4-4 RE Lower
Stretch out a little
Walking RDL
25 KBs x 50 steps x twice
45 Degree Back Raise
x 10, 12, 15, 17, 20
Straight Leg Power Clean
85 x 6
100 x 6
110 x 6 x 3 sets
Leg Raise Off Bench x 20
Decline Situp x 20
Alternating for 5 sets total
Box Jump
18" x 3 singles
24" x 3 singles
sit on box, Jump to 24 x 3 singles
24" x 3 singles
sit on box, Jump to 18" x 3 singles
Slightly over 46 minutes. Too slow, Fat Boy!
4-6 Upper
Get Loose
Kelso Shrug x 20
Bench Dip Shrug x 10 Bench Dip x 10
DB Incline Bench, 3 count eccentric x 20
3 rounds
Floor Press
145 x 7
160 x 7
170 x 7
Rear Delts on Reverse Pec Deck x 25/20/15
DB Shoulder External Rotation x 12/8/10
3 pairs
EZ Bar Reverse Wrist Curl x 20
EZ Bar Reverse Curl x 20
Neutral Chin x 2, 3, 4
3 rounds
Staying in position, keeping tight not rushing or slopping through DB inclines with the slow eccentric was a nice challenge. 170 x 7 on the floor press was a nice surprise. I thought my max was like 180. tops.
4-8 Lower
Stretch out some
Band Hip Thing x 5
McGil Curl Up x 8
twice
Hip Ailplane x 4
Single Leg Curl x 20
Leg Extension x 25
twice
Goblet Squat
40 x 4 reps x 6 sets
Sumo Iso Rack Deads
Pin 3 x 3 x 3 then 3 jumps to 18"
Pin 2 x 3 x 3 then 3 jumps to 24"
Pin 1 x 3 x 3 then 3 jumps to 30"
Deficit Pin 1 x 3 x3 then 2 jumps to 36"
47 minutes. Hips were tight tight and it took a minute to get going. I was a little nervous and had to call upon Christian Slater for the 36" box jumps.
damn rack pulls and box jumps…I will have to steal this for a session sometime down the road ahaha
It made me sweat a lot!
4-9 Upper
Band Pulldown “Shrug” with 3 count hold x 15
Neutral Band Pushdown, 3 count hold at bottom x 20
1 arm Pec Deck, across body with 3 count hold x 15
3 times around
Bench Press in Rack, every rep rests on pins
95 + half miniband x 3 x 9 sets with 3 grips
DB external shoulder rotation on incline bench x 20
Kelso shrug on horizontal cable x 15ish
Rear Delt Row on horizontal cable x 15ish
4 rounds
Neutral Miniband Pushdown x 20+
Barbell Tricep Extension from Pins (65) x 15+
twice
Overhead Band Extension x 20+
Bench Dip x 10+
twice
45:48
Bench dips are catching on in the gym. My triceps must be huge.
Big ol Flats triceps
Honestly Flats, how in the world do people get their bodies like that. I want to look like a huge bodybuilder too…
Ha Ha! I’m not sure I’m the guy to ask, I never got that jacked up!
But the general idea is to first do lots of legs and back stuff and eat well until you learn to be “Big.” Then once you have that down you figure out how to put the legs and back on maintain for awhile while you learn how to build big arms and shoulders.
After that, when you’re all muscley you figure out how to eat to stay muscular without being excessively fat.
And a little “smoke and mirrors” never hurts! Some people say Bill had a tennis ball squeezed under his arm to make his tricep stick out all crazy like that.
If you’re enjoying the historical stuff from “Keys to Progress” maybe check out Bill Pearl’s book, “Keys to the Inner Universe.”
4-11 RE Lower
Get Loose
Sled Drag
60 yards “down” and then 60 “back” x 5 trips x start with 1 plate, end up with 3 plates
Chains Over Shoulders Walk
34 pounds x half mile
Leg Raise off Bench
x 15 x 4 sets
Reverse Hyper
70 x 20 x 4 sets
Seated DB Cleans
15 x 20 reps x 4 sets
It was nice to spend Bench Press Monday mostly outside.
4-12 RE Upper, Deload Week
Shoulder Internal Rotation x 15
Kelso Shrug with Trap Bar x 25
Band Pushdown x 40
Twice around
Chain Fly into Press as I got Tired x 25
Chest Supported T-Bar Row with Hanging Weight x 25
Twice around
Lu Raise x 25
1 Arm Bent Forward Rear Delt Raise x 25
Twice
EZ Reverse Wrist Curl, start wide and move hands in and then in again x like 40
EZ Reverse Curl, start wide, move narrow x like 30
Twice
Band Overhead Extension, knuckles up. down, then neutral x 70ish
Twice
I didn’t mention this being a Deload Week in yesterday’s post. So that was RE Lower Deload. The first 3 weeks of the Upper/Lower, four days per week split have gone nicely.
I’ve gone through 4 of the Repition Lower Body workouts from Louie’s book. The first one was hams/low back focused with Glute/Hams and Bent Rows. The next one was leg/quad focused with a bunch of belt squats with different foot positions. And chest supported rows to give the low back a break without slacking on upper back. The third workout was posterior focused again, only higher up the back with 45 degree back raises and cleans. The 4th workout was sled drags and weight vest walks, which were just perfect for a deload.
It was cool to experience this organization because I don’t remember seeing it spelled out anywhere.
4-15 Lower, Deload
Stretch Out
Side Bends on Backraise x 8
1/2 Kneeling Glute thing x 5
3 times
Band Hamstring Curl x 30
Band Hip Airplane x 5
2 times
Belt Squat
x 15 x 4 sets
Reverse Shrug with Band, Hold for 10 count x 5/3/2
Reverse Hyper x 25
3 times
Matt Wenning says.
A Micro-Cycle is a workout. Keep it to 60 minutes and focus 60-70% of the volume should be focused on weaknesses.
A Meso-Cycle is workouts stacked together for 3-16 (or whatever) weeks. Wenning says to plan in 12 weeks “blocks” or Meso-Cycles. This is long enough to work on a specific issue and make some progress.
Matt says a Macro-Cycle is 24 weeks, or 2 meso-cycles. Each "half’ (12 week period or mesocycle) should focus on a different issue. In the video Wenning says 12 weeks “Off-Season” to work on one sided. isolateral stuff to fix left/right imbalances. Then 12 weeks of “Powerbuilding” to build muscle on your bad-ass foundation.
The Off Season
Change exercises to give yourself a psychological break. And to give you body/joints a break. Use isolateral moves to fix imbalances. (Video shows Matt doing a lunge with 495 on the SSB.)
Maybe do some running and bring up those abs.
More on isolateral stuff.
Use hanging kettlebells for pressing, one arm at a time. Do an extra set on the weak side. Do 1 leg reverse hypers. 1 arm pulldowns, especially if you have 1 sided neck pain. 1 leg ham curls, especially if you have back pain.
Power Building Phase.
More than 10 sets per muscle group per week. Use the right weights/reps for Myofibrial gains. This will vary from person to person, some guys use 4s or 6s and some guys do better with 8s or 10s. I guess maybe Wenning tells you how to figure out how many reps works for you somewhere in the Be in shape enough to recover from that workload. Eat enough to gain. Use slow, 3 count eccentrics on Dynamic Effort lifts.
4-16 Upper, Deload
Seated Band Kelso Shrug, hold for 10 count x a few
Band Internal Rotation x 20
Cross Body Tricep Extension with Band x 50
Cuban Rotation and Press seated on incline x 5 then face down on incline x 5
alternating to get 4 sets of row/shrugs and 4 sets of cuban presses with 2 sets of triceps and int rotations
Bamboo Bar Bench
100 x 10 x 4 sets. 2 sets c lose, 2 sets medium
Bamboo Bar Shrug then Bent Row
x 12 shrugs and 12 rows x 3 sets
Band Hammer Curl x 50
Rolling DB Tricep Extension x 35+
2 pairs
2 sets of isometric lateral raises x 15 count paired with rear delt rows x 15
Deloaded!
crazy work Flats, they all stem from Louie Simmons and all have small variations that work for them.
4-17 Rep Lower
Stretch ham/glute/hip/groin/lat x 2
45 degree back raise, 1 leg Iso hold at top x 10 count each
Laying Leg Curl. Together x 5, individual x 5 each
Belt Squat with pause in hole x 12
3 rounds
Bamboo Bar Stiff Leg Dead
50 x 12. 12
70 x 12, 12
50 x 15
18" Box Jump
10 DBs x 1,1,1
15 DBs x 1,1,1
17.5 DBs x 1,1,1
20 DBs x 1,1,1
25 DBs x 1
Clean Pull from Hang
75 x 6
95 x 6
115 x 6
125 x 6, 6
Snatch Grip Shrug, Lean Over
95 x 12
105 x 12, 12
95 x 12
85 x12
Decline Situp
+15 x 10
+20 x 10
+25 x 10
+30 x 10
+25 x 10
I was in there for 70 minutes, not racing the clock, just keeping track.
I may have reached the age where “Cleans” are now “Clean Pulls.” Not turning over to catch the bar felt pretty good.
This was a pretty cool workout.
Alright, deload is over, today was the first day on the new Month/Wave/MesoCycle. Just like the last one. Upper/Lower, four times per week. 3 weeks “Up” and then the 4th week “Down.” Still Repetition days, not Max Effort Days. I’m not trying to break any records now. Just getting the work in to get into shape for the harder work later.
Jumps are coming along and have been fun, they’re staying in. I’m trying to stay on external rotations and the reverse curls like Poliquin said. Also lots of Kelso Shrugs, or mid-back squeezes at all angles with all possible grips.
4-19 RE Upper
Stretch pec/lat/trap x 2
Mid Back Vertical Shrug Hold vs Band, 2 arms x 10 count then one arm x 10 count each
Band Pushdown, palms down x 25
Rear Delts on Reverse Pec Deck x 20
Incline DB Press, Neutral grip, alternate arms x 10
3 rounds
Steep Incline + 2 Chains
45 x 7
65 x 7
75 x 7
85 x 7
Cable Rows, Elbows Wide, Pause at top and 2 pauses during eccentric
x too much counting, do a bunch of reps, then rep out with no pauses
Chins x 2
3 pairs
DB External Shoulder Rotation x 10/10/6
Chins x 2
3 pairs
Overhead Band Extension x 30, Neutral Pushdown x 30
Bench Shrug then Bench Dip, Fail around 12
Band Zottman Curl 25, Band Reverse Curl x 25
3 rounds
5 pounds more than last month on the steep incline. Awww Yeah! 1 hour workout.
I’ve been wrapping my upper arms with Voodoo Floss for like 6 weeks. Maybe 8 weeks. It’s been keeping my shoulders and elbows pain free during all these benches and chin ups. A few times I had my elbow or wrist wraped in a away that definetly added to the weigh ti could lift. Anyway, I forgot to wrap my shit up today and didn’t realize until like half way through. I was getting after it with no pain. Thats cool.
More from Matt on messing with the conjugate.
During mass phases use 5 reps and up for Max Effort. During strength phases use 1s or 2s. Adjust volume Up by doing up to 10 sets working up on ME day, or adjust volume down by doing like 6 sets.
Slow tempos increase TUT on ME, DE and RE work. Only lower slow on main lifts, don’t lift slow.Going slow is OK both ways for accessory work.
Change the Mode of exercises. Like always bench, but rotate through bands/straight weight/chains/hanging weights.
4-21 Lower
Stretch ham, glute, groin, hip x 2
Alternating Toe Touch x 1,2,3
Iso Hip Airplane x 10 count
Belt Squat x 15
3 rounds
2 KB Squat, Heels Up
x 3 with 3 count eccentric x 10 sets
Iso Sumo Rack Deadlift
Pin 4,3,2 x 3 reps with 2 count slack pull, 2 count pause x 3 sets
After each set, Box Jumps
18" x 2, 2, 2
24" x 2,2,2
30 x 1,1,1
Plank, Lift each foot for 5 count
Laying Adductor Raise x 25
3 pairs
Seated Band Leg Curl x 45/40/35
Grip Machine x 10 one hand/10 together
3 pairs
Good workout. I loaded a bunch of logs and fence posts and junk Tuesday cleaning up the neighborhood. Back was a little stiff so I went Light or “non-compressive” on the assistance today. I was lacking a little explosiveness today after those weighted jumps Monday.
