Nightbird's Log

[nightbird]

WED 27-8-14, 5:30pm

squat - 5x20, 40, 60, 70, 77.5, 77.5

press - 5x20, 37.5, 42.5, 47.5, 52.5

deadlift - 5x60, 92.5, 105, 115, 127.5

curl - 32x10, 9, 5

back extension - 3x20

[nightbird]

FRI 29-8-14, 7:30pm

squat - 5x20, 40, 60, 67.5, 77.5, 85, 3x97.5, 8x77.5

If I fail a squat within the next two weeks, it will be due to form issues. I feel like my legs have way more strength in them but there is a real danger of my torso collapsing forward.

bench - 5x20, 42.5, 50, 55, 62.5, 3x70, 8x55 (paused)

row - 5x42.5, 50, 55, 62.5, 3x70, 8x55

triceps pushdowns - 44x15, 12, 10

knee raises - 3x20

[nightbird]

SAT 30-8-14, 12:30pm

62 chin ups in five minutes
weekly total: 412

YES. Apparently, pacing is everything. I did 5x5, 4x4, 3x3, then doubles until the timer cut me off

bagwork, 5x60 seconds, 5x30 seconds of:

1-2
low kicks
teep kicks
1-2-1-2-3-elbow
knees

four prowler round tours, 1x30, 3x20

The prowler sucks :/

[nightbird]

MON 1-9-14, 6:30pm

squats - 5x20, 40, 60, 70, 80, 90, 97.5

Those felt stable.

bench - 5x20, 45, 50, 57.5, 65, 70

I think I could have done eight if my technique was better.

row - 5x45, 50, 57.5, 65, 70

dips - +20x7, 7, 5

gah.

knee raises - 3x20

[nightbird]

WED 3-9-14, 5:30pm

squats - 5x20, 40, 60, 70, 80. 80

OHP - 5x20, 40, 42.5, 47.5, 52.5

deadlift - 5x60, 90, 105, 115, 130

curls - 32x3x8
back extension - 3x20

[nightbird]

I found a new hill!

THU 4-9-14, 6:30pm

5 hill sprints

This hill (actually it's a coasting slide, but who cares) is fairly long and steep, so five was enough for the day.

[nightbird]

FRI 5-9-14, 12:15pm

squats - 5x20, 40, 60, 70, 80, 90, 3x100, 8x80

I lost my balance on the last rep of the triple and took ages to lock it out.

bench - 5x20, 45, 50, 57.5, 65, 3x72.5, 8x60

row - 5x45, 50, 57.5, 65, 3x72.5, 8x60

That's it for today.

I'll help out as a spotter and loader at a powerlifting meet this Sunday... Should be interesting.

[nightbird]

SAT 6-9-2014, 12:50pm

PULLUP DAY

60 chin ups in 5 minutes (seems like I found the perfect rhythm last week and hurried too much today)
weekly total: 460

Well, that concludes the madness. The next weeks will have me do weighted chins 3x/week.

After that, Muay Thai. I had NO strength left in my arms and literally pounded the floor once out of frustration when I failed on pressups.

[nightbird]

SUN 7-9-14

Helped as a loader & spotter at a powerlifting meet... It feels like I helped a big family move house. I'm just mentioning this since, while I hope it won't affect tomorrow's session, chances are that it will.

[nightbird]

MON 8-9-2014, 4:55pm

chin ups - BW+17.5 x7, 6, 5, 6, 4, 2

The goal here is to use your 6RM and get 25 reps in as few sets as possible. I guess I'll have to make the load heavier.

squat - 5x20, 40, 65, 72.5, 80, 90, 4x100, 1x100

Not what I wanted, but hey, 4x100 is my all time best so far. Not bad for being a bit exhausted.

bench - 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 4x72.5, 1x72.5

same here.

rows - 60x5x5

dips - BW x15

[nightbird]

TUE 9-9-2014, 7:30pm

Muay Thai

a few interesting counters, grappling at the end.

[nightbird]

WED 10-9-2014, 5:30pm

chin ups - BW+20 x6, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3

pause squat - 5x20, 40, 65, 72.5, 80, 80

OHP - 5x20, 40, 45, 50, 3x53.5, 2x53.5

I think four reps would have been possible but I didn't quite believe in it.

deadlift - 5x60, 100, 110, 120, 1x132.5

Boom. I just felt an urge to stop after the first rep. Nothing to be proud of, but it happens.

Poundstone curls - the empty bar (20k)x100, rest-pause. I didn't let go for the first 50.

[nightbird]

FRI 12-9-2014, 7:30pm

chin ups - BW+20 x6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 1

My arms were sore as hell but surprisingly it did not affect the chins. Maybe they're not that great for your biceps if you're good at them?

squat - 5x20, 40, 65, 72.5, 80, 90, 2x102.5, 1x102.5, 8x80

My upper back collapsed under the last rep of the triple and I had to redo it.

bench - 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 3x73.5, 8x60

The owner of the gym spotted me; he's a big Finnish strongman and the best spotter I've ever had. "That's it, blast it up... Another... COME ON!.. That's it, good work."

rows - 60x5x5

[nightbird]

SAT 13-9-2014, 1:00pm

Muay Thai

God, I hate my kicks.

[nightbird]

MON 15-9-2014, 4:55pm

chin ups - BW+20x6, 6, 5, 4, 4



squat - 5x20, 40, 65, 72.5, 80, 90

I completely chickened out here. Guilty as charged.

bench - 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 4.5x72.5

I think the fifth rep would have been there if a) I hadn't doubted myself b) I would have stayed tight c) My hamstring hadn't cramped. Yes. A hamstring cramp while benching. Apparently that's a thing.

rows - 60x5x5

dips - BW x18

[nightbird]

TUE 16-9-14, 7:30pm

Muay Thai

A fairly easy session, more focus on technique.

[nightbird]

WED 17-9-14, 6:30pm

chin ups - BW+20 x6, 5, 5, 5, 4
squat - 5x20, 40, 65, 72.5, 80, 80

OHP - 5x20, 40, 45, 50, 53.5

The last set was a PB for bar speed at that weight; I guess I could have done eight, ideally.

Deadlift - 5x60, 100, 110, 120, 132.5 PB!

Kettlebell circuit - two rounds of

10 snatches
15 goblet squats
20 swings
15 bootstrapper squats
20 figure 8

with a 12k.

That was fun, in a really awful way.

[nightbird]

THU 18-9-14, 8:45am

5 hill sprints

These are LONG sprints on a STEEP hill. I usually question my life choices after the second one.

[nightbird]

FRI 19-9-14, 12:45pm

chin ups - +20x7, 5, 4, 4, 4, 1

squats - 5x20, 40, 65, 72.5, 80, 90, then 102.5x1, 1, 1 (very little rest in between singles), 8x80

bench - 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 3x73.5, 8x60

The guy who spotted me just couldn't take his hands off the bar. So it doesn't really count but I know I had it. Hm.

row - 60x5x5

Poundstone curls - 60 total

[nightbird]

MON 22-9-14, 9:20pm

abbreviated session since I was late and the gym closes at 10

squats - 5x20, 40, 65, 72.5, 80, 90, 100 PB

Wooo. The last rep was a proper grinder, but still.

chins - 22.5x5, 20x5, 5, 4, 3, 2

OK, I'll stick to 20 for a bit longer.

ring dips - 10, 9, 8 with one minute rest periods.

PS Certain people have started digging through this thread. Please stop now.

[nightbird]

TUE 23-9-14, 7:30pm

Muay Thai

It's getting better...

[nightbird]

WED 24-9-14, 9:00pm

chins - +20x6, 5, 5, 5, 4

squats - 5x20, 40, 65, 72.5, 80, 80

OHP - 5x20, 40, 45, 50, 4x55, 1x55

The fourth one came up pretty fast but I didn't have it in my heart to grind out a fifth one. So I waited for 30 seconds.

deadlift - 5x60, 100, 112.5, 1x125, 3x135, 1x135, 1x135

Minor PB but less than I wanted... Still it means that I could lift 150 pretty much whenever I feel like it, so not bad.

Fun detail: I stripped the bar down to one plate/side and power cleaned it up to the stands so I could take the rest of the weight off more comfortably... It took me TWO attempts to catch it. Note to self: doing power cleans after a deadlift PB is a bit dim.

I really think I'll need a break very soon.Coupled with life once again being a bit complicated, I'm starting to fall apart here.

[nightbird]

FRI 26-9-14, 12:20pm

I was coaching a friend on the barbell basics, which turned this into a looong session. This also meant longer rest periods (by doing other stuff in between), so today's numbers are a bit inflated by that

chin ups - +20x6, 6, 6, 7

squat - 5x20, 40, 60, 70, 80, 90
3x102.5, 1x102.5 (to show what a heavy rep looks like), 8x60

bench - 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 3x73.5, 8x80

row - 60x5x5

poundstone curls - 70 total (50 with short breaks without dropping the bar, then 2x10 with 20-30 seconds rest)

[nightbird]

SAT 27-9-14, 1:00 pm

Muay Thai

A heavy focus on infighting and counters today.

[nightbird]

MON 29-9-14, 2:30pm

Chin ups - +20x6, 6, 5, 4, 4

Squat - 5x20, 40, 65, 75, 82.5, 92.5, 2x102.5

Gah. I think I a) need more rest and b) need to program differently. I was already tired when I reached the top set.

Bench - 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 4x72.5

SO close! I thought I had the fifth rep but the then my form broke down.

Rows - 60x5x5

Dips - BWx20, 10, 8 30 seconds between sets


Well... I guess I'll have to change something soon. The chin up project ends after this week and while my arms haven't grown, it looks like my back is wider now. So that was worth trying for a number of reasons.

[nightbird]

WED1-10-14, 9:00pm

chins - +20x6, 6, 6, 5, 2

squats - 5x20, 40, 65, 75, 82.5, 82.5

OHP - 5x20, 40, 45, 50, 5x55 PB

deadlift - 5x60, 100, 112.5, 1x125, 5x135 PB

A good day.

[nightbird]

SAT 04-10-14, 4:25pm


chin ups - +20x6, 6, 5, 6, 2

squat - 5x20, 40, 65, 75, 82.5, 92.5
2x105, 1x105, 8x82.5

The second rep of the planned triple felt really unstable and awful, so I racked it and added a single one minute later - which was, surprisingly, a really solid rep. I could have probably turned it into another double. So yeah - my new 3RM on a good day would probably be 105, which means my 1RM would be 115 or so.

bench - 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 3x75, 8x60

That's a tie with my former PB and it felt solid. Yay.

row - 60x5x5

poundstone curls - 100 total, within 5 sets (I think it was 30-20-10-15-15), 20 seconds rest

The next week will be a deload, which is badly needed right now.

[nightbird]

MON 6-10-14, 12:15pm

DELOAD

squat 5x20, 40, 60, 60, 60 - sans squatting shoes since I left them at home. This is not an issue with a single plate on each side, thankfully.

bench press - 5x20, 50, 50, 50

deadlift - 5x80, 80

In theory, this was all I had to do... But I got bored and played around a bit. At this point during the session, I'd already done a few ring pressups, front lever holds, and ab wheel rollouts. After the deadlifts...

pullups (pronated) 12, 12

chest supported rows - 8x30, 8x40

(this is a t bar machine with the loading pin way up, so leverage makes the weight much harder to move than the equivalent on a barbell row. Bad for dick waving contests on the net - your muscles don't care, of course).

[nightbird]

WED 8-10-14, 9:30am

conditioning

5 sprints (I'd call them hill sprints but it was actually fairly flat ground), immediately followed by 20 pressups the first three times, then 10 the last two. I'd already spent the previous 30 minutes walking around the park looking for a pullup bar (no success), so this one was short.

[nightbird]

FRI 10-10-14, 2:25pm

power clean - 45x3, 3, 3, 3

front squat - 50x5, 5, 5

push press - 40x5, 5, 5

pull ups - 17, 8

10 prowler round trips

[nightbird]

MON 13-10-14, 5:55pm

3x5 box jumps

squat - 70x3, 80x3, 90x3
bench - 50x3, 55x3, 62.5x3

dips - +5x8, 8, 15
chins - +5x8, 8, 9

ab wheel rollouts - 12, 12, 15

prowler - 10 round trips

Took it easy on the main lifts and didn't go balls out on assistance - the prowler, however, was brutal.

[nightbird]

I've decided to discontinue this log, primarily since it doesn't do what I thought it might do. For the record, I keep a training log in a notebook, so it's not like I'll stop keeping track. But over the last few days (which were spent fighting a stomach bug) I realised it

- is yet another thing on my internet to-do list
- doesn't help tracking things as I have the workouts on paper anyway
- does not give me any feedback when I'd like some

I am in no way doing this for emotional reasons; it's just that the (marginal) effort seems to outweigh the (even more marginal) benefits. I'll still be on the fora, albeit not daily. If you have questions, send me a message.