I think this steady state cardio is hurting you. Check out Wendler on the EFS site today. He talks about conditioning a lot in the 52 questions article.
I dropped from 13 to 10.4% BF in four months with absolutely no steady state cardio, rather doing stuff like Tabata, farm carries, Fran, hill sprints, sled drag/push, etc. I just don’t do the hills or the Prowler the day before a DL or squat day.[/quote]
I had a feeling that type of cardio would hurt me. I just figured I’d try something different. I used to do HIIT 3x a week for 20 minutes. I guess I should probably go back to that.
The article is primarily about OHP, but there is a big section about dips.[/quote]
No, thankfully no chat. I probably rested 3-5 mins (max). The spotter says he didn’t help at all but I don’t believe him. I’ve had trouble with this kid in the past but he was the only one around. He doesn’t fully help but he keeps his fingers under the bar and I’m almost certain he touches it a bit on the way up. Regardless I still did it. Thanks for the tip on dips, I’m gonna check it out. Do you usually dip where your chest lines up with the handle and then fully extend on the way back up?
I changed my diet around a bit. I am now eating oats before bed. After I lift I still have two meals left so one is my PWO and then my final meal. In the past final meal was just FF cottage cheese & some type of healthy fats. I’ve now added oats to that last meal on lifting days only.
Saturday - Cardio/Abs
I’m thinking of making this my ‘whatever’ day. This will be a day where I don’t stress about meals but do eat clean with one cheat meal at night.
Sunday - OFF - Low Carb - Cals 2835
Carbs - 200, Protein - 280, Fats - 80
[quote]Soda Popinski wrote:
Do you usually dip where your chest lines up with the handle and then fully extend on the way back up?[/quote]
I’m not sure about the chest/handle relationship, but there’s a mirror right by the dip station and I make sure that I get down such that my shoulder is below my elbow (upper arm angle is past parallel to ground) and I go to a full lockout on each rep. I get a good stretch for my chest and a good lockout hits the triceps really well. Every 4-5 reps I look to the mirror to make sure I’m going low enough. Other than the mirror check, I’m looking up the entire time.
[quote]Soda Popinski wrote:
Do you usually dip where your chest lines up with the handle and then fully extend on the way back up?[/quote]
I’m not sure about the chest/handle relationship, but there’s a mirror right by the dip station and I make sure that I get down such that my shoulder is below my elbow (upper arm angle is past parallel to ground) and I go to a full lockout on each rep. I get a good stretch for my chest and a good lockout hits the triceps really well. Every 4-5 reps I look to the mirror to make sure I’m going low enough. Other than the mirror check, I’m looking up the entire time.[/quote]
Ok that makes sense, thanks.
What do you think I should do in terms of cardio? It’s always puzzled me. I guess I should get rid of the steady state cardio and just stick with intervals like HIIT?
Deadlift
135 x 3
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 3
350 x 8
60-90 seconds rest between sets
Lat Pulldown
145 x 12
145 x 12
145 x 12
145 x 12
Bent Over Barbell Row
125 x 16
125 x 15
125 x 14
125 x 14
Hammer Grip Chins
BW x 8
BW x 8
BW x 9
BW x 8
45-degree back extension
4x13x25lbs
Hanging Leg Raise
4x15
15 Minutes cardio HIIT on elliptical
Total Gym time = 81 minutes
Thoughts
I’ll never figure this stuff out. So on a week where you have everything in check in terms of diet, sleep, low stress, etc you can have an absolutely horrible workout. Then on a week like this where I feel like absolute garbage, have zero strength, little sleep and have had to force feed food I put up an awesome deadlift. Last week I did 330 for 7 and this week I do 350 for 8; go figure. I felt like such crap I had to really push myself to go to the gym tonight. I guess it’s a good thing I ended up going. Lat pulldown was really light but rows were heavier than normal.
Mesocycle 3
Week 3
Day 5 (36)
Standing Military Press
Standing Military Press
Bar x 10
65 x 8
85 x 5
100 x 2
115 x 5
130 x 3
145 x 11
105 x 6
60-90 seconds rest between sets
Seated DB Shoulder Press
55 x 10
50 x 10
55 x 8
55 x 8
BB Upright Row
90 x 12
90 x 12
90 x 12
90 x 12
DB Side Lateral Raise
25 x 15
25 x 15
25 x 13
30 x 10
Barbell Curl
70 x 12
70 x 12
70 x 12
75 x 10
15 Minutes cardio: 3.3mph @ 11.0 incline
Total gym time = 81 minutes
Thoughts
No clue where this surge of strength has come from. I guess it could be from the increase in carbs. I’ve now been doing oats before bed. I think I went to near failure on the military press. It felt great but naturally the accessory work following is gonna be difficult. I had some trouble with the DBs after but then from there I was able to get back into it. For those wondering why the weight is so low on my upright rows it’s because I use a full ROM with very strict form. I start with my elbows slightly bent and come all the way up to my chin with no jerking action. I can’t t think of anything else so I guess that’s it. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Those are some great numbers. Great job. WRT cardio, HIIT is better. I really recommend some Tabata, too. Just don’t do either the day before squat or DL.
Have a great 4th. Don’t stress over the diet over the holiday, just come back and roll on bench and squat.
I weighed in this morning at 195.50lbs. I was pretty pleased with this. I thought maybe my weight would go up since I’ve added some more carbs into my diet.
I think on the weekends I’m gonna switch it to 5 meals instead of 6. It’s too difficult to try and find the time to get in 6 meals, especially if you’re out of the house for most of the day. I’m gonna make my first 3 meals HUGE, 4th meal will be cheat and 5th meal will be cottage cheese before bed.
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
Those are some great numbers. Great job. WRT cardio, HIIT is better. I really recommend some Tabata, too. Just don’t do either the day before squat or DL.
Have a great 4th. Don’t stress over the diet over the holiday, just come back and roll on bench and squat.[/quote]
Thanks bro. Yeah I’ll definitely cheat a bit this weekend. I think I may do Tabata today actually. Do you do it on the elliptical or do you just go outside and do sprints?
15 minutes abs
14 minutes Tabata on elliptical
-5 min warm-up @8.0mph
-4 minutes - 10 seconds real light, 20 seconds all out MAX & repeat
-5 minute cooldown @8.0mph
This was my first time doing Tabata. Although I’ve done a lot of HIIT in the past that didn’t really prepare me for this. I guess on paper it may not look like a lot. I finished it but I had to cheat a bit. Toward the end I just couldn’t use only 10 seconds rest so I had to use about 15-18 seconds on the last few. I’ve got legs on Monday so hopefully no side effects.
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
how was your recovery from Tabata? My Tabatas are 4 minutes and I feel like I’m going to die. Recovery is short, though.[/quote]
Yeah man Tabata was rough. It’s hard to tell if Tabata affected my leg day because it’s a deload week. I guess I’ll assess it next week and worst case I’ll move the cardio to another day.
Sorry I didn’t see your question above about what I do for the Tabata. I do the front squat and the dead treadmill. You should feel like you’re going to die after four minutes. Try a four minute front squat Tabata with 85 lbs. Go 20 seconds max reps, 10 seconds rest. Compare that to the elliptical and see which one gives you a bigger challenge. The dead treadmill (treadmill turned off, push against it for max effort sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest) is not quite as hard, but I am more than ready to puke when it’s over.
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
Sorry I didn’t see your question above about what I do for the Tabata. I do the front squat and the dead treadmill. You should feel like you’re going to die after four minutes. Try a four minute front squat Tabata with 85 lbs. Go 20 seconds max reps, 10 seconds rest. Compare that to the elliptical and see which one gives you a bigger challenge. The dead treadmill (treadmill turned off, push against it for max effort sprint 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest) is not quite as hard, but I am more than ready to puke when it’s over.[/quote]
No problem man, thanks for the detailed response. I’ll have to give this a shot. Obviously if you’re doing the front squat Tabata I’m guessing you keep that far away from your leg day.