Breath is definitely not caught by the later sets, haha. Rest times are mandated by the program. Good for training under fatigue.
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Sounds like a challenge. Iād be excited to see you hit some heavy singles when this is over.
Gonna be a few years, haha. Unless a comp requires it, I donāt tend to hit heavy singles.
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Thatās probably a smarter course of action, anyway. Do you go for heavy triples or sets of five instead of maxing out, then?
I tend to stay in higher rep ranges unless I am approaching a particularly heavy show. At my weight class, it doesnāt happen much.
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All those who think higher reps donāt get you strongā¦please take note.
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I think I had 19 failed squat reps in my first year of training haha. Something I wish I learned earlier on.
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@simo74 It certainly took ME a long time to learn. So much time spent chasing heavy lifts in training vs on the platform.
@mr.v3lv3t Hey, at least you werenāt afraid of failing, haha.
PM WORKOUT
Prowler
Notes: Wore the 45lb vest, pushed on the low handles loaded w/140lbs 50ā, backwards dragged to start, repeat no rest, strip 50lbs and repeat. Street was rough, I snagged on everything, it was a struggle. Good for my soul.
Woke up at 199.6.
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This was the 15-year old Starting Strength advocate me. Man, how wrong was I? Shit, 5/3/1 has been the only program Iāve actually made progress on past getting to a 275 squat.
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Haha true, the climbing background probably helps. Once you get over the fear of falling 15-20 feet around jagged granite, setting a squat down onto safety pins doesnāt seem like much.
It may have ingrained some bad habits though when it comes to struggling through a squat rep, hard to say really.
My rule for squatting is: donāt think about failing. Just drive. Donāt even think. Driving is easier. I find that my depth gets closer to parallel as I do more reps (I generally sink deeper than I need to in the first few reps of the squatā¦itās a habit, unfortunately). Also, get as much air into your belly as possible. Pull through the nose, and then the mouth. Brace out against the belt, and sit back.
Edit: @T3hPwnisher, I thought this was Mr. Velvetās log. Didnāt mean to hijack your log here. My apologies.
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@liftangryordie500 No worries dude. Iām the same way. Planning to fail is an awful COA. Iāve never needed a plan to fail; it just happens. And glad to see your understanding of training progressing. Took me a LONG time to appreciate submax work.
@mr.v3lv3t Itās amazing how much people pretend like theyāre made out of glass these days.
DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 2 (WEEK 1, WORKOUT 2)
AM WORKOUT
Axle Push Press 161
10x10
superset w/
Band pull aparts
Axle cleans 88lbs
3x10
Superset in a circuit w/
DB lateral raise
10x25lbs
10x20
10x15
Notes: 3:50 between sets. Weight was just about perfect. Had to re-rack after the 99th rep because my lungs ran out of air. Closing the gap on this will be a solid challenge over the course of the program. Time ran low, so I cut 2 sets out of the curls and just ran a circuit.
Woke up at 200.2.
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DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 3 (WEEK 1, WORKOUT 3)
AM WORKOUT
Power cleans 140lbs
10x10
NG chins
1x22
Notes: 3:50 between sets. This was a ROUGH workout. Yesterday, I somehow pulled something on the left side of my groin. I have a few operating theories. My legs are still sore from the squats on Sat, and itās possible I bizarrely compensated in an attempt to move around the soreness and pulled a muscle. In addition, it snowed yesterday, and itās possible I slipped slightly on the ice and strained something. Whatever the reason, it was there. However, what really made it tough as that, when I set up to do some clean pulls at the start of the workout, both hamstrings cramped up and refused to unlock.
I called an audible, ditched the clean pulls and jumped straight into the cleans. I knew the weight was light enough that I could just muscle my way through the workout. I basically had to use the barbell to pull myself down into the clean position for the first rep, which was in turn like a deadlift and jump shrug. Once I got through the first rep, I had an eccentric phase I could use to get back into a better position, and from there the rest of the set was manageable.
These were ugly, brutal cleans, but I got through it. Glad I got the echo bar, because my hands and shins woulda been chewed to hell on the power bar.
I still owe 2 more sets of chins. Iāll get those done today. I also owe 3 sets of clean pulls, but I think Iām willing to call that a wash for now.
Woke up at 201.4. Iāve been throttling back on the force feeding and just letting things happen. It seems Iām pretty primed for growth right now.
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Howās your conditioning!? 10 rep sets of cleans are brutal. I donāt even do sets of 5.
With the 4 minutes of rest between sets, it wasnāt too bad. Iām really moving light weight on this, and I think once I get better proficiency I can set a higher max to train off of.
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DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 4 (WEEK 1, WORKOUT 4)
AM WORKOUT
Axle bench press 265
3x10
Close grip axle bench press 225
3x10
Swiss bar incline bench 195
3x10
Dips
1x31
1x25
1x23
Notes: 3:50 between sets. With the extra rest time, I passed the previous plateaus I had. Think this might be a viable general construct for progression. Push the weight while reducing the rest time until the weight no longer moves, hold it there, then increase the rest and keep pushing the weights. Might be onto something. In either case, the bench keeps moving. I set my all time highest bench in a meet while following DoggCrapp, and could never recapture that magic, which makes me wonder if I just need to train chest like a bodybuilder to see my best growth.
Woke up at 201.0. Iām getting fluffier, but still looking the best I ever had at this bodyweight. Normally this is when the lovehandles really start to spill over, but theyāre staying pretty tight to my midsection. Iām more just becoming thicker around the middle in general, which seems better.
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DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 5 (WEEK 2, WORKOUT 1)
AM WORKOUT
Texas Deadlift Bar touch and go deadlifts 368
10x10
Box jumps
5x10
Buffalo bar squats 210
2x15
Notes: 3:45 between sets. As usual, sets 9 and 10 are where things got interesting. Doubled rest times between sets 9 and 10, still failed on the 10th rep of the 10th set. I am apparently in the middle of a 90s action movie, because the phrase āI aināt going down like thatā came out of my mouth before I set up to finish the 100th rep.
These were the first box jumps I had done since like 2005. I DO have a plyo box (that is actually my wifeās), but it honestly seemed a bridge too far, so I jumped on all of my rubber patio tiles stacked on top of themselves. Gained confidence as I went. Iāll give the box a try next time.
Technically supposed to be 3x10 for squats, but I had been in the gym forever at that point, and just wanted to get out.
No weigh in this morning.
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That part cracked me up, haha. Great work as always. I am curious how you delevop in that program
Thanks man. Even I have to laugh at myself for taking things too seriously sometimes, haha. This program is definitely testing my will. No matter what happens, Iām coming out the other side changed.
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Are you planning on running the last 6 weeks as well, contests permitting? I finally took the plunge and started the program a week ago. Shit is rough. Not sure if Iām going to go full 18 though just because the last six weeks do not seem as ādeep wateryā enough and may just call it at 12. Also, Iām not extremely confident in my power cleaning ability to go to all out failure. Really afraid of blowing something out since I tend to not quit until Iām literally done due to injury. Ha
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