Good luck with the squat program. I’v heard its pretty tough.
Aren’t you takin DAA? Or at least you were right? I’ve been tempted to try it but I’m still trying to solve primary issues.
Hey man, thanks a lot. I ran the program once at this time last year and it was OK, but I used a much lower training max as a percentage of my 1RM. We’ll see, I think the 6x6 and 5x5 days are going to destroy me.
Yeah, I’ve been using DAA on and off for over a year now. Right now I’m taking a break for a bit, because I do find that my system gets accustomed to it (not to mention that it’s sometimes a bit rough on the digestive system). I do find it works for me, but I am aware that not everyone responds to it. Let me know if you ever have any questions.
06.01.14
Russian squat program, W2D1
Things are starting to get challenging.
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
6 x 4 x 102.5 kg
SLDL:
3 x 5 x 125 kg
Trying to keep things light and low-volume on all assistance work. The shoulders and elbows felt good coming into today’s workout, but are a bit sore as I type this. I think the wrist straps and the slightly higher bar position alleviate things somewhat, though. Not looking forward to the 6x6 and 5x5 days.
07.01.14
Russian squat program, W2D2
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
6 x 2 x 102.5 kg
Paused squat:
3 x 3 x 95 kg (4" pause)
45° hyperextensions:
2 x 15 x BW
Didn’t warm up properly this morning and my elbows are reminding me of it now. I also had to squat on subsequent days this and last week, which isn’t the best of ideas on this program. Tomorrow will probably be interesting in terms of soreness.
09.01.14
Bench press, week 2
Bench press:
3 x 70 kg
5 x 75 kg
5 x 85 kg
10 x 97.5 kg (PR)
1 x 112.5 kg
Bench press top iso hold:
2 x 1 x 130 kg (10")
Paused bench press:
3 x 3 x 90 kg (3" pause)
One-arm row:
3 x 8 x 33.5 kg
Felt pretty good today. I’m quite sure that 97.5 kg for 10 reps is a rep PR and I was really happy with that. Probably could have even squeezed out another, but I didn’t want to overdo it. Seeing as it’s a mid-term goal of mine to bench 100 kg for 10 reps, I’m happy that things are working out in this direction. Back to squatting tomorrow, it’ll be a doozie.
10.01.14
Russian squat program, W2D3
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
6 x 5 x 102.5 kg
Things is starting to get crazy
SLDL:
Up to 170 kg x 1
So, as I mentioned before, I suck at reps for squatting. I tried to keep my rest between sets today to less than four minutes, and it was a real test of my mettle. I’ll probably need to shoot for five minutes between sets when I do 6 x 6 reps on Monday. I’d better get some gainz out of this program, cause it’s turning me into one sore mofo.
12.01.14
Russian squat program, W3D1
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
6 x 2 x 102.5 kg
Barbell rows:
2 x 10 x 60 kg
Incline DB press:
1 x 10 x 28 kg
1 x 6 x 32
Went training today with my wife and a friend, so we were in the commercial gym. It wasn’t that bad, except that the bar in the power rack had been bent by some poor trainee who was “too strong” for the quality of the gym equipment. So that made squatting a bit different. Decided to throw in a few sets of the upper-body stuff that the other two were doing to get the blood flowing into my shoulder and elbow, which are still kinda creaky.
Gonna make a go at 6 x 6 x 102.5 kg tomorrow, which will likely be the most challenging day of the program for me.
13.01.14
Russian squat program, W3D2
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
6 x 6 x 102.5 kg
So, despite not having slept a lot last night, I survived this morning’s training. As I’ve said numerous times before, I can’t squat reps for beans. But there’s a German saying that suits this situation: “Das Leben ist kein Ponyhof”, literally meaning “life is no pony farm”. So suck it up, squat boy.
15.01.14
Bench press, week 3
Bench press:
3 x 80 kg
5 x 85 kg
3 x 97.5 kg
5 x 107.5 kg (rep PR?)
1 x 112.5 kg
Bench press top iso hold (10"):
1 x 135 kg
1 x 140 kg
Paused bench press:
3 x 1 x 105 kg
One-arm row:
3 x 8 x 35.5 kg
Felt quite bit tired this morning (thanks a lot, neighbours!) but decided to rep out on bench press anyways. Managed to grind my way through a shitty five reps at 107.5 kg, which I believe is a rep record at this weight, although I never really went for too many reps at this level. Would’ve had another couple in me, but I’ll take what I can get.
I’m now facing the dilemma of whether I do my next intensive squat day on Sunday or not, since I’ll have to go to the crappy commercial gym. I’d rather either do it on Friday or Monday at my better gym, but don’t want to comprimise recovery or wait too long. Ah, third-world problems.
17.01.14
Russian squat program, W3D3
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
6 x 2 x 102.5 kg
SLDL:
4 x 100 kg
3 x 4 x 140 kg
10 x 100 kg
Halfway through the Russian squat program. Not really feeling the adaptation yet, but we’ll see how I manage the heavier workouts beginning on Sunday/Monday.
19.01.14
Bench press:
3 x 80 kg
2 x 100 kg
1 x 107.5 kg
1 x 115 kg
Paused bench press (competition pause)
3 x 2 x 100 kg
Pull-ups:
10, 8, 8 x BW
Just a low-intensity upper body day while assisting my wife at the gym. Tomorrow I’ll begin again with the squatting and the hurting and the gains.
20.01.14
Russian squat program, W4D1
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
5 x 5 x 107.5 kg
Hyperextensions:
3 x 15 x BW
The fact that this was one of the most difficult training sessions in a long time demonstrates two things: 1) playing squash for the first time in one and a half years on the weekend wasn’t the best recovery strategy; and 2) I suck at squatting. Hence the program.
Russian squat program, W4D2
Bench press, week 4
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
6 x 2 x 102.5 kg
Bench press:
5 x 60 kg
3 x 82.5 kg
3 x 92.5 kg
6 x 105 kg (PR?)
1 x 115 kg
Bench press top hold:
2 x 1 x 140 kg
(10" hold)
Had to combine my bench press and squat training today as I won’t be able to get a decent workout in for the next two days. The squatting of course felt a bit rickety after yesterday’s session, but the bench pressing felt pretty good. Even though I was a bit gassed, 105 kg for six reps should be a PR for me. Good to know that I can knock these out even under non-optimal conditions. Will try to make up for some of the missed accessory work on Thursday.
23.01.14
Making up for missed accessory work
Barbell rows:
5 x 8 x 70 kg
Incline DB bench press:
3 x 8 x 34 kg
EZ-bar curls
1 x 10 x 28 kg
^ First set of bicep curls in a very, very long time. Ha.
How many more weeks of hell do you have left?
^ Hey dude, just finished my fourth week, so two to do… Don’t know where my last post went with the 4 x 4 x 115 kg session, might have to rewrite that one!
Interestingly, the more I progress in the program, the less mental strain I notice with the sessions. I guess that’s part of its purpose.
OK, so my post from Friday didn’t seem to work. Here’s what I did:
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
1 x 100 kg
4 x 4 x 115 kg
Front squat:
10 x 60 kg
5 x 80 kg
4 x 90 kg
3 x 100 kg
1 x 110 kg
Wanted to get some front squatting in there to work the quads, which I haven’t really been feeling whilst on this squat program.
26.01.13
Russian squat program, W5D1
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
6 x 2 x 102.5 kg
Bench press:
5 x 60 kg
3 x 80 kg
3 x 90 kg
2 x 100 kg
1 x 107.5 kg
1 x 115 kg
4 x 100 kg (competition pause)
45 degree hypers:
2 x 20 x BW
Just wanted to get some bench practice in after squatting. Didn’t go balls to the wall. Tomorrow I’ve got squats at 3 x 3 x 120 kg before me, we’ll see how that goes.
27.01.14
Russian squat program, W5D2
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
2 x 100 kg
1 x 110 kg
3 x 3 x 120 kg
Pin squat:
4 x 120 kg
3 x 130 kg
3 x 140 kg
2 x 150 kg
SLDL:
5 x 100 kg
4 x 140 kg
3 x 160 kg
3 x 2 x 170 kg
Felt really good today.
29.01.14
Bench press, week 5
Bench press:
5 x 60 kg
5 x 75 kg
5 x 87.5 kg
10 x 100 kg (PR)
1 x 115 kg
Bench press top iso hold:
10" x 140 kg
10" x 145 kg
Paused bench press:
3 x 2 x 100 kg (competition pause)
Band pull-aparts:
5 x 15 x red band
I’m really happy about that bench press PR; I’ve been aiming for it for a while. Actually felt pretty shitty during today’s training, but managed to grind out those ten reps. Not all of them were pretty, I think I just wanted to get the set over with. But I’ll take what I can get.
I’m also enjoying the bench press top iso holds. Having 145 kg hovering over my neck today really instilled that fear of death in me that leads to PRs and gains.