"And in those simple beautiful movements I remembered what was really important in training; that consistency trumps intensity; all the time. That intensity is born from consistency. That one cannot force it, one has to lay in wait for it, patiently, instinctively, calmly and be ready to grab it when Grace lays it down in front of you."
This went very well. Strong from the beginning and all the way through the 15th set. Form felt solid, body felt solid and fluid and recovery was good too
Also hands held up good too
Sets 5 and 15. Felt like power output was good as was bell height even on the last set
2 kb front squats
16 kg x 5 18 kg x 5 x 2
Think these will help with left leg mass better for some reason as well as strengthening the rack position. IF they don't over load the abs too much and compromise my back. Depth looks good
Pretty decent one. Hot too but I was again mentally good for it, embraced the heat and sweat and it was fine. Definitely getting into heat shap again. 4-6 more weeks of summer and I should peak out
The main thing is the mental game, as it is with most things. Starting to enjoy 'cooking' just a bit
So close but not like last wednesday. It was solid but not perfect.Left wrist was bothering me again and that distracted my setup just enough . I switched to my old powerlifting wrist wraps and that seemed to help. More hoop tension and coverage
But that wasn't why it didn't go as well. I rushed the setup and did not develop nor keep enough lower body tension
I wasn't ROOTED. Knees were locked but then I just pushed my hips forward without tightening glute so I leaked a bit through the knees on some
Did spot the X though and that definitely helped. I DID make 7 reps with 215 and the weren't that slow either!
Gotta
UNRACK AND SPOT THE X
LOCK KNEES THEN GLUTES THEN PAUSE!!! DEAD STOP PAUSE!
DRIVE BAR TO LOCKOUT AND KEEP KNEES LOCKED
Watching the videos I don't like how I push my hips forward to get some stretch reflex as the bar drops and my chest does as well. take away from my hip tightness
135 x 2 155 x 1 175 x 1 195 x 1 ok 205 x 1 ok but not lightening fast 215 x 1 set one two and three
set four and six
set seven
205 x 1 downsets sets one and three
Gotta get and stay rooted. that is the key. getting better but not there yet. repeat 215 next week if not also on wednesday. maybe 210
wt pushups
bw x 10 53 x 10 x 3 Slow and strict with pause on each lockout
Took the long way today. By that I mean a lot of stops for squat stretches and tweeting. Plus I forgot my creatine yesterday and knew by the tenth lap it would get a bit tough and it did. Yesterday's heavy swings hit my whole body like a hammer this morning; no injuries just stiff and sore, especially in the traps and mid back.
Legs proved to have been worked too as they showed not too long into the ruck
But all was good, just took my time, held a steady pace and enjoyed the cool breeze and temps
This was a pretty solid day.. Left wrist is still a bit wonky and affected my grip a bit but other than that technique felt good and all parts are still attached!
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2 24 kg x 5/5 28 kg x 4/4 32 kg x 4/4 36 kg x 4/4 40 kg x 4/4 44 kg x 4/4 48 kg x 4/4 60 kg x 5/5 x 8 68 kg x 5/5 x 2
the second time I've only done 2 sets with the 68 and I think I'm ready next month to go back to 3 sets with it. That is fucking heavy AND wide! Don't want to alter my stance but the 68 always grazes my right calf on each rep lol First set with the 60 kg was a bit off balance wise but then things settled down. this thing demands my complete attention and focus on every rep of every set. NO room for errors
pistols support 3 sets of 5/5
man my legs were torched from the swings,lol! Not bad pistol work but legs were tired to start
laterals/ rear delts
3 x 10/10 with 15s
could really feel the traps and upper back from the swings on this too. that thing get the entire body working
BW 176.0 BF 14.0 ( bath) W 57.3
lol, keep making weight by saturday somehow without trying. Perfect
Wow! Did not expect things to go this well today. Easily the best group of press reps I've done with heavy weight. Five almost exact singles with the best bar speed I've had for this weight ever.
Could only be happier when I do it with 215 and up!
Especially after so much heavy volume just two days ago.
Really focused on just two things: locking my knees hard at the start and keeping my eye on the "X" on the ceiling above. that seemed to make a big difference
Otherwise just like last time; unrack, lock the knees push the hips forward and drive up.
195 x 1
205 x 1 set 1set 2set 3set 4set 5man the bar speed and line were damn near perfect
24 kg swings 5 set of 8/8
Banded triceps extensions 4 set of 15
BW 177.4 BF 14.4
Slept like a champ for the first time in a week and what a difference that made!
This was interesting. Switched back to adidas flatter shoe thinking it would help with hip drive and to not bend my knee at the start. Worked 'ok' but nothing dramatic.Switched back to Innov8 on sets 5 and 6 and they felt better balance
Press
65 85 105 x 2 135 x 2 155 x 1 175 x 1 195 x 1 205 x 1 this felt solid. using Lock, hips forward, glutes, drive technique
215 x 1 x 6 sets 1 was solid
set 2 rushed set up, knees bent and lockout wasn't there.
But set three was good but not what I wanted to so I put back on the heel
Switched back to inov8 for set 4 and wobbled all over. made the rep but ugly. Was separating the hip foward and lock in too much. decided to lock, load the bow and go! hench LOCK AND LOAD!
set 5
set six even better. getting tired nowdown to 210 for three singles and they flew! Green band tri ext 3 x 15 one arm laterals 3 x 8/8 20s bent laterals 3 x 8 20s
BW 177. BF 13.7
Will repeat this workout next Monday and nail each set! Wednesday will be 200 or 205 for singles as well
Tough one. Pushed the pace the whole time although legs were pretty tired from yesterdays heavy swings. Nothing hurt or tweaked just 'used', so it felt like a slog even though the pace was decent. Hot and humid never helps but it's part of the training so I pushed through. First hour was strong, second hour was a slog
Gait technique feels good; back to the 'chi' running forward lean more than I have been and it definitely helps keep speed up.
Good day today. All systems go and felt strong throughout. No body issues to speak of. Bell handle was a but slippery for some reason for the first 3 sets but overchalked the handle and that helped. Weird. Nick said I was rocking back and forth on my foot more than usual and I think I was not keeping my big toe planted as usual as I was hinging more than usual
One I re planted the big toe the balance came back
One arm swings 16 kg x 5/5 x 2 20 kg x 5/5 24 kg x 5/5 28 kg x 5/5 32 kg x 5/5 40 kg x 5/5 48 kg x 5/5
did fives for all warmups as opposed to my usual 4s or 3s as I wanted more work. Also, next time no skipping the 44 kg
Decided to put the new plan into action and went with 205 as the start weight. Monday it will be 215 and if it goes like today I'll be at 220 the next week.
This really proved productive as even though the first four sets were good the details didn't emerge until the last two sets, as well as all the cues
sets 5 and 6
This is turning out to incorporate ALL the different techniques/ ideas I have had over the years, especially the last 2
1) Lock the knees
2) Hip forward ( load the bow)
3) Squeeze the glutes ( but only after moving hips forward)
4) Drive
5) Re drive hips to lockout
This seems to work better in this sequence. If I squeeze the glutes and then , or at the same time, shift the hips forward then don't load as well. Hips forward then squeeze seems to lock them in place and still leave me room to move as I drive into the press
sets 2 and 4 were ok but I wasn't squeezing glutes
this is very good especially only one day after heavy max press
wt v pushups bw x 10 53 x 10 x 3
One arm laterals, bent laterals 3 x 8,9,10 on each with 20s
This should have been better despite having to train alone. Good sleep and enough,light workload and plenty of prep time mentally. Went into the gym very calm actually, focusing on not thinking, just moving through it and doing it when I had to not before
It worked well for the most part but it turns out from the videos I was moving too much in the knees and not enough in the hips
And because it was just a little bit from the knees there wasn't enough force put on the bar to get through the sticking point and I stalled
I stalled at a decent place but there was no going further. Have to learn to load that hip better, load the bow better. I felt it from the warmups, they were strong but not fast and when I lead from the knees the bar goes forward. Again, because it wasn't too much leaking it didn't go too forward, but just enough to slow things down and again, that won't go with 225.
195 and 205
215 ok just not enough hipthe first attempt with 225 which turned out to be my best attempt. with just a little more hip this would have gone. the overall technique and positions were finethe second one I leaned back at the sticking point and the third was not too bad, actually. pretty tired now but a good fight set 2 of 4 downset with 205, couldnt have done another set. triceps very tired but symmetrically
I think I'm going to go back to triple progression now, with singles. work up to 5 x 1 with 215, then the same with 220 then go back to 225. I think I need more heavier volume. 215 is 95% of 225
Can't hurt to give it a try
V pushups bw x 10, 15, 17 20 no way to load weight on back
Way late getting this posted. this was a good one. very fast. Much better than expected after Sat heavy swings. Legs and glutes were tired but not cooked. legs just seemed to turn over easily. Not cool but not too hot nor humid
This went great. I'm loving fives! Power out put and locking in at the top are the focus not just trying to do as much power as I can WHILE surviving the 16 or 20 reps, These feels like the perfect thing to be doing now. Height on these, as it was with the 40 is much better it seems
Last month's 44 kg for sets of 8/8
Ended up with 12 set which seemed perfect as the hands just started to feel a bit crispy after 12. I'll stay here as long as it seems right. The extra power output definitely takes more out of me
One arm swings 44 kg 12 sets of 5/5
Pistol practice 3 sets of 5/5
these felt great, and I tried to go deeper after seeing how high last week's reps were
Ok this was a tough hot one. Not as easy as last weeks but still strong mentally. It was a bit hotter ( 83) with no breeze and direct laser beam sun on me. Legs and lungs felt good but with no breeze I can really smell the nastiness of the park's denizens ( dogs, homeless, garbage cans) and that makes it all that much more fun
Man this was the best workout ever! The timing was spot on,literally could not be better. THIS IS IT. Now to just be able to do exactly this with 225 on the bar. No shit, Just do this
1) Lock in and pause after unracking. Locked knees. LOCKED. Come to a dead stop pause before
2) Hip drive then press almost at the same time
3) Redrive hips at sticking point. Do not press to lockout, hip drive under it
This is just what it should feel like and move like
175 x 2 x 5 sets FAST and STRAIGHT! Elbows were in as well
185 x 2 x 4 sets equally as fast elbows still in place190 x 2 x 1 just to check if it held under a bit heavier load. It did perfectly could be happier with this. This is as good as I can do this lift
I thought the wrist thing was going to work ( as usual) . It didn't and went back to reflex position but not letting it bend all the way back. But it was making me overfocus and other things went wrong
Knee flex on 195 and pushed it right away. Haven't missed that in ages so it didn't bode well
Repeat was fine but definitely not feeling 'connected' yet 205 x 1 Hip drive and bar speed ok but elbows flared and slowed it down at top
215 x 1 Not quite sure what went wrong here. Knees were pretty locked elbows flared but not too early. Second hip drive was ok ( perhaps loose) but the whole thing was leakingFirst 225 miss. the good news is that all these attempts were decent, the groove was basically correct, I could fight at the sticking point BUT I was fighting with my arms and NOT my hips for second locked leg hip drive. I didn't figure it out until the 3rd 205 down set. Made all the difference ( would have too)
Why does it always seem to take me to the end of the workout to figure out the groove of the day? ARGHHH! Way too much knee flex here.
205 x 1 x 5 down sets
wt v pushups on paralletes bw x 10 53 x 10 85 x 10 x 2 strong.
one arm laterals 3 x 10/10 20s bent laterals 3 x 10 20s
Shit sleep last night ( again the freakin' cat) but the legs were strong and loose as Thursday and speed was decent. Spent too much time fuckin around on my phone so it slowed the total time down but it was good all things considered
Cool and crisp though unseasonably so and that's always such a gift. overcast too. even better
45lb ruck 12 laps 5 squat stretches 2:10 total 13,284 steps
Today was the first workout of the new protocol. Five sets of five reps on all weights as I cycle them each week. This worked better than I expected with power output ( bell height) dramatically higher. Not thinking about saving your energy for what you know will be a death march for the last 5-6 reps of the second arm made a big difference
today's set
last months
Like I said, dramatically better Plus MUCH less mental stress
Fifteen sets was no problem but I could tell hands were starting to start to heat up. I will increase this volume very slowly to 20.Eventually but it could take months
No hurry
One Arm swings 16 kg x 5/5 x 2 20 kg x 5/5 24 kg x 5/5 28 kg x 5/5 32 kg x 5/5 40 kg x 5/5 x 15 sets
150 reps 13,200 lbs Nice!
Also, and could be an important point, I found myself going back to the "baboom" technique of the athletic hinge today almost by accident but it felt right so I went with it hinge first then squat down. I've been breaking at the knee then hinging back of late but this just happened today.We'll see if it's an anomaly
Pistol Practice 3 x 5/5 Shifted my weight ( head over foot) to get my COM over my base and it felt good. But it's different and my depth was way off. Couldn't even feel it but the video doesn't. Will concentrate on it next week. Also, will start on right leg to get the Rec Fem pre activated before the left leg pistols as it needs ore work
Man today was excellent. the best thursday ruck I've had in over a year, no doubt. From start to finish I was strong, fast and did not feel the heat even though it was high 80s. It just didn't bother me and my legs were loose and kept moving.
Perhaps the heat tolerance is coming. That would be very very good.Plus my mind was strong which has been very rare of late.
Did all 6 laps ( 3.6 miles ) in 50 minutes or so and it was solid. A little under 14 min miles! That would be great if this is the start of a strong heat summer season
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