|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Training Diary
September 23, 2002
- It's the Autumn Equinox, which means that it's time for my quarterly review.
Training regularity wasn't what it could have been. The Dun Run followed by moving house and getting accustomed to the seventeen mile ride from home to town meant that I didn't get as much gym time as I could have done - I was just too busy (or too knackered). I started doing light sessions at home - barbell work on the patio - on days when I felt like I needed to train but couldn't get to the gym. Gains were, therefore, understandably moderate. Squat has gone from 102.5 to 110 kilos; calf raise to 310x16; deadlift has doubled to 110 as I've found the form. Bench has remained steady at 50 on the Smith. Grip strength has improved, which is one area I'm quite pleased with. My routine's been a three-day powerlifting split: each day focuses on one move - bench press, squat or deadlift - and does some supplementary stuff. That seems to work well for me. Recovery seems to take two days after a heavy session, one day after a light - that's systemic recovery (which, if ignored, acuses overtraining and lurgies); individual bodyparts can take almost a week! So my current ideal timing is train-rest-rest-train-rest-rest... Looking at my stated goals for the quarter: Nail the powerlifting moves: Got them down pat now. My bench is a little ropey, mostly because I don't have a spotter. Deadlift is solid at last. Devise and implement a three-day split programme which develops and supports those moves and enhances core strength: The split I'm using came from various Web sources, and seems to suit quite well. Join BAWLA: Membership is January-December so I'll join at the new year. Get more sleep: I'm working on that; nice new bed helps a great deal. Moderate progress, at least. Learn to meditate: Tried that, with limited success. Strict weights work seems to do this for me anyway - I've got an article on that to put up sometime soon. Plans for the next quarter? I'm going to stick with this three-day split for a while, varying the order of exercises on a day rather than mixing it all up. Since I now have reliable 1RMs for my three big lifts (110kg for squat and deadlift, 50kg for bench), I'll concoct a routine that pyramids between 50%-80% of 1RM and works for reps, and run that for 6-8 weeks, then take a one-week break and follow it with a heavy month. The big theme for the next quarter is consistency - I need to train at least twice a week, to keep the gains gaining. Deadlift & biceps. Funny little session, went maximal on the deadlifts, but that fried my grip so that the chins finished it off. My right forearm was astonishingly tight and swollen (the pump's a good thing? I don' theenk so) and totally weak. Had to use both hands to turn my locker key. • Deadlift 50x8, 80x6, 90x6, 100x5, 110x1 • Chins: 106lb assist, x10, 8 (rh grip) Note: I'm not geting through the whole of this day due to grip issues. Might be worth moving the biceps work to squat day instead? Shoulders, biceps & forearms at home. Still stiff in the legs from that beasting the other day, but what point is a split if you don't train the fresh bits while the rest is recovering? (In other words this is a test of my constitutional recovery strength!) • Lateral raise 10x8, 6, 7x14 • Military press 25x3 (stuck!), 15x10, 9, 6 • Barbell curl 15x10, 10, 17x7 • Barbell reverse curl 10x10, 8, 8 • Wrist roller 10x2 Yay! Squat day! In addiiton to riding the full 38 miles today, I had a short and sweet blat through the gym: • Squats: 50x10, 90x6, 100x4, 110x1 New personal best! Yay! • Calf Raise:150-250kg +60kg,16 (pauses on 310kg set) • Crunches 3x20 • Reverse Crunches 3x20 (ouch) I skipped the lunges for brevity, as the place was crowded with teen barbodies - great biceps, but legs like string. Ride in, 17.4 miles, 1:11:09, average 14.7mph. There's quite surprising consistency to this, neh? Slow ride back. 37 miles for the day. Chest & shoulders. Woke up early with a massive urgency to train today. Did: • Bench smith 20x20, 40x9, 45x2. • Incline bench smith 20x15, 30x4, 35x2. • Side laterals 10x8, 8, 6. • Standing shoulder press 12x5, 10x10, 10x8. • Dumbbell shrugs 30kgx6, 8, 6 (grip; slightly too heavy for good range of motion) • Dips @ 76kg assist x10, 6, 5. That's an improvement over last time; I'm going to look at training at lunchtimes, take advantage of my flexitime and see if it's quieter then. Had bad guts this evening. Is that due to the eggy milk drink or incipient lurgy? Somethinq to watch. Might be time to ask around about some other protein drink. In trivia, boggly-eyes girly (great abs and arse, disappointing limbs) has started working at the gym - we had a nice chat while I did my presses and she wiped the benches down with Kil'Z. So much for action hero; didn't gym, then crawled back (17.1 miles, 1:23:38, had to stop for chips). That'll teach me to lurk in work until late. The ride in felt easy today, no harder than the ride from Starcross. Cool. 17.43 miles (bloody hell, consistency!) in 1:10:48, average 14.7mph. Gym later for chest day, then we'll see if I'm in the mood for playing the action hero card and riding home as well. Ride home, 17.3 miles in 1:16:24, averaging 13.5mph. That's my best time for the return leg. Ride in, 1:11:23 for 17.43 miles, average 14.6 mph. Felt good today. I'm trying to get this ride down to "commodity" levels of effort and time, so that it stops being an issue.
|
||||||||||||
  
|
