Adarq.org

15/02/13

Injuries- Right ankle still bugging a bit. Pulled up sore after the deads on Wednesday strangely enough.
Fatigue- None
Motivation- Relaxed
Bodyweight- 93.1

Form focus today. Only doing 5x4 with 80% of this weeks weights for squat and bench.
Did a decent warm up though. Need to do more of this.

Squat-
5x4@75kg (Warm up- 5xbar, 5x60)

Felt weird consciously focusing on my form. I was going slower than usual and could really feel some areas that could potentially break down under more weight.

Bench-
5x4@55kg (warm up- 4xbar, 4x40)

This felt a bit easy but it gave me a chance to get a good pause on the chest and really focus on pulling the bar down to me as well.

Did some treadmill work at the end as I had a few minutes to spare. Probably not too good for the ankle but oh well. Want to incorporate more sprints into the workout so will have to get used to using the treadmill. It's the first time I've stepped on one in about 8 years.

Haha. It's all good. Just lucky I'm tall or I'd really be sad.

Nothing like a game to get you motivated. Sounds just like me.

11/02/13

Injuries- Right ankle still sub par
Fatigue- None
Motivation- Good
Bodyweight- 93ish

Squat- 5x5@95kg (warm up- bar x 6, 60x5, 80x5)

Face Pulls- 15x 15, 15, 15, 15, 15

That is all.

So I've decided that I'm weak and unconditioned. I'm trying all these fancy jumping programs when really what needs to happen is to get strong and have a decent level of conditioning. I've come into contact with quite a few very strong people recently. One thing they all had in common was they got strong before they focused on anything else. One of them has a massive vertical and has never focused specifically on it (he does squat 300kg though) and the rest have what would be considered above average to excellent verticals. They all squat at least 2xbw and then some. They all deadlift 2-3xbw minimum. They also do a decent amount of conditioning.

So I'm thinking an appropriate plan of attack would look something like this:

1. Lift really heavy stuff
2. Run and jump a bit
3. ???
4. Profit...and jump really high

Either way I'm going to stick to squats, deads and bench and then do some sprints 2-3 times a week and play ball 1-2 times a week. I'm thinking the sprints and ball playing will take care of a majority of my explosive type work needs.

My squat max is 130kg (1.4bw), deadlift is 150kg (1.6bw - not counting trap bar of 160) and bench is 90 (.97bw). I figure double bodyweight squat and dead can't be too far off. Bench I'm not too fussed about but would settle for 100kg for reps. I've had this saved in my favourites for a couple of years now and think it's worth a shot...

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/12/18/pavel-8020-powerlifting-and-how-to-add-110-pounds-to-your-lifts/

It sounds like I'm program hopping and I'm suppose I am but I'm excited about this and it also fits in with my idea of not spending too much time in the gym. I know the article suggests 1hr as a good time for a workout but I figure I won't require that much rest till the weights get a fair higher so will cross that bridge when I come to it. I'm going to go with four days in the gym so will combine the light squat and light bench days.

I think it'll work well but let me know if that sounds stupid.

*edit- I'm also thinking of competing in a raw powerlifting event down the track if the lifts go well enough*

Let me put it this way. The fat around my waist and chest wont disappear if I suddenly gain 9lb of muscle. It will still be there. I'll still LOOK fat even if my objective bodyfat % has gone down from adding more muscle. And that what really matters to me. I guess at some point I decided I didn't care about what a DEXA would say about my bodyfat % (whether it's 7% or 17% means nothing to me), nor skinfold calipers and what have you. The only test that matters to me is looking in a mirror and seeing someone lean and athletic - or not - and since i'm not - i'd like to keep dropping bodyfat until I get there. I dont expect I have very long to go now. I'd say about 1lb of fat in my upper body, 1.5lb around my lower back. 1.5 around my gut. Maybe another 2lb around my body in general. A total of 6lb. At 159 I think i'll definitely be done. I'm around ~165 now. So it's not a long way away. We've all seen the video below or some model of bodyfat before, that's what i'm using for my rough estimate.

Have you seen anything written by Anthony Mychal at www.anthonymychal.com ?
He's big on the skinny fat syndrome (as he calls it) and talks about some psychological baggage that comes with it. I've read pretty much all of his stuff cause that's definitely where I fit.
I would argue though that if you put even 2-3kgs of muscle on your frame you would certianly not look fat. If that muscle was in the right places (chest, shoulders, upper back, etc) you would look even less fat. It's all about perception. You don't notice that the guy with the big upper body has a little more fat around his waist because, well, he has a big upper body.

05/02/13

So decided to lift today as tomorrow is looking flat out. Not that today was much better but I got in a 25 min trianing session.

Bodyweight- 91.9
Fatigue- minimal
Injuries- R ankle sprain
Motivation- Yeah bout that

Squats- 4x4@95kg
Warm up- barx5, 60x4, 80x4
Work sets- 95x 4, 4, 4, 4

Chins
7,6,5,3

Was almost the quickest workout I've ever had. Ankle didn't feel too bad but I didn't really do much on it.

IME trap bar recruits quads more. that's why it's easier. it's therefore less useful as an assistance exercise meant to target p-chain. not to say it's a bad exercise, obviously.

Yeah good point. I was thinking about this over the weekend as I had no where near the same level of soreness usually associated with RDLs. Might have to go back to straight bar dammit!

Quote from: Coges on January 30, 2013, 08:25:10 pm

Quote from: vag on January 30, 2013, 05:34:24 am

It takes me about 50 mins to 1 hour to complete my weightlifting:
I do 3 combound exercises, 1 legs - 1 push - 1 pull. Each consists of 3 sets, 3 minutes rest between them, 3-5 minutes rest between exercises. My warm-up sequence is the same for all exercises, 3 sets building up intensity, ~1 min between those sets. I don't do abs or stretch at the gym, i leave right after the last working set.

Yep see this is my problem right here. All the rest periods (I know they're required) drive me crazy. Doing this VJB program the plyo exercises alone on one day have about 35 minutes of rest. Then doing 4-5 sets of squats and RDLs with 3 minutes rest between each and warm up sets gives another 30 plus minutes of rest. That's over an hour without even including lifting time.

I'm sure there's a way to fit it all in to 40 mins and make if effective and would be glad if anyone has any suggestions.

yeah, there is. sacrifice intensity. if you want to work at the upper ranges of intensity and have it work, you have to rest a lot.

Yep. Maybe I have to be in the gym 6 days a week doing 1-2 lifts max per session.

Million dollar question right there and very timely. I've always ran into this problem myself. I mirror your observations but lifting the day after game time meant having very sore knees which meant lifting was a bad idea. Lifting on the same day as games meant tired legs. Think the balance might be something like legs in the AM, games in the PM - giving a bit of spacing there?

Yep. That's what I'm thinking right there. Lifting AM and playing PM. I'm going to give it a shot Monday so will let you know how it goes.