The Garage Gym Online

This is the second set of workouts after the Christmas break.

My goals

For what it is worth, my current goals are:

• a double bodyweight pull up;
• a 2.5x bodyweight conventional deadlift; and
• bench 100kg (220lbs).

I am hoping to achieve these goals by Easter at the latest.

Progress so far and notes 

OK so this past week will go down in history as my worst ever attempt at guessing what weights I need to use…

• Bent-over rows: I guessed that I would need to use around 60kg (135lbs) for the bent-over rows.  I ended up using 70kg (155lbs) and it still felt light.  I don’t want to rush the form on these though as an injury would be counter-productive.
• Hanging leg raises: 3.0kg was fairly easy for these so I tried 4.0kg and that was OK.  5.0kg was tough so I’ll stick there for a bit.
• Deadlift: I warmed up to 150kg and decided to do my work set with that weight as I was finding that my hips were shooting up too quickly.  I understand from Mike Robertson’s writings that this is a sign that your glutes aren’t doing enough of the work.  So I concentrated on bringing my torso up faster and I definitely felt this in my glutes.  When I did this, I felt that the lift was harder off the ground, which is disconcerting, but easier higher up.  I really need to groove this pattern as much as possible so that it becomes second nature. 
• RDL: As with the bent-over row, I guessed that I would need to use around 60kg (135lbs) for this exercise but I ended using 80kg (175lbs) and it still felt fairly easy.  Embarassingly, it was my grip that troubled me most on these.
• Dips: I was a bit over-enthusiastic about getting 10 sets of 5 reps with 30kg and fell a bit short, dropping down to sets of 4 for the last 4 sets.  So I’ll keep bashing on with these for a bit until I get all 10 sets.
• Elbow flexor chins: I can’t quite make 10 sets of 5 reps with 15kg with these chins either so I’ll keep on until I get all 10 sets.  I got 6 sets of 5 reps on Sunday and 8 sets of 5 reps on Thursday so I should be picking the weight up sometime next week.
• One-arm chins: similarly, I lost a bit of strength on these over the Christmas break and I will probably stay at -10kg for a week or so as I get my groove back.

Without further ado, here is the workout plan

Saturday – Upper focus

Exercise	Weight	Sets	Reps	Rest	Detail
Bench	84kg	10	2	1min30	-
Bent over row	75kg	10	5	1min30	-
RDL	85kg	10	5	1min30	-
Hanging leg raise	5.0kg	3	3	1min	-
Inverted row	-	1	10	-	-

 

Sunday – Lower focus

Exercise	Weight	Sets	Reps	Rest	Detail
Deadlift on 2” plates	155kg	10	1	1min	-
Glute bridges	66kg	10	4	1min	-
Elbow flexor pull ups	15kg	10	5	1min30	-
Military press	43kg	10	4	1min30	-
Inverted row	-	1	10	-	-

+ sandbag loading and lifting of course!

 

Tuesday – Upper focus 

Exercise	Weight	Sets	Reps	Rest	Detail
Dip	30kg	10	5	1min30	-
Assisted one arm chin	-10.0kg	10	1	1min30	Both arms
RDL	90kg	10	5	1min30	-
Hanging leg raises	5.0kg	3	3	1min	-
Inverted row	-	1	10	-	-

  

Thursday – Lower focus

Exercise	Weight	Sets	Reps	Rest	Detail
Pistol	30kg	5	2	1min	Each leg
Glute bridges	68kg	10	4	1min	-
Elbow flexor pull ups	15kg	10	5	1min30	-
Military press	44kg	10	4	1min30	-
Inverted row	-	1	10	-	-

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