Returning from injury

brianthebard

I bet they'd try to teach you though rather than admit they knew nothing, even if they had to print instructions off the net. You're right its a bit mad, the biggest guy I've seen is on the desk, and he's only tall really, not exactly huge. Even the guy in charge of the elite room in the back office looks like he's never touched a barbell, but he's in charge of the weights room?

brianthebard

Today was meant to be max squats, but I wasn't feeling great and there was someone else hogging the rack. Instead of just going home after the rows I did a repetition lower day.

machine rows;50x10x2, 80x8x3.

sldl/rdl; 50x10, 70x10, 80x8, 10, 20.

shovel deads; 15x3,4,6 each side. (six done closer to the plate than prev sets).

as I said, felt sick so didn't do more than that. shovel deads are cool definitely going to keep them.

I've come to the realisation that my squat has seriously stalled over the past number of months for a variety of reasons. Its pissing me off but I'm not sure what the best way of attacking it is. I think I see four or five options;
-continue with westside template for the next few months and hope it fixes itself.
-drop back squat from rotation and hit every assistance and alternative squat lift hard for those 2 or 3 months.
-starting strength or similar where I'll be squatting more often, with added assistance.
-20 reps

The first two seem to make the more sense I just don't know if they'll work for sure and I guess its the uncertainty about the next few months of lifting that's bothering me. I'm pretty happy with the westside template overall, need to add more and heavier assistance but otherwise I think its ok. bah.

narwog81

brianthebard wrote: »

. Even the guy in charge of the elite room in the back office looks like he's never touched a barbell, but he's in charge of the weights room?

He's a former olympic sprinter, in fairness i'd say he knows a bit about weights even if he's not a big guy....

i train in NUIG too, i'd agree that the instructors dont have a clue or seem to even care whats going on in the gym. I dont think i've ever seen anyone squat even near parallel in there and the other day i got given out to for stacking the plyometric boxes on top of each other in the "elite room" while doing box jumps, dangerous apparently,the non-slip surface on top is for sitting on:rolleyes:

brianthebard

narwog81 wrote: »

He's a former olympic sprinter, in fairness i'd say he knows a bit about weights even if he's not a big guy....

The little short guy? could have fooled me. Fair enough though.

i train in NUIG too, i'd agree that the instructors dont have a clue or seem to even care whats going on in the gym. I dont think i've ever seen anyone squat even near parallel in there and the other day i got given out to for stacking the plyometric boxes on top of each other in the "elite room" while doing box jumps, dangerous apparently,the non-slip surface on top is for sitting on:rolleyes:

Are you part of a club? I noticed those boxes all right, don't know why they got them if they don't want you jumping on them.

narwog81

The little short guy? could have fooled me. Fair enough though.

this guy?

[IMG]http://www.irishrunner.com/irgraph/fgryan03.jpg<font color=green><font color=black>[/IMG]
http://www.irishrunner.com/irgraph/fgryan03.jpg

gary ryan is in charge of sports in NUIG so he controls who gets access to the elite room, as far as i know he gives the names to the kingfisher staff and they just check off a list.

nah i have mates on the football and hurling teams, i haven't played at all for the college teams with my knee injuries. anyone on the list for the room can bring in one "spotter" when they are using the room.

I noticed those boxes all right, don't know why they got them if they don't want you jumping on them.

yeah i know, i had the 12" stacked on the 30" box which is well wide to take it, one of the instructors was walking by and got panicky, must have been out of his comfort zone:D

brianthebard

Today;
floor press; high step, low step, rack lockouts; up to 90x3,2 on the last one, not 100% on any of the other numbers.

reverse grip bb row; 70x10,10,8. ss w/ rear delt flyes 4'sx15,15,15.

preachers.

arms are sore now, feels like all the curls did was work my biceps tendon. Prolly cause of the row though. Its cool getting used to having heavier weights overhead and not worrying about breaking myself, fought to grind out some reps today that might not have been possible otherwise.

JJayoo

I was deadlifting lastweek, the instructor walked up to me and during my set he told me I should put my runners on. He wasn't being rude or anything, just a bit clueless.

Have you noticed that they didn't actually fix the old floor, just covered it. Now there are big dips in the new flooring. You always have to check the floor surrounding you before doing any kind of standing lifts.

But I do like the gym, lots of ways to manipulate the machines, Mmm back extensions, finally there is a reason for the smith machine:D

brianthebard

yesterday;
snatch grip dl; 60x7, 80x5, 100x5, 120x3, 140x3, 160x0x2, 150x0, 140x0. Moral of the story, don't repeatedly fail on max deadlift attempts.

rdl's; 90x8x4.

'power' shrugs; 90x8,8,4+10, 10. hook grip on last two sets.

Doesn't look like much but my traps, erectors, lower back, hams and even my forearms are fried today. Think the bar got a bit ahead of me on the max sets and wasn't able to bring it more than a few inches. Will hopefully improve next week, even 145x3 would be good.

itsallaboutheL

brianthebard wrote: »

yesterday;
snatch grip dl; 60x7, 80x5, 100x5, 120x3, 140x3, 160x0x2, 150x0, 140x0. Moral of the story, don't repeatedly fail on max deadlift attempts.

rdl's; 90x8x4.

'power' shrugs; 90x8,8,4+10, 10. hook grip on last two sets.

Doesn't look like much but my traps, erectors, lower back, hams and even my forearms are fried today. Think the bar got a bit ahead of me on the max sets and wasn't able to bring it more than a few inches. Will hopefully improve next week, even 145x3 would be good.

Hahahahaha, you said erectors

brianthebard

today;
incline bench; 20x10, 40x5,5, 45x5, 50x5, 55x5, 57.5x3,2, 50x5, 40x6, 40x10.

kroc rows; 22'sx25,20,20.

db pc's 6'sx10x3.

tgu w/10kg plate;
2x4 each side.

benchtastic day for everyone in the gym today. tgu's were ok, couldn't use the db I wanted but the plate has handles so it was similar to using a kettlebell and a good bit more unstable. Realised I wasn't getting four sessions a week in every week so switched back to the first version of wsfsb. Won't make any noticeable difference to my logging except that I'm now skipping a day on purpose....

brianthebard

today;
snatch grip dead;60x5, 80x3, 100x3, 120x3, 145x1,1/2.

rdls w/'power shrug'(hook grip);
90kgx10x3.

bb lunges;
20x6, 40x6x2 each side.

pulldown abs;
38x12, 43x10, 23x30.

blah. I'm blaming hamstring doms on the fail, it got to my knee or an inch or so below.

brianthebard

today;
Push ups-8,6,4,2.
1 hand db push press;
16kgx9,8,8,8 es.
Bent press; 10x6,6. 16X6r,4l. 16X5r,3l.
Skullcrusher; ez+10x10, +20x8,5,+10x9.
Zottmans;12'sx8,6,6.
Lat pulldown; 55x10,8,8.

was dreading today tbh. haven't done push ups in about a year, and they suck big time. Still that's a good reason to do them for the next six weeks.
db push press and bent press(insert L snigger here ) were much easier with my right side for some reason, which is odd cause I'm left handed.
Zottman's absolutely killed my wrists and forearms, I thought they'd be handy enough at that weight but definitely not. Everything before it had already tired out my wrists but still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX3x1puA83E

great band.

itsallaboutheL

brianthebard wrote: »

Bent press; 10x6,6. 16X6r,4l. 16X5r,3l.

Um.. Spine much?? You mad bastard!!

brianthebard

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

Um.. Spine much?? You mad bastard!!

Huh? Are you thinking of something different to me? Spine is kept in the one shape the whole time and there's no pressure on the lower back. Once you're pushing the hips back its not problem. Besides its only 16kg! Probably less stress on the lower back than a bb row or seated gm.

itsallaboutheL

brianthebard wrote: »

Huh? Are you thinking of something different to me? Spine is kept in the one shape the whole time and there's no pressure on the lower back. Once you're pushing the hips back its not problem. Besides its only 16kg! Probably less stress on the lower back than a bb row or seated gm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Obt54-WU7Q

brianthebard

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Obt54-WU7Q

your link fails for me, but yeah there's no stress on my spine in that position. I dunno maybe your condition is different but for me so long as I brace my core like normal there's no problem.

JJayoo

Do you know if the bands have arrived in the new sports shop? I have seen guys use strips of bike tyres, on youtube of course, could work:D

brianthebard

Sorry no wasn't in the shop since the last day. Thought briefly about going in today but I was sort of drunk and the rugby was starting soon so I didn't....maybe monday morning, dunno.

brianthebard

today;
incline bench; 20x5,40x5x2, 45x5, 50x5, 55x5, 60x3,3,2, 50x8,6, 40x10.

kroc rows;26'sx20x3.
ss w/ db powercleans; 6'sx8x3.

tgu's 15kg plate, 2 each side. bollocked at this stage so left it at that.

dunno what I did lately to improve my bench but I'm finally feeling my chest involved in the movement, last week I had doms from the incl. bench and today I think I even got a pump! Not exactly earth shattering stuff but a marked difference to usual where my arms feel like they're going to drop off. Thought I had hit 60 last week but I hadn't, so I gained 2.5kg and 3 reps on last weeks performance. Also got way more reps on the back off sets at heavier weight. Nice to think my bench might be getting better at last. Everything else was standard, 4kg jump on rows.
This was all especially surprising cause I was drinking at the weekend.

brianthebard

snatch grip dl's; 60x5, 80x4, 100x3, 120x3, 130x2, 145x1.

rdl's w/'power shrug'; 100x6x4 (hook grip).

bb lunges; 45x6x3.

pulldown abs; 38x15, 43x15, 23x40.

dl's were slllllowwww. Realised afterwards they weren't even that hard, just slow as ****. everything else was fine. Changing to box squats next week thank ****.
eta; think the singles the first week messed me up for the following weeks, only going for top sets of 2 and 3 on deads from now on, and won't be doing them for 3 weeks.

JJayoo

How are u gonna do box squats in the gym?

brianthebard

With a reebox step or a bench. I'll put plates underneath if I want to raise it up a bit.

brianthebard

Today;
push ups; 8,8,8,3.
lat pulldowns (palms facing face); 60x8x3.
facepulls; 21x15,10.
db push press; 16x10,8,8,5.
skullcrushers w/slight incline; ez bar+12.5x10x3.
ez curls ""
shovel deads (feet near smooth part of bar): bar+15; 8,8 (each side).

Gym was busy today hence the messed up order, definitely don't want to do facepulls before press again. 2.5kg on the sc. Loving the shovels, although my glutes were fecked pretty quick, most likely cause of yesterday. decent session.

brianthebard

Today;
incline bench;
20x3 sets, 40x5, 50x5, 52.5x5, 57.5x3, 50x5, 62.5x2, 50x10,50x6,1,f(got it onto the pins but no way it was getting locked out).

kroc rows;30x20,15,15,
ss w/rear delt flyes; 8kg's x10x3.

shovels; 20x8,8.

2 sets of calf raises on the leg press.

Sh.it session today, tried to set up a bench in the rack but it kept shaking (one of those adjustable ones) and made things difficult. Moved back to the normal bench but definitely could've done more reps on the top set otherwise.
Felt like I was going to faint at one point while benching and totally nauseous after the calf raises, sat in the bathroom for five mins hoping I wouldn't get sick.
Also rag week is crazy, I got to the gym at midday and there was a squad car, a garda bicycle and motorbike all set up at the corner, just to keep order. Nothing serious happened while I was there but I can't imagine what yesterday was like on campus.

JJayoo

a garda bicycle

Def stolen at this stage

brianthebard

lolz, he was sticking close to it. Never seen so many bikes outside the gym for some reason, maybe everyone cycled up there and then walked to the drinking hole???

Oh yeah saw the best inverted rows today, guy had his feet on a swiss ball, and used that and momentum to launch himself out of the hole each time. His shoulder joints much hate him. I've seen him almost kill himself so many times, think he works there.

brianthebard

Today;
box squats (somewhat below parallel, high par position); 20,40,60,80,90,100,110(x5), 120x2(2nd rep gm'd), 120x2, 100x5.

seated gm's; 60x8x3.

bb lunge; 50x6x3.

pulldown abs; 38x10, 43x10, 26x30.

brianthebard

Today;
push ups; 8,8,8, 4.

jump chins; 6

db push press; 18x8,8,8.

skullcrushers; 17.5+ez bar: 10x3.
curls w/ same: 10x3.

assisted chins; 3(-40), 6,5,(-47)

face pulls; 23x10x3.

push ups were harder than the last few weeks, thought I'd get another week or two out of them but dunno if I'll be able to add many reps next week. Will probably change after that.
pp was pretty good.
assisted chins cause I wanted to get a bit more practise with the movement, my pull up strength is complete gheyness.

brianthebard

Today;
diesel crew warm up
bench; 20x10,40x5, 50x5,3, 55x5, 60x5, 65x3,3, 67.5x2,1.

db bench; 28's x5,4 (fail to lock out the fifth), 24'sx6,6.

kroc rows; 30x20,10.
ss w/ rdf's; 8x8x2.

might have done another 2 reps on the 67.5 but I didn't write it down and I'm not sure. Bench was sort of close grip but that's my default position atm, so not sure how much that matters. gassed on the rows. still have a bit of a cough (took last week off to give it a chance to recover) but hopefully it'll be gone by the end of the week.

brianthebard

Today;
box squats, 20,40,60,70,90,x5.
110x3,125x2,2, 100x5.

seated gm's; 65 8x3

lunges;
60x4,6,5.

pulldown abs;
41x12x2, 26x35.

decent enough, 5kg on the box squats, 10 on the lunges (hence the low reps). Squats felt faster than last week which was good and didn't cave like last week.