Great job man. I must admit that when you first made this thread I just though you were a giant pussy (Sorry!), but you have definitely changed my opinion with the progress and work you have put in this year. Keep it up!
Based on that list of 5, you seem to have your head on straight and are on the right path now.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
Great job man. I must admit that when you first made this thread I just though you were a giant pussy (Sorry!), but you have definitely changed my opinion with the progress and work you have put in this year. Keep it up!
Based on that list of 5, you seem to have your head on straight and are on the right path now.[/quote]
Don’t be sorry – When I first started this thread, I was!
Thanks for the encouragement. I still have a ways to go, I know, but at least the guys in the gym who know what they’re doing don’t have much reason to laugh at me anymore… Progress is a good thing!
Update: I have my squat up to 335 now, but holding steady on the deadlift. My DL workout (once or twice per week) looks like this:
Set 1: 8 reps / 135 lbs
Set 2: 7 reps / 225 lbs
Set 3: 6 reps / 255 lbs
Set 4: 5 reps / 285 lbs
Set 5: 4 reps / 315 lbs
However, some days I can only squeeze out 2 reps on the last set, and however many I do, 315 feels like more weight than I can actually lift, if that makes sense. In other words, that last set is insanely brutal! Which, of course, means it’s probably the most beneficial set out of my whole week’s workout…
Update on my HRT (hoping for some feedback):
My doctor gave me my last weekly Testosterone injection last week. Now, instead of 300 ml once per week, we’re going to once per month. After weekly T injections for a year, my doc doesn’t want my body to forget how to make its own T (assuming it hasn’t already!). I’ll now be getting T just once per month, and HCG once per week (not sure of dosage yet). We’ve also cut my Arimadex in half (half a pill, once per week)…
I guess I’m curious what everyone thinks about HCG instead of T… I’m not really familiar with HCG…
Did you ever try anything like tribulus?
Also, congrats on the progress! You’ve done great.
I agree with your assessment that it makes sense to keep squat at a weight less than deadlifts, since you need your posterior chain to stabilize the weight. If your deads are lagging, then you might be more prone to injury.
[quote]ridethecliche wrote:
Did you ever try anything like tribulus?
Also, congrats on the progress! You’ve done great.
I agree with your assessment that it makes sense to keep squat at a weight less than deadlifts, since you need your posterior chain to stabilize the weight. If your deads are lagging, then you might be more prone to injury. [/quote]
I have tried tribulus, but it - and similar herbal supplements - seem to make me loopy for some reason. I think I’m starting the HCG today (if my doctor has it in; they were waiting for a shipment). We’ll see how that works for me, I guess…
How would you recommend I deal with my lagging deadlifts? Hold off on adding more weight to my squats until I get better on the DL’s?
[quote]speakman wrote:
Update on my HRT (hoping for some feedback):
My doctor gave me my last weekly Testosterone injection last week. Now, instead of 300 ml once per week, we’re going to once per month. After weekly T injections for a year, my doc doesn’t want my body to forget how to make its own T (assuming it hasn’t already!). I’ll now be getting T just once per month, and HCG once per week (not sure of dosage yet). We’ve also cut my Arimadex in half (half a pill, once per week)…
I guess I’m curious what everyone thinks about HCG instead of T… I’m not really familiar with HCG…
[/quote]
you really need to read the HRT protocol in the over 35 thread. your doctor sounds like he has his head in his ass.
[quote]speakman wrote:
I have tried tribulus, but it - and similar herbal supplements - seem to make me loopy for some reason. I think I’m starting the HCG today (if my doctor has it in; they were waiting for a shipment). We’ll see how that works for me, I guess…
How would you recommend I deal with my lagging deadlifts? Hold off on adding more weight to my squats until I get better on the DL’s?
[/quote]
I’ll say first off, that I’m nowhere near the most knowledgeable on this board but I’ll give your question a whirl.
As for lagging deadlifts, I say keep building up and adding weight till you stall. Once you stall. Deload a little (10% is the norm I think), and ‘push up’ your max.
Do you think a particular muscle group is stopping your progress on the deadlift? Maybe add some accessory work to those ‘weaker’ muscles so you can bring them up to strength and keep trying to add weight. Maybe do this with a deload?
I don’t think that you’ll see something catastrophic happen if you keep increasing your squats, since there’s only a 20 pound difference right now. BUT I’m very cautious with stuff like this and would rather take some time and keep working at the same weight instead of increasing the possibility of injury.
Maybe try working in some front squats so you can increase posterior chain strength, and play with box squats so you can still get gains without lowering much weight on your squats.
Just some suggestions.
Waiting on the more knowledgeable folk to chime in!
[quote]speakman wrote:
[quote]ridethecliche wrote:
Did you ever try anything like tribulus?
Also, congrats on the progress! You’ve done great.
I agree with your assessment that it makes sense to keep squat at a weight less than deadlifts, since you need your posterior chain to stabilize the weight. If your deads are lagging, then you might be more prone to injury. [/quote]
I have tried tribulus, but it - and similar herbal supplements - seem to make me loopy for some reason. I think I’m starting the HCG today (if my doctor has it in; they were waiting for a shipment). We’ll see how that works for me, I guess…
How would you recommend I deal with my lagging deadlifts? Hold off on adding more weight to my squats until I get better on the DL’s?
[/quote]
Prioritize the deadlift if it bothers you but don’t hold off on the squats more than you have to. It’s no big deal if you’re stronger in one of those two lifts than the other, it’s very common actually. Depending on how you’re built (limb length, levers etc) you might be better suited for one or the other. It seems more common to be stronger in deadlift than squat but some people are stronger in the squat and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Personally I deadlift almost 200lbs more than I squat, I’m a very, very horrible squatter (and I’m working on that)… A friend is the other way around, built for squatting but crappy at deadlifts (the bastard still pulls 3*BW which pisses me off, even at the lifts he “suck” at he’s a freak).
Like I said, it’s no big deal. It’s certainly nothing you should stress over.
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
[quote]speakman wrote:
Update on my HRT (hoping for some feedback):
My doctor gave me my last weekly Testosterone injection last week. Now, instead of 300 ml once per week, we’re going to once per month. After weekly T injections for a year, my doc doesn’t want my body to forget how to make its own T (assuming it hasn’t already!). I’ll now be getting T just once per month, and HCG once per week (not sure of dosage yet). We’ve also cut my Arimadex in half (half a pill, once per week)…
I guess I’m curious what everyone thinks about HCG instead of T… I’m not really familiar with HCG…
[/quote]
you really need to read the HRT protocol in the over 35 thread. your doctor sounds like he has his head in his ass. [/quote]
I looked for this but didn’t spot it… Can you provide a link?
Definitely feeling the switch from testosterone to HCG. Today, I got as far as 255 on my deadlift and then slightly pulled a lower back muscle. That hasn’t happened in awhile. I’ll try again on Wednesday, but I’m definitely feeling sore and just a weird “weak feeling” all over… I know this feeling, and I don’t like it…
Just getting ready to head to the gym for my first deadlift day since slightly tweaking my lower back muscle (see previous post)… To prepare, I’ve really been studying this article:
Now that my lifts might get a little more challenging (since my doctor is making me take a break from Testosterone), I want to really focus (as opposed to wimping out and backing off) on my deadlifts. I’ve decided that this is the core of my whole program: The deadlift is my most important exercise. If I can stay on top of this, I’ll be able to keep on top of everything else (mentally, etc.), too…
So, question: My current routine calls for me to do cable chest presses before the deadlift. Am I spending too much on the chest presses before I deadlift, or is this a good “warmup”? Should I switch the two, or keep doing the cable chest press first?
Not sure what happened in the gym today, but even with the strained lower back muscle I was able to pull my 315 max on the deadlift. Only 2 reps, not my max of 4, but I’m not complaining. Everything else felt really strong, too.
I’m still in pain all over (again, this is a familiar low-testosterone feeling) and my core (all the way around) feels like someone tried to snap me in half. But at least I seemed okay on my strength today…
cool thread, great job on all ur progress
2 ur last question i would say u should put ur deadlifts first; u generally want your bigger movements first
and btw the year long battle between stronghold and that other guy makes it that much better! lol
keep going, hope the progress continues
On the deadlift, let me give my thoughts…
Don’t be afraid to go higher on reps, even into the low teens. Consider grabbing a weight you can do for 8 reps, then trying to get 9 the next week, then 10, etc. A simple program like that has bumped up my pulls a ton in the past few months. I find its a lot easier to squeeze out one more rep when I’m at 10 then even to add 5lbs when I’m near max weight.
Also, consider lowering your volume of deadlifts. I take the 5/3/1 approach, and generally do an easy set of 5, a moderate set of 3, then go balls-out for the last set, and only that set. Tonight I collapsed after finishing rep 13… my previous PR was 11 with that weight.
Just my 2 cents.
[quote]Cgunz wrote:
On the deadlift, let me give my thoughts…
Don’t be afraid to go higher on reps, even into the low teens. Consider grabbing a weight you can do for 8 reps, then trying to get 9 the next week, then 10, etc. A simple program like that has bumped up my pulls a ton in the past few months. I find its a lot easier to squeeze out one more rep when I’m at 10 then even to add 5lbs when I’m near max weight.
Also, consider lowering your volume of deadlifts. I take the 5/3/1 approach, and generally do an easy set of 5, a moderate set of 3, then go balls-out for the last set, and only that set. Tonight I collapsed after finishing rep 13… my previous PR was 11 with that weight.
Just my 2 cents.[/quote]
What were you pulling for 13 reps?
[quote]speakman wrote:
Not sure what happened in the gym today, but even with the strained lower back muscle I was able to pull my 315 max on the deadlift. Only 2 reps, not my max of 4, but I’m not complaining. Everything else felt really strong, too.
I’m still in pain all over (again, this is a familiar low-testosterone feeling) and my core (all the way around) feels like someone tried to snap me in half. But at least I seemed okay on my strength today…[/quote]
Congrats on getting it done!
Where exactly in the DL are you having issues? I thought of this thread when the deadlift thread appeared (chick asking for advice on deadlift) and people started suggesting ways to fix the issue if certain parts of the movement were the issue.
[quote]ridethecliche wrote:
Congrats on getting it done!
Where exactly in the DL are you having issues? I thought of this thread when the deadlift thread appeared (chick asking for advice on deadlift) and people started suggesting ways to fix the issue if certain parts of the movement were the issue.[/quote]
It’s hard to say exactly, but I believe I was starting/ending the lift with my hips too low to the ground (like in a squat position). I may have also been trying to move the weight too quickly off the floor; in other words, “jerking” the weight. I mentioned this previously, but this article really helped a lot:
I think I’ll read through this whole article before every deadlift session until I’m sure that the details are burned into my brain…
a) good progress
b) I may have missed it in this gigantor thread, but when did you start the HRT?