Dream's...something or other log

30/07/14 - Madcow - Wednesday

Flat shoes instead of high heels and start of increased bench frequency, it was interesting.

Squats (Paused 2-3 count)

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kkg x 5
82.5kg x 2x5

Back to true low bar squatting and wide stances, it's strange yet comfy.

Bench (Paused 3 count)

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 3x6

Yay no shoulder jip. Getting used to new form so all is good.

Deadlifts

60kg x 5
80kg x 5
95kg x 5
112.5kg x 5
127.5kg x 1 - belt
127.5kg x f
127.5kg x f - belt comes off
127.5kg x 1 - rest due to fatigue
127.5kg x 4 - Awesome

Belt threw me off and I wasted a lot of energy correcting the bar from rolling around on the floor. I also had people constantly walking in front and behind em so I was constantly put off for the first few reps.

Pallof Presses

8.75kg x 12
8.75kg x 12
8.75kg x 12
8.75kg x 12

I had to keep alternating sides for these as I found one side would get used a lot more than the other. I can imagine these being awesome at a higher weight but I couldn't hold onto the pully at higher weights without being pulled towards it.

Rather happy with that as I managed everything just fine, regardless of the silly deadlift stuff. Going back to low bar squatting was weird and I'll use my Wednesday sessions to transition back to it.
Bench felt good (no shoulder issues whatsoever).
Deadlifts were good after the fatigue went. I'm starting to sit back a lot more and it seems to be improving my pull quite a lot.
Not too sure what to think about the pallof presses. They were good but I felt they needed more weight. I can't however use more weight because the pully won the fight every time. Maybe a different core exercise is needed.
 
01/08/14 - Madcow - Friday

Time to deload.

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
82.5kg x 5
97.5kg x 5
112.5kg x 1 - The others were not going to happen.
82.5kg x 8 - This was surprisingly difficult.

Time to deload (and swap to my flat shoes) as I just was not going to get the other reps. I was horrificly put off by someone getting a bench and doing dumbbell flys into the squat rack as I had the weight on my back though.

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
60kg x 5
45kg x 8

Easy enough.

OHP

Bar x lots
25kg x 5
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 3
25kg x 8x3

These felt absolutely fine, which was surprising considering the issues I've had with my shoulder recently.

BroCurlz

Ez + 20kg x 8
Ez + 20kg x 8
Ez + 20kg x 8

Going to stick at this weight for a while.

Tricep Pushdowns

23.75kg x 8
23.75kg x 8
23.75kg x 8

Shall be keeping it at this weight too.

Not a horrendous session but nothing impressive either.
Deloading the squats and switching the shoes to go to 'true' low bar style.
Bench was ok with a tiny bit of shoulder jip but nothing major. I think I aggravated it last night, and sleeping on the shoulder does not help in the slightest.
It was nice doing OHP, I'm hoping that the new rep scheme works as I intend it to.
 
03/08/14 -Madcow - Monday (Sunday)

Start of the squat deload in flat shoes rather than oly. Interdasting.

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
90kg x 5
100kg x 5

Getting used to this style is taking a while but the squats were easy enough. More chest up needed, although I could be extending too far back with the hips but I don't think this is the case. Videos to come next time.

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
57.5kg x 5x5

Easy but slow. No shoulder jip though :D The slowness was due to me making sure that everything was perfect and not jaffing the shoulder.

BOR (Pendlay)

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
50kg x 3

Easy.

SDL

50kg x 10
60kg x 10
70kg x 10

Nowhere to back extensions so I chose SDL's instead. Loads of glute and hammy activation going on, lovely.

Planks

45sec x 3
45sec x 3 - right
45sec x 3 - left

Rather happy with that. It's nice getting volume on the bench again.
Squats were good but hitting depth wasn't as easy as I'm used to so more mobility and stretching is needed. I'll film the next time I squat to see how far I lean forward to see if it's too much outside of the lowbar style. It is possible I was compensating to hit depth by leaning a bit further forward but I no reps ever turned into a good morning and the reflecting of the mirror directly in front isn't the best angle to judge how far forward I was.
Bench was great since no shoulder jip but it was slower than usual. Form is miles better since I'm consciously making the effort to lock the shoulders down and back with the lats. I'm sure the speed will be back soon enough.
BOR's were ok too, the deload was necessary as the form was slipping at 62.5kg and too much shoulder use was coming into it.
 
06/08/14 - Madcow - Wednesday

Deload on deadlifts appear to be necessary.

Squats (Paused 2 count)

Bar x lotsxlots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 2x5 (Paused)

Bench (Paused 2-3 count)

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
47.5kg x 3x6

Deadlifts

60kg x 5
82.5kg x 5
97.5kg x 5
115kg x 5
130kg x f - just would not budge

I tried 130kg several times and I even tried with and without a belt to see if the extra pressure would make a difference, it didn't.

Pallof Press

Blue band x 12
Blue band x 12
Black band x 12
Black band x 12

No more adjustable pully system to use so I had to use bands. There was no way to test which would be best to use other than to try, black seemed to do well but didn't do much to my core. Maybe a different core exercise should be used.

Not too happy but not too upset with how this went either.
Squats are still taking a while to get used to. I'm having to use a much wider stance than used to and really focus on throwing the knees out and the torso up.
Bench is going well, less and less shoulder trouble every time so slow and steady seems to be the way to go.
Deadlifts annoyed me since I managed 127.5kg last week but can't budge 130kg at all. Stress, lack of food, protein and sleep all point to this so I could retake the weight or I could just deload and go with the flow. The deload could do me some good.
 
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08/08/14 - Madcow - Friday

Slightly rushed towards the end but it didn't cause any significant problems. On the upside, I think I found the correct low-bar squat stance for me as everything felt brilliant.

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
90kg x 5
102.5kg x 5 - So comfy
80kg x 8 - Easy

Tore a nice bit of skin off of my left rear delt so at least I know I have the bar positioned in the correct place.

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
62.5kg x 5 - Easy
45kg x 8 - Really easy

I'll be running the working weight reps for 5 up until 70kg and then switch to a 3rep progression scheme instead.

OHP

Bar x lots
22.5kg x 5
27.5kg x 5
32.5kg x 5
37.5kg x 5 - Felt easy enough
30kg x 3x8 - Fatigue was catching up due to minimal rest between sets

Slight tightness in the back though which hindered movement slightly on the last rep but not enough to cause any issues. Having to be really quick in between sets too did not help.

BroCulz

Ez + 20kg x 8
Ez + 20kg x 7+1
Ez + 20kg x 4+3

Once again, minimal rest rest time so there was no time to recover to perform the sets properly. Proper form was maintained though.

No time for Tricep Pushdowns. Shall add in on the Saturday session instead.

Rather happy with that.
Squats were great, albeit 10kg lighter than what I stopped at but nonetheless...
Bench is feeling good too, shoulder is feeling better every session. Slight loss of power though which is worrying but I ask think that's down to focusing so much on locking the shoulders in the correct position, I'm not paying full attention to the bar speed.
OHP is feeling rather good, then again it's super light so who knows.
 
09/08/14 - Off-Day

I love my off-days.

Dynamic deadlifts

60kg x 5
80kg x 5
95kg x 5x2

Not bad but not as speedy as I would have liked. Still nice to work trying to explode it off the floor.

Snatch grip deadlifts

62.5kg x 6
62.5kg x 6
77.5kg x 6 - Straps on.

I have a new favourite deadlift variation outside of my conventional style. These were awesome and hell all at the same time.

Kroc Row's

17.5kg x 25/25
17.5kg x 25/25
17.5kg x 25/25

Weeeeeee. I'll up the weight to 20kg and focus on a stricter form for as many reps as possible and go more into Kroc style towards the end.

No time for chins but everything was blown up and ruined anyway.

Dynamic stuff is still speedy so I need to keep working at this as the weight gets higher.
Snatch grip deadlifts - little finger on the ring - were awesome. My hips opened up a lot and my knees spread out quite a bit, does anyone know if this is necessarily good/bad thing?
 
mrthingyx said:
*chuckles* Glad you enjoyed them. :)

Knees out on dead lifting like this could be an indicator of hamstrings that need a bit of release: turning your knees out gives the hips more room without stretching your posterior chain (to the same degree).

If you find you are bending your knees, then that kind of misses the point as I am sure you know...
Click to expand...

I was using the snatch grip from almost a snatch position rather than from and a higher raise on of the hips to load the hamstrings fully like an SDL for example. I should have video'd it as what I'm describing could (more than likely does) sound horrendous. Hamstrings and glutes still got nuked though as well as my upper back, which I loved. But considering everything got hit a lot, I'll assume I had it near enough right. I'll have a play around with the starting position next week and try to remember to record it.
 
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11/08/14 - Madcow - Monday

Oh yeah, that's it. Oh yeahh...

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
90kg x 5
102.5kg x 5

Felt awesome and easy. Going back to low bar has caused a wonderful skin tear on my rear left delt and as result there's a nice patch of blood on the back of my t-shirt.

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
42.5kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
60kg x 5x5

Time to up the weight to 62.5kg.

BOR (Pendlay)

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
50kg x 5

Easy enough, up to 52.5kg next week.

Back Extensions

BW + 15kg x 12
BW + 15kg x 12

The deload seems to be doing me well so far. The squats are dramatically better than what they were when I achieved them at this weight just a matter of weeks ago.
Benching is feeling relatively simple at the moment and it's nice doing volume. I know that the 5x5 will get tougher within maybe 2-3 weeks but hopefully I'll have a nice carryover into my Friday sessions, especially with additional paused work from Wednesday sessions.
Pendlays are coming along nicely but I'm not expecting anything significant, they've been yo-yoing from 50-60kg for months now with no really weight increase. The form and muscle activation has become a lot better however.
 
13/08/14 - Madcow - Wednesday

And that is how we do it!

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 2x5 (Paused)

Easy.

Bench (Paused 2-3 count)

Bar x 5
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
50kg x 3x6 (Paused)

Groove is coming along nicely.

Deadlift

60kg x 5
82.5kg x 5
97.5kg x 5
115kg x 5
130kg x 5 - HNNNNNGGGGGG

They felt epic. My hamstrings however now feel ruined. Happy days.

Squats are getting a nice amount of hamstring and glute activation.
Benching is coming along nicely. The weight may be really light but correct form and no shoulder pain is the goal.
Deadlifts felt great so I shall be delaying the deload until a proper stall. Since I'm forced to have next week off, the next deadlift session will either be 127.5kg or 130kg.
 
15/08/14 - Madcow - Friday

Squats were a bit odd but easy enough. I lowered the catcher to ensure I was always getting proper depth but I think it was too low and I was trying to find it, causing me to go a smidge lower than I probably should have been. I also did this to make sure that I wasn't compensating getting to parallel by leaning forward. That being said, it didn't cause too many issues and identified some ankle issues to work on at high weight below parallel.

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
92.5kg x 5
105kg x 3
80kg x 8

Easy enough but the groove wasn't quite there after I moved the catcher. 80kg felt odd, 92.5kg was nice, 105kg was slow in the decent on the first rep but was fine coming up.

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
65kg x 5
47.5kg x 8

Nice and easy. I messed up the warmup set weights as I was trying to work out my training partner's %'s too and it all got confusing. I wasn't that far off and it didn't make a difference.

OHP

Bar x lots
22.5kg x 5
27.5kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 3
27.5kg x 8x3

Easy enough. Back and traps were tight but it didn't cause any major issues.

BroCurlz

Ez + 20kg x 8
Ez + 20kg x 8
Ez + 20kg x 7

Tricep Pushdowns

~27kg x 8
~35kg x 8
~41kg x 8

Rather easy. I think the pulley/weight must be off at either the last gym I trained at or my current one because I remember doing ~28kg and it being hell.

I shall reintroduce dips after next week as the shoulder is feeling a lot better.

Squats were easy in terms of weight but the optimal groove wasn't quite there. Lots of mobility, stretching and eating for the next session and hopefully all my issues will go.
Benching was simple but doing it inside of a power cage was a little off putting, simply because I wasn't used to it. I found it a little bit harder to generate the same power off of my chest as I normally do when on a standard bench.
OHP is easy enough but it didn't feel as strong as it probably should have. Plenty of time to work on it I guess.
 
17/08/14 - Off-day - Sunday

Last session until next Friday :(

Dynamic Deadlifts

60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5x2

Getting slower than previous sessions, however this is also end of the cycle so the start of the next cycle will be lighter.

Snatch Grip Deadlifts

62.5kg x 4
77.5kg x 4
90kg x 3

These were miles better than last week. And lawd, dat upper/mid back activation - beautiful.

Kroc Rows

17kg x 25/25
17kg x 25/25
17kg x 25/25

Need to up the weight on these.

Sled-Dogs

Frame x 40m
Frame + 10kg x 40m
Frame + 20kg x 40m
Frame + 10kg x 40m
Frame x 40m

Well that killed me.

Doing dynamic work after a heavy night out wasn't the best of ideas but it still went rather well.
Deadlifts were decent but not as explosive as I would have liked them to have been. Hoepfully the next cycle will show nice improvements with the start of the lower weights and the end of the cycle should only end ~105kg too.
Snatch Grip is coming along wonderfully.
Krocs need to be heavier.
I need to do more conditioning work. I know people say cardio kills gains but if those few sprints are killing me then I think doing some is necessary. I don't think the amount I'm doing will act negatively though.
 
22/08/14 - Madcow - Friday

Surviving off 2.5 hours sleep and bugger all food, not too shabby. Having 4 days out with no stretching or mobility work did not help anything so I decided to retake the weights from last week. No OHP though :(

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
92.5kg x 5
105kg x 3 - Slow going down but easy coming up...
80kg x 8

Need more mobility and stretching but easy enough. 105kg x 5 on Monday hopefully.

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
47.5kg x 5
55kg x 5
65kg x 5
47.5kg x 8

Absolutely lovely. I think i should get to 70kg x 5 without any issues but I'll be happy to start going for triples around that weight.

No OHP :(

Bro Curlz

Ez + 20kg x 8
Ez + 20kg x 8
Ez + 20kg x 7

Tricep Pushdowns

41.35kg x 8
41.35kg x 8
41.35kg x 8

Not sure if I trust that weight but that's what it said. Seems far to easy so I'll try the next notch next time.

All in all an ok session considering 4 days out, not stretching, little food and 2 and a half hours sleep.
Everything lovely. Hopefully tomorrow will go well and then I'll be starting progressing again from Monday.
 
23/08/14 - Off-Day

Short on time which resulted in a very short session.

Dynamic Effort Deadlifts

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5x2

A lot better than last week, not amazingly fast though. New cycle next week though so at least 2 weeks of lighter weights to keep pulling quickly.

Snatch Grip Deadlifts

70kg x 3
85kg x 3
97.5kg x 3

Far too easy to begin with but that last set felt awesome.

Deadlifts are getting much better in terms of technique and pulling speed. Albeit not amazing quick like the 85kg's were but still a lot quicker than what I used to pull at. I'm starting to find the right form for me where the leverage seems to be optimal.

Snatch Grip deadlifts always feel awesome. I'm tempted to change the base weight that the numbers are calculated at, or just adjust the %'s themselves as I was only using this cycle as a way to introduce them into my program. Now they have been introduced, they are staying for a good while longer. The reasoning for being tempted to adjust the %'s is so that the weights are higher than the dynamic work but still nowhere near similar to my working weight in the week. In such the intensity will increase and hopefully without impacting the performance for the next upcoming sessions.
 
25/08/14 - Madcow - Monday

Awesomes, so much awesomes. Everything went into position properly, no quirks or niggles.

Squats

Bar x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
92.5kg x 5
105kg x 5

Much awesomes. It felt so smooth getting into position. I need to pull the bar harder and tighter into my back but otherwise it was all good.

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
60kg x 5x5

Slightly revised setup worked miles better. No shoulder jip and felt strong.

BOR (Pendlay)

30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 3

I think I need to add some more volume to my x3 days, I might try a 3x8 at a back off weight and see how that goes.

Back Extensions

BW + 15kg x 12
BW + 15kg x 12

Easy enough good amount of glute activation but I think I might up the weight in a week or two.

All in all, awesome clean session. Everything is coming along nicely, but possibly with the adjustment to the rows.
Squats were sexy, smidge more chest up but firing out of the hole was miles better and there wasn't even close to a good morning going on.
Benching is becoming really comfortable so I shall keep working on the mobility because it's working a treat.
Rows are rows. Maybe more volume and possibly reduce the volume on the Saturday sessions for a trade off for a higher weight.
 
27/08/14 - Madcow - Wednesday

Not so hnnnnngggg this week on the deadlifts, so I'll retake and try again next week.

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 2x5

Easy enough, the last set was paused but I was focusing on keeping as upright as possible and firing out of the hole.

Bench (Paused)

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
50kg x 3x6

Everything was incredibly easy and felt really strong. Hopefully there'll be a nice transfer to Friday's session.

Deadlift

60kg x 5
82.5kg x 5
97.5kg x 5
115kg x 5 - flew up
130kg x f
130kg x f
130kg x f
130kg x 2
130kg x f

Well I'm shot after that, at least I got 2. I'm going to assume it was because I had a week off and I only achieved 130kg the week before I took time off.

Iffy session, squats and bench was strong (albeit incredibly light) but deadlifts would not budge like last time. I'll try once more and if not then I'll drop it back to 120kg and ramp up again.
 
29/08/14 - Madcow - Friday

Well that was awesome!

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
95kg x 5
107.5kg x 3 - Flew out of that hole so quickly!
80kg x 8

Easy and awesome! No excessive lean forward or anything like that!

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 5
67.5kg x 5 - Easy enough but I know it's about to get tough
50kg x 8 - Really easy, felt like nothing

I think it might be time to switch to x3 rather than x5.

OHP

Bar x 5
22.5kg x 5
27.5kg x 5
32.5kg x 5
40kg x 3
32.5kg x 8
32.5kg x 7+1
32.5kg x 5 - Fatigue kicked in and I was rushed for time

BroCurlz

Ez + 20kg x 8
Ez + 20kg x 8
Ez + 20kg x 5

Tricep Pushdowns

47.5kg x 8
47.5kg x 8

Easy still, no time for final set.

Squats were awesome. Time to keep up the stretching and mobility work.
Bench was decent but I can feel it getting tough, so possibly switching to 3rm next week.
OHP work set was simple but since I was rushed for time, I had horrendous fatigue on my the volume work.
 
30/8/14 - Off-Day

Took a while to get into but all was good. Still trying to get the correct grip on the snatch grip deadlift. Too far out and it becomes hell to handle, but it does meet the 'hip line'. A bit further in allows me to hold it properly but the bar drops down my body and has a tendency to hit certain areas, and that's just painful when pulling with speed. Any further in (still on the rings) and the bar is lower on the body but a lot easier to pull.

Dynamic-Effort Deadlifts

Bar x some
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
90kg x 8x3

Took a while to get into but from about set 4+ became really powerful.

Snatch-grip Deadlifts

60kg x some (Playing with grip)
62.5kg x 6
77.5kg x 6
90kg x 6

I used a narrower grip on the last work set which made the pull a lot nicer. This might be my ideal grip but I'm not entirely sure how to determine this.

Kroc Rows

20kg x 15/15
20kg x 15/15
20kg x 15/15

Took mrthingyx's advice on dropping the reps and upping the weight, it worked nicely.

Chin-Ups

BW x 7
BW x 5
BW x 3

I have missed these.

Not a bad session at all.
Lack of sleep might determine why the dynamic deadlifts weren't so dynamic to begin with.
Snatch Grip is coming along well but I just need to find out what the grip width should be for me.
Krocs were good but I'll take the weight again and progress the week after.
It was nice doing chins again now that my shoulders are feeling good again. These will become a regular occurrence from now on (I hope!)
 
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