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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!

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.

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*

Yep good point.
That's pretty much where I'm at now. I like it too cause it narrows the focus. Don't have to worry about too much stuff at one time.

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.

Yeah sometimes people in the gym make me feel bad coz I like to take long rests on my compound lifts as well and I feel kind of lazy coz I'm resting for 3-5 minutes while most other people are resting for 30 seconds. At the same time I generally lift more weight than most other people at the gym and I'm lifting at a higher intensity relative to my strength so in my head I know that I'm actually training hard it's just working hard in a different way.

Yeah sometimes people in the gym make me feel bad coz I like to take long rests on my compound lifts as well and I feel kind of lazy coz I'm resting for 3-5 minutes while most other people are resting for 30 seconds. At the same time I generally lift more weight than most other people at the gym and I'm lifting at a higher intensity relative to my strength so in my head I know that I'm actually training hard it's just working hard in a different way.

Yep. That's pretty much how I figure it. At first I was trying to look like I was doing some stuff and would walk around a bit. Now for the most part I just sit for the first couple of minutes.

Played ball last night and had one of the most frustrating playing nights of my life. We lost and I was sin binned for the last 5 minutes. Turns out the ref didn't appreciate me swearing at him. So it went down like this. Earlier in the game I got shoved off the ball (illegal but not malicious) and looked to the ref. He was watching the game on the next court! Can you believe it? I asked him what the hell he was doing and he apologised for it. With about 4 minutes left in the game I grabbed a rebound, put back the two and had my legs taken out from under me. The baseline ref was blind due to the traffic in the key. So I scrape myself off the ground and look to the other ref and what is he doing? He's talking to the fucking bench. So I get his attention and say "hey mate, can you watch the fucking game!". He takes umbrage and techs me (unsportsman like foul). Little did I realise that these days that results in a 5 minute sin bin. Either way a hugely disappointing night.

On a lighter note, the legs felt really good after doing squats in the morning. They felt heavy around lunch time but pulled up well for the game. Didn't attempt any dunks but the rebounding was good and felt relatively quick on my feet.