12 Feb.
ME Lower
Mobility warmups
Chinups: 2.5
Squats: 40kg/6 50/4 55/3 60/3 65/2 65/3
Reverse lunges: 35kg/8 40/6 40/8
Manual reverse hyperextensions: 8kg/15 10/15 13/15
Ab circuit: 16 reps each exercise, 2 circuits
Yoga/stretching
Chinups: 2
Chinups just for the heck of it. 
I didn’t improve my squat much. This is week three with squats as my ME lift; I’m not sure if I will switch to deadlifts next week or do one more session of squats.
16 Feb.
ME Upper
Mobility warmups
Bench press: 30kg/8 35/5 40/4 45/3 50/1 50/2 50/1
Incline DB bench press: 25lbs/18 25/18
Seated cable rows: 43kg/10 43/10 43/10
supersetted with
Seated DB power cleans: 15lbs/10 20/10 20/10
Overhead shrugs: 42.5kg/10 42.5/10 42.5/10
Reverse EZ bar curls: 19kg/10 19/10 19/10
Yoga/stretching
I missed Wednesday’s workout because I got my period and was feeling generally shitty. During the short break I thought a lot about the big picture wrt my training…thinking about goals, how I’ll achieve them, how to structure my training. I’m starting to get a little bored with the WS4SB3 template (today was the first day of round 8) and I’m not sure what’s next.
I had thought to maybe try dropping a little more fat in the spring but I’d really like to keep gaining strength and I’m not sure I can do both at once. I’m kind of desiring to try a full body plan next, as I enjoy the feeling of thoroughly working my body in the gym. I have about a month until a week-long trip to Munich and then another two-week trip to the US in the middle of May–both trips are pretty much forced breaks, though I’ll probably do some bodyweight stuff in the US at least since I’ll be there so long.
So either I stick with what I’m doing for another month and then switch programs after I get back from Germany or I switch programs pretty much now. I’ll keep thinking about it . . .
I have lots of goals, perhaps too many, some too vague, etc.:
-deadlift 300lbs.
-squat more, lots more (more weight and lots more reps, I feel very behind)
-bench press more (weight)
-get a better mind-muscle connection for my back muscles, and get an awesome-looking back
I’m also interested in practicing feats of strength (like handstand pushups) and leaning Olympic lifting. Waaay too much to do in too little time. I’d like to have something of a plan for the next eight months, at least. “Maybe drop some fat” for spring and “play outside?” for summer are not quite concrete enough plans, heh.
Summing up . . .
I followed WS4SB3 for about two months, with a two-week holiday break near the beginning (2.5 months total). I intended to train every other day but more than once lapsed and let two or even three days go between training sessions. My goal with this program was to gain strength and muscle (and try to take advantage of the winter slump–a good time to eat and rest).
I also had a specific goal of a 200lb. deadlift, as well as getting a better sense of what I am capable of in the bench press and squat. I know I’ve mentioned this before but since this is my summary…my gym just got a power rack at the beginning of January and before then I hadn’t really been able to pile on the weight.
Results were pretty good, actually I should rather say fantastic, as I was pretty amazed how easily I was able to add weight to my lifts every week. I know I’m still making beginner progress but I definitely made fast progress with WS4SB3. I will keep this template in my arsenal and likely use it again sometime.
At the beginning of the program, I bench pressed 40 kg 3 times. At the end I benched 50 kg twice. I feel like I still have a long way to go with my bench. It was only my ME upper lift for the last three weeks.
I was barely able to do hanging leg raises in sets of six when I started and now I’ve got pretty much perfect form for 4 sets of 10.
On my first RE day I did 32 pushups and on my last day of pushups got 47.
My deadlift started at 80 kg thrice and in just two weeks I increased it to 90 kg, which I also eventually pulled thrice. I didn’t quite make 200lbs; 90 kg is 198.4 lbs.!
I still have a long way to go with squats too; I started back squats as a ME movement only a month ago–then it was 55 kg thrice and now it is just 65 kg thrice. My next plan has me doing more squat reps, which I think I really need to groove this movement pattern into my body.
My bum, thighs, arms and back have definitely grown and while I’ve gained some fat along with the muscle it is not really so much. Every time I took one of those unplanned 2 or 3 day breaks there seemed to be noticeable muscle growth–I don’t know if I imagine this or not though.
I haven’t been taking progress photos because my camera was broken and I couldn’t find the replacement I wanted in China. I just recently got a new camera so I will try to take photos today, before I start the new program.
Lastly, my weight was 65 kg at the beginning of WS4SB3 and is 67 kg today. I was up to 68-69 kg a week or two ago. So I will say I gained about 2-3 kg.
Moving on!
A short while ago I read an interview with Charles Staley and thought he had some really interesting things to say. So I looked up his articles to see what else he had though of and came across EDT. I really like the control this system allows so I bookmarked it with plans to try it sometime.
Since then, EDT seems to be coming up everywhere (I saw it mentioned in Claire’s log and in others). My husband was ready to switch programs too and we were talking about our goals and saw them syncing up pretty well and decided to try to do similar programs. Well it’s quite obvious that it is EDT that we ended up deciding to try.
We created our plans based off the compound EDT article ( http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=632710 ); that fulfills my full-body, compound desires. 
We’re going to follow this until our trip to Munich and afterwards reassess. We’re thinking of trying the EDT for fat loss next, before our trip to the US.
Here’s my plan:
A Day:
First PR Zone (15 minutes)
A1: front squat
A2: pullup
Second PR Zone (15 min)
B1: military press
B2: seated cable row (or supine row)
B Day:
First PR Zone (15 min)
A1: snatch-grip deadlift
A2: dips
Second PR Zone (15 min)
B1: pin press
B2: power curl from hang or standing cheat hammer curl (if I do the power curl I’ll have to take up both barbells and that probably won’t always be possible)
I had no idea of my 10RM for most of these exercises and some of them I had never done, so I took a sort of “break” workout to mess around and find these things out before starting the program. That was my workout last night.
20 Feb. 08
“goofing off and prepping for EDT”
Mobility warmups
Front squats: 20kg/10 30/10 35/10 40/6
Fingertip pullups in rack (bench assisted): 2.5
Pin press: 30 kg/10 35/10 37.5/7
Pullups (machine assisted): bw-36/10 bw-27/6
Snatch-grip Romanian deadlift: 40kg/3 (form felt totally weird)
Snatch-grip deadlift: 40kg/10 50/10 55/10 (could probably get more weight but my grip was challenged at 55)
Pullups (bench assisted on pullup bar): 3 (don’t really like the way the bench assisted pullups feel)
Power curl from hang: 20kg/10 25/10 30/6 (this was fun!)
Military press: 22.5 kg/10 25/10 25/7
Supine rows (fat man pullups): 2 (then my mp3 player fell out of my pocket so I had to stop) 10 (but I wasn’t able to get my chest all the way up to the bar)
Stretching/yoga
[quote]cheeta wrote:
I love that you log in KG helps me understand what weight you are working with Keep up the good work! Oh and I also love the aviatar! Your hair looks aweseome![/quote]
Thanks! My hair is kind of ridiculous. That is all my real hair so if it wasn’t in dreadlocks it would probably be down to my knees; it weighs too much and is a big hassle to wash. I’m planning on cutting it off soon but it’s really hard to let go of–it took such a long time to get my hair this fabulous and I’d never be able to do it again.
My gym has dumbbells in pounds and the rest of the weights are in kilos so I’m always having to convert back and forth in my head. I wish it were just all kg; I find they’re easier. I enjoy reading your log in kg too.
[quote]Saan wrote:
Summing up . . .
Moving on!
A short while ago I read an interview with Charles Staley and thought he had some really interesting things to say. So I looked up his articles to see what else he had though of and came across EDT. I really like the control this system allows so I bookmarked it with plans to try it sometime.
Since then, EDT seems to be coming up everywhere (I saw it mentioned in Claire’s log and in others). My husband was ready to switch programs too and we were talking about our goals and saw them syncing up pretty well and decided to try to do similar programs. Well it’s quite obvious that it is EDT that we ended up deciding to try.
We created our plans based off the compound EDT article ( http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=632710 ); that fulfills my full-body, compound desires. We’re going to follow this until our trip to Munich and afterwards reassess. We’re thinking of trying the EDT for fat loss next, before our trip to the US.
Here’s my plan:
A Day:
First PR Zone (15 minutes)
A1: front squat
A2: pullup
Second PR Zone (15 min)
B1: military press
B2: seated cable row (or supine row)
B Day:
First PR Zone (15 min)
A1: snatch-grip deadlift
A2: dips
Second PR Zone (15 min)
B1: pin press
B2: power curl from hang or standing cheat hammer curl (if I do the power curl I’ll have to take up both barbells and that probably won’t always be possible)
I had no idea of my 10RM for most of these exercises and some of them I had never done, so I took a sort of “break” workout to mess around and find these things out before starting the program. That was my workout last night.[/quote]
Good luck with EDT. How many days a week are you doing it? Exercise list looks good.
Claire
Glad to hear you think my exercise list looks good. You are going to be doing EDT soon too right?
I’m planning on three days a week but I might up the frequency to every other day if I feel like I can handle it. I only have three weeks until the trip to Munich and I’m contemplating staying for two weeks rather than one so I’d really like to make the most of the gym time I have. Or maybe I will have to look into day passes at gyms in Munich.
Saan,
mind if I join you on the EDT? I’ll be starting the week after next and I’ll be sure to check in to see how you’re doing! I’ll probably do very similar full-body exercises, with a few exceptions- I don’t have a place to do dips, and no cables either…perhaps I’ll sub rows and close grip bench or skull crushers…just thinking out loud here. Have fun in Munich- it’s a beautiful city!
22 Feb. 08
EDT Day 1!
Mobility warmups
PR Zone 1 (15 min):
Front squat 35kg: 5x5, 2x4, 3x3 = 42 reps
Pullup (assisted, bw-32kg): 5x5, 2x4, 3x3 = 42 reps
PR Zone 2 (15 min):
Military press 25kg: 4x5, 2x4, 4x3, 1x4, 2x3 = 50 reps
Seated cable rows 43kg: 4x5, 3x4, 3x3, 1x4, 2x3 = 51 reps
Being used to taking 2-3 minutes between my sets I wasn’t quite prepared for the speed of EDT. I knew to keep my rest periods short but I probably could have made them shorter. I just took time to catch my breath and prepare for the next exercise and was thinking “move quickly” but not “as fast as possible.” I was surprised the first PR zone went by so fast–I looked up at the clock just as I was about to start another set of squats and realized my time was up. I tried to speed up on the second PR Zone but I still felt a little slow.
Again the 15 minutes went by quickly and I was almost startled that while I was ready to keep banging out sets the clock said stop. I felt ready to keep going and it was strange for the workout to be over so quickly. This is not to say this was easy–it was definitely a challenge just to rest so little. My stretching at the end of the session was shorter than usual as my muscles didn’t seem to want to be stretched.
23 Feb. 08
EDT Day 2
From now on I will try to take a day off between sessions but I did these two days back to back because I knew there was no way I could get to the gym on Sunday and I do feel like I should try to get to the gym as often as possible the next three weeks.
Mobility warmups
PR Zone 1:
Snatch-grip deadlift 55kg: 10x5, 2x4, 1x5 = 63 reps
Dips (assisted, bw-27kg): 8x5, 2x4, 2x3, 1x5 = 59 reps
PR Zone 2:
Pin press 35kg: 2x5, 2x4, 8x3, 1x2 = 44 reps
Power curl from hang 24kg: 6x5, 4x4, 1x3, 2x5 = 59 reps
This time I really did try to go as fast as possible. At one point during the first PR zone some woman got on the assisted pullup/dip machine while I was doing my deadlifts and I had to wait for her to finish what seemed an interminable set. When she finished I explained quickly that I was on a time limit and asked if I could have the machine for just 5 more minutes and she was kind enough to let me have it. Still, this did slow me down a bit. Otherwise, I was pretty pleased with the first PR zone. Doing the deadlifts so quickly felt great and I was very focused the whole time.
The pin press was pretty intense so I didn’t get as many reps with it but I’m still new to bench pressing in general so I’ll just keep at it. The power curl from hang continues to be a lot of fun. At the end of this workout I felt totally thrashed! I felt way too tired to stretch and do a little yoga like usual. I did some cursory stretching but not much. I guess I will have to do 30-60 minutes of yoga on my off days to make up for this.
Sunday morning my arms were crazy sore; I felt like someone had punched me in my shoulders repeatedly. I almost expected to see bruises heh. I am still a bit sore today but I do plan on going to the gym anyway.
[quote]jenemmar wrote:
Saan,
mind if I join you on the EDT? I’ll be starting the week after next and I’ll be sure to check in to see how you’re doing! I’ll probably do very similar full-body exercises, with a few exceptions- I don’t have a place to do dips, and no cables either…perhaps I’ll sub rows and close grip bench or skull crushers…just thinking out loud here. Have fun in Munich- it’s a beautiful city![/quote]
Cool…I will definitely check in on your log to see your EDT workouts. This article has a list of exercise pairings that you might find helpful in designing your program:
[photo]11128[/photo]
One photo from Saturday morning. There are a few more in my profile–I couldn’t decide which one I liked best. It was a bit of a challenge to convince all my back muscles to flex at once; like I said previously I am still working on the mind muscle connection there.
Thanks for the article, I will check it out. Nice photo- you look STRONG!
Yesterday I listened to my body and stayed home and did yoga for 60 minutes followed by some foam rolling and work with the tennis ball. I felt so much better afterwards and was much better prepared for the gym today. I didn’t sleep too well last night though so I didn’t feel quite 100% today.
26 Feb. 08
EDT Day 3 (A)
PR Zone 1:
Front squat 35kg: 6x5, 6x4 = 50 reps
Pullup (assisted) bw-32kg: 6x5, 2x4, 3x3, 1x4 = 51 reps
PR Zone 2:
Military press 25kg: 5x5, 1x4, 9x3 = 56 reps
Seated cable rows 43kg: 5x5, 4x4, 1x3, 1x4, 4x3 = 60 reps
Just got back from the gym. These EDT workouts exhaust me thoroughly.
29 Feb. 08
“EDT kicks my ass a fourth time”
Mobility warmups
PR Zone 1:
Snatch-grip deadlifts 55kg: 14x5 = 70 reps
Dips (assisted) bw-27kg: 14x5 = 70 reps
PR Zone 2:
Pin press 35kg: 2x5, 2x4, 1x3, 9x2, 1x3 = 40 reps
Power curl from hang 24kg: 14x5 = 70 reps
Stretching/yoga
I did rather well, except for the pin press. I guess I started with too much weight; it does feel way more difficult than anything else I’m doing.
I think I saw abs under the fat this morning, heh.
Hi Saan,
How long are those EDT training sessions taking? I’d like to give it a try after I finish the program I am doing.
db
Saan,
The new back picture looks awesome.
Pin presses are hard, at least for me. I always thought you were supposed to be able to do more than you can bench, but that definitely is not the case for me. Then again, I’m the queen of the sucky bench, so what do I know.
It’s been taking me about an hour–each PR Zone is 15 minutes and I rest about 8-10 minutes between them. The other 20 minutes get used up with warming up, stretching/yoga and my general slowness.
[quote]buckeye girl wrote:
The new back picture looks awesome.[/quote]
Thanks.
I haven’t tried the pin presses in any way except testing my 10RM and the EDT thing so I have no clue if I could do more than my bench But they were just crazy hard and trying to set up and be ready to lift so quickly made it all the more intense.
I’m just hoping that all the reps with the pin presses will help me come back stronger with my bench, because right now I could be in your court in sucky bench land.