Events Training Saturday: First Yoke Since Am Nats 2012

shoulder warmup

1-arm DB OHP

10 reps @ 20

5 reps @ 30 kgs

3 reps @ 40 kgs

1 reps @ 50 kgs

1 reps @ 55 kgs PR

Yoke walk

2 meters @ 135 kgs

15 meters @ 135 kgs (1 arm)

15 meters @ 215 kgs

15 meters @ 215 kgs

15 meters @ 215 kgs

THAT strict single of 55 kilos overhead is a 1RM I've been working towards for maybe six months. All my dumbbell work has been strict; I'm not looking to risk another labrum tear by push-pressing weight - if I can't move it with raw strength, I won't move it. Not until I'm stronger, 100% able-bodied, and possibly with some Olympic training under my belt will I attempt push-pressing again.

I got back under the yoke today for the first time since October (with the exception of that one time I attempted it no-armed) and it was pretty painful at first, till I got my hand placement just right and learned to disengage before I drop it.

The Strongman pen has a new yoke; it's lighter (135 kilos), with the same extra-thick bar, and it's sturdy as fuck. Les did an amazing job. It's a very valuable addition to WA Strongman's apparatus, as we have new members and possibly competitors looking to do some proper strongman training, but not everybody can handle the 205 kilo yoke right away. It was a steep learning curve for the rest of us (apart from Dan, of course).

One More Squat Wednesday...

March 28th

Squats w/cambered

10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 50 kgs

8 reps @ 70 kgs

5 reps @ 100 kgs

3 reps @ 130 kgs TPR

Good mornings w/cambered
8 reps @ 50 kgs
8 reps @ 70 kgs
8 reps @ 90 kgs
10 reps @ 110 kgs TPR

1-arm Bench press
10 reps @ 30 kgs
10 reps @ 40 kgs
1 reps @ 55 kgs

1-arm Tri-pushdowns
9 reps @ 60 lbs
7 reps @ 55 lbs
8 reps @ 50 lbs

REALLY wanted to go heavier on the squats but thought better of it... better to have room for comfortable progress, and better to not risk further injury. My right hip was actually feeling pretty good tonight - the pain is still there, and is still apparent when I squat, but it's not really an issue anymore, now that I've almost got my narrower squat stance sorted.

I say 'almost', because I'm having to be wary of foot placement now too... I must point them at just the right angle or I'm liable to buckle a knee. I will have to get some further advice from my coaches on this before I go much heavier.

GMs also felt strong, but I was carrying the bar very high on my back and neck in order to take stress off the shoulder as the weight went up. Again, this is getting easier and easier to deal with, but for loading above, say, 130 kilos - the high bar placement is going to become an issue. Let's hope the new shoulder is ready for a proper workout in due course...

Looking forward to a relaxing 4 day weekend, interspersed with some kind of training on saturday, and plenty of roast meat either side of it. Happy fucking easter.

My Girlie Shoulders: A Proper Update

So in case anybody doesn’t know this already (if not actually bored shitless of the whole subject by now), eight weeks ago I had my shoulder surgery, and ten days after that I was back at the Pit doing stupid shit I probably shouldn't have done.

I haven’t properly addressed that whole thing,and it’s about time I did. After all, I have pictures and crap. No real scars to speak of, but the pictures the surgeon took with his tiny little camera are kinda cool. The surgery was actually less complicated than the MRI suggested it would be (the biceps tendon healed up in the weeks I was nursing it), so it was a keyhole operation. Tiny, boring scars… it’s like I didn’t even have surgery.

The surgeon repaired the cartilage and sank some kevlar screws into the humeral ball. The bones themselves were, according to him, perfect so, again, good news.

Anyway, after I backed off the weight it soon began to feel like I was achieving exactly zero each training day… not a lot to talk about, so not a lot to share on here. And for the next several weeks, if not months, that reality isn't really going to change. The little numbers I put up and the still very limited selection of exercises I have to stick with will not exactly be exciting.

Because of this, when I'm not logging my hum-drum workouts I intend to use the space to bring more exposure to Strongman and Powerlifting events in the state. I won’t be relying on my own photography prowess for these articles (I’ll be purloining the best pics from Gabor’s Facebook profile, for the most part) but I write my own shit at least.

I was actually intending to take a left/right comparison pic, to show the extent to which my right side has atrophied, but my crappy iPhone and my general inexperience with topless selfies meant the pictures don't really show much of a difference at all... but this one (left, tits out) at least can be used for an update on my body recomp project.

I'm currently still sitting on 125 kilograms / 275.5 lbs, and I've been here for the last several months, give or take a kilo. I've had some obvious setbacks which haven't prevented me from working slowly but surely on changing my body composition.

The other picture of me (also of my left side) was taken one year ago this month, when I was weighing in at 129 kilos. And the third picture (bottom right) was taken around xmas of 2010. I'd been training for about eight months at this point, I hadn't yet met Dan and the rest of SMWA so my training was pretty half-assed. I was 148 kilos... still mostly fat.

I don't have any good comparison pictures of myself from back then, as I was embarrassed to look at my own figure in profile.

The most dramatic changes took place over 2012, but now that I'm healing up and back in the gym regularly again, there will be more dramatic changes to come. As I've said before - to myself way more than anyone else - this isn't a fad, it isn't a phase, it's my future.

A Return to Form

shoulder warmup

1-arm DB OHP
10 reps @ 20 kgs
5 reps @ 30 kgs
3 reps @ 40 kgs
5 reps @ 50 kgs equal to best effort
right arm
12 reps @ 5 kgs
12 reps @ 10 kgs
12 reps @ 12.5 kgs

Good mornings w/cambered
12 reps @ 30 kgs
10 reps @ 50 kgs
10 reps @ 70 kgs
8 reps @ 90 kgs
8 reps @ 110 kgs TPR

Seated rows
10 reps @ plate 10
5 reps @ plate 12
3 reps @ plate 15
7 reps @ plate 18 TPR

Hammer curls
right arm
3 sets 20 reps @ 5 kgs

FUCK, but it felt good to do something worthwhile tonight.

It also felt good to get on with using my weak right arm again, which proved to be more solid and capable than my physio and surgeon had lead me to believe. For the next few weeks I won't be going much heavier than the weights I'm using currently, on the right that is, on the left I'm back to training as usual for the most part. I still can't go really heavy on squats and good mornings, on account of the stress it places on my right shoulder, and I still won't be deadlifting for a while to come. But the months ahead are looking brighter.

Tonight I also did my pressing unassisted, and it felt like I might have had a 6th rep (and new personal best) if I'd taken the likelihood of it happening more seriously at the start.

As from next week I will be returning to a more standard weekly template; squats, GMs et cetera Monday nights, some press variation Wednesdays, and Saturdays will still be made up of bits and pieces until I'm able to train events. Then, at some point in the months to come, deadlifts will be back on the menu and I'll be training Thursday nights too.
And lastly a shout-out to my readers in Russia (привет!) and Germany (guten tag!); you are my largest audience... which is interesting, because in my travels I have made only one regular (pre-Facebook) friend from Germany and two from Russia. Though post-Facebook, the world is a very different place and I have friends from all over I've never met!

2 Week Old Lightweight Baby

Saturday March 9th

*shoulder warmup/stretch

1-arm DB OHP

10 reps @ 20 kgs

10 reps @ 25 kgs

10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 35 kgs

9 reps @ 37.5 kgs

1-arm Seated rows

10 reps @ plate 10

10 reps @ plate 12

10 reps @ plate 14

10 reps @ plate 15

Super-set bis and tris

1-arm Triceps pushdowns

10 reps @ 50 lbs

10 reps @ 50 lbs

10 reps @ 55 lbs

1-arm Pinwheels

12 reps @ 20 kgs

11 reps @ 25 kgs

10 reps @ 27.5 kgs

Wednesday March 13th

1-arm DB OHP

10 reps @ 20 kgs

10 reps @ 30 kgs

1-arm Bench press

10 reps @ 35 kgs

10 reps @ 40 kgs

Squats w/cambered bar

10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 70 kgs

10 reps @ 110 kgs

8 reps @ 130 kgs

1 reps @ 150 kgs

1-arm Seated rows

10 reps @ plate 10

10 reps @ plate 12

I PERFORMED these squats with my right arm in a sling, balancing the cambered bar in a precarious fashion. I also managed to injure my right hip.

Saturday March 16th

1-arm DB OHP

8 reps @ 20 kgs

8 reps @ 25 kgs

8 reps @ 30 kgs

8 reps @ 35 kgs

7 reps @ 40 kgs

Meadows rows

10 reps @ 20 kgs

10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 35 kgs

10 reps @ 40 kgs

FOR THE last two sets of OHP I had assistance from one of the Pit's newer lifters, Mitch. He held the dumbbell at shoulder height, allowing me to position myself underneath it and press. It felt good to do some decent overhead work today, but in general I was feeling pretty messed up (my guts had been feeling odd all week and I was off my food) so I cut the session short.

Monday March 18th

Squats w/cambered bar

10 reps @ 27.5 kgs

10 reps @ 37.5 kgs

10 reps @ 47.5 kgs

10 reps @ 57.5 kgs

10 reps @ 67.5 kgs

10 reps @ 77.5 kgs

Good mornings w/safety bar

10 reps @ 27.5 kgs

10 reps @ 47.5 kgs
10 reps @ 57.5 kgs
10 reps @ 67.5 kgs

1-arm Pinwheels

10 reps @ 20 kgs
10 reps @ 25 kgs
10 reps @ 27.5 kgs

10 reps @ 30 kgs

I WAS back using the cambered bar properly again, sans sling. The grip position on my right side is still painful if I try and put any real weight on the bar, so I'm taking it really slow here. I consider this to be my actually rehab starting point when it comes to squats.

Wednesday March 20th

*shoulder warmup/stretch

1-arm DB OHP
10 reps @ 20 kgs
8 reps @ 30 kgs
8 reps @ 35 kgs
8 reps @ 40 kgs TPR
2 reps @ 45 kgs TPR

1-arm Seated rows
12 reps @ plate 10
8 reps @ plate 12

5 reps @ plate 15
8 reps @ plate 17 TPR

1-arm Triceps pushdowns

10 reps @ 50 lbs

7 reps @ 60 lbs TPR

8 reps @ 55 lbs

1-arm Hammer curls

12 reps @ 20 kgs

10 reps @ 20 kgs

8 reps @ 20 kgs

8 reps @ 20 kgs

AGAIN, I got assistance on the last two sets of OHP to position myself under the DB and just press. Steve helped out this time, though he had a bit of trouble getting the weight high enough... poor old Steve hasn't been training as hard as he used to, and it's showing. 

Killed some time waiting for my ride home by idly curling a 20 and hanging shit on Rory. 

Saturday March 23rd

Squats w/cambered bar

10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 50 kgs

8 reps @ 70 kgs

5 reps @ 90 kgs

3 reps @ 100 kgs

3 reps @ 100 kgs

10 reps @ 100 kgs TPR

1-arm Bench press
10 reps @ 20 kgs
10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 40 kgs
8 reps @ 50 kgs TPR

MY RIGHT hip isn't getting any better, but I've noticed that changing my foot position alleviates most of the pain. I'm squatting narrower now, and checking that my toes are pointing more forward than they have been. 

Onwards and Upwards

THERE are some positives to training till you feel like puking. For one thing, it reminds you you're still in the game. You suck at it now, but you're still in there. It also reminds you that, if you have to force down a shake before training (because you literally haven't eaten anything all day except a protein bar and a couple of swigs of some god awful tasting 'cake batter' flavoured Muscle Milk), maybe you shouldn't also chug a litre of water and do high-speed, higher volume sets of leg press. 

Yeah. Leg press was too hard core for me. If I'd squatted, puking would have been a definite.

Three training sessions in two weeks is pretty, well, lazy actually - even for a guy with one working arm - but it is what it is. I've been in a strange place mentally. Weeks after my surgery, I experienced what has been explained as an effect of the large quantities of anaesthesia I'd received. I'm a pretty big guy, so I would have required a high dose to begin with. I have a lot of liver enzymes thanks to my years of being a 'high functioning' alcoholic, so that would have required more anaesthetic. And (under advisement) I was given a local 'nerve blocker', too (my right thumb is still a little numb and the nerves feel weird). All this resulted in my brain chemistry getting seriously fucked with, to the point I had paranoia, insomnia, and depression. Wooooo. It was pretty messy.

But onwards and upwards.

Wednesday March 6th

1-arm DB bench press

10 reps @ 20 kgs

10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 35 kgs

10 reps @ 40 kgs

12 reps @ 45 kgs

Leg press

12 reps @ 165 kgs

12 reps @ 205 kgs

12 reps @ 245 kgs

12 reps @ 285 kgs

Saturday March 2nd

Squats w/safety bar

10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 50 kgs

10 reps @ 70 kgs

10 reps @ 90 kgs

8 reps @ 110 kgs

1 reps @ 130 kgs

Good mornings

10 reps @ 50 kgs

8 reps @ 70 kgs

8 reps @ 90 kgs

1-arm Seated rows

10 reps @ plate 10

10 reps @ plate 12

10 reps @ plate 14

1-arm Tri-push

10 reps @ 50 lbs

10 reps @ 50 lbs

Saturday February 23rd

Squats w/cambered bar

10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 70 kgs

8 reps @ 110 kgs

5 reps @ 150 kgs

3 reps @ 170 kgs TPR

10 reps @ 120 kgs

Good mornings

10 reps @ 70 kgs

3 reps @ 90 kgs

1-arm Seated rows

10 reps @ plate 8

10 reps @ plate 10

10 reps @ plate 12

10 reps @ plate 14

1-arm Pinwheelz

10 reps @ 20 kgs

10 reps @ 25 kgs

Back at the Pit this saturday for another session. Maybe my coaches will let me put a little bit more weight on the bar.