Another comeback by anotherbutters

[anotherbutters]

Week 8: Mon

Top sets (all weights in kg):

Cleans: 65 x 3/3/3/3
Squat: 97.5 x 5
Bench: 67.5 x 5/5/5/4/4

2 more sets of cleans at last Friday's weight. I'm going to ditch these and go back to rows. I've had a lump on the back of my left wrist for a few months now. I can't remember the name for it, but I think it's the goo oozing out of the wrist joint into a small sack around the joint that then goes hard. Taking a couple of months off didn't completely cure it, but it was better. Cleans make it a lot worse, to the extent that it starts to hurt when I bench / front squat / clean.

Squats were good. Hard, but not in doubt. 100kgx5 for sure on Friday, especially if I don't clean first.

Bench was pretty hard. I missed the final rep on the last 2 sets. No biggie. I'll try 70x5 on Friday. I think my old 5RM is around 73-74kg.

 

[TomoUK]

Squats were good. Hard, but not in doubt. 100kgx5 for sure on Friday, especially if I don't clean first.

Why dont you do powercleans if your squatting on the same day?

 

[anotherbutters]

I've not done much cleaning in the past and still need to hone the groove, hence the full squat cleans. They're more fun too!

The photo on this page shows exactly what I have on my wrist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganglion_cyst. It isn't painful at all, just looks a mess at certain angles. The main problem is it can limit how far back my hand can travel.

I guess a visit to the doc is in order, since I've had this 4-5 months.

 

[anotherbutters]

Week 8: Tue

Cardio: stationary bike, hill route, 30 mins at level 15. Moderately easy.

I've done two level 16 sessions so far and wanted a moderate workout today. Level 15 was almost easy. My heart rate went from 163 to 180 in the hardest minute, but I felt fine 10 minutes later and even ran up the stairs on the way out of the gym.

This was easier than expected. I guess I'm getting fitter

 

[anotherbutters]

Week 8: Wed

Top sets (all weights in kg):

Front squats: 82.5 x 5 (PR!)
Deads: 125 x 5
OHP: 40 x 3 x 5 (done later, in the evening)

Bah, my wrist was hurting on the front squats. Deads were hard and I couldn't grip well with that hand. I'll be out of town next week, so the week off will do it good. I was going to do one set of OHP, but since I was doing it at home whilst cooking dinner, I couldn't resist doing another couple. I think my old 5RM is 47kg, so I've a bit of catching up to do.

I keep forgetting to do abs. Maybe later...

Good news - Practical Programming has arrived! I haven't looked at it yet.

 

[anotherbutters]

Week 8: Thu (cardio)

(My cardio is interval training on the stationary bike's hill setting, which builds up to 100% of the chosen level twice within 30 mins. The bike has 25 levels.)

Progress so far:

Week 3 Tue: 30 mins, level 14: absolute killer, heart rate pegged at 183 bpm
Week 4 Tue: 25 mins, level 12: pointless
Week 4 Thu: 30 mins, level 14: easier, max HR: 178 bpm
Week 5 Tue: 30 mins, level 15: killer
Week 6 Tue: 30 mins, level 16: brutal, ready to throw up for 2 hours after
Week 7 Tue: 30 mins, level 16: mere agony
Week 8 Tue: 30 mins, level 15: moderately easy, HR went from 163 - 180 in hardest minute
Week 8 Thu: 30 mins, level 16: moderately hard, HR went from 159 - 178 in hardest minute

I was surprised today's workout wasn't harder. Level 16 nearly killed me just 2 weeks ago. If I wasn't taking next week off for Christmas, I'd try a level 17. It'd be fun to get into the level 20's.

 

[anotherbutters]

In the back of Practical Programming, there are some tables that give you an indication of how much people at different bodyweights ought to be able to lift at different levels of training, in various exercises. Like a red rag to a bull, I thought it'd be fun to see how I fitted in.

At my bodyweight of 173lb (all weights in pounds):

........................ Novice ...... Intermediate ............ Me (estimated / actual 1RM)
Press: ................. 106 .......... 134 ..................... 110
Bench Press: ........ 158 .......... 194 ..................... 176
Squat: ................. 212 .......... 260 ..................... 247
Dead: .................. 264 .......... 304 ..................... 315
Power Clean: ........ 152 .......... 187 ...................... 154 (full squat)

I've rarely done power cleans and haven't done much full squat cleaning, so we can ignore the bottom line. Overall, I can see what I've known for ages - upper body strength is my weakness. I didn't realise my dead was that good though (for my level of training and bodyweight), and I suppose I can't complain about the bench press either.

 

[Lone Trooper]

Do you think the tables in the back are based on 1 RM? If so, I'm way ahead of where I thought. It's good I don't need anything advanced in way of programming yet.

 

[anotherbutters]

I'm pretty sure they're based on 1RM.

 

[anotherbutters]

Week 8: Fri

Top sets (all weights in kg):

Squat: 105 x 5 (matches PR)
Bench: 70 x 5
Rows: 55 x 3 x 5

What a way to end the year. I was hoping to get 100x5 today on squats, but when I tried them, they felt ok, so I threw on another 5kg and matched my old PR. 105 was hard, but not in doubt. In fact, I might have been able to do a smidgin more. I was a little worried yesterday that the cardio workout would have hindered today, but evidently not.

Bench was hard, but not in doubt. I've started rows again, in favour of cleans. They need a lot of work.

When I come back in Jan, I just know my squats are going to rocket. I'm so chuffed (that's 'happy', to those over the pond ).