Aside from a few bodyweight-only exercises, I like to treat the abdominals as any other muscle group - with as heavy weights as possible. This is particularly true of the obliques, and a favoured movement is the one-handed rack pull.
This is essentially the same as a dumbbell side bend, only using a barbell. The length of the bar makes it that much harder to control - consequently there is a lot more grip and wrist work involved than the humble side bend. It's also much more fun.
Over the past few days I've considered various ways to increase the workload slightly for the SQ/DL workouts (particularly on ME days), but eventually elected to start today with the scheduled set of exercises. The only real change came at the end of the workout, with ab work consisting of one-handed rack pulls (basically side bends using a barbell); which stress a little more than their dumbell cousin.
Box squat 10×2@55kg/121lb
Arched back GM 10@20kg/44lb, 5@30kg/66lb, 5@40kg/88lb, 3@50kg/110lb, 3@60kg/132lb
Waiter's bow 4×12@10kg/22lb
One-hand rack pull (each hand) 5@20kg/44lb, 5@40kg/88lb, 5@60kg/132lb
I read Rick's post mentioning overloading just after finishing my last ME BENCH workout, and decided to give it a run this week. I also planned to increase the volume in my bench workouts - something that's been gradually waning recently. At least it feels that way after taking a 3-week break.
Gorilla chin 2×10@bw
Bench press (close grip) 2×10@40kg, 8×3@60kg
Overload 3×10sec@100kg (arms shaking like mad by the last set, so I guess the weight's about right)
Lockout 2×5@80kg (had planned on doing 4 sets, but that wasn't about to happen)
Dip 4×10@bw
Shrug (with bar hold at end of each set) 4×10@120kg
NB : Got a touch overcaffeinated just before the workout, and let me say that coffee-coloured lasagne vomit is not what you want to see midway through bench sets.
Today was the first heavy day of the new ham-centric routine. Whilst this certainly got the sweat flowing, the volume seemed a bit light - I may add some more work for next week. Perhaps some ultra-wide deadlifts for extra hip action.
Warmup: cardio, light leg curls
Leg curl 3×2@40kg
RDL 5×3@90
Pull-through (band) 50@blue
Standing calf raise 4×10@90kg
Seated calf raise 4×10@90kg
Ann Reynolds and a cousin are trying to find details on a Smith Bird, father of Fergus Bird who was born in Banbury, Oxford in 1849 or 1850. The information they hold so far :
Unfortunately they are unable to find anything on Fergus previous to 1871 and nothing at all can be found on Smith. Does anyone have any information to add?
Ann Reynolds and a cousin are trying to find details on a Smith Bird, father of Fergus Bird who was born in Banbury, Oxford in 1849 or 1850. The information they hold so far :
Unfortunately they are unable to find anything on Fergus previous to 1871 and nothing at all can be found on Smith. Does anyone have any information to add?
After a hard drive in my PC decided to crash yesterday, I elected to move the scheduled squat workout to this morning. Until I managed to recover most of the data from it I wasn't exactly in the best frame of mind.
There's nothing like the faint smell of success (at least I got the important stuff back) to put you in the mood for squatting, and after a couple of warmup sets of band pull-throughs I was ready to go.
Intent on doing something about my painfully poor form, I've put together the following routine (thanks Alberto for the box squat cycles and the Nyman idea) :
| DE SQ/DL | ME SQ/DL | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | Box squat | 12 × 2 @ 50% | Leg curl | 3×2@40kg | |||||
| Arched back GM | work up to 3RM | RDL | 5×3@90kg | ||||||
| Waiter's bow | 4×10@10kg | Pull-through (band) | high reps | ||||||
| Abs | 4×10@bw | Standing calf raise | 4×10@90kg | ||||||
| Seated calf raise | 4×10@90kg | ||||||||
| Wk 2 | Box squat | 10 × 2 @ 55% | Leg curl | 5×3@35kg | |||||
| Arched back GM | work up to 3RM | RDL | 5×3@92.5 | ||||||
| Waiter's bow | 4×10@10kg | Pull-through (band) | high reps | ||||||
| Abs | 4×10@bw | Standing calf raise | 4×10@92.5kg | ||||||
| Seated calf raise | 4×10@92.5kg | ||||||||
| Wk 3 | Box squat | 8 × 2 @ 60% | Leg curl | 5×3@37.5 | |||||
| Arched back GM | work up to 3RM | RDL | 6×3@80kg | ||||||
| Waiter's bow | 4×10@10kg | Pull-through (band) | high reps | ||||||
| Abs | 4×10@bw | Standing calf raise | 4×10@95kg | ||||||
| Seated calf raise | 4×10@95kg | ||||||||
| Wk 4 | Box squat | 12 × 2 @ 50% | Leg curl | 3×2@40kg | |||||
| Arched back GM | work up to 3RM | RDL | 5×3@90kg | ||||||
| Waiter's bow | 4×10@10kg | Pull-through (band) | high reps | ||||||
| Abs | 4×10@bw | Standing calf raise | 4×10@97.5kg | ||||||
| Seated calf raise | 4×10@97.5kg | ||||||||
| Wk 5 | Box squat | 10 × 2 @ 55% | Leg curl | 5×3@35kg | |||||
| Arched back GM | work up to 3RM | RDL | 5×3@92.5 | ||||||
| Waiter's bow | 4×10@10kg | Pull-through (band) | high reps | ||||||
| Abs | 4×10@bw | Standing calf raise | 4×10@100kg | ||||||
| Seated calf raise | 4×10@100kg | ||||||||
| Wk 6 | Box squat | 8 × 2 @ 60% | Leg curl | 5×3@37.5 | |||||
| Arched back GM | work up to 3RM | RDL | 6×3@80kg | ||||||
| Waiter's bow | 4×10@10kg | Pull-through (band) | high reps | ||||||
| Abs | 4×10@bw | Standing calf raise | 4×10@102.5kg | ||||||
| Seated calf raise | 4×10@102.5kg |
It's only a 6-week cycle; I'll set up the next one based on how well this one works. Hopefully with a week inbetween for another deadlift max test.
Warmup: Pull-throughs (band)
Box squat 12×2@50kg
Arched back GM 10@20kg, 5@30kg, 5@40kg, 3@50kg, 3@60kg
Waiter's bow 4×10@10kg
V-up 4×10@bw
Hanging knee raise 4×10@bw
Slightly better than last week. Following pretty much the same routine, I add a few reps to a couple of things; intent on getting to 4×5 lockouts at my current max bench.
The extra work tired me much earlier than I'd hoped, but at least the completed sets felt much smoother than last time around.
Gorilla chins 2×10@bw
Standing L-Flye (plate) 4×5@5kg
Bench press 4×5@40kg, 5,5,5,4 @60kg (almost)
Rack lockout 5@80kg
This is just the plate version of a dumbell side press. Hold a plate in each hand (by the shoulders) and extend your arms sideways until they're straight. Pull them back in again. Mutter a few harsh words, and do it all again.
Inspirational music for this one - 'Jesus Christ Pose' by Soundgarden. You'll quickly see why.
Unfortunately the recent deadlift program doesn't seem to have had quite the desired effect. With the knowledge that my previous 1RM of 145kg was due to be pushed aside, I worked up to a triple at 140 before making an ambitious jump to 160. Never reached lockout with this, and the attempt annoyed me enough to make sure that even 150 wasn't going the distance.
Time to work on my squatting form for a while, and retest my deadlift in another 6 weeks or so. Hopefully the additional posterior chain work (for the squat) will also see the deadlift go up.
Deadlift 10@60kg, 5@100kg, 3@140kg, 0@160kg, 0@150kg
