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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 7, 2010 2:38:27 GMT -5
Matti Tikka Lead Up Week 1 - Friday 06/08/10
This workout was done in a slightly weird format, as I was squeezing it in before taking the lovely lady out to dinner.
Bench Press 5x3 @ 85kg(187lbs)
Supersetted with
Chinups 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Then
Close Grip Bench 3x8 @ 60kg(132lbs)
Supersetted with
Dumbell Rows 3x8 @ 22.5kg(50lbs)
- Squeezed for time, didn't seem to make too much of a difference though.
- Bench felt a little heavy but I was having trouble setting up and didn't have any chalk so my hands were sliding a little. Smashed next week.
- Chinups felt good, these will become weighted chinups next week (adding 2.5kg everytime I hit 5x5 reps)
- Close Grip was fine, will probably do 10 reps next week and then up the weight the following week.
- Dumbell rows were a little odd due to an awkward shaped dumbell. Ah well.
- I was meant to squat today (Saturday) but hardly slept last night due to a head cold and aching shoulder. The shoulder has fixed up (stretched the pec and massaged it) but the head cold has stuck around. Pretty zapped for energy so figured there's no point trying to smash myself with squats. Next time, batman.
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Post by peterako on Aug 9, 2010 8:26:25 GMT -5
" I was meant to squat today (Saturday) but hardly slept last night due to a head cold and aching shoulder. The shoulder has fixed up (stretched the pec and massaged it) but the head cold has stuck around. Pretty zapped for energy so figured there's no point trying to smash myself with squats. Next time, batman. "
There'll be days like this....hopefully few and far between!
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 10, 2010 3:01:58 GMT -5
Matti Tikka Lead Up Week 2 - Monday 09/08/10
Bench Press Worked up to
1x4 @ 92.5kg(204lbs)
Chinups 10 sets, again. 7x4, 2x3, 1x1
Dumbell Bench 3x10 @ 22.5kg(50lbs)
Military Press 3x8 @ 35kg(77lbs)
- Another fairly rushed session. Today was the 1 year anniversary that my poor girl was foolish enough to accept my offer of a boyfriend. Thankfully it was an upperbody day.
- Right... so bench was a pretty big jump from last week, the story goes like this. I had intended on doing 1x5 @ 87.5kg (a 2.5kg increase), however for the life of me I couldn't find a second 1.25kg plate. Looked all over the gym for about 5 minutes and thought bugger this, I'll just do 90kg because I'm wasting time. So got down to business, set up well and unracked the bar. Right off the bat it felt a little lopsided but I figured I was just a little asymmetrical in my set up. Got to 4 reps and was being really put off by the asymmetry, racked the weight and yep... I'd left an extra 2.5kg plate on one side. Boofhead. I'll probably just try and do this for 5 reps next week...
- Didn't have my program with me, I was meant to do Chinups after Dumbell bench. I'm sure I'll live. I was disappointed on having to do 10 sets, I was aiming for 9 (8 sets of 4, followed by one set of 3). I might try and set this to a timer so that I've got a way of keeping things constant (e.g. do a set on the minute every 1 or 2 minutes).
- Dumbell bench was alright, I was having a hard time stabilising so I will keep this weight next week and try for 12 reps. Figure there's no point bumping the weight up until I can do it right.
- Military Press was fine, 3x10 next week.
- Deathlifts tomorrow.
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Post by peterako on Aug 10, 2010 6:33:16 GMT -5
Bench is making great progress Murph!!
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 11, 2010 6:16:33 GMT -5
Matti Tikka Lead Up Week 2 - Wednesday 11/08/10
Deadlifts 5x3 @ 165kg(363lbs)
Squats 5x5 @ 95kg(209lbs)
Weighted Planks 3x30secs @ 10kg
Good Mornings 1x8 @ 40kg(88lbs) 2x8 @ 50kg(110lbs)
curlz 1x10 @ 20kg(44lbs) 1x8 @ 30kg(66lbs) 1x10 @ 25kg(55lbs)
- motivation was very low going in to today's session. Got in and got it done though. I knew I was training solo so this didn't help. I still enjoy other peoples input on my form.
- Deadlifts felt 100x better today. Set up felt better, moved the bar faster and locked out strong. I'll up it to 167.5kg next week and make sure the reps stay tight.
- Squats felt a bit off. Didn't warm up enough and also couldn't get the bar in a nice position on my back (I'm trying low bar again remember). Some reps were good, some were really sloppy. The difference seemed to be how much I focused on setting up before each rep. More focus next week.
- Abs were wrecked going in to planks. 30secs was the absolute limit I could have held it for. I probably should have done 1-2 more sets without weight. Ah well, next week.
- Played around with weight a little bit in Good mornings and curls. Next week will be 3x8 @ 50 and 3x10 @ 25 respectively.
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 12, 2010 23:47:12 GMT -5
Matti Tikka Lead Up Week 2 - Thursday 12/08/10
Bench Press 5x3 @ 85kg(187lbs)
Close Grip Bench 5x5 @ 60kg(132lbs)
Weighted Chinups 5, 4, 4, 4, 4 @ BW + 2.5kg
Dumbell Rows 3x10 @ 20kg
- This was meant to be Friday's session but I've had to do it early as I'm going away for the weekend.
- Bench felt good. A little challenging but not close to failing.
- Close Grip feels as if I could handle considerably more weight. I'll just keep increasing it steadily and see what happens.
- Pretty happy with chinups, hopefully hit 5x5 next week.
- Not sure I like the feeling of Dumbell rows... Maybe try light bent rows. Not too sure.
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 13, 2010 0:03:00 GMT -5
Matti TIkka Lead Up Week 2 - Friday 13/08/10
Squats 5x3 @ 120kg(264lbs) 1x20 @ 60kg(132lbs)
Glute Ham Raise 3x10 @ 9 Pins
Supersetted With
Barbell Curls 3x10 @ 25kg
Roman Chair Situps 3x10 @ 9 Pins
Supersetted With
Front Raises 3x10 @ 15kg Plate
- Comments to come later on, gotta dash.
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 16, 2010 7:11:46 GMT -5
Matti Tikka Lead Up Week 3 - Monday 16/08/10
Bench Press 1x3 @ 92.5kg(204lbs) 1x5 @ 85kg(187lbs)
Dumbell Bench Press 3x12 @ 22.5kg(50lbs)
Chinups One set done on the minute, as many minutes/sets to hit 35 reps. 14 sets
Press 3x10 @ 35kg(77lbs)
Bent-Row 3x10 @ 45kg(100lbs)
- After last week I was hoping for 1x5 @ 92.5kg on the bench. This wasn't to be, I could maybe have gotten 1x4 but it felt too hard. The aim of this set is just to work up to a "heavy set of 5". So knocked it back to 85kg(80%) and knocked out 5 reps fairly well. Tried to use a bit of leg drive but can't get the hang of it yet. Might try 87.5kg next week.
- Dumbell bench felt good, ready for 25kg next week for 8-10 reps.
- Decided to change the chinup format so that there's a standard protocol making it easier to measure progess. This seems alright, I did 3 sets of 4, 2 sets of 3 and the rest as sets of 2.
- Military Press was alright, though it got hard as some of the guys were telling jokes in my last set. 35kg becomes really hard to stabilise overhead when you're laughing your ass off.
- Bent row for more back volume. This will follow a similar pattern to press loading (8 reps, 10 reps, 12 reps, then increase weight).
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 23, 2010 7:03:07 GMT -5
5/3/1 Cycle 1 - Week 1 23/08/10
Press 5 @ 40kg(88lbs) 5 @ 45kg(99lbs) 9 @ 52.5kg(116lbs)
Press + Chinups Press set immediately followed by a set of chinups 5x10 @ 30kg(66lbs) 5, 5, 4, 4, 3
Dumbell Row 5x6 @ 32kg(70lbs)
Hill Sprints 1 rep = Sprint up hill, walk back down. Done at a hill at the soccer fields near my house. 5 reps. 1 minute break 5 reps.
- 5/3/1. It's simple, structured and allows for some flexibility in exercise selection. It's what I'll be giving it a run of 6 cycles.
- Press felt alright, needed to warm up my shoulders a little more as there was a lot of cracking & popping going on in my t-spine as I was doing this. I'm going to make sure there's plenty of pulling movements in this program as I think for a while I was doing faaaaaaar too much pushing. (Sheiko with bench 3 days/week and no pulling movements).
- Press+Chinups was assistance work. I might need to use a band so that I can get a higher number of chins next time. We'll see.
- Rows were pretty hard, with a bit of slop in the form. There's only a few dumbells in the home gym and this is the lightest (aside from a 15kg one). Just going to stick at 6 reps till I nail them strict.
- Hill sprints because I really need to get in shape. I like how Jim Wendler stresses this in his program and I'll be adding hill sprints, jump rope & barbell complexes (slowly) in to the mix. This was a pretty easy "conditioning" session, had a bit of hamstring pump at the end which was good.
- Did a little bit of stretching & glute activation stuff in between some sets. I need to start stretching regularly again, it messes with my squats a tremendous amount. I get in to the whole but lose all speed as I'm pulled out of position by my tight hips. No speed, no tightness, no tension = grinding reps.
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Post by peterako on Aug 23, 2010 11:17:44 GMT -5
Sounds interesting Murph!
You seemed to be making good progress on the last routine though....
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 25, 2010 6:19:01 GMT -5
5/3/1 Cycle 1 - Week 1 25/08/10
DEATHLIFTS 5 @ 70kg(154lbs) 5 @ 90kg(198lbs) 5 @ 110kg(242lbs) 5 @ 130kg(286lbs) 5 @ 150kg(330lbs) 8 @ 170kg(374lbs)
Skwats 5 @ 80kg(176lbs) 5 @ 90kg(198lbs) 4x3 @ 100kg(220lbs)
Hip Extensions 5x10 @ Bodyweight
Decline Bench Situps 5x10 @ Bodyweight
Skipping 5 x 1 Minute Intervals Tried to mix in skipping on both feet, alternating and skipping on one foot.
- Deathlifts were called deathlifts because I was actually really intimidated by the prospect of pulling 170kg for more than 5 reps tonight. The set felt pretty good and I didn't get any negative comments from any of my training mates so I guess it was all right. I could probably have squeezed out another 1-2 reps but decided to leave a little in the tank as I am wary of hurting something with deadlifts. I have been using Hook Grip for all of my deadlifting for the past 2-3 months but think that for these all out sets I may have to change to mixed grip as Hook Grip for such high reps seems to hammer the skin on my thumbs.
- Had to play around a little to work out what weight was right for squats. 100kg felt pretty good. Apparently I'm letting my knees slide forward a bit which is a bad idea but I seemed to be able to rectify the issue with some cueing. This is something I'll try to keep an eye on. Squats felt much better with the recent mobility work + stretching. I'll stick to low bar.
- Hip extensions were used in order to get my glutes to fire. They appear to be extremely inactive and this is nae' good. Focused on contracting my abs/glutes throughout the movement and managed to get a bit of soreness going on by the end of the set.
- Decline situps felt alright, just have to be careful to make sure I control the movement and my hip flexors don't yank on my spine too much.
- Skipping was alright, felt a little unco but just decided to try and get the heart rate up for a few minutes.
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Post by peterako on Aug 25, 2010 8:00:53 GMT -5
'8 @ 170kg(374lbs)'
Excellent Tom!
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 25, 2010 17:28:50 GMT -5
Haha thanks Pete, I was pretty happy with it myself.
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 26, 2010 2:13:45 GMT -5
5/3/1 Cycle 1 - Week 1 26/08/10
Bench Press 5 @ 35kg(77lbs) 5 @ 45kg(99lbs) 5 @ 55kg(121lbs) 5 @ 65kg(143lbs) 5 @ 75kg(165lbs) 9 @ 85kg(187lbs)
Bench Press + Curl Grip Bent Row 5x10 @ 55kg(121lbs) -supersetted with- 5x10 @ 45kg(99lbs)
Close Grip Bench 5x5 @ 65kg(143lbs)
- Did my mobility program this morning. Felt good. Bench was done a day early as I've got plans for Friday evening.
- Bench felt good, made sure to warm up my upper body properly and didn't feel any twinges or niggles. 9 reps at 85kg was hard but I had 1 more rep in the tank at least.
- The Superset is to try and get more bench volume in + try and balance out the pushing with some pulling. I think I can handle an extra 5kg in the Rows, I'll keep the bench weight where it is. Only rested 1min30secs between each set.
- Close Grip was fine.
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Post by rpmcmurphy on Aug 29, 2010 7:16:08 GMT -5
5/3/1 Cycle 1 - Week 1 28/08/10
Squats 5 @ 47.5kg(105lbs) 5 @ 62.5kg(138lbs) 5 @ 75kg(165lbs) 5 @ 90kg(198lbs) 5 @ 102.5kg(226lbs) 9 @ 115kg(253lbs)
Glute Ham Raises 5x10 @ BW (8 pins)
Complex Curl Bent Row Press Power Snatch Overhead Squat
3 x10 @ 20kg(44lbs) with approx 4-5 mins between each set.
Roman Chair Situps 2x10 @ BW (8 pins)
Incline Flies 3x10 @ 5kg
- Was a bit wary about todays session. I had gotten 4 hours sleep the night before, woken up and helped transport a gym for about 1.5 hours and had a pretty lacklustre breakfast. No reason for half efforts though, so gave it my best.
- Felt a little tight on the squats but better than last Saturday. Tried to warm up properly but think I'll have to take longer next week as there was still some tightness in my groin/hips in the hole that messes the entire movement up. I was happy with 9 reps, though they were pretty hard, I should have tried for 10 and I think that mentally I gave up and settled for 9 reps as opposed to really being that exhausted.
- GHR felt good, last reps on the sets were generally a bit of a struggle. I'll keep it at 8 pins for another week and then try to move in to 7 pins.
- Complex was alright, I think I was taking it a bit too cruisy however and would be better served by trying to do as many sets as possibly in say 5-7 minutes.
- The rest of the training session got called short as the barbie was fired up and I was elected to be chef.
- Starting "the Paleo Diet" tomorrow. Hoping to lose a bit of fat as well as feel a bit more energy and other assosciated health benefits. I'm trying it for 1 month and will post results / comments as I go along. Aiming to keep my weight above 100kg(220lbs), I'm 112kg atm (245lbs).
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