Martin roy training log

**Martin Roy** · 11th November 14, 10:53 AM

Off day on Sunday and a short session yesterday. Traps, seated bench row, pullups, tricep cable extension alternating with straight arm pulldown, some easy bike to loosen the legs and out of there.

Today will be either overhead press or squat. My first choice is squat because I seem to be on roll and I really want to cross the 300 threshold; if not today, then very soon.

**Martin Roy** · 12th November 14, 11:34 AM

Yesterday was a little pressed for time but I got in the work I wanted.

Started out with a lot of general warmup because the both squat racks were taken and the overhead press rack was also occupied. So, db shoulder routine, traps, fast reps on leg press with very light weight. Then the press station opened up, but I really wanted to squat. However, I started with 75 for 3 sets of 5, 1 set of 95 for 5. At that point I was either going to go full force with press and do squats tomorrow, or a rack had to open up. Which it did, fortunately, and I grabbed it.

Squats: 2 sets of 5 at 135, same at 185, same at 225, one set of 5 at 155; 2 sets of 3 at 275, thought about going higher but I was running out of time and it just didn't feel like the right moment to bump it. Final fast 2 sets of 5 at 225 and done.

The squats felt good; no weakness in any part of the chain. I was focused on getting low and really driving hard out of the hole. All in all a good session.

**Martin Roy** · 13th November 14, 09:25 PM

Yesterday I went to the gym with best intentions and discovered while changing into workout clothes that I had packed my daughter's sweats. They don't fit me. End of session, left feeling like an complete bonehead.

This evening I wanted to get in some serious work with overhead press. I have not been happy with my progress in this lift. Thus, I was aiming for some good reps with some decent weight. After warmups, 3 sets of 5 with 75, 3 sets of 5 with 100, and finished with 2 fast sets of 10 with 75. Shoulders were cooked and I was satisfied with the session. Treadmill to cool down and out. Good work.

**Martin Roy** · 16th November 14, 10:56 AM

Another unexpected day off yesterday for a rather mundane reason: plumbing problem at the gym resulting in flooding and, hence, closure to clean up and fix. C'est la vie say the old folks...

Today back to normal: squat day.
I was feeling really good going in but as I started warming up I became aware of a sense of deep fatigue. Thinking about the last several weeks I realized that I've been going increasingly intense since Ventura about a month ago. Time for a deload period. Thus, instead of pushing the top end today I went for good reps with squats - 2 sets of 5 with 185, 2 sets of 5 with 225, 4 sets of 3 with 255, and a final set of 5 with 225. Then, reverse extensions for the posterior chain, hammer curls for vanity, abs, bike and eliptical.
Tomorrow I'll have a rep day on the bench, along with some back work, and then then go easy until next weekend. Five light days should be sufficient recovery time to get prepared for the next push.

**Martin Roy** · 16th November 14, 03:37 PM

For some reason the previous entry didn't post yesterday afternoon. Thus, "today" in the above post should be read as "yesterday" when it was, in fact, "today". Got that?

Today, the real today, was bench day and the last session before going into five days of deloading. I'll ramp things up again next weekend.

After warm ups, started on the bench with 135x5 for 3 sets, 165 a set of 5 and 2 sets of 3, 185 for 3 singles, 195 for 5 singles, drop to 145 for 2 sets of 10 moving fast. Moved over to the pec deck, 4 sets of 10 each way with 130 for the front and 100 for the back. Cable tricep extensions alternating with straight arm cable pull downs, 3 sets of 10 each. Lateral db raises to get some work on the mid-delt area, 3 sets of 10. A few sets of traps, some bike and eliptical to cool down. I decided to skip pull ups and bench row because my lower right oblique has been bothering me for the past couple of weeks; I believe I overdid it on some twists with a 35lb plate.

Looking back over the first month of off-season lifting I could not be happier with how it went and where I'm positioned for the next cyle. During the deload week I'll do a lot more conditioning stuff, some abs and light weight movements to get blood flowing. And stretching, a lot of stretching.

**Alan H** · 18th November 14, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by Martin Roy

Yesterday I went to the gym with best intentions and discovered while changing into workout clothes that I had packed my daughter's sweats. They don't fit me. End of session, left feeling like an complete bonehead.

This evening I wanted to get in some serious work with overhead press. I have not been happy with my progress in this lift. Thus, I was aiming for some good reps with some decent weight. After warmups, 3 sets of 5 with 75, 3 sets of 5 with 100, and finished with 2 fast sets of 10 with 75. Shoulders were cooked and I was satisfied with the session. Treadmill to cool down and out. Good work.

Now, THAT is funny....

**Martin Roy** · 19th November 14, 10:51 AM

Off Monday and yesterday went light. Bike, elliptical, and a lot of very light weight movements to get the blood flowing in the right places for recovery. I'm starting to feel fresh again and looking forward to hitting it this weekend.
I expect that this evening will follow the same pattern.

**Martin Roy** · 23rd November 14, 09:31 AM

Thursday and Friday I took off; Thursday wasn't planned, it just wasn't to be. Friday night was the first round play-off game for Aptos High football, defending Central Coast Section D-III champions, sweeping aside Branham High from San Jose in dominant fashion 50-3. Next up is Burlingame High in the semi-final game.

Yesterday I went back at it with squats. I've learned over the past few years that coming out of the deload week I tend to be rested, full of energy, and hit the gym thinking that I'll just kill it. That never works for me. The first session is better if I use it as a "reminder" workout, as in "I need to remind my body that it's time to get back to work and this is what we're going to be doing." Thus, after general warm up I did two sets of 5 with 135, 185, and 225. And it felt heavy. Remember? I also did some traps, pull-ups, abs, light bench, and bike. Not surprisingly I feel it this morning. Okay, yeah, I remember.

Today I've got some family stuff happening so the next real session will be tomorrow.

**Martin Roy** · 24th November 14, 08:22 AM

Things changed yesterday and I actually got to the gym for some work late in the afternoon. Overhead press was the focus.
Warmed up on the elliptical and bike, a couple sets of assisted pull-ups to get the upper back loose and warm, shoulder routine with dbs, and some light traps. Started the overhead with 3 sets of 5 at 75, then 3 sets of 5 at 105, and finished with 2 fast sets of 10 with 75. My sense is that on both bench and overhead the final sets of 10 are where the real gains are happening. These sets feel like there is a more direct engagement of the fast twitch muscle fiber which should lead to greater explosive power next season. That's my theory anyway and I'm sticking to it.

Finished the session with rear delt work, cable tri extensions alternating with straight arm pull-downs, abs, more bike and done.

**Martin Roy** · 24th November 14, 10:19 PM

After the reminder squat session on Saturday, today was the real session. And, finally, at long last I got the 300 I've been aiming at for the last couple of years. Three Hundred. Over the line.

Warmed up and started in with 2 sets of 5 at 135, a set of 5 at 185, 2 sets of 5 at 225, set of 3 at 255, 2 sets of 3 at 275. At that point everything felt good, stable and strong. Bumped it to 285 for a smooth single. Decided then that it was time to make the jump. Loaded up 300 exactly, had a friend keep an eye on me in case I ran into trouble, and without further ado I hit it. Went deep and came up smoothly. Done and done.

Cool down on the bike.

I'm going to enjoy the moment.
And then get back to work.