Results matching “Bird”

It's been quite a while since I tested my max on the Zercher squats (the last time was back in November) and Wednesday's session was enough to inspire today's test.

After watching a few thousand competitors brave this years' Great Caledonian Run (not to mention the Scottish weather) I headed back for some serious squatting. Of the Zercher variety, that is.

Pull-through (band) 20@supermini, 2×20@blue
Zercher squat 5@40kg, 5@60kg, 5@70kg, 5@80kg, 3@90kg, 2@100kg, 0@110kg

A little disappointing; although I wasn't sure what to expect after such a long absence. Still, it's up 20kg on last time.

I'm well aware of my need to increase tricep strength. After a few sets of inclines, I decided to give the close-grip bench the low rep/high set treatment (video - 4MB, .wmv), which seemed to work well. Following this were a few sets of skull-crushers (I dropped the weight a little on these in favour of a strict and slow movement) and some band pushdowns - after this they were beginning to tire a little.

Decided to give the Neider press a quick whirl, using a plate rather than the bar. I think I can add this to the same list as triceps. There's room for improvement.

Warmup: push-ups

Incline bench press (15 deg) 20@20kg, 5@30kg, 5@40kg, 5@50kg, 5@60kg
Bench press (close-grip) 8×3@60kg
Tricep extension 20@25kg, 3×8@30kg
Band pushdown 50@blue, 50@green
Neider press (plate) 10@5kg, 10@10kg, 4@20kg

With the current sprain repairing itself with frustrating slowness (at least it's moving in the right direction) I decided to avoid any trap movements or any exercise involving a bar across my back. As this ruled out both deadlifts and regular squats, today's routine saw a return of the fun-filled Zercher squat.

Today also saw change from another corner: the camera which failed an impromptu collision test with the pavement a few months ago (the Minolta DiMAGE xt - which bravely limped on, but was never quite the same) was finally replaced with a new version of its younger brother, the DiMAGE E50. Despite being slightly lower in the DiMAGE rankings, the time difference has ensured that it is cheaper, smaller, lighter, faster and generally outperforms the older models.

Best of all for its intended use as a workout aid - video can use the capacity of the card (previously it was limited to frustratingly short bursts) and the frame size has doubled; giving a much better picture. Just to test it out, here is a quick video (3MB, .wmv) from today's session.

Band Pull-through 20@supermini, 20@blue
Zercher squat 5@40kg, 5@60kg, 8×3@70kg
Dimmel deadlift 4×8@60kg
Stiff-legged deadlift 8@70kg, 3×8@80kg
Waiter's Bow 2×20@10kg
Hanging knee raise (from rear of rack) 10@bw

The idea of having a few days' rest was certainly a good one - and I've elected to take a complete break (probably until Wednesday) in order to let things recover properly.

In the meantime, there's a bit of reading to catch up on at John's Workout Blog; an excellent blend of westside-style lifting with hypertrophy goals. Check it out.

Despite the presence of slightly sore traps I went ahead with today's scheduled deadlifts. Nearly halfway through the current cycle the pulls are getting reasonably heavy - repping at 93% of my previous max. After several sets I was certainly feeling the effects.

The remainder of the workout felt quite reasonable, until I decided to team up the T-bar rows with a few chin-ups: succeeding in causing a cramp in the middle trapezius. After scratching my head (figuratively - there was no way I could do this) trying to think of ways to stretch it I decided to try a few stretches mentioned on ExRx; as well as a couple I occasionally use for the entire upper back. A little relief, but as I type this I still feel as though my shoulders have been glued to my ears. More than a little frustrating.

Band pull-through 2×20@supermini
Deadlift 5@60kg, 5@100kg, 5×3@135kg
Dimel deadlift 3×8@70kg
SLDL 3×8@80kg
T-bar row/chin-up 8@80kg/4

I first came across this exercise some time ago in an old Coach John Davies article, however I didn't actually try them out until a recent comment by John.


The movement itself really is as simple as the name suggests. Grab a plate by the sides (angled down a bit, as if driving a bus) and straighten your arms in front of you. Raise it until you're looking through the hole, and lower it again. That's it.

As this is pretty close to an isolation exercise (for the anterior deltoid) I tend to slip these in after a bit of pressing.

In a never-ending quest to add a little wrist work to my routines - as well as generally avoiding isolation movements - I decided to try a few one-handed barbell curls. The length of the bar makes this a far more difficult movement than a dumbell curl, and simply keeping the bar horizontal proves quite a challenge.

Another thing in its favour is the way in which cheating is discouraged - anything but a slow and steady curl will see the bar quickly falling to one side. Fantastic.

Waking up the morning following a deadlift workout always feels fine until I move - which is when the 'just got run over by a truck' feeling kicks in. Despite the fact that the feeling had well and truly disappeared by 6pm (in fact it had gone about half an hour after I woke), I was still tempted to shift today's scheduled workout to tomorrow, and enjoy the fantastic weather here at the moment.

In the end I decided to follow last week's brief pattern; affording a sun-filled hour afterward. This time I increased the incline to 30 degrees, which is about the maximum angle before shoulder pain begins to make an appearance.

Warmup: push-ups

Incline bench press (30 deg) 2×10@20kg, 5@40kg, 5@50kg, 5@60kg
8×3@45kg

Again I elected to take on the back work in the form of weighted chin-ups - this time managing to squeeze out a rep at 25kg.

Chin-up 8@10kg, 3@20kg, 1@25kg
Pull-up 10@bw

I'm slowly increasing the volume of my warmups, and today's rack pulls were preceded by a bit of ab and hamstring work. The volume of work here didn't seem to have any negative impact, so I'll up the weights a bit for next week. There's a fine line between conditioning and pre-exhaustion.

Gorilla chin 10@bw
Band pull-through 2×20@blue band
Standing plate twist 2×20@5kg
Squat 20@30kg, 20@40kg, 10@50kg, 10@60kg

The rack pulls were one hole lower than last week's; starting them squarely at knee height. I find this to be the most awkward height to pull from, and I'm looking forward to being able to move it a bit lower - simply to give the legs a bit of room to move. Despite the lower start, I managed to get a rep further than last week. The 180kg 1RM (from the floor) is on target.

Rack pull 2×5@60kg, 5@100kg, 5@140kg, 3@160kg

Band good morning 2×20@super mini band
Waiter's Bow 2×20@10kg

My hamstrings began to warn me last night that they're a little upset over something or other. Most likely wednesday's heavy sumo deadlifts. Whatever the cause, I managed to squeeze in a quick session this morning.

First up was the band pull-through, which I've been keen to try since getting the bands; so far it's somehow managed to stay hidden. These are great, and a couple of high-rep sets with the blue band was enough to wake up a bit.

A few light sets of leg curls was more than enough - for the time being.

Band pull-through (blue band) 2×50
Lying leg curl 20,20,12@20kg, 8@25kg, 4@30kg, 3@35kg

The second part of the workout was a repeat look at the incline bench, once again at 15 degrees. I decided to perform the standing L-Flyes using a light plate (5kg) instead of a dumbell, so as to add a little hand/wrist work to the session. After a little success in previous workouts, these were again slotted in between sets of presses. A great 'reset' feeling.

Warmup: pull-ups/push-ups
Incline bench press (15 deg) 20@20kg, 5@30kg, 5@40kg, 5@50kg, 5@60kg
8×3@45kg
Standing L-Flye 4×7@kg
Push-up with hyperextension 2×10@bw
Incline bench press (15 deg - close grip) 4×8@50kg
Band tricep pushdown 2×20@blue band