Return of the King

BossArky

Monday December 23rd:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 3x5
---
Squat
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 1x2
130kg - 3x5 ... fine. Got video of 3 set
---
Front Squat
75kg - 3x5 ... fine
---
Ham Curl
40kg - 3x8
---
Calves (standing, frame) ... assuming all plates were 20s even though I know some were 25s
40kg - 1x12
80kg - 1x12
120kg - 1x12
---

Pretty happy to end the 3x5s on 130kg for Squat.

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Monday December 23rd:

Squat
130kg - 3x5 ... fine. Got video of 3rd set

Pretty happy to end the 3x5s on 130kg for Squat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLFXcMX0FOo

BossArky

Tuesday December 24th: Smolov JR Bench Day 11 of 12

Bench ... ALL PAUSED
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x2
87.5kg - 8x4 ... fine
*add slingshot*
95kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x3

Chin Ups
bodyweight - 3x6

Lat Pull Down
75kg - 3x8

One Arm DB Row
20kg per arm - 3x8 ... light
---

Bench day 11 of 12. Still fine. Left shoulder or neck slightly strained. Not sure if it was from sleeping in awkward position or from Squats yesterday. Just noticed it after first bench set. Didn't impact the bench work. Powered through the sets, whilst helping mother with her stuff too.

BossArky

Tuesday December 24th:

Cycle 28.5km

First cycle in a long time that I did without baby trailer connected on the back. Shot off like a bullet!

BossArky

Thursday December 26th:

Cycle 16.8km with BabyArky in bike trailer.

BossArky

Friday December 27th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
115kg - 1x2
130kg - 1x1
140kg - 2x2 ... Easy. Video of both sets to follow
---
Squat
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 3x5
---
Front Squat
60kg - 3x5 ... Easy peasy
---
45 Degree Back Raise
bodyweight - 3x10
---
Calves (standing, frame) ... assuming all plates were 20s even though I know some were 25s
40kg - 1x12
80kg - 1x12
120kg - 1x12
---

Jesus. Deadlifts are flying. Doubles on 140kg felt like nothing. Good cycle that was. The rest was light stuff.

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Friday December 27th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
140kg - 2x2 ... Easy. Video of both sets to follow
---

Jesus. Deadlifts are flying. Doubles on 140kg felt like nothing. Good cycle that was. The rest was light stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQMAikZ01KU

BossArky

Saturday December 28th: Smolov JR Bench Day 12 of 12

Bench
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
92.5kg - 10x3 ... Easy
*add slingshot*
95kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x3

Chin Ups
bodyweight - 3x6

Lat Pull Down
60kg - 3x8

One Arm DB Row
20kg per arm - 3x8 ... light

Face Pulls
Setting 5 - 3x10
---

Smolov Jr.Bench day 12 of 12. Easy. Powered through it.

Undecided on whether I'll actually bother going for a 1 rep max in a few days. I know I got stronger as the latter weeks of this bench cycle were a breeze. Body weight went from 83 to 86kg.

Will sit down to plan when to run this for bench again in coming days. Will give it a break for at least a couple of weeks and throw in some shoulder pressing probably for variety during deload.

Just got Squat doubles on 137.5kg to go on Monday before I can sign this cycle off as most productive one in 2.5 years. Feeling great.

BossArky

Saturday December 28th:

Cycle 16.7km with BabyArky in bike trailer.
---

Round trip to the zoo.

BossArky

Monday December 30th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 3x5
---
Squat
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
90kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
120kg - 1x1
130kg - 1x1
137.5kg - 2x2 ... Tough as knackered from recent cycling. Videos to follow
---
Front Squat
60kg - 3x5
---
Ham Curl
40kg - 1x8 ... Forgot to do sets 2 & 3. Was sidetracked training my father. Also forgot to do calves.
---

Oh yeah! Delighted to finish this entire cycle on the big 3 successfully.

Squat is up 5kg on last cycle. Deadlift is up 7.5kg... and Bench has been successfully Smolov'd.

Immense feeling of satisfaction when you come through 10-12 weeks of hard work, nutrition, sleeping and training right.

Was feeling pretty drained before Squats this morning and wondered if I should take an extra day or rest. Didn't. Was at Hopman Cup tennis yesterday where seats were up about a million steps towards the back. Every step up I was thinking how this was gonna make the Squats harder, lol. Parents are visiting too so I've been doing lots of km's around the city with them on the bike which doesn't particularly make me sore... just eats into energy.

That is the backstory to Squatting 137.5kg 2x2 this morning. To make matters worse there were a few distractions:

1) forgot my knee sleeves
2) squat rack was in use so had to prolong warm up
3) on one warm up set I wasn't concentrating and had 50kg on one side with only 30kg on other. Unracked it and got lopsided

Got the job done regardless :pac:

Bodyweight 85.8kg this morning.

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Monday December 30th:

Squat
137.5kg - 2x2 ... Tough as knackered from recent cycling. Videos to follow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyqGh3JygSU

BossArky

Tuesday December 31st:

Cycle 30km with BabyArky in bike trailer.
---

Perth to Freo. Nice cycle to finish off the year. Plastered myself in sun cream... with the exception of calves. They are burnt to a crisp as I type this.

Worked out that I burn about 34% additional calories pulling the bike trailer over 30km. Would be around 700 cals if just myself on bike. Trailer and its contents (12.5kg + 14kg) has me burning about another 240 cals over the 30km. Rounding up to take hills and headwind into account gives me a calorie burn of approx 1000 cals over the 30km.

Those figures could be way off but are the best approximation I can find online. Another option is "just double it" ie 700x2 = 1400 cals... but I think that is over estimating the effort.

BossArky

Thursday January 2nd: Deload

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 1x3
100kg - 3x6
---
Squat
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
70kg - 1x3
80kg - 3x8
---
Front Squat
40kg - 3x8
---
Incline DB Bench
20kg per arm - 3x8
---
DB Shrug
20kg per arm - 1x10
22.5kg per arm - 1x10
25kg per arm - 1x10
---
Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x10

Tricep Pushdown
Setting 10 - 1x10
Setting 12 - 1x10
Setting 14 - 1x10
---

Todaywas a light deload session combined with the beginning of new Deadlift and Squat cycle. Was training both parents again today so was slightly sidetracked. Had been meaning to include other exercises for this deload session e.g. Pendlay Rows.

Next competition is Saturday April 12th. Yesterday I sat down to map out my plan to peak for that date. Was caught between running a looonnnnggg cycle of 14 weeks.... or two shorter cycles of 7 weeks back to back. I went for the option of two short 7 week cycles back to back.

Will push Squat up 2.5kg in each 7 week cycle (5kg by comp over two cycles) and Deadlift 5kg in each (10kg by comp). The 7 week cycles mean I can also take a week off Bench at the beginning of each cycle for deload and then run Smolov Jr. at half pace (2 sessions per week) which will take the remaining 6 weeks of each cycle.

This plan should lead to numbers of Squat 155 / Bench 105 / Deadlift 175 for a 435kg total on April 12th. For reference I'm currently around 150/102.5/165. Life time best in competition from 2.5 years ago was 152.5/100/180.

Targets for 2014? Stay injury free and keep making incremental progress on the big 3 cycle on cycle.

Happy New Year!

kevpants

Great to see you flying after all the injury crap the last few years. Sumos look great. Tip I picked up about the start position was to try to bring the hips forward over the bar as much as possible but not necessarily lower. I found myself going too low once I got warmed up and my hips loosened out and in reality it didn't help at all. Really noticing extra pop off the ground now that I concentrate on bringing them forward more than pushing them down.

BossArky

Saturday January 4th:

Surfing for ~30 mins
---

Wild ocean. Got washed about 500 metres down the beach each time I came in. Dumped the board after a while and went swimming instead. In the 10 mins without rashguard on I got burnt shoulders from the noon sun. The WA government are instigating a plan to cull the sharks by dropping baited traps about 1km off the coast. Controversial. As usual the shark spotter planes fly overhead when you're in the water. Always hoping that the one overhead dosen't swerve when above me.

BossArky

Sunday January 5th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x6
80kg - 3x6
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
85kg - 1x3
100kg - 3x6
---
Front Squat
45kg - 3x10
---
Bulgarian Split Squat
bodyweight - 1x10 per leg
---
45 Degree Back Raise
bodyweight - 1x10
bodyweight + 5kg chest on chest - 1x10
bodyweight + 10kg chest on chest - 1x10
bodyweight + 15kg chest on chest - 3x10
---
Calves (standing, frame)
40kg - 1x12
80kg - 1x12
120kg - 1x12
---

First full day of new cycle.

BossArky

Sunday January 5th:

Swimming 400m alternating bs and fc.
---

Did this in a nice 50m outdoor pull during middle of the day. Lovely day for it.

BossArky

Monday January 6th: Smolov JR Cycle 2 - Bench Day 1 of 12

Bench
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
72.5kg - 6x6
*add slingshot*
100kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x3
107.5kg - 1x3

Chin Ups (parallel grip)
bodyweight +5kg - 3x6

BB Row
20kg - 1x10
30kg - 1x10
40kg - 3x10

Lat Pull Down
65kg - 3x10

BB Curl
30kg - 3x10
---

First day of second Smolov Jr. Bench cycle. Swapped in Barbell Rows in place of One Arm DB Rows... for the sake of assistance variety.

BossArky

Tuesday January 8th:

Swim 600m alternating bs and fc.
---

Was down south on holidays. Stayed by a lake which was 300m across. Swam over to the jetty on opposite side, to the suprise of a couple having a nice romantic moment on it. Didn't get eaten by anything hidden in the depths of the water which was good I suppose. Very peaceful when floating around in middle of lake far from either side. Nothing but trees and sky. Swim back was slightly against wind. Felt good to swim after all the driving to get there.

BossArky

Thursday January 9th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
115kg - 3x6
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
80kg - 3x6
---
Front Squat
50kg - 3x10
---
Ham Curl
40kg - 1x5
55kg - 1x5
65kg - 1x8 (i.e max stack with a 5kg DB on top)
60kg - 2x8 (i.e. max stack)
---
Calves (standing, frame)
40kg - 1x12
80kg - 1x12
120kg - 1x12
100kg - 1x12
80kg - 1x12
---

The usual lowerbody day. More sets on assistance (ham curls & calves).

BossArky

Friday January 10th: Smolov JR Cycle 2 - Bench Day 2 of 12

Bench *all paused*
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
77.5kg - 7x5
*add slingshot*
100kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x3
107.5kg - 1x3 ... these were touch & go as knackered

Chin Ups (parallel grip)
bodyweight +5kg - 3x6

BB Row
20kg - 1x10
30kg - 1x10
42.5kg - 3x10

Lat Pull Down
70kg - 3x10
---
BB Curl
30kg - 3x10

Face Pulls
setting 5 - 3x10
---

Came in to find that the gym had sold the only decent bench in the place. I was gobsmacked that they had chosen to replace it with a plate loaded machine bench. I went up to the girl at reception and said "the bench is gone". Apparently 4 other ppl had complained also.

There is another piece of crap that they think doubles as a replacement bench. Way too low, narrow, slippy and not what you want to be benching on. By the end of my workout the reception girl had a word with the gym owner and agreed to get the other bench back somehow.

My contract expires at this gym in a week or two so I think it is high time that I got back to a proper powerlifting gym. There will be a bit of a commute involved. Not ideal but I wanna get back training with like minded people.

Felt a bit weak on bench today which I'll put down to A) crap bench and not eating enough this week due to mini holiday.

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Friday January 10th: Smolov JR Cycle 2 - Bench Day 2 of 12

Bench *all paused*
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
77.5kg - 7x5
*add slingshot*
100kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x3
107.5kg - 1x3 ... these were touch & go as knackered

Here is a video of my uneven foot placement. Working on this so ensure that I set up correctly. It causes problems when I go for near max attempts as left arm locks out before right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BfR-1kj0k0

BossArky

Sunday January 12th:

Swim 200m alternating bs and fc.
---

Just an easy 4 lengths up and down in the middle of a roasting day.

BossArky

Monday January 13th: New gym

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x6
80kg - 3x6
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
*belt*
85kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
110kg - 3x6 ... felt tougher than it should have
---
Front Squat
55kg - 3x10
---
Glute Ham Raise
3x10
---

Joined a proper powerlifting gym. Awesome setup. Couldn't sleep the last two nights as I was so excited to start training & gaining. It's about 20 minutes drive away if I manage to not get lost on the way to / from it. Managed both today.

BossArky

Tuesday January 14th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 2 - Bench Day 3 of 12

Bench *all paused*
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
72.5kg - 1x3
82.5kg - 8x4
*add slingshot*
100kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x3 ... struggle to get 3 but got 'em
107.5kg - 1x1 ... touch & go as knackered

Chin Ups (parallel grip)
bodyweight +5kg - 3x6

BB Row
45kg - 3x10

One Arm DB Row
22.5kg per arm - 3x8 ... dead stop on ground between each rep
---
BB Curl
20kg - 3x10
---

Felt weak on bench today. This weights should be light. I'm putting it down to lack of aircon. Didn't know where the switch was. It was turned on towards the end and felt better. Was roasting initially.

Slowly building up the barbell rows.

Subbed in one arm db rows in place of usual lat pulldowns.

Slingshot sets felt too heavy. Will see how it goes for day 4 of smolov jr and prehaps revise slingshots down a small bit.

Had my FMS (functional movement screen) prior to the above training with one of the S&C coaches. Findings: slight tightness on external rotation in left hip, which I notice when setting up on bench and trying to drive left knee out. Also limited ROM for internal rotation in left shoulder. Nothing a few rehab exercises won't fix hopefully.

BossArky

Thursday January 16th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x6
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x2
125kg - 3x6
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
*belt*
80kg - 3x6
---
Front Squat
60kg - 3x10
---
Glute Ham Raise
3x10
---

Good one. Quads on fire the day after as I write this.

BossArky

Friday January 17th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 2 - Bench Day 4 of 12

Bench *all paused*
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
75kg - 1x3
87.5kg - 10x3
*add slingshot*
100kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x3
107.5kg - 1x1 ... good rep & had more, but left it just at 1

Chin Ups (parallel grip)
bodyweight +5kg - 3x6 ... dropped DB accidently on last rep of two sets

BB Row
50kg - 3x10 ... as couldn't be arsed setting up 47.5kg as planned

One Arm DB Row
22.5kg per arm - 3x8 ... dead stop on ground between each rep
---
Face Pulls (band)
3x10
---

The Eleiko and other correctly marked powerlifting bars were away for a competition setup, which threw off my usual grip for bench. After set 3 I had to fix it. A quick bit of googling and mental arithmetic led me to use the height of my iphone as a unit of measure for the correct distance from middle of bar.

In case you are wondering there are ~6.5 iphone 5s laid lengthways between the rings of a standard 32 inch / 810mm powerlifting bar.... or 3.25 when measured from centre of bar out to the ring.

Rest of sets were fine after I sorted grip. Did them all touch and go as per every 10x3 as they are the heaviest of each wave of 4. The rest of the cycle will be paused.

Need to eat more as this cycle & recovery in general is feeling harder than last cycle. I'm not stuffing myself as much as I was back then.

Bodyweight around 86.5kg +/- a bit.

BossArky

Monday January 20th:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x6
80kg - 3x6
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
*belt*
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x2
120kg - 3x6 ... pb for 3x6. Ok
---
Front Squat
65kg - 3x10
---
Glute Ham Raise
3x10
---

Again was estimating grip placement. On second set I took a pretty wide grip vs. normal grip... which caused me to low bar it way more than usual. Felt odd but got it fine. PB anyway.

BossArky

Tuesday January 21st: Smolov Jr. Cycle 2 - Bench Day 5 of 12

Bench *all paused*
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
77.5kg - 6x6
*add slingshot*
100kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x3
107.5kg - 1x1 ... fine, but left it at just 1 rep again

Chin Ups (parallel grip)
bodyweight +5kg - 3x6 ... used a big 5kg standard sized Oly plate instead of DB on sets 2 & 3. Easier to hold between legs.

BB Row
52.5kg - 3x10

One Arm DB Row
22.5kg per arm - 3x8 ... dead stop on ground between each rep
---

Added 5kg for second wave of this Smolov Jr. Cycle. Got through the 6x6 paused fine.

Trained later than usual in new gym. Just 3 people in there at that time including myself, versus about 30 if I trained at the usual time (2 hrs earlier).

Adductors in bits from Squats yesterday.

BossArky

Thursday January 23rd:

Sumo Deadlift (with belt)
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
115kg - 1x2
130kg - 3x5
---
Squat
60kg - 1x6
*belt*
85kg - 3x5 ... experimenting with slightly wider grip than usual
---
Front Squat
70kg - 3x5
---
Glute Ham Raise
3x5
---
Prowler
no added weight - 6 lengths walking on the astro
---

Deads felt heavier than they should have.

Cut the assistance on Front Squats and GHR in half to 3x5 vs 3x10. Need more food and recovery going forwards. Need to avoid majoring in the minors.

6 lengths walking the prowler to finish off. Got heart rate up slightly.