Mike's quest for Abs and 1100

[markievicz]

Solid work so far mike.
5x10 squats is tough work ,
A favourite of mine also!

[miked96]

High volume squatting is a bitch isnt it? Good work!

[MikeM]

Mike, that's an understatement. I think my legs hurt worse today than they did yesterday. I actually woke up twice last night when my quads flared up rolling over! Unbelievable.

Thanks for the encouragement fellas! I'll get the hang of this. I am mystified by these 5x 10s though. You'll see why after today.

Thursday, cycle 1, week 1

Warmups: 2x 1 min rowing, 3x 2 pullups, some band work
dynamic warmup: 3x 5-8 pylo pushups

Bench:
3x 175, 200
4x 225
2x 1x 225 (long pause)

BBB sets: 5x 10x 125 (last set was 20 reps. WTF!?)
ss w/ a lot of sets face pulls, dislocations, pull aparts, chinups 6x 2, etc.

Circuit:
DB Row: 5x 10x 75
Tricep pressdowns: 100x 15, 15, 12, 8, 9
Hammers: 3x 10x 25 each arm

Conditioning: 1 30ish yard "sprint" uphill. HA! Legs were not having it!

4x 225:

MVI 6562 - YouTube

MVI 6562 - YouTube

225 Pause:

MVI 6563 - YouTube

MVI 6563 - YouTube

First set 10x 125

MVI 6564 - YouTube

MVI 6564 - YouTube

Last set 20x 125

MVI 6565 - YouTube

MVI 6565 - YouTube

So I have been doing these sets with 50% pretty much, Kuyt.
I can OHP 150, but my trianing max this cycle is 140ish, so I blew through 5x 10x 70 way too easy.
I can squat 335, but my current training max is 315 so I goosed it a little considering OHP was so easy and made it 5x 10x 160 and I barely survived. My legs still freaking hurt.
Today, I can bench 275, but training max is 250 so I went 5x 10x 125 and that was ridiculously easy. I wasn't even breathing hard after 20 reps.

To say I do not understand this is another understatement.

And I'm wearing a belt from now on when I bench, because I look gigantically fat in those videos, but it is my arch and the shirt draping under me I swear, really!

Deadlifts tomorrow. Should be interesting.

[Fazc]

Good benchin' hombre.

[BendtheBar]

Some pretty impressive triceps emdurance. I work the opposite of that I peter out quickly.

[MikeM]

Thanks, Fazc and BtB! Yeah, when I get the setup right and stay tight I can hit some solid benches. The 125s were too easy though, gonna bump that quite a bit. We'll see. More 10 rep craziness today.

Friday, cycle 1, week 1

warmups: Swings 2x 15, reverse hypers 2x 15
Dynamic: 3x 5-8 Broad jumps (average was just under 6', curious where this goes if anywhere)

Deadlift:
3x 235, 270, 300
1x 325 (ugly rep, not ready to pull heavy yet)

BBB sets: Sumo deadlift: 4x 10x 185, then 10x 225 (a wee bit too heavy)

3x 1 min Plank ss/with stretching, yoga for back, and flexibility stuff

Pressed for time, so bailed there.

3x 300:

MVI 6566 - YouTube

MVI 6566 - YouTube

1x 325:

MVI 6568 - YouTube

MVI 6568 - YouTube

First 10x 185: I don't think hips were low enough, I tried to fix this as I went along.

MVI 6569 - YouTube

MVI 6569 - YouTube

Third 10x 185 and why lifting at home isn't always better than at a gym!

MVI 6570 - YouTube

MVI 6570 - YouTube

Ran out of memory, so didn't get the 10x 225, but while I made that, it's too heavy for 5x 10 right now.

Anyway, so 185 I think was a little too easy and 225 too hard, so I'm thinking 200 next time. Which is interesting as my best deadlift is 365, my training max is 315, so 50% should be around 170 and considering my deadlift sucks I would think 185 would have been fairly hard. Not so.

Whatever, I'm through trying to figure it out, I'll adjust accordingly and move forward.

Pleased with this week. I got through all the 5x 10 sets which was the main goal. Also some pretty decent singles. I've got a good idea what I should be doing going forward, so there you go.

Onward and upward.

[EliteDreams]

Good work Mike!

[BendtheBar]

Looks like you're making good progress on the sumps Mike. Have a great weekend and keep charging hard.

[MikeM]

Thanks ED. Thanks BtB. Yeah, the Sumos coming along, but not sure how long I'm going to keep doing them if I don't solve a problem. Check out this video.

MVI 6572 - YouTube

MVI 6572 - YouTube

I didn't really notice those scrapes yesterday, but was shocked to wake up with those angry barks on my knees this morning! No chance I'm going to keep doing sumos if it's going to tear up my legs that badly and that noticeably. Jeeze those would become scars pretty darn quick.

I'm thinking of a sleeve or sweat pants, but wouldn't that snag the bar? Anybody else got some ideas? Or is it a form issue?

Any thoughts on this appreciated.

[mab54]

Nice to see you get back to it Mike! Also baby powder, it works great for deadlifts. I use it everytime I wear a singlet or shorts and deadlift.