Luco's log - 2nd try- Rebuilding after injury

[luco]

Thanks, Arthur. I tend to sweat easily.. It's a curse, but I don't really mind when I'm lifting. Alot more impractical when I'm at school and I'm supposed to be a 'patient' or test subject.. Sitting in front of a full classroom in your undies while you can feel beads of sweat dripping down your back/armpits, forming a small river into your crack.. Embarrassing to say the least.

[ArthurNijkamp]

I'm supposed to be a 'patient' or test subject..

What do you study, medicine?

[luco]

Skip my first post will you! j/k.

Studying physical therapy at the HVA. Currently 2nd year.

[ArthurNijkamp]

My bad...

At least you are studying something where you can put some of your fitness knowledge to good use (and the other way around...)

[luco]

Saturday's 1RM Test day!

Squat:
1x 130 PR - Goal for 31-10 reached. Also first time I used a belt. Definitely helped me feel alot more stable/secure, so went into the lift with more confidence. Still hard as hell, had to grind it up the last bit.

Bench Press:
1x 90 PR - Goal for 31-10 reached
0x 100 - Still a long way to go
0x 95 - Just as heavy

Powerclean:
1x 70 PR - Goal for 31-10 reached. Got some technique pointers from a friend after failing 70 twice. Third time was the charm.

OHP:
1x 55 - Not really a PR in my mind, but it was the goal I set for 31-10 so it's reached.
0x 60 - Looking back I should have tried 57.5.. Next time.

Deadlift:
1x 150 ! PR - Goal for 31-12 reached! New goal: 170

So.. All my goals for 31-10 are reached and my deadlift goal for the end of the year has also been reached. Good times!

[saukkis]

Gratz on reaching your goals. I'd still advice against the belt though, even if it's only for 1RM attempt.

[luco]

Thanks, Saukkis. Any particular reason for advising against a belt? I realise training without a belt will inhibit core strength development, so I don't use one, but I don't see the problem with using one on max attempts. It makes keeping intra abdominal pressure alot easier.

[saukkis]

Mostly for me the reason is mental. I used to use wraps for deadlift 1RM's and saying you lifted X amount with wraps just didn't feel as good as saying you lifted X amount raw. I do know that wraps aren't really for safety like the belt is so I suppose it's use is allright, it's just that I'm an advocate for raw lifting

[luco]

100% agree with you on the mental advantage. By all means I'm for raw lifting, but having had a back injury so short ago, the extra feel of safety and core tightness makes me more confident about lifts, allowing me to keep a positive mindstate ('This is going up.'). Think this is a big part of it. I'd only use wraps on max attempts if I had already had previous knee injuries.

Ofcourse this all goes for general strength training. Not competitive powerlifting. I can fully understand that adding a suit to add massive weight to the squat, dead and bench is a logical evolution of the sport (there's a choice of competing at a raw or geared meet). Just like there's natural and steroid bodybuilding competitions. People just want to see everything get bigger, heavier and more awesome.

[luco]

Today's Lifts:

Squat:
10x 20
5x 60
5x 80
3x 100
5/5/4x 115 - Didn't feel strong enough for the last rep. 4th rep on the last set was kind of shaky already.

Bench press:
5x 20
5x 60
3x 70
3x5x 80 - Hell yeah.. Took 2 secs of rest and a big breath at the top before the last rep on the 2nd and last set. Made a huge difference. Just blasted it up.

BOR:
5x 60
3x5x 72,5 - *

TGU's:
4/2/2/2x 18 KG - PR

* - I'm still not quite sure how much hip extension is acceptable on the BOR to progress. First 2-3 reps are always picture perfect, but the last reps there always seems to be a little bit of hip movement. I'm not deadlifting or anything, but they're never as perfect as the first ones, unless the weight is below my capabilities. You could argue that now I'm working over my capabilities, but it's impossible to progress on these without a hint of 'cheating' in my experience.. Thoughts?

[holvoetn]

Nice numbers (and congrats on meeting your goals so far).

A bit of hip movement is allowed on BBRows, though not too much.
If you really want to keep the hips rock-steady, it's more like Pendlay Rows which are another thing.

When the weights go up, you will notice weights where you had some hip movement all of a sudden do not invoke this anymore.
It's not cheating

[luco]

Crappy workout today. Had a lousy breakfast and felt I was missing the energy. Skipped light squats cause I wanted to make sure I got my other lifts (which still didn't happen). I'm going to start keeping a diet log. My weight was under 80kg today. It's nice to see my abs for a change, but it's taking away so much from my strength, I need to up calories again.

OHP:
5x 20
5x 40
5x 45 - First 3 sets were cleaned to shoulders, cause someone was using the squatrack. This might have taken away 1 or 2 reps from the worksets, but still wouldn't have made it.
3/4/3/2x 52,5 - Was going for 3x5... Very crappy, so tried another set, but even worse..

Deadlift:
5x 60
5x 100
3x 120
5x 132,5 PR- Getting hard gain, but still doable.

TGU:
3/2/2/2x 20 kg - Missed by 1 rep on each side. Last 2 reps were very wobbly, most energy went towards stabilizing my left arm in the air.

[luco]

Had to rush my workout today, since I got to the gym late and it was closing in 45 mins. This is what I managed to do:

Bench Press:
5x 20
5x 40
5x 62.5
3/3/3/4/3x 82,5 - The 4th rep on the 4th set was a counting mistake.. I know, counting to 3 is hard.

Squat:
5x 20
5x 60
5x 90
1x 110
3/2/3/2x 117,5 - Crap. Weight shifted forward coming up on the 2nd rep on the 2nd and 4th set. Exactly the same. First and third sets were fine and I'm pretty sure this was cause my core was tighter. Anyway, I'm trying the 3x5x 115 kg on tuesday, so I have another week to tackle this 117,5 beast..

Powerclean:
5x 20
5x 40
1x 65 - I need to improve my form on these, I feel like I'm doing a high pull. Left them after I missed the 2nd rep. No time to worry about form issues now.

Pullups:
8/6/6 - And that was it. Gymfolks came in to kick everyone out and I wasn't even that disappointed.. Still pretty happy with what I got in in the limited time I had. Feel like an extra minute or 2 of rest in between sets would have allowed me to make those squats.

[holvoetn]

That was very fast indeed !
I bet you will feel that tomorrow

[luco]

I hope so, it's been a while since I had bad DOMS. Usually just the workout after a week off.

Stupid as it is, it makes me feel both manly and like I'm working hard for something.
Both are obviously equally true if I don't have DOMS though .