Blonde will make you STRONG

[iRaise]

Everyone seems to be doing pretty good atm which is aweeeesome. Keep it up.

Quick update

4x4 DB press at 44kg unassisted. Felt VERY heavy getting them out the hole, so will be interested to see next week.

No shoulder pain, and plenty of pressing throughout the session so pretty happy.

Deadlifts at some point this week. Favourite day!

When do you do your heavy DB presses? Are you already warmed up from another pressing exercise or do you just go straight in to them after your standard warm up?

I did them after 4 sets of reasonable (60kg) incline presses today and it definitely made life more difficult.

Today started with them, previously I had been doing them post DL which is clearly nto optimal.

Today started, then moved into incline 4x6 too, was bold with 80kg to start with, dropped to 70kg. Haven't BB pressed in ages.

Warm up wise, rotations/dynamic stretches. Then some light pressing (two warm up sets) then move into it.

A huge warm up fan, so always looking at ways to make it better!

[muckthenuts]

<3 this thread, it's so helpful as a starting point in my training.

[EvilPie]

4 x 4 slow controlled chin ups today. Getting a lot of confidence with these now and feel as though my forearms are coping better which has been my sticking point before now.

Also did 3 x 4 pull ups again nicely controlled. It's actually my back that gives up first on these so no issue with the supporting muscles on that one.

I had another go at deadlifts today as well. 40kg no problem at all although I'm lifting off a rack so not full range as yet. Had a little go at 60kg just to see what it felt like...... It did not feel good

No injury worries or anything but I'm clearly a long way from anything other than going through the movement until I'm fully recovered. Not to worry, everything else is great so couldn't be happier with progress.

[zerofive]

Got a 140kg squat yesterday. Felt insane. Never thought I'd be racking up 3 plates this early; in fact, 140 was my target for year end. I guess the next logical target is 3 and a half plates, so I'll amend my goal to 160kg although definitely think this is optimistic; I'll be happy with 150 for sure.

Going to test my bench 1 rep with my buddy later. I'll be stoked with anything over 100kg. I need to find 40kg for 1,000lb club, so it'd be great news if I can scrape a 110kg bench from somewhere.

Pull-ups are looking and feeling much better. I'm following the Armstrong program at the moment, which is roughly as follows

• Day 1: 5 sets of as many as possible, 60 seconds rest between sets
• Day 2: Do 1 rep, take 10 secs rest; 2 reps, 20 secs rest; 3 reps, 30 secs rest and so on until you can't get the target number
• Day 3: 3 sets of as many as you can do with perfect form, 60 secs rest
• Day 4: As many sets as you can do with perfect form, using the rep ranges from day 3, 60 secs rest

I think it's worth asking what qualifies a complete pull-up, are we talking chin clears the bar or bar touches chest?

Also, how wide is "wide grip"? At least a hand's width outside of shoulder width?

[muckthenuts]

140kg squat, lol your quads sure are gonna love you tomorrow that's some serious beast work, well done.

[iRaise]

4 x 4 slow controlled chin ups today. Getting a lot of confidence with these now and feel as though my forearms are coping better which has been my sticking point before now.

Also did 3 x 4 pull ups again nicely controlled. It's actually my back that gives up first on these so no issue with the supporting muscles on that one.

I had another go at deadlifts today as well. 40kg no problem at all although I'm lifting off a rack so not full range as yet. Had a little go at 60kg just to see what it felt like...... It did not feel good

No injury worries or anything but I'm clearly a long way from anything other than going through the movement until I'm fully recovered. Not to worry, everything else is great so couldn't be happier with progress.

Thats crazy it hurt after 60kg, as i assume that is joke light for you. Do you do much bent over rowing? What areas hurts, lower back?

Absolutely don't push anything for the sake of the thread.

[muckthenuts]

Going to test my bench 1 rep with my buddy later. I'll be stoked with anything over 100kg. I need to find 40kg for 1,000lb club, so it'd be great news if I can scrape a 110kg bench from somewhere.

Got an update?

Did some dumbbell work today after the usual 5x5 stuff and you guys are absolutely right - i don't need to do extra reps on my weaker side. I could feel my left having to work much harder anyway while my right comparatively got to chill out. Quite enjoyed it too, it was a nice break from using the barbell all the time.

[EvilPie]

4 x 4 slow controlled chin ups today. Getting a lot of confidence with these now and feel as though my forearms are coping better which has been my sticking point before now.

Also did 3 x 4 pull ups again nicely controlled. It's actually my back that gives up first on these so no issue with the supporting muscles on that one.

I had another go at deadlifts today as well. 40kg no problem at all although I'm lifting off a rack so not full range as yet. Had a little go at 60kg just to see what it felt like...... It did not feel good

No injury worries or anything but I'm clearly a long way from anything other than going through the movement until I'm fully recovered. Not to worry, everything else is great so couldn't be happier with progress.

Thats crazy it hurt after 60kg, as i assume that is joke light for you. Do you do much bent over rowing? What areas hurts, lower back?

Absolutely don't push anything for the sake of the thread.

It didn't hurt it just didn't feel right so I stopped before it could get a chance to hurt.

It's difficult to describe what's going on but I've been through it before and I'm under advice from physios so I have it under control.

I have to push it a little bit as part of the rehabilitation but obviously not to extremes.

Basically my back is fine but when it was bad it caused some nerve damage. If you read up on the sciatic nerve (or any nerve) you'll see that it can take up to a year to fully recover and there's no simple fix. Stretching really helps as it stops other muscles tightening up but it's pretty much just a case of being patient and not doing anything stupid.

The worse thing for it is poor posture and particularly sitting badly for prolonged periods. I think that was what set it off recently, flight to Vegas, no stretching whilst in Vegas, flight back from Vegas and then a 4 hour drive home.

I don't do any bent over rowing at the moment. Probably a few months before I can tackle those. I've been doing loads of core work which I've had to build ridiculously slowly but that's getting to the point where it takes a lot of the work away from the lower back which means they'll be possible soon. I just have to make sure I maintain perfect form hence the reason for staying so light on deadlift.

[GreekStein]

4 x 4 slow controlled chin ups today. Getting a lot of confidence with these now and feel as though my forearms are coping better which has been my sticking point before now.

Also did 3 x 4 pull ups again nicely controlled. It's actually my back that gives up first on these so no issue with the supporting muscles on that one.

I had another go at deadlifts today as well. 40kg no problem at all although I'm lifting off a rack so not full range as yet. Had a little go at 60kg just to see what it felt like...... It did not feel good

No injury worries or anything but I'm clearly a long way from anything other than going through the movement until I'm fully recovered. Not to worry, everything else is great so couldn't be happier with progress.

Thats crazy it hurt after 60kg, as i assume that is joke light for you. Do you do much bent over rowing? What areas hurts, lower back?

Absolutely don't push anything for the sake of the thread.

It didn't hurt it just didn't feel right so I stopped before it could get a chance to hurt.

It's difficult to describe what's going on but I've been through it before and I'm under advice from physios so I have it under control.

I have to push it a little bit as part of the rehabilitation but obviously not to extremes.

Basically my back is fine but when it was bad it caused some nerve damage. If you read up on the sciatic nerve (or any nerve) you'll see that it can take up to a year to fully recover and there's no simple fix. Stretching really helps as it stops other muscles tightening up but it's pretty much just a case of being patient and not doing anything stupid.

The worse thing for it is poor posture and particularly sitting badly for prolonged periods. I think that was what set it off recently, flight to Vegas, no stretching whilst in Vegas, flight back from Vegas and then a 4 hour drive home.

I don't do any bent over rowing at the moment. Probably a few months before I can tackle those. I've been doing loads of core work which I've had to build ridiculously slowly but that's getting to the point where it takes a lot of the work away from the lower back which means they'll be possible soon. I just have to make sure I maintain perfect form hence the reason for staying so light on deadlift.

Sounds to me like you should be flying business and first matt.

Don't worry though. I know someone who can help.

[zerofive]

Going to test my bench 1 rep with my buddy later. I'll be stoked with anything over 100kg. I need to find 40kg for 1,000lb club, so it'd be great news if I can scrape a 110kg bench from somewhere.

Got an update?

Did some dumbbell work today after the usual 5x5 stuff and you guys are absolutely right - i don't need to do extra reps on my weaker side. I could feel my left having to work much harder anyway while my right comparatively got to chill out. Quite enjoyed it too, it was a nice break from using the barbell all the time.

Nice! What movements did you do?

I got 110kg easy. Shot for 120kg just for the crack and only needed literally a finger from my spotter but still a fail unfortunately.

[booder]

4 x 4 slow controlled chin ups today. Getting a lot of confidence with these now and feel as though my forearms are coping better which has been my sticking point before now.

Also did 3 x 4 pull ups again nicely controlled. It's actually my back that gives up first on these so no issue with the supporting muscles on that one.

I had another go at deadlifts today as well. 40kg no problem at all although I'm lifting off a rack so not full range as yet. Had a little go at 60kg just to see what it felt like...... It did not feel good

No injury worries or anything but I'm clearly a long way from anything other than going through the movement until I'm fully recovered. Not to worry, everything else is great so couldn't be happier with progress.

Thats crazy it hurt after 60kg, as i assume that is joke light for you. Do you do much bent over rowing? What areas hurts, lower back?

Absolutely don't push anything for the sake of the thread.

It didn't hurt it just didn't feel right so I stopped before it could get a chance to hurt.

It's difficult to describe what's going on but I've been through it before and I'm under advice from physios so I have it under control.

I have to push it a little bit as part of the rehabilitation but obviously not to extremes.

Basically my back is fine but when it was bad it caused some nerve damage. If you read up on the sciatic nerve (or any nerve) you'll see that it can take up to a year to fully recover and there's no simple fix. Stretching really helps as it stops other muscles tightening up but it's pretty much just a case of being patient and not doing anything stupid.

The worse thing for it is poor posture and particularly sitting badly for prolonged periods. I think that was what set it off recently, flight to Vegas, no stretching whilst in Vegas, flight back from Vegas and then a 4 hour drive home.

I don't do any bent over rowing at the moment. Probably a few months before I can tackle those. I've been doing loads of core work which I've had to build ridiculously slowly but that's getting to the point where it takes a lot of the work away from the lower back which means they'll be possible soon. I just have to make sure I maintain perfect form hence the reason for staying so light on deadlift.

Sounds to me like you should be flying business and first matt.

Don't worry though. I know someone who can help.

 

[EvilPie]

Steady squat progress today sticking to the plan......

2 x 10 @ 20kg

4 x 10 @ 50kg

Another 5kg added with no problems at all. Going to be difficult staying patient as I know I could easily do more but it's only 10 more weeks to 100kg so I have to stay disciplined.

18 weeks to catch Sean could be an issue though

[EvilPie]

Sounds to me like you should be flying business and first matt.

Don't worry though. I know someone who can help.

Flying to Costa Rica in November mate. Would've been in touch with Cosair but the only airline that fly there direct are Thomson and good luck getting an upgrade on that one.

Feel free to prove me wrong on this by the way if you can. Too late for this trip but I'll be going back no doubt as I have a friend living out there.

Also have a friend out in Thailand so maybe next year......

[muckthenuts]

Was helping my dad out at one of his flats this evening. Instinctively carried a toolbox with my right hand for a few seconds, before consciously slipping it over to my weaker side for the rest of the walk up the stairs. Every little helps i hope

[muckthenuts]

Quick numbers update. Last fortnight or so saw a bit of partying/drinking so i haven't quite made the progress i would have liked. Going forward into autumn my lifestyle should contain much less of that now and i can concentrate on getting those numbers up.

Body weight - 69.4kgs.

Squat: 77.5
Bench: 47.5
Deadlift: 105
Row: 57.5
OHP: 35

Looked at the bar when i loaded up 40 on the OHP today and my brain just went..."cmon bro...you can't do this". Lol. It's weird but i definitely had a big mental block about it. So i decided to do 35kgs today and work back up. Found it fairly easy and i took the opportunity to focus on my form a lot harder. I mean it's no big deal hopefully, next Monday i'll be right back at 40 and fingers crossed, this time i'll clear it. Feel free to have a go at me though if you feel i took the easy way out but i just felt like rather than waste another session failing at 40, deloading and going backward for 2 sessions might be more beneficial in the long term.