DEstrength's Strongmanish Training

Training Training Logs
61

8/16/15

DE squat/deadlift day

box squats against doubled (1 of each per side) light and mini bands

105X2 for 5 sets, 1 and a half minutes rest

kneeling jumps
(25X3)X5 45 second rest

Sumo SLDL
275X5 minute and a half
275X5
275X5

erector extensions
10X10 1 minute
10X10
10X6

notes: I didn’t have strong bands, so I decided just to squat against doubled bands. It feels kinda weird with this much band tension, it feels crushingly heavy at the top and to lower, but I get a strong rebound from the eccentric. I will try to get strong bands for my next speed strength cycle, but these will do.

62

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Just out of interest, what do you do with your belt?

Where do you put it for the lifts, and how do you breathe? How tight do you cinch it up? Those and some other factors are going to affect how much you get out of it. [/quote]

I cinch it up on the squat so that it’d be loose/almost hanging off of me when I am not pushing my abs out. The notch afterwards on the belt I normally bum off the weightroom just kind of crushes my stomach/back so much that I think it causes harm to how tight I can get. I put the belt about belly button height at the bottom, the belt height in the squat against bands video is how I normally have it.

For the deadlift I cinch it a notch closer than the squat and I put it about an inch higher. I get carryover on my deadlift I think (it makes it feel easier to break the weight off the floor), I’d guess about 15-20 pounds of carryover.

Most of my training history has been completely beltless, it is something that I only started introducing in the past 8 months, and I pretty much always include ab and lower back work. I think it just might be that my abs and back are strong enough that they don’t need the support. That might change with introducing wraps, since it’d be more weight than my abs and back are used to supporting.[/quote]

Interesting. Definitely sounds like you’ve got a very good idea of what you want out of and how to use your belt. FWIW I use it way differently. I cinch it the same for squat and DL, but for squat I push it down lower at the front. I’ve got a longish torso though and a decent gap between my ribs and hips.

63

8/17/15

Dynamic effort bench day

bench press against doubled light bands

(alternating between close, medium, and wide grips once it gets to the work sets)
45X5
45X5
65X3
85X3
105X3 for six sets, 1 and a half minutes rest

tate presses
45’sX8 1 and a half minutes rest
45’sX8
45’sX8

lat pull downs
150X15 1 and a half minutes rest
160X10
170X8

front raise/lateral raise/incline rear delt raise triset for 3 sets with the 25’s

incline curls
35X12
35X9
35X4

tricep ladder
1#X25
2#X25
3#X12
4#2

Good training session, these heavy band cycles are beating the crap out of me. I am going to do straight weight/chain cycles afterwards.

64

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Just out of interest, what do you do with your belt?

Where do you put it for the lifts, and how do you breathe? How tight do you cinch it up? Those and some other factors are going to affect how much you get out of it. [/quote]

I cinch it up on the squat so that it’d be loose/almost hanging off of me when I am not pushing my abs out. The notch afterwards on the belt I normally bum off the weightroom just kind of crushes my stomach/back so much that I think it causes harm to how tight I can get. I put the belt about belly button height at the bottom, the belt height in the squat against bands video is how I normally have it.

For the deadlift I cinch it a notch closer than the squat and I put it about an inch higher. I get carryover on my deadlift I think (it makes it feel easier to break the weight off the floor), I’d guess about 15-20 pounds of carryover.

Most of my training history has been completely beltless, it is something that I only started introducing in the past 8 months, and I pretty much always include ab and lower back work. I think it just might be that my abs and back are strong enough that they don’t need the support. That might change with introducing wraps, since it’d be more weight than my abs and back are used to supporting.[/quote]

Interesting. Definitely sounds like you’ve got a very good idea of what you want out of and how to use your belt. FWIW I use it way differently. I cinch it the same for squat and DL, but for squat I push it down lower at the front. I’ve got a longish torso though and a decent gap between my ribs and hips. [/quote]
I might actually change it up for the squat slightly just to see if I can get pounds out of it, or if it is more comfortable. My P2 belt arrived today, so I’ll play with that a bit. I decided to do some light pulls (I had left 255 on the bar on the ground so I decided to just pull that), and it is rather awkward to pull with how stiff the belt is.

65

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Just out of interest, what do you do with your belt?

Where do you put it for the lifts, and how do you breathe? How tight do you cinch it up? Those and some other factors are going to affect how much you get out of it. [/quote]

I cinch it up on the squat so that it’d be loose/almost hanging off of me when I am not pushing my abs out. The notch afterwards on the belt I normally bum off the weightroom just kind of crushes my stomach/back so much that I think it causes harm to how tight I can get. I put the belt about belly button height at the bottom, the belt height in the squat against bands video is how I normally have it.

For the deadlift I cinch it a notch closer than the squat and I put it about an inch higher. I get carryover on my deadlift I think (it makes it feel easier to break the weight off the floor), I’d guess about 15-20 pounds of carryover.

Most of my training history has been completely beltless, it is something that I only started introducing in the past 8 months, and I pretty much always include ab and lower back work. I think it just might be that my abs and back are strong enough that they don’t need the support. That might change with introducing wraps, since it’d be more weight than my abs and back are used to supporting.[/quote]

Interesting. Definitely sounds like you’ve got a very good idea of what you want out of and how to use your belt. FWIW I use it way differently. I cinch it the same for squat and DL, but for squat I push it down lower at the front. I’ve got a longish torso though and a decent gap between my ribs and hips. [/quote]
I might actually change it up for the squat slightly just to see if I can get pounds out of it, or if it is more comfortable. My P2 belt arrived today, so I’ll play with that a bit. I decided to do some light pulls (I had left 255 on the bar on the ground so I decided to just pull that), and it is rather awkward to pull with how stiff the belt is.[/quote]

Belts take a while to break in, and that’ll be especially awkward if you’re not accustomed to wearing one. Did you get a 10 mm or 13 mm? I started with a 10 mm Inzer and it broke in pretty fast, but my 13 mm Harris is still stiff after a month and a bit.

Also, where you sit the belt for pulls can have an effect. Yesterday I moved my belt up for pulls because I’m dropping my hips lower and the start and it made a big difference.

I think I mentioned before, you’ll need to play around with where to put the belt for squats and DL, and it’ll probably be different for each one.

66

8/19/15

max effort squat/deadlift

reverse band deadlift mini+light per side
135X5
225X3
315X3
405X3
455X2
505X1 (tie beltless PR)
515X0 failed at knees

There is no good way to take this… I fucking tied my beltless PR then failed to break it with a belt.

edit: made myself do some assistance work

romanian deadlift
295X8
295X8
295X8

single leg hip thrusts
55X6 per side
55X6 per side
55X6 per side

I calmed myself down and looked at why this might’ve happened, and what it means. My eating wasn’t on point for yesterday and I barely ate today before lifting, and I had (quit because I was starting to hate it) been practicing daily for football on top of my normal training so I probably wasn’t recovering 100%, and I have two speed strength cycles going at the moment so I am probably also not completely recovered from that.

My abs/back are also a shit load stronger than my legs, especially with a belt on. I am going to include more leg specific work now to make up for that so I can maybe get something out of belts. Not anything excessive, just some type of single leg work/something that takes my back and abs out of it like hip thrusts, leg curls, leg presses, swings, etc after my supplemental exercise.

I was being a bit of a whiny bitch about just having a bad day. I’ll deload my max effort work next week just in case I am over training a tiny bit, and because my joints feel a tiny bit dicked up.

67

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Just out of interest, what do you do with your belt?

Where do you put it for the lifts, and how do you breathe? How tight do you cinch it up? Those and some other factors are going to affect how much you get out of it. [/quote]

I cinch it up on the squat so that it’d be loose/almost hanging off of me when I am not pushing my abs out. The notch afterwards on the belt I normally bum off the weightroom just kind of crushes my stomach/back so much that I think it causes harm to how tight I can get. I put the belt about belly button height at the bottom, the belt height in the squat against bands video is how I normally have it.

For the deadlift I cinch it a notch closer than the squat and I put it about an inch higher. I get carryover on my deadlift I think (it makes it feel easier to break the weight off the floor), I’d guess about 15-20 pounds of carryover.

Most of my training history has been completely beltless, it is something that I only started introducing in the past 8 months, and I pretty much always include ab and lower back work. I think it just might be that my abs and back are strong enough that they don’t need the support. That might change with introducing wraps, since it’d be more weight than my abs and back are used to supporting.[/quote]

Interesting. Definitely sounds like you’ve got a very good idea of what you want out of and how to use your belt. FWIW I use it way differently. I cinch it the same for squat and DL, but for squat I push it down lower at the front. I’ve got a longish torso though and a decent gap between my ribs and hips. [/quote]
I might actually change it up for the squat slightly just to see if I can get pounds out of it, or if it is more comfortable. My P2 belt arrived today, so I’ll play with that a bit. I decided to do some light pulls (I had left 255 on the bar on the ground so I decided to just pull that), and it is rather awkward to pull with how stiff the belt is.[/quote]

Belts take a while to break in, and that’ll be especially awkward if you’re not accustomed to wearing one. Did you get a 10 mm or 13 mm? I started with a 10 mm Inzer and it broke in pretty fast, but my 13 mm Harris is still stiff after a month and a bit.

Also, where you sit the belt for pulls can have an effect. Yesterday I moved my belt up for pulls because I’m dropping my hips lower and the start and it made a big difference.

I think I mentioned before, you’ll need to play around with where to put the belt for squats and DL, and it’ll probably be different for each one. [/quote]
It’s a 13mm belt, and it has broken in a bit. I tied my beltless reverse band PR when I tried it today. I don’t think I made a good decision by buying it.

68

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Just out of interest, what do you do with your belt?

Where do you put it for the lifts, and how do you breathe? How tight do you cinch it up? Those and some other factors are going to affect how much you get out of it. [/quote]

I cinch it up on the squat so that it’d be loose/almost hanging off of me when I am not pushing my abs out. The notch afterwards on the belt I normally bum off the weightroom just kind of crushes my stomach/back so much that I think it causes harm to how tight I can get. I put the belt about belly button height at the bottom, the belt height in the squat against bands video is how I normally have it.

For the deadlift I cinch it a notch closer than the squat and I put it about an inch higher. I get carryover on my deadlift I think (it makes it feel easier to break the weight off the floor), I’d guess about 15-20 pounds of carryover.

Most of my training history has been completely beltless, it is something that I only started introducing in the past 8 months, and I pretty much always include ab and lower back work. I think it just might be that my abs and back are strong enough that they don’t need the support. That might change with introducing wraps, since it’d be more weight than my abs and back are used to supporting.[/quote]

Interesting. Definitely sounds like you’ve got a very good idea of what you want out of and how to use your belt. FWIW I use it way differently. I cinch it the same for squat and DL, but for squat I push it down lower at the front. I’ve got a longish torso though and a decent gap between my ribs and hips. [/quote]
I might actually change it up for the squat slightly just to see if I can get pounds out of it, or if it is more comfortable. My P2 belt arrived today, so I’ll play with that a bit. I decided to do some light pulls (I had left 255 on the bar on the ground so I decided to just pull that), and it is rather awkward to pull with how stiff the belt is.[/quote]

Belts take a while to break in, and that’ll be especially awkward if you’re not accustomed to wearing one. Did you get a 10 mm or 13 mm? I started with a 10 mm Inzer and it broke in pretty fast, but my 13 mm Harris is still stiff after a month and a bit.

Also, where you sit the belt for pulls can have an effect. Yesterday I moved my belt up for pulls because I’m dropping my hips lower and the start and it made a big difference.

I think I mentioned before, you’ll need to play around with where to put the belt for squats and DL, and it’ll probably be different for each one. [/quote]
It’s a 13mm belt, and it has broken in a bit. I tied my beltless reverse band PR when I tried it today. I don’t think I made a good decision by buying it. [/quote]

I don’t know, sounds like you’re just a bit run down. Given how accustomed you are to not using a belt, don’t worry that its taking you a while to get much out of it. I started using a belt pretty quickly, so the learning curve wasn’t so steep, and I learned the belt along with the lifts.

You’ve probably been lifting without a belt for so long adding a belt is changing the dynamic of the lifts so much for you that it’ll take a while to adjust.

On the positive side, you mention how much stronger your abs/back are when wearing a belt that this exposed a weakness in your legs. Without a belt, you mightn’t have found out about the weakness, so you’re in a position to correct it. Once you bring your legs up, you’ll find how much the belt helps.

69

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Just out of interest, what do you do with your belt?

Where do you put it for the lifts, and how do you breathe? How tight do you cinch it up? Those and some other factors are going to affect how much you get out of it. [/quote]

I cinch it up on the squat so that it’d be loose/almost hanging off of me when I am not pushing my abs out. The notch afterwards on the belt I normally bum off the weightroom just kind of crushes my stomach/back so much that I think it causes harm to how tight I can get. I put the belt about belly button height at the bottom, the belt height in the squat against bands video is how I normally have it.

For the deadlift I cinch it a notch closer than the squat and I put it about an inch higher. I get carryover on my deadlift I think (it makes it feel easier to break the weight off the floor), I’d guess about 15-20 pounds of carryover.

Most of my training history has been completely beltless, it is something that I only started introducing in the past 8 months, and I pretty much always include ab and lower back work. I think it just might be that my abs and back are strong enough that they don’t need the support. That might change with introducing wraps, since it’d be more weight than my abs and back are used to supporting.[/quote]

Interesting. Definitely sounds like you’ve got a very good idea of what you want out of and how to use your belt. FWIW I use it way differently. I cinch it the same for squat and DL, but for squat I push it down lower at the front. I’ve got a longish torso though and a decent gap between my ribs and hips. [/quote]
I might actually change it up for the squat slightly just to see if I can get pounds out of it, or if it is more comfortable. My P2 belt arrived today, so I’ll play with that a bit. I decided to do some light pulls (I had left 255 on the bar on the ground so I decided to just pull that), and it is rather awkward to pull with how stiff the belt is.[/quote]

Belts take a while to break in, and that’ll be especially awkward if you’re not accustomed to wearing one. Did you get a 10 mm or 13 mm? I started with a 10 mm Inzer and it broke in pretty fast, but my 13 mm Harris is still stiff after a month and a bit.

Also, where you sit the belt for pulls can have an effect. Yesterday I moved my belt up for pulls because I’m dropping my hips lower and the start and it made a big difference.

I think I mentioned before, you’ll need to play around with where to put the belt for squats and DL, and it’ll probably be different for each one. [/quote]
It’s a 13mm belt, and it has broken in a bit. I tied my beltless reverse band PR when I tried it today. I don’t think I made a good decision by buying it. [/quote]

I don’t know, sounds like you’re just a bit run down. Given how accustomed you are to not using a belt, don’t worry that its taking you a while to get much out of it. I started using a belt pretty quickly, so the learning curve wasn’t so steep, and I learned the belt along with the lifts.

You’ve probably been lifting without a belt for so long adding a belt is changing the dynamic of the lifts so much for you that it’ll take a while to adjust.

On the positive side, you mention how much stronger your abs/back are when wearing a belt that this exposed a weakness in your legs. Without a belt, you mightn’t have found out about the weakness, so you’re in a position to correct it. Once you bring your legs up, you’ll find how much the belt helps. [/quote]
Yeah, I was just in a really pissy mood when I wrote that. I’ll take it easy for a week on my ME work and keep my assistance work light then go work on my newfound weakness. As frustrating as yesterday was it at least showed a weakness.

Besides, it’s probably not that I am weaker/the same strength, it’s probably that I couldn’t express my increase in strength (maybe mostly my abs and back got stronger, or maybe I just had a shitty day and my legs weren’t able to lift as much as they should).

70

8/20/15

Low volume work capacity (I guess that’s what it would be) workout

back pack bearhugs 100X2 trips for 5 sets, 45 second rest

band leg curls 1 light per side X20 X20 X20

8/21/15

Max effort (deload) bench

illegal wide bench
45X8
135X8
185X8
225X8 lol I am definitely a tricep bencher

DB tricep extensions
35’sX15 1 minute rest
35’sX15
35’sX15
35’sX15

chin ups
bwX15 1 and a half minutes rest
bwX13
bwX4

overhead plate raises
35X20 1 minute rest
35X20
35X20

DB curls
30’sX9 decided to stop here, my endurance was pretty shot

notes: Good training session, I kept things light and sub maximal while still getting some good volume in.

71

I put a very long winded explanation of my programming on my log, then realised the actual program would probably explain it better. SI put a very long winded explanation of my programming on my log, then realised the actual program would probably explain it better.

I also realised I called it conjugate training which is probably technically incorrect. I just called it that because Westside and the conjugate approach were quite influential on my thought process when setting it out. So, here’s the link:

72

8/23/15

DE squat/deadlift day

wide parallel box squats against doubled light and mini bands
45X3
65X3
95X3
125X2 for 5 sets, 1 and a half minutes rest (almost forgot to put on my belt today lol)

kneeling jumps
30X3
30X2
30X1

I am not sure what happened, I guess I was too beat up from squats.

clean grip reverse lunges
155X8 per side 1 minute rest
155X8 per side
155X8 per side

band leg curls
light+mini per sideX15 1 minute rest
light+mini per sideX8
light+mini per sideX6

I’ll do abs and neck after benching.

notes: good training session, I had in mind heavy ass romanian deadlifts then the lunges, but I am pretty fucked by the time the squats are over. The P2 belt feels broken in now, it’s not supple like a super broken in 10mm, but it is soft enough to be useful. I experimented with various set ups, and I have found a position I like. I’ll continue to adjust it, but my current set up seems good.

73

Still doing those clean lunges I see. Need to put those back in myself!

74

Clean grip reverse lunges. I like them, but also don’t. There isn’t a leg exercise that gets me sorer, but I know they’re great for squat and DL so I do them.

75

8/24/15

DE bench day

seated DB clean and presses
15’sX10
15’sX10
15’sX10

bench against doubled lights
45X5 without
45X3 with
65X3
85X3
110X3 for 6 sets, 1 and a half minutes rest

tate presses
50’sX8
50’sX8
50’sX8

pec deck
90X15
90X12
90X10

seated row
180X15
190X12
200X10

Everything feels like death now. I rejoined football, and I ended up having five hours of training in 9 hours.

76

[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
Still doing those clean lunges I see. Need to put those back in myself![/quote]
They are beastly, I feel soreness in my glutes and hamstrings literally the same day (within a half hour or so).

77

Are you a badass in football?

78

Cool log mate, will be following along.

79

[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
Are you a badass in football? [/quote]
I am okay. I was kicking the guard’s and center’s asses as a noseguard. I am not sure if I should play or not though.

Literally everything I read about the neurological safety for football says “Don’t do it, even non concussed highschool athletes have reduced mental functions”. To be honest, here’s my view on injuries: I don’t care if I fracture bones, tear muscles, all of that type of stuff, I can just heal from it and it won’t hurt me too bad later in life.

I do care about my brain, my brain is my life; that is literally the only thing I care strongly about not getting injured. I could blow out my patella tendon today, and I’d be upset, and rehab it and be kinda bummed out if it affects my performance in my lifts and sports, but if I got a concussion today and it caused lasting mental impairment I am not sure what I’d do, none of the possible things I’d want to do is good to post online.

As much of a bitch thing it is to do, and as much as I really like the sport, I think I might just get my parents to tell the coach that they aren’t comfortable with me playing.

80

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
Still doing those clean lunges I see. Need to put those back in myself![/quote]
They are beastly, I feel soreness in my glutes and hamstrings literally the same day (within a half hour or so).[/quote]

I did these today and my butt didn’t unclench for about half an hour after I finished.