How to look like a darts player

Dathai

Push Press
1st - bar x 10
2nd - 30kg x 5
5 sets of 6 @ 50kg

Upright Rows
5 sets of 8 @ 55kg

HandBike Machine
4 sets of 3 minutes each @ level 17 keeping >70RPM

Didn't have a chance to get any other lifts done, was in a rush to get to work. Glad of the lifts, seems to have got more reps at higher weights than last time, probably because I didn't do any powercleans before hand.

Dathai

Yesterday

Single Legged Deadlifts (with E-Z Bar @ 45kg)
7 sets of 8 each leg.

Front Squats
5 sets of 6 @ 60kg

Lunges
4 sets of 6 (3 each leg) with 2 x 24kg Kettlebells

Deathmarch with 2 x 24kg kettlebells (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o_lal2jpQc)
4 trips (10 meters each way)

Been trying to get as much studying done as possible, so didn't get to the gym yesterday. Got all this done in about 40-50 minutes not including stretching and warm ups.

Gonna start the Smolov introductory microcycle tomorrow for front and back squats. 3 days of horror. If it does anything, I'll probably do it 3 times before I jump into smolov for reals.

Going for a run now with this on the ipod. I'm probably going to smash someone in the face due to it's epicness.

Dathai

Due to unforeseen gimpness, I won't be able to train tomorrow so with that in mind, I gave the first day of Smolov a go to see how it felt. I didn't try the microcycle as it requires 3 consecutive days of squatting, so I'll probably start this properly after my exams. This was just to see how much of an absolute nightmare it was.

My 1RM back squat according to EXRX is 163kg, based on 5 reps of 145.
My 1RM front squat according to EXRX is 96kg, based on 5 reps of 85.

Back Squats
4x9 @ 115kg

Front Squats
4x9 @ 65kg

Single Legged Deadlifts
3x5 @ 15kg - 5 reps each leg.

Russian Twists
4 sets of 20 with a 35kg Dumbell

Walked for 5 minutes on the treadmill.

Standing ab crunches
4 sets of 10 @ 50kg


This was slightly different to what I thought was going to happen. My legs held up grand, but my stomach took a beating during the squats. I understand that it's either back or front squats and not necessarily both, but sweet fúck did I feel sick. Legs are fine at the moment, but I reckon they'll be sore later on.

It seems doable for 4 times a week, alternating assistance work.

Did about 30 minutes of stretching afterwards and some foam rolling.

Dathai

Brick.Arse

Back Squats
1st - 60kg - 3 (held at the bottom)
2nd - 80kg - 3 (held at the bottom)
3rd - 100kg - 2
4th - 122.5kg x 7
5th - 122.5kg x 7
6th - 122.5kg x 7
7th - 122.5kg x 7
8th - 122.5kg x 7

2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th sets were fine on every rep. The rest SUCKED. Dunno what it was but they just stank.

Front Squats
1st - 45kg x 3
2nd - 65kg x 1
3rd - 72.5kg x 7
4th - 72.5kg x 7
5th - 72.5kg x 7
6th - 72.5kg x 7
7th - 72.5kg x 7

Scuttering JAYSUS that was horrific. There's nothing worse for your confidence when doing these than feeling your hands slipping on the reps. Hands and arms were soaked from these. I think bringing chalk may be a good idea next time.

Single Legged Deadlifts
4 sets of 5 each leg @ 25kg

Russian Twists
4 sets of 20 @ 30kg

Standing Ab Crunches
6 sets of 10 @ 55.5kg


Due to exams next week, I won't be doing any gym work, so this will resume in two weeks after Saturdays session.

I've missed about 2 weeks of BJJ too, not happy about it. I'll have to start getting some cardio in soon so I'm not too far behind on the conditioning.

Dathai

No protein in the house, only True Mass and eggs. I must have eaten about 10 today so far and had 2 shakes (2 scoops each). Couriers are taking ages to deliver my order!

This morning

Bench Press
1st - 30kg x 10
2nd - 45kg x 6
3rd - 50kg x 5
4th - 65kg x 5
5th - 77.5kg x 4
6th - 77.5kg x 4
7th - 77.5kg x 3
8th - 77.5kg x 3
9th - 77.5kg x 3
10th - 77.5kg x 3


Close Grip Bench
5 sets of 5 @ 57.5kg

Push Press
1st - bar x 10
2nd - 30kg x 8
3rd - 45kg x 5
4th - 55kg x 5
5th - 55kg x 5
6th - 60kg x 3 (failed last two attempts)
7th - 57.5kg x 4

E-Z Bar curls
10 sets of 12 @ 30kg (Gunz, Pump etc)

E-Z Bar Concentration Curls
6 sets of 15 @ 25kg

Tricep Push downs
5 sets of 8 @ 85kg

Grip Training
1st - 60 second hang @ BW
2nd - 75 second hang @ BW
3rd - 75 second hang @ BW

Arm Bike Machine
3 rounds of 3 minutes @ level 17

This being off work and college stuff is great!

Dathai

This was probably the most exhausting day yet. Just wanted it all to be over and done with.

Back Squat
Warmup
2 sets of body weight squats, no bar x 10. Each rep paused at the bottom.
2 sets of body weight squats, with bar x 10. Each rep paused at the bottom.

Work Sets
1st - 60kg x 4 (paused)
2nd - 80kg x 3 (paused)
3rd - 100kg x 3 (paused)
4th - 130kg x 5
5th - 130kg x 5
6th - 130kg x 5
7th - 130kg x 5
8th - 130kg x 5
9th - 130kg x 5 (Noted in my logbook with "UUUUUUGH" beside it)
10th - 130kg x 5

FFFFUUUUUUUUUU

10 minute rest with bridging and knee drops

Front Squats

1st - 45kg x 3
2nd - 65kg x 3
7 sets of 5 @ 77.5kg


Went into the stretching area and lay there for half an hour. Did some stretching. Got up and went home. UUUUUUUUUUUUUGH..


Thinking of checking Raw out at some point. I checked my membership out today and I've got until July to make up my mind whether I want to stay or not. I've heard good things about Raw and it's a lot cheaper and open earlier than my current gym.

Managed to pick up a tub of ON whey on my way home. Hopefully my order arrives soon

G86

RAW is awesome. Sort it out.

howtomake

Dathai wrote: »

This was probably the most exhausting day yet. Just wanted it all to be over and done with.


Went into the stretching area and lay there for half an hour. Did some stretching. Got up and went home. UUUUUUUUUUUUUGH..


Managed to pick up a tub of ON whey on my way home. Hopefully my order arrives soon

I hope you are eating the right things and enough for all your work

itsallaboutheL

Did you order from discount supps by any chance?

Dathai

Yes sir, I did.

Will post up todays log at some point. I came home, had a massive feed (5 scrambled eggs, shake, bran flakes) and went to bed. Woke up, ate, felt sore, ate, felt sore, came on boards. Gonna eat. Quite sore. Feel like I've spent the night at Michael Barrymore's gaff.

Dathai

Probably my longest session in the gym ever. A bit over 3 hours in total. Did about a 30 minutes stretching and got stuck in. A big can of redbull is definitely the thing to have before it all.

Back Squats

Warmup
2 sets of body weight squats, no bar x 10
1 set of body weight squats, with bar x 10
1st - 60kg x 4
2nd - 80kg x 4
3rd - 100kg x 3
4th - 120kg x 3

Work Sets
10 sets x 3 reps @ 137.5

The last two sets were rubbish. My form was taking a beating and I just wanted to bust out the reps.


Front Squats
Warm Up
1st - 45kg x 3
2nd - 65kg x 3

Work Sets
10 sets of 3 @ 82.5

Same story goes with these. I was busting out reps with decent form until the last 3 sets and I was dying. Took about 4 minutes in between sets and sat down.


After these I got on the treadmill and did a 5 minute walk to shake my legs out a bit. Went in to stretch and was falling asleep doing them.


I've got exams all this week and next so I'll give lifting a miss and focus on studying and getting some sleep. I'm hoping to restart this when they're over and see what difference it makes.

Dathai

Went to Raw this morning. Possibly the worst training session I've done tbh.

Went up just to check it out and ended up squatting, awfully.

Couldn't get past 80kg on the back squat and couldn't get past 50 on the front. Did a couple of sets of each just to feel it out, but decided to call it a day.

Lovely gym though, has absolutely everything. Was looking for the reverse hyper, but couldn't see it.

Going to leave it a week or so and see how I feel.

Dathai

Man flu has had me crippled all week. Fairly sure that's what had me in bits on Monday in Raw. Exams are almost over so I wanted to waste some precious time.

Flew into the gym at 3, left at 7. Possibly one of the longest sessions in ages, but it was pretty good.

Loads of stretching, hip stuff, shoulder stuff, knee stuff, more stretching. Then hit the rack.

Back Squats
Warm Up
1st - bar x 10
2nd - 60kg x 5
3rd - 80kg x 5
4th - 120kg x 5

Work Sets
1 set of 5 at 145kg
3 sets of 5 @ 147.5kg (dunno if it's a PR, but I knew what was coming in the next few exercises, so I kept it sane)

Dropped down to 120kg

4 sets of 6 @ 120kg

3 sets of 12 @ 80kg

Front Squats
7 sets of 5 @ 75kg (felt uber light after the back squats)

Good Mornings
6 sets of 8 @ 60kg

Bent Rows
4 sets of 8 @ 75kg

Leg extensions
6 sets of 20 @ 65kg

Had a chat with 3 of the instructors about my squat. Luckily these guys are actually knowledgable and were able to answer some questions I had.

Pretty much got them to check my depth and they all said "You're hitting parallel, then breaking through it and going super low. Don't do this, you'll wreck yourself". So I squatted for them again and had them check it, and they said it was spot on. Was still kind of worried about it so I lowered the weight and just worked on form. Had them check it again and they said it was solid. Really didn't feel like it was any work though, probably because I'm used to going really deep.

For the next while on back squats I'll just be working on learning my depth, so going to start low and work my way up and up. My posture is fine, but I want to sort out some niggling things like making sure to keep my knees out when I hit heavier weights.

Happy I got the good mornings in, I'm finding it difficult on the way back up when squatting so until I start hammering at the reverse hyper in raw, these will be my staple diet.

Also, felt like I had awesome training partners in the gym today. Bunch of lads behind me on another rack squatting sponge plates while barking out "YUUUUS GIT SOME YUSSS UP UP UP". I like to think they were cheering me on :pac:

Dathai

Man flu is over. Effort of typing everything out.

Pretty much this:

Back squats
10 sets of 5 @ 80kg (gonna have to start filming this, want to make sure my back isn't curving, which it doesn't seem to be anymore)

Front Squats
7 sets of 5 @ 87.5kg

Good Mornings
6 sets of 8 @ 75kg

Heavy Abs - lots.

Leg Extensions
6 sets of 10 @ 70kg

Dathai

Went in this morning to bench and all the stations were taken and the racks were taken too. Must be something on tonight, there was a load of lads in doing arms (which is the usual in my gym, but there was a lot more of them today than ever), benching and standing around talking.

Jumped on the treadmill to walk for a bit to see if they'd leave, they didn't. Did dips and pushdowns and they were still there. Seen a guy curling in the squat rack, so I just left.

Glad I got that membership in Raw, will have to start going there instead.

Dathai

A mate of mine is over from the States. He coaches High School Wrestling and had a training session with him and a couple of other lads on Saturday. Got taken to school big time. Take downs were unreal, never been taken down so fast. Great intro to it.
It really opened my eyes to how poor my flexibility is in my hips and shoulders, their training is a lot different to how I've been training BJJ.
I was given some excellent advice on mobility exercises to do, along with great agility exercises.

Going to get a set of bands and a wall chin up bar for the lair at some point.

Anyway.. This morning:

Benching
1 x 10 @ 30kg
1 x 8 @ 50kg
1 x 5 @ 70kg
5 sets of 9 @ 60kg

Close Grip
4 sets of 5 @ 45kg

Dips
4 sets of 8

Push Downs
5 sets of 8 @ 90kg

Dathai

Did loads of shoulder flexibility this morning. Managed to get away with using bands I brought myself ("borrowed" from a friend). Did that for about 40 minutes after my warm up.

Back Squats
13 sets of 4 @ 80kg

Bent Knee Good Mornings
1st - bar x 10
2nd - 30kg x 10
3rd - 45kg x 9
4th - 55kg x 8
5th - 65kg x 8
6th - 75kg x 8
3 sets of 8 @ 80kg

Leg Extensions
1st - 60kg x 15
4 sets of 10 @ 75kg

Abs
Loads of stuff x loads @ heavy.

Did loads of stretching and shoulder stuff again. Feeling pretty good now.

Finding that my knees are pushing out with ease now and I'm hitting just below parallel happily enough with an arched back. Chest is out and tight. Going to keep this going for a few more weeks just to get it hammered into my brain.

howtomake

I thought all US high school students just used guns, didn't know they were taught wrestling

Dathai wrote: »

Finding that my knees are pushing out with ease now and I'm hitting just below parallel happily enough with an arched back. Chest is out and tight. Going to keep this going for a few more weeks just to get it hammered into my brain.

Good on ya! The brain will learn. I was somewhat lucky as yoga taught me how to be very aware of my back, arched, straight and what not.

Wow 40 minutes of mobility, you have patience.

Dathai

Got away with using the bands again this morning, there's nobody in the gym so I'm working away without any hassle. Wall girdle stretches and squat girdle stretches SUCK btw. I can only keep the back of my hand to the wall or sometimes at most the back of my fingers. I'll do these every day from now on until it has improved.

Did these and some extra stuff before and after:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETO5PLzgmNY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qgEOqJYIjM


Anyway:

Benchin'
1 x 10 @ 35kg
1 x 8 @ 50kg
5 x 7 @ 70kg
1 x 5 @ 60kg
1 x 10 @ bar

Close Grip
4 sets of 5 @ 47.5kg

Power Shrugs
4 x 8 @ 55kg

Front and Lateral Raises
5 sets of 5 on each with an 8kg dumbell

Push downs
3 sets of 8 @ 90kg

Got a 7ft length of wavin pipe that I'm going to use for shoulder dislocations and for some overhead squat stuff at home. Only in the past while has it come to light how horrible my shoulder flexibility is.

Dathai

Loads of stuff today. Got in at 6.30 left at 9.50 so I took my time throughout.

Still doing form / depth stuff on squats.

Back squats
1st - bar x 10
2nd - 40kg x 8
3rd - 60kg x 8
10 sets of 3 @ 85kg

Bent knee good mornings
1st - bar x 10
2nd - 30kg x 8
3rd - 50kg x 8
4th - 70kg x 8
4 sets of 8 @ 80kg

Stood against the wall while an old man deadlifted 120kg (it was epic)

Abs
Russian twists (about 100 reps in total with a 27.5kg dumbell)
Decline sit ups (About 100 reps in total with bodyweight)
Standing Ab pulldowns (Around 60 reps in total with 70kg)

Did a few overhead squats with just the barbell. Really trying to get my shoulders into position and have my posture correct.

My right knee is kind of at me. I'm really trying to push my knees out and open my hips so this may be the cause of it.

Serious DOMS in my kneck and shoulders from yesterday. Hate doing upper body!

Dathai

Went into the gym this morning to find that it's closed. I had taken a bunch of pre-workout supps and was buzzed so didn't know what to do. Ended up legging it into town and going to a mate's gym.

Basically had a little corner to myself with some boxes so I said I'd just grab a barbell and do what I can. It was pretty packed so I didn't want to start going off doing stuff and finding that my gear was gone when I get back.

OH Squats
4 sets of 6 with just the bar

Lashed bands around my knees and did OH squats
4 sets of 3 with just the bar.

Deadlifts
1st - 60kg x 3
2nd - 80kg x 3
3rd - 100kg x 3
4th - 130kg x 3
3 sets of 5 @ 150kg

Bent Rows
1st bar x 10
4 sets of 6 @ 55kg

Back was getting tired so I kept it sensible on the rows.

The OH squats with the bands was actually pretty sweet. I have an awful lot of trouble trying to push my knees out, so the resistance really made me work hard while trying to maintain posture.

Epic shuffle on the ipod as well: this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkxStW7o_o0 then this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI1ItXX3QV0

Gonna chill out and head for a run tomorrow. I'd imagine my gym and Raw are closed on monday so I'll take it as an off day. Class.

Dathai

Back Squats
Started from bar and worked up to 80kg
10 sets of 5 @ 80kg.

Form was atrocious from the beginning. Completely forgot how to squat. I was all over the shop. It got better as I went along. Slowed down the reps and just tried to focus on keeping upright and driving with my hips. Dunno what was wrong with me this morning.

Good Mornings
1st - bar x 10
2nd - 35kg x 10
3rd - 45kg x 10
4th - 55kg x 8
5th - 65kg x 8
7th - 75kg x 8
8th - 75kg x 8

Hyperextension
1st - BW x 10
2nd - 20kg x 10
3rd - 20kg x 10
4th - 20kg x 10
5th - 20kg x 10

Russian Twists with 30kg dumbell
5 sets of 30. (UUUUUUUUUUUUGH)

Dathai

Pretty good session this morning. Redbull + Beta-Alanine = more power

Benchin'
1st - 40kg x 10
2nd - 55kg x 6
3rd - 65kg x 6
8 sets of 5 @ 75kg

No shoulder pain but my arms almost failed on the last set. Was only gonna do 7 sets, but I felt I could get another one.

Close grip benchin'
4 sets of 5 @ 50kg

No shoulder pain either - score!

Front and Lateral Raises
5 sets of 5 each arm with a 10kg dumbell

Power Shrugs
1st - 40kg x 10
2nd - 50kg x 8
4 x 8 @ 60kg

Hammer Curls
5 sets of 12 @ 20kg

Arms completely failed on the last set, almost felt like I would have tore something if I got another rep in.

Have been trying to do smolov sets for my bench, but not in smolov sequence (ie: the days are fairly ****ed). My upper body is ridiculously weak in comparison to my lower body and I reckon this could become a problem in the future. I'm thinking of trying smolov for my bench (even though I bench sweet FA) just to increase my upper body strength.

I wish I could just stick to programs..

howtomake

Dathai wrote: »

Pretty good session this morning. Redbull + Beta-Alanine = more power

I wish I could just stick to programs..

I'll have to try that concoction, need all the help I can get for those damn snatches.

Glad to hear the shoulder is feeling better.

Dathai

I wouldn't take the Beta-Alanine when doing squats, deads or snatches. I usually get pretty dizzy when I do squats and deads after taking it, so I'd imagine snatches would be the same.

This morning

Squats
3 sets x 10 with just the bar
2 sets x 10 @ 40kg
2 sets x 10 @ 60kg
9 sets x 6 @ 80kg

Leg Extensions
6 sets of 12 @ 70kg

Single Leg Split Squat
5 sets of 8 (each leg) with a 20kg kettlebell

Really suffered to keep my balance on these, legs were getting tired.

Russian Twists with 30kg dumbbell
4 sets of 30k

Standing Ab Crunches
6 sets of 30 @ 70kg

I would like more than one ab please, a large wall of muscle covered in chubbyness is not a nice sight. It's like a HGH gut

Squats were good, kept the reps and sets sane. Form is good, depth is good, feeling the spring. Neck and shoulders are in bits from yesterday.

howtomake

Dathai wrote: »

I wouldn't take the Beta-Alanine when doing squats, deads or snatches. I usually get pretty dizzy when I do squats and deads after taking it, so I'd imagine snatches would be the same.

Killjoy!:D Safety first blah blah.

Dathai

After coming down with a pretty bad throat infection so I'm taking this week off and chilling out.

Diet is not going to change, coz I like to eat.

Dathai

Got bands from IronWoody and they arrived to my job today.



Was opening them at my desk and one of the lads came over and looked at me strange, walked off and came back and said.. "so..I eh.. wouldn't have suspected you were... into that".

Looked at him without actually thinking that he meant anything sinister and said "yeah, seen a bloke online doing it, bit more flexible because of it these days. Should have done it a LOOOONG time ago. Bit looser as you go on y'know."

Dathai

Did some stuff at home this morning before I went into work. Wanted to at least do something other than my normal stretches this week so I did a load of mobiltywod stuff with the new bands

Hip work, shoulder work, knee work, elbows, back - repeat x 4

Skipping: 8 x 3 minute rounds of continuous skipping

I'll probably head back to the gym Monday and start benching again. I'm going to just chill out this weekend and do what I did today.

Dathai

Won't have time to update this as much because I'll be away quite a bit (but with access to an awesome gym - it's epic) so eh pretty much going to do this for the next while as my bench sucks and I haven't deadlifted enough in ages and my hams are sucking.

Monday - benching + push press + stuff

Tuesday - Squatting + abs

Wednesday - Benching + tricep work + stuff

Thursday - Coan / Phillipi

Friday - Benching + bicep + tricep work + stuff

Saturday + Sunday rest days.


My upper body strength is actually atrocious compared to my lower body, and it's become all to apparent that it's letting me down in a lot of lifts. Have the program in detail but effort of typing it all.

Gonna do this until the end of the C/P cycle and see how it goes.