Good good, now that I’ve leaned out I can actually see some muscle imbalances. The training I have scheduled for the next 6 weeks doesn’t leave room for correctives but after them I have some work to do.
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Any accessories? Or just ass needed?
I’m thinking I would pair the main with a secondary lift to address weakness or compliment the main then hit some iso work to finish off the surrounding tissue 3-5 exercises + core in the 30-50 rep per exercise range.
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I’d say just pick 1-2 accessories for each main lift. No need to go crazy because this isn’t a hypertrophy thing. And iso work is underrated, which I’m just realizing now. Iso glute work, core work, even arm iso work is nice. I don’t know what the practical applications of iso work are, but it’s fun. Core is always a must, agreed.
@Voxel that’s a crazy level of lean. I know my left arm is about 3/8" bigger (and stronger) than my right arm, but other than that I don’t see any imbalances. Doesn’t make sense though, because I beat my meat with my right hand. There is zero logic here
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Haven’t touched a weight since Saturday. My back felt fine on Sunday, but it felt worse than death on Monday (yesterday). I didn’t even feel confident going in to bench and OHP yesterday. That being said, I took my little sister to our community college today to walk our classes. I easily walked about 1.5 miles (across campus about 3 times) and we got signed up for the gym so we’re heading over there in about an hour or two.
I feel much better today. I’m wondering if maybe I should just cut deadlifts out entirely, because I can’t see any other reason why my back would hurt like that. I’ll probably do my 6x2, then my 6x4, and if that kills me again I’ll drop them. I think as long as my legs continue to get stronger, I’ll be able to deadlift 500+. Maybe deadlifting once a week is what I need to be doing. Maybe once every 2 weeks. Idk, because I’ve been doing my rehab work constantly and it doesn’t seem to be helping. It’s frustrating to say the least.
So, gonna head to the gym for the first time in 3 days in an hour or two. Got 6x3 245 for bench, and 6x2 EMOM 145 for OHP. Will follow that up with some DB bench and tricep work. Face pulls and maybe DB rows. Will post later!!
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14 August 2018 - Bench & OHP Bodyweight: 215.6lbs
30 sec side plank each side, 30 sec front plank, arm circles
Bench 6x3 255lbs
OHP 6x2 145lbs EMOM
DB Bench 75x14, 80x12
Tricep Extensions (Straight Bar) 4xAMRAP (I didn’t look at the weights. Started 1/3 of the way down the stack, ended up almost at the bottom)
4x15sec Russian Twists + 2 rounds of Bird Dog Holds
Notes
Actually a good fuckin day today, FINALLY. My back has felt fantastic since the workout started. Thank God.
I decided to go for 255 instead of 245 for bench. Why not. I already got 6x6 255 before and I feel like I could do 6x6 245 tomorrow if I wanted to. 10lbs is sort of a significant difference when you’re at the 80% range, so 255 felt sorta tough, but I banged out 3 reps for every set fairly easily.
The OHP was straight money today which makes me really happy. Yeah, it was only 6x2, but still. I made every rep dead stop at the bottom position, and I blew through my sticking point every time. I was very happy with the speed.
DB Bench was just for fun. I’m starting to think the weights at my college’s gym aren’t calibrated worth shit because I’m pretty sure I could’ve done the 75s for 25 reps. Maybe I will next time. Who knows. Might be worth a shot.
The tricep extensions were for fun. I like a good arm pump now and then 
(Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to hear about my sister)
My little sister did great today, I’m super proud of her. I’ve been coaching high school freshmen boys for weightlifting for probably 5 years now (started as a soph in high school), and my little sister, by far, has the best RDL I’ve ever seen a new lifter have. I told her “bend your knees a little bit. Push your hips backwards, and push you chest forward, but keep your back straight.” boom. She got it immediately. The first rep looked like she had done RDLs before, so I asked her and she said “never done em before, is this good?” and I felt an overwhelming sense of hope. She benched the bar for 6x3, about 5x10 for RDLs, a few with 10lbs on each side. I put 5s on each side while she was benching after her 4th set, and she didn’t get a single rep, which confused me. My upper body has always possessed above average strength for my age and bodyweight, so I’m spoiled. So we went back to just the bar and she banged out 2 more sets. She did some hammer curls and tricep extensions and all the core work with me. I’m a very proud big brother. She weighed in at 156lbs after I weighed in at 215.6, and in all honesty I expect her to get up to 160-165 rather quickly. She’s never touched a weight before and I’m going to keep her on an honest progression.
Tomorrow will be 6x3 squats at 340lbs. But wait: what do you guys think about doing a pyramid style? Maybe 335 for 2x3, then 340 for 2x3, then 350 2x3? 6120lbs total vs 6150lbs total. I wouldn’t be adding a ton of weight but it would be a way to keep things interesting. Accessories for tomorrow will most likely be leg extensions, leg press, and good mornings. I might do some smith machine squats instead of leg press to destroy my quads. Thursday will be an off day because of work, but Friday will be another upper body day.
Also: I decided to drink my protein before and during my workout instead of after. Supposedly that helps preserve more muscle by reducing the amount of stored amino acids being depleted from my muscles. Or something. I’m not exactly sure, I’ll see if it affects my gains at all.
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What’s your peri-workout nutrition like?
Girls seem to figure out body positions faster and easier than boys. It was a struggle to get boys to learn RDLs and squats but girls could get it on day 1. It makes coaching Sui much easier.
In regards to her benching, you added 20+% to the bar between sets. That’s a big jump when doing triples.
Right now, I either slam 2 cups of chocolate milk immediately prior to getting in the car or I eat an apple on the way there. I drink my protein shake during the car ride/for the first quarter of my workout, then I switch to water. Afterwards I try to eat as much protein as possible without worrying about carbs. What’s yours like?
Shit man… hahaha. I didn’t think about it like that. That’s a good point. A little common sense goes a long way huh?
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Hey what does a weekly layout look like. It seems you do the main squat or dead then the other for 6x2 then flip them on the other day…same for bench and OHP?
15 August 2018 - Squats & Deads Bodyweight: 215.5lbs
Back Squats 6x3 340lbs (pretty easy tbh)
3 second eccentric Front Squats 1x5 135, 1x3 185, 1x3 225
Squat Stance Deadlifts 6x2 365lbs (not bad at all)
Leg Extensions 3x20 90lbs (junk volume probably…too easy)
Good Mornings 1x10 135lbs, 1x10 185lbs
Notes
Pretty awesome day today. Squatting in chucks always makes it easier to find my heels. Front squats were pretty easy, but last time I pushed it, I re-fucked up my SI joint during dark horse. 295x1 and one loud pop…that wasn’t fun.
The barbell seemed slightly longer than usual today during deads, and I really have no idea why. My most powerful position is usually with my toes about a half inch away from the weight, but today I was probably 6 inches away on each side. Squat stance deads felt pretty easy.
Leg extensions were most likely junk volume. Didn’t really get a pump or anything. I gotta do more weight next time. Last time I did leg extensions was last fall when I was trying to squat a big ol PR of 275x10. Lol
Good Mornings were cut a little short. I was too tired to feel it in my hammies and I didn’t want to put my back at risk after all that lifting, so I went home. 8.3/10 today.
@losthog a weekly layout, ideally, is 4 days a week with each main lift getting one heavy day and one light day. So yeah, what you said. Today was heavy squats and light deads, Friday will be heavy OHP and light bench. Sunday will be heavy deads and light squats. It’s on a rotation. I think you’re best off picking one day each week to do your heavy lifts and then everything else will fall into place. So if you know you’re going to be on your feet all day Monday through Friday, you probably want to do heavy squats on Saturday and give yourself Sunday to rest your legs. That sort of thing.
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Thanks man!
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Right now I’m on a diet, so, 35g maltodextrin (carbs) + 16g whey pre + 5g cinnamon, 40g BCAAs + 40g maltodextrin intra, 100g pineapple + 100g blueberries + 1 scoop whey + 1 scoop casein post.
My sketch for my post-diet phase is 50g maltodextrin + 30g whey pre, 50-60g maltodextrin + 15-20g BCAAs intra, 30g-50g oats + 100g pineapple + 50g blueberries + 2 scoops whey postworkout. Something like that.
Oh, and sea salt with pre/intra workout. 6-8g
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Great workouts here Lava, good thing , that your back healed up.
You could try to do something else for the deload/light/speed day. Like KB swings, RDL’s, SGDL, Cleans.
About girls and lifting, I think most girls don’t have the same strength for bench as boys have.
Let her keep the bar weight and work her up to sets of 6 - 8 before putting on more weight.
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That seems very calculated. I’m intrigued, care to elaborate on why you chose what you did? I know cinnamon has some sort of positive effect, as most spices and herbs do lol. I don’t know what exactly though.
I always consume a small palmful of salt before a workout. It definitely helps.
Thanks chief 
and that’s a good idea. I might just do some RDLs from now on after my squats.
Another great idea. By no means am I an advanced weight lifter, but I’ve come so far from where I started that I forgot how to start. Good call. She’ll stick with the bar until she can do it for 6+ reps.
Recovery Day, August 16
Worked an 8 hour shift, nothing special. Didn’t train, didn’t walk, didn’t stretch, didn’t do any rehab stuff. My back felt great all day. OHP emphasis day tomorrow. 6x3 145lbs for my last 6x3 workout before the 6x4 wave starts. Followed by 6x2 235 I think. Then I’ll shift my focus to back work mostly with some core. My legs are definitely too sore to deadlift heavy on Saturday, so I’ll likely deadlift heavy on Sunday. Saturday off which means it’s time to grill some meat and chug water like a fish see y’all in 12ish hours
Sure, happy to. It’s something that has evolved over time, but I started with some combo of malto+whey from @danteisms excellent log https://t-nation.com/t/natty-on-pennies and then as experimentation brought me to where I am today. The high BCAA count is from Refined Physique Transformation And the reasons for included cinnamon are outlined here Cinnamon in Peri-workout Nutrition (in short, improve insulin sensitivity).
CT has written about pineapple as a post-workout carb source on his site (it has tons of other benefits as well). The grams are just what fits into my daily calorie allowance and add up to an okay amount. I base my peri-workout nutrition macro spread from what 2-3 servings of Biotest Plazma and 2 servings of Mag-10 adds up to.
I’ve gone lower carb in the past but as the weight on the bar has gone up, I’ve found I need more carbs during a training session to get through it.
Why whey and casein? Well, casein for satiety and I happen to have both at my desk at the office which is where I take in this shake.
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How about doing it the way you yourself do it.
one day bar 5 sets of 3 up to 5 sets of 6 or 7.
Then another day doing 5 sets of 2 focus on technique let her pause the bar on chest on both reps.
Then put 2 - 3 lb on the bar and let her do 4 sets of 5 just as your own programming.
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Agree 100%. Taking in more carbs doesn’t just give me more energy temporarily, it seems to actually keep me more energized throughout the course of the week. Instead of dragging ass the day after a hard workout, getting enough carbs helps me stay energized. yeah, I’m still sore after a hard workout, but I have energy. It’s an interesting phenomenon, one that I don’t experience while on IMF or low carb.
I love pineapple and cinnamon. I will take it before my next 5-10 workouts and see if I notice a difference.
Where do you buy your maltodextrin from? And do you have a training log that I can follow?
It’s bench day again today for her. We’ll aim for 6 sets of 4 with the bar and then some light DB OHP. As always, you have good ideas. Thanks mate
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Hey Lava you’re welcome — but it’s actually your own idea.
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The only bad thing with cinnamon is how expensive it is. 5g is quite a lot. With regards to pineapple, I get mine frozen, I recommend getting either fresh or frozen pineapple and staying away from canned!
All of the supplement vendors/merchants in my country carry it. I usually get a big bag, 4 kilos, for just over 15 dollars. I do have a training log: Nordic Blood: Climbing And Lifting / Lifting And Climbing
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