Saturday 4th October – Saturday 11th October 2014
5 Weeks to the Worlds!
Week 4 – Rather than deload with only 4 weeks of training left, I’m going to revert to the Mendelson routine I followed leading to the UK’s and whatever coach puts me through when we meet up! I wouldn’t normally advocate changing routines especially leading up to a meet, however it was successful for me and I need to work at certain parts of my lifts (i.e. lockout strength), which were included in this.
Deadlift – Worked up to 170kg x5, assistance was some Defecit Deadlifts, Rack Pulls, Pulldowns, Farmers Walks and Chin-ups.
Bench – Up to 110kg x8, then Close-Grip Bench, Pause Bench, Pulldowns, Lat Raises and Chin-ups
Squat – Up to 142.5kg x5, then a single at 150kg, 160kg and 170kg, then Front Squats, Pause Squats, Leg Press and Captains Chair Knee Raises
Back Session – Pullovers, V Grip Pulldowns, T Bar Rows, Wide Grip Pulldowns, Straight Arm Pulldowns, Power Cleans and DB Rows
A hard week this time, kids have been ill from early in the week so not slept as much as I’d like! Struggled a little on the heavy squats, although blasted the assistance work. It was also my weekend to work so couldn’t meet up with the Pembrokeshire Powerlifters for usual Saturday session so did a back session after work instead. Fell ill myself on Sunday so will see how I fare this week, it’s getting far too close to take time off!
Vids:
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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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Friday 28th March 2014
DB Pullover 42kg x12x12 (2 mins rest)
V Grip Pulldown 90kg x8, 75kg x8 (30s rest)
Bent Over Row 90kg x8, 60kg x12x12x8 (30s)
Power Cleans up to 100kg
Deadlift 160kg x3
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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)
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Sunday 8th September 2013
Press 70kg x5x5x8
Weighted Chins (between Press sets) 30kg x5x5, then after 60s Reverse Grip Pulldown (13) x14
EZ Tricep Extensions 45kg x12x10x8x6 (60s rest)
Power Clean & Press 60kg x5, 80kg x3, 90kgx1, 100kgx1x1
Deadlift 155kg x8
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Friday 26th July 2013
Press 72.5kg x5x5x7, 60 secs rest then 60kg x9 – Belt came undone on rep 3 of last set (you can just about hear it go on video), a little offputting but still managed to grind out 7 reps – think it’s about time I got a new one!
Weighted Chins 27.75kg x7, 26.5 x6 (between first two Press sets)
Weighted Dips 25.25kg x12x10x8x7 (60 secs rest)
Power Cleans up to 110kg x1
Deadlift 147.5kg x8
Neck Harness 12kg x40x40x40x40
Not done Power Cleans in a while so happy to get 110kg up! also deadlift felt better after doing them so going to bring them back in for a while. Good session all round today 🙂
Later in day did a random session with a member:
Leg Press 220kg x10, dropped to 200kg x10
Leg Extension/Leg Curl Superset (no rest between any sets, just long enough to swap machines) 70kg x10x10x10
Leg Press Toe Press 180kg x10x8x8x6 (rest as long as it took other person to complete)
EZ Cable Curl 25kg x10x10, 20kg x10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10 (rest as above)
Dips x10x10x10x10x10, Pushdowns 40kg x10, 30kg x10x10, 25kg x10x10 (rest as above)
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Wednesday 15th May 2013
Bear Complex: Power Clean/Front Squat/Push Press/Back Squat/Push Press = 1 rep. 7 reps without putting the bar down is 1 round. No time element, go for 5 rounds aiming for maximum weight by round 5.
Appetite is back with a vengeance today! Pushed for time this week, so did a little session with the weights I have at home and will get down The Shack on Friday and Sunday to get some strength work in.
Been a long while since I’ve done this workout and it was a killer! Started at 40kg, then went up in 5kg steps to 60kg for last round. I was blowing on the last one! 🙂
BE HENCH 