Clean pullos! I like em too! How come you decided to switch?

Well they're almost the same, but i think clean pulls just top RDLs for explosiveness-ness. Plus they will benefit my power clean more.

Session 3

Did a push session at bath followed by an end of cycle mega session. Probably totaled about 4 hours of intense exercise today.

Rhythm squats

60 x 40
100 x 40
120 x 40

Hang power cleans

50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 3
105 x 3
112.5 x 3 - PB
115 x 1
117.5 x 1
120 x 1
125 x f
125 x 1 - PB- Just focused on full extension rather than thinking how heavy the bastard felt, was a pretty strong rep in the end.

Close stance parallel squats onto safety barswith contrast squats

60 x 5
100 x 3
120 x 3
140 x 3
150 x 3
160 x 3
165 x 3 -> 100 x 4
170 x 3 -> 100 x 4

+5kg PB. Really pleased with this. Close stance and from a dead start at bottom of the squat.

Pushpress

40 x 5
50 x 3
60 x 3
70 x 3
80 x 3
85 x 3
90 x 3

+5kg, easy increase. Could have pushed on, but we were pretty destroyed by now.

Intense day. Really pleasing too. Time for a smart deload before trials.

Really nice work!

What are contracts squats KDawg?

Its abit similar to a drop set, you drop the weight to 50-70% and do the reps as explosive as possible.

What are the benefits of rhythm squats? Endurance?

Romanian rhythm squats are a really good peaking exercise as they work on the elastic element of the musculature. So for our tests next week which rely on the reactive strength this is a good exercise.

Been away for two weeks, this was my 2nd weights session back and had a sprint session yesterday with coop. Haven't ran for two weeks so i was invariably slow, but also coops really improved his sprinting technique (we had equally bad sprint technique ) so I was mainly focusing on that.

On a related note, I had bobsleigh trials about a month ago now and just missed out. Despite pushing faster than a fair few other new athletes it wasn't quite good enough, and because i've only being sprinting 6 months or so, I was never going to get through on that part of the trial.

It definitely seems like they prioritized the sprinting portion of the trials though, which i thought was odd. Just because a 70kg dude can sprint a few 10ths faster than me, it certainly doesn't relate to pushing a faster sled time..and the results proved this! Saying this i didn't perform amazingly so, far from it, but i do think the selection process was...well, a little off.

I should also note i've also lost a lot of weight (muscle and fat) due to training style and probably not enough carbs, so in preparation for next years bobsleigh i'm planning to bring weight up to 100kg, it's only a 5kg increase so i'm going to take it very slow. Extra clean carbs here and there. Weight training will focus around max strength, power and power endurance. I will be aiming to improve sprint technique a fair bit also.

Session 3

Half hour of warmup and mobility! need it!

Clean Pulls

50 x 5
60 x 3
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 3
110 x 3
120 x 3
125 x 3
130 x 3

Not a bad start to these.

Trap deadlift

76 x 5
136 x 3
156 x 3
176 3
186 x 3
196 x 3
206 x 3
216 x 3

Actually quite tough

I really enjoyed the Clean pulls transitioning into heavy deadlifts. Complimented each other very well.

Rotator cuff and shoulder flexibility

Pushpress

50 x 5
60 x 3
70 x 3
75 x 3
80 x 3

Piss weak lol.

Pullups

bw x 5
+5 x 3
+10 x 3

standing ab rolls

8 tiles x 5
9 tiles x 4,3,2
->8 tiles x 3

Lean back pullups to sternum

bw x 8

Fat grips hangs

+20kg x 20s

Notes-

Strength down, but it's to be expected i suppose. On the other had i'm injury free and looking forward to training this year.

What did the 130 clean pull feel like?

Didn't feel super explosive, but powerful enough. Think my CNS is probably still laxin'.

Nice clean pulls man

Cheers flash!

Session 1

Warmup/mobility

Clean Pulls

50 x 5
80 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 5
110 x 5
120 x 5 -> 80 x 5
125 x 5 -> 80 x 5

5's are alot tougher than 3's. Really good for power maintenance.

A1. Front box squats

50 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 5
110 x 5
115 x 4+1f

Haven't failed a rep in so long, so i was a bit disappointed, but considering the numerous factors (holidays, no belt etc) It wasn't so bad.

A2. Hammer grip chins

bw x 5
+5 x 5
+10 x 5
+12.5 x 5
+15 x 5

Not a bad start to these.

Military press

bar x 8
40 x 5
50 x 5
55 x 5
60 x 5
65 x 5
50 x 5

Again, not tooo bad.

Lat raises

12.5 x 12 x 2
7.5 x 10

Long session, but good to train with CDV again. Feeling like i'm getting back into the groove now, one or two more weeks and i'll be were i was pre-hols.

Session 2 Power maintainance + conditioning

warmup and mobility

Dynamic RDLs

bar x 8
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 5
105 x 5

+5kg on last week and more powerful. feeling my CNS beginning to spin again.

Dynamic stepups

30 x 8 (each leg)
50 x 8
60 x 8
70 x 8
75 x 8

+5kg, and again pretty much kept all power. Hardly used the trailing foot at all which is what I want.
Rather nauseating i should add.

A1.Inclined ring pushups

bw x 8
+5kg x 8
+10 x 8
+12.5 x 8
BW x 8

Super controlled negatives. retracted scaps. powered up. really tested my core too.

A2. 1 arm DB rows

17.5 x 8
22.5 x 8
27.5 x 8
32.5 x 8
37.5 x 8

Real strict, retracting scaps with each rep.

B1.BB rows to neck

bar x 10
30 x 10
35 x 10 x 2

Lower trap/shoulder health exercise.

B2. Inclined jump pushups

8 x 3

Surprisingly tough after ring pushups.

Great session, really enjoyed it.

I did like the look of the dynamic rdls, i think along with clean pulls they will make a big difference.

Fridays Session 3

warmup & mobility

Clean Pulls

50 x 5
70 x 3
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 3
110 x 3
120 x 3
130 x 3
132.5 x 3 - +2.5kg powerful reps

Deadlift (double OH & beltless)

140 x 3
150x 3
160 x 3
170 x 3
180 x 3

Haven't conventional deadlifted in a long time. Will add belt next week for top set(s) and might try straps out again.

Pushpress

50 x 5
60 x 3
70 x 3
80 x 3
85 x 3 +5kg

standing ab rolls

8.5 x 5 x 3

BB curls

40 x 8 x 2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Session 1

2nd week back at training.

warmup/mobility work

Had to skip Clean pulls due to infected finger and battered thigh, decided to throw weighted sky humps in instead.

Glute bridges

50 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 5
110 x 5
120 x 5
125 x 5
130 x 5 - thought this would be top set, but was easy.
140 x 5 - again, this was probably 90%

Might keep these in for a cycle.

A1. Front box squats

50 x 5
60 x 5
80 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 5
110 x 5
117.5 x 5

+2.5kg and 1rep on last week. They flew up too.

A2. Hammer chins

bw x 5
+5 x 5
+10 x 5
+15 x 5
+17.5 x 5

+2.5 and strong

Strict military press

20 x 10
30 x 5
40 x 5
50 x 5
60 x 5
62.5 x 5
50 x 5

Actually went a touch lighter, to stricten form and get 5th rep.

Lateral/bent raises

7.5 x 15 x 3

Session 1

warmup/stretch & activation

Clean pulls

50 x 5
60 x 3
70 x 3
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 3
110 x 3
120 x 3
127.5 x 3

+2.5kg, keepin it quick!

A1.Front box squats

50 x 5
70 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 5
110 x 5
belt on
115 x 5

What a brutal exercise..

A2. Hammer chins w/full range

bw x 5
+5 x 5
+10 x 5
+12.5 x 5 x 3

Military press -> pushpress

bar x8
30 x 5
40 x 5
50 x 5
60 x 5
pushpress
70 x 5
75 x 5

some rotator cuff work

Half decent session. Been ill over the past week, strength is slightly down.

Whats been wrong with ya?

Hey handsome!

Rilla wrote:Hey handsome!

Coop_de_Ville wrote:Whats been wrong with ya?

Man flu is all. Only really had it two days, but been really tired for nearly a week, all better now though. I get ill like once a year so I can't really complain.

What's the reason for a front box squat?

Has there been any articles on it recently?

Genuinely interested

I used to alternate Box Fronts with Standard Fronts as I found it better for my hip mobility. Could handle more weight using the Box. It does force you into good form as well as any leaning forward coming down onto or drive off of the Box can cause you to lose good bar position, especially if you use Cross Grip as opposed to Clean.

front box squats are just an idea of mine tbh. i think they replicate the push off in Bob quite well. Firstly cause it kills the stretch reflex (you start in a static position)and from a similar amount of knee flexion. Then its front loaded as well, but from a box you can bring the hips into it more I find.

Also I can't do full range squats without risk to my torn cartilage. I know it sounds like a pussy excuse of the weekend warriors 'oooh my bad knees', but i've tried and full range squats unfortunately do aggravate it.

Hmm, i find front box squats sooo much harder than when i used to do full range fronts. Best front squat was 160kg and best off a box would be 130kg tops. I'm a lot lighter now and probably slightly weaker, but not that much

Ok. I see the logic. And it's a variation.

Box Squats, like Alex alluded too, primarily work so well as they allow you to get the butt waaaaaay back and thus the hips get a good stretch. You can't do that if the bar is own your front as it'll fall off when you lean forward (which is ok to do so long as it's not excessive).

My suggestion would be to do sumo width back box squats and then another day do shoulder width front box squats. That'll allow you to really get the main benefit out of back box squats, whilst still giving you a variation on the box with the fronts. Must work the core very hard. And the shoulders.

Yeah, absolutely nails the core and thoracic region. That's why i decided to do some walkouts.

Im wary of doing wide stance stuff. I've been working hard to bring my stance in to shoulder width or closer as I feel the wider you get the less conducive it becomes to sprinting (and pushing). I've been itching to bring box squats back, but as i've got deadlifts in there, theyre probably a little too similar to do both in one week and i need to get my deadlift respectable again before i switch them out.