Good luck man!
I’m hype to see what you think of it.
Im enjoying the Wenning videos buddy 
That’s cool, I’m trying to spread the word. Dude is full of good advices, and he’s always bitching about not getting enough views.
I’m planning to sign up for his Secret Club so I can get the real real good stuff. I just keep putting it off.
2 Likes
Alright!
I made it through 11 weeks of training and now this is week 12. I’ve had a few days away from the weights, the adrenaline is wearing off, and I really feel like shit.
My dogs and baby are doing normal dog and baby stuff and it’s driving up the wall. Slow internet has me on the verge of gouging my eyes out.
I last felt this way about 12 weeks ago, after 11 weeks of training. Only there were like 33 training days during those 11 weeks vs around 42 this past time. What a huge increase in volume! And I think I’m a few pounds stronger here and there. I’ll count this as a win.
Looking back, I think I got a little carried away in the middle (too many sets) so I was dragging by the end. In the future, I’ll try to pace myself better.
Anyway, I think I’ll chill out for a couple days and pound some beers till my head is right. From there I’ll decide whether to stay in Accumulation, Off Season mode for 4 more weeks, like I had originally planned. Or to adjust the plan based on this lay-off, and switch to Strength to get 12 weeks (or is it 11 weeks?) in before I fall apart again.
2 Likes
Friday video
Build mobility before strength. You gotta move through the ROM before you get strong. Start early.
Build ligaments and tendons before strength. Matt says connective tissue loves volume and hates intensity, so do high rep ( 4 x 25 ) Wenning Warmups.
Build the core before the limbs. Spinal erectors, Transverse Abs and obliques are small, surrounded by bones and connective tissue and have poor blood supply. So it takes more time to build them.
1 Like
5-17 RE Lower
Get Loose
Band Glute Move x 8
1 Leg Hamstring Curl x 10
Hip Flexor Raise x 15
Box Jump x 4
3 rounds
Belt Squat
50 x 15
70 x 15
90 x 15, 15, 15
Shrugs Vs Mini Bands
45 x 15
65 x 15
85 x 15, wider grip x 15, widest grip x 15
45 Back Raise
x 10
+25 x 10, 10, 10
x 10
Reverse Hyper
70 x 15
90 x15
100 x 15, 15, 20
Walk 1 mile with 44 pounds of chains on shoulders and 5 pound ankle weights.
A wee cheeky one to get back into the swing of things.
2 Likes
5-19 RE Upper
Band/arm upper body stretch
1 Arm DB Row x 15
Side Planking Rear Delt DB Raise x 10
Tate Press x 20
Converging Incline Machine x 20
3 rounds
Floor Press
145 x 7
160 x 7
175 x 7
Lu Raise x 15
Seated Alternating DB Press x 12
2 pairs
Band Mid Back Squeeze, 5 count x 6 reps
Overhand Cable Pulldown x 12
2 pairs
Band Pushdowns, various grips to get 100 reps
Band Curls, various grips to get 80 reps
2 pairs
Good one. Made the +5 pounds on floor press No Problem. Pulldowns on a straight bar with an overhand grip felt pretty good. The straight bar really lets me get that mid back squeeze and torque, so its not all lats and arms. I could feel that same “tightness” working to keep my elbows and shoulders in place during the floor press. The issue is I was using like 130 on the pulldowns. If I’m gonna follow big Spotto’s example I gotta get that shit strong, so pullups feel the same way as the light pulldowns. From there I just need to add like 150 pounds to the pullups.
Here’s a video that shows how to use equipment for dudes too fat for pullups.
:30 use the lat pulldown machine, pull with mid back first and use 5 count eccentric to hit back muscles.
1:50 band scap squeeze isometric for 30 seconds to feel that mid back and build the MMC.
2:50 cable pulldowns with straight bar, “ratcheting” with 3, five count holds during the eccentric.
3:50 pullups with band assistance
4:30 rows, only squeeze that mid back first, then row
2 Likes
5-20 DE Lower
Get Loose
Alternating Toe Touch x 1, 2, 3
Iso Hip Airplane x 8
Standing Hip Flexor x 20
Step Down x 12
3 rounds
Front Rack KB Squat
25s x 2 x 12 sets
Iso Rack Deads
Pin 2 and 1 x 3 reps x 4 sets on each pin
Between Sets, box jumps
24 inch box, 7 jumps, holding DBs, working up to 17.5s.
Kelso Shrug x 5 then Bent Row x 10 then Kelso Shrug x 5
mini bands on the barbell x 3 sets
QL Sidebend Action
x 6, 8, 10, 10
Those rows vs bands were legit. Cool up and back rowing action like a machine, only standing on your feet with a barbell. They’ll stay in the rotation.
I forgot to clean up after myself and I left those 17.5 DBs sitting on top of the box, way on the other side of the gym from the DB racks. Who’s the asshole now?!
2 Likes
5-23 DE Upper
Loosen Up
Mid Back Squeeze vs Band x 30 count
Pulldowns with 3 pauses during eccentric x 10
Rear Delt on Cable x 20
Cable Pushdown x 20
1 Arm bottom up KB Press x 20
4 rounds
Cambered Bar Bench + Fat Gripz
130 x 3 x 9 sets with 3 grips
Chinese Row
95 x 12, squeeze at top
DB External Shoulder Rotation x 12 x 3 sets
I tried to super set some Rolling DB Triceps in there but my left elbow wasn’t having it.
Reverse Wrist Curl x 20
Reverse Curl x 20
3 pairs
Cambered bar + fat gripz made for wobbly action which was good motivation to keep the wrists straight.
12.5s x 12 on external rotations today, Poliquin says I need to get that shit to 20 x 8 for structural balance. Then to 30 x 8 for a 300 bench press.
50 for reverse curls today, Chuck says 60 x 8 for a 200 bench and 90 x 8 for 300.
3 Likes
5-24 RE Lower
Stretch a little, do some stuff to get ready
Hang High Pull
95 x 8
115 x 8
135 x 8
150 x 8
160 x 10
Walking RDL
25s x 40 steps x 2 times
Zercher Box Squat
65 x 8
85 x 8
95 x 8
100 x 8, 100
Chest Supported Row (up to 90) x 10
Reverse Hyper (up to 110) x 17
5 pairs
Hanging Leg Raises
BW x ,7,7,7,6,6
Another one in the bag.
2 Likes
5-26 Upper
Stretch Out
DB Midback shrug with hold x 5 the rear delt row x 20
Incline Scarecrow x 5 cuban press x 5
Band Overhead Tricep x 20
Reverse Grip DB Incline x 20
3 rounds
Steep Incline From Pins + 2 Chains
65 x 7, seat angle too upright, was supposed to be a warm up, instead it was maximal
80 x 5, 2 seat was cool, pins were now too high, relative to laid back sit. Should have been the last prep set, instead it was a rest/pause ass blaster
90 x 4 , correct angle, correct pin height, didn’t have the juice to hit all 7 reps
Combo Delt Raise
10 pound plates x 12 to the side, 12 rear, 12 front x 3 sets
Barbell Shrug Vs Minibands
65 x 12 wide grip, lean forward
85 x 12 wide grip, lean forward
105 x 10 wide, forward
125 x 12 stand upright
145 x 12 stand upright
Man, I just keep fucking up these main lift, top sets. Today I butchered the setup and got tired out messing around before I could hit a Steep Incline 7 rep max. Although I did succeed in finding my max on the seated overhead press.
It’s a new record, COUNT IT!
2 Likes
5-30 DE Lower
Some stuff to get going
45 Degree Back Raise x 20
Belt Squat x 20
twice
Front Rack KB Squat
30s x 2 reps x 12 sets
Deadlift Sumo Rack Iso
Pin 2 and 1, x 4 reps x 3 sets on each pin.
Jumps between sets
1 foot jump on both sides, then a two foot jump to a higher box.
I got up to 24" on the right foot, and almost got up there with the left, only I landed funny, the mats and my feet slid out from under me and fell on my ass I and rolled to the floor. Then up to 36" a couple times with both feet. I felt less psyched out by the height today.
Eccentric Nordic Curl x 6 into Nordic Hinge x 6
Decline Situp x 20
twice
Matt Monday
2 Likes
6-2 DE Upper
Loosen Up
Low Trap Raise x 5 One Arm Cuban x 8
Rear Delt Row with slow eccentric x 10
Cable Tricep on Rope, different grips x 25
3 rounds
Bench Press
115 + 2 Big Chains x 3 reps x 9 sets with 3 grips
DB Wrist Curls x 10 then Hammer Curls x 10
Iso-lateral Pulldown Machine, Alternate arms x 10 reps
3 pairs
Seated DB Shrug, 8 left, 8 right, 8 together
Cable Pushdowns, Straight Handle, Blow Up The Dynamite style x 25
4 pairs
52 minutes
I timed the workout today for the first time in 1.5 (or has it been 2.5) months. I love pumping my muscles and I’ll linger around all day doing tons of sets of isolation stuff if I’m not careful. Workouts get insidiously longer and longer. Then I get all over-excited and tired out.
Timing the workouts is the easiest way to avoid these issues without scientifically counting sets or calculating volumes. I was feeling pretty good during the month I was doing it and I feel less good lately.
Also lots of guys who’s work I follow, or who have guest-posted on T Nation say to time workouts. I’ve read it for years but I wasn’t trying to hear it. Anyway, I’ll stick to the clock for awhile.
2 Likes
6-6 RE Lower
Some junk
Box Squat, Barbell, Manta Ray
up to 155 x 10
Stiff Leg Dead, Barbell + MiniBands
45 x 8
65 x 8
85 x 8
105 x 8
Inverse Curl
7s, down to 95 pounds assistance
DB Shrugs
20s up to 65
3 pairs
Squats were not great ,it was tough to brace. At least I could feel what was going on and was able to fight control my muscles and breathing. I just need more practice vs resistance. Maybe a Hise shrugs (shrugs with barbell on shoulders) could be useful.
6-8 RE Upper
Some Junk
Bench Press
up to 195 x 3
Cable Rear Delt x 15
1 Arm DB Row x 12
3 pairs
Side Delt Raise x 12+
Bottoms up KB Press x 10
3 pairs
Bench went from a theoretical “About 200” to an actual “About 200.” It was cool, I could feel my wrists wanting to roll back, and my shoulders wanting to lift up, but I was able to stay tight and keep tension on the tris, even with a little tricep oriented grind near the top of the last rep. Again, I just need more practice against heavier weights.
Also I was able to use 20s for side delts. Swole!
4 Likes
Dave Tate talks with former UFC guy Matt Brown.
6-10 DE Lower
Some junk
Front Rack KB Squat
25s x 3 x 10 sets
Rack Iso Sumo Deads
Pin 1 and -1 x 3 reps x 4 sets
Sit on Parallel box and jump up to other box between sets
up to 36" x a few
Leg Raise off Bench x 15
Reverse Hyper x 15
3 pairs
Out!
3 Likes
6-11 DE Upper
Some Junk
Bench
100 + 1/2 miniband x 3 reps x 9 sets using 3 grips
Band Tomahawk x 20 Band Pushdown x 20
EZ Bar Reverse Curl x 20/15/12/8
4 pairs
Pulldown with 3 Pauses during eccentric
140 x 8
120 x 8
100 x 10
88 x 8 on EZ bar reverse curls, pain free and solid. According to Poliquin that’s good.
That’s a wrap on this training cycle! 12 weeks conjugate + 4 weeks getting ready for conjugate + 4 weeks of getting ready to get ready. I think it took like 23 actual calendar weeks to get through the 20 training weeks. I guess I’ll try to do better next time.
I’m looking forward to making a few changes and doing some muscle pumping aesthetic stuff for awhile.
I made lots of progress, addressed some weakness and regained a lot of lifts. This next phase should be legit, and not patty-cake stuff.
I’m definitely more excited for the upcoming workouts that I have been for the past several workouts.
4 Likes
Mass tips
Use the eccentric. 3-5 seconds on the “down” build more hypertrophy.
Use full ROM. but don’t get crazy with extended ranges and blast your joints.
Get stronger. reps build mass, but if you’re really strong you can do high reps with Big weights. In my experience, hitting some 6 rep maxes every 3 weeks are enough to get stronger when you’re mostly using higher reps.
2 Likes
6-14 Lats/Triceps
Get shoulders moving
Close, Semi Supinated Pulldown
120 x 8
140 x 8
160 x 8
180 x 8 rest pause 6
Straight Arm Pulldown on Cable
40 x 12
60 x 12, 12
KB 1 Arm Row
35 x10
45 x 10
50 x 10
Band Tricep Pushdown
miniband x 40 seconds work, 30 seconds rest x 5 sets
Scarecrow x 5
Standing Hip Flexor x 20
Decline Situp x 20
twice around
about 49 minutes
Muscle tension for the lats, metabolic stress for the triceps. My poor lats are now longer accustomed to being targeted set after set. They were feeling it! Great first day!
3 Likes