That sure is expensive, but milk is probably the best beverage of all time so I guess it’s worth it. I stick with skim milk when I cave in though.
[quote]samoth2 wrote:
That sure is expensive, but milk is probably the best beverage of all time so I guess it’s worth it. I stick with skim milk when I cave in though. [/quote]
I would never drink regular milk again myself. For one, I’m intollerent to it despite the fact raw milk causes me no issues. Raw milk is the best beverage of all time, all other milk these days = not so much. I remember when I tried to bulk by adding calories from just whole, non raw milk… never gained so much fat in my life. But I digress…
Oh shit, where you get raw milk from in this shit-hole country?
[quote]Jab1 wrote:
Oh shit, where you get raw milk from in this shit-hole country?[/quote]
(Literally) the only place you can get it is Hook & Son online (well, shipped anyway)… the prices get more reasonable the more you can buy so I’d reccommend 20 pints if you have the freezer space. There’s raw cream/butter on there too but they are yet to have the butter in stock when I buy, and either way its very expensive.
Good work in here bro. I’ve been thinking of taking a Mountain Dog approach to arms as well, because it seems things like lats, medial/rear delts, and my arms seem to not respond to the ‘just lift heavier and they will grow’ mantra, so I’m curious to see your results in the next few months.
And I feel you on the PL Bench technique. In the last few weeks I worked out with another T-Nation member, Heavy Triple, and I’ll have to say, no matter how many articles you read on tight arch, leg drive etc, it is over 9000x better to have someone show you proper set up in person. Do you lift near any big PL’s in your gym? I’d say it would be a great idea to just ask them to help you out, show you some tips, etc. I wish I had sooner, because literally that one bench session with HT increased my form, and by default my potential progress, ten fold.
@spidey: Thanks man, appreciate you checking in!
In terms of the MD principles I think I’m at a point where I pretty much know what grows easy (not much, lol) and what doesn’t, as well as what bodyparts I find easy to recruit. With this in mind, I can construct a more intelligent training approach overall. I’m finally realising (and implementing) that unless I’m doing one of the 3 powerlifting movements, I should be doing the exercise in the way which best stimulates muscle growth… as this is EVERY other exercises goal in my arsenal. Intelligent sequencing makes a big difference too, as I said it can make you hit bodyparts super hard with only maybe 9 work sets where I may have had 15+ before.
PL bench wise… simply? No. Where I train has no serious powerlifters, although there are guys benching decent amounts none use a PL setup as far as I can tell. I might be training with a guy in the summer who can help me out (150kgx5 bench at 19) but I’m not even sure if he really uses PL setup. I’ll keep hammering away.
shouldhavetrainedatandyboltonsgym.jpeg
Smolov Intense: Week 3, Day 3
Squat
100/220 x 3 - 117.5/259 x 3 - 132.5/292 x 3 - add belt - 147.5/325 x 3 - 147.5/325 x 3 - 147.5/325 x 3 - 147.5/325 x 3 - Volume/depth PR for weight
Deadlift (beltless, chalkless)
60/132 x 2 - 100/220 x 2 - 120/265 x 1 - 140/309 x 1 - 160/353 x 1 - 180/397 x 1 - 200/440 x call it, I could tell it would have been a grinder as I was putting tension on the bar. My grip sucks now, though forgetting chalk didn’t help.
Waiting on my video to upload…
^ Getting the right angle for depth was next to impossible, but I think it’s fair to say I delibrately made sure I sank these noticably deeper then my previous video and am pretty comfortable they were now to depth. Felt very solid today… I could have hit 2 more reps or so in the last 2 sets. 30 seconds onwards for sets where you can “sort of tell” the depth… 1:25 for final 2 sets which have best depth.
Hey just subscribed and checked out some of your log. Very nice squatting! Is smolov the routine that has you squat 4x a week?
Hard to tell really. Get your ass lower on the deadlifts, you could definitely pull more if you set up a bit better.
@dlouda: Hey man! Good to have you checking in, I’ll try and keep it as exciting as I can. Smolov has a base cycle where you squat 4x a week for 3 weeks, I ran that and am now running the intense cycle where I squat 3x a week for 4 weeks, which overall I prefer and am making better progress on.
@phlegms: Yeah man, it was pretty annoying but that’s literally the only place I could have setup and even if I got someone to film “can you kneel down and get a shot of my legs” doesn’t bode well. I’m definitely sinking them further then that previous video though, so if they aren’t there then they are VERY close. I’m pretty sure they are. Foam rolling/mobility work definitely helped depth wise.
Re the deadlift, yeah agreed, I have 500+ in me with a little work, just trying to get back into pulling and back to the sort of form I had when I hit 485. I will possibly film my final day of smolov and do some pulls after that too.
Edit: 190.4lb bw this morning, good to be above 190 again…
You’re falling very, very far forwards in your squats and that makes it look like you’re going deeper than you actually are because you can’t physically lean forward any further. Probably below parallel but impossible to actually see, are you high or low barring?
[quote]SamMcLoughin wrote:
You’re falling very, very far forwards in your squats and that makes it look like you’re going deeper than you actually are because you can’t physically lean forward any further. Probably below parallel but impossible to actually see, are you high or low barring?
[/quote]
Yeah it did concern me a little, I’ve recently switched to a lower bar position (still only mid-positioning) I will probably go back to high bar as I generally stay pretty upright with that.
After my fold-over squats I fancied hitting chest hard today:
5/3/1 Bench / Chest Session
Bench Press
72.5/160 x 5 - 80/176 x 3 - 90/198 x 5 (+2 spotted reps) Recent PR
^ PRs wise I’ve hit 90kg x 8 CGBP (at 8lbs heavier BW) before so this is no all-time PR, but getting back to that level. I got an unrack final set, my PL setup wasn’t anywhere near as tight as it should have been but the ROM was much closer to how it should be thanks to the unrack. I have a lot more in me that’s for sure and I can still take further inches off the ROM.
DB Twist & Press
28/62s x 7 - 28/62s x 5 - 26/57s x 5
^ Sure enough, my left shoulder had tweaked a little from the flat pressing, so I wasn’t able to push these at all, I stopped when the shoulder pain started. Squeeze at top of rom felt very good.
Barbell Incline (to 1-2 inches from chest & constant tension most reps)
60/132 x 8 - 65/143 x 8 - 70/154 x 6 - 75/165 x 4
Was going to do dips but my shoulders weren’t up for it so…
One-arm HS incline (low seat, “pressing up”)
1plate x 15 - 1plate +5/11 x 10 - 1plate +5/11 x 6-10 - drop for left side - 1plate x 4 - 1/2 plate x 9
Cable MM w/strong squeeze
LR - 5/11 x 15 - LR - 7.5/17 x 10
Game over. Felt good overall, training smart is the way forward.
Solid bench PR…Echo what some of the other guys said, squat down lower in the deadlift, that’ll definitely help you pull bigger off the floor.
@austin: Thanks man, I’m trying to just keep my shoulders healthy because I know with this reduced ROM form I have much better PR numbers in me easily, I just have to be patient. I’m going to be working on my deadlift form again… start throwing them in “HFS” style (though I’m nearly finished with smolov now anyway)
Smolov Intense: Week 4 Day 1 / 5/3/1 Military/Shoulders
Squat
ATG/Beltless - 110/243 x 3 - 125/276 x 3 - below para/belted - 140/309 x 5 - 140/309 x 5 - 140/309 x 5 - 140/309 x 5 - 140/309 x 5
^ I think I stayed way more upright in general today but last two sets were ridiciliously hard
Military Press (Cleaning the weight up for first rep)
Warmed up with C&J - 40/88 x 5 - 47.5/105 x 5 - 52.5/116 x 9/10 < lost count, this is a good thing though as I was very “in the set”… this is the first time I have been able to push myself on these in awhile due to better form and no shoulder pain (thanks partly to a JM-inspired chest session 2 days ago)
DB Lateral Partials (standing, JM style)
16/35s x 35 - 18/40s x 14 - 18/40s x 16 - 20/44s x 12 < need to stay @ 35s for dat super-high rep range
Rear Delt Destroyer (JM technique: incline bench r. delt swings, drop to more swings, drop to perfect form/squeeze)
16/35s x 26 - drop - 8/18s x 5~ - drop - 4/9s x 4~ < first set was supposed to be 60 reps… guess I need to go lighter
DB Front Raise
14/31s x 8 - drop - 8/18s x some - drop - 4/9s x 10
Cool session… definitely no shoulder pain throughout which is a welcome change.
Great bench press PR bro. That new squat vid def looks better than the last but I agree with the above comments. Sounds like you are working on staying more upright though and still dominating it! Also thanks for the infoz on the raw milk. I can’t drink the pasteurised shit so have been really wanting to try raw.
Mirin’ squats. Also mirin’ your ability to complaint a shoulder workout without it ending in numbing pain…
@jab: Thanks man and no problem. I’ll keep working on my form.
@phlegms: Thanks dude. I’m just working on keeping my shoulder healthy and my chest/shoulder training smart. With form improvements, my bench should fly up with all this in line.
Back Day
Pull-ups
BW x 8 - +15/33 x 8 - +25/55 x 3 < weak again, will probably switch up
One-arm Barbell Row (1p = 10kg plate)
3p x 8 - 4p x 8 - 5p x 8 - 6p x 3 “PR”
Meadows Rows (1p = 10kg plate)
2p x 10 - 2.5p x 8 Default PR < need to work on my form, strong lower lat contraction though at top of ROM…
Seated Cable Row (allowing full stretching out of lats)
40/88 x 10 - 50/110 x 6
Stretchers
50/110 x 12 - 60/132 x 6
DB Pullovers (to forehead)
40/88 x 10 - drop - 22/49 x 8 - drop - 10 x 5~
Forgot to shrug.
So I woke up at 3.30pm today after forgetting to set an alarm. These things happen when you are dougieing and bump n’ grinding till the early hours. Got to make the most of my last 7 weeks or so of University life.
Mirin’ 3.30pm lie-in. Since I graduated I haven’t slept in later than 11. 