icecold's training log

[icecold]

Yours sounds considerably worse!

I haven't gone easy with the deads either, or the split squats (or RDLs, or good mornings...). I like to live somewhere near the confluence of lucky and stupid

I have a comp coming up on the 18th of November. I won't be squatting big by then but I should have a decent deadlift. Bench... who knows.

 

[icecold]

Training 17/9/12

Squats
80x25
So much cardio!

Bench (slight pause)
bar x lots
60x8
80x6
100x6
110x6
115x5 - almost 6! Would have been a PB
105x6x3

1 arm cable row
130x12
140x12
150x10

 

[icecold]

crazy cardio squats!!

hows the squatting going at the moment?

It feels really good (well, that's a lie considering the reps) at the moment, I've just got to hope that everything holds together. I'm feeling some tightness creep in to my left adductor (non-injured side), so I'm absolutely smashing it with a rumble roller for 10 mins as part of my warm up. Injured side feels great, which probably means I should have been treating both sides similarly during rehab.

I have no doubt that another graston session will clear everything up.


Training 19/9/12

Deadlifts
100x4
140x3
180x1x2 - lots of people deadlifting so I was in danger of getting a little cold
210x1
225x5 PB - pretty comfortable, easier than 220x5 last week. My body is strange.
212.5x5x2

BSG
35x6x3 really short rests, not ideal

CGBP
40x8
90x6
100x6x2

Really busy tonight so deadlift warm ups took absolutely ages. Didn't have time to do guns

 

[icecold]

You strong brah.

I can't believe you baited me with your forearm work post...



Training 21/9/12

Squats
100x25

Paused deads, four count beltless 1" off floor
100x4
140x3
180x1
200x4
190x4x2

Pin press
bar x lots
60x8
80x6
100x6
110x6
110x5
100x6

Chins
BW+10kg x10, 8, 8

Skull crushers
EZ bar+30kg x10, 8, 8

Kroc rows
40x25

GUNZ lotsxlots yeah buddy


End of the really gay squat rehab, onto slightly less gay reps.

 

[icecold]

Training 24/9/12

Squats!!! First day back from rehab
bar x lots
60x10
100x10
140x6
160x6
152.5x6x3
Not bad

Bench (slight pause)
bar x lots
60x8
80x6
100x2
115x6 PB!
120x6 PB!! 0.o wtf
110x6x2

CGBP
80x2
100x5x3

Cable shoulder stuff

DB bench
37.5x6x3 these were the closest DBs, which was handy because I was ****ed

Face pulls


Decided not to bother doing 10 reps with the squats, instead I'll do some higher reps on friday. This way I get an extra week of getting used to heavier weight, and it's a lot more fun.

Crazy big bench PB, I failed the 6th rep of 115 last week. I'm not complaining, but I've never progressed this well on bench before, even with smolov jr.

Bodyweight is currently: hench.2kg

 

[icecold]

Training 26/09/12

Deadlifts - 5 rep max day...
100x5
140x3
180x1
215x1
230x5 PB - got told off for going too light
235x5 PB!
225x1 - meant to be some reps here, but I was tanked.
210x1

Annoyingly, there might have been a little bit more there had I not done 230 as well. I'm certainly fatigued enough right now though. One of the reps almost killed me with lateral bounce, but I managed to keep hold of it. Also, I thought I'd managed to tame the unnecessary shouting, apparently not!

Cable high row - kind of instead of doing snatch grip RDL. Some good scap. retraction possible, so I might play with these

Cable 1 arm row (lbs)
150x8, 160x8x3

Skull crushers
EZ+30x10, +40x6x3

Chins
BW+20x5x3

Land mines
some

 

[icecold]

Yeah don't rush it, it's definitely an exercise where form is the most important factor.

 

[icecold]

Ice, what would you recommend for a good set of core exercises to give good overall development.

I'm thinking Land Mines, Pallof Press and Roll outs?

What I'd recommend would depend on how well you recruit your various ab bits.

In terms of a one size fits all smash everything routine, probably something like this:

Phase 1:
Planks
Reverse crunch with very slow reps and no lordosis
Land mines/pallof/similar

^ getting hard Posterior Pelvic Tilt on both

Phase 2:
Rollouts
Body saw (possible to suspend feet with TRX or bands) <-- reps until you lose PPT
Heavier land mines
Pallof variations
Leg raises (+constant PPT)

Phase 3:
Weighted rollouts
Heavier land mines/pallof variations
Body saw/whatever smashes lower abs best


I'm now getting total ab DOMS (including internal obliques) from deadlifting because I'm bracing so well

Aye I'm not whacking the weight on I was finding the bar alone not challenging enough, and I don't have a cable machine now so I'm having to do pallof presses with a band

I actually quite like doing pollofs with bands, despite it being harder.

 

[icecold]

Training 01/10/12

Box squat
bar x 20
60x10
100x10
140x5
180x5 PB?
170x5x2
Thorough warm ups just to be safe, but there was zero pain. Felt a little unstable and overly tiring, but not bad for the first heavy squats post rehab.

Bench
bar x lots
60x5
100x5 - not feeling great for some reason
110x1
125x2 :/ terrible line, probably a third there but it was all ****ed up
122.5x3 same again
115x5x3 these got better as I went through the sets, which is annoying but at least it suggests that the earlier sets were anomalies

RDL
100x5
140x5
180x5 - really hoping these were heavy enough
200x5x3 - dead

Wide grip bench
100x6
105x6x2 PB
Again, much better

 

[icecold]

Hi Ice. Sorry to hijack, but sent you an email.. bwahah

I'll get on it!

nice squatting ice, looks like the recovery is coming along nicely.

What are you idealy hoping to hit in november for your squats if everything continues as is?

Thanks, it's still early days though. If I can hit something decent for 5 reps on friday and still have no pain then I'll be happy.

I really don't have a weight that I'm aiming to squat, I almost think that would be bad for my recovery. I guess if I can hit a comp PB (anything over 200kg) then I'll be happy.

I went and trained chest with a guy the other day and i think his mind melted lol he knew my bench was 'ok', he too benched about 120 for reps, but when he saw my grip he was like WTF IS THAT!!

Am i the only one that benches with rack width grip as standard? Ive always found it strong and comfortable, i dont like the feeling of a standard width grip (maybe something to address in time), can only assume it means my triceps dont get involved so much?

Ice got an opinion?

EDIT: reason i posted here is i was reading ice's wide grip reps, maybe shoulda been in gymratz thread but who cares.

Going as wide as the rack is illegal in IPF powerlifting, because if you add in an arch there is basically zero ROM.

However, if you have crazy long monkey arms then going wider is going to be more comfortable and naturally stronger. From memory, your ams are pretty long... It still might be worth mixing it up a bit though.

For me, going that wide is weaker (although it seems to be gathering pace at the moment now I think about it) so I use it as an assistance exercise.

 

[icecold]

Training 03/10/12

Terrible training session! I felt achy all over my back and posterior chain all day, which is hardly a great start to deadlift day.

Deads
100x4
140x3
180x1 - this actually felt REALLY good, probably my fastest ever rep. Literally felt like 100kg...
200x1 - starting to feel like this could lead to a big top set
220x1 - still good!
245x1.5 set up felt weird, didn't really get any tension or stiffness. First rep went up quite fast, if a little shaky, but then it bounced about a foot to my left. 2nd rep might have gone up after I chased the bar down and set up again, but it was meant to be 3 and that certainly wasn't going to happen. Let's try again...
245xwtf this bar is misloaded set up was great this time, got it to my knee before I realised there was 5kg less on one side. ****! Felt my right side QL (side of low back) instantly fatigue, don't think it's injured.
232.5x2 not terrible, but so fatigued and frustrated!

Narrow grip bench (in between close grip and regular)
bar x lots
60x8
100x5
110x5
105x5x3
First time doing these, felt ok

Paused squats
Sacked off. Posterior chain now far too tight

Kroc rows
45x23

The only consolation was the epic amounts of chinese food I consumed afterwards...

 

[icecold]

Oh, but that 1 rep at 245kg is a PB. lol

 

[icecold]

Haha yeah, I'm still learning!

Not for a while now, just because of the timing of this comp it doesn't make sense to peak before it. I may get a couple of soft PBs (like yesterday), but I'm hoping to time my taper to max out at comp.

Which could go horribly wrong!

 

[icecold]

So it's not a good idea to pull a max in advance of a comp to know what you've potentially got in the tank? Makes planning your 3 lifts easier surely?

damn that session sounded a bit rough ice, nice PB though.

I would be interested to know about pulling PB's pre comp as LiE says above would it be nice to know where your potentially at? is there a suggested "dont try a rm session within x months of comp date"?

The problem with working out your max so that you know where you're at for a comp is that you never know what will effect you on the day (all other factors aside, you've just maxed your squat). That's not to say that in general it's a bad idea, but the way I wanted to lay out my training running up to the comp doesn't allow for hitting 2 peaks. If there was an extra week I'd probably go for a max though.

It doesn't really make picking comp weights any harder either.

Taking my deadlift for example, this is what I'd pick as of this moment:
Opener - 220kg - comfortable confidence boosting weight

2nd lift - 240-245kg - depending on how the opener moved

3rd lift - if my 2nd attempt at 245kg moved like it should have done last night, then I'd go for 255kg

Those are weights that I'd be confident of getting.

It's also worth knowing your goals for a comp. For me, this one is about getting a little bit more experience, getting my squats back to a reasonable standard and getting a decent deadlift. In my next comp (which won't be until next year) I'll probably go for balls out maxes.

 

[icecold]

Training 06/10/12

Squats
Bar x 20
60x10
100x6
140x5
180x1 - too light
190x5 - still a bit more there, but knowing how fast these are fatiguing me...
182.5x5x2
All easy until the 4th rep of my 2nd to last set. There is clearly a lot of metabolic stimulus going on still, but it's not the end of the world.

Deadlifts + 6chains (+~50kg at the top)
100x3
140x3
180x1
190x3
180x3x3
Pretty knackered after the squats!

Bench + 4chains (+~40kg)
bar x lots
60x5
80x5
100x4
87.5x5x3
Got easier as the sets went on :/

CURLS
40x12x3!!

Pleased with the squats, there's definitely already 200+kg there. Not bad for my 2nd week out of rehab*.

*please don't break!

 

[icecold]

Cheers. I'm pretty surprised by how quickly I've bounced back, somehow I'm already lifting more weight than when I injured myself I'm guessing that just goes to show I was pretty broken on the lead up to actually snapping something.

No sign of any pain, I just need to keep on top of tightness.

 

[icecold]

Training 08/10/12

Box squat
bar x 20
60x10
100x6
140x3
170x1
190x3 PB
180x3x2
Felt slow and rubbish at the time, looked good and slightly too easy on video. I think I need to get my confidence back...

Bench
bar x lots
60x8
80x3
100x3
115x1
125x3 PB
130x3 PB o.0 only 2.5kg off my 1RM wasn't even slow, more there if I'd jumped straight to it
125x3
125x1 got a bad hand off onto my terrible set up so decided not to push it

RDL
120x5 DOH
160x5 DOH - grip just made it! Grip PB?
180x5
Called it a day, need some recovery...

DB bench
40x5x2 just to get some blood flowing

Trying to keep the volume down this week because next week is back to higher rep stuff and my body is starting to complain (in general, nothing specific).

 

[icecold]

Training 10/10/12

Deads
100x4
140x3
180x1
200x1
230x1
250x2 PB
More in the tank, it possibly could have been a dirty triple.

Narrow bench
bar x lots
60x8
100x5
115x5x3 PB

Face pulls
12x3

Leg press
Several sets of 5

Kroc rows
50x25

 

[icecold]

Obviously, this is primarily my curl assistance work.

Things really picked up in the last two months, which I think is down to a few factors. It's certainly partially down to not being injured any more.

 

[icecold]

I'm actually not sure!

I think it might be that the forward position allows me to maintain the "pre-tightness" and pressure from when I'm stood up.

I'm tempted to work in a single next wednesday... I'll see how I feel.