16kg SSST

Resting HR 52bpm

Mobility
Pumps / Knee Bends / Shoulder Dislocates / Wall Walks

AM
DL 11 x 1 102.5kgs - little out of sorts to start but got into a good "groove" and they sailed up.

PM
SSST with 16kgs - 232 reps PR

Had been watching YouTube videos of the AKC lot and was getting inspired at the frankly incredible numbers they were putting up. I've also read a lot about using a "corkscrew" on the downward part of the snatch and thought I'd try it out after watching it being done.

The result was a new PR - I didn't even go all out and could probably have had a bit more. Felt reasonably fresh after.

The Scenic Route

Must have been in the mood to take pics today, but then again with scenery like this why not. This is a little taste of the walk I usually go on.











And thats only looking out to sea - you should see it inland!! ;)

Morning HR 52bpm

Mobility
Shoulder Circles / Shoulder Dislocates / Pumps / Knee Bends

DL 9 x 1 102.5kgs - this felt really good today. They were absolutely flying up off the floor.

Plan to go for a long walk later...... just before I watch Man Utd scrap their way through to the Champions League Final!!!! C'mon UTD!!!!

It's funny but after Mouse was asking about sources for grip training I've been seeing them everywhere. I haven't abandoned it myself lately, I still do the odd thing associated with it when I'm out DLing or just milling about. Not structured and not really a lot so I never include it in my blog. A quick look through Adam Glass's blog is more than enough to get anyone excited about it and it will definitely be back in when I go back to the KBs.

Here's a couple of pics of some of the stuff I use.


The block is excellent for pinch grip - it's pretty wide and you can add small increments no problems. The dumbbell just has some foam taped around it. I use it for levering exercises on wrists - rainbows, and forward and back movements. I've also used the other dumbbell for wrist curls - wrists are my biggest weakness I feel. I could snatch the 24 far more if I sorted this area out.

The golf towel is used in much the same way as the block except I try to scrunch the towel up in my hand and work my way down the side of it. Hope that makes sense. I find it works the extensors of my last 2 fingers and the thumb well. It doesn't take much weight!!!

Call me Ranieri!!

Resting HR 53bpm

Mobility
Arm swings / Squats / Forward Bends / Wall Walking / Pumps

A.M. - DL 7 x 1 102.5kgs

P.M. - KBs
Sn 24kgs 5 x5 L/R

Circuit - 8 reps L/R 24kgs KB
Cleans
Swings
Cleans
Front Squat
Cleans
TGU
Cleans
Snatches
Cleans
Time 11:28

Felt stiff on first couple of DLs then got better as the session went on. KB circuit was quite hard, but it was great to finish and feel like I done something without feeling completely buggered. Both my sessions today left me feeling better than when I started, can't beat that.

Mouse – Martin gave you very good advice in the comments of my previous post. You’ll love it once you start, you can be really quite innovative coming up with ways to train grip. Check out my post “My Gym” for an example pic. I’ve got some more I’ll have to put up.

You can find links to the following down the right hand side of this page:

Adam Glass / Dennis Rodgers / Diesel Crew / The Grip Board

The Grip board is a fabulous resource and you can find beginners routines there. Adam Glass will blow your mind with what you can achieve in this area – he went from zero to hero in around a year and a half. The diesel crew have a pdf on short bending that has a very good generalized hand and wrist strengthening routine. There was also a pretty good article in a Crossfit issue about grip training – to be honest though you don’t need to spend the money on it, The Grip Board is the place.

JJB do Olympic weights? Need an Olympic weight set as the weight will get heavy quite quickly – try Argos, Ebay or local paper. I managed to find a steel yard that cleared weight out of gyms that closed down. They aren’t cheap, but will pay for themselves in 3 months instead of a gym membership.

Morning resting HR 52 bpm

Mobility Exercises: Pumps / Shoulder Circles / Deep Knee Bends / Wall Walks

DL 5 x 1 102.5kgs

Decompression Hangs and Good Morning Stretch

Head out for a good long walk later. DL helped to take away a lot of the stiffness from that crazy KB routine yesterday.

Mobility exercises and HR recorded today ;)

Killer Bells

Mobility - em.....let's see....stretched while laying in bed and bends at the waist....to put on my socks. Been slacking with these lately, have to pick it up.

DL 3 x 1 102.5kgs - easy, technique is getting better too I feel - which of course makes it even easier.

KB workout
The Dream
• Warm up 10 swings, 10 snatches, 10 switch 10/10 = 1 minute
• 1-minute work, 1-minute rest
• 1 arm swing w/24kg 1 minute x 2 setsLR
• 1 arm swing w/16kg 1 minute 3 sets LR
• H2H swing w/24kg 1 minute x 2 sets LR
• H2H swing w/16kg 1 minute x 3 sets LR
• 2 hand swings w/24kg 1 minute x 5 sets
• Snatch w/16kg 1 minute x 5 sets RL
• Clean and squat w/24kg 1 min x 2 sets LR
• Clean and squat w/16kg 1 min x 3 sets LR
• Double cleans w/16/24kgs 30 seconds x 10 sets
• Double swings w/16/24kg 30 seconds x 10 sets
• 30 minutes of work, 30 minutes rest

The Reality
• Warm up 10 swings, 10 snatches, 10 switch 10/10 = 1 minute
• 1-minute work, 1-minute rest
• 1 arm swing w/24kg 1 minute x 2 setsLR
• 1 arm swing w/16kg 1 minute 3 sets LR
• H2H swing w/24kg 1 minute x 2 sets LR
• H2H swing w/16kg 1 minute x 3 sets LR
• 2 hand swings w/24kg 1 minute x 2 sets

5 mins rest mainly spend contorting my face, breathing heavy and shaking my head.

• Snatch w/16kg 1 minute x 1 sets RL
• Clean and squat w/24kg 1 min LR
• Double cleans w/16/24kgs 30 seconds x 2 sets
• 15 minutes of work, 20 minutes rest

Little bit of farmers walks with the 16 + 24 as well.

Took this from another crazy KBer's site today - to be honest I didn't really expect to get right through it, but thought I'd have a go. Big respect to Regina Hurley for working her way through that session. If you think you have good form with swings, throw in some H2H work and watch it fly out the window initially. Also it was the first time I'd even tired doing doubles - two different weights didn't help obviously but man they are a different animal too!!

Was a good session though - enough for me and I enjoyed it.

Morning H/R 52bpm

Wall walking / Toe Touches / Back Stretching

4 mile walk

DL 15 x 1 100Kgs - weekly volume 6300kgs (63 reps x 100)

Decompression hangs / Good Morning Stretch / Wall Walking

Felt really tired on my way back from the walk - came back and feel asleep for an hour. Not sure where that came from, had a great nights sleep. Back still ached a little but again was no problem on the DLs. Began to feel a little tired at the end of DL session, similar to the walk.

Anyway the end of one cycle. Will start again tomorrow at 102.5kgs and throw in some KB work while its an otherwise easy day. If I feel good next Saturday or Sunday I plan to test 1RM.

Got my finger on the pulse.

Morning H/R 51bpm

Wall walking / Squats / Back stretches

DL 13 x 1 100Kgs

Off for a long walk in a bit.

Back was a little stiff when I woke up this morning. Did a few exercises/stretches for it throughout the day. Having just finished the DLing I've got to say that it feels better than it has all day, I feel really good after I finish these.

Now it could be down to accumulated fatigue from DLing throughout the week - I won't rule it out - but I think it's more likely down to the additional snatches and circuit yesterday which was very back intensive. It's nothing major and I don't see it being a problem but I thought it was worth noting.

Also starting to record morning heart rate.....just because it's my blog and I can. ;)

Pump Stretches / Squats / Shoulder Circles

DL 11 x 1 100kgs

Sn 24kgs 5x4 L/R

Circuit

Swings
C&P
Swings
C&F Squats
Swings
TGUs
Swings
Snatches
Swings

All done L/R for 8 reps with 16kgs KB

DLs still a doddle but little circuit was deceptively difficult. Shoulder wasn't good with the C&P.

What I think I know about strength.

The following is my interpretation or understanding from books, articles and various forum posts on the subject of max strength training. Indeed it is highly probable that the following is not an understanding at all and that I need corrected. That is the purpose of this post – correct away. I welcome additional info, views and opinions to help me better grasp the principals and concepts.

I have also put forward a theory on what I feel might be the best way to develop max strength in the DeadLift for me. While it may seem radical from a lot of info I’ve read on training the DL I think it is just an extension of programs like PttP, GTG and Steve Justas’ Singles program. Let me know what you think.

Why Strength train at all?

Maximal strength is the motor quality (i.e. max strength, strength endurance, agility, power, speed, flexibility, etc) that most benefits improvements in other motor qualities by working to improve it alone. For example the ability to jump higher, throw further and run faster will increase for a long time along side improving one’s max strength in various exercises.

Additionally there are benefits of increased metabolic rate, increased and restored bone density, prevention of sports or life related injuries, strength to participate in work related and leisure activities well into old age.

As Charles Staley puts it – it’s needed, usually poorly developed, highly trainable and foundational to other elements.

These are the reasons I started strength training – not as an end in itself but as a means to improved athletic ability and a better quality of life. Though I must say it is very easy to get hooked on shifting BIG weights.

I should remember these reasons when I get annoyed at every little hitch. And also when the training is creating injuries, causing fatigue or otherwise detracting from my overall enjoyment of life.

The caveat here is that I am talking about increasing Max Strength to also increase Relative Strength – increasing strength while putting on little to no mass, or maintaining strength while losing mass.

Size doesn’t matter.

Big muscles do not necessarily mean big strength. All things being equal a bigger muscle will usually be stronger, but things aren’t always equal.

Typically our muscles only work at perhaps 20 - 30% of their full capacity in untrained individuals and around 50% in trained athletes. So an athlete can have a smaller muscle than a body builder and still be stronger!!

In order for anyone to begin to tap into this extra reserve we need to train the Central Nervous System (CNS). CNS training differs like night and day to the typical Body Building based programs touted in most mainstream magazines. You can get stronger without getting bigger and to do it you need to emphasize low reps and heavy weights.

Party Principals and Concepts on CNS training

Treat your strength as a skill and practice rather than workout

- Practice getting and staying tight during your lifts. Tension is strength. The more intra-abdominal pressure in your belly and the more tension or tightness in your muscles the stronger you are. Hone your skill to contract your muscles harder.

You must lift heavy – but how heavy is heavy?

- The absolute difficulty of the resistance you are using is referred to as the intensity. You can also think of it as the quality and volume (number of sets x reps) as the quantity. Intensity is usually expressed as a percentage of 1RM – or the most weight you can lift once.

- As mentioned above you need to practice, and we know that perfect practice makes perfect – a shaky max effort through gritted teeth is not perfect; a 70-80% 1RM controlled lift is though.

You must limit your reps to 5

- Heavy weights imply low reps; there is of course an inverse relationship between how heavy the weight is and the number of times you can lift it (volume). The rep range for building strength is 1-5.

You must avoid muscle failure

- In the same way the shaky 1RM is not perfect so it is with the last few reps possible with a 70% 1RM. Not only is it not perfect practice but it is inviting soreness and probably injuries a little down the line.

- You must also allow yourself enough time to restore energy levels between sets. This could be 5 mins or more (much more if you do 2 or 3 sessions per day).

You must cycle your loads

- Anyone who lifts weights has surely heard of the principal of progressive overload, haven’t they? Regardless we all know that the human body is an adaptive system. That means it can change itself to cope with new stresses it may encounter. The principal of progressive overload is simply to expose your body to progressively greater and greater challenges so it will adapt. In the world of resistance training that typically means lifting greater weights or the same weight with greater volume by increasing the reps or the sets. (I need to limit the reps remember so typically increasing the sets would be the way.)

- There is a problem with this though – you cannot simply continue to add a little weight or reps every time you lift. Eventually your body will break down and you will crash. No one knows for sure why but people who try end up breaking down in body and spirit as I know from experience. A solution is cycling. You start off relatively light and use the progressive overload principal for a period of time to build up slowly to a new high – then start over again a little heavier than the previous starting point and do it all again. This should reduce the chances of a crash while ensuring gains.

- This seems like a good place to address the question of optimal volume. How much volume do I need to effectively and efficiently develop the skill of strength? Well think back to when you were a kid – how did you learn to kick a football or shoot hoops? You be out there every spare second you had practicing that’s how. You’d stop when you were tired and you go right back after it when you felt like it again; 100% focused. Kids are impetuous though and as adults there are better ways to do it even though the answer is along the same lines.

- I believe the answer is as many as you can do perfectly on that day in that session. Perfect practice makes perfect. If I do one rep perfectly everyday as opposed to doing 2 perfect reps everyday which one will develop strength faster? And if I keep on going doing reps after I have started to go downhill it’s like practicing those hoops blindfolded...I'll never improve.

To sum all the above up I'll paraphrase the immortal line from Prof. Vladimir Zatsiorsky who summed up effective strength building as training as often as possible while being as fresh as possible.

OK, so lets take a look at what we have so far and how I can use it to try and answer a couple of the highlights and lowlights of my training so far – my increased DL from KB work and the early bath on my PttP cycle.

From November to March the only training I did consisted of using 16-32 Kg KB yet after this I was able to lift 140kgs for 4 reps easily when my best was one of those shaky 1 RM’s at the same weight previously. If the route to strength is high intensity and low reps then how is this possible?

I believe this goes back to what I said about all things being equal a bigger muscle will usually be stronger. During this time the muscles on the back of my body have gotten noticeably thicker and bigger. These are the same muscles used for DeadLifting. So if I have bigger muscles and probably even increased my ability to tense them then it makes sense that this method will make me stronger. There are no arguments about this – there are many different ways to gain strength, what I want though is strength without added mass. I’d say though that I could control my weight using KBs a lot better if I didn’t eat like a pig!!

Why didn’t my PttP cycle work – it was designed by the author of the CNS principals above!?! Well, I used heavy weights and low reps, cycled starting off with a lower weight than I can lift and never went to failure…so what happened? Intensity happened. Not practicing a skill happened.

Following blindly from the book without paying attention to all the other details mentioned in setting up a cycle I had set myself up for failure and burnout. I had worked myself up to an intensity of around 90% and was more or less asking myself to lift it on more than half the days in the week. Another important point to note when using your 1RM as the cornerstone of the weights you will lift. Who is to say what your 1RM is on any given day – “Your 1RM’s are likely to vary quite a bit over the course of a day, week or month.” Charles Staley. After lifting 90% of your previous 1RM past the volume where you are doing perfect practice for a number of days do you expect to lift your 1RM on that day? Me neither.

The Answer?

The program I have been doing for the last few days hits the mark on a lot of the points for CNS training. It uses frequent training at a high intensity (70%) that still allows perfect practice of the Deadlift. There is no training to failure and it uses low reps. You cycle up the volume over the course of a week and then drop the volume and increase the weight for the next week. To keep on top of overtraining and keep you in that 70-80% bracket you test your 1RM on a monthly basis and adjust the weight accordingly. You use cycling and progressive overload.

Where I think it could be improved upon is the fact that it is a little regimented. I’m not getting as much practice in as I could be early in the weekly cycle and who is to say that I will have as many as 15 reps in me come the last day. There is a little thing called life that gets in the way – it is never accounted for in any program from a book.

To cut this already outrageously long post short I am going to propose an answer based on the above. A straw man to be kicked about by anyone who reads this. I guess it’s Grease the Groove meets Justa’s Singles addressing Staleys daily 1RM.

A free style singles program based on Perceived Effort (p/e) lifting what feels like 70-80% intensity of your 1RM FOR THAT DAY. Start off with 2 or 3 lighter singles to help gauge p/e then use that weight. You begin lifting for singles, take whatever time you need to recover and lift again until you begin to notice the p/e is going up a notch – then stop. If you have the time you could come back later and do another few reps even.

If the weight you feel you need to lift for that day is a lot lower than it has been then you need to take a day or two off and rest up. To help prevent this happening and overtraining you could and should take days off or reduce volume by half every 4^th week. To be honest though lifting 70% for singles rejuvenates rather than tires me - I honestly think you could follow this every day without experiencing this drop off.

Like Justa I reckon you should test 1RM after this 4^th week to make sure that a) you are progressing and b) you’re p/e is accurate and that you are training consistently around the 70% mark. At least to begin with until you really begin to get dialed into how your body is feeling.

I think that as a beginner you don’t need to do this sort of thing – you will improve quickly anyway – but also that you need a bit of experience and experimenting to make it work for you. By not being absolutely spot on you will be continually but inadvertently “mixing it up”. The volume will be constantly changing from one day to the next, the load will be up and down slightly and you will stretch yourself testing for 1RM monthly. This helps you to follow the principal of variation naturally. It states that the training needs to be changed periodically or the body will reduce it's adaptive responses.

I have really enjoyed writing this. I feel the process has helped me improve my understanding, even if it is still somewhat elementary. I have some thinking to do on the proposed method of training above to cover any gaps but I like the look of it now.

Re-charge - Pump Stretches, Good Mornings, Shoulder Dislocates and Squats

DL 9 x 1 100kgs

Decompression hangs / Hamstring Stretch / Shoulder Dislocates / Hip Stretch

Didn't get to snatching this evening - I've been writing the essay I'm going to post in a little while. Will try to get out for a walk later, but I'm not promising anything Champions League tonight. Want to see who we'll beat in the final ;)

Martin, no breaks on Justa's Singles - you lift 365 day of the year. To be honest it feels like you wouldn't need them, this has gotten easier as it's went on for me so far.

I apologize in advance for the length of the next post which may well amount to pure gibberish. But I really enjoyed writing it today.

Re-charge - Pump Stretches, Good Mornings, Shoulder Dislocates and Squats
DL 7 x 1 100kgs

Decompression hangs / Hamstring Stretch / Shoulder Dislocates / Hip Stretch

Just about to head off for a few miles walk. DL felt the easiest yet today - probably as I havent been doing much else so far.

DL Practice

DL 5 x 1 100kgs

Decompression hangs / Hamstring Stretch / Shoulder Dislocates / Hip Stretch

4 mile walk/saunter/dander/mossy along

(edit for mouse - http://www.t-nation.com/article/bodybuilding/
the_shocking_nervous_system&cr=
I forgot about the awesome pic this article has in it too)

DL 3 x 1 100kgs

Yeah Martin I was giving myself a few days rest, pretty much decided that I'm going to give Steve Justa Singles a run. I'm going to wing it a bit though - if I feel the weight is too heavy or I'm tired I'll take a day and pick it up where I left off or just drop down a little.

I'm going to have a bit more fun with my conditioning side of things like Franklin suggested. I'll look to get 3 sessions in a week of KBs, running..... whatever. Just get the heart thumping for 20 mins or so.

Just back from a nice long walk in the forest with my friend and his two dogs - as always I'll try to get plenty of walking done. Feeling a lot more chilled out about things now - have a lot going on in my life at the minute and it had been winding me up. Its affected the eating thats for sure!!!

DL 3 x 1 107.5kgs

Sn 16kgs - 7 reps 15:15 for 50 rounds - 350 Total

This was a bit of a frustration cooler session. I was/am feeling a bit mythed about the pttp cycle - as far as I can see I did it by the book, but it just didn't work out. The 107.5kgs is 70% of that estimated 1 RMax - I wanted to know what it felt like and I'm also considering just going with the Justa singles program. I like things to be simple.

The Vo2Max session was just to let off some steam - to be honest it felt pretty easy. I only stopped as my right hand was developing some serious blisters and the way I was snatching with it was a wrist injury waiting to happen.

You know writing this blog this has highlighted to me exactly how "flighty" I am. I plan one thing then turn round and change it or do another. It's beginning to piss me off. I think of myself as quite an open person and do my thinking out loud - but if doing that gives off the impression I get of myself from this blog then I should stop. It's like I never follow through with what I say.

Crash and Burn....Jester's Dead!!

Re-Charge

D/L 135 x 2,120 x 5

Wrists - Rainbows 3 x 15 each with 1kgs
Janda Sit Ups 3 x 5 16kg KB
Anderson Neck Routine - Harness 5kgs x 50/Neck rolls x 50/Harness 16kgs x 10/Neck Rolls x 50

Stretches - Decompression Hangs, Hamstrings, Hips and Shoulder Dislocates.

OK - so the DLs were too heavy. Need to evaluate the program and change it for the next cycle. Started too heavy and was consisantly lifting over 90% of 5 Rmax. I'll take a break til monday - a few light sets between now and them maybe.

Martin - it was after reading your comment that I decided to calculate the percentages. I agree about the ESTIMATED 1 Rmax and now have the weight to test it - though I feel I've put my back through a lot as far as DLing goes lately, it can wait for a while.

Target Focused Training

Forgot to mention that I got an email over the weekend about a seminar these guys are doing in London come November. At first I wasn't sure about their system, but after re-watching their DVDs and some high praise from people who I have come to respect I am sure of its merit.

The only other problem was that they charge a small fortune and raising funds for it and flights, accomodation etc was going to be a tall order. Incredibly this seminar has been sponsered by a London company and the price has been slashed. I've got myself booked onto it and am champing at the bit for it to come around.

Hopefully it is area I can get sorted and feel more capable in certain situations.

Monday's Training

Re-Charge

D/L 132.5 x 5,120 x 5

Circuit: Snatches (16kg) / Sledgehammer Strikes 15 on:15 off 40 rounds, 20mins work

Stretches - Decompression Hangs, Hamstrings, Hips and Shoulder Dislocates.

DL was brutal - I'm interested to see if I can make it through a cycle now!! Bought myself another 40kgs in plates today. £1 per Kg - apparently the chinese are pushing the prices up....at least that's what the wiley old guy who sold me them told me :)

Didn't do treadmill today - the sun is shining and last place I was going was to run like a hamster indoors. Very happy with this, was going to go for 10-15 mins to see how I felt. I quickly slipped into a comfortable pace of 7 snatches and 9 strikes on both sides. 140 snatches and 180 strikes I think that is. Feel pretty good now.

End of Week 1

Re-Charge

D/L 130 x 5,115 x 5

Treadmill Intervals - 8 x 1 min on, 1 min off (Incline 2.0, 7 x 9.2 1 x 9.5 mph)

Stretches - Decompression Hangs, Hamstrings, Hips and Shoulder Dislocates.

DL was very hard tonight - I considered stoping at 4 reps for 130, but in the end got the 5th rep with only a few seconds inbetween.

I've just calculated the distance I've been doing for my intervals - 255m on my fastest minute!!! Thats horrible!!! I'm no speedster but I've got to be better than that. I'd been expecting to be closer to 350m. I used to do 400m laps in and around 75s. This extra 2 stone I'm carrying around is doing me no favours obviously...going to see how close I can get to 13mph by the end of this cycle.

I'm glad to have the next 2 days off. My books have just arrived, Rock, Iron, Steel and Starting Strength. Give me something to get my teeth into and make me motivated for a tough week starting Monday.

Re-Charge

D/L 127.5 x 5,115 x 5

Wrists - Curls/Extensions 3 x 15 each with 2.5kgs
Janda Sit Ups 2 x 5 15kgs plate / 16kg KB
Anderson Neck Routine - Harness 5kgs x 50/Neck rolls x 50/Harness 16kgs x 10/Neck Rolls x 50

Stretches - Decompression Hangs, Hamstrings, Hips and Shoulder Dislocates.

Made a mistake on my DL progression today - should have been 125. Sure it's done now, I'll just keep adding another 2.5 on. Did the wrist exercises holding onto the plates - heavy enough for me really, and I got a bit of a pump out of it....FEEL THE BURN!!!

Started my sit ups with a 15kgs plate, but it felt pretty easy. I switched to the KB and it felt like it was alive, a lot harder to control so I'll stick with that for a bit.

Neck routine sucks - I hate it...it had better make my neck bigger when I've finished it :)

Running Man

Re-Charge

Treadmill Intervals - 8 x 1 min on 1 min off (Incline 2.0 , 4 x 9.0, 3 x 9.2 + 1 x 9.5 mph)

Stretches

Short and sweet today - but a hard 15 mins anyway. Legs felt a bit tired and heavy when I started, but I got into it once I was a few reps in. I guess I'm still kinda easing into it - I'm not all wobbly legged and pulling extreme Stallone faces. All my old running techiques are coming back to me - I'm very much focused internally when I run. I'll mentally scan my body over and over and relax any parts that are too tense, particularly shoulders, face and hands. I'll alternate this with a focus on my breathing and mentally saying "relax".

As a last resort, when things have gone to pot and everything is tense I've changed my inner dialogue from a few years ago. I used to berate myself kinda like the beasting new recruits get. These days it all a lot more positive stuff, not namby pamby but short positive statements like "c'mon this is easy for you". This is born out of a concious effort to talk to myself more positively ALL the time as a result of reading a few sports psychology books.

Re-Charge

D/L 122.5 x 5,110 x 5

Wrists - Rainbows 3 x 15 0.5kgs
Janda Sit Ups 2 x 5 5/10kgs
Anderson Neck Routine - Harness 5kgs x 50/Neck rolls x 30/Harness 15kgs x 10/Neck Rolls x 28

Stretches - Decompression Hangs, Hamstrings, Hips and Shoulder Dislocates.

Good session - no injuries!! Skipped the TGUs today will add those in on Thursday, just give my shoulder a couple of days rest. DLs went well, still feels heavy though.

I started super low with the wrist rainbows and it turned out to be about right. I wasn't really pushing it so I'll up it to the mighty 1kg next time. Jandas were pretty easy, started with 5kgs and then did 10 - needs a bit more weight next time.

Neck was murderous!! I'm one of these people who hates being upside down or having my head hanging off the bed etc. I felt really dizzy and it's not a sensation I like. Added to this it was hard work - a real endurance. That said it's still safe and it's what I need to do to make my neck thicker and stronger. Grin and bare it big lad!!!

Ch-ch-changes

Re-Charge

D/L 120 x 5,110 x 5
P/P 32.5 x 5, 30 x 5

Treadmill Intervals - 8 x 1 min, rest 1 min. Incline @ 2.0 Speed 9.0mph

Stretches - Decompression Hangs, Hamstrings, Hips and Shoulder Dislocates.

Day 1 and I think I may have to change the plan already!! Shoulder ached during re-charge, during P/P and again through the shoulder dislocates. I think all the push ups from Krav fuckin Maga upset it again and then me testing my C & PP on friday have put me back to square one.

Going to have to scrap PP cycles and I'll just do Half Get Ups with 16kgs KB 4 times a week, workin up the bells as and when I can.

Apart from that everything else went quite well. It's great to be deadlifting again and I really enjoyed the running. Bit of a feeling out process with the running, expect it to go up a few notches in immediate sessions.

It's going to be tough - I've no doubts about that - but for the moment at least it's great to have a change.

Franklin....

I've spotted the mistake which probably prompted your question - it's because PttP cycles last 2.5 weeks and I'm cutting running volume every 3 weeks. Would need to do cycles lasting 3 weeks or 12 sessions for them to run exactly. Still with only 4 cycles they don't get out of whack too much and as long as I'm taking a bit of rest now and again one shouldn't really effect the other anyway.

I can always have an extra low volume week or indeed go for an extra week before reducing depending on how my body is reacting. Obviously this plan wasn't as tight as it should have been but I look on them as a rough framework anyway. The body never responds as it "should"!!!

Week 1
Mon 120 x 5 Start of first cycle
Tue 122.5
Thurs 125
Fri 127.5

Week 2
Mon 130
Tue 132.5
Thurs 135
Fri 137.5

Week 3 - cut down running volume by 50%
Mon 140
Tue 142.5 End of first cycle
Thurs 122.5 x 5 Start of 2nd cycle - 2.5kgs heavier than first
Fri 125

Week 4
Mon 127.5
Tue 130
Thurs 132.5
Fri 135

Week 5
Mon 137.5
Tue 140
Thurs 142.5
Fri 145 x 5 End of 2nd cycle - I've put 5kgs onto my previous 5 rep best!! Yay, wasn't that easy!! I'll probably have lost 2 stone as well. ;)

Week 6 cut running volume by 50%
Mon 125 x 5 - Start of third cycle 2.5kgs heavier than 2nd cycle
Tue 127.5
Thurs 130
Fri 132.5

New Program

Here’s the new Plan then, which is more or less straight out of ETK...... with a few additions. 3 months of PttP with interval running for conditioning. Very little use of KBs at all!! Swings and snatches have helped my deadlift numbers – lets see if deadlifting and running will help my swings and snatches.

Re-charge:

Mobility drills – 3 Way Neck, Shoulder Rolls, Wrist Circles, Egyptians, Ankle Circles, Squats/Deep Knee Bends, Hips Circles, Spine Extensions.

Resilient Drills: Neck, TGUs, Back Rolls, Hip Extensions, Good Morning Stretch

Done daily. Work up to 35 reps of mobility drills, and doing 5-10 reps of other drills. I will use the 16kg KB for TGUs, Hip Extensions and Good Morning Stretch. Not much change here.

PttP Strength Training:

Deadlift and Clean & Push Press, 2 sets of 5. 2^nd set 90% of 1^st set.

4 times per week M, Tu, Th, F

Straightforward Linear Cycle. 10 sessions (2.5 weeks) increasing by 2.5kgs each session. Then add 2.5kgs onto pervious cycle’s first day total and start again. Or 10 steps of 2.5kgs forward, then 9 steps back. I should get 4-5 cycles in by 12 weeks and should be good for a 10-12.5kgs gain….in theory.

The disadvantage in doing it this way is that I put a ceiling on my gains. I could milk each cycle completely dry each time and possibly make far better gains. I’m going to go this way though as I can plan back off weeks easier and would be delighted with another 10kgs.

I going to start with 120kgs x 5 for deadlifts and hopefully finish in the region of 155kgs x 5. I’ll play it by ear on any sets that I can’t lift for 5, but I’d say I’ll increase by 2.5kgs next session if I can do at least 3 reps.

Conditioning

Treadmill Interval Sprints 8 x 1 min on 1 min off.

3 times per week M, W, F – straight out of ETK.

Every 3^rd week drop volume by 50% to 4 reps – this should coincide with 2 hard lifting days and then 2 easy ones. Shouldn’t have taken too much out of myself for the new PR on the Tuesday and then have it easy for the rest of the week.

Use Monday to workout incline and speed to really test me.

Supplementry Exercises

Neck – Anderson Neck Routine

Neck Harness x 50 / Neck rolls (all you can do) / Neck Harness x 10 / Neck Rolls again.

This is about making it bigger, thicker and stronger – just what I’m after.

Wrists – Levering and Wrist Curls/Extensions 3 x 15

These take care of all 4 directions and should do a good job eliminating the wrist injuries I was picking up snatching. Gripboard recommends 15-20 reps for beginners to build up a good base, I believe I’ve also read Kenneth Jay saying the same thing.

Abs – Janda Sit Ups 2 x 5

And finally introducing a little bit of direct ab work

Will do these twice per week on Tu and Th when not running. Split up the wrist work up between the two days, so Levering Tu and Curls/Extension Th.

Stretches

Decompression Hangs, Hamstrings, Hip Flexors and Shoulder Disslocates.

3-10 reps

Done Mon - Fri

So it’ll look like this:

Mon – Re-charge / PttP / Cardio / Stretches

Tue – Re-charge / PttP / Supplementry / Stretches

Wed – Re-charge / Cardio / Stretches

Thurs – Re-charge / PttP / Supplementry / Stretches

Fri – Re-charge / PttP / Cardio / Stretches

Sat – Re-charge

Sun – Re-charge

New Phase, New Look, New Best

Finally got around to tarting up the blog. I think it looks a bit better, but I need to get a more flattering pic up. In black and white and soft focus preferrably ;)

Another thing I got around to was a little DL testing. I know, I know, I said I'd take off til Monday at least but my juices were flowing reading Power to the People and the bearpowered book. I was feeling a little sorry for myself after the other day and needed a little pick me up too.

Testing went as follows:
100 x 3, 115 x 2, 125 x 1, 140kgs x 4

Previous best was 140kgs x 1. This is all the weight I have and decided to do it this way as a more cautious test than an out and out 1 rmax out of nowhere. I also think that I had at least another rep, but played it safe - you know what I'm like for picking up injuries at the mo!!

According to 1 rmax calculators this would put me at around 155kgs, which I'd be very happy with, but there's still a long way to go.

I also had a go at Clean & PPressing 65kgs to equal my previous best. In previous lifts I thought I'd get it if I could clean it....but I couldn't. Bad that thats my weakest link in that lift - I don't get under the bar enough. I'll have time to practice though as it is going into my next phase. I'll post my full plans in the next few days when I've ironed out a few little details.

But that's me until Monday.....I promise!!! ;)

Todays training - sweet F.A. (except a few mobility drills and a loooong walk)

I was a bit pissed off yesterday, I reckoned I had a bit more than that in me, 25 each arm maybe...still do to be honest. You guys are right though I reckon, too long on this cycle - probably a bit stale. I never factored in back off weeks, though I did have a few enforced spells of little or no exercise along the way. I just thought that RoP's E/M/H days along with Prog Minimum took care of all that.

I'm going to take the advice given and have at least til Monday off. During that time I going to have a think and develop a plan focused on strength with a little conditioning.

Now though I'm off to eat a few biscuits - 2 cheats in 3 weeks ain't too bad ;)

Out of the blue....

Recharge Routine
Waiter walks 24kgs
Sn 24kgs (5, 5, 10, {20/16}) L/R Total 76
Decompression Hang/Hamstring Stretch/ Shoulder Dislocates/Hip Stretch

Food
11:00 am Asian Eggs
14:0pm King Prawns with Salad and seafood sauce
16.00pm 10 Almonds and an apple
18.30 Chicken and bacon with veg and pasta in tomato sauce (post-workout)
21.00 Protein Shake with Blueberries/Strawberries/Yoghurt/Oats/Broccoli

Felt tired yesterday, prob why I slept til 10am this morning! Shoulder was still a little ansy after all those press-ups and I decided to do waiter walks rather than TGUs with the 24kgs. Figured this would rest the shoulder a bit(?) and help aid breaks in lockout during RKC Snatch test. Somewhere along the way though I must have bruised the palm on my hand as holding it out with the left was quite painful!!

I started my snatch session out with the intention of taking it easy and doing sets of 5 left and right when I felt like it. It wasn't going well though - I felt that cardio was there but the bell felt really heavy. All those little niggles I have been gathering up seemed to be acting up as well. After my second set of 5 I was thinking whether it was worth testing anything on friday, then I just decided to see if I could knock off 10 L/R as I don't think I've ever been past 7 reps either side. It felt tough and to be honest I was a little shocked. Then I just thought "fuck it, lets see what I can do right here, right now." I was just sick of busting myself up but wanted some kinda yardstick to come back to.

Disappointingly I managed 20 with my left and only 16 with "good" right. It was a strange choice of day to "test" anything. But that's that now - I'll try my DL max on friday and then I'll shift to a PttP-ish routine. There's a strategy for set percentages in Beyond Bodybulding for trying PRs, I'll have to dig out.

Recharge Routine
Waiter walks
Sw 32kgs (3 x 10) 2 handed Total 30
Levering - "rainbows" 3 x5
Decompression Hang/Hamstring Stretch/ Shoulder Dislocates/Hip Stretch

Food
9:30 am Asian Eggs
12:30pm BBQ Chicken legs with Salad and balsamic vinegar
15.00pm 10 Almonds and a apple
18.00 Steak, roasted veg and pepper sauce
21.00 Protein Shake with Blueberries/Strawberries/Yoghurt/Oats/Broccoli

Another very easy day - hardest part was the re-charge in the morning. Gave my shoulders a bit of a break by not GTG TGUs, though I did do a few as part of re-charge. Levering was easy too - don't want to take any chances with them so I shall build up slowly. I used an old screw lock dumbell with weights on one end and taped foam on other for a thick handle...works well. Also got soaked today when I went for a 3 mile walk. Something I never count really but will say again its a rare day when I don't walk at least 3 miles.