Blonde will make you STRONG

[EvilPie]

First upper of the year today.

3x5 Bench 87.5

3x8e OAR 48s

3x8 DB Press 34

Pretty pleased with that.

Nice work. I'll be doing something similar tomorrow although probably OHP rather than DB press as they risk me setting off my dodgy wrist.

You've reminded me of another goal. Single arm rows... Really want to do 70kg on those again. I had to leave them out completely for ages as they absolutely killed my dodgy arm but I tried them last week and was fine up to 40kg. Will give them another go tomorrow and see how they go.

Think I mentioned before that I'm experimenting with the hook grip. I've looked in to this a bit and from what I can see if I start with it now at light weights I shouldn't snap my thumbs off by the time I build up to anything heavy.

220kg DL using an overhand hook grip sounds pretty manly to me.

OHP is on the second day for me, just to spread it out. But seems a good enough switch

Pure only goes to 50, which is annoying I might ask them to see if they can get a few heavier ones, but 70 is a LOOOONG way off. I love a OAR though.

Totally with you regarding DLs. Double overhand . I do struggle with hook grip, but might try something similar and start of lighter and build a tolerance.

Yeah I thought about mixing it a bit but loving the bench press ruins it a bit.

Day one:

Bench
OAR
DB press
Pull ups

Day two:

DB bench
BOR
OHP
Pull ups

has a nice ring to it but I just wanna bench more.

They actually go up to 75kg at my place. Would've been nice many years ago but may be tough now. Be interesting to see how it goes. I couldn't do pull ups before because of the same injury and I can now squeeze 10 out with no pain. Maybe there's a chance of getting back to those heady heights.....

Did my 40kg DL with hook grip today and barely felt it. I did the 40kg OAR last week with it and it was a bit nasty but tolerable. Just need to try to remember to use it as often as possible as my default has always been suicide.

[muckthenuts]

So today was the first day back in the gym since coming back from travelling. I had about 3 months off in total.

The first thing i did today was check i could still do pull ups fortunately i can haha. Did 3 sets of 5 with slightly questionable technique lol, but i mean it'll do for now.

Deadlifts i managed to get 112.5kg up quite comfortably so was happy with that. Squats were ok too, doing 5 reps of 1 set of 60, 62.5 etc. through to 70 going ATG which is something i never used to do. I didn't push myself super hard on these as last time an injury required me to take a few months away from the squat rack my return was agonisingly painful for a good few days. I'm prepared for it to hurt a bit but don't want to go crazy after such a long lay off.

Chest was real disheartening! 20kg dumbbells felt super heavy my chest has always been my weakest point tbf. Any tips on accessory movements i can do to get a stronger chest?

Overall a decent return session. Saving shoulders and rows for tomorrow. Looking forward to getting back into a routine again and hopefully building on mistakes i made last year to give things a much better go from now on.

[iRaise]

So today was the first day back in the gym since coming back from travelling. I had about 3 months off in total.

The first thing i did today was check i could still do pull ups fortunately i can haha. Did 3 sets of 5 with slightly questionable technique lol, but i mean it'll do for now.

Deadlifts i managed to get 112.5kg up quite comfortably so was happy with that. Squats were ok too, doing 5 reps of 1 set of 60, 62.5 etc. through to 70 going ATG which is something i never used to do. I didn't push myself super hard on these as last time an injury required me to take a few months away from the squat rack my return was agonisingly painful for a good few days. I'm prepared for it to hurt a bit but don't want to go crazy after such a long lay off.

Chest was real disheartening! 20kg dumbbells felt super heavy my chest has always been my weakest point tbf. Any tips on accessory movements i can do to get a stronger chest?

Overall a decent return session. Saving shoulders and rows for tomorrow. Looking forward to getting back into a routine again and hopefully building on mistakes i made last year to give things a much better go from now on.

Good stuff, whats your BW right now?

Chest wise, do more chest, its practice. More pressing, press ups, flyes.

[EvilPie]

So today was the first day back in the gym since coming back from travelling. I had about 3 months off in total.

The first thing i did today was check i could still do pull ups fortunately i can haha. Did 3 sets of 5 with slightly questionable technique lol, but i mean it'll do for now.

Deadlifts i managed to get 112.5kg up quite comfortably so was happy with that. Squats were ok too, doing 5 reps of 1 set of 60, 62.5 etc. through to 70 going ATG which is something i never used to do. I didn't push myself super hard on these as last time an injury required me to take a few months away from the squat rack my return was agonisingly painful for a good few days. I'm prepared for it to hurt a bit but don't want to go crazy after such a long lay off.

Chest was real disheartening! 20kg dumbbells felt super heavy my chest has always been my weakest point tbf. Any tips on accessory movements i can do to get a stronger chest?

Overall a decent return session. Saving shoulders and rows for tomorrow. Looking forward to getting back into a routine again and hopefully building on mistakes i made last year to give things a much better go from now on.

I'm no expert on deadlift and squats but after three months off I think you're basically starting from scratch and need to rebuild a foundation before trying to move anything heavy. You'll get there quicker than before but go super light for a while and get back in to it slowly.

I'm a bit better with chest and the first thing I'd say is don't be disheartened at 20kg. It doesn't seem long ago that I was doing the same weight and I'm pretty sure I could bang out a set of 50s now with a few weeks transition from bench focus to DB focus.

I'd focus more on the main lifts than accessory lifts for now. Accessory lifts are for fine tuning and you're a long way off that. Stick with bench press for your main lift and use DB as an accessory if anything. Your other lifts such as squat, pull ups, DL and OHP are actually accessories to your bench anyway especially the OHP. If you want to do something that will help then 100 or so press ups a few evenings a week as an addition to your main training session will help massively, certainly did for me.

Good to have you back, hope you can stick around. Stay patient, it takes time.

[iRaise]

Upper today

3x5 Dead stop Rows 85kg. Looooving these.

4x8 OHP 50kg, tough one adding in that extra set.

Accessory stuff.


In for deadlifts tomorrow.

[Marky147]

Trained right up until xmas, albeit lighter weights, so as not to aggravate what the guy who owns the gym said was my bicep tendon.

It's still sore now, even after 2 weeks doing nothing but stretches recommended by my neurophysio. Think I'm going to go and see a sports physiotherapist when I can get an appointment, and see if he can help sort it out.

[EvilPie]

It's taken me a while but I finally have my first target for the year.

Somehow by the end of the year I want to bench 160kg which would be adding 30kg to my recent PR and 20kg to my all time PR. I have a plan to do this in 6 stages through the year. I can do 120kg now without too much trouble so the stages will be:

End of Feb - 130kg
End of Apr - 140kg
End of Jun - 145kg
End of Aug - 150kg
End of Oct - 155kg
End of Dec - 160kg

I'm doing my own variation of a Mark Bell 30 day programme which involves

Week 1 - 4 x 6 at 75% + 3 x 3 at 80%
Week 2 - 5 x 5 at 75% + 3 x 3 at 80%
Week 3 - 6 x 4 at 75% + 3 x 3 at 85%
Week 4 - 3 x 2 at 85% + 3 x 1 at 90%
Week 5 - Max test

As it's a 5 week programme I may hit target early which could give a few chances through the year to bring the milestones a bit closer together. It gives a bit of flexibility to go the other way as well and also give a bit of allowance for holidays and possible injuries or maybe just a break at the end of a cycle.

Once the main lifts are done it recommends a few assistance exercises which fortunately are similar to those I do anyway on my upper day so nothing much really changes other than the bench part of the day. It's a one day per week programme so my other upper day will be as per normal with a few assistance moves for my bench.

Lower days will stay as they are with no focus whatsoever on heavy weights. This works well with my current plan of light weights with perfect form. Hopefully by the time I hit the bench target I'll be pretty good at squats and DLs so I can look at something with those.

I'm assuming my current max is 120kg so I'll base the weights around that as a starting point. Obviously I'll adjust if it's way too easy or I miss any reps. I had a test today doing 80kg for 5 x 5 and that was pretty easy so 75% of 120kg which is 90kg should be about right for week 1.

I've never tried a specific % type programme so I'm quite excited to see what happens. I've never liked going lighter than I feel I can manage but if there's a long term goal then it's worth sticking to and seeing what happens.

Can't wait for Monday

[EvilPie]

As an aside I've already started back on press ups as an assistance to the bench and I'll be continuing these 4 or 5 nights a week.

I've just been doing 5 x 20 before my evening stretching and then another 5 x 20 whilst cooking dinner for a total of 200. I did them very explosively keeping everything tight trying to mimic bench press form as much as possible. One difference to my normal press ups was that I wasn't locking out to try to protect my elbows a bit. Hoping to be able to stick with these if I keep doing them this way.

I'm not logging any quantities otherwise it becomes a chore as I found out last year. Doing them this way I can alter them in any way I want such as raising my feet or adjusting hand width without worrying that they aren't perfect reps and shouldn't count towards my yearly total.

[Marky147]

Good luck!

You're a savage, so I'm pretty sure the only luck you'll need is not picking up an injury.

[EvilPie]

Good luck!

You're a savage, so I'm pretty sure the only luck you'll need is not picking up an injury.

Cheers Mark. One of my injury worries is bicep tendons same as yourself. Not just biceps but the whole biceps, triceps, forearms, wrists. Mine are pretty well fucked to be honest but I'm slowly getting them better with some careful programming and also lots of stretching.

Is it the bit where it joins in to your elbow that's giving you grief? That's a bad bit for me although my wrist is worse. The problem is they're all linked and then also linked in to your shoulder and across your back so it's close to impossible to pin point the exact cause of the problem. Chances are it's not just one thing as well which can make it tough as you think something isn't working when in reality it's helping hugely you just can't tell.

So difficult to sort. Good luck.

[Marky147]

Good luck!

You're a savage, so I'm pretty sure the only luck you'll need is not picking up an injury.

Cheers Mark. One of my injury worries is bicep tendons same as yourself. Not just biceps but the whole biceps, triceps, forearms, wrists. Mine are pretty well fucked to be honest but I'm slowly getting them better with some careful programming and also lots of stretching.

Is it the bit where it joins in to your elbow that's giving you grief? That's a bad bit for me although my wrist is worse. The problem is they're all linked and then also linked in to your shoulder and across your back so it's close to impossible to pin point the exact cause of the problem. Chances are it's not just one thing as well which can make it tough as you think something isn't working when in reality it's helping hugely you just can't tell.

So difficult to sort. Good luck.

I've never had any sort of problems like it before, and it sort of came on suddenly. Weird, because I know it's not wear and tear from years of training like yourself.

Yeah, the was the most painful point, right on what is like a hinge on the inside of my elbow.  I get pain in the back of my triceps (just below my side delts) when pushing up from the lowest point of bench, and on the inside of my forearm when pushing up from the bottom of shoulder press, too.

If I hold my arm out straight in front of me at shoulder level, bend it 90 degresss, and then rotate the back of my hand towards me, I get pain on the inner forearm, and on the top of my arm. Guy that trains me had problems with his, and he said the same as you. It basically connects all the way through, so can cause untold aggravation.

I've kept training, but just sacked off flat benching, and shoulder press until it's sorted. The physio I see for MS had a look and gave me a stretch for it which involved holding my arm out in front of me, and pushing my palm down to vertical.

[iRaise]

It's taken me a while but I finally have my first target for the year.

Somehow by the end of the year I want to bench 160kg which would be adding 30kg to my recent PR and 20kg to my all time PR. I have a plan to do this in 6 stages through the year. I can do 120kg now without too much trouble so the stages will be:

End of Feb - 130kg
End of Apr - 140kg
End of Jun - 145kg
End of Aug - 150kg
End of Oct - 155kg
End of Dec - 160kg

I'm doing my own variation of a Mark Bell 30 day programme which involves

Week 1 - 4 x 6 at 75% + 3 x 3 at 80%
Week 2 - 5 x 5 at 75% + 3 x 3 at 80%
Week 3 - 6 x 4 at 75% + 3 x 3 at 85%
Week 4 - 3 x 2 at 85% + 3 x 1 at 90%
Week 5 - Max test

As it's a 5 week programme I may hit target early which could give a few chances through the year to bring the milestones a bit closer together. It gives a bit of flexibility to go the other way as well and also give a bit of allowance for holidays and possible injuries or maybe just a break at the end of a cycle.

Once the main lifts are done it recommends a few assistance exercises which fortunately are similar to those I do anyway on my upper day so nothing much really changes other than the bench part of the day. It's a one day per week programme so my other upper day will be as per normal with a few assistance moves for my bench.

Lower days will stay as they are with no focus whatsoever on heavy weights. This works well with my current plan of light weights with perfect form. Hopefully by the time I hit the bench target I'll be pretty good at squats and DLs so I can look at something with those.

I'm assuming my current max is 120kg so I'll base the weights around that as a starting point. Obviously I'll adjust if it's way too easy or I miss any reps. I had a test today doing 80kg for 5 x 5 and that was pretty easy so 75% of 120kg which is 90kg should be about right for week 1.

I've never tried a specific % type programme so I'm quite excited to see what happens. I've never liked going lighter than I feel I can manage but if there's a long term goal then it's worth sticking to and seeing what happens.

Can't wait for Monday

Seems pretty realistic to me. good stuff.

[iRaise]

Good luck!

You're a savage, so I'm pretty sure the only luck you'll need is not picking up an injury.

Cheers Mark. One of my injury worries is bicep tendons same as yourself. Not just biceps but the whole biceps, triceps, forearms, wrists. Mine are pretty well fucked to be honest but I'm slowly getting them better with some careful programming and also lots of stretching.

Is it the bit where it joins in to your elbow that's giving you grief? That's a bad bit for me although my wrist is worse. The problem is they're all linked and then also linked in to your shoulder and across your back so it's close to impossible to pin point the exact cause of the problem. Chances are it's not just one thing as well which can make it tough as you think something isn't working when in reality it's helping hugely you just can't tell.

So difficult to sort. Good luck.

I've never had any sort of problems like it before, and it sort of came on suddenly. Weird, because I know it's not wear and tear from years of training like yourself.

Yeah, the was the most painful point, right on what is like a hinge on the inside of my elbow.  I get pain in the back of my triceps (just below my side delts) when pushing up from the lowest point of bench, and on the inside of my forearm when pushing up from the bottom of shoulder press, too.

If I hold my arm out straight in front of me at shoulder level, bend it 90 degresss, and then rotate the back of my hand towards me, I get pain on the inner forearm, and on the top of my arm. Guy that trains me had problems with his, and he said the same as you. It basically connects all the way through, so can cause untold aggravation.

I've kept training, but just sacked off flat benching, and shoulder press until it's sorted. The physio I see for MS had a look and gave me a stretch for it which involved holding my arm out in front of me, and pushing my palm down to vertical.

Doesn't sound ideal, just got to train around it the best you can.

[iRaise]

3x5 DLs yesterday a 150. Having not done them for so long, I think my fitness for them is really poor. Started off so light and by the fifth was a real struggle.

4x8 Fronts, trying to work on speed there. My speed is pretty poor out of the hole, so looking to work on that the next few weeks.

Brought back in some farmer walks too, geeeezz that was a forearm pump. Only using the 44s too.

[EvilPie]

Well that was harder than expected......

Bit of a pain initially as I had to wait for a bench but I filled the time with some additional warm up movements.

Worked up to my working sets with 20 x 5, 40 x 5, 60 x 5 & 80 x 3. The last set actually felt quite tough so a slight panic before my first proper set at 90kg.

Anyway it turns out that as long as you take a bit of a breather it's not too bad and I managed all 4 sets of 6 plus the 3 x 3 at 95kg with loads left in the tank which is the whole idea of the programme. Leave you wanting more!!

Pauses definitely make a huge difference and I think they'll help when it comes to the main test in a few weeks. The initial push of the chest has always been my weakest point so it's good to work that. Overall a very positive start.