Training Log 31/12/12

31/12/12; 1030-1300hrs; Bishan Gym

Mood

Before: Looking forward to smolov. Well rested and ready to dominate.

During: First set was daunting. More mental than physical. Forearms didn’t hurt with new arm placement. But slight change in technique. Made some adaptations along the way. New technique is improving.

After: Happy. Looking forward to 531 OHP and rest of smolov.

Training

Warm up: Did shoulder savers warm up. Tried squat warm up sets with new hand placement. Took awhile to find a comfortable position but no delt or forearm pain after that. Just need to get used to the new groove and grease it.

Work sets: As aforementioned, 4 sets 9 reps were more mental than physical. Sets went well. Technique must be further worked on. Bar speed was ok. Felt very much in control of the bar weight. Confidence was good.

Assistance: 4 sets of 10 reps for hanging leg raises using bodyweight. 3 sets of 20 reps for 45 degree side bends and back extensions using bodyweight. 20 minutes brisk walk.

Miscellaneous

New hand placement for squat has no forearm pain but there is a need to work on the new techniques. With the elbows up, upper body tends to lean forward more. Thus need to sit back further and longer. Lower back needs to work harder to fight the forward lean. Quads and lower back felt sorer today as compared to last week.

Diet

Appetite was good. Need to eat more to get through this week. Again this bears repeating, recovery is the name of the game.

Preworkout/breakfast: 2 scoops protein, creatine, 4 eggs, 2 slices white bread. Again breakfast was hard to get down. 1 kopi O kosong ti loh before hitting the gym.

Postworkout/lunch: 1 scoop protein, fish soup and 4 eggs.

Tea break 1: Hans dory fish, soup, bread, coffee, papaya, fries, salad. Tastes like crap.

Tea break 2: Gloria Jeans choc macadamia ice blend. Tastes like crap too.

Dinner: Pork belly, 2 eggs, green vegetable, cabbage soup, fake Buddha jumps over the wall, white rice.

Supper: 2 scoops protein and 1 scoop full cream milk powder.

Training Log 29/12/12

29/12/12; 1030-1300hr; Bishan gym

Mood

Before: Looking forward to another day of squats. Time to dominate it. Was helped by the fact that I didn’t feel sore or tired.

During: First few work sets went ok till about halfway through when forearms started acting up real bad. Shut the pain out and finished it.

After: Felt good. Looking forward to smolov next week.

Training

Warm up: Did the shoulder savers warm up. It really helps loosen the shoulders up and the upper body in general. Warm up squat sets felt a little slow but no real issue there.

Work sets: Every set from start to end felt good and strong. Able to be focus more on technique when squatting instead of worrying about form or weight. Forearm pain was quite unbearable and after doing some research, I figured it has to do with the hand placement on the bar. Will try the new position on Monday.

Assistance: Felt drained after the tenth set. Brisk walk for 20 minutes for recovery and stretching then done.

Miscellaneous

Rest times were around 7 minutes. Seems about right at the moment. Not too cold but at the same time fresh enough to go all out again. Definitely need to sort out the forearm problem. Left delt still feels stiff. Can’t figure that one out though. Maybe it has to do with the hand placement too?

Diet

Appetite today was good too. Probably could have eaten more. Recovery after all is the name of the game.

Breakfast/preworkout: 2 scoops protein, creatine, 2 slices wholemeal bread and 4 eggs. Breakfast was had to get down again for some reason. 1 cup kopi o kosong ti loh before hitting the gym.

Lunch/postworkout: 1 scoop protein, half small roast chicken from cold storage and some Japanese chicken.

Dinner: Curry chicken noodle, porridge, some fish and cuttlefish, ice cream.

Supper: 2 scoops protein and some low fat milk.               

Training Log 28/12/12

28/12/12; 1030-1300hrs; Bishan gym

Mood

Before: Looking forward to squatting.

During: Feeling good. Working sets felt great.

After: Feeling great. Can’t wait to squat again tomorrow!

Training

Warm up: Shoulder savers warm up. Left shoulder had some soreness during warm up squat sets but it went away. Forearms started acting up but stretching them between sets helped.

Work sets: Work sets went down easily. Really took the time to focus on technique. Control over weight was good. Focus on sitting back during descent, spreading knees in the hole to open up the hips. Getting a good bounce out of the hole from hip stretch reflex then using hamstrings to bring hips in line with body followed by powerful glute contraction and hip thrust to lock out. Hope to keep progressing on this.

Assistance: Resisted the temptation to do any even though I was feeling great. Quit while you’re ahead eh? Besides there is still smolov tomorrow.

Accessory: 20 minutes brisk walk to get the blood flowing and for recovery.

Miscellaneous

Apart from the forearm pain and some left delt soreness no other issues. Rest times were kept around 7 minutes thereabouts. I think not stressing rest times is better. But of course discipline is needed to ensure I remain focused and finish all the sets properly. I.e. don’t chit chat or joke around. When descending push hips back directly between both feet such that the drive back up will be equally distributed between both feet and not lopsided. This seems to have strained my right knee.

Diet

Appetite today was good. Packed a bit more carbs in, in view of tomorrow’s squat session.

Breakfast/preworkout: 2 scoops protein, creatine, 2 slices wholemeal bread and 4 eggs. Breakfast was had to get down again for some reason. 1 cup kopi o kosong ti loh before hitting the gym.

Lunch/postworkout: 1 scoop protein, chicken breast, short bean with egg and 1 curry puff.

Tea break: Roast beef and 2 mangos.

Dinner: Lots of bee hoon, cabbage and curry chicken.     

Supper: 2 scoops protein and low fat milk.

Training Log 27/12/12

27/12/12; 1100-1300 hrs; SRC gym

Mood

Before: Woke up fresh and all ready to bench.

During: Felt good going into the warm ups but the forearms started acting up and the work sets were terminated.

After: Super tired for some reason. Looking forward to smolov.

Training

Warm up: Did a rather thorough shoulder savers warm up. No pain noted anywhere.

Work sets: During last warm up set, both forearms started acting up. Pain shooting through both forearms and numbness. Had difficulty gripping pull up bar. Pain in forearms when benching. Final work set was not done as I wasn’t able to get the bar off my chest. Pain and numbness in both forearms and just unable to extend the elbows with the weight.

Assistance: Not done. Decided not to irritate forearms any further.

Accessory: 4 sets 10 reps of straight arm lat pull down superset with L-lateral raises. 4 sets 10 reps of front plate lateral raise to overhead extension superset with incline rear lateral raise. Surprisingly elbow extension in this manner was fine but benching was painful.  

Miscellaneous

Upper body days are clearly not performing according to plan. Perhaps smolov is really so taxing. Will see how things go next week. As for forearm pain, will need to find the cause of it. I suspect it is due to the frequent squatting. Probably some direct soft tissue work is needed to relief the tension.

Diet

Appetite today was good too.

Breakfast/preworkout: 2 scoops protein, creatine, 2 slices white bread and 4 eggs. Breakfast was had to get down again for some reason. 1 cup kopi o kosong ti loh before hitting the gym.

Lunch/postworkout: 1 scoop protein, 4 eggs and curry meat rice at can 2. Didn’t finish the rice as usual, had about half of it.

Teabreak 1: 1 scoop protein with some low fat milk. Went to take a nap.

Teabreak 2: Some biscuits and 2 mangos.

Dinner: Pork belly, white rice and green vegetables. Ice cream.

Supper: 1 scoop protein with low fat milk.

Training Log 26/12/12

26/12/12; 1000 to 1230 hrs; Bishan gym

Mood

Before: Felt tired. Wasn’t looking forward to training. But all that changed in the gym.

During: Working sets felt light. Got more energetic as the training session progressed. It’s all mental man.

After: happy. Looking forward to 531 bench and more smolov.

Training

Warm up: Roughly followed Alwyn Cosgrove’s shoulder savers warm up. Tweaked things a little to suit my preference. Left shoulder started acting up a little during squat warm up sets but I didn’t let it affect it and it went away.

Work sets: 5 sets of 7 reps at 107.5kg. The bar went up real quick. Initially some soreness in the hips but that went away too. Certainly felt lots more confident under the bar. Core felt alot more stable too. The ab work helps?

Assistance: 4 sets of 10 reps for hanging leg raises followed by 3 sets of 20 reps for 45 degree side bends using bodyweight only. Followed by a 20min brisk walk and some stretching.

Miscellaneous

Take note of rest times between sets. I think 5 minutes thereabouts is good. 10mins seems to be a bit too long. Keep stretching and foam rolling. Get more sleep too. Things will only get tougher from here and recovery is paramount. No soreness in upper body; amazing. Probably didn’t push hard enough yesterday. No matter though; as long as I’m happy doing whatever it is while training upper body its fine since upper body is not the objective of this program.

Diet

Appetite today was good too. Didn’t have tea break though because I overslept. Squats make me really tired. With the intensity ramping up on smolov, I think appetite won’t be much of an issue. Just need to ensure I’m eating enough to recover for the next day’s training.

Breakfast/preworkout: 2 scoops protein, creatine, 2 slices white bread and 4 eggs. Breakfast was had to get down for some reason. 1 cup kopi o kosong ti loh before hitting the gym.

Lunch/post workout: 1 scoop protein. Some turkey and cake.

Dinner: roast duck, white rice, green vegetable and ice cream.

Supper: 2 scoops protein and some low fat milk.

Training Log 25/12/12

25/12/12; 1230 to 1530 hrs; Bishan gym

Mood

Before: Excited. Looking forward to 531 OHP and getting a good upper body pump.

During: A little tired before the top set. Seems to happen too often. Somehow adrenaline dips going into the peak of the workout. More rest or less sets before that?

After: Happy. Looking forward to another day of Smolov.

Training

Warm up: did some sort of abbreviated warm up with Euan. Bits and pieces of Alwyn Cosgrove’s shoulder savers warm up.

Work sets: as per 531 upper body days. Chin ups to go with every set of pressing exercise. Today was 12 reps of neutral grip chins. Missed the 3^rd rep on the top set because I didn’t get under the bar as it went overhead. Stalled at the forehead and I just stared stupidly at my reflection in the mirror wondering why the bar got stuck. Technique, technique, technique. I always don’t get under the bar aggressively enough once it clears my head. Need to practice what I preach. This issue was subsequently in the training session. Another thing was my right arm kept driving the bar up faster than my left. Made the lifts all look very lopsided. Need to focus on driving hard with both hands. Again this issue was subsequently addressed in the training session.

Assistance: Not surprisingly no shoulder pain because shoulder wasn’t put in the same position as a back squat. And thus some L-lateral raises were done at the end. Can’t resist hitting the delts. Instead of going with db presses for assistance, I decided some punishment was in order for the unacceptable performance in the top set. Missing the required reps is just unacceptable. So 5x5 of bb OHP with 1 plate per side was done with the bar cleaned off the floor at the beginning of each set for good measure. A full grip was used instead of a false grip. As usual slight variation in bar path though grip was more secure and I could really squeeze the bar. Again as usual, chins were done with each pressing set. 15 reps of wide overhand chins in a few sets. Some dips were thrown in for good measure to get a better pump in the triceps. Again nothing over the top, did around 10 reps, felt the burn and done.

Accessory: This is where things got spectacular. Given that there was a lot of time to kill and my shoulder wasn’t hurting; front raise to overhead extension superset with straight arm lat pulldown, L-lateral db raise superset with D handle cable row on lat pulldown machine, 20 minutes brisk walk and face pulls were done. Roughly 3 to 4 sets were done for each superset. Just getting a pump and feeling the muscles basically. Nothing too taxing.

Miscellaneous

Made it a point to sleep on my back after reading an article on sleeping positions on chaosandpain. It seemed to work because my left shoulder didn’t hurt today. Goodness knows what’s causing the pain. Oblique muscles feeling sore. Did more stretching.

Diet

Appetite gotten better today. I think yesterday’s smolov didn’t have enough volume.

Breakfast: 2 scoops protein, creatine and 4 eggs

Lunch/preworkout: kway chap with 1 bowl of yam rice and a cup of kopi ti loh

Postworkout/teabreak: 1 scoop protein. 1.5 polar curry puff and 1 charsiew bao. Felt really hungry. Amazing what having more training volume can do to my appetite.

Dinner: roast beef, ham, turkey, pasta, ice cream.

Supper: 2 scoops protein and some milk. Milk was low fat. Need to change to full cream or something that has the milk fat in it. Fat is what I want for recovery.

Training Log 24/12/12

24/12/12; 1030-1230hrs; Bishan Gym

Mood

Before: Excited. Looking forward to smolov.

During: A little tired after 2^nd set. 4x9 no joke. Next 2 weeks will be fun.

After: Happy. Looking forward to 531 OHP and rest of smolov.

Training

Warm up: Left delt still hurting. Did Alwyn Cosgrove’s shoulder savers warm up from t-nation.

Work sets: Rest approximately 10 minutes between sets. Squat to depth. Roughly ass to grass. Form was ok. Speed ok. Not much of a challenge. Finishing the sets was more mental than physical.

Assistance: 4 sets of 10 reps of hanging leg raises using bodyweight only. 2 sets of 20 reps for 45 degree side bends on back extension machine using bodyweight only. 1 set 20 reps and 10 reps bodyweight back extensions.

Miscellaneous

Left delt still hurting. Continue prehabilitation during warmup. Good to go for 531 OHP tomorrow. Low back slight soreness. Continue to foam roll and stretch. Brisk walk not done.

Diet
Didn't feel very hungry today.

Preworkout/breakfast: 2 scoops protein, creatine, 4 eggs, 2 slices white bread. 1 kopi O kosong ti loh before hitting the gym.

Post workout/lunch: 1 scoops protein. ½ small roasted chicken from cold storage.

Tea break: ¼ small roasted chicken from cold storage.

Dinner: Forgot what I ate because it wasn't written down.

Supper: 2 scoops protein.

Revival

So it's been mighty long since anything's been posted here and I had most certainly forgot about this space till recently when I decided that I wanted to keep a training log and putting it online would make it more accessible for me.

However, this space didn't come to mind, instead I was thinking of creating a whole new blog altogether. And so I headed over to blogger.com and there on the log in panel was my email address so I tried my luck with a few passwords and I in was! And there was e-musings! Boy oh boy it's been a long time coming. Reading through the old posts certainly brought back fond memories. Memories which otherwise would have been long forgotten.

Which brings me to the point of this post. That is, writing down stuff serves to preserve memories and this is something I treasure. Perhaps not now but some time in the future.

And so here we are at the brink of a new year and the revival of an old blog.