Euqinom’s BodyBlog

It’s been a while since I added something here about my training.

I’ve finished my first cycle, and i’ve improved all my bench lifts, so that’s great. My Squatmaxes have not improved, unfortunately. My trainingpartner (who I really want with me when maxing out on the squat-exercises) used to be less strong than me. Those days are over, but I still think that I can keep up with him when he builds up his triples. That’s a shame, because now I do not make my 4 lifts over 90%, AND I cannot tell whether I’ve improved my lifts. Something to pay attention to in the next cycle!

And I’m back to my regular training again!

 I’ve decided to devote more time to stretching (esp. hip flexors) and I want to improve my bench, of course. Also, I’ll be more conscious about my exercise choice. I have to be more strict in deciding whether they work or not. But I’m definitely looking forward to the next couple of weeks. And I will not be using that leg extension machine ever again!

They cancelled my competition!

GRMBL! Since I do not have a team to enther the big competition I’ll have to wait for the Dutch Championships, and enter the benchpress competitition.

Tonight, I will be squatting with a suit, knee-wraps and my belt. I’m curious to see what it does. I have been warned that it’s gonna hurt, so..

 Furthermore, I’ve noticed that my arch is nowhere near what it should be, and suddenly I’m getting al kinds of doubts: Am i good enough to compete? Will I disappoint myself? Shouldn’t I have trained more or harder (how?!)? Will I be able to pull it off?

I have deadlifted and benchpressed with a suit. the Bench Suit was slightly too big, but the deadliftsuit was incredibly tight. damn. Bending down hurts, walking is hard.. But it helps. We’ll see what it does.

It’s been a while since I last wrote anything on my training here.

Anyway, last week I had to drag myself to the gym, and my workouts were intensely frustrating to me, because I felt I was too slow on the dynamic effort days, and my maxes (both Squat and Bench Press) were nowhere near what I had expected. It was hard, I let myself get psyched up, and again: frustrating! Back home I checked my trainingjournals, and I noticed that after about six weeks I complained about the same disappointing "symptoms". My guess is that I do not need a de-load after 8 weeks -which simply seemed a convenient time-period for me-, but I’ll de-load after five weeks of hard training. Much better, I’d say.

So, I beat my old lowbox record by 10kg almost, after tripping over the box, and I did better on the dynamic effort bench: 42,5kg! Okay, that was not easy, and my shoulder was a bit sore still from tripping, but I pulled it off! Futhermore, I was DE-squatting on a low box on Wednesday, and I did a pretty decent job with 67,5 on my back. My trainer also had me do bonuslifts with kneewraps (first time for me!) and for those who have never worn wraps before: it’s insane. I could not stand up properly after I was bandaged, walking to the barbell was simply crazy to watch because I moved like I had no knees and squatting itself is a whole new sensation. Can’t wait to see what’s next!

On Sunday I decided to max out on the low box squat. And I decided to move the box a bit closer. And I undecidedly almost tripped over my box. No harm done, a bit stiff in the lower back, and I beat my old record! Way to go!

Yesterday, I did my DEbenchpresses with 40kg instead of the regular 32-35-37,5 wave. Completely unexpected, but i’m proud.

The rest of the workout I did: pullovers, JM Presses, BEnt Over Rows (50kg), Triceps Pushdowns and Shoulder Presses.

By the way, does anybody EVER use the thing in the picture. All I do is stare at it. Just stare. I do not know where it came from, or what it is doing in our gym, but I do know what i would like to see the money rather spent on.

Remember how I wrote about being nervous about instructing my trainers? They were completely swept away by band use! It was so much fun. I was afraid my trainer (#1) would say it was nonsense, but he laughed out loud when he felt how the bands worked, when pushing straight weight after bandtraining, and he walked away, mumbling: "I cannot believe this. I just did it, but.." So, our club is gonna purchase a couple. Others were very excited too. "Euqinom, are you gonna bring ‘m along a couple of times more?" Or, as an other boy said "It’s so logical, I could have thought of it myself, but they DID" An the chairman admitted that he initially thought it was all bullsh*t, but now he ’s convinced. 

For me, my Max attempts: a little progress on Incline Bench Press, and first time Rack Pulls: 165 kilo’s!