8/27/2014
Day Off
Eating PR 330 Grams of protein today
[quote]BangkokHustle wrote:
8/27/2014
Day Off
Eating PR 330 Grams of protein today[/quote]
I like this mentality. One gram of protein for every lb you want to be.
Ok so I squatted for the first time today as part of an actual workout. I went up to 205 lbs and I did 8 sets of 8 reps. It felt good and I had little to no discomfort in my lower back. I hung from a pullup bar and stretched out my back after every set. I am very happy now to be able to squat without pain. I will probably use 205 again next leg workout because I want to get my body acclimated to squatting before I go any heavier.
I also switched up my stance I am using a narrower stance and I am forcing my knees out at the bottom. My OLY shoes really help me to get excellent depth. I feel most of the stress now on my quads and legs instead of on my back.
[quote]BangkokHustle wrote:
Ok so I squatted for the first time today as part of an actual workout. I went up to 205 lbs and I did 8 sets of 8 reps. It felt good and I had little to no discomfort in my lower back. I hung from a pullup bar and stretched out my back after every set. I am very happy now to be able to squat without pain. I will probably use 205 again next leg workout because I want to get my body acclimated to squatting before I go any heavier.
I also switched up my stance I am using a narrower stance and I am forcing my knees out at the bottom. My OLY shoes really help me to get excellent depth. I feel most of the stress now on my quads and legs instead of on my back. [/quote]
I am glad you are well man.
Take it slow then when you’re ready I will give you a progression I have been working on.
I deadlifted 225 for 8 reps yesterday and then I did another set of 225 for 6 reps. I had a little irritation in my lower back but it felt fine the rest of the day and it feels fine today. I’ll try it again in a few days, probably with a lower weight like 185 or 205 for high reps. Ill use the light weights before I move on to 275 and 315.
[quote]BangkokHustle wrote:
I deadlifted 225 for 8 reps yesterday and then I did another set of 225 for 6 reps. I had a little irritation in my lower back but it felt fine the rest of the day and it feels fine today. I’ll try it again in a few days, probably with a lower weight like 185 or 205 for high reps. Ill use the light weights before I move on to 275 and 315.[/quote]
Make sure to keep stretching.
At am minimum you should be doing a toe touch a few times a day for reps and short holds to keep your back loose.
9/9/14
Legs
Squats only
Set 1: 30 reps
Set 2: 20 reps
Set 3: 15 reps
Set 4: 15 reps
Set 5: 15 reps
Set 6: 30 reps
[quote]BangkokHustle wrote:
9/9/14
Legs
Squats only
Set 1: 30 reps
Set 2: 20 reps
Set 3: 15 reps
Set 4: 15 reps
Set 5: 15 reps
Set 6: 30 reps [/quote]
How did you feel?
Any discomfort?
I felt extremely pumped and my legs are more sore then they have ever been. I did not have discomfort during the workout but when I laid down in bed I could feel my lower back muscles stretching out. From my experience this means that they have been put under stress.
9/11/2014
Chest
Bench Press
8 sets 8 reps with 115 lbs
I think that my grip is a little too wide. Right now my pinkies are on the rings but when I tried moving them in more about half a centimeter on each side I felt more explosive and the bar moved faster. It also felt like a much more natural range of motion. I think I might have a weakness on my pecs. I’ll try doing the closer grip next time I do chest and I’ll see how much stronger I am.
Incline DB Bench Press 3x10 with 50 lb DB’s
Giant Set #1
Flat Dumbbell Fly 8 reps
Machine Pec Deck 10 reps dropped weight did another 10 reps
Pushups to failure
Repeated giant set 3 times
Giant Set #2
Incline DB Bench Press 8 reps
Wide Grip Dips 8 reps
Cable Flys 8 reps
Repeated Giant set 3 times
The purpose of the high volume giant sets is to try and add muscle mass onto my upper body since my upper body is very small compared with my legs. I think that if I can add some muscle to my upper body then it will allow me to get a lot stronger also.
[quote]BangkokHustle wrote:
9/11/2014
Chest
Bench Press
8 sets 8 reps with 115 lbs
I think that my grip is a little too wide. Right now my pinkies are on the rings but when I tried moving them in more about half a centimeter on each side I felt more explosive and the bar moved faster. It also felt like a much more natural range of motion. I think I might have a weakness on my pecs. I’ll try doing the closer grip next time I do chest and I’ll see how much stronger I am.
Incline DB Bench Press 3x10 with 50 lb DB’s
Giant Set #1
Flat Dumbbell Fly 8 reps
Machine Pec Deck 10 reps dropped weight did another 10 reps
Pushups to failure
Repeated giant set 3 times
Giant Set #2
Incline DB Bench Press 8 reps
Wide Grip Dips 8 reps
Cable Flys 8 reps
Repeated Giant set 3 times
The purpose of the high volume giant sets is to try and add muscle mass onto my upper body since my upper body is very small compared with my legs. I think that if I can add some muscle to my upper body then it will allow me to get a lot stronger also.[/quote]
You don’t have weaknesses if you are doing sets with 115.
Trust me, just take a neutral grip (for the sake of your shoulder health) and get stronger. The rest will sort itself out.
You’re doing great man.
When you say neutral grip, you mean I should consciously force myself to tuck my elbows inwards? I don’t do this right now, but I know for a fact that my elbows aren’t flairing out at all.
And also, do you think that if I can press the empty bar much faster with the slightly closer grip does this mean that it will be a stronger grip when I move up to heavy weights like 135?
[quote]BangkokHustle wrote:
When you say neutral grip, you mean I should consciously force myself to tuck my elbows inwards? I don’t do this right now, but I know for a fact that my elbows aren’t flairing out at all.[/quote]
I bench with my hands approximately 19 inches apart.
Close grip is considered anything 17 inches or less. Maximum legal grip in powerlifting is 32 inches.
Continuously tucking your elbows, from what I understand, is not good form. You want to tuck your elbows at the bottom, and flare them at your transition point.
What is transition point? That is where your chest and shoulders stop being the dominant movers, and where your triceps take over to lock you out.
[quote]BangkokHustle wrote:
And also, do you think that if I can press the empty bar much faster with the slightly closer grip does this mean that it will be a stronger grip when I move up to heavy weights like 135?[/quote]
If your chest is strong, go wider.
If your triceps are strong, go closer.
If you aren’t dominant one way or another, go in the middle.
If you aren’t benching over 315, you don’t have a dominant muscle group.
I would recommend middle to closer grip, rather than wider grip. My personal belief is that a closer grip promotes shoulder stability. Plus you will get some nice triceps as a side effect.
Ill try the closer grip in a few days, thanks for the information.
9/14/2014
Shoulders and Triceps
Military Press: 7x6 with 85 lbs (PR last time I did 85 I did 10x4)
Behind the neck barbell press: 3x8 95 for first set then did 85lbs for last two
Giant Set
DB side lateral 8 reps
DB rear lateral on an incline bench 10 reps
DB front raises 8 reps
DB Press 8 reps used 40 DB’s with these and I used 35’s last time, so this is a good PR for me.
Repeated Giant Set 3 times
I was very happy with my shoulder strength increasing this workout.
Close Grip Bench Press: 7x6 with 115 lbs for first 5 sets then had to drop to 105 for last two sets.
I am pretty sure Ill be stronger on my regular bench press with a slightly closer grip because I was using 115 for close grip which is what I was using for my last few sets on regular bench press.
Superset
Rope Pushdowns 8 reps
Overhead rope extensions 8 reps
Repeated superset 3 times
[quote]BangkokHustle wrote:
Ill try the closer grip in a few days, thanks for the information.[/quote]
Any time man. That is what I told you I would do, right?
Keep making good PRs. I know it sounds silly, but slow steady progress adds up fast.
9/16/2014
Legs
I was supposed to do my leg workout yesterday but I was just too exhausted after school and I only got about 3 and a half hours of sleep the night before. So I decided to take the day off and try again today. I slept much better last night and so I was prepared for the workout.
Squats only again except with 10 lbs more on all sets from last week
Set 1: 30 reps 145 lbs
Set 2: 20 reps 165 lbs
Set 3: 15 reps 185 lbs
Set 4: 15 reps 185 lbs
Set 5: 15 reps 185 lbs
Set 6: 30 reps 145 lbs
The workout went well and there was a lot less burning in my legs this time because I got used to the high reps from last workout.
I will continue to add 10 lbs to the sets once a week.
[quote]BangkokHustle wrote:
9/16/2014
Legs
I was supposed to do my leg workout yesterday but I was just too exhausted after school and I only got about 3 and a half hours of sleep the night before. So I decided to take the day off and try again today. I slept much better last night and so I was prepared for the workout.
Squats only again except with 10 lbs more on all sets from last week
Set 1: 30 reps 145 lbs
Set 2: 20 reps 165 lbs
Set 3: 15 reps 185 lbs
Set 4: 15 reps 185 lbs
Set 5: 15 reps 185 lbs
Set 6: 30 reps 145 lbs
The workout went well and there was a lot less burning in my legs this time because I got used to the high reps from last workout.
I will continue to add 10 lbs to the sets once a week.[/quote]
Keep your form tight and below parallel if you can.
You don’t want to train any high reps if you don’t have to.
It is ok to not be at rock bottom every rep, but you must break parallel if you can safely do so (even if it is for a split second).
Your loading plan sounds solid if it is what I think it is.