Blonde will make you STRONG

[the sicilian]

Done a conditioning workout yesterday that included wall balls which are a squatting move.. and then thought i would move on to some heavy squats as havent done any for a while.. so went 60KG..100..120..120..140.. was feeling good.. PB is 150 thought i would go for it at 160.. got to the squat position and was stuck there lol  Oooops.. it was the weirdest sensation to be pushing hard and not moving at all ...just frozen into position.. had to let it go in the end PT said PB's in lower increaments lol

Lol. Yeah that's a huge step up from a PR. I tried a 5kg jump on my recent bench 1RM day and even though I felt brilliant there was no way it was going.

Also a 20kg jump when your near the limits of your abilities is huge. You need to get your CNS primed for those sort of lifts and 140kg isn't getting you ready for 160kg at all.

If I was trying a bench PR at 147.5 I'd still be doing a 140 as my last warm up even though that's only 5kg off my current PR. There's a worry that you're going to tire yourself out but you can have a decent break if you need to and even if you miss you've still hit a good solid warm up that you can take away with you.

Lol yeah it was more ego over brain.. got taught a quick lesson

[iRaise]

Done a conditioning workout yesterday that included wall balls which are a squatting move.. and then thought i would move on to some heavy squats as havent done any for a while.. so went 60KG..100..120..120..140.. was feeling good.. PB is 150 thought i would go for it at 160.. got to the squat position and was stuck there lol  Oooops.. it was the weirdest sensation to be pushing hard and not moving at all ...just frozen into position.. had to let it go in the end PT said PB's in lower increaments lol

At least you know you are at the top end. I find it way more frustrating when I do a jump and it goes up pretty easy. But jumping from 140-160 if i've read that right does seem a little high. Whilst I am getting back into DLs I have to do a set at 120, always used to just jump 60-100-140, but that jump is just to high at the minute.

[the sicilian]

In conditioning mode at the moment as strength is good but looking to strip some body fat

PT just sent me this.. pretty sure his trying to kill me !

Not convinced I could get through a round

yeah its going to be tough..ill report back from intensive care

[iRaise]

It was squat day for me as well today although not the same sort of numbers as Dean

I'm in my testing block for squats so even though it was a 'medium' day it's still only a 3RM. Got to 100kg which was reasonably tough then did 3 x 6  at 75kg for volume.

I also did 3 walk outs up to 145kg just to feel the bar on my back at that sort of weight. Just stepping out felt really heavy for me but I'm going to keep doing them as heavy as possible to give myself the best possible chance of hitting something decent by the end of the year.

Numbers aren't flying through the roof but I'm staying injury free and there's plenty of time left to hit my targets.

To be honest even though the programme calls for a 3RM I couldn't call it a true max. I reckon I could've pushed to 105, maybe even 110 but I always err on the side of caution to avoid injury. It was still very tough but more of a good form 3RM than an all out one.

I actually enjoy squat day now so hopefully that'll tie in nicely with working up to something half decent.

Ha, I vaguely remember that feeling, but I'm not sure its getting back to me anytime soon.

[iRaise]

In conditioning mode at the moment as strength is good but looking to strip some body fat

PT just sent me this.. pretty sure his trying to kill me !

Not convinced I could get through a round

yeah its going to be tough..ill report back from intensive care

I'm sure you have answered this before, but what has been your training history? Was there a time you specifically focused on strength work?

[the sicilian]

In conditioning mode at the moment as strength is good but looking to strip some body fat

PT just sent me this.. pretty sure his trying to kill me !

Not convinced I could get through a round

yeah its going to be tough..ill report back from intensive care

I'm sure you have answered this before, but what has been your training history? Was there a time you specifically focused on strength work?

ive always worked out to a degree .. in my youth very active.. was decent footie player ( county level ) couple trials but never good enough or any illusions to make it as a pro as well as athletics ( javelin thrower of all things lol ).. stopped late teens as beer and girls were far more interesting..let myself go till mid twenties..trained hard for a number of years.. always trained but lost focus and direction later on and was going through the same old paces really..was heavy going near 17 stone.. met up with my PT about 5 years ago got me into metcon, HiiT and then crossfit. Not really focused on strength but a combo of fitness and strength ala crossfit.. i am pretty strong but its not my main focus.. fitness really is.. id rather be lean than muscular but i do get taken for a body builder which i find odd and just shows how different self perception is to how other people see you

[iRaise]

In conditioning mode at the moment as strength is good but looking to strip some body fat

PT just sent me this.. pretty sure his trying to kill me !

Not convinced I could get through a round

yeah its going to be tough..ill report back from intensive care

I'm sure you have answered this before, but what has been your training history? Was there a time you specifically focused on strength work?

ive always worked out to a degree .. in my youth very active.. was decent footie player ( county level ) couple trials but never good enough or any illusions to make it as a pro as well as athletics ( javelin thrower of all things lol ).. stopped late teens as beer and girls were far more interesting..let myself go till mid twenties..trained hard for a number of years.. always trained but lost focus and direction later on and was going through the same old paces really..was heavy going near 17 stone.. met up with my PT about 5 years ago got me into metcon, HiiT and then crossfit. Not really focused on strength but a combo of fitness and strength ala crossfit.. i am pretty strong but its not my main focus.. fitness really is.. id rather be lean than muscular but i do get taken for a body builder which i find odd and just shows how different self perception is to how other people see you

Ha, I am very much the opposite side of peoples perceptions! I do find it interesting how people view each other in general, and with the range of fitness 'types' I do find it interesting how people are so keen to categorise it. How long are your normal training sessions or do they vary?

[the sicilian]

In conditioning mode at the moment as strength is good but looking to strip some body fat

PT just sent me this.. pretty sure his trying to kill me !

Not convinced I could get through a round

yeah its going to be tough..ill report back from intensive care

I'm sure you have answered this before, but what has been your training history? Was there a time you specifically focused on strength work?

ive always worked out to a degree .. in my youth very active.. was decent footie player ( county level ) couple trials but never good enough or any illusions to make it as a pro as well as athletics ( javelin thrower of all things lol ).. stopped late teens as beer and girls were far more interesting..let myself go till mid twenties..trained hard for a number of years.. always trained but lost focus and direction later on and was going through the same old paces really..was heavy going near 17 stone.. met up with my PT about 5 years ago got me into metcon, HiiT and then crossfit. Not really focused on strength but a combo of fitness and strength ala crossfit.. i am pretty strong but its not my main focus.. fitness really is.. id rather be lean than muscular but i do get taken for a body builder which i find odd and just shows how different self perception is to how other people see you

Ha, I am very much the opposite side of peoples perceptions! I do find it interesting how people view each other in general, and with the range of fitness 'types' I do find it interesting how people are so keen to categorise it. How long are your normal training sessions or do they vary?

My PT says i train too long.. between 1-2 hours.. i also throw a spin class in once a week.. i typically train inc spin 6 times a week.. not sure how long I can keep the intensity up as age will im sure catch up with me.. but i suppose we can ease off as time advances..but its also a mental battle.. but most dudes half my age couldnt keep up with me looool.. i use a David Lloyds where i really should go to a crossfit box but the GF goes there and I like the spin class etc... but im pretty sure a lot of them in there think im an absolute loon.. dont think they get many in there doing burpee box jump overs and thrusters etc

[EvilPie]

Felt amazing yesterday and was expecting big things on bench but absolutely flopped.

7 reps was the target and I thought there might be a chance at 125 or even 130 but I ended up failing rep 7 at 120kg.

I'm guessing it's just fatigue after a couple of 1RM attempts at OHP on Thursday that both failed. They were ridiculously tough, max effort, RPE 10 attempts so it's understandable that they took it out of me.

Hopefully after an easier pressing week programmed I'll be back on form at the weekend.

How many rounds into it are you? Is this the first test cycle or second?

It's a 16 week programme broken up in to 4 x 4 week blocks. Currently in block two of the second 16 week run.

I've altered the programme a bit so that I don't do all my testing in the final block of 4 weeks. Last run through I picked up an injury testing deadlift so this time I'm spreading the test blocks out.

I tested OHP first as that was the one I missed out on last time because of the injury. It'll be another 16 weeks 'til I test OHP again. Technically it's the second test cycle for OHP but in reality it's the first but 4 weeks late. I'm thinking that I can tag an extra test block on at the end which will be round about Feb/March next year to get a proper 4th shot at it.

I'm testing squats this block, then deadlifts, then finally bench. Bench is my favourite exercise so I've worked everything around that for this run through. When it's bench testing I have heavy OHP, medium squats and light deadlift. Hopefully that'll reduce injury potential whilst at the same time keeping the pressing muscles primed with the heavier pressing.

[the sicilian]

In conditioning mode at the moment as strength is good but looking to strip some body fat

PT just sent me this.. pretty sure his trying to kill me !

ok so this was tough.. scaled it to 600m runs after the first round... one of my strong point is burpees but they and the run were the toughest.. PT sent me a workout that involves 200 burpees next week loooool

[EvilPie]

Great deadlift day for me today with 130kg for 6 which is a PR. Doesn't feel like I've hurt anything so very positive about that.

Squats are also improving nicely with 110kg for 2 on Tuesday which is a solid effort for me.

I've started doing heavy walk outs as an accessory which I think is really helping when I go back to the normal weights. I've managed to walk out with 170kg and hold it for a reasonable time before walking it back to the rack. Obviously have to keep everything really tight and brace hard so it's not an easy exercise at all. Hopefully it's really helping all of the supporting muscles so I'm more prepared to hit some bigger numbers further down the line.

Feeling 170kg across my shoulders makes me wonder how the hell human beings can squat with 200, 300, 400kgs. It really is insane to think of the pressure it's putting on the body.

[EvilPie]

Not sure how long the gym will stay open but whilst it does I'm planning on keeping going. They're taking sensible steps like stopping people using every other machine to maintain distance and also extra cleaning.

If it was busy I'd probably stay away but there's hardly anyone in so as long as I can safely keep to myself I'm happy to be there.

How everyone else doing with their gyms? Anybody faced with closures or just not going anyway through choice?

[arbboy]

Not sure how long the gym will stay open but whilst it does I'm planning on keeping going. They're taking sensible steps like stopping people using every other machine to maintain distance and also extra cleaning.

If it was busy I'd probably stay away but there's hardly anyone in so as long as I can safely keep to myself I'm happy to be there.

How everyone else doing with their gyms? Anybody faced with closures or just not going anyway through choice?

Traiining as usual.  Pure gym stayiing open the manager said until the government forces them to close.   Going mid afternoon 1-3pm whichh is the quietest time and very few people there at that time this week.

[Marky147]

Was booked in to start back Monday after Chelts, which sucks as I'm not supposed to leave the house other than for infusions.

Neuro cancelled my MOT last week, and gonna do that over the phone at some point, and next infusion is 15th.

Gonna break out the dumbbells at home, just to do something and not go stir crazy. Only trouble is, my bench/weights area is overloaded with other stuff as we're having the loft converted atm, lol.

All fun in games at Chez Herron... Did get some snickers protein powder, and the Grenade billionaires shortbread protein oat bars are really good.

[the sicilian]

Still going.. gym prob a safe haven as very few in there and usual safe distance etc.. still with PT .. feeling for him as his getting cancellations across the board..