kd's log of........ something

Status
Not open for further replies.
What is this, Day two of stronglift plan so far today.

In the gym today, saw some bicep monkeys... kind of...

Guy had no legs, per say, but was doing deadlifts, so fair enough. That said, he was doing 100kg with straps. Again, I didn't have too much issue with this, he then went onto use straps for his pull ups as well...

So, today's session (Stronglifts + standard amount of extra core work):
Stretching/mobility etc...
Squat - 38.5x5x5
Single Arm OHP - 8x5x5 (Left shoulder is massively weaker than right, Right didn't have an issue with this, left didn't find it hard, but was definitely more challenging. Plus my balance was much poorer doing left arm ones - started light on the basis it ramps up quite quickly.
Deadlift - 30x5x5 - Nothing was too sore here, so did 5x5 instead of the recommended 1x5.
Pull downs - 30kgx5x5 - Did these instead of pull ups. Whilst I can do a couple of pull ups, I'd rather do a decent amount at a lower weight, and ramp up the weight on the pull downs, rather than do 3 pull ups or so and then stop... (plan on ramping up the weight quickly, and then going over to pull ups)
Lat Raise - 3x12
Plank - 3x30s
Body Saw - 3x12 (WHAT EVIL IS THIS?!)
Russian Twist - 3x12x9kg

I did ask someone to film the squat, but it was the last set, and they didn't really understand the principle of 'side on'... It was better than last time, but my feet aren't really in it...

kd
 
The body saw takes another scalp :p

Russian twist? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo....................... Swap for pallof press

Upload the squats anyway, might be able to see enough.
 
I suspect the answer to this question is going to be spine rotation, but why not?

The lat raises, I think turned half into shrugs, as I kept repropping myself up halfway through....

Ok, so Squat, looking at it again, it doesn't seem quite as bad a shot. Tried legs slightly wider apart and further forward as well, as suggested.

Not sure how much success there was there, but it did seem to work stuff more.

Here's video 1 (think this is set 4)
(Really not so good a shot, although does show depth quite well I guess)

Here's video 2: - definitely better than I thought. My feet definitely were further forward and wider, although not sure how clear it is in this... (set 5)

kd
 
Yep, spine rotation :) If you're careful then there isn't a huge risk, but there is far more useful training to be done with the core.

Interesting squats. I didn't realise that the smith moved vertically from the first vid, which changes things slightly.

My next form correction guesstimate is to move your feet so your heal is in line with the bar guide rail thing, keep your wider stance, and try to sit back more. You're going to want to have the bar lower down your back, I'm not sure how far but given that you can expect more forward lean you definitely don't want it on your neck/high traps.

I'm hoping that you can more closely emulate a regular squat, but lets see what happens!

(This might sound like rash coaching, but provided you keep your spine straight you're extremely unlikely to hurt yourself. I can also see that your mobility is pretty good so these positions should be easily accessible.)
 
So, feet positioning, just to clarify, on the first vid, (of the most recent two), you can see the two vertical rails the bar is guided along. So you're suggesting heels should be in line with the rear of the two rails? Rather than the more kind of between the two, that I'm currently in?

It did feel slightly too high on that second one, normally it would sit slightly lower. The odd weird thing from a balance perspective, is I think I find I can get a lot of depth, because there's never really a fear of me tipping backwards... The bar obviously can't move backwards, so no matter how deep I manage to get as such, I'm not going to topple as long as I'm kind of held onto the bar so to speak.

It's not something that I practice, but I suspect it certainly changes the way balance feels when I'm squatting compared to a normal squat.

I have no idea what my mobility is like, nice to here it's not too bad, but because I spent years of my life in a pool, it means I didn't spend it on a football/rugby pitch or the such like running up and down, which I'm guessing helps (judging by your complaints about sprinting messing up your mobility :) )

kd
 
Yep, heal in line with the rear rail. Wide-ish stance, and don't let your knees travel too far forward while you try and stick your arse out backwards.
 
Hmm, ok, will try this, thanks :)

Need to film my deadlifts at some point, my lower back is hurting this morning, but I thought I kept my form pretty well :S So not really sure why the pain is there xD

Swimming day today:
Due to the previous friction issues I've been having, got some jammers, which are great it turns out. Meant today's session felt really quite easy though, as I stripped the drag shorts off after warm up, so I didn't get any friction.

But yeah, it felt relatively easy which was nice:
Stretching + Mobility
Warm up:
4/3/2/1/1/2/3/4
200 ketchup
200 bilateral

Main Set:
20x100 1:45

Drills:
4x2 Fly
10 lengths kick (one easy, one hard)
couple of extra bits.

Mobility is really interesting. Realised that at the pool near me, the swim team has an entire sheet on mobility. I understand most of the names from what we used to do at swimming ourselves, but one of them I'm not entirely sure about. That said, I think I've got it worked out. A lot of shoulder mobility work, but also some other basic stuff as well.

I'm going to try and take a pen and paper with me tomorrow and write all the stuff down, so I can use it when I'm at the gym too. But it seems like they've pretty much got it sorted, as it's a whole body thing and aimed mostly at swimmers I feel.

I'll try and upload it if possible, as I know some guys have had quite a few issues with your shoulders.

Not sure how icecold approved they'll be, but as I say, it looks pretty solid.

Also finally made the trip down to Tesco's today, rather than waiting for an Asda delivery, so that I could get some more chorizo. But I've also now picked up pretty much all the final things that I need for my diet! (Wooo!) so I'm now over to it properly. Again, once I've updated the excel doc, I'll update the OP with full nutritional info. Only thing, Steedie, if you're reading this, the 'Good Oil' is impossible to get :( I'll have to wait until I have time to get to a massive Tesco's (rather than the middle sized one I went to today [larger than the express one near me, so the middle sized actually had sweet pot + chorizo + wholemeal bagels (well half wholemeal, they're technically seeded, but were the right colour for wholemeal, had wholemeal wheat on the ingredients list, and were the best I could get)])

kd
 
Ok, day three of swimming:
Stretching and mobility
Warm up:
4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4
200 ketchup
200bilateral

Main set:
24x100 - 1:45 (these felt easy, although again, I feel the lack of drag shorts may be helping)

Drills:
4x2 fly
10 lengths pull (one hard, one easy)
5 minutes vertical fly, kick hard for 15/20/25/20/15 seconds per minute.
Bit of warm down



So as promised, here's some mobility stuff that I've been doing.
I tend to prepare for this with a bit of stretching, reasonably comprehensive, work from top to bottom.
On gym days I plan on doing foam rollouts work on top of this as well (see Delvis' previous list image thing)
Ok, so mobility
Standing butterfly - butterfly swimming, not in a pool. Just standing outside, tend to jump and do one kick with the jump as the arms come up and over.
Figure of 8 (l/r) - arm in a figure of 8, swing in as large a range as possible
Just arm swings. 360 degree rotation, first forward, then back. Each arm individually.
Double arm swing skiing
Alternate arm swing skiing (can explain this one if needed)
Arm swing with trunk rotation. As above, but with hip rotation as well.
Back slaps (See any video of phelps pre-race)
Hip rotations (both ways)
Wrist rotations (both, both ways)
Ankle rotations (both, both ways)

No doubt ice won't like some of them...

But consider how many are shoulder orientated, I thought people would be interested.

kd
 
I still don't understand why you aren't doing standard OHP. Clean the bar, press, done. Why the single arm faff :confused:
 
Because cleaning the bar is the issue :p

Mind, you, I could OHP on the Smith? Thoughts on this? I think I'd rather do Single Arm to be honest... Also, the stability challenges of single arm is interesting.

Anyway, so today, one of the two smith machines was broken, and there were some right ***** in who got in after me. They were trying to be intimidating whilst I was squatting in it, but oh well, just ignored them and got on with it. They spent about half an hour between the three of them OHPing, grunting so that everyone in the whole gym could hear them anyway..

Was far too busy as well...

Anyway:
Day 3:
(Stretching & Mobility)
Squats - 5x5 (41kg).
Chest Press - 5x5 (50kg)
Barbell Row - 5x5 (30kg)
Full Dips - 0
Reverse Crunches - 3x12 -
Leg Raise - 12,10,8
Palloff Press - 25kg, 3x12
Plank - 3x30s
Body Saw - 3x12
Girl Dips (20kg on lap) - 3x12

Ok, so, commentary on the above:
Squats:
The second set was dire. I think I put my feet a bit too far back, and it just didn't feel good. My right quad (looking it up, it seems like my vastus lateralis), just didn't feel right. Not in an 'oh I ache a bit' kind of way, but in a kind of twingey, I want to tear kind of way. So I readjusted for the next few sets, and it wasn't awful, but also, it really didn't feel great. None of the sets here were really that good, and I compromised a bit on depth to get it finished.
Chest Press:
We have 5 benches.. All had at least two people on them, so just went on the chest press machine in the end. I know it's not quite the same, but I really couldn't be bothered to wait for a bench to be free - especially after the issues I'd had with my legs on the squat wasn't feeling it, and couldn't be bothered waiting for a bench. Intrigued by what I should be benching though, if I can chest press about 50kg (last set was quite a struggle)
Dips:
Didn't happen. It was part of the plan, but my shoulders, and my hands really weren't feeling it here. Again the squidgy tissue on my right palm was just not liking this and really saying no. Just didn't feel quite right, but not too sure why.
Lat Raise:
Far too much swinging here, I really need to get this in check...

Abs in general:
Massively confusing me.
The Reverse Crunches feel really easy, as did the Palloff Press (although whilst I had to tend my core for this it seemed more like it was working my arms than abs) that said, stuff like the leg raises were poor form, and I know they were weak, the body saw was agonising by the end, but my plank I did tense hard for 30s.... Even half Dragon Flags are something I can't really do at the moment, due to a lacking of ab strength... So yeah, just generally a bit confused right now by my abs.

Overall quite a iffy session to be honest, next Saturday I definitely want to get in earlier for an emptier gym, but even so, it just didn't feel good.

kd
 
Last edited:
Why were you using drag shorts?

Also, if I ever get round to going to one of these meets. Swim-off challenge? :P

Have you ever actually tried to clean, say 40kg? I think you'll find it's not that bad.
 
Why wouldn't I? I've always used them for warm ups, I'd just got the point where I didn't bother taking them off for main sets. Stopped that now xD

You'd have to find a swimming pool, and I'd probably lose because I'm in such poor shape atm.

I don't think I'd have the issue cleaning the bar to be honest, but yeah, I don't know xD

kd
 
So cleaning the bar is an issue, but you don't think it's an issue?

What on earth. Just try it man, you should have no problem with it at all. If you think getting the weight to your shoulders is a problem, wait until you try to press it over your head :p
 
A nice easy way to increase squat depth (because ideally we should all be doing full range of motion squats rather than partial range of motion) is to practice sitting in the full squat position without any weight or anything.

It might be uncomfortable at first but as you get used to it loosen up it actually becomes quite comfortable to sit in that position. You'll build a better stronger squat with it too.

If you're interested in learning more check out this article: www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1856085 as well as googling "third world squat". It's pretty interesting stuff.
 
King Damager said:
Abs in general:
Massively confusing me.
The Reverse Crunches feel really easy, as did the Palloff Press (although whilst I had to tend my core for this it seemed more like it was working my arms than abs) that said, stuff like the leg raises were poor form, and I know they were weak, the body saw was agonising by the end, but my plank I did tense hard for 30s.... Even half Dragon Flags are something I can't really do at the moment, due to a lacking of ab strength... So yeah, just generally a bit confused right now by my abs.

Overall quite a iffy session to be honest, next Saturday I definitely want to get in earlier for an emptier gym, but even so, it just didn't feel good.

kd
Click to expand...

The best thing for abdominal/core strength would again be squatting. As you work your way up in squats you'll start to realise just how much squats cane your core. That's another reason to try and do free bar squats as soon as you can because smith machine squats don't hit your core much because the machine does the lateral stability for you. :)
 
Zefan said:
So cleaning the bar is an issue, but you don't think it's an issue?

What on earth. Just try it man, you should have no problem with it at all. If you think getting the weight to your shoulders is a problem, wait until you try to press it over your head :p
Click to expand...

Yeah, probably will. To be fair though, I definitely like the stability challenge with the DB's, over the Barbell, but I'll probably try the Barbell anyway just to see how it feels, then decide which way to go with...

spoffle said:
A nice easy way to increase squat depth (because ideally we should all be doing full range of motion squats rather than partial range of motion) is to practice sitting in the full squat position without any weight or anything.

It might be uncomfortable at first but as you get used to it loosen up it actually becomes quite comfortable to sit in that position. You'll build a better stronger squat with it too.

If you're interested in learning more check out this article: www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1856085 as well as googling "third world squat". It's pretty interesting stuff.
Click to expand...

Definitely will read, but I rarely feel I have issues getting squat depth. Only yesterday did it feel like it was poor, and that was because of the tightness in my quads...

spoffle said:
The best thing for abdominal/core strength would again be squatting. As you work your way up in squats you'll start to realise just how much squats cane your core. That's another reason to try and do free bar squats as soon as you can because smith machine squats don't hit your core much because the machine does the lateral stability for you. :)
Click to expand...

Certainly true, but having no power rack etc... makes this particularly challenging :p Whilst I expect I could clean the weight I'd be shoulder pressing, I doubt I'd be able to clean the weight I'll be squatting :p Whilst I'd love to be doing non smith squats, there's no way of getting around that one unfortunately whilst at uni.

kd
 
Ok, Day 4 of 5x5 today:

Started off with stretching and mobility (see above post on mobility)

Squat: 46kg (5x5)
Overhead Press: 20kg (5x5)
Deadlift: 40kg (5x5)
Chin Ups: 5,5,5
Leg Raise: 12,10,8
Pallof Press: 10kg (4x15 - 2 RH side, 2 LH side)
Reverse Crunch: 3x12 (9kg above head)
Planks: 3x30s
Body Saw: 3x12
Stretching and Mobility to finish

Commentary on the above:
Squats - Actually felt pretty good, left quad is a bit tight now, but I'll try smashing that with whatever hard round object I can find tonight, and it should be fine. I've actually managed to find a form that suits me quite well here. Started to find a good foot placement for feel, and getting reasonable depth.
Overhead Press - 20kg actually felt a bit light, but Zefan be proud, yes I did clean the weight and just go from there. Double handed is much easier than single arm though. So might stick with the dumbells. Not too sure yet, will probably try one more of each and see how it goes.
Deadlifts - My form here was not good. I really need to watch some more videos and read some more stuff, but I know it wasn't great as I was doing it. Will have to try and video this at some point, but yeah, definitely my worst for form.
Chin Ups - Really suffer from sweaty hand syndrome here, gripping was a bit of a pain. Been considering getting some slightly padded gloves for dips anyway, so this has been encouraging that to help solve this issue.

Ab stuff:
Feel like I nailed the form today on this. Much much more pleased than before. Abs hurt throughout, and dreading tomorrow (although I don't think I've ever really had ab doms)

Guess that's about it for today.

kd
 
About your thought on the deadlift being the source of your lower back pain, going by your previous videos I'll bet it's from your squats. Obviously I'm teh ultr4noob so no point listening to me, just thought I'd put it out there :D Like you said, the best thing to do is get a vid up.

Good work on keeping the log updated though dude. I'm going to start a log come the new year. I am pitifully weak and need to sort my **** out. I feel like my eyes have been opened up to a whole new wonderful world of broken hips and shoulders, and holy **** are mine broken. Good to see some other beginner types that have even a slight clue what they are doing. So many don't and it makes me sad :( I guess we should be thankful there are so many knowledgeable (and sexy, totes homo) fellas on here.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom