Markyg`s log

[markyg]

Well had a nice week off and been doing more of a BB split this week just to get back in the swing of things. Not maxing out on anything just fairly high volume ready to start 5x5 on Monday.

Did some calve raises just for giggles on wednesday and I can barely walk today. Good stuff

[LessThanLuke]

Was wondering where the hell you'd been. Good luck with 5 x 5.

[markyg]

Was wondering where the hell you'd been. Good luck with 5 x 5.

Cheers Luke. I need to catch up with your journal as well haven`t been online for a week

[markyg]

Starting Bill Starrs tonight.

Week 1:

Squat
5x5
130
162
195
227
259

Bench
5x5
91
113
136
159
181

Row
5x5
82
103
124
144
165

Assistance:
2 Sets of Hypers (probably just bodyweight to begin with)
4 Sets of Weighted Situps

I`ll have to see how it goes with rows as I haven`t done them in a long time so my 1RM prediction is dicey.

[LessThanLuke]

Looks good Mark. How long until you hit your current 5RMs? At least I think thats how it works

[markyg]

Looks good Mark. How long until you hit your current 5RMs? At least I think thats how it works

I think it`s around 4 weeks or something like that. Will be good getting back to doing 5 reps as opposed to focusing on singles.

[markyg]

Well what a crap week it`s been for lifting. Been away with work on the Isle of Man and not had a chance to eat properly or workout at all. Given that I`m restarting the 5x5 on Monday. Only done one workout on it so far so not too fussed. Resetting the squat weight slightly as I only got 3 reps at the weight I posted above.

Will be hitting the gym up tonight probably for a full body routine then will start afresh on Monday.

These things are sent to try us methinxs.

Ho hum. Capre Diem and all that.

[markyg]

Gonna start this up again as I`ve been on madcow`s 5x5 for about 7 weeks now. 5 rep maxes were:

Squat 111kg
Bench 102kg
Row 71kg
Dead 124kg
Military 53kg

I was particularly conservative on the deadlift and row figures as I was in a car accident in December and I`m still recovering from back injurys.

Lifts currently (week 7):

Squat 120kg
Bench 110kg
Row 77kg
Dead 135kg
Military 57kg

My weight has gone up around 3kg in the 7 weeks so around 1lb a week ish.

Squat is showing no signs of letting up, bench is getting hard but I`m still working on tweaking my form and will be getting videos up soon. Everything else feels pretty solid but I do need to work on my grip for deads as I use straps for my last working set.

Diet wise I don`t count calories but look a getting around 6/7 meals a day with protein coming from shakes, chicken, tuna and ground beef. Aim for around 250g-300g protein per day.

Will keep this updated as and when I remember

[HumanHorrorFilm]

was wondering where youve been.

Good luck.

[markyg]

Thanks man. Just lurking, been keeping an eye on things though. You`ve been smoking the deadlift recently. 405 isn`t a way off!

[markyg]

Squat 122.5kg x3
Bench 112.5kg x3
Row 80kg x3
Dead 135kg
Military 57kg

I ended up doing a bit of training with Andy Polhill (UK NABBA champion 2008 IIRC) After he spotted me on the bench he convinced me to up the weight a bit and I managed 120kg x3. Happy with that.

I`ve just entered my first meet with 2 weeks notice:

This is an ideal opportunity for new lifters to try powerlifting - participating in any one, two or three of the powerlifting lifts. They will be run on similar lines to our three lift competitions. There will be no three lift total. There will be class winners in each discipline, and best overall squat, bench and deadlift will be decide on wilks for both men and women. A new category for Scottish records will be introduced.

It is an unequipped competition to encourage new lifters without the cost of suits etc, though knee wraps are being allowed so as not to put off lifters who don't like squatting singles without them - it is just a trial to see if useful.

An entry form is given in the link. You have to join Scottish Powerlifting to lift in this competition. We do have a one-off competition membership fee of £5 for anybody just wanting to do this competition. Please indicate which of the three lifts you will be doing on the entry form.

Weigh in: 9:00-10:30
Lifting starts: 11:00
Venue: Venice Physique Studios Ltd., 2A1 Templeton Business Centre, 62 Templeton Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow. G40 1DA

Wasn`t planning on doing any form of meet until later in the year but what the hell. I have no plans to cut weight or anything like that. Just gonna go along, lift my best and see what happens. Ordered my singlet last night too.

Need to work out what my openers will be and subsequent attempts? If anyone has any guidance let me know based on the above numbers. I`m leaning on the conservative side and may go for something like:

Squat 100kg
Bench 100kg
Dead 120kg

[Fluster]

Get in there!

Those seem pretty conservative openers, but there's no harm in that. Second attempts I'd probably go for either a recent PR or just under depending how the opener felt and then adjust the thirds from there.

No one can tell how strong you'll be on the day and it's probably best to go by feel and set some PRs if you can. Have fun and keep us posted

[markyg]

Thanks Fluster. Seeing as it was you who talked me into it I`ll be blaming you if I don`t hit any PR's

The openers are conservative but 2/3rd attempts will be new PR's or equal. Ideally I`m shooting for 1,000lbs so aiming for:

S 145kg
B 130kg
D 180kg

On my last powerlifting cycle almost 2 years ago I managed:

S 140kg
B 125kg
D 180kg

So I`m hoping these aren`t unrealistic despite being on Madcows for only 7 weeks so far. I`ll keep this updated as I go.

[Fluster]

Gah, I'd have had 1000lbs AAAAAGES ago if I'd been a bench monkey for years like everyone else

[markyg]

Gah, I'd have had 1000lbs AAAAAGES ago if I'd been a bench monkey for years like everyone else

I thought EVERYONE was a bench monkey?

Realistically as long as I don`t bomb out I`ll be happy.

[Fluster]

Yep, good plan!

Nope, I'm a freakshow and started everything at the same time

[markyg]

You and me both

[markyg]

Squat 122.5kg x5
Bench 112.5kg x5
Row 80kg x5

Last couple of reps on the squats and bench were real grinders. Currently carrying a couple of minor injuries in my left leg (calf and ankle) but it`s not really stopping me squat. Trying to work on my pause with the bench which took it out of me a bit. No idea how long the pause is for this meet though.

Gonna continue the programme this week, deload next week for the weekend meet.

[markyg]

Squat 92kg 2x5
Military 60kg 1x5

Only recording top sets here to stop anybody getting bored

I decided to play around with the deadlift today as my meet is a week on Sunday and I have no idea where my max and I am unsure as to how good my grip is having never bothered about it before so it went something like this:

60kg x10
85kg x5
100kg x3
120kg x1
140kg x1
160kg x1
182.5kg x0
160kg x1

Very surprised I could lift 160kg with no straps. Might open with 120kg - 140kg.

[markyg]

16th APRIL

Squat
5x61
5x77
5x92
5x107
3x126
8x92

Bench
5x56
5x71
5x85
5x99
3x116
8x85

Row
5x39
5x49
5x59
5x69
3x80
8x59

Squats felt a bit tough but went up OK I thought.

This was my last heavy day until the meet on the 25th.

19th APRIL

4 minutes rowing - 970m

5x5 on squat, bench and deadlift. Used 60kg on squat and bench (around 50%) and 80kg on dead. Focussed on technique, pause and explosiveness.

Coupla arm things, lightweight.

Thinking about my openers I think I`m gonna go with:

Squat - 110kg
Bench - 100kg
Dead - 130kg.

[markyg]

Last nights workout was pretty much the same as Mondays. Lightweight, focus on form and speed. Gonna take it easy till Sunday now. Maybe some light cardio in the next couple of days.

[markyg]

Well I had my first meet yesterday so here`s a quick(ish) write up

I`ve only been doing Madcows 5x5 for 7 weeks and got 2 weeks notice for this meet so it was just an experience thing. I`d like to thank Fluster for talking me into doing it. Cheers

Details of the meet are as follows:

Scottish Powerlifting Single Lift Champs, Glasgow, 25/4/10
The inaugural Scottish Powerlifting Single Lift Championships is being held on the 25th April at Venice Gym in Glasgow.

This is an ideal opportunity for new lifters to try powerlifting - participating in any one, two or three of the powerlifting lifts. They will be run on similar lines to our three lift competitions. There will be no three lift total. There will be class winners in each discipline, and best overall squat, bench and deadlift will be decide on wilks for both men and women. A new category for Scottish records will be introduced.

It is an unequipped competition to encourage new lifters without the cost of suits etc, though knee wraps are being allowed so as not to put off lifters who don't like squatting singles without them - it is just a trial to see if useful.

An entry form and membership form for 2010 are given in the links below - you have to join Scottish Powerlifting to lift in this competition. We do have a one-off competition membership fee of £5 for anybody just wanting to do this competition. Please indicate which of the three lifts you will be doing on the entry form.

I should state at this point I own neither a belt or wraps so it was a RAW or RAWR as can be

Went to bed early (10pm) on the Saturday night as I had to be up at 7am the next morning to get to the weigh in for 9am. Typically I never got to sleep until after 2am worrying about bombing out.

Up at 7am, for the hour trip to Glasgow. The guy that owns the gym had broken down so we were waiting around for a bit and ended up doing the weigh-in in the toilet in the next building. Weighed in at 105.5kgs.

Ate some peanut butter sandwiches and had an energy drink before going off to get changed. There were guys in the actual gym at 10am doing some serious workouts already. Good show

Turns out there were only gonna be 13 lifters in total, male and female all ages and not everyone doing all three lifts.

Before this meet my 1rep maxes in the gym were:

Squat: 125kg
Bench: 120kg
Deadlift: 160kg

(Yes I know my bench isn`t proportional )

Based on the above I chose my openers at:

Squat: 110kg
Bench: 105kg
Deadlift: 140kg

Before my first squat the nerves were really kicking in and I was sorely tempted to reduce my opener. Too late.

SQUAT

Felt really unsteady doing it but I barely felt the weight. Smoked it.

Decided to go for an equal PR in my second attempt so put in 125kg.

125kg went up no problems whatsoever. Third attempt I went for 140kg.

140kg (+15kg PR) Smoked. I probably could have stuck another 10kg on this.

BENCH

I was feeling pretty confident about my bench opener. I usually train with a pause and it turned out I needn`t have worried.

105kg. Easy. Put in my second attempt and again went for an equal PR so 120kg.

120kg. Easy. Decided to try for 130kg.

130kg. (+10kg PR) I was being really cautious on the way down and didn`t get the bar motionless for a few seconds which prolonged the "Press" command. Still got it up there

DEADLIFT

I wasn`t looking forward to the deadlift at all. It`s always been a weak lift for me and I don`t train specifically for it. Plus my grip isn`t particularly great at the best of times. Still....

140kg. Easy. Barely even thought about it. Decided to go for a PR for my second lift.

162.5kg (+2.5kg PB) Felt easier than the 140kg.

By this time I was pumped to have hit 3 PR's so I felt I could go for broke with the last lift. I`d had it in my head that I wanted 1,000lbs so worked out that I needed a 185kg deadlift to achieve 1,001lbs.

I`ll let you decide for yourselves from the video how difficult the 185kg (+25kg PR) was. The video starts late as I was in such a hurry to get the lift done



Got it up there for a 1,001lb total (455kg) Grip felt nowhere near failing. The difference chalk and a knurled bar makes is unbelievable, neither of which I have used before.

A couple of things I`ll take away with me:

1. Buy a belt
2. I seem to be doing bigger jumps in weight than most. e.g. a guy who was similar in lifts to me did his deadlifts: 170kg, 175kg, 180kg. I think if I had used smaller jumps closer to my max I would have burned out. Not sure what anyone else thinks?

Coincidentally we were informed that as this was the inaugural meet for the single lift in this fed and we were all in our own individual weight classes we are all Scottish record holders until next year This gives me a year to get my lifts up to a point where they are respectable for someone of my weight.

The meet director awarded me the unofficial "Underachiever of the Meet" award as he thought I had much more left in me than I showed. I also got a lot of good feedback from most of the lifters there which I was over the moon with.

I`ll upload the vidoes of my max squat and bench when I`ve got them rotated and stuff.

I`ll be repeating my last week of Madcows to get back into it this week and then keep running it for a while. There`s another two meets organised n June and July. I might try and make the July one. We`ll see.

[markyg]

Squat 122.5kg x5
Bench 112.5kg x5
Row 80kg x5


Basically stepped the 5x5 back two weeks after my meet on Sunday. This was pretty hard. Had to grind out the last couple of squats and pause was minimal if at all on bench.

No idea what you`re supposed to do the week after a meet, take it easy or what but this was difficult. Depending on how things go the rest of the week I may do a reset of 10% or so and go from there.

[Fluster]

People usually take a few days off and then come back to some light stuff on Weds/Thurs.

If I were you with 5x5, I'd mess around with some light fun stuff this week, then reset a few weeks worth and carry on from Monday

[markyg]

People usually take a few days off and then come back to some light stuff on Weds/Thurs.

If I were you with 5x5, I'd mess around with some light fun stuff this week, then reset a few weeks worth and carry on from Monday

Yeah I`m beginning to think you`re right. My back is still pretty fried and the thought of deadlifting tonight makes me want to cry.

Thanks for the advice as usual!

[Fluster]

Yeah I`m beginning to think you`re right. My back is still pretty fried and the thought of deadlifting tonight makes me want to cry.

Thanks for the advice as usual!

Yer, I just had a week off deads when I maxed the other week, should have canned the squatting too in retrospect.

You're welcome to the advice, but I'm a little concerned that you're taking it

[markyg]

Yer, I just had a week off deads when I maxed the other week, should have canned the squatting too in retrospect.

You're welcome to the advice, but I'm a little concerned that you're taking it

I thought you were Jesus in that Dangermouse suit? Was I mistaken?

[Fluster]

I thought you were Jesus in that Dangermouse suit? Was I mistaken?

Only if Jesus benched less than Becky

[markyg]

Only if Jesus benched less than Becky

From your vids and pics you do look a bit like Jesus. After a Good Morning makeover.

[markyg]

Well my plan to keep things light last night failed miserably when I noticed my gym had installed a brand new plate loaded leg press. Well it would have been rude not to

Squats 80kg 5x5 working on form and speed

Push Press worked up to a max weight of 80kg

Leg Press worked up to a max weight of 300kg

Bench 80kg 5x5 working on form and speed

Biceptz and triceptz stuff. Gotta have the guns for summer.

A good workout, good to get the blood flowing. I'm resetting on madcows with my lifts from the meet which will give me 12weeks to run it. Simples