12 - June Squat Video
Video of squat form (with light weight). Glad that I took this video - I thought my depth was actually lower (probably very common). Being tall does have some disadvantages. I believe that I am low enough for full value but any comments to the contrary are welcomed.
13-June Rest
14-June Strength Cycle 8, Day 2 Bench
Bench - 170 x 1
Bench - 155 x 8, 5 sets (slowing on 4th and 5th set)
Incline Bench - 95lb 3 sets 50 rep total: 20,15,13
Dips - BW x AMRAP, 4 sets: 10,4,5,5
Ab wheel - 4 sets of 10
Same day, immediately after strength:
Conditioning-
60lb vest plus 65lb barbell. Walk uphill 6-10% grade twice. Total time of walking (uphill, downhill, rest) 28 minutes.
Carrying 125lb is adding 62.5% over my normal body weight. I was breathing hard on the uphills.
15-June Strength Cycle 8, Day 3 Dead Lift
Dead lifts - 305 x 3, 5 sets
Barbell Row - 135 x 10, 4 sets
T-Bar Row - 100 x 10, 4 sets
Pull ups - BW x AMRAP, 4 sets: 9,7,5,5
Leaning ring pull-up: BW x AMRAP, 1 set: 15
Deads felt good. I started slowing just a bit on the last two sets. I could have probably gone up to 310 but will leave here at least one more week.
Rows (both types) are getting easier. Still a good weight for now.
leaning ring pull-ups went up 2. However, my big goal is to get 4 sets of 10 pull-ups (at this point in the workout).
[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
Your daughter is super cute!
Bench press form looked good, only thing I would maybe improve is keeping your shoulders pinned and down. You seem to push your shoulders up and the round them at the top of the rep because of how hard your push the rep. It is hard to say if that is the case for certain tho at that angle.[/quote]
Thanks Rattle! I have to get her started early! Seriously though, I would love it if she were interested in training with me when she is older.
Appreciate the feedback on the bench. I will be sure to check my shoulders next bench day. I think that you may be right. Not sure if this is something I am doing with the sub-maximal weights as I try to apply maximal force throughout the range of motion or if I always do this.
Cheers,
Needa
16-June Strength Cycle 8, Day 4 Press
Press: 105 x 1
Press : 90 x 8, 90 x 8, 90 x 8, 90 x 8, 90 x 6 (so close!)
DB Lateral: 10 x 15, 4 sets
BTN Press: 65 x 5, 5 sets
SGHP: 135 x 5, 5 sets
BTN is easy at 65 and now I have done for 3 times at this weight. I will up to 70 next cycle.
SGHP was meant to be easy and it was. Hit my chin with the barbell on one of the reps!
I was just THAT close to hitting the new, lowered press weight. I will keep at this weight and on this template until I can hit it reliably twice. Then I will try another template calculated against the same every day max.
17-June Conditioning. 50 minutes walk with 60lb vest
18-June Strength Cycle 9, Day 1 Squats
Squat: warm-ups
Squat: 240 x 1
Squat: 255 x 1
Squat: 270 x 1
Squat: 180 x 8, 5 sets
all squats (after warm-up) 17 minutes
SLDL - 225 x 8, 4 sets 3/4 inch deficit
later that evening
Front Squats - 185 x 5, 5 sets
Hamstring curls - 40 x 12, 5 sets
front squats were tough - I almost did not finish. Back and abs were the weak spot.
19-June Strength Cycle 9, Day 2 Bench
Bench: warm-up
Bench: 195 x 1
Bench: 185 x 3, 3 sets
Bench: 165 x 5, 5 sets
Bench: 143.5 x AMRAP: 8
All bench (not warm-up) 21 minutes
Incline Bench: 85 x 10, 4 sets
Dips: BW x AMRAP, 4 sets: 9,5,5,4
I missed the very last rep on the very last set of bench (165x5). Weight will remain the same next time.
Incline weight was just a bit too easy. Put some strain but intensity can be higher.
20-June Misc.
Jump rope - 10 minutes
Barbell Curls - 35lb x 100 reps, 4 min 25 second
Jump rope - 5 minutes
Ab wheel - 5 x 5, 30 second rest between sets
This is my first ever time with Jump rope. Which made 10 minutes seem like a 30 minute run. I suck at this - most consecutive reps was 38.
Barbell curls - ready to increase to the mammoth weight of 40lbs. I was able to go without any pauses this time.
You’re Bench is definitely rising man, good job. On Bench form, personally, I’d try to slide your feet just a tad bit more underneath you, get knees a bit lower. It seems like you have good leg drive, but if you did that you’d have a bit more arch, and would allow you to really use that kick from your legs to shove your upper body (namely upper back and shoulders) down into the bench, hopefully preventing them from rolling forward like RT mentioned. Upper body wise, maybe just concentrate on pulling those shoulders down, and I think your form would be perfect.
Squat depth looked perfectly reasonable to me. When you’re tall genuine ATG squats is more like a parlor trick and less of a lift sometimes, just because the ROM is kind of cumbersome. If you wanted you could maybe sink them a bit lower, but I think it’s far from something you must do.
Obviously take my advice with a grain of salt as I’m far from an expert, but these are tweaks I’ve personally found I needed to make as well, so I’m repeating not only what I’ve read but also what I’ve tried. lol
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
You’re Bench is definitely rising man, good job. On Bench form, personally, I’d try to slide your feet just a tad bit more underneath you, get knees a bit lower. It seems like you have good leg drive, but if you did that you’d have a bit more arch, and would allow you to really use that kick from your legs to shove your upper body (namely upper back and shoulders) down into the bench, hopefully preventing them from rolling forward like RT mentioned. Upper body wise, maybe just concentrate on pulling those shoulders down, and I think your form would be perfect.
Squat depth looked perfectly reasonable to me. When you’re tall genuine ATG squats is more like a parlor trick and less of a lift sometimes, just because the ROM is kind of cumbersome. If you wanted you could maybe sink them a bit lower, but I think it’s far from something you must do.
Obviously take my advice with a grain of salt as I’m far from an expert, but these are tweaks I’ve personally found I needed to make as well, so I’m repeating not only what I’ve read but also what I’ve tried. lol[/quote]
Thanks for the input - much appreciated.
So I did follow Rattle’s advice and really cued in on my shoulders on my last bench day. I think that he was right. It felt more correct keeping my shoulders down and tight with my back.
I hear what you are saying regarding my feet. I will try that on my next cycle. How far back would you bring the feet? Would you go as far as having your heels come off the ground?
Regarding squat depth: I would prefer to go below parallel because that’s what the cool kids do. Seriously though, with my ankle flexibility and height I feel stretched at this depth. Bear in mind that I also have my heels on a 3/4" board so that means I am going deeper, right 
[quote]Captain Needa wrote:
So I did follow Rattle’s advice and really cued in on my shoulders on my last bench day. I think that he was right. It felt more correct keeping my shoulders down and tight with my back.
I hear what you are saying regarding my feet. I will try that on my next cycle. How far back would you bring the feet? Would you go as far as having your heels come off the ground?
Regarding squat depth: I would prefer to go below parallel because that’s what the cool kids do. Seriously though, with my ankle flexibility and height I feel stretched at this depth. Bear in mind that I also have my heels on a 3/4" board so that means I am going deeper, right
[/quote]
On the feet setting back, I personally have them far back enough to raise my heels, but if I could have my feet flat and maintain my arch I would. You don’t have as much an arch, so I think just moving them back a bit would suffice, but try it out if you want. Also, if you like the board under your heels, you may benefit from some Oly shoes. I love them personally lol
21-June Strength Cycle 9, Day 3 Deads
Deadlift: 305 x 3, 5 sets
Barbell Row: 135 x 10, 4 sets
T-bar Row: 100 x 12, 4 sets
Pull-ups: BW, 4 x AMRAP: 9, 7, 6, 5
leaning ring pull-up: BW, 1 x AMRAP: 15
Deads felt strong. My speed never changed from first to last set. They were not fast but they moved without pause. I think I am actually ready to raise the weight again to 310. I will post a video so show form/speed.
21-June Deads Video. Last set of 5.
22-June Strength Cycle 9, Day 4 Press
Press 105 x 1
Press 90 x 8, 5 sets*
Face Pull: Band x 10, 4 sets
DB Lat Raise: 10 x 15, 4 sets
BTN Press: 75 x 5, 3 sets
SGHP: 155 x 3, 5 sets
First time hitting all 5 sets of pressing at 90lbs. Despite it being a very low weight I was really stoked. I did rest for 90 seconds between all sets. I will leave the weight unchanged and shoot for 75 seconds rest next week. I will also start using the other base building templates (Paul Carter, using bench press templates for press) at these same weights (based off 120 max). I suspect that I will be at these weights for at least a few more weeks until they are crisp for all sets.
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
On the feet setting back, I personally have them far back enough to raise my heels, but if I could have my feet flat and maintain my arch I would. You don’t have as much an arch, so I think just moving them back a bit would suffice, but try it out if you want. Also, if you like the board under your heels, you may benefit from some Oly shoes. I love them personally lol[/quote]
Thanks brother. I will give that a try in a couple of days.
At the gym, I used to squat in mountain biking shoes, which are very stiff soled and perhaps have a bit of slope to them. I then moved to barefoot as I now lift at home. I use boards for back squatting but don’t need it for front squat. I will put oly shoes on the list of gym improvements. However, it IS a long list.
Cheers.
23-June Day off.
24-June Strength Cycle 10 Day 1 Squats
Warm-up; jump rope. Getting better. Hit 99 reps once and can do 50 relatively reliably.
Back Squat: 232.5 x 1
Back Squat: 185 x 5, 5 sets
SLDL: 225 x 8, 4 sets
Front Squats: 155 x 8, 4 sets
Very tired; lack of sleep. Today this work-out kicked my behind, mostly from a cardio stand-point. I was slowing (but not slow) the last two sets of 5x5 squats. Today I raised the every day max to 310 (from 300) that the weight was calculated off of.
Starting from now, my plan is to begin with the first base building template of each movement until it is crisp. Then I will keep the EDM the same and move on to the next base building template. Then on to the third template. Once the third is crisp I will up the weight and start with base building template 1 again.
I also widened my stance just a bit on back squats and I felt like I got just a bit lower. However, I will need to video to tell for sure.
I was sucking wind during SLDL and front squats today. Good workout in a short amount of time. I rested less than a minute between most sets.
25-June Strength Cycle 10 Day 2 Bench
Base building template 1 until it is crisp and I own in. 85% for 1, 75% for 5 sets of 8.
Bench Press: 170 x 1
Bench Press: 155 x 8, 5 sets - 8,8,8,7,6
Incline Press: 3 sets over 5 minutes to hit 50 total reps: 18,15,12
Dips: 4 x AMRAP: 8,6,5,4
Ab Wheel: 10 for 4 sets
Felt weak today. I did not even finish my programmed reps on bench. I stopped the sets before I failed mid-rep. Either it is lack of recent sleep, lack of energy from cutting ~200 calories per day or I am just weak. I have hit these reps at this weight before so I won’t decrease weight yet.
26-June Light conditioning
5 Min jump rope
3 sets of 5 Leg raise (hanging from bar, full raise to bar)
3 Min jump rope
25 Kettle bell swings - 52 lb
1 x 100 Barbell curls - 40 lb - 5min 15 seconds
25 kettle bell swings - 52 lb
5 sets of 10 medicine ball thrusters - 15 seconds rest
3 sets of 5 box jumps
Today was first day at 40lb on the barbell curls. Had to rest many times after 40 reps. Goal is to perform non-stop in about 4 and a half minutes. Then I up the weight again.
27-June: off due to work schedule
28-June Strength Cycle 10 Day 3 Deadlift
Jump Rope x 5 minutes
Deadlift 305 x 3, 5 sets - 5 min 45 seconds
Barbell row: 135 x 10, 4 sets
T-Bar row: 100 x 12, 4 sets
P/U: 8,7,6,6,3
Leaning Ring Pullup: 16
Deadlifts felt really strong. No slowing and minimal rest between sets. Only two cycles at this weight but I plan to up to 310 very soon. Perhaps next cycle.
Did jump rope between many of the sets. Did not keep track - just kept my heart rate going.
29-June Strength Cycle 10, Multi-Day
Leaving for a camping trip with my 11 year old son. He wants to search for Sasquatch! So I combined a Press day and a bench day into one:
BP 170 x 1
BP 155 x 8, 5 sets: 8,8,8,8,7 (PR)
Press 105 x 1
Press 90 x 8, 5 sets: 8,8,8,7,5 (not PR, but after BP)
Incline Press: 85lb, 3 sets, 50 total reps, 5 minutes. 20,17,13
SGHP: 155 x 3, 10 sets
Bar Dips: 4 x AMRAP: 10,6,4,5
Ab Wheel: 4 sets of 10
Jump rope in between many of the sets. Total workout time 1hr 25 minutes. Spent.