[quote]Bagger wrote:
mrodock wrote:
#1 goal: See if my body responds well to this sort of training.
#2 goal: Get stronger!
#3 goal: Get a lot of technique practice on each of the 3 main lifts, many of the reps with relatively light weight so it doesn’t kill me.
#4 goal: Enjoy the pain
On goal #1 - what are you comparing to? Be realistic because you’ve been seriously training for X number of years and months, so compare the early gains to what you would like to achieve. You may have to discount the first 9 months of rapid gains considering your age and the intensity of your workouts.
Goal #2 - Set some specific goals for each of your major lifts along with your anticipated time window.
Goal #3 How will you know when your technique is perfected and ready to be challenged with maximum weight? I have some suggestions but would like you to put some thought into it.
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#1 (most important) I want to see if my body can handle a lot of volume. If I never reach the point where I am completely burnt out on this program, as I was on the last program, I will be extremely happy. Even if I did not add much to my total, and I feel that I can handle the volume, then i know if I can just add in more volume and maybe substitute or add in a couple of exercises I can probably get my total moving. So basically if I can make it through the program and I don’t get weaker that would be my first success.
#2 I tried doing that last program, became really depressed for a couple of days, and realized gains may not happen as quickly as I would like. I’ve decided to put more emphasis on the process. Study, technique, effort, recovery, etc. I would like to see my bench moving, I’ve been at 225 for awhile.
If I can hit 235 in 11 weeks I wouldn’t be thrilled, but I would be happy it is moving in the right direction. My plan is to include board presses in my next Sheiko cycle which I think will have better carryover than the dips, but this time around I wanted to follow the program exactly.
I don’t think there is any reason why I can’t hit a 400 squat and 500 deadlift or more after this program. The problem is I may end up not using the peaking cycle after the first 8 weeks and doing another volume cycle. The reason is I may compete at the end of June, so I will do the peaking cycle after I get back from getting married (first week of June).
I will ask a couple of people about this strategy before employing it however. If I do lift at that meet I may very well wear a single ply squat suit and knee wraps. I plan on lifting single ply in the near future.
So I suppose if I do not do the meet and I test my maxes at the end of May I would like to hit somewhere around 1130. That would be 50 pounds added to what I felt I was capable of on February 28th the day of the meet. I hit an easy 370, and barely missed 400 (figure I had 390 in the tank). And on bench I hit 210 pretty easily and barely missed 230 (figure I had 220 in the tank). And then the 470 deadlift was about the best I could have done that day. 390+220+470=1080.
I don’t really believe in telling people what I think I could have or should have hit on a given day but as far as evaluating the success of this program on strength gains, I want to really evaluate where I think I was on the day of the meet. If I hit 390, 220, 470 I’ll feel as though I mostly spun my wheels, BUT I’ll feel that I got a better idea of the amount of volume my body can deal with. From the last cycle I got an idea how much intensity I can deal with. I’m trying to learn something substantial with each cycle, at least for awhile.
#3 Squat: When I can descend at the correct speed consistently, fairly slow but not too slow and pinch myself out of the hole while maintaining an upright torso with top weights.
Bench: When I can set a decent arch, have a solid bar path, descend the bar smoothly and quicker, keep my upper back tight, even for paused sets of 5. I’m working with someone at the gym on these things every Sunday. I have a long way to go for right now and Sheiko gives me a shit load of sets each week to put it all into practice.
Deadlift: For now it is mostly improving lockout. About 2 inches from lockout I tend to stall out and I’d like to fix that. Also, I need to learn more about breaking the bar off the ground, particularly for top weights. I need to work on my balance and my set-up (arms hanging straight down, upper back ramrod straight).