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 3rd 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.
