Finally got my new 4 week corrective program!!! A ton of mobility/activation/movement prep stuff, core, power development and then strength work and energy system training. Pretty damn exciting. I'll post the whole thing each day and will be starting on Monday. It'll probably take me between now and then to get the hang of some of the mobility and activation work so I'll do a bit in the gym over the next couple of days just to be familiar with it. Cannot wait to see where this takes me after the 4 weeks and what will be in store for the longer term.
04/06/15 Went in and did some stuff out of my new program to get myself more familiar with it. Mob/act/prep bretzel pidgeon mobility straight leg + external rotation + abduction cook hip lift wall & scap wall slides Core- half kneeling cable chop - 2x8 single leg squat- 2.8 Deficit deadlift- 70 x 3, 110 x 3, 3 Rack pulls- just below knee 150 x 3, 3 DB Floor Press- 17.5 x 8, 8, 8, 8 This was less than what's involved on any given day so I think I'm going to like the volume and like eating for it.
08/06/15 Powerlifting Preparation: Correctives Phase Weight: 97.1 (pre-training ) Mobility/activation & mov prep Brettzel 1 x 10 breaths each side Hip Flexor Stretch- 2 x 30s each side Pigeon Mobility- 1 x 30s each side Hip Swivels- 1 x 30s each side straight leg + external rotation + abduction- 2 x 20 each side Cook hip lift- 2 x 10 each side Forearm wall slides- 1 x 15 Scapular wall slides- 1 x 15 Money maker- 1 x 20 (left side only- side I shift away from in squat) Side lying clams- 1 x 20 (right side only- side I shift towards in squat) x band walks- couldn't find my band Core Half kneeling cable chop- 4 x 8 Was going to use said band which was missing Single Leg Squat- 4 x 8 Power Development Single leg box jump (20")- 6 x 3 Resistance Training Face the wall goblet squat- 3x10 @16kg KB Towel toe touch- 3 x 10 Squat- 77.5 x 10 90 x 10, 10, 10 Bulgarian Split Squat- 20kg (total) x 8, 8, 8, 8- ran out of time KB front rack walking lunges- 20kg (total) x 8, 8, 8, 8- ran out of time Legs = :cry: haha I haven't done any single type leg work for ages. First day of doing almost the whole thing. Lost of corrective/preparation work which will be far less after these 4 weeks. Squats felt harder than they should have been but the I've squatted once in 2 or so weeks so I guess there's that. Need to get weight down. I did load with creatine last week so I know that explains a bit but I really should be around the 92-93 mark. I seem to be around 96 first thing in the morning so need to lose 3-4. Will aim to do that over the next 4 weeks before I hit more of the serious strength work.
09/06/15 Powerlifting Preparation: Correctives Phase Mobility/activation & mov prep Brettzel 2.0 1 x 10 breaths each side Hip Flexor Stretch- 1 x 30s each side Pigeon Mobility 90/90 walk around- 1 x 5s each side Cook hip lift- 2 x 10 each side Glute bridge- 1 x 20 with 3 sec hold Shoulder sweep- 1 x 10 each side Scap Push ups- 1 x 20 Pushup eqi- 1 x 25s (aiming for 2 x 30s) Core Turkish Get up- 10kg KB- 3 x 3 each side Single leg kb deadlift- 10kg KB- 3 x 4 Power Development Broad Jump- 3 x 3 Resistance Training Deadlift- 60 x 5, 100 x 5 135 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 Bench- Bar x 10, 40 x 5 52.5 x 10, 10, 10, 10 Completely ran out of time. Was meant to do deadlift pull to knees with a 3 second pause, lying kb tricep extension, 4 point band pull aparts, feet elevated push ups and kb swings. I was already at an hour and the remaining would have pushed me to at least 90 mins. As I train on my lunch break most of the time this just couldn’t happen. I have emailed the trainer asked him to look at ways of making it fit to that timeframe.
09/06/2015 Hapkido Class- Great to be back again. Fingers crossed I can make it more often. Once a week with the occasional 2nd session would do me just fine atm. Worked through some redirection 2nd Dan work (jinakbop?) and then onto some restraint work (sonsool?). Finished off working through some more 2nd Dan sets as a refresher. Was also nice to watch on as my instructor took a yellow belt through some new techniques. It's great to get a reminder of what the basics are as even though I may do some automatically if I had to explain it to anyone else I'd be at a loss which means I probably don't really know the technique at all. Also I didn't feel so bad about missing out on the KB swings from my training earlier considering we did 10 mins of skipping and jump kicks at a fair pace. #completelybuggered
11/06/15 Powerlifting Preparation: Correctives Phase Mobility/activation & mov prep Brettzel 1 x 10 breaths each side Hip Flexor Stretch- 1 x 30s each side Pigeon Mobility- 1 x 30s each side Hip Swivels- 1 x 30s each side straight leg + external rotation + abduction- 1 x 10 each side Cook hip lift- 1 x 20 each side Forearm wall slides- 1 x 10 Scapular wall slides- 1 x 10 Money maker- 1 x 20 (left side only- side I shift away from in squat) Side lying clams- 1 x 20 (right side only- side I shift towards in squat) x band walks- 1 x 10m down and back Core Training Wide Stance Paloff iso hold - yellow band x 4 x 8 bw king deadlift- 4 x 8 Power Development seated kb vertical jump- 12kg KBs x 6 x 3 Resistance Training Barbell overhead reverse lunges- 40 x 2 x 8 Front Squat- 60 x 5, 85 x 5, 95 x 5 KB Overhead walking lunges- 12kg KBs x 2 x 8 each First time through almost all the workout. Only missed 2 sets on the overhead lunges and a set here and there in the mobility/activation stuff. Feeling good.
13/06/15 Powerlifting Preparation: Correctives Phase Mobility/activation & mov prep Cook hip lift- 1 x 20 each side Glute bridge- 2 x 20 Scap push ups- 2 x 20 Push up eqi- 1 x 30s Core Training Band resisted push up (top pos)- 2 x 20s Single leg 2kb dl- 16kg Kb x 2 x 4 Power Development Forward scoop toss- didn't have slam/med ball to toss Resistance Training Deficit pull (standing on 1 plate) 60 x 4 110 x 3, 3, 3, 3 Rack Pull (just below knee) 130 x 5 150 x 3, 3, 3, 3 (mixed grip first set, straps last 3 sets) KB Floor Press - (supposed to be heavy db press but didn't have any db's) 16kg x 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 Narrow Bench press- 45 x 8, 8, 8, 8 Missed out on supinated negatives, sl stability ball hamstring curls and oh medball slams. Need to get up to speed on my soft tissue/stretching work as it's been completely missing and I'm feeling it.
17/06/15 Powerlifting Preparation: Correctives Phase Mobility/activation & mov prep Brettzel 1 x 10 breaths each side Hip Flexor Stretch- 1 x 30s each side Pigeon Mobility- 1 x 30s each side Hip Swivels- 1 x 30s each side straight leg + external rotation + abduction- 1 x 10 each side Cook hip lift- 1 x 10 each side Forearm wall slides- 1 x 10 Money maker- 1 x 20 (left side only- side I shift away from in squat) Side lying clams- 1 x 20 (right side only- side I shift towards in squat) x band walks- still can't find my band Core Half kneeling cable chop- Was going to use said band which was missing Single Leg Squat- 2 x 8 Power Development Single leg box jump (20")- 3 x 3 Resistance Training Face the wall goblet squat- 1x10 @16kg KB Towel toe touch- 1 x 10 Squat- 60 x 10 77.5 x 10 97.5 x 10, 10, 10 4 (form was all over the place, depth was only just passable, a completely forgettable night) Where do I start. I have so many excuses for this workout but let's just pencil this one in as one of those workouts that doesn't really get off the ground. Tired, stressed, overfed, lack of time and pretty much every other excuse you could think of. 10 days since my last squat sesh so I know that's not helping. :bang::bang::bang:!!! Just moving onto the next one.
17/06/15 Powerlifting Preparation: Correctives Phase Mobility/activation & mov prep Cook hip lift- 1 x 20 each side Glute bridge- 1 x 20 with 3 sec hold Scap Push ups- 1 x 20 Pushup eqi- 1 x 30s Core Turkish Get up- 12kg KB- 1 x 5 each side Single leg kb deadlift- 12kg KB- 1 x 4 Power Development Broad Jump- 3 x 3 Resistance Training Deadlift- 60 x 5, 110 x 3 135 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 Bench- Bar x 10, 40 x 5 52.5 x 10, 10, 10, 10 Tested DLVJ. No idea what it is but I filmed it so I might try and figure that out. Didn't feel too bad. Energy System Training KB Swings - 24kg KB 10 swings EMOM for 10 minutes Not even bothering with the remainder of the strength and assistance exercises. I will do whatever mobility and activation stuff I missed but it's been stressing me out thinking about what I need to do. I don't have more than an hour a day to give at the moment so it will be what it will be.
And...I'm back...again. Didn't realise it had been so long since I last posted. Wanted to resume this log as I get back into Hapkido to document my progress on the mats as well as in the gym. For those who are interested here's a recap of the last 9 months: Pulled an ugly lifetime PR of 180kg in the deadlift: https://www.instagram.com/p/5L2AKSp4tO/?taken-by=thelifeguy Front squat PR of 125kgs https://www.instagram.com/p/9klo6lp4rw/?taken-by=thelifeguy Knee health PR of meniscus tear in December 2015. I had been back training for about 3-4 weeks and in a completely innocuous incident did some medial meniscus damage. Good news though. No surgery required and I'm back at the gym now. Apparently I have decent quad and VMO bulk (docs words not mine) which prevented further damage and will hold me in good stead. After my first week of training I had a lifetime flexibility PR which was nice https://www.instagram.com/p/BBtkJvUp4hj/?taken-by=thelifeguy I'm always had fairly broad but common goals in my training. Weight training wise: Deadlift - back to 2xbw in short term - 3xbw in long term HB Squat- - 2xbw - Muscle up (just 1 will do for now) - Front Lever - 30s freestanding handstand Splits both ways and full pancake will do me nicely too. I have never been really fit though so that's another one to add to the list. Both aerobic and anaerobic stuff. My wife competed and won her age group at a mini tri a few weeks back and it's inspired me to take my overall fitness more seriously. Hapkido wise I really need to get 1st Dan down again. 2nd Dan by at least end of this year which is a no-brainer if I can train consistently as I know most of the material already. It kind of seems like a lot but they're all quite complementary of each other. The only other thing worth mentioning is the old bf levels. I'm around 17-18% and will get this down to 10 and sub 10% levels. This is a great image goal of mine but more importantly it's a necessity if I want achieve some of my other goals.
Had had a great week last week. Posted my big return then got sick and haven't done anything since. Had a virus and some seriously sore joints which was fun. Feeling pretty good now. Back to the gym tomorrow and to Hapkido later in the week. Cannot wait.
17/03/16 Finally got myself back in the gym. I was avoiding it but had a spare 30 mins in the middle of the day so took advantage. Bare bones warm up Squats- bar x 5, 60 x 5, 80 x 5, 90 x 5 Bench- bar x 5, 40 x 5, 60 x 5, 70 x 5 Chins- varying grips 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 Squat notes: Used my oly shoes for the first time since injuring my knee and it felt good. Went harder than I've dared before too. 90 was about a 6/10 but wanted to make sure I went as low as possible. I found that having a stance about 12-14" apart worked really well. Makes it easy that the gym flooring has squares and my feet just inside these is perfect width. Bench notes: I suck at bench but this was ok. RPE 8/10 First hapkido class back tonight which I am genuinely excited for. Edit- Hapkido Class Class was great. Very physical and extremely muggy conditions so I got a good sweat on. Did an extended warm up and worked drills for about 45 mins. 25 mins of technique work was a good reintroduction for me. I remember pretty much everything I need to right now. We ended up star jumps, burpees and 5 mins of breakfall practice which was a killer. All up 2 hours. Needless to say I’m stuffed.
19/03/16 Next to no warm up A1) DL 60 x 5, 80 x 5, 100 x 5, 120 x 5, 130 x 5 - used an odd bar today. had super rough knurling but spun heaps in my hands. grip felt weak and went mixed on top set. A2) 60cm box jumps 3, 3, 3, 3 Ended up doing 6 jumps completely over box 10m handstand & front lever practice bad idea to do front levers work after deads. lats had nothing Ended with 10m stretching
23/03/16 5am training session Squat- bar x 10, 60 x 5, 80 x 3 90 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 Incline Bench- bar x 10, 40 x 5, 50 x 8, 8, 8 Rower- 30/30 x 5 Jefferson Curl Lat & Pec stretch Done.
24/03/16 Hapkido class. Pretty much 1.5 hours of circuit based training including heaps of core work then 30 mins of technique focused training. Finished with 5 mins of falling practice. Less sore than last week so gradually getting there.
27/03/2016- 5pm training Warm Up- joint rotations skipping hanging Chins- bw x 5, 5 +5 x 5 bw x 5, 5 OHP- bar x 5, 30 x 5 50 x 4 45 x 6, 40 x 6 Cable Rows- 73 x 8 (too light), 68 x 10, 68 x 12 Skull Crushers 25 x 8, 22.5 x 10, 25 x 12 Lateral Raise 10s x 12 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 Quick stretch and done
28/03/2016- 5am training Extensive warm up joint rotations, hanging, skipping, banded ankle stretch, tke's, banded hip flexor Squat- bar x 5, 60 x 5, 80 x 3, 90 x 3, 100 x 3 Hang Power Snatch- 40 x 3, 3, 3 RDL- 60 x 3, 80 x 3, 100 x 3, 120 x 1 This may have been just one of those workouts. Everything felt super heavy. Hips were ridiculously stiff. Had planned to pull from the floor but didn't want to risk with back and did RDLs instead. Squats were bad. Just bad. I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to stretching/mobility work so I really shouldn't be surprised though.
02/04/16- 5.30am BW - 94.6 Quick warm up Chins- bw x 5, 5 +5 x 5, +2.5 x 5, bw x 5 OHP- bar x 10. 40 x 5 50 x 4, 45 x 5, 40 x 8 DB rows- 30 x 6, 27.5 x 8, 25 x 12 Incline DB Flyes- 12.5 x 12 + 3, 3, 3, 3 Lateral Raise- 10 x 10, 10, 10 Pec & lat stretching. Felt pretty good during and after this session. Getting some good volume on the chins and was feeling the OHP in all the right places. I've said this before but it's definitely a technique lift for me. DB rows were far too easy. Will need to bump to at least 35 next time. Maybe more.
04/04/16 - 4pm BW- 94kgs Quick warm up Squats- bar x 10, 60 x 5, 80 x 3 90 x 6, 80 x 8, 70 x 10 Deadlifts- 60 x 5, 100 3, 120 x 6 Leg Press- 2x8@120 Calf Raises- 120 x 12 + 5, 5, 5, 5 Interesting training day. Have been thinking a lot about squatting lately and still undecided on what I should do in this area. I certainly felt the first drop set at 80 in the TFL area which is not a great sign for me. I have had strains and tears in this area before and it tends to take over from the glutes way too easily. The set of 10 was way too much like cardio for my liking too. Deadlifts were decent. 6 reps at 120 is ok for now. Will gradually work back up on this one. Leg press- was meant to do RPT style for this one and start heavier. It's the first time I've used leg press in about 10 years and had no idea what a decent weight was. Needless to say I'll start a bit heavier next time. Will give squats a few more weeks and if I'm still not feeling it I'll switch to front squats for a while.
