go however this time I have a bit more speed and am able to get under the bar a bit quicker and get the power of my triceps to work for me. While the second rep is not pretty I will take it.

Overall for this cycle I would have to say that I am a little behind where I would want to be, in so far as the reps aren't as clean as I would like them to be. Set up and all the technical stuff is pretty much there but things like speed off my chest and lockout need a LOT more work. Now that first cycle is out of the way I will need to focus on cleaner reps and being more positive about them. I do feel I need to get back some more of my Mongrel when doing bench. 250kg should be an easy opener for me and I was putting that up at the beginning of last year. I need it back.

For  the rest of the workout on Tuesday's, it is going to take a while to get back my incline benches. Close grip bench's could have got better although flat back dumbbells are about where I would want them. With the new cycle will come new exercises so I will have to push them a lot harder. By the end of the 3rd cycle I want to be pretty confident that I can open on 250kg and get it easily.

Overall this benchpress cycle and workout is okay however there is lots of room for improvement especially from benchpress, compound tricep movements and attitude towards benching.

Monday Squats Week 3 of Cycle

Okay I know this is running late but it has been one of those weeks. I did manage to get all my training in this week except for Strongman/GPP which is later on today. As with my last post I had some goals that I wanted for this week refer to this link as to what they were. What the Week Holds So to Monday

Monday was my Squat day and for this cycle I have been using the Safety squat bar with bands on it. Over the last 2 weeks I have added a band as I have become accustom training again. The Safety Squat bar I use weighs in at 25kg and the No# 1 band has 40kg of tension at the top with the No# 2 band having 50kg tension at the top. Yes I have measure both of them and was a little surprised at the No# 1 band being so close to the No# 2 band. however this gives me 90kg of tension from both bands.

Set 1 165 + 90kg of band tension 2 Reps
Video (not shown) was taken from the front and one thing I did notice was that my feet could have been out wider. The depth was pretty good and so was the power speed out of the bottom. Just using knee wraps with a band over my knees to teach me how to keep my knees out. It does appear that my knee to ankle stays pretty upright.

Set 2 175 +90kg of band tension 2 Reps.
Video (not shown) was taken from the side so could see a bit more. Again feet could have been out wider. A little bit of a wobble on the down part of the rep so will have to work on that. It appears that my knees stay out and I am also please that my knees do not come to far forward. Depth is hard to judge as I have shorts on but it looks ok from here. Speed on the way up is a little slower than what I would like but at no stage did I think I was going to miss. The pause at the top is just to reset myself.

Set 3 185 + 90kg of band tension. 1 Rep successful and missed 1 Rep.
Set 3 185 + 90kg of Band Tension C1W3
Video was taken from the other side and I felt pretty confident both reps were going to go. Feet were in a lot better place and I felt better set up. First one I could have been a bit high but I will take it. A little slow on the way up but got there. The second one, felt good all the way down but just not the power/activation on the way up although I did hold it until there was just a touch from the spotter. He did it right to in that he didn't lift me up but just helped get me going again and I was made to do the rest. Great spotting. I am not afraid of failing or missing reps every now and then. If you are not doing that are you really pushing yourself to the limit or not.

So to that end I achieved what I set out to do. Not to bad when you consider that I only went back to the gym 3 weeks ago after a 5 week layoff. There are things to work on and get better at (I would hate to be perfect right now) however overall I am pretty happy with how this cycle of squatting has gone. Next week I start a new cycle for squatting and will be using something different. As they have changed the day for the Canterbury Champs this year (12th April) I will have to get into my gear and start learning how to use it again so they weights will go up.

The rest of the workout went pretty well with front squats and lat pulldowns feeling real good. Bentover rows and Dumbbell rows being right on the money from a weight perspective. Reverse Hypers is coming along as well.

Overall the squat/back cycle has gone pretty close to plan. I feel I have achieved what I set out to do in this cycle or I have got pretty close to it. On to the 2nd cycle.

What the week holds

This week is week 3 of my cycle. I work in 3 week cycles. Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday are my big weight days, Friday is my speed day and Saturday is Strongman/GPP.  Generally I structure the cycle in that the first week is a lighter week with 2 - 3 reps per set. Second week is 1-2 reps per set and week three is 1 rep per set This only for the 3 big lifts, Squats in some way, Benchpress in some way and Deadlift in some way. I have access to a full range of bands, chains, boards, mats, bars etc. I also have no problem getting into my gear.

My goals for this week are push as far as I can to see how much I have regained after having so much time off. As this is only week 3 I want to find out where I am. To that end I have set my goals at

Safety Bar Squats:                185kg + 90kg of band tension. (No# 1 (40kg) and 2 (50kg) bands)

I know the tension as I have measure them out 

Benchpress:                          220kg with the green band over my elbows

Similar to a Titan Ram or Slingshot

Deadlift:                               250kg of 2 mats (mats are 20mm thick)

The rest of the work sets are done more in a bodybuilding style with reps between 3 and 10 and sets of 3 or 4. During this week even these are done for maximum weight or pretty close to it. Next week I will be changing all the exercises and this will give me a good guide with how much weight to use over the next cycle as well as the new exercises keeping my mind fresh and looking forward to a new challenge.

Strongman/GPP work Week 2

Got in another solid Strongman/GPP workout this weekend. A lot better than last weeks effort. Wasn't sucking any where near the same amount of air as last week. Felt good and strong through the whole workout.
I do this sort of workout to help build in a bit of overall fitness as well as providing a certain amount of training for bodyparts in a different way. Also this is for this cycle as when I go into the next cycle I will change a couple of the exercises. Hammer Hits and Tyre Flips will always stay in the cycle. Just need a bigger hammer. At the moment I am using a 6lb hammer but would like to take that to a 12lb.

The Hammer Hits I use for dare I say it my core section especially my abdominals. I do a lot of work for my obliques in the gym during the week so don't tend to put them in here.

Tyre flips I use for building explosive power and speed in my squats and deadlifts in the gym. Here I can work on that by doing something out of the ordinary. I am activating my glutes real hard and fast as I go to drive the tyre up. If I am doing it right I can power the tyre over in one movement. The tyre in these videos is what I call the baby tyre as it weighs somewhere around 170kg, My big MONGREL weighs in at 225kg. A word of caution for you though if you can feel your biceps while or after you have done this exercise you are doing it wrong. You should be driving with your legs, calves, glutes and hams, NOT lifting with your biceps. Do this wrong to many times and you will eventually rip your biceps.

I like the log press as it gives me another way of doing some shoulders without the weight being excessive. My log is light (only about 55kg). In this case I try to lift it like the real strongmen do in that I do not stop on my upper chest and then jerk the weight.

Tyre pulls allow me to work a number of upper body muscle groups at the same time. Back, Biceps, Forearms, Shoulders to name a few. The tyre itself weighs 55kg and the rope is 25 mtrs long and weighs about 1kg/mtr. The added friction from the ground makes this a lot harder than it appears. Because this takes a little longer to do it helps with the GPP side of the workout.

I do tyre drags because I am cheap and did not want to buy a sled when I got a tyre for free. A couple of galvanized eyes put though the tread area and a couple of carabiners, some rope and a belt and you have a homemade sled. This works your calves, hams and glutes real well. My reasoning for doing tyre drags is that it helps build strength and power though my legs as well as some good GPP fitness.

Hammer hits went a lot better today and I felt like I had a lot more power when hitting the tyre. It might not seem like it but if you really give it your all this is a great exercise. I don't have access to 1 million trees that need splitting so this is a good trade off.
Hammer Hits

Tyre flips with the baby tyre went a lot better than expected. Plenty of drive through my lower body and getting the tyre flipped pretty quickly. Was a little worried about this last week as in the next cycle I want to start using the MONGREL full time and the first week was pretty awful.
Tyre Flips Baby tyre

Log presses again went well with a lot of power to lockout. I feel I get a bit of strength here for my shoulders and a good hit of GPP with touch and go reps.
Log Press

Did you think I was pulling the car, If you do this right it is real good for your upper body. When doing these I try and keep a consistent pace. The friction from the ground really makes this exercise. Add to that the 35+ seconds and you get a real good hit of GPP. The tyre that I use weighs 55kg.
Tyre Pull

By the end of all this tyre drags becomes a real tough exercise. Again it is the same tyre as above and you are pulling 55kg. Trying to stay reasonably upright and driving through my lower body makes this tough work. By the time you get back your legs are starting to wobble and you are sucking some big air. Great exercise and I will keep rotating it in and out of the cycle. The driveway is about 40mtrs there and 40mtrs back.
Tyre Drags

On week one of the cycle I will do 3 sets of everything, On week two I will do 4 set of everything and on week 3 I will do 5 sets of everything. Reps are
Hammer Hits          10
Tyre Flips                5
Log Press                5
Tyre Pulls                1
Tyre Drags              1 there and back

Friday Speed Work

Friday is my speed day. While I follow the principles of the Westside approach, I have put together a bastardised version that seems to works for me. As I like to spend some time away from the gym I have to put speed in somewhere and it is this day. I have made a few changes to what I am doing in regards to this, this year and so am having to do a lot of learning and self evaluation. So at the moment things might not look like they are meant to, or the way other people say it should be done. That will come over time. I have certain goals and aims for all three lifts in terms of form and speed.

SPEED SQUATS

*          Working on my walk out and set up.

                 (with the extra weight I need a better way of getting the bar out and myself set up in the right position)

*          Getting my feet out wider                                                                                                                                 (just feel that my stance is not quite where I want it to be)                 

*          Keeping my knees over my toes

                (Turning feet out a bit more and trying to keep my knees out on the way up. Knees have been falling out a bit to much)
*          Sitting back onto the box a lot more

                (Just feel at times I "fall" on to the box and knees come forward a bit to much)
*          Learning to Touch and Go from the box

                (Westside approach is to stop on the box, however we don't do that during competition lifts so why do it in training)
*          Lots, lots more speed on the stand up part of the exercise

                (Always looking for more speed on that part of the rep. Can never be quick enough)
*          Down to a 1 mat to make sure I am below parallel 

                (To make sure I am definitely low enough)

SPEED BENCH

*          A stronger set up before starting the rep. 

               (Get into the right position to be able to position the bar better)
*          Touching a lot further down my body to shorten the distance to press

               (Have been touching to far up around my nipple line, need to be 3"-4" below there. Try to touch in that area at competition time so might as well practice it in training)
*          Faster press off my chest

               (Believe at times I have been way to slow on the "Hit" from the press call)
*          Pressing right through the rep

               (Have been guilty of "stopping" the press just before full lockout, this also causes me to slow down towards the top of the rep and make lockout a lot harder)
*          Pressing from both arms

               (At times not fully pressing with both arms as the bar comes up on an angle)
*          A Stronger lockout.

               (A stronger lockout will leave no doubt that it was a good rep)

SPEED DEADS

*          Using the 50% - 60% range for this year. 

               (Use another approach last year, so will do this this year to see what happens)
*          Stronger pulls

               (Because of the lighter weight use the whole body during the pull phase)
*          Faster off the floor

               (Faster start should mean stronger pulls, Feel I am not getting off the floor as fast as I could)
*          Pulling right to the top of the rep.

               (Again similar to the benchpress I just feel that I am slowing down towards the top of the movement, Need to pull right through the rep)
*          Activating my glutes harder and quicker in the rep.

               (Similar to squats and with a stronger squeeze of my glutes should force my hips through for a stronger, quicker lockout)
*          Stronger lockouts

               (Again leave no doubt that it was a good rep)

As you can see plenty to work on. I don't expect it all to happen at once but with consistency over time things should get a lot better. As I video my training over time I should be able to pick up whether it is working or not. However competition lifts are where I will be able to see if it is all working.

To that end if you look at my videos from Friday you can see a few things that i need to work on

Speed Squats (120kg incl No#2 bands (50kg tension) 2 mats 55%)

• Set 3 was a complete shambles, Not knowing where the box was, What Touch 'n' Go, Knees falling forward and all over the place. Anybody would think I am a newbie.
• Set 7 was a little better as I sat back a bit more and a lot more speed on the up part of the movement. Feet could have been out a bit wider however overall a lot better set. 
• Set 10 Feet out wider but not where I want to be and you can see I struggle to get them there. I will need to work on this part. Time consuming and energy wasting. A lot more control over the whole rep. because I have done the stop on the box or so long it is going to take some time to get use to the T & G method. 

Speed Squats Set 3 C1W2

Speed Squats Set 7 C1W2

Speed Squats Set 10 C1W2

Speed Bench (100kg incl 50kg of Chain 55%)

• Set 3 set up was okay and first 2 reps pretty good but I slowed down on the last rep as my body knew it was the last one. NOT GOOD. This is the part I will have to work on. Bar was in a good position.
• Set 7 You can see me driving through all the reps a lot better and right to the top of the rep. Bar touching a lot closer to where I want it to be and reasonable speed on the hit. 
• Set 10 you can see the speed in the first rep as the paddle deloads off at the top of the rep (I felt it do this) and the speed on the next 2 reps was good. The bar is hitting where I want it to be and as you can see there is plenty of drive through the triceps as I am trying to keep them tucked tight. 

Speed Bench Set 3 C1W2

Speed Bench Set 7 C1W2

Speed Bench Set 10 C1W2

Speed Deads (100kg/3 Mats 55%)

• Set 3 Set up needs to be a lot better, hips to high and looking to much at the ground in front of me. Reasonable speed and I am trying to pull right to the top of the rep. 
• Set 7 Similar things to the third set although speed from the floor is pretty good. 
• Set 10 pretty good speed right through the rep although hips were high and still looking a bit close to the bar. 

Speed Deads Set 3 C1W2

Speed Deads Set 7 C1W2

Speed Deads Set 10 C1W2

Plenty to work on next week, however I hope this gives you some insight into what I am trying to achieve on speed days. On speed days since there are 10 sets an exercise I only record sets 3,7 and 10.