Blonde will make you STRONG

[iRaise]

good luck boys on Saturday.  Hope you both smash some PB's.  Looking forward to the trip report.

Cheers mate. How's your training going? Any progress on your chest work?

You not fancy joining us?

Always welcome to join.

[iRaise]

Session one ticked off.

3x5 Deadstop rows we hit 97.5 for two sets and 1 set at 100 which is a lifetime rep PB, really happy with that.

4x8 OHP 52.5, I tire with these so quickly. Looking forward to the weekend to give a 1RM a go

Some accessory work.

Going in for another one later, then full rest tomorrow with hopefully an obscene amount of food for Saturday.

[Marky147]

Did Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri this week, and hopefully get a clear run until I go away next month.

Still got some discomfort with my arm, but it's nowhere near as bad as it had been. I'm in with the massage guy that was recommended March 22nd, so a couple days after I get back from Tenerife.

Did some flat bench again Monday, but only at 60kg for ~10r, and just did 40kg on the hammer press, too.

Everything else going ok. I'm only a couple lbs heavier than I was before Vegas last year, and definitely feel much better overall.

Good luck to the guys meeting up to train tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing how you savages get on.

[iRaise]

Banged in session 2 yesterday

5x5e SL Leg Press, worked up to 2 sets of 100kg there, was really shocked.

8x8 Inc DB 24's, actually really tough towards the end. Really liking my pressing at the minute with DB, finding it comfortable to keep tension on the chest.

4x8e Single Arm LPD

4x8 Leg Ext

4x12 Standing BB Bicep

About 40 mins so pretty good, would like to push that down to 30-40 in the future so I don't spend my life there.

[iRaise]

Did Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri this week, and hopefully get a clear run until I go away next month.

Still got some discomfort with my arm, but it's nowhere near as bad as it had been. I'm in with the massage guy that was recommended March 22nd, so a couple days after I get back from Tenerife.

Did some flat bench again Monday, but only at 60kg for ~10r, and just did 40kg on the hammer press, too.

Everything else going ok. I'm only a couple lbs heavier than I was before Vegas last year, and definitely feel much better overall.

Good luck to the guys meeting up to train tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing how you savages get on.

Solid week, 10 reps is really respectable.

[Marky147]

I'd have been happy with the bar, as long as it didn't hurt

[Ant040689]

Good luck tomorrow guys, hope you enjoy it.

[iRaise]

I'd have been happy with the bar, as long as it didn't hurt

Does DB make a difference?

[iRaise]

Good luck tomorrow guys, hope you enjoy it.

TY, hopefully a positive report.

[Marky147]

I'd have been happy with the bar, as long as it didn't hurt

Does DB make a difference?

Haven't done them since I took a break, but going to give them a spin next week.

Did DB flies on Monday and they were ok.

[EvilPie]

I'd have been happy with the bar, as long as it didn't hurt

Does DB make a difference?

Haven't done them since I took a break, but going to give them a spin next week.

Did DB flies on Monday and they were ok.

Be really careful with the dumbbells mate. With my dodgy wrist/arm I can handle a decent amount on a bar but it's the dumbbells that can make it go pop without warning.

Your problem is just with one arm so if anything is going to expose it it's a dumbbell.

Mine has even gone pop picking up a basket of washing one handed at slightly the wrong angle.

Whatever you do make sure your wrist is properly tensed up so that it's being protected and keep it really light until you get an idea of which movements might set it off. I can do DB flies easily because of the position my wrist is in. Switch to something else though and it could be a very different story.

[Marky147]

I'd have been happy with the bar, as long as it didn't hurt

Does DB make a difference?

Haven't done them since I took a break, but going to give them a spin next week.

Did DB flies on Monday and they were ok.

Be really careful with the dumbbells mate. With my dodgy wrist/arm I can handle a decent amount on a bar but it's the dumbbells that can make it go pop without warning.

Your problem is just with one arm so if anything is going to expose it it's a dumbbell.

Mine has even gone pop picking up a basket of washing one handed at slightly the wrong angle.

Whatever you do make sure your wrist is properly tensed up so that it's being protected and keep it really light until you get an idea of which movements might set it off. I can do DB flies easily because of the position my wrist is in. Switch to something else though and it could be a very different story.

I won't be going heavy, and given how I'm feeling today, I probably won't be going until next week anyway #manflu

[iRaise]

 Little trip report from my point of view on Saturday:

Firstly a really good day, I don't train with people to often but really enjoyed training with Matt and picked up a few really important pieces of advice. I was really impressed with is form and attention to detail with the movements. As I said to him yesterday, I dont think people could learn as well as him from YouTube, but he has clearly put a lot of time and thought into it.

Squats:

130
140 slightly spotted
140 solo (lifetime PB)

Bench

110
115 Sightly spotted
115 Solo (lifetime PB)

DL

160X2
180
190 (a very ugly rep, but nice to know it can still be moved)

OHP

60
70
70

Pretty tired by this point, but enjoyed going a bit heavier with OHP.

Really pleased with my second 140 attempt. I was far more proficient than I thought I would be at that, and really looking forward to the next few months trying to rep that out. Hitting two lifetime PBs one with the squat that I have never even attempted, was really reassuring. Will definitely be throwing some 1RM squat stuff in if a sensible spotter is available.
 
Some good munch after and a nice little chat about things too. A really worthwhile day and one I shall be doing again in a few months.

Im sure Matt will fill you out in his thoughts and numbers at some point, but I expect to see many lifetime PBs from him this year.

[EvilPie]

Same as Harvey, really enjoyed the day. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but it turned out we both have similar training styles that matched well (on a 1RM day at least anyway) so the session went really well. Took a lot longer than I expected at maybe 2 and a half hours but it flew by really quickly.

Harvey had planned his session for 3 attempts at each lift as you can see from his numbers. Other than bench I was always planning on just seeing how I felt and going from there for my singles.

So we started with squats and it was interesting to see that despite our similar frames we have completely different stances with Harvey being much wider than myself. This lead to a good conversation about form and how everyone is different and there's no 'right' way to do anything. A few things are essential, mainly staying tight and keeping the back locked but other than that it's whatever gets the job done.

So I haven't squatted since just before Christmas when I felt a nasty twinge so I didn't really know what to expect. I had no real intention to go above 60kg but that felt good and seeing Harvey do a really easy 100kg warm up made me want to give it a go to see how it felt. Anyway my first rep at 100kg was very cautious but there was no pain so I stayed the course and got another couple of singles each one being better than the previous.

Squats:

100 very wobbly
100 more confident but didn't hit depth
100 spot on

On to bench which was my main focus having been gearing up for a 1RM for the last 6 weeks. We blasted out a few warm ups and my 100kg single felt really good so I went straight in to my 120kg. That flew up really easy so I skipped straight to my planned max of 130kg and again got it with quite a bit to spare. This was a recent PB but I felt good so had a have a shot at 3 plates and I'm pleased to say that went up too for an unexpected PB.

Bench:

120
130
140 (lifetime PB)

On to deadlifts and again one I really wasn't sure about. I've been focussed on 5 x 10 with good form and avoiding any real weight. Obviously with Harvey there piling on the plates I had to try to push it a bit and found myself pulling 120 pretty easily after one of his warm ups. I only did a single but Harvey was very complimentary on my form so that gave me the confidence to push a bit more and I got a 140 out as well. I think I could've gone heavier but stayed there for my third whilst helping to load plates for my partner.

Deadlift:

120
140
140 officially a PB I think. Don't remember ever attempting more.....

Finally OHP and by now I was pretty knackered. I'm pretty good with these though so I blasted out one big rep then backed off. Last time I tried 80kg I popped my shoulder but this one felt easy. I think I was good for more but there's the niggling doubt associated with that injury so I left it at that and dropped back down while Harvey finished out his attempts.

OHP:

40
80 (PB)
70 x 3

Was really good to get a form check on DL and squat and I'm pleased to say I got a thumbs up. Everything I've learnt has been off youtube videos so it's nice to know that what I've watched has been put in to practice correctly. It's been a real confidence boost particularly with deadlift so I can see me pushing these a bit over the next few months.

Bench and OHP have been my strong points for a while and it was good to able to give out a few pointers on those. Bench is clearly Harvey's weakest lift but I can see an easy 10kg just by tightening up his technique a bit. His form and numbers are very similar to how mine were prior to watching all the videos so I know he can get to where I am quite easily with the same tweaks. If anything he's actually ahead of me if I was to go back to that sort of form so I can see him making big progress.

Food afterwards was great. Full three courses to refuel after a tough session.

Definitely looking forward to the next one in a few months. Good to have a firm 1RM plan of meeting up so we have a full no-rush session with a competent spotter. Here's to many more PBs in 2017!!

[EvilPie]

Just looking back at my bench press plan for the year and I'm already where I planned to be by the end of April. Obviously that's good but the 140kg rep was close to absolute max so I'm not getting overly excited and changing year end goals just yet.

I was a bit worried about this programme as each session was nowhere near the 1RM targets but I guess the results speak for themselves at least for now. I'm going to have a break from the programme now and go back to upper/lower for a few weeks then get back on it in March.

I'm going to keep the bench momentum going with some heavy doubles or triples at least once a week which will guide what to set my max at for the next run at the programme. Following my confidence boost I'm also going to look to get some decent squat and DL weights in as well as continuing volume work for form.

Looking forward to tomorrow.