Traps and Tricks and Such

d'Oracle · 28-06-2011 3:36pm

Erm....I don't see how pressing strength is going to help with the elbows.

But you do need to be stronger in the arms/shoulders because you want to be strong and have stronger presses.

But do curls.

I'm saying it might be a question of mobility or soft tissue issues.
Like, what you think is good flexibility may not actually equate to good mobility. You could be compromising for tight pecs or a trashed muscle or two in the rotator cuff. I don't actually know, but I'm saying to be aware that this stuff can be caused by a lot of things. Or other things altogether.

Also, maybe, that much straight bar squatting is not the best for you right now. Don't marry yourself to smolov.

You could do other squatting movements.

And do consider sports massage, physio and/or acupuncture. (that last one sounds like panzy pseudo-science, but it worked for me, albeit from a well qualified osteopath.)

COH · 28-06-2011 6:39pm

d'Oracle wrote: »

.

And do consider sports massage, physio and/or acupuncture. (that last one sounds like panzy pseudo-science, but it worked for me, albeit from a well qualified osteopath.)

Did you try getting some testicles? I'd recommend getting testicles

d'Oracle · 29-06-2011 9:12am

COH wrote: »

Did you try getting some testicles? I'd recommend getting testicles

Overrated.
They get in my way when I do power shrugs.

dartstothesea · 29-06-2011 10:06am

Conflicting advice here. Think I got it though: need to get testicles massaged and acupunctured.

d'Oracle · 29-06-2011 3:00pm

Get rid of them all together.
You don't need em.

You can get testosterone in a jar from that guy who stands in the corner of the changing rooms wearing a hoodie and whispering at people.

And sperm will only get you into trouble.

dartstothesea · 03-07-2011 1:20pm

Yesterday

Squat

157.5kg x 3
157.5kg x 3
157.5kg x 3
157.5kg x 3
157.5kg x 3
157.5kg x 3
157.5kg x 3
157.5kg x 3
157.5kg x 3
157.5kg x 3

Biceps were pretty much fine today, courtesy of a much more thorough warm up with bands after some tips from COH. Oh and a wider grip.

I can tell I still need to be careful as **** about bar position and shoulders and grip but hopefully the actual bicep thing won't come back if I stay careful.

I took long rests up til the last few sets but legs and lower back felt grand the whole way.

Chins
5
4
3
2

Bicep curls
15kg DBs x 10
15kg DBs x 8
15kg DBs x 8

Dips
5
4
4

Calf ext stuff

dartstothesea · 24-07-2011 1:17am

Since last post:

Been continuing with the Squat program but not as a quickly as supposed to. Meh. Going into the last week of it now, should have been finished it already. Apart from that it's going well.

140 KG x 4 x 9

147.5KG x 5 x 7

157.5KG x 7 x 5

167.5KG x 10 x 3

Did those in the last couple of weeks.

Benched once or twice. Arsing around with 82.5kg for 5x5.
OH Pressed the other day. Could barely get 52.5kg for 5x5.

Haven't deadlifted in a million years. Look forward to doing that again.

After this squat stuff I think I'll do a big push to up my bench, while doing Coan again, properly this time.

dartstothesea · 27-07-2011 10:34pm

Definitely haven't even eaten up to maintenance calories in the last several days. And a fair few days in each week. Just because I'm careless/stupid. I think my legs are only surviving because any muscle I'm losing is coming off my upper body... Oh and gratuitous amount of rest days

Anyway.

Squat

145kg x 9
145kg x 9
145kg x 9
145kg x 9

Some shrugs.
25kg DBs x 16
25kg DBs x 12
25kg DBs x 12

Died. Have to start eating.

dartstothesea · 02-08-2011 11:19pm

Squat

152.5kg x 7
152.5kg x 7
152.5kg x 7
152.5kg x 7
152.5kg x 7

Dips
6
4
Had to bail - gymnasium closin'.

Bah. [pitiful excuse about dropping the nutrition/sleep ball over the long weekend]

dartstothesea · 05-08-2011 10:30pm

Squat

162.5kg x 5
162.5kg x 5
162.5kg x 5
162.5kg x 5
162.5kg x 5
162.5kg x 5
162.5kg x 5

Bah, left it late to get into the gym again tonight and didn't leave enough time for anything else after squats. Plus all my standing around between sets. Stupid.
Cheers again for the spot and all at the end Joe.

I guess I'm doing sort of PRs for reps now at this point though, which is cool. Can't wait to finish my slowgramme and try the max effort. 205 or more would be very nice.

Football tomorrow, for the first time in a good bit. Going to be the proverbial bag of lego by tomorrow evening I'd say.

I looked back at some old logging today. My OH Press now is 5kg more than it was a year ago, I think. FML.

d'Oracle · 07-08-2011 3:29pm

dartstothesea wrote: »

I looked back at some old logging today. My OH Press now is 5kg more than it was a year ago, I think. FML.

Yeah, but what was your squat a year ago?

dartstothesea · 10-08-2011 1:27am

^My squat was terrible back then too. Way to rub it in...

Earlier:

Squat

172.5kg x 3
172.5kg x 3
172.5kg x 3
172.5kg x 3
172.5kg x 3
172.5kg x 3
172.5kg x 3
172.5kg x 3
172.5kg x 3
172.5kg x 3

d'Oracle · 10-08-2011 11:13am

dartstothesea wrote: »

^My squat was terrible back then too. Way to rub it in...

90kg for 3x5
as compared to
162.5x7x5.

Emo much?

dartstothesea · 10-08-2011 12:29pm

Ha, I was just messin' there but now you mention it; huge emo, yeah.

dartstothesea · 12-08-2011 10:33pm

I put 102.5 into the Coan Bench calculator. Clearly should've used 100 anyway and will be doing so from now on. Thinking I'd still be able for 102.5 level stuff was of course ridiculous, having benched a grand total of about once since the end of the cretacious period.

Bench
72.5kg x 10
72.5kg x 10

Narrow grip Bench (first time ever doing this. Not sure exactly how narrow it should have been but I went plenty narrow. Kind of like OH Press grip width.)
62.5kg x 10
62.5kg x 10

Incline bench (first time doing this ever. No idea if it was right, felt mad weird. Used a grip just a little less wide than normal bench. I should look up how to incline bench...)
55kg x 10
55kg x 10

Chins
4
2
2
1

****e craic.

Curls
12.5kg DBs x 10
12.5kg DBs x 10
12.5kg DBs x 10

dartstothesea · 14-08-2011 5:56pm

Decided to get this Squat test done instead of studying for exams this afternoon. People were recommending to wait a week from the last day of the programme (last Tues) but I felt very, very recovered at this stage so just went for it.

400mg Caffeine
Had about 10g of creatine around 7am this morning, for whatever difference that would have made.

Squat
Warm up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UO0YR-MBJI

40kg x 5
60kg x 4
80kg x 4
100kg x 3
120kg x 3
Belt on
140kg x 2
160kg x 1
180kg x 1
200kg x 1 (PR)

215kg x see below
Had a spotter (Troy; and Sam & Marcus were there with encouragment - cheers biys), I went too deep too long and unfortunately spotter touched the front of my chest slightly during the way up. I was leaning too far forward on the way up. Said he didn't actually help me up but honestly I would feel sketchy about counting this as a successful/clean rep...

220kg x 1 (PR)

Got this one. Delighted. Was a serious grinder about midway point on the way up.
Under something that felt so heavy it was hard to even take mental note of what it felt like, any sort of thought process I usually have during a squat seems to sort of go out the window...

Apparently I'm going a bit lower and lingering a lot longer at the bottom than I should really need to. Should be descending quicker and trying to get more of a bounce outta the bottom. Sounds tricky but I'll look to make those improvements sure.

Edit/update: my left knee today feels intensely ****ed up, right inside all that connective tissue and junk in there. Probably from letting my knees swing in on at least one of the heavy reps. Damn.

Pendlay rows
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 5

Shrugz
25kg DBs x 18
25kg DBs x 18
25kg DBs x 12
20kg DBs x 16

Calf ext stuff

d'Oracle · 15-08-2011 9:22am

Savage work.

dartstothesea · 16-08-2011 8:38pm

Coan Bench Week 1: Light day

60kg x 10
60kg x 10

Light day is light.

Coan Phillipi Deadlift prog: Week 1

Warm ups

165kg x 2

90-second rest interval speed DLs
132.5kg x 3
132.5kg x 3
132.5kg x 3
132.5kg x 3
132.5kg x 3
132.5kg x 3
132.5kg x 3
132.5kg x 3

Grip feels probably a bit stronger these days than the last time I had an ill-fated go at Coan Phillipi.

Okay, so I didn't really know yet what weights to have a go with on the assistance stuff. I think the weights I picked were a bit conservative now. I'll definitely throw at least 10kg on all these next time.

Stiff-leg DLs 75kg x 8
Bent-over Rows 65kg x 8
Goodmornings x going to have a look at how to even do these at home tonight

Can't remember what else, uh, some DB incline flys, some pec machine BS, that's probably it. Oh and some seated leg extensions, haha, 35kg x 30.

Left knee still has that nigglin' feeling, no idea what to be doing to look after that, really, other than wait a while to squat again maybe.

dartstothesea · 19-08-2011 10:44pm

Coan Bench: Week 2, not-as-light day

Bench press
72.5kg x 10
72.5kg x 10

Narrow grip bench press
60kg x 10
60kg x 10

Incline press
55kg x 10
55kg x 9

Uhhhh ssssssorry there, **** off incline press. Still getting used to this one. I wasn't really doing it right. I think I know better now. Keep the bar nearer my chin for one thing.

Messed around with 40kg for a few OH press and behind-neck presses to see how it felt (not great, not too bad). COH mentioned there was supposed to be some assistance for Coan bench involving behind-neck pressing, I think. I should look into that...

'Cep curls
15KG DBs x 9 x 3

Did a few glute ham raises too after Sam showed me how. Nothing much.

Feebly attempted some chins after the curls. 2 and another 2.

I don't even feel like I've earned a dinner after these lame sessions that don't involve squats, or least DLs maybe. Time to squat again.
Edit: Actually, no it isn't really. It's still just time to put together a bench press that actually requires some energy.

dartstothesea · 21-08-2011 5:11pm

Coan Phillipi Week 2

175kg x 2

142.5kg x 3 x 8 w/ 90 second rests

Stiff leg DLs
90kg x 8

Bentover Row
80kg x 8

Had earlier done some light squats too to check out my knee.
Something like 120kg x 5 x 4

Coan Bench, Week 2 light day
62.5kg x 2 x 10

Pretty sleep deprived, went home.

dartstothesea · 21-08-2011 5:15pm

Oh, I didn't need mixed grip for anything today. Surprised, not sure why my grip would be so much better right now. Happy with that obv.

dartstothesea · 23-08-2011 6:36pm

Coan Bench Week 3 - heavier day

75kg x 8
75kg x 8

Narrow grip
65kg x 8
65kg x 8

Incline bench press
60kg x 8
60kg x 8

Some light squats:
warm up sets

80kg x 8
100kg x 10
100kg x 12

Shrugs
27.5kg DBs x 18
" x 16
" x 16

Chins
4
2
3

dartstothesea · 27-08-2011 2:32am

Coan Phillipi Week 3

warm up sets

187.5kg x 2

~100 sec rest intervals:
155kg x 3
155kg x 3
155kg x 3
155kg x 3
155kg x 3
155kg x 3

Not much chalk floating about today but double overhand grip held out nicely again.

SL DLs
100kg x 8

Bent over row
85kg x 8
Worst form here.

Few pendlays for the laugh.
80kg x 4

Chins
4
3
1
1

Coan Bench Week 3 light day

62.5kg x 10
62.5kg x 10

...except that the second set didn't really go like that. For some reason I had actually put 80kg on the bar for the second set and didn't realise it until 3 or 4 reps into the set. At which point I just said whatevs and did
80kg x 8

Last rep was the grindiest thing.

Bicep curls
15kg DBs x 12
15kg DBs x 8
15kg DBs x 8

Then a few rough minutes on the eliptical trainer machine. Jaysus.

d'Oracle · 27-08-2011 10:59am

dartstothesea wrote: »

...except that the second set didn't really go like that. For some reason I had actually put 80kg on the bar for the second set and didn't realise it until 3 or 4 reps into the set. At which point I just said whatevs and did
80kg x 8

Win.

dartstothesea · 27-08-2011 11:32am

Well... I'd have failed on the 9th had I continued. Not being able to do 80kg x 9 isn't great craic.

_JOE_ · 27-08-2011 2:09pm

dartstothesea wrote: »

Well... I'd have failed on the 9th had I continued. Not being able to do 80kg x 9 isn't great craic.

It was 82.5kg!

d'Oracle · 29-08-2011 9:25am

dartstothesea wrote: »

Well... I'd have failed on the 9th had I continued. Not being able to do 80kg x 9 isn't great craic.

Accidentally overloading and then repping out on a light day is how your spell victory.

COH · 29-08-2011 6:49pm

d'Oracle wrote: »

Accidentally overloading and then repping out on a light day is how your spell victory.

When I did it everyone called me a retard.. just because it wasnt accidental... and I added 40kg :mad:

dartstothesea · 29-08-2011 8:48pm

Coan Bench Week 4 'Heavy' day

Benchnasium press
77.5kg x 8
77.5kg x 8

Narrow grypnasium press
65kg x 8
65kg x 8

Overhead Pressnasium
55kg x 8
50kg x 6

The incline bench didn't look to be freeing up any time soon so I just tried doing some OH press for a change today. I didn't do remotely well at it but all the more reason, I guess.

Then, more wuss-squats to see how to squat without aggravating my knee:
Used maybe a very slightly narrower stance and with a more noticeably acute angle in the feet, mostly with my left foot pointing less outward than usual. I don't know, like less than 30 degrees between both feet. Maybe. It felt less weird on my knee doing them this way anyway.

Squat
120kg x 8
120kg x 8
120kg x 8

Lower back felt all the pump and all of the burn. Guess I forgot how to squat good without a belt.

Some RUNNING. On a treadmill.
1:1, 60-second intervals alternating between on-balls-of-feet on an incline and regular flat running.
Did like 1.25k in 9 minutes. Nothing remotely respectable there.

dartstothesea · 03-09-2011 3:08am

Earlier

Coan-Phillipi week 4

197.5kg x 2
Did a 3rd then aswell 'cause grip slipped a bit / I had to hitch a bit on the 2nd.

165kg x 3
165kg x 3
165kg x 3
165kg x 3
165kg x 3

Stiff-leg DLs 100kg x 8
Bentover Row 75kg x 8
Stiff-leg DLs 100kg x 8
Bentover Row 70kg x 8
Stiff-leg DLs 100kg x 8

Coan bench Week 4(?) light day
65kg x 10
65kg x 10

Dips
8
4
2

Calf ext stuff
Elliptical trainer for like 5 mins.

Traps and Tricks and Such

Comments