Mobsters training log

[Steve Gardener]

Wednesday
Went to GN and tried seeing if pre-ex'ing the chest helped. Had no problems getting a pump etc on the cables (slight twinge and did one set only with light weights) or pec dec (no pain) but declines hurt a little with my usual close grip and less so with the wide. I'll go right back to basics, or in my case 60-kilos, for multiple reps wide and see how I get on.

Pec dec (old universal style variable resistance machine)
13 x 12 reps, 25 x 8 reps, 35 x 8 reps, 42 x 6 reps

Decline Bench
60-kilos x 8 reps (close grip / some ache), 90-kilos x 3-6 reps (I did a couple close, a couple wide and so on - see note above).

Low row
4p x 10 reps (silly easy), 8p x 8 reps, 12p x 8 reps, 13p x 6 harder reps. I'll assume this is 130-kilos or close to it. I prefer our machine.

straight arm pull down
7p x 8 reps, 8p x 6 harder reps. Nice burn in armpit as per. Also preex for pullovers.

pullover machine
5p x 15 reps, 9p x 10 reps, 14p x 10 reps, 18p x 8 reps. All felt ok.

Bwt: still off what it should be. Most annoying.

[Steve Gardener]

Wednesday pm
In lieu of the MM3 attempt Saturday with Sam I trained torsion grippers this evening.

Torsion Grippers
Usual warmups



Bwt: up and down like a yo yo. With kit etc on our scales, after lunch and so on 284lbs

[Steve Gardener]

Thursday
Busy this am (the RB grippers being added to my eBay account etc) with more to do but training as always...

2HP
Good solid workout. The gloves on 82 was, to be frank, stupidly easy and after a little wobble with the first max weight rep the rest were rock solid.

[Steve Gardener]

Friday
So much for resting... I probably should have done so as well (see TPD). So I'll try not to do anything Sunday. I also realised I did not take my creatine until after.

Seated Log Press
log x 8 reps, plus 20-kilos x 8 reps, plus 45-kilos x 4 x 1 reps

DB Curls
10-kilos @ x 8 reps, 20-kilos @ x 8 reps, 27.5-kilos @ x 3 x 6 reps, All ugly looking.

TPD
40-kilos x 10 reps, 60-kilos x 8 reps, 87.5-kilos x zero. Stopped as I'd run out of steam.

[Steve Gardener]

Saturday
Had a good size crew down today and was expecting more. Still lots of fun and, towards the end, goofing around (photos elsewhere).

adjustable prototype gripper
Trained using the adjustable prototype gripper RB sent me.

[Steve Gardener]

Sunday
Plate wrist curl
Added a spring collar which helped (as per a suggestion elsewhere) and also worked up to an actual 15-kilo plate with the right hand.
B/H: 5-kilos @ x 6 reps, 7.5-kilos pin etc x 4 reps.
L/H: 12.5-kilos + pin, collar etc (14.1kg total) x 3 x 3 hard reps
R/H: 12.5-kilos + pin (1.35kg), collar (about .25) etc x 3 reps (easy), 15-kilos + pin, collar etc (16.6) x 1 rep (had to reset bloody camera) + 3 reps, x 3 reps reps, then a 15-kilo plate x 2 reps and a failed 3rd rep. NB: on 1st plate nigh on flipped over as per warning by David. I use my free hand to spot as required. Form was hard on this set.

Reverse grip on formulator
equ x 6 reps, +2.5-kilos x 10 reps, plus 5-kilos x 6 reps, plus 7.5-kilos x 2 x 6 hard reps

Photo of lighter set up. See position of collar etc. I make sure this is on the opposite side to the thumb so as to give as much room as possible:

Video of some reps. I have to concentrate on keeping the wrist down. Note how I am now using a bench and not over the knee as before: uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GAV0hFf0OY0

[Steve Gardener]

Tuesday
Normally my errands day today was my MM3 cert attempt. I also did some leg work and a little Vulcan.

Leg Press
I am giving volume a spin having seen an article in MD. You do 10 reps for each plate per side: so 10 for 1, 20 for 2 and so on.
1p e/s x 10 reps, 2p e/s x 20 reps, 3p e/s x 30 reps, 4p e/s x 40 reps. Pumped ha ha

MM3 attempts
Although I set up everything so I would do well I think I was a little over confident. My first attempt, while apparently closed was, in my mind, not as solid as it should have been. I felt like there was no touch. So attempts 2 and 3 were rock solid by comparison as I took it more seriously.

Leg Curl
25-kilos x 8 reps, 35-kilos x 8 reps, 45-kilos x 8 reps, 50-kilos x 6 reps. All the first three gave me a slight cramping feeling in the thigh bicep.

Vulcan Gripper
no warm ups due to earlier gripper work. Less volume for same reason.
L/H: L12 x 1 rep, L14 x 1 rep, L15 x 3 x VVN
R/H: L16 x 1 rep, L18 x 1 rep, L19 x 3 x VVN

Played with thick pinch but was well off so called it a day.

[Steve Gardener]

Thursday
Plate wrist curl


Formulator (Rev grip)

[Steve Gardener]

Friday
Pec dec
25 x 12 reps, 35 x 8 reps, stack x 8 reps

Pullover
12p x 8 reps, 18p x 8 reps, stack plus 15-kilos x 8 reps

Machine flyes
Bit iffy on shoulder joint
6p x 10 reps, 10p x 10 reps, 14p x 8 reps (stack is 18??)

Low row
Done at my gym, above at Gymnation.
50-kilos x 10 reps, 80-kilos x 8 reps, 110-kilos x 6 + 1, 6

[Steve Gardener]

Friday pm

Rotator cuff work
V light band work

Torsion Grippers

[Steve Gardener]

Sunday
day off yesterday and hard work today

Seated Log Press
log x 8 reps, plus 20-kilos x 6 reps, plus 47.5-kilos x 1 rep (mis-load as it was actually 48.75-kilos, dropped to 45-kilos) x 3 x 1 very hard reps

EZ Bar curls
bar x 8 reps, plus 20-kilos x 8 reps, plus 30-kilos x 8 rfeps, plus 40-kilos x 2 x 8 reps

TPD
30-kilos x 8 reps, 60-kilos x 8 reps, 87.5-kilos x 3 stupidly heavy reps, too big a jump so dropped to 80-kilos x 5 reps and 8 reps. Nice pump.

I am still sore from the chest and back session of the other day.

[Steve Gardener]

Monday
Vulcan Gripper
Paul's away and took his Vulcan with him. So it was back to mine and my god was it tough today!! Only towards the end did adding a little chalk to the back of the not very seasoned by comparison handle help a little. Even with the drop down in spring levels etc I wanted to do a grinder session. Compare these numbers with previous efforts! It is, however, worth stating that I think my VG is 1-2 levels harder (so L14 is eqv to L16) than Paul's. This is borne out my similar comparisons to David Horne's.

B/H: L1 x 6 reps, L7 x 3 reps

L/H: L11 x 1 hard rep, L14 x 0, dropped to L13 x VN, VVN, VVN, N, dropped again to L12 x VVN, 1, 1, L11 x 1, 1 reps

R/H: L15 x 1, L17 x N, L16 x 1, 1, VN, VVN, VN, N, L15 x 1, 1, 1, VN.

I'll adjust all the numbers next time and will be aiming to pull this back up very quickly!

I'm gonna try and stay on this gripper because if I get back to where I was on easier ones I'll be that much better.

[Steve Gardener]

Monday pm
The mind f**k that is working harder than I'd like on lower levels than I'd want on the VG this morning could have put me off my stroke. While it was indeed hard work as each successive rep came up the form got a little better. Thus:

2HP @ 44mm (adjusted as it had been LEFT with someone else's setting on - you reading this PAUL!!)


NB: every single heavy rep would have been enough to have won the pinch part of the Metroflex grip comp - sweet

[Steve Gardener]

Wednesday
Plate Wrist Curl


s/setted

Formulator


Leg Press
0 x 10 reps, 40-kilos x 10 reps, 80-kilos x 20 reps, 120-kilos x 30 reps, 180-kilos x 45 reps (ouch!!)

s/setted

Leg Curl
25-kilos x 8 reps, 35-kilos x 8 reps, 45-kilos x 2 x 8 reps (should have been one and then 50-kilos x 8), 50-kilos x 6 reps (tsk)

[Steve Gardener]

Wednesday PM
In spite of having worked legs and plate wrist curls earlier today I felt ok enough later on to have a crack at Torison Grippers again. I paid one of my every 10-14 days (so it seems now) visits to Gymnation. This is good for a couple of reasons.

Firstly I get to say hello, shake hands and keep people interested in myself and the company. Secondly because with a 'new' crowd as opposed to the regulars or no crowd at all I tend, for want of a better phrase, put on a show. Now it's either that added pressure, simply training in the evening or a combination of the two but I did ok ta.

Torsion Grippers
B/H: usual warmups
L/H: CoC 3 x 1 rep, BBGM x 1 rep, BBE x VVN, 1?, 1?, 1? (all might have been touch n go and just 'there' as it were - me like) then VVN, VVNB, VVN. **I dropped to CoC 3 x and did 4 x 1 and all were crushed down or 'over-crushed' as the grip guys say. In other words the handles didn't just touch I felt like I was gonna grind them. Good stuff.

R/H: CoC 3 x 1 rep, BBE x 1 rep, HG350 x 1 rep, BBSE x 1 rep, 'e' 4 x 1 rep, then 4.01 rated 4 x VN, VN, N. **Back to the 'E' 4 x 4 x 1 reps as above - over crushed/super solid.

** after a long break spent BS'ing with some lads about grippers, protein, etc. May have made some contacts. The break, because the earlier reps had been, relatively speaking, back to back, seemed to suit me well.