[quote]crod266 wrote:
o thts not your name lol sorry bro i didnt know wont happen again.
as for the front squats yea i start to bend foward close to lockout on fronts if that helps at all. I can only front squat 195 so my guess is i can prob do alot more backsquat.[/quote]
No need to be sorry. You had no way of knowing otherwise.
11/7/2008
2-Board Press:
245X14 RP
BTN Press:
45X5
95X5
135X3
BTN Smith Press:
45X5
135X5
155X5
155X5
185X1
155X20 RP
Incline Close Grip:
No Dice
Dumbbell Extension (1-Arm):
15X5
25X5
30X7
Did Some Pushdowns:
Yep
Getting the Behind the Neck move down today took a long time. Doing it with just a barbell wasn’t too cool and its hard to unrack by ones self.
Then finding a good weight on BTN Smith press took a lot of energy. On one of the 155 sets I turned the bar the wrong way and it came crashing down on me like a guillotine.
I can only get the bar to about forehead level without tearing my shoulders apart. I don’t have any shoulder problems. But doing Behind the Neck stuff is pretty much pure front delt given how it positions you.
I was somewhat pleased with the 245X14 RP but I realize that really only puts me at around a 285-290 pound max for the 2-Board.
There was someone squatting in the squat rack today - on a swiss ball - without any weights.
And it’s become INCREDIBLY popular for guys to gather round the preacher bench and instead of using weights on the ez-bar, they have their bro push down on the bar. It’s more popular than Squatting and Deadlifting combined. No joke. The only thing more popular is Benching. This might be number 2 or 3 right now. Very hott!
I’ve given it some thought.
Chest Training is going well. This is by far the most important. I really want to get to doing a bunch of reps with 275 on the 2-Board. That will guarentee my ability to do 315 off a 2-Board.
Shoulder training has gone OK but has suffered mainly from me figuring out what I can handle.
Triceps training hasn’t gone that well.
So I’m going to flip up my Upper Body training a little bit.
Instead of Chest/Shoulders/Triceps I will do
Chest/Triceps/Shoulders. This will enable me to do heavy stuff like board presses instead of extensions.
The only thing I’m really worried about is not being able to hit 135X11 on Military Press after doing Flat Bench and 4-Board Press. If I can do that, I’ll be real happy. If not, I’ll just deal with it.
Just to be clear, despite whatever I’ve said before, I’m not claiming to do the DoggCrapp template nor am I claiming to do the Westside Template. I just do Max Effort Lower Body Training, Dynamic Effort Lower Body Training, and Repetition Upper Body Work - sometimes in the form of Rest-Pause Training.
How did the tate press work out for you?
[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
How did the tate press work out for you?[/quote]
They didn’t do shit for me.
I’ve recently found out that Glenn Buechlein, a really awesome bencher, doesn’t like Tate Presses or Rolling Dumbbell Extensions either. They’ve joined his list of things to throw away.
You just end up learning how to grove the weights up in a way that you can handle heavy weights very close to your Dumbbell Bench Press but you’re still keeping form. I worked up from 50s to 75s with very little pressing strength gains.
Also, even if I was strict, extension exercises have very little bearing on pressing strength. I saw a friend of mine training yesterday who can out-press me by at least 20 pounds in the Bench and Military Press. He was using the 30’s on Tate Press and it didn’t look like he was just going through the motions to complete the reps. At the very end of my workout I did Overhead, 1-Arm Extensions with a 30 pound dumbbell - way harder. But This guys triceps are, without a doubt, stronger than mine.
After reading more of Glenn Buechlein’s stuff, I’ve been inspired to try and eliminate extensions, especially as a strength builder.
And from observing stronger people than me, and recognizing my own failures, I can say with a great amount of certainty that the BEST way to build strong triceps is to get Horizontal and Push against a Barbell. And in that spirit, I’m going to start finishing off workouts with Chain Barbell Push-ups:
Sorry if that was unnecessarily long, but I hope I’ve convinced you to not do the Tate Press. I don’t even see Dave Tate doing it in his own logs!
11/9/2008 - Max Effort Lower Body
Manta Ray Low Box Squats:
135X3
185X2
Front Squat:
135X3
185X3
225X3
255X1
275X1
315XM
315XM
315X1
Chain-Suspended Good-Morning:
135X5
185X5
225X5
275X5
315X5
335X5
Snatch-Grip Shrugs:
135X10
225X10
315X10
405X10
Full R.O.M Hanging Leg Raises:
BWX10
BWX9
BWX6
Leg Extension:
90X10
130X10
190X10
225X10
I was going to do Manta Ray Squats today but they just suck too much. No matter how upright I stay or how tight I stay, the actual Manta Ray moves on my back so the bar ends up moving.
I dropped one attempt at 315 and missed another due to depth - then made it with less than a minute of rest.
Everything after Good-Mornings was done as a Circut.
Full R.O.M hanging Leg Raises means I touched my shins to the bar I was hanging from.
I was quite hung over today. But on the bright side my Quads didn’t look as insanely stick-like when I was wrapping my knees.
This is my first time reading your log and it came as a big surprise.
You are really strong in certain movements but your powerlifts are lagging.
When I was benching 315 in competition (after squatting) my best set of DB bench was 100x6, my best seated press was 155x5 and I was doing hammer curls with 35# DBs.
Your accessory lifts totally blow these numbers away yet you can’t bench 300?
I am inclined to think that something is wrong with your routine.
Maybe you are pushing too hard in the gym or not resting enough between workouts?
Also, I don’t thinking setting rep PRs equates to improved limit strength.
I could go on with some advice but given how I discredited myself with my anti-gear thread I doubt you’d listen…
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
BlackLabel wrote:
How did the tate press work out for you?
They didn’t do shit for me.
I’ve recently found out that Glenn Buechlein, a really awesome bencher, doesn’t like Tate Presses or Rolling Dumbbell Extensions either. They’ve joined his list of things to throw away.
You just end up learning how to grove the weights up in a way that you can handle heavy weights very close to your Dumbbell Bench Press but you’re still keeping form. I worked up from 50s to 75s with very little pressing strength gains.
Also, even if I was strict, extension exercises have very little bearing on pressing strength. I saw a friend of mine training yesterday who can out-press me by at least 20 pounds in the Bench and Military Press.
He was using the 30’s on Tate Press and it didn’t look like he was just going through the motions to complete the reps. At the very end of my workout I did Overhead, 1-Arm Extensions with a 30 pound dumbbell - way harder. But This guys triceps are, without a doubt, stronger than mine.
After reading more of Glenn Buechlein’s stuff, I’ve been inspired to try and eliminate extensions, especially as a strength builder.
And from observing stronger people than me, and recognizing my own failures, I can say with a great amount of certainty that the BEST way to build strong triceps is to get Horizontal and Push against a Barbell. And in that spirit, I’m going to start finishing off workouts with Chain Barbell Push-ups:
Sorry if that was unnecessarily long, but I hope I’ve convinced you to not do the Tate Press. I don’t even see Dave Tate doing it in his own logs!
[/quote]
would u still recommend to throw out extensions even if u were a bodybuilder or ur speaking soley about powerlifting
[quote]abebesheir wrote:
This is my first time reading your log and it came as a big surprise.
You are really strong in certain movements but your powerlifts are lagging.
When I was benching 315 in competition (after squatting) my best set of DB bench was 100x6, my best seated press was 155x5 and I was doing hammer curls with 35# DBs.
Your accessory lifts totally blow these numbers away yet you can’t bench 300?
I am inclined to think that something is wrong with your routine.
Maybe you are pushing too hard in the gym or not resting enough between workouts?
Also, I don’t thinking setting rep PRs equates to improved limit strength.
I could go on with some advice but given how I discredited myself with my anti-gear thread I doubt you’d listen…[/quote]
I hope everyone doesn’t judge someone solely off one thread they create, unless their thread says something really stupid or mean spirited. No worries.
My Powerlifts are Lagging? You’re just looking at my Bench. I Squatted 425 and I’ll be good to Pull 495 very soon. The only reason I haven’t pulled 495 yet is because I was Deadlifting too often.
Currently, there is nothing wrong with my training. It’s exactly what I need right now.
The problem in the past was that I tried to use the Max Effort Method for the Bench Press. The Max Effort Method works for my Squat and Deadlift because my lower body was strong enough to benefit from this training method. But my Bench Press wasn’t and still isn’t high enough for me to benefit from the Max Effort Method.
This was my mistake. What I have learned from it is if you can’t push 3 plates in a movement, then you shouldn’t be doing it as a Max Effort Movement. That’s the threshold, for me at least, where the Max Effort Method begins to be a productive method for gaining strength. This is why beginners shouldn’t use the Max Effort Method.
I made the mistake of using the max effort method when I switched to the Westside-Style template because I had the Bench Press of a beginner but the Squat and Deadlift of an intermediate lifter.
There just wasn’t enough volume! Going back to low-volume, Max-Effort Style Benching would assure that I’d stay weak. Trying to break rep PRs in Barbell Bench Press variations is EXACTLY what I need to be doing right now.
My Dumbbell Numbers are so high because Dumbbell Pressing was always a huge focus for me. I’ve just gotten so good at pressing dumbbells that balance and all that really isn’t a limiting factor in the exercise for me.
The only thing holding me back from pressing heavier dumbbells is being physically weak. Otherwise, I’m very efficient at the movement. If you can only muster 100X6 on Dumbbell Bench, but you can Bench 315, then you are bad at Dumbbell Benching. It sounds like your Dumbbell Bench numbers are only as high as they need to be, not as high as they could be.
I wouldn’t give much thought to my Hammer Curl Numbers. That has almost nothing to do with Benching. Remember that I can do a Weighted Chin-up with 135lbs at a body-weight of 190. That’s probably more relevant.
But now I have made the necessary changes to make my Bench Press go up again - by regularly breaking records using the Repetition Method and Rest-Pause sets on every Pressing workout. I have used the Rest-Pause method before for other exercises and it has proved to be very useful. At this point, the only thing holding me back from pressing 3 wheels is time.
My Assistance numbers are so high because I want to be as strong as possible. I want to leave no stone unturned. Unless I am actively making every lift as strong as it can possibly be, how would I be able to know for sure what my weak points are?
[quote]crod266 wrote:
would u still recommend to throw out extensions even if u were a bodybuilder or ur speaking soley about powerlifting[/quote]
I have no idea what a bodybuilder should do.
I’m not the guy to ask.
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
My Powerlifts are Lagging? You’re just looking at my Bench. I Squatted 425 and I’ll be good to Pull 495 very soon.
[/quote]
Well, you are closer to being a complete powerlifter than I am!
I squatted 405, benched 315 and pulled 460 in the raw 220s. Obviously, my BP is decent, my SQ sucks and my DL sucks even worse.
This is one of the reasons I train bench-only now. Without the beating my shoulders get from squatting… my BP numbers should go up faster.
I will return to front squats and SLDLs in the off-season but when it comes time for meet prep, I drop those movements from my routine.
If you are comfortable with your routine and happy with the gains you have been making then there is no reason to change anything.
The only advice I would give is that when you have a weak point sometimes you need to give it special attention.
[quote]abebesheir wrote:
The only advice I would give is that when you have a weak point sometimes you need to give it special attention.
[/quote]
My weak point is pushing a barbell. So now all my Upper Body Exercises for the Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps are me pushing on a Barbell.
My weak points for the Squat and Deadlift is everything. Low Back, Quads, Hamstrings, Abs: They’re all in balance - they just need to be stronger. So I’m training everything like it’s weak…because it is.
I’ve already made a lot of changes. Making any changes now wouldn’t be terribly scientific or justified.
11/10/2008
Flat Bench Press:
45X5
95X5
135X5
185X3
225X13 RP
Close-Grip Bench Press:
195X13 RP
Military Press:
135X13 RP
Barbell Chain Push-ups:
20 - 5 - 5
25 - ? - ? (38 Total)
Captain of Crush:
TX6
1X3
1.5X3
2X1
1.5X5
Neck Work:
1 Set
You cannot slow down when doing the Chain Push-ups. I don’t know how much the chains weigh, they’re not the standard 5/8ths chain that EliteFTS uses. They aren’t even the correct length for benching but the links are larger. They’re defiantly heavier than the 5/8ths chain.
Whatever they weigh, I am still not pleased with how many reps I got. The dashes signify when I took a chain off. For record keeping’s sake, all that matters is improving the first number, then hammering myself after that with all I’ve got. I can tell these will be much more beneficial than finishing off with Pushdowns.
Flat Bench was a nice 10 pound PR. Now that I have no reason to fear 225 I think I’ll be able to push that higher. The next time I do Flat Bench Press hopefully will be the last time I fool around with using 225 on that exercise with Rest-Pause.
Military Press was a good PR. It may not look like much improvement, but I think I did pretty well considering I moved Military Press behind Close-Grip and still managed a PR. I’m grinding mostly at the top once I get the bar above my head. I shouldn’t have a problem locking the bar out considering I can lock out 225 from the Pins no problem. I’ve just been forgetting to squeeze my glutes! I know that’s costing be some reps, but at least I know I can look forward to a bigger PR once I put this into action and start squeezing my cheeks.
My short lived training partner was a no show once again. I’m gonna go ahead and assume he’s never coming back and abandon all hope. This will allow me to start Dragging the Sled again. I haven’t been Dragging the Sled because I’ve been working out at night in order to fit his schedule. But since there’s no need to do that, I can start to get in shape again. I need to improve my GPP in order to get the most out of these Rest-Pause sets.
11/11/2008
Lat-Pulldown:
3 Light Sets
Bodyweight Chin-ups:
24
18
Weighted Frenchies:
Not Happening
Blaster Curls:
75X6
115X8
Triple Extension Sled Row:
4 Trips
Chin-ups kicked my ass for the day. My arms were so pumped that I really wasn’t good to do anything else. Engorged in blood.
Brute Strength obviously isn’t the limiting factor in my mediocre performance on Chins. The problem is after about 8 or 9 reps of pulling as fast as I can, I am swinging everywhere uncontrollably.
Then I have to pause quite a bit at the bottom in order to keep from swaying everywhere with each pull, and this is what drains me - performing a strict rep every 2.5 seconds instead of just being able to bang out rep after rep like I could on any sort of row.
I’m gonna have to give my back training some thought. Do I want to prioritize Maximal Strength and the goal of 1-Arm Chins or do I want to prioritize doing as many Chin-ups as possible?
Although the 5/3/1 may be the fastest way to progress one’s Weighted Chin, my Max Chinning Strength isn’t what needs work in order for me to do a 1-Arm Chin.
And Muscular Endurance isn’t want I need or what I’m interested in. I just haven’t done more than 8 reps of Chins for a single set for quite some time.
What I need is better static and eccentric strength so I can start to train 1-Arm Negatives. This will probably solve my swaying problem as well for High-Rep Chins.
I don’t think I’ll be able to continue doing 5/3/1 and do Weighted Frenchies in the same workout, so I will put Weighted Frenchies in as my main thing of the day. Although that name is really gay, so I might end up calling them Iso-Pause Chins.
I must also remember that I have access to a pair of heavy chains that I used for Push-ups.
And I love Kroc Rows.
So that leaves me with 3 exercises I want to use:
Frenchie Chins
Chins with Chains
Kroc Rows
I will have to give this some thought.
And the Thought is Over.
Dumbbell Kroc Row
Iso-Pause Weighted Chins
Chins with Chains
Rotating Lat Exercise
Rotating Rear Delt Exercise
Rotating Biceps Exercise
What about band assisted one arm chins?
What do you mean by:
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
Rotating Lat Exercise
Rotating Rear Delt Exercise
Rotating Biceps Exercise
[/quote]
Also, if you get a controlled one arm negative you’ll be able to control the swinging in your high-rep sets much more easily.
How are you going to be setting up the frenchies?
[quote]Bloobird wrote:
What about band assisted one arm chins?
What do you mean by:
FightingScott wrote:
Rotating Lat Exercise
Rotating Rear Delt Exercise
Rotating Biceps Exercise
Also, if you get a controlled one arm negative you’ll be able to control the swinging in your high-rep sets much more easily.
How are you going to be setting up the frenchies?[/quote]
Something Like:
EZ-Bar Pullover
Face Pull
EZ-Bar Curl
I can’t get the controlled 1-Arm negative right now. I just can’t hold the top position and control the eccentric!
I already described how I intend to set up the frenchies.
I have tried to set up Bands for 1-Arm Chins but it’s pretty hard to hang a band from an 8 foot rack and get it around your foot.
11/13/2008 - Dynamic Effort Lower Body
Light Band Box Squat:
135X2
225X2X4
275X2X4
315X2
345X1
At this point I tried to do my assistance work but the gym was full of morons. It wasn’t crowded. It was just full of bumbling idiots taking up space. So I came back after dinner and after class.
Mini-Bad Deadlift:
135X1
225X1
Added the only chains there are:
245X1
275X1
295X1
315X1X6
Machine Calf Raise:
1/2 Stack X 10
Stack X 10
Stack + 45 X 10
Stack + 90 X 10
Stack + 135 X 10
Stack + 180 X 8 or 9
Bulgarian Split Squat:
45X3
135X3
155X5
Banded GM:
Strong X 15 X 2
Barbell Roll-outs:
145X8X2
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
11/13/2008 - Dynamic Effort Lower Body
Light Band Box Squat:
135X2
225X2X4
275X2X4
315X2
345X1
[/quote]
How high of a box do you use?
[quote]Flow wrote:
FightingScott wrote:
11/13/2008 - Dynamic Effort Lower Body
Light Band Box Squat:
135X2
225X2X4
275X2X4
315X2
345X1
How high of a box do you use?[/quote]
I think it’s 16. It’s Parallel for me. Even though I’m 5’9" or 5’10" I have long limbs for my height.