4/8
warm up: mini band stuff, DB rotations
bench - w/magic mini band
135,155,185x10, 225,245,265x5, 275x2x2, 225x10
cable row - neutral close grip
superset
pec flye/pushup/rear delt flye
3 sets 10/15/10
Crunched for time today but still got some great benching in. This is awesome! Abs are pretty sore from clean+front squat on Wednesday.
4/11
warm up: mini band stuff, DB rotations
clean and press - full clean, from floor. DOH this time
95,115,135x5, 155,175,195x3, 205x2, 185x5
pullup
BW,45,70x5, 90,100,110x3, 115x1, 90x5
lateral raise/incline Y’s
3x10
RG OHP
95,135,135x10
cable row - NCG
superset 10 reps
arm stuff
stretch
Sweet, two PRs in one day: 205x2 and 185x5.
Gonna squat to box on Wednesday and try out some reverse band squats. Should be fun if I make good choices about the weight.
Are you going to do reverse band Scoops style (have the bands trying to pull your forward and up)? It is really brutal especially with the safety bar.
[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Are you going to do reverse band Scoops style (have the bands trying to pull your forward and up)? It is really brutal especially with the safety bar.[/quote]
I’ll try the straight bar first. So if you were to eyeball it, how far forward from the line-of-squat are the bands tied to the rack? And are you guys using AVG bands? I thought of starting with the light bands just to see how it goes.
[quote]grettiron wrote:
[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Are you going to do reverse band Scoops style (have the bands trying to pull your forward and up)? It is really brutal especially with the safety bar.[/quote]
I’ll try the straight bar first. So if you were to eyeball it, how far forward from the line-of-squat are the bands tied to the rack? And are you guys using AVG bands? I thought of starting with the light bands just to see how it goes.[/quote]
At least 12 inches, but I think more. I use the AVG bands, but Scoops uses the strong bands. The lights I’m sure would be fine, but you won’t get as much overload that way (less contrast). Have fun!
[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
[quote]grettiron wrote:
[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Are you going to do reverse band Scoops style (have the bands trying to pull your forward and up)? It is really brutal especially with the safety bar.[/quote]
I’ll try the straight bar first. So if you were to eyeball it, how far forward from the line-of-squat are the bands tied to the rack? And are you guys using AVG bands? I thought of starting with the light bands just to see how it goes.[/quote]
At least 12 inches, but I think more. I use the AVG bands, but Scoops uses the strong bands. The lights I’m sure would be fine, but you won’t get as much overload that way (less contrast). Have fun![/quote]
Much fun was had, thanks for the advice!
Wed 4/13
warm up: lower usual
squat-to-box - belt at 405
135,225,315x5, 365x3, 405x1, reverse AVG band: 405x1, 445,495x3, 535x1,1
conv dl - belt at 405
225,315,365,405x10
leg press/calf raise
2x20 each
stretch
Set up like they were, the bands took almost exactly 100lbs off the bottom. Very smooth and I liked this a lot. Can’t wait to hit it hard again! Seems I finally remembered how to pull conventional… things were much fucking better today. First 5 reps at 365 were hook and then I switched to mixed due to being a baby. 405x10 was fairly tough, as you can see in the vid… and by tough I mean tough to breathe. Fuckin cardio. Leg press was just to get a little pump in the quads, nothing near heavy.
535x1:
405x10:
hey howd the reverse band feel? just a couple things, i would try a little slower descent to the box, if you just try to stay tighter i think this will happen automatically. when you start squatting down the bands are gonna try to pull ur upper body forward, you’re going to have to try to push back against the bands to try to stay upright, you can see at the bottom you let yourself kinda collapse forward. at the top of the beginning of the squat you are to upright, but at the end you seem to look ok, so look at your position at the top after the squat and compare that to the top position before the squat. before the squat it looks like you almost rock a little, try to flex everything at the top, this will make you more stable and give you a good position to start from. i took a pic and put it on my log of what my top position looks like, a bit extreme but it’ll give ya something to look at i guess.
also i would really try to use the safety bar with this if you can. but the benefit of this style reverse band and safety bar setup is that it immediatly un fucks ones squat, it allows you to hit an upright position and sit back almost like a geared squat. i thought it might do this and my buddy conor did it one day and his squatting immediatly looked good. we conjectured it would be a great setup for teaching a beginner so when my gf came up and squatted, i started her out with the safety bar, that didn’t go very well, then did this reverse band setup…looked beautiful lol. sorry that was just a little side part giving this combination some kind of credit lol.
[quote]2-SCOOPS wrote:
you can see at the bottom you let yourself kinda collapse forward.
[/quote]
Yeah, I see what you mean. I think that’s what caused the stall mid-range.
[quote]
also i would really try to use the safety bar with this if you can. but the benefit of this style reverse band and safety bar setup is that it immediatly un fucks ones squat, it allows you to hit an upright position and sit back almost like a geared squat.[/quote]
Hmmm interesting, I may give the SSB a try next time. Guess I’m afraid of “forgetting” how to squat with a straight bar because stupid shit like that seems to happen.
Thanks for the critique. They all felt pretty awesome and aside from getting pulled forward a little in the hole, all squats felt pretty natural (not awkward).
fri 4/15
warm up: mini band stuff, DB rotations
bench - excluding warm up, starting with light band
225,265,275x5, 285x3, 305x2, 315x2, mini band:225x7
HS DY row
superset
incline bench
95,135,155x10, 185x5, 135x10
rickshaw walks - round trips
245,335,425,515,425
pec deck flye/incline pushup/rear delt flye
4 sets 10-15 reps
lateral raise/swinging curl
2x10
stretch
Neglected to write anything down and forgot the warm up bench stuff. Used the light band today and holy crap does that change things. I actually have to fight hard to keep the bar in the groove… everything had to be super tight. 5 reps at 275 left me winded and worked over… pecs, tris, back… wow. This will be staying in the rotation. No pain again, maybe because every stabilizer is firing and fighting against the band to keep the bar tracking correctly. Good shit. Forgot to charge my camera battery and it died a few sets in, so no vids. Next week.
Hahaha… that reverse band set-up will kick your ass! Gotta stay upright.
mon 4/18
warm up: mini band stuff, DB rotations
clean and press - from floor
95,135x5, 155,175x3, 195x2(hook), 195x3(DOH), 205x1, 215x4x.5 (4 cleans, 0 presses), 185x5.5
pullup
BW,45,70x5, 90,100x3, 110x2, 115x1, 125x1, 135x1, 90x6
seated DB OHP
40,45,55x10, 65x12
NG pullup
BWx10,10,10,16+4
stretch
205 was easy for clean and press but 215 felt like a ton after the rack. IDK why. Pullups were good… actually I have video for the 135 and it was analogous to a hitched deadlift. I’ll post later.
[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Hahaha… that reverse band set-up will kick your ass! Gotta stay upright.[/quote]
Next time I’ll kick ass.
Pullup vid:
wed 4/20
warm up: lower usual
conv dl - belt at 495
135,225,315x5, 405x1, 495x0 (bad idea), reverse bands: 495x5x1
squat - no belt
135,225,315,315,225x10
leg extension/back raise
10,10,20
stretch
405 flew up and since I did 405x10 last week I figured a 495 attempt was reasonable. It was not and was actually a bad idea. Totally broke form and tho it came off the ground, my hips were too high and low back rounded so I aborted. This totally fried my erectors and I think if I hadn’t been stupid I would have gotten a lot more out of the rev band setup. They took probably 80lbs off the bottom, slack at the top. Oh well. Squats were good and pretty easy.
Not sure I like only 1 lower day per week but I’ll keep it for a little longer.
mon 4/25
warm up: mini band stuff, DB rotations
bench - w/light band
135,185x10, 225,255,275x5, 295x3, 315x1,2, 245x10
cable row - neutral medium grip
superset, 10 reps
incline bench
135x3x10, 155x2x10
rickshaw walks - 1 rep is down and back, straps at 535
245,335,445,535x1, 625x.5,.5
pec flye/rear delt flye - these didn’t feel very good
2x10
stretch like whoa
315 was smoother than last week. Made it down the gym with 625 but put it down after turning around. Deadlifted it from the floor and walked back… very tough. Hit the power rack too that was frustrating (there is not much clearance to either side). Usually I pick it off of a pair of 4-boards so pulling it from the floor was different but surprisingly easy.
Think I will go to 8-day training weeks so I can squat twice every-other week. Also, those reverse-band conventional deads very clearly exposed my back as a fraud and weakling. Erectors were just totally fried until Sunday. Needless to say I will be doing that again.
Vid:
wed 4/27
warm up: back raise, hip flexor stretch, squats
SSB squat - reverse AVG bands when indicated, almost slack at top, about 100 off the bottom
155,205,245,295x5, 335x3, (rev AVG bands) 335x3, (belt) 385x3, 425x3, (wraps) 475x2, 495x1, (wraps off) 425x5
RDL - to the floor
135,225,315x10, 405x5, (needed belt so put it on), 405x5
stretch
Squatting was pretty good… tried to descend slower and maintain tightness. Really kicked my ass to be honest but it was definitely fun. RDLs were fine… just didn’t have the gas to do regular deads after the squatting. The last set was more like 405x5+5 because I had to stop and put the belt on. Would have been 10 no problem if I started w/belt.
Put my food into fitday just to see where I was… about 2000 cals per day without lifting shakes. That is pathetically low. Have an easy plan to get 3500 w/o lifting shakes so I stop fuckin starving myself so we’ll see where that goes.
495x1:
425x5:
awesome. so howd everything feel with the reverse bands and they staying tight on the way down? i feel like it’s more tiring with reverse bands but i can’t back that up with anything lol.
so really my only advice on things is that your upper back caves a little on the way up. try keeping your elbows down and tucked, this will help keep your upper back tight, right when you flair your bows you can see your upper back cave. so keep them tucked and push your head back into the pad when you come out of the hole. it looks like you do a good job keeping straight on the way down though.
jake, you have anything to add to that?
correct me if i’m wrong here but is your upper back sore? it looks like it might be lol.
Hey man, what’s the thinking behind the reverse bands lately? Just mixing it up or focusing on something specific? Also that’s a beastly weighted pullup
[quote]2-SCOOPS wrote:
awesome. so howd everything feel with the reverse bands and they staying tight on the way down? i feel like it’s more tiring with reverse bands but i can’t back that up with anything lol.
so really my only advice on things is that your upper back caves a little on the way up. try keeping your elbows down and tucked, this will help keep your upper back tight, right when you flair your bows you can see your upper back cave. so keep them tucked and push your head back into the pad when you come out of the hole. it looks like you do a good job keeping straight on the way down though.
jake, you have anything to add to that?
correct me if i’m wrong here but is your upper back sore? it looks like it might be lol. [/quote]
It sure felt more tiring to me as well. Except I couldn’t sleep last night. Does squatting insomnia exist?
I noticed the winging but didn’t see the upper back caving even after a dozen views… thanks I will try to work on that. My upper back seems fine today! Glutes are a little tender though.