My right Knee's slightly unstable today - Thought I'd done the knee wrap badly - felt it bunch up behind my knee on the last rep so am guessing that's it - Must learn to do wraps properly

Sunday 4 April

Another muck about day with equipment

Deadlift
70 x 5 x 2
120 x 3 x 1
Suit on
170 x 3 x 1
195 x 2 x 1
Straps up
205 x 2 x 1
225 x Fail - Just couldn't get movement right with the suit and got in a horrible position so couldn't finish
205 x 2 x 3 - Did a few sets to try to get used to the suit - Not very good TBH

Rack pulls
205 x 3 x 1 - Fairly high just above knee
205 x 3 x 3 - About 2" below knee
Starting in a horrible position deliberately as that's where I seem to end up, very hard on the lower back

Bench
60 x 5 x 2
100 x 3 x 1
Put my 48" bench shirt on as everyone else was ...
120 x 2 x 1 - Easy
140 x 1 x 1 - Easy ish
147.5 - Fail - Just a qicj PB attempt for fun - almost got it but couldn't quite lock out
140 x 1 x 1 - To finish - A bit slow but was tired

Total tonnage / reps 7,480 / 55
Intensity 136.00

Weird session - Could not get the feel of teh suit on the DL's and was lifting worse than I do raw Hey ho a learning experience. TBH I just need to work on my DL techniques so will probably stickl at 200/210 for a few weeks and do reps - May alternate weeks between using and not using the suit. Mya also do DL's with bands to help my lock out.
Going for a PB bench was a bit out of the blue but everyone else was going heavy so sort of got carried away - It was dam close but I was too tired to finish it

What's going on with the equipped lifting Ader - I thought you were set on competing raw?

Are you using a squat suit for deadlifting? The way squat suits are designed they will fight you against locking out, or so im led to believe. I no a one or 2 that put on their squat suit back to front to counter the problem. But the best solution would be to pick up a second hand deadlift suit in a size below the recommended for your weight. Although they're rare to find.

@ Richard - I'm just trying out the equipment for a hile - Have been meaning do it for a while - Idea is simply to get used to moving more weight so hopefully in the squat suit I can start squatting somewhat over 200 - Am half thinking if it goes well I'll lift equipped at eth Europeans but it's more likely I'll lift raw. Aim is to lift raw at the world's. It's good to do something different now & again.

@ Frio - Hear what you're saying - Hadn't heard that before - It was weird DLing in the suit and the 225 fail was at the top - If it does make lockout difficult then as that's my weakness then having to work extra hard at the top may not be a bad thing for me - Am thinking I'll DL with bands- Possibly rack pulls with bands and maybe SLDL/RDLs with/without bands - But maybe I should do them with the squat suit on to make it extra hard At the moment I'm borrowing equipment just to try out - Am hoping to get a somewhat smaller bench shirt to try ideally a 44 (compared to the 48 I'm using) just to see. If I stick with equipped then I'll look into a DL suit as you suggest. Cheers

Monday 5 April

Light squat day, plus attempting to start to work on my weaknesses...

Squats
60 x 5 x 1
60 x 3 x 2
100 x 3 x 2
140 x 3 x 1
160 x 3 x 3
Tried to keep form spot on, but it started to break down on the last set, so 160 was a good weight to use - When I can get 3 sets of 3 spot on I'll move up.

Bench squats
140 x 3 x 3
Bench so I was just above parallel which is where I tend to go wrong - 140 was hard so sort of proved that this is my weak spot


Glute Bridges
60 x 5 x 1
100 x 5 x 5
Wasn't sure what weight to use so didn't attempt to go too heavy the first time - & whilst 100 was not too heavy tbh, it was heavy enough for starters - I can feel it's worked my glutes nicely as I sit here typing

Leg raises
10 x 3 - first set just me - 2nd and 3rd sets with my feet holding a small DB
Decided I need to do some abs work as I hardly ever do specific abs work so will try to do this every week.

Total tonnage / reps 7,180 / 68
Intensity 105.59

Aim is to lift raw at the world's

Thats what I am talking about!

Nice session.

Coop_de_Ville wrote:

Aim is to lift raw at the world's

Thats what I am talking about!

Nice session.

Cheers - Today's squats were RAW - no belt - Only non raw bit was I used wrist wraps

Wednesday 7 April

Bench day - Using bands again...

Bench - With red band
60 x 5 x 2
80 x 5 x 1
100 x 3 x 5

Speed bench - With red band
80 x 2 x 8
80 x 10 - No band - Not really speed just a blow out with no band

Cable push downs with red band round shoulders
40 x 5 x 1
45 x 5 x 2
45 x 4 x 1
40 x 5 x 2

DB Shoulder presses
25 x 5 x 3

Total tonnage / reps 6,185 / 100
Intensity 61.85

Hard on the triceps but I like the band work - It helps me get my line right too as I tend to go back better when using the bands - Really feel my triceps are tired now so a good session

How long do your sessions take Ade?

Coop_de_Ville wrote:How long do your sessions take Ade?

Quite variable tbh - Depends on how heavy I'm working. On heavy days I tend to take long breaks between sets - 5 minutes typically and sometimes as much as 10 if it's really heavy - Plus depending on who else is training and how much we have to load/unload the bar - The joy of strength training lol.

Last nights took 30 - 40 minutes from memory so not too long - On the speed benches I was taking 30 secs rest between sets so those 8 sets got done real fast. The heavy Sunday DL & Bench sesssions can take a couple of hours - Plus the post session drinks in the bar takes it up to 3 hours or so Squats tonight will be semi heavy and I'll probably be in the gym an hour or so.

Thursday 8 April

Squat day - Decided to go with a very wide stance to see if it helped correct my problems at the bottom - Answer was yes but due to lack of flexibility I only just about made depth - Mind you thos stance was wider than I think I should go but a good indicator - Will probably keep doing this for a few weeks ande then bring the stance in a bit so depth is easier. This put a lot more emphaisis on my glutes and hams and actually felt good

Squat - Wide Stance
60 x 3 x 1
60 x 8 x 1
100 x 5 x 1
140 x 3 x 1
170 x 3 x 1
180 x 2 x 1
190 x 1 x 1

Bench squat - Wide Stance
140 x 3 x 1
150 x 3 x 1
160 x 3 x 1
170 x 3 x 3
Depth on this was just above parallel so just below my sticking point - Good times.

Glute bridges
100 x 5 x 1
130 x 5 x 3


Leg raises
10 x 3 - 15lb DB held in feet


Total tonnage / reps 7,970 / 63
Intensity 126.51

Pleased with this session - Learnt something on my squat style which will hopefully benefit me longer term - Just have to accept that it'll be harder initially - Which it was today

Boy does my ass ache now

How wide is wide?

Coop_de_Ville wrote:How wide is wide?

The middle of my feet were the width of the squat stand - So quite wide for me

Saturday 10 April

Did my Sunday session today as I'm off to the BDFPA euipped champ's tomorrow to watch / help - So deadlfit & bench ...

Deadlift
60 x 3 x 2
100 x 3 x 1
140 x 3 x 1
180 x 3 x 1
220 x 2 x 1
225 x 2 x 1 - Lock out on 2nd rep was dodgey suspicions of a hitch!

Rack pulls
185 x 3 x 1
220 x 3 x 1
235 x 3 x 1
235 x 2 x 1
235 x 1 x 1 - only managed 1 lol
230 x 3 x 1 - Just to prove to myslef 3 reps was on

Speed deadlift
180 x 3 x 4 - With red band - Very hard and lock out a bit suspect
180 x 3 x 1 - Easy after the previous 4 sets with the band

Bench - Raw
60 x 5 x 1
80 x 5 x 1
100 x 3 x 1
120 x 2 x 3 - A bit slow for my liking but ok
110 x 6 x 1 - Suspect this a PB with 110
105 x 5 x 1 - Crap! - Obviously blew myself out on the 110's
100 x 7 x 1 - Ditto

Flys
25 x 5 x 3

Cable push downs
50 x 5 x 3


Total tonnage / reps 13,255 / 116
Intensity 114.27

Good sess - My lock out is still rubbish but I suspect I now why so will be woring on this next week. Bascially I start with an arched back and keep it arched so I have nowehere to 'go' at the top - All my Oly lifting as a kid!

Bench was good - Was thinking of doing 120's for 3 but held back - 110 for 6 was good but a total blow out and left myslef empty or the 105's and 100's.

Would have done some block work but only 1 other guy to help and that never works well imo so went for the reverse pyramid instead.

Wednesday 14 April

Had Monday off as I had a stomach bug - Suspect I ate something dodgey on Sunday

Also, went tothe BDFPA British euipped on Sunday which was good - Had a great time doing wraps & helping get bench shirts on/off and so on. One of my mates got a 302.5 squat weighing in at ~87Kg and he made it look easy - Could take me a while to catch him up!

So today was a bench day ...

Bench - With blue band
60 x 5 x 2
80 x 5 x 1
100 x 3 x 4
Blue band was hard and just about managed the 4th set - Next week I may go for sets of 4 reps. But am liking this - It's impossible to get any momentum off the chest with the bands so it's just work all the way which is really good for me.

Speed bench - With blue band
80 x 2 x 6
80 x 2 x 2 - No band - Very fast!!!

Bench - Blow out
80 x 17 x 1
I may have had another rep in me, but with no spotter it wasn't worth the risk.


Cable push downs
40 x 5 x 1
50 x 5 x 4
Faced away from the machine for a change to see if it made a difference- Was too tired to consider using a band too.

DB Shoulder presses
30 x 5 x 3
Ouch is all I can say - Very hard.

Pull ups
Me x 5 x 4
1st set over hand - 2nd & 3rd sets mixed grip - 4th set underhand

Total tonnage / reps 8,190 / 120
Intensity 68.25


Really liked this session today - Hard work with the blue band but I can feel how hard my triceps worked already - Nice feeling

Thursday 15 April

Squat day - Continuing with the wide stance -I am liking it

Squat - Wide Stance
60 x 5 x 2
100 x 3 x 1
130 x 3 x 1
170 x 3 x 1
190 x 1 x 3
170 x 2 x 2

Bench squat - Wide Stance
170 x 3 x 1
190 x 3 x 3
Quite a high bench as I wanted to keep my body very upright and not flexible enough to go very low Hard work - Nice.

Good Mornings
100 x 3 x 1
120 x 3 x 3
Haven't done these for ages- Am thinking I'll do alternate weeks of glute bridges/hip thrusts and good mornings.

Total tonnage / reps 6,650 / 50
Intensity 133.00

Enjoyed this today - Squats felt strong even though I'm not wholly comfortable with the position yet - Can really feel it working teh hams & glutes, so much less quad orientated than when I was narrower, wich is a good thing methinks

Sunday 18 April

1st day of the deadlift build up using the Coan Philippi concept - Except we're not doing the full circuits as it's too hard and takes too long- Will spread the exercises over the week.

Deadlift
60 x 3 x 3
100 x 3 x 2
140 x 3 x 1
170 x 2 x 1
185 x 2 x 1 - A nice easy start to the build up


Speed deadlifts
150 x 3 x 8

Shrugs
140 x 5 x 3

Rack Holds
210 x 3
240 x 3
Bascially grip work - Rack pull from high and hold the bar for 10 seconds - Will gardually increase weight till we're doing 270+

Bench - High Block
60 x 10 x 1
100 x 8 x 1
130 x 5 x 1
145 x 3 x 1
155 x 2 x 1
165 x Fail - Too heavy for me today
Not sure how high the block is - Suspect it' about 6 inches!

Pull downs
70 x 8 x 3
This was the only exercise of the circuit I diod today - Skipped GM's SLDLs & BORs - Will do those over rest of week.

Total tonnage / reps 13,795 / 119
Intensity 115.92

Nice start to teh build up - On the bench will do 155's from a slightly lower block and so on - Hopefully I'll be close to getting it off my chest in 10 weeks time.

What's the Coan Philippi concept Ader? Got a link?

Richard wrote:What's the Coan Philippi concept Ader? Got a link?

Heavy dead's followed by speed work and then assistance once a week week in a gradual build up, then a deload week and build up again to a new 1RM...

http://tsampa.org/training/scripts/coan ... _deadlift/

Monday 19 April

Squat day - Not heavy was the plan but ended up quite heavy

Squats
60 x 5 x 2
100 x 3 x 2
140 x 3 x 1

Wraps on to experiment ...

170 x 3 x 1 -
192.5 x 1 x 1 - Nice & easy really popped out the bottom and just eased up to the top - very lazy of me Thought about a double but decided it would be too much today

Wraps feel horrible, but give a nice pop out the bottom - Interesting - I now have small bruises around my knees though

Bench squats
192.5 x 5 x 1 - Bench just above parallel
212.5 x 5 x 1 - A few inches higher to get the feel of it
212.5 x 2 x 1 - Back down to the lower bench - 2 was enough today

SLDL
100 x 8 x 1 - Too light!
130 x 8 x 2
This is the belated SLDLs from yesterday's session- Will do GMs on Thursday - Not sure I'll bother with BORs

Total tonnage / reps 7,653 / 59
Intensity 129.70


Fun session playing with the wraps - I was rubbish at doing them so for the 192.5 attempt my training patner put them on for me - So much better than me - I'll soon suss it though I reckon. May try wraps again on Thursday's heavy squat session & see what I can do.

Good progress on the squats there ade. How is the glute training/weakness going?

Coop_de_Ville wrote:Good progress on the squats there ade. How is the glute training/weakness going?

These wide stance squats & the bench squats (also wide) are hitting the glutes nicely - Will keep doing hip thrusts/glute bridges too. Definately feels stronger than my previous quad dominated squat style. Also my 195 was videoed and I was surprised how low I went, despite the wide stance, which was quite pleasing.

Also have change my DL style slightly to activate the glutes off the deck which is helping me get into a better position at my knees - So glutes getting hit 3 times a week atm

Wednesday 21 April

Bench day again - Not too heavy but using the band again as it makes me work through my sticking points better I reckon ...

Bench
60 x 5 x 1

Bench - With blue band
60 x 5 x 1
90 x 3 x 1
110 x 2 x 3 - Actiually pretty heavy/hard - only just managed them

Speed bench - With blue band
90 x 2 x 5
Not especially fast but the thought was to go as fast as possible


Bench
90 x 2 x 3
Took off band and did proper speed work - These flew up lol

Cable push downs
50 x 5 x 5

DB Shoulder presses
30 x 5 x 3
Hard finishing off with these as triceps were so tired but managed it so pleased.

Total tonnage / reps 4,670 / 75
Intensity 62.27


Found this hard today and my triceps are really tired now so am expecting some serious DOMs tomorrow/Friday. The 110's with the blue band were too hard really so may cut back to 105 next week or maybe just see if I can do the 110's better - Will see how it goes. Nice session though

Thursday 22 April

Supposed to be a heavy squat day but I felt really weary so had to scale it down a bit ...

Squat - Wide Stance
60 x 5 x 1
95 x 8 x 1
115 x 6 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
155 x 4 x 1
175 x 3 x 1
195 x 1 x 1 - A real grind - Horrible
180 x 1 x 1 - Also a grind
170 x 2 x 2
Squats didn't feel right at all today - I guess I overdid it on Monday's squat session so a bit tired from that - D'Oh. Quads were really getting hit today for some reason depsite the wide stance - Not sure if technique was of or it was just tiredness.

Box squat - Wide Stance
100 x 3 x 1
120 x 3 x 3
A low box - An inch or 2 below parallel - All nice & fast

Good Mornings
120 x 8 x 2
Too tried to do 3 sets

Leg raises
8 x 2
Had enough at this point so quit

Total tonnage / reps 7,925 / 65
Intensity 121.92

Felt horrible today, was tired before I started and squats were real slow - But looking back getting the 195 wasn't too bad despite the fact it was a real slow ugly grind - Never going to miss it but it should have been easier - Hey ho