Front squat holds are as simple as they sound, unrack a bar like you're about to do a front squat but instead of squatting just stand there. Sounds simple right? HA! try it! I usually do 3-6 holds with 140% of my front squat max but I got fed up and went home today lol IMO the best 'core' exercise there is. Kayak rows are from t-nation it's like a straight arm push down but every other rep you drop one hand to your hip and keep the other high. I'll look for an example. EDIT: kayak rows are the first exercise they do [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Sb5mbuRdw&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]500 Internal Server Error[/ame]
Interesting. So many exercises you could try. It really is quite mind boggling and so many are so good. But you can't do them all and consistency is the key to progress for me. Maybe I'll try them on the next cycle.
Yeah, I use them to 'activate' my lats before deadlifting but I don't consider them important in my training. As for the front squat holds, I can't recommend them enough, I've only just cycled them back in today and they're unbelievable!
Yeah, they both sound interesting. I squat and deadlift on the same day. I also do barbell rows and pull-ups on that day. It knocks the snot out of me for two days, but with my schedule and going to karate class, it seems to be the only way for me to do it. I don't think I could add much more volume to that day right now. When I am done with my cycle I may change things up. They both look interesting. I am actually planning on spending the next six week cycle (5 weeks away) focusing on speed, endurance strength and endurance, rather than raw strength. This will be kata, TRX, and Olympic lifting with sandbags. So I will probably just catalog both for a future cycle. Although I may also do another consecutive raw strength cycle. It depends on how much progress I make and how much fat I put on.
Okay unrelated but my next cycle starts on Monday (training not gear) and I've been giving it some thought. My squat has stalled, my abbs are looking/feeling crap, my hammies arent recovering enough, so..... Front squat time, 6 week cycle looking for a 10kg gain and i'll see how things go. Skipping this deload because I feel great and haven't been pushing that hard this cycle. stay classy
Strongman/explosive stuff/conditioning. Feeling great right now, got that old post exercise buzz and in a really great mood. After being tired and a bit fed up for a while I poped a couple of ZMA and had a great night sleep, woke up quite early had a nice breakky and went to the strongman gym. Circuit 4 rounds (I go/you go style) Trap bar carries 30-40m ish Tire flips ('big tire' stop when you stop being explosive/up to 10 reps) Med ball slams off a box (I used a straightish arm style, really throwiong with my lats) First round 100kg, 4 flips , 10 slams Second round 130kg, 5 flips, 10 slams Third round 140kg, 10 flips, 10 slams Fourth round 100kg (basically ran it) 3 flips 10 slams Finisher Used a 24 kg kettle bell Swing walk 10m Left hand rack walk 10m Left hand suitcase carry 10m Swing walk 10 m Right hand rack walk 10m Right suitcase walk 10m All the way through 3 times without rest. Cool down lots of mobility So I'm working at 5 so I'm just going to chill out today, eat plenty have a read etc till then. I need to get the calculator out and set up my next cycle in my training book but I CBA. Stay classy map.
First session if the new mesocycle. I like working the front squats it I think I'm going to alternate between oly squats, front squats and power squats through cycles. Front squat Warm up Barx5 60x5 70x3 Work sets 80x2 87'5x2 92.5x2 Stiff leg Deadlift standing on a box 60kgx6,6,12 Lying hamstring curl 3x5 @ some Leg press drop set Warm up 160kgx6 Work set (all one set, partners pull of plates every 5 reps and I keep repping) 210kgx5 160kgx5 120x5 80x10 40x15 Just the bed x18 BRUTAL. Did some mobility and went home In-between each set of everything I did I played around doing inverted hangs with straight legs to really hammer my core, got some funny looks lol
Upper body Warm up Pec activation stuff Med ball overhead throws General moving Strict military press bar x5 30x5 40x5 50x5x3 (five sets if three) Behind the neck push press 60x3 70x3 80x3 Stopped on a high so didn't do anything stoopid DB incline press 30's x6,6,4 wasn't feeling it so stopped. Lat pull downs Moderate but challenging 2x10 with a good squeeze and contraction Pulling to hair line 85kg x6 90x5 95x5 90x5 1 x10 full rom with a good squeeze DB rows 45kg 3x6 DB shrugs 45's x10,6 40's x12 Super set one: A1 standing EZ curls (15kg each side) 8,8,11 A2 lying fixed EZ skull crusher (lowering to hairline pause and explode up, close grip) 3x10 Super set two: A1 incline DB hammer curls 888 A2 cable pushdowns 10,10,15
AM workout More for restoration and recovery than anything else but all volume is good volume (till it's too much then it's bad volume but whatever) Pull ups 8,6,7,6,6 DB low incline press. 15,12,8,8,8, with 27.5s Kayak rows 3rd lot Push downs 3x10 on straight bar Cable flyes 15 high 15 mid 15 low Pec flexors (put the cables on the lowest position hold just the cables and cross your wrists like your doing a most muscular and flex the hell put of your pecs, when you do it right you'll know) 2x10 Bench Barx50 65x6 PM session is going to suck! You'll have to wait and see...
Emonss I see you reading, welcome in, feel free to say hello. PM session 20 pull ups over a bunch of sets 5 rounds with 1 min or less rest. Standing on a tractor tire 10 9kg med ball slams Prowler sprint 40m 2x tire flips 20x sledgehammer slams on said tire This sucked! It was so cold out my lungs hurt and my skin *****led! 3 rounds with no rest of 5 box jumps (box up to my belly button) 200m row 5 pull ups Reverse band squat using light blues 100x3 140x1 (was just talking a lad through it and showing him)
6 pints of becks 3 pints of Stella Several shots of vodka with lime juice squeezed in (so nice by the way) And about 5 hours of dancing like a nutter to DJ yoda, beardyman and redline. May sound like a night out but I was exhausted after, shame I ate 3 corn beef pasties on the way home though! On a serious note, fight prep starts on Monday, stuffs going to get tough!
AM session, second session of mesocycle, Front squats Bar x5 60x5 80x4 87.5x3 95x2 Stiff leg deads (stood on blocks) 60kg 3x8 SS with 3x5 lying leg curls Leg press (all one big drop set) 200kgx8 (PR) 160x6 120x8 80x8 40x8,8,9 (standard, narrow, super wide) Very tough drop set. PM will probably be car pushes, hill sprints and KB swings. Sitting at 220g of protien, got at least 3 meals left probably more like 5 since it's early.
Never did bother with the PM session yesterday lol. Today's lunchtime session was a quick upper body blast as I was in a hurry. Strength Strict military press All sets where cleaned from the floor for the first rep Barx5 30x5 40x5 50x5,3,3,3 Hang clean and press 60kgx3 62.5x3 60x3 DB low incline press 30s x 6,6,6 Lat pull down 3x6 heavy 1 x10 for pumpz. DB row 45kg x 6,8,6,8. Vanity I do 10 mins of vanity work a week, all sets where in a circuit ie skull crush, shrug, curl, rest. fixed EZ bar skull crusher 25kg 3x10 with a good squeeze. DB shrug 45kg's 3x6-8 EZ curl, 15kg on each side. 3x6 Then I finished with a 21 set of EZ curls for the hell of it. Will probably do some structural work in a bit, rear delts, lat isolation etc. We'll see.
*Post subject: Re: Steve's logPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:25 pm* Joined: 10.2011 Posts: 17 Gender: [Edit Profile] PM session. Curls 4x8 1 arm per set. Rear delts 4x10 Lat raise and from raise: 8 lat 6 front x3 Band rows 3x10 (180lb band x2) Band shrugs 1x20. Done in 10 min, ideal PM session apart from forgetting my chest and tri's! Never mind.
First session in the new gym, I am very happy with it. It's just a warehouse with a whole bunch of barbells, racks, cages and strongman kit. Just what I need, there is nothing to distract me or take away from the important stuff (squat, dead, overhead, push press etc) The one issue is the regulars recon that DBs are only for warm ups so they're not very heavy, also they're a pain about people training their arms. I'll live. Skipped on the normal Thursday workout to play with the kit I wouldn't normally have. Around 45 pull ups in a bunch of sets. Log press (no idea what the log weighs but it's a heavy mofo) 10kg on each side x3 15kg a side x3 Trap bar Deadlift 60x3 100x3 140x3 170x1,1 Reverse band bench 120x3x3 Glute ham raise 8,6 Bent over BB row 40x15 50x12 60x10 70x6 80x5 60x10 Conditioning: Sledge hammer slams on tires 3x10 each arm (20 reps each set) 5 rounds of: 40kg front squat, 60 m sprint, 60m walk, no rest. Quads were dying!
The log in our gym is 48kg unloaded afaik. Fairly sure this is a standard weight... checks youtube for log press vids... oops, they seem to vary from a light 35ish upto around 80kg. Anyway the one in my gym is too heavy, and an awkward beast to move out the way when I'm doing other stuff like the Trap bar deadlift that I can use
Well the people there better be moving it for you or I'll have a word . Was. Really odd to use, the way it hung si far from your body made it impossible to clean properly. Will probably have to continental clean in if I go heavier. Problems with that: I don't have a huge belly, it isn't the movement I want to be doing, it looks a bit silly. Hrrmmm. So you dont play with the log at all? Edit: ALSO I FLIPPED THE BIGGEST TIRE! If you can flip it it's a big claim at that gym, so I was pleased
