just finished my first #29 of shieko, testing my maxes this week then ill do 37 probably.
only tested squat so far but it went from 315 to 335 so a 20lb increase isn’t too shabby
[quote]Joe Grim wrote:
Sorry to bump this but I’m intrigued with the progress some of you have made.
My question- I do BJJ twice a week- more a hobby than anything, haven’t competed yet but my gym offers classes.
Sorry- you didn’t ask for my life story… anyway would sheiko be too much volume considering that?[/quote]
This should not be a big deal if you’re not doing the BJJ too intensely. I do MMA two to three times a week and have had no problems doing Sheiko.
Just finished up on #29 and all I can say is what a ride! Am going right into #37 which has more volume but a bit less intensity (I think). Does anyone know when you are supposed to start using a belt with Sheiko i.e. at what percentage? Should you ever use a belt at all? When I compete I just use a belt and sometimes knee wraps.
It depends on how you train.
I train single ply. I add briefs w/ the bar b/c my hips will scream if I don’t. I add the belt @ 80%, never lower.
I am not using the elitefts version, but another altered version of the original.
I see two sides to the story.
You use a belt a lot and it becomes a crutch.
You use a belt and you get used to much heavier weight than you could handle without a belt.
You have to find the happy medium.
Sheiko has worked wonders for my squat and deadlift (particularly the squat), but so far progress in the bench has been a bit slow. Obviously i’m not expecting to handle the same weights in the bench as for squat and dl, but even considering the usual proportions for strength gains in the three exercises it’s not going quite quick enough for my liking.
Anybody else experienced the same? I’m currently doing another round of sheiko for the deadlift and the squat but I’m trying out a mini-smolov for the bench to see if that gives better results.
Sheiko always did shit all for my bench. Same with anyone I personally know who tried it.
The percentages are just TOO low imo.
[quote]Hanley wrote:
Sheiko always did shit all for my bench. Same with anyone I personally know who tried it.
The percentages are just TOO low imo.[/quote]
I use false maxes.
Its like BSing in the gym. Your “max” is always higher than you really do.
My false maxes are usually 20+ kgs higher than what I can really do, but it works.
My bench training max is 20-30 pounds more than my actual max. That did the trick.
Thanks guys. I used to add 5 kgs to my real bench pr to make it a bit harder, but maybe that wasn’t enough.
My last day of Sheiko 29 is Sat. and I will testing my maxes to start it over again. I have gotten considerably stronger during the last 4 weeks. I bumped some of my percentages up b/c the bench and squat were so easy. I learned my lesson the first week when I tried to add some extra auxilary lifts and figured out that was just over-training.
I am sure that the gains would be amazing for someone using pro-hormones or the steroids but w/o either of those you are still gonna get stronger.
I agree with other people about bumping some of the percentages on bench
does anybody swap the good mornings for something else? i just cant seem to feel them, i keep a neutral spine, try and get my hips back as much as i can but i usually end up just making my head explode and they still feel really easy, could i swap them for box squats on squat days and rdls on dead days?
For the good mornings, what helps me is using a low bar placement as opposed to the higher bar placement like when I squat. With Sheiko #29 you never do GMs on a deadlift day - you only do seated GMs on the first squat day and standing GMs on the second day.
If you really feel like you aren’t getting anything out of them, RDLs would be a fine substitute for the standing GMs at the very least, but it might be a bit much deadlifting for the week.
I’ll be finishing up my final week of Sheiko #29 on Thursday. How and when should I approach testing my maxes? I was thinking about testing on Sunday afternoon, or would that be too soon?
I feel like I had a good run overall. 1st week was definitely the hardest for me bench-wise, however, since then, I upped the percentages. I tweaked my lower back last tuesday - the 2nd day of week 3 - doing deficit deads.
It nagged me enough to where I had to postpone the following workout by a day. It’s nagging me slightly, but I should be 100% in the clear by this weekend. Here’s my log in case anyone’s interested:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=piStZDuzNAJctFPQ9q8faaw
Really looking forward to starting a cycle of sheiko. Does anybody here squat with and without knee wraps? I usually only wear knee wraps for at most triples, but i was wondering would that affect the % used? Raw i obviously squat less, i was intending to do all sets i could do without knee wraps and only use them on the heavy sets. But then i got to thinking, because my max is lower without knee wraps, in effect i’d be working at higher percentages than intended.
I was under the impression that the percentages were important. I’ve heard people say that they work out a raw and geared number, does that go for knee wraps too?
[quote]bt_impaler wrote:
For the good mornings, what helps me is using a low bar placement as opposed to the higher bar placement like when I squat. With Sheiko #29 you never do GMs on a deadlift day - you only do seated GMs on the first squat day and standing GMs on the second day.
If you really feel like you aren’t getting anything out of them, RDLs would be a fine substitute for the standing GMs at the very least, but it might be a bit much deadlifting for the week.
[/quote]
i already use a low bar, and basically gomax depth, i’ve tried everything, 2 second holds, stiff legs etc, just doesn’t jive, where as box squats i really can feel my glutes and blast them hard, as well as rdls, wheremy lower back gets hit great on them
[quote]Synthetickiller wrote:
Hanley wrote:
Sheiko always did shit all for my bench. Same with anyone I personally know who tried it.
The percentages are just TOO low imo.
I use false maxes.
Its like BSing in the gym. Your “max” is always higher than you really do.
My false maxes are usually 20+ kgs higher than what I can really do, but it works.[/quote]
so, I should just the amount I tell everyone I bench? Got it.
[quote]actionjeff wrote:
Synthetickiller wrote:
Hanley wrote:
Sheiko always did shit all for my bench. Same with anyone I personally know who tried it.
The percentages are just TOO low imo.
I use false maxes.
Its like BSing in the gym. Your “max” is always higher than you really do.
My false maxes are usually 20+ kgs higher than what I can really do, but it works.
so, I should just the amount I tell everyone I bench? Got it. [/quote]
I’m on week 4 of Sheiko #29, and I used a bench max 10-15lbs over my max. The most I had ever benched was 290, but I know I could get 295 just never tested it, and so I used 305 for the spreadsheet.
Week 1 was absolutely brutal for me because I was not used to benching 3 times a week with so much volume. However, by the end of week 2, I felt the percentages were still too light, so I’d bump my peak sets by 5 or 10 pounds, or, on Fridays for example, I did all my benching paused.
Squats I found too easy as well, so I used a higher squat max in the spreadsheet, and, in recent days I’ve been adding some weight to the prescribed poundages.
Deadlifts percentages have worked as is for me.
Completed Sheiko #29 last thursday 11/6/08 and tested yesterday - 11/9/08.
Bench
Start: 290
Finish: 300 (did 315 but ass came off bench)
Squat
Start: 305 (very slow and ugly)
Finish: 315 (very solid form)
Deadlift
Start: 395 (shitty form and back rounded)
Finish: 405 (fast and flat-backed)
Weight:
Start: 207
Finish: 211 (I ate like a horse)
I modified the routine in the following ways:
I used inflated maxes for all the lifts. Also, by week 3 and 4, if weights felt easy on my heaviest percentages, I upped the weights even more. And my last day of week 4 I veered off the program a bit because a fellow gymgoer goaded me into repping out a set of bench.
Overall, I’m happy with my results and I’ll definitely do it again. I did acquire some injuries throughout, however. I tweaked my lower back in week 3, but that’s back to 100%. I did have to cut out a set or two of goodmornings because of the pain. And my left peck/shoulder has been achy when I raise it over my head and when I bench. I think benching 3 times a week took its toll, and I’ll be easing off that for a bit.
My results and program can be viewed here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=piStZDuzNAJctFPQ9q8faaw
Starting tomorrow, I begin the Smolov base mesocycle to see if I can beat it this time.
[quote]tmcg86 wrote:
Really looking forward to starting a cycle of sheiko. Does anybody here squat with and without knee wraps? I usually only wear knee wraps for at most triples, but i was wondering would that affect the % used? Raw i obviously squat less, i was intending to do all sets i could do without knee wraps and only use them on the heavy sets. But then i got to thinking, because my max is lower without knee wraps, in effect i’d be working at higher percentages than intended.
I was under the impression that the percentages were important. I’ve heard people say that they work out a raw and geared number, does that go for knee wraps too? [/quote]
I don’t think it’s going to affect the percentage much at all. How much are you getting out of your knee wraps? If it’s like 5-10 lbs then don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be EXACTLY 70% or whatever, but the important thing (according to people more knowlegeable than me) is to do your work within the proper range. I would break out the wraps only for skills evaluations and when working at the high percentages.
Am in week 3 of #37 right now and it is kicking my ass. The volume is definitely more than #29, or at least it feels that way. The fact that I am dieting at the same time doesn’t make it any easier, but, as Boris Sheiko once said, “I can pity you, your wife or girlfriend can pity you, but your opponent will never pity you! That is why, go, continue the training.”
BTW, if you’re going to do this while carb cycling, make sure your high days are on the squat days. Trust me.
[quote]ultimatethor wrote:
Am in week 3 of #37 right now and it is kicking my ass. The volume is definitely more than #29, or at least it feels that way. The fact that I am dieting at the same time doesn’t make it any easier, but, as Boris Sheiko once said, “I can pity you, your wife or girlfriend can pity you, but your opponent will never pity you! That is why, go, continue the training.”
BTW, if you’re going to do this while carb cycling, make sure your high days are on the squat days. Trust me.[/quote]
Awesome quote! Where did you find it?
You are absolutely right about the volume thing. #37 has about 10 % more volume than #29, if I didn’t screw up the math going by the tonnage chart. I’m currently doing #30 and the total tonnage in that program is about 13% higher than #37. It is a lot of volume but it’s always worked very well for my squats and deadlifts. I might try CMS next year, although I’m not really strong enough yet.
But maybe my body has adapted to all the volume in #30, so that it will be okay anyways. It’s “only” another 13% more in total volume and since it’s spread out on 4 days a week, the extra volume will probably not hit as hard as it would if I added another 13% to a 3 times a week program.