6 days of full-day seminaring coming up, so probably no gym until next Monday. Hoped to go out with a bang today, lots of volume, but it was just too hot. And smoky from nearby grassfire!
S: 5x5x140
P: 3x5x55, 1x4x55, 1x3x55
B: 1x1x75 (Was supposed to be 5x5, but... nup. Too tired and slippy bar from prodigious sweating.)
D: 1x5x120
Planning on riding most of the week except tomorrow, but not going to bother talking about that unless something particularly interesting happens.
Showing posts with label TM Volume. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TM Volume. Show all posts
18 February 2013
08 February 2013
Tawdry volume
Sometimes you go to the gym and it doesn't work. Don't even really have any worksets to mention! Just didn't happen. Oh well.
01 February 2013
11 Tonnes
There's a reason they call this 'volume' day. Especially when you do more than you're supposed to do...
Squats at 137.5... hmm. They didn't feel too heavy, but my form wasn't quite dialled in. Again, it took until the third set or so before they really got in there. I think it's a matter of mental focus and engagement, rather than actual motor patterning, because I only do one set on 'heavy' day and I've been finding that usually, I can find the right form straight off - or at least, closer to it. I shouldn't need to go at it with full beast mode engaged at 88% of my 5RM. And to do so would be counter-productive; I'd probably burn out before rep 25. But clearly I need better focus.
Bench at 75... again, felt harder than they 'should' have, 83% of my 1RM. But bench is something that I've never perfected, form-wise, and I'm still working on it. So I'm not concerned, and I got through them. And of course it's the presses that I tend to skimp on volume-wise, because I haven't been doing the light day often enough. So hopefully improvement will continue...
Deads again, trying to get more volume in, partly for the mus-cles, mostly for form. It does feel like it's working, getting better at keeping my back flat and dragging the bar up the legs; not getting the shoulders too far in front is the main facet of that work.
And then I decided to do some rack pulls as a bit of grip work, since I feel that that's been lacking a bit lately, too. I couldn't quite remember how you were meant to do them, and started them too high, above the knees. The ROM was probably about right, but the starting position was quite poor. So I'll give these a bit more thought, investigate other ways of working on it. Needs to be something a bit more 'accessory'-ish, since 64% of 1RM for 25 reps is not going to do the job!
S: 5x5x137.5
B: 5x5x75
D: 5x5x115
Rack Pulls: 1x1x200
Squats at 137.5... hmm. They didn't feel too heavy, but my form wasn't quite dialled in. Again, it took until the third set or so before they really got in there. I think it's a matter of mental focus and engagement, rather than actual motor patterning, because I only do one set on 'heavy' day and I've been finding that usually, I can find the right form straight off - or at least, closer to it. I shouldn't need to go at it with full beast mode engaged at 88% of my 5RM. And to do so would be counter-productive; I'd probably burn out before rep 25. But clearly I need better focus.
Bench at 75... again, felt harder than they 'should' have, 83% of my 1RM. But bench is something that I've never perfected, form-wise, and I'm still working on it. So I'm not concerned, and I got through them. And of course it's the presses that I tend to skimp on volume-wise, because I haven't been doing the light day often enough. So hopefully improvement will continue...
Deads again, trying to get more volume in, partly for the mus-cles, mostly for form. It does feel like it's working, getting better at keeping my back flat and dragging the bar up the legs; not getting the shoulders too far in front is the main facet of that work.
And then I decided to do some rack pulls as a bit of grip work, since I feel that that's been lacking a bit lately, too. I couldn't quite remember how you were meant to do them, and started them too high, above the knees. The ROM was probably about right, but the starting position was quite poor. So I'll give these a bit more thought, investigate other ways of working on it. Needs to be something a bit more 'accessory'-ish, since 64% of 1RM for 25 reps is not going to do the job!
S: 5x5x137.5
B: 5x5x75
D: 5x5x115
Rack Pulls: 1x1x200
23 January 2013
Widdowed
I'd say I'll start wearing black to commemorate the occasion, but I pretty much always do anyway...
So after a lazy ride with my daughter to a friend's house (and a not-so-lazy ride back) it was off to the gym for some volume - rearranging days in anticipation of the change in schedule required for school.
This time I managed 5 sets at 135kg, so I was happy with that. I really noticed today the difference in good form, and in just dropping down. When I didn't make enough of an effort to really push my hips back, I'd end up in basically a high-bar position, with no hip-drive. When I did... well, it was much easier and smoother. Something to really keep in mind, because when it gets heavy on intensity day, the temptation is to just go straight down...
So I was so excited about that I decided to give a 'widowmaker' a go - 20 reps at, in this case, a bit over half bodyweight (60kgs). I'm... glad, in a way, that I did it straight after my 5th set, only resting long enough to reset the weight. Form felt good, and I only paused for 5-10sec in between reps... 3 times. But I could hardly feel my legs, which made it easier to do. Not that they would have hurt that much, I don't think - it's only 60kg after all. But because I started off not being able to feel my legs, I didn't get the mental hit of starting to not be able to feel my legs come rep 12 or so.
Anyway, done. Was kinda fun. Even if it meant that when I got to cleans, my legs said: No. You want to do cleans, you're going to have to reverse-curl those suckers up. So... I didn't.
S: 5x5x135, 1x20x60
P: 5x5x50
PC: 1x3x70 (Last warmup)
So after a lazy ride with my daughter to a friend's house (and a not-so-lazy ride back) it was off to the gym for some volume - rearranging days in anticipation of the change in schedule required for school.
This time I managed 5 sets at 135kg, so I was happy with that. I really noticed today the difference in good form, and in just dropping down. When I didn't make enough of an effort to really push my hips back, I'd end up in basically a high-bar position, with no hip-drive. When I did... well, it was much easier and smoother. Something to really keep in mind, because when it gets heavy on intensity day, the temptation is to just go straight down...
So I was so excited about that I decided to give a 'widowmaker' a go - 20 reps at, in this case, a bit over half bodyweight (60kgs). I'm... glad, in a way, that I did it straight after my 5th set, only resting long enough to reset the weight. Form felt good, and I only paused for 5-10sec in between reps... 3 times. But I could hardly feel my legs, which made it easier to do. Not that they would have hurt that much, I don't think - it's only 60kg after all. But because I started off not being able to feel my legs, I didn't get the mental hit of starting to not be able to feel my legs come rep 12 or so.
Anyway, done. Was kinda fun. Even if it meant that when I got to cleans, my legs said: No. You want to do cleans, you're going to have to reverse-curl those suckers up. So... I didn't.
S: 5x5x135, 1x20x60
P: 5x5x50
PC: 1x3x70 (Last warmup)
14 January 2013
Back in the gym. Regularly. No, really. Stop laughing!
Was determined to get in a good workout today, without going too far given how ratty my lifting was over Christmas/New Years. Felt pretty good in the end.
S: 1x2x150, 3x5x135, 2x6x120
B: 5x5x70
DL: 1x5x120
Double felt fairly good - a bit of a struggle, but not excessively so, and form, while not perfect of course, was fairly solid. Aimed to do 5x5x135, but after the first 3 sets I'd run out of endurance in the sets, and the last couple of reps were not so good. So decided to drop back to 120 to preserve the form, upping the reps slightly to preserve the volume. Bench felt okay, though bar path was a bit wonky. Not surprising, and strength-wise it was okay.
Deadlift I was planning on doing 3x5 at whatever weight I could manage, but the volume got to me in the end. Even at just 120, with a hook grip, I couldn't hold on to the bar solidly. It was slipping as I got up past the knees, so I locked out each rep with the bar in my fingertips. Which wasn't a problem, but it was a clear sign that I'd had enough for the day. Which is probably good really, in giving me something to grease the groove without wearing me out, leaving something for Friday.
S: 1x2x150, 3x5x135, 2x6x120
B: 5x5x70
DL: 1x5x120
Double felt fairly good - a bit of a struggle, but not excessively so, and form, while not perfect of course, was fairly solid. Aimed to do 5x5x135, but after the first 3 sets I'd run out of endurance in the sets, and the last couple of reps were not so good. So decided to drop back to 120 to preserve the form, upping the reps slightly to preserve the volume. Bench felt okay, though bar path was a bit wonky. Not surprising, and strength-wise it was okay.
Deadlift I was planning on doing 3x5 at whatever weight I could manage, but the volume got to me in the end. Even at just 120, with a hook grip, I couldn't hold on to the bar solidly. It was slipping as I got up past the knees, so I locked out each rep with the bar in my fingertips. Which wasn't a problem, but it was a clear sign that I'd had enough for the day. Which is probably good really, in giving me something to grease the groove without wearing me out, leaving something for Friday.
31 December 2012
There goes the year...
So last day of the year, and back in the gym. Started off with squats, as you do, but had to abandon during the warmups as my knee was restricting me from getting full depth, and didn't want to push it. Did deadlifts instead, more volume than usual, to get some work in for the posterior chain. Also did bench, with a little too much weight - still tweaking the TM program, just had too much on the bar for the volume. Finished up with cleans, which mostly felt pretty good, only looped a few, which is pleasing given how infrequently I've been doing them.
D: 5x5x100
B: 3x5x77.5, 2x5x60
PC: 5x3x70
So it's the end of the year and, frankly, I'm not much stronger than I was at the start. But it's been a difficult year, and I've got a good programme laid out ahead of me which I feel I can stick to pretty well. Just have to keep a balance with the rest of life!
D: 5x5x100
B: 3x5x77.5, 2x5x60
PC: 5x3x70
So it's the end of the year and, frankly, I'm not much stronger than I was at the start. But it's been a difficult year, and I've got a good programme laid out ahead of me which I feel I can stick to pretty well. Just have to keep a balance with the rest of life!
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