[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
UPDATE
So I’ve been off the last couple of weeks for several reasons - I’ve been working at home and the weight room is closed because the gym floor is being resurfaced.
Lame. So starting next week I am going to restart the cycle with a goal of 450 like you punk kids 
Hey, I don’t want you guys to show me up.
BTW, I’m turning 30 tomorrow.[/quote]
That’s it? 
Been there, done that…
Oh yeah, happy bday.
My workout today (8/8/8)
I left my notepad in the van so I’m entering this from memory.
18" box squats - 135x10,225x5,295x5x4x4
There’s a slight hesitation coming off the box. I seem to stall a bit in the 1st 6" of the lift. Not sure what that means.
Bench off pins in rack - 135x5,185x5(3x)
I always miss a bench off my chest, so hoping this will improve that area.
DB vert press - 30x10,50x3x5
Strength isn’t returning as quickly as I hoped.
external rotators - 20x8
Strength seems to have dropped here.
chinups - BW x 12
Very pleased w/ this. I just looked in my training log and noticed I haven’t done chinups in 3 months! So it’s nice to know I can still do my max.
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
UPDATE
So I’ve been off the last couple of weeks for several reasons - I’ve been working at home and the weight room is closed because the gym floor is being resurfaced.
Lame. So starting next week I am going to restart the cycle with a goal of 450 like you punk kids Hey, I don’t want you guys to show me up.
BTW, I’m turning 30 tomorrow.[/quote]
happy birthday.
week 5:
Deadlift
355x3
speed DLs
3x3 295
power shrugs
225x5
245x5
265x5
sldl
245X5
265x5
285x5
***edited the correct weights in
Good mornings
1x5 95
1x5 115
1x5 135
dumbell rows
95x5
100 2x5
pulldowns:
144 2x5pr
156x5pr
Are you guys tracking your body weight on this program. I know everyone talked about how they were willing to put on a few pounds. I’d be interested to see if anyone has kept up with the food intake.
[quote]Phydeaux wrote:
My workout today (8/8/8)
18" box squats - 135x10,225x5,295x5x4x4
There’s a slight hesitation coming off the box. I seem to stall a bit in the 1st 6" of the lift. Not sure what that means.
Bench off pins in rack - 135x5,185x5(3x)
I always miss a bench off my chest, so hoping this will improve that area.
[/quote]
Throw up a video of your box squat if you get a chance. You may be relaxing too much on the box and losing your tightness. Are you wearing a belt for these?
For the Bench Press…what height are you setting the pins? Pressing from the pins is usually done to overcome a sticking point that is at the midpoint or higher. If you are stalling off the chest there are a couple of options. You may have weak lats or shoulders. In which case a lot of heavy rowing (for lats) or overhead pressing will help. To be honest though, most of the time if you miss a weight off the chest, then the weight was too heavy. Are you doing any paused bench?
[quote]Modi wrote:
I always miss a bench off my chest, so hoping this will improve that area.
Throw up a video of your box squat if you get a chance. You may be relaxing too much on the box and losing your tightness. Are you wearing a belt for these?
For the Bench Press…what height are you setting the pins? Pressing from the pins is usually done to overcome a sticking point that is at the midpoint or higher. If you are stalling off the chest there are a couple of options. You may have weak lats or shoulders. In which case a lot of heavy rowing (for lats) or overhead pressing will help. To be honest though, most of the time if you miss a weight off the chest, then the weight was too heavy. Are you doing any paused bench?
[/quote]
Oftentimes, missing a weight ‘off the chest’ is both form-related and strength-related. Like Modi said, if the weight is just too heavy it ain’t gonna move. However, if you’re having trouble with weights that are about 90% of your 1RM, say below the 2-board level then look to chest, shoulder and upper back, as well as your leg drive.
The one good thing about doing the low pin press is it teaches you to press from a good base (i.e. leg drive, tight lats, etc.). Don’t use it too much, though, cause you’ll lose your reversal strength.
Getting a good bench takes a lot of time and effort for most of us and it will require trial and error to find what works for you. Modi’s suggestions are good, and he has a decent bench ;-).
[quote]Modi wrote:
Are you guys tracking your body weight on this program. I know everyone talked about how they were willing to put on a few pounds. I’d be interested to see if anyone has kept up with the food intake.[/quote]
~190 right now. I gained about 5 pounds.
I lifted at 3 pm then had work (walking around for 5 hours). So I am lettign myself eat some extyra junk to make up for walking around for a long period of time:
I ate today:
2x hardees sausage biscuit
large hash brown
2 pancakes
8 sausages
4 eggs and ww toast
cytogainer
sausage pizza
box of oreos and milk before bed.
I usually eat a lot cleaner. Like the last 2 times i Logged food, I had turky brats, venison steak, eggs, cytogainer etc all day
[quote]novaeer wrote:
Modi’s suggestions are good, and he has a decent bench ;-).[/quote]
Thanks. I think. 
[quote]zephead4747 wrote:
~190 right now. I gained about 5 pounds.
I usually eat a lot cleaner. [/quote]
That’s a good start. I definitely don’t eat as clean when I’m trying to gain weight. Just make sure you are getting some good clean calories from whole foods in there. Veggies and large quantities of meat are always a good option…
Good work on the +5lbs. Keep it up.
modi ive gained 10 pounds in about 2-3 weeks on my high rep and coan phase:)
dead workout tomorrow pretty pumped
Coan workout Week 4 (8/12/08)
BOOYA!
DL - 135x10,225x5,295x2,345x1,400x2 (PR)
I smoked the 400s. No pauses, hesitations, stalls, etc. Probably 2 sec per rep. I am now in the 400 club!
Speed DL - 335x3(5x)
Oh man. Very slow on these. Last week I tore my middle calluses on both hands. They had glazed over, so I thought they were healed. Wrong. After the 400s I looked at my hands and saw I had caused a blood blister.
I really struggled on these both because of my hands and because of the 400s. An older gent noticed me looking at my hands after every set. I’d worked on DLs w/ him a couple times. He offered his straps to me. I used them and was able to grind out the rest of the sets. None of these were speedy, though.
RDLs - 205x8(3x)
rows - 125x8(3x)
GMs - 135x8(3x)
Same as last week.
I’m tracking my weight weekly more or less. I’m down 3 lbs since the start of the month.
Edit: I have straps and tried them a couple times but was never able to get comfortable w/ them. The gent taught me how to use them properly and the bar was rock-solid in my hands for the rest of my sets.
I have enjoyed working w/o gloves. However, I may use straps off and on for pulling. I guess it depends on how beat up my hands get.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
Modi wrote:
I always miss a bench off my chest, so hoping this will improve that area.
Throw up a video of your box squat if you get a chance. You may be relaxing too much on the box and losing your tightness. Are you wearing a belt for these?
For the Bench Press…what height are you setting the pins? Pressing from the pins is usually done to overcome a sticking point that is at the midpoint or higher. If you are stalling off the chest there are a couple of options. You may have weak lats or shoulders. In which case a lot of heavy rowing (for lats) or overhead pressing will help. To be honest though, most of the time if you miss a weight off the chest, then the weight was too heavy. Are you doing any paused bench?
Oftentimes, missing a weight ‘off the chest’ is both form-related and strength-related. Like Modi said, if the weight is just too heavy it ain’t gonna move. However, if you’re having trouble with weights that are about 90% of your 1RM, say below the 2-board level then look to chest, shoulder and upper back, as well as your leg drive.
The one good thing about doing the low pin press is it teaches you to press from a good base (i.e. leg drive, tight lats, etc.). Don’t use it too much, though, cause you’ll lose your reversal strength.
Getting a good bench takes a lot of time and effort for most of us and it will require trial and error to find what works for you. Modi’s suggestions are good, and he has a decent bench ;-).[/quote]
I don’t use a belt. I have a video camera, so I’ll try and remember to take it for my next workout. I’ll probably do these Fri or Sat when there’s fewer people to stare at me wondering why I’m so narcissistic. It’s on an 18" box, so I don’t think I’m hitting parallel.
BP - the 1st 2 workouts I set the pins probably 2" above my chest. I did it because the next hole down wouldn’t allow me to slide the bar along the pins into the starting position. (My massive chest gets in the way.)
I think I’ve realized something though. If I set the pins below my chest and the J-hooks fairly low, I can unrack from the hooks and bench touching my chest. If I miss a lift, I think I can slide it up my chest just a bit until it rests on the pins, then still wriggle out from underneath it safely. I will test this out Sat to see if I’m right.
I’ve heard/read that the lats could be the reason I’m missing so low. My max bb row is only 185, but I can db row 200x10 & 220x3. So I don’t know what to make of it. If they are weak, won’t this Coan program fix that?
Or maybe it’s my shoulders. Max military press is 130.
I do know that I don’t know how to activate my legs when benching. I keep my feet on the floor and have a slight arch, but really, I don’t experience “leg drive”.
Used wraps on my last workout. They weren’t as bad as I thought.
i have a question, since football is startingi realized i have overnight camps and games that will interfere with the cycle should i just dithc it for now and resume it after the seasons done?
[quote]Phydeaux wrote:
I don’t use a belt. I have a video camera, so I’ll try and remember to take it for my next workout. I’ll probably do these Fri or Sat when there’s fewer people to stare at me wondering why I’m so narcissistic. It’s on an 18" box, so I don’t think I’m hitting parallel.
BP - the 1st 2 workouts I set the pins probably 2" above my chest. I did it because the next hole down wouldn’t allow me to slide the bar along the pins into the starting position. (My massive chest gets in the way.)
I think I’ve realized something though. If I set the pins below my chest and the J-hooks fairly low, I can unrack from the hooks and bench touching my chest. If I miss a lift, I think I can slide it up my chest just a bit until it rests on the pins, then still wriggle out from underneath it safely. I will test this out Sat to see if I’m right.
I’ve heard/read that the lats could be the reason I’m missing so low. My max bb row is only 185, but I can db row 200x10 & 220x3. So I don’t know what to make of it. If they are weak, won’t this Coan program fix that?
Or maybe it’s my shoulders. Max military press is 130.
I do know that I don’t know how to activate my legs when benching. I keep my feet on the floor and have a slight arch, but really, I don’t experience “leg drive”.
[/quote]
Ok, good info. For the record I’m 6’0" and I just moved down from a 14" box to a 13" box because I wanted to work the bottom end and make sure I was hitting depth. Unless you are something like 6’8, you probably aren’t hitting depth. I would lower the weight and drop the box height. The reason I asked about the belt was to know if you were using it properly. If you aren’t competing, then you don’t need to use a belt unless you want to lift more weight. That’s a personal choice. I probably get 30lbs out of mine if I use it right.
For Bench, pins 2" off the chest should help the bottom end strength. What I would do is set the J-Hooks at your normal height and the pins 2" off your chest. Unrack the weight and bring it down to the pins and pause for 2-3 seconds and then start your pressing. It’s almost impossible to set up under a weight properly with the pins that low. But if you set up normal, then bring the bar down to the pins, you will be in an ideal position. I would also suggest some paused bench, and some heavy dumbell work as well.
The Coan/Philippi program should definitely help with your back strength. I can’t imagine using 200lb or 220lb DB’s for reps but only getting 185 with BOR. Are you talking about 2 100’s or actually using a 200lb DB? If it’s the 2 100’s then I can understand that. One thing that’s helped me recently is Pendlay Rows. This is a BOR that starts and stops on the ground. It really nails the whole upper back, and also has some nice carry over to the DL as well.
My overhead pressing is also behind my Bench, and I’ve been working hard to improve it. Shoulder strength is underrated when it comes to a raw bench. You could work on improving your military press as well as Seated Press from the Pins. The first will help your bottom end, and the latter will help your lockout. Also DB shoulder pressing will help you off your chest.
Lastly, you have to have an arch to get good leg drive. There have been a ton of articles written on it, so you could search for them, as the would probably do a better job of explaining. However, I try to get as big of an arch as possible. I set up with my ass on the bench and raise my shoulders up off the bench and then as I come back down to the bench, I try to get them as close to my ass as possible, I really dig my traps into the bench and stay as tight as possible. I take a huge breath, take the bar out of the rack and don’t breath again until after I complete the rep. When I drive with my legs, I am trying to force my ass closer to my shoulders, in order to tighten or at least maintain my tight arch. You really want to think about pushing your hips up the bench towards your head and not up in the air. There is a huge difference between arching and bridging, and you don’t want to end up lifting up off the bench.
Here is a video of mine from a few months back. This was just before my last meet, working up to a heavy single. I video just about every session, and look back to check my form. This shows my set up, arch/big breath/unrack/leg drive. I get a little lazy with the lighter weights, and don’t use enough leg drive because I don’t feel like I need it (the last rep is decent). That’s a bad practice. You should treat all your reps the same, and ingrain good habits.
[quote]Modi wrote:
Ok, good info. For the record I’m 6’0" and I just moved down from a 14" box to a 13" box because I wanted to work the bottom end and make sure I was hitting depth. Unless you are something like 6’8, you probably aren’t hitting depth. I would lower the weight and drop the box height. The reason I asked about the belt was to know if you were using it properly. If you aren’t competing, then you don’t need to use a belt unless you want to lift more weight. That’s a personal choice. I probably get 30lbs out of mine if I use it right.
For Bench, pins 2" off the chest should help the bottom end strength. What I would do is set the J-Hooks at your normal height and the pins 2" off your chest. Unrack the weight and bring it down to the pins and pause for 2-3 seconds and then start your pressing. It’s almost impossible to set up under a weight properly with the pins that low. But if you set up normal, then bring the bar down to the pins, you will be in an ideal position. I would also suggest some paused bench, and some heavy dumbell work as well.
The Coan/Philippi program should definitely help with your back strength. I can’t imagine using 200lb or 220lb DB’s for reps but only getting 185 with BOR. Are you talking about 2 100’s or actually using a 200lb DB? If it’s the 2 100’s then I can understand that. One thing that’s helped me recently is Pendlay Rows. This is a BOR that starts and stops on the ground. It really nails the whole upper back, and also has some nice carry over to the DL as well.
My overhead pressing is also behind my Bench, and I’ve been working hard to improve it. Shoulder strength is underrated when it comes to a raw bench. You could work on improving your military press as well as Seated Press from the Pins. The first will help your bottom end, and the latter will help your lockout. Also DB shoulder pressing will help you off your chest.
Lastly, you have to have an arch to get good leg drive. There have been a ton of articles written on it, so you could search for them, as the would probably do a better job of explaining. However, I try to get as big of an arch as possible. I set up with my ass on the bench and raise my shoulders up off the bench and then as I come back down to the bench, I try to get them as close to my ass as possible, I really dig my traps into the bench and stay as tight as possible. I take a huge breath, take the bar out of the rack and don’t breath again until after I complete the rep. When I drive with my legs, I am trying to force my ass closer to my shoulders, in order to tighten or at least maintain my tight arch. You really want to think about pushing your hips up the bench towards your head and not up in the air. There is a huge difference between arching and bridging, and you don’t want to end up lifting up off the bench.
Here is a video of mine from a few months back. This was just before my last meet, working up to a heavy single. I video just about every session, and look back to check my form. This shows my set up, arch/big breath/unrack/leg drive. I get a little lazy with the lighter weights, and don’t use enough leg drive because I don’t feel like I need it (the last rep is decent). That’s a bad practice. You should treat all your reps the same, and ingrain good habits.
Bench Press 315x1 345x1 365x1 - YouTube [/quote]
Wow. Lots of good advice here. I hope I can answer properly.
Re squats:
I’m 5’7"-8". We either have a 12" or 18" box. Maybe I can “build” a 15" box by putting the 12" on a plate or two.
Here’s something really weird. Off the 18" box I have done a 345x1 & 330x5. Off the 12" box I’ve only done 225x5. Last Sept, no box, I did 315x1 at a depth I’m pretty sure was ATG and I’m confident was at least below parallel. Now that I think about it, for my regular squats my feet were shoulder width. I’ve noticed on the box squats that I’ve taken a much wider stance. Maybe this explains the discrepancy?
Re BP:
The video really helps. It looks like your legs are kinda relaxed on the eccentric and you only push w/ them on the concentric. It also looks like should you miss a lift you could lower your chest enough to rest the bar on the pins and slide out from underneath it safely.
DB Rows - yes, 2 100/110 lb DBs. The Pendlay row sounds like you start a DL and finish a row. The ROM isn’t just chest to arms’ length; it adds distance to the floor?
Edit: I did some searching to find the difference between the PR and the BBR. It looks like I’ve been doing the BBRows wrong. For me, each rep ends in a dead hang, when it appears I should be ending it on the floor. I guess that could be why I don’t row much weight.
[quote]Phydeaux wrote:
Wow. Lots of good advice here. I hope I can answer properly.
Re squats:
I’m 5’7"-8". We either have a 12" or 18" box. Maybe I can “build” a 15" box by putting the 12" on a plate or two.
Here’s something really weird. Off the 18" box I have done a 345x1 & 330x5. Off the 12" box I’ve only done 225x5. Last Sept, no box, I did 315x1 at a depth I’m pretty sure was ATG and I’m confident was at least below parallel. Now that I think about it, for my regular squats my feet were shoulder width. I’ve noticed on the box squats that I’ve taken a much wider stance. Maybe this explains the discrepancy?
[/quote]
It’s not too weird. You don’t get the rebound off the box like you would with a free squat. Stance matters too, you just gotta find which one you’re best with. I’d cycle in all three box heights once your comfortable with a lower box, but spend more time on the 15" and 12" box. They’re good for the deadlift and will strengthen your squat if you use them correctly.
Good luck.
If it is ok I would also like to post my C-P log in here as I shall be starting tomorrow.
I shall hopefully go from a 170kg deadlift(though i hit 165kgx2) to a 190kg deadlift.
i have always hated deadlifting simply because I have always sucked at them…Weak grip and suspected weak lower back.
Have a good day!
I readjusted my target weight from 170 to 155kg, since I think, that a 35kg leap would be too much.
Yesterday workout (week 2):
Deadlift
1x5 110 lbs.
1x5 155 lbs.
1x3 200 lbs.
1x2 242 lbs.
1x2 278 lbs.
8x3 220 lbs.
RDL
3x8 155 lbs.
Bent Over Row
3x8 110 lbs.
Reverse Lat-Pulldown
3x8 135 lbs.
Good Mornings
3x8 66 lbs.
I’m working with kg plates, but somehow I’m still thinking in pounds, when it comes to lifting.^^