Deadly

142.5kg. Always looks a bit funny when you've got these massive plates on the bar, and in order to keep progressing, you put these tiny little things on the end. It'll look even funnier when I'm down to 1kg or less...

So 142.5 went up well on the squats, better overall form, chest up better, narrower grip - though I don't know if that did anything specifically useful or not. Probably 2 reps out of the 15 were off - the first one, which felt high (or parallel) and the third in the last set, where I went down too vertical and so came up too far forward.

Then bench, and I actually got them all at 75, so happy with that. 1kg increments will be the go here methinks...

Deadlifts, couldn't get 'em. I'm disappointed of course, but upon reflection, not too much so. My deadlifts have been well out of proportion to my squats for a while now, as they continued going up (after a bit of a sticking point) while I reset my squat by 30kgs. Now, as my squat continues to improve, well past the point where I reset, the demands it places on me in a given session have significantly increased. At the same time, my overall fitness is being tested by the commuting that I'm doing, particularly the (for me) enormous hill that I'm climbing up of a morning.

The combination of those two, I think, is what is getting in the way of increasing the deadlift. I'm not failing on the 4th rep, by and large, I'm not moving it in the first place - my back won't stay solid. I got one rep up tonight, but couldn't manage a second. I reset to 160kg, but couldn't get that off the ground, either! So the question is whether or not to reset by 5%, or 10%. The second option would take me back down to 155 or so - which is a big drop. But, proportionate to my squat numbers, it might not be such a bad place to be for now. In isolation, 5% would probably be enough, but I think 10% is right for the overall context of my life at the moment.

And more thoughts arise with respect to the broader picture of training, but more about that next time...

Three Wheels

Well, it's a milestone, no? Three wheels - that's 3x20kg plates on each side of the bar, for 140kg, 308lbs. Still 3x5, still progressing okay, though not always pretty:

I think I need to bring my hands closer together, elbows not up so high! That was a pretty bad rep, but it wasn't quite as bad as it appears from that photo. Interesting left/right imbalance, too.

Press at 58kg was just a little too much on the third set, so I deloaded to 50kg and did a set of 8.

And then I banged myself in the groin with the bar on the first powerclean workset. I wasn't terribly keen to do more than that at that point. Finished off with some chinups. Well, 2.

I pick things up, I put them down...

I forgot the camera. Oh well. 137.5kg squats, felt good. I'm looking forward to cracking the 140kg mark on Thursday.

Otherwise, ran out of steam. I still benched and deaded, but didn't get them. Poor nutrition the last few days, really bad sleep Sunday night, adapting to the commute, DOMS (weirdly) from kung fu on Saturday... yeah, I had all the excuses, baby!

Um.

I'm not going to rabbit on about commuting riding, because it's not really training. Just exercising. Going up a hill at 9km/hr cannot, in any sense, be considered to be sprint or strength training. Nor can holding 50km/hr for 5 minutes (~-2%).

Anyway, gym. 135kg squats went up fairly well, form felt fairly good and depth felt fine. Will take the camera next time just to check though.

Press was hard, back up to 57kg. I wore the belt, just to see if it would make much, or any, difference. I'm not sure it did. It may have done, but it's hard to feel it. All 15 went up though, might switch just to 1kg jumps now though!

Deadlifts didn't get up. My back was just uninterested in setting strong for some reason. That tends to be the way they fail - either not at all, or absolutely. I'm going to switch the schedule up, do bench on deadlift day and press on powerclean day, see what (if any) difference that makes to lower-back fatigue.

I'm considering doing a 10-week course of kung-fu on Saturday afternoons. So that would round out the schedule nicely.

Rammstein

Which is not to say that I murdered today in the gym. I did set a new squat PR though, so that's good, though I shan't get too excited - I reckon I've got at least another 20kgs in me, though losing weight may impinge upon that.

No, it's more because I came out of it feeling really quite good. Sore, but in the best possible way. And I've got a solid setup going forward. Essentially, for the next little bit my training will look like this:

Monday: Gym.
Tuesday: 2x10km rides, with a beast of a climb in the morning (~2kms @ 6%, ~500m of it @ ~11%) and a 5min 45-50km/hr threshold effort on the way back. No, it's not sprint training, but it's what I've got, so might as well make the most of it!
Wednesday: Rest.
Thursday: Gym.
Friday: See Tuesday.
Saturday: Rest.
Sunday: Spin or track training.

I don't always like structure, but sometimes, particularly for training purposes, it's good.

Today's actual session (yes, it was out of 'sync', but that will change) wasn't that exciting - 3x5x132.5 squats, couldn't quite grind out 3x5 @ 75 for bench, and reset powercleans (again!) to 70kg to improve form.

But you know, I only care about squats and deadlift. Everything else is accessory work as far as I'm concerned.

Bob Dylan

Back in the gym this afternoon, and since I'd been away for a couple of weeks, I thought I'd take a different approach back in to it. Rather than doing a typical 3x5 3-lift programme, I went for a 1x5 5-lift programme, just to get all of the lifts nice and greased again.

So squats went to 132.5kg and on just the one set, they felt quite solid, I felt comfortable with the weight on my back and controlled it quite well, no plummeting towards the bottom. Nice start.

Bench was next, one set at 75kg, and that was a bit more of a strain - certainly noticed the gap since I'd last done them much more. Still, they all went up.

Powercleans weren't quite so nice - I focussed much more on form through the warmups, and the difference between getting it right (or even okay!) and pulling them up is huge. I went to 82.5kg, but I was looping them out too much and didn't have the pattern down, so I dropped the weight back to 60kgs to get more in with a better pattern. I've been completely missing the thigh-touch on the way up, and I may need to reset down a bit again to get it. It's important that I get it right, so I'll probably go back to 70kgs as my workset weight next time.

Then it was press, and 55kg for 5. These were a little more difficult following the powercleans, but I got them up okay, still working on the 'new' technique for them.

Lastly it was time for deadlifts, and well, they're only one set anyway, right? So rather than just throwing in a double or something, I went for the full set at 172.5kg, for my third attempt. The warmups all went up quite solidly, and so did the first two of the workset. The third though swung out on the way up, and I got it just above my knees before having to drop it. But I wasn't going to stop there, no sir! I reset and pulled it again, and this time made it - but my back had rounded a bit too much, so I quickly ran and put my belt on. Does that make it not a single set? Perhaps, but I say unto you - bite me! It was still no more than 30 seconds between reps. Anyway, I got it in to a comfortable position, set myself and pulled. The belt didn't provide the same sort of valsalva-assistance that it does in the squat - I couldn't feel it to breathe against, as it were. But it did provide enough of a tactile cue on my back to help me keep it solid, and the last two went up really very nicely. PR! Awesome.

So then I went to celebrate with chinups - just one again (plus 4 jumping chins) but two sets this time! So kinda another PR. Good good.

Circling...

After so much time in the gym, it felt funny to be having just my second session in 12 days! I could well feel the difference, too, as my back wasn't as solid as it has been - my first set of squats at 130kg had 2 reps where my back rounded - though not nearly as bad as the last time I got to this point. So I belted up for the last 2 sets, and felt more solid with something to push against, though each set had one slightly wonky rep. Otherwise they all felt quite good, and I was happy with the effort. Should be back to setting PRs next week!

Bench was 72.5 and no problems after a couple of reps with uneven drive in the first set.

Deadlifts though, just couldn't get 'em. 172.5 again, and this time my back let me down; mostly fatigue I think, and perhaps not quite enough mental commitment. Watching the video my back doesn't even start off solid - it goes from flat to rounded the moment I begin pulling up on the bar. I tried resetting, and got one rep up, but even that was ugly. These things happen, and technically I'm tapering, so no drama. I really want to make sure I get them next time though!

Inspector Sardine

Gym. Gym gym gym. Maybe I should take up powerlifting instead. But I think I'll enter the Vic Masters. Why not, eh?

127.5kg squat, and after the first set was kinda wonky - no two reps were the same, it felt like - had a better groove for the last two sets and they went up no problems, back felt good.

Press at 55 and I underestimated it - almost didn't get through the first set. Second set I recovered but still struggled, but third set went up strong. I realised afterwards that although it's a reset, it's only 2.5kgs shy of my best so it's not exactly light. Pondering what increments I should take now - perhaps 1kg, down from 2.5kg. Press is a bit tricky that way.

Powercleans were set and going well, but got called away (literally) before the workset. Going to have to reset it to 75kgs I think.

With any luck I'll actually get on the track on Tuesday, just to remind myself what a bike is before next weekend.

Pomplamoose

About as hard as it gets, baby. I went in feeling a bit tired and a bit stiff, not quite feeling it, so after not using the belt at all on Monday I used it for two sets of squats, figuring it were better to provide the support (and the tactile cues) to keep the back solid than to risk not having the right energy to keep a good position. And it worked well enough - 125kgs felt much, much harder than 122.5, but I'm neither surprised nor concerned given how I was feeling. The next workout at 127.5 will be important to keep me feeling that I'm on track and that I've conquered my squat demons. I'm only 5kg away from getting back to where I was when I reset, and feeling much better about it this time around.

Bench, reset to 70kgs, no problems there. The only rep I really had to push was the 15th!

Again, I was intending to do powercleans and again ran out of time. Which is annoying. Set up deadlifts to 172.5, and couldn't get the 5th one past my knees despite trying twice - I just couldn't get set strong. I was very tired by that point, so I'm not fussed, I know I can do it.

And one chinup. Getting closer to a second, slowly. If I ever have time again in the gym, I should give myself 10 minutes after deadlift/powerclean to actually rest and then see what I can do!

Oh, and no track. I never realised how difficult it was going to be during the school holidays without sufficient selfishness. I didn't even know about aboc involvement in Junior Track champs, I'm so far out of the loop. Ah well. I hear they done good.

Post Title.

A bit of a funny session this one - despite being there for over two and a half hours, I didn't get a full workout in - I had to skip the Press workset because we had to go. My partner has started training, and Carl was helping her, and I'm not used to having to work in with people so wasn't doing it very efficiently. Still, half an hour between sets one and two of my squats is rather excessive!

But to backtrack slightly first, missed out on track training on Sunday due to disappearing wheel nuts. Still haven't found them, so will miss Tuesday, too. And next Sunday there's a(n extended) family birthday party. Is there, I wonder at this point, any reason to even enter the Vic Masters? Sure, a bit of a layoff can help one sharpen up, but by the time I get to them, I'll have done enough training in two months to count on the fingers of one hand...

Anyway, squats were 122.5kg and better, coach gave the green light. I did lose it slightly on a couple, but generally my back felt more solid. I'm very conscious of not giving in to the temptation to 'collapse' because it's at this point previously that I took the weights up too quickly and ended up doing 15 goodmornings. Well, perhaps not quite, but I really need to work hard on strengthening my back. I feel like I've got good form, I don't need to change anything there, I just need to make sure that my back stays solid every rep.

Press as mentioned I just did the warmup. I was tempted to try a 1RM, but that would have been silly when I'm resetting, and it's no great drama to miss it this once.

Deadlift... well, does 5 days between constitute a 'break'? Apparently it does! 170kg on the bar, a gym full of distraction, and they went up (what felt to me like) beautifully! Okay, the 4th rep I lost my grip and I couldn't really hold it solid at the top - but it got to the top! I reset carefully for the 5th rep, gripped harder and pulled it up nice and smooth, no hitching, not even slowing really. I love deadlifts!

Mike Patton

Yes, more weights! But don't worry, I'll be back on the bike tomorrow - new nuts and chain in hand.

Squats up to 120kg, and felt fairly good except - they were slightly high! Or, at least, some of them were roughly parallel, rather than below parallel. So perhaps an inch in it. A bit perplexing, because they didn't feel like they were being cut off high, and I'm generally pretty good at feeling it, when I check against the video. Not enough to warrant doing them again, but I'll have to be a little more careful next session to get all the way down.

Bench was oh so so close at 77.5, but couldn't get the 4th of the last set past the sticking point a few inches off the chest. Slightly annoying, because they did feel stronger than they have, but nevermind, I'll reset (again!) and work back up. They're only chesticles, after all...

Powercleans and, well, I repeated 80kg, just to be 'fair', and - to be 'fair' - I got them up. But not one of them didn't see me bending my arms as I passed my knees. Scrutinising the video, they stay that bent until they're supposed to bend, and then they whip around. So I'm not even, really, pulling the bar up - I'm just robbing myself of power! And screwing up my timing - my feet are hitting the floor again while the bar is still going up, about nipple-height. Maybe three out of the twelve I caught low, but the rest racked fine. So strength is not the issue, but technique certainly is. Not sure how best to fix it though.

Then one real chin plus a few jumping chins.

Ziggy Stardust

Now I'm just being completely random. Back in the gym again, back to moving metal. And rubber.

Squats 117.5, starting to feel heavier again. Lost my groove once or twice, but otherwise they felt fairly solid, and depth is still okay, so next session I get back to the 120kg mark, and for now it's feeling much more solid. Hopefully I'll be able to continue that back up past 130!

Press at 60kg, and it's just a bit too much - basically did sets of 3! I was feeling okay on the first set, but then let the bar get out in front of me on the 3rd rep, struggled it up, and had nothing left for a fourth. My setup at the bottom is bothersome, as I either have the bar on my delts and back on the fingertips, or in my hands and hovering. The first is seeing me having bent wrists as I roll the bar in to the hands, and the second is too tiring to hold there and reset at the bottom, rather than holding at the top and bouncing at the bottom. Anyway, I'll reset back to 55 and see what we can do!

Again I ran out of time for cleans and so did deadlifts - 3rd heavy set in a week! Not the best idea, and it was a bit too much - I got 167.5kg up 5 times, but the last two were hitched up. So I'll absolutely definitely do cleans next time, and take a bit of a rest from deads for a week, let me recover a bit!

Finished with a chinup - tried from a dead hang, but that was a bridge too far. Perhaps I should just aim to get a set of 5, feet on the floor, knees bent but not jumping, then try for dead hangs... probably a smoother progression.

Procul Harum

Was I a whiter shade of pale? I guess you would have had to have been there! No, still not back on the track - an outing to the zoo had been planned before notice was given of training on Sunday, and though I attempted to drag people away in time, 'twas not to be. Ah well. Balance, and all that. Unfortunately it seems that Tuesday training is now at 7am, and I won't be able to get there for that. Perhaps I could try for the second half.

Anyway, Squats 115kg, all good, bench 77.5kg and failed again - muscles didn't quite click for it. Ran out of time for powercleans, so did deads again - 165kg, 5 times, and cut down on the time between reps. Felt solid, felt good, and celebrated with one more solitary chinup, this time from (very nearly almost) a dead hang. Woot!

Jeebus!

It's occurred to me that I've not been on my track bike since this, nearly 4 weeks ago! I think Tuesday mornings are happening, I'd better get down there... especially since the cycling victoria website would have me believe that the Vic Masters are coming up on 4-5 February, not March at all...

Anyway, gym. Metal. 60kg on the press, not quite. I suspect it's psychological, having the two larger plates on either side rather than a bunch of little ones, but perhaps I just need to microload. We'll see. If I miss again, I'll reset, then microload, no drama.

Squat, 112.5kg, back up to bodyweight again, nothing special. I tried using a belt on the last set, and wow did that make it easier. That might be a seriously worthwhile investment...

Deadlift, 162.5kg, 5 reps, felt okay. Video shows that I'm rounding my back, but before the plates leave the ground, it's solid (if a bit round) while the load is on. So should just be a matter of being more careful in the setup. I'm also taking too long between reps I reckon, nearly 30 seconds between 4 and 5, so should tighten that up without compromising getting properly set.

And most importantly - I did a chinup! Started with feet on the floor, not a dead hang, but no jump and chin over the bar. Couldn't do another one, and didn't have time to hang around to try 3 sets of 1, however ridiculous that might have been anyway. But there we go, an achievement for the new year.

Oh, and I remembered that a while ago I guesstimated progress in the gym by the end of the year. Based upon one session a week and 5kg jumps, which held for not very long at all, but interesting nevertheless:

Deadlift: Predicted: 130kg. Actual: 160kg
Squat: 185kg. Actual: 110kg (130kg 3x5RM, 140kg 1RM)
Bench: 120kg. Actual: 75kg.
Power Clean: 105kg. Actual: 80kg.
Press: 90kg. Actual: 57.5kg.


So, goals for 2012 in lifting? Well, according to my spreadsheet the current rate of increase should see me squatting 340kg, pressing 175kg, benching and cleaning just on 200kg, and deadlifting about 275kg. Somehow, call me a pessimist, but I suspect I shan't be seeing those numbers! So what will I be happy with? Hmm. Say dead 250kg, squat 200kg, Bench and clean 150kg, Press 100kg. What's realistic? Especially if I lose more weight, probably more like 200, 170, 110, 80. But we'll see how we go.

Cycling goals? Well, that can wait until I've got some track work to report on...

Pinky and the Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain

Have I used that before? Whatever. Just a quick recap of traininginging over the Christmassy bit. Did a little bit of spin, and got to the gym twice. Squat continues slowly up, and I'm working hard on my form as it gets heavier to try to keep errors at bay. Press up at 60kg, unfortunately on the 4th rep of the first set I got in the wrong position and bent my wrist under the bar. Nothing dramatic, but it was too sore/weak to get even one rep up on the second set, though I tried twice, so abandoned that. Disappointed, as I'm sure I would have gotten it, but no big deal. Did 160kg on the deadlift afterwards. Got them up 5 times, but wasn't sufficiently happy with the form, so I may do 160kg again next time. Perhaps not, but it will depend upon how I'm feeling. Bench at 77.5 and I almost got it - only got to 3 in the last set though. The bench at the powerhaus is narrower, and the gap is in an awkward position whichever way around I put it, so that didn't help. Powercleans at 80kg, 3x4, and I kinda got them - only 3 in the first set, but all 4 in the next two. Looking at the video though I was breaking my arms too early and pulling rather than shrugging - I could feel it at the time, but video confirmation is handy. So though I could possibly quibble that I should be 'allowed' to take it up again next time, I'll repeat and make sure to get that shrug. Jumping chins are getting quite slow and controlled on the negative, so I reckon I might be pretty close to giving a real chinup a go soon. And that's about all for now. Will be good to get back on the track!

Anthrax

Well, I feel as though I'm coming to the end of this series - which group will get top billing? With the start of the sprint series around the corner, there's probably only one more session of real strength-building in the gym before we move on to a more bike-centric training period until December or so. After all, the primary focus of strength training is to be able to ride faster. I'll miss it a bit, I must confess; hopefully the 'maintenance' focus will give me enough of a fix of being under the bar.

That said, there wasn't much strength-gaining going on this morning! After being fine all week, as soon as I got under the bar to do my squat warmup, my right knee/hamstring/buttock flared up again (last week I felt it more in the knee, this week more in the buttock) and restricted me to just 80kg before I pulled the pin. I'll be taking a good look at my form to see if I can pick any twisting or stance issues, and trying to ascertain if anything has changed significantly since the last time I videoed my squat.

So I moved on to the press, with a 2.5kg jump up to 57.5kg today. And perhaps I should have just gone with a 1kg jump instead, because I ended up doing 3 sets of 3, instead of 3 sets of 5! No drama, I'll keep it there for another two attempts; if I can't get 15 reps done, then I'll reset back to 50kg or so.

It was up to the deadlift, then, to restore my honour and a bit of a sense of accomplishment to the morning. I knew, going in, that I was doing 155 - still, I flirted with the idea of trying for 160 instead. I was never going to actually do it, I don't think, but it's hard not to entertain the thought of keeping on pushing as far as possible.

It turns out, though, that I almost certainly wouldn't have gotten 5 reps up at 160 anyway. One can't say for sure, of course, but the extent to which I had to strain to get 155kg up 5 times gives a pretty damn good indication! But up they did indeed go, so I left (after 5 (jumping) chinups with slow, controlled negatives) feeling fairly satisfied with the session. And a bit odd - knocked about by the deadlifts, but with a curious lack of leg-shnozzlement due to the lack of squat worksets, and with intact lungs. I'll have to try to fix that next time!

Megadeth

Bit of a mixed morning in the gym. I woke with a bit of soreness and stiffness, particularly behind my right knee, but nothing that seemed extravagant. Doing my warmup squats though, it was becoming more noticeable, but I hoped that it was just a minor problem. After 2 reps at 130kg though, it was too sore, so - after briefly considering going down to 125kg - I abandoned squats for the day.

Moved on to the bench, and did my first reset to 62.5kg, and got them up no problems.

I possibly should have left it there, but I was determined to deadlift - my last set at 140kg I felt my form was a little off, so I was looking to rectify that. Back locked, chest up, eyes forward. Possibly not the best with a sore hamstring/knee, but oh well. Did it at 150kg, and although it felt damnablier heavier, it also felt better, my form felt more solid and my back felt happier.

So pleased to come out of the session with a positive lift (finished with some chins, too - still jumping, but not as much. Have to be more consistent with them!) and will keep an eye on my knee. It's even sorer now as I've cooled down, and my maybe-missing-DISC-due-to-family-committment is heading in the direction of definitely missing it. But I'll see how I pull up tomorrow.

Steve Vai

Because the Audience is Listening.

115kg squat. Can I do it? Yes I can! My second bodyweight lift after the deadlift - well, within a percent or so, anyway! My form wasn't quite as graceful - I was going down too straight, not pushing my hips back enough. As a result I was too far forward coming back up, which robbed a little power. But I got them all done, and it's a relatively simple thing to work on since the thing I need to pay attention to is the thing that starts the lift!

Then... shameful bench press. Actually, I was feeling quite good and strong, which is what undid me. I was planning on repeating 70kgs, which is what I should have done in the first place rather than going up to 75kg. But because I was feeling strong, and confident, I decided to give 72.5kg a try. And the first set felt fine. I gave myself 10 minutes rest. But I couldn't get the 4th rep up. So I deloaded back to 70, which is what I should have been doing, and did 2 reps to 'complete' the set. Rested 10 minutes. After 3 good reps, the fourth rep I lost my focus and tension - but still got it done. 5th rep, going fine, halfway back up, and I lose tension again. And the lift stops. And comes back down again. Bugger. 70kg all the way and I probably would have done 3x5. It's mostly mental rather than strength, but I'm tempted to reset back to 60kg and work my way back up anyway. I know I can do it though, so I'll give myself one more attempt at 70kg. If no beans, then reset!

Powercleans... up to 65kg, and I felt like I was still pulling some of them, the jump/shrug wasn't quite working. Third set, I changed my grip slightly to get it more in the fingers and really focussed on the jump - and bang! Up went the bar over my head again. What a difference! The third set went up very (relatively) easily and felt much more fluid. Excellent!

Whitesnake!

I'm not entirely sure why Whitesnake! require an exclamation point, it just feels right somehow.

Good solid morning in the gym today - 105kg squats felt good. Again, a couple of minor technical problems on a couple of reps, including losing tension in one side with my left knee sliding forward a little and a loss of balance. Still made the rep though - but by Blind Io, does the weight ever magnify such mistakes! There's no question I'm pushing the weight up, but as I commented at the end, the 15th rep doesn't feel harder than the first - I'm just more fatigued by then. So we'll keep pushing up by 5kgs a session until the bar starts slowing markedly.

Press was up next, and for this I did drop down to a 2.5kg jump. Interestingly at least 10 out of the 15 went up more easily than 50kg the last time - whether it's got more to do with the rest, or the small jump, is hard to determine. Still, it felt good to be able to push them up without as much struggle.

Deadlift time! I still love the deadlift, and even more so today - my first supra-bodyweight set! The warmup at 60kg I was probably rushing a bit - Carl noted that I was jerking the bar up off the floor, rather than squeezing. So at the work weight of 120kg, I added squeezing to my list of back straight, chest forward, big breath! It felt really heavy, and for the first time I could really solidly feel activation absolutely everywhere. No wonder it takes a good while to recover from at higher weights! Bar speed felt good, form was solid, grip was secure and the last rep was as difficult as the first. So you know what? I'm sticking with the 10kg progression for now. I suspect that this might be the last jump before I cut back to 5kg jumps - maybe squeeze one more out after that to 140kg, depending upon how it feels. Or perhaps just change to a hook grip.

We shall see. Track season looms ever closer - just 5 weeks now!

Twisted Sister

Well today didn't go quite as well as has been the case up until now! I tried to focus, but it just wasn't there... sleep hasn't been so good the last couple of nights, so recovery probably hasn't been optimal. And had no carbs whatsoever beforehand, which was probably a mistake.

All that said, other than a failure in my second bench set - caused by lack of focus, not strength - I got through the session. My squat form at 90kg was mostly okay, except for one or two dodgy reps, including one where I stumbled backwards. Bench at 70kg was tough, though I wasn't even remotely sore or fatigued in any of the relevant muscles, so I think that's likely a more systemic thing by that point, related to general fatigue and incorrect nutrition. Powercleans the form felt mostly good, though I still need to work on getting the racking technique down pat - pointy bones and heavy metal don't mix very well! 55kgs was still flying up above my head on the jump though, so I take that as success! Finished with 5 chinups - still jumping, but feeling much stronger. Maybe some time in the next month or two I'll actually be able to do them properly!