AK's Journal

iaink


I cannot read 'helmet' press with a straight face... ever.. period!

Nice Push pressing session back, and good to see continued back squatin!

LOL, i don't blame you! I'm just waiting for someone to invent a bell pull now

dirtyvest


High reps squats, pah!!!

Solid work there tho fella. I would keep the Helmet press seated tho, definately. It's for developing the strength and power on the tri-s and lockout, no need to complicate that lift IMHO.

Yup, same as my thinking now!

Todays training;

Back

Deadlifts

150kgx5
155kgx5
160kgx5

Barbell Row

Skipped - see below

Chins

BWx11
BWx6
BWx5

Cable Row

63kgx10
56kgx10
56kgx10

DB Shrugs

Skipped

Facepulls & stretching to finish.

Bit of a mish mash session today. Had two very poor nights sleep by normal standards the last two nights so my lower back has been playing up some. Had to be conservative with the deads, although seemed OK once i was warmed up.

160 was probably within 2.5-5kg of my 5RM today taking into account the prior sets. I could feel if/when my hips were coming up a tad early so there'll be no ego crusade to get the numbers up - next week ill start at 155 and gauge how i go from there.

The only downside was this wore me out quite a bit and my hips too - i wasn't able to hold the right angle for BB rows without getting hip in the left rear side of my hip. Wasn't going to mess around with it so just go through what i could. Few good nights sleep and i should be right as rain on this - happened before and will probably happen again, just a case of getting through each episode unscathed and not aggravating it with stuff that'll overload it (i.e free-weight rows and shrugs!!)

Good session mate. If you feel you are compromising postural form afterwards tho I would look to chuck in supported lifts on those occassions

I think part of it is that i'm still learning to DL properly - when i was warming up and looking in the mirror there were odd twinges, yet as soon as i turned around and forced myself to 'feel' the lift things were a lot lot better.

As for not being able to row etc afterwards - i don't think it's any more than just the crap sleep catching up with me, things are generally tight for 10 minutes in the morning if i'm in a good sleeping pattern but after that i'm fine. Tends to get worse if i sleep poorly but it's almost expected since i'm not giving myself a good enough recovery!

Something to keep an eye on for sure, but at present i think my prehab work is doing its fair share for now.

I always DL facing a mirror (just always have done) but I'm never actually 'looking' if that makes sense, not at my form anyway. I think you can find yourself trying to perform a YMCA text book DL rather than following your natural groove, not mention your focus being elsewhere.

Do you train early then?

Nope not really! Finish work at 4 so i'm probably on the gym floor about 4:20-4:30 and warming up. I dont think even on the best days i could train lower body effectively within 4-5 hours of being up for now. It just seems to be a common occurence that if my sleep pattern buggers itself, then so does my back for a few days. I'm not sure whether it's a case of muscles, ligaments or other structures tightening up or not recovering properly or what.

My cousin recently qualified as a chiro and mentioned that the local inflammation around chronic back injuries or little niggles actually turns into a 'gel' due to your horizontal position when you sleep coupled with a change in hydrostatic pressure (from being on your side vs standing up) and blood pressure when you sleep. Once you're up and about it all dissipates from the local tissues and things calm down. Not quite sure how it's affected with sleep deprivation though.

Looking in the mirror i try and do the same to not look at myself, but i always seem to do it regardless and lose so much awareness of where i am, despite looking in the mirror! Squats i can avert my attention a bit better because the bars obviously on my back rather than on the floor but deads i end up hunching forward and making it all lower back and no legs.

Good sess pal. Sometimes barbell rows can be a step too much after deadlifting if your back just isn't having it.

Yup - it seems to be that particular point of back flexion that caused it. When i was warming up, coming through that zone on the way down for DL's was a bit niggly (only when i was looking in the mirror mind you!). If it becomes persistent i'll chuck Deads onto the start of my glute/ham day instead, no harm done.

On the way down? Do you focus on the way down being a controlled negative or do you 'go with the flow' on the way down?

I used to do DLs at the end of my back day with no problems.

Negatives are always controlled on the way down.

At a guess - when i'm facing a mirror the bar may drift further away from me than it should do, whereas when i'm facing a wall or whatever the bar grinds down my knees & shins more.

Maybe an earlier knee bend in the working stuff too - sooner the knees are unlocked the sooner the load's transferred away from the hips perhaps.

How controlled?

With a DL TBH you don't want or need a controlled negative in the same way as you would with other lifts. I keep hold and follow it down but I don't try and control the bar on the way down. It could be that if you are, to a degree, fighting the want for a heavy loaded bar to drop straight down then perhaps that is playing your back up.

Look at heavy DLers and how the bar goes down, it's not out of control, but they aren't trying to control it either.

Fair point really! I'm not sure how long i take on the descent - not a massively long negative but i don't just go flaccid and let it drop Back is feeling a lot better after 2 better nights sleep so things are a lot better mobility wise.

Chest/Biceps

Flat BB Bench

107.5kgx4+1
100kgx5+1
95kgx

Decline DB

40kgx6
37.5kgx6
32.5kgx7

Cable Crossovers

17.5kgx10
15kgx12
12.5kgx10 > 7.5kgx15

Smith Floor Press

65kgx8
60kgx8

Barbell Curl

35kgx10
30kgx10


Incline DB Curl

15kgx10
10kgx12

Cable Curl

Done on a different machine - no point recording the weight

Stretching to finish.

Good session today - was happy with the flat work and the assisted reps didn't feel like masses of the bar were being taken which was nice. Assistance work was done in a bit of an ad-hoc order as the gym was quite busy.

So the cable curls were REALLY light then yeah

Quite strong on the DB Dec work considering the previous Flat work.

Nice session mate.

Whats the advantage of incline curls over standard?

James M


Nice session mate.

Whats the advantage of incline curls over standard?

I find if you stick a bench 1 or 2 clicks back from the most upright position it gives a little more stretch on the bi's when you have them by your sides whilst the other one curls - give it a go and see if it's any better!

dirtyvest


So the cable curls were REALLY light then yeah

Quite strong on the DB Dec work considering the previous Flat work.

'course not, balls to the wall or not at all

Yeah i was quite happy with that too! Turned into a bit of a lower rep session than anticipated but my chest was sparko after the above. Hopefully i can crack 107 for 6 next week and put some more weight on the bar!

Will try it on my next session

Re: inc curls.

The biceps attach over the shoulder joint so by sitting back on an inclined bench so your arms in effect reach behind you, you increase the stretch and ROM on the bicep. Expect to lighten the load tho

dirtyvest


Re: inc curls.

The biceps attach over the shoulder joint so by sitting back on an inclined bench so your arms in effect reach behind you, you increase the stretch and ROM on the bicep. Expect to lighten the load tho

Good info, thanks.

Glutes/Hamstrings/Calves

RDL

100kgx10
100kgx10
90kgx10

Seated Calf Raise/Standing Ham Curl Superset

70kgx20/40kgx10
70kgx10/40kgx10
60kgx12/35kgx10

Glute-Ham Raises

BWx10
BWx10

Cable Pullthroughs

31.5kgx10
31.5kgx10

Leg Press Calf Raise

140kgx20
140kgx15
120kgx20

Core work and stretching to finish.

Lovely session, my hams and calves are absolutely nuked. RDL's were fine on my back - stopped 2 inches or so below my knees to maintain the arch, forearms were fcked though, haven't had to grip a bar raw for so long in ages!

Enjoyed the superset too - as i found out the calves act as a weak knee extensor i thought it'd add to the calf blast, will be keeping it in for a while

Ak, do you know of any sites to illustrate stretching? calfs, hams and quads?

I'm thinking I'm not warming up enough and stretching cause my legs are feeling heavy as fcuk whilst running, slightly painful too....could warming up or lack of it cause this? or am I fcuked?

I only ask you cause you want to do this sh1t for a living, well I'm your patient now!

Is the amount of running catching up with you do you think (i.e in terms of rest/nutrition etc) or is it a bit hit and miss sometimes whether it comes about?

Exrx has a few i think - http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Choose a muscle from the right hand column and theres a handful on the right hand side again.

Failing that just chuck 'quadricep/hamstring/calf/knob' stretch into google images and it'll probably throw something good up.

Thought about doing any soft tissue work too or is that too bender-like?