Some Idea now

After doing a injury to my shoulder at the beginning of the year and after a few visits to a chiropractor and now a physio we have some idea of what is going on. My shoulder does need a bit of rehab and I am now looking 9 - 12 weeks before I can get back to some sort of true routine. In the meantime it is working on getting my left shoulder to press up without taking my lats and or traps with it.  I am having to work out how I have do a lot of exercises in reverse or how to activate my internal rotater muscles instead.  I can still squat and deadlift however over the next couple of cycles I have decided to back them right off to allow me more time to focus on healing my shoulder and getting it moving again. Once I am able to do that it should not take me to long to bring my squats and deadlifts and other accessory exercises back up. On the plus side this allows me the chance to put in some other work that I had been looking at incorporating like jumps. drops, sprints tyre drags and other GPP work so that when I can go back lifting heavy I will be ready.

What the Problem is, Look at my left hand side

One of the exercise's I am doing to try and fix it

At the moment I have been told to allow up to 12 weeks before I can start to get back to real lifting so as  you see this is a medium term thing. 

Training Session 3 for 2015

WOW is all I can say with today's training session. I have not done anywhere enough of this sort of training for TO long. I felt real weak on a set of exercises and weights that should be well within my reach. I am going to have to go back to the drawing board on this one and make sure I am getting everything done. On a scale of 1 - 10, I would rate this as a 1 JUST.

Today first up was Deadlifts with only 100kg on the bar. Wow, slow off the ground, slow in the middle and slow at the top. Real Bad. Only had one good rep and that was beause I concentrated on it. Somehow I was able to get in 3 sets of 10 reps @ 100kg. Long way to go and lots of work to do. 4 mins between sets. Trap bar deadlifts weren't to bad but my positioning could have been a lot better. Something to work on. 4 sets of 10 reps @ 100kg. 2 mins between sets

Shoulder press was next up and while I got though the sets/reps because of my shoulder I had to break the last 2 sets down into 4 reps then 3 reps then 3 reps to get them done. However on the plus side it is now some 3hrs since I did them and my shoulder feels a lot better. 2 mins between sets. Pronated dumbbell press was up next and while I could still feel my shoulder I was able to get out 3 sets of 10 reps at 20kg. A long way down on what I can do but at the moment I will take it. Again at 2 mins intervals. Last exercise was Bentover Lat Raise which I have never really been that strong on so it was only 3 sets of 10 reps @ 12.5kg. Was able to feel a lot in my rear delts though so it saiy's that I wasn't just throwing the weight around.

Man is there a lot of work to do here but at least I found out now and not just before a competition.

Some stats from this week

Total reps: 536 across all exercise's
Total Volume: 41489kg across all exercises


Saturday 10 January 2015 C1W2D3 Actual Training     

Training Session 2 of 2015

Sorry guys for taking so long to get this up but it has been a busy few days. This train was for Benchpress and Triceps. Again doing volume and it was real hard because my left shoulder did not want to come to the party.

Got the 3 sets of 10 reps @ 120kg on the benchpress fairly easy. Good form and a little bit more power. Things are coming along nicely on this part. Stop presses is where the fun started with my shoulder and while I was getting good strong presses off the pins and to lockout it did not want me to do more than 5 reps in a row, so I went back to how I got out the Front Squats from the other night. had a number that I had to do and just kept working on the reps until I got there. If I had to stop then it was for only 20 - 30 seconds then back into it. If you have never trained like this beofre try it one day as it is NOT as easy as it sounds. The equivalent of 4 sets of 10 reps @ 100kg off Pin# 3.

On to doing Close Grip Benchpress for 4 sets of 10 reps @ 100kg and here was another exercise I had to grind though with only being able to do sets in the form of 4 reps then 3 reps then 3 reps. My shoulder just would not let me do any more. I don't have a problem with 3 reps it is just when I go to the bigger numbers that it plays up.
Flat Back Dumbbell Ext were next and again 3 sets of 10 reps. Could n't feel my shoulder this time so it was reasonably easy to get the reps put. Starting to get full reps as well with a strong lockout. I was using the 40kg dumbbells.
2 sets of Tricep Pressdowns were up next just as a finisher. Was able to get a full lockout as well. Good control of the whole rep as well. 2 sets of 10 reps @ 100lbs.

Overall a  good workout it just the volume that is tough for someone who is a powerlifter and likes to train for power and strength.

Tuesday 6 January 2015 C1W2D2

Training Session 1 2015

Back to the start of the week today and this time it is a full week. Damn it is hot here in Christchurch 29C yesterday and 30+ today. Yes I am from the southern hemisphere and it is summer here right now. Good weather to train in.

Today we are back to Squats and Back work with it being the 2nd week of my 3 week cycle. Squats were for 3 sets of 10 reps @ 140kg. First set felt a bit heavy but then the rest were pretty good but boy does volume suck or what. Got me feet out a bit more today and I am slowly getting back to where I want them when the gear starts getting used. Speed on the whole rep was above average for the first time in a while. Happy with that. Front squats using the Get Strength Front squat harness was another story. Tough work. got in the 40 reps that I was meant to do but with the extra weight the bottom of the harness wants to press into your stomach which makes it hard to breathe so had to break them down into groups of 3 reps so I would be able to take a breath, however I would not way away from the rack so it went something like this, 3 reps re-rack the bar for 20seconds to suck in as much air as I could then 3 more reps then re-rack and 20 seconds later go again. until I had done about 24 then I took a 5 mins rest then repeated the dose. Tough work. All these sets are done 3 - 5 mins apart. That is what a smartphone is for. Haha.

Onto back work starting with 4 sets of 10 reps @ 90kg of bentover rows. Good sets and I am starting to get back to the way I felt last year already. Nice controlled reps.
Dumbbell rows were for 3 sets of 10 reps @ 45kg. These felt real good with good speed and control.
Cable rows for 2 sets of 10 reps at 72kg, Chest out and up high with an emphasis on keeping my elbows tuck in tight.

We are lucky enough to have a Reverse Hyper machine so it was on to that for 3 sets of 10 reps with 40kg  on the plate. I believe this is one piece of equipment that if you have it in you gym you use it. It has helped my out over the last 4 months like you wouldn't believe. Will slowly be bringing my weight on this up over the next few months. This machine just helps out your lower back/glute area so much. Have one in your gym learn how to use it and do so. These sets are done 2 mins apart again using a smartphone for a timer.

Getstrength Front Squat/ Zercher Squat Harness

Reverse Hyper Machine

Cycle 1 Week 2 Monday

Benchpress and Tricep Training

On to the next day of training. Benchpress and Triceps. Still doing the volume thing so the reps are up at 10's. Each set felt really good with plenty of power. I think the training from the week before has helped quite a bit. As it was the last day of the year and the temperature here in New Zealand is about 25 - 28 degrees C I wasn't in a rush to get things done. Benchpressing went real well and I was able to get in my 3 sets quite easily. Still had plenty of unintended speed off my chest. 3 sets @100kg. Stop presses are going well if you include last weeks work. 4 sets of 10 reps @ 100kg.

As close grip was a little to easy last week I went for 80kg this week and will look at pushing that even higher over the next few weeks. Good form and pretty happy with that. Good start to a BIG benchpress year. Flat back d/bell ext were a little off from what I would have expected but I struggle though to make sure I got them all. Tricep pressdowns finished it all off. as my tricep were starting to feel like they had been worked real well. 2 sets of 10 at 80lbs.

Moved onto a couple of accessory exercises that I need to do a lot more of with the first being Good Mornings with the Buffalo bar. A lot of focus on getting that good worked feeling in my lower back/erectors. so not big weights. 3 x 10 @ 60kg. Finished the train off with 3 return trips of prowler pushes for approx 30 mtrs each with 60kg on the machine.

Overall a good workout and now onto even better training in 2015 and to chasing those real big goals that I have set for myself.

Follow this link to see what I actually did in the gym last night.
Actual training for 31 Dec 2014