jnjh's Training log.

[jnjh]

Sunday 16 August 2009

Squats
20kg, 2x5
40kg, 1x5
60kg, 1x5
90kg, 1x5
110kg, 5x5

Personal record ... just by the thick greying hair of my chiny chin chin. The last rep of the last set was hard-earned and pretty hoary, but it went down and back up, so. Sticking with 110kgs might be a good idea for a while, to concentrate on good-quality squatting.

Bench
20kg, 1x5
40kg, 1x5
70kg, 5x5

Personal record here too. Third time is the charm, again. Quietly happy about this one. The bench is my least favourite exercise, lower even than the overhead press. At least with the overhead press I can feel epic when I get the weight above me. With the bench I'm just trying to keep from being crushed - it's a battle to stay alive! It always feels awkward too.

Bent Row
57.5kg, 5x5

Mickey and I have decided to stick with bent over rows now, rather than doing inverse rows and going back and forth between the two exercises.

Press-ups
25/20/15

Time to change it up here. I did a series of clap press-ups during the adverts while watching The Contender 4 the other day, and these were nice and challenging, so I might bring them to the gym.

Reverse Crunches
3x15

I wish every day at the gym was like it is on Sunday. Room to move. Based on how these last two workouts have gone I think I will skip the week off for now. Although ... maybe it's good to take a break while I'm ahead? I'll let my body tell me what to do.

[jnjh]

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Squats
20kg, 2x5
40kg, 1x5
60kg, 1x5
90kg, 1x5
110kg, (242lbs), 3x5

No weight progression here today, and 3x5 rather than 5x5. I wanted to go easy on myself.

Overhead Press
20kg, 2x5
42.5kg, (93.5lbs), 5x5

I stuck with 42.5kg just to make sure I have it nailed before I go up in weight. Will give 45kgs a go on Sunday -during our video shoot, ho ho.

Deadlift
60kg, 1x5
90kg, 1x5
120kg, 1x2
135kg, 1x2
145kg, (319lbs), 1x5

Didn't see this one coming today, but hey, another personal record to chalk up! This means I have to give 1x5 150kgs a go on Sunday. This felt strangely easier than getting 1x5 140kgs. In the second rep Mickey said something about my back and I managed to correct my form for the rest.

Snatch-grip deadlift
60kg, 1x10

Pull-ups
7/6/5

Finished up with Prone Bridges and a bit of halfhearted stretching. I'm having four days off until Sunday morning.

[Leot]

Great progress on the deads and squat, you are well on your way to being a very strong fellow. Only advice I can offer for OHP is to make sure you get your form rock solid, it can feel fine but be pretty sloppy unless you see yourself/have a partner who watches you carefully.

[jnjh]

Thanks Leot, yeah I feel like I'm on my way ... slowly, steadily.

As far as form check for the OHP goes I'm fortunate enough to have my mate Mickey (mjh) alongside to tell me if things are looking ugly. That and there's a bloody great mirror in front of me!

[RobCosimo]

145 x 5 - sweet! at this rate I guesstimate in two years you'll be deadlifting 500kgs...and then you will look quite scary, and will probably only find employment as a circus freak or professional wrestler...

seriously though, good shit

[jnjh]

Sunday 23 August 2009

Today was the big filming day, which no doubt Mickey will also describe in his own log. There were some technical difficulties (both with Mickey's camera and also with me!) but we got some footage that I think he is going to turn into an inspirational clip that will no doubt launch us into super stardom . Yes. So the camera was working for our squat and overhead press sets, and died before the deadlifting began, which is most unfortunate.

Squats
20kg, 2x5
40kg, 1x5
60kg, 1x5
90kg, 2x5
100kg, 1x5
110kg, 1x5
120kg, 2x1
60kg, 1x12

Right. 120kgs is a personal record for me. This was interesting! First, while Mickey was filming, I gave the weight a go without the safety guards. I did my first one, and this was fine. Mickey commented on my depth being good. Okay. Down again. For some insane reason I went right down to a complete squat, right down on my haunches, as if I was going to take a crap. I thought, "Fuck, how am I going to get up from here?" And no safety bars. I got myself up, but it felt - and looked - hideous. I didn't need to see the footage to know. So we put the bars on and I gave it another crack. Again, I did one, and the second one I had to bail out from under the weight, thanks to having the safety bars. Mickey got that on film, and will probably put it up for all to inspect. It was a good experience.

Overhead Press
20kg, 2x5
45kg, 5x5

I surprised myself here. New personal record. I expected to stall a bit on this weight. Maybe having the camera filming me was an added incentive to achieve. On to 47.5kgs.

Deadlift
60kg, 1x5
90kg, 1x5
120kg, 1x3
135kg, 1x2
150kg, 1x5

While I did achieve 1x5 at 150kgs, (personal record), it did start to look and feel pretty ugly. My back was rounding and the last rep was hard earned.

Chin-ups
8/5/4

I didn't have much energy left ot devote to these chin-ups and I didn't feel like doing anything else afterward. Prone bridges can wait until this evening, when I do some stretching.

I have some kind of ache emanating from the place where my neck meets my shoulder, in my right trapezius. It's been there a week now. Time to figure out what's going on and deal to it.

It was a fun session filming each other, monkeying around a bit, and I look forward to watching the footage once Mickey has played with it. Also a good session for new records.

[mjh]

it was fun alright. I'm getting a sinking feeling that my camera is poked, but I'll take it into a shop tomorrow. I'm fairly cynical that any repair will cost as much as a new camera would. I've got the money to buy a new camera if need be, but that will sting a bit. I think there was just too much awesome being filmed, and the camera couldn't handle it. If I buy a new one I'll be sure to get one with a high awesome rating.

[dylanamus]

There's that 150kg deadlift I was waiting for! Good work, man.

[jnjh]

Sunday 30 August 2009

Having 6 days off apparently did me no favours strength-wise. My trapezius ache has gone however, so no pain is good. Still, today was not a spectacular day in the gym, and for some reason I was sweating like a mofo. I don't do well in hot weather (not that today was overly hot) and I have a feeling my strength will taking a beating over the coming warm months.

Squats
20kg, 2x5
40kg, 1x5
60kg, 1x5
90kg, 5x5

Easing myself back in here. Probably being a bit soft on myself really.

Bench
20kg, 1x5
40kg, 1x5
70kg, 5/5/3/3/3

I've devolved here. Not a good day for benching. Onwards.

Inverted Rows
15/12/8

I blame bent rows for my trapezius pain, so I have gone back to the inverted rows. Not a favourite of mine, but this time I will stick with them and watch some development.

Press-ups
25/15/12

Reverse Crunches
3x15

By this time I was dripping with sweat. What the heck was going on! I have been doing really well lately, so I think I expect to destroy weights and achieve new records every time I go to the gym. I have to accept down days from time-to-time.

On the bright side, I did have a really good time while away for a couple of days at a noho marae. I didn't get a lick of sleep due to some terrible snoring, and - as a vegetarian - I did not do well in the eating stakes, but it was good to get out of the city and have some quality bonding times with my fellow trainee counsellors. When we had some free time we got out on the road in someone's jeep, cranked some Creedence and saw some beautiful local scenery, from the Awapuni dam to the bird sanctuary on Maungatautari. One night I listened to ghost stories by an expert story teller, another night I discussed the ins and outs of Christianity! Lots of significant moments. Completely unrelated to lifting!

[jnjh]

Tuesday 1 September 2009

Squats
20kg, 2x5
40kg, 1x5
60kg, 1x20
70kg, 1x10
80kg, 1x10

Today was a day to give volume a go. It certainly got my heart rate up. Next time it's back to climbing the weight ladder. As Mickey commented in his log, there was a guy next to us doing awesome squats at 120kgs, making them look easy, and did 10 sets of what I think was 6 reps! Man. Impressive, and humbling. He must have good mental toughness too. I told the guy that I'd squatted 120kgs but once, and that certainly hadn't been a pretty sight. Great motivation to keep on keeping on.

Overhead Press
20kg, 2x5
30kg, 1x5
45kg, 5x5
47.5kg, 1x3

I achieved 5x5 at 45kgs again, so next time I'll tackle 47.5kgs. I decided to have a taste of that weight at the end here. Hard!

Deadlift
60kg, 1x5
90kg, 1x5
120kg, 1x5
135kg, 1x3
150kg, 1x5

My form was much better this time around at the 150kg mark, and I felt a lot better too. So, come Sunday I will attempt 155kgs. Or something like that.

Snatch-grip deadlift
90kg, 1x5

Pull-ups
8/5/4

Prone Bridges. Leave gym. Walk my sweaty ass into town.

[RobCosimo]

You're catching up to me in deadlifts - you should go in the 500lb competition

[jnjh]

I don't feel as if I quite qualify for entering that competition yet, 500lbs is a long way off. Nor do I feel as if I am catching up to you sir! Trying my best to though. Slow and steady and all that.

[dylanamus]

You're moving some substantial weights around, buddy. Eat enough and you're going to hulk up fast.

[jnjh]

Friday 4 September 2009

Squats
60kg, 1x5
80kg, 1x5
100kg, 5x5

Time to start challenging myself, building up in weight again, and really concentrating on good form and getting down below parallel. I was starting to creep higher and higher as the weight got heavier. Now I'm going to focus on doing it right, and not worry if I do or don't increase weight.

Bench
20kg, 1x5
40kg, 1x5
60kg, 1x5
70kg, 5x5

Got this weight again. The last reps of the last two sets were, as Mickey can attest, most challenging, didn't really want to move up, but I moved that bar up.

Inverted Rows
15/11/9

Press-ups
15/15/15/12

Reverse Crunches and then off to rehearsal.

[Leot]

Awesome progress jnjh, especially on the deadlift! What is your weight and height?