I saw that you sometimes superset a big movement with an ab exercise. Did it helped you performance-wise? My core is certainly a strength leak
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I think with the weights I handle I’d be too tired to do it that way lol. But as drop sets for sure would work well!
I always SS my first strength movement with abs even if it’s not written. My go to are ab wheels, hanging leg raises (toes to bar) and situps on the GHR machine. Everyone needs to hammer their core and back. Your body will adjust after a few weeks and then the strength will shoot through the roof. And I feel like with deadlifts and squats:
- Decompresses the spine which feels great
- Really activates the core so when you lift you really feel your core working hard.
But really the reason I started doing this was because if you do abs at the end of the workout, I just never ended up doing them, so now I basically superset everything because that way it actually gets done!
Hammer that core 3x a week supersetting it with movements and after 2-4 weeks once your body adjusts you will see all your lifts go up.
You can NEVER have too strong of a core or back. If those 2 things are really strong, you will most likely be strong everywhere else or make it MUCH EASIER to get strong everywhere else.
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Thanks I’ll definitely do that. I’ve always neglected my core because it was always nice (visually) but during my cut 2 months I started doing some bw abs and light carries and my big lifts felt stronger
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Yeah your big lifts will def feel more stable.
Front squats and heavy carries will do wonders for your core as well!
I often do FS since I am long legged but damn they are hard. And I have a tendancy to round my upper back when things get too hard. These times I have replaced BS with SSB that is also really hard on my core.
I love carries but it’s hard to do them in my gym. I can only do trap-bar carries on like 10 m
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Agreed, as someone who does strongman things like farmers, front Carries (sandbag, Deadball, Zercher,keg) , yoke and even atlas stones have really built up my core
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FRONT SQUAT (ss: Chin-Ups) - 30s rest between sets
375x3
375x3
375x3
375x3
375x3
375x3
LOG PRESS (ss: Mobility work)
170x8
170x8
170x8
170x8
FARMERS WALK (ss: Hanging Leg Raises)
150 each hand x 30 yards
150 each hand x 30 yards
150 each hand x 30 yards
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Ugh I wish there was strongman stuff here. I love front carries, I do them holding plates in Zercher or Bear hug fashion, they destroy the core
Where abouts do you live? No strongman gyms in the area? Sometimes crossfit gyms have strongman equipment but rare
This is becoming more common around here. They have farmers handles, yokes, prowlers, and some even have logs and stones.
Functional training is finally starting to look like real world strength.
I added ~80lb to my back squat 10rm in less than a year by doing double progression.
I started with 205lb as a hard 10 rep and ended with 285lb as a really hard 10 rep before I completely ditched that method because it started to feel really difficult and my achy right knee started to annoy me and eventually got injured.
I used 25 reps as the baseline and basically tried to do them in as few a set as possible. Typically went from doing 4x6 to 2x10 and 1x5. Then I’d add 10lb and go back to 4x6.
Got to 265lb. 3x8. Felt like it crushed me. I forget why but then I started trying to do rep maxes with a higher weight. Did 285lbx9 or 10 shortly after. So, as far as I’m concerned, I added 80lb in less than a year.
And as evident in my training log- I’m not physically gifted.
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BACK SQUAT (ss: Abs, Jump Rope, Chin-Ups)
425x5
425x5
425x5
425x5
425x5
BENCH PRESS (ss: Rows, Curls, Lunges)
315x8
315x8
315x8
275x15
TIRE FLIPS
400lb tire for a ton of flips. Lungs were on fire!
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You hit 355 for 1 a month and a half ago and come back to do 315 for a 3x8 after a 5x5 with 425 on squats. I need whatever you’re eating man, ‘cause I’M LACKiN’
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Haha! I was already doing 315 for sets of 5, so it’s not crazy. But honestly my TRUE 1rm in bench is probably closer to 385ish. But squats don’t affect anything for me anymore in terms of lifts after. I can do 405 @ 5x5 in my sleep now, so 425 is not much more at this point. I’ve been just trying to cut rest times.
But eating wise people think I joke when I tell them, but you know when my lifting really started to sky rocket? When I started incorporating a shit ton of veggies and fruits in my daily intake. I actually eat less meat now (only buy 5lbs a week raw) and I eat vegetarian 1 full day of the week. I think all those micronutrients help man. I don’t know the science but I know I feel good all the time now lol. And I cut chicken out of my diet (still eat eggs), but lots more fish and bison and wild game meat. Sound like I’m turning into a caveman haha!
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I saw a split on an IG post that I’ve never seen, but I like the look of a lot. Looks perfect for someone that wants to lift M-F.
Monday - Lower
Tuesday - Upper
Wednesday - Pull
Thursday - Push
Friday - Legs
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
SPRINTS
10 @ 80%
What kinda veggies are your go to’s? And what’s your vegetarian day look like? It’s on a Non training day I presume.
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Go to veggies:
Spinach
Cauliflower
Asparagus
Carrots
Tomatoes
Onions
Cucumbers
Broccoli
Squash
Bell Peppers
Mushrooms
Vegetarian Day typically looks like this:
Breakfast - Eggs, spinach, bell peppers, rice, fruits
Lunch - Chickpeas, cucumber, tomato, onions, homemade tzaiki sauce
Dinner - Rice/Roti/Naan, lentils, veggies (sautéed or broiled or steamed)
Shake - Fruit, spinach, nuts, seeds, ONCE in a while I’ll put vegan protein powder
My vegetarian day is actually on Wednesdays so it falls on deadlifting day typically or another training day depending on what I’m doing.
This week my dinner will be a homemade blackbean/mushroom burger with cheese. Lunch will be a aloo paratha (stuff potato bread basically) and breakfast I keep the egg/veggie scramble. Seems to work well. I want to get to a point where I eat meat 4x a week and vegetarian 3x a week. But one step at a time for me lol.
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Right on man. I’ve messed around with some various exclusionary diets and I’m so off course now I’m hardly getting any veggies. I’m trying to do a lot of slow cooker food prep as I’m on the road for work. Thanks for your list.
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Killin it in here man. Have a ton of catching up to do on the logs, keep it up!
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For slow cooker I would add potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and tomatoes.
For on the go veggies I think baby carrots, sliced cucumbers and baby spinach work well!
My employees call me the “Caveman” because when I eat my spinach I don’t even put dressing. I literally have it in a ziplock or Tupperware and I just pull it out and eat it like a chimpanzee haha.
I just aim to get veggies in at every meal. I think the habit of it is better than trying to get all sorts of variety to begin with. This style works well. Just have something green at every meal!
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