Great performance man! Your will power is extremely inspiring.
I hope you give yourself the time to heal up because I definitely think that 1500 total is within reach. By the way, how is your hip mobility?
[quote]mrodock wrote:
Great performance man! Your will power is extremely inspiring.
I hope you give yourself the time to heal up because I definitely think that 1500 total is within reach. By the way, how is your hip mobility?[/quote]
Thanks, man. It was a tough day. There was just so much I wanted to do and I kept my chances alive until the dl fell apart. If I would have gone 560 on squat and 395 on bench, would I have warmed up differently? I don’t know. All I know is I wanted to make my mark. I may have fallen short, but I have a lot of support in the SPF.
Next meet I am eyeballing is the 1st of May. I want to hit a 600 squat for that one. And i know my bench will be in the low 400’s by then. It’s all a matter of staying healthy and 1500 will be comfortably behind me 
Speaking of health. Hip mobility is something I really pay attention to when I have issues. I really need to make it more of a preventative maintenance “thing” and not just when I hurt. This and other issues are the little things I am looking at for my next program. I may not lay it out, but it will be there.
Nice work dude and I’m sure if your back had cooperated you would have had a great shot for that 1500 total. Next meet you’ll be in a position to get 1550.
Have you settled on what kind of split you’re going to follow or are you just going to use the standard template for now? I’d recommend starting off with the basic template then after a few months start to put your own mark on it. One big thing, though, is you need to choose your main lift variations carefully. I’m still learning, but I’d be willing to help out.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
Nice work dude and I’m sure if your back had cooperated you would have had a great shot for that 1500 total. Next meet you’ll be in a position to get 1550.
Have you settled on what kind of split you’re going to follow or are you just going to use the standard template for now? I’d recommend starting off with the basic template then after a few months start to put your own mark on it. One big thing, though, is you need to choose your main lift variations carefully. I’m still learning, but I’d be willing to help out.[/quote]
Thanks man. It’s all a game of chess and I am REALLY bad at chess. LOL.
As far as the program goes, when I first started writing it up, I was looking at keeping my splits similar to what I was doing now. But, after yesterday, I think a four day split following Mike’s basic template will be wise (FRICKIN 400 WAS RIGHT THERE!!!). I really like his train of thought as far as planning goes. I won’t concern myself too much with the fatigue percentage-tuning of the program until I have a couple of meso’s under my belt, but I will track it so I can get a better feel for how I am responding. Once I have a solid program for the first meso laid out, I will hit you up.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
Thanks man. It’s all a game of chess and I am REALLY bad at chess. LOL.
As far as the program goes, when I first started writing it up, I was looking at keeping my splits similar to what I was doing now. But, after yesterday, I think a four day split following Mike’s basic template will be wise (FRICKIN 400 WAS RIGHT THERE!!!). I really like his train of thought as far as planning goes. I won’t concern myself too much with the fatigue percentage-tuning of the program until I have a couple of meso’s under my belt, but I will track it so I can get a better feel for how I am responding. Once I have a solid program for the first meso laid out, I will hit you up.[/quote]
That’s exactly the way I did it and you should be fine. Just be ready for some soreness. 
[quote]novaeer wrote:
undesired08 wrote:
Thanks man. It’s all a game of chess and I am REALLY bad at chess. LOL.
As far as the program goes, when I first started writing it up, I was looking at keeping my splits similar to what I was doing now. But, after yesterday, I think a four day split following Mike’s basic template will be wise (FRICKIN 400 WAS RIGHT THERE!!!). I really like his train of thought as far as planning goes. I won’t concern myself too much with the fatigue percentage-tuning of the program until I have a couple of meso’s under my belt, but I will track it so I can get a better feel for how I am responding. Once I have a solid program for the first meso laid out, I will hit you up.
That’s exactly the way I did it and you should be fine. Just be ready for some soreness. :-)[/quote]
I think the “lack of focus” has paid off and RTS is the final destination for me. Just reading the manual gets me truly excited about working with and thru this process. I know I’m not close to my top-end and the feeling I get is that this will help me get closer to that point.
First day back, but my gym was closed so I had the opportunity to train at a nice one 3 towns over. All work was done with knee sleeves only. I started squatting and everything was feeling good until I hit the 200kg. The bar slid on the first rep and my arm immediately started aching. I wanted to just get a feel for how may lower back was, so I went super light on dead’s. It felt pretty good, but it’s not 80% yet. The pauses were not what I would consider fun. With safety bar squats, I just wanted to get a feel for the bar. It felt oddly enough like doing front squats. All the other exercises were solid. A lot of work for one day, but I really didn’t push it. I just wanted to get the feel for the program before it starts full tilt on Sunday. 20+ weeks till my next scheduled meet, so I have a lot of room to grow.
Thanks to Novaeer for the tips he has passed along. This is going to get really friggin good!
Back Squat
…184kg/405lb x3 @8
…197kg/435 x3 @8.5
…184kg/405 x3 @8
…200kg/440 x1 @8.5 (bar sliding)
…175kg/385 x3 @7.5
Deads 2c pause
…111kg/245lbs x4 @7
…111kg/245lbs x4 @7
…111kg/245lbs x4 @7
Safety Bar Squats
…61kg/135lbs x5 @6
…61kg/135lbs x5 @6
…61kg/135lbs x5 @6
Bench
…125kg/275lbs x4 @8
…134kg/295lbs x4 @8.5(bad unrack)
…138kg/305lbs x4 @8
…143kg/315lbs x4 @9
JM Press
…57kg/125lbs 4x8 @8
T-Bar row
…41kg/90lbs 4x8 @7.5
Looks good, but keep an eye on that lower back. Once you get in full swing the lower back fatigue can accumulate and set you up for a tweak (kinda like what happened to me, lol) or something potentially worse.
On the RPEs, be very critically honest with yourself because part of the first mesocycle or so I was all over the map. When you get to a heavier weight and aren’t sure whether it was an 8 or 9, call it a 9. If you look at Mike’s videos he calls stuff 9s that I would call 8s, but he does it that way just to be safe and leave no doubt in his mind.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
Looks good, but keep an eye on that lower back. Once you get in full swing the lower back fatigue can accumulate and set you up for a tweak (kinda like what happened to me, lol) or something potentially worse.
On the RPEs, be very critically honest with yourself because part of the first mesocycle or so I was all over the map. When you get to a heavier weight and aren’t sure whether it was an 8 or 9, call it a 9. If you look at Mike’s videos he calls stuff 9s that I would call 8s, but he does it that way just to be safe and leave no doubt in his mind.[/quote]
Yeah, I think 8’s are the easiest to call (between 2 and 4). It’s the 9’s that get kind of muddled. But, yes, I will always be overly critical. Cause really, it’s not “hurting” anyone, it only servers to make one better. And I wont be doing all sessions without a belt, cause I am old and brittle. But, I do need to do some heavier work without, just to get comfortable.
And I watched Mike’s 825 dead from a few days ago that he called a 10. It looked easier than a 10 to me, but that’s the safe part.
The meet video, so that stallion will shut the heck up with his whining about me not hitting depth ;-). I was actually called for depth on my opening squat by the front judge. So, I bottomed the second and third one’s out. I think, if I didn’t go so deep on them, I would have hit the 3rd. No worries. I will get them as deep as I need to. Great meet with a great bunch of guys in the SPF.
Today was my first REAL RTS workout. Wow, I didn’t want to stop, but the last sets were the last sets in me. I used supermini’s on both dead’s and squats. I am kind of worried about being able to walk tomorrow. My last set of squats was with 154kg(340lbs) and just unracking the weight was a chore. My descent was extremely accelerated and exciting. I doubled the bands over on deadlifts. I went double overhand for the first rep and the bar was almost jerked out of my hands (wtf). Lunges have not been in my repertoire for sometime now and were much more demanding after the squats and deads. Standing ab crunches rounded out the workout and I worked up to 54kg(120lbs) and could only muster 4 of 8, so I dropped weight and hit the last 4.
Smolov was tough because the set program is difficult to keep pace. With RTS, it is tough because you work your tail off and push yourself harder than usual because the control feels so good.
Squats w/bands(sm)
…145kg/320lbs x5 @8
…154kg/340lbs x5 @8
…168kg/370lbs x5 @9
…172kg/380lbs x5 @9.5
…154kg/340lbs x5 @8.5 Exhausted!!!
Deads w/bands doubled(sm)
…134kg/295lbs x2 @8.5 Bad grip
…134kg/295lbs x2 @8
…143kg/315lbs x2 @8
…152kg/335lbs x2 @8
…166kg/365lbs x2 @10
…143kg/315lbs x2 @8
Lunges(Dumbells)
…15kg/33lbs x8 @8
…15kg/33lbs x8 @8
…18kg/40lbs x8 @9
…18kg/40lbs x8 @8
…18kg/40lbs x8 @8
Crunches
…41kg/90lbs x8 @7
…50kg/110lbs x8 @8
…54kg/120lbs x4 @12 50kg/110lbs x4 @10
…50kg/110lbs x8 @ 9
…45kg/100lbs x8 @8
Good stuff, huh? You’ll probably find yourself getting more 9s and 10s the first couple of weeks, especially if you’re doing a variation of the big three for the first time. Just try to minimize how many of them you have during the volume phases or you will feel like you had a bag full of hammers dropped on you.
I thought Brain was joking about how sore I would get over the first week. I figured I would really be ready to bench big. Heck, I would have settled for mediocre. But, my arms didn’t want to push anything. I was a rough day. I ran 3 second pauses on bench, followed by close grip bench with the supermini’s, standing single arm db presses, and finishing off with bent over rows. My arms hurt too much to pull much weight, so that was ridiculously light. At least tomorrow is an off day. Time to recover.
3-count pause Bench
…125kg/275lbs x4 @8
…129kg/285lbs x4 @9
…127kg/280lbs x4 @9
…125kg/275lbs x4 @9
…111kg/245lbs x4 @8
Close-Grip Bench w/bands
…70kg/155lbs x5 @8
…79kg/175lbs x5 @8
…88kg/195lbs x5 @8
…102kg/225lbs x5 @9
SA DB Press
…23kg/50lbs x8 @8
…23kg/50lbs x8 @8.5
…20kg/45lbs x8 @7
…23kg/50lbs x8 @8
Bent-Over Rows
…61kg/135lbs x8 @7
…61kg/135lbs x8 @7
…61kg/135lbs x8 @7
…61kg/135lbs x8 @7
My hips were really bothering me today. It was a reminder that I need to foam roll more than I have been over the past couple of weeks. Deadlifts felt smooth. Not good, but not bad. Box squats were a different story. It was a chore just to get my hips loose enough so that I could get my speed off of the box mediocre. I can tell it’s going to take me a while to get the grease going on the box again. The weight felt heavy in my hands on the RDL’s and my lower back started burning, but everything else about the movement screamed MORE WEIGHT. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, my arms will feel better and this dull ache will go away.
Deadlift /w bands single looped (sm)
…125kg/275lbs x4 @8
…134kg/295lbs x4 @8
…143kg/315lbs x4 @9
…154kg/340lbs x4 @9
…132kg/290lbs x4 @10
Box Squat
…86kg/190lbs x2 @8
…95kg/210lbs x2 @8
…104kg/230lbs x2 @8
…127kg/280lbs x2 @10
…104kg/230lbs x2 @9
RDL
…102kg/225lbs x5 @8
…125kg/275lbs x5 @8.5
…125kg/275lbs x5 @8
…125kg/275lbs x5 @8
…134kg/295lbs x5 @9
Weighed Incline Situps
…20kg/45lbs x10 @7
…20kg/45lbs x10 @8
…20kg/45lbs x10 @8
…20kg/45lbs x10 @9
I never did any meaningful kind of recovery work until I started working with RTS. After my first few squatting sessions, my adductors would be very sore for days at a time. The foam rolling helps quite a bit, but once I added more stretching and mobility work into the mix the bouts of soreness were much shorter.
I haven’t put my numbers into the spreadsheet of death, but I already know tonight was a painful night. But, I dipped in a little more, because my shoulders and arms felt pretty good. The bands were “fun” cause I really had to concentrate on getting my speed up. Floor presses were tough, because I was having issues unracking. JM presses were odd. I really have to work on my technique. The early sets, I was hitting around my mouth. I finally got comfortable enough to get down to my chest on the last 2 sets. At that point, my arms started getting naggingly painful.
First week is in the books and it’s funny when I first looked at the workouts, I was thinking “man, this is going to be cake”. What the hell was I thinking?
Bench w/single Bands (sm)
…95kgs/210lbs x5 @8
…104kgs/230lbs x5 @8
…109kgs/240lbs x5 @8.5
…113kgs/250lbs x5 @9
…113kgs/250lbs x5 @10
…104kgs/230lbs x5 @8.5
…95kgs/210lbs x5 @8
…95kgs/210lbs x5 @9
Floor Press
…102kgs/225lbs x5 @8
…111kgs/245 lbs x5 @8.5
…120kgs/265 lbs x5 @9
…125kgs/275 lbs x5 @10
…116kgs/255 lbs x5 @10
…102kgs/225 lbs x5 @9
JM Press
…48kgs/105lbs x3 @8
…52kgs/115lbs x3 @10
…43kgs/95lbs x3 @8
…43kgs/95lbs x3 @8
…43kgs/95lbs x3 @9
Pulldowns
…45kgs/100lbs x8 @7
…54kgs/120lbs x8 @8
…54kgs/120lbs x8 @8
…54kgs/120lbs x8 @9
…54kgs/120lbs x8 @9
Funny, cause I thought the same thing when I first started the standard template. Quickly changed my mind after the first two lower body sessions.
If the JMs are bothering your forearms/elbows just drop them and do something else like DB extensions or Tate presses. It took me a few sessions using very light weight for higher reps (6-8) with the JM presses to get the hang of them, but once I did they really shredded the hell out of my triceps and I brought the bar down to within an inch or so of touching my chin.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
Funny, cause I thought the same thing when I first started the standard template. Quickly changed my mind after the first two lower body sessions.
If the JMs are bothering your forearms/elbows just drop them and do something else like DB extensions or Tate presses. It took me a few sessions using very light weight for higher reps (6-8) with the JM presses to get the hang of them, but once I did they really shredded the hell out of my triceps and I brought the bar down to within an inch or so of touching my chin.[/quote]
Most of my problem with JM’s is trying to keep my elbows up and bringing the bar lower than that point (breaking parallel, so to speak. French curls, or skullcrushers, are easier for me, but I have been doing them longer. I just have to keep the weights lower until I can develop a groove. I’ve only done them twice, so I’m not ready to write them off yet. But, if I do, it will definitely be for Tate’s. One of my favorite accessory movements.
A lot of the programs nuances are coming to light. I can see the benefits of working bench as a two part movement and squatting and dl’ing on the same day in the basic template. Since I didn’t see it before, am making a small change and will do pulls on Sundays with the band’s single-looped and do double-looped on Wednesday’s. I am also toying with the notion of doing fatigue stops on some of the movements as well, but I will see how next week goes first…
I don’t know what happened to the first submission, but I changed the tension on the bands for squats so that there was a pivot point 1 foot away from the anchor. It made a TON of difference, but all in all it was a good change. Deads were done with the single loop and I will do the double loop on Wednesday. Lunges were difficult, because I was spent after squats and deads.
All work was done sans belt at the advice of Novaeer, and all was good.
Week 2 Day 7
Squat w/bands (sm)
…320 3x1 @8 74% 960
…340 3x1 @8.5 79% 1020
…360 3x1 @9 83% 1080
…390 3x1 @10 90% 1170
…360 3x1 @10 83% 1080
Deadlift w/bands(sm, single looped)
…320 3x1 @8 72% 960
…370 3x1 @9 83% 1110
…400 3x1 @10 90% 1200
…350 3x1 @10 79% 1050
…320 3x1 @9 72% 960
Lunges
…80 8x1 @8 54% 640
…100 8x1 @9 68% 800
…100 8x1 @9 68% 800
…100 8x1 @9 68% 800
Crunches
…100 10x1 @8 57% 1000
…110 10x1 @9 63% 1100
…115 10x1 @10 66% 1150
…105 10x1 @10 60% 1050
Just a guess, but that looks an awful lot like the output from the training log application on Mike T’s site. Perhaps the greatest invention of all time. No more need for spreadsheets or notebooks.