Damn - how long did your sessions last when you were running Smolov for your squat and bench simultaneously?! Bet you ate like a horse and slept like a… Thing that is notorious for sleeping well.
If you hit 130 for a double then hitting the magic big plate on your bench should be well within your grasp. Great effort. Maybe Smolov Jr is what I can use to push my bench back to 3 plates and beyond - that’d be sweet. I might give it a go starting next week whilst my lower back takes a little time to get itself fully healed. If I can’t squat or deadlift as heavy as I may as well use the time productively!
28/05/12
Wheel Spinning
Sumo Deadlifts:
60x2x5
100x5
140x5
160x2x3
140x3x3
Seated SSB Good Mornings:
30x8
50x8
60x8
70x8
80x8
90x8
Wrist Roller:
4 sets
Pikes:
BWx2x12
Reverse Hypers:
70x2x12
I haven’t decided on where to take my training next (although Spock has sown a seed) so just tried a deadlift variation that I figured would be less stressful on my lower back last night. It worked OK until 160kg, by which time I could already feel that I was driving hard through my left leg rather than spreading the floor. I figured I’d rather be sensible/pussy out this time, and try to let my back heal up. Surprisingly, seated GMs cause me no bother whatsoever.
[quote]Element_26 wrote:
Damn - how long did your sessions last when you were running Smolov for your squat and bench simultaneously?! Bet you ate like a horse and slept like a… Thing that is notorious for sleeping well.
[/quote]
Well, the first week wasn’t so bad, but then the following weeks with all the weight I had to add to everything it started to take longer and longer. I always enjoyed the benching portion of my workouts though, maybe it’s because it meant the hellish squatting was finished, ha-ha. The squats were overwhelming, the benching was like a walk in the park compared to that.
I think i managed to keep most of my workouts to about an hour and a half though, with stretching added.
But ya, I have always had the appetite of a powerlifter, but those three weeks it was insane, ha! I went out for dinner with my kid one night and it was like the most disgusting display of a woman eating int he history of the world, LOl. BUT FUCK SO YUMMY, MMM.
Either way, whatever you choose for your bench will likely be more productive than 5/3/1, ha!
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
[quote]Element_26 wrote:
Damn - how long did your sessions last when you were running Smolov for your squat and bench simultaneously?! Bet you ate like a horse and slept like a… Thing that is notorious for sleeping well.
[/quote]
Well, the first week wasn’t so bad, but then the following weeks with all the weight I had to add to everything it started to take longer and longer. I always enjoyed the benching portion of my workouts though, maybe it’s because it meant the hellish squatting was finished, ha-ha.
The squats were overwhelming, the benching was like a walk in the park compared to that.
I think i managed to keep most of my workouts to about an hour and a half though, with stretching added.
But ya, I have always had the appetite of a powerlifter, but those three weeks it was insane, ha! I went out for dinner with my kid one night and it was like the most disgusting display of a woman eating int he history of the world, LOl. BUT FUCK SO YUMMY, MMM.
Either way, whatever you choose for your bench will likely be more productive than 5/3/1, ha! [/quote]
I can identify with that - I remember doing a 5x5 programme where I’d be working close a 5RM for sets across on squats, bench and a pull all in the same session! Took ages, but once the squats were over the rest always seemed easy.
Here’s hoping that what I do next will be more effective for me than 5/3/1. It surely must be; I haven’t made progress in months!
30/05/12
Bench Presses:
20x2x10
60x5
80x5
100x5
110x5
120x3
115x4
100x8
One-Arm Standing Dumbbell Presses:
60lbx6
55lbx8
55lbx9
Kroc Rows:
45x12
45x15
55x25
Lat Pulldowns:
2 sets to failure
Just spinning wheels still until I get a chance to set out what I’ll be doing next.
01/06/12
Paused Squats:
20x2x5
60x2x5
100x5
120x3
140x3
150x3
145x3
140x3
Ab Pulldowns:
4 sets
Glute/Ham Raises:
2 sets
The objective of doing paused squats was to improve my strength out of the hole, which is where my raw squat is weak. It was all going so well until - the sets with 140, 150, and 145 had felt tough but good. On the second rep of the final set I felt a twinge in my lower back. No biggie, so I thought. As I drove the final rep out of the hole I felt a warm shooting pain through my back, and that was me pretty much done. Ice and massage now before assessing the damage.
02/06/12
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x10
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x5
40x2x5
50x3
60x8x3
Pull-ups:
BWx2x8
BW 10x8
BW 15x8
BW 20x6
Face Pulls:
105lbx2x10
Triceps Pushdowns:
85lbx2x12
Dumbbell Lateral Raises:
30lbx2x10
Well. Moving, sitting, standing, walking, driving, and most other things I can think of cause me pain right now; training, apparently, does not. Or at least, speed benching with a minimal arch and pull-ups don’t. The speed benching is simply because I noticed how slow my pressing was on Wednesday - I’ll do this for a few weeks and see if it helps. Got some acupuncture from my training partner’s fiancee afterwards, and have got some heat on my back since. It’s helping - feels looser now.
04/06/12
Seated SSB Good Mornings:
Some
Bulgarian Split Squats:
4 sets
Wrist Roller:
4 sets
Pull-ups:
BWx3x10
Pikes:
BWx3x10
SSB Good Mornings had been OK on my lower back in previous sessions, so I decided to try them again. I think I only got as far as about 60kg before I realised that my back wasn’t having any of it. Decided to do a bit of a medley of lower and upper body stuff before calling it a day. I’ll rest up and stop training lower body for a little while, as I was walking like a crippled old man the next day.
06/06/12
Floor Presses:
20x2x8
40x5
60x5
70x5
80x5
90x3
100x3
110x3
115x1
100x2x3
Kroc Rows:
45x12
45x15
57.5x20
One-Arm Standing Dumbbell Presses:
55lbx3x8
Lat Pulldowns:
3 sets to failure
09/06/12
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x10
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x8
40x5
60x5x3
70x5x3
60x22
Pull-ups:
BWx8
BW 10x5
BW 20x5
BW 30x5
BW 20x5
BW 10x5
Face Pulls:
105lbx3x15
Dumbbell Lateral Raises:
25lbx3x12
Triceps Pushdowns:
85lbx2x12
12/06/12
Reverse Band Bench Presses (Paused):
20x2x8
(Added light bands)
60x5
100x5
120x5
140x3
150x1
160x1
165xF
150x1
150x3
Close Grip Bench Presses:
90x2x10
Kroc Rows:
45x12
45x15
65x14 (with wrist straps)
One-Arm Standing Dumbbell Presses:
55lbx3x8
Lat Pulldowns:
3 sets to failure
Bench feels good at the moment actually. Maybe it’s the extra rest from not training squats or deadlifts heavy whilst letting my back heel up.
14/06/12
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx3x15
Wrist Roller:
4 sets
Pikes:
4 sets
Dumbbell Shrugs:
100lbx3x15
Well this was all very exciting.
16/06/12
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x10
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x2x5
40x5
60x5x3
70x4x3
80x3x3
Pull-ups:
BWx6
BW 10x5
BW 20x5
BW 30x3
BW 42.5x2
BW 25x3
Dumbbell Floor Presses:
85lbx12
90lbx9
90lbx10
Face Pulls:
110lbx2x10
Dumbbell Lateral Raises:
25lbx2x10
Another decent upper body session. I’ve added the speed benching in because I had noticed that my max effort work was starting to get real slow. I’ve only chucked on the bands and upped the speed for 3 weeks, but felt a difference on Tuesday. So, yeah, pretty pleased.
18/06/12
Bulgarian Split Squats:
BWx10
45lbx10
55lbx10
60lbx10
Cable Roller:
4 sets
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Presses:
45lbx10
60lbx3x9
Ab Pulldowns:
120lbx12
130lbx12
140lbx8
120lbx15
Ghetto Chest Supported Barbell Rows:
60x8
100x3x12
20/06/12
Speed Deadlifts:
60x2x5
100x3x3
120x3x3
140x3x1
Pull-ups:
4 sets
Chaos Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
20x5
(Subsequent plates suspended from bands)
40x12
60x12
70x9
Triceps Pushdowns:
85lbx3x12
TRX Rear Delt Flyes:
3x12
This was quite fun. It was good to be able to deadlift again, even if the focus was on speed rather than max weight. And chaos benching is great fun, even if it probably isn’t the most productive exercise for strength gains.
22/06/12
SSB Squats:
30x2x5
70x5
90x5x5
Cable Roller:
4 sets
One-arm Standing Dummbbell Presses:
55lbx4x9
Straight Arm Pulldowns:
70lbx2x15
80lbx2x12
Back is a little tender after those squats yesterday; let’s hope it feel much better for next week.
Thought I’d drop in for a cameo. Sorry to hear your lower body work is f’ed. I finally got over my nerve problem and have done pretty decent after having to start from the ground floor. The chaos benching may not build you a bunch of overall strength, but I found them to be useful for strengthening all of those little stabilizers that you need when the bar weight gets close to your max. If you’re interested, I’m posting in the O35 section now with the other ‘old’ folks.
Ahhh, OK, I did wonder what had happened to you. I’ll drop in and see how you’re doing.
I’m trying to be patient with my lower body work at the mo. I know from watching my coach recover from shoulder surgery that the strength will come back pretty quickly when I get back to training at full capacity.
I totally forgot you England people probably have accents. You never really think about that when you’re reading font. COol beans, yo.
Also, is that Marshall Mathers I hear in the background? What song is that???
