Results matching “Bird”

Once again I found the workout split today. I managed to squeeze a little band work into 30 minutes this morning, consisting of :

Band push-ups. For these I just wrapped a miniband around my back, looped the ends around my hands and did push-ups as normal. One bit of advice if you try these - hook the band under your arms, otherwise it has a tendency to smack you in the back of the head. Not much fun at all.

Bench press with bands. This time I used a lighter band (the Iron Woody supermini, about 50lbs at the top) and doubled it around the safety pins; set at about the height of the bench. This setup added the band tension through a much greater range of motion (probably the top 6" of the press) and was far more adjustable than my last configuration.

Push-up 10@bw, 10@miniband
Bench press 8×3@bar+doubled supermini bands

Time to run - the workout continues this evening.

It looks as though Edinburgh's recent spate of good weather has come to an abrupt end. Whilst the rain continued to soak the outside world, it was time to do a little deadlift speed work.

This week the deads were back up to 70% (of the goal weight), but went up quickly enough. The form is definitely feeling much better than it was a few months ago.

Decided to forego the scheduled power shrugs and find out where my current max is with the regular variety. There's a lot to be said for not doing them for a while (the last time was back in March) : I was repping with a healthy 20kg more than last time. Hand-shredding indeed.

Warmup: pull-throughs, light deadlifts

Deadlift (explosive) 3×3@125kg
Shrug 10@60kg, 10@100kg, 7@140kg, 3@160kg
SLDL 8@80kg, 2×8@90kg
Bent row 10@60kg, 2×5@80kg
Pull-through 20@blue, 20@green

Following on from a couple of recent comments over on The Reinvention Tour, here is a little more detail on my current diet:

I generally have 6-8 small meals per day, totalling around 3,500 - 4,000 calories. I rarely count protein, fat or carbs; as long as it seems reasonable at the time, it ends up on the plate.

These meals often consist of one or more of the following - cereal, fruit (both fresh and dried), nuts, pasta, baked potatoes, meat, fish and ice-cream. Washed down with copious amounts of green tea, water and milk.

In the way of vitamins and supplements, I have 2-3 protein shakes on workout days, and 1-2 on rest days. The vitamins consist of a multivitamin and vitamin c, as well as some of the following :

Calcium+Magnesium+Zinc
helps in contraction and relaxation of muscles, improves bone health, essential for energy production

Co-enzyme Q10
central role in energy metabolism
improves heart function
increases exercise tolerance
boosts immunity

Evening primrose oil
anti-inflammatory

Fish oil
aids heart and brain function

L-Carnitine
fat burner
aids heart health

L-Glutamine
helps prevent muscle catabolism
helps maintain cell volume and hydration, accelerating healing
increases growth hormone levels

Linseed (Flax) oil
as with all EFAs, Linseed aids production of prostaglandines (which control inflammation, pain, immune system balance, energy metabolism and cardiovascular functions)

Selenium
helps prevent various forms of cancer

Vitamin B complex
helps process calories from carbohydrates

Vitamin E
antioxidant, protecting cells from damage
helps body use oxygen
improves wound healing

Vitex forte
activates pituitary gland during sleep

These are cycled, with the exception of the Vitamin C and the Multivitamin - they're regulars.

For a supposedly mild-weathered city, Edinburgh has been basking in the sun for the past couple of weeks. In stark contrast to the usual process of deciding just how many layers of clothing to wrap up in before venturing outside, I found myself consciously avoiding the heat in favour of a quick workout.

Rack lockouts. This time I restricted the motion to the top 4 inches or so, and was surprised how much easier this was than the bit of Pin pressing I tried a while ago.

After warming up with some regular flat benching, I began the lockouts at 80kg (my current max) and worked up to heavy singles at 110kg. I briefly considered throwing a bit more weight on the bar, but decided to leave that for another day.

Warmup: push-ups

Standing L-Flye (plate) 3@5kg
Bench press 4×5@40kg, 4×3@60kg
Rack lockout (about 4" travel) 4×3@80kg, 2×3@90kg, 2×2@100kg, 3×1@110kg
Neider press (plate) 2×10@10kg

Today it was back to the rack pulls, following nearly three weeks' absence. After some light squatting and pull-throughs the pins were set at knee height (4 holes showing). This always seems to be the most awkward height to pull from; minimising the benefit of leg drive.

Accompanied by the soothing sounds of Bruce Dickinson (his 1998 solo album 'Chemical Wedding' to be precise) I worked up to a healthy double at 180kg. A nice improvement on the 3RM of 160kg three weeks ago.

Feeling more than a little pumped, I attempted 200kg from the same height - not quite. Happily this didn't feel too far away.

Band pull-through 20@blue, 20@green
Squat 20@40kg, 20@60kg
Rack pull (knee height, 4 holes showing) 2×5@60kg, 5@100kg, 5@140kg, 2@180kg, 0@200kg
Good morning 20@30kg, 2×8@40kg, 2×5@50kg
Waiter's bow 2×20@10kg

This is a combination that popped in to my head this morning, and is a great finisher when you're already so tired you know you're going to smack yourself in the head if you try it with dumbells.

It also comes with the benefit of varying resistance that bands are designed for. Beautiful.

The comments following Monday's workout - not to mention the workout itself - were enough to see the bands getting used for something a little heavier than pull-throughs and pushdowns.

For this first foray into the world of benching with bands, I set up as follows:

The bands were looped over heavy dumbells sitting on the floor under the bench, then outside the pins, then over the bar - inside the weights and collars. Seemed to work fine.

After a couple of sets without the bands (mostly warming up) I added a couple of blues - about 80lb at the top. Taking half of this away from 60% of 1RM left me with about 30kg, the weight at the bottom. The bands take this up to about 67kg at the top.

Not sure if this was heavy enough, as the bands only came into effect over the top couple of inches. Will experiment with this a bit.

For this workout, I decided to switch over to a bit of tricep work in the form of close-grip presses (without the bands). Topped this off with some high-rep band work in the form of tricep extensions and pushdowns. A nice way to end things.

Bench press 2×20@40kg, 8×3@30kg+blue bands
Bench press (close-grip) 4×8@60kg
Band tricep extension (standing) 50@blue
Band tricep pushdown 2×50@blue, 50@green

The Power Shrug (aka Jump Shrug) is about as close as I ever come to the world of Olympic Weightlifting. It's basically a combination of a slight jump and a shrug. The movement is made of two basic parts - the dip and the rip. The dip involves a slight bending of the knees and a lowering of the bar (under control); the rip is somewhat more violent, involving the straightening of ankles, knees and hips as well as a shrug.

Timing is key, and its an art I've yet to master.

With the traps not complaining at all after monday's light going over, it was back to the deadlift program. This week - week 5 - saw the introduction of the Power Shrug.

The Power Shrug (aka Jump Shrug) is about as close as I ever come to the world of Olympic Weightlifting. It's basically a combination of a slight jump and a shrug. The movement is made of two basic parts - the dip and the rip. The dip involves a slight bending of the knees and a lowering of the bar (under control); the rip is somewhat more violent, involving the straightening of ankles, knees and hips as well as a shrug.

Timing is key - and after today's workout, it looks as though a few more practice sessions are in order.

Warmup: Ab work and pull-throughs

Deadlift 5@60kg, 5@100kg, 3×3@117.5kg
Power shrug: several sets at 40kg, again at 60kg
Bent row 20@40kg, 20@60kg
Dumbell row 3×8@26.5kg

I hate to use the word stuck, but my bench doesn't seem to be going anywhere in much of a hurry.

With the knowledge that I first pressed 80kg (a little over my bodyweight at the time) back in December, I set about finding my current max. After working up to a promising 5 reps at 70 I went for a triple at 80; unfortunately only the first of these was successful. After the half-rep which was to follow I found myself in familiar territory - stuck on the bench under 80kg.

Trying hard to ignore that last set I decided to try out a combination I considered a few weeks ago; yet never got around to testing. Following up presses with some fast snatch-grip deadlifts.

My upper back was still sore this morning, but reasonably pain-free by the time I started the workout; I kept them light just in case. No problems so far. Tomorrow morning will be the real indicator.

After a bit of tricep work I finished with a quick dose of one-handed barbell curls. Much more fun than their dumbell equivalent.

Standing L-flye (plate - each side) 4×7@5kg
Bench press 20@20kg, 5@40kg, 5@60kg, 5@70kg, 1@80kg
Snatch-grip deadlift (fast, short breaks) 8×3@60kg
Lying tricep extension 4×8@30kg
Band pushdown 2×50@blue, 2×20@green
One-handed barbell curl (each side) 10@20kg