Apologies to any regular readers on the lack of updates lately. No excuses, have just been lazy. In the mean time I have increased my dumbell bench weight (see preceding entry), increased my squat weight to 90kgx10 and increased my deadlift to 100kgx4. This is somewhat out of proportion but given I have only been weight-training for less than a year I expect these to even out with consistent work with heavy weights.
So I hit the gym today with after a big breakfast with the intention of blasting my way through the 300, just to see if I could do it all.
Here's how it went.
-Having had problems with my elbows since I started training for this, I had taken some time off doing a lot of biceps exercises hoping that, left to it's own devices it would sort itself out.
This was probably a good idea as I have not had any troubles with soreness or anything in that area for a while. However it didn't fair too well for the 50 pull ups I had to do.
The first set was pretty grueling and given it was somewhat a trial run I gave some allowances in terms of range of motion. More on that later.
-Now this sort of bodyweight exercise normally wouldn't have hit me too badly in terms of cardiovascular intensity. I'm putting it down to an abnormally large breakfast (large bowl of porridge, 2 slices of bread with cottage cheese) but I really felt sluggish at this point and considered throwing in the towel halfway through the deadlifts.
Determined not to cave at this early stage, I progressed through the prescribed 50 at a rather slow pace.
I did get through them though.
-Next came the pushups. Despite my feelings throughout the dealifts I somehow managed a set of 25 to begin with. Followed by a set of 15 and a final set of 10.
-Onto the dreaded box jumps. If you've read my posts from this blogs inception you'll know this is where I came loose when I first attempted the 300. Today I could feel my muscles ache, my lungs were burning and my head was swimming, but I was determined to push through the entire workout.
I got through the box jumps. Doing a few sets of 5, a few sets of 7 and a few of 8. I think...
-Any way onto the floor wipers, which I'm sure you're all curious about.
Given the unique nature of the exercise there is no convention as to how to position the barbell initially and how to get rid of it safely.
In a stroke of brilliance I realised that the squat rack/power cage would be perfect. I chucked a mat down and dropped the took away the side bars and tada! Easy way to mount/un-mount the bar.
If you hadn't figured out what I'm talking about, proper floor wipers require a movement of the legs to both plates. This lateral movement discounts using a bench with a press rack. You'd fall off and possibly kill yourself.
I could leave this out, but I think it's worth mentioning that I used 50kg instead of 60kg simply because I'd never done a floor wiper with such a heavy weight. I'm going to try again next week with the proper weights and a more strict technique.
-The kettleball clean and press was done and dusted, although with more difficulty than I've experienced before. Like the floor wipers though I was only able to use a 12kg kettleballs. This was because the gym doesn't actually have 16kg kettleballs. I spoke with the gym owner and he assured my they are on the way. WOO!
-25 pull ups to finish. Dang hard as bro! Got 'em done though.
I estimated the time generously to about 60 minutes. It was probably a bit less than that but until I actually time it.
Til next time
Jubssss
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
B-b-bam!
So, today was chest day for the second time this week.
Somewhat inspired by my own disappointing performance earlier as well as Ronnie Coleman pressing 200 pounds in each hand (vid below) I was able to increase my dumbell bench to 25kg. I'd hit a massive barrier after reaching 22.5kg months ago and had been frustratingly leaving and progression here off for some reason.
As with all dumbell exercises, increasing the load must be done only with confidence as, in general, dumbells progress in 2.5 kg intervals. This makes for an overall increase of 5kg. For some one looking at increasing resistance every week this is probably a massive leap. My plan is to work this weight for 2 consecutive weeks and only when I can push out 12 reps will I pick up the 27.5kg 'bells.
Here's the clip of Coleman by the way. 90kg in each hand for 11 reps. YEAH BUDDY!
Somewhat inspired by my own disappointing performance earlier as well as Ronnie Coleman pressing 200 pounds in each hand (vid below) I was able to increase my dumbell bench to 25kg. I'd hit a massive barrier after reaching 22.5kg months ago and had been frustratingly leaving and progression here off for some reason.
As with all dumbell exercises, increasing the load must be done only with confidence as, in general, dumbells progress in 2.5 kg intervals. This makes for an overall increase of 5kg. For some one looking at increasing resistance every week this is probably a massive leap. My plan is to work this weight for 2 consecutive weeks and only when I can push out 12 reps will I pick up the 27.5kg 'bells.
Here's the clip of Coleman by the way. 90kg in each hand for 11 reps. YEAH BUDDY!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
No Excuses
So today's workout went rather disappointingly.
It started with the standard fair of some dynamic and static stretching followed by some chest dips at the parallel bars. I then hit the bench, warm up set of just the bar (20kg) followed by +20kg, +30kg and +40kg.
The first set, as expected, was easy. As was the following 2 sets. I was able to push out 10 reps of 20, 40 and 50kg.
It was when I upped the weight to 60kg that I really felt the weight of it. I managed... 1.
1 pitiful repetition (I'm not sure its even called a repetition if only 1 is completed).
As I stated in an earlier entry, I had even modified my grip width in hopes that it would help.
In an effort to save some of my ego from being crushed under this (small) weight I pushed out 10 barbell lockouts.
I then slumped my way over to the dumbells, determined to salvage my self esteem somehow.
I started with some 12.5kg bells (my initial starting db press when I began free weights) and hit some db bench/ pec fly supersets.
Continued that with 15kg and 17.5kg and finished with a set of 10 db press with 20kg dumbells.
Now, whilst I haven't been keeping any sort of records, I do remember my best lifts. It has been a while since I have done any dumbell bench and at my peak I was doing 22.5kg. It seems rather odd and somewhat disappointing that over the few months I have neglected the dumbells in favour of the glorified barbell bench press that my best lifts have actually decreased.
I have considered the dips being a fairly effective pre-fatiguing exercise and I will attempt another chest session next week, without the dips to start I think
thanks for reading.
eugh
It started with the standard fair of some dynamic and static stretching followed by some chest dips at the parallel bars. I then hit the bench, warm up set of just the bar (20kg) followed by +20kg, +30kg and +40kg.
The first set, as expected, was easy. As was the following 2 sets. I was able to push out 10 reps of 20, 40 and 50kg.
It was when I upped the weight to 60kg that I really felt the weight of it. I managed... 1.
1 pitiful repetition (I'm not sure its even called a repetition if only 1 is completed).
As I stated in an earlier entry, I had even modified my grip width in hopes that it would help.
In an effort to save some of my ego from being crushed under this (small) weight I pushed out 10 barbell lockouts.
I then slumped my way over to the dumbells, determined to salvage my self esteem somehow.
I started with some 12.5kg bells (my initial starting db press when I began free weights) and hit some db bench/ pec fly supersets.
Continued that with 15kg and 17.5kg and finished with a set of 10 db press with 20kg dumbells.
Now, whilst I haven't been keeping any sort of records, I do remember my best lifts. It has been a while since I have done any dumbell bench and at my peak I was doing 22.5kg. It seems rather odd and somewhat disappointing that over the few months I have neglected the dumbells in favour of the glorified barbell bench press that my best lifts have actually decreased.
I have considered the dips being a fairly effective pre-fatiguing exercise and I will attempt another chest session next week, without the dips to start I think
thanks for reading.
eugh
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Delayed update
So after last week's issues with some triceps pain, narrowed down to recurring tendonitis, I resolved to take a 4 day weekend from training in order to let my body rest and recover. I had been exhibiting signs of over-reaching during my training.
Dizziness, early fatigue and tendon soreness (mostly as above but also my left achilles tendon).
Following these results I headed to the gym Tuesday morning to complete a somewhat reduced intensity chest and triceps workout. While I have, for now, shied away from multiple full body workouts per week, I still hoped to continue my long sets with weights about the middle of abilities.
That was yesterday and, without a doubt, DOMS had well and truly set in. I don't remember feeling this sore since I started training in isolation.
Today I decided was going to be a mega legs day. After reading this article regarding grip width during bench press last night I decided, despite being quite sore, to start the workout with some bench press. Lo and behold the bar went up a fair bit easier and I was able to lower it to my chest without the struggle I had been enduring the last...um 6 months or so.
But onto the legs workout.
After completing a set of full squats and a set of good mornings to warm up my quadriceps and my hamstrings respectively (using only the bar as resistance, 20kg) I proceeded with what I think is a rather monster set of 4x15 squats at 60kg.
The final 5 reps of each set were the most difficult as I imagine this is where the energy sources change.
I then proceeded with two long set of seated leg curls and leg extensions using relatively light weight. From what I have gathered, these two particular exercises put a rather big strain on the knee joins so I opted to fatigue them with longer sets.
I topped this workout with a rather strenuous treadmill session, about 10 minutes alternating in 1 minute rounds between 14-16km/h and 7-8km/h.
Epic I think
adios
ps. if you dig this also check out my buddy dave's personal training blog. he's a bit more knowledgeable than I am...and a few sizes more monstrous ;)
Dizziness, early fatigue and tendon soreness (mostly as above but also my left achilles tendon).
Following these results I headed to the gym Tuesday morning to complete a somewhat reduced intensity chest and triceps workout. While I have, for now, shied away from multiple full body workouts per week, I still hoped to continue my long sets with weights about the middle of abilities.
That was yesterday and, without a doubt, DOMS had well and truly set in. I don't remember feeling this sore since I started training in isolation.
Today I decided was going to be a mega legs day. After reading this article regarding grip width during bench press last night I decided, despite being quite sore, to start the workout with some bench press. Lo and behold the bar went up a fair bit easier and I was able to lower it to my chest without the struggle I had been enduring the last...um 6 months or so.
But onto the legs workout.
After completing a set of full squats and a set of good mornings to warm up my quadriceps and my hamstrings respectively (using only the bar as resistance, 20kg) I proceeded with what I think is a rather monster set of 4x15 squats at 60kg.
The final 5 reps of each set were the most difficult as I imagine this is where the energy sources change.
I then proceeded with two long set of seated leg curls and leg extensions using relatively light weight. From what I have gathered, these two particular exercises put a rather big strain on the knee joins so I opted to fatigue them with longer sets.
I topped this workout with a rather strenuous treadmill session, about 10 minutes alternating in 1 minute rounds between 14-16km/h and 7-8km/h.
Epic I think
adios
ps. if you dig this also check out my buddy dave's personal training blog. he's a bit more knowledgeable than I am...and a few sizes more monstrous ;)
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sick Sick Sick
Another day another workout.
Following a night of chin-ups, completed in between doing the dishes, I hauled ass to the gym. In keeping with my full body workouts (see preceding entry)and after a quick warm up I jumped straight into deadlifts, relatively low weight with high reps, 5x15 at 40kg-50kg. I think its worthwhile to add the machine I used to do these was a strange variation on the smith machine made by a company called Max Rack. Interesting but I prefer doing my deadlifts free I think.
Then onto squats, same deal 5x15 at 20, 40, 50kg. Really feeling the burn in the last 2 sets. Did these on the squat rack.
Having done a lot of biceps work yesterday with the chinups I wasn't all too keen to hit them too hard today. I grabbed some 12kg dumbells and proceeded a rather fucked up super set of hammer curls, dumbell bench and pec flys. 10+10+rep 'til failure. Aside from some soreness situated around the long head of my triceps (more on that in the next entry) it was a fairly good set. Repeated 3 times, the third using 10kg dumbells.
At this point, and attempting to address the issue of the under-worked core, followed with 3x10 hanging leg raises and 3x10 roman chair leg raises. Felt the burn pretty intensely towards the end of the roman chair set.
To finish and partly out of curiosity I grabbed a 15kg barbell and proceeded to a superset of barbell situps (just like a medicine ball situp but holding a bar) and floor wipers. Whoa! Killer combination, almost relived my breakfast numerous times. I'm kind of happy to say that while my current weight is nowhere near what it is required for the 300 its getting there. I'm rather glad I was able to coordinate the floor wipers, even at such a light weight I think it's an achievement.
Phew, almost time for dinner I think.
'til next time
train hard, eat well
adios
jubs
Following a night of chin-ups, completed in between doing the dishes, I hauled ass to the gym. In keeping with my full body workouts (see preceding entry)and after a quick warm up I jumped straight into deadlifts, relatively low weight with high reps, 5x15 at 40kg-50kg. I think its worthwhile to add the machine I used to do these was a strange variation on the smith machine made by a company called Max Rack. Interesting but I prefer doing my deadlifts free I think.
Then onto squats, same deal 5x15 at 20, 40, 50kg. Really feeling the burn in the last 2 sets. Did these on the squat rack.
Having done a lot of biceps work yesterday with the chinups I wasn't all too keen to hit them too hard today. I grabbed some 12kg dumbells and proceeded a rather fucked up super set of hammer curls, dumbell bench and pec flys. 10+10+rep 'til failure. Aside from some soreness situated around the long head of my triceps (more on that in the next entry) it was a fairly good set. Repeated 3 times, the third using 10kg dumbells.
At this point, and attempting to address the issue of the under-worked core, followed with 3x10 hanging leg raises and 3x10 roman chair leg raises. Felt the burn pretty intensely towards the end of the roman chair set.
To finish and partly out of curiosity I grabbed a 15kg barbell and proceeded to a superset of barbell situps (just like a medicine ball situp but holding a bar) and floor wipers. Whoa! Killer combination, almost relived my breakfast numerous times. I'm kind of happy to say that while my current weight is nowhere near what it is required for the 300 its getting there. I'm rather glad I was able to coordinate the floor wipers, even at such a light weight I think it's an achievement.
Phew, almost time for dinner I think.
'til next time
train hard, eat well
adios
jubs
Friday, February 19, 2010
Recovery and Reflection
So up until now I had been using isolation during my training. Focussing my training on a specific muscle group for each gym session. Having a back and biceps day for instance.
To work my way up to the 300 I decided it was worthwhile to experiment with a different style of training, for me any way. Following Mark Twight's theory that following an intense exercise with another using a different muscle group forces the body to adapt quickly changing situations, strengthening cardiovascular fitness immensely. I probably didn't quite word that right but the gist is there.
Now following my failed attempt earlier this week I suffered some rather intense DOMS. Having experienced this many times in the past by delaying and postponing my leg workouts and then thrashing myself as punishment, I knew this was a relatively normal phenomena. However, I'd never experienced it quite this badly and as a result of the deadlifts (remember 50x60kg)it was located beside my spine.
This left me with the inability to bend over without pain for a couple of days and made sleeping rather difficult. Following this experience I have resolved to train my back with longer sets of relatively heavy weights.
Also, I will do my leg workouts more often.
As a side note, and somewhat related to my general interest in fitness and conditioning, I recently noticed my bench press technique was rather lacking. I was not following the complete range of motion and began the action with the barbell maybe 15cm above my chest. It is my understanding that the initial movement involves the clavicular head of the pectoralis major (preceding the tricep and the anterior deltoid). This, as a result has left this portion of the muscle rather week and I have decided the correct course of action is only to rebuild my bench from 40kg back up to my previous maximum weight of around 70kg.
I'm kinda hopeful that this is gonna help with increasing my rather stubborn bench maximum
thanks for reading
adios a
To work my way up to the 300 I decided it was worthwhile to experiment with a different style of training, for me any way. Following Mark Twight's theory that following an intense exercise with another using a different muscle group forces the body to adapt quickly changing situations, strengthening cardiovascular fitness immensely. I probably didn't quite word that right but the gist is there.
Now following my failed attempt earlier this week I suffered some rather intense DOMS. Having experienced this many times in the past by delaying and postponing my leg workouts and then thrashing myself as punishment, I knew this was a relatively normal phenomena. However, I'd never experienced it quite this badly and as a result of the deadlifts (remember 50x60kg)it was located beside my spine.
This left me with the inability to bend over without pain for a couple of days and made sleeping rather difficult. Following this experience I have resolved to train my back with longer sets of relatively heavy weights.
Also, I will do my leg workouts more often.
As a side note, and somewhat related to my general interest in fitness and conditioning, I recently noticed my bench press technique was rather lacking. I was not following the complete range of motion and began the action with the barbell maybe 15cm above my chest. It is my understanding that the initial movement involves the clavicular head of the pectoralis major (preceding the tricep and the anterior deltoid). This, as a result has left this portion of the muscle rather week and I have decided the correct course of action is only to rebuild my bench from 40kg back up to my previous maximum weight of around 70kg.
I'm kinda hopeful that this is gonna help with increasing my rather stubborn bench maximum
thanks for reading
adios a
Monday, February 15, 2010
Update 1: Ass thouroughly kicked
So a late night spent worrying and scheming about the workout that awaited me in the morning was followed by an "early" rise of 10AM by my esteemed coordinator asking me whether I could work today. "No", I replied. "You asked me to do stocktake at another store today".
So after some initial wasted breath I made my way to the gym. Having completed high intensity workouts previously I decided to forgo the recommended breakfast for fear of re-experiencing it mid workout. Turned out to be the right choice.
I sauntered into the gym head down, mega focussed as you would and started a quick warm up of dynamic stretches. Leg raises, arm rotations and all that lovely stuff.
Onto the actual workout:
The pull ups were probably the easiest of the exercises managed to do today. Whilst I did not do them in one almighty 25 rep set, I did manage 10, 10, 4, 1. A tad comical I must admit.
The dead lifts were done and dusted without too much fussing about. Squeezed em out in 15, 10,15,10. Not bad. Although in accordance with the Gym Jones range of motion rules the majority of the lifts would not count. I managed to lower the barbell to just above the floor but the extra centimetre or so was too much to consider even after the first 15 or so.
The push ups. As anticipated, were probably the easiest to push out. I managed them in the same manner as the dead lifts; 15, 10, 15, 10. I have to admit, the change of focus of the muscles, from lower back/legs to chest really took its toll. It was a good thing I had skipped breakfast as I have no doubt it would have be relived before the box jumps.
Speaking of, these turned out to be my undoing. The immediate change of focus caused a rush of blood back to my legs leaving my brain a tad under oxygenated. Dizziness kicked in at about the 15 rep mark and I was forced to retire from the attempt, defeated in body but not in spirit.
In the spirit of this workout, a benchmark to work up from, I attempted a set of floor wipers using a 40kg barbell. My hat goes off to anyone able to complete one of these; it is clear to me now that my core strength, despite what I had thought, is probably nowhere near what it should be.
Anticipating further failure I decided to continue with setting a benchmark, only using much lighter kettleballs. I grabbed two 8kg and did the prescribed 50 clean and press (with the balls touching the ground in between reps) in 5 sets of 10.
It was about here I could really feel my stomach churning. I took a breather and chugged some water down for about 10 minutes and eventually worked up the motivation to attempt the final 25 pull ups.
*sigh* I got 1 set of 10 out before I gave up. Mind you, these were perfect form, over-hand, head above the bar, pull ups. Kinda proud I was able to squeeze these out.
now, I must rush off to the aforementioned stocktake.
adios amigos
jubs
So after some initial wasted breath I made my way to the gym. Having completed high intensity workouts previously I decided to forgo the recommended breakfast for fear of re-experiencing it mid workout. Turned out to be the right choice.
I sauntered into the gym head down, mega focussed as you would and started a quick warm up of dynamic stretches. Leg raises, arm rotations and all that lovely stuff.
Onto the actual workout:
The pull ups were probably the easiest of the exercises managed to do today. Whilst I did not do them in one almighty 25 rep set, I did manage 10, 10, 4, 1. A tad comical I must admit.
The dead lifts were done and dusted without too much fussing about. Squeezed em out in 15, 10,15,10. Not bad. Although in accordance with the Gym Jones range of motion rules the majority of the lifts would not count. I managed to lower the barbell to just above the floor but the extra centimetre or so was too much to consider even after the first 15 or so.
The push ups. As anticipated, were probably the easiest to push out. I managed them in the same manner as the dead lifts; 15, 10, 15, 10. I have to admit, the change of focus of the muscles, from lower back/legs to chest really took its toll. It was a good thing I had skipped breakfast as I have no doubt it would have be relived before the box jumps.
Speaking of, these turned out to be my undoing. The immediate change of focus caused a rush of blood back to my legs leaving my brain a tad under oxygenated. Dizziness kicked in at about the 15 rep mark and I was forced to retire from the attempt, defeated in body but not in spirit.
In the spirit of this workout, a benchmark to work up from, I attempted a set of floor wipers using a 40kg barbell. My hat goes off to anyone able to complete one of these; it is clear to me now that my core strength, despite what I had thought, is probably nowhere near what it should be.
Anticipating further failure I decided to continue with setting a benchmark, only using much lighter kettleballs. I grabbed two 8kg and did the prescribed 50 clean and press (with the balls touching the ground in between reps) in 5 sets of 10.
It was about here I could really feel my stomach churning. I took a breather and chugged some water down for about 10 minutes and eventually worked up the motivation to attempt the final 25 pull ups.
*sigh* I got 1 set of 10 out before I gave up. Mind you, these were perfect form, over-hand, head above the bar, pull ups. Kinda proud I was able to squeeze these out.
now, I must rush off to the aforementioned stocktake.
adios amigos
jubs
First!@#$
So today I learned of the the 300 workout. It was conceived by Gym Jones as a final test for the actors in the film 300 upon completion of their conditioning.
For some reason I decided it was a good idea to set this as a goal.
The workout is as follows:
-25 pull ups
-50 dead lifts at 60kg
-50 push ups
-50 box jumps with the box at 60cm
-50 floor wipers with 60kg on the bar
-50 kettleball clean and press 16kg each kettleball
25 more pull ups
I've broken this down in terms of my fitness levels at what they are now.
25 pull ups
As it stands I can probably squeeze out 10 proper pull ups with no leg movement. Earlier tonight I was able to complete 30 proper pull ups from an active shoulder position (just above a dead hang) in 6 sets. Not all that impressive but it's a start.
50 dead lifts at 60kg
The last back day I was able to dead lift 90kg for 10 reps proceeding 3 sets of 40kg, 60kg and 70kg. This is probably the one I'm not all that worried about but will probably kick my ass.
50 push ups
Push ups? PSSSHT!!! Easy.
...I think
50 Box Jumps
Not as worried about this as I probably should be. 60cm is at least 15cm higher than the box jumps I've done in the past.
50 floor wipers
Okay, this one has me the most worried. 60kg is a bit under what my current max bench press weight is (although the 67 I managed to raise did go up rather easily). Also considering I've never done this particular exercise in the past. It is rather similar to the lying leg raise which I have done extensively in the past. Here's hoping.
50 Kettleball clean and press
Alright, I've admitted to myself (and now you) that my shoulders are probably my downfall in terms of overall strength. In saying that I have progressed from a 30kg military press to 45kg military press. This was, mind you for only 10 reps at the end of a pyramid set starting at 20kg. Again, I'm wary as to how well this will translate to this particular exercise.
25 more pull ups
Oh god... here's hoping I can stand.
Although I won't need to stand, just do pull ups.
If you missed it these need to be completed in 20 minutes.
The gym is calling me tomorrow, here's hoping I can complete it in under an hour.
jubs
For some reason I decided it was a good idea to set this as a goal.
The workout is as follows:
-25 pull ups
-50 dead lifts at 60kg
-50 push ups
-50 box jumps with the box at 60cm
-50 floor wipers with 60kg on the bar
-50 kettleball clean and press 16kg each kettleball
25 more pull ups
I've broken this down in terms of my fitness levels at what they are now.
25 pull ups
As it stands I can probably squeeze out 10 proper pull ups with no leg movement. Earlier tonight I was able to complete 30 proper pull ups from an active shoulder position (just above a dead hang) in 6 sets. Not all that impressive but it's a start.
50 dead lifts at 60kg
The last back day I was able to dead lift 90kg for 10 reps proceeding 3 sets of 40kg, 60kg and 70kg. This is probably the one I'm not all that worried about but will probably kick my ass.
50 push ups
Push ups? PSSSHT!!! Easy.
...I think
50 Box Jumps
Not as worried about this as I probably should be. 60cm is at least 15cm higher than the box jumps I've done in the past.
50 floor wipers
Okay, this one has me the most worried. 60kg is a bit under what my current max bench press weight is (although the 67 I managed to raise did go up rather easily). Also considering I've never done this particular exercise in the past. It is rather similar to the lying leg raise which I have done extensively in the past. Here's hoping.
50 Kettleball clean and press
Alright, I've admitted to myself (and now you) that my shoulders are probably my downfall in terms of overall strength. In saying that I have progressed from a 30kg military press to 45kg military press. This was, mind you for only 10 reps at the end of a pyramid set starting at 20kg. Again, I'm wary as to how well this will translate to this particular exercise.
25 more pull ups
Oh god... here's hoping I can stand.
Although I won't need to stand, just do pull ups.
If you missed it these need to be completed in 20 minutes.
The gym is calling me tomorrow, here's hoping I can complete it in under an hour.
jubs
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