Results matching “log”

In yet another example of the rapidly changing weather here, this morning's cool misty air became warm and humid just in time for this afternoon's workout. The result? Another fine sweaty session.

The low reps/increased weight emphasis seems to be working well, partly as it provides a more accurate way to measure progress and partly due to the nice ego boost that accompanies the throwing of more weight on the bar.

After getting nicely toasted with help from three of the usual Friday players - box squats (accompanied by Sebastian Bach screaming the strangely appropriate 'I got no monkey on my back'), Romanian deadlifts and seated good mornings - I decided to try out the interesting looking Compound Dumbell Lifts that Kris mentioned yesterday. Certainly glad I left these until the hamstrings/lower back were already well and truly warmed as they are deceptively evil. An excellent find.

In yet another example of the rapidly changing weather here, this morning's cool misty air became warm and humid just in time for this afternoon's workout. The result? Another fine sweaty session.

The low reps/increased weight emphasis seems to be working well, partly as it provides a more accurate way to measure progress and partly due to the nice ego boost that accompanies the throwing of more weight on the bar.

After getting nicely toasted with help from three of the usual Friday players - box squats (accompanied by Sebastian Bach screaming the strangely appropriate 'I got no monkey on my back'), Romanian deadlifts and seated good mornings - I decided to try out the interesting looking Compound Dumbell Lifts that Kris mentioned yesterday. Certainly glad I left these until the hamstrings/lower back were already well and truly warmed as they are deceptively evil. An excellent find.

Today seemed like the right time to begin an all-out assault on the muscle group I've been happily ignoring for the past 30 or so years - the hamstrings.

Following an intense warm-up (the bike is still good for something) I launched into a few short sets of box squats, using the 50cm box - the low box will just have to wait its turn. I immediately traded the box for a somewhat lower (16cm) platform for Romanian deadlifts. The platform simply extended the reach, and I dropped the weight slightly to compensate.

With the hams nicely warmed up it was time to attack them with the almighty GHR. I'm still searching for the best way to do these without a proper GHR bench; the most effective so far is to put a weighted bar on the ground at the back of a power rack, hook the heels under the bar and use the front verticals of the rack to push back as needed.

Rounding off the ham attack were seated Good Mornings, done on the floor, not seated on a bench. This gives the hamstrings a good workout as well as hitting the lower back. Coach Davies (of Renegade Training fame) calls this one 'a sickening, nauseating version of the standing good morning' - I can't say I disagree with him. Having said that, I actually quite enjoy it, although after a few sets of the torturous glute ham raise I'd probably say that about anything.

Finished off the workout with a bit of ab work in the way of hanging knee raises and hanging knee twists. This duo afforded the joint benefits of giving the abs a play and stretching the lower back after the seated good mornings. A perfect cooldown exercise combination.

Further reading :

Hamstring paradigm
Charles Poliquin

This pair of articles (part 1, part 2) briefly look at the kinesiology of the hamstrings, and how this knowledge can be used to create an effective workout.

Hamstrings from Hell
Coach John Davies

A look at several exercises for the hamstrings, which don't require any unusual equipment or suffering strange looks as you drag heavy objects through the streets. Simple, and nauseatingly painful.

Today seemed like the right time to begin an all-out assault on the muscle group I've been happily ignoring for the past 30 or so years - the hamstrings.

Following an intense warm-up (the bike is still good for something) I launched into a few short sets of box squats, using the 50cm box - the low box will just have to wait its turn. I immediately traded the box for a somewhat lower (16cm) platform for Romanian deadlifts. The platform simply extended the reach, and I dropped the weight slightly to compensate.

With the hams nicely warmed up it was time to attack them with the almighty GHR. I'm still searching for the best way to do these without a proper GHR bench; the most effective so far is to put a weighted bar on the ground at the back of a power rack, hook the heels under the bar and use the front verticals of the rack to push back as needed.

Rounding off the ham attack were seated Good Mornings, done on the floor, not seated on a bench. This gives the hamstrings a good workout as well as hitting the lower back. Coach Davies (of Renegade Training fame) calls this one 'a sickening, nauseating version of the standing good morning' - I can't say I disagree with him. Having said that, I actually quite enjoy it, although after a few sets of the torturous glute ham raise I'd probably say that about anything.

Finished off the workout with a bit of ab work in the way of hanging knee raises and hanging knee twists. This duo afforded the joint benefits of giving the abs a play and stretching the lower back after the seated good mornings. A perfect cooldown exercise combination.

Further reading :

Hamstring paradigm
Charles Poliquin

This pair of articles (part 1, part 2) briefly look at the kinesiology of the hamstrings, and how this knowledge can be used to create an effective workout.

Hamstrings from Hell
Coach John Davies

A look at several exercises for the hamstrings, which don't require any unusual equipment or suffering strange looks as you drag heavy objects through the streets. Simple, and nauseatingly painful.

Just came across an interesting story (also in the NY Times) on a Berlin youngster born with unusually large arm and leg muscles. From the Toronto Star article :

'Not yet 5, he can hold 3-kilogram weights with arms extended, something many adults cannot do. He has muscles twice the size of other kids his age and half their body fat.'

Not bad at all for a 5 year old. No doubt there's already more than a little interest in providing the same benefits to those looking to add a bit of muscle.

Just came across an interesting story (also in the NY Times) on a Berlin youngster born with unusually large arm and leg muscles. From the Toronto Star article :

'Not yet 5, he can hold 3-kilogram weights with arms extended, something many adults cannot do. He has muscles twice the size of other kids his age and half their body fat.'

Not bad at all for a 5 year old. No doubt there's already more than a little interest in providing the same benefits to those looking to add a bit of muscle.

Well, the final week of the current training schedule. My original idea to work for 12 weeks before any major changes still seems good; it's provided me with plenty of information on what works/doesn't work, as well as the exercises I prefer doing. More on that later - for now, a look at today's session.

As the weather gets better it's becoming increasingly difficult to spend part of Sunday afternoons indoors, and consequently they're starting a little later these days. Otherwise they're largely unchanged. Today's routine :

• Ab crunch/side crunch (supersetted) 4x100 - I'll vary the warmups a bit more in the next few months, more out of a desire for variety than any problems with the current routine
• Deadlift 5/3/3 - I haven't done this for a while, and it was nice to come back to them. These will definitely play a much larger role over the next few months
• Romanian Deadlift 10/8/3 - Still my favourite exercise, and also the source of the greatest growth over the past few months
• Hamstring curls 4/1 - Just to make sure my hamstrings were well and truly exhausted after the Romanian Deadlifts, and yes, they were
• Good Mornings 10/10/10 (with light weight) - I first heard of this exercise in relation to Bruce Lee's infamous back injury, and then in relation to Kris' suffering. With those two injuries still firmly in mind, I'm taking this one _slowly_
• Leg extensions 10/10/10 (with light weight) - my left ankle is still complaining following a mysterious injury yesterday (mysterious in the truest sense - I really don't remember doing anything bad to it), but a few sets with a comparitively light weight didn't seem too bad

It was a reasonable quick session, at only 56 mins. I'm pretty happy with anything under an hour and a half - fatigue starts to cause problems after that.

Well, the final week of the current training schedule. My original idea to work for 12 weeks before any major changes still seems good; it's provided me with plenty of information on what works/doesn't work, as well as the exercises I prefer doing. More on that later - for now, a look at today's session.

As the weather gets better it's becoming increasingly difficult to spend part of Sunday afternoons indoors, and consequently they're starting a little later these days. Otherwise they're largely unchanged. Today's routine :

• Ab crunch/side crunch (supersetted) 4x100 - I'll vary the warmups a bit more in the next few months, more out of a desire for variety than any problems with the current routine
• Deadlift 5/3/3 - I haven't done this for a while, and it was nice to come back to them. These will definitely play a much larger role over the next few months
• Romanian Deadlift 10/8/3 - Still my favourite exercise, and also the source of the greatest growth over the past few months
• Hamstring curls 4/1 - Just to make sure my hamstrings were well and truly exhausted after the Romanian Deadlifts, and yes, they were
• Good Mornings 10/10/10 (with light weight) - I first heard of this exercise in relation to Bruce Lee's infamous back injury, and then in relation to Kris' suffering. With those two injuries still firmly in mind, I'm taking this one _slowly_
• Leg extensions 10/10/10 (with light weight) - my left ankle is still complaining following a mysterious injury yesterday (mysterious in the truest sense - I really don't remember doing anything bad to it), but a few sets with a comparitively light weight didn't seem too bad

It was a reasonable quick session, at only 56 mins. I'm pretty happy with anything under an hour and a half - fatigue starts to cause problems after that.

Just a quick note to mention that weekly summaries have been replaced by more frequent logs of the workouts themselves. Have a look through the workouts category to get an idea of recent training sessions.

Just a quick note to mention that weekly summaries have been replaced by more frequent logs of the workouts themselves. Have a look through the workouts category to get an idea of recent training sessions.