Return of the King

BossArky · 11-09-2014 2:36am

BossArky wrote: »

Monday September 8th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 1 of 12

Squat
100kg - 4x9 ... wide stance, practising hitting depth. Video'd everything except the first 60kg.
---

Wide stance felt pretty strong to be honest. Just feels like I'm ripping my hips off. Video'd them all to ensure I'm hitting depth. Last set on 100kg was pretty good speed and depth-wise. Not super deep, but deep enough for comp purposes i.e. precise. I'll post videos in the next day or so when I get around to editing.

Squats from Monday night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxD1pR4T8v0

BossArky · 12-09-2014 4:37am

Thursday September 11th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 2 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
107.5kg - 5x7 ... video of first two sets to follow. Actually video'd 3 and meant to video all... but accidently deleted third and couldn't be arsed doing the rest as wanted to play some music off my iphone through the sound system.

Barbell Curl (fat bar)
20kg - ~3x10
---
Ham Curl
40kg - 3x12
---

Squats were good. Wide stance again.

BossArky · 12-09-2014 4:42am

BossArky wrote: »

Thursday September 11th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 2 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
107.5kg - 5x7 ... video of first two sets to follow. Actually video'd 3 and meant to video all... but accidently deleted third and couldn't be arsed doing the rest as wanted to play some music off my iphone through the sound system.
---

Squats were good. Wide stance again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXXacXP4zSA

BossArky · 13-09-2014 12:18pm

Friday September 12th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 2 of 12

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
82.5kg - 7x5 ... easy. Started supersetting in Deadlift warmups after 5th set

Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x10

Lat Pulldown
plate 10 - 3x10
---
Sumo Deadlift
70kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
*belt*
122.5kg - 1x2
140kg - 3x3 ... knackered from Squats last night
*off two inch blocks*
165kg - 1x3
---

Bench was very light.

Deadlifts felt terrible as hips / body wrecked from Squats yesterday. Totally forgot that I should do Deadlifts on Squat night rather than the day after when DOMS kicks in and cripples me.

This log dosen't hide for shoddyness though, so I'll post the Deadlift videos in all their crappy glory. I mention that as I know some people (not on this forum) who only post good workouts in their logs, ... which is funny.

Ed Coan coming to my gym at the end of the week for a few days.

BossArky · 13-09-2014 12:21pm

BossArky wrote: »

Friday September 12th

Sumo Deadlift
140kg - 3x3 ... knackered from Squats last night
*off two inch blocks*
165kg - 1x3
---

Deadlifts felt terrible as hips / body wrecked from Squats yesterday. Totally forgot that I should do Deadlifts on Squat night rather than the day after when DOMS kicks in and cripples me.

This log dosen't hide for shoddyness though, so I'll post the Deadlift videos in all their crappy glory. I mention that as I know some people (not on this forum) who only post good workouts in their logs, ... which is funny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g8VIRb1g0o

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

BossArky · 16-09-2014 4:39am

Monday September 15th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 3 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
115kg - 7x5 ... video'd all sets. Got easier as they went on.

Barbell Curl
20kg - ~3 or 4x10
---

Had a fever, achey, sore throat, chills, etc The first Squat workset felt horrendous. No audience, no music & ill. First set took almost a minute. Later sets were less than half a minute.

Sets got easier as they went on. Pretty happy with depth and how easy the last ones felt.

I've completed my Squat preception of difficulty thesis: weight lifted is perceived as 5kg less for every 1 person watching you. By the 7th set I had 11ppl watching which is why it felt like 60kg (115kg-(11x5)).

Just one of those days to get through. Got doc appointment booked for later. Hopefully get some antibiotics and fix myself up.

BossArky · 16-09-2014 4:42am

BossArky wrote: »

Monday September 15th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 3 of 12

Squat
115kg - 7x5 ... video'd all sets. Got easier as they went on.
---

Had a fever, achey, sore throat, chills, etc The first Squat workset felt horrendous. No audience, no music & ill. First set took almost a minute. Later sets were less than half a minute.

Sets got easier as they went on. Pretty happy with depth and how easy the last ones felt.

I've completed my Squat preception of difficulty thesis: weight lifted is perceived as 5kg less for every 1 person watching you. By the 7th set I had 11ppl watching which is why it felt like 60kg (115kg-(11x5)).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55b9qs_AUqY

BossArky · 17-09-2014 3:38am

Tuesday September 16th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 3 of 12

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
87.5kg - 8x4 ... fine
*slingshot*
100kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x1

Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x10

Lat Pulldown
plate 10 - 3x10

One Arm DB Row
20kg per arm - 3x10
---
DB Bench
20kg per arm - 3x10

Alternating DB Curlz
10kg per arm - 1x10
??kg per arm - 1x10 ... DB handles of unknown weight. Probably somewhere between 5-8kg
5kg per arm - 1x10

Military Press (BB)
30kg - 3x10
---

Bench worksets were easy.

The rest was just light pumping assistance.

Went to doc early in the day and got some antibiotics. Throat feeling pretty raw.

BossArky · 19-09-2014 4:07am

Thursday September 18th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 4 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
120kg - 10x3 ... video'd sets 1, 2, 8 & 10. Alrighty.
---

Trained & hung out with Ed Coan tonight. Very nice guy. Quite humble and almost shy. Spent about 3 hours with him. Most of my Squats (sets 1-8) were supersetted with talking to him about various things. Did sets 9-10 alone then rushed up to watch him eat.

He offered me his left over chicken. You know you've really made it in the Powerlifting world when Ed Coan overs you his left overs. He politely make conversation, asked why my accent was different from the rest, tried to convince me he is Irish (his parents are on one side, from where he dosen't know).

He then asked "do you still compete"? I guess is this his super polite way of asking "DO YOU EVEN LIFT, BRO?". I was like "WTF - were my Squats that bad?" lol. Very cool evening.

It was a closed gym for members only. Thursday nights are generally quite, so it was just Ed, myself and 5 of 6 guys training earlier and later sitting around the table, eating & talking.

Will get to question him more in a formal setting tomorrow at a seminar he is running.... but tonight, having access to him on a 1-1 basis, was exceptionally cool.

Trivia:
- he has a pet tiger
- he now does some type of "street" fighting which he really enjoys
- he plans to come back to Australia next year to compete as a guest lifter. He reckons he is gonna go 362.5/220/362.5 ... i.e. ~800 lbs on either end. (I saw him Squat 312.5 x3 the other day. He was like "that was easy, I could have done 5...")
- The dude is 51 and still built like a tank. He's shorter than me but broad.

Awesome.

Hanley · 19-09-2014 11:26am

Kieran met Lilly and CWS, you met Coan... Next thing ya know, Daz'll be scoring Dan Greene.

I hate everyone right now.

BossArky · 20-09-2014 11:30am

BossArky wrote: »

Thursday September 18th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 4 of 12

Squat
120kg - 10x3 ... video'd sets 1, 2, 8 & 10. Alrighty.
---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azN0tYhOj4s

BossArky · 20-09-2014 11:42am

Friday September 19th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 4 of 12

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
92.5kg - 10x3 ... sets 4 & 6 under the supervision of Ed Coan. Video of 6th set to follow. All easy enough.

Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x10

Lat Pulldown
plate 10 - 3x10
----
Sumo Deadlift
70kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 3x3 ... easy enough
*belt*
*off two inch blocks*
150kg - 1x3
167.5kg - 1x3
---
Military Press (BB)
32.5kg - 3x10

Face Pulls (with scap retraction)
plate 1 - 3x15 ... these feel good
---

Ed Coan seminar from 6pm-7:30pm, then training from 7:30pm to almost 10:30pm.

Bench was handy enough. Cool to get some instruction from Ed Coan himself. On 4th set (not video'd) he recommended the usual (keep sternum up, glutes tight). On 6th set (video'd) he mentioned that I lose tightness after my pause which is causing the mini heave.

Spent a lot of time talking to him again in between the million sets. Very impressed with him after spending a good bit of time chatting & horsing around with him over the past few days.

He was maxed out with friend requests on fb. I mentioned this to him, so he just deleted someone (Mark Bell?) and sent me a friend request. Pretty cool few days to say the least.

Finshed off with some Deadlifts which again I forgot to do on Squat day. Didn't feel too bad doing them today as Squat DOMS hasn't kicked in yet.

Weighing in a bit lighter which is good. Keeping carbs low and gradually loosing a bit of fat. Cannot remember exactly what I hit on the weighing scales. Maybe somewhere between 85 and 85.5kg which is a nice and close to the 83kg category.

BossArky · 20-09-2014 11:44am

BossArky wrote: »

Friday September 19th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 4 of 12

Bench (all paused)
92.5kg - 10x3 ... sets 4 & 6 under the supervision of Ed Coan. Video of 6th set to follow. All easy enough.

---

Ed Coan seminar from 6pm-7:30pm, then training from 7:30pm to almost 10:30pm.

Bench was handy enough. Cool to get some instruction from Ed Coan himself. On 4th set (not video'd) he recommended the usual (keep sternum up, glutes tight). On 6th set (video'd) he mentioned that I lose tightness after my pause which is causing the mini heave.

Spent a lot of time talking to him again in between the million sets. Very impressed with him after spending a good bit of time chatting & horsing around with him over the past few days.

He was maxed out with friend requests on fb. I mentioned this to him, so he just deleted someone (Mark Bell?) and sent me a friend request. Pretty cool few days to say the least.

Benching with Ed Coan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbDUKgk7VJY

BossArky · 23-09-2014 6:13am

Monday September 22nd: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 5 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
110kg - 4x9 ... fine. Pretty happy with 4th set. Video of last set to follow.
---
Glute Ham Raise
3x10
---
Glute Bridge (Hip Thruster off the ground?)
60kg - 1x10 ... felt crap
50kg - 3x10 ... felt better
---

Seemed to hit the sweet spot on the 4th set of Squats. Wider stance, closer grip, decent depth and speed. Best set yet in Oly shoes? Probably.

BossArky · 23-09-2014 6:19am

BossArky wrote: »

Monday September 22nd: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 5 of 12

Squat
110kg - 4x9 ... fine. Pretty happy with 4th set. Video of last set to follow.
---

Seemed to hit the sweet spot on the 4th set of Squats. Wider stance, closer grip, decent depth and speed. Best set yet in Oly shoes? Probably.

Check out the look of admiration on my gym buddys face at the end. He knows I just smashed it.

Set 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gLQDk6XJPk

BossArky · 24-09-2014 3:32am

Tuesday September 23rd: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 5 of 12

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
82.5kg - 6x6
*slingshot*
102.5kg - 1x3
107.5kg - 1x3
112.5kg - 1x1

Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x10 ... superset with initial bench sets
35kg - 3x8 ... at the very end of workout killing time whilst waiting for someone

Lat Pulldown
plate 10 - 3x10
---
DB Bench
22.5kg per arm - 3x10

Face Pulls (with scap retraction)
plate 1 - 3x15 ... these feel good
---
Military Press (BB)
35kg - 3x10
---

Good.

BossArky · 26-09-2014 2:49am

Thursday September 26th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 6 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
117.5kg - 5x7 ... Good. Video'd the lot. Still in that sweet spot
---
Sumo Deadlift
70kg - 1x5
120kg - 3x3 ... easy, as they should be
*belt*
*off two inch blocks*
150kg - 1x3
170kg - 1x3 ... pretty happy with that. Video to follow
---
Ham Curl
40kg - 3x15 ... just pumping
---

Squats were good.

Remembered to Deadlift after Squats! Deadlifts feel so easy when you're already warmed up and not dying from DOMS.

Enjoy the Sumo 170kg x3 video when I post it. Can you tell I'm pumped by my reaction at the end?

BossArky · 26-09-2014 3:25am

BossArky wrote: »

Thursday September 26th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 6 of 12

Squat
117.5kg - 5x7 ... Good. Video'd the lot. Still in that sweet spot

Squats were good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL7EFdehLog

BossArky wrote: »

Sumo Deadlift
170kg - 1x3 ... pretty happy with that. Video to follow

Remembered to Deadlift after Squats! Deadlifts feel so easy when you're already warmed up and not dying from DOMS.

Enjoy the Sumo 170kg x3 video when I post it. Can you tell I'm pumped by my reaction at the end?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmfEcO4aPhc

BossArky · 27-09-2014 6:21am

Friday September 26th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 6 of 12

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
87.5kg - 7x5 ... easy. Video'd 6th set
*slingshot*
105kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x3
115kg - 1x1 ... fine

Lat Pulldown
plate 10 - 3x10

One Arm DB Row
22.5kg per arm - 3x10
---
DB Bench
22.5kg per arm - 3x10

Face Pulls (with scap retraction)
plate 1 - 3x15
---
Barbell Curl
30kg - 3x10

Military Press (BB)
37.5kg - 3x10
---

Bench was pretty easy. Got through the work sets really quickly - maybe 40 mins? Had planned to video sets 6 & 7, but forgot about 7 in the end.

Did some slingshot after. Gradually ramping it up again. Could have gotten 2 or 3 on 115kg but just stuck with 1 rep as don't wanna overreach just yet. Gonna add 2.5kg to slingshot per bench day and see if that gets me up around 127.5kg/130kg mark by end of this cycle.

Lots of high rep bodybuilding work afterwards. Enjoying the Military Press and heavier than usual Curls. Probably gotta cut down all this pumping assistance soon and save energy for recovery as just 4 weeks out from competition now.

Happy enough with bodyweight. I'm sitting somewhere around 85kg at the moment, which is fine. Calorie intake has been very clean for the past couple of months and loosing inches off waist line. Not as chubby in the face. No 3 litres of full fat milk or crappy carbs. Kinda surprised that my energy levels are still good as I'm eating a lot less than I was at the same stage of the previous cycle.

Diet is something like this at present:

7am: porridge
10am: chicken/egg/salad kebab (cleaner than it sounds... no sauce or greasy crap)
1pm: depending on whether I'm hungry I'll have something light (meat?/chicken?/fruit?)
3-4pm: couple of hand fulls of almonds
6pm: some kind of meat/rice meal (i.e. getting in main carbs of the day here)
**pre-workout = 2 scoops protein & 2 scoops creatine**
7-9pm training: 2 bananas during workout
**post-workout = 2 scoops protein & 2 scoops creatine**
10pm: same as 6pm

Need to monitor bodyweight closely in the next week or two and ensure I'm coming in to make weight as planned.

Training going great. What could possibly go wrong?

BossArky · 27-09-2014 6:23am

BossArky wrote: »

Friday September 26th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 6 of 12

Bench (all paused)
87.5kg - 7x5 ... easy. Video'd 6th set
---

Bench was pretty easy. Got through the work sets really quickly - maybe 40 mins? Had planned to video sets 6 & 7, but forgot about 7 in the end.

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

BossArky · 29-09-2014 11:05am

Monday September 29th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 7 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
85kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x2
125kg - 7x5 ... Hmmm. Video'd the lot. Getting heavier.
---

Got through the Squats but looking too much like good mornings.

BossArky · 29-09-2014 11:06am

BossArky wrote: »

Monday September 29th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 7 of 12

Squat
125kg - 7x5 ... Hmmm. Video'd the lot. Getting heavier.
---

Got through the Squats but looking too much like good mornings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_LD-bdQLjA

BossArky · 01-10-2014 6:50am

Tuesday September 30th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 7 of 12

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
92.5kg - 8x4 ... easy enough
*slingshot*
107.5kg - 1x3
112.5kg - 1x3 ... fine & solid
117.5kg - 1xFAIL ... got out of groove. Should have been easy

Lat Pulldown
plate 10 - 3x10

One Arm DB Row
22.5kg per arm - 3x10
---
DB Bench
22.5kg per arm - 3x10

Face Pulls (with scap retraction, rope handle)
plate 1 - 3x20
---
Barbell Curl
30kg - 3x8

Military Press (BB)
40kg - 3x5
---

Bench worksets were easy.

Got out of groove on last slingshot set, hence the fail. Goes to show that "easy" weights can be dangerous with this thing. If I didn't have a spotter & safetys I would have had 117.5kg across my neck as the bar drifted up across neck and lost the slingshot tension. Probably the closest I've come to killing myself on bench in recent memory.

Everything else was the usual pumping stuff. Living in a world of DOMS since yesterdays Squats and haven't eaten much between sessions, so... just cut the Military Press to 3x5 instead of 3x10.

Interesting the level of DOMS (& location of DOMS) since doing Squats and Squats alone in the last training session. Quads, hamstrings, glutes, adductors & lowerback are all in bits. Nice.

BossArky · 03-10-2014 5:25am

Thursday October 2nd: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 8 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x2
130kg - 10x3 ... Good. Video'd the first three sets. Happy enough with how these felt
---
Sumo Deadlift
70kg - 1x5
130kg - 3x3 ... fine
---

Good Squatting.

Didn't bother with going heavier on Sumos off blocks. No energy left.

BossArky · 04-10-2014 7:40am

BossArky wrote: »

Thursday October 2nd: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 8 of 12

Squat
130kg - 10x3 ... Good. Video'd the first three sets. Happy enough with how these felt
---

Good Squatting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0GTFGIr93M

BossArky · 04-10-2014 7:46am

Friday October 3rd: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 8 of 12

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x1
97.5kg - 10x3 ... alrighty, blasted through them in ~90 mins

Lat Pulldown
plate 10 - 3x10

One Arm DB Row (incline)
22.5kg per arm - 1x10 ... forgot I was supposed to be taking it easy with 5 reps...
22.5kg per arm - 2x5

Face Pulls (with scap retraction, 2 handles)
plate 1 - 3x10
---
DB Bench
22.5kg per arm - 3x10

Barbell Curl
30kg - 3x8
---

Happy enough with bench. Forgot bananas so got half from another guy.

Was rushing and working in with someone which kept the pace up during the Benching. Pretty happy with how they moved. Should be good for 100kg 10x3 all paused in 2 weeks time.

Didn't have time for slingshot or military press.

BossArky · 04-10-2014 7:51am

Just checking back through some Squat videos and pretty happy with the progress I made in the past 4 weeks.

4 weeks ago I did 130kg 10x3 and it was slightly high. This prompted me to change foot position (make it wider) and hand position (make it narrower).

You can see the results in the improved depth and the fact that the sets look easier, even though I'm about 1.5kg lighter.

Sept 5th: 130kg 10x3 - crappy depth & hard @bodyweight 86.5kg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCXjkKAY9wk

Oct 3rd: 130kg 10x3 - good depth & easier @bodyweight 85kg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0GTFGIr93M

BossArky · 06-10-2014 3:29pm

Monday October 6th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 9 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
*belt*
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
115kg - 4x9 ... good. Video'd them all.
---

Squats were fine. 2nd, 3rd and 4th set were particularly quick.

BossArky · 07-10-2014 3:02am

BossArky wrote: »

Monday October 6th: Squat - Smolov Cycle 2 Day 9 of 12

Squat
115kg - 4x9 ... good. Video'd them all.
---

Squats were fine. 2nd, 3rd and 4th set were particularly quick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpGYwZASv3E

BossArky · 08-10-2014 4:46am

Tuesday October 7th: Smolov Jr. Cycle 7 - Bench Day 9 of 12

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 6x6 ... fine

Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x10

Lat Pulldown
plate 10 - 3x5

One Arm DB Row (incline)
22.5kg per arm - 1x7, 2x5 ... planned to do 3x5 but miscounted first set
---
DB Bench
22.5kg per arm - 3x10

Face Pulls (with scap retraction, 2 handles)
plate 1 - 3x20
---

Bench was fine. Got distracted with work emails on phone after first set and took slightly longer getting through the sets than planned.

Locked up the gym so was training alone for the past 30 mins or so. Didn't bother with slingshot due to lack of atmosphere and slight safety concern.

Keep clipping the left upright on this particular bench which is annoying.

Weight in at 84.80kg in clothes (no shoes) mid training session. Pretty happy with that considering 3 months ago I weighed in at 84.75kg in underwear after a week long water cut. So, probably lost about 2kg in the intervening 3 months.

Return of the King

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