Return of the King

BossArky

Saturday June 28th:

More outdoor stuff this evening. This is a nice little routine which gets some other stuff in amongst the running. I'm not timing my runs for the next few weeks, until I get some decent "time on my feet".

Run 5.3 km in total, broken up as follows ...

3.5km, break for some dips and rows on a set of parallel bars, then another 1.8km.

Dips
bodyweight - 3 sets of 6 reps

Rows
bodyweight - 3 sets of 10 reps ... did these hanging under the parallel bars. Ankles hooked on one bar, touching chest to bar as rowing up to the other

BossArky

gabgab wrote: »

Hey Boss how are things,

I am looking to increase running pace too, however I would be happy with 5km in 20 minutes fresh, after a week off, with a tailwind, downhill........ :D

Hey gabgab, to clarify - when I said I was aiming for a 20 minute 5km I didn't mean in a triathlon.

gabgab wrote: »

What are you thinking of doing to up the pace, I am going to go for interval stuff. depending on what a 3:30 km feels like on a treadmill

My running plan is as follows:

• Only run outdoors / avoid treadmill forever more
• Get some decent km's under my feet before worrying about times
• Run intervals once I am comfy with increased mileage outdoors
• Utilise ipod shuffle I picked up today for motivational running music

gabgab wrote: »

Swimming I am not too bothered at, I know I can cover the distance at a respectable enough time, for me , and all the leg work weights should help with the cycle

Yesterday I was reading through your log and saw that you answered my question re the split times from your last tri. Nice swim. Was that 11 ish mins for 750 meters?! If you could take 5 to 7 mins off the run then you would have a very respectable overall time.

My legs are stronger now than every before. Unfortunately this hasn't helped much with my cycling due to the different muscle fibres being used.

BossArky

Sunday June 29th:

Squat
20kg x10
40kg x10
60kg x10

80kg x1

60kg x5
40kg x5
20kg x5

40kg x10

Deadlift (stiff leg)
45kg - 7 sets of 10 reps
---
Calf Raise (oly bar, in squat rack, flat start)
20kg x12
40kg x12
60kg x12

Lunges (oly bar, in squat rack)
20kg x10
40kg x10 ... these were tough. Lunges with oly bar feels more satisfying than using dumbbells
---
High Row
80kg - 3 sets of 5 reps ... this is a new high row machine the gym just introduced. It is like a seated pull up, at a tiny angle
---
Good Morning (oly bar, in squat rack)
20kg - 3 sets of 10 reps ... first time doing these. Didn't feel much from them really. Think I was expecting marching bands and fireworks. Will up the weight next time
---
Face Pulls
10kg - 2 sets of 8 reps

Shoulder Press (standing, dumbbell)
16kg per arm - 2 sets of 8 reps
---

Lots of leg work today. Spent ages in the squat rack, plus did new exercises (good mornings, barbell lunges and the new high row machine).

gabgab

BossArky wrote: »

Hey gabgab, to clarify - when I said I was aiming for a 20 minute 5km I didn't mean in a triathlon.




My running plan is as follows:

• Only run outdoors / avoid treadmill forever more
• Get some decent km's under my feet before worrying about times
• Run intervals once I am comfy with increased mileage outdoors
• Utilise ipod shuffle I picked up today for motivational running music

Yesterday I was reading through your log and saw that you answered my question re the split times from your last tri. Nice swim. Was that 11 ish mins for 750 meters?! If you could take 5 to 7 mins off the run then you would have a very respectable overall time.

My legs are stronger now than every before. Unfortunately this hasn't helped much with my cycling due to the different muscle fibres being used.

Yeh that is for the swim, but bear in mind that that is the quickest one in the country, swim could not of been much easier.

I am appalling at running, so I am going to focus on that between now and the triathlon, then once its over just focus on lifting heavy with starting strength. Maybe some cardio after the sessions it but probably not

Having thought about it I reckon I might not do the treadmill, its boring as hell

BossArky

Monday June 30th:

Run 6.5km ish as follows:

• 3.5km
• various stuff - see below
• ~1 km-ish of short sprint intervals
• 2km gentle trot

The "various stuff" on the roadside assault course included:

Situps (on two wodden logs)- 3 sets of 10

Press Ups (feet raised on log)- 3 sets of 10

Lunges - 1 set of 10 each side

Step Ups - 1 set of 10 per leg

Arm Stretch from wodden bar

Vault x5 each side

Hurdles - Running 5 sets of 5 hurdles ... this had me out of breath

Leapfrog (!) - 5 sets of 4 poles ... felt like a 5 year old

Pull Up
bodyweight - 2 sets of 5 reps

Sprint Intervals
3 laps of two football pitches ... jogging up and sprinting across. Knackered by the end

BossArky

Monday June 30th (session 2):

Bench Press (decline) ... as flat and incline were taken
60kg x8 x8 x6 ... was going for 8 in each set but died at 6 on the third and decided to rack it to avoid getting flattened without a spotter

Fly (decline, dumbbell)
16kg per arm x5 x5 x5 ... I think this is the first time I've went over like 12kg ish per arm on flys
---
Deadlift
80kg x8
90kg x8
100kg x6 ... that is a pb for reps at 100kg there
---
Squat
60kg x5 x5 ... painful trying to grind these out. Legs in bits

Calf Raises (oly bar, flat start)
60kg x10 x10

Bicep Curl (mini barbell)
20kg per arm x5 x3 ... for the laugh I decided to do a few curls with one of those half sized mini barbells (the ones with the permanent weights stuck on to them). It allowed me to lower the weight more than with a standard dumbbell, plus I had to concentrate on balancing both sides which may have some kind of positive impact on my arm co-ordination

I then got booted out as it was closing time.

---
Yesterdays leg day and todays run/assault course had me knackered. I was lying face down on the bed at 9:10pm and had to peel myself off it. Wanted to put in a light session to burn a few more of the extra bad cals I'm imagining I put on over the honeymoon.

Session turned out fine in the end to be honest. Happy with the flys and deadlift. Bench and squat were weak, but better doing those than trying to squeeze anything else in for the 30 mins.
---

BossArky

Wednesday July 2nd

Lateral Raise
6kg per arm - 3 sets of 10 reps

Shrugs
6kg per arm - 3 sets of 20 reps

External Rotation
6kg per arm - 3 sets of 10 reps

Tricep Extension
6kg per arm - 3 sets of 10 reps

Home workout in the early early hours of the morning. I will try to do this a bit more often, probably on my rest days, to make use of my light home dumbbells. I'm hoping this external rotation stuff will be good for my shoulders.

Will start with 6kg per arm, and try to work up to 10kg per arm over the coming weeks and months. I don't want this to side track my other stuff - just a minor addition. If they causes me to be too tired I'll probably drop them.

BossArky

Thursday July 3rd:

Deadlift
80kg x8 ... ouch in general. Should have warmed up with lighter weight
90kg x4
100kg x4
110kg x2
60kg x20 ... got that feeling of being a kid in school when running a few laps of the football pitch as a PE warm up - then dying with the lactic acid build up afterwards

Shoulder Press (standing, dumbbells)
24kg per arm - 4 sets of 5 reps
12kg per arm - 1 set of 20 reps
---
Bicep Curl
15kg mini barbell per arm, x10, x8, x6, x6 .... sets 1+3= palm up, sets 2+4= palm down

Shrugs
25kg plate per arm - 3 sets of 10 reps ... stopping at the top for a second or two
---
Pull Ups
bodyweight - 2 sets of 5 reps ... wrecked from deadlifts

Hanging Leg Raises
2 sets of 5 reps ... wrecked from deadlifts

Face Pulls
5kg - 2 sets of 10 reps ... ultra light. Wanted to see what it felt like this way and concentrate on form a bit more
---

Still not 100% recovered from Monday's exertions.

BossArky

Friday July 4th:

Run ~5.5 km ish as follows:

• 3.5 km
• various stuff - see below
• ~1.6 km-ish of short sprint intervals
• 400m slow jog homewards

The "various stuff" on the roadside assault course included:

Situps (on two wodden logs)
3 sets of 10

Press Ups
feet raised on log - 3 sets of 10
hands raised on log - 1 set of 10

Step Ups
3 sets of 10 per leg

Vault
3 sets of 5 each side

Hurdles
3 sets of 5 runs (each run has 5 hurdles) ... i.e. 75 hurdles in total

Leapfrog - 1 sets of 4 poles ... going to discontinue this as it makes me fear for the future of little BossArkys and BossArkyettes

Dips
bodyweight - 2 sets of 6 reps

Inverted Rows
bodyweight - 2 sets of 10 reps

Sprint Intervals
5 laps of two football pitches ... jogging up and sprinting across, laps 1+2 together, 3+4 together, then finished with lap 5 alone

sunnyjim

Hey BossArky.

I love reading this blog. I always had this thing in my head that separated road running, cycling and swimming from doing work in the gym... When I started reading this blog, it really turned my idiot brain upside down!

Question for ya, what are ya hurdling over on your runs?!

BossArky

Hi Jim, haha thanks!

The hurdles are part of various bits and pieces of wooden fitness equipment the council have positioned at intervals along a pathway by a riverbank. I may take some photos or make a little video next time if I get a chance. It makes for a good change from being in the gym and is loads of fun!

The hurdles themselves are supported on wooden posts. The left post is about a foot tall, whilst the right post is maybe three foot tall. This means the hurdle is higher at one side than the other, which allows kiddies to hurdle on the low bits, and taller people to move further right.

It really gets your heart going if you do a few sets. Great workout.

sunnyjim

Ah go on, you have to post a vid!

Did I read in another thread that ya live in London?! I was over there last weekend, and there was tons of people out road running, even in Mayfair and Parklane!

BossArky

Saturday July 5th:

Pull Ups
bodyweight x13.5 x8 x8 ... almost got 14 on the first set. Probably a pb

Face Pulls
7.5kg I think - 3 sets of 10 reps ... set the pulley lower than usual around belly button height
---
Bench Press (incline)
55kg x10 x10 x5 x4 ... last two sets were close grip
---
Squat
20kg x5
40kg x5
60kg x5
70kg x3
60kg x5 ... didn't bother increasing to 80kg as no energy in my legs
60kg x5

Calf Raise (oly bar, flat start, standing)
60kg x10
---
External Rotation (dumbbells, standing)
5kg per arm - 3 sets of 10 reps

Lateral Raise
5kg per arm - 3 sets of 10 reps ... from arms by sides to touching overhead
---
External Rotation (cable, standing)
6.25kg per arm - 3 sets of 8 reps
---

Woke up feeling sore in a good way this morning after yesterdays outdoor stuff. My strength on squats, bench, deadlifts is down a bit these days due to my focus on more cardio outdoors. It is only for a month until beginning of August. Enjoying this new approach to training - change of scenery, etc.

BossArky

sunnyjim wrote: »

Ah go on, you have to post a vid!

We'll see :P

sunnyjim wrote: »

Did I read in another thread that ya live in London?! I was over there last weekend, and there was tons of people out road running, even in Mayfair and Parklane!

Yep, I do. Summer has landed!

BossArky

Here is the first set of squats from today: 60kg x5 @bodyweight 73.5kg.

Nothing spectacular, I was just checking my form.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ijfHwsQVno

BossArky

Monday July 7th:

Squat
20kg x10
45kg x8
75kg - 5 sets of 5 reps ... this nearly killed me. Took ages. Didn't particularly enjoy it
45kg x8

Military Press
20kg x10
45kg x8
45kg - 5 sets of 5 reps
---
Deadlift (stiff leg)
45kg - 3 sets of 8 reps

Bent Over Row (oly bar, palms up)
45kg - 3 sets of 12 reps
---
High Row (similar to angled pull up, machine)
40kg per arm - 2 sets of 5 reps

Incline Press (machine)
20kg per arm - 3 sets of 15 reps ... so much easier than using dumbbells

V-Squat (machine)
45kg x15 x5 x10 ... I was experimenting with different starting depths. This made the exercise more difficult, which explains the variation in reps
---
Bicep Curl (machine)
10kg per arm x8
15kg per arm x8
20kg per arm x8
25kg per arm x8 ... this machine feels good. Will use it more often
---

Today would have been my outdoor run but the weather was brutal.

I decided to try a 5x5 strategy for my squat today. Just about managed 5x5 on 75kg. Next time I'll up it and see how I get on. Today is probably the most volume I've done for a while (on squats).

I then ventured to the machine area to check out the new equipment. Some good ones such as the high row (pull up where you can add loads of weight) and the bicep curl machine. Will check out some others next time.

Weighed in at 73kg on the dot this morning so I've lost about ~1.5kg in just under the past 2 weeks. I've been steering clear of bread, pasta, rice, and the likes. It is driving me crazy :pac:

BossArky

I just realised that my 5x5 squat yesterday was 75kg, not 70kg. I forgot to include the two 2.5kg metal clips. That helps explain why it felt a bit heavier than expected. Now I'm actually rather happy that I managed 5x5 over bodyweight.

My legs are in bits today.

BossArky

Tuesday July 8th:

Some very quick & light stuff at home. This was basically a day off.

Shoulder Press
6kg per arm - 3 sets of 10

Shrugs
6kg per arm - 3 sets of 10

Bicep Curl
6kg per arm - 3 sets of 10

BossArky

Wednesday July 9th:

Run 2km (9:00 mins, ~160 cals) ... too wet for outdoor run so headed to the gym. Was gonna do 5km but wasn't feeling it so cut short
---
Deadlift
65kg x8
85kg x4

100kg - 5 sets of 5 reps ... tough enough. Pleased to have squeezed them out. I was pulling some faces and grunting like a hippo

60kg x20 ... again, pleased to get 20 of these after the 100kg 5x5. Nice way to finish off the deadlift session

Tricep Dips (on squat rack)
bodyweight - 3 sets of 10 reps
---
External Rotation (dumbbell)
7kg - 3 sets of 10 reps

Lying 45 Degree Lateral Raise
7kg - 3 sets of 5 reps
---
Face Pulls (with scap retraction)
15kg - 3 sets of 10 reps

External Rotation (pulley)
7.5kg - 3 sets of 5 reps
---
Bicep Curl (machine)
20kg between two hands - 3 sets of 10 reps
10kg per arm - 3 sets of 10 reps ... making sure the left was doing as much work as the right. Actually felt easier than with both hands even though the weight should effectively be the same
---
High Row (machine)
30kg - 3 sets of 10 reps ... took the weight down from the usual 50kg to concentrate on keeping elbows high and trying to feel it more in the upper back. Tried a bit of scap retraction here too, but didn't feel much. Weight was perhaps too high to do it properly
---

Great session. Legendary deadlifting.

I'm not goint to bench press for the next month which will bring me past the London tri at the beginning of August. Instead I'm going to do the rotator cuff exercises mentioned above to injury-proof myself. I have been getting a bit of pain behind my right pec recently after doing pressing movements. Hopefully the various external rotations will sort that out.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Hey Boss, just wanted to ask you.
Do you get any problems with doing heavy deadlifting sessions and running?
I'm a little (lot) out of practice with my long runs and everytime I go out for one my back is in bits - I'm sure it's from the dead lifting...

BossArky

I know what you mean. Running the day after deadlifting is painful :eek: I try to have a day off betweed deads and runs.

However, since today is slighty sunny I am going to totally contradict myself and think about going for a run later :pac:

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Cool stuff - enjoy, think I need to get my ass in gear and do some stretching pre and post runs. As I am normally in bits days after a dead lifting session...

BossArky

Sunday July 13th:

Squat (back)
20kg x10
50kg x10
70kg x10

Squat (front)
20kg - 3 sets of 10 reps

Tricep Extension
10kg per arm - 2 sets of 10 reps
10kg per arm - 2 sets of 5 reps
---
Deadlift (stiff leg)
55kg - 3 sets of 10 reps

Bent Over Row (oly bar)
55kg - 3 sets of 10 reps ... not strict enough, need to lower weight next time

External Rotation (dumbbell)
5kg per arm - 3 sets of 10 reps
---
Lateral Raise (lying 45 deg)
5kg per arm - 3 sets of 10 reps
---
External Rotation (Pulley)
7.5kg per arm - 1 set of 5 reps
5kg per arm - 2 sets of 5 reps ... realised afterwards that I forgot to keep elbow by my side, so in reality I was doing a half reverse cable fly... anyway...

Face Pulls
10kg - 3 sets of 8 reps
---
Bicep Curl (dumbbell)
8kg per arm - 3 sets of 15 reps ... did these at home
---

3 days off since Wednesday's deadlifts. Slightly tired from a weekend of doing life-stuff. Made it to the gym for approx 35 mins. Good to have a recovered and rested body. The external rotation exercises feel great.

BossArky

Tuesday July 15th:

Run 2.1 km (9:43 mins) ... started at 12kmph, increased speed by 0.1kmph every 100 metres until at 14kmph. I find this a good warm up for lifting heavy on squats or deadlift
---
Deadlift
60kg x5
80kg x5
102.5kg - 5 sets of 5 reps ... personal best on 5x5
60kg x12 ... was going for 20 reps, but too tired after the 5x5
60kg x12 ... was going for only 8 to make up the 20, but rounded it up to 12 to match previous set
---
Shoulder Dislocates (studio bar)
3 sets of 10

External Rotation (dumbbell)
5kg - 3 sets of 8 reps
---
Lateral Raise (lying, 45 degree, dumbbell)
5kg - 3 sets of 8 reps

Sit Ups (5kg dumbbell between ankles)
3 sets of 10 reps
---
Tricep Extension (dumbbell)
5kg per arm x20 x20 x10
---
Bicep Curl (machine)
10kg per arm x15
15kg per arm x10
20kg per arm x10
25kg per arm x5
30kg per arm x5
65kg per arm x0.001 ... I mistakenly thought that using both arms together would mean that I could divide the total by two and be lifting 32.5kg per arm, not 65kg per arm. Apparently that is not how the machine is set up
20kg per arm x10
---
Crunch Machine (15kg at feet)
5 sets of 10 reps
---
Various lower body stretches
---
I was hoping to finish off with some facepulls and pulley external rotations but the gym was packed and I was wrecked so I hit the high road.

I accidently added 200+ml of porridge oats to my 500ml flask, along with some protein. The flask was alreay half full before adding water. Suprisingly it all mixed well and I'll be bringing oats like this in my PWO shake in future.

In the middle of my 5x5 deadlifts some muppet woman almost thumped me on the head as they started reversing to squat waaaayy back out of the rack with an oly bar. Had to shout at her as saw her coming out of the corner of my eye. Her bar ended up where my head would have been as I came up. She then very timidly stopped and let me continue and stood well back for the rest of my sets. Felt kinda bad shouting at her but she already hit someone in the head a month or two ago doing the samething. It is not as if she couldn't see me - she was looking in the mirror and had full visibility. Idiot.

My London Triathlon pack has just arrived in the post. So far I'm still registered for the Olympic distance (swim 1.5 km, bike 40 km, run 10km). Following the Blenheim Tri I was going to change my distance in the London to half of the above. However, now I'm thinking that I may leave it as the full Olympic distance and go out in a blaze of glory. If things go according to plan I may be able to squeeze in a bit more cardio than usual over the next 4 weeks.

Malteaser!

BossArky wrote: »

In the middle of my 5x5 deadlifts some muppet woman almost thumped me on the head as they started reversing to squat waaaayy back out of the rack with an oly bar. Had to shout at her as saw her coming out of the corner of my eye. Her bar ended up where my head would have been as I came up. She then very timidly stopped and let me continue and stood well back for the rest of my sets. Felt kinda bad shouting at her but she already hit someone in the head a month or two ago doing the samething. It is not as if she couldn't see me - she was looking in the mirror and had full visibility. Idiot.

I know it shouldn't, but that me laugh!! You're dead right, some people are just idiots!!

BossArky

Tuesday July 15th (workout 2)

Bike 10.9km (45 mins) ... easy outdoors

Stopped off a a running club up the road. Will try to get there for 7:30pm on Tuesday or Thursdays to check it out.

BossArky

Thursday July 17th:

Run 2km (9:57)
---
Squat
20kg x5
50kg x5
80kg - 5 sets of 5 reps 5x5 personal best... sloppy but got through them. Changed stance each set as they got harder and harder --> feet kept getting closer and closer
---
Deadlift (stiff leg)
50kg - 3 sets of 8 reps

External Rotation (standing, dumbbell)
3kg per arm - 3 sets of 8 reps
---
Face Pulls
11.25kg - 3 sets of 8 reps

Tricep Extension (dumbbell)
8kg per arm - 3 sets of 8 reps
---

I was still not 100% recovered following Tuesday's deadlifts, so after the first set of 20kg on the squats I thought about calling it quits until tomorrow - hamstrings were in bits. Kept going and got throught the 5x5 on 80kg. It wasn't pretty, form was sloppy towards the end. It was probably a bit ambitious going for a 5kg jump over last time's 5x5. Maybe I should have stuck with 75kg, or just upped it by 2.5kg to 77.5kg.

Anyway, got through them to happy enough. The rest of the stuff was pretty light as I was out of time and racing through stuff.

Never made it to the running club - stuck working late.

Malteaser!

Nice work on the new PB!!!

BossArky

Friday July 18th:

Walk 5.6km

BossArky

Squat (back)
20kg x10
25kg x10
27.5kg x10

Squat (front)
20kg x10
25kg x10
20kg x10

Bent Over Row (oly barbell)
20kg x10
25kg x10
27.5kg x10
---
Deadlift (stiff leg)
40kg x10 x10 x10

Bent Over Row (oly barbell)
40kg x10 x10 x10

Lateral Raise
8kg per arm x8 x8 x8
---
French Press (oly bar) ... testing this out
20kg x10 x10 x10
25kg x10 x10 x10

Shrugs
15kg plate per arm x10 x10 x10
20kg plate per arm x10 x10 x10
---
One Arm Row (dumbbell) ... haven't done this for months
18kg per arm x8 x8 x8

Bradford Press (mini barbell) ... testing this out
20kg x8 x8 x8
---
Halbert Raise ... haven't done this for months
4kg per arm x10 x10 x10
---
Pull Ups
x5 x5 x5
---
High Row (pull up machine)
40kg per arm x5 x5 x5
35kg per arm x5 x5 x5
20kg per arm x25
---

Really bad chest pain now, not in the muscle but somewhere else behind. It all started with the front squat and must have something to do with the weight pushing down on my arms as they try to get into correct position.