Squat and Deadlift Deload (Wednesday 04/01/09)
Holy fuck it’s April!
A. Sumo: something
B. High Bar Squat: whatever, it’s a deload
C1. Bulgarian SS: 3x12xBW
C2. KB Swing: 3x20x45
Knees to Elbows 2x5
My balance and stability suck soooo bad with single leg right now. Ugh…
Alright guys, I’ll be internet and cellphone free until Sunday- cya then.
Wow I’m beat up.
4 days of training; 11 hours in the pouring rain on Friday, 6 in the snow on Saturday. Lots of land nav, STX lanes and FLRC. At least I found out that I can do a pullup with full ruck and kit.
Bench (Monday 04/06/09
just worksets
2 Board: 225x4 (missed 5)
Dips: 5x13,13,13,13,12 (!!! that pissed me off)
Chin: +60x1RM
Lateral Raises and etc
Shouldn’t have gone for the fifth rep but I wanted a nice odd number. Oh well.
1RM Chin is in preparation for doing a 5/3/1 rep scheme for chins after bench just like Jim is experimenting with. We’ll see how it works out, still plan on doing pullups for reps on Military days.
Dammit, just realized I didn’t do anything special for my 666th post.
Also fucked up and was supposed to do 235 on Monday, but oh well. I’m going back to regular Bench next week and I was pretty beat up from the FTX.
Deadlift (Wednesday 04/08/09)
A. Sumo: 215x5, 240x3, 275x12 (very nice PR)
B. DB Row: not much
C1. Bulgarian SS: 3x10xBW
C2. Knees to Elbows (KTE): 3x6
DB Rowing was haphazard because of the 5 o clock rush. Single leg balance still sucks. KTE however is a great core, lat and grip exercise- definitely sticking with it.
Just PT today.
I am however disappointed that I can’t deadlift my Ford Taurus. One day…
Squat and Military (Friday 04/11/09)
Had to roll both together today, gym was closing at 2pm on Friday for the rest of the Easter weekend.
A. Front Squat: 175x5, 200x3, 225x10
B. Military Press: 85x5, 105x3, 120x5
C. Bulgarian SS: 3x10xBW
D1. Strict CG: 3x8x135
D2. Machine Row: 4x8x110
E. Pallof Press: 2x8
Booya, same reps as last week +15 lbs. Really felt like I strained my right trap on the last rep though so I just hit five reps on the military and left it alone.
Rest of the workout was a mishmash of some various stuff. My close grip really sucks (going for very strict, elbows touching torso). I forgot how much I loved the Pallof Press though.
New wave starting next week.
Nice front squats!
I have to play catch up here. . .
I’m so happy with my Front Squat progress, it’s been flying up.
Bench (Monday 04/14/09)
A. Flat Bench: 145, 165x5 and 185x11 (nice PR)
B. Chinup: +10 x 11 reps
C1. One Arm DB Overhead: 4x6x40
C2. Cuban Press: 4x10x15
D. DB Skullcrusher: 3x10x30, 2x10x40
Farmers Walk and Pinch Grip
Was a good session for everyone in the group. Ian and Dan both push pressed a plate for the first time and now have a bench competition going.
Looks like the last wave with 2 Board was a success though, wasn’t too confident last week but 185x11 is a two rep PR. If I keep hammering away with the pressing I should be on track to hit at least 250 at the end of the semester.
All other lifts went good, DB Overhead is weak but that means it’ll help me if improved. Also pinch gripped 25s for the first time and did some Farmers for the first time in a while.
Deadlift (Wednesday 04/15/09)
Sumo: blah blah, 245x10 (cut it short)
T-Bar Row: 5x10x3 plates
Bulgarian SS: 2x15xBW
Cuban Rotations
Pallof Press
Hill Sprints
Was feeling very weak on the pulling today so I kept it short. Did some hill sprints after and the next morning woke up with some nasty left knee pain that caused me to call off squatting today. Not really sure what caused it, although I did do some speed squats without much warmup halfway through the workout (probably it).
Tomorrow morning we’re headed to go train with the Diesel Crew, might end up on the live internet feed. Should be great to be in a hardcore gym for once.
Hope you guy’s weeks are going well.
Man, I see you regularly hitting 10 and 11 reps on your 531 day. That is sick. Looks like this program is working well!
Thanks man. Starting light really is key, gives you a lot of time to progress up and destroy some PRs- especially with lifts that you haven’t done in a while (front squats for me) or not at all (sumo).
Knee is feeling better but still not alright, just did some speed deadlifts and light GHR yesterday (neither were painful).
Saturday 04/18/09
We got an opportunity to train with the Diesel Crew today which was nothing short of awesome. Nice dungeon-ish gym only 45 min away from Ithaca or so, tons of great equipment (strongman logs are a whole other beast of an exercise).
My bench form is pretty good but these guys take it to a whole other level. It went something similar to ME Bench, overhead anyway (strict, push, jerk), strongman log and a chain pushup dropset (my favorite and one of the more brutal things that I’ve ever done).
On the leanback of the push press I felt literally every one of my lumbar vertebra just crack… very unsettling feeling, I’ll let you know if I’ve got pain tomorrow lol. Elevated pushups with 160 lbs of chain is no joke, especially with a drop set! Should have listened to Smitty and not went all out on the first set cuz the rest were murder.
We’ll definitely be dropping by again sometime, it was a great opportunity and very generous of the Crew to let us train there.
Awesome that you had a chance to go see the Diesel Crew!
Man, I’m experiencing what it is like to be around people that are hella stronger, and it is definitely helping my mentality and progress.
Looks like you’re in a great situation to experience the same sort of thing.
As an aside, say no to spondy. Be careful with that low back. Keep us posted on that. . .
It was a great experience, there’s definitely something to be said about training with guys far stronger than you. The Oly lifter who just so happened to be there that day was the most explosive person that I’ve ever met, 347 jerk out of the racks weighing less than half that.
I’ll definitely be watching the back though, last thing I need is an extension based disorder to go along with my flexion one. Honestly that Push Press was a stupid idea. I imagine that when I get to a standing full ROM wheel of death I won’t have to worry about these things as much…
Bench (Monday 04/20/09)
Bench: 155, 175, 200x3
bunch of high rep band pushdown sets
Chin: +25 x 8
Cable Scarecrows: 5x10
curlz and shrugz
Was still completely destroyed from the Diesel Crew workout, so I get some reps in on the pressing work and quit it there. This week is going to be my last high intensity week before next’s deload and maxing on finals week, so I’ll be hitting everything hard and heavy on Friday and Saturday.
Forgot how much I liked cable scarecrows, great lift.
Deadlift (Wednesday 04/21/09)
Sumo: 205, 235x3, 315x6 and 265x10
Conventional (form, nice and easy): 225x10
Reverse Lunge: 3x10
Ab Wheel: 3x10
Felt like pulling 315 just cause, went alright. Also stopped 265 at 10 reps. Pulled some conventional after, every set felt like a speed set.
Wasn’t too much assistance work because of some coaching with the new guys- looking forward to destroying myself on Front Squat Saturday.
Now I’m off to see Amon Amarth in Buffalo- death metal forever!
Wow as of last night my ears were still ringing.
It was a great show, venue was the Town Ballroom in Buffalo NY. Had kind of a cool coliseum set up with the pit ringed by two higher floors with seating.
Skeletonwitch and Goatwhore opened up for them, missed Lazarus tho. Amon Amarth’s entire set list was great. Johan Hegg is a scary, scary human being. Also has probably the deepest voice that I’ve ever heard.
Also got to see some hardcore kid get picked up by the collar by a massive security guy, put in a chokehold and get dragged out. That was hilarious.
Man, that sounds like it was a blast.
Also, I’m looking forward to seeing those front squats.
The race is on! I think I’m at ~280 max right now.
Hell yea!
I’m maxing in two week (end of finals week), so I’ll have a better idea of where I sit then. I’ve been setting good rep PRs but as to whether that translates to 1RM strength yet I don’t know.
Squat (Friday 04/24/09)
Front Squat: 175x5, 200x3, 235x5
DB Reverse Lunge: 5x10x20
Ab Wheel: 5x10
Man my ass is going to be sore tomorrow.
My abs were already pretty destroyed from PT so I stopped the front squat at 5 reps. Alex told me after that my right foot was actually a couple of inches behind my left the whole set (wtf). Weird.
Anyways, wanted to get in at least one more lower exercise but time constraints killed that. Lots of pressing and pulling tomorrow.
Military (Saturday 04/25/09)
A. Strict Military: 100x5, 110x3 and 125x5
B. Incline DB: 60x12RP (8-4)
C1. Close Grip: 4x5x155
C2. Cuban Press: 5x10x17.5
Lateral Raises and Reverse Curlz
Also went straight to a 95% day. Military hasn’t moved much- I think this is due to a lack of incline pressing and the fact that it’s been a casualty of having to miss the day/combine it with another because of various events.
Incline DB was mainly to get an idea of where I’m sitting for strength on them, great exercise I’ve forgotten for a while.
Now I’m at a bit of a crossroads.
5/3/1 has obviously been working for me so far and I like the setup of the program a lot. But the school year is ending (max in 2 weeks BOOSH) and I’ll soon have 4 months of free time, training and complete control over my diet.
I’m not one to switch something that’s still working but 5/3/1 is a lower volume program and I’ll soon have some massive amounts of free time on my hands- more than enough time to run a full powerlifting program (probably Maximum Strength again) and have conditioning as well. If I were to choose that I’d most likely go back to 5/3/1 next semester because of time restraints and the demands of ROTC.
Way I see it I’ve got 2 options:
Wouldn’t mind some insight into this.
You could go on an exaggerated 6-8 week long cycle with a basic rep scheme (8X3, 5X5, 4X6, 12X2, whatevs) on squat/deadlift, bench, and an upper pulling movement with 2-4 relevant assistance exercises complementing each.
Day 1: lower body; Deadlift Doubles, 1 hip dom. assistance, 1 quad dom assistance, 1-2 core movements
Day 2: Upper Body; RE pull, 1 accessory pull movement, 2 accessory push movements
Day 3: lower body; RE stuff, 1-2 hip dom. assistance, 1 quad dom. assistance, 1-2 core movements
Day 4: Upper body; Bench Press Doubles, 1 accessory push movement, 2 accessory pull movements
The assistance exercises could just be 3X6-10 or 2X12. You could do some arms supersets after the upper days.
I’ve been doing this with nice results.
Also, you could compliment that program with 2 linear conditioning days (sled work, sprints, whatevs), and 1 lateral conditioning day (slideboard work). Of course, you’d probably want to start w/ 1 or 2 conditioning days and then move up to 3 or 4, but that’s your call.
5/3/1 obviously works great, so you may want to do a 3Xweek 5/3/1 and add in a strongmanish day on top of it all. That’d be hella fun and it’d be a great way to add quality work into the program.
Just tossin some ideas around. You’re gonna pwn it up either way.