Feeling Undiminished, Blut Attempts Restoration

[blut wump]

Here's an interesting read on Deca and joints:
http://www.mesomorphosis.com/articles/anthony-roberts/deca-durabolin-and-your-joints.htm

You can't beat a nice rack.

I had to get one to keep with the home workouts. If I'm pushing the squats I need that safety net and it'll enable all the other things a rack opens up. I need to get some bands now so I can play with suspended weights. Is there no end to this nonsense?

 

[the-short-one]

Here's an interesting read on Deca and joints:
http://www.mesomorphosis.com/articles/anthony-roberts/deca-durabolin-and-your-joints.htm

You can't beat a nice rack.

I had to get one to keep with the home workouts. If I'm pushing the squats I need that safety net and it'll enable all the other things a rack opens up. I need to get some bands now so I can play with suspended weights. Is there no end to this nonsense?

toys are so much fun.


I bought a smith machine recently with cable attachments for lats (row & pulldown). I've never used a smith machine before, because I've always had a spotter. I like it...kind of. takes some getting used to, but I can work out by myself at home and not worry about injuries. I know it's not as challenging as free squats/presses - I had to add more weight than I usually do.

 

[blut wump]

I spent about a year working on a Smith at the previous gym and was glad I made the move to get away from it. I leaves a lot of your stabilizer muscles unworked which can cause problems when you go back to a free weight. I'd been squatting around 420 for low reps on the Smith and my first session at the new gym had me wobbling at 130 with a free bar. It took a couple of months before I was back around 300. Even bench was very wobbly with a free bar after the Smith and that took around 6 months to be using the same weights.

I'm hoping the squat rack will be an adequate spotter. I've no fear of dumping a bar in a rack.

 

[Tweakle]

nice looking rack

get a trap bar, a dip stand and some fixed DB's and you'll never have to leave the house again!

those chicks weren't so cute

 

[anotherbutters]

I was near one of the Fitness Superstores today (where you ordered your rack), so I popped in. It was a sea of smith machines. I saw the beast of a machine that I linked to above. Truly massive. You could do a cardio workout walking round it. I didn't see any power racks though. There were coloured plates everywhere, but they all seemed like hard rubber, so I assume they're the coated plates, not proper bumpers. I was curious as to how soft the edge of a proper bumper plate was.

I went for an ab wheel as I saw them on their website last night. They're basic and cheap (£8/$14), but perfectly usable. I tried it later and it definitely hits the abs! I couldn't even manage 2/3 of a roll-out before collapsing. The furthest distance travelled is going to be a good indicator of progress. Great fun!

 

[the-short-one]

I make it into the gym 2 times a week and lift with a spotter. I got the smith here at the job site because

1) everyone was complaining that we needed something safer (we had no rack at all. It was impossible to squat or press anything heavy without 2 other people around you)

2) it was all I could find on short notice and it was on sale

now that it's together, no one has used it but me. it's so darn hot here - I can't blame them.

Blut - glad you put that into words for me, not using the stabalizer muscles. It's what I meant, but lacked the appropriate lingo to cover it.

 

[silver_shadow]

I make it into the gym 2 times a week and lift with a spotter. I got the smith here at the job site because

1) everyone was complaining that we needed something safer (we had no rack at all. It was impossible to squat or press anything heavy without 2 other people around you)

2) it was all I could find on short notice and it was on sale

now that it's together, no one has used it but me. it's so darn hot here - I can't blame them.

Blut - glad you put that into words for me, not using the stabalizer muscles. It's what I meant, but lacked the appropriate lingo to cover it.

maybe you could sell it and pick up a power rack instead.

 

[the-short-one]

maybe you could sell it and pick up a power rack instead.

nah. I'm keeping it. The lat attachment makes the whole thing worth it, IMO. Plus, it came with a good incline/decline bench that has a preacher curl pad.

 

[blut wump]

Intensity - Week 4 Day 1

Squats felt heavy throughout and I probably should have stayed at 160Kg went I got there. The third rep was a noisy one and I think it would have been wiser to do another set at that weight than to move on. I had to dump the bar again at 175.5Kg. I stripped the bar down and gave it another shot at 173Kg with the same result. I got into the hole but just didn't feel that I had anything to push with. I also felt it was a mental problem of not being able to muster the strength rather than the muscles not being strong enough.

After the squats, my arms had that annoying ache in the brachialis and brachioradialis again. Probably from supporting the weight out of position on my back.

I did the MP at 60Kg and just felt that I'd had enough for the day.

I'm not sure what the problem is here. Maybe it's time I started back in on some volume again. I'll see the rest of this week out and see whether I improve.


All weights in Kilos, +.5Kg unless just the bar
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 90x3, 120x3, 135x3x3
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 90x3, 120x3, 140x3, 142.5x3, 145x3, 60x10
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 90x3, 120x3, 140x2, 150x3x3, 100x8
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 90x3, 120x3, 135x3, 150x3, 160x3, 100x10
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 90x3, 120x3, 135x2, 150x1, 160x1, 165x0
20x10, 30x10, 60x6, 90x3, 120x3, 140x3, 152.5x3, 162.5x3
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 100x3, 125x3, 145x3, 160x3, 170x3
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 100x3, 125x3, 145x3, 160x3, 175x0, 172.5x0
MP
20x10, 40x6, 60x3, 72.5x3, 77x5x3
20x10, 40x6, 60x5

 

[blut wump]

Intensity - Week 4 Day 2

Just some pressing to finish off yesterday's workout. When I stalled on the strict, I finished off with some push presses.

I was planning to add some BB rows to this workout but I got that ache in my arms again. I think I have to assume some tendonitis-like issues and I reckon that this might be the last week of pushing the heavy squats.


All weights in Kilos, +.5Kg unless just the bar
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x8
MP
20x10, 40x6, 60x3, 70x3, 80x2x2, 82.5x0,0
PP
82.5x1, 85x1, 87.5x1, 90x1