Return of the King

BossArky

Tuesday May 9th: Bench Day 5 of 12 - Kuwait (@HI)

Bench (paused)
80kg - 6x6

Barbell Row
60kg - 6x8
---
DB Arnold Press
20kg per arm - 3x8
---
Cable Row (V-Handle)
light - 1x8
moderate - 1x8
heavy - 1x8
---
Curls
30kg - 2x10 ... barbell curl
12.5kg per arm - 2x10 - hammer curl
---

Early days of Bench cycle - putting in the work & assistance. Had great sleeps of at least 10 hours for the past 2 nights. Trying to eat enough and sleep well as feel like I'm wasting away the past month or so.

BossArky

Wednesday May 10th: Squat Day 6 of 12- Kuwait (@HI)

Squat (flats, beltless)
105kg - 3x7 … actually miscounted and did 8 reps on third set. Whoops for accidental gains
100kg – 1x12 … see video
---
Lunge
25kg barbell - 3x8 non stop between legs
---

Some quick Squats. Finished off with lunges for the leg pump. All pretty handy.

Started working in on Squats with some Arab dude who is the chief shouter/high squatter in the gym. He shouts “Yalla!†(translated as “Let’s go!â€) at the top of his voice for each quarter squat rep. His working weight was 100kg which he struggled through wearing a bro-belt. My worksets happened to be 105kg for 3x7 beltless. It looked like I was nonchantly one up-ing him by throwing on 105kg (vs his 100kg) and burying each rep with better form than he could manage for 1 of his. Tee-hee. He didn’t shout “Yalla!†on the next sets & slunk away. Lol.

Pretty disgusted to see the amount of syringes openly discarded on the street/car parking spaces beside one of the main well known branded gyms. Never seen such open steroid use anywhere before. Everyone here is massive and juiced to the eyeballs… except me of course. I just keep chipping away. Actually started on the 2litres of full fat milk yesterday. Was browsing some of my old insta videos and reminiscing on the days when I was benching 100kg for 6x4 and 105kg for 6x3. Need to pile on a bit more bulk as I’ve been sidetracked in the past 6 months with the move from Oz to the Middle East. Time to get serious again.

My new SBD knee sleeves, elbow sleeves and belt arrived in the post to Dubai. Looking forward to trying them out in a week or so when I’m back.

Heading from Kuwait to Bahrain for a long weekend in a couple of hours. Will first of all sneak in some cheeky benching.

Here is the drop set of 100kg for 12 reps:

Alf Veedersane

Be interested to hear how you find the SBD knee sleeves vs Rehbands.

BossArky

Thursday May 12th: Bench Day 6 of 12 - Kuwait (@HI)

Bench (paused, ring finger on ring)
90kg - 6x5 ... handy enough
55kg - 1x10 .... 5050 tempo & closegrip feet up from here down
45kg - 1x10
35kg - 1x10

Face Pulls
6x12

Pull Ups (wide grip)
bodyweight - 1x6
bodyweight +5kg - 1x6
bodyweight +10kg - 1x6
---
Barbell Curl
60lbs - 1x8
70lbs - 1x8
50lbs - 1x8
---

Happy with the ease of bench: 90kg 6x5.

BossArky

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Be interested to hear how you find the SBD knee sleeves vs Rehbands.

Same! Which knee sleeves do you use (if any)?

I've heard good things about SBDs so expecting a slight bit more support. Wanted to delay getting them as long as possible to milk the gains from hard work alone.

Right now I'm working in Kuwait during the weeks whilst living in Dubai at the weekends... and have gotten to the stage where I need to leave a full set of powerlifting equipment in both locations to avoid having to pack too much luggage each week as I travel back and forth.

Going forwards I'll leave all my SBD stuff (belt, knee and elbow sleeves, oly shoes) in Dubai... and I'll leave my older stuff (Toro lever belt, Rehand knee and elbow sleeves, converse) in Kuwait.

Should get a chance to try the SBDs in about a week or so when I'm back in Dubai.

Alf Veedersane

BossArky wrote: »

Same! Which knee sleeves do you use (if any)?

I've heard good things about SBDs so expecting a slight bit more support. Wanted to delay getting them as long as possible to milk the gains from hard work alone.

Right now I'm working in Kuwait during the weeks whilst living in Dubai at the weekends... and have gotten to the stage where I need to leave a full set of powerlifting equipment in both locations to avoid having to pack too much luggage each week as I travel back and forth.

Going forwards I'll leave all my SBD stuff (belt, knee and elbow sleeves, oly shoes) in Dubai... and I'll leave my older stuff (Toro lever belt, Rehand knee and elbow sleeves, converse) in Kuwait.

Should get a chance to try the SBDs in about a week or so when I'm back in Dubai.

Got the Rehbands about 6 months ago. I do like them but I've no frame of reference. They go on relatively easily...and I wondered if they were very slight touch too big but I'm inclined to think it probably doesn't really make a difference.

I only wear them on the last warm up and working sets. Otherwise my knees would melt

BossArky

Monday May 15th: Squat Day 7 of 12- Kuwait (@HI)

Squat (flats, beltless)
115kg - 3x5
100kg - 1x14
---
Deadlift (with belt)
140kg - 1x8 ... a rep PR with 50 people watching
---
GHR
3x10
---
Leg Press
100kg - 1x15
120kg - 1x15
140kg - 1x15 ... fine
---

Pasting in my insta update 'cos not gonna type something different: Where's Wally?



Gym staff decided that 5pm was the optimal time to disrupt the gym free flow by dumping all the DBs on the floor to install mirrors.

Training went well: worked up to a handy belt-less Squat of 115kg 3x5 (early days) before 100kg x14 dropset.

Hit a rep PR on Deadlift with 140kg for 8 reps. Wasn't really gonna go for high reps but lost control of my internal limiter as all eyes were on me at setup as they taught no way I was gonna curl that (tl;dr: commercial gym / never seen a deadlift).

Fittingly on the 8th rep the set down reverberations knocked a panel of freshly mounted mirror off the wall & crowned one of the builders in the photo.

Finished with some accessory Glute Ham Raise (3x10) and Leg Press (3x15 up to 140kg). Good times.

BossArky

Tuesday May 16th: Bench Day 7 of 12 - Kuwait (@HI)

Bench (paused)
95kg - 6x4

Barbell Row
80kg - 6x4
---
Weighted Pull Ups
bodyweight +7.5kg - 1x8
bodyweight - 1x8

Lat Pulldown
60kg - 1x8

DB Arnold Press
20kg per arm - 3x8
---
Barbell Curl
25kg - 3x10
---

Some handy benching. Felt strong.

Been watching some Brian Asruhle (spelling?) videos where he advocates heavy barbell rows superset with Bench. I often do that.. just not as heavy. 80kg felt good today.

Also got a good grip exercise from one of his videos: scrunching up news paper/magazine waste paper with your fingers one handed. Gives a serious pump even though it sounds like nothing.

BossArky

Thursday May 18th: Squat Day 8 of 12- Dubai (@home)

Squat (flats, beltless)
125kg - 3x3 - Fine. Heaviest ever beltless triple. Video below
100kg - 1x16 - good. Video below. Could have done more.
---
Good Morning
20kg - 1x10
30kg - 1x10
40kg - 1x10
---

Squat workset on 125kg for 3x3 is heaviest ever beltless triple. Bit slow but happy enough. The dropset felt awesome. Target today was 16 reps on 100kg. Could have done more. Planning to finish this cycle with 20 reps in the coming weeks.

Good mornings were light and trying to stretch out the hamstrings. This is still a foreign movement to me. Taking time to build it up.


125kg - 3x3 beltless - third set:



100kg - 1x16 beltless - dropset:

BossArky

Friday May 19th: Bench Day 8 of 12 - Dubai (@home)

Bench (paused)
100kg - 6x3 ... alrighty
60kg - 1x10 ... feet up, close grip: tempo 3030
50kg - 1x10 ... feet up, close grip: tempo 3030
40kg - 1x10 ... feet up, close grip: tempo 3030

Face Pulls (band)
some for a few

Pull Aparts (band)
some for a few
---
DB Curl
6kg(?) per arm - 3x10 ... light blood pumping for elbow health after Bench volume.
---

Always good to be repping 100kg on Bench.

Followed up with some dropset volume with feet up close grip tempo stuff.

BossArky

Saturday May 20th: Deadlift - Dubai (@home)

Deadlift (conventional)
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
130kg - 1x2
150kg - 1x6 ... PR for 6 reps
---
T-Bar Row
15kg - 1x10
30kg - 1x10
40kg - 1x10
---
Chin Ups
bodyweight +8kg chains – 3x6
---
Grip Training - Barbell Holds
Fatgripz - 20kg per arm, both arms together - 3 sets of ~failure
---

150kg x6 is a 6 rep PR for Deadlifts (by 17.5kg). Was scrolling back through the years in this log and it may have been 6 years ago when I did 132.5kg 3x6. Typically I don't go above 5 reps. Just pushing the reps these days for 1 top set instead of 3 across sets.. for a change.

Was hoping for 8 reps but Deadlifting less than 5 days ago had me feeling more fatigued so I didn't push harder for 7th and 8th reps. Happy enough with 6 reps.

Alf Veedersane

Nice!

What's the SBD gear like?

BossArky

SBD Knee Sleeves:
The knee sleeves are next to impossible to get on normally (when just folding them over and trying to pull them up on skin). Check out the recent pic I posted on instagram with the skin gone off the top of one finger and blisters on the others from excess pointless yanking.

I emailed SBD asking them how I could return the mediums for a large pair as I felt there was no hope in ever getting them over my calves. The online sizing instructions mentioned only measuring knee size. If you plan on getting a pair then factor calve size in also.

SBD responded to my email with a video (of Brian Shaw: Worlds Strongest Man) showing how to put them on. The video was the same as the approach I had tried (folding over top and bottom then yanking them up). This didn't work for me.

In the end I had a light bulb moment & resorted to the old equipped lifting trick of putting my feet and lower legs up to my knee into bin liners. This allows the SBD knee sleeve to be slide on with about 10% of the effort of initial "on skin" approach.

Long story short I got them on and they feel good. So if you are gonna get them don't give up on first attempt when you fail miserable - just get some plastic bags or Deadlift socks (I haven't tried socks yet - but apparently works too) and they should ease the process of getting them on.

Note that you'll need the plastic bags etc again to get them off before your calves explode.

I'm not sure if the SBD knee sleeves gave me more than the Rebands. Doing my heaviest ever beltless triple in them made comparisons hard - as it felt heavy without the belt. Probably need a few more sessions in them to break them in properly and see how I go when I get into business as usual training.

SBD Elbow Sleeves:
The elbow sleeves are fine to get on. My t-rex arm dimensions mean the long SBD elbow sleeves almost stretch from wrist to shoulder. Lol.

SBD Belt:
The SBD belt is a thing of beauty. Smells lovely! Felt a shame to be putting it on direct on my sweaty shirtless body when Deadlifting in the heat yesterday. I like the belt catch/release. It is designed differently than the typical lever belt - so more than one person can train with it at once: one skinny person and one larger person - because the belt is adjustable on the fly... you don't have to get out a screwdriver.

SBD gear summary:
Long story short: good experiences with the sleeves (knee & elbow) and belt. Need a few more sessions before I can give a comprehensive comparison to my existing Rehbands and Toro lever belt. For me at the moment it is more the convience of having two sets of Powerlifting equipment in 2 different training locations (vs. getting differing levels of gains out of one or the other).

Alf Veedersane

Well...that's a lot more comprehensive than I expected!

Good to know about the difficulty in getting the sleeves on, if I get a pair. I don't think my calves are going to be an issue though. There have been kids on Trocaire boxes with bigger calves.

I did wonder if the lever belt was going to be a pain in the hole amd would need to be adjusted more than it has been (never) when I was thinking about getting it.

BossArky

Monday May 22nd: Squat Day 9 of 12- Kuwait (@HI)

Squat (flats, beltless)
100kg - 3x9
---
GHR
bodyweight - 1x10
bodyweight +2.5kg plate held to chest - 1x10
bodyweight +5kg plate held to chest - 1x10

Leg Press
110kg - 1x15
130kg - 1x15
150kg - 1x15 ... fine
---
Ab Roll Out (barbell)
3x10
---
Lunges
30kg per leg (barbell on back, non stop) - 3x8
---

Enjoyed that ^^. Squats handy, GHRs with weight good.. and Leg Press felt easy as the weight increases. 3/4s of the way through the whole stack. Just 50kg to go. Finished off with abs and lunges which had me super pumped both mentally & physically - lol

Here's the Leg Press vid, for variety, as who needs to see another Squat vid - right?

Alf Veedersane

I feel seasick after watching that.

BossArky

Tuesday May 23rd: Bench Day 9 of 12 - Kuwait (@HI)

Bench (paused)
85kg - 6x6

Barbell Row
90kg - 6x5 (last two sets were 6 reps)
---
DB Arnold Press
6 or 8kg (?) per arm - 3x10

DB Curl
6 or 8kg (?) per arm - 3x10
---
Seated Cable Row
light - 1x10
moderate - 1x10
heavy - 1x10
---

Bench was handy. Did the whole Bench and Barbell Rows in 19 mins max super-setting back and forth.

Aim of the that was to increase my Barbell Rows into uncharted territory. Slightly sloppy but getting a feel for heavier weight.

The rest was bodybuilding. Had a good feed of grilled meat and my 1litre of full fat milk about an hour after.

---

Thursday May 25th: Squat Day 10 of 12 - Dubai (@home)

Squat
115kg - 3x7
100kg - 1x18 ... drop set
---

The hardest part was getting the SBD knee sleeves on. About 20 mins, 2 plastic bags and 1 bin liner were consumed before making it to the rack. If you look close enough you may see some plastic sticking out. Gonna have to call the fire brigade to get them off




Drop set: Squat 100kg x18 which is an all time rep PR

---

Friday May 26th: Bench Day 10 of 12 - Dubai (@home)

Bench
95kg - 6x5
---

Final set of Bench 95kg 6x5 before heading out to pick up some books. Got a good history of the UAE along with WOT#6

BossArky

Saturday May 27th: Deadlift - Dubai (@home)

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg - 1x5
120kg - 1x3
140kg - 1x1
160kg - 1x1
181kg - 1x1 ... PR by 1kg
190kg - 1x1 ... fail
---
Chin Ups
bodyweight – 3x6
---
Grip Training - Barbell Holds
Fatgripz - 20kg per arm, both arms together - 3 sets of ~failure

Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x10 ... varying grips
---
One Arm Barbell Row
each side - 3x10
---

Deadlift hero: 181kg for a personal record - chipping my previous best by 1kg.

Six years ago (Melbourne: March 2011) I pulled 180kg conventional in competition then waited four more years before pulling 180kg (again) sumo in competition (Melbourne: June 2015).

Today I wanted to max out as feeling strong the past weeks since eating and sleeping well. Have to take it when it is there.

Alf Veedersane

That moved very well for a PR!

BossArky

Monday May 29th: Squat Day 11 of 12- Kuwait (@HI)

Squat (flats, beltless)
125kg - 3x5
100kg - 1x20
---
GHR
bodyweight - 3x10 (12 on last set)

Leg Press
120kg - 1x15
130kg - 1x15
160kg - 1x15 ... fine
---

**Achievement unlocked** Squat 100kg x20.

Slept early last night before 6pm as was wrecked after the weekends Deadlift exertions. Woke up early and made it to the gym around 5am.

Initial Squat work sets were tight and ropey for a beltless 125kg 3x5. Finished off with this 100kg x20 dropset. Was seeing Jesus by the 15th rep. By 18th he was asking if he could work in.

Trained early as with Ramadan here I wasn't sure what my energy levels would be like later in the day after involuntary fasting. Finished off with some GHR and Leg Press.

Squat 100kg x20:


GHR 3x10 (12 on last set)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUqXF11A2Np

BossArky

Tuesday May 30th: Bench Day 11 of 12 - Kuwait (@HI)

Bench (paused)
100kg - 6x4 ... fine. No spotter, so safeties, no problem.
60kg - 1x10 ... feet up, close grip: tempo 3030
50kg - 1x10 ... feet up, close grip: tempo 3030
40kg - 1x10 ... feet up, close grip: tempo 3030 ... had to rack the bar for a couple of seconds after reps 6 and 8 as chest and triceps were about to explode with the pump

Face Pull
light pulley - 6x10
---
DB Arnold Press
12.5kg per arm - 3x10 ... light pump

Barbell Curl
20kg - 1x10
25kg - 1x10
30kg - 1x10
---
Seated Cable Row
light - 1x10
bit heavier - 1x10
bit heavier again - 1x10
---

Handy enough bench. Possibly the most nonchalant 100kg benching (i.e. no safeties or spotter) I've done with 6x4. Feeling strong. Legs and lower back fried from 20 reps Squats yesterday.

Alf Veedersane

The camera angle is a foot away from being an 11 on the hilarity scale with the dude doing crunches....

BossArky

Thursday June 1st: Squat Day 12 of 12- Dubai (@home)

Squat (flats, beltless)
130kg - 3x3 - Beltless PR. A bit slow, but easy
60kg - 1x30 - for the pump
---
Good Morning
30kg - 1x10
40kg - 1x10
50kg - 1x10
---

Squat cycle finished.

I'm finding the SBD knee sleeves (medium) pretty headwrecking to get on. Takes me literally 20 mins of screwing about with plastic bags, skins, torn skin and broken finger nails before they are in place. I'm hoping they break in and get a bit looser in the coming weeks otherwise I'll have to think about buying a larger pair or a new second pair of Rehbands. I like to be able to get in and out of the gym quickly with minimal time wasting. This messing about getting into the knee sleeves robs the spontaneity.

Squats were otherwise ok but that was just an afterthought following the knee sleeves debacle. 130kg 3x3 is the heaviest I've ever gone without a belt. Before this cycle my beltless max ever may have been somewhere between 100kg or 110kg. Quite enjoyed this cycle and got a fair bit stronger. Will be interesting to see where my Squat is at next cycle with a belt.

Did the drop set with 60kg (vs 100kg) for the sake of variety/deload. 30 reps was fine. Good pump in the quads. Stopped every 3-5 reps for a few seconds after about 15 rep.

Finally day of the cycle tomorrow is Bench.

Dtp1979

Would talc powder help get them on. I've no idea what material those wraps are made from and you'll probably look like you tripped over a bowl of chalk but it might be no hard trying it at home first

Alf Veedersane

Given what he's tried, talc won't be an improvement

BossArky

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Would talc powder help get them on. I've no idea what material those wraps are made from and you'll probably look like you tripped over a bowl of chalk but it might be no hard trying it at home first

I haven't tried talc yet, but do have some in the gym. Maybe next time I'll add it to my list of 5 accessories to get them on!

The knee sleeves themselves are made of wet suit like material/neoprene. Not much give in them at all.

BossArky

Friday June 3rd: Bench Day 12 of 12 - Kuwait (@HI)

Barbell Row
40kg - 3x10 (wide grip, ring finger on rings)
---
Bench (paused)
105kg - 6x3 ... alrighty

Pull Aparts (band)
6x10
---
Rev Fly
2kg per arm - 3x15-20
---

Bench 105kg 6x3 to successfully finish this 6 week training block.

Elbows a bit sore coming into today from too much bench assistance closegrip on Tuesday. Otherwise the weight was heavy but manageable. This is 2kg under my all time best for 6x3.

Dtp1979

Maybe you've seen this, maybe not
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hj5098b-yk&ebc=ANyPxKodNb2A001Kxu43ao9Xi2NZjQP_GXAJDF5boAG53FoUSu4goc0Qrbm7ZWMs64IIhuJF78Ia8eRses5keE9-0hS5EPc_BQ

BossArky

Yeah - seen a few of those videos including that one!

BossArky

Saturday June 3rd: Deload - Deadlift - Dubai (@home)

Deadlift (conventional)
100kg + 16kg chains - 3x8
---
Shoulder Press
40kg – 1x8
45kg – 1x8
50kg – 1x8
---
Grip Training - Barbell Holds (Fat Gripz)
20kg, 30kg then 40kg per arm, 1 arm at a time for 50 count
40kg, 50kg, then 60kg both arms together (i.e. like Deadlift lockout position) - to failure
---

Deload / mess about day. Some Deadlifts 3x8 @100kg + 16kg chains, Shoulder Press 3x8 up to 50kg & some fat grip Barbell Holds. Finished off by cutting my hair without a mirror which was a PR.