Phillip Wylie's Training Log

Training Training Logs
321

[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
Wow, that squat looked effortless! Actually, they all looked easy for you. What happened with your bench attempt?[/quote]

Thanks, bro! I hurt my elbow while training for the Arnold and wasn’t able to train at a acceptable level. My bench was going well prior to the injury. I hurt it doing 385 for 3 paused reps. It’s my fault, I didn’t stick with the plan and went heavier than I was supposed to.

My 2nd attempt with 396 was tough to lockout and I just barely missed it. I have 23 weeks until USAPL Raw Nationals, so my elbow should be healed up soon and I can get in some good bench work soon.

322

[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:

[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
Wow, that squat looked effortless! Actually, they all looked easy for you. What happened with your bench attempt?[/quote]

x2!!! Definitely going to be following this.[/quote]

Thanks, bro!

323

Is it creepy if I said I want to be like you when I grow up?

324

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
Is it creepy if I said I want to be like you when I grow up?[/quote]

I take it as a compliment, thanks!

325

Could you fill us in on your training over the last 5 months? You put 110 lbs on your total, including 71 on your dead, even while not getting in a bench to the level you would have liked. Was your Oct meet just an aberration or what? Still training block?

326

[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:

[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
Wow, that squat looked effortless! Actually, they all looked easy for you. What happened with your bench attempt?[/quote]

Thanks, bro! I hurt my elbow while training for the Arnold and wasn’t able to train at a acceptable level. My bench was going well prior to the injury. I hurt it doing 385 for 3 paused reps. It’s my fault, I didn’t stick with the plan and went heavier than I was supposed to.

My 2nd attempt with 396 was tough to lockout and I just barely missed it. I have 23 weeks until USAPL Raw Nationals, so my elbow should be healed up soon and I can get in some good bench work soon. [/quote]

You might want to check out Supercissus from USP labs on Amazon. I haven’t bought it yet, but looks to be a great joint health product. Very affordable as well.

327

[quote]KBCThird wrote:
Could you fill us in on your training over the last 5 months? You put 110 lbs on your total, including 71 on your dead, even while not getting in a bench to the level you would have liked. Was your Oct meet just an aberration or what? Still training block?[/quote]

I would like to give you some background information. My best lifts in the USAPL prior to October was; 535 squat, 386 bench press, 650 deadlift, 1569 total. My best lifts in NASA were; 551 squat, 402 bench press, 705 deadlift, and 1658 total. NASA uses deadlift bars and deadlift bars make it easier to deadlift more. If you look at my October meet and my last meet, the improvement looks awesome. The middle of May 2009, I decided to change my focus to losing body fat and improving my health. I have type 2 diabetes and wanted to focus on improving my health. So from the middle of May until the first week of August my focus was weight loss. For a while I followed 5/3/1 and soon I changed to training without any real structure. I would do cardio, circuits, but I still benched and squatted. I didn’t deadlift from the end of May until the first week of August. My main focus was my health and getting leaner. I went from 245 to 223. I was eating low carb and I lost muscle, which was not the plan. My body fat went from around 25% to 17.7%.

August 9th I decided to start a modified Sheiko template and started eating more carbs. The first 4 weeks of the modified Sheiko template, I followed it as written. By the second wave, I started reversing the set and rep scheme. I did it at first because it was faster to do 3 sets of 5 reps than 5 sets of 3 reps. In 8 weeks I competed in a NASA meet. I bench was going great, but my squat and deadlift were still lacking. Part of this was due to the fact that prior to this 8 week training cycle I hadn’t deadlifted since May 29. I was surprised by my bench. On 5/3/1 it took me 20 weeks to achieve a 402 bench and it only took me 8 weeks this time. Also keep in mind I wasn’t really benching heavy. By this time I was back up to 238lbs and my body fat was down to 13%. By the middle of November I was back up to 246lbs and was down to 12% body fat. After that I started back putting on fat(a combination of a bad diet and no longer doing cardio). I was training 6 days a week. I did accessory work and cardio between my main days. By October my squat and deadlift were back on track.

During this time I realized that sets of 5 reps worked well for me. When I was following 5/3/1 I had good results and it was the sets of 5 reps that helped me then. My deadlift training is not based on the modified Sheiko template. When I started this program, the modified Sheiko template was too difficult at first, so I would just work up to a top set of 5 and increase it each week. The interesting thing about this program, is that while I was training for the December meet, I had to take 2 weeks off due to having an angiogram and when I got back in the gym I was back where I left off by my second workout. Also leading up to the Arnold I tweaked my lower back and had to take a week of from squatting and deadlifting. Training for the Arnold my heaviest set of 5 was with 495 and the week before I did 545 for a single.

If you are interested, I can post my template.

328

[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
You might want to check out Supercissus from USP labs on Amazon. I haven’t bought it yet, but looks to be a great joint health product. Very affordable as well.
[/quote]

I have heard of it, but haven’t tried it yet. I may have to give it a try.

329

[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:

If you are interested, I can post my template.

[/quote]

I, for one, would be very interested in seeing your template.

330

[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:

[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:

If you are interested, I can post my template.

[/quote]

I, for one, would be very interested in seeing your template. [/quote]

I will post it up then. I need to actually document it any way. I have been just taking the modified Sheiko template and reversing the set and rep scheme.

331

[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:

[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:

[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:

If you are interested, I can post my template.

[/quote]

I, for one, would be very interested in seeing your template. [/quote]

I will post it up then. I need to actually document it any way. I have been just taking the modified Sheiko template and reversing the set an rep scheme. [/quote]

Awesome! I really appreciate it. I’m very interested in seeing how such a strong raw competitor trains.

332

[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:

[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:

[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:

[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:

If you are interested, I can post my template.

[/quote]

I, for one, would be very interested in seeing your template. [/quote]

I will post it up then. I need to actually document it any way. I have been just taking the modified Sheiko template and reversing the set an rep scheme. [/quote]

Awesome! I really appreciate it. I’m very interested in seeing how such a strong raw competitor trains. [/quote]

You’re welcome and thanks for the compliment.

333

[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:

[quote]KBCThird wrote:
Could you fill us in on your training over the last 5 months? You put 110 lbs on your total, including 71 on your dead, even while not getting in a bench to the level you would have liked. Was your Oct meet just an aberration or what? Still training block?[/quote]

I would like to give you some background information. My best lifts in the USAPL prior to October was; 535 squat, 386 bench press, 650 deadlift, 1569 total. My best lifts in NASA were; 551 squat, 402 bench press, 705 deadlift, and 1658 total. NASA uses deadlift bars and deadlift bars make it easier to deadlift more. If you look at my October meet and my last meet, the improvement looks awesome. The middle of May 2009, I decided to change my focus to losing body fat and improving my health. I have type 2 diabetes and wanted to focus on improving my health. So from the middle of May until the first week of August my focus was weight loss. For a while I followed 5/3/1 and soon I changed to training without any real structure. I would do cardio, circuits, but I still benched and squatted. I didn’t deadlift from the end of May until the first week of August. My main focus was my health and getting leaner. I went from 245 to 223. I was eating low carb and I lost muscle, which was not the plan. My body fat went from around 25% to 17.7%.

August 9th I decided to start a modified Sheiko template and started eating more carbs. The first 4 weeks of the modified Sheiko template, I followed it as written. By the second wave, I started reversing the set and rep scheme. I did it at first because it was faster to do 3 sets of 5 reps than 5 sets of 3 reps. In 8 weeks I competed in a NASA meet. I bench was going great, but my squat and deadlift were still lacking. Part of this was due to the fact that prior to this 8 week training cycle I hadn’t deadlifted since May 29. I was surprised by my bench. On 5/3/1 it took me 20 weeks to achieve a 402 bench and it only took me 8 weeks this time. Also keep in mind I wasn’t really benching heavy. By this time I was back up to 238lbs and my body fat was down to 13%. By the middle of November I was back up to 246lbs and was down to 12% body fat. After that I started back putting on fat(a combination of a bad diet and no longer doing cardio). I was training 6 days a week. I did accessory work and cardio between my main days. By October my squat and deadlift were back on track.

During this time I realized that sets of 5 reps worked well for me. When I was following 5/3/1 I had good results and it was the sets of 5 reps that helped me then. My deadlift training is not based on the modified Sheiko template. When I started this program, the modified Sheiko template was too difficult at first, so I would just work up to a top set of 5 and increase it each week. The interesting thing about this program, is that while I was training for the December meet, I had to take 2 weeks off due to having an angiogram and when I got back in the gym I was back where I left off by my second workout. Also leading up to the Arnold I tweaked my lower back and had to take a week of from squatting and deadlifting. Training for the Arnold my heaviest set of 5 was with 495 and the week before I did 545 for a single.

If you are interested, I can post my template.

[/quote]
Thanks for taking the time to write all of that down. And yes, I’m very interested in your template. One thing I’m still not getting is that you gave a lot of background on your training from may '09 - oct '09, but you made this great improvement from oct '10 - mar '11. What do you attribute this to?

334

[quote]KBCThird wrote:
Thanks for taking the time to write all of that down. And yes, I’m very interested in your template. One thing I’m still not getting is that you gave a lot of background on your training from may '09 - oct '09, but you made this great improvement from oct '10 - mar '11. What do you attribute this to?[/quote]

You’re welcome and I will post my template soon. I gave the background because without it, my gains look better than they actually are.

My bench has been my weaker lift and the hardest to improve. I analyzed my training and realized when I got my best gains, was when I was doing shoulder work. When I hit 402 with 5/3/1 I was training 3 days a week and I did incline DB bench presses instead of military presses. I got good carry over from incline bench pressed. Around the time I started using current template, I remembered the times my bench was strongest, I was doing some type of overhead press. I got out of the habit of overhead pressing due to lifting in gear from September 2003 to May 2008. Benching in a shirt strong shoulders are not required. Rear delts were pretty much all the shoulder work I would do. I will outline what helped my bench.

What helped my bench:
*Overhead pressing
*Benching in a straight line
*High volume benching and sets of 5

Overhead pressing - The first 8 weeks of this template one of my top goals was to bring up my shoulder strength. I did overhead pressing twice a week.
Shoulder day 1: Log press or Swiss bar press (aka neutral grip bar) for 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps.
Shoulder day 2: Standing DB overhead press or Javelin press for 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps.
I did all of my overhead pressing standing. After 8 weeks my shoulder strength was up to a decent level and I hit a 402 bench at my October meet.

Benching in a straight line: I have missed a lot of benches due to flaring too soon. It puts me at a mechanical disadvantage and I miss every time I flare too soon. So my thinking was to keep my elbows tucked as long as I could to avoid flaring too soon. Pressing in a straight line allows this. Louie Simmons the owner of Westside Barbell has preached pressing in a straight line for years. Pressing in a straight line shortens the distance you press as well as it allows you to use your lats and triceps more effectively.

High volume benching and sets of 5: The first 4 weeks of this template was a modified Sheiko template. At first it was all I could do to complete my 3rd and last bench workout of the week. By the second 4 week wave, the weights were feeling easier and I wanted to get my benches done sooner, so I reversed the rep scheme from 5 sets of 2 or 3 reps to 3 to 2 sets of 5 reps. Reversing the set and rep scheme made a big difference. I the past I haven’t got much improvement on my bench out of Sheiko templates.

What helped my squat:
*High volume squatting and sets of 5
*Squeezing my upper back hard at the start and throughout the squat

Squeezing my upper back hard at the start and throughout the squat: This is one of those things I knew I should be doing, but never really did. I started doing this in training and in competition. I really saw how much it helped in my December and March competitions.

What helped my deadlift:
*High volume squatting and sets of 5
*Deadlifting for sets of 5

High volume squatting and sets of 5: This helped my deadlift speed and strength off the floor. I really didn’t train my deadlift that hard and didn’t do any consistent deadlift accessory work, but my deadlift got stronger.

Deadlifting for sets of 5: I was analyzing my deadlift training one day. The best deadlift success I had was with 5/3/1 and I realized that training in the 5 rep range was what helped me. I had gone above 5 reps at time, but the majority of the time I was lifting in the 5 rep range. There is no better way to work the muscles involved in the deadlift. My last training cycle I did 3 weeks deficit deadlifts from a 3 inch deficit. I started with 50% of my deadlift and made a 50lbs increase the 2nd week and a 40lbs increase the 3rd week. I did 5x5 the first 2 weeks and 3x5 on the 3rd week. After the deficit deadlifts, I deloaded and after the deload I started regular deadlifts. I start at 70% and increase the weight each week. I work up to a top set of 5. Prior the Arnold I went up to 495 for a set of 5. The week before I went up to 545 for 1 rep.

I will write up my template and post it soon.

335

Wow, this is very insightful! I’m going to have to read that post a few more times to really soak it all in. I really appreciate you taking the time to write all this down.

When you say, “volume and sets of 5” do you mean doing lots of sets in addition to working up to a pseudo-5RM, or several sets of 5? I hope that’s somewhat comprehensible. Again thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. It’s a major help to someone like me who’s beginning to get into the whole PLing scene.

336

[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
Wow, this is very insightful! I’m going to have to read that post a few more times to really soak it all in. I really appreciate you taking the time to write all this down.

When you say, “volume and sets of 5” do you mean doing lots of sets in addition to working up to a pseudo-5RM, or several sets of 5? I hope that’s somewhat comprehensible. Again thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. It’s a major help to someone like me who’s beginning to get into the whole PLing scene.[/quote]

I am glad you found this useful and you are welcome! Explaining my training or training in general is helpful to me as well. It gets me thinking and reminds things I might have forgotten or overlooked.

The volume I refer to is the combination of sets and reps. Sheiko programs are known for being high volume. With my template, I reversed the sets and reps, but still maintain the same amount of volume. 5 reps is the rep range I found useful. Deadlift wise it was the top set of 5 and the sets of 5 I would do as I worked up to the top set. As far as volume goes, it worked better for me to squat and bench multiple times a week. So actually training frequency is a part of the puzzle.

Another quick note, when I pick my opening attempts in the squat or bench, I will pick something I can do for 3 reps. I went up to 3 reps on the squat with 495 and had 2 more reps left in the tank. I knew this would be an easy opener. It is nice having confidence with your opening attempts at a meet.

337

Phil, I’m not that bright and thus, obviously confused.

You wrote

and then

[quote]What helped my bench:
*Overhead pressing [/quote]

Is the answer both? I’ve been doing OHP for almost two years and [personally] see no correlation between what I could press and bench. JUST started doing incline bench … with inconclusive results, so not enough time.

Does it depend on your setup as to whether one exercise or another may benefit you? Am I over analyzing this stuff? :slight_smile: My bench is my worst lift, really want to get it where it “should” be.

338

[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:

I am glad you found this useful and you are welcome! Explaining my training or training in general is helpful to me as well. It gets me thinking and reminds things I might have forgotten or overlooked.

The volume I refer to is the combination of sets and reps. Sheiko programs are known for being high volume. With my template, I reversed the sets and reps, but still maintain the same amount of volume. 5 reps is the rep range I found useful. Deadlift wise it was the top set of 5 and the sets of 5 I would do as I worked up to the top set. As far as volume goes, it worked better for me to squat and bench multiple times a week. So actually training frequency is a part of the puzzle.

Another quick note, when I pick my opening attempts in the squat or bench, I will pick something I can do for 3 reps. I went up to 3 reps on the squat with 495 and had 2 more reps left in the tank. I knew this would be an easy opener. It is nice having confidence with your opening attempts at a meet. [/quote]

Ah I see. I’ll have to give the whole training my squat and bench multiple times a week a shot. Since I’m such a novice, the added frequency should not only add needed volume, but more reps to get technique to be less likely to induce eye washing with shards of glass.

339

[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
Phil, I’m not that bright and thus, obviously confused.

You wrote

and then

[quote]What helped my bench:
*Overhead pressing [/quote]

Is the answer both? I’ve been doing OHP for almost two years and [personally] see no correlation between what I could press and bench. JUST started doing incline bench … with inconclusive results, so not enough time.

Does it depend on your setup as to whether one exercise or another may benefit you? Am I over analyzing this stuff? :slight_smile: My bench is my worst lift, really want to get it where it “should” be.[/quote]

I was using incline DB bench press to improve my bench and work the front (anterior) delts. I decided to work my shoulders more directly. I know of people that have had good results from each or both combined. I plan to start doing both incline bench presses and OHP. I do incline bench presses at a steep incline so it hits the anterior delts more.

I would say your shoulders are probably not your weakness. When you miss a bench press how far off your chest do you miss? I have noticed a lot of guys are weak off their chest and a great way to improve your strength off your chest is pausing the bar on your chest. Also make sure you are doing enough back work. Rows, pull-ups, chin-ups, and pull downs work well. I prefer chins and pull-ups to pull downs.

340

[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
Ah I see. I’ll have to give the whole training my squat and bench multiple times a week a shot. Since I’m such a novice, the added frequency should not only add needed volume, but more reps to get technique to be less likely to induce eye washing with shards of glass. [/quote]

I would start with benching and squatting twice a week. As for the deadlift you should do okay with once a week. Something like Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program would be a good one. You are correct, the reps will help your technique. The thing I like about a volume approach, is that you can train by yourself easier.