View All Posts: Gaston87
| » Royal wedding... (Go to post) | 23-04-2011 @ 20:21 | ||
| Middleton is a babe | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 13-04-2011 @ 21:47 | ||
| Been naughty and not updating Saturday 9th April - ME lower Warm ups Squats - worked up to 3 x 3 @ 120 (beltless etc) Romanians 4 x 6 @ 90 Calf raise 3 x 10 Air bicycle 3 x 10 Plank 3 x 1 minute Easy, fine. Maintenance, squats felt weak so stayed at 120. Health is good now and focus is there again, going to max at the end of the month. Monday 11th April - ME upper Warm ups x many Bench - worked up to 4 x 3 @ 100 (what the f**k, I wanted this on at least 105) Lockouts - last 2/3 of rep, from dead stop - 110 4 x 6 Bench rows - 4 x 6 @ 70 Rear raises 3 x 10 Lateral raises 3 x 10 Barbell curls 3 x 10 Bench was s**te, I put it down to a 'bad day'. I'm sharp and stronger than I have ever been, so I guess something wasn't right. Tuesday 12th - DE lower (Not so dynamic at the moment) Warm ups Deadlift (beltless) 3 x 130, 3 x 3 @ 160 PB Front squats 4 x 6 @ 70 Calf raises 3 x 10 Hanging knee raise 3 x 10 Crunch 3 x 10 Oblique crunch 2 x 10 each side Nice session. Was aiming for 160 x 3 as a PB triple and then drop down to 150 but the 3 sets were all fine. Nothing huge but it's a significant improvement from last week. New PB single there I would imagine. Front squats were horrid as always, but sticking to these to balance out the posterior work I do. Calf work may be construed as unnecessary but working them once or twice a week is hardly detrimental to my leg strength. Wednesday 13th - HIIT sprints Warm up 20+20m sprint / 90 sec rest x 7 Nice and intense | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 09-04-2011 @ 18:41 | ||
| Busy week Tuesday 5th April - DE lower Scrapped the box jumps, doing deadlift triples and front squats this month. Deadlifts Worked up to 3 x 140, 3 x 150, 3 x 150, 3 x 150 Front squats 4 x 6 @ 70 Calf raises 3 x 10 Weighted crunch 3 x 10 Reverse crunch 3 x 12 Deadlifts felt s**t but didn't expect much, haven't done heavy ones much recently. Fronties were difficult but I'm sure they'll go up with practice. Wednesday 6th April - 20 minute run Fine Thursday 7th April - Repetition upper DB bench - 4 x 8 @ ~40kg Strict press - 4 x 6 @ 55 (found these harder than seated stricts, no idea why as I could move my head back with these so thought I'd push more, maybe lack of practice) Pull ups - 4 x 7 BW Skullcrushers 4 x 10 @ 30 Supinated curls 3 x 12 Big pump. I don't mind this repetition stuff, it still utilises big moves so I know it's conducive to my lifts. Obviously there is an element of dynamic work with the pressing anyway, so it's more DE / RE as opposed to pure repetition. Iron workouts are split as follows (rough outline): M - Heavy bench, heavy tri, row, raises, curls T - Deadlift triples, front squats, calves, abs, grip W T - DB repetition bench, stricts, pulls/chins, light tri, curls F - Squat triples, romanians, lower back, abs, grip S S Delayed ME squat is this evening, legs were shattered yesterday from recent pursuits. | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 04-04-2011 @ 21:56 | ||
| Back from the dead.... I did see my old uni buddy as planned and subsequently drank all weekend. So the first half of last week I felt pretty ill (for the third bloody time this year). There is a correlation between my heavy weekends and falling ill, maybe I'm just out of practice since leaving university. Anyhow, rest of the week was spent doing bits of bench, push press and flips with my newly acquired tyre. Back to it Monday 4th April - ME upper Warm ups Bench 100 4 x 5 - happy with this considering my s**tty week previously Push press Doubles around 75-85 - easy Overhead lockouts, from forehead and up - various weights as it was my first time One-arm DB row - 4 x 6 @ 40 Barbell curls - 4 x 8 @ 25 Tidy enough session. Bench I'm happy with, will do 4s next week, then 3s, then 2s then finally test my max. I really want 125, it's been slower progress than I had imagined but I have had bouts of illness etc. Push press I enjoy so in the future I shall use 'repetition upper' (currently Thursday's workout) as overhead work with dumbell press or bench variants thrown in too, so I'm still benching twice a week. Overhead lockouts were ok but i'll go back to CGBP the next two weeks. NB: Need to figure out with my DeFranco-westside-esque way of training which lower body movements I'm going to do on which days... Currently thinking DE lower - Box jump, deadlift triples, romanians ME lower - Squats, SLDL, bulgarian split squat This way I heavy bench Monday, jump and heavy deadlift Tuesday, overhead and DB bench Thursday and squat Friday. Seems good to me, although I may move Thursday and Friday's workout back a day for more recovery and more time to do my cardio and other stuff. Something to ponder | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 22-03-2011 @ 19:56 | ||
| Hope so Wiegie. I toyed with the idea of a deload recently and I shall use the remainder of the week for that. Today didn't go as it should have done either Tuesday 22nd March - DE lower Box jumps Couple of sets around 40"... Felt a twinge in my lower abdomen and have felt it from time to time recently and attribute it to these. Left it here and decided to do some deadlift triples for a change and reduce the volume of leg work 120 x 3 140 x 3 160 x 3 - Tough Romanian deadlift 4 x 6 @ 90 Standing calf raise 3 x 10 Planks 3 x 50 seconds Reverse crunch 3 x 12 Disappointing again, not making the progress that I feel I should be. Naturally I'm athletic and fairly strong but it isn't currently showing. Going to leave it light this week and do repetition upper on Thursday but miss ME lower on Friday, just going for a jog or sprints. Visiting a buddy at the weekend so that will be chill. Back to the heavy stuff Monday | |||
| » Left over roast beef recipie ideas (Go to post) | 21-03-2011 @ 20:48 | ||
| Definitely the sandwich... A fresh baguette, loads of horseradish, a little chopped onion and a load of salad chucked in there. I think I need to go buy beef from Tesco now | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 21-03-2011 @ 20:10 | ||
| PM - ME upper Bench press Warm ups x many 105kg x 3 105 x 3 105 x 2 100 x 4 95 x 4 CGBP (hands 8" apart, so pretty close) 4 x 6 @ 75 DB row 4 x 6 @ 36 Shrugs 3 x 8 @ 80 (keeping shrugs strict these days, I see no benefit in hitching the weight 2 inches) Rear raises 3 x 10 Laterals 3 x 10 Hammer curls 3 x 10 Tiring session, haven't had a run the same day as a heavy workout for a while and maybe that took something out of me. I expected to breeze 105 4 x 3, alas, that didn't happen. I feel like my bench just isn't improving, the weeks of Westside were good for some things but I feel I could have spend them heavy benching instead of the 'special exercises', CGBP leaves my tris nice and tight, these are purely for my tris so I'm keeping the hands close and sacrificing pride with regard to the weights I could be pushing and still calling it 'close grip'. Switching to DB rows for a few weeks, leaving the bench rows for a while. Next will be bent-over rows. Everything else was fine. | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 21-03-2011 @ 16:10 | ||
| Monday 21st March AM - 20 minute jog Heavy upper later | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 19-03-2011 @ 21:54 | ||
| Sunday 19th March - ME lower Squat (RAW, beltless etc) Warm ups x many 110 x 3 120 x 3 120 x 3 130 x 3 PB triple 18" deadlift 160 x 4 180 x 4 180 x 4 160 x 4 Bulgarian split squat 2 x 10 @ 15kg each side Planks 3 x 1 minute Air bicycle 3 x 20 Really nice workout. No huge numbers but some definite steady progress. A good squat triple with more in the tank; all reps were solid, controlled and parallel. First time doing 18" deads and they were really tough, the 2 sets on 180 were horrible. I don't know if this confirms my suspicions of having a weak posterior (something I'm addressing) or just down to lack of practice in this lift. I know my 18" should be a lot more than my lift off the ground. I'll do these after squats for a few weeks as I need to get used to handling high weight for when get round to maxing on deadlift. I think i'll leave the speed deadlifts for my other lower body day. Bulgarians were difficult, balance is improving though. Many people swear by these so i'll keep them in my routine for now. | |||
| » Water (Go to post) | 19-03-2011 @ 10:17 | ||
| 10+/- pints daily, spread throughout the day. Sometimes wonder if that's too much but I've done it since I was 16 so I suppose I'm used to it now. | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 17-03-2011 @ 20:57 | ||
| Thursday 17th March - Repetition upper Basically, this replaces DE upper. Taken from DeFranco's Westside interpretation. The only huge difference is that there is no speed bench, instead, for now at least, DB bench. This is preceded by seated strict press, so I suppose this day focuses on 'overhead work' then various upper assistance. Going to DB bench for a while on this day as it will help with power off the chest due to the increased ROM, over time may switch this and the stricts around. Seated strict Warm ups x many 60 x 5, 5, 4, 3 50 x 10 Dumbell bench (for some reason very difficult) 4 x 8 @ 32 Pull ups 4 x 6 Shrugs 3 x 8 (thought I should stop here as I have ME lower tomorrow and want some upper back strength left for partial deads) One-arm overhead DB tricep extension 4 x 10 (today is higher volume/lower intensity, will go to 5 sets from now on) Alternate curls 3 x 10 (to balance the work I'm doing on my tris, nothing more) Fine. I find seated stricts really difficult, not sure why, other than the fact I have barely ever done them. The bench inclines to just short of 90 degress so my chin and head are in the way, I push up from my upper chest then have to push the weight away from me a couple of inches so I don't knock my chin/nose everytime, then another push upwards for the remaining 75% of the movement. I don't have a big hooter or a witches chin so I guess it's a case of getting used to the ROM. NB: Move shrugs to ME upper as they will hamper ME after this day. | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 16-03-2011 @ 19:00 | ||
| Thanks for the kind words Wiegie, we share something in that we have other physical commitments too yet still want to slog on and get some good PL totals. Hopefully the work pays off, I keep postponing my PB attempts, not sure if this is good or bad! Wednesday 16th March - good, fast paced 20 minute jog Comfortable, this will be a HIIT sprint session next week. 'Repetition Upper tomorrow, however, I'll begin with seated stricts to keep my shoulder strength moving on. | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 15-03-2011 @ 20:45 | ||
| Tuesday 15th March - DE lower Box jumps Top sets of 3 at 40" 43" 45" 45" 46" Speed deficit (3") deadlift 4 x 2 @ 120kg Romanian deadlift 4 x 6 @ 90 Standing calf raise 3 x 10 Weighted crunch (5kgs) 3 x 10 Reverse crunch 3 x 12 20kg plate holds 3 x F Easy session, really explosive with the box jumps. Speed deads were fine, I'm doing 4 x 2 instead of 8 x 1 for 2 or 3 weeks just for a change. Romanians felt easy, hams must be getting stronger.. I do these uber strict so they really focus on my hams. | |||
| » Tim's journal - General athlete with powerlifting aspirations (Go to post) | 14-03-2011 @ 22:36 | ||
| Last Friday (the 11th) I had a friend come over and use my gym. We got box jumping and it soon became pretty competitive, I jumped ~47" in my top set which I was happy with for my second ever session of box jumps. Later on for dynamic effort lower I felt s**tty (maybe from the jumping) so abandoned the sesh and just did some lighter squats and SLDLs, quads were really sore and I felt generally exhausted. So, I looked at my regime, what's working and what isn't, reminded myself on what my aims are and made some more tweaks. I'm changing the order of my workouts; Monday - ME upper but with sets of 3-4 reps of bench for a few weeks, as opposed to a heavy single on floor press or something; DE lower on Tuesdays, keeping jumps in the place of speed box squat; Repetition upper on Thursdays (instead of DE upper, main difference is DB bench or similar for sets of 8 instead of the speed bench and finally ME lower on Friday, keeping to heavy triples on squats as my big first exercise. This is taken mainly from DeFranco's Westside and suits me better. As much as I want to increase my 3 lifts, that isn't my only goal so an all out PL regime isn't for me. I'll do some speed bench work in the near future. Monday 14th - ME upper Bench 4 x 4 @ 100 (wanted a little more but I haven't been repping much recently) CG bench 4 x 6 @ 70 (really strict and hands 8" apart, this hit the tris nicely so i'll keep hands closer for the immediate future) Bench rows 4 x 6 @ 60 (keeping these strict, really want that upper back strength) Rear raises 3 x 10 Lateral raises 3 x 10 Hammer curls Nice easy session, will bench 3s for the next 2 weeks and then go for some doubles after that. This session isn't too dissimilar to what I was doing before, just more reps for the first exercise. DE lower tomorrow, looking forward to some box jump sets at 45" | |||
| » 130 kg x 3 RAW bench press @ 67kg (Go to post) | 14-03-2011 @ 20:08 | ||
| Very impressive I read a bit on your journal regarding your rabbit theory (no warm ups etc)... How long have you put this into practice for and would you say you have had positive results from it? (Judging by this bench video I'm assuming yes to the second question) | |||