Barefoot in shoes that is…
Much as I love my new shoes, I really can’t get past the fact that they are the embodiment of an oxymoron!
Oxymoron of not, they were awesome things to wear for my PT on Tuesday morning đ
I wasn’t sure if they would end up hurting my calves / feet due to me not being used to them, but they worked out really well đ
Most of the PT session was spent Power lifting…because that is exactly what you need to do at 7am before work on a Tuesday!
Actually it was exactly what I needed to do…it was awesome!
We more or less spent the whole session working on snatches, and various moves that lead into snatches, and improve snatches and suchlike.
I started with hip mobility exercises, then practised overhead squats.
I then learned the motions involved in the power hang snatch (which according to my research seems to be what we were working towards)
I repeated various sections of it multiple times, and also did some power split jerks and shrugs…
more or less everything was done in sets of 8, including the deadlifts we threw in for good measure.
I didn’t go very heavy on the deadlifts this week, I did 8 @ 60kg
The last thing we worked on was a negative pistol squat to roll back, it was basically a controlled falling over backwards..on one leg…
Raise one leg, squat down with the other one, and at the bottom of the movement sit down and roll back in a controlled way. I think it is about balance and leg strength đ
For the first time in a long time, we did no boxing, but to be honest, my shoulders hated me enough after 20kg power shrugs…If I had boxed on top of that I might have had to stay in bed! đ
Day 361 Complete đ
Project Warrior Goddess 
I need some Sam PT advice, now that you’re all trained and official and such. đ
I was inspired to get into the 5X5 strength training this week. I’ve got the Madcow 5X5 program – but it’s pretty advanced and focused on ‘getting big’ – and really isolated to just a few exercises: (Monday = Squat, Bench, Row; Wednesday = Squat, Incline bench, Row; Friday = Squat, Bench Row). I’m thinking that since I’m just getting into heavier lifting, I would benefit from a more diverse set of lifts. What do you think?
I do like the 5X5 set up – which madcow recommends that each of the 5 sets gets increasingly heavier. (so on that, I do need to figure out my MAX so that I can work backwards from there, because on Tuesday I found that by the time I got to my 4th set, I couldn’t add anymore weight…).
What would you recommend for my Mon, Wed, Fri 5X5 workouts?
Also, bonus question: do you use the barbell on the rack for doing squats, or do you use a loose barbell that you can use away from the rack? I tried it using the rack and it felt awkward, and I was (for inexplicable reasons) not able to squat as deep.
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this seems to be based on the Stronglifts 5×5 program, which is the one I follow.
Stronglifts uses: Squats, Bench press, Row, OH press and Deadlift
The advantage of the overhead press over the inclined bench is that as you are standing, you are recruiting more muscles thus it is more effective.
I would do those listed above, and add in the lat pulldown to provide an opposing movement for the OH press.
the way strong lifts suggests doing it is using the same weight for every set, and if you can complete all 5 sets of 5 at that weight then increase next workout.
The stronglifts program recommends splitting the lifts as your 5 x 5 program suggests, I have a tendency to do all of them every time.
It also recommends only doing 1 x 5 deadlifts. and a note on deadlifts, they are awesome, but make sure your form is spot on before you go heavy!!
I recommend getting your form checked but definitely doing them as they are awesome for more or less your full body.
If you want to split them, just make sure you are doing the exercises in pairs. For example do bench and row on the same day and so OH press and lat pull down on each day.
The advantage of these lifts is they are compound movements and therefore recruit so many muscles that you don’t actually need a more diverse set of lifts.
I think the splitting up (or not) of the sets across days is personal preference, and also depends on how heavy you go and therefore how long you take to recover!
As for squatting, I do use a squat rack as I can’t get a heavy enough bar on my shoulders otherwise. But once I have lifted it on to my shoulders it is loose.
If the one you are using is tracked, only allowing the bar to move up and down it might be a smith machine, I would say, do not use this!! it restricts you motion!!
I hope this helps…
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Yes! The one I used is tracked – and I found it AWFUL for my form. okay – I need to go and find a rack that allows you to life the bar right off so it’s free.
And I do like the idea of doing more than just the 3 moves in one training day.
so you go all free weights/barbell except for the lat pull down machine, is that right?
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Yes, all free weight apart from the lat pull down đ
Definitely steer clear of smith machines…they force you into the wrong position an motion! As you could feel!
It is worth trying all the lifts in one session, I superset too, it makes the whole thing more efficient. I work opposing muscle groups, eg in the rest from bench presses I row đ it minimises sitting around and stops your heart rate dropping đ
I don’t do that with deadlifts đ
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Awesome PT. I don’t think my shoulder would take snatches so I hope my trainer never thinks to do them. Your 60kg deadlift puts my 12kg to shame but, in my defence, I have a bad back (damaged on a trampoline when I was 18 and again at 20; being a typical teenager “it’s fine! I’ll carry on!”) and it siezed on Monday. So my trainer went easy on me today – ha! Squats, shoulder presses, pull-up rows on TRX and the bar on the Smith machine, crunches, reverse curls… The usual just with lighter weights in deference to my poorly back. Don’t worry, I would have stopped if it had hurt (well more than usual anyway).
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Yes! Lighter weights is definitely good for damaged backs! It both confuses and pleases me that I now consider a 60kg deadlift to be light!!
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I don’t know if I’m impressed or terrified to know that you could, in fact, deadlift me and consider it light!
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That is what Matt said…apparently that is his body weight too, he was pleased that I could lift him in a life or death situation!
I am not sure when one might arise mind you…
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