Start of week 2 is done… Everything still light as hell, and will be until week 4 really.
After reading Alpha’s log (and of course the Chaos and Pain influence) I’m thinking I may try and find some way to do these as Giant sets instead of as straight sets, or at the very least super sets with non-conflicting muscles (Squats and bench, OHP and Chins for example)… Cut down on the workout time and increase the cardio of the workout. As long as strength isn’t affected I see this going well.
Experimented today with the super setting, did
A1 - Squats 5x5
A2 - Bench 5x5
B1 - Rows 5x5
B2 - Push ups/abs (3 sets of push ups, 3 sets of abs)
I liked it a lot and will continue to implement this going forward. The gym I train at now is kind of hit or miss depending on having 2 stations open at one time to do this. I think I’m one of only 3-5 people who actually do real free weight stuff so it probably wont be an issue going forward, but it might. Worse case scenario is I do the program as written :-/
But guys like Alpha who logs here, Jamie Lewis, and Chad Waterbury all program like this and seem to get stellar results training like this.
Anyone looking for bluetooth headphones on a budget, I wrote this in another thread, but maybe someone will find it useful here:
Speaking for the penny pinchers, I have a pair of Motorola S305’s ($30) and they have done me well for 3+ years now, all buttons working and almost never a connection issue. Maybe a half dozen times in over 3 years. Battery life of 8-10 hours of active listening. They have great sound too. They are over the ear, not in-ear, so that may sway you in you have a preference.
Having said that they are not the most fashionable and can be a tad irritating if worn for hours at a time (I listen to a ton of audiobooks and podcasts, it is not unusual for me to have my headphones on for 4-6 hours at a time, even at that length of time they are perfectly wearable).
If you must have the top of the line, in-ear variety these arent for you, but they work well and are durable, and at 1/3-1/5 the price of some of these other models they are a steal.
I feel like all the squats are paying off in terms of my technique. Today felt very solid, more solid than the previous days even though the weight was the heaviest so far… Far from Heavy (only 160), even for me, but I feel like the technique is coming along. Felt sturdier with every set today and just real “solid” while squatting
Its kinda crazy to look at the weekly volume or even Bi Weekly volume on the squats, it really adds up. 30 sets of 5 over 2 weeks
5x5 @ 135, 5x5 @140, 5x5 @ 145,
5x5 @ 150, 5x5 @ 155 and 5x5 @160.
Doesn’t seem like much but if that was all done on a single Leg Day it would add up to 15x5 on squats
I’d agree that lots of squat volume definitely does a good job at helping you feel more solid and improve your technique.
I did 660 squats in the month of February, working to a training max 5 days a week, and continued to get stronger week-to-week. I don’t really know about other lifts, but the human body seems to be able to handle squat volume pretty well. The Olympic lifting world seems to prove that one out pretty well, and my experience has shown the same.
Echoing what browndisaster said about being a little wary about your current plan though. I really think focusing on speed/force production and form breakdown is a good way to go. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with sticking at a 5x5 (or whatever by whatever) weight for as long as you need to to get all reps of all sets to a solid, powerful, completely-controlled state.
Basically, keep progressing in weight until you hit some amount of form breakdown in the last sets. Then just stay there until everything’s “perfect”, and then keep going. If you get only 3 “perfect” reps on your last set, try to hit at least 4 next time, etc.
Worst case scenario it takes you a little bit longer to reach your goal weight, but when you get there, you know you own it.
Thanks for the advice guys, what I might do is instead of reloading like is recommended (reduce weight 20% and build back up with 5x5 twice, then go to 3x5) is to switch to 3x5 instead of reducing the weight. This would basically transition me to starting strength, reducing the volume 12 sets over the two week cycle. Then Eventually go to 1x5, then I think I’m going to use the Texas Method instead of Madcow.
I’m thinking of keeping my upper body stuff at 5x5 since the freq is quite a bit lower, what say the veterans?
Hey Lonnie, lot of good work being done in here! You’re one of the guys on the forums who’s opinions I put the most stock into, and I’d love your thoughts on a few things. So I’m 7 weeks out from my first show of the contest season, and I can sense that fatigue is starting to build. I know it’s inevitable to a degree, but my situation/schedule isn’t conducive to optimal rest and recovery. Here’s a typical day for me:
4:45- wake up, 10 g bcaa’s, 1 g HMB.
6:00-8:30-work (personal trainer)
9-11- class (pre training meal around 10:15)
11:15-preworkout drink, train. 10 g bcaa’s, 5 g creatine, 2 g HMB consumed intra
1:00- post workout meal
1:00-3:30-class
4-7-baseball practice
8-11- eat remaining meals, study.
11:30- bed
Sorry for the formatting there, on my phone. As you can see, I’m burning the candle at both ends and not getting as much sleep as I’d like, but there’s not many changes I can make to my schedule that will allow me to still be successful in school. I’m currently relying on quite a bit of caffeine to power me through the day, and don’t want to risk adrenal fatigue/high tolerance to stimulants.
Preworkout I’m taking in 300 mg, and then before practice I usually have a Monster Zero (I wanna say about 180 mg). Are there any other supplements that you’d recommend to help optimize my recovery? Keep in mind that I’m not really interested in adding any peri workout supplements that contain any caloric value, as I want to chew all my macros at this point in prep. Before bed I take a melatonin/GABA type supplement that I really like. Also, do you think neural charge workouts would have benefits for me? I occasionally have a free half hour or so between clients at the gym in the morning when I could knock out a quick session. I thought this might boost my energy as well as let me add in a little more activity.
If so, how many of these a week do you think I should do? Thanks for any input you might have!
Thanks for taking the time to write all that out and ask my opinion, that means a lot.
I’ll preface my answer here by saying I am not a trainer, I dont have any experience dealing with other peoples preps, and only have my 2 or 3 experiences getting really lean to draw from here and the peoples logs I’ve read and interacted with…
Having said all that, I think I can help if you give a little more info. I apologize if you’ve answered this recently in your log, but having it all nice and available right here will help us both I think:
What are you current calories and weight?
How much fat/weight per week are currently losing?
When was the last time you altered your calories? How often are you finding you need to drop cals?
How much and what type of cardio are you doing?
After I know that I can give a little better guidance, and some better generalized info.
PS - If you want me to answer this in your log I’m definitely happy to do that… I check it every day anyway so its not like I’m going to miss it.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Thanks for taking the time to write all that out and ask my opinion, that means a lot.
I’ll preface my answer here by saying I am not a trainer, I dont have any experience dealing with other peoples preps, and only have my 2 or 3 experiences getting really lean to draw from here and the peoples logs I’ve read and interacted with…
Having said all that, I think I can help if you give a little more info. I apologize if you’ve answered this recently in your log, but having it all nice and available right here will help us both I think:
What are you current calories and weight?
How much fat/weight per week are currently losing?
When was the last time you altered your calories? How often are you finding you need to drop cals?
How much and what type of cardio are you doing?
After I know that I can give a little better guidance, and some better generalized info.
PS - If you want me to answer this in your log I’m definitely happy to do that… I check it every day anyway so its not like I’m going to miss it.[/quote]
Macros as of today are now 310 c, 65 f, and 250 p on my 5 low days of the week, so 2,825 calories. My weight is 178, started prep 13 weeks ago at 193. My macros haven’t changed much lately, had kept them the same for about 4 straight weeks and now have lowered them slightly each of the past 2 weeks. For cardio, the past 4 weeks had been 2 HIIT sessions per week of 7 rounds on the bike, :30 on, 1:30 off. Starting today, adding an 8th interval to the two sessions, as well as one 20 min MISS cardio session per week.
Oh man, you are in such a good position based on my experience. My calories were like 1,000 lower than yours were approaching the end of my prep and our activity level seems similar given all your baseball practice.
You seem to be more worried about fatigue than about fat loss though, is that correct?
Unfortunately you schedule looks so jam packed that I dont see a ton of room to sneak in any extra sleep, which is really the only form of recovery I think is worth anything really, I dont put much stock into things like massage, contrast showers, foam rolling, etc… If your weekends are free I would just try and sleep as much as possible here.
As far as fat loss goes continuing into the prep you seem to be in a very good position. You have tons of room to drop calories and increase your expenditure. You could drop like 100 cals every week leading up to the show, you could just throw in a few days where its low (like a 2200 calorie day, or even an 1800 calorie day), you could add intervals onto your sessions, you could add an extra session, morning walks, etc… So much room to go man, IF YOU EVEN NEED IT. You were looking pretty lean in your last photos
In regards to the Neural Charge sessions, I like them a lot. They really do amp you up and with a minimal time investment can get the calories burning again. Consider fueling these with MAG-10. I know it is tempting to use them only as a way to burn extra cals, but as you are experiencing that fatigue setting in already, consider “balancing” out the calorie equation a bit, as there are more benefits than just calorie drain from these sessions.
these last few weeks are almost the most strenuos but always the most fun, probably mt best advice would be to try and enjoy them more so worrying if you are doing everything “right”… It looks like you are well on track to bring in a great package anyway.
As for my own training, coming up on the end of week 3 for Strong Lifts, still 5x5 on everything.
Yesterday did
A1 - Squats 5x5 @ 170lbs
A2 - Pull Ups 3x10
B1 - Dead lifts 1x5 (ramp to top set of 250lbsx5)
B2 - Military 5x5 @ 100lbs
I’m noticing that my squat sets seem to get easier each set. On the first set it actually seems a bit “heavy” then by set 3 its very solid, and sets 4 and 5 are even better than set 3. I think it might just be cause there is so little warm up involved at these low weights that by the time I hit the working weight I’m still a few sets away from being solid yet.
As the gym permits I’m still trying to keep these super sets going, I like them.
Very good information on here. Thanks for sharing Lonnie. I have a question on my contest prep. I’m 2 weeks away from my first Physique competition and 4 weeks from my second. I’ve been taking Creatine for the last month or so to help retain muscle. When would you recommend dropping it? I’m thinking now due to the possible effect on water retention.
Hey Yo Daddy, thanks for dropping in.
Im afraid I don’t have too much information on that, as I’ve only done one show and did not use creatine as part of the prep (no reason why in particular, but I didn’t and thus didnt mess with it the final few days, and for a reason I will outline below)
What I CAN do is point you in the direction of what I did in order to “peak,” which is the following:
I asked CT (the author, and the guy who helped coach me into the show a bit) if I should use creatine as part of it and he said No because different people react differently to it, and unless you REALLY know how you react in terms of water retention with it you shouldnt mess with it. Since it really isnt a “make or break” kind of thing, he didnt feel it was worth risking anything.
I can show you pics of how this worked for me if you want, but I’ve posted them in my Indigo Log on like page 7-9 or something.
Yodaddy,
Creatine helps keep the muscle cell hydrated which is where you want the water.
I am off the opinion that since you are using it now it would be safe to continue using it (assuming you haven’t noted any water issues in the month you have been using it).
That’s just my two cents, I used it straight through prep and I still looked dry during my show.
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Yodaddy,
Creatine helps keep the muscle cell hydrated which is where you want the water.
I am off the opinion that since you are using it now it would be safe to continue using it (assuming you haven’t noted any water issues in the month you have been using it).
That’s just my two cents, I used it straight through prep and I still looked dry during my show.[/quote]
Well, if you want to look all fat and bloated like Tim did on stage, be my guest 
Ha… If Tim says its safe to use, thats all I need to hear really, chug it down.
Man I’m starting to feel the effects of the 5x5 Squat volume. Legs are needing more limbering up every day and I get that “bombed” feeling a bit more after each workout, luckily its the weekend!
Plan is to run 5x5 for Squats for one more week (leaving me at 190 for 5x5), then switch to the Starting Strength model of 3x5. Gonna try and keep the 5x5 train going for upper body lifts until those start leaving me feeling crispy too.
Wouda’ thunk I’d be doing Starting Strength after 10 years of lifting? At least when it comes up I can have an opinion on it based on experience and not theory.
Diet is a little more calorie dense than normal, trying not to be that dick that does the program but eats like a chump and pays for it with no results. I have finally decided that tons of strength would be better to have than teh rippd abz. Not going to get sloppy, but just loosening the reins a tad bit.
today was
5 minutes on Rower Erg to warm everything up.
A1 - Squats 5x5 @ 175
A2 - Bench 5x5 @ 155
B1 - Pendlay Rows 5x5 @ 155
B2 - Pushups (29, 20, 16) and abs alternating (going to switch to diamond pushups and restart my numbers, getting too easy)
C1 - Curls with bar x 50 straight reps (gonna build up to 100 and leave this in on A days)
C2 - Farmers walks 3x10 laps (gonna leave this in as my conditioning, grip was shot to hell after these today)
Love Love Loving the super set action for the moment. The C-Section (maybe a bad term?) is my “if I have time and feel like it” portion, which is usually my abs/arm/conditioning stuff. I havent been documenting it because its boring, but here it is for completeness sake.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Yodaddy,
Creatine helps keep the muscle cell hydrated which is where you want the water.
I am off the opinion that since you are using it now it would be safe to continue using it (assuming you haven’t noted any water issues in the month you have been using it).
That’s just my two cents, I used it straight through prep and I still looked dry during my show.[/quote]
Well, if you want to look all fat and bloated like Tim did on stage, be my guest
Ha… If Tim says its safe to use, thats all I need to hear really, chug it down.[/quote]
Thanks for the input Tim and Lonnie! This really helps.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Wouda’ thunk I’d be doing Starting Strength after 10 years of lifting? [/quote]
I was in the same boat, I wish I could have gone back and built a decent base when I was a late teen/early twenty-something, instead of waiting until I was almost 30.
I dont really know too much of your training history Tim, care to elaborate?
Today was a good day at the gym, squats continue to feel better and better every set, If only I could do sets 3,4,5 for 3x5 instead of sets 1,2,3
I’ll start documenting my weight too, I want to make sure that doesnt get too out of control
A1 - Squats 5x5 @ 180
A2 - Pull ups 3x10
B - Deadlifts ramp to 1x5 @ 255
C1 - Mil Press 5x5 @ 105 (easy peasy)
C2 - 1 easy min on recumbent bike just so I’m not sitting around during the rest period