Back workout:
Dead lift
135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 325x1, 365x5 (I think this is a PR)
Hang Cleans
65x3, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 165x1, 175x1x3 (PR)
Dumbbell rows
75x3, 85x3, 95x2, 105x8 (straps used with this last set)
Superset Zercher squats to bb rows with 100lb barbell
5 sets of 8 reps each
Everything felt really good. My last rep of 365 on deads was pretty bad, and I had to hitch to get it up. If I want to do 5 reps on my last set of should probably break it up into 3 then 2.
have you tried sumo deads? im a little over 6’ 4’’ and had a back injury i just took care of and i can only sumo deadlift now so that might help you. also good norma jean song
I don’t really have a serious back injury. My main recent issue was straining my upper paraspinal muscles which are not bothered by dead lifting. I have done sumo before, but regular stance feels more natural, and I can pull more with it. And yes, Norma Jean is awesome. Their new CD is amazing.
I made the move to MODIFIED Sumo a few months back and saw great gains. Modified or semi-sumo means I have my feet only slightly wider than conventional but I turn them out and put my arms in between them. This makes for a lot less difficulty getting the bar around my shins and a more vertical bar path.
I was sceptical at first but don’t knock it til you try it…
I’m rubbish at wide stance sumo
Shoulders and arm day:
Strict standing barbell press
50x6, 70x3, 90x3, 100x8x2, 100x6
Neutral grip chins
6x3
Javelin press
40x6x3 (6 each arm)
Face pulls
80x8, 90x8, 100x8, 110x8
Standing ez-bar curls
80x8, 80x7, 80x6
I was/am still extremely sore and fatigued from my back day 2 days ago. I wanted to take it easy today. So nothing too exciting here.
ros1816: I have not tried a hybrid stance before. I may try that sometime, but I don’t seem to have any issues with getting the bar around my shins and knees. Random funny story though: a couple years ago I was doing sumo stance dead lifts in my university gym. This personal trainer guy comes up to me and repeatedly tells me I’m dead lifting wrong, and that, “my arms must be on outside of my legs to dead lift”. I explained to him that I was doing sumo or “wide stance” and he repeatedly told me I was doing it wrong. I told him that he had no idea what he was talking about and eventually he left me alone. Crazy personal trainers…
Do you never scrape your shins when deadlifting then?
I used to do it all the time when pulling conventional. I kept reopening the wounds and now I’ve got permanent scar tissue on them! Everyone asks what are those purple marks on my shins - they don’t understand if I tell them how I got them. I now wear shin pads all the time if I pull conventional or powerclean - long socks don’t provide enough protection.
When I first started dead lifting regularly I used to tear my shins up so bad I would bleed all over my shoes and the bar…which was hardcore but painful and stupid. For a while I was wearing long socks to lessen the scraping, but they only helped so much. Now I occasionally scrape my shins, but it’s nothing that causes bleeding anymore. I guess I just learned the right pathing for the bar in relation to my shins. I do have purplish marks on my legs though from light scrapping still. The only time I worry about really tearing my shins up anymore is when I max.
Legs:
Box Squat
135x5, 155x5, 195x3, 225x3, 245x6, 225x6, 225x5, 175x6x2 (as fast as I can go)
leg press
8 plates x 3
10 plates x 1
drop set 6 reps for each plate set
10 - 8 - 6 - 4 plates
seated leg extension to seated leg curl superset
entire stack to half stack 10 reps each, 3 sets
leg press calf raises
7 plates x10x3
I know I said I was going to stick with just regular squats and nothing fancy, but box squats just feel the best for when I go heavy. The box is about an inch below parallel for me so I assume it’s pretty similar to a regular squat. I’m just going to use the excuse that I’m tall and stick with them for a while. I will do high rep, lighter regular squats during my back day.
Bench day:
Dumbbell bench
55x5, 65x5, 75x3, 85x1, 95x5 PR Yay!
Close grip bench
135x3, 155x3, 165x1, 175x8
The bar was different that normal. I almost dropped the bar on me on my first rep of 175. Apparently my PR fatigued me more than I thought.
Alternating arm dumbbell incline bench (bench at roughly 45 degrees)
50x10x3
Pull up to push up 10 sets
3 to 5
fastest time yet, completing all 10 sets in under 11 minutes
Floor dumbbell tricep extensions
27.5x5x4
I got a PR which makes me happy. It’s nice to know that my bench is finally going up consistently. Here’s some music for lifting to:
Back day:
Dead lifts
135x5, 235x5, 295x3, 335x1, 380x2, 375x1
Hang cleans
65x3, 95x3, 115x3
Power cleans
115x3, 135x3x4
Dumbbell rows
70x3, 80x3, 90x3, 100x3
Superset Zercher squats to barbell rows 115 lb
6 reps to 6 reps, 4 sets total
I’m now working on getting the complete motion of the power clean down. It definitely feels like a lot more to think about than just a hang clean, but I feel like I am going to get the hang of it. I really like the lift, and the explosiveness of it makes me feel awesome.
Shoulders and random stuff:
Body weight neutral grip pull ups
6x4
Strict javelin press
50x4x5
Squat plate raises to hand walkouts 45 lb plate used
6 to 8
standing barbell bicep curls
80x7x2
This ab thing with a cable and you crunch down and it puts a massive amount of strain on my biceps because it crushes them against my forarms
110x8x2
I normally don’t workout 3 days in row, but I have no time for the next 3 days so I figured I better go now. I also feel pretty beat up, so I did not do anything heavy at all. The jav presses seem to work my upper paraspinals quite a bit, which is good because they are what I messed up a while ago. Was going to do prowler, but between the poor weather, and my perpetually sore hamstrings I decided against it.
[quote]Sprankton wrote:
When I first started dead lifting regularly I used to tear my shins up so bad I would bleed all over my shoes and the bar…which was hardcore but painful and stupid. For a while I was wearing long socks to lessen the scraping, but they only helped so much. Now I occasionally scrape my shins, but it’s nothing that causes bleeding anymore. I guess I just learned the right pathing for the bar in relation to my shins. I do have purplish marks on my legs though from light scrapping still. The only time I worry about really tearing my shins up anymore is when I max.[/quote]
I’ve just been wearing pants on DL day and it seems to protect shins okay. For 5/3/1 its recommended to take the 2nd week easier if recovery is an issue so just your lifting hard every other week. I am going to do that for a bit longer then switch to something where alternate DL and Squat weeks but probably keep upper body as I’ve been doing.
Legs:
Front squat
95x3, 135x3, 155x3, 185x3, 205x1, 225x3 PR
20 rep squat
135x3, 145x20
barbell lunges in squat rack
warm up sets because I have not done these in forever x 3
95x10, 115x8, 135x6
good mornings
135x5, 145x5, 155x3
leg extensions
entire stack x10x3
leg press calf raises
7 plates x10x3
Overall a very good day. My left shoulder started feeling not so great from having a barbell on my back for so long. Fortunately I’m deloading on bench and deads this week.
sufiandy: Wearing pants on dead lift day is a good idea, but I have no workout pants. I just need to remember to wear long socks on that day. I am not currently doing 5/3/1, but I will probably go back to it when I hit a big wall with a lift. I try and deload every 4 to 5 weeks. I definitely learned from doing 5/3/1 that deloading is pretty necessary, especially with my long, gangly frame.
Bench deload:
dumbbell bench
50x5, 60x5, 70x10
incline dumbbell bench alternating arms
50x10x3
3 pullups to 5 pushups
10 sets
It felt amazing not killing myself today at the gym. Even with the lack of doing anything heavy my shoulders felt terrible. My leg workout from yesterday killed my entire body. I think I had a barbell on my back way too much.
Back deload:
Dead lift
135x5, 225x5, 275x5
hang cleans:
95x3, 115x3
power cleans:
115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x2, 195x2
superset Zercher squat to barbell rows
115x6x4
I decided since I did not dead lift heavy today to see where my power cleans are at and learn from my it. I have some serious issues with my form once I get up into the 180+ area. I need to really work on 1) getting under the bar as fast as possible, and 2) keeping the weight on my heels and not falling forward. I know power cleans are an extremely complicated lift so I guess I will just keep working on it. Next back day I need to do several sets in the 165 range to work on these issues.
Over head and random stuff:
Strict standing over head press
45x5, 65x5, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3 (last 2 sets with belt)
neutral grip chins
6x4
strict standing javelin press
45x4, 50x4x4
face pulls
80x10x3
standing barbell curls
80x8x2
sprinting warmups
prowler at 50 yard sprints
just prowler x 2
prowler + 50lbs x 4
I always have to remind myself how much the prowler sucks/is awesome.
Legs:
Box squat
135x5, 155x5, 195x3, 225x2, 265x4
Box squat as fast and explosively as possible
185x7, 195x6, 205x9 (The last 3 were slow and non explosive and don’t really count)
Barbell lunges in squat rack (reps are total, not per each leg)
115x10, 115x8, 115x6, 115x4
Leg press
360x3, 450x1, 500x6x3
I have been feeling not so great lately so I took today easier than normal. I still feel like I worked out hard though.
Bench day:
DB Bench
50x5, 60x5, 70x3, 80x2, 90x6
Close grip bench
135x3, 155x3, 175x2, 185x6 PR
3 pull ups to 5 push ups
10 sets not done for time
Incline db bench alternating arms
50x10x2
I have been sick these past few days with head aches and nausea. I don’t know what is causing it, but this work out was pretty brutal.
Legs/Back:
Squats
135x5, 155x5, 185x3, 225x3, 225x3, 245x3
barbell lunges in squat rack
135x6x3 (3 each leg)
stiff leg deads
135x5, 225x5, 275x5
conventional deads
315x5
zercher squats
135x8, 155x6, 185x4
My upper back is not feeling so great after my last bench day. I did something strange to both my lats and my right rhomboid I think. So, I decided to do some legs before doing back and going light on my back today. Turns out my lats hurt worse now. I’m going to take a week off upper body and free weights, and just do a couple machine leg days to let myself heal.
Legs:
Box Squat
135x5, 155x5, 195x3, 225x2, 250x1, 275x3 PR I think
Explosive as possible box squat
185x5, 205x5, 215x5
leg press
warmups
12 plates x 6
leg extensions to seated leg curl
2 sets of 10
My upper back issues I believe are coming from over head stuff. So for the next 2 weeks I am cutting out all over head stuff to let it heal. So no over head pressing, pull ups or chins, face pulls, or incline pressing.