Sunday 27th April 2014 – Back Focus Week 6
Crazy week! Moved house on Friday so gym sessions been a little sporadic last week/this weekend and have been a bit run down when I have hit the gym. This is where the log book has been a great help – Even though I didn’t feel up to it, I pushed to achieve at least the same reps as previous sessions and found that despite the tiredness I was still able to increase on some of my lifts through sheer willpower. This links back to a post I wrote a while back about intensity link here – Don’t let that little voice in your head control your training!
DB Pullover 50kg x12x10 (2 mins rest)
Weighted Chins 28kg x6 (2 mins), 24kg x6 (60s) Bodyweight x12
DB Row To Hip 35kg x15x12 (60s)
G Row 45kg x5x5 (90s) – Dropped weight back down as this is more about technique than weight
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Friday 11th April 2014
DB Pullover 45kg x12x12 (2 mins rest)
V Grip Pulldown (14) x9, (11) x11 (60s rest)
Bent Over Row 92.5kg x12, 62.5kg x12x12x12 (30s)
Rack Pull (below knee) 160kg x11 – Felt really heavy again today, I think I’ve been doing too much recently, including my spin I trained 6 days last week. With a focus on back training I think it’s just taking it’s toll, so will ease back a bit and see if that helps.
G Row 47.5kg x5x3 (90s) – Bit weak from rack pulls and lower back was tight as hell so gave up on second set. Will drop back down to 40kg next time and try and focus on technique.
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Monday 7th April 2014 – Back Focus Week 3
DB Pullover 45kg x12x10 (2 mins rest)
Weighted Chins 28kg x5 (2 mins), 24kg x5 (60s) Bodyweight x10
DB Row To Hip 35kg x12x12 (60s)
G Row 45kg x5x5 (90s)
Used the Lever Deadlift Machine as a bit fried from last few days training and lower back was not enjoying the rack pulls today. Also missed rotator cuff work yesterday so threw it on the end of today’s session.
Standing 1-Arm DB External Rotation 7.5kg x15x15 (rest each side as long as it took to perform the set on opposite side)
Cuban Rotation 10kg EZ Bar x15x15 (60s)
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Thursday 4th April 2014
DB Pullover 45kg x12x9 (2 mins rest)
V Grip Pulldown (13) x9, (11) x11 (60s rest)
Bent Over Row 90kg x10, 60kg x12x12x12 (30s)
Power Cleans up to 100kg
Deadlift – Went for 160kg but it felt really heavy, think I overdid it on the leg press yesterday! dropped to 120kg and did 6 good reps instead.
G Row 42.5kg x5x5 (60s)
Still struggling on both Squat and Deadlift since coming back from illness, Bench is coming back nicely thankfully! This is partly due to lack of sleep recently, got a lot on at home, moving house etc, so I will keep it up best I can for now and just try and get to bed earlier!!!
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Monday 31st March 2014 – Back Focus Week 2
DB Pullover 45kg x9, 40kg x10 (2 minutes rest)
Weighted Chins 24kg x6, 20kg x7, BW x11 (60s rest)
DB Row To Hip 35kg x12x9 (60s)
Power Cleans up to 100kg
Rack Pull (Above Knee) 200kg x10
G Row 42.5kg x5x5 (90s)
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Monday 24th March 2014 – Back Focus Week 1
After my recent article, injuring my shoulder (again DAMMIT!), and watching the ‘Dark Knight Rises’ (also again :-)) I have decided to re-visit a very effective workout phase I went through a couple of years ago whilst following Johnny Pains Greyskull LP. I am going to focus heavily on back training for the next 8 weeks to bring my back up to a decent standard again alongside some specific rotator cuff exercises which I have been neglecting for waaaay too long! I will be using the same basic template as he lays out with a few ‘Hench’ additions (including rotator cuff work). On top of this as the Deadlift is my weakest lift, the next 8 weeks should hopefully help bring that up too!
I never used to suffer from shoulder pains at all until recently, which I put down to no longer teaching BodyPump. Although I am glad I don’t have to go through it twice a week, it seems logical that it has been responsible for keeping my shoulder health as very little else has changed in my workouts, and it has been a slow decline into the old battered shoulder territory ever since I stopped.
Started the week off with:
DB Pullover 40kg x12x11 (2 mins rest)
Weighted Chins 24kg x6, 20kg x6 (2 mins rest), then after 60 seconds Chin-ups x10 – felt much harder after pullovers!
DB Row To Hip 30kg x12x12 (60s)
Power Cleans – heavy singles up to 100kg
Deadlift 140kg x7 – expected this to be lower than usual after that amount of back work and focusing hard on technique
G Row 40kg x5x5 (2 mins)
BE HENCH 