Mark MDs training log

Good advice all round- today's training:
Warm up- broomstick twists (thanks Aaron!), a few chin shrugs and some one arm snatches with a 10kg curl bar

Bench 12/20, 5/40, 5/50, 5/60, 3/70, 1/80 - fails at 90, 87.5, 1/80. Worked out that my poundage had dropped because I had lowered my rack- I got my PR of 87.5 when I was bringing the bar to the pins around 2" or more above my chest. Got it set up now so I can touch my chest with the bar with my back arched, but I can drop the arch if I fail and the bar is on the pins.

Bench lock outs (probably 4"-6") 5/82.5, 5/90, 3/100

B/W Chins 14 (pronated grip), 4 (one hand pinching the frame of the bar, one regular grip, alternating), 7 (2 fingers), 8 (pronated grip)
Lat shrugs 8 Bodyweight about 145lbs

Break of about 3 hrs due to looking after my daughter

DB row 8/13.5, 6/20, 5/23, 5/26, 5/35.25, 4/40

Zottman curls 12/8kg, 10/11.5, 6/13.5, 6/13.5

Wrist curls 7/13.5, 8/13.5, 10/8, 10/8

Reverse wrist curls 8/8, 8/8, 16/8

Orbigrip drop sets- RH- started at 2.5kg, aimed for a minute per set, changed to 30 secs at 1.5kg. LH- started at 1.5kg, 30 secs per set. Didn't count- too hard and I know it was very slow.

That's it for a bit- I go on holiday for a week on Saturday. Will take the Vulcan and Orbigrip. Got my blue (weakest!) spring today and I can actually no set close the Vulcan without killing myself. Hopefully if I get into a habit of fully closing it I can progress a bit more (I can't get any worse).

Back from holiday in France. I ate like a king everyday and somehow managed to come back a few pounds lighter. I think it was throwing up on the ferry that did it.
Did some Vulcan and Orbigrip work while I was away along with some chins/ push ups etc.

Today's training-
Trying out the routine outlined by Bill Hays- static holds etc. To gauge where I'm at I warmed up and went for max effort on the Vulcan and managed a feeble level 2 (red spring) and just closed my coc#1. The only way is up from here.
Then did the static holds throughout the day. Have been trying to find a level to start on with my Iron Woody- so far have worked up to 6/3 and have been able to hold every setting for over a minute. Tried the Vulcan with a blue spring and managed 35 secs r/h and 40 l/h. Also did 31 inverted closes r/h and 37 l/h with HG100

Front squats 6/40, 6/55, 5/70, 3/80
Filmed myself for the first time. Got as far as 80kg when I felt my form go to rat shit, especially at the third rep. I felt as if I had to propell myself forwards to get the bar up- no pain anywhere at all, it just didn't feel as good. I think I probably just have to up the poundage more gradually and maintain good form.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjaerkG5Jh8
Constructive criticism is most welcome.

Off work tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get a decent ammount of training in then.

Mark, with the front squats, try keeping the elbows up higher like the oly lifters do, look up more and don't let the knees come in on the way up. I'd also use a slightly narrower stance. I prefer a crossed arm grip, i've always felt clean grip is too awkward (and i'm not flexible enough). This is good clean grip front squat form IMO:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkK9-mnDAy4 he is half my weight, and front squats more. Notice how he keeps his elbows up and only holds the bar on his fingertips. I hope this helps you a bit mate...

Cheers for the advice Sam- I'll try to put it into practice next time I do front squats. The guy in the video is awesome! I see what you mean about just holding the bar with two fingers. I reckon that could be the key to getting the elbows up and out.

Today's training-
Grip- static holds on Iron Woody throughout the day. 1 min each hand at 7/2, 7/3, 8/2. 38secs rh at 7/4, 39secs lh- finally found the level to start at. Inverted closes with HG 100 41rh 47lh

Strength work
warmed up playing about with my new 24kg kettlebell
Bench 5/50, 5/60, 5/70, 4/75, 1/80 fail 82.5x2
Trap bar deadlift 5/60, 5/100 then my wife and daughter came home and started "helping".
5/140
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqwUbScnS0k
Broke for tea, then stupidly went straight to 5/160 and felt a twinge in my back on the last rep. Feels ok now but no more deadlifting for tonight.

Recent training
Still following the Bill Hays grip routine daily- static holds at least 3x a day and inverted closes. Best so far is a hold of 56 secs at L3 on the Vulcan.

Back feeling better after the twinge deadlifting, but I'm not risking any heavy work just yet.

Today's training
warm up with kettlebell and powerclub. Did some s/l deadlifts on blocks with the kb which seemed to stop my back feeling tight, followed by some broomstick twists

Bench 5/50, 5/60, 5/70, 4/75, 1/82.5-PR - not an impressive PR, but a PR nonetheless, 10/60
Bent press-singles 24kg (KB), 26, 28, 31.75, each hand, 36.25 Left hand only. Really noticed how much easier this is when the form is spot on and the weight isn't getting muscled up.
lever bar work- arms stretched parallel to ground in front, up to head and back- 10/2.5lb, 6/3.75lb, 3/5lb
Pinch bar curls- rev-4/10kg front 14/10kg - Seemed to be working the thumb more than anything in the rev curls and not doing a lot with the front curls so switched to regular wrist curls
Rev wrist curls 10/8, 6/8, 6/8
Front wrist curls 16/8, 6/11.5, 6/11.5 - never felt this weak on wrist curls- possibly the lever bar work wore me out.
Orbigrip- 1min inwards at 1.5kg arm on bench 77 rh 73 lh. 1min outwards at 1kg, arm on bench 81rh 71lh

Now I've got a night shift ahead of me. Deep joy.

Today's training:
Continuing with the grip work as before.
warm up- Goblet squats 10/24, GMs 10x bar, broomstick twists, kb swings 10/24 two handed, 10/24 one handed, Stiff legged DL from blocks with KB, KB cleans 10/24. Back felt absolutely fine.

Dinnie Rings 5/25,25, 4/50,65, 2/70,90, 2/85,110 1/100,130. Seem to have reached a plateau with these-Feels like a lack of leg strength.

Zercher lifts with 2"bar 5/40, 5/60, twinged lower back again on 80. Gutted as this was the first time I've tried Zerchers and I was getting into them.

Will try resting my back for a couple of weeks. I hurt it much more deadlifting back in March and it just seemed to get better with rest. If not it'll be a trip to the physio.

Recent training- Static holds as before with the Vulcan. I've cracked setting the gripper after forcing it and my holds aren't varying so much. Got to L4 for 40 secs yesterday.

Bought a bag of 6" nails at the pound shop and set about bending them- did about 10, broke 1 (took ages). Very satisfying!

Todays training- warm up- broke another nail (took ages again- The hardest part is straightening the nail again from about 130 degrees), played around with KB. Back still stiff so not risking any squats or DLs for a good couple of weeks.

Bench 5/40, 3/50, 3/62.5, 3/72.5 fail 85 3/75, 3/75, 2/75

Bent press- singles 20, 24(KB), 26, 28 (both hands) 31.75 (left only) fail 37.75.

One arm DB snatches up to 28 kg. Never done these before-enjoyed them.

Bought a bag of 6" nails at the pound shop and set about bending them- did about 10, broke 1 (took ages). Very satisfying!

Good stuff!

Cheers! I watched a vid of breaking nails at a competition and have broken a few more nails since now I've got more of an idea what I'm doing-looks like speed is the key.
Today's training- warm up-stretching, broomstick twists. It was chucking it down so I didn't fancy taking my barbell outside so I did some db/ kb cleans in my shed. No pressing due to lack of height. 24kg kb 5 each side, 26 (db) 5 ea, 28/5ea, 31.75/3ea, 36.25/2ea, 40/2ea
Rain eased off- one arm db snatches & bent presses- singles- 20kg, 26, 28, 31.75-felt like the snatches were muscled up. Bent press 37.75-left only.
Bench 10/40-close grip 5/50-normal, 5/62.5, 5/70, 3/75 - 20 Rader pulls, 3/75, 10 Rader pulls, 2/75. Not sure if this was due to benching after cleans, snatches and bent presses, but my benching seems to have reached a plateau with a PR of 82.5. I think it's my triceps letting me down as I'm getting stuck just after halfway.

Rolling Thunder 3/27kg, 3/36, 2/45, 1/47.5 (left only), Vbar 3/45, 1/54-couldn't control descent properly and left it there.
Wrist roller-9kg, 18, 20, 25- both ways
Orbigrip 1min @1.5kg inwards, 1kg outwards

Great stuff Mark

Cheers Aaron! Today's training- warm up- broomstick twists, stretching & swinging power club
Renegade rows with 56lb block weights- 10 each arm x2
Front squat 5/bar, 5/50, 5/60- tried with arms crossed, not very stable, 4/70, reset bar, 1/70. First time I've squatted since I twinged my back a couple of weeks ago and felt fine
Full Zerchers 2" bar (scaffold pole) 5/40, 5/60, 5/70- I was puffing like a train after this and I can't work out why. Back squats 5/70. Back held out fine but I could feel it on the Zerchers at 70. I hurt it before doing Zerchers so I may just have to stop doing them, which is a shame as they feel great.
2"bar DL, o/o 3/70
2hp-First time I've tried these. Can't afford a euro set up just yet so made do with a pair of smooth old plates on a bar- about 4cm wide. 3/32, 3/36, 1/41, 1/43, Add chalk- 1/45, 1/48, 1/50. Given I'm so light I think a bodyweight lift is a realistic goal-an extra 15kg or so.
TGU 2/24kg kettlebell

Tonights training- warm up- step ups with 56lb blockweights, stretching, broomstick twists
Trap bar DL 10/60, 20/100 in 2:58. Felt it in my legs around 15 reps, but didn't feel anything like as bad as 20 rep squats. Will re-read parts of "Super Squats" on breathing techniques, and try 110 next time.
Standing Dumbell press 5/20, 5/22, 5/24. Wanted to work up to 5/28, but managed 2 push presses @26 and felt shite. Must work on these.
2HP 1/45, 1/50, fail 55, 1/52.5, 8/37.

Great work on the trap bar deadlifts Mark, been a while since ive done any trap bar work

Cheers Aaron- I'm easing back into them as I twinged my back doing them a couple of weeks back. I'll give 20 rep sets a go for a while and hopefully my back will sort itself out- felt fine today. I haven't really used a straight bar for deadlifting for ages except for 2" o/o deadlifts. Main reasons being that I can't fit a 7' bar in my deadlifting area, and that I twinged my back badly back in Feb doing a fairly light deadlift. I'm not training for competitions, so I'll stick to what's safest.

A lad who trains with me has had a lot of trouble with his back over the years and we found that even though he got pretty strong at dead lifting he was still very weak in the core so what he did was hit his lower back with high rep good mornings, 45 degree hypers, side bends and heavy twists again using 20 reps and this has seemed to eradicate a lot of the problems.

Aaron