Reactive Training Systems

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

Nick M TRAINING LOG

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

March 25/09
wed
Intensity week
w=11 d=2

ply press
2 reps/ 9%fd/9-10rpe

335x2@8
350x2@9
355x2@10 PR
340x2@9.5
9%
325x2@9
325x2@9

deads (ivanko bar)
2 reps/9%/9-10

545x2@9
565x1@10
565x2@10
565x1@10
9%
515x1@10 (injured here)

So nice PR on ply press here but thats where the good times ended for me.

So I went to the gym because they have an IVANKO bar so I could deadlift. Anyways I was still tired from yesterday where I squated 650 for the first time but I was 1 day behind so I thought I would catch up by doing this workout 1 day early well that was the worst decision ive done.

My back was tired and so were my legs. I have been lazy the last while on deads by not getting low enough when I start then pretty much stiff legging it up and it caught up with me. I was pretty pissed with my 565 being a 2 rep max even though my technique was horrible and I knew it so I pushed and continued pushing then I dropped 9% and went to my 515 set.

I got 1 rep up horribly then when I went for rep 2 about 6 inches off the ground my lower spine cracked really loud and down came the weight and man did the back pain start. I could not straighten my back, bend down, lie down or do anything. It took all I had to just put the weights away and head home. Then on the way home a dog ran in the middle of the street so I braked and was stopped but apparently the guy behind me if slow because He rear ended me the damage wasnt bad but dam that hurt some more.

I took advil and hoped the pain was temporary. Anyways had loads of trouble sleeping as any movement at all caused loads of pain well after 5 hours of horrible sleep I decided to wake up and go to the urgent care clinic. Got x-rays done which lucky for me came back negative with zero damage to my spine. I pulled legaments and muscles in my lower back which I didnt know where even able to crack so dam loud but apparently they can.

So I am going to be taking it really easy for the next 2 weeks. I am on muscle relaxents and anti-inflamatories and Tylenol 3. They dont do alot but after 5 days its gotten bettter to the point where I can get myself up off the bed and bend down.

Moral of the story is listen to my body better and work on my deadlift technique. I need to be getting lower to start so that I can place my back in a better position when I start pulling. I am 6-3 so there is alot of back there. I am thinking of doing more Sumo pulling but I will have to wear a suit with the straps down because of my hip to truly hit these hard.

Hopefully this doesnt slow me down for to long

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

We good news and bad news.

My back seems to be getting better slowly but atleast I am seing some improvement.

Bad news I got another call from a doctor who viewed my x-ray and at first they told me over the phone that I had a displaced L2 vertabrae so I was pissed so I made an appointment with my doctor.

As it turns out the receptionist on the phone got it wrong its slight compression of my L1 and L2 vertabrae that I have prob had since i was really young and it not related in any way to this injury.

Basically what this causes is muscular tightness in my middle back which apparently I have been living with for a long time. I can go to physio if I want but really even the doctor said the chances of it getting better are pretty slim. I havent noticed this problem my whole life so I am prob gonna pass on it. She did give me a prescription for massage therapy so I might go do that.

As for the lower back well Its getting there. I am still sore from time to time and bending down is still a task but its getting better every day. I am going to be taking this very slow because after all it is my lower back and I dont want to mess it up by coming back to fast. Ligaments are very slow to heal.

I did do some light partial squats a couple of days ago and those went fine as long as I didnt go deep. The lower I got the more pulling on the lower back so for now I am going to concentrate on resting and rehab work.

I am going to continue working on my bench with a program that I put together. Its not perfect but I am not finding any bench only programs that I like so for now I am going with my idea

I am going to go with
day one
raw work

day2
lockout work

day 3
shirt training

I did day 2 today because its the middle of the week so might as well

so here goes

April 2/09

paused 5 board
305x5@8
355x5@8
375x4@10
375x2@10(cg here)

dam I suck at these big time. Ones i got to 375 there was no speed off the board at all.

lockouts (ie weight holds)
415
465
515

Just want to try to get my body used to handling heavy weights man did 515 feel heavy as hell. My arms were shaking like crazy thank god for wrist wraps

paused cg bench
5 sets
235x5@8

Nice easy day today. Shirt work to come on sat in my new shirt that is tight as hell so I am excited. Back was not sore and lifting the plates was not an issue. Still a little tender getting up from a lying possition but getting there

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

Well put in a pretty good training session saturday in my new shirt

saturday april 4/09
48 katana shirted bench

worked up to 395 x2 hit 3 board

shirt is really really tight so I am happy with this. Speed was good and still had alot more in the tank

3 board press paused
3 sets
325 x5@8 or so

was pressed for time so cut it short

monday
April 6/09

ply press
4 reps/8-9rpe

305x4@8
315x4@8
325x4@9

pin press (18th pin) elbows at 90 degrees at bottom
325x5@8
345x5@8
355x5@8
375x3@10

was feeling good on the pin press so I pushed it. Didnt work out so well.
Ply press went ok. I havent done 4 reps in forever so it was different but still good. Power was great for first 3 reps. 4th was average but not horrible.

back is starting to feel better every day.

Light stretching which included
paused sldl (no weight on bar)
paused squats (no weight on bar)
ended session with lower back stretches

I am hopping to start back my regular routine next week if the rest of the week goes well.
When i get back my leg and back training with be light and definitly not very heavy. I shall see how things go when I do start back up with real training.

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

thursday
April 9/09

lockout day

5 board press paused

325x5@8
345x5@8
365x5@9.5

these went ok still explosive with 365 so I was happy with that.

weight holds
515 &525

this is really heavy to hold for me and really needed to stay tight which my back did not like. Got a little spasm in my lower back on the right side so shut that down. I will see tommorow if it leads to soreness of if it was nothing

floor press

265x5@8
275x5@8
275x5@8
275x5@8
275x5@9

these went well. Good speed with all reps very explosive.

My back is still not there yet. I might start light training next week. Like 1 plate light on my leg exercises and deads but I will see. I dont have any soreness when I do anything anymore but I get tight really fast from not doing alot. Like for example after this workout my back is pumped as hell like I just did heavy high rep deads. Atleast its better than before so cant complain.

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

saturday

April 11/09

shirt day

shirted bench (48 katana)

375x1
385x1
405x1
425x1 HUGE PR

this went great. I still cant touch in this shirt but it doesnt matter its very promising. I havent gone over 405 since my contest in january and I was prob 15lbs heavier then anyways. I was prob hitting a 2 board with 425 today and it flew up no prob.

3 board paused

4 sets
325x3@8.5-9

I was pretty tanked by the time I got to these but still great speed just no endurance. Prob could have gone heavier with the same results but it doesnt matter. I was going for speed and lockout.

box squats below parrallel
3 sets
145 x10ish

I dont know I wasnt counting nor did I care. This was just to get some leg work in but most importantly to test my back and it passed with flying colors. Looks like next week I will begin my normal split only with very light weight for squats and maybe deads I am not sure about those.

-- Edited by Nick Morneau on Saturday 11th of April 2009 07:38:00 PM

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

April 16/09
thusday

I had to do this workout 3 days late. Work has been crazy and I am not about to do my first workout back from injury when I am dead tired. Its just not smart and thats something I am trying to change.

box squats easy below parrellel

4 sets
335x3@8

not bad and no pain. A little biit of pulling but thats mostly because flexability is ****ty

ply press

315x3@8
325x3@9
325x3@9
315x3@8

Not bad here no PR or anything but thats expected was at the gym today where I used the IVANKO bar for the first time in a while. Either way its alright

Hyperextension
1 plate
sets of 20

again no pain at all so this is great

stretching
balistic stretching for hips and hip flexers and hams

Today was ok its a start and for the first week aka today and sat its going to be very light on deads and squats next week a little heavier no fatigue drops and continue regular bench training next week with fatigue drops. Hopefully in 2 weeks I can get back in a suit for squats and get to 4+ plate deads again then slowly back up from there.

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

satuday

April 18/09

shirted bench (48 katana)
375x1 easy (No touch)
415x1 @9 (3 board)
435x1@9.5(2 board) PR
435x1@9.5(1 board) no touch PR
445x1@10 (1 board) ANOTHER HUGE PR

deads (NO BELT)

325x3@7
375x3@7
415x3@7
415x3@7

2 board paused

285x5@8 3 sets
285x5@9

GREAT DAY TODAY. Shirt work went great couldnt be happier. Maybe get a touch next week with 445 or so. Never handled that much weight until today either and this was after a 12 hour work day and coming off bad sleep.

Deads went great for today. This is my first time doing deads since my injury on the 25th of march so I just wanted to get the technique perfect which I did and just take it easy. I plan on doing maybe 470 ish next week for reps then hopefully being ready to go at it the following week

2 board was ok. I was pretty tired here but whatever its all about getting work in here so thats all that matters for now.

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

Monday

April 20/09
d=1

Raw squats no belt no wraps

285x3 at 8
325x3 @8
345x3@8
355x3@9

2 board bench

285x3@8
305x3@8
325x3@8.5
335x3@10

ssb box squats (parrellel or close to it)

4 or 5 sets I lost count, I think it was 5

195x5@8

Today was ok again just taking it very easy this week with squats just making sure I am 100% and today is means I am very close. I went very very slow on squats and depth was great. my back gets tired fast though. But zero pain or problems

2 board was ok not great. its basically the same as my raw bench, I just need to get better at it.

ssb work was very very easy. Just doing some work thats it. Plus I wanted to ttest the back with the ssb so this was great could have gone alot heavier and still done it no prob

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

Wed

April 22/09

raw bench 2-3sec pause

285x2@9
290x2@9
295x2@9
300x2@9
305x2@9.5

rack deads below knee
325x5@7
415x5@8
415x4@8

stopped here. I got my work done and I am happy. This is still a deload/get back in the groove week. The rack deads were really hard on my lower back. They were not heavy or anything and really I could have gone alot heavier but this isnt the time for that. I had another bench movement that I could have done but was not in the mood. I wwas happy enough with the bench work and still getting myself ready for next week. I am on track. My lower back isnt 100% as the rack deads proved that but its getting there. Its not flexible and I am still missing some power but its getting there

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

Firday 24 April

Shirted bench

worked up to 455x1 PR

Still coudnt touch in my 48 katana and it was actually further away this week than last but still decent speed approx 2 boards away

SSB box squats

205 x5 @6
5 sets

really easy here just wanted to test the back out with the ssb and get done with it

2 board
305x5 @8-9
4 sets

again just gettting some work in here and thats all

Monday

April 27/09

Suited squat (old ****ty dead suit)

just wanted to feel the weight on my back today and thats all.

Hit 585 x1 @8-9
bad depth

I think I need to chuck this suit its dead as can be.

My back did not like the 585 set. I felt a straining feeling in my left lower back but it was more muscle. I shut it down good enough

paused bench (ivanko bar)

295x2@8
305x2@9
315x2@9maybe 9.5
320x2@9-9.5
320x2@10

lower back work and stretching

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

wed

April 29/09

Lightned bench (blue band)

345x3@8
365x3@8
375x3@9.5
365x3@9

Not bad there is not much help from the bands on these. Kind of surprised by the low weights but its ok I have never done these before.

Deads (no belt with high shoes on)
415x2@8
465x2@8
485x2@8
485x2@8

Very happy here. Apparently my technique wasnt perfect here on some reps. My ass still goes up too fast and I round a little but nothing horrible. My first rep was always good, it was my second rep. All this was very easy and zero pain at all. Everything went great for my back

3 board Close grip

325x5@10
305x5@9
305x3@9

I am happy enough with this workout. Nothing huge just getting the work done and thats it this week. Next week I can hopefully get back to pushing it hard.

TRON · Senior Member

Hey Nick
Good to hear that your back is getting better. Still thinking of competing in Barry's Meet in the Summer?

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

TRON wrote:

Hey Nick
Good to hear that your back is getting better. Still thinking of competing in Barry's Meet in the Summer?

Ya i am competing for sure. unless another injury comes my way. Are you doing it as well. It looks like I might be in the 242 class though. I am now under 255 with still lots of time to go, so the plan is the 242's if all goes well.

Nick Morneau · Senior Member

Monday

may 4/09
volume block
w=1 d=1

suited squat
3 rep/no fd/8-9rpe
535x3@9
535x3@9
535x3@9.5

paused bench
3 rep/no fd/8-9rpe

275x3@7
295x3@9
315x2@9 pushed it a little too much here, just couldnt have gotten 3 @9

romanian deads

385x5 @7
3or 4 sets I forget.

Squats went good today. I was apparently hitting good depth on my second and 3rd reps of my sets. My suits are getting too loose with the weight I am loosing which sucks alot. I might start looking for another suit soon. I think I am chucking my centurion its too old and dead. I am prob going to continue training with my super centurion for the time being even though its a little dead as well and pretty loose.

Overall I am happy with today. This week there will be no fatigue drops but next week its on