[quote]tmak1456 wrote:
Looks like your meet went pretty well. Hows the training been going? [/quote]
Thanks. Good to see you back lifting after boot. Training has been going pretty well. If you’ve looked over my training log I’ve been doing some things differently. When you make it back to the area, feel free to stop in and train.
I looked at your log a bit, and it seems pretty interesting. I’m curious to see how it works out for you. I’ll be back for 2 or 3 weeks at the end of august, and I will definitely stop bye. There’s just nothing quite like a garage gym.
6/12/09
Intensity Block
Day 3 of 12
DSD
Pulls against bands (+220m)
295x1@8
315x1@8
335x1@9
350x1@9+ (PR)
335x1@9+
Free squats +85c
325x1@8
355x1@8+
375x1@9
395x1@9+ (PR)
Good mornings (DL stance)
235x8
255x3x8
Blue band ab pulldowns
4x25
Notes: Pretty productive session today with PRs on both of the main lifts. I never really stalled on 350, but the lift was slow enough at lockout that made me reticent to add much more weight. I dropped down and did another single with 335 and that was hard enough, so I think I made a good call. Squats felt strong tonight; 395 was a little slow once the chain started to reload, but I didn’t stall at any point during the lift. I figure I could go for 405 in a couple of weeks if I decide to shoot for a 1RM.
6/13/09
Intensity Block
Day 4 of 12
Raw bench/assistance
1-board paused bench press
295x1@8
315x1@8
335x1@9 (PR)
345x0@9 (freak cramp in oblique, wtf!!)
325x1@9
CG paused bench press
265x1@8
285x1@8
305x1@8.5
315x1@9+ (PR)
Incline CG bench press
165x2x8
185x2x8
Green band face pulls
4x15
Notes: I really should’ve had the 345, but as I was pressing the weight about halfway I got a cramp in my left oblique. The weight flew up from and then my side just seized up - guess I was sweating more than I thought. It wasn’t form a bad choice of weights, just a weird cramp. As a consolation I dropped down to 325 and hit a solid single. I contemplated going back to 345, but I decided to come back and do it in a couple of weeks.
The close grips were good. I’ve never tried 315 with a close grip before so I was happy to get that. It stalled a little about 3/4 of the way up, but just pressed on through. Inclines are also feeling better. My shoulders feel much more stable when I do them for reps and I think they’re making my shoulders a bit stronger.
6/15/09
Intensity block
Day 5 of 12
SDS
Raw box squats (work sets only)
355x3@8.5
375x2x3@9,9+ (rep PR x 2)
Sumo deadlift +70c
385x2@8
405x2@8.5
425x2x2@9,9
SSB Yoke bar squats
255x5@7
255x3x8@8,8,9
Notes: Good, solid session today. I worked up to 375 for a couple of sets of triples; during the first set all the reps went up nice and smooth, while the third rep on the second go-round was slow-not a grind, just slow. Have to put it around 9.5 because a 4th rep might have worked out, though it would have been a dogfight.
I dumped the deficit pulls because they weren’t doing shit for me, so I inserted sumo pulls for DL assistance. The doubles with 425 came up strong until lockout at which point they slowed down a good bit. I’m pretty sure it’s form related and maybe if I put a little effort into it I can work things out. Still progressing with the reps on the Yoke bar squats, although by the time I’m finished with them my legs and back are on fire. I’ll probably add some weight next week.
6/17/09
Intensity Block
Day 6 of 12
Bench Lockout/Assistance
Reverse green band bench press (work sets only)
405x3x3@8.5,9,9
CG paused floor press (3 sec pauses)
275x2x2@8,8
285x2@9
295x2@9+
Blast strap JM ‘presses’
BWx10
BW+2 chains x 8
drop set: 2 chains x 8,1 chain x 6,BW x 5
Blast strap rear delt flyes
BWx2x10
BW+1 chain x 8
“” x 7,dropped chain; 1x5
Notes: Bench work felt good this week. I probably could’ve hit the 445 I missed last week, but figured it’d be better to take it relatively easy this week. I underestimated how hard the top set of floor presses would be; never any danger of missing the weight, but I flared like a mofo about halfway up.
6/19/09
Intensity Block
Day 7 of 12
DSD assistance
Pulls against bands +220m
295x2@8
315x2@8
335x2@9
350x2@10 (rep PR)
Free squats +85c
325x3@8
355x3@9
375x3@10 (rep PR)
Close-stance good mornings
235x4x8
Notes: I was wasted after this session. I hit a single with 350 last week and instead of backing off a bit with the intensity I decided to try and double it this week. The first rep came up easier than last week’s single, but on the 2nd rep I fell backward for some damn reason after I got the weight to my knees so I had to reset and do it again. Needless to say, it was a grind. I should call it 2.5 reps instead of just two. My eyes were a little glassy afterwards. I thought about doing a drop set with 325, but I don’t think it would’ve worked out too well.
The last set of squats was a dogfight, too. After the 2nd rep I was a little concerned that a third might be iffy, but I said screw it and just went for it. Never really stalled with it, although once the chain started to reload the bar moved pretty damn slow. My back was spent after the pulls and deads, so I put the belt on during good mornings for the first time all cycle.
6/20/09
Intensity Block
Day 8 of 12
Raw bench/assistance
1-board bench press
295x3@8
315x2x3@9,9
CG bench press (paused first rep)
285x2x2@8,8.5
295x2x2@8.5,9
CG incline bench
185x8
205x3x8
Green band face pulls
2x25 (my back was on fire)
Notes: I decided to back it down a little bit on the bench work today and hit it harder next Saturday. The 1-board benches were pretty easy, with the exception of the lockout on the second set of triples with 315. Next cycle I need to add back in the 2- or 3-board on Wednesday because my mid-range transition is bad right now and I have to rely on bar speed to get past it.
If I have to grind, fuhgedaboudit. I’m getting a lot better with the close grips, not huge gains, but measurable improvements. Same thing with inclines. A month ago I struggled to finish 8-rep sets with 185. Good session; no PRs, but still some solid reps.
6/22/09
Intensity Block
Day 9 of 12
SDS
Raw box squat (work up to 1RM)
385x1@8.5
425x1@9 (PR)
450x1@9+ (PR)
Sumo DL +70c (work up to 1RM)
385x1@8
435x1@9
455x1@10 (PR)
SSB Yoke bar squats (beltless)
255x5@7
285x5@8
305x2x4@8.5,10 (rep PR x 2)
Blue band ab pulldowns (squat stance)
4x15(?)
Notes: Strong session today. The box squat PR never stalled, but I’d have to say another 10 pounds might have resulted in a miss or a mess in my pants (I was close on 450). I also decided to test out my sumo pull; 455 came up smooth, but once most of the chain loaded at lockout it was a bitch to lockout. Still, I’m fairly happy with this since I never pull using sumo. I’ll probably keep sumo to start out the volume block on the next mesocycle to hone my technique and get my hip strength up.
Fatigue caught up with me quickly on the Yoke bar squats. The first set of 305 I was supposed to do 5, but I forgot how to count. As punishment, I did another set of w/ 305. The last rep stalled about 2/3 of the way up for a second and pushed on through.
6/24/09
Intensity Block
Day 10 of 12
Bench Lockout/Assistance
Reverse green band bench press (w/u to 1RM-ish)
405x1@8
435x1@9 (PR)
455x0@Grrr
405x1@8.5
445x1@9.5 (PR)
CG paused floor press
275x3x3@8,9,9.5
Blast strap rear delt flye/lat shrug combo
BWx3x12;3x15
Notes: Even with the missed attempt I was fairly happy with today’s session. I didn’t have a liftoff today so unracking 455 was not easy and I never really got set up properly. I still managed to get it halfway up, so with a proper liftoff I’m pretty sure everything would’ve worked out. Being a little miffed, I dropped back to 405 and singled it easily just to get my confidence built back up, then jumped to 445–which I missed only two weeks ago. This lift was pretty clean even if it slowed a bit at about 4-board level. Called it there and once I rotate back to these I’ll shoot for 455 again. Floor presses felt strong, although the 3rd rep was fugly.
6/26/09
Intensity Block
Day 11 of 12
Pulls against bands +220m
315x1@8
365x1@9+ (PR)
375x0@10 (a little overzealous)
315x2x1@9,9
Free squats +85c
325x1@8
375x1@8.5
405x1@9+ (PR)
375x1@9
Close-stance good mornings (beltless)
235x6@7
255x6@8
275x6@8
Green band side bends
4x20
Notes: Another good session. I decided to just go ahead and make the jump from 315 to 365, then let 'er rip. Came up pretty fast to knee level and took a bit of effort to lock it out, but I felt like I had some left in me. I added another 10 pounds and tested that theory - uh-uh, no dice. I let the bar get a little bit in front of me, and just couldn’t finish those last few inches.
On warm-ups for the squat I decided to test out what I could do for a single instead of doubles. My hips shot forward a little bit on 375 because I felt the bar roll just a hair, but no big deal. 405 came up a slower, but I wouldn’t call the lift an all-out effort.
6/27/09
Intensity Block
Day 12 of 12
Raw bench/assistance
1-board bench press
315x1@8
345x1@9 (PR)
365x0@horseshit
315x1@8
355x1@9+ (PR)
Close-grip paused bench
275x1@7
305x3x1@8,8,9
Green band face pulls
5x15
Notes: Bench felt solid today. I absolutely killed the 345 that I had the epic fail with a couple of weeks ago; on 365, my elbows flared out badly right around 3-board level AGAIN and just couldn’t finish the lift. I know the strength is there for it, I just need to watch my form better and hit that mid-range hard. Dropped down to 315 and went back up to 355 because I didn’t want to risk missing 365 again. Weight came up pretty smooth, only reinforcing the fact that 365 should have worked out. I decided to just to work up to something moderately heavy and do some singles on the CG paused benches; probably could’ve done sets all day with 305, but limited it to 3.
After I tabulate the numbers, I’ll probably give a writeup of what progress I made on my first six weeks of Mike Tuscherer’s RTS program. Without looking at the numbers, I’d guess the results have been good thus far.
Just thought I’d post some of the gains that I made on my first six-week mesocycle. These are the primary cyclic lifts from the upper and lower body days.
Box squat: Previous max (PM) - 405; Estimated max (EM) - 460 (Hit 450)
Sumo DL +75c: PM - 425; New max - 455
Reverse green band bench: PM - 425; EM - 465 (Did 445 easy;missed 455)
CG paused floor press: PM - 285; EM - 320 (305 was highest)
Pulls against minis (+220m): PM - 325; EM - 374 (Hit 365, missed 375)
Free squats +85c: PM - 345; EM - 425 (Got 405;~95% effort)
1-board bench: PM - 325; EM - 370 (Did 355 w/ ~95% or so effort;missed 365)
CG Paused bench: PM - 295; EM - 330 (Hit 315)
I realize a lot of these are estimated maxes, and in a couple of cases I missed a weight below the estimate; but the fact that the estimated maxes steadily increased over the six weeks is evidence of improvement in my book.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
Just thought I’d post some of the gains that I made on my first six-week mesocycle. These are the primary cyclic lifts from the upper and lower body days.
Box squat: Previous max (PM) - 405; Estimated max (EM) - 460 (Hit 450)
Sumo DL +75c: PM - 425; New max - 455
Reverse green band bench: PM - 425; EM - 465 (Did 445 easy;missed 455)
CG paused floor press: PM - 285; EM - 320 (305 was highest)
Pulls against minis (+220m): PM - 325; EM - 374 (Hit 365, missed 375)
Free squats +85c: PM - 345; EM - 425 (Got 405;~95% effort)
1-board bench: PM - 325; EM - 370 (Did 355 w/ ~95% or so effort;missed 365)
CG Paused bench: PM - 295; EM - 330 (Hit 315)
I realize a lot of these are estimated maxes, and in a couple of cases I missed a weight below the estimate; but the fact that the estimated maxes steadily increased over the six weeks is evidence of improvement in my book.[/quote]
Things are looking really good novaeer. RTS is definitely an intriguing, albeit somewhat complicated system. I am curious how objective you felt you were able to rate the various exercises.
Are you going to add any more bells and whistles to the next mesocycle?
[quote]mrodock wrote:
Things are looking really good novaeer. RTS is definitely an intriguing, albeit somewhat complicated system. I am curious how objective you felt you were able to rate the various exercises.
Are you going to add any more bells and whistles to the next mesocycle?
[/quote]
Thanks. At first it was difficult, especially on the bench because I just hate the lift and everything feels way harder than it actually looks. I really had to adjust the scale on the bench to reflect that. Same is somewhat true on deadlift due to my really bad lockout, but I usually know with a high degree of certainty when a lift is a 9 or 10.
The system seems complicated initially and you can overwhelm yourself watching too many different parameters from the beginning. I’m just focusing on working within the RPE system and using fatigue stops when needed, all the other stuff like fatigue percents, stress management, unidirectional loading, etc. will come in the future when the standard template isn’t yielding additional gains. So far I’m pleased with what the template has produced without beating my body down much at all, which was a concern coming from a 3-day split of 5/3/1.
6/29/09
Mesocycle Deux
Volume block
Day 1 of 12
SDS
Olympic squat
285x5x5@7,7,7,8,8
Sumo pulls +75c
315x6x3@8 (all of them)
SSB Yoke bar box squats
255x3x8@7,7,8
Notes: Bit of a back-off day. All the lifts were really easy, although the Olympic squats felt a little awkward since I haven’t squatted with that close of a stance in a very long time. Should be interesting to see how I can handle things with these when the weights get a little heavier.
7/1/09
Volume block
Day 2 of 12
Bench press +110MM (dbl monster minis)
225x6x4@8,8,8,8,8,8
3-board bench +110MM
245x3@7
275x4x3@8,8,8,8
295x3@9
Close-grip manpon press (no leg drive)
225x4x8
Blast strap rear delt flyes/lat shrugs combo
BWx3x10
Notes: I haven’t benched against bands in a long time, especially the monster minis. It was a little bit of a shock when I unracked the bar with all the band tension; once I got up to my working sets it was a little difficult getting the bar off the j-hooks and not flatten out. The bar moved pretty easily and this week was just a re-intro to benching with the bands. My triceps were starting to get fatigued by the the time the manpon presses rolled around, but all the reps were smooth and easy. I’ll ramp up the weights some next week and hopefully my shoulders and elbows don’t complain about the band tension.
7/3/09
Volume block
Day 3 of 12
DSD
Reverse band deadlift (blue band, no assistance starting right at knee level)
485x4x3@8,8,8,8
505x2x3@8.5,9
Paused pin squats +140c
285x4x2@8,8,8,8
305x2x2@8.5,8.5
Close-stance good mornings
235x8
255x8
285x2x8
Abs later
Notes: Deadlift felt really strong today. I remember 505 being a bit of a struggle in the past, but this time the triples came up without even a little slowdown at lockout. My all-time PR with these is 560 so doing work sets with 505 with plenty left in the tank is a confidence builder.
I’ve never done the pin squats before and they were hard plus the chains increased the degree of difficulty. You really have to focus on staying tight and generate a lot of force or 1) the bar will stay on the pins and/or 2) the reloading chains will stop you dead in your tracks.
7/4/09
Volume block
Day 4 of 12
Raw bench/assistance
Soft-touch bench press (w/ short pauses)
255x3x3@7,7,7
275x3x3@7,8,8
Close-grip low pin presses (pin #5)
225x2x5@7,8
245x3x5@8,8,9
OH KB presses
5x8
Green band face pulls
4x12
Notes: I thought I’d give soft-touch benches a try as my main raw bench movement for this mesocycle. I figure if I can hold the weight static at my chest for a quick count and press it up, it should help my bottom-end strength. All reps were very easy and most were like speed weight. I think next week I’ll move the pins up one spot because it was really hard setting up underneath the bar properly. I gave the last set of 245 an RPE of 9 because the bar was a little slow going up on the first rep.
Also, while the weights were clearly not that high, this exercise is surprisingly difficult. It should be interesting when the weights go up.
7/6/09
Volume block
Day 5 of 12
SDS
Olympic squats
315x2x2@7,7
335x2x2@8,8
355x2x2@8.5,8.5
Sumo DLs +75c
315x4x4@7,7,7,8
365x2x4@8(10),8(10) [see below]
Notes: Had to call it a day there unfortunately, as I had something to take care of. I’m noticeably weaker with the close-stance olympic squats, but I’m happy with being able to move 355 as easily as I did.
The sumo pulls turned into a total clusterf*ck. The sets with 315 moved like speed weight as it should since it’s light. For some reason when I pulled 365 the bar kept sticking on the right side and I had to pull harder on that side to finish each rep. This went on for another set until I realized that the chainmate collar was getting snagged on my bench. So basically I was pulling 365 and the chains plus the bench on one side. Talk about feeling like a complete idiot…:o I’ll do abs tomorrow and make up the Yoke bar squats next week with a couple extra sets.
Update: As promised, I did my ab work this evening; it consisted of 3 sets of 12 blast strap fallouts (ouch, those are freakin’ hard) and 4 sets of 15 blue band ab pulldowns held for a one count at the bottom of each rep.