you might want to look into what Blackaggar/Brandon is doing…
4/19/12.
Big day. Pulled conventional for the first time since my injury. I warmed up with 1 set of sumo deads and godihatesumodeads so I decided to give it a go. I told myself I wouldn’t go over 275 so of course I hit a single at 365.
My back was totally pain free after deads, but frankly the bar scares the shit out of me, I just picture myself not straightening my lower back and hurting myself again. Baby steps…
Also, my front delts were still pretty fried from incline bench on tues (haven’t done 3rep inclines in over a year). Coulda gotten another rep or two had I not worked upper body 2 days ago, but it’s still a + 1rep improvement from 2 weeks ago, with ease.
Workout
Band Pull-aparts, shoulder dislocates, jumprope x 100
A) Deadlift (various jumps in between, as per deathlessperformance blog run by StormTheBeach)
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5 ← belted up, take no chances
315 x 5
365 x 1
B) Standing OHP
70 x 5
85 x 5
100 x 3
-work sets-
120 x 3
135 x 3
155(3+ ) x 6
Shoulders were too fried to do any bench variations or dips, so…
C1) Lat Pulldowns
10 x 10
10 x 10
10 x 9
9 x 10
9 x 10
C2) Tricep Pushdowns (lulz)
8 x 10
8 x 10
6 x 15
D) GHR
2 x 10 @ bodyweight
Conditioning
Hill Sprints - 6 in 6 mins. Time to start these babies up again. Was fun, especially with nice weather out now.
[quote]fr0IVIan wrote:
you might want to look into what Blackaggar/Brandon is doing…[/quote]
Why is that?
4/23/12
Had a good weekend. Went home to visit the family and congratulate my mom for surviving another tax season (she runs her own accounting firm and is a CPA herself). Got a little silly Saturday night drinking black russians with my dad and his old college buddy as well. Took us a half hour to finish each card game.
Felt horrible today. Almost passed out at work today, thought about skipping the gym, and thought about walking out mid-workout after my 1st, 2nd and 3rd sets. Also, I squatted with a fuckin women’s bar because it took 5mins to get a squat rack at the shitty ass gym I went to and no extra bars were available (note: I noticed a rack full of extra bars once I leg pressed, they were hidden from the squat rack area).
Slowly gettin back into squats. Took my top set up 20lbs from last week and stopped a rep or so short of failure.
Workout
A) Squats
95 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
195 x 5
215 x 3
245 x 6
<–chatted up some dudes about PLing. They were doing Starting Strength and seemed like cool guys.
B) Leg Press
4pps x 10
5pps x 10
5.5pps x 15
Conditioning
25min incline walk (walk home from gym is all uphill)
That last set wiped me the hell out, so I left. Even if I felt up to staying, the tiny ass gym was packed and had nothing I would’ve felt like doing for legs anyway. Tried out the Fitness First in DC (usually lift at the one in Arlington) because I am thinking of dropping my Gold’s membership. I’m paying $45/month just to be lazy and work out next to my office, even though Gold’s sucks compared to FF Arlington.
Might quit Gold’s this week.
4/24/12. 5/3/1 Week 3 Day 2 (Bench)
One rep short of my goal today. Strength is coming back slow as shit… only + 1rep in 3 weeks (5reps short of PR at that weight used).
Other than that, decent sesh
Workout
Band Pull-Aparts, Band Shoulder Dislocates, no moneys, overhead pull aparts each 1x10
A) Bench
95 x 5
120 x 5
140 x 3
-work sets-
170 x 5
200 x 3
225(1+ ) x 4 <–bah. Note to self, liftoff needed for heavy sets at this gym.
B) Incline Bench
135 x 10
155 x 8
165 x 8
…worked in some chins, hit a pr with a bodyweight x 10 set to start out.
C) Kroc Rows
75 x 12
95 x 26 each arm rep PR
Seems like my back and pulling muscles haven’t lost much strength, but pressing (overhead and flat bench) have gone in the crapper. Wonder if I will hit a wall with legs or if they’re poopy too.
I can only guess at the details, but I think he’s dividing his training up into a strength phase/low reps that also doubles as a fat loss/dieting/damage control phase, and a higher calorie, hypertrophic gaining phase. if I’m correct, then there will be a time period to focus on strength, and the dieting will pave the way for big rebound gains during the hypertrophy phase, with comparatively less fat gain.
Sorry I missed you today. Ashley got stuck behind that metro train that derailed in Rosslyn and the whole system was in the shitter.
Sounds like a good session though. Did you find those band exercises at the beginning primed you up or wore you out? I have done them at the end of the workout before (and need to do so more often) but never at the beginning.
[quote]fr0IVIan wrote:
I can only guess at the details, but I think he’s dividing his training up into a strength phase/low reps that also doubles as a fat loss/dieting/damage control phase, and a higher calorie, hypertrophic gaining phase. if I’m correct, then there will be a time period to focus on strength, and the dieting will pave the way for big rebound gains during the hypertrophy phase, with comparatively less fat gain.[/quote]
Yeah I’m about to hyertrophy it up… starting next week (or tomorrow if I’m impatient). Just wanna eat!
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Sorry I missed you today. Ashley got stuck behind that metro train that derailed in Rosslyn and the whole system was in the shitter.
Sounds like a good session though. Did you find those band exercises at the beginning primed you up or wore you out? I have done them at the end of the workout before (and need to do so more often) but never at the beginning.[/quote]
I use them as dynamic stretching, I can feel it a bit in my rear delts and it helps me keep my shoulder blades pinned back when I bench. If I wanted to make them part of my lifting I would use heavy bands or something (I just use the stretchy jump rope and put my hands close together so it’s somewhat hard to pull apart).
I sat in Court House for 30mins before they told us that the station wasn’t running any trains. Waited for a cab or bus for about 5mins and said fuck it and had to walk to Rosslyn to catch a train, so I know what was up.
^Uploading pic from before injury. Is it just me or was my upper body already leaning sideways a bit? Maybe my injury exacerbated an existing condition and it’s a good thing I went to a chiro for 2 months.
I had a total of like 3 difficult leg sets on Mon and my legs are sore as crap. I forgot how long it takes me to ease into a leg routine without crazy DOMS
[quote]scj119 wrote:
^Uploading pic from before injury. Is it just me or was my upper body already leaning sideways a bit? [/quote]
It’s mostly you, brah.
The majority of people have some degree of assymetry or lean in their bodies. And they are usually hte only ones that notice it unless it is glaringly evident (one leg 3" shorter than the other). I have one that I hate every time I look in the mirror, but nobody else seems to notice it so I dont sweat it. Tons of people are like that.
I SEE A LEAN !!
4/26/12. (yestserday)
Low volume because I was coaching up my girl and the gym was crowded as fuck. My legs were still sore from Mon anyway so not a big deal.
Second time deadlifting since the injury and first time putting 4 plates on the bar. Good thing VT was there to make me feel like a pussy because I probably would have only gone for 385 or so if left to my own devices.
Workout
A) Conventional deads
135 x 5
195 x 5
245 x 5
285 x 5
325 x 5
365 x 3
405 x 1 post injury PR (last week worked up to 365x1)
B) Front Squats… my sore hammies fuckin hated these, didn’t goo too heavy
135 x 8
145 x 8
165 x 8
Plotting how I’m gonna break the liddle lady into prowler work.
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
^Uploading pic from before injury. Is it just me or was my upper body already leaning sideways a bit? [/quote]
It’s mostly you, brah.
The majority of people have some degree of assymetry or lean in their bodies. And they are usually hte only ones that notice it unless it is glaringly evident (one leg 3" shorter than the other). I have one that I hate every time I look in the mirror, but nobody else seems to notice it so I dont sweat it. Tons of people are like that.[/quote]
BUT I’M A SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE!!!
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
I SEE A LEAN !! [/quote]
That’s my gangster lean.
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
I SEE A LEAN !! [/quote]
That’s my gangster lean.[/quote]
Necessary for the green, blue, and orange lines
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
I SEE A LEAN !! [/quote]
That’s my gangster lean.[/quote]
Necessary for the green, blue, and orange lines[/quote]
I think she was just sayin you are lean as shit…like fuckin ripped brah
4/27/12. 5/3/1 Week 3 Day 4 (OHP)
OHP is comin back… 3 reps off my all time PR @ 160. This means it’s really only bench that hasn’t come back, might be more of a form issue since everything else seems to be returning to form more quickly.
Also, did face pulls different, pulled the rope above my head (basically my fists were finishing directly above my shoulders, with my elbows pulled all the way back to be in line with my torso). Burned the ever-loving SHIT out of my rear delts. Liked it.
Made up for my lack of volume yesterday. This will more closely resemble the workouts I’ll have as I transition into my hypertrophy block.
Workout
(warmup) Band Pull-Aparts (and vertical pull aparts), shoulder dislocates, no moneys
A) Standing OHP
70 x 5
85 x 5
100 x 3
-work sets-
130 x 5
145 x 3
160(1+ ) x 6
B) Barbell Rows (haven’t done these in forever), underhand grip
135 x 10
155 x 8
165 x 8
C1) Bodyweight Dips
5 x 11 (total reps = 55 = PR)
C2) Lat Pulldowns
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10
135 x 8
D1) Face Pulls
30 x 9
20 x 12ish
20 x 14ish
D2) Lateral Raises
25 x 9
25 x 9
25 x 10
D3) DB Hammer Curls
35 x 9
35 x 9
35 x 8
walk home from gym, basically a 20-25min incline walk.
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
I SEE A LEAN !! [/quote]
That’s my gangster lean.[/quote]
Necessary for the green, blue, and orange lines[/quote]
I think she was just sayin you are lean as shit…like fuckin ripped brah
[/quote]
Aren’t you guys the sweetest.
4/30/12. 5/3/1 Week 1 Day 1 (Bench)
So, I was really stoked I got 10reps with 1 in the tank on my top set of bench… then I realized I loaded the wrong weight on the bar (195 instead of 205). What a dumbass.
Still, bench is feeling better than even before injury. I don’t have all my strength back but I’ve been doing a much better job of staying tight than I ever have before. I was pretty explosive with 195 and had at least one grinder in the tank when I racked it.
Workout
Shoulder mobility stuff w/ band
Did some Hang Snatches for activation while waiting for a bench to open up, haven’t done this is freaking forever
bar x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
A) Bench
100 x 5
120 x 5
145 x 3
-work sets-
160 x 5
180 x 5
195(whoops) x 10
B1) Chins (neutral/overhand)
bw x 8, 7, 5(overhand), 5
B2) Incline Press
135 x 8
165 x 6
175 x 6
185 x 6
C) Cable Rows
7 x 10
8 x 10
8 x 8
D1) BB Curls
75 x 10
75 x 9
75 x 9
D2) Tri Rope Pulldowns
something x 15-20ish
one heavier x 12
one more heavier x 10
Walk home (25mins, mostly uphill).
Training going well at this FF. Prob gonna quit Golds soon.
5/1/12. 5/3/1 Week 1 Day 2 (Squat)
Programming Note sorry about the lack of vids recently. No one likes walls of texts. I’ll fix it soon… didn’t like recording myself using those wimpy post-injury weights.
Coworker (dude) commented on my bodacious beard yesterday. Nice.
Wasn’t sure where to set my working max for squats, haven’t run 5/3/1 for squats or deads since the injury. Turns out I set it a bit too low, not sure if I should adjust mid-cycle or just wait it out and see what happens on 3’s week and 1’s week (will probably do the latter).
Also, my PWO meal was some bomb ass chili the lady made, life is good.
I’m going to take some measurements tonight or soon to see what I can do with myself in a 3-month hypertrophy phase (strength is still a priority as I’ll be doing 5/3/1, but I’m going to use a lot of assistance volume and eat a fuckload of food). I’m going to eat in an informal carb backloading way because I can’t justify $80 on an e-book right now. I’m pretty confident I get the logic behind it though, so I should be able to apply the principles nonetheless.
Also I’m gonna eat higher fat and moderate carbs, I didn’t like how I felt when I was eating 400g carbs/training day last bulk (nor did I like the bloodwork).
Workout
Foam rolling, etc
A) Squat
110 x 5
135 x 5
160 x 3
-work sets-
175 x 5
205 x 5
230(5+ ) x 10… all time rep PR at any weight on back squats, so at least I PR’d in some way. Had some left in the tank strength-wise but I was gassed from a cardio standpoint. Form was shit last 2 reps.
B) Leg Press
5pps x 12
6pps x 8
5.5pps x 10
5.5pps x 10
(unilateral) 2pps x 10 each leg
C1) Leg Curls
Forget weights but I ramped up each time
something x 14ish
something higher x 12
something higher x 10
C2) Ab wheel
3 x 8
25min walk home.
5/3/12. 5/3/1 Week 1 Day 3 (OHP)
God, I have seriously pathetic abs. I don’t train them for 2 weeks, do a measley 3x8 on ab wheel on Tuesday, and yesterday (Thurs) they were so sore that I actually strained my abs on the 6th rep of standing OHP. It really affected me for a couple reps, I think I had at least one more in the tank if I was capable of keeping my body tight.
Also I watched the stupid Caps-Rangers game that went into triple OT, so I was a zombie all day including during my workout. I didn’t do my warmup/stretching which was a mistake, maybe it woulda woken me up a bit, I zombie’d through my whole workout.
Workout
A) Standing OHP
75 x 5
90 x 5
105 x 3
-work sets-
115 x 5
130 x 5
145(5+ ) x 8
B) BB Row (underhand)
135 x 12
145 x 10
155 x 10
165 x 10 ← was easy, have lots of room to move up in weight, but was pressed for time… back getting stronger
C1) Lat Pulldowns (underhand)
120 x 10
135 x 10
150 x 10
150* x 10 (had the little extra rubber weight thingy)
150* x 8
C2) Bodyweight Dips
5 sets x 57 total reps (2 rep PR)
D1) Face Pulls Above Head
3 x 12ish
D2) DB Hammers
30 x 3 x 10-12ish
D3) DB Laterals
30 x 8
30 x 7
30 x 7
My first time doing informal carb backloading. Don’t have cash for the ebook (it’s seriously like $80) but the concept seems sound, I figure I can get most of the benefit from the articles I’ve read. I actually didn’t eat all I wanted to since I had to run out to meet the lady, but it was a start. Here’s yesterday’s nutrition:
Breakfast: 4 eggs scrambled in virgin coconut oil, 3 pieces pork bacon, 25g protein shake w/ fiber and greens supplement (add: 2 fish oil, 300mg CoQ10, probiotic)
Lunch: 10oz chicken thighs, spinach/avocado salad, handful peanuts, (plus 5000iu vit D3)
2nd lunch: 10oz turkey burger, 2nd half of spinach/avocado salad, handful peanuts (plus 500mg Niacin)
Pre-WO: Shake w/ 25g whey hydro, 5g leucine, 5g creatine
30min post-WO: Shake w/ 20g whey hydro, 5g leucine, 50g dextrose, 30g waxy maize (20g protein/80g carbs)
Dinner (45ish mins later): 12oz grassfed sirloin, 1lb homemade mashed potatoes, 16oz whole milk, 8oz vanilla yogurt (supps: probiotic, 2 Flameout caps)
Pre-bed I take ZMA and Vit C.
Not sure total cals or macro breakdown, but a lot higher cals/carbs than I was eating a couple weeks ago so should be good.
I swear I’ll get a vid up from today’s sesh later… deadlifts comin up
Also, here’s a routine I made for my girl, she wants to add some muscle size (and presumably tighten up a bit for bikini season, what girl doesn’t want that?).
Actually, VTBalla’s gf sent me a template, I tweaked it to reduce volume a bit and make it more friendly for a crowded gym (i.e., more supersets and giant sets can be done at a single station instead of walking around a lot). But she gets credit for most of it.
If any ladies still be readin, let me know what you think:
Workout A
-
Deadlift (2-3 warmup sets then 3x5 heavy)
-
Standing OHP (1-2 warmup sets, 3x5 heavy)
3A) BB Lunge - 3x8
3B) Incline DB Press - 3x8
3C) DB Row 3x8
4A) KB Front Squat 3 x 8
4B) Curls 3 x 8 (she wants to be able to do a full bodyweight pullup, curls will help)
Workout B
-
Squat (2-3 warmup, 3x5 heavy)
-
Bench (1-2 warmup, 3x5 heavy)
3A) Leg Press 3x8 (feet high on pad, drive through heels for hammy involvement)
3B) Lat Pulldowns 3x8
3C) Standing DB OHP 3x8
4A) Leg Curl Machine 3x8 (I actually like these, beginners have a tough time involving hammies in compound movements till they get the hang of lifting, this guarantees they’ll get some hammy work)
4B) Pushups 3x8
4C) Inverted Row 3x8
Thoughts?
I think it looks great!
I may use that when I need to get my Bikini body