Short distance and jumping

[Mr.Serpent]

Yesterday's session, at commercial gym again.

Powercleans -
80x3x2

Had to control the weight down but it wasn't a big deal, I'll just keep it light when I'm here. Some chalk would have been very helpful though. These went ok, not as fast as monday.

Hamstring curls -
80x10
90x10
105x6

Finally get to use one of these.

Bike tempos

[Mr.Serpent]

Today

Front squat -
112x3, definitely a max, wouldn't have got another. Meh.

Pause back squat -
112x3, thought this would be manageable but I guess doing a max triple before it didn't help. Trying to learn how to switch off the legs as much as possible at the bottom, sitting down as low as I can go so I can switch on as fast as possible for the concentric. That was fine but by the third rep it was too much of a grind, these need to be more explosive.

Press -
57.5x3x2

SLDL -
125x3x5

These felt easier than the 122 last week. I'm probably going to make Friday's more of a volume day for squat and SLDL, and keep Tuesday as an intensity day. Friday will do 3x5 with 95% of Tuesday's 1x5. I'm gonna keep press as low volume as possible and see what i can do strength wise, as I really don't want my upper body to grow at all.

Barbell holds -
35kg 20 secs
37kg 20 secs
37kg 25 secs

Deloading next week, Monday will be a session as normal but the rest I'll scale back.

[Mr.Serpent]

Had a very promising session today.

Powercleans -
80x3x2

82 was still fast last week but I do think I moved on too quick, keeping my power cleans in check, all about speed and warming up for sprints right now.

Sprints -
I forget the exact number, 5/6 20m sled sprints with 5/6 normal in between as per usual. Today felt great though, I'm finally starting to genuinely feel faster. My 20m pb is 3.14 back in march as I think I've mentioned before, but I haven't got close to it since. It was slightly wind assisted and racing against a friend (which always makes me run a bit faster).

My very last run today was 3.16, it was the only one I got to record and I do think my first or second was faster. I'm genuinely really happy with this and its perked me up.

[Mr.Serpent]

Keeping up momentum with potentially the best squats of my life today.

Tuesday week 1, weighed myself at 72.7kg this morning, god damn it.

Squats -
125x5, before I stopped training my 5 rep PB was 130x5, comparing the two videos though, today's squats were MUCH deeper and faster. I am considering them a PB due to that.



Press -
57x3
57x3

Thought if I recomposed I'd at least get 4, guess now. Screw strict press 4 lyfe.

SLDL -
130x5
130x5
130x5

Pretty good stuff.

Ab roll outs
3x10 with a good pause at the bottom of each rep.

Some hurdle drills to stretch a little bit. I think I need a warm shower, these last couple of days my CNS has been ridiculously switched on. It may be part of the reason I didn't sleep well last night. I definitely NEED to relax or I'll fry.

[Mr.Serpent]

Pretty easy day, but being in a commercial gym makes that easy to stick to as well.

Powercleans -
80x5x2

Used straps for the last couple of sets because my hands were getting sweaty and I couldn't use chalk, and I really don't want to run the risk of losing the bar and dropping it here. Have to control every rep.

Hamstring curls -
100x8
110x10
110x10

10 mins on the bike and some stretching.

[Mr.Serpent]

Friday's session

Squat -
117x3x5

Wish I'd recorded the first set, felt quick. This is the highest volume I've done for squatting in a long time, the third set deteriorated a little. Been eating more the last few days, going to craft some real legs this winter.

Strict press -
55x5

Last rep was literally the slowest press of my life. In the past I'd have normally given up but I pushed through. I'm actually not sure what to do with my press. I want to be all about legs for a while, my upper body has enough size for me to be happy right now. I might just maintain with doubles.

SLDL -
130x3x5

A little fatigued from squats so I didn't go up today.

Seated single leg calf raises, started doing these super slow both up and down. Added some weight now too, 50kg each leg so my weaker side is starting to come up a bit.

[Mr.Serpent]

Monday week 2 (yesterday)

Power cleans -
80x2
82x2x2

I think 80 is as fast as it's going to get right now, time to move up a tad.

Sprints -
Sled and regular sprints weren't as well organised today, ran with another guy for a couple of runs to test myself. Got beat pretty handily, BUT he is a bit of a false starter, the times aren't too different though he is still faster.

Today

Squat -
127x5 PB

Press -
55x4x2

SLDL -
132x3x5

Ab roll outs -
3x10 with solid pause at the bottom

Single leg seated calf raises -
55kg 3 sets each side

Edit: And a video

[Mr.Serpent]

Yesterday was commercial gym thursday

Powercleans -
80x2x2
82x3x2

I get a slight ego in this gym, but not in the way most people do. I don't walk around acting like I'm the sh*t. I actually try do the opposite, I generally try to wear baggy clothes so I look really skinny, I keep myself to myself. Then I do fast power cleans with most people's deadlifts and keep a neutral face the whole time...it's fun.

Hamstring curls -
110x5
120x5
125x5
110x5

Easy 10 minutes on the stat back, some foam rolling and stretching and that was me done.

[Mr.Serpent]

Today was meh

Squats -
120x5
115x2x5

120 should be basically bang on 85% but seems that 127 pb this week took it out of me. 120 felt like a 5rm, speed wasn't that great even on the 115s. Lots of food this weekend, a slightly easier sprint session on Monday should set me up for a decent squat on tuesday. After that I'll take it easy for the rest of the week.

Press -
57x3x2

Fairly hard

Powercleans -
60x3x2
80x1

Wanted to do some technical work for once.

SLDL -
117x2x5
120x5

These felt really good to do at last. These are actually from the floor unlike the ones I've been doing from the rack recently (closer to RDLs but I keep my knees almost locked out, so it's sort of a hybrid) and I can tell I really need these back in my program.

Barbell holds -
30x10 secs
35x10 secs
37.5x3x15 secs

[Mr.Serpent]

Yesterday, monday week 3

Powercleans -
82.5x3x2

Not my fastest but hey.

Sprints -
Sleds and regular sprints, 3x10m, 3x20m

Wanted to lower the stress a little bit due to friday and hopefully be good for my squat workout.

Single leg calf work with 55kg

Today

Squats -
130x4

I actually felt like crap today, had some stuff on my mind and my body didn't feel strong. I managed to muster some hype for this set and surprised myself, 4 reps is pretty decent. I think I need to take the rest of the week pretty easy. I'd rather keep momentum on these heavy 5s, so my deload starts from now and I'll resume hard training either monday or tuesday. 130x6 is the goal for next week! (That would be a true pb, even though my current squats are deeper and better quality than my old 130x5).

Press -
52x3x2, didn't care for these today.

RDL -
135x3x5

Barbell holds -
Up to 37.5 for a hold of 20 secs

[Mr.Serpent]

Tuesday had me feeling a little burnt out, so rather than wait for my deload week I decided to just take it easy and get back on it from next week.

I didn't train yesterday, so today's session:

Powercleans -
82.5x3x2

Pause squats -
110x3x2

Strict press -
50x5

SLDL -
110x3x5

Ab roll outs -
3x8, no focus on pausing really, but some were.

Kept things pretty easy, nothing above 80%, now two more days 'off' (though work will rob me of some sleep which sucks). Wish I'd recorded the pause squats, was told they were pretty fast. The gym was busy so I was put off from recording.

[Mr.Serpent]

Today's session

Powercleans -
82x3x2

First set was awful, 2nd and 3rd got a little better but far from my speediest 82s. Perhaps work and nutrition was a factor today.

Sprints -
5x20m sled and 5x20m no sled in between.

Got some footage of this so will look over it soon. Temperature is dropping, I still felt reasonably quick today but I think it may be too cold to sprint in the evenings after work soon (I work every other monday so half my sessions might be alright). Time to start making the extra effort to head to an indoor track soon.

Need to smash lots of calories and sleep well tonight. My squat goal tomorrow is 130x6, this will be a true PB, over taking my 130x5 from around april 2014 before I stopped training. That will be a great feeling, to finally get a true PB after 9 months of work.

[Mr.Serpent]

Today wasn't so bad if I may say so.

Squat -
130x6 PB

My first true weightlifting PB since april 2014. It's been an interesting journey, took me almost 9 months since I started training again to being stronger than before, but I'm finally there, and convincingly, I've known that I'm stronger for a while now because squat depth and speed is much better than it used to be, but now I have proof in numbers too.

85x5 to 130x6 in just under 9 months (including 2 months of no progress due to injury). I'm proud I suppose,

Press -
50x2x5

Who gives a damn

Romanian deadlift -
137.5x3x5

Getting pretty tough now.

Barbell holds -
40x3x15 secs

[Mr.Serpent]

Today was good.

Power cleans -
82.5x2x2
90x1
100x1 (equals PB)

Easy, surprisingly easy is all I can say. I haven't been over what I considered 80% on power cleans in a while, but I think my max is higher than I expected now. Perhaps even 110 on a good day.

Pause squats -
110x2
112x2x2

These looked pretty good watching them back actually.

Press -
52x5x2

Didn't record but felt like fast doubles.

SLDL -
125x3x5

Over all a pretty good session.

[Mr.Serpent]

Monday session -

Powercleans -
85x3x2

1st and 3rd sets were ok, switched on a bit more for the second.

Sprints -
6x20m sleds, 6x20m unsleds. These felt good today, my free sprints felt quick, and from next week should be at an indoor track so won't have to worry about temperature and I can get some times again.

Single leg calf raises, seated and standing.

Today -

Meh

Squats -
132.5x2

Felt horrible, very slow and heavy. I felt fatigued all day, slept a lot more than usual and couldn't get any real adrenaline going for this set. Decided to call it here and save my strength to fight another day.

RDLs -
125x2x5

Took it a little easier on these too.

Strict press -
52.5x5

Then some time on the spin bike, and quite a bit of time on some massage and stretching.

[Mr.Serpent]

Sauna yesterday must have worked some magic.

Today

Powercleans -
80x1
90x1
100x1
105x1 (PB)
110xfail
110x1 (PB)
112.5xfail

Guess things could always be worse than a 10kg power clean PB. That's my first goal for the end of the year achieved, now I'm gonna chill and work with percentages and back to heavy squats, at least for a few weeks. Very happy though, 110 aint too bad for a 74kg guy on a good day.

Pause squats -
110x3x2

Mostly spent by this point, felt heavier than it should have.

SLDLs -
127x3x5

Now to rest until tuesday, routine switches around a bit next week to accommodate for indoor track usage on tuesdays from now on.

Edit: IG link to power clean vid: https://instagram.com/p/9wUS89mv3u/?...nertiatraining

[Mr.Serpent]

Long day at the indoor facility, generally good though.

Session 1

Powercleans -
85x3x2

Earlier than I'm used to training so mentally I wasn't all there. But watching videos back the weight was flying up, looked like it was going up to my chin then falling down onto my shoulders rather than receiving the bar smoothly onto them, and I wasn't dipping under. Should go up next time I do these.

Sprints -
Some 20s

I didn't count, tried my new spikes, got beaten pretty easily by my friend who is a speedy mofo and he was barely trying, kept getting light headed, all in all not my best sprint session. Need to work out my food better next week.

Session 2, couple of hours later.

Pause squats -
115x3x2

Decent, but not great, last set was slow by my standards too. More to do with fatigue and not being conditioned for double sessions more than anything I think.

SLDLs -
120x5
130x3x5

I was expecting to have to go lighter after the pause squats, but 120 was flying up so I decided to go a bit harder.

Lying hamstring curl -
65x4x5

Easy, that's the max weight so I should probably switch to single leg next time.

Then some foam rolling, and contrast baths to finish.

[DCSpartan]

Your squat form looks real good, keep it up!

[Mr.Serpent]

Thanks man, just trying to keep these long limbs in check.

[Mr.Serpent]

Vids of my power cleans from the other day:

[Mr.Serpent]

Today's session

Squats -
132.5x4

First rep was good, based on that I feel I should have definitely gotten the 5th, but I went for it, stalled above parallel for about a second and then came back down. Annoyed, I haven't been stuck at a weight for 2 weeks before. Friend/coach says I should give it another week though.

SLDL -
130x3x5

Felt good

Press -
50x8
50x6
50x4

Chin ups -
8
8

Barbell core holds -
Went up to 50kg for a 15 sec hold, felt good.