Had sore throat that got worse throughout yesterday so just did what I could last night. Couldn’t be bothered to change weight too much:
Squat
20 x 40kg
20 x 50kg
Good Morning
8 x 40kg
8 x 40kg
Row
2 x 5 x 40kg
2 x 10 x 30kg
Press-ups
1 x 10
1 x 7
I felt like shit at this point and had to lie on the floor for ten mins when I got back into the house. I feel ill today, most likely worse than anyone has ever felt. Maybe it was stupid to train but at least I got a session in before I felt too bad
The point I was making is that Doug et al would have built their size and strength to a large extent on compound and classic weightlifting movements, which would have then enabled him to do monstrous barbell curls.
Same with gymnasts - if you watch them compete most have biceps that are bursting off their arms and look like cannonballs - I can guarantee that most of them have never curled a barbell in their lives.
Direct isolation work is fine but it’s the compounds that build mass. Or am I just sick of being in gyms with some prick doing bro-curls off the pins in the power rack with a weight they clearly can’t handle and swinging their elbows forward and arching their back
I’m a bit torn on what to do cycling-wise on Sunday. I’m going to do a favourite ~60 mile loop that’s a good fitness benchmark for me (and will give me an idea of whether I’m up to doing the main club ride yet), but torn on whether to attempt it on the single speed for comparison with when I last did the route pre-christmas, or do it on the road bike which is probably better from a fitness point of view. The route starts with ~20 miles uphill so a bit of a grind on the single speed. But…I should be getting new wheels for the single speed on Friday, and I want to play with my new toys
I’m also thinking that I’m probably due a bit of recovery time since I will have worked up to 3x 1 hour rides mid-week and a 50/60 mile ride at the weekend, so perhaps it’s not a bad time to thrash myself on the single speed for a bit of a jolt to the system before a 4/5 days of easy recovery.
Plus, although I think the single speed is less effective in terms of cardio due to being geared wrong a lot of the time, it’s probably more of a whole body work out, using core and arms pulling on the bars to get up steep sections.
Hehe…cocky and tried for 9,8,8 instead of 8,8,8. Failed. Managed 9,8,6. Squeezed out a 7th after a few secs resting in position. Not sure whether to attempt 9,8,8 again next time or 8,8,8?
Form felt good though, and reckon I could have done 10 on first set.
Remember you’re training and therefore this is practice - so try not to need to go to failure too much.
Therefore take each little increment you can - and I would recommend that you finish the 8’s first. Nailing 8 on that last set without losing form or having to really grind it out is the platform for 9’s.
I reckon you could do 10 straight now - the other sets are about building up your volume of capacity.
It won’t be long till you can do 3 sets of 10, and that will be a great achievement in a short space of time
)
