Hilarious pain after those deads. Fried lower back and hamstrings but really good mood.
Power clean turned out to be regular clean because I couldn’t stabilize myself. Although sets were fairly easy
5 x 3 x 87,5 kg (193 lbs)
Front squats at regular percentages were impossible thus I decided to return to 2 plates:
5 x 3 and a bonus set of 4 reps with a belt x 100 kg (220 lbs)
Snatch-grip high pulls were so much quad dominant that I amazed myself. I should have been doing them more often with a sore butt.
2 x 3 x 95 kg (209 lbs)
3 x 90 kg (198 lbs)
Last workout with snatch-grip probably. I wonder if I should keep going with snatch or clean med pulls. Heavier weight and better technique with wider grip versus specificity with narrower one.
Finished it with cleans with like a dozen singles with 60 kg to focus on starting position, very slow 1st pull.
Bad days on a gym happen to me very rarely but that was definitely one of them. Prior to the 915 cycle i hit low-bar squat for 4 x 147,5 kg and estimated my reliable 1RM for something like 160 or 157,5 kg.
Today I was gonna hit 3 x 3 with 150 kg… I ended with:
first set of 1 x 150 kg, second set of 1 and 1/2 (failure) x 150 kg. LOL because my last warm-up with 1 x 140 kg was smooth.
As far as assistance movements are concerned, bad day is a good time for experimenting.
First time ever low-bar paused squats, 5 sets of 3 x 100 kg (220 lbs)
5 sets of one breathed squat, 10 deep breaths at 80 kg (176 lbs)
The idea of overload movements seems to be great on paper but today it was impossible. Therefore I decided to throw some heavish good-mornings and hip thrusts with a dead stop: ramped up to 8 x 132,5 kg (292 lbs)
[quote]Ass Banana wrote:
Haha yes for recording hip thrusts.[/quote]
They’ll come, it looks hilarious from that perspective.
Finally soreness after deads disappeared. On a fifth day after them…
I decided to move speed squats from bench training to a random day to stay more focused.
Low-bar squat 5 x 2 x 130 kg (286 lbs) beltless which is a huge PR for me, even though my previous squat session was awful.
I had to train with some colleagues on a random physical education session at my university.
They were hitting 40kg, half of bodyweight for AMRAP.
I joined them and hit 63 reps LOL pump was there
Finished with a lot delt supersets from coach Thibs’ article.
Deadlift
ended warm-ups with 1 x 172,5 kg (380 lbs) no belt with a hook-grip
1 x 182,5 kg (402 lbs) - it was a false start, I hit it yolo-style, hook-grip with no belt and with shoes. First rep was decent, couldn’t get second off the floor.
2 x 182,5 kg - mixed grip, belt, no shoes but still no hype
2 x 2 x 182,5 kg - changed mixed grip to a hook grip. Felt easier, unbelievable.
Bent-over row
I didn’t touch this exercise for like 2 months and my muscles forgot how to do it. Decided to do 5 reps instead of 3 to get some coordination.
3 x 5 x 100 kg (220 lbs) slow tempo
Block pulls - every set hook-grip, belt but this time with shoes (that 1 cm range of motion more…)
2 x 182,5 kg (402 lbs)
2 x 2 x 187,5 kg (413 lbs)
And as always some prowler as a finisher, about 20 minutes.
Plates start getting too heavy because I’ve never been used to to lift often in 95%+ 1RM zone.
Bench press
1 and 1/2 (paused, nearly had it), 2 (touch & go), 1 (too heavy, didn’t try a second rep) x 117,5 kg (259 lbs)
To sum up, 4,5 reps instead of desired 6.
The second set, really tough:
Dips as a second movement. I used to be very good at them but they started irritating something in my sternum and I stopped doing them.
I decided to try them after few months of rest and they felt good. I didn’t want to go overly heavy and sticked to 5 reps.
3 x 5 x BW (~82kg) + attached 40 kg (181 + 88 lbs), slow, focus on contraction
My PR was BW+65 kg for 4 not-really-full-ROM reps so I had a lot in a tank.
1/2 bench press as a second movement. 1 sec pause at my sticking point.
3 x 2 x 120 kg (264 lbs) only third set was demanding.
Some delts pump and 10 minutes of waiter’s walks as a finisher.
[quote]Ass Banana wrote:
How low do you bring the bar on bench, looks like youre tucking like a geared lifter.[/quote]
Basically shoulders hurt me at that point of 45-60 degrees. I try to find a sweet spot and get those flared out elbows but don’t want to snap something.
#Clean day
Clean
2 x 92,5 kg (204 lbs)
2 x 2 x 95 kg (209 lbs)
I added 2,5 kg because I used different, a little bit destroyed plates. It was probably closer to 93-94 kg.
Stiff-legged deadlift, slow and controlled, hook-grip
3 x 3 x 142,5 kg (314 lbs)
Clean low pull, lower than usual hip position
ramped up to 3 x 2 x 112,5 kg (115% of clean training max)
Catch position irritated my elbows a little so it was a good excuse to hit some triceps pump (4 easy supersets, 25+ total reps per superset)
I decided to skip the last week of preparation and proceed to peaking and testing.
I am not as good in >95% 1RM range (displaying strength) as the program demands and won’t be able to hit that 102-105% 1RM for a double. At least without a long recovery, which is a second problem. CNS, mind, whatever is all right although I am sore everywhere (good nutrition & sleep) and it results in a decreased performance.
Easter will be a great time to take a break and then hit some freaking PRs.
Low-bar squat
2 x 155 kg (341 lbs) - that was very hard but I made it.
1 x 155 kg - didn’t try the second one, I wouldn’t get it.
1+1 x 152,5 kg (336 lbs) - a cluster, let’s say. Grind as hell.
I think I have some kind of mental barrier regarding heavy squatting.
Performance was awful but following exercises felt great.
Hip thrust with a dead stop on the ground
3 x 3 x 147,5 kg (325 lbs), at least 1 rep in the tank
random bonus set of 3 x 150 kg (330 lbs), slightly different technique but still easy
Low-bar box squat… “bench squat” will be more suitable.
2 x 152,5 kg (336 lbs) - compared to previous regular squats it was a lightning bolt
2 x 162,5 kg (358 lbs)
3 x 2 x 167,5 kg (369 lbs) - I could probably hit up to 175 for an easy double
Squat 1rm test
1 x 155 kg (341 lbs)
1 x 162,5 kg (358 lbs)
0 x 170
0 x 170
Sadly there was like 0 cm of concentric phase on 170s.
5% gainz compared to estimated previous max. I am still happy since my singles were always horrible compared to sets of >3.
1 x 117,5 kg (259 lbs) paused
0 x 122,5 kg (270 lbs) don’t know what was wrong, just failed
1 x 122,5 kg - butt in the air, touch & go and overall bad lift
I was pissed off and chased some pump on the bench.
After a while decided to join my friend and do some oly squats with a bar to move my sore butt.
How it ended?
Pulls. Deadlifts (done on the other session) turned out to be interesting but I’ll post something about them tomorrow.
Now a little bit about cleans:
1 x 95 kg (209 lbs) legit power clean
1 x 102,5 kg (226 lbs) beltless
1 x 107,5 kg (237 lbs) +belt
1 x 112,5 kg (248 lbs) rage mode on, it is my current 3RM for a front squat so pull was easy but I had hard time standing up (no hidden jokes here)
0 missed attempts. Technique is nooooot flawless but at least stable…
Deadlift test
Only 4 warm ups, 60 kg, 100 kg, 140 kg & 160 kg. I usually do a ramp of 6-7 sets.
Then:
180 kg (396 lbs) beltless
190 kg (418 lbs)
0 x 200 kg (440 lbs) didn’t leave the floor
and the revenge:
1 x 200 kg (440 lbs)
I ended the 915 program and I need to honestly admit that I don’t like this type of training (low frequency, high volume on 1 session). My body doesn’t respond to this kind of stimulus as well when compared to high frequency.
But was it worth to give it a try? For sure.
PL total: 162,5+122,5+200 = 485 kg (1069 lbs) which is something around 30kg of increase in 8 weeks.
Clean: 100 kg => 112,5 kg, the best progress, I guess due to increased efficiency and technique.
I started following a Bulgarian Method Style template. Totally opposite to 1 lift per day in 915.
We’ll see how it will be going. Stay tuned
You put on 30kg in 8 weeks and are saying your body does not respond that well to that type of training? Thats a pretty damn good increase in two months…
[quote]Ass Banana wrote:
You put on 30kg in 8 weeks and are saying your body does not respond that well to that type of training? Thats a pretty damn good increase in two months…[/quote]
Well, objectively it’s a damn good progress. I wasn’t clear, I just didn’t feel like training pretty much all the time, excluding deadlift sessions (11 working sets of pulls destroying the following week).
Inspired by the book “Squat everyday” and low squatting frequency in last 8 weeks I am officially starting again daily squating (for some time). I lifted similarly a few months ago when I squatted for 21 following days and I hit amazing progress (~20 kg).
Bulgarian Method session #1
Front squat
ramped up to 3x110 kg (242 lbs) - (current PR 3x112,5)
High-bar back squat
5 kg ramp to 3 x 130 kg (286 lbs), last set with a belt
1 x 135 kg (297 lbs) beltless
1 x 140 kg (308 lbs) beltless (tied PR for beltless squats but last time it was a low-bar and this time it’s a legit ATG high-bar)
Some back & biceps pump on machines
I don’t want to throw higher volume and back-offs to 2-a-day sessions until I plateau. I am planning to ramp up to the heaviest triple (staying calm) for a day and then do some easy singles with a little higher weight.
Same with olympics (1-3 reps) and push press but rather fives instead of triples. Other body parts will be done once or twice per week, bro-building-pump-style mainly for a pure hypertrophy.
All squats will be ATG instead of a regular powerlifting depth (less weight, easier eccentrics, less overall arousal, more feel-like-a-weightlifter)
