I don’t know what Skyrim is, but if it’s going to keep you outta the gym, I don’t think I like it.
Welcome back.
Skyrim is a game set in a fantasy Norse-style land with dragons, a civil war, several towns, lots of characters and oodles of quests which you can tackle in any order, more or less. It’s mostly about exploration. You can spend hours in it. Hours…
How are you getting on with it, Frenchie?
[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
fantasy Norse-style land [/quote]
everybody wants to play ‘Viking’.
oh well…
quick drive by lunchtime posting:
ohhh mermaid!!
Thanks for keeping this little part of the compound alive while I’m slacking.
That measly little complex had me hurting for days… def getting soft. lol
skyrim is basically crack for geeky fantasy gamers complete with spells, a massive array of weaponry and armour, stories and characters. It’s basically like choose your own adventure with gaming. You build your character, you kick some ass. The graphics are pretty awesome if your computer can run them at full.
working later tonight, can’t complain since it doesn’t happen that often but won’t be hitting the gym. Will try to stay away from skyrim tomorrow evening and get in another session before the week ends.
Cal: I basically went through the main story line at novice level ignoring all other paths. It was easy and quick but the ending was rather pathetic (I sided with the stormcloaks but that was anti-climatic to say the least). So at this point I have turned chaotic good. I’m doing all the side quests I ignored initially not focusing on morals too much since it won’t affect the outcome of anything. Currently I’m working on cleaning up the Theive’s Guild and I just bought a house in Rifton. Also I recently hired a cute little Mage to help me out. I did the main quest story line solo.
current character is a female fighter mage Breton with a nice mix of 1-handed combat and magic. I’m just going to keep going with the same character (I know you mentionned you were building a couple of different ones…). I’m at a level 34 but it’s getting way to easy. I’ll be bumping up the difficulty level next game time.
yeah… still hooked like a fat trout.
We got hit with really bad weather which means my work appointment got moved to next week. Husband started on Skyrim (we try to share nicely) so I used the time to set myself up with a new program for 2012.
Joe and Ink have both been bugging me to try out the Sheiko. At first glance it looked horrid. After day 1 of week 1 I can say that it is. I was in the gym for 2.5 hours with warmup. NUTTERS!
Pros
- my bench has barely moved this year and Sheiko has got me benching like a brotard
- crazy volume removes the need for any cardio
- rarely work beyond 80% and I need to lay off my maxes for a bit
- accessories include flies and dips - stuff I haven’t done in a while
- only 3 days a week, although I have a feeling I will be sore throughout the week.
- better ramping scheme
Cons
- splits the squat workout on some days and I only have 1 rack in my gym. I risk losing it.
- set and rep set up is funky. I checked my book every two minutes today
- partial deads? really?
- worried the hip flexor might get irritated from all the squating but it held up tonight. we shall see.
- program is pretty hectic - I need to carry my program book with me to the gym.
So tonight’s torture:
Bench:
80lbs 1x5
95lbs 2x4
110lbs 2x3
115lbs 5x3
Squat:
115lbs 1x5
135lbs 2x5
155lbs 5x5
Bench:
80lbs 1x5
95lbs 1x5
105lbs 4x4
Dumbbell flies 15lbs 5x10
Goodmornings 95lbs 5x5
edit: doesn’t seem like so much on paper. lol.
Sheiko is the only program my guy has ever tried and he says he saw a good amount of return on it. He ultimately went back to just feeling it out and training kinda freestyle but he does credit sheiko for a huge squat. I’ll be interested to see how you like this.
In celebration of the cardio and diet that I am NOT doing.
courtesy of BG.
dealwithit.
[quote]nlmain wrote:
In celebration of the cardio and diet that I am NOT doing.
courtesy of BG.
dealwithit.
[/quote]
Made my day, the best part is he looks like he just got home from church.
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
[quote]nlmain wrote:
In celebration of the cardio and diet that I am NOT doing.
courtesy of BG.
dealwithit.
[/quote]
the best part is he looks like he just got home from church.
[/quote]
totally! lol
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
[quote]nlmain wrote:
In celebration of the cardio and diet that I am NOT doing.
courtesy of BG.
dealwithit.
[/quote]
Made my day, the best part is he looks like he just got home from church.
[/quote]
Haha! Quality! It’s all about the glutes.
ooh, new program…exciting!
[quote]nlmain wrote:
Joe and Ink have both been bugging me to try out the Sheiko. At first glance it looked horrid. After day 1 of week 1 I can say that it is. I was in the gym for 2.5 hours with warmup. NUTTERS!
Pros
- my bench has barely moved this year and Sheiko has got me benching like a brotard
- crazy volume removes the need for any cardio
- rarely work beyond 80% and I need to lay off my maxes for a bit
- accessories include flies and dips - stuff I haven’t done in a while
- only 3 days a week, although I have a feeling I will be sore throughout the week.
- better ramping scheme
Cons
- splits the squat workout on some days and I only have 1 rack in my gym. I risk losing it.
- set and rep set up is funky. I checked my book every two minutes today
- partial deads? really?
- worried the hip flexor might get irritated from all the squating but it held up tonight. we shall see.
- program is pretty hectic - I need to carry my program book with me to the gym.
[/quote]
This is awesome news, haha. First off, congrats on trying it out. Stick with it, I promise you’ll be glad you did. Now, to address some of your pros and cons, if I may:
Pros
Yes, there is a lot of benching. One thing I’ve heard by several people and have done myself, is to increase your bench training max by 5-10%. This way you’re pushing a little heavier weight than “prescribed” but still not doing heavy singles. I’ve yet to miss a weight doing this, and my my bench is stronger/cleaner for it. Also, PAUSE YOUR BENCH REPS. Seriously. Pause everything. I’ll pause every rep after a warmup. It will vastly improve your power off the chest and you’ll never be worried about having to pause in a meet.
Flies and Dips, yes, but you can also do pushups, and a lot of rear delt work instead of flyes 3x a week. Face pulls, rear delt DB raises, etc. Work them rear delts, girl.
You’ll be sore all the time at first, and the first couple of weeks will have you thinking “WTF am I doing?” but it gets easier, again, trust me!
Cons
Hog the SHIT out of that squat rack, haha. You’re probably the only one using it there anyway, right? If you can’t finish your workout for something like that, try to get in there the next day and finish it out, so you’re up to date for your next session.
There’s apps out there for smart phones. You have cell phones in Canada right? jk Look up SheikoDroid if you can get it, it’s a great app. Also, you’ll get the hang of how the sets progress after a couple weeks.
Partial deads (deadlift to knees): Pull from the floor and stop around knee level, pause for a 1 count, and LOCK IT OUT. Sheiko’s way of doing these is to finish the rep. Rippetoe’s way is to pull, pause, and drop it. I started without the lockout, but after 1 session I found out I should be locking it out. World of difference it makes when it comes to doing a normal deadlift.
Stretch stretch stretch and keep everything loose. Foam roller is your friend now, no…your lover, haha
Above all else, stick with it. Are you doing 29 or 37 to start? Sheiko is meant to be run for a long period of time, so dropping it after a month would be selling yourself short. A good progression is to run 29/37/32 if you’ve got a meet coming up, or 29 and 37 back and forth are great.
These are just my tips here, and I know there are others here that are extremely knowledgable with Sheiko and his programming.
I’ll be following along more constantly in here now, Frenchie. I’ll take a seat right here.
LWI!
OMG do I love that song.
1 rack would about drive me mad. Looking forward to pulling up a seat next to Inky and following the new program.
Looks like you are going to see your bench numbers jump now Frenchie.
I’ve been comtemplating the switch my self. Just not sure how I would mentally take only lifting fuor days a week.
Holy fuck, this Sheiko sounds gnarly and ever so slightly complicated. sob
Frenchie, you’re experienced in PLing, so this sounds like a great plan for you. I’m still dubious if its good for me because quite frankly, I’m in still in noob territory. But I am paying attention to everything!! Will make note nod
Anyways, great squatting, mama! So good to see you back in action. Seriously, I was this close to staging an intervention. lol!
And I’m with you on the squat rack monopoly. I feel so bad taking over the squat rack…shrug
[quote]Mascherano wrote:
Holy fuck, this Sheiko sounds gnarly and ever so slightly complicated. sob
Frenchie, you’re experienced in PLing, so this sounds like a great plan for you. I’m still dubious if its good for me because quite frankly, I’m in still in noob territory. But I am paying attention to everything!! Will make note nod
[/quote]
I think it’s perfect for noobs, because it focuses on the main lifts, and that’s about it. You don’t find yourself doing all kinds of crazy machines and accessory work all the time. When my wife starts powerlifting with me, I’m going to have her running the same programs as me. She’s a complete newb, but I know it’ll work for her because of the simplicity.
Oh, and don’t feel bad about hogging a squat rack. At least you’re not curling in it!
LWI ladies!
Ink: thanks for taking the time to clear up a few things. Paused bench it is and if it gets easy I’l ad that 5-10% on my max. Also the deadlift makes more sense this way. The pause is to get you to work through sticky points, I get that. Wasn’t excited about all those flies- great alternatives. I’ll keep the flies in once a week.
If I survive through the initial 4 weeks, I’ll move to 37. Next meet is in june which gives me plenty of time to heal and get strong.
Joe: I’d doing program 29 which is 4 weeks 3 times a week. But the gym sessions are at least 2 hours long… If you have any energy left over you could always do those complexes 
Maschy: I had great results in 2011 with the 5/3/1 and it’s quite simple. On the other hand Sheiko isn’t that much harder just a crap load more volume which I think would turn you on.
[quote]nlmain wrote:
So tonight’s torture:
Bench:
80lbs 1x5
95lbs 2x4
110lbs 2x3
115lbs 5x3
Squat:
115lbs 1x5
135lbs 2x5
155lbs 5x5
Bench:
80lbs 1x5
95lbs 1x5
105lbs 4x4
Dumbbell flies 15lbs 5x10
Goodmornings 95lbs 5x5
edit: doesn’t seem like so much on paper. lol.[/quote]
I think you’ll like it. I’ve tried a version that was modified for the older crowd. It appeals to me because of the volume and the feeling that you’re really getting something done.
Don’t you hate it when your ass kicking workout is three lines on paper?
[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
Don’t you hate it when your ass kicking workout is three lines on paper?
[/quote]
yup. lol