Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Changed things a bit here and went to deads off a 3" board. Also watching my elbow area as this is the first time for some real deads in about 4 or 5 weeks. Everything went well although I could feel my arm a bit at the top. But felt good to have the bar in my hands again for deads. No real power or speed or agression as I was just wanting to get these done. Will do some more next week. A bit happier now that I know I can get back to deads.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Bench Week 1
Good sets today. Had the No# 2 bands over the bar which gives about 55kg of tension at the top and 34kg of tension at the bottom of the press. So had the shirt on and 190 on the bar which works out at 245kg at the top and 235kgish at the bottom. Real good speed off the chest and good lockouts. Just missing my chest (mm's) but that happens with the shirt on. Need about 235ish to get it to touch clean. Everything went well including not to much wrong with my elbow. Bring on next week.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday 21st may 2102
Learning day today as I was usiing the Safety bar for the first time. Will have to do it inside the power rack and will have to redo the weights for the next 2 weeks. Could feel my lower back all last night and my butt as well. Was using the blue bands until we found a hole in one of the bands. Next week will have to use the No# 1 and 2 Bands for the same effect.Probably look at about 220-230kg on the bar next week for 2s.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Link to SouthernstrengthNz
This is the link to my SouthernstrengthNz Google+ page.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/110449915760904400231/110449915760904400231
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/110449915760904400231/110449915760904400231
An update
Well how lazy can I get as I have done very little with this for a while. Still trying to work the bullshit thing out with my association and federation. It seems like the president of the association has something personal against me as I stood up to her last year and we have a major difference of opinion. Was nothing to do with abusing refs or anything like that, and I did not think so.
Still life goes on and over the last couple of weeks have had a new person that my training partner and I have been showing the light to in regards to Benchpressing and that's has made me realize I am being lazy. Have not been making up training plans a couple of cycle into the future like I was doing and I could have been doing a lot more strongman stuff. Thanks to Andrew (the new guy). I have refocused on this and am starting to get this done again. Andrew came in with us to do bench on the first time and we asked him what his best was and his reply was 137.5kg in competition (Andrew weighs about 80kg). On that first night we had him do a 140kg press off a 4" board for 3 individual reps, and he was stoked. Got him around for another session a week later and used the finger boards which are 20mm thick and we got him to the 4th board (80mm) with 152.5kg. This week we are going to push him to 160kg as low as he can get it. I think our style of training is a huge difference from what he has been doing and what he thought he could do. We have told him if you stick with us he should be looking at 180kg by the end of the year. Big goals but we ( both Steve and I) think he can do it. He might need to get an up to date Fury of Superkat but hey.
This week I am looking at a 320 + 30kg of chain Squat as the top of this cycle which will be a PB in every way, so pretty keen to have this go. Also looking at a 250kg + 22kg of chain benchpress off my chest as again this is the top of my cycle. Also I am trying to push the Fury as far as I can before I start looking at the Superkat. As this is my 3rd week of my cycle I do not deadlift and this is okay at the moment as I am letting my elbow heal from injuring it while helping people out at he Otago's but the way it is feeling I should be able to go back to deads from the next cycle onwards. I think I did it by helping people get the squat suit straps up. The injury was so bad on the first week that I could only just benchpress and had to stop after close grip for my tri's as it was just to much and I have a good pain tolerance level.
Congratulations to Steve as well for being able to get a total at the Otago's, however not quite what he wanted as he set up real bad for his first squat (320kg) and had to monster it out. Steve did however set a competition PB in the benchpress with a press of 222.5kg. His deadlift was only a 310kg. Still a pretty good total of 852.5kg. As this is only the Otago's and it is the Nationals we are aiming at no need to go all the way right now. He is (and I hope to) be lifting at the South Islands on the 7th of June. Remember all this is being done under IPF rules and WADA drug testing guidelines.
Still life goes on and over the last couple of weeks have had a new person that my training partner and I have been showing the light to in regards to Benchpressing and that's has made me realize I am being lazy. Have not been making up training plans a couple of cycle into the future like I was doing and I could have been doing a lot more strongman stuff. Thanks to Andrew (the new guy). I have refocused on this and am starting to get this done again. Andrew came in with us to do bench on the first time and we asked him what his best was and his reply was 137.5kg in competition (Andrew weighs about 80kg). On that first night we had him do a 140kg press off a 4" board for 3 individual reps, and he was stoked. Got him around for another session a week later and used the finger boards which are 20mm thick and we got him to the 4th board (80mm) with 152.5kg. This week we are going to push him to 160kg as low as he can get it. I think our style of training is a huge difference from what he has been doing and what he thought he could do. We have told him if you stick with us he should be looking at 180kg by the end of the year. Big goals but we ( both Steve and I) think he can do it. He might need to get an up to date Fury of Superkat but hey.
This week I am looking at a 320 + 30kg of chain Squat as the top of this cycle which will be a PB in every way, so pretty keen to have this go. Also looking at a 250kg + 22kg of chain benchpress off my chest as again this is the top of my cycle. Also I am trying to push the Fury as far as I can before I start looking at the Superkat. As this is my 3rd week of my cycle I do not deadlift and this is okay at the moment as I am letting my elbow heal from injuring it while helping people out at he Otago's but the way it is feeling I should be able to go back to deads from the next cycle onwards. I think I did it by helping people get the squat suit straps up. The injury was so bad on the first week that I could only just benchpress and had to stop after close grip for my tri's as it was just to much and I have a good pain tolerance level.
Congratulations to Steve as well for being able to get a total at the Otago's, however not quite what he wanted as he set up real bad for his first squat (320kg) and had to monster it out. Steve did however set a competition PB in the benchpress with a press of 222.5kg. His deadlift was only a 310kg. Still a pretty good total of 852.5kg. As this is only the Otago's and it is the Nationals we are aiming at no need to go all the way right now. He is (and I hope to) be lifting at the South Islands on the 7th of June. Remember all this is being done under IPF rules and WADA drug testing guidelines.
Also would like to mention the our great friend Sonia Manaena is preparing for the world raw champs in Sweden in June as well. We are supporting her all the way and would love to see her bring home another gold and increase her Raw world deadlift record that she set in Australia at the beginning of April
GO SONIA GO FROM YOUR DUNEDIN SUPPORTERS.
As you can see from the pictures I am still doing the strongman training on the weekend
with who ever turns up. I have no choice in the matter it is something I have to do if I
want to get stronger for the big lifts as I find this really helps with core stability and
posterior chain work and it gives me and anybody who turns up a chance to do
something different. I will find a way to keep this stuff in.
Anyway sorry for the long post but as I have been lazy I suppose this sort of
thing happens. I am going to try and keep it up to date a bit more so post should
not be as long. Hope all is going well with your training and you are setting and
achieving your goals.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Ummmm
Well, how things change. Beginning of this year I was looking forward to competing with plenty of goals and so on, Now my association has refused my membership and therefore stop me from lifting for this year at least. Some trumped up charge of abusing a referee. When.Where, What I said or did I do not know as they do not have to tell me. I have nothing but respect for referees as they do a thankless task, I don't like being a referee as I personally find it boring, but I did not mind working on the platform, and trust me, even blowing my own trumpet I was good. The freedom from drug testing registers and so on feels good but what I am to do. In my country there is only one federation (IPF) and because of the fact that in any one year there is no more than 160 -200 registered powerlifters the possibility of another organisation in my country is slim at best. At this stage one option is to prepare for the SPF finals in the USA in 2014. That would be something different to go to a competition with all the big lifters with the big Squats, Benchpress's and Deadlifts and to be around some of the biggest names in the sport regardless of federation would be a once in a life time opportunity that would be hard to pass up.
Any way on to other things, First off my wife and I would like to congratulate a great friend of ours, Sonia Manaena on setting a world open womens 84kg+ Raw deadlift record at the Pacific International competition in Australia over the weekend. This sets her up real well to defend her deadlift title at the open world champs later on this year. At last years open champs she beat the great Russian lifter Kapova for the gold medal in the deadlift.
Also I would like to wish Steve Varga all the best at the Otago Champs on the 14th of April. I will be there helping him and supporting him all the way. Steve is coming back from an enforced year off with back problems so it will be good to see how he goes.
Did some Strongman last Saturday and am still feeling it. No power in my butt or legs for squats yesterday so I am looking at taking this week off and going in to do some singles to be able to set up training programs from there on. Once I have some thing sorted out I will get back with another post.
Any way on to other things, First off my wife and I would like to congratulate a great friend of ours, Sonia Manaena on setting a world open womens 84kg+ Raw deadlift record at the Pacific International competition in Australia over the weekend. This sets her up real well to defend her deadlift title at the open world champs later on this year. At last years open champs she beat the great Russian lifter Kapova for the gold medal in the deadlift.
Also I would like to wish Steve Varga all the best at the Otago Champs on the 14th of April. I will be there helping him and supporting him all the way. Steve is coming back from an enforced year off with back problems so it will be good to see how he goes.
Did some Strongman last Saturday and am still feeling it. No power in my butt or legs for squats yesterday so I am looking at taking this week off and going in to do some singles to be able to set up training programs from there on. Once I have some thing sorted out I will get back with another post.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Another week
Well here we go again. A whole week at a time.
Monday, Squats with the blue bands over the bar and working up to a top weight of 335kg for single's. Still getting use to the straps being up on the suit. Getting good depth on each of the reps with a pretty solid speed to lockout. Shook real bad on the up part of the 2nd rep for some reason, think part of it may have been from the suit and the rest from not setting right at the start. Got it up though. 1st and 3rd reps were good strong sold reps. As for depth if I weren't there then I was pretty damn close. Happy with these and looking forward to next week.
Benchpress went well on Tuesday. No# 2 bands over the bar with 54kg of tension and the hooks and about 57.5kg at lockout. This includes the bar, We then load weight from there. Worked up to 200kg of weight added to the bar for a total of 255kg - 275.5kg at the lockout. the bands lose about 20kg of tension at the chest so pressing 232.5kg - 237.5kg from the chest. Getting the Fury to work better now and also getting better press and drive out of it. Speed off my chest is pretty good with some good lockouts. If I hit it right then it locks real quick and easy. 3 sets of singles at the moment. Pretty tough work but this is what I need to do to get the real big figures. Was having trouble keeping my feet from slipping but I think that had more to do with the floor being a bit dirty and my feet were just sliding around on it. At this stage I am now more confident that 240kg is my opener at the Otago's.
Deadlifts on Wednesday were done with the trap bar for something a bit different. Had a good day. worked up to 280kg all up and got my 3 singles out real well. The trap bar frame is so well balanced that any movement and you start swinging at the top. I find this good as it makes you have to be more solid on the whole rep to keep the swing out of it so it must make you stronger with a normal bar. Real happy with the speed off the ground and the strength in the top part of the rep.
Friday is my speed day and had a good day as well. Box squats using the lighten method with the No# 2 bands which is taking about 80kg of weight off the bottom of the rep. Good speed on the reps. the first 3 sets of 2 were done in about 6.5 seconds but by the time I got to 5th set I was down to about 5.1 to 5.3 seconds as I warmed up a got quicker. From the box I got to about .9 - 1.1 seconds for each rep. I had 185kg on the bar which is 55% of what I did on Monday. At the moment I seem to be getting quicker over the weeks. 10 set of 2 reps.
Speed press today was with 140kg of all up weight with the No# 2 bands over the bar and No# 4 bands around my elbows and working like a slingshot or ram. Was a lot quicker and getting a better rep. Again doing this as something different. Again it seems to be working as I feel it is making me quicker on Tuesday's. 10 set of 3 reps
My speed deads went real well today as well. Using the No# 5 bands over the 5th hole of our power rack and as quick as I can to lockout. The first 5 reps are done sumo style the I go back to my normal deadlifting style. Started on 165kg and worked up to 300kg in 5% jumps. Had a couple of reps where I was not ready for the weight coming on and had a tough pull, but when I got my head into it the reps came fast and all the way to the top. First time i have pulled 300kg for a while so real happy to get that figure. The way I set up the bands is so that the come off just below my knees and I have all the weight from there. It is like a rack pull but I find I get into a anatomically better position for this that off racks. This has got to make my overall deadlift at lot stronger and better.
Well that's it for this week except for some strongman on Saturday if the weather is okay.
Monday, Squats with the blue bands over the bar and working up to a top weight of 335kg for single's. Still getting use to the straps being up on the suit. Getting good depth on each of the reps with a pretty solid speed to lockout. Shook real bad on the up part of the 2nd rep for some reason, think part of it may have been from the suit and the rest from not setting right at the start. Got it up though. 1st and 3rd reps were good strong sold reps. As for depth if I weren't there then I was pretty damn close. Happy with these and looking forward to next week.
Benchpress went well on Tuesday. No# 2 bands over the bar with 54kg of tension and the hooks and about 57.5kg at lockout. This includes the bar, We then load weight from there. Worked up to 200kg of weight added to the bar for a total of 255kg - 275.5kg at the lockout. the bands lose about 20kg of tension at the chest so pressing 232.5kg - 237.5kg from the chest. Getting the Fury to work better now and also getting better press and drive out of it. Speed off my chest is pretty good with some good lockouts. If I hit it right then it locks real quick and easy. 3 sets of singles at the moment. Pretty tough work but this is what I need to do to get the real big figures. Was having trouble keeping my feet from slipping but I think that had more to do with the floor being a bit dirty and my feet were just sliding around on it. At this stage I am now more confident that 240kg is my opener at the Otago's.
Deadlifts on Wednesday were done with the trap bar for something a bit different. Had a good day. worked up to 280kg all up and got my 3 singles out real well. The trap bar frame is so well balanced that any movement and you start swinging at the top. I find this good as it makes you have to be more solid on the whole rep to keep the swing out of it so it must make you stronger with a normal bar. Real happy with the speed off the ground and the strength in the top part of the rep.
Friday is my speed day and had a good day as well. Box squats using the lighten method with the No# 2 bands which is taking about 80kg of weight off the bottom of the rep. Good speed on the reps. the first 3 sets of 2 were done in about 6.5 seconds but by the time I got to 5th set I was down to about 5.1 to 5.3 seconds as I warmed up a got quicker. From the box I got to about .9 - 1.1 seconds for each rep. I had 185kg on the bar which is 55% of what I did on Monday. At the moment I seem to be getting quicker over the weeks. 10 set of 2 reps.
Speed press today was with 140kg of all up weight with the No# 2 bands over the bar and No# 4 bands around my elbows and working like a slingshot or ram. Was a lot quicker and getting a better rep. Again doing this as something different. Again it seems to be working as I feel it is making me quicker on Tuesday's. 10 set of 3 reps
My speed deads went real well today as well. Using the No# 5 bands over the 5th hole of our power rack and as quick as I can to lockout. The first 5 reps are done sumo style the I go back to my normal deadlifting style. Started on 165kg and worked up to 300kg in 5% jumps. Had a couple of reps where I was not ready for the weight coming on and had a tough pull, but when I got my head into it the reps came fast and all the way to the top. First time i have pulled 300kg for a while so real happy to get that figure. The way I set up the bands is so that the come off just below my knees and I have all the weight from there. It is like a rack pull but I find I get into a anatomically better position for this that off racks. This has got to make my overall deadlift at lot stronger and better.
Well that's it for this week except for some strongman on Saturday if the weather is okay.
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