Vlad's training log

[Vlad]

@Taifun,
Thanks! I think it should be possible now to do normal push-ups, as the kneel version seems to be quite easy now. But my plan is first to get to 3x15 in the kneel version and only then switch to regular ones. I do not want to be aggresive on the assistance exercises.

Have you started to learn power cleans?

[guru]

Great Vlad, the weights are climbing up.

My T-shirt was wet again after the power clean. A good workout.

Feels great after such a workout, doesn't it?

With 3x11 kneeling push ups you should be nearly ready for regular ones?

I agree. You should switch to the regular ones next time.

- Guru

[taifun]

Yeah, I'm working on the cleans as warmups, and sometimes on rest days (no weight) Don't know when I'll sub them in for real yet, want to get form down properly on the other lifts first, particularly the press.

[Vlad]

14 Feb 2009. Workout 14.
Squat: 50 kg (110 lb) - 5x5 (wu: 20 kg - 2x5, 30 kg 1x3, 40 kg - 1x2)
OHP: 28.7 kg (63 lb) - 5x5 (wu: 11 kg - 3x5, 16 kg - 1x5, 21 kg - 1x3, 26 kg - 1x2)
DL: 110 kg (242 lb) - 1x5 (wu: 60 kg - 1x5, 80 kg - 1x3, 90 kg - 1x2, 100 kg - 1x1, 105 kg - 1x1)
Pull-ups: 3/4 pull-ups - 4x1, 4x2 (12 in total)
Rev. crunches: 10 kg - 3x12

Squat was easy. On OHP, I started to squeeze my glutes. This helps me to lock my knees and to prevent hyperextension of the lower back. It actually turned out that it is easier to press like this. I read about this somewhere, but it is still quite surprising when you experience this. DL was good, not easy anymore (getting close to my previous record of 120 kg), but not hard either. A good workout.

[guru]

Good to hear that squat is still easy, but it should feel that way since you are deadlifting 110 kg.

Progressing on pull ups, slowly...slowly. Did you try the negatives thing?

On OHP, I started to squeeze my glutes. This helps me to lock my knees and to prevent hyperextension of the lower back. It actually turned out that it is easier to press like this.

Good work on the OHP. I'll remember this on my next workout. Isn't it amazing how you never cease to learn?

BTW, looks like you've got some good fractional weights there. You did 25 - 26.2 - 27.5 - 28.7 on the OHP. They should be especially effective on the OHP & overall when you reach your maxes.

[DaveT]

On OHP, I started to squeeze my glutes. This helps me to lock my knees and to prevent hyperextension of the lower back. It actually turned out that it is easier to press like this. I read about this somewhere, but it is still quite surprising when you experience this.

'lovestolift' just gave me this advice to help me out with my OHP. I'm going to try next time. Glad to see you have already discovered it.

Great progress on your deadlifts and I'm sure your squat will progress really well. Have you got anybody helping you check your squat form? Always useful to get someone to take a look before the weights get heavier.

[Vlad]

@Guru
I have switched today from kneel push ups (3x11) to normal push ups (3x5). I measured my weight in the normal push-up position (with my hands on the scale and legs on the floor), and it was ca. 70 kg, whereas in the kneel version it was ca. 60 kg. So, the load in the kneel version is about 85% of the normal push-up, which makes it an excelent preparatory exercise for the normal push-up!

Progressing on pull ups, slowly...slowly. Did you try the negatives thing?

I add 1 pull-up every workout. It's slow, but it is expected to take me to my goal just before the deadline (25 april). I have not tried just the negatives. I could do more pull-ups then I do now, but I want to increase their numbers very gradually, because I have pain in the bottom position. This is why I use 75% range of motion (do not extend the elbows completely).

Good work on the OHP. I'll remember this on my next workout (squeesing the glutes). Isn't it amazing how you never cease to learn?

Thanks. Let me know if it helps you to press as well.

BTW, looks like you've got some good fractional weights there. You did 25 - 26.2 - 27.5 - 28.7 on the OHP. They should be especially effective on the OHP & overall when you reach your maxes.

I desided that 2.5 kg jumps on OHP will not lead me far. I still need to work on technique, and I would not want to press heavy if it is not good. But OHP even now with just 28.7 kg seems to be the most difficult lift.

Thanks for your comments and advice. I really apreciate it.

[Vlad]

@Dave

On OHP, I started to squeeze my glutes. This helps me to lock my knees and to prevent hyperextension of the lower back. It actually turned out that it is easier to press like this. I read about this somewhere, but it is still quite surprising when you experience this.

'lovestolift' just gave me this advice to help me out with my OHP. I'm going to try next time. Glad to see you have already discovered it.

Let me know if squeesing glutes helps you to press.

Great progress on your deadlifts and I'm sure your squat will progress really well. Have you got anybody helping you check your squat form? Always useful to get someone to take a look before the weights get heavier.

Thanks! I really look forward to bigger weights.

Not sure I have anybody to check my form on the squat, but I read really a lot about how one should squat. I know that knowing how and being able to do it is not the same thing, but it still gives me some confidence . One more thing: 20 years ago, I was an elite level sprinter (100 and 200 m) and I used to squat quite a lot. My PR 1 rm was 130 kg@70 kg. I did not pay much attention to the theory stuff at that time, just did what my trainer told me. But I think that something was engraved permanently in my brain from that time, because it feels really natural to squat and my "intuition" about squatting agrees well with what I read recently.

Thank you for the comments. I appreciate it a lot.
Vlad

[Vlad]

16 Feb 2009. Workout 15.
Squat: 52.5 kg (116 lb) - 5x5 (wu: 20 kg - 2x5, 30 kg - 3, 40 kg - 3, 50 kg - 1 )
BP: 36 kg (79 lb) - 5x5 (wu: 13.5 kg - 3x5, 18.5 kg - 2x5, 23.5 kg - 3, 28.5 kg - 3, 33.5 kg - 2)
Power clean: 35 kg (77 lb) - 5x5 (wu: 16 kg - 5, 20 kg - 5, 25 kg - 3, 30 kg - 3)
Push-ups: 3x5
Pr. bridge: 3x30 sec

Squat was not difficult. After the last set I was not sure that if it was actually the last one. So I did one more set. BP was not difficult either.

Power clean was tiring as always, but not as exhausting as before. I have now bruises (looks really ugly) on my thighs (slightly above the middle of the thigh) after the clean. I try to keep the bar as close as possible to the thighs when jumping (it actually toaches them). Due to this the thighs hit the bar, and it feels as if I throw the bar up with my thighs. Now with a heavier weight, the bar hits the thighs hard. I hope the skin hardens and the bruises disappear. I think I will not stall soon on the cleans. When I jump I am still able to actually jump with my feet in the air quite high. I can see now that the clean puts a huge load on the traps. From now, due to the weight, it is actually quite tricky to get the bar down (I cannot just thow it down). I use my traps to decelerate the bar (I tried with my biceps, this is really bad) on the way down, and this deceleration puts so much load on the traps again: it feels like more work on the way down than up. So traps get a huge load from the clean.

Today I switched to normal push ups. It was great. It feels subjectively that 5 normal push-ups is like 10 kneel push-ups.

All in all: a good workout.

[taifun]

Good WO man, and way to go on the push ups. Nice Power Cleans too. I was playing around with them today, working up to 1x3x30kg,hang cleans but stopped there as it's technically recovery day (Went in to work on TKD forms.) I thnk 35kg full cleans sounds challenging!

[Vlad]

Good WO man, and way to go on the push ups. Nice Power Cleans too. I was playing around with them today, working up to 1x3x30kg,hang cleans but stopped there as it's technically recovery day (Went in to work on TKD forms.) I thnk 35kg full cleans sounds challenging!

Thanks! 35 kg clean is not difficult, but doing it 5x5 is quite exhaustive, at least at my level of conditioning. I can see you are also making good progress with cleans. Good luck with them!

[bluestreak]

Gday mate. I see you've progressing really well, especially the push ups. I still have trouble doing them (shoulder issues), though the 7 or so I can do are done really well.

Great to see you doing cleans as well. I loved them but they aggravated my elbow, so I stopped by the time I got to about 60 kg a few months ago. You mentioned that you can jump high - that's great. By the time it gets really heavy, you'll need all the jump you can get, plus the ability to quickly throw that bar up. When I first did 60 kg, all I could think of was "this is heavy, I need to get this up as quickly I can!"

One more thing: 20 years ago, I was an elite level sprinter (100 and 200 m) and I used to squat quite a lot. My PR 1 rm was 130 kg@70 kg. I did not pay much attention to the theory stuff at that time, just did what my trainer told me. But I think that something was engraved permanently in my brain from that time, because it feels really natural to squat and my "intuition" about squatting agrees well with what I read recently.

Damn 130 kg at 70 kg! You'll be able to lift that much again, especially if you have that natural ability to squat. The powerlifters I've talked to has said that once you get a certain amount of experience, squatting is like walking - you do it perfectly without thinking. As a beginner, I still have to be conscious about it.

Keep it up mate. We need more success stories.

[Vlad]

@bluestreak

Thanks for your support Bluestreak!

Gday mate. I see you've progressing really well, especially the push ups. I still have trouble doing them (shoulder issues), though the 7 or so I can do are done really well.

Great to see you doing cleans as well. I loved them but they aggravated my elbow, so I stopped by the time I got to about 60 kg a few months ago.

I would really recommend you the massage. It makes a HUGE difference if you have shoulder/elbow problems. I know you do massage. But you can always do it better. I myself do not use a tennis ball. It's too soft. I use a wooden ball, and you can press really hard with it, MUCH harder than with a tennice ball. I normally recommend a tennis ball, but that's because most people are not tolerant to pain, and I do not want to scare them.

For the shoulder, you should massge infraspinatus (covers the shoulder blade), supraspinatus (covers the top part of the shoulder blade, hard to distinguish from the trapezius) and teres minor (side of the shoulder blade, close to the armpit). It's also a good idea to massage between the shoulders (lots of different muscles there, all of them could contribute to shoulder pain). One more thing: do not forget to check the front, lateral and rear delts. They are normally not the cause of pain, but could contribute to it.

Another very important muscle for the shoulder pain treatment is biceps. It could really produce quite a lot of pain in the shoulder. You can massage it lying on a couch on your back and using a wooden ball (in your other arm), all the way from the elbow and up into the shoulder.

For the elbow: triceps and forearms. Just press very hard on the painful spots there (search carefully for tthem, also in the elbow itself), as hard as you can tolerate. That means really painful, otherwise it will not be very effective.

Damn 130 kg at 70 kg! You'll be able to lift that much again, especially if you have that natural ability to squat.

I hope so. I was 10 cm shorter at that time and very low on body fat (5x week training burns a lot of callories). This is why my BW was only 70 kg. My trainer said it was necessary to squat 160 kg and about 200 kg in the future in order to run really fast. I stopped training when I entered university, because after coming from training, the only thing I could do well was to sleep like dead. In retrospective, I think it's a pity I did this.

Good luck on the road to PL competition!

Vlad

[guru]

I use a wooden ball, and you can press really hard with it, MUCH harder than with a tennice ball.

Hey bluestreak, you're a kiwi. You can use a cricket ball.

[nburge]

Hey Vlad - thanks for the advice on getting rid of my muscle knots - thought I'd check out your training log... good effort! It's good to see what someone's doing who is a bit further down the track than I am.

Looking forward to getting to some of the bigger weights myself, but at the moment happy to work on form. I'm wiped out after the body weight exercises too: I'd totally forgotten about press ups since I was a kid, probably because they are HARD!

Good luck with it anyway - hopefully I can help you out in the future too.

Neil.