[quote]Pantherhare wrote:
Saw your high frequency thread and just wanted to drop in and wish you luck! And I apologize if you addressed this earlier in the thread, but is there a reason that you’re still doing a significant amount of conditioning now that your cut is over? Seems a bit counter to the goal of putting on mass, but you’ve obviously been at this for a while and know your body, just curious as to why.[/quote]
Thanks brother, it should be interesting if nothing else.
As to the Conditioning: I dropped all of my recumbent bike and elliptical based cardio now that I am done dieting, which was ramped up to about 2 hours a week total at the end. I didnt want to go from doing that to nothing… huge recipe for disaster in the past for me. I now do 3-5 weight vest walks which take approx 20min a piece, I much prefer these and feel they contribute more to my plan (being big, muscular, and lean), but they dont quite help as much as getting super lean.
The pre workout conditioning I do and the loaded carries I just added in… The short answer is take a look at Alphas current and previous logs, there all the answers lie 
I basically stole the idea from him and implemented it for my skill and work capacity level. His log has been quite influential on me.
It really isnt all that much… At my current level I’m literally doing it with the empty bar often or working up to 65lb’s, and I almost always complete it in ~5-7. I just recently added the Loaded Carries, which are three “sets” of 1 minute work periods. Between the two they only take about 10 minutes. They help increase my overall energy expenditure, but are weight based so they should help to build mass as well.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
As to the Conditioning: I dropped all of my recumbent bike and elliptical based cardio now that I am done dieting, which was ramped up to about 2 hours a week total at the end. I didnt want to go from doing that to nothing… huge recipe for disaster in the past for me. I now do 3-5 weight vest walks which take approx 20min a piece, I much prefer these and feel they contribute more to my plan (being big, muscular, and lean), but they dont quite help as much as getting super lean.
The pre workout conditioning I do and the loaded carries I just added in… The short answer is take a look at Alphas current and previous logs, there all the answers lie I basically stole the idea from him and implemented it for my skill and work capacity level. His log has been quite influential on me.
[/quote]
Got it. Alpha’s definitely a big and smart dude. In the past when you went from huge amounts of cardio to nothing and it was a disaster, was it a disaster in terms of fat gain or work capacity or something else?
Pantherhare: I made the mistake after my last contest in 2012 of essentially dropping most cardio, AND bumping up my carbs quite a bit… Probably like 1,000 calories a day. I did considerably bump up my main workout volume so it wasn’t totally unwarranted, but it was extreme looking back. I was under the delusion at that time of the “post contest rebound”, the idea is that your muscles are very insulin sensitive and will just soak up all those carbs… The result was that I gained 12 pounds in a week, which essentially took me from my contest condition to my 8 weeks-out conditioning and took like 6-8 weeks to undo. It was tough to handle at the time.
I dont know if the pics I attached will show it that well, but the difference between the top and bottom is only 7 days. I know a little post content water and bloat is expected, but it was huge to me at the time and the lesson I learned was to not go from one extreme to another without a transition (low carb, low cal, lots of cardio… to med carb, high cal, no cardio)
Thanks for you interest, maybe you can learn something from my experience.
Thursday 4-2-15: Pump up the volume… a tiny bit
Conditioning: 5 rounds
- BB Hack Squats @ 95lbs
- Pull ups x 6
- Med Ball Slams x 8
- Leg Raises x 8
- Jump rope x 30
Strength: 5 rounds
- Viking press x10, add 2.5lbs every round
- Pullups x 6
- Stationary Lunge with 50lbs
- Pullups x 6
Loaded Carry: Uneven Waiter Walk (25 pounds over head, 25 pounds at side) x 4 rounds
Notes:
-
First ever time trying the BB Hack squat… Really cool movement. It has this cool “zig zag” tension where it starts in your rear delts, through your lats, then ends up going through the core and down through the quads. It actually felt quite easy, going to try and take this lift up through the weight progression
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did 4x12 last week, this week was 5x10… Not a lot, but it was a teensy, tiny bump in volume. Add those up over time and it means progress I think.
Friday 4-3
Conditioning: 4 rounds, 65lbs
-SLDL x 5
-Rows x 5
- clean x 1
-front squat x 5
- BTN Press x5
Strength
A1- bench 190 5,5,4,4,5
A2- Trap bar fat grips row, 5x5 @ 165
B - deads 290x2 EMOM x 6 rounds
Loaded carry: farmers walk 3x1 minute at 145. 2 less drops than last time.
Notes:
Good session, bumped up the bench weight, felt solid. Trying to stay away from super grinders so I only did 4 on the middle sets.
- did deads at 6x2 every minute taking a bit of training tips from the log of emskee. Also my first dat using a belt, felt much more solid that way.
Monday 4-6
Conditioning: 4 rounds
- reverse grip curl x8
- snatch to overhead squat x5
- ab wheel x8
- pull-ups x5
Strength 10x3
A1 - overhead press @ 140
Rest 60 seconds
A2 - pull-ups + 25 pounds
Rest 60 seconds
A3 - squats @ 225
Rest 60 seconds
Loaded carry: overhead plate walk @ 45lbs, 3x1 minute
Notes:
- got 10x3 with 225 on squats, super happy with that. Last rep on final 3 sets was tough
- got a dip delt so I can easily add weight to pull ups now
- really like the “circuit” style. Allows plenty of rest between the same movement (3 minutes) but keeps overall rest low.
-overhead plate walk was killer on triceps, surprised but pleasantly so
Tuesday 4-7
Conditioning: 5 Rounds
- 30 jump ropes
- 8 medball slams
- 5 explosive jumps
- 5 dips
- 8 Ab Side Bends with 45lbs plate
Strength: 5x13 on the first two exercises (65 total reps, did 60 last week)
A1 - Rings Fly
A2 - Rings Row, Hammer or Curl Grip, alterneated every set
A3 - Power High Pull, Ramped to 3rm (175) and then did 3 back off sets of 3 (at 155, 145, 145)
Loaded Carry: ~25 minute weight vest walk (55lbs vest I think)
Notes:
-
I’m becoming a bit more aware of increasing volume per session hence the weird Rep scheme, so this was just a slight increase over last week
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Last week of this cycle, and the last week of Phase One of my Deltoid Frequency project, so expect some new delt pics in a few weeks.
Tim - It was getting heavy there towards the end, that was definitely the top weight for the day, might even have been 5-10 pounds over. Tough to tell on those explosive movements without a coach to tell you if went high enough. I generally have good proprioception though, so I knew to shut it down after that.
Thursday - Is it time to deload yet?
Conditioning: 5 rounds
- Trap Bar Dead @ 105 x 10
- Pull ups x 6
- Lying Leg Lifts x 10
Strength:
- Top 1/3 front squat, 225, 4x6
- pull ups x 6
Loaded Carry: 'Round the Block Farmers Walk with 105lbs. Strapped up and walked around the block.
Notes:
-
My God do I feel beat to crap today. Absolutely ZERO motivation to train, sore all over, “bad pain” in the groin, this was the definition of a “just put the work in” kind of day.
-
Not only that but the 10x3 squats on monday still have my legs sore as hell and the deep groin pain, so I had to ditch any full ROM leg work today… AND my shoulders are getting pounded by the Frequency lateral raises this week, doing more than 90/day this week. Didnt even bother doing the Viking presses today
-
On the plus side, the LONG distance Farmers walk was way easier than I thought. Didnt even drop it… Straps help WAY more than I thought in that regard. Will either load 135 next time or wont use the straps
Friday 4-10: He is Risen indeed
Conditioning: 5 rounds
-10 box jumps
-6 explosive pushups
-8 med ball slams
-12 serratus crunches with 35 pounds
Strength:
A1 - bench 225x1, 5x5@190 … Got em all, up 2 reps from last week
A2 - trap bar rows x 8@ 155, a bunch of sets while warming up and doing the bench 5x5
B - deads up to 325x1. Using this to program the next 6 weeks
Notes:
-
felt 100X better than yesterday, even with less than optimal sleep.
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conditioning was easy, but after yesterday I was in take it easy mode… It did the trick to warm me up tough
-
CTs programming is really working for my bench. Haven’t even tried 225 for a while and it went up smoothly.
-
ran out of time for loaded carries, will weight vest walk tonight.
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Deadlift is almost 2x body weight, I might just work up to 340 at the end of this next cycle to seal the deal on that. Bench is 1.3x body weight, and squat is prob about 1.5 … Not exactly brutally strong, but putting the numbers this way it is actually better than I thought it to be.
Monday 4-13
Conditioning: 5 rounds
- Snatch x 8
- front squat x 8
- jump rope x30
- ab wheel x 10
Strength: 6x2 (deload, 50% volume)
A1- squat 225
A2 - pull-up + 25
A3 - overhead press 155
Weight vest walk x 25minutes as night
Notes:
-
deload week, reducing volume by 50% while keeping weights up
-
last shoulder training for the week, just finished the HFT lateral raises and I’m suppose to rest them for a while to super compensate.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Friday 4-10: He is Risen indeed
[/quote]
Amen!
Tuesday 4-14
Conditioning: 3 rounds
- Hack Squats @ 135 x 8
- Med Ball Slams x 8
- Ab Side Bends @ 45lbs x 8
- Explosive Pushups x 8
Main Work: 5 rounds
A1 - Ring Push ups x 5
A2 - Ring Rows x 5
A3 - Speed Deads @ 185 x 3
Notes:
- 2nd deload day, cut volume by 50%
- Motivation low today, but after I started the love for the work came. I always find that during a deload
Thursday - Wolf Pack Attack
Conditioning: 4 rounds
- 8 Fat Gripz Curls
- 8 Serratus Crunches
- 6 Jumps
- 10 med ball slams
Strength
Work up to 3RM front squat: 185
Work up to 3rm Pullup: 60lbs
Notes:
-
Still deload week, just getting some basic work in, no shoulders still but those front squats kinda had my left shoulder feeling “out of it” for a few minutes.
-
For the front squats I definitely have more strength in me, but my support structure went to shit at that weight. I was leaning forward and it hurt my shoulders, if I can work on all the stuff that supports the front squat, I should be easily able to get it higher.
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I collaborated with Might Stu to make a banner out of his not-so-secret Wolf Pack logo, looks really cool and adds a little character to the home gym.
End of Deload, training cycle results
Deload Training for Saturday 4-18
A - Bench 6x2 @ 205
B - Deads up to 295x1
Notes:
-
Had to get some extra sleep in because work has been hell and keeping me over lately, so I cut this one super short but the 205 benche felt very stable. I liked the doubles a lot
-
Wanted to work up to 315 dead but I could tell it was going to grind a tiny bit and its a deload so I’ll just get it next time.
Training Cycle Results:
- Bench went from 180x5,5,4,4,3 to 190 x 5x5 … Pretty good increase
- Press went from 135 x 5,5,4,3,3 to 135 x 5,5,5,5,7 and 145 for 10x3, again happy with that
- Squat from 210x 5x5 to 215x5x5 and 10x3 @ 225
- Deads, working sets went from 260 to 275, and worked up to a near 2xBW dead… will hit this next cycle hopefully. Going to use the old Louis Simmons dead program EMSKEE posted the other day.
Monday 4-20 … New records all around
Conditioning: 4 rounds
- 30-50 jump ropes (got to at least 30, then stopped when I made a flub)
- 9 ab wheel roll outs
- 8 BB hack squats at 135
- 6 Pull ups
- 8 Hammer Curls
Strength: 5x5
A1 - Overhead Press @ 140 (new weight record)
A2 - Pullup + 25 lbs
A3 - Squat @ 225 (new weight record, first time ever getting 5x5@225 on squats after many programs)
Loaded Carry: 'Round-The-Block Farmers walk with 105 lbs
Notes:
-
Conditioning was a bitch, It didnt seem so hard when I thought it up, but it was harder to get through than I thought.
-
FINALLY got 225x5x5 in the squat, this is one of the first lifts I’ve ever been real proud of… Nothing I’ve ever done programming wise has gotten me to this, which I always kind of held as a bench mark for me. It felt SUPER solid too, so I have no doubt more weight is in store in the coming weeks.
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Farmers walk was hell on the grip, minimal conditioning effect though, weight was way too low.
Tuesday 4-21
Conditioning:
- 10 med ball slams
- 20 split jacks/jumping jacks
- 8 side ab bends per side with 45 lbs
- 8 curls
- 6 jumping lunges per leg
Strength
A1 - Ring Dips 4x10
A2 - Ring Rows 4x10
A3 - Ramp to 3RM power clean (145) then back off for 5x3 (135)
Carry:
Overhead plate walks, 3 x 1 minute
Notes:
- Super tired today, this was a “roll out of bed” session as I had to do it before work… Got it done though
Congrats on the PR for the squats! Noticed in Alpha’s log you mentioned incorporating the conditioning work before the main workout. How are you finding it?
How does it fit in with your current goals at the moment?
[quote]Ironwarrior25 wrote:
Congrats on the PR for the squats! Noticed in Alpha’s log you mentioned incorporating the conditioning work before the main workout. How are you finding it?
How does it fit in with your current goals at the moment?[/quote]
I like it a lot. I dropped a ton of cardio after my brief weight loss, so it was a great way to add in some huffing and puffing without an extra trip to the gym. In addition if you set it up right it really does prepare you for the main strength work about to happen.
I recommend you give it a shot. I kept it short and sweet in the beginning, but now its about 10ish minutes or so.
Thursday 4-23: Train what is Trainable
Legs were suuupppper sore still so now conditioning
Main work: 4x10
A1 - Klokov Press @ 95lbs
A2 - Pull ups
A3 - Top 3rd front squat @ 135
A4 - Serratus Crunch with 45lbs
Did some backwards and forwards prowler pushing for about 15 minutes after just to get some leg stimulation in after the abysmal front squats.
Notes:
-
Shit session for the legs. Mondays squat workout really rocked them, shoulder presses were great though. Even the prowler pushing felt like my muscles in my groin were tight guitar strings about the snap.
-
Will see if my legs are ready to dead lift tomorrow, if not I’ll wait till saturday.
Saturday 4-25: Back From The Dead
Conditioning: 5 rounds
- 10,9,8,7,6 burpees (dropped a rep each round to account for fatigue)
- 5 pull ups
- 5 hang high pulls
- 10 laying leg raises
- 8 hammer curls
Strength:
A - Bench @ 195 x 5,5,3,3,3
B - Deads EMOM 8x3 @ 235
C - 1 arm rows 5x5
Carry That Weight: Farmers walk @ 195, 9 trips
Notes:
-
As always the conditioning sucked in a good way, I was really unmotivated to do it today but after I got the juices flowing it was very productive.
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Almost back into the swing of things soreness wise, stuff felt heavy today but I got everything done. Bench was a tad disappointing, but thats about where I started reps-wise last cycle and things turned out fine. Although I am starting to “feel it” in my elbows so maybe some lighter weight stuff after this 6 week cycle to deload my joints
-
Stealing EMSKEE’s deadlift cycle that he got from Louie Simmons. Maybe my dead lift is too low to benefit, but we will see. The short rest periods made this weight surprisingly difficult. Not actually difficult, but when I plugged in the weight I thought this would be a breeze, and it was actually a good amount of work.
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I finally pulled my head from you-know-where and figured farmers walks weren’t worth a damn unless they had AT LEAST my body weight on the bar, so I loaded it up this week.
Catching up here, got sick and suppper busy this weekend so here it is
Monday: Sick training
Conditioning: 4 rounds
- Hang Snatch to Overhead Squat x 5 @ 65 pounds
- Ab Rollouts x 10
- 50 jump ropes
- 10 med ball slams
Strength: double progression 5x3-5
A1 - Squat @ 230 4,3,4,4,3
A2 - Overhead Press @ 145: 5,4,5,4,5
A3 - Pull ups with 27.5 pounbs 5x5
Notes:
-
So tired today, and ended up getting sick, and then got so run down from this session. Will smash it next week.
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The 230 squats should end up at 5x5 in a bit, really excited about that.
Wednesday: Tonight we train in HELL
Conditioning: 4 rounds
- 10 burpess
- 5 pullups
- 10 standing band Ab crunches
- 8 deadlifts / hack squats @ 135 ( alternated each round)
- 10 curls
Main work:
A1 - Ring Drips 4x12
A2 - Ring Rows 4x12
A3 - clean up to 3rm ( 150), then 4 back off sets @ 135, 5pound 3RM PR from last week
Carry: Deadlift walks with 95, 115, 135 x 6 and 185
Notes:
- My garage is starting to get HOT … and there are still like 3 months before its really hot out here (Palm Springs, Ca). I cant imaging what August is going to be like.
-My clean forms sucks terrible, it is inconsistent and I can tell it needs work. Will do so in the coming weeks.
-feeling way better today, took a day off training and slept an extra 2 hours… Well worth the investment.