Nothing exciting.
Low volume
Press: 105# x 3 x 3
Deadlift to knees, pause at knees: 255# x 3 x 3
Monday: Medium volume. Press 4x3. Bottom deadlift 4x3.
Press weight goes to 110.
Massage later today. Maybe some accessories. Maybe not.
Massage was awful. Had to ask her to stop with my left quad. I need a safe word.
Both quads, glutes, teres. Lots of painful work on my right shoulder, but she managed to open it all up and get rid of the internal rotation, at least temporarily.
Kyphosis keeps getting better. She definitely called that out.
So I expect to feel beat up for a few days. But it was really good. What I needed.
Couple meals.
Sausage and grapes. Bok choy.
I recommend this site for the regional italian recipes.
Did you know my kids eat vegetables?
Chicken adobo and rice
Chicken thighs, vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Simmer until done.
I may write out the recipes later. I have photos where I could.
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I officially registered as a member last night.
Qualifier is Sep 11-25 via video submissions.
I’m now (sadly?) classified as a Master because I turn 40 this calendar year. I looked at the leaderboard and apparently there’s so few Lightweight Masters that I might actually be competitive.
There’s literally only 4 records and of those, only one with a Strengthlifting total.
So… solid maybe that I’ll actually sign up for the in-person Nationals in November.
(You literally only need to get any total in the qualifiers to qualify.)
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Over the weekend I read that the November competition will have the Lightweight category split into under-150, and under-175.
I’m currently straddling that line.
Given the sparsity of records altogether, I have one set of thoughts saying “well, I’m sure I can stay under 150 for the next two months and get my name on the board in both categories…”
and the other, well, I’ll just quote myself:
In the grand scheme of things, a couple months is nothing. It wouldn’t be wasted training time, I’d just be holding off on the weight gaining “bodybuilding” side of it. For a couple months.
Because they use weigh-outs I’d pretty much just have to say where I am/lean-up a teensie bit.
What’s most confusing is I didn’t think I cared about records, and I’m well aware that I don’t have anything resembling a strong press (200+) or deadlift (550+) for my weight. It’s just… the opportunity has presented itself.
So, I’m not a fan of how Rippetoe presents himself and his opinions, but I do like the idea of a Press and Deadlift competition. I’m also happy that USSF is run by a bunch of Portlanders, and not Rippetoe and crew.
One of my favorite parts is that the rules allow the banned dynamic Olympic pressing style. In fact, since it’s from the rack, they’ve added another element to it since you can start the bar high, drop and use a stretch reflex and potentially get three different phases of “spring” to get the bar.
- start with the bar high (below the chin, but above the chest/shoulders), and drop it to get some touch-n-go stretch reflex off the chest/shoulders
- use a bow-like hip extension at the beginning, and then use the abs and quads to propel the bar up
- do a second layback right around the forehead sticking point and use that to propel the bar above the head
- finish with the tricep extension overhead
It makes it a very technically interesting lift. Needs lots of anterior strength and skill and timing to do all of that.
And then the deadlift balances it out with the posterior “brute” strength.
- The starting position must be upright, with the knees and hips fully extended, and the chest up. The bar must start motionless below the level of the chin.
- Any bending of the knees (a “push press”) disqualifies the attempt. Incidental unlocking of the knees that clearly does not contribute to upward motion is not a reason to disqualify an attempt.
- Downward motion of the bar occurring from the start position but before upward motion, is permitted and is not a reason to disqualify an attempt.
Did a set of straight-leg situps over the weekend, 41# x 6. Also carrying kids and stuff. Two birthday parties, one we hosted. My life is full of loaded carries.
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Today’s training. Medium volume.
Press: 110# x 4 x 3
Deadlift to knees, pause at knees: 255# x 4 x 3
Notes:
- Weekend was exhausting. Too much heat for me. Sleep has been bad, too.
- Honestly, also probably still beat up from the massage.
- Pressing weights went up but speed went down too much. Fastest rep was like 82% 1RM (it should have been more like 72%.) But I got 4 sets without form breakdown or speed slowdown; they were just slow.
- Fiddling with the “dynamic” press technique totally threw off my first set.
- This bottom-range deadlift is kind of magical. Bar was always just a bit too far from the shins, but this just forces you to not do that. Constant shin contact now.
Pain notes:
- right shoulder has been hurting a lot since one of my axle cleans last Thursday. I notice it especially while sleeping. Pressing doesn’t seem to make it worse, but so far nothing makes it better. Some impingement at certain angles. I originally thought it was a biceps tendon, but now I’m not so sure.
Velocity notes:
- I’m actually really glad to be using this as a tool. I truly have no idea how many more reps I can do with the weight. Maybe 5? Maybe more? With the way I’m feeling today compared to Friday, there’s no way I would have given accurate RPE/RIR scores. Velocity seems more honest.
- Also, I’m not technically doing it right with the presses. It’s assuming “standard plates” (45 cm) but my largest plate is a 25# (which is a bit over 30 cm). The %RM is actually probably correct though, since I did the math with these numbers. Just the m/s numbers are wrong.
- I can go back and correct everything… or just keep doing what I’m doing and readjust when I hit a 135 working weight. I’m taking the lazy route for now. It’s working fine.
Tomorrow’s training. Press/Clean. Low volume. Top partial press 3x3. Power cleans 3x3.
Switching to barbell cleans so I can get some actual form coaching. May throw in some front squats while I’m at it.
H2H Swings: 50# x 14
Straight-leg situps: 41# x 7
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Don’t allow Ripplestilstkin to beguile you and distract you from your goals!
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Do you know what the weigh-in procedure is? If you’re not too opposed to a water cut, you could probably get away with both goals.
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It’s a “weigh out”. After the deadlift, they walk you to the scale. Alan Thrall competed (before they dropped the squat) and has a video, including that part.
So probably not the best idea for a water cut 
I forgot they do that in strengthlifting, my bad. Running around in a trash bag the morning of a weight-class competition is half the fun IMO, but yeah, probably not a good call under that system.
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The 
wasn’t enough. That made me laugh pretty hard.
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Training. Low volume.
Top partial press: 110# x 3 x 3
Barbell power clean: 135# x 3 x 3
Notes:
- that top press with the chains is tricky. Got all imbalanced in the last set but got it up.
All right. Ridiculous goals ensue.
I remembered my old silly goal to look like Kazuya Mishima from Tekken. I pulled up images.
Lol.
From a limb length standpoint, he has pretty long legs and arms, almost as long as mine. From an everything else standpoint… well, that’s where the similarities end.
I figure this is a good place to play with hypertrophy stuff.
Strength goals revolve around pressing and deadlifting. Train those appropriately.
Arms, forearms, shoulders, chest, do other stuff.
I was trying out deltoid stuff and found something I liked. Lying behind the back raises. Lie on my side on the edge of the bed, then lower behind my back as far as it goes, then CAT style accelerate to horizontal and control the eccentric. High reps.
Bent over plate raises for rear delts. Same method, bottom 1/4 CAT reps with controlled eccentric. May adjust this to get a better stretch.
Chest done with straight arm flies lying on a foam roller. Might as well fix my back and shoulder mobility at the same time. Also just bottom range with the stretch, constant tension, etc.
High reps on all, like 25. A couple sets.
From a rehab standpoint of getting blood into tendons and fluid pumped through joints, these all seemed really good.
(Calvert was all about straight arm raises.)
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when do you start your first cycle
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Warning the following post contains ignorance, fanboy plugging and a general lack of having read much of your journal.
That out of the way on to my expert internet armchair opinion:
Your original post lays out your rationale for choosing the Calvert stuff, I understand some of the sentiment, simpler times, real men’s men getting big and being hard as nails, but worth remembering that a) those training methodologies are the product of their era, they are limited by equipment and knowledge, some of what they did stuck, some of it was dropped, probably a reasonable assumption that what stuck stuck because it worked and what didn’t was less successful. B) they were still marketing stuff 100 years ago, the photos of the men you see are going to be the most impressive specimens of the time.
Then I see the some shift to Riptoe and maybe a comp? Not necessarily a bad thing, but then you post goal physique (recognising the reality of the situation and that the post wasn’t a “this is where I’m going” but still sets the desired direction).
Getting to the reason for my post, I’m not sure the goals and the training align, you said this in your original post:
And I agree, here’s where I get fanboy, because I look at your goal photos and I think Brian Alsrushe (used to post here):
Strongman, bushcraft guy/lumberjack/fighter just all round awesome seeming dude, he has some fantastic programmes out there (paid and free).
I just wonder whether focusing on niche old school (mostly static strength) stuff is really going to get you where you want to go?
(For reference I was similar build to you when I started, not sure on your stats but at 6’2 I weighed just over 150lbs, been up to 218 at my biggest and currently at 205, I’ve been off for a while, but getting back at it over the past few months and making solid progress on the bar and in my physique).
Welcome. Thanks for stopping in.
I don’t think it’s quite as bad as you think. (Maybe it is.)
Part of what you’re seeing is the mess that August has been. Time and energy has been tight.
My daughter has been out of school for the month. A week of vacation and the rest of the month trying to work full-time from home and spend half+ days with her. Time to think, but only like 20-30 minutes of non-contiguous time to lift.
The Calvert-based routine took a bit over an hour, 3x a week. Used to use my lunch time for that.
But it was doing what I wanted to do, mostly. Both from a “physique” standpoint, and from a “functional strength” standpoint (mostly shows up with kid stuff, especially with them climbing all over me and stuff at playgrounds). Actually also from a “health” standpoint too; resting heart rate is down, aerobic endurance is up.
So, I’ll be going back to that when I can, which should be next week.
In the meanwhile… I’m mostly just BSing and doing what I can.
Easy Strength has been making the rounds in various training logs. I also read Sheiko’s powerlifting book. I made a hybrid of the two, focusing the clean, press and the deadlift. Basically the variation from Sheiko with the time commitment of Easy Strength.
Those tie into some genuine long term goals:
In the interim, it just so happens that I learned of a thing called “strengthlifting” – dumbest name ever – and also learned there’s a local competition doing basically that: press + deadlift. I’m going to do the video-only “qualifier”, and may or may not sign up for the in-person meet.
With limited time and energy, it’s at least something clear to focus on.
(Rippetoe is the one who came up with strengthlifting, but that’s as close as I get to anything he’s involved with.)
I do appreciate the general goals callout though. It probably needs to be clearly stated.
- get stronger at the clean, press and deadlift
- use Calvert’s stuff for “functional strength” and “physique” goals, and see where that takes me (and whether it lives up to its hype)
- if I still have time, energy, and work capacity left over, throw in some more modern “bodybuilding” methods to focus on shoulders, chest, arms
The emphasis I put on 1 and 2 will probably flip-flop a lot.
The actual Milo courses had a progression. The First Course was a general course, for physique and “bodily strength”. You’d do that for at least a few months. If not longer. Then the Second Course moved into actual lifts, Olympic lifts and static strength. Then, if you’re so inclined, the Third Course moved into stunt work for various traveling circus strongman performers.
While it may seem on the surface like it’s about static feats of strength, a good chunk of the programming is actually higher rep “bodybuilding” kind of work. For instance, squat variations are progressed in the 20-40 rep range, alternating shoulder presses from 12-24, etc. Miserable to do, but was working for me too.
Calvert himself actually became a lot more interested in the bodybuilding side of things as he got older, as he states a few times in Super Strength. Look the part, and be strong, but not so much as interested in building world-class lifters.
All that said, yes, @Alpha for sure is inspiration and a role model. He and I crossed paths back when I was on this site years ago. Pretty cool you’ve found success with his training methods.
Last thing, here’s a couple of Calvert’s prime example lifters. This is the realistic ballpark in terms of physique. Not Kazuya, lol.
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Thanks for taking the time to write that, comprehensive, good to know the reasoning behind it all, I’m definitely with you on the time pressures (also WFH and multiple kids in the house ranging from 0-13 and it’s 6 weeks of school holidays!!!). Also like you I try and get it done in lunch breaks, or before anyone else wakes up.
Hope the time pressures ease up and you make some solid headway on those goals, the strengthlifting comp sounds fun, a bit of competition is always a good thing, good learning experience.
I’ll be following on with interest particularly the comp and particularly this :
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Today’s training. Medium Volume.
Press: 110# x 4 x 3
4-mat Deficit Deadlift: 255# x 4 x 3
Then some practice with “barbell jumps” and working on front rack mobility.
(not done yet, but will do later)
H2H Kettlebell Swings: 50# x 16
Straight-leg situps: 41# x 8
Notes:
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Press, again, moved slow. Fastest rep was 80% 1RM. This is an improvement over Monday’s 82%. I’ll take the velocity PR.
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Deficit deads were from 4 mats, which is around 3", which matches Sheiko’s 7-10 cm definition.
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Bar path was a bit wonky with the deficit deads. Never done them from that height. Hips/low-back sore from it too.
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I’m trying to learn how to properly Power Clean a barbell. CT is graciously helping me. The barbell jumps and front rack work are for that. The eventual goal is to hopefully transfer some of this strength and skill into an axle, for the clean and press. And even if that doesn’t work, power cleans are good to be good at.
Tomorrow: High volume. Press 3x3. Front squat 4x3. Top partial presses 3x3.
Per CT’s instruction, I will hold off power cleans (while I work other stuff). Front squats will replace them for now.
Last night I saw Mike T (RPE guy) recommend the same velocity app I’m using. I don’t even use Instagram or follow him, just randomly ran across. Weird coincidence.
Also, lol:
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High Volume (ish, it’s not high, really)
Press: 110# x 3 x 3
Front Squat: 135# x a few
Barbell Jumps: 135# x a few
Top partial press: 110# x 3 x 3
Forward bends: 98# x 12
Notes:
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most press reps were 80% 1RM (yesterday’s top speed) but I hit a 78% rep in there, so, another velocity PR. It’s interesting to see things are measurably getting better, even if they still all feel the same to me and the weight-on-the-bar isn’t going up.
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the estimated 1RM is kind of a wide range right now – I’ll need to refine my formula as I get better data – but it’s looking like somewhere in the 140-155 pound range. I’ll get real numbers soon. (This basically matches my all-time max of 140, in July 2015. Also, this is why we keep logs…)
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I’m working on front rack position for the clean, as well as a better “linebacker position” for the catch by using the front squats. Should look like this. It’s not super comfortable yet.
Comp notes:
- Video attempt submissions can be submitted between Sept 11 and Sep 25. That gives me between 2 and 3 weeks to keep working.
- If I was going to actually attempt a “peak”, next week would be the latest point to attempt a high intensity week before a week of deload. May, may not.
Programming notes:
- from reading a few reddit threads on pressing, one guy got his press up by doing 65-100 quality reps a week
- another successfully used the first three weeks of the “russian squat routine” on loop, with ~74-76%. That averages out to 56 reps a week.
- I’m doing, on average, 60 reps a week. At some point I’ll actually chart it out.
- Lots of people on Reddit said that weighted dips help. And for the last 70+ years people have said that. But there are some who say that only pressing matters. No other accessory has that strength of recommendation. I mean, sometimes you get people saying incline or high-incline pressing, sometimes just normal bench, sometimes seated presses, sometimes pushdowns. But weighted dips win by a large margin.
Tomorrow: Low volume. 3 x 3 Bottom partial Press. 3 x 3 Top partial Deadlift.
