Someday I Will...

Malteaser!

Sheiko Competition Cycle, Week 4, Day 3

Squat

20kg x 4

32.5kg x 3 x 2 (55%)

42.5kg x 2 (65%)

52.5kg x 2 x 2 (80%)

Bench

22.5kg x 3 (55%)

25kg x 1 (65%)

27.5kg x 2 (70%)

Good Mornings

20kg x 5 x 5

Hammer Strength Bench Press

30kg x 3 x 8

It was after this session that I knew I was wasting my time with the rerunning of the last two weeks. I went home with all my motivation kicked out me and crawled into a shell for about a week!! Well not really, I actually went out and ate a lot af crappy food, drank way more than I should have and stayed up all night. Basically the opposite to how I had spent the previous 9 weeks! I'm not gonna lie it felt great.

There was a time though when I decided I needed to cop the hell on and get back into the gym, that was right before I went to Paris. I can't remember everything I did but I'll try to remember.

Deadlift

60kg x 5

70kg x 3

75kg x 3

80kg x 3 x 3

SLDL

40kg x 3 x 10

Bent over rows

20kg x 3 x 8

Pull downs

No idea of the weight but it was x 3 x 8 whatever it was.

Malteaser!

Been keeping a written log each time I go to the gym. I'm gonna fill them in here using a slightly different format than I normally do, i.e, I'm gonna type it out exactly as it's written in my copy. It's for myself really, to see if I notice any subtle/hyoooge differences from week to week and with that bit more detail I should be able to figure out the reasons behind them.

Squat

20kg x 5

30kg x 3

40kg x 3

45kg x 3

50kg x 3 - 3rd rep deepest

x3 - 3rd rep - leg drifted way in

x 3 - all deep, slight drift inwards with both legs on 3rd rep

Front Squat

20kg x 5 - last 3 paused ATG

30kg x 3 - ATG

x 3 - ATG

x 3 - ATG, fast

Leg Extensions

20kg x 3 x 8 - manageable, last set v.fast.

Leg Curl

15kg x 10

20kg x 10

25kg x 3 x 10 - manageable

Malteaser!

Bench

20kg x 5 - feet on bench

22.5kg x 3 - feet on bench

25kg x 3 - feet on bench

27.5kg x 3 x 5 - manageable

Close Grip Bench Press

20kg x 5 - feet on bench

22.5kg x 5 - feet on bench

25kg x 5 - easy but messy

x 3 - easy and fast

x 3 - easy and fast

Paused Bench - over 2 seconds pause per rep

20kg x 5 - feet on bench - starting to feel tired

22.5kg x 5

25 x 3 x 5

Malteaser!

Deadlift

60kg x 3

70kg x 3

75kg x 3 - left leg drift inwards on 1st rep

x 3 - strong

x 3 - strong

Stiff Leg Deadlifts

40kg x 8

50kg x 8 - felt loose

x 8

x 8 - lower back = pumped!!

Rack Pulls

50kg x 3

80kg x 2 x 3

Pulldowns

Malteaser!

Squat

20kg x 3 - falling forwards - wrong sgoes

30kg x 3

40kg x 3

47.5kg x 3

52.5kg x 3 - REALLY slow, stopped completely coming up on second rep

Front squat

20kg x 5 - ATG

30kg x 3 - ATG

32.5kg x 3 x 3 - ATG, lower back tight

Overhead Squat

15kg x 3 - falling forward

x 3 - bar fell forward on 1st rep, pinch between shoulder blades at spine for others, difficulty maintaining balance

x 3 - best set, not really falling forward

Leg Extension

20kg x 8

25kg x 2 x 8

30kg x 8 - v.fast

Disappointed with back squats. I got 50kg x 3 x 3 easily last week. Gonna come back and try it again next week.

First time trying overhead squats, it was just a bit of a laugh. I'm gonna include them for a while though to see if I like them.

Malteaser!

Naos wrote: »

Good to see you're right back into it, hope you had fun

Thanks B!!

What's going on with you?? I haven't seen an update in your log in a while! (like I'm one to talk!! ) Still training hard?

Hanley

I'm really liking the new log format. I think your bench is really in a good place right now btw

Malteaser!

Hanley wrote: »

I'm really liking the new log format. I think your bench is really in a good place right now btw

Thanks hun, I'm still undecided as to whether I like it or not. I'll keep it up for a while and see how it grows on me, I think it looks a bit messy but it's useful to have that extra bit of detail about each set that I normally don't have.

I think the bench is in a good place too - about frickin time!!:rolleyes:

Malteaser!

Bench

20kg x 5 - feet on bench

22.5kg x 5 - feet on bench

25kg x 3 - feet on bench

27.5kg x 3 - feet on bench

30kg x 5

x 5 - right arm locked out split second after left from 2nd rep on

x 5 - sooooooo fast

Close Grip Bench Press

20kg x 5 - feet on bench, messy for second week in a row - need the weight to stabilise it

22.5kg x 5 - feet on bench

25kg x 3 - feet on bench

27.5kg x 5 - feet on bench

x 5 - right arm slow again

x 5

Paused Bench - Over 2 second pause

20kg x 5

22.5kg x 3

25kg x 3 x 5 - absolutely shattered

Military Press

20kg x 5; 2 x 4

Happy with that. Benching is prgressively getting stronger from one week to the next. 30kg x 3 x 5 would be a new PR I reckon.

Close grip strength is so close to my normal grip, not surprised by that at all though, it always has been.

Hanley

Your right arm's locking out slower eh?? Copying me eh??

Your bench strength is looking seriously impressive at the moment. Definitely lots left.

Malteaser!

haha yeah, I dunno wtf the story is with it!! I've never noticed that happening before but it was quite obvious yesterday!!

I'm looking forward to the next two weeks or so with it, if I could get 35kg x 3 x 5 I would be on top of the world!!

Malteaser!

Deadlift

60kg x 3

70kg x 3

77.5kg x 3 x 3

Stiff Leg Deadlifts

50kg x 3 x 8

Rack Pulls - Bar was just at my knee cap at the start position.

60kg x 3

70kg x 3

80kg x 3

90kg x 3

Pull Downs

30kg x 8

37.5kg x 6 - really slow and hard

30kg x 8 - really fast and easy

Happy enough with the deads, I'm still not back where I was pre Sheiko with them but they're moving along steadily. 77.5kg didn't feel altogether heavy last night so hopefully thats a good sign for next week.

I made a very conscious effort with the rackpulls to pause it on the rack in between reps so it wasn't bouncing. Deffo noticed the difference there.

Pull downs just seem to hate me, I can do 30's for as long I want with no bother but the second I try the next weight on the stack I just suck. Grrrr :mad:

Riddled with DOMs today in my chest from benching two days ago and lower back from deadlifting last night, I really should go squatting now just to finish myself off!!

Malteaser!

Last day in the gym I did a whole series of machines, wasn''t feeling too great and was basically filling in time until Hanley was ready to go. Nothing interesting to report there anyway.

Bench

20kg x 5 - feet on bench

22.5kg x 3 - feet on bench

25kg x 3 - feet on bench

27.5kg x 3 - feet on bench

32.5kg x 3 x 5 - all time PR for reps

Close grip bench press

20kg x 5 - feet on bench

22.5kg x 3 - feet on bench

25kg x 3 - feet on bench

27.5kg x 3 - feet on bench

30kg x 3 x 5 - all time PR for reps.

Pause bench

20kg x 5 - feet on bench

22.5kg x 3 - feet on bench

25kg x 3 - feet on bench

27.5kg x 3 x 5

Pretty awesome session. All time PR for reps on the bench. Aiming for 35kg x 3 x 5 next week and then the plan is to drop the number of reps to 3 and see how I go.

It's unreal how close my close grip and normal bench is. To think I had already done 32.5kg x 3 x 5 when I went and did 30kg x 3 x 5 with a close grip. Really happy there as well.

Malteaser!

After an unfortunate accident with a hot water bottle which left me with a rather sore tummy for the last week or so, I've been forced to take it quite easy until it healed up. It's still quite tender but I decided to head to the gym last night all the same. Nothing too heavy though...

Squat

20kg x 3

30kg x 3

40kg x 3

45kg x 1

50kg x 3 x 3

Overhead squat

20kg x 3; 1

Front Squat

20kg x 3

25kg x 3

30kg x 3

35kg x 3 x 3

Leg Extensions

25kg x 8

30kg x 8

35kg x 8

My core strength is gone to sh!t. Lots of my hips coming up first with my stomach falling forward on the squat - it's a pain in the bum but to be expected. I just need to work on my core a little bit more now. That's one of the reasons why I was doing OHS after them - They're always loads of fun afterall(!). My second time doing them. I wouldn't have called them below parallel but Hanley was looking at them and he said they were a few inches below so I'm happy with that. I still feel like I'm going to fall backwards as I'm doing them or that the bar is about to fall forward, which isn't exactly the most pleasant experience when lifting 1/3 of my bodyweight over my head. Anyway, I'll take another stab at them next week.

Front squats were cool, all lovely and deep and feeling quite strong. Deffo more room in the tank.

Malteaser!

WOO-HOO!!

Last night I finally managed to blast my old bench PB out of the water and it's *only* taken me what, 7, 8 months???

Bench

20kg x 3

25kg x 2

27.5kg x 1

30kg x 1

32.5kg x 1

35kg x 3 x 5 - yes 3 sets of 5 reps!!

Close Grip Bench Press

20kg x 5

22.5kg x 3

25kg x 3

30kg x 3

32.5kg x 3 x 3

So you may be thinking, 35kg 3 x 5, that's no big deal but to put it in context, my last bench PB was 35kg for ONE. My 1RM suddenly became manageable enough that I can do it for sets! In two weeks time I'm hoping to be benching 40kg for reps. To me that's huge, I've never been closer to reaching my goal of 50kg and I'm delighted. I was thinking last night about what I'm going to set as my new target - I'm thinking 60kg - BW has a nice ring to it.

I'm a bit like Hanley at the moment - my deadlift sucks. It's just not moving at all, but I've decided not to worry about it at the moment. I'm really going to start pushing the bench now while I'm ahead and when that starts to slow down I'll start thinking more about my deadlift. It's funny, I can't think of a time where all three lifts were getting stronger together, what always happens is that all of a sudden the lagging lift seems to take over and something else takes the back seat for a while - it's always the same!! I'm just waiting for the day that I'll go into the gym and *BAM* start pulling 120kg for 5s...ok so that's never going to happen but I can dream!!

Hanley

That was some absolutely stunningly good lifting yesterday. You should be really proud of yourself!! I can't believe how mcuh your bench has come on in the last few months. Long may it continue!!!!!!

I'm sorta hoping that whenever your deadlift picks up again mine will feel bad for being so ghey and do the same....

Malteaser!

Hanley wrote: »

That was some absolutely stunningly good lifting yesterday. You should be really proud of yourself!! I can't believe how mcuh your bench has come on in the last few months. Long may it continue!!!!!!

I'm sorta hoping that whenever your deadlift picks up again mine will feel bad for being so ghey and do the same....

Cheers big ears!!

In my head I'm still convinced it was just a fluke! Really excited about next week so I can see if it actually was or not!!

Hanley

Malteaser! wrote: »

I'm a bit like Hanley at the moment - my deadlift sucks.

I meant to call you up on that, harsh. Way harsh.

oq4v3ht0u76kf2

Hey Malteaser, good to see the log back again.. had missed it from the first page of the logs forum. I usually pop into a few but check yours and Hanley's every couple of days so glad to see you're getting back into it!

And congrats on the bench, it's great to break those personal milestones! Fair play!

Malteaser!

Hanley wrote: »

I meant to call you up on that, harsh. Way harsh.

hahaha, I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't something you had said to me yourself!!!

Macy Teeny Vender wrote: »

Hey Malteaser, good to see the log back again.. had missed it from the first page of the logs forum. I usually pop into a few but check yours and Hanley's every couple of days so glad to see you're getting back into it!

And congrats on the bench, it's great to break those personal milestones! Fair play!

Hey Rob, thanks a million! I was still trying to get some training in at home but I wasn't doing anything worth logging so didn't bother! I'm back in TF now so everything's back to normal again!!

Are you still training in Malahide?

Malteaser!

Deadlifting on Saturday

Deadlift

60kg x 3

70kg x 3

75kg x 3

80kg x 3

85kg x 3

Stiff Leg Deadlifts

50kg x 3 x 8

Good Mornings

27.5kg x 3 x 8

Hypers

x 3 x 10

Bent Over DB Rows

12.5kg x 3 x 10

I'll come back to this later, been in a huge rush all morning and now have to race over to college!!

oq4v3ht0u76kf2

Some nice deadlifting there Malt, how do you find the bent over DB rows? I've given up on bend over BB rows as my flexibility just isn't there to get the form right. I'm up in the air between doing bent over DB rows or inverse rows to compensate.

Yeah, I'm still training away in Malahide... trying to hammer out a program to take me as far as Christmas and then I'll probably start a log to keep me disciplined.

Malteaser!

Malteaser! wrote: »

Deadlifting on Saturday

Deadlift

60kg x 3

70kg x 3

75kg x 3

80kg x 3

85kg x 3

Stiff Leg Deadlifts

50kg x 3 x 8

Good Mornings

27.5kg x 3 x 8

Hypers

x 3 x 10

Bent Over DB Rows

12.5kg x 3 x 10

I'll come back to this later, been in a huge rush all morning and now have to race over to college!!

Trying hard to remember how this session went...

Deadlifting was fine, I wasn't exactly feeling it at the time and pretty much wanted to go home when I was done. I've deadlifted 90kg x 3 before so I'm glad I could manage 85kg with a little gas in the tank.

Was waiting for Hanley to finish up so did a few other bits and bobs instead of sitting out on the pcs outside.

I'm not really a fan of stiff leg deadlifts, I did them anyway coz I know they work, similar story with GMs. I'm sure as soon as my deadlift starts picking up again that I'll love them both again though so I wouldn't pay much attention to that!:P

Macy Teeny Vender wrote: »

Some nice deadlifting there Malt, how do you find the bent over DB rows? I've given up on bend over BB rows as my flexibility just isn't there to get the form right. I'm up in the air between doing bent over DB rows or inverse rows to compensate.

Yeah, I'm still training away in Malahide... trying to hammer out a program to take me as far as Christmas and then I'll probably start a log to keep me disciplined.

Thanks Rob. Tbh I'm not sure what I think of them. It's been so long since I did them, I've forgotten if I found them useful in the past. The main reason I did them the last day was because I was waiting for Hanley to get finished so was sort of killing time.

Malteaser!

On a slightly different note...I'm DELIGHTED to announce that my regular lifting routine is officially back on track. One of the main reason as to why I haven't been getting to the gym as often as I did in the past was due to the fact that I hadn't passed my driving test so had no flipping way to get there, I was basically relying on lifts from people (mostly Hanley, thanks pet ) and the bus the rest of the time, while my poor car sat in the driveway. It was all a massive pain in the arse, I was basically only training when other people were free to take me. In the past if I had a spare hour in the day, I'd drive up and get a workout in but since the ban was brought in, if I had a spare hour I'd end up spending it on the bus on my way to and from the gym but thankfully that all changes from today coz I passed my test yesterday!! I can finally settle back into a routine like I had before!! YAY!!!

I've started trying to think of routines that were put on the backburner because I wasn't sure if I could stick to the number of days it asked for a week etc and hopefully will have a brand spanking new program within the week.

Heading to the gym tonight so will report back then with how I got on!!

Hanley

Malteaser!

You ledge, thanks a million!!

oq4v3ht0u76kf2

Congrats on passing The Test chick! Think I'm gonna just do the obvious and split inverse BB and bent over DB rows roughly 50/50 until I get a feel for which is working better.

So when are we gonna see the new programmes rolled out?

Malteaser!

Macy Teeny Vender wrote: »

Congrats on passing The Test chick! Think I'm gonna just do the obvious and split inverse BB and bent over DB rows roughly 50/50 until I get a feel for which is working better.

So when are we gonna see the new programmes rolled out?

Thanks a million, I'm still just getting used to the freedom again that comes with being able to drive whenever/wherever I want without the fear that the guards are gonna come and slap me with a big fine.

As for the programs, I dunno, like I said I have a few ideas but I want to talk them out with Hanley before I start and I haven't really had the chance over the last few days tbh.

Malteaser!

I wrote this out when I did it the other day but it got eaten by a data base error and I didn't have the heart to write it out again.

Bench

22.5kg x 3

27.5kg x 3

32.5kg x 3

37.5kg x 3 x 3

Close Grip Bench Press

22.5kg x 3

27.5kg x 3

32.5kg x 3 x 3

Paused Bench Press

22.5kg x 3

27.5kg x 3

32.5kg x 3 x 3

Delighted that I managed 37.5kg x 3 x 3. It'd be a lie if I claimed they were really easy, in fact I'm slightly worried that I won't make 40kg x 3 x 3, it won't be the end of the world if don't but it'd be nice if I could. One of the reasons I think they were harder than I expected is that I was using the slightly thicker bar which is more difficult to grip/work with. Hopefully when I go back to using my favourite bar it'll feel slightly easier.

Happy also with the close grip, which is almost catching up with my normal grip and the paused bench which is also staying strong even though I expected them both to suffer as I pushed harder with the top set of my normal grip.

Oh and it was like a boardsie night out in TF the other night with Degsy, Kevpants, Hanley and myself all training at the same time, I wonder how many other boardsies are training up there without us realising!! :pac:

Malteaser!

Yesterday:

Squat

20kg x 5

30kg x 3

40kg x 3

45kg x 3

50kg x 2 x 2 ; 3

Front Squat (ATG)

20kg x 3

25kg x 3

30kg x 3

35kg x 3 x 3

Leg Extensions

25kg x 8

30kg x 8

35kg x 8

40kg x 8

Over Head Squat - these really bring the lols

10kg x 5

12 kg x 5

15kg x 51/2

Not so happy with my squatting. It's ust staying in the same place week in, week out. Needs a bit of a shake up me thinks...

Delighted with the front squatting, it's getting gradually stronger and hasn't tapered off yet so I'll stick with what Im doing there for a while.

Over head squats are the funniest thing ever, I got down as low as I possibly could without falling over which was well below parallel and that's the main thing. My knees end up drifting in like crazy and the bar feels like it's gonna fall forward, which actually did happen on the last rep of the last set!!