Mark MDs training log

I like the thick grip clubs Mark, he pick axe handle loops pretty mean aswell.I have a set of 2k clubs a set of 8k and 1 15k one.I use the 2Ks alot as they are great for mobility and warmups .Swing the 2 8ks really hammers the grip when you do alot of reps
Mark

Mark M-D wrote:I'm about as naturally suited to strength work as Paul Anderson was to being a jockey!

Mark, Dont give up, a lad who trains with me came to work for me at the age of 16 6'4" weighting 9.5stone and could not use a 15lb bar for any exercise with bad back problems, now 3 years later he box squats on a 16" box 140kg for reps and has deadlifted 180kg and has benched 120kg now weighing close to 17stone, so it can be done just takes dedication and hard work and you will get there.

Cheers for the encouragement Aaron. Unfortunately I've been laid low with either mild flu or a stinking cold which is taking forever to clear up. Still not 100% but fed up with not training.
Recent training-
02/09-easing back
Bench 10/50, 5/62.5, 5/67.5, 5/72.5, 4/77.5
Orbigrip- 30 sec drop sets from 2kg to 0.5kg then 1min each hand inwards & outwards at 1kg and 0.5 kg
Iron woody 5 sets of 6 at 1/8.

04/09
warm up-2mins swinging 12kg powerclub
Front squat 8/50, 5/65, 5/80
10 Rader chest pulls
Back squat 5/90, 5/110, 5/122.5
Good mornings 10/14, 10/34, 6/50, 5/70- felt fine, will try cranking the weight up to 80 next time
Front Hise shrug 8/50
Front wrist curl (thumbless) 12/11.5, 10/13.5, 8/13.5
Reverse wrist curl 9/8 (dumbell slipped) 13/8, 8/10, 6/10
Bent press 1/20, 1/26 each side 1/31.75, 1/34.25- left only- enjoyed these, will try to use more often
Orbigrip 30 secs each hand @1.5kg

Good work mate nice sessions. Colds/flu set you back a long way. People who don't train don't realise how serious man flu is ha ha...

Cheers Sam. I think I've moved seamlessly from one cold to another now.

Yesterday's training:
Incline Sit ups 35, 8 + 6kg plate behind head
Orbigrip 1min each hand @ 1kg
Plate pinch 2x5- 30secs each hand, 3x5 20secs R 16secs L, 2x10 10secs R, 4secs L, 8secs R, 6secs L (still feeble, but less feeble than last time)
RT lifts 5x25, 5x30, 5x35, 5x40 L 4x40 R, 3x45L 1x45R fail at 50

Hammer bar (pick axe handle) front lifts to head and back 2.5lbx5. Then I added a heavier bar and collars and this alone made it nearly impossible. 5 more front lifts (hands higher up the handle) and 5x rear lifts (end of bar).

Wrist curls (Rev) 8/10 (front) 6/13.5- Felt much harder than 2 days ago so I left it at that
Orbigrip at 0.5kg to warm down.

Today's training

warm up-one arm barbell snatches 35lb 5 each side, dumbell overhead press 10/20lb

Pull over & press 3/54kg, 3/64kg 1/74kg x3 fail at 79kg. First time I've tried this. Great exercise, will try to incorporate it more but it requires loads of floor space.

Military press 10/30kg, 5/34kg, 5/44kg
Push press 5/54, 1/64- struggling badly at this point- still feel under the weather, called it a day.

Today's training
I read bits of McROBERT'S "Tell all Guide to Weight Training" today and tried to put "proper" form into practice, which dramatically reduced what I can lift. At least I hope that's why.
Dips- bodyweight 10,10,10,8- haven't done dips for ages and it just occurred to me that I can raise the pins on my rack and put two bars across them.
Bench 5/50, 5/60, 5/65, 2/72.5 dropped to 1/70. Much worse than last time, but then I hadn't done 4 sets of dips before hand.
Straight bar strict curl 12/20, 8/30, 5/35, 1/40, 4/35, 8/25. Again, worse than last time, but I wasn't bringing my elbows up and resting at the top. Felt much more intense.
Bit of Orbigrip to warm down
Arms killing me-left it at that- will hopefully try a bit more work tomorrow.

Today's training-
Reverse crunch 20, 20, incline 10- felt much harder and more worthwhile
Trap bar deadlift 5/60, 5/100, 5/130, 5/150, 3/170. First time I've done these since I did 1/200 and it felt hard. I think a small part of that was due to standing on a block about 1" thicker than usual (to make up for the plates being on mats) and not having my biggest plates on the bar- they add something like 1/2-1" to the starting height of the bar. It all adds up.

2" wrist roller 5/10/15/15/20/25kg both ways. The roller (plastic down pipe) started squashing up at this point.
Orbigrip 1 min inwards @1.5 kg, 1 min outwards @ 0.5 kg. I've never known anything like this- my forearms and wrists especially looked and felt like I'd borrowed them off someone else. Awesome bit of kit!

Today's training;

20 incline sit ups (10 twisting) 15 incline leg raises (quick) 20 incline sit ups (10 twisting)

Bench- tried changing my positioning, arching my back more and lifting more explosively, no noticeable difference with heavier weights, in fact I managed less than normal- may just be a matter of practice.
5/20, 5/50, 5/50, 3/70, 1/80 2xfails @90, fail 87.5, 1/80

Dinnie rings- I used two wheels to make the "stones" bigger-
4 @ 45/33, 4 @63/50, 4@83/65, 4@ 103/80 - I rotated for each lift- side by side/ front back/ side by side (different hands)/ front back (different hands)
2@ 115/86 (side by side, L/H heavier, front/back L/H heavier & at back), 1@ 128/100 (L/H heavier & at back), 1@ 135/106 (L/H heavier & at back)- cleared by a couple of inches.

Considering getting a lifting belt and possibly knee wraps for this- although my hands hurt my grip isn't failing, I just lack the leg and back strength to lift any heavier. Never tried knee wraps before and haven't used a belt for years for anything.

Bent press- 3/20, 2/28, 1/31.75, 1/35.25 (L/H only). Current goal is 40kg

Last nights training
Warm up- two lots of incline sit ups 10 regular and 10 twisting, incline leg raise 10 (slow)

Front squat 6/52.5, 5/67.5 (abs starting to hurt), 5/82.5 (wrists hurt-did some light orbigrip work to recover)
Back squat 5/92.5, 5/102.5, 5/112.5
Set up for 125, took bar on shoulders, but my head just wasn't there and I left it at that. Tried some front Hise shrugs and only managed 4/60- clearly I had not recovered from the previous squats.

Good Mornings 8/20, 6/40
Front Hise shrugs 10/50
Good mornings 5/50, 5/60, 5/70, 5/80

Back squat 8/80
Various Rader chest pulls

In future I will avoid any ab work before doing squats; this felt much harder than my last squat workout, although my form felt better on the heavier reps.

Yeah I wouldn't do any heavy ab work before squats.
I like doing something light like crunches though just to fire the midsection up a bit.

Core work after squats!! Sometimes i feel my core is taxed enough after squats that i don't even need to do anything else anyway. I wouldn't do abs before anything, as they are used in every movement, even bench.

Are you using a clean grip for the front squats?

I don't think knee wraps will help very much for the Dinnie stones. You get a pop out of the hole with them on squats, on partial squats opr any sort of deadlift you wouldn't get much, if anything out of them. A belt is worth investing in, but only use it for the heavy stuff, do your warmups without it to keep your core strong.

Yeah, I think it was the leg raises that did the damage- previously I'd just blasted through some quick sit ups for a cv warm up more than anything else, I think I just got carried away.

I do use a clean grip for front squats, and I'd got used to it and it stopped hurting, but I think with the last couple of reps I was leaning forwards slightly so that I was forced to take a lot more of the weight with my arms rather than resting the bar on my delts.

I'll have to look into getting a belt just for the Dinnie work- is there a difference between belts for deadlifts and belts for squatting?

I just got back from Wag Bennett's gym with as much weight as I could fit in my dad's car-felt like I'd had a workout just loading and unloading. Will post some pics of what I've got soon- may even train with some of the stuff tomorrow

I find twists with a broom handle is all I need to warm up my midsection 2x10 each way does the trick.