Two Thirds of a Half-Assed Bench Routine

Bench Press

10 reps @ 50 kgs

6 reps @ 80 kgs

5 reps @ 105 kgs

1 reps @ 120 kgs total FAIL

4 reps @ 110 kgs total FAIL

CGBP

1 reps @ 100 kgs total FAIL

8 reps @ 80 kgs

6 reps @ 80 kgs

8 reps @ 75 kgs

7 reps @ 70 kgs

DB Side Bends

left 15 reps @ 40.5 kgs

right 15 reps @ 40.5 kgs

left 15 reps @ 40.5 kgs

right 15 reps @ 40.5 kgs

I WAS Down on energy and power today, and it really showed. This is what I get for slacking through the week and then trying to squeeze it all into the weekend.


Terrible efforts on bench, and my right elbow was feeling iffy with the switch to close-grips. I thought it best not to do heavy rows as well.

Better than nothing.

Tomorrow night I squat. And later in the week, I will weigh 138 kgs or less.

SMWA Events Training - Superset Special!

EVENT: Deadlifts superset with Yoke Walk
DL 10 reps @ 50 kgs
YW 50 feet @ 205 kgs
DL 8 reps @ 110 kgs
YW 10 feet*, 40 feet @ 225 kgs *sat the yoke too far back, and it just slipped off!
DL 5 reps @ 150 kgs
YW 5 feet @ 285 kgs

DL 3 reps @ 190 kgs
DL 2 reps @ 200 kgs

ASSISTANCE: Lat Pulls superset with Pull-ups
LP 10 reps @ 60 kgs
PU 3 reps @ BW
LP 10 reps @ 60 kgs
PU 3.5 reps @ BW

AFTER the 285 kg failure on the yoke walk I just picked it up and held it a couple of times for as long as I could while Dan and Dave assessed my form. I believe I just went too heavy too soon; once the yoke was swinging with my momentum, I just couldn't keep moving... it made my core collapse!

And no PRs on the deads today - super-setting them with the yoke was just an energy-sapping combo. I couldn't really max out on either one and ended up dividing my strength between them, and so working at about 75% potential.

It was a great session. Not sure I should be doing it every week though, this was really just an experimental approach I hoped would push my conditioning and also save some time. From that perspective it was a huge success.

Paleo FTW

My bodyweight dropped to 138.5 kgs / 305 lbs as of this morning. 


I officially hit 139 last Friday, but the office xmas party took it's toll (6 UDLs)... 


While I have not been recording my food intake as methodically as I used to, I am eating more methodically (and healthily) than I ever did. Through the day I subsist on 2 litres (approx 1/2 a gallon) of whole milk, a couple of handfuls of nuts and 1 or 2 pieces of fruit. And my evening meal is always the largest meal of the day, consisting mainly of meat.


This week I've been enjoying fatty BBQ lamb ribs, roast turkey and chicken curry, and Macdonald's and Hungry Jack's burgers for dinner, with frozen berries and whipped cream for dessert. 



And I'm still losing weight.


People who state you need 'healthy, high-fibre grains' in your diet to be healthy and happy are idiots, and unwitting stooges of Big Agriculture. They can't really be blamed, I suppose, as the authorities who advise on healthy eating (government agencies and supposedly unbiased independent bodies) advocate all the neolithic grains and cereals that aggravate the gut, are packed full of gluten and cause the insulin spikes which are making people retain fat in larger numbers than ever before.


We are eating gluten-rich wheat, starchy potato, refined sugars and other highly-processed carbohydrates in such quantities nowadays yet the medical industry - and society at large - seems oblivious to the real problem. Doctors are treating Celiac disease (gluten sensitivity), Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Indigestion and heartburn by:


1 suggesting other kinds of grains (or SOY!! another terrible thing to eat)
2 suggesting the avoidance of dairy (which also typically leads to advocating SOY replacements)
3 prescribing anything from ant-acids to the newer, more severe Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs), which stop all production of stomach acid. These meds are potentially very bad things, as they promote a bacterial imbalance in the gut. 


But all of this is missing the point; treating the symptoms and not the problem is almost deliberately counter-productive for the patient. Why aren't more doctors telling people to put down their bread rolls and french fries and noodles and fucking soy lattes?? 


IN OTHER NEWS
I've been slack with training this week, but had a pretty intense session today at SMWA. Details to come.

SQUAT Monday

Squats
8 reps @ 30 kgs
6 reps @ 70 kgs
5 reps @ 110 kgs
5 reps @ 110 kgs
4 reps @ 130 kgs PR

Good Mornings
8 reps @ 50 kgs
8 reps @ 70 kgs
8 reps @ 90 kgs
7 reps @ 110 kgs

45 Degree Back Raises
3 sets x 10 reps @ BW +20 kgs

MADE some progress on the squat this week, but I'm never going to hit a 200 kilo 1RM this year! It's my weakest lift by far. Hopefully in another 6 months I'll have some more respectable numbers.

It's Tuesday night, and one of my trainees has left just from his session. My legs are good and sore, but this isn't the debilitating DOMS I remember from my early days of training... and nothing at all like the DOMS in my sternum I felt after my first 120 kg p/hand Farmer's Walk. That was amazing.

Dan's injury is healing as well as can be expected, and SMWA is open for business as usual, for everyone who can still train. Dan will be using the cambered bar to squat in a couple of weeks, which is good news. We all hope he is in prime condition for the events coming up early next year.

And I am trying to get myself in top condition for the Fitness Expo in Melbourne next March. I have entered the open division bench press comp. By then I intend to weigh significantly less and be benching significantly more! I weighed in at 139 kgs last Friday - the first time I've been under 140 for some years - and a sure sign my diet is working! No to mention, I've had no loss of strength thus far... milk is a miraculous food.

Weight Lifting Platform Finished!!!