You can’t just do the squat portion of the 3x3 and something else for your other lifts. Is that what you are proposing?
If you want to do the whole thing, of course it’s a good idea, but I’d take a couple days off before you start, and absolutely resolve to finish the 8 weeks no matter how you feel (significant injuries excluded, of course).
Nothing worse and less productive than hopping from one approach to another.
And rest assured, no matter what approach you take, 25 pounds in six weeks on any lift is not going to last long. [/quote]
That is what I was proposing and point well taken.
I’ll persist in thinking my deadlift will not slow down a bit for awhile yet. Time will tell of course.
I think my cold caught up with me on bench press today, that is my best guess for why I could only manage 3 reps. No squats today because of the tricky groin muscle (deloading this week, only 2 sessions). I think it is improving with the combination of less squatting this week and the work I’ve been doing for it.
Hopefully I can follow the intensity phase as layed out with only a small alteration to my stance. Well, only 1 volume session left for upper body. Plan to kick some ass in the intensity phase.
Squats (narrow, no belt, deload)
1x3x227.5
1x3x257.5
1x3x285
Bench
4x5x195
1x4x195*
DB Reverse Flyes
6x10x15
BB Rows
5x5x160
DB Flyes
1x10x20
4x10x25
Speed deads
15x1x260(35-45 sec. rest)
Ab wheel (from standing)
3x5
Just about have the cold kicked. The asterisk by the bench calls for an interesting?? story. The person I asked to spot me for my first set may not have spoken much English. He gave me a lift off then proceeded to grope the bar for my next set, I lost my tightness asking him to not touch the bar, then he continued to do so.
If I was smart I would have racked the damn bar after the first rep. I wasn’t, I continued the set, he continued to get in the way, even “helping” on several reps even though I didn’t need it. I got 5 reps but I figured I shouldn’t count the set.
Then I got 5 reps for the next 4 sets and on the next set there was no one around to spot so I got about 90% of the way up on my last rep, started to stall pretty hard so I just racked it quick. I figure all in all the 4x5x195, 1x4x195 probably comes closest to capturing the session, what fucking ever, haha.
Barbell rows went really well. The warm-ups felt really good so I decided to add 7.5 pounds to the weight I was going to use for my work sets and they went really well. Speed deads were pretty fast, doing 15 sets sure helps me work on form. Really worked on keeping the bar close to me as I think that was my single biggest problem in my 500 deadlift attempt.
5x5 Week 5, 1st Session
upper body deload week, lower body first intensity week (because of adductor muscle, my intensity phase will last a week longer than originally planned as a result. If I am feeling run down I might take it easy for 1 lower body session in the next 5 weeks)
Squat
walkouts
1x375
1x415
3x3x335
Bench (deload)
(paused)
3x2x195
Speed deads
8x1x270 (~35-45 sec. rest between sets)
BB Rows (deload)
1x3x135
1x5x155
1x5x170
DB Flyes (deload)
1x8x20
2x8x25
I was really happy that I was able to squat reasonably heavy (for me) and with a wide stance with no discomfort. The combination of using a narrow stance for the deload week last week and all the stretching and soft tissue work I believe really made a difference. Here’s to hoping that it continues to cooperate.
The walkouts are interesting. I feel they are a definite necessity as most of my squat training over the last 4 months had been very high intensity and even with all of that I never felt really comfortable with 1 rep max attempts on my back. So with a higher volume, lower intensity program I feel the walkouts are an absolute necessity, especially approaching my first meet. I felt reasonably comfortable with 415 on my back, but it felt plenty heavy. I intend to work my way up to around 475 in the next few weeks.
Pause bench felt really good. I am getting more tightness in my back. It is fun to treat every set like it is a PR attempt (always trying to set up perfect and extremely tight), sometimes I wonder what people are thinking . . . Shit, looks like this dude needs a spot with the bar, but he does have a half way decent arch. If someone asks me if I need a spot as I get ready to attack the bar it would make my year. Of course I would respond yes.
I’ve seen examples where this workout is done 2 times a week during the intensity phase and 3 times a week. I am going to the 2 times a week approach because the best gains I have ever made were on a 2 day a week program after I felt pretty beat up and I’m fine with deadlifting heavy after squatting heavy (so long as I have a few days rest).
My heavy set of 3 for squats was a real grinder but I managed. It seems that anywhere near my max (75-80% of my max)I am very slow out of the hole, wonder if working with chains and pause squats in my next cycle might be a good idea.
Bench press was deload and it was pretty darn tough on the top weight. I wish I wouldn’t have followed the program and did a larger deload as I did for squats. Oh well, too late now.
Speed deads were fast. I think it is really helpful to be deadlifting more often to get my technique locked in. Even if most of my sessions aren’t heavy.
Abs were still sore as hell from a week ago when I did the ab wheel from standing. Kind of wonder if I had pulled a muscle slightly.
Really good workout. I videoed the first set of squats at 340 and noticed that I was a good 4 inches below parallel. I have basically been going as deep as my hip flexibility allows. I think this might have at least a little bit to do with some of the left hip problems I’ve had in this cycle. So I shall start squatting a couple of inches higher and hopefully that will be easier on my hips. So I might be a little better off in my squatting than I had thought.
As far as bench goes, I am already feeling better with pausing for reps. I think my technique gets a little better each session.
The deadlifts were kind of a grind, but I hit over 90% 3 times and the technique was pretty good so I called the deadlift session there. All I wanted to do was get a little more comfortable with my technique with heavy weight.
Barbell rows have moved really well in this cycle, I really think they are helping me with my strength off the ground in the deadlift.
Really good session. I am recovering well between sessions. This 3RM was easier than last weeks at 345 so that I think is a very good sign. I paused the reps on the 215 set on bench for about 2 seconds each which is also a good sign.
Definitely looking forward to Wednesday’s workout, I am really feeling as though I am on track now. The fatigue is lifting and the fitness is starting to shine through.
Here is my first set of triples at 340 from Wednesday: Squat 3x340 1 28 09 - YouTube . After watching it a couple of times on a bigger screen I am not squatting quite as low as I thought. I am breaking parallel I think, just not by as much as I thought when I watched it on my little video camera screen. I’d rather figure that out now than on meet day.
In my next cycle I am really going to work at getting rid of my sticking point. Most of the really good raw squatters I’ve seen may not squat fast with maximal weights but the movement seems smooth, not as though the bar is stuck in quicksand at one point in the movement. Any suggestions for conquering this sticking point, particularly people that have had a similar sticking point and beaten it I would be most interested, thanks.
Depth looks real good. It’s heavy weight for you…heavy squats are just going to look like that for some people, having to grind through the middle. It’s not as slow as you think. My heavy squats look the same way.
I think you should add some russian dl’s like I do to help you hold your arch and not get pitched coming up through the middle. All the better if you can do them sometimes with a safety squat bar.
Keep hammering the abs. Make sure you get big air and keep pushing out on your belt the whole way. It’s all stuff you know.
I do think if you slow your descent down a little you will have better control at the turnaround and on the way up. That has been the case for me.
As a rule though, the narrower your stance, the more distinctly it’s going to look like there are two parts to your squat. If you take the stance out, it will look smoother. But that doesn’t mean you should do that. I think it’s easier to come up out of the hole with a closer stance, so pick your poison.
Incidentally, this is another reason many multi-ply squatters use a very wide stance.
[quote]Ramo wrote:
Depth looks real good. It’s heavy weight for you…heavy squats are just going to look like that for some people, having to grind through the middle. It’s not as slow as you think. My heavy squats look the same way.
I think you should add some russian dl’s like I do to help you hold your arch and not get pitched coming up through the middle. All the better if you can do them sometimes with a safety squat bar.
Keep hammering the abs. Make sure you get big air and keep pushing out on your belt the whole way. It’s all stuff you know.
I do think if you slow your descent down a little you will have better control at the turnaround and on the way up. That has been the case for me.
As a rule though, the narrower your stance, the more distinctly it’s going to look like there are two parts to your squat. If you take the stance out, it will look smoother. But that doesn’t mean you should do that. I think it’s easier to come up out of the hole with a closer stance, so pick your poison.
Incidentally, this is another reason many multi-ply squatters use a very wide stance.
I have done bastardized Russian dl’s recently (did them to safety pins). I will throw them in the next cycle but not do them to pins. Also, I do have access to a SSB, so I will utilize that.
Right now I am actually using a really wide stance. It really seems to be where I am strongest although at some point I might do some singles at about 92% at various widths to kind of re-test that (probably not for a little while anyways). I have actually slowed my descent some and will continue to work on it and see if it speeds my turnaround.
Hopefully I’ll be hitting the ab wheel again on Wednesday, it damn near killed me (from standing) the first time.
Oh what to say, what to say. The first 2 sets of squats were truly max effort, complete with chest caving and all kinds of fun stuff. The first set I forgot my knee sleeves so I figured the 2nd set would be a touch easier, no such luck. I made an executive decision to do my last 3 reps as singles and work on my form.
My first set on bench press I just paused way too long on both reps, probably close to 3 seconds. So I got 3/4 of the way up on the second rep and then racked quick. My left shoulder was coming off the bench and I panicked (didn’t have a spotter). The last 3 sets were much better and used a slightly shorter pause.
Speed deads were pretty fast, felt good on these.
I’m really starting to feel burned the hell out. I am contemplating taking a deload week next week (week 8), then hitting it hard week 9 and the meet is then 6 days away. I do not think being completely burned out going into week 9 is going to be the way to get it done. If anyone has any advice I would be most receptive. In the meantime I am going to double check what Pendlay says about this program and go from there.
The meet is Saturday February 28, I have been training 2 days a week, Wednesday and Sunday during the intensity phase. As it now stands my last session is Sunday February 22.
You may very well be right. I just felt so damn good the last 2 sessions and then today I felt like ass. Maybe I have been doing too many walkouts. I think I’ll leave those out this week, maybe even the rest of the program.
One thing that might be relevant, I am doing an extra week of the intensity phase on lower body because of my adductor giving me problems (I did 3 weeks of the volume phase, then did the deload week a week early).
Squat, 3RM
1x3x275
1x2x325 (meant for 2)
1x2x355 (meant for 3)
Bench
1x2x205
1x1+x220
Speed Deads
8x1x290
~40 sec. rest
Dragon Flags
3x20 (2-5lb. ankle weights)
DB Flyes
1x10x20
4x10x25
Things aren’t going that well. Can’t seem to quite keep up with my schedule. Very much looking forward to being done with this program and never considering doing it ever again. Increasing the weight each week on the intensity phase is just plain stupid in my mind (at least now it is).
For squats the first rep at 355 was picture perfect, the 2nd rep was difficult, leaned over too much again. Then on the 3rd rep someone ran over to spot me (NO THANK YOU!). When I started to lean over she straightened my chest and then I finished the rep. Don’t know whether I would have gotten it by myself or not. Either way, I’m behind schedule.
On bench on the 2nd rep my spotter put his pinky under the bar near lockout. So there is another fucking asterisk. Not real pleased right now, hope I can start recovering faster because I am not going to do any more squat walkouts between now and the meet and I will only do speed pulls between now and the meet.
This is the most deadlifting I have done in a long time so I’m not too worried about that.
Pretty sure I’ll be doing the 13-week Sheiko program Dave Bates put together next. Want to see how my body responds to more competition lifts, lower intensity, higher volume. Weights that I will be able to always use great form.
And from now on I am NOT doing a program that has linear progression, I will almost always keep at least a rep in the tank and try to never go past mechanical breakdown.
(So much for a 3 rep max at 360 today, it was my 1 rep max, cool!)
Bench (2RM, paused)
1x2x205
1x225
0x225
(This didn’t work a whole lot better).
Speed Deads
8x1x265
~45 sec. rest per set
I have been getting worse every session for 3 sessions in a row. I have tried to modify this program in every way that Pendlay suggests and my body is just not catching up with recovery. My strength has probably dropped about 6% in the past 10 days.
The meet is now in 16 days. I am breaking from the program at this point, I’m just really not sure what the hell to do. I don’t think the program can be salvaged any longer as I just can’t come close to keeping up.
I have 2 exams on Feb. 18th and I have to finish my grad school application by Feb. 27th. Those are my only sources of stress before the meet. I have a couple of ideas of what to do but I really am not sure.
Sounds like you are very under recovered. I would take a few days off and then work up to a 90% Squat on Monday, with some light assistance stuff, 90% Bench on Wednesday with some light assistance stuff, and then maybe some RDL’s on Friday, but nothing too taxing. Get plenty of food and plenty of sleep over the next two weeks.
On the week of the meet, work up to a couple of singles at 80% on Squat on Monday, and a couple of singles at 75% on Bench on Wednesday, and then shut it down until meet time.
You aren’t going to get any stronger between now and then. You have two possible outcomes, keep training yourself into a hole and get weaker, or start the recovery process, and come into the meet as strong as possible.
If the 90% lifts go well for you next week, then use those as your openers at the meet. Just make sure you pick something that you know you can hit any day of the week. A Squat that you can bury, a Bench that you could pause for an eternity, and a DL that you can rip from the floor.
Trust in the effort that you’ve put into your training, and allow yourself the time to recover. 16 days should be plenty to of time to catch back up.