Lots to respond to here. Appreciate all the feedback fellas. My travel days got a little messed up and I didn’t have the layover time I anticipated, so just getting to sit down and digest everything now.
@TX_iron Thanks man, and I think you’re 100% right. I like that the template is pretty open, so I’ll be able to change up the demands of the lifting sessions as needed rather than get stuck in a routine that doesn’t compliment my sport the way it should. I’ve also just never even tried it, so might as well see what it’s all about right?
@MarkKO Bookmarked that post for the next time I start getting overly concerned with assistance, which happens all too often. Appreciate you hitting me with some truth man.
@oldbeancam Spot on my dude, and that’s exactly what I experienced the last 6-8 weeks running Brians program and climbing a lot. Two activities that were trying to go down separate paths there. Switching to one lower body day/week is probably ample to maintain size and continue building a bit of strength here and there. Based on how god damn tight the pants of my suit were this weekend that’s probably perfectly fine haha.
@Voxel Thanks for the videos and ideas man. I’ve notably ignored mobility work and small “structural” type movements like that shoulder move from Tom for quite some time. Going to have to make new habits though, as it seems like most of the folks who are crushing haven’t ignored this stuff.
@Koestrizer Haha man, Vegas is exactly as advertised. I just happened to employ enough self control that I didn’t regret any choices I made during the trip. I think that’s my plan for strongman training, light and skill focused, as a conditioning day when it’ll fit. I dig strongman, but if I’m being realistic I’d need to put on a counterproductive amount of weight for my goals to be even remotely competitive in it.
So rough plan going forward will be:
Climbing: 2-4 weekly sessions
Lifting: WS4SB 3x/week
Conditioning: 2-4 days/week depending on climbing
Mostly pain free climbing, seems my arm is about back to normal but I didn’t push it super hard. More of a restorative session today.
PM Conditioning
~1 mile jog
I was planning on lifting this afternoon, but it’s so nice out today that I had to be outside. The rest of the week is typical March in Maine weather so I can just resign myself to the basement those days.
Solid session projecting a couple routes that have been getting the better of me. Arms were being a little whiny so switched to some that were more demanding of footwork and body positioning.
PM WS4SB - ME Lower
Airdyne: 10 minutes
Sled push and pull: (plate weight)
90x~60ftx2 each
180x~60ftx2 each
A. Deadlift bar deadlifts:
155x3
245x3
335x3
385x3
425x1
445x0
B. Sandbag carry:
175x2x~120ft
175x1x~150ft
C. Hack squat good mornings: (plates per side)
1x10
2x10
3x2x10
3x15
D. Toes to rings:
3x6
E. Rolling thunder:
45x1xL/R
90x1xL/R
115x1xL/R
125x1x barely R (no L)
140x0
Met up with the @theonecamko and worked out with him tonight. Good times. Second rep at 425 didn’t budge, but the first moved fast so decided what the hell lets get another PR, but it wasn’t there.
Rest of the workout was just messing around with fun stuff I don’t have at home.
I liked pairing the ME upper pushing work with the back/rear delt superset, and grouping the supplemental push work with the biceps and abs. Might be something to consider if you’re missing those giant sets.
you’re really making me consider returning to WS4SB
I noticed that in your log and it’ll probably make an appearance into my routine as well. For the time being though, I wanted to try the program “as written”. Figured I’ll give it a fair shake the way the author presumably intended before I start making adjustments. I think the change up will be good for me anyway, just to see how the difference plays out.
B2. Incline rear delt DB raises:
10x2x12
10x10
10x9
C. DB lateral raises:
15x2x12
15x10
15x8+partials
D1. DB rolling triceps:
20x12
30x10
30x7
20x11
D2. Axle curl:
40x4x12
E1. Copenhagen planks:
3x10s/side
E2. Dip bar oblique raise:
3x12
Pretty disappointed with the strict press performance. Was planning on the first two sets being in double digits but I missed that by a wide margin. Not sure if the football bar should make that big of a difference but it felt glued to my chest. Went with this bar instead of the axle to save my wrist a little stress. It’s only been like 10 days since my last overhead session so I can’t imagine my body forgot how to do it since then. Oh well.
A. Football bar strict press: (wide grips)
75x5
95x5
115x5
125x3
B. DB incline bench:
25x10
50x17
50x11
C1. T-bar row: (plates)
2x12
2.5x12
3x12
3x9
C2. DB Urlachers:
10x4x15
D. DB alternating curls:
20x12
30x7
20x10
20x8
E1. Dragon press out:
3x8
E2. Kneeling ab wheel:
3x6
Had I done the rep work today I’d easily have gotten the two sets of double digits like I planned for Saturday. The first two reps on the top set moved quick and I wanted four total, but the third was a big grind to lock out the last inch. Wasn’t gonna happen.
Left hand had pins and needles throughout the workout. I’m thinking it’s due to playing a lot of video games today, nothing alarming.
Started today doing a daily set of pushups upon waking. Might add a daily hang board activity as well since the climbing gym is closed until beer flu gets resolved.
Careful. How much are you hangboarding now? How much hangboarding have you done? With hangboarding, think that you are training your tendons, not muscle. They take longer to recover, so unless you are already hangboarding a lot I’d advise against making it a daily thing. Find the lowest training frequency that still has you progressing. Find “Episode 118: The Best Hangboard Protocol with Eva Lopez” by the Power Climbing podcast
Hey man thanks for the input. I’m not doing a ton of hangboarding right now, I use the jug holds for pullups and hanging ab stuff, but that’s about it. I should probably approach with a little more caution. Really I was thinking 1 hard session/week, and the rest being more on the restorative side. Would actually opt out on lifting days too. I’ll check out that podcast next time I’m in the car.
Obviously, as with weight-training, everyone is going to have a different tolerance. You have Honnold that free solos El Cap and then does some hangboarding and you have climbers that will rupture a pulley after adding in two hangboarding sessions. Best start with less and build up from there.
30s on/30s off mostly regular hops or high knees. Tried to do some double unders at the end and I can throw one or two in between regular hops but I can’t string them together.
Hangboard: 1 minute work/1 minute rest
10/5 repeater on jugs
10/5 repeater on slopers
10/5 repeater on deep crimps
10/5 repeater on slopers
10/5 repeater on jugs w/scap pullups
@Voxel this is the type of ‘restorative session’ I had in mind. Not very strenuous but got some blood flowing.
DB forearm reverse curl:
10x3x10
Noticed my right arm was burning out a lot quicker than my left on these. Right arm is the one that gives me problems too. Could have just been an imbalance issue all this time.
Cool. Gotcha. The only thing I’d mention as a reader is either that is restorative or it isn’t, it’s going to depend on how harsh and strenuous that crimp is. I noticed that you wrote the word “deep” before, but I’m not really sure how to read into that. To me, a crimp is a de facto harsh move on their pulley as I find that people usually use another term to describe a non-strenuous crimp: open-handed (even though the correct nomenclature is below)
Used my bench as a box to squat to. I think it’s just a hair under parallel but a bit high for me since I tend to bury my squats. Pretty solid variation for grinding out some tough reps.
Those skater squats are super hard.
@Voxel Yeah I see how that could be unclear. That particular hold isn’t very strenuous for me. It looks more like the “open” side of that picture, but I can fit up to my second finger joint into the space.
Solid workout, think I needed a week to settle in but now I’m in the groove here. Body is sore, but in the right way, it’s all muscular fatigue so I just need to eat and sleep and I’ll be good to go.
Plan is to swap between standing and “laying” push movements for ME upper weeks, and bench/strict press for RE weeks. Still haven’t determined a plan for how many lifts I’ll cycle through, which way I want to approach doing assistance, or when I’ll increase weight on the RE days. But so far so good.
Band shoulder stuff
Light box squats (teaching GF)
A. Football bar bench press: (wide grips)
115x5
135x5
155x5
175x5
185x3
B. Dips:
BW x10
Light band x23
Light band x14
C1. Football bar rows: (wide grips)
115x12
135x12
155x12
155x10
C2. Rear delt flys:
10x4x12
D. DB incline curls:
20x12
20x10
20x7
E1. Toes to bar:
2x8
1x6
E2. Ab wheel:
2x8
1x3
Workout turned out pretty well. Didn’t have high expectations after being a complete slug this weekend. Had a whiskey night Saturday and played a bunch of video games, spent a solid 13 hours working on a puzzle, and ate like a turd. Wound up spending my warmup and rest periods coaching my GF through box squats, Bulgarian split squats, and band pull throughs (these were kind of a fail).
Need to step up the conditioning this week, but I’ve been good about getting some hangboard work in and hitting my daily set of pushups. Been doing reverse wrist curls to hit the forearm extensors. Once I get them pumped I feel instant relief in my right elbow so I’m thinking there’s a little imbalance there that’ll be good to get sussed out.
Untimed per usual, but moved at a pretty good clip. Lower legs took a minute to comply with my request to run, think they’re still a little sore from the jump rope session. Little bastards take a while to recover for some reason.
Been having some wrist issues that doesn’t seem to be getting better without rest. I’ve been advised to avoid terminal ROM in the joint for a while so that may mean using the football bar for all my pressing until it’s sorted out. Still have a few days to decide whether or not I should listen.
Probably had 5 on that top set if I knew the movement better, definitely a different feel than a straight bar deadlift.
Those single leg box squats were a killer. Used a weight vest but probably could have gotten away with less in it. Funny enough, right leg started failing during the eccentric portion while the left leg failed during the concentric portion.
Had the GF do an Airdyne + bodyweight circuit followed by an upper body + core circuit.
