1186
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: a fast and explosive donkey!
« on: October 09, 2012, 12:30:34 pm »
Wondering what you think about staying the course and following Kingfisher's advice of chasing 4 plates?
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1187
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism -- w2d2
« on: October 09, 2012, 08:16:22 am »
BP 2x81, 4x80, 3x79.5, 3x77.5, 6x75, 6x72.5, 6x70
WGBP 5x72.5, 4x70, 5x65, 5x60
Have lost ground on BP too. It's clear I shud go back to 3x full body workouts, that's what works best for me.
WGBP 5x72.5, 4x70, 5x65, 5x60
Have lost ground on BP too. It's clear I shud go back to 3x full body workouts, that's what works best for me.
1188
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: October 09, 2012, 06:51:45 am »
It's not really a big deal, either way im too heavy and have to get lighter but the scale itself does a good job differentiating 1kg and more when i checked it in the past, im not sure if it can tell apart 500g but i'll check now, i have 0.5kg plates 
Also if you check the graph if i weigh 1/2 pound lighter it shud be able to detect that
update so i checked,
Baseline = BW
Baseline + 1/2kg plate = no change to BW
Baseline + 2x1/2kg plate = +1.1 kg
Which is about right, so it doesn't seem to care for ± 1/2kg but it will detect 1kg changes in the right direction
Also if you check the graph if i weigh 1/2 pound lighter it shud be able to detect thatupdate so i checked,
Baseline = BW
Baseline + 1/2kg plate = no change to BW
Baseline + 2x1/2kg plate = +1.1 kg
Which is about right, so it doesn't seem to care for ± 1/2kg but it will detect 1kg changes in the right direction
1189
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: October 09, 2012, 01:46:02 am »
Never seen this before. I think it's just my scale being funny. It probably can't differentiate weights around 80kg accurately and it's appearing to round to 80. So when it does move appreciably from 80, i'll probably just wake up one day and appear a lot lighter on the scale
I can't remember if I remembered to update my strict compliance thing yesterday, that's annoying
new soreness: quads, all over my upper thighs, upper/inner thighs, lower back (yes!), glutes, hams (of course). It makes sense. I remember the same inner thigh sensation during workouts involving fs and lbbs, and it's good to find that familiar soreness returning. the thing is, on a particularly tasking FS workout, my inner thighs will also be on fire, so probably hitting them often with heavy or high rep pc dominant back squats will probably help drive my fs up than did my hbbs. I am regretting not heeding lance's advice early when i started front squatting to keep a hamstring dominant exercise in my program. At the time I did use pc dominant for a while but then I thought it was enough just doing RDLs, but if RDLs have helped me in any way, it isn't with hams
It's clear now that the combination of FS and PC dominant squats give me a complete leg workout. When I was doing hbbs+fs, i wasn't hitting my legs as well, going by post workout soreness
Also i'd like to record my backsquats are a lot deeper than they were in the past which is something I'd like to maintain. When I compare my front squats now with front squats a month ago, or even longer, it's easy to see the difference in depth. I am going ATG now and wasn't getting much below parallel when I started. So FS might have helped with my flexibility not just in doing fs's but also bs.
this is pretty exciting stuff, can't wait to get back to moving heavy weights
1190
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: October 08, 2012, 08:39:35 am »
Plan for squatting over the coming weeks
- fs & and lbbs mon, wed, fri initially, then fs only mon and fri, and bs mainly weds only.
- bs - start with a heavy triple top set, avoiding failure and grinding, adding 5kg each time, then 2.5kg. After topset ramp down and get a nice deep six reper, followed by a lighter 6+ and an 8+. Aiming for total reps of ~20-25.
- fs - work in the 4s and 3s, adding 1-1.5kg each session, ramping down the weights thru the sets, no more than 20 reps, aim for 16 hoping to get 4x4.
goals, for oct i'd say getting 115x3 on bs would be great progress, 107.5x3 more realistic, but lets see what happens. for the higher rep sets, i guess 100x6 and 90x10 would be a good start. If i get that, i can hope to get to 125x3, 110x6 and 100x8 by year end? Dunno we'll see how it pans out. As for FS, well I wanted 130x1 but since i've stalled out pretty hard, maybe i'll be lucky to get even 120-125, but we'll see what happens. For this month, i guess 120x1 would be a great achievement.
- fs & and lbbs mon, wed, fri initially, then fs only mon and fri, and bs mainly weds only.
- bs - start with a heavy triple top set, avoiding failure and grinding, adding 5kg each time, then 2.5kg. After topset ramp down and get a nice deep six reper, followed by a lighter 6+ and an 8+. Aiming for total reps of ~20-25.
- fs - work in the 4s and 3s, adding 1-1.5kg each session, ramping down the weights thru the sets, no more than 20 reps, aim for 16 hoping to get 4x4.
goals, for oct i'd say getting 115x3 on bs would be great progress, 107.5x3 more realistic, but lets see what happens. for the higher rep sets, i guess 100x6 and 90x10 would be a good start. If i get that, i can hope to get to 125x3, 110x6 and 100x8 by year end? Dunno we'll see how it pans out. As for FS, well I wanted 130x1 but since i've stalled out pretty hard, maybe i'll be lucky to get even 120-125, but we'll see what happens. For this month, i guess 120x1 would be a great achievement.
1191
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism -- w2d1
« on: October 08, 2012, 07:13:03 am »
FS 3x102.5, 2x102, 2x98, 2x95, 4x92.5, 4x91
BS 5x80, 5x85, 8x75
FS notes:
Started off with my knees very rusty. As the workout went on, they felt better and better. The only interesting thing about this workout, apart from how weak I have gotten was that I discovered I shouldn't be trying to bring the bar back at the bottom of the squat but rather forward. Very counter intuitive. But the upshot is that it really stretches out my ankles and pushes my ass into my calves getting a nice bounce that doesn't hurt my knees. Remember this for next time.
BS notes:
It's clear to me now that the RDL gave me false confidence. It's been a huge waste of time, it hasn't done jack shit for my hamstrings and I only know that because I can't LBBS for shit any more and the RDL hasn't maintained leave alone built any hamstring strength since I stopped low barring. If the RDL had lived up to the promise of a hamstring builder then I wouldn't be struggling with squatting 90kg right now. Sure it makes hams sore. But i'm wondering whether whenever my hams got sore, it wasn't just for show and ultimately meaningless? Who cares.
On the other hand, i'm going to take the opportunity to get higher rep work with the backsquat. 8s and maybe even 10s while i'm working back up to my older PRs.
So i'm going to do squats and presses and upper assistance work and that's it. If i get a nice squat (both fs and lbbs) then i'll have decent lower body strength. Ditto with bench press and weighted chinups.
I'll do benching tomorrow, I want to try the upper body day by itself again and leave mondays, weds and fridays as sole lower body days.
BS 5x80, 5x85, 8x75
FS notes:
Started off with my knees very rusty. As the workout went on, they felt better and better. The only interesting thing about this workout, apart from how weak I have gotten was that I discovered I shouldn't be trying to bring the bar back at the bottom of the squat but rather forward. Very counter intuitive. But the upshot is that it really stretches out my ankles and pushes my ass into my calves getting a nice bounce that doesn't hurt my knees. Remember this for next time.
BS notes:
It's clear to me now that the RDL gave me false confidence. It's been a huge waste of time, it hasn't done jack shit for my hamstrings and I only know that because I can't LBBS for shit any more and the RDL hasn't maintained leave alone built any hamstring strength since I stopped low barring. If the RDL had lived up to the promise of a hamstring builder then I wouldn't be struggling with squatting 90kg right now. Sure it makes hams sore. But i'm wondering whether whenever my hams got sore, it wasn't just for show and ultimately meaningless? Who cares.
On the other hand, i'm going to take the opportunity to get higher rep work with the backsquat. 8s and maybe even 10s while i'm working back up to my older PRs.
So i'm going to do squats and presses and upper assistance work and that's it. If i get a nice squat (both fs and lbbs) then i'll have decent lower body strength. Ditto with bench press and weighted chinups.
I'll do benching tomorrow, I want to try the upper body day by itself again and leave mondays, weds and fridays as sole lower body days.
1192
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: October 08, 2012, 03:17:18 am »
RE: bad training performance over the last few weeks
I fell into this perfectionist trap where I was setting up a long fast before training, then not eating a full meal but just a small snack briefly before training. I know from past experience that this kills my squat but it's so tempting to optimise calorie intake around training to maximise fat loss that I lost sight of what's equally important as bodycomp and that's performance.
Today i'm breaking this habit. I've had a decent meal after fasting only ~15hrs (compared to 17-18 last week), and i've had plenty of water throughout the day. I'll have a 2nd preworkout carb meal later just before training while training later during the day like I used to before I got distracted by fasting. I know that as long as I stick to my macro and calorie goals i'll get the fat loss so the extra leangains IF nonsense is just an unnecessary performance handicap. I can still do the long fasting nonsense on rest days when it doesn't affect performance but strictly speaking it's not essential even then
The other thing i'm changing is my training itself. Each set I do must count for something, if it's not important, it's not worth doing. I have to make sure every rep has a purpose within the overall framework of physical performance. Enough volume is better than too much or too little, and I have to watch intensity and keep my CNS in check while cutting. I'll adopt Pavel's refrain about leaving a workout feeling fresher than when you began it. Avoiding failure, no grinding, keeping a rep or two in the tank. All that good stuff. Saving the CNS tasking workout for just one day (friday), and perhaps just one set, and keep the rest of the week low on CNS fatigue.
And I think i will go back to full body workouts too. I think the combo of daily treadmill work, high bar squatting and front squatting alot so often took a toll on my knees, but now that i'm not using daily TM or hbbs it should be ok to squat 3x a week while keeping my knees happy. I'll keep a close watch on this and make changes I need them. I do love the bodypart split approach but i'm going to save that for another time, it's better suited for when bulking rather than when cutting, probably.
I fell into this perfectionist trap where I was setting up a long fast before training, then not eating a full meal but just a small snack briefly before training. I know from past experience that this kills my squat but it's so tempting to optimise calorie intake around training to maximise fat loss that I lost sight of what's equally important as bodycomp and that's performance.
Today i'm breaking this habit. I've had a decent meal after fasting only ~15hrs (compared to 17-18 last week), and i've had plenty of water throughout the day. I'll have a 2nd preworkout carb meal later just before training while training later during the day like I used to before I got distracted by fasting. I know that as long as I stick to my macro and calorie goals i'll get the fat loss so the extra leangains IF nonsense is just an unnecessary performance handicap. I can still do the long fasting nonsense on rest days when it doesn't affect performance but strictly speaking it's not essential even then
The other thing i'm changing is my training itself. Each set I do must count for something, if it's not important, it's not worth doing. I have to make sure every rep has a purpose within the overall framework of physical performance. Enough volume is better than too much or too little, and I have to watch intensity and keep my CNS in check while cutting. I'll adopt Pavel's refrain about leaving a workout feeling fresher than when you began it. Avoiding failure, no grinding, keeping a rep or two in the tank. All that good stuff. Saving the CNS tasking workout for just one day (friday), and perhaps just one set, and keep the rest of the week low on CNS fatigue.
And I think i will go back to full body workouts too. I think the combo of daily treadmill work, high bar squatting and front squatting alot so often took a toll on my knees, but now that i'm not using daily TM or hbbs it should be ok to squat 3x a week while keeping my knees happy. I'll keep a close watch on this and make changes I need them. I do love the bodypart split approach but i'm going to save that for another time, it's better suited for when bulking rather than when cutting, probably.
1193
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism -- w1d7
« on: October 07, 2012, 08:00:14 am »
CURLZ 7x5x32.5
Not doing my program anymore. My body can't handle it. Knees are getting worse by the day and right quad is acting up. There is a time and place for high volume programs but it's not at the tail end of a cut to 13%.
Not doing my program anymore. My body can't handle it. Knees are getting worse by the day and right quad is acting up. There is a time and place for high volume programs but it's not at the tail end of a cut to 13%.
1194
Nutrition & Supplementation / Re: char hut - the official bulk joint of south florida workout bros
« on: October 07, 2012, 01:49:10 am »
Sounds like a lifters paradise. Pics plz.
1195
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: Age vs Vertical
« on: October 05, 2012, 11:37:23 am »Quote
Apparently they are very much alike , hope they're not the same.
Dont worry vag, they're similar but different in the places that matter
Quote
Since this shoe is an almost identical twin to the adidas Power Perfect II, let’s cover the differences so they aren’t confused. First off, this PP2 model is cheaper than the Adidas Powerlifting Trainer. Like the Power Perfect 2, most of the shoe is made of synthetic leather but to reduce the cost even further an EVA material was used for the heel of the PowerLift model (EVA is a lightweight polymer, as dense as harder rubber soles but much lighter.) Finally, the PP2 is only available in white with red accents while the PL Trainer is available in 5 distinct colours.
http://www.boxrox.com/2012/02/adidas-powerlifting-trainer/
The EVA is compressible, but the powerperfects ii don't have that defect so you're going to be happy
1196
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: Age vs Vertical
« on: October 05, 2012, 11:17:37 am »
Nah these are good, the ones I was saying to avoid were the powerlift trainers
update, pic of powerlfit trainers
they do look similar to the powerperfects vag ordered. im not sure how they're related if at all apart from appearance. From memory, the powerperfect ii's have great reviews esp as a weight lifting shoe so vag has bought a wonderful pair of shoes.
update, pic of powerlfit trainers
they do look similar to the powerperfects vag ordered. im not sure how they're related if at all apart from appearance. From memory, the powerperfect ii's have great reviews esp as a weight lifting shoe so vag has bought a wonderful pair of shoes.
1197
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: Age vs Vertical
« on: October 05, 2012, 09:48:02 am »Just ordered those:
sick.
nicer than KF's adistar's.
i'd have thumbs upped. awesome.
1198
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism
« on: October 05, 2012, 05:59:54 am »Code: [Select]
Sets Reps Weight
6 6 85
7 5 90
8 4 95
10 3 102.5
6 6 90
7 5 95
8 4 100
10 3 107.5
6 6 95
7 5 100
8 4 105
10 3 112.5This is based on adding 5kg per cycle. Obviously it would take me a lot longer since i'm doing it over 2 sessions per week and it will take 2 weeks to do one cycle. I might have to take smaller jumps in the last two workouts but that's okay, we'll see what happens. Also I might jump in at 8x4x95, which should make Lance happy since that is ~80% and I don't drop below 80% for the duration of the program.
1199
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism -- w1d5
« on: October 05, 2012, 03:40:19 am »
I have had 3 days rest since my last leg workout. Lets see how it goes. Maybe a PR or two if I'm lucky. I think I will still get those knee sleeves. My right knee still doesn't feel 100% even after the rest.
Training
FS - 1x100, 1x106, 0x110, 1x100, 1x102.5, 1x105, 0x107.5, 2x100, 2Fx102.5, 0x100 (total reps I think 13 inc failed ones)
ABZ - rollouts, 3x10
- crunches 3 sets (+10kg on baseline)
SSTM - 2.25km, 20mins
FS notes:
Horrible workout. No chance of PRs. I must admit I got this wrong. If i'm going for volume, something has to give, bar weight, and I should have come into this workout thinking of doing 10x2x102.5 or something, instead of trying for heavier PRs and having no chance at getting them. As a result I have nothing to show for this workout, no PRs, and only half the volume I should have got because I burnt out trying for heavier reps and failures. Note to self, don't chase PRs, get the volume, workload is king, PRs will come later.
enough of this freestyle bulllshit i've been doing, i am my own worst enemy. I need a program with predetermined sets and reps and weight. Modified smolov junior for FS over 2 days? I read that in Pavel somewhere, i'll dig it up and go for it
Training
FS - 1x100, 1x106, 0x110, 1x100, 1x102.5, 1x105, 0x107.5, 2x100, 2Fx102.5, 0x100 (total reps I think 13 inc failed ones)
ABZ - rollouts, 3x10
- crunches 3 sets (+10kg on baseline)
SSTM - 2.25km, 20mins
FS notes:
Horrible workout. No chance of PRs. I must admit I got this wrong. If i'm going for volume, something has to give, bar weight, and I should have come into this workout thinking of doing 10x2x102.5 or something, instead of trying for heavier PRs and having no chance at getting them. As a result I have nothing to show for this workout, no PRs, and only half the volume I should have got because I burnt out trying for heavier reps and failures. Note to self, don't chase PRs, get the volume, workload is king, PRs will come later.
enough of this freestyle bulllshit i've been doing, i am my own worst enemy. I need a program with predetermined sets and reps and weight. Modified smolov junior for FS over 2 days? I read that in Pavel somewhere, i'll dig it up and go for it
1200
Progress Journals & Experimental Routines / Re: chasing athleticism -- w1d4
« on: October 05, 2012, 02:12:11 am »
Fell off the diet wagon after 10 days of strict compliance. I had about 600 calories worth of chocolate and probably 1000 of icecream and a greasy lamb kebab (500-1000kcal). I do so well during the week but it seems whenever my brother comes over, I end up binging on stuff he brings home. It's my fault though. I was experimenting with this thing I read from Lyle where you don't let cravings built up, and if you feel like having a piece of chocolate, just have one, and end the craving swiftly right there and then before it builds up into a ravenous eat-everything-in-sight monster. Well it kind of worked, I only had two caramello koalas. But then a few hours later i came back for the 3rd to reward my discpline and breakthru in self control. And then a little later I had another one, just because I felt like it, and it was just one, right? The icecream came later when I gave up and decided I had fucked up so badly that I might as well go full cheater mode. Which is exactly what I had been instructed to avoid in the first place by eliminating cravings lol.
The following day weigh-in
I'm getting disillusioned with cutting and being so far from my desired bodyfat levels. Feels like i've been cutting forever and yet i'm still so far from 10% bodyfat. Realistically I can't even get there by the end of the year. I will probably finish at just under 80kg mid oct. And after the break, on 1st nov, if i have managed to maintain my weight (big if, that will be challenging) over the break, i'll have to lose another 5kg, probably. 5kg in 6 weeks is impossible, esp since i have a 2 week diet break at the end of Dec, at which point i'll have to maintain my weight during the holidays!
So realistically we're looking at maybe finishing the cut sometime february? anyway we'll see what happens but fuck getting so fat that it takes forever to get lean. i'll never go above 15% again. I should have been starting my cut under 80kg, not 87kg or whatever it was I started at. Anyway i'm not going to stress about this stuff anymore, I have so far to go that it doesn't pay to be obsessive this far out.
Not much to report otherwise as it was a rest day. I woke up with really sore lats and chest for a change, which was nice. I am really digging my new program.
The following day weigh-in
I'm getting disillusioned with cutting and being so far from my desired bodyfat levels. Feels like i've been cutting forever and yet i'm still so far from 10% bodyfat. Realistically I can't even get there by the end of the year. I will probably finish at just under 80kg mid oct. And after the break, on 1st nov, if i have managed to maintain my weight (big if, that will be challenging) over the break, i'll have to lose another 5kg, probably. 5kg in 6 weeks is impossible, esp since i have a 2 week diet break at the end of Dec, at which point i'll have to maintain my weight during the holidays!
So realistically we're looking at maybe finishing the cut sometime february? anyway we'll see what happens but fuck getting so fat that it takes forever to get lean. i'll never go above 15% again. I should have been starting my cut under 80kg, not 87kg or whatever it was I started at. Anyway i'm not going to stress about this stuff anymore, I have so far to go that it doesn't pay to be obsessive this far out.
Not much to report otherwise as it was a rest day. I woke up with really sore lats and chest for a change, which was nice. I am really digging my new program.