A) 14" Box Squat
135x8
225x5
315x3
belt on…
365x1
405x1 445x1 (PR +10lbs)
425x1
415x1
B) SLDL
225x4
315x4
405x4 455x5 (PR +2 reps)
425x2 <— Back felt funny
C) Pendlay Rows
135x6
225x8
225x8 225x10 (PR +2 reps)
D1) Kneeling Crunch +Light Band & Mini Band
15,10diag
D2) Hanging Leg Raise
10diag,15
D3) Oblique Bends (?) +Light Bands
12,XXX <—(Thought I tore an ab)
Solid session today, good way to end the year. Box Squats felt great, still making good progress on these.
The SLDL’s felt good, but on the last set my back felt off so I stopped before anything bad happened.
I don’t know what to call the Oblique Bends. Basically it’s the same exercise as when you are standing and hold onto one dummbell and bend to the side. I did these with the Light Band doubled around the band pegs.
The first set felt great, but on the second one, as I stood up with the band, I thougt I tore an ab. I had a sharp pain, and my abdomen immediately prodruded. I couldn’t stand up, in fact I dropped to the ground on my knees. I honestly thought that my stomach had instantly filled with blood. As I lay in the fetal position on the ground my cramp went away, I realized that I hadn’t done any damage, and in fact just needed some midol. I’m glad I was at home, because I looked like a huge pussy lying on the ground rolling around in pain for about 30 seconds before I realized that I was faking it.
Now THAT’S what I’m talking about when coming back from a Deload!! I may have been able to hit 165kg, but decided that I’ll leave that fun for next week.
BB Lunges: (FYI: I LOATHE lunges)
50kg x10,10,10
60kg x10
Good MOrnings:
80kg: 10
90kg: 10, 8 (belt jabbing into upper right pelvis region caused me to stop at 8…I thought at first it was my body telling me something, but only a belt problem…), 10
(normal PR is 100kg x10, but after todays previous 2 selections, I’m happy with this performance).
Standing Cable Crunches (using lat pulldown and a towel)
4th pin (easy 10)
5th pin 10,10,10
1.5 hours after training- Contrast showers- 30s cold/2 minutes hotx4
Notes: The workout was not easy, but certainly not as difficult as I had expected it to be. I believe that this is supposed to be the hardest week, but perhaps I prepared myself mentally for something much more difficult. Or maybe I’m speaking too soon.
My knees were a bit achy during the squats and IT bands felt a little inflamed, but after the workout, I feel fine and not really tired.
Oh, and I found my other wrist wraps…thank the heavens because this would have felt like shit if I hadn’t.
I’m actually going to take some time off from squatting. I REALLY don’t want to, but I know that I should to get my quad back to 100%. I’m not sure about deadlift. I did some bodyweight squats today inbetween sets. I suppose I’m going to have to start hopping on the treadmill while I’m not squatting to keep my conditioning up. Ugh.
Disappointing session today. Triceps have become weaker. No stamina for reps. That’s what bed rest’ll get ya. Go see the PT on Thursday for an eval of the (possibly) herniated disc and get some references to some doctors (orthopedic/neuro). Doesn’t feel too bad in general now, but it sure was letting me know something was wrong on the pullups. At least I can still train.
Checked in at a PL gym in my town and it looks like they have an opening, so I may be able to clear out my garage to make space for my wife’s art projects (and mine, possibly). This place has a monolift, rev. hyper and Glute/ham bench as well as a sumo rack, sleds, farmers walk handles and saftey squat/buffalo bars. Niiiiiice. I pay dues tomorrow.
I’m actually going to take some time off from squatting. I REALLY don’t want to, but I know that I should to get my quad back to 100%. I’m not sure about deadlift. I did some bodyweight squats today inbetween sets. I suppose I’m going to have to start hopping on the treadmill while I’m not squatting to keep my conditioning up. Ugh.[/quote]
Sorry to hear about that bro. Good luck getting back into it soon.
Not challenging cardiovascularly (didn’t have to open my mouth to breath), but I haven’t done 30 minutes of walking or running on a regular basis in a long time and wanted to let my muscles adapt. My feet felt fatigued at the end.
[quote]
Sorry to hear about that bro. Good luck getting back into it soon.
-Matt[/quote]
It’s only a mild quad strain (vastus medialis). I’m pretty sure I did it with some sloppy lunge form when I was tired at the end of a deadlift session. I’ve been training through it for about a month and it hasn’t slowed me down, but I don’t want to be thinking about it when I’m going for a PR. I’m thinking that if I take a full week off from the squat and deadlift, I should be back to 100%.
A good lesson learned, though. Even though the accessory work is done with light weight for GPP, you still need to keep good form.
A dude came in who is hella strong…at least compared to me. His mental focus and concentration is EXACTLY what I do…and he’s there to train…not socialize.
I went up to him inbetween his 2rep sets of 220kg/484lb squats…“Let’s talk later when we’re done.” He says (in english) “ok.” then we both go our separate ways to finish our trainings for the day.
While I can’t keep up with his training schedule (He does MAX Upper on Mon, Max Lower on Tue, then MAX upper on Th and Max lower on FRI), it’s good to have somone with the same determination as me…a HECK of a lot better than the trainng partners I have now.
Anyway…a cool dude who is inspiring to see.
I know his numbers are low compared to some people on this thread, but I finally have someone to “look up” to (other than the guy who does like 1/4 squats with 180kg. ).
As I’m leaving, I’m seeing some guys actually deadlifting. Now understand that I (and now whoever I train with) are the ONLY ones (previously) who deadlift there. I was in a really good mood so I went over and coached them on how to Deadlift (considering that they were only doing about 240lbs, it wasn’t a strain for me to life a few singles to teach them). They were ALL pulling almost straight-legged with a MAJOR curve in their spine.
I think I get it, but I’m not sure about the supplemental exercises…they are RE right? Different selections than ME Lower, but still RE and targeting the same muscles as ME day?
As I don’t have bands or chains (yet…need $$$ for chains, but at least I can get them), I’m going to do 2 weeks of DE (with weights) then go to RE for two weeks…then back to DE (with weights) then RE…sounds good?
MAN, I’m so happy I was turned on to this style of training.
Thanks for all your help…in advance as well as belated.
(OH, and apologies for not thanking everyone for their help and encouragement…but these days, time does not allow for much extra time posting, so please forgive me).
I think I get it, but I’m not sure about the supplemental exercises…they are RE right? Different selections than ME Lower, but still RE and targeting the same muscles as ME day?
As I don’t have bands or chains (yet…need $$$ for chains, but at least I can get them), I’m going to do 2 weeks of DE (with weights) then go to RE for two weeks…then back to DE (with weights) then RE…sounds good?
MAN, I’m so happy I was turned on to this style of training.
Thanks for all your help…in advance as well as belated.
(OH, and apologies for not thanking everyone for their help and encouragement…but these days, time does not allow for much extra time posting, so please forgive me).
AD[/quote]
First off, nice PRs.
Chains and Band aren’t necessary. Strait weight is fine for now. Eventually, you will want to incorporate them. I think rotating DE with RE is fine. I haven’t seen a need to do RE work for my lower body outside of supplemental/accessory work, but it is something that I might try at some point. Modi has had great success with it.
Supplemental work is done right after you main movement on DE and ME days. It should supplement the main movement. So if it was for bench then it should almost always be a tri movement and more often than not very similar to the main movement…Close Grip, DB Floor Press, I have even used board presses. Personally, I like to keep the supplemental movement for my upper body pretty heavy. 3-5 reps for 3-4 sets.
Then you do accessory work. lats, shoulders, maybe even tris again.
I tend not do go as heavy on supplemental stuff for lower body. SLDL/RDLs are the best movements for making my squat move. I usually stay in the 6-8 rep range. I have been rotating a hamstring dominant movement and quad dominant movement for supplement work. For example ME day hamstrings, DE day quads. You don’t see a lot of this in westside discussions, but almost all of those guys lift geared. Quad work is important for raw lifters, but not so much for geared lifters.
The lack of handoff on the heavy sets is killing me. Just unracking 405+ is like doing an extra rep. The 3 board went up well, but the 4 board with 435 was hard just getting out of the rack. Mentally I hadn’t given up, but I think it was just enough extra work to cause me to miss. Dropped the weight by 5lbs and still eeked out a 5lb PR. I’ll take it, but be happy to move on to Chains next week. However, this will probably present the same or even worse problem, getting the weight out of the rack without a spotter. Fuck it, complaining isn’t going to fix things…
Incline felt great today, but I definitely shot the whole wad on the 205x12. The next two sets were much harder than anticipated. Still making good progress on these, even as a second movement.
More fun with chains on the Rolling Triceps Extensions. Chains sound cool.
Post Workout: Contrast Showers- 30s Cold/2 Minute Warm x3
Notes: The workout probably wouldn’t have been longer than 2 hours, but the Deads from Pins and the Deads off Box were a pain in the ass to setup because I was using aerobic steps. I think the key to keeping the workouts short are to always be doing something. If I’m doing accessory work, I’ll always be racking my weights in between sets. And a stopwatch helps immensely with keeping me on schedule.
Anyway, it was a fun workout. These are not nearly as difficult as expected and frankly, anything without lactic acid is fine by me and not too difficult. Unlike the first workout with the 5x5, I never thought that this was too difficult or undoable.
I’m VERY happy with the way my bench form is looking; I’m finally able to get the feet behind me (flat on the floor) and get good leg drive without my ass coming up. Elbow tuck looks good too.
Didn’t use straps today, but my hands felt pretty terrible by the end- just felt raw.
Recovery has been great, wasn’t even sore before the session today. I think I made the right choice in terms of doing this in a low-stress time period. For example I got 11 hours of sleep last night.
1/2/2008 DE Lower
I like to squat it squat it
bar x 5
95 x 4
135 x 3
185 x 2
225 x 2, 2, 2
235 x 2, 2, 2
245 x 2, 2, 2
275 x 2
leg press
4 plates x 12
5 x 12
6 x 12
7 x 12
decline situps
BW x 25
10 lb behind head x 15
25 x 9 - this was hard and kinda funny
cable side bends
60 x 12, 12, 12
Felt good on squats today. All weights felt light, speed was feeling good. Brian even said one of my reps was my best ever form wise. I’m getting better every week. I’m gonna be free squatting next for ME and I’m pretty excited to see what I can do. Feel good things coming.
).