Quagmire911 Lifting Journal

[Quagmire911]

Tuesday

Not a great session today. There are numerous possible explainations. Here it is:

Bench 65x3 80x3 105kgx2- I decided I wanted to see what I could do with my bum on the seat, and realized why I probably started taking it off. If I don't and the weights get to 90-100+ I get twinges in my lower back muscles. The first rep was with the bum on the seat, second I took it off and failed on the third, which I know would have been possible had I done the whole set with bum off. So I reckon I'm probably 5-10% weaker with bum on the seat with a comp max therefore of 105-110kg. However, I haven't had carbs since Sunday evening, and have been doing more HIIT including yesterday, although I don't believe this is the reason as I felt strong enough and haven't been doing it that long. So I'm in a slight dilema in that do I want to train with a more concrete style or use the bridge to prevent possible back problems. It may just be I need a little more flexibility to use the size of arch I was using. Again though the lesser the ROM the less stress on the shoulders, but at least I know roughly where I stand. God I hate benching. I'm very tempted to make oh press the main upper body move and just use benching as a secondary, which has worked in the past albeit for a short period of time. Blah.

Chinsx6x6- Noticeably harder than last week. Maybe the bench took it out of me, I nearly killed myself trying to rack the thing on the lower pins.

I then did 120 rope turns and a little bit of bag work. This **** is god damn frustrating when it doesn't go your way. I want 3/4/5 right f***ing now. But If I want this fat away fast then strength probably won't excel.

My weight over the last few weeks has been around 188.5lbs and waist was back to just over 37". I had shaved a few pounds of that which is probably mostly water at this stage, although last weeks activity was way up so there may be some fat loss. I need to get under 185 and under 36" till I can see some definite progress. On the plus side I am starting to feel quite a bit fitter after 3 hard HIIT sessions. I haven't really got a weight goal, I just want to be lean up and have some sort of a six pack. I'm hoping that will be as close to the 180 mark as possible. The last time I was reasonably lean I was around the mid 170's I think.

Anyway that is all for today, until tommorow...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Wednesday

Some HIIT today, here it is:

II GPP 5

Burpeesx30s Shadow Boxingx30sx2 Rest 1 minute x2
Burpeesx30s Shadow Boxingx30s Rest 1 minute x2

Total time- 10 minutes

I didn't eat before this for the first time. I felt fitter at the start, but after the cardio I noticed that I felt quite rundown, although I feel better now after eating. Didn't sweat as much today, not sure why. Fitness is definitley improving though. My heart and breathing rate are recovering noticeably faster between sets and at the end. I'm going to start mixing it up and doing some other stuff too keep it fresh, this is starting to get samey now. Weight and waist are pointing towards fat loss. Waist was around 36.5" and weight was showing 185-186 today, from around 37.25" and 188.5. This is before eating and after going to the toilet. I'm concious of water weight affecting the scale readings, but as long as they range is getting consistently lower then that is the main thing.

Well that is all for today, until tommorow...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

Not a bad day. Here it is:

A2G Squats 60x5 80x5 100kgx5- Pretty pleased with this, it was easier than last week. Its hard but I know theres plenty more there. My real problem was letting my form slide last time round. I feel I am keeping it a lot better now. Up to 105 next week.

Deadlift 182.5kgx1 -Still building up for a PR, possibly next week. I went for the double for the first time with 400+. Got it to a few inches above the knees on the second rep and held it for a few seconds but just couldn't lock it out, grip did well to hold on. Close though. Another day, or without the squats, it might have been, but it will be a triple soon. I'll be going for 190/192.5 next week probably, haven't decided. Might do the squats last that week.

That was all. I've been sticking to the meats and bones recently but I think the routine is looking bear, but I suppose if its working don't fix it right? The squats are still in recovery although there getting to where they should be. Assitance exercises are a problem when you don't have the equipment, and I've spent a lot of time in the past doing useless s*** trying to improvise that didn't really get me anywhere. I think some rack work could be beneficial though, but I'd have to use the other gym. I'll see.

No overhead work today, left shoulder got slightly tweaked from burpees, should be fine for next week. I think I'm going to do overhead/closegrip on upper day anyway.

Well that's all for today. If theres any cardio tommorow I'll update with it. I walk a lot on the job though and I'm in the next three days plus four in a row so far so it shouldn't be a big deal. It'll be more moderate if I do. That's all for today, until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Monday

Some HIIT. Really couldn't be f***ed, but I managed to bite the bullet.

Squat/plate swing with 10lbs 1 minute on/off

Total time-10 minutes

This sucked. Weights tommorow...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Tuesday

Some s*** happened today. The gym may be in jeoprady for a while, but I'll do my best to keep going. Nothing to serious, just financials. Anyway, a good session today, here it is:

Overhead press 80kgx1 (176lbs) PR- Nearly at bw for a rep. I weighed 185-186lbs this morning.

65kgx5- Down set

Pullups BW+5kgx5x5- Going to try the weight route, not getting anywhere with bw.

CG bench 80kgx8x8-About shoulder width grip, butt on bench. Pain in the ass unracking. Not bad.

Bi curls 30kgx12 20sx4- Decided to do some curls for the pump heh.

Then did 130 rope turns, 5 mins boxing on and off, 130 rope turns, and a few more mins boxing.

And that was it. Waist was just above 36" today which is about the lowest its been. Keeping calories around 2400 a day at the moment, 4 meals a day. Not being too strict with carbs, only cutoffs on some days. Weight and waist are heading in the right direction though. Strength is holding/up.

Well that is all for today. I will do cardio tommorow and should be in on Thursday. That is all for today, until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

Had a day off the cardio yesterday, I told myself it could be a rest for the CNS or some bull****. Just lazyness really. I don't mind rope work actually, but I need to get one. Will be cutting the grass in the next few days, may do an unscheduled HIIT session. Anyway here it is for today:

A2G Squats 60x5 80x5 105kgx5- It's hard, but I've not felt like I'm going to fail in the last few weeks. Not sure how much further this will go without stalling. We'll see.

Deadlift 192.5kgx0 (424lbs)- Got this just above the knees for a split second. There are several reasons why I may not have made this lift. One is I wasn't ready to make it, but I think I can do it. This is based on my 187.5kg video from a month ago. That rep, my current PR, looked like I had another 5-15lbs I thought. Maybe I should have gone for 190kg. I am in the 187.5-192.5 range for sure though. Another reason is that I drank the last two nights which may have put me off slightly. There is also the squats, or for whatever reason I wasn't 100%. I did fail with rep 2 with 182.5kg last week, which may have affected the CNS. Anyway, I was close, and it will be mine soon. Grip seemed to cope.

Power cleans 60x1 80kgx1 90x0-Not dont these in a while. Very close with the 90. Probably more a technique issue. This seems a little low to me, but I could be wrong.

That was all for today. Will either do good mornings or maybe some deadlift rep work next week, instead of the deadlift singles. Maybe some rack work, my weakness now seems to be above the knees. I'm pretty sure my glutes are the problem. My form holds on these reps I fail on though, which is good I suppose.

Well that's all for today until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Tuesday

Not a bad day at the gym. Bit of a glitch but it should be alright. Got lazy with the cardio, but I made it up today. I need to find something I enjoy doing, think I'll get a bike. Here it is:

DB overhead press 32kgx7x7 (PR?)- Not sure if this is a PR. Good nonetheless.

Pullups-BW+7.5kgx4x4-Probably should have stuck with 5kg and gone for 6 reps. Not sure what bw is.

CG bench (shoulder width) 85kgx6-Stopped it here. My right shoulder has been feeling funny the last few days, and I have no idea how I did it. This was clicking and causing a bit of pain at the top, so I left it at that.

Cycling machine -30 minutes -Heart rate was in the 145-150 range for most of it. I was surprised how easy this was cardiovascularly, but it was quite hard in the quads with lactic acid.

That was all. Big guy in the gym today did a 275kgx1 deadlift (605lbs), it was f***ing excellent to see. I really wanted to go up and psych him up and give him some ammonia heh. Good seeing some like minded people. The looks on the other peoples faces was priceless. I've talked to him a bit before, hes quite lean and around 215-220 I think, first time I've seen him max out though.

Well thats all for today, until Thursday...

Quagmire

 

[Fuglydude]

Ok, I just got sick reading your conditioning regimen! That's fairly extensive and sounds quite intense. Do you get light headed from that much activity and low caloric intake? I know I'd have problems with that.

Nice deadlift too. I'd aim for around the 415-420 lb range, and I'm pretty sure you'll get it. Its tough to lift heavy on a low caloric intake.

If have a cam why not post a vid of your powerclean and the guys can critique your form.

Again good work! Keep it up.

 

[Quagmire911]

Bad news on the conditioning regime in that I get bored of it fast. I've been doing aerobic cycling this week which I find a lot more enjoyable and its still got benefit. I like doing some bag work as well. As long as I'm fit and active is all that matters. It's a lot easier to do cardio if you enjoy it though.

Today I did 30-45 minute bike ride with a friend which was fun.

After intense HIIT I'm wiped, but if its a boxing/skipping combo and I get into it its fun and I want to keep going. Doing burpees sucks.

Maybe the calories affected the deadlift, but they were still in a reasonable range and I hadn't dropped the carbs really. I felt my usual self, I think it was just a little to heavy.

I may take some videos of the cleans. Probably a good idea to take the camera tommorow, I need to get some squat videos to monitor the form.

Thanks for checking in,

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

Pretty good session. Starting to near the end of this phase I reckon, I'm on week 5. Another 1-2 weeks then a deload should be in order. I'm thinking about doing some triples for extra intensity to peak this phase in the last few sessions. Here it is:

A2G Squats 60x6 85x5 110kgx5 PR? (242lbs)- I've reached that stage. My knees are starting to cave in and my back wants to take over. Not sure what my approach will be to get through this. I think this is the most I've done ass to grass. I've done 122.5kgx5 with terrible form and just below parallel. I'll think about it anyway. Maybe a higher rep set with lower weight after the heavier stuff. Will probably go for 115x3 next week, maybe more than one set, I'll see how I feel. Need to keep the momentum going though. On another note, my knees have been feeling great recently, should never have stopped going ass to grass.

Rack deadlifts 182.5kgx5 PR (402lbs)- Bar was at the bottom of the knee cap. Used straps on this one. It seems strange though, it seemed to help my right grip which was really solid, but my underhand left seemed to struggle and make it harder. I might try just the right next time. My best to date was 185x1 with a bent back, so definite improvement here.

140kgx12- Down set.

Power cleans 60x1 90kgx1 PR- I made 90 this week, but it was fuc*ing dodgy. The bar nearly took me out at the top and make me fall backwards. Might be better to use a lower weight and do reps. I stopped here anyway.

Cycling machine- 20 minutes- Heart rate -145-150- Not too bad effort wise, could have kept going quite easily.

And that was all. My lower back hasn't felt like this in a while, it's pretty cooked from the rack work. Not much else to say really. Left shoulder is feeling better which is good. Just want to keep heading towards 2/3/4/5. Enjoying the cycling so if I can get this last bit of fat off then I might put on some more muscle to help with the strength.

Anyway that is all for today, until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Fuglydude]

Nice work on the 110 kg ATG squat!! How wide was your stance for these? I personally find rack deadlifts tough. I think its because I'm not used to the movement. Definitely can see how they are a productive exercise though.

If you're gonna do rep work w/ cleans my old olympic lifting coach said to always keep reps at 5 or under (unless you're doing a broomstick or something) to make sure that you don't learn bad habits associated with fatigue.

 

[Quagmire911]

Thank you, the stance was medium I would say, somewhat wider than shoulder width but not too much.

Maybe rack deads would help you close in on 500...

I remember something about keeping cleans at 5 or lower. I think its because they are CNS intensive because they are explosive.

 

[Quagmire911]

Tuesday

Got infected with something last week. May have been the dreaded swine flu heh. Stupidly drank on Friday and made it worse, but I was feeling pretty much normal this morning, just coughing up some pus, the remanants of the infection. Note to self, never drink when infected, you would have thought that would have been obvious.

Haven't drank since Friday and I'm planning on keeping it going. The most I haven't drank this year is 4 days in a row so I'm going for a record of at least 7 days. I've been slowly cleaning up my act recently and its starting to show. I need to bring the drinking down a bit more and I'll be spot on I think. Cardio has been weekly now for 5 weeks. Weight is down 4lbs to 184.5lbs this morning and waist is down 1.5" to 35.75". Haven't been under 36" in quite a while so I'm glad to have broken through that benchmark. Starting to feel fitter and more energetic. Only way to go is up. Hopefully I'll be lean again in a few weeks, then I can really focus on strength. Anyway, here it is:

Overhead press 82.5kgx0- Got it to maybe mid head height. Would have been a PR. Not to pissed off about missing it considering the circumstances.

60kgx10- Down set. Equals my PR.

Kroc DB rows 46kgx12x12 PR?- Maybe a PR. I was absolutely wiped after this. Was going to do some CG bench but there wasn't any point. Maybe some residual effects of the infection, or maybe I just pushed to hard. Used straps on the second set, I think I finally figured out how to use them properly.

S.bike- 30 minutes-Level 4-HR 145-150-Miles 8.92- Didn't feel great the first 15-20 minutes, but after that it was a breeze. I had to push harder towards the end to keep my heart rate up. Must have been recovering from the weights during the cardio or soemthing heh. Feeling much fitter and energetic, could have kept going. My legs are the only problem, but after 20-25 minutes they were fine as well for some reason.

Well that was all. Got a free bike the other day but it has some problems and I'm trying to fix it up. Hoping to have it sorted by tommorow so I can go for a ride. Not much else to say. Until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Fuglydude]

Sorry about the infection. You still had pretty good numbers though. Gotta love how getting sick makes you look leaner!

Where do you get your conditioning work outs from? Do you just make them up or is there a particular website you use for sources and ideas?

 

[Quagmire911]

The HIIT is based of off Ross Enamaits Infinite Intensity. You can find him over at www.rosstraining.com.

Seeing as I am here, cardio today was:

S.Bike 30 minutes Level 4 HR 145-150 Miles 9.33 - The level was 6 for most of the first 5 minutes so as to get my heart rate up. Then it was mostly 4 although I had to bump it to 5 occasionally to keep the heart rate up.

Back is cooked after the Kroc Rows. Not sure if there will be any dead work tommorow (today). Until then...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

Reasonable day today. I keep getting head rushes with the heavy weights which is a bit disconcerting. I hope its natural. Here it is:

A2G Squats 70x3 90x3 115kgx3 (253lbs) PR?- I think this is the most I've done a2g. This was hard. Maybe deload time next week.

Rack deadlift 200kgx1 (440lbs) PR - First time with 200kg in my hands, felt good. I've definitely figured straps out, grip wasn't an issue at all with them and that was double overhand. This was maybe a little lower than last week as it wasn't the same setup, but it was pretty much at the bottom of the knee cap again. Back felt a little strained during the lift but it was alright and has been. Good stuff to be hitting 200kg+, its a milestone, even if it is in the rack. Had a little bit more there, but I was being careful cause my back was a little cooked from the Kroc rows on Tuesday. Should be good for 450lbs+. I can almost smell 500lbs in the rack...

Power cleans 70kgx5 80kgx3 85kgx1 -Doing reps felt better. The 85 was a little funny, but not nearly as bad as last week's 90. I think sticking to 5 and 3's is a good idea.

S.Bike Time 30:30s Miles 10 Level 4-5 HR 150-155- My fitness has come up fast in the last few weeks, especially with this aerobic work. This was a breeze today, and it was my best yet, even after the weights. Should hit 10 miles in under 30 minutes soon. I'm feeling a lot fitter and energetic. Good stuff. My rpm at level 4 has gone from around 90 to 100 since the start of last week.

That was all. Pretty good session. As I say, maybe deload time next week, maybe the week after. I'm actually enjoying the cardio which is good. Haven't drank since last Friday which is an abstinence record for this year. The only way is up.

Anyway, that is all for today, until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Friday

Some more cardio today:

S.Bike Time 30minutes Miles 10.16 HR 150-155 Level 4 -Got over 10 miles in under 30 minutes today. Hit the actual mark at 29:34s. Pretty pleased with this. Feeling a lot fitter now.

Until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Tuesday

Decided to do a deload today. Head rushes have been getting worse so I wanted to at least deload for that. Blood pressure must be spiking too much or something, I will look at my breathing. Here it is:

Db overhead press 26kgx5x5- Not bad, probably about right for a deload.

DB Kroc rows 34kgx5x5- Not bad.

CG Bench 55kgx5x8- Easy.

Just focused on some good form. Nothing caused any problems. Felt refreshing doing some light stuff. Then:

S.Bike Time 30 minutes Miles 9.8 HR 150-155 Level 4- Couldn't really get into it today, felt uncomfortable. Still my second best effort. Might take it back a notch to 145-150 HR.

And that was all. Hoping to go tommorow for some more cardio but money is tight. Going to do get a monthly membership on Thursday which is cheaper and will get me the rest of the month for free cause of the way the system works. I'll maybe just do something else, but I tend not to be too stict outside the gym unless its HIIT. Still, definitely a big pick up in fitness as I've been saying. Weight was showing 183-184 and waist was 35.5" ish so the measurements are still heading in the right direction. Can see definite improvements in the abdominal region. Nearly down half a stone and two inches, so its going well. I reckon high 170's is where I will end up.

Anyway, that is all for today, until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

Deloads suck balls. Weights were about 80%:

A2G Squat 60x5 75x5 90kgx5- Easy

Deadlift 150kgx1 -Ok. 150+ always feels heavy on deads. Not psyched up either. Felt a little bit of head pressure here, don't think I breathed right. Not as bad as usual right enough.

S.Bike Time 30 mins Miles 8.88 Level 5 HR 145-150- Didn't hit the groove today either. Not too bad I suppose.

Well that was it. I'm thinking of seperating deads and squats and pairing each with bench or oh press. I think this will be best for progression, but I'll have to test it out.

Yesterday's cardio I cut the grass which was 45 minutes or so, probably with a little less intensity than the biking. Will probably be in tommorow for another session. Just got the membership renewed so I'm set. Until tommorow...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Friday

Some cardio:

S.Bike Time 30 mins Miles 9.7 HR 145 Level 4 - My heart can get through this easy, and I'm finding it harder to keep it up because my legs burn quite a bit. Thats been a problem this week. I've not paid as much attention to drinking water throughout the day, maybe I'm slightly dehydrated or something.

Then went to the steam room afterwards, also swam a bit. Was good. Anyway, until next time...

Quagmire