Here we go again, again

Hello all,

Quite a few new faces here so a bit of background first: I was a half decent lifter back in 2006. Work, travel, injuries and just-plain-getting-old conspired against me and I left the scene for a while. Recently i've got all my ducks in a row and i'm looking to make another run at a decent total.

I lift unequipped in the 82.5kg category and usually with the BDFPA. Currently i'm taking it fairly easy on lower body stuff as i'm coming back from a semi-serious hamstring injury.

Friday 24th July

Bench Press - Up to 107.5kg x 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 ... 87.5kg x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Squats - Up to 170kg x 1

Conv. DL - Up to 180kg x 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Strict RDL+Shrug - 105kg x 5+5, 5+5, 5+5

Saturday 25th July

Seated Press - Up to 75kg x 3 ... 60kg x 8

Chins - BW+20kg x 5 ... BW+5kg x 8

More to come tomorrow.

Long time no see! Welcome back Faz, all the best with it.

Welcome back badger, good to see you are still in the game mate!

Badger!

Nice to see your log here mate. Good luck with the training!

Alright lads! Cheers!

Sunday 26th July

Incline BB Press - Up to 80kg x 3 ... 60kg x 8

Arched GMs - Up to 120kg x 5 ... 100kg x 8

Dips - +20kg x 5 ... +10kg x 8

Leg Press - Up to 320kg x 5

Not really sure I like the Inclines, they're quite awkward with a barbell. My brother had problems with them too, might substitute DBs.

Other than that happy, hamstring stayed attached to my general proximity and everything else felt strong. I'm in a good position now to really pound out this summer and get my s**t back on track.

Welcome back fella! Now get into the game with some strongman training!

Good to see you're back lifting mate. Powerlifting is a bit like Royston Vasey - you'll never leave!

Ohoy! Thanks for the welcome back and thanks for reading.

Tuesday 28th July

Bench Press - Up to 110kg x 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 ... 90kg x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Squats - Many reps with 20kg to 100kg

Abs - 5 x 10 heavy

Bench is up another 2.5kg but this is all just a procedure at the moment. Tempted to really crank it up but i'm wary of blowing a joint/muscle. I'll stay patient for now.

Friday 31st July

Press ups - 25, 25, 25

Bodyweight squats - 25, 25, 25

Took a little deload, 4 days or so. Did this workout on friday and the rest of the weekend was spent mountain climbing in Cumbria which was fun! Back in the gym tomorrow, hamstring feels fine and I generally feel quite into my training so i'm going to really crank up the pace now.

Monday 3rd August

Bench Press - Up to 115kg x 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 ... 95kg x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Chins - BW+5kg x 10, 10, 5

Dips - BW+10kg x 10, 10, 10

Bench up 5kg felt very strong. Was meant to do 5 sets on the Chins/Dips but was knackered and I might have had a little too much java, heart was beating very heavy, so thought I had better call it there.

EDIT - Probably just indigestion. f**k i'm getting old.

Tuesday 4th August

Squat - Up to 180kg x 1 ... 190kg x 1

Walkouts - 220kg

Arched GMs - 120kg x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 300kg x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Was supposed to stop at 180kg in the Squat today, but my hamstring has been feeling fine and the weight was easy. Put it up to 190kg that was easy enough too, but I called it there. 200kg next week.

Rest of the assistance was fine, may or may not cut them back to 3 sets. We'll see.

Thursday 6th August

Speed Bench - 70kg x 3 (too heavy) 60kg x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Seated OHP - 80kg x 3, 3, 3

Hammer Row - 160kg x 10, 10, 7

I never gave the speed benches a proper shot so here we go. I had the general impression they were too strenuous but I could never be sure. So I'll see how my regular Benches feel on Monday. I had to use a pretty light weight (50%) to generate any kind of speed.

The presses were up quite a lot, I felt strong today.

Friday 7th August

Conv. Deads - Up to 180kg x 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

RDL+Shrug - 140kg x 3+3, 3+3, 3+3

Abs - 5 x 12, 12, 12

Got pretty good speed on the Deads, and the rest period wasn't much more than changing plates for my brother. Got really psyched on the third single and did this weird deadlift-shrug thing which was probably a little unneccesary, hehe. Anyway happy with that. I'm alternating weeks of heavy Deads for doubles with this lighter/speed work.

The rest was fine.

The weekend felt like a long time away from the gym, I was bouncing off the walls by sunday night.

Monday 10th August

Bench Press - Up to 120kg x 1, 1 ... 122.5kg x 1 ... 100kg x 3, 3, 3

Chins - BW+5kg x 10, 10, 10

Dips - BW+20kg x 10, 10, 10

It's been a long time since i've pressed this much. 120kg is two and a half plates a side and mentally I felt daunted before the first rep. It went up easy enough but I was pissed off with myself for being intimidated, so I added another 2.5kg for the last set and smoked that as well.

All the weights are up a lot this week, Squats tomorrow.

Edit - Like night after day, the welcoming back of old muscle follows the farewell to neck.

Tuesday 11th August

Squat - 200kg x 1

Walkouts - 220kg

Arched GMs - Up to 140kg x 3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 310kg x 10, 10, 10

Fine.