Return of the King

BossArky

Thursday August 30th:

DB Clean (seated) ... light warm up ... too light
3kg - 2x6
---
Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 3x6

Machine Row (supinated grip)
50kg - 1x10
60kg - 3x10
---
Sumo Deadlift (beltless)
60kg - 1x6
90kg - 3x6

Face Pulls
setting 5 - 3x10
---
Squats
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x6
70kg - 3x6

Calf Raise (standing, frame)
frame + 80kg - 3x12
---
DB Fly
5kg per arm - 3x10 ... nice stretch

DB Hanging Curls (lying flat on bench)
5kg per arm - 3x10
---
Front Raise
5kg per arm - 3x10

Lateral Raise
5kg per arm - 3x10

Reverse Fly
3kg per arm - 3x10

Crunch
3x20

Ham Curl
45kg - 3x10
---

Think that was it. Feeling a bit feverish: headache/dry cough.

Bench felt heavier than it should have, due to additional bench last session (i.e. heavy DBs). Not recovered fully yet. Took it a bit easier on assistance.

BossArky

Last Tuesday (August 27th) I took my bodyweight first thing in the morning: 82kg on the dot. Will try to increase this to about 84kg as I build up this cycle towards come back comp on Oct 26th.

BossArky

Sunday September 1st:

Crunch
3x20

BossArky

Monday Sept 2nd:

DB Clean (seated, no back rest)
7.5kg - 4 or 5x6
---
Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x5
82.5kg - 3x6

Machine Row (supinated grip)
65kg - 3x10 ... I like this
---
Sumo Deadlift (beltless)
60kg - 1x6
70kg - 3x6

Arnold Press
15kg DB per arm - 3x8
---
Squats
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x6
*belt*
90kg - 3x6

DB Bench
30kg - 2x6
---
Front Squat
60kg - 2x5
60kg - 1x2... abandoned third set after two reps as wrists were gonna snap from proper grip and bar wouldn't lodge on shoulders in other hands crossed girp

Front Raise
7.5kg per arm - 3x10

Lateral Raise
7.5kg per arm - 3x10
---
Squat frame machine thing (not Smith Machine)
frame - 1x10
frame+20kg - 1x10
frame+40kg - 3x10

Ham Curl
50kg - 3x10
---

Good.

BossArky

Tuesday September 3rd:

Run ~3km untimed but took around 15-18 mins I'd say.

BossArky

Thursday Sept 5th:

DB Clean (seated, no back rest)
6kg - 3x6
---
Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 1x6, 4x3 ... The set of 6 reps may be a pb. Wasn't going to get another two sets of 85kg - 2x6 so broke them each in half instead of fail gloriously

Pull Ups (Wide Grip)
3x6 ... I suck at these. Struggle to get mouth to bar. Weak compared to my parallel grip chins.

Machine Row (supinated grip)
70kg - 3x10 ... cool exercise
---
Sumo Deadlift (beltless)
60kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x6
100kg - 2x6, 1x4 ... back tweaked in last set so dropped it and didn't bother squatting either. Should always wear belt on these...

Military Press
20kg - 1x10 (5 to front, 5 to back)
30kg - 1x10 (5 to front, 5 to back)
40kg - 1x10 (5 to front, 5 to back)
40kg - 1x5
---
Squat frame machine thing (not Smith Machine)
frame - 1x10
frame+40kg - 3x10
---
DB Fly
10kg - 2x10
6kg - 2x10
---
Barbell Curl
40kg - 2x8, 3x3
---
Tricep Ext (behind head, standing)
6kg - 3x20 ... something light for a change instead of harassing my elbow joints
---
Seated Calves
25kg - 3x15

Reverse Calves
bodyweight - 3x15 ... didn't realize I had muscles on the front of my lower legs
---

Annoyingly tweaked back again and ended up hobbling about with sciatica for a few days on left leg. Almost cleared up as I type this 4 days later.

BossArky

Saturday September 7th:

Run ~4km in 21:38.

Strava app seems to go slightly haywire sometimes and miscalculate both time and distance. The above is close enough to what I was expecting, if not slightly faster. Happy enough considered it is only the third time I've ran in approx 6 years!

Target is to do a 5km in <25mins by Oct 10th. Why? Because I want to.

Adding in a bit more cardio in prep for the Oz summer, and also for the actual health benefits. i.e. heart health... given the fact that my father had a heart attack at the end of April.

It's refreshing to go for some nice runs. I'm surpised that it feels way easier than I ever remember running felt before. Perhaps the 5km roundtrip walk to work over the past 2 years has conditioned my feet and toughed them up.

BossArky

Sunday September 8th:

Swim 500m ... nice to swim outdoors in a 50m pool with the sun gleaming off my pale skin.

I topped up my pool access card with 20 sessions to cover my cardio buzz in the coming month. Slightly switching focus from wrecking my body with weights to actually doing things which are good for my body. This dosen't mean I'm switching focus from the powerlifting competition on Oct 26th. Will still aim for that. The Squat & Deadlift cycles should still be manageable as they're just at moderate weights by the end.

BossArky

Monday September 9th:

DB Clean (standing, for a change)
5kg - 3x6
---
Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x5
87.5kg - 6x3 ... easy

Chin Ups (parallel grip)
3x6 ... so easy. Feels like nothing, thanks to months of pounding the weighted ones

Machine Row (supinated grip)
75kg - 3x10 ... just 5kg off max stack

Reverse Calves
bodyweight - 3x15
---
Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x6
75g - 3x6

DB Curl
15kg per arm - 3x10
---
Squat
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x6
85kg - 1x3
100kg - 3x6

DB Standing Press Press
20kg per arm- 3x6
---
Ham Curl
50kg - 3x10

Tricep Ext (behind head, standing)
10kg per arm - 3x10
---
Crunch
3x20

Seated Calves
30kg - 3x15
25kg - 3x15
20kg - 3x15
---
DB Fly
5kg - 1x10 ... to stretch out chest
---

Felt like Gonzilla after that, so all good.

BossArky

Tuesday September 10th:

Run (outdoors): 3km in 16:11.

Wet night. Got some blood flowing. Right knee tiny bit sore.

BossArky

Tuesday September 11th: morning @5:30am

Swim (outdoors) 600m in 16 minutes i.e. 12 lengths of 50m pool alternating breast stroke with front crawl per length.

Went with neighbour. He set off at a great clip but I steadily caught him and overtook in the last couple of lengths. He had garlic the night before, so it was comical.... I'd come up for a breathe of air & get a full waft of garlic in the face from his exhales in the lane to left. Car stunk for the next couple of hours too.

Feeling pretty knackered as I write this in the afternoon. Need some good food and rest tonight.

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Thursday Sept 5th:

Bench (little finger on ring)
85kg - 1x6, 4x3 ... The set of 6 reps may be a pb. Wasn't going to get another two sets of 85kg - 2x6 so broke them each in half instead of fail gloriously

I checked back and it looks like that 85kg for 6 reps was a pb.

I've done 86kg - 3x5, 88.5kg - 3x5, 90kg - 3x5.... but never 85kg for 6 reps... until last Thursday.

BossArky

Thursday Sept 12th:

DB Clean (standing, no back rest)
5kg - 4x10
---
Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 6x3 ... ok. Did some good elblow tucking on first few sets which felt good & more lats. Elbows came out as latter sets got more tiring. Slightly wary of forearms bending back onto chin as I tire.

Machine Row (supinated grip)
80kg - 3x10 ... max stack :cool:
---
Chin Ups (parallel grip)
3x6 ... simple.
---
Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x6
75kg - 1x6 ... forgot I was supposed to be doing heavy deads, not light and misjudged ramp up warm up weight. Should have done 90kg.
105kg - 3x6 ... fine

DB Standing Press
20kg - 3x6
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
75kg - 3x6

Face Pulls
Setting 5 - 3x10
---

Good.

BossArky

Friday September 13th: morning @5:30am

Swim (outdoors) 700m in 19 minutes i.e. 14 lengths of 50m pool alternating breast stroke with front crawl per length.

Went with neighbour again (& beat him by approx 20 metres). Had an oxygen deprivation headache at the end. I slowly get myself into oxygen debt the longer I swim. Technique needs a lot of improvement. Toying with getting a lesson or two to aid improvement, but that is about item 54 on list of priorities at the moment.

BossArky

Sunday September 15th:

Cycle 13.5km with BabyArky in the bike trailer

BossArky

Sunday September 15th:

Run (outdoors): 4.4km in 23:27.

Faster than expected. Was feeling pretty drained in the first few mins, probably due to cycle earlier in the day. Was doing ok by the end and time wasn't too bad.

BossArky

Monday September 16th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x6
75g - 3x6

Face Pulls
Setting 5 - 3x10
---
Squat
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x6
90kg - 1x3
105kg - 3x6

Chin Ups (parallel grip)
3x6 ... again, so easy. Almost getting hands down to nipples, if not a bit lower. Maybe not far off a muscle up
---
DB Clean (standing, for a change)
5kg - 3x6
---
Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
92.5kg - 3x2 ... was supposed to be 6x3 but knew on the first set that bench was in the toilet due to all the recent cardio the date before (bike 13.5km & run 4.4km)

Machine Row (supinated grip)
80kg - 3x10 ... max stack
---
DB Curl
15kg per arm - 3x10
---
Military Press
20kg - 1x10 (5 in front of neck, 5 behind)
30kg - 1x10 (5 in front of neck, 5 behind)
40kg - 1x5 (was gonna do another 5 behind but was knackered so didn't)
50kg - 2x5 ... too tired to do 3 sets
40kg - 1x5
---
Ham Curl
55kg - 2x10 ... forgot to do 3rd set
---
Crunch
2x20 ... forgot to do 3rd set

Seated Calves
30kg - 3x15
---
Tricep Ext (behind head, standing, three quarter reps to keep strain on tricep i.e. no lock-out)
7.5kg per arm - x20, x15, x10

Three Quarter Bench (i.e. not locking out to keep tension on pecs)
20kg - 1x10
40kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x6
---

Bench was screwed up due to too much cardio the day before. Went a bit off-piste afterwards. Did too much.

Hanley

Another good tension on the pec trick - try and pul your hands together while they're on the bar (rather than pulling out!)

BossArky

Thursday September 19th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x6
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 3x6 ... fine

Face Pulls
Setting 5 - 3x10
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
75kg - 3x6

Chin Ups (parallel grip)
3x6 ... simple.
---
Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x1
95kg - 3x2 ... handy enough after first set.

Machine Row (supinated grip)
80kg - 3x10 ... max stack
---
DB Incline Press
30kg - 1x8
25kg - 1x8
20kg - 1x8

DB Curl
17.5kg per arm - 1x10
15kg per arm - 1x10
12.5kg per arm - 1x10
---
Tricep Ext (behind head, standing, full ROM)
10kg - 1x10
10kg - 4x5 ... two heavy to continue with two more sets of 10, so broke them down
---
Crunch (feet on bench)
3x25

Pec Fly stretch (holding at bottom)
5kg per arm - 3x3
---

Good. Took a Tuesday & Wednesday off to recover. Bench fine. Deadlift ok too.

BossArky

Saturday September 21st: First race in a long time

Run 5km in 26:29

Pretty happy with that. That was my first competitive run in 7 years, since the London triathlon of 2006 or 2007. These park runs take place every week so I'll do them often when I can. Target was to get under 27:30 (i.e. 5:30 per km) but suprisingly beat that by 1 minute. Want to get it down to 25mins for the sake of general fitness, whilst still increasing the big 3.

BossArky

Monday September 23rd:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x6
80kg - 3x6

Chin Ups
3x6
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
*belt*
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 3x6

Face Pulls
Setting 5 - 3x10
---
YTWL
5kg per arm- 4x6

DB Clean (incline bench, face down)
5kg per arm - 3x6

Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x1
97.5kg - 3x2 ... pb

Machine Row (supinated grip)
40kg - 3x10
---
Incline Press
25kg per arm - 1x8
20kg per arm - 1x8
15kg per arm - 1x8

EZ Curl
bar +20kg (27.5kg total?) - 3x8
---
Tricep Ext (behind head, standing)
10kg per arm - 3x10

Ham Curl
40kg - 3x12
---
Hanging Leg Raise
3x6 ... breaking into these easily. Haven't done them for ages

Calves (standing, frame)
frame + 70kg - 3x12
---

Happy with the bench pb. Next stop is repping 100kg (which hopefully will be in approx 4 weeks when peaking for Oct 26th comp). Bodyweight in and around 82.5kg.

Squats and Deads were supposed to be 3x5, but forgot and did 3x6. Weights light at moment anyway so dosen't really matter.

BossArky

Tuesday September 24th: morning @5:30am

Swim (outdoors) 800m ... 16 lengths of 50m pool alternating breast stroke with front crawl per length.

Hopped into pool and started swimming. Wondered why I felt less aerodynamic than usual. Turns out I hadn't changed out of the actual lower body clothes I wore driving to the pool (i.e shorts). Had to drive home in the wet then. That's what you get for training so early. Took the swimming handy and 800m felt easier than last week's 700m.

BossArky

Thursday September 26th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
95kg - 1x3
115kg - 3x5 ... fine

Face Pulls
Setting 6 - 3x10
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
80kg - 3x6

Chin Ups
3x6 ... quick supersets amongst Squats. Pumping sweat afterwards
---
DB external rotation (L something, standing) ... saw this exercise on some website yesterday. Totally burns up some tiny muscle at back of shoulder
3kg - 2x10
5kg - 2x10
6kg - 1x10
6kg - 4x10

Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 3x5
*add slingshot (red original)*
60kg - 1x5
70kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x5 ... easy five. Could have done more. Slingshot rocks!

Machine Row (supinated grip)
40kg - 3x10 ... light stuff

Seated Unilateral Machine Row
15kg per arm - 1x10 ... got sidetracked and forgot to do more
---
DB Press (standing)
10kg per arm - 3x15

Ham Curl
45kg - 3x12
---
Ab Pull Down
setting 10 - 1x10
setting 15 - 1x10
setting 20 - 1x10 ... max stack

Hanging Leg Raise
3x6 ... superset straight away after Ab Pull Down. Abs on fire by end
---

Bench deload today half way through cycle as I build towards Oct 26th comp.

Got a loan of a slingshot from a friend (the Mark Bell bench overload device). It was cool! Worked up to an easy 100kg x5. Felt like I could have done 8-10. Didn't go higher as today was supposed to be a deload after all. Looking forward to going heavier in the coming weeks.

BossArky

Sunday September 29th:

Cycle 28.6km with BabyArky in the bike trailer

Slightly drizzily on the way back. Nice weather for a cycle nonethless. Went out east by the train tracks and came back along the river.

BossArky

Monday September 30th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 3x5

Face Pulls
Setting 7 - 3x10
---
Squat
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
100kg - 1x3
115kg - 3x5

Chin Ups
3x6
---
L external Rotaion (standing)
3kg per arm - 2x10
5kg per arm - 3x10

Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 3x6
*slingshot*
80kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x5
110kg - unracked & blood rush to head almost blacked out so reracked and called it quits on bench for today

Ham Curl
50kg - 3x8 ... supersets with bench slingshot sets. Bad idea. Too tiring
---
Incline Press
20kg per arm - 3x8

DB Curl
10kg per arm - 3x10
---

Luckily didn't actually blackout on the 110kg slingshot bench attempt. Was close to it though. Lesson to self, don't try that again unless with safetys or decent spotter in place. I did ask one of the trainers to spot me, and it agreed... however there was no way he would have lifted 110kg off me if I had failed.

Should be able to get 110kg easily with some decent food and rest. Today I didn't eat much and was a bit tired. Also need to be careful supersetting these heavy slingshot benches with other stuff. Focus focus.

Squat 115kg - 3x5 was good.

Deadlift 80kg - 3x5. I took a video for a form check. Video to follow. Looks fine. Back nice and upright as would be expected on sumo. I'll take another video when I do heavy Deadlift on Thurdsay to see if form holds up under additional weight.

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
80kg - 3x5

Deadlift 80kg - 3x5. I took a video of the second set for a form check. Video to follow. Looks fine. Back nice and upright as would be expected on sumo. I'll take another video when I do heavy Deadlift on Thurdsay to see if form holds up under additional weight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VK8Bf0autw

BossArky

Tuesday October 1th: evening

Run (outdoors) 3km in 17:23

Started off really slow as was tired. Felt all achy in the joints, but it cleared up well after 1km and I could speed up. Time was pretty slow due to initial slow km. Was a good run nonetheless. Enjoying the fresh air.

BossArky

Wednesday October 2th: morning @5:30am

Swim (outdoors) 700m ... 14 lengths of 50m pool alternating breast stroke with front crawl per length.

Nice sun rise as I was drying off by the pool. Starting to get brighter earlier and the weeks of 40 degrees straight aren't too far away

BossArky

Thursday October 4th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 3x5 ... fine

Face Pulls
Setting 7 - 3x10
---
Squat
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 3x5

Chin Ups
3x6 ... quick supersets amongst Squats. easy
---
DB external rotation (L something, standing)
3kg - 3x10

Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x5
87.5kg - 6x3 ... fine
*add slingshot*
90kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x5
105kg - 1x5 ... fine

Machine Row (supinated grip)
45kg - 3x10

One Arm DB Row
30kg per arm - 3x6
---
DB Press (standing)
20kg per arm - 3x8

Ham Curl
50kg - 3x
---
Incline Bench
60kg - 3x8

Calf Raise (machine frame)
40kg - 1x12
80kg - 2x12
---
Ab Crunch (feet on bench)
2x30

Shoulder Stretch
2x ~30 secs to 1 min
---

Deadlift 120kg - 3x5 was fine.

Helped two guys with their bench technique.

Increased the slingshot bench by 5kg. 105kg felt fine for 5.

Got to gym by 6:30pm. Finished Squats & Deads by 7pm.... then was on bench forever (maybe 75 mins).

Good.

BossArky

Monday October 7th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 3x5

Face Pulls
Setting 7 - 3x10
---
Squat
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
95kg - 1x3
120kg - 3x5
*overload i.e walk out & static hold*
150kg for ~10 seconds
155kg for ~10 seconds
160kg for ~10 seconds

Chin Ups
3x6
---
L external Rotation (standing)
3kg per arm - 2x10
5kg per arm - 2x10

Bench (little finger on ring)
20kg - 1x6
60kg - 1x5
80kg – 1x3
90kg – 6x3
*slingshot*
95kg - 1x5
102.5kg - 1x5
107.5kg – 1x5 … fine. Spotter was a tool.

Seated Row
55kg - 3x10

One Arm DB Row
30kg - 3x6
---
Incline Press
20kg per arm - 3x10

Ham Curl
40kg - 3x12 ... light stuff
---
Hanging Leg Raise (feet to bar)
3x6
---

Bench was good. Spotter was a tool. Didn’t want to spot me on the slingshot 107.5kg x5 as “if you fail I’ll catch it and you’ll be fine but I will injure my back”. WTF? In the end he gave in and stood there nervously. Wouldn’t mind but he is a big dude of 104kg and works as a personal trainer in the gym. This spurred me on to blast the 5 reps totally clean as a f-u to him. Slingshot bench increased by 2.5kg on last set (i.e. the spotted one). Felt fine.

There were 2 other strange cases in tonight. One guy is aggressive and tried to jump onto bench when it was obvious I was about to sit down on it. Told him to piss off (more politely than that). Another guy kept staring at me after asking how many sets in the Squat rack I had left. I had previously seen him pressing 40kg out of the rack. He is another big dude (6 foot + and probably around 95 kg)… so I was going to suggest to him that he didn’t need a rack for 40kg military press. Anyway, I finished off my last Squat set and then realized I needed to do the overloads too… which probably pissed this guy off further as he had to wait another 5 mins.

Static holds of 150/155/160 were good on Squat. 160 felt very heavy… but at least now I know I can hold it without folding. Psychological bonus++.

In bits as I write this the next day. Woke at 2am after about 3 hours sleep. Body was eating itself after heavy bench & squat so I got up and ate something. Couldn’t sleep afterwards.

Overall: good.