My Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
141

Sheiko Week 4/12, Day 2

Bench (paused)
1x3x115 (50%)
1x3x135 (60%)
1x3x160 (70%)
2x3x180 (80%)
3x2x190 (85%)

Deadlift
1x3x240 (50%)
1x3x290 (60%)
2x2x335 (70%)
2x3x385 (80%)
2x2x410 (85%)

3.5 & 3 board press (paused, pinkies on rings)
1x6x135 (3.5 board)
1x6x160 (3.5 board)
1x4x185 (3.5 board)
1x4x195 (3.5 board)
1x4x205 (3.5 board)
1x4x205 (3 board)

(first time doing this, trying to get a feel for my max, didn’t realize I was using a 3.5 board until just before the last set)

Dumbbell Flyes
5x10x25

Lunge
5x5x135 (35%)

It was really nice getting some heavier weights in my hands for the board presses. It was also nice to do some doubles with 85%. The 410 doubles for deadlift flew up and I got my hips through extremely fast. They felt like speed pulls. That has to be a good sign. I will follow the relative volume and intensity protocol when doing 3 board presses for my 2nd session bench, but will play the weights by ear a little. If I am progressing on the lift I will use heavier weights.

I’ve been walking for about an hour Monday Tuesday and Thursday for active recovery. I haven’t been doing as much stretching, soft tissue work, and other stuff this week . . . have to pick up the pace on some of the “extra” stuff.

142

[quote]mrodock wrote:
. . . have to pick up the pace on some of the “extra” stuff.
[/quote]

Shieko should be enough for you right now. I’d be cautious of picking up the pace on the extra stuff as it could effect your gym performance. Try a light “sport” like golf on your recovery days ;-).

All kidding aside, I’ve found a “extra brisk” recovery walk for an hour effects me the next day unless I get quality food and rest. But then again, I’m an old fart.

143

[quote]Bagger wrote:
mrodock wrote:
. . . have to pick up the pace on some of the “extra” stuff.

Shieko should be enough for you right now. I’d be cautious of picking up the pace on the extra stuff as it could effect your gym performance. Try a light “sport” like golf on your recovery days ;-).

All kidding aside, I’ve found a “extra brisk” recovery walk for an hour effects me the next day unless I get quality food and rest. But then again, I’m an old fart.[/quote]

Most of the people that do Sheiko encourage a lot of GPP, especially before moving to the 4 day a week programs. The best powerlifter in the gym I’m at, could have won USAPL raw nationals (he lifts single ply) in his weight class last year with what he totaled the other day at the gym to give you an idea how good he is, is against gpp. He thinks most of that conditioning work is unnecessary and counterproductive. I suppose I don’t really know where I stand as yet but I do know I could hit a few more stretches now and again!

I honestly wonder if I will golf once this year. Speaking of which, how is your game coming along?

144

Lookin strong man. I see your doing all your sets beltless, I think ill be doing that to.

145

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
Lookin strong man. I see your doing all your sets beltless, I think ill be doing that to.[/quote]

Thanks. I’m doing that on the recommendation of a really good lifter. He said squatting for volume beltless has made a huge difference in his stability coming out of the hole. Since that is my biggest weakness I think this will really help (already I’ve noticed improved stability).

It might be best for you to wait until you are without back pain symptoms though to squat all the time without a belt.

Now if I can get the bench moving . . .

146

[quote]mrodock wrote:
BlackLabel wrote:
Lookin strong man. I see your doing all your sets beltless, I think ill be doing that to.

Thanks. I’m doing that on the recommendation of a really good lifter. He said squatting for volume beltless has made a huge difference in his stability coming out of the hole. Since that is my biggest weakness I think this will really help (already I’ve noticed improved stability).

It might be best for you to wait until you are without back pain symptoms though to squat all the time without a belt.

Now if I can get the bench moving . . .[/quote]

My back is 100% now. One day it just stopped hurting.

And yea, I really hate bench. Its a fun lift and all, but its so goddamn hard to get the numbers up.

147

[quote]mrodock wrote:
BlackLabel wrote:
Lookin strong man. I see your doing all your sets beltless, I think ill be doing that to.

Thanks. I’m doing that on the recommendation of a really good lifter. He said squatting for volume beltless has made a huge difference in his stability coming out of the hole. Since that is my biggest weakness I think this will really help (already I’ve noticed improved stability).
[/quote]

Just don’t let it effect the program. If you feel like you need the belt at some point, then I still recommend using it. Otherwise the program should be based off your beltless Squat. If you can hit all your lifts, then you know you are making progress, but if you are at risk of missing lifts, belt up.

All I can tell you is that I started using a belt after I missed a 405 Squat. I could probably hit that for 10-12 reps beltless now. Has using a belt made me weaker? Use it as a tool. If you need it on a 70% lift, use it. If you don’t need it until a 95% lift, wait until then, but don’t be afraid that it is going to make you weaker. If your belted Squat goes up, so does your beltless.

148

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Mondy wrote:
960 in three months? That is amazing, that is unbelievable. Were you involved in any heavy lifting such as farm work or miner or something?

No, nothing of the sort. Nothing that would have suggested that I could acquire some strength quickly.

I was extremely aggressive on Starting Strength, I saw where he said some big guys would be able to add 20 pounds a workout on squats and I would keep ramping up my sets until I could barely get it in. So I started squatting at 3x5x135 the first day and 16 days later I was doing 3x5x255.

Not surprisingly I stalled out relatively quickly, but I think I pushing really hard started training the nervous system from the beginning. I never bought the add 5 pounds a workout for squats for a beginner, it doesn’t seem to train the nervous system adequately (provided their body is up to the challenge). We can only know if we try. Before any beginners get any really stupid ideas to increase their squats by 50 pounds each workout, I would do ramp up sets by 10-15 pounds each set until I found my work set weight and I used the safety bars so I could bail if I needed to (which I very seldom did).

As for bench press on the Starting Strength program I started too heavy and never recovered. Military press I started at an easier weight for me and progressed quite well.
[/quote]

Great insight, write your lessons down! Remember them, apply them!

If you don’t mind me interjecting. I’ve been training for many years and got pretty strong without knowing too much and listening to authors that although very strong were not very old in training age.

The older your body gets and the older your training age gets, the more you will want to start lighter on your lifts, the more reps you will want to leave in the tank and the less you will need to hit the high percentages in training.

90%+ works awesome and sometimes so good it leaves you injured. I recommend maybe hitting 90% every 4 to 6 weeks. Leaving 1 to 2 reps in the tank. maraudermeat or Chris Drummund helped me solidify some of this, but trying to train too high in % really destroyed my joints after awhile. Just some food for thought.

This is an incredible thread imo and I really think your bench is improving. I think you will blast through 225.

149

[quote]Modi wrote:
mrodock wrote:
BlackLabel wrote:
Lookin strong man. I see your doing all your sets beltless, I think ill be doing that to.

Thanks. I’m doing that on the recommendation of a really good lifter. He said squatting for volume beltless has made a huge difference in his stability coming out of the hole. Since that is my biggest weakness I think this will really help (already I’ve noticed improved stability).

Just don’t let it effect the program. If you feel like you need the belt at some point, then I still recommend using it. Otherwise the program should be based off your beltless Squat. If you can hit all your lifts, then you know you are making progress, but if you are at risk of missing lifts, belt up.

All I can tell you is that I started using a belt after I missed a 405 Squat. I could probably hit that for 10-12 reps beltless now. Has using a belt made me weaker? Use it as a tool. If you need it on a 70% lift, use it. If you don’t need it until a 95% lift, wait until then, but don’t be afraid that it is going to make you weaker. If your belted Squat goes up, so does your beltless.[/quote]

Very good advice as always. Squatting weights feel pretty easy, I am taking them extremely deep too. Bench weights are pretty tough and deadlift weights feel light so far. Wondering if for the next 4 weeks I should kick squat and deadlift up 10 pounds and leave bench where it is.

150

[quote]Free2Be wrote:

Great insight, write your lessons down! Remember them, apply them!

If you don’t mind me interjecting. I’ve been training for many years and got pretty strong without knowing too much and listening to authors that although very strong were not very old in training age.

The older your body gets and the older your training age gets, the more you will want to start lighter on your lifts, the more reps you will want to leave in the tank and the less you will need to hit the high percentages in training.

90%+ works awesome and sometimes so good it leaves you injured. I recommend maybe hitting 90% every 4 to 6 weeks. Leaving 1 to 2 reps in the tank. maraudermeat or Chris Drummund helped me solidify some of this, but trying to train too high in % really destroyed my joints after awhile. Just some food for thought.

This is an incredible thread imo and I really think your bench is improving. I think you will blast through 225.[/quote]

Thanks very much for the comments, especially about the bench :o)!

I follow maraudermeat’s log and caught your conversation with him. I definitely felt there was a lot of insight there and I thank you for letting me know about it. On a related note several months ago a non-weightlifting friend told me that I should be careful to not progress too quickly because my ligaments and tendons would not be able to keep up.

I was immediately reminded of my freshman biology class where the professor said much the same thing. A couple of weeks previous I had watched Eric Talmant’s excellent 4 DVD presentation on Sheiko in which he thinks Sheiko is great for building tendon and ligament strength. Once I put all this together I knew it was best to leave behind the 90%+ and hit the high volume. Plus I never recovered very well on high intensity anyways. I think 90%+ every 4 to 6 weeks makes a lot of sense. On Sheiko I go 85% for doubles every 4 weeks which so far seems really good. But if I do change my programming I will definitely keep Chris’ ideas in mind.

Feel free to interject anytime, great insight! Hope you’ve managed to rehab your injuries, I can’t imagine the young coach was able to help you much there!

151

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:

My back is 100% now. One day it just stopped hurting.

And yea, I really hate bench. Its a fun lift and all, but its so goddamn hard to get the numbers up.[/quote]

That is very good to hear it wasn’t anything serious! You probably should work pretty hard on building up your core endurance. Light beltless good mornings with strict form will help. Prone bridge progressions will help. I worked on it until I could hold side bridges for over 2 min. on each side. Bill Hartman actually recommends not lifting more than 20% of your bodyweight until you can hold a side bridge for 90 sec. each side and a prone (front) bridge for 2 min.

I’m getting to the point where I like the bench more and more because Sheiko is allowing me to work on my technique much more and I’m getting help from a really good bencher that doesn’t mind telling me in what ways I suck. I do not want to become a lifter that is bitter toward a lift so for that reason I look forward to benching more and more and I will bust through this fucking plateau!

That being said, I’m going into shirted bench after this cycle and I have disproportionately stronger triceps so that will probably help matters quite a bit.

152

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Very good advice as always. Squatting weights feel pretty easy, I am taking them extremely deep too. Bench weights are pretty tough and deadlift weights feel light so far. Wondering if for the next 4 weeks I should kick squat and deadlift up 10 pounds and leave bench where it is.[/quote]

The first 4 weeks are a low volume version of the next 4 weeks, so the increased volume may be enough of a stimulus for you. Ultimately it’s up to you, I would only change it if it truly feels too easy. Once the added volume kicks in, you’ll start feeling the fatigue accumulate in your lower back.

153

[quote]Modi wrote:
mrodock wrote:
Very good advice as always. Squatting weights feel pretty easy, I am taking them extremely deep too. Bench weights are pretty tough and deadlift weights feel light so far. Wondering if for the next 4 weeks I should kick squat and deadlift up 10 pounds and leave bench where it is.

The first 4 weeks are a low volume version of the next 4 weeks, so the increased volume may be enough of a stimulus for you. Ultimately it’s up to you, I would only change it if it truly feels too easy. Once the added volume kicks in, you’ll start feeling the fatigue accumulate in your lower back.[/quote]

I’ll just stick with the same weights. Squats were really tough today and bench was really easy . . . I probably could add weight to deadlift since I just started sumo deadlifting and I am probably improving at it fairly rapidly. I may just add 10 pounds to deadlift and be done with it.

I just got a free Titan F6 bench shirt today that fits so I’m thinking about adjusting the way I do bench. That shirt helps a shit load off the chest so I might add weight to bench and skip the pauses. My sticking point with the shirt seems to be about 2 inches from lockout. I’ve also thought about staying with the same bench weights but adding 20 pounds of chains or something. Not really sure what would be best yet. Gear is going to complicate things a bit.

154

Sheiko Week 4/12, Day 3

Squat (beltless, 24 min.)
1x4x195 (50%)
1x3x230 (60%)
2x3x270 (70%)
5x3x310 (80%) pretty darn hard today

Bench (paused)
1x5x115 (50%)
1x5x135 (60%)
4x5x160 (70%)

Bench (44 F6, paused)
1x3x195
1x2x225
1x1x245

(acquired a free bench shirt today that hasn’t been used much and fits great)

Dumbbell Flyes
5x10x25

Sumo Good Mornings (beltless)
5x5x155 (40%)

Dips
3x8x+25
1x7x+25
1x6x+25

Hammer Curls
3x12x30

2 hours 36 min

A lot of time talking, jerking with the bench shirt, etc. I learn a lot around experienced lifters on Sundays so I really don’t care if it takes me longer. I just am all business on my work sets and talk between exercises.

155

Pretty cool about the Bench shirt. Its amazing how much those add to your numbers. Might also help get over some psych barriers. I’ve never tried any gear, must be fun.

Not sure that it will help with your bench, but if you are two inches from lockout there are a couple of things that might help. Even though you said your tri’s were strong, they are the prime movers IMHO in the last couple of inches. I also incorporate upper abs when I’m sticking near the top. Kind of an upper ab crunch. Sounds like you are working out with some good guys.

156

[quote]Bagger wrote:
Pretty cool about the Bench shirt. Its amazing how much those add to your numbers. Might also help get over some psych barriers. I’ve never tried any gear, must be fun.

Not sure that it will help with your bench, but if you are two inches from lockout there are a couple of things that might help. Even though you said your tri’s were strong, they are the prime movers IMHO in the last couple of inches. I also incorporate upper abs when I’m sticking near the top. Kind of an upper ab crunch. Sounds like you are working out with some good guys.[/quote]

My triceps WERE strong, I need to bring them back up!

How does the upper ab crunch thing work? Is it more an isometric crunch?

Yeah the shirt may very well help with psych barriers! There is a lot more competition around here in single ply so that is why i’m getting into it. Not all that interested in what I can lift as I know the equipment helps but curious what I can accomplish against really good competition.

I always figured I would be a raw lifter until the best lifter in the gym cornered me and told me I really should do single ply (in large part to the reasons above). Incidentally, the other day he totaled enough he could have won his open division at USAPL raw nationals last year. His ultimate goal is to qualify for IPF worlds (which is single ply)

157

Sheiko Week 5/12, Day 1

Bench (not paused, +10lb max, chains)
1x6x120 (50%)
1x5x140 (60%)
2x4x165 (70%)
2x3x175 (75%)
2x2x190 (80%)
2x1x200 (90%)
2x2x190 (80%)
2x3x175 (75%)
1x5x155 (65%)
1x7x130 (55%)

Dumbbell Flyes
5x10x25

Squat (beltless, 20 min.)
1x5x195 (50%)
2x5x230 (60%)
5x5x270 (70%)

Dips
4x8x+15
1x7x+15

Sumo Good Morning
5x5x155 (40%)

Chest-supported rows
4x7x100

Ab wheel
3x10

For the bench press I took the weight I was supposed to use, subtracted 30 pounds and put that on the bar. Then I added 40 pounds of chain weight. The chains were set up such that when the bar was on my chest approximately half the chains were on the floor and at lockout all the chains were off the ground. Thus the way I figure it I was handling 10 pounds less off the chest and 10 more pounds at lockout giving me the correct average weight. So this is the way I will do the chains throughout this cycle.

158

Great work, buddy!!

I like the chain idea on bench days.

David

159

Hey man,

Today I realized I cant do a single pullup. I tried for one and got half way up. I can do 3 or 4 chin-ups (palms facing inwords), but not a single goddamn pullup.(palms facing away from me).

I never had these in my routine, and not till now did I realize my weakness in this area. What should I do? I dont know how to increase my pullup strength if I cant even do one.

160

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Sheiko Week 5/12, Day 1

For the bench press I took the weight I was supposed to use, subtracted 30 pounds and put that on the bar. Then I added 40 pounds of chain weight. The chains were set up such that when the bar was on my chest approximately half the chains were on the floor and at lockout all the chains were off the ground. Thus the way I figure it I was handling 10 pounds less off the chest and 10 more pounds at lockout giving me the correct average weight. So this is the way I will do the chains throughout this cycle.
[/quote]

Chains are great, just make sure you have a couple of links still on the ground at lockout otherwise the bar will swing pretty bad and it will be tough on your shoulders. I actually like to set it up so all the chain is deloaded at the bottom, but as long as you are consistent with your setup it should help your lockout. I am planning on adding some chain weight next next time I return to Sheiko as well.