How to Design Strength Training Programs using Prilepin's Table

How to Design Strength Training Programs using Prilepin's Table? Author: Hristo Hristov, Published: 2004-02-10 Article Category: Strength Training Routines and Articles

During the sixties and seventies of the 20th century, Soviet sports scientist A.S.Prilepin collected data from the training logs of more than 1000 World, Olympic, National and European weightlifting champions. Prilepin synthesized his findings in a very simple table named after himself. Prilepin's table gives time tested workout guidelines as to how did elite weightlifters train. Now, I am talking about training guidelines for pure maximal strength. Here's the table:

Intensity Reps per Set Optimal Total Range
70% and below 3-6 24 18-30
70-80% 3-6 18 12-24
80-89% 2-4 15 10-20
90% and above 1-2 7 4-10

Have in mind, that this table is based on a study of weightlifters. However, it is quite applicable to powerlifting and strength training. Prilepin's guidelines are widely used in the powerlifting circles, and that's simply because they work. If you are looking for ways to refine your strength training workouts, Prilepin's table is the answer.
Let's first define intensity. Intensity is defined as the % of the maximal weight one can do for one rep(1RM). If you can lift 100 pounds one time for a given exercise, then lifting 70 pounds is defined as 70% intensity.
Upon initial examination of the table, you will notice, that sets of more than 6 reps are not performed. They induce too much fatigue, and obviously are counter-productive for strength gains, especially in super technical lifts such as the Olympic lifts.
To understand the table, consider designing a workout, where you will lift 75% of your 1RM. The table suggests that when training with 75% of your 1RM (Intensity Zone 70%-80%):

1.) You perform sets of 3 to 6 reps
2.) The total reps should be in the range of 12-24
3.) The optimal total is 18 reps
4.) If you do less than 12 total reps, the training stimulus would be too weak to elicit positive strength adaptation
5.) If you perform more than 24 reps, you are going to slow down, and fatigue too much

There is one major problem with the table. It gives guidelines for a specific intensity zone. If you want to use 65%, 70%, 75%, and 80% of your 1RM in one workout, these weights fall into three different intensity zones. The rep ranges still rule, but what about the total number of lifts? If you add the guidelines for each intensity zone, you will end up with a grossly overestimated number of lifts (in this case, the optimal number of lifts will be 24+18+15=57 lifts!). You will either tire yourself out, or more probably, won't be able to finish the workout at all.
In this article, I propose a way to get over this shortcoming. I'll give you a strategy to find the optimal number of lifts when designing strength training routines using weights from different intensity zones.
My first idea is to introduce, what I will call the Prilepin Number of Lifts Score (PNLS). PNLS is a measure of how the performed repetitions in a given intensity zone, relate to repetitions performed in the other intensity zones.
Let's assign a PNLS of 1, to the upper range of number of lifts for each intensity zone. Look at this table:

Prilepin Number of Lifts Score

Intensity Upper Total Limit PNLS
70% and below 30 1
70-80% 24 1
80-89% 20 1
90% and above 10 1

When you perform the upper limit of reps in a given intensity zone, this yields a PNLS of 1. The PNLS for a given zone, will be calculated as (Number Of Performed Lifts in Zone)/(Upper Total Limit). If you do 2 sets of 6 reps = 12 total reps with 60%1RM, the PNLS for these two sets is 12/30 = 0.4 (12 reps over 30 upper limit reps).
Now if you target a PNLS of 1 for the whole workout, you can add more sets in a different intensity zone. If you add 5 sets of 3 reps = 15 total with 75%1RM, the PNLS of these 5 sets will be 15/24 = 0.625
So if your workout is like this:

Bench Press - 2x6x60%, 5x3x75%

The total PNLS for the Bench Press will be 12/30 + 15/24 = 1.025. A PNLS of 1 is the upper limit according to Prilepin's table. For most intensity zones, the optimal PNLS falls between 0.7 and 0.8. Remember, that PNLS is exercise specific, so if your workout consists of 5 different exercises, each exercise will have its own PNLS.
This was my first idea of measuring the relation between intensity and the number of lifts. I quickly discovered a problem in this scheme. Consider these two workouts:

Workout #1: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 72%1RM (ZONE 70-80%)

Workout #2: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 77%1RM (ZONE 70-80%)

Both workouts have a PNLS of 24/24 = 1, but workout #2 is harder. Now we need to devise a formula that further refines the correlation between the number of lifts and intensity. The formula should also fall within Prilepin's table guidelines.

I created a table that includes for each intensity of 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, the upper limit number of lifts (NOL) according to the Prilepin's table and the sum of the two. Here's what I came up with:

Intensity Upper NOL Intensity + NOL
60% 30 90
70% 24 94
80% 20 100
90% 10 100

Now you see that if we sum the intensity and the number of lifts (the upper NOL limit from Prilepin's table), we end with a number of around 100.

Here's how I created my modified PNLS formula. Because the formula gives a relation between the Intensity(weight) and the number of lifts(NOL), I will call it INOL.

INOL of a set = Number of Lifts(NOL) at a given intensity / (100 - intensity)

If we run the formula with the previous examples we get:

Bench Press - 2x6x60%, 5x3x75%

INOL(Bench Press) = 2x6/(100-60) + 5x3/(100-75) = 12/40 + 15/25 = 0.3 + 0.6 = 0.9
Workout #1: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 72%1RMINOL(#1) = 24/(100-72) = 0.86

Workout #2: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 77%1RMINOL(#2) = 24/(100-77) = 1.04

The INOL formula favors a greater number of lifts at a lower intensity, and a smaller number of lifts at a higher intensity. This is good, because, very heavy lifts (above 90%1RM) fry the Central Nervous System and induce a lot of fatigue. At the same time trainees are able to perform more total lifts than the Prilepin's table guidelines at lower intensities. Prilepin's guidelines for Reps per Set remain rock-solid. INOL will only influence the total number of lifts.

Now, what is the difference between 5x2x80% and 2x5x80%? They both have INOL of 10/20 = 0.5. But if you calculate the INOL as the sum of the INOLs for each set, you will get an idea of which is tougher:

5 sets x 2 reps x 80%

INOL = 5 x (2/20) = 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.12

2 sets x 5 reps x 80%

INOL = 2 x (5/20) = 0.25 + 0.25

In the first case, each set gave a 0.1 INOL (fatigue), while in the second case each set added a 0.25 INOL (fatigue). In the first example, the workout was easier because the total fatigue(INOL) was fragmented into smaller parts. Now you can design your workouts, by both looking at the total INOL, and the INOL distribution among the sets.
INOL is a good measure of fatigue, that takes into account the weight(intensity) and the number of reps performed.
When you design strength training workouts, using mixed intensity zones, you can calculate the INOL for each exercise and follow these guidelines. You can track and modify them to suit your body for best results. By spreading the INOL among more weekly sessions you will be less fatigued, compared to concentrating all work sets in less sessions. It is my view, that very frequent workouts, with workout INOLs of 0.6-1 work best for most people. The only problem is that for most people it is too impractical to lift very frequently.

Total WEEKLY INOL of a single exercise:

Weekly INOL Guidelines
less than 2 easy, doable, good to do after more tiring weeks and prepeaking
between 2 and 3 tough but doable, good for loading phases
between 3 and 4 brutal, lots of fatigue, good for a limited time and shock microcycles
above 4 Are you out of your mind??

Single Workout INOL of a single exercise:

Workout INOL Guidelines
less than 0.4 too few reps, not enough stimulus?
between 0.4 and 1 fresh, quite doable and optimal if you are not accumulating fatigue
between 1 and 2 tough, but good for loading phases
above 2 brutal

Test

Did my thirty minutes on the elliptical trainer today, then went to the deadlift platform to test on the snatch grip deads - - - I wanted to know how much I had improved from when I started them. I warmed up with 225 for 5 then, since I topped out at 235 lbs 5RM last month, I loaded 245 on the bar. I got 5RM: after the second rep touched the floor, I switched hands on the staggered grip because my right hand couldn't hold on anymore in the overhand position. This calculates out to a 275 max (Brzycki's formula) so after 4 minutes rest to get rid of the forearm burn, I decided to test it with my left hand over/right hand under. Even with chalk, and maybe because of yesterday's workout, my left hand couldn't hold on so I put the straps on and slooooooooowly pulled it up.

This exercise is everything they say it is. It's a tough pull that slams the upper back and I'm sure it will improve my regular deads . . . . the pull distance is long with these. From Feb 28 to today, I went from a 205 5RM to a 245 5RM so I'm happy about that. But I will have to throw lots of grip work to perform them heavier next time because it puts my hands and wrists at a disadvantage.

SE/RE Back/Bench

Ahhhhh, this wave is now 2 workouts from being over. I'm so beat. I think the two days a week of deadlifting is catching up to me, and rack pulls are on Monday. That, and doing deadlifts last when all my other muscles have been pounded has been pushing me to my limit. My next wave will be easier than this one: no deadlifts, just arched back GMs done for 5 RM one day and submax effort the next. On paper, a parallel box squat for 295x5 would calculate to a 330 1Rm on that same lift so, considering that my arched back GM is 82-87.9% of my squat, I'm working towards a 270-290 lbs GM 1RM. The most I've done is 255 lbs for a single, when my squat was 325 (05Jan14).

Walked 30 minutes at lunch. Beautiful day, too beautiful to be indoors.

Evening:
Nautilus Nitro Laterals: 135x4 (Testing for my next wave, thought I had 125 loaded but forgot about the pin on the 10 lbs increment), 65x5, 75x5, 85x5, 95x5, 115x5x4.

T-Bar Rows: 65x5, 75x5, 85x5, 95x5, 115x5x5.

Nautilus Nitro Compund Rows: 95x6, 110x6, 125x6, 140x4.

Spotted Desi on his first free squats in 7 months, the joined him on a rep-out with 225 lbs. He got 10, I got 8 - - - I had more depth and longer range of motion. Who am I kidding? After all his other sets (Including a good rep out of two with 335), I should have matched him at least.

Superset:
18" Incline Bar Pushups: Failure at 16, 11, 8, 6.
Hammer Curls: 25x10x2, 30x5, 30x3. Pushups killed me. Funny, I felt the burn in the places I had worked before (biceps, back, delts, upper forearm).

Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 135x5, 155x5, 165x5x5. On submax days, this is my 63% 1RM week, usually an easy day. Except today. Oh, my form was great. It just felt like running a marathon.

Ate a lot of sushi for dinner afterwards. I was so tired and hungry, I barely talked to the wife while eating.

Tuesday's Aerobics

LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 9 Hill (Around the World): 30 minutes.

Last Few Days

April 27 & 28:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 8 Hill (Random): 30 minutes

Today:
Lunchtime: LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 9 Hill (Around The World): 30 minutes.

Evening:
Today's Workout was abbreviated down to two exercises. I had to run home to change into cleaner gear (My aerobics gear was dirty from last Friday) and we were going to be busy with the house today.

16" Box Squat: 145x5, 175x5, 205x5, 235x5, 265x5, 295x5. I forgot my belt at home and was too into the set to go get one. Desi spotted me on this one. On what should have been my first rep, the weight hit the pins before my butt hit the box - - - pins too high, I was so mad. Should have taken a moment and reset but I was afraid of being spooked on what was my goal. So I lifted this back to the rack, reset the pins, and immediately started the set again with even more focus. I almost got stuck on the last rep but held on long enough at my sticking point to break it. So, I'm happy. Next week, the box drops 2 inches to 14".

Incline Situps: Failure at 23, 18, 15, 13 reps. More reps than my best week.

ME Back/Bench

One Armed Braced Dumbbell Press: 15x5, 20x5, 25x5, 30x5, 35x5, 45x5x5. I did these first as a shoulder warmup for everything else. That, and I was gonna try something different: I was gonna do deadlifts LAST. I figured if I worked everything hard first, the deadlifts would really finish my muscles off better.

Nautilus Nitro Pullover: 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x5, 105x5x5

Hoist Neutral Grip Chinup (BWT 238.3): 88.3x10, 98.3x8, 108.3x7, 108.3x6

Triset:
18" Incline Bar Pushups: Failure at 15, 11, 8, 7 reps. Same as last time, and it was grueling. My back wasn't helping much, and I forgot that pullovers work your triceps hard, too.
Barbell Curls: 50x10x2, 60x5; (Descending set) 70x2, 60x3, 50x4, 40x3, 30x3, 20x3
Planks: 6 30-second holds

Rack Pulls Below the Knees: 165x5, 195x5, 225x5, 255x5, 275x5, 305x5, 325x2. The rack I usually use was taken. This one was like a half rack with 2 fixed bars on the side behind the squat area, and these gave me 3-4" depth below the knees. 305 was just brutally hard work! Since I had 315 for 4 last week, I went for broke and added 10 anyway. 325 took everything out of me. I did try to budge 325 for a third rep (twice) but I couldn't even do a sloppy rep if I tried.

SE/RE Squat

Well, I'm finally moved into my house. And what a mess it is - - - we are slowly putting everything in its place. So, I'm trying hard to manage training, arranging, and blogging - - - the computer in our house is not up yet.

On top of that, I've been nursing a sore left knee for a week. So, I'm modifying a few things to keep training and maybe not beat that knee up before June's PRT. So no running for a while. no deep knee movements, no conventional squats.

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 8 Hill, Around The World Profile: 30 minutes

Evening:
Nautilus Nitro Leg Extensions: Worked up to an 80 lbs 10RM. I might work on these for my quads until my third wave is over. Paused for a second at the top of each rep, nothing fast for knee's sake. Got a good burn on these, a good warmup for the box squats.

14" Parallel Box Squat (2-second pause): 135x6, 155x6, 175x6, 205x6, 225x5, 245x2. My substitute for the regular squat. These were hard and not very fast, especially with the pause. I'm hoping this will improve my regular squat out of the hole. My knee approved. I'll use this as my submax effort movement.

Nautilus Nitro Abduction: 85x10, 95x10, 100x10
Nautilus Nitro Adduction: 70x10, 80x10, 90x6

Superset:
Incline Situps: Failure at 19, 16, 13, 10 reps.
Standing Calf Raises: 65x10, 75x10, 95x10, 95x8

Band GHR: 4 sets of 5 reps

SE/RE Back/Bench

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 8 Hill (Around the World): 30 minutes

Evening:
T-Bar Rows: 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x5, 105x5x5

Nautilus Nitro Lateral: 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x5, 105x5x5

Nautilus Nitro Compound Row: 90x6, 100x6, 110x6, 125x3 (could not get the fourth rep past 3/4 mark.)

Snatch Grip DL: 135x6, 155x6, 175x6, 205x6x3.

Superset:
18" Incline Pushups w/bars: failure at 14, 11, 8, 7 reps.
Hammer Curls: 20x10x2, 25x8, 25x6

Planks: 6 30-second holds.

ME Squat/DL

Lunchtime: LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 8 Hill: 30 Minutes. I'll be back to running next week, my shin splints are gone. I'll probably just run three times a week and do the elliptical the other two. 5 times a week was killing my shins.

Evening:
This week was tough. The squatting was tough enough but the rack pulls took it out of me, too. That, and all the testing this week, left me feeling just beat up and tired but my last day of this cycle is scheduled to be May 29 and I want to keep it that way - - - PRT is June 3.

16" Box Squats: 150x5, 175x5, 200x5, 225x5, 250x5, 285x5 (5RM). My back felt so stiff that every set but the last was done with the Manta Ray - - - my back muscles were warmed up enough on the last set to go bare-bar. Out of the rack, the weight felt easy with very little lean, so as far as that goes this program is paying dividends. On the last set Desi (I finally got his name, the Filipino guy I use for spots) showed up, I set the pins, had him stand behind me, tightened the belt as tight as I could get it, and got my 5RM with 285. Notice the pattern: 295 is next. When I drop down to a 14" box, it will be the same progression: 275, 285, 295. When I start The EliteFTS beginners program, the first wave is a low box squat for an ME movement, and I may try the same progression there, too.

24" Step-ups: 3 sets of 10 with BWT

Nautilus Nitro Abduction: 85x10, 95x10, 100x7
Nautilus Nitro Adduction: 65x10, 75x10, 80x10

Superset: Incline Situps: Failure at 22, 16, 12, 11 reps.
Seated Calf Raises: 50x10, 55x10, 60x10, 65x8

Band GHR: Failure at 6, 6, 5, 5 reps. I put the bands a little higher for more help, I was dead legged at the end.

Our house closed today. We got the keys. I'm fucking happy. It will be busy the next few weeks but I'm staying on course. Can't wait to get the home gym set up.

ME Back/Bench

Rack Pulls 2" Below the Knees: 135x5, 175x5, 215x5, 255x5, 295x5, 315x4. I tried to do these at knee level but with the rack spacing, it was so above the knees that all it would work is maybe 2-3" of lockout, and I needed something more demanding for my purposes. I tried a 5th rep at 315 and was too spent to budge it from the pins.

Nautilus Pullover: tested to a 115 lbs 5RM.

Hoist Neutral Grip Chinup (BWT 240.3): 90.3x10, 100.3x8, 110.3x6, 110.3x5.

Superset:
One Armed Braced Dumbbell Press: tested to 45 lbs 5RM
Barbell Curls: 80x1, 70x3, 60x5, 50x8; (Descending set)40x8, 30x7, 20x5.

18" Inclined Bar Pushups: Failure at 12, 8, 6, 6 reps.

Planks: 6 30-second holds

SE/RE Squat/DL

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 8 Hill: 30 Minutes

Evening:

Squats: 145z5, 175x5, 205x5, 220x4x5. Grueling, not just because of the reps but because I lack pop out of the bottom. Can't wait to start doing heavy bottom-end box squats.

Lateral Walking Lunges: 3 sets of 10 with bodyweight

Nautilus Nitro Abduction: 80x10, 85x10, 95x10

Nautilus Nitro Adduction: 65x10, 75x10, 80x7

Superset:
Incline Situps: Failure at 21, 16, 11, 10 reps. Getting better.
Standing Calf Raises: Worked up to a 135 lbs single.

Band GHR: Failure at 7, 4, 4, 3 reps. Funny, the first set was great but I had little left for the rest. Maybe the squats were responsible.

Had McDonalds for dinner:) I'm a little piggy . . . oink! oink! oink!

SE/RE Back/Bench

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 7 Hill: 30 minutes.

Evening:
Nautilus Nitro Lateral Raise: 45x5, 70x5, 95x5x5.

Nautilus Nitro Compound Row: Worked up to a 110 lbs 6 RM.

T-Bar Row: 45x5, 70x5, 95x5x5.

18" Incline Bar Pushups: failure at 11, 8, 5, 5 reps

Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 190x5x4. Considering I went heavy with these on Monday, these were cake. But I really hate the grip on these because of the angle it creates with the wrist. My back felt real tired after these.

Superset:
Hammer Curls: 35x2, 30x3, 25x5, 20x8, 15x10, 10x12
Planks: six 30-second holds.

Wave 2 Begins

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill (Walking speed 3.8 MPH, Running Speed 7.0 MPH): 5 intervals of 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking. Very hard but I was motivated to finish.

Evening (ME Squat/DL):
I think of each new wave much like a new toy to play with. Since my mission is an 18" or greater neck by May with more fat loss, my deadlifting will be tougher. The snatch grip deads become a sub-max movement for reps, and the ME movement brings out the big dog: rack pulls 2" below the knees - - - I might just get my inch!!! Wave 3 will be my respite from all of this.

16" Box Squat: 145x5, 175x5, 205x5, 235x5 (felt a bit hard out of the rack, I think I was not tight enough), 265x5 (Put on a belt as tight as it would go, got me a spotter, and got tight.), 275x5 (I felt brave but I was extra careful with these - - - very exhausting.).

Nautilus Nitro Abduction: tested to a 125 4RM. Thanks, Jon, for the kick in the ass. No more guess work.

Nautilus Nitro Adduction: tested to a 110 2RM.

Band GHR: Failure at 6, 5, 4, 4 reps. I lowered the band to the next bar behind me so I would have less rebound and the band would go slack sooner. I must step it up for the bigger squat and DL I want.

24" Box step-up: BWT for 3 sets of 10. If you can imagine a below parallel step-up, you've got the right idea. Hard enough without weight, so I kept it that way. That's 230+ pounds of me I have to lift (sort of), anyways.

Incline Sit-ups: Failure at 19, 14, 10, 8 reps.

Seated Calf Raises: Worked up to a 90 lbs 2RM.

Lunchtime Run

LifeFitness Treadmill (Walking speed 3.8 MPH, Running Speed 6.3 MPH): 5 intervals of 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking.

ME Back/Bench

Yesterday:
We ran a mock Navy PRT April 3. I had 41 pushups and 54 situps. When it came time to run the 8 lap, 1.5 mile course I wimped out after the 3 lap, walked the 4th, then ran the other 4 in disgust. It was a 14:55 run: I was told by the lady who ran the show that running it would have shaved about 45 seconds off the time. On the one hand, I'm happy because the last time I ran it I only did so for 2 laps so it was an improvement. But, come on, I shouldn't have let my motivation slip.

Today:
Did not run at lunch, since I ran yesterday and did not want to run 6 straight days. Today ended the first of three waves I wanted to run before June's PRT. Looking back it went great but it seemed like it would never end (since I was sick). This next one will be fun: though my PRT is in June, I want to pass the bodyfat in May so I don't have that pressure on my back. An 18" neck and 39" waist is what I would need, but I'm gunning for more than that.

T-Bar Rows: Worked up to a 115 lbs 5RM.

Incline Bench Press: My original intention was 5x5 with 160 lbs but 3 reps into the first set, I knew I wouldn't be able to complete it in good form. So I did 10 sets of 3 reps with 160 lbs and that went better.

Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 145x5, 165x5, 185x5, 205x5, 235x5 (5RM).

Superset:
DB Preacher Curls: 20x10, 25x10, 30x8, 15x12
DB Lateral Raises: 12x10, 15x10, 15x7, 10x10

Hammer Shrug: 100x5, 120x5, 140x5, 160x5

Today's Measurement on Drill Weekend

My wife's mom took us out to dinner last night at her favorite Chinese buffet. Those of you who have read Chris D's travails of said nature know how this ends up. I was weighed in this morning (clothed) at 240 lbs - - - 4 more pounds than last month!!! My waist size only dropped by .5 inches (to 39.5 inches) - - - since I was sick half of March, I didn't expect to lose anything but I'll take the 1/2 inch. But my neck measurement went up 1 inch to 17.5 inches, which drove my bodyfat percentage down 3 points to 23% - - - so I should be in the clear next month.

SE/RE Squat

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill, 1.0 incline, 7.0 MPH run speed/3.8 MPH walk speed: 5 intervals of 2 minutes running and 4 minutes walking.

Evening:
Squats: 145x5, 165x5, 185x5x5.

Superset:
Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction: 60x10, 70x10, 80x10
Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction: 60x10, 70x10, 80x10

Superset: Band GHR: 4 sets of 7
Incline Situps: Failure at 16, 13, 10, 8 reps

Superset:
18” Lateral Step Up (LBS x reps per leg): 10x10, 15x10, 20x8.
Short pogo jumps (weight x reps): 10x20, 15x17, 20x14.

Lunchtime Run

Lunchtime: LifeFitness Treadmill (Walking speed 3.8 MPH, Running Speed 6.3 MPH): 5 intervals of 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking.

SE/RE Back/Bench

Lunchtime: LifeFitness Treadmill (Walking speed 3.8 MPH, Running Speed 7.0 MPH): 5 intervals of 2 minutes running/4 minutes walking.

Evening:
Band Chinups: 3 sets of 3, 2 sets of 2. When I couldn't do good sets of 3, I switched to 2s.

Conventional Deadlifts: 155x5, 185x5, 215x5x5.

Hoist Assisted Dips (BWT 237.1): 117.1x5, 127.1x5, 147.1x5, 167.1x5, 197x5x5.

Reverse Curls: 40x10, 45x10, 50x10
DB Lateral Raises: 8x10, 1x10, 12x10, 5x12
Pushups: 25, 20, 17, 14 reps
Farmers Walks: 2 90-second walks with 60 lbs.

Lunchtime Run

Lunchtime: LifeFitness Treadmill (Walking speed 3.8 MPH, Running Speed 6.3 MPH): 5 intervals of 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking.

ME Squat/DL

If one really thinks about it, I spent the first half of March sick. With the family OK and my illnesses gone, I felt a little rusty going into today's workout. So, I started the third week of this wave conservative: not out to set PRs, content to even get what I got on week 2.

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill (Walking speed 3.8 MPH, Running Speed 7.0 MPH): 5 intervals of 2 minutes running/4 minutes walking.

Evening:
18" Box Squats: 145x5, 175x5, 205x5, 235x5, 265x5, 295x5 (5RM). Since I got 4 reps with 295 last time, I went for my fifth and stopped there. Good, because all 5 reps at 295 was tougher this time around.

Superset:
Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction: 60x10, 70x10, 80x7
Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction: 55x10, 65x10, 80x10

Superset:
Band GHR: 4 sets of 6
Situps: Failure at 24, 17, 13, 13 reps. A little better than before.

Superset:
DB Walking Lunges (Sum of DBs x reps per leg): 50x10, 60x10
Ankle Jumps: 15 lbs for 17 reps, 25 lbs for 13 reps. No third set, just didn't have it.

Strep

Yep, turns out the reasons for this weeks struggles with how I feel at the gym, my use of an inhaler to help me breathe when I have a coughing fit, and not getting past anything is not only a sinus infection but the beginning of Strep A. Well, my family's better but I've told my wife and kid to keep their distance, and I stayed away from work and the gym.

ME Back/Bench

Legs are so sore from Monday's workout, only below the ankles doesn't. Can't say I'm looking forward to deadlifts but I should be fine. Right?

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill, Level 3 Hill: 30 minutes of walking at 3.8 MPH, just to loosen my legs up a bit.

Evening:
Hammer ISO Row: Worked up to a 80 lbs 5RM and a 90 lbs 2RM.

Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 145x5, 165x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5 (5RM). Last time, I couldn't lift 225 at all, so this was a victory for me. Moreso than a strength increase, I think I now have the hang of it - - - I try to visualize a snatch as I pull. The 4th rep on the last set got slightly sloppy so I paused, reset, and got it.

Incline Bench Press: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x5x5. Only the first set of 155 was done with a one second pause. I didn't have enough to pause the other sets.

Superset:
DB Preacher Curls: 20x10, 25x10, 30x6, 15x12
DB Lateral Raises: 10x10, 12x10, 15x7, 15x5

Superset:
Hammer Shrug: 90x5, 110x5, 130x5, 150x5
Pushups: 25, 15, 10, 8. Weird. My first set was the best yet, but I had nothing left for all the others.

A Better Run

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill, 1.0 incline, 6.5 MPH run speed/3.8 MPH walk speed: 5 intervals of 3 minutes running and 3 minutes walking. I test heartbeat by grabbing the bar 40 seconds before the run begins and immediately when it ends. BPM was 140, 140, 149, 150, 152 at the beginning of the runs and 164, 172, 177, 182, 185 after. This is a 13:49 minute, 1.5 mile pace.

I might still do the fast stuff on the other two days, but not nearly as long, to slowly push up my VO2 max. We'll see.

SE/RE Squat

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill, 1.0 incline, 7.0 MPH run speed/3.8 MPH walk speed: 2 intervals of 3.5 minutes running and 2.5 minutes walking. Maybe I'm detrained a bit from being sick or it was the meds I was on to keep me clear (on top of a coke and cup of coffee), but I was up to 150 BPM before the running even started, was up to 187 BPM after the first interval and 195 BPM after the second. Could not finish the third one, and it took over 15 minutes for my heart rate to drop below 150. Considering this and last week's run, I might drop my speed a bit. I'm not in the shape to sustain >170 BPM for too long before it becomes uncomfortable to run. I want to be able to 13 minutes straight by the end of April but it won't happen this way.

Evening:
Squats: 145x5, 165x5, 185x5, 220x6x3. I'm starting to get better at reps that these weren't too bad, still tough, though. I'm noticing the effect of the 18" box squats because once I'm past parallel, it's easy. I'll work on the bottom eventually.

Superset:
Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction: 60x10, 70x10, 80x8
Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction: 60x10, 70x10, 80x10

Superset:
Band GHR: 4 sets of 7
Situps: Failure at 26, 20, 16, 14 reps

Superset:
18” Lateral Step Up (LBS x reps per leg): 10x10, 15x8, 20x6.
Short pogo jumps (weight x reps): 10x20, 15x17, 20x14.

Weight this morning: 233.5 lbs.

DB Farmers Walk for Lunch

40-LBS DBs for two trips (warmup)
50-LBS DBs for two trips
60-LBS DBs for one trip
70-LBS DBs for 1 trip (stopped halfway to reset grip)
75-LBS DBs for 1 trip w/straps (My forearms were on fire after the first 1/3 of the trip)
80-LBS for no trips because I couldn't hold on even with the straps.
rested 2 minutes
80 lbs DB static holds for 18 seconds each hand.
90 lbs DB static holds for 12 seconds each hand.

Next time, I'm doing the heaviest ones first and descend. After this and yesterdays DLs and chins, I'm sure the pain train's coming for my traps!

SE/RE Back/Bench

Band Chinups: 8 sets of 2

Conventional Deadlifts: 155x5, 185x5, 210x5, 250x6x3. These were so fucking hard. Particulary, rep 6 and the last 3 reps of the last set.

Hoist Assisted Dips (BWT 238.1): 118.1x5, 128.1x5, 148.1x5, 168.1x5, 188.1x5x5.

Reverse Curls: 40x10, 45x10, 50x8

DB Lateral Raises: 5x10, 8x10, 1x10, 12x10
Pushups: 23, 20, 17, 14 reps

Did not have time to do the Farmers Walks. So that will be tomorrow's lunchtime aerobics;)

Lunchtime Run

LifeFitness Treadmill (Walking speed 3.8 MPH, Running Speed 7.0 MPH): 5 min warmup, 2 intervals of 4 minutes running/2 minutes walking. I am supposed to now have 20 minutes of total running time and I thought that 5 intervals of 4 minutes running/2 minutes walking would ease me in, even though I would only rest 2 minutes. Just as well: After the week where I'm doing 7-minute runs, there will be no rest periods greater than 2 minutes.

First Interval: Heart rate began at 145, ended at 172.
Second interval: Heart rate began at 150, ended at 182. Started getting a stitch at around the 3 minute mark but ran through it.

I walked until I could get my heart rate to about 148, then I tried a third interval. In two minutes, I was up to a BPM of 188 and just could not continue, so I walked the rest. Maybe, I'm still recovering from what ailed me, but I really see this as having to condition my heart to recover faster and be more efficient. So I'll gradually keep adding to this until I can get my twenty minutes in good shape, then I will start my week with 5 minutes running, 2.5 minutes walking.

What Is The Going Rate On a Soul?

I saw this on the DrSquat.com forum (one of my favorites) and had to post it. Especially after all the stories I've read about how some powerlifters are treated at commercial gyms. Sad,really. I love my gym even more!!!

Sell-out

Backwards Aerobics

LifeFitness Elliptical, Hill (Around the World profile), Level 6: 30 minutes done backwards. I got my heart rate into the 150s at around the 9-minute mark and kept it between that and 164 BPM for the duration. With all the other work I do, I thought this might give my workouts something different to do. I felt this more on my backside, hips, and lower back than when I go forward, and my heart rate was about 10 BPM higher. A keeper on days when I don't run.

Son played in the Tracyton League playoffs yesterday despite being sick (his call, I'm not one of THOSE dads!!!), so no sled dragging tonight. His team won and will now compete in Thursday's game to decide 1st or 2nd place. Next week, my evening schedule will be back to normal.

75 Percent!!!

I'm slowly starting to feel lots better. Right now, I'm so sleep deprived that I might get some fitful sleep: past few days, it's like my brain won't slow down and I'm sleeping in spurts. While not 100% well, I felt good enough to give today ME Squat/DL session a go. I'm starting week 2 over again since too much time passed since my last workout. Did not run at lunch since I had to take my son to the doctor - - - his turn!!!

18" Box Squats: 145x5, 165x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 255x5, 285x5 (5RM-added belt), 295x4 (I went for a fifth rep, brought it down under control, rose a tad and started seeing glittery stuff so I sat back down and put the bar on the pins). Glad I didn't try 305 - - - I wouldn't have finished as happy.

Superset:
DB Walking Lunges (Sum of DBs x reps per leg): 50x10, 60x10 (puked out of the window), 40x10
Ankle Jumps: 3 sets of 23

Superset:
Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction: 55x10, 65x10, 80x8
Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction: 55x10, 65x10, 80x8

Superset:
Band GHR: 3 sets of 6
Situps: Failure at 22, 17, 14 reps

Welcome to a New BloggerLifter

Lou Archiello, someone who I would chat with on the GoHeavy forums and was wondering where me, John McDonald, and Colin went, has taken up my suggestion and posted a blog of his own. Like John and a few people here, he competes. He is also trying to come back from a layoff, and I think these blogs may be just the thing he needs. His blog address is http://lscrewy.blogspot.com. Let's give him a warm welcome and get his blog up to speed.

When You Can't Quarantine the Family . . . .

My wife had bronchitis and a minor sinus infection the last weekend so when my body felt like it was merely going through the motions on Monday's workout, I knew I was getting sick, too. Now, I'm trying to keep my distance from my wife and son so the cycle doesn't continue. Missed two days of work. Am not working out this weekend so I'll at least I'll be 75% for Monday's workout. Sinus medication has me anxious and edgy.

Got measured today and I was 2 lbs lighter (236 with clothes on). My waist was still 40 inches and my neck shrank half an inch. Not what I wanted, but I'll adjust accordingly. I slacked off and diet, sledding, and drills. Back to the grind.

ME Back/Bench

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill (Walking speed 3.8 MPH, Running Speed 7.0 MPH): 5 intervals of 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking. Went great, 4-minute runs next time.

Evening:
Snatch-Grip Deadlifts: 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x0. My first time with this movement. Yeah, it really worked my upper back hard enough that I couldn't hold a negative in the pullup longer than one second afterward. It's hard on my grip because of the width, I have to stay tighter to launch it from the bottom, and they're harder to lock out.

Pullups: 1 negative that I could only hold for a second.

Hammer Strength Iso Row: Worked up to 70x5 per arm, then a 90 lbs single. Had no place in this gym to do a pullup with the bands, so I did these.

Incline Bench Press: 85x5, 105x5, 125x5, 145x5x4 (feet up, 1-second pause), 145x5 (had no strength left to pop it from a pause, so these were done touch and go).

DB Preacher Curls: worked up to 20x10, then 25x6.

Incline laterals: 8x10, 10x10, 12x10, 15x7.

Superset:
Hammer Shrug Machine: 90x10, 110x10, 130x8, 150x6, 180x1
Pushups: Failure at 20, 12, 10, 8, 6 reps

SE/RE Squat/DL

Wife had a medical coding seminar in Seattle and was up at 4:30AM, so I had to take my son to school in the morning at 8:15. So I couldn't work out before lunch - - - no running. My body is sore all over from yesterday but I wanted to keep my schedule for the week. So, I squatted today.

Squats: 140x5, 160x5, 185x5, 210x5x4. My lower back was tired from yesterday so I had to work harder to stay erect. My squats came out of the bottom better but I had to shake the cobwebs a bit since I hadn't squatted in a while. Overall, though, my squats were good and can only get better with the practice.

18” Lateral Step Up: 2 sets of 10 steps each leg with BWT and 10 lbs. 1 set of 4 steps each leg with 25 lbs.

Cybex Leg Curls: the room with the bars that I use to anchor my legs was being used by the Bangor bodybuilding team, and the lat station I could have used was also taken. So I worked up to a 135 triple and 3/4 rep with 150 lbs on these.

Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction: 3 sets of 10 with 50, 60, 70 lbs
Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction: 3 sets of 10 with 50, 60, 70 lbs

Short pogo jumps: 3 sets of 22. Basically, with legs stiff and knees slightly bent, use only your ankles to go airborne. Designed to improve one's vertical jump, but I really did it because I wanted something more dynamic for my calves than calf raises.

Incline Situps: Failure at 17, 13, 10, and 10 reps.

Weight this morning: 233.5 lbs. I knew I would plateau sometime. Visually, my sides are still shrinking so that's good. A little anecdote: my physics teacher in high school explained once that weight is the measure of gravitational pull on an object while mass is the amount of matter that makes it up. So, an overweight person can weigh a lot less on the moon and still look very overweight!!!

SE/RE Back/Bench

For reasons of various schedule miscalculations and not taking my car or gear, I did not work out at all Wednesday. Tsk! Tsk!

But I made up for it today. It was my best workout in a while, not only because of different movements but how blissfully tired it left me. Since my son had a 5:45PM game/5:30 practice, the first two movements were done at lunch. I'll just run tomorrow.

Conventional Deadlift: 155x5, 185x5, 210x5, 240x5x4. I messed around with different grips before I settled on a perfect combination on my last 3 sets. My belly still keeps me from getting in a better position but it's getting better. 5 reps in this left me panting and sweating.

Band Chinups: 3 sets of 3
Negative chins: 1 for every deadlift set, held as long as I can.

Hoist Assisted Dips (Bodyweight 237.8): 117.8x5, 127.8x5, 147.8x5, 177.8x5x5. First sets were stiff since I hadn't done them in a while. It got better.

DB Lateral Raises: 5x10, 8x10, 10x10, 12x10; drop set to failure with 12, 10, 8, 5, 3 lbs dumbbells (the 15s were being used, so I had to make do.)

Superset:
Reverse Curls: sets of 10 with 25, 30, 35, 40 lbs
Pushups: sets to failure with 15, 13, 8, 8 reps. The pushups left me with a mad upper body pump and a racing heart. Why wait until a month before Navy PT to do them? So I dropped the direct RC work for these. Glad I did.

Farmers Walk: 3 walks with 60, 70, and 65 lbs. The first set finished what the pushups started - - - I love these things!!! But I got my ass handed to me - - - the first set made me nauseous. I completed the first walk, and my upper body and forearms were on fire. Tried 70 lbs and had to put them down halfway around because I couldn't hold the dumbbells anymore, rested 20 seconds, then completed it. The 65 lbs DBs were the same story, my grip was fried. Weakness discovered.

Run

LifeFitness Treadmill (Walking speed 3.8 MPH, Running Speed 7.0 MPH): 5 intervals of 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking. My heart rate only got as high as 185 BPM, so I'm starting to adapt well to this. One more like this, then it's on to 4 minutes running/2 minutes walking.

No Rest for the Wicked

Cybex Arc Trainer: 45 minutes at Level 3 Hill. Spent most of it in the 163-174 BPM zone. If I could get used to this, my run will be better.

ME Squat/DL

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical: Hill Profile, Level 6, 30 minutes steady state.

Evening:
18” Box squat: 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 205x5, 225x5, 245x5, 265x5 (5RM: started to feel the weight), 285x3 (the third attempt did not go so I reset, tightened up some more and got it. Maybe it should read 3.5 reps). Next time, 285 will be mine for 5!!!

Band GHR: 20 reps in three sets.

Superset:
Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction: Worked up to 65x10, then 80x6
Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction: Worked up to 65x10, then 80x9

Triset:
DB Walking Lunge (Weight is total of two dumbbells, reps are per leg): 50x10, 40x10x2. These were hard. All this single leg stuff makes me humble - - - I got lots of work ahead to build up a big squat.
Seated Calf Raises: 50x15x3
Birddogs: 3 sets of 4 10-second holds.

Next Cycle

This is subject to change. As I mentioned before, I want to be able to keep what muscle I have while running to get lean for the Navy PT test in May. But as you can see, I'm also trying to greatly improve my lifts and learn some new ones. My bench won't bust 240 with this, but the low end will get better. My squats and deads will definitely get better with this. That, and it should speed my metabolism stoked. After the week off, I will start doing Dynamic Effort work again. First workout is today.

Wave 1

ME Squat/DL
1.) 18” Box squat up to 5RM
2.) Walking Lunge (3 sets of 10 steps each leg)
3.) Band GHR for 20-40 rep count
4.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction (2 sets of 10)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction (2 sets of 10)
6.) Seated Calf Raises (3 sets of 15)
7.) Birddogs (3 sets)

SE/RE Squat/DL
1.) Squats
Wk1: 72% 1rm for 4 sets of 5
Wk2: 75% 1rm for 3 sets of 6
Wk3: 63% 1rm for 5 sets of 5
2.) 18” Lateral Step Up (3 sets of 10 steps each leg)
3.) Band GHR for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps
4.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction (2 sets of 10)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction (2 sets of 10)
6.) Standing Calf Raises (3 sets of 15)
7.) Planks (3 sets)

ME Back/Bench
1.) Snatch-Grip Deadlift up to 5RM
2.) Pullups: 3 sets of 4 negatives each or 8 sets of 2 w/Light Bands
3.) Incline Bench Press 5x5 (Wk1: 75%1RM, Wk2: 80%1RM, Wk3: 85% 1RM)
4.) Hammer Shrug Machine (4 sets of 8)
5.) Incline Laterals (4 sets of 10)
6.) Physioball “Y” (4 sets of 8)
7.) DB Preacher Curl (3 sets of 10)

SE/RE Back Bench
1.) Conventional Deadlift
Wk1: 72% 1rm for 4 sets of 5
Wk2: 75% 1rm for 3 sets of 6
Wk3: 63% 1rm for 5 sets of 5
2.) Chinups: 3 sets of 4 negatives each or 8 sets of 2 w/Light Bands
3.) Hoist Dips 5x5 (Wk1: 75%1RM, Wk2: 80%1RM, Wk3: 85% 1RM)
4.) Farmers Walk (3 trips with heavy dumbbells)
5.) DB Laterals (4 sets of 10)
6.) Physioball “Y” (4 sets of 8)
7.) Reverse Curls (3 sets of 10)


Wave 2 (Navy Physical May 6/7)

ME Squat/DL
1.) 16” Box squat up to 5RM
2.) Bulgarian Split Squat (3 sets of 10 steps each leg)
3.) Band GHR for 20-40 rep count
4.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction (2 sets of 10)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction (2 sets of 10)
6.) Seated Calf Raises (3 sets of 15)
7.) Incline Sit-ups (4 sets to failure)

SE/RE Squat/DL
1.) Squats
Wk1: 72% 1rm for 4 sets of 5
Wk2: 75% 1rm for 3 sets of 6
Wk3: 63% 1rm for 5 sets of 5
2.) Lateral Walking Lunges (3 sets of 10 steps each leg)
3.) Band GHR for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps
4.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction (2 sets of 10)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction (2 sets of 10)
6.) Standing Calf Raises (3 sets of 15)
7.) Flat Situps (4 sets to failure)

ME Back/Bench
1.) High Pulls up to 5RM
2.) Hoist Pullups 5x5 (Wk1: 75%1RM, Wk2: 80%1RM, Wk3: 85% 1RM)
3.) One Arm Braced OH DB Press 5x5 (Wk1: 75%1RM, Wk2: 80%1RM, Wk3: 85% 1RM)
4.) Inverted Row (6 sets of 4)
5.) Physioball “W” (3 sets of 8)
6.) Incline Pushups (4 sets to failure)
7.) Barbell Curls (3 sets of 10)

SE/RE Back Bench
1.) Snatch-Grip Deadlift
Wk1: 72% 1rm for 4 sets of 5
Wk2: 75% 1rm for 3 sets of 6
Wk3: 63% 1rm for 5 sets of 5
2.) Hoist Neutral Grip Chins 5x5 (Wk1: 75%1RM, Wk2: 80%1RM, Wk3: 85% 1RM)
3.) DB Push Press 5x5 (Wk1: 75%1RM, Wk2: 80%1RM, Wk3: 85% 1RM)
4.) Nautilus Nitro Compound Rows (4 sets of 8)
5.) Physioball “L” (3 sets of 8)
6.) Pushups (4 sets to failure)
7.) Hammer Curls (3 sets of 10)

Wave 3

ME Squat/DL
1.) Parallel Box squat up to 5RM
2.) 24” Step Up (3 sets of 10 steps each leg)
3.) Band GHR for 20-40 rep count
4.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction (2 sets of 10)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction (2 sets of 10)
6.) Seated Calf Raises (3 sets of 15)
7.) Planks (3 sets)

SE/RE Squat/DL
1.) Squats
Wk1: 72% 1rm for 4 sets of 5
Wk2: 75% 1rm for 3 sets of 6
Wk3: 63% 1rm for 5 sets of 5
2.) Single DB Overhead Squat (3 sets of 8)
3.) Band GHR for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps
4.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction (2 sets of 10)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction (2 sets of 10)
6.) Standing Calf Raises (3 sets of 15)
7.) Birddogs (3 sets)

ME Back/Bench
1.) Arched Back GM up to 5RM
2.) Pullups: 3 sets of 4 negatives each or 8 sets of 2 w/Light Bands
3.) 1-Board Press up to 5RM)
4.) Hammer ISO Row (4 sets of 8)
5.) Incline Laterals (4 sets of 8)
6.) YTWL (4 sets of 10)
7.) DB Preacher Curl (3 sets of 10)

SE/RE Back Bench
1.) Sumo Deadlift up to 5 RM
2.) Chinups: 3 sets of 4 negatives each or 8 sets of 2 w/Light Bands
3.) Nautilus Bench Press 5x5 (Wk1: 75%1RM, Wk2: 80%1RM, Wk3: 85% 1RM)
4.) Seated Row (4 sets of 8)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Laterals (4 sets of 10)
6.) Seated External Rotations (4 sets of 8)
7.) Reverse Curls (3 sets of 10)

Week off

ME Back/Bench

Lunchtime:
Lunchtime:LifeFitness Treadmill, 1.0 incline, walking speed 3.8 MPH and running speed 7.0 MPH. 5 intervals of 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking. After the last time, I was gonna drop to intervals of 2 minutes running and 4 minutes walking. But why backtrack and if the situation had been with a weight I missed, I'd be coming back for another try. So I was determined to do it as planned. The last interval was the hardest: my heart rate maxed out at 192 BPM at the end of the run portion. Next week, I'll finish up.

Evening:
Band Chinups: 1 max out at 4 reps, then 8 sets of 2.

Legs Up Close Grip Bench Press (Paused): 85x6, 105x4, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3x10. Easy.

Hammer MTS Low Row: 60x3x10.

Superset:
DB Shoulder Presses: 40x5x5
Hammer Curls: 30x6x4

Next week begins my next cycle.

Just Aerobics

LifeFitness Elliptical: Hill profile, level 5, 30 minutes steady state.

SE Squat/DL

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill, 1.0 incline, walking speed 3.8 MPH and running speed 7.0 MPH. I tried to run 5 intervals of 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking but 1 minute into the 4th interval I felt sick. I'm trying the Runners World setup for the same type of program, I just didn't feel I would be able to run 20 minutes straight on the last workout of week 5 - - - and this proved it. I ran more total time for this run and more of it at longer duration.

Evening:

Sumo Deadlift: 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 185x5x5.

Hoist Leg Press: 470x2x10, 470x6, 470x8. Decided on high reps this time. Ah, I've almost forgotten what a severe leg pump feels like until today. The last set was done at a faster tempo to get more eps before my legs locked up.

Band GHR: 30 reps in 5 sets.

Triple Drop Standing Calf Raises: 2 sets at 120, 90, 60 lbs.

Abs: 2 trisets of lying leg thrusts (10 reps), crunches (10 reps), and planks (3 15-second holds).


Weight this morning: 233.5 LBS

SE Back/Bench (The rest of it)

Hammer MTS Front Pulldown: 45x5, 55x5, 65x5x5

Hammer MTS High Row: 65x6x4

Superset:
DB Shoulder Press: worked up to 45x3x10
Barbell Curls: 65x3x10

The Spotting Chronicles

After a weekend and a week's worth of aerobics, I was just too beat to do any running today. So I did the bench portion of my workout at lunch, instead.

Legs-Up Pause Bench: 95x5, 115x4, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 205x0, 205x1 (10 lbs PR). On the first 205 attempt, I asked someone to spot me. I was as explicit as can be: "Give me a handoff, I will pause for a second at the bottom, then drive it up, however slow. Don't touch it until I say TAKE IT!" What does he do when I stick for a moment? HE FUCKING TOUCHES THE BAR AND GIVES IT A LITTLE PUSH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

I waited until this guy left 5 minutes later, and this time I did not want a spotter. I figured I was strong enough to arch it off my chest if I couldn't get it. I squeezed the bar super tight, got everything tight, lowered it under control, and squeezed my back super hard to see if I could get a little more pop. I got it, and the weight still moved slow but I locked it out.

Here's the kicker. I got up, flicked my wrist at the bar (like Andy Bolton) and yelled "Fuck Yeah" (like John Yeo). After realizing that, I just cracked up laughing!

I miss my old gym, and may start doing more workouts there again. People at this gym have no clue!

ME Squat/DL

Yesterday evening I did all the dynamic stretching stuff minus a lot of the running. Three games of basketball left me feeling beat up.

Lunchtime today: LifeFitness Treadmill: 5-min warmup, then 2 sets of 90 seconds running/90 seconds walking followed by 2 sets of 3 minutes running/3minutes walking. Running was done at 7.0 MPH, walking at 3.8 MPH. Mentally, I was trying to talk myself out of doing it but I failed. Good thing, because it was a good end to week 3 of this program.

Evening:
Hoist Leg Press: 350x5, 415x5, 475x5, 535x5, 595x5, 610x5, 665x5x3. Did sets of 5 vice 3 and my legs were toasty. A portent of things to come next week?

Cybex Leg Curls: 130x5x5.

Romanian Deadlifts: 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 195x3, 225x2x3. Cut it short on time, so I went heavier.

Situps w/25 lbs plate: 5 sets of 12

Flex Standing Calf Raise: 70x15x3

ME Back/Bench

Drove my boss in to work this morning. Forgot my driver's license and military ID. So I could not get into the gym here where I work for my run, my boss had to drive me home, and my workout was cut short a bit.

Band Pullups: 5 sets of 3. The very top was still a bitch to get even with a light band.

Legs Up Close Grip Bench Press (Paused): 85x6, 105x4, 115x3, 135x3, 150x3x10. Last week 145 was hard. This week, 150 was easy. Maybe, it had just been a while.

T-Bar Row: 135x3x5

Seated Row: 130x3x5. On the rows, there were hard. In the t-bars, I tend to lose a bit if I don't do them for a while. To be honest, though, I cant'w wait to start doing higher reps for these movements as this may be the curveball my back needs. I got one more week as planned, and then I start a new cycle.

Evening cardio consisted of 3 games of basketball with 5 people. Loads of fun, and my son stepped up to play even though he was the only kid.

Aerobics

Cybex Arc Elliptical Trainer, Level 5 Hill: 45 minutes steady state. This machine is awesome. It not only adjusts resistance but also stride length and height depending on the hill. Most of my time was spent at a BPM above 168.

If you haven't yet, give Kris' Under the Bar and give the entry "Hope" a read. There is a new entry about his back problem that is so complete it may help you prevent future back problems of your own.

Drill Weekend

Cybex Arc Elliptical Trainer: 30 minutes steady state, Hill level 5

Sumo Deadlift: 135x6, 155x6, 185x6, 205x6, 215x6x3.

Band Chinup: 1 set of 4, 4 sets of 3, 1 set of two. My first set was to see where I would hit failure. The others were to see how many sets of 3 I could hit.

Hoist Hack Squat:50x8, 70x6, 90x6, 120x4, 140x3, 160x3, 180x1. Tried to do a second rep at 180, but had nothing left to hit depth with. I thought this would be better than the Hammer MTS, but this machine would kill my knees if I made it a habit.

Band GHR: 5 sets of 6

Twisting Inclined Situps: 4 sets of 12.

18" box jumps: 3 sets of 3.

I was measured today, and my waist was down two inches (from 42 to 40) and my neck held steady at 17 inches. Two more inches at the waist with the same neck and I'm within standards. Of course, I won't stop there. I think it's about time to bring out the twice a week deadlifting for the next month for a kickstart!!!

Yesterday's Run

LifeFitness Treadmill: 5-min warmup, then 2 sets of 90 seconds running/90 seconds walking followed by 2 sets of 3 minutes running/3minutes walking. Running was done at 7.0 MPH, walking at 3.8 MPH. After the run, my appetite was ravenous and I felt edgy to the point of being irritable. I didn't indulge it (Ok, a couple of handfuls of Crunch N Munch at night, but that was it). I may need to eat a little more and I know that flies in the face of what I'm trying to do but with weightlifting, aerobics, sprints, and sled dragging, I'm gonna have to do so smartly.

Very smartly.

Yesterday's Light Stuff

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 6 Random: 30 minutes steady state.


Evening:
Ankle Dragging: 2 laps forward, 2 laps backwards (10 lbs).

Forward Sled dragging: 60 lbs for 3 laps

Sled Reverse Woodchoppers: Both sides, one lap each. I lightened the weight to 25 lbs to get a much better feel.
Sled Pullthroughs: 1 lap with 60 lbs. Combined, I got a wicked pump in my lower back and erectors. The combo of rotational work and regular low back stuff should be just the ticket to being more injury proof.

Backward Sled dragging: 60 lbs for 3 laps

Face Pulls and Rear Laterals: one lap each.

Sled Chest Work: one lap with 25 lbs. Extend arms forward and walk, letting the sled pull your arms back to a slight stretch, then press the weight forward as if you were benching.

Weight this morning: 235.5.

SE Back/Bench

My son had a game at 5:45 yesterday, which means he has to be there for warmups 15-20 minutes prior. So I had to scrub my run at lunch (will do it today or tomorrow) and split my workout up.

Lunctime:
Hammer MTS Front Pulldown: 45x5, 55x5, 65x5, 75x6x3
Legs Up Pause Bench: 115x3, 135x3, 165x3x9, 165x2. My first 6 sets were steady. The next 3 were harder, and I could not power the last rep out of the bottom and it just stayed there. Now, here is my spotter complaint. I had to put the bar on the last J-hook, turn my head to the side, and slide out. Standing behind me were two guys just jabbering away. Now, if this were you and you saw what was happening, wouldn't you run to the guy and take the bar off of his hands?!? Jeez!!!

Evening:
Hammer MTS High Row: 60x6x4.
DB Shoulder Press: 45x3x10.
Barbell Curls: tested up to 80 Lbs 1RM.

ME Squat/DL

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill: 5 minutes warmup, intervals of 3.8 MPH walking and 7.0 MPH running, both at an incline of 1.0. Circuit90 seconds jogging, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, repeat, then 5 minutes cooldown.

Evening:

Hoist Leg Press: 350x5, 415x5, 475x5, 535x5, 595x5, 610x5, 685x5. With a little less belly, I had more depth and a better workout.

Cybex Leg Curls: 130x5x5.

Romanian Deadlifts: 210x3x6.

Situps w/25 lbs plate: 5 sets of 12

Flex Standing Calf Raise: Tested to a 150 lbs max

Dynamic Warmup/Energy System Training

This will be the only time you will ever see me write this, because it's long. So in future blogs, the title will be the only reference to it. This was my workout yesterday, when I wasn't playing basketball with a neighbor. It was sometimes paused for twenty shots from a particular spot, because the fast runs were hard. It also took a while because I was learning some of the stretches. I used the template from WS4SB2, Core Performance, and the Parisi Warmup Video for instruction. This could make a really great aerobic session in itself.

Dynamic Warmup Phase (@ means reps each side):
Hip Crossover (10@)
Scorpions (6@)
Prisoner Squats (10 reps)
Jumping Jacks (15 reps)
Seal Jumping Jacks (15 reps)
Front Skips (20 yards down and back)
20 shot pause
Calf Stretch (6@)
Hand Walk (6 times)
Stationary Side Lunge (8@)
Side Suffle (20 yards down and back)
Stationary Leg Swings (10 reps, front to back)
Stationary Leg Swings (10 reps, side to side)
60% Sprint (arm& posture focus)(20 yards down and back)
20 shot pause
Inverted Hamstring (6@)
Forward Lunge/Forearm to Instep (6@)
Lunge Walk (10 steps down and back)
Backpedal (20 yards down and back)
20 shot pause
Backward Lunge with a Twist (6@)
Drop Lunge (6@)
Sumo Squat to Stand (6@)
Squat Jumps (5)
75% Build Up Sprint (Knee Drive)(20 Yards Down and back)
20 shot pause

Ground Based Mobility:
Back Bridges (10)
Iron Cross (Basically, a Scorpion done while on your back)(10@)
Rollovers into V-Sits (10)
Birddogs (10@)
Fire Hydrant Circles (10@, forward and backward)
Arm Circles
Mountain Climbers (10@)
Groiners (10@)
40 shot pause

Frequency Phase:
Low Pogo Jumps: 3 sets of 20 seconds
High Pogo Jumps: 3 sets of 20 seconds
Cariocas: 20 yards down and back
Sideways Running: 20 yards down and back
85% Sprint: 40 yards
40 shot pause

Change of Direction Drills:
Suicides (2 versions)
This second one has no name, but here's what I did: run forward down the court, run sideways to the right, run backwards, run sideways to the left, repeat 3 times.
Shuffle sideways at a diagonal, in a zig zag pattern, down and back.
Dribbling ball around cones, like an obstacle course.

Weight this morning: 236.5 lbs

Past 2 Days

Thursdays Lunchtime workout:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Hill Profile (Random): 30 minutes steady state at Level 7.

Friday:
Treadmill running: 5 minutes brisk walk, followed by intervals of 60 seconds jogging at 7.2 MPH and walking for 90 seconds at 3.8 MPH for 20 minutes. I ran this circuit three times at a 2.0 incline, then switched to 1.0 incline and 7.o MPH run speed for the rest. Consider week 2 of the CoolRunning program done.

In the evening, I took my Core Performance book and a copy of the Westside for Skinny Bastards 2 workout with me. I ran the dynamic warmup and mobility stuff on it with a few other additions. The stretches will need work but after I ran this, I felt really loose and limber. Almost enough sprinting and running to make me do this for aerobics instead of the elliptical.

ME Back/Bench

Lunchtime:
Treadmill running: 5 minutes brisk walk, followed by intervals of 90 seconds jogging at 7.0 MPH and walking for 2 minutes at 3.8 MPH for 20 minutes at a 1.5 incline.

Evening:
Band Pullups: 4 sets of 3, 1 set of 2 (failed to get the third rep).

Hammer MTS Low Row: 55x3x10. The jury's out on this one, I think the dumbbell row may be a better choice. We'll see.

Legs-up Close Grip Bench (1-second pause): 45x10, 65x8, 85x6, 105x3, 135x3, 145x3x10. Took a little getting used to. Haven't done close grips in a long time, and the pause forced me to stay tighter for my wrists' sake.

Dumbbell Shoulder Presses: 40x6x4.

Hammer Curls: 30x3x10

Lunchtime Aerobics

LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 6 Hill (Around the World): 5 min warmup, intervals of 1.5 minutes at >10 MPH and 1.5 minutes at >5 MPH for 20 minutes, 5 minute cooldown.

Weight yesterday morning: 238. Down a pound and a half. Not bad after Sunday's Playoff diet of pizza, pancit (Filipino version of chow mein) and root beer.

SE Squat/DL

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill: 5-minute warmup, intervals of 90 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking (3.8 MPH) for 2o minutes, 5-minute cooldown. The first 3 intervals were run at 7.2 MPH at a 2.0 incline, and the next ones were run at 7.0 MPH at zero incline.

Evening:

Sumo Deadlifts: 135x5, 155x5, 180x5, 205x5x4. What do I love about high rep DL? It makes you huff and puff, which is just what I need.

Hammer MTS V-Squat: 90x6, 110x6, 130x6, 150x6, 170x6, 190x5, 210x4 (Calcululated that to be a 230 max, then computed the next 4 sets), 175x5x3. This machine is kind of like a hack squat and it hit my legs hard (and more huff and puff). But to get in and out of it was a chore.

Seated Calf Raises: 25x15, 35x12, 45x10, 55x8, 65x7.

Band GHR: 20 reps in 4 sets

Lying Leg Thrusts: 4 sets of 10.

SE Back/Bench

Today was mostly a test day.

Hammer MTS Front Pulldown: 45x5, 55x5, 65x5, 70x5x4. Was supposed to be Hoist Neutral Grip Chins, but this gym doesn't have an assisted machine that works.

Legs Up Bench, 1 second pause: 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 195x1, 205x0.

Hammer MTS High Row: Worked up to a 70 lbs double (per arm), then 55x6x4.

DB Shoulder Press: 50x3, 40x6x3

Barbell 21s: 3 sets at 45 lbs.

Evening Sled Work

Ankle Dragging: 2 laps forward, 2 laps backwards.

Around the Worlds: Tried to shoot the basketball from several marked spots inside the 3-point arc.

Jogged 2 laps around the court dribbling with my right hand; turned around and repeated while dribbling with the left hand.

Tabata pushups: 20, 7, 4, 3, 2, 1. Getting closer to doing eight sets. Funny how the first set absolutely destroys me.

With sled in hand, dragged it from one end of the court to the other quickly - - - twice.

Took shots from the corner and outside the arc.

Sled Woodchoppers: Both sides, from one end to the other.

Sled Pullthroughs: One lap

Tabata Situps: 20, 12, 8, 5, 3, 1, 1.

Suicides and cariocas from both ends of the court.

Sled Face Pulls and Rear Laterals: one lap each.

Would have dragged it from the hip, but my wife came in from her walk and wanted to give the sled a spin. So did my son.

Lunchtime Aerobics

LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 6 Hill (Cascades): 5 min warmup, intervals of 1.5 minutes at >10 MPH and 1.5 minutes at >5 MPH for 20 minutes, 5 minute cooldown.

And here's a bonus, a spreadsheet of all of Chad Waterbury's programs plus the links to T-nation that describes each one. A workout for all occasions.

http://216.17.22.84/...CW_programs.zip

ME Squat/DL

Hoist Leg Press: 350x5, 415x4, 475x3, 535x3, 595x3, 680x2x3

Cybex Leg Curls: 125x5x5. Wanted to tire out my knee flexors, before performing . . . . . .

Romanian Deadlifts: 195x3x10. Grueling. Just grueling.

BWT Situps: Failure at 24, 19, 14, 12, 10, 7 reps.

Superset:
Seated Calf Raises: 50x10, 50x5 (rest 10 seconds), 50x10
Hoist Calf Press: 30x30x3.

Triple Drop Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets of 10 with 105, 85, and 65 lbs. I think Charles Poliquin is a sick bastard for this calf workout.

In answer to John Yeo, here is the Navy Physical Readiness Standard instruction, OPNAVINST 6110.1H: http://www.npc.navy.mil/NR/rdonlyres/4E9CD09A-D79E-40F1-9C2C-CF0970A7E69D/0/OPNAVINST61101H.pdf. The max bodyweight for a 5'10" male is about 192 lbs. Since I'll never be that (too much lean mass, I could probably be 206 at 10%), I have the option of BF testing. If you quickly peruse the instruction and see how it is calculated, you'll see how a big neck makes a big difference.

Past Few Days, Next Few Days

Monday:
Wife wanted to start working out, so we all went to the apartment's gym. She walked on the treadmill, my son got in the hot tub, and I shot baskets and ran around for about an hour on the court. Afterwards, they joined me and I shot more ball for 30 minutes more.

Tuesday:
Went to run drills on the court but was beat up and just didn't have it - - - too many jumpers, maybe. Chatted with the wife (she was on the treadmill) while my son played around with the Universal multi-gym. Should have dragged the sled.

Today (Lunchtime):
LifeFitness Treadmill, speed intervals: 5 minute warmup, then 90 seconds of running followed by 2 minutes of walking at 3.8 MPH, for 20 minutes. For the first 4 intervals, speed was 7.2 MPH, then 7.0 for the next 2 intervals. Incline was 2.0 for the first three intervals, then 0.0 for the last 3.

Found out last drill weekend that because I had 3 PRT failures in the last four years that my next failure would result in me being kicked out of the Navy. Additionally, because of that, I can't fail anymore if I do pass. Because I was asked to keep a diary of what I do, I'm keeping it here and providing them printouts from this blog.

In addition, I've dropped speedwork for a while and am just concentrating on Maximum Effort and Submaximal Effort Work (what I call development). I learned from before that to beat the Navy's measurement (ie, lose waist, gain neck), I shouldn't be lifting light. For aerobics, I'm using an interval training program from CoolRunnings.com to build up to 30 minutes straight of running in 9 weeks at a 7.0 MPH pace (Just over 13 min 1.5 miler) along with some sled dragging. While I might do some long aerobic work when I go away for two weeks, I don't lose as much muscle doing intervals.

Oh, yeah, I'm looking for a summer military meet and maybe something in the fall. That's the other reason to just stay heavy for a while.

Thursday's Cardio

Treadmill running: 5 minutes brisk walk, followed by intervals of 60 seconds jogging at 7.2 MPH and walking for 90 seconds at 3.8 MPH for 20 minutes. For a little more than half of it, I ran it at a 2.0 incline. But either it was the incline or the heavy squat/DL work the day before, my shins started to have a most uncomfortable lactic acid burn. So I switched between 0 and 1.5 incline as need. The speed, nor the incline, is part of the program - - - just the occasional wrinkle to keep my body guessing.

BTW, weight this morning was finally below 240 - - - 239.5. I'll take the half and smile!!!

A Simple Plan

Today was supposed to be DE Squat day, but I abandoned that plan. Partly to see how my squat was doing but also to test a theory.

Squat: 135x2, 155x2, 175x2, 195x2, 225x1, 255x1, 285x1. The 285 was perfect, though not the fastest. It felt easy out of the rack, I took it down with perfect posture, paused at a below parallel position for one second then lifted it with good back posture. So, even for a ten pound improvement, it was a much better squat than my 275 and with no back pump at the end. The squat/GM combo for high volume is a keeper.

Sumo DL: 155x2, 175x2, 195x2, 225x1, 255x1, 285x1 (switched to staggered grip), 295x0. The speed wasn't there off the floor but my abs were tight enough and my back strong enough to make it look good. However, having done these over a year ago at 355, it was a wake up call. I think my weakness is my hips.

Let me explain. At my best squat (315-330), I was doing a lot of sumo deads, RDLs, and heavy parallel box squats. After months of nothing but box front squatting and not doing nearly as much of the aforementioned work, my squat had taken a dive. That said, it's time for the next 3 weeks of new movements, and a new mindset. Time to attack it!!!

Sled Day 1

Lunchtime:
Life Fitness Elliptical Trainer, Level 5 Hill: 4 minute warmup (Hey, I walked to the gym and back, that's enough warmup, too), then 6 intervals of 80 seconds fast and 80 seconds slower.

Evening: Sled Dragging

Forward Dragging (harness on waist): 2 laps around the court, 45 lbs plate

Backward Dragging(harness on waist): 2 laps around the court, 45 lbs plate

Tabata Pushups: According to Dan John's article on T-nation, do the most reps you can in 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, repeat seven times. I did 15 the first set, 8, the next, then 6, 3, 2, and 1. Oh, did it get my heart rate up - - - I'm really out of shape.

Ankle dragging, sled only: one lap forward, one backward.

Sled Face Pulls: 1 lap around the court, 45 lbs plate

Sled Rear Laterals: 1 lap around the court, 45 lbs plate

Tabata BWT Band Squats: 11, 10, 8, 6, 5, 3, 1.

Forward Sled dragging, handle between the legs: 1 lap around the court, 45 lbs plate

Backward Sled Pulls: 2 laps around the court, 45 lbs plate.

Sled Woodchoppers: 1 lap around the court, 45 lbs plate, for my right and left side.

Tabata Situps: 15, 8, 4, 3, 1. So, now I know that pushups and situps are my nemesis. Took about 30 minutes for everything, and it felt really good. Worked up a good sweat.

Monday: ME Bench

Lunchtime:
Treadmill running (1.5 incline): 5 minutes brisk walk, followed by intervals of 60 seconds jogging at 7.0 MPH and walking for 90 seconds at 3.8 MPH for 20 minutes. I'm trying a beginners program to bring me up to a 3 mile run in 9-10 weeks.

Evening:

Nautilus Nitro Bench Press: 100x6, 115x5, 130x4, 150x3, 165x3, 180x3 (was supposed to be 6 reps for this wave, but had zero left after rep 3), 210x0(went for it, moved it an inch or two and got stuck), 190x1 (should have been 6, 210 killed me), 210x0, 125x15 (had to rest pause it 4 times to get it). Might either go to 5x5 at lighter weights for the next three weeks, or switch movements. Just didn't have it today.

Triset for 3 sets of 20 reps:
DB Front Raises: 10 lbs
DB Lateral Raises: 10 lbs (had to rest pause it once or twice)
Hoist Rear Delt Machine: 20 lbs

Triset:
Inverted Rows: BWTx3x10
Standing Reverse Curls: 50x4x8, 50x3x2. The 45 lbs bar was awkward and the 25 lbs easy curls bars were taken. So I just made it harder.
External Rotations: 10x10x10. I'm kind of bored with these.

I'll probably complete the modified Prilepin cycle where I'm squatting/GM on the same day for the next three weeks. But the bench days will change, it's time to switch up.

Friday: ME Squat

Completely raw.

Squat: 135x6, 155x5, 175x4, 205x3, 235x3x5. Not too bad, last set was tough. It's getting better. The other squats I do over time will fix any deficiencies.

Triset:
Arched Back Good Morning: 135x3, 155x3, 175x3x6, 135x6.
Seated Calf Raises: 70x3x10
Trap Bar Deadlift: 174x3x10. This triset felt just like aerobics. If it weren't for my son's basketball clinic at 6:30, I wouldn't have been in such a hurry.

Superset:
Band GHR on Resist-a-Roll Ball: 20 reps in 3 sets. Too tired for 30, so I tried to do 20 in the fewest sets possible.
Situps: 3 sets of 15

DE Bench

Remember when your moms told you all never go out in the rain without a coat? I didn't last Friday, when I did some of my sled dragging outside in the rain and cold. Now, I've got bronchitis to deal with. But after two days of antibiotics and an inhaler, I felt alright enough to bench. My head still feels like it's in a vice, though, from the cold medicine to clear my sinuses up. Stupid me!!!

Flat Bench Press (longest finger on rings): 95x3, 115x3, 145x3, 165x3x8 (Misload. I was supposed to do 145x3x8 and I didn' t realize it until I went to load 175 for a double and saw 165 on the bar. Still moved really good - - - not as fast as 145 I'm sure, but quicker than I planned.), 175x2, 195x1.

2-Board Press: 195x3 (Moved grip closer one finger, but my speed was off. I was paying for the misload earlier), 205x3, 225x2 (wanted that third rep, had nothing left to get it with).

Hammer MTS Front Pulldown (per arm): 80x3x9, 100x1 (10 lbs PR).

YTWLs: Rep-outs with 5 lbs for 5 sets.

DB Preacher Curls: 25x3x10. Both bars (Huh?) were taken but after doing them with the dumbbells, I may never go back. My arms tracked better this way.

Happy New Years to All

Spent today at the car dealer getting the radio and center console replaced (free, it's a recall item), so I'm on the computer a bit to pass my 2.5 hours. Am also watching a lot of Brent Mikesell videos, studying his technique to see where my squat problem lies. I'm going to do a few unhealthy things tonight but will be off the road, as should everyone else. Cheers!!!

The Adventures of Sledboy and Ding

I actually got off work today at 10:30AM . . . . whoopee!!! Time enough to get my son's meds - - - doctor called to say his throat culture tested positive for strep - - - and take the sled out for a spin. Watched the Parisi Warm-up DVD, ate, then we were on our way. My son called dibs on dragging the sled to the clubhouse.

I was lazy and did not not want to take two trips up the stairs so I loaded the sled with a 45, 25, and two 5s and carried it down the stairs. Oh, those sharp edges. Right thigh got slashed. I tell my son to just hold the straps over the shoulder and pull. After a couple of misteps, he pulls it to the clubhouse slowly but surely. All 110 lbs of it (sled's about 30 lbs). Huffing and puffing, he says that he'll go swim. I take everything (sled, weights, ankle straps, and basketball) and get ready to run drills and drag. In case you're wondering, it was not hardwood but a surface similar to what's in weightrooms.

I first do a lap much as my son did, with 110 lbs, and realize that it was not hitting the right spots. So I choked the straps and stepped in them, then cinched it to my waist and dragged it for six laps. That was more like it. I have never felt my hips being drilled that directly before, and my backside was getting worked. Much like Louie Simmons wrote, you take long, forceful strides. Then, I did the same thing but walking backwards. After 3 laps, my quads were singed. I took off 35 lbs and continued. Could my weaker VMO be holding my squat back a bit? Hmmmmmm. I even did some drags with the ankle straps, doing forward/backwards/sideways drags with the sled only; did pullthroughs, front/rear raises, and hand over hand pulling for my back. In between all this, I did laps and suicides, sideways runs, backwards runs, skipping, and some of the mobility work I saw on the video. I will use less weight in the future, and I really love this thing. A good workout. Squat workout was next in a few hours.

Took my son to Bangor gym so he could shoot hoop and I could squat. Due to all the sled experimenting, I just did the meat and potatoes of todays workout.

DE Parallel Box Squat: 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 165x2x10. Had decent speed but little pop. Too much sled work? Sure. But I've come to realize that I sit too far back in the box squat and my form out of the hole needs work. Otherwise, I descend fine. I spread my groin as I go down and push my knees out (kind of like Brent Mikesell recommends), but it seems I'm not totally sure what to do from the bottom. Should I bring my knees in a bit then spread the floor as I come up or what? Advice, anyone? Oh, on one of my sets I realized what John McDonald meant when I was holding the bar with my hands out too far and I trapped my right pinky for a split second against the j-hook, cutting it and splitting the nail. That smarted.

Supersetted speed deadlifts (205x1x10) and trap bar shrugs (164x3x10). Will I pay for that? Already am, my traps are crispy. Had to keep wiping my pinky after each dead, too.

Finished up by joining my son for some baskets. Tuesday, I'll do the lighter leg stuff that should have finished this workout.

All I Want for X-Mas

X-mas was pretty good to me. Among the things my wife got me was some essential gear: a sled pack, two and 3 board, and the Parisi Warm-up DVD from EliteFTS. The only thing I had to get myself was carabiners (4 of them), and 3 plates (45, 35, 25 lbs, my kid wants to give it a go). Any suggestions on dragging workouts that have worked for others would be very welcome. I will probably watch the DVD tonight and start getting conditioning tips from that, which I will also blog. One thing I do want to do, since I'm out to improve my 1.5 mile run, is to attempt to do a walking sled drag through the course they use on Bangor base to slowly condition myself for it. Stupid? Maybe. But depending on how it goes with a light weight, it might be a good thing. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

ME Bench

All notation: lbs x reps x sets.

Nautilus Nitro Vertical Bench: 95x6, 110x5, 125x4, 140x3, 155x3, 170x6, 200x1, 180x6, 210x0, 120x15. The 200 pounder went up twice as quick as last time, about a 5 second rep. The 210er moved an inch then would not move any further. The 15 rep set took 3 pauses after the 7th and 11th rep. To push from the bottom with no leg drive means I better push it hard and fast, or it won't happen. The Nautilus is very draining.

Tri-set for 3 sets of 20 reps:
Dumbbell Front Raises: 8 lbs
Dumbbell Side Raises: 8 lbs
Hoist Rear Delt Machine: 15 lbs.

Triset:
Inverted Rows: 10 sets of 3. Better with a good pause and a deeper pull.
Standing Reverse Curls: 10 sets of 3 with 50 lbs
Seated External Rotations: 20 reps with 2, 3, and 4 lbs; 18 reps with 5 and 6 lbs; 15 reps with 8 and 10 lbs; 2 sets of 12 reps with 12 lbs; and 10 reps with 15 lbs.

Suck

Yesterday's aerobics was for me to run basketball drills while my son swam in the pool. Basketball for me is a great way to get lean and in shape because of all the short sprints, body movements, and jumping. That, and I suck wind early in games, and this is more fun than running on a treadmill.

1.) Jogged four laps around the court, dribbling with my right hand.
2.) Played one-handed Around The World, including the three point range.
3.) Jogged four laps around the court in the opposite direction, dribbling with my left hand.
4.) Played one-handed Around The World on the opposite end of the court, including the three point range. Got this done faster, shot was now tuned up.
5.) Ran Suicides from both ends of the court. I want to say that the prior day's squat workout bled me dry, but would rather admit that my endurance needs lots of work. I tried my best to be fast, but felt the burns early.
6.) 25 pushups with feet elevated.
7.) 30 situps
8.) Ran Cariocas back and forth.
9.) 10 band pushups, feet elevated.
10.) 10 leg thrusts.
11.) Backwards shuffles, feet spread arms out (defensive position), back and forth.
12.) Planks
13.) Alternating Supermans. My abs were so tired. Hell, I was spent!!!
14.) Toe taps until my tibia burned.
15.) Rapid jumps using only the calves.
16.) Side shuffles in a criss-cross pattern.

Gave myself a fast shower, then jumped in the pool to play. Hot tub and sauna felt great.

Added today: Lifefitness Elliptical Trainer: 25 minutes, level 5, 2.71 miles, steady state. Can't always train hard circuits, and I do some steady low intensity stuff at times. Left feeling loose and limber.

ME Squat/DL

Squats: 135x5, 155x4, 175x3, 195x1, 225x3x5. I notice that I have a little more oomph and balance from the bottom, so I'm gonna give credit to the split squats for that one. Not too demanding until the end.

Arched Back Good Mornings: 135x3, 155x3, 185x3, 205x3x5. Rather than rest a bit from the squats, I just rested a minute or so like any other set. The result? The weights felt really light because my body still thought I had 225 on the bar.

Band Assisted GHR on a Resist-A-Roll Ball: 40 reps in 10 sets. Towards the end, I had to push myself up a bit just for more assistance, but my hams were toast so it barely mattered.

Trap Bar Shrugs/Hoist Calf Press superset: 10 sets of 3 with 164 lbs (shrugs) and 70 lbs (calves).

Hadn't worked out in a while except for HIIT aerobics and running basketball drills with my sun. My metabolism is creeping up. That last bench session aggravated my hand so I took a break. The cut had been healing but I still had a knot underneath it about the size of a quarter that would flare up and throb if I grabbed anything. It's gone now, but I squatted with the Manta Ray, just in case.

In case the holidays keep me out of the gym the rest of the week. I wanted to wish you all a Merry X-mas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/"fill in the blank" and a safe and happy New Year. And if you must drink, push the car home for GPP!!!

DE Bench

This workout happened yesterday. As I would learn yesterday and this past weekend, my hand may take a bit to heal. The wound is closing up but underneath it it's still a little tender and bruised. Right now, it's a little sore from yesterday's bench session.

Lunchtime:
Hammer MTS Front Pullsown: 70x3x8, 80x2, 90x1

Evening:
Flat Bench Press: 95x5, 115x4, 135x3, 145x3x8, 165x2, 205x1, 250x0. All sets done with the wider grip (long finger on rings). I tried the 250 just to get a feel for it. I racked it and brought it down under control in solid form, but that was it.

Dumbbell Shoulder Presses: 50x3x3. Shoulders were beat from Mondays squat session, and I didn't have much speed. I had tried the behind the neck press but it just didn't feel right.

Supersetted YTWLs (10 sets of 5-8 reps with 3 lbs) and Preacher Curls (50x3x10)

DE Squat - Sort Of

Lunchtime:
Intervals on a Lifefitness Elliptical machine: 4 intervals (1 min fast, 1 min slow). My warmup was to walk to the gym and back up a lot of stairs to get back to work. 4 intervals was all I could handle. But would I go back to steady state? No. This is the best way for me to get lean, so I will be patient.

Hammer MTS ISO Incline Bench (all weights per movement arm): 25x10, 35x8, 45x6, 55x4, 65x2, 75x1, 85x1, 95x1. What else was going to do for that extra time left?


Evening:

Parallel Box Squat: 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 150x2x10.

Speed Deadlifts: 185x1x10. Speed was good on everything. All speed work done beltless.

Bulgarian Split Squats: BWTx10, 20x10, 20x9. These torched my quads and backside. I want to take this as a sign of quad weakness, but what I will settle for is the question of why I waited this long to do them.

One Armed Dumbbell Overhead Squats: Lifted right out of the No Curls program by Alwyn Cosgrove, I decided to do these instead of side bends to get more bang for my training buck. 10 lbs was used as the overhead weight, and 20 was used for the squat weight. 3 sets of 10 and these really hammered me. Not just because of all the leg work before, but my abs were really engaged, and I had to work hard to balance the overhead weight (I think some more shoulder flexibility would be nice here, too). I just had an epiphany: it was also hard because, accounting for the arm switch each set, that's 60 reps!!!

Supersetted Seated Calf Raises (65x3x10) and Pullthroughs (20x10, 30x10, 40x10, 50x8, 60x8, 70x6, 80x4, 90x2, 100x1, 110x1). It was only gonna do pullthroughs for 3 sets of 10, but I felt frisky;-)

ME Bench - Friday

All notation: lbs x reps x sets.

Nautilus Nitro Vertical Bench: 90x6, 105x5, 120x4, 135x3, 150x3, 160x6, 190x1, 170x6, 200x1, 115x15. The 200 lbs took me 10 seconds to complete but I was going to get it, damnit!!! After that, 115 lbs felt just like 180 lbs - - - it took me two rest pauses to get the 15 reps.

Tri-set for 3 sets of 20 reps:
Dumbbell Front Raises: 5 lbs
Dumbbell Side Raises: 5 lbs
Hoist Rear Delt Mchine: 10 lbs. What a burn. I never could get the hang of doing rear delts with a dumbbell, so I substituted the Hoist.

Inverted Rows: BWTx3x10. Set the bar on the Smith, lay on your back beneath it, then pull yourself up. This was more about quality: while I did get myself up pretty high, I felt as if I could do better if I was stronger. So I worked on my pull steadiness and my one second pause at the top.

Seated External Rotations: 8x15, 10x12x2, 12x10. 4 weeks of high rep work to get my cuffs prepared, followed by 4 weeks of 6-8 rep work, then repeat. That's the plan.

Standing Reverse Curls: Worked up to a 60lbs 1RM, then did 7 sets of 3 with 50 lbs.

Deload to Reload

Read this on the Elite FTS site, written by Jim Wendler. A must read, especially if preparing for a meet, it has different methods of deloading from a cycle.

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/deload.htm

ME Squat/DL

Wife has been sick the last couple of days and I had to set up the game systems Wednesday. So this workout was split over two days. I decided to do the Prilepin cycle for the squat for three weeks so that I could squat more, using squats as my heavy movement and arched back good mornings for the light movement - - - on the same day. Throw in the shrug work and the deadlift is practically covered, too. I don't expect a major weight jump from this but I expect a better squat and more SPP.

Wednesday Lunchtime:

Squats: 135x5, 155x4, 175x3, 195x0 (got down to the bottom and the bar started to roll off, I lost my concentration and could not come up. Worse yet, I set the pins too low. So after falling on my ass carefully, I had to get the bar off me and I rolled it on my left hand. Ouch!!! Cut my palm, blood starts to drip. I sprayed some disinfectant on a towel, wiped my hand up. Now, I'm pissed), 195x3, 225x3, 245x2x3. As of today, the hand is just a little sore but at least I didn't break anything. The skin stayed on so it should heal up quick. My upper back and neck muscles were sore from trying to roll the bar off - - - because of my position at the time, I could not dump the bar.

Weighted Situps: 5 sets of 10 with a 25 lbs plate. My abs are so sore right now!!!

Thursday:

Arched Back Good Mornings: 95x6, 115x5, 135x4, 155x3, 175x3, 195x3x5. Pretty good, just a lot of work.

Band Assisted GHR on a Resist-A-Roll Ball: 30 reps in 8 sets. In case I didn't describe it before, here's the setup. The ball is almost oval, with a rougher texture so that it stays put. Went to the room that had the metal bars on the wall. Attached the bands to upper bars (level with my shoulders), put my feet inside lower bars to hold them to the wall, put an arm in each band, and got on the ball. These feel a lot more natural than my old setup. Harder, too: you get help at the bottom, less as you come back up, none a few inches short of the top.

Trap Bar Shrugs/Hoist Calf Press superset: 10 sets of 3 with 154 lbs (shrugs) and 65 lbs (calves).

DE Bench

I had to drive myself to work yesterday, so I worked out at the gym here in Bremerton rather than waste time driving to the other base. Felt good to be back, getting back into the habit of things.

Flat Bench Press: 115x3, 135x3, 145x3x8, 185x2, 205x1, 225x0. I stuck with one grip today, which was a little wider than normal (longest finger on the rings). Still had really good speed but it did take a little more work to stabilize the bar. It also made heavier weights harder, thus the 225 failure. I also noticed that on the last inch ot two, my speed slows a bit - - - time to either use 3-4 boards, rack lockouts, or heavy band benches. Or I could blame the wider grip and feel really good about myself!

Hammer MTS ISO Front Pulldown: Worked up to 85x2 per arm, then did 65x3x10. Very similar to a chinup done with a slight arch toward the top. Very effective.

Hammer ISO Behind The Neck Presss: 70x3x3 per arm.

YTWLs: 4 sets with 5 lbs. Just did as many as I could, these are so fucking hard. I know that the point is not to hurl up a ton of weight but, man, this is ridiculous. Evil exercise!!!

Preacher Curls: 50x3x10.

The Price of Being Cheap

After a year in Puerto Rico, I arrived back in the United States in 1977. From 1977 to 1986, I moved about 9 times as my mom not only had some problems with greedy landlords and small apartments but also wanted bigger and better places for our family of 6 kids. We never had the luxury of movers, we were it. As you could imagine, it was always quick with that much help.

We tried to move cheap from our home to the apartment, so we opted to move all the smaller things and let the movers take the bigger things. Simple, right?

Where are your weightlifting bloggers when you need them:) If you have never lived in a home, it's easy to move. If you are moving from a home into an apartment, it's murder. Our house was not overly decorated or furnished and yet after the movers were done, we spent another week cleaning up and moving all of our shit. Some of our stuff went into storage. We still have to get the outdoor basketball hoop. And our apartment, though it's getting organized, still looks "just moved into." Painful lesson. Surprisingly, my wife and I didn't kill each other but we were getting really grouchy.

I've eaten like shit for a week, and have moved so many things up and down stairs and walked so much my knees ached. This weekend was for rest and I feel good enough to start working out again tonight. And I got my computer hooked up this Saturday. Next time, the movers are gonna move EVERYTHING!!!

Short 3

Flat Bench Press w/feet up and 1 second pause: 165x3x10. I was really tired from moving and my lower back was so tired that I could barely hold an arch, so this was a relief. Rep speed was steady but not as fast as feet on the floor (of course) and I was good and stable. I had to put a little more into these but I like 'em.

Short 2

I will do these short workouts until the week after next - - - I should be settled in by then. I will just be doing 10x3, and only two lifts. Today, I did it with 60% of 1RM in both lifts; next week will be a session at 70%, then one at 80%.

Flat Bench Press: 145x3x10. Did these with a 1-second pause at the bottom. I remember when THIS was heavy. My goal on the third workout is 190x3x10.

Squat: 165x3x10. Not a killer, but a challenge. My goal for these is 220x3x10 which I know will kick my ass but also means that I might be in better shape to do an Ian King wave with these when I start my program back up.

Short

We are slowly moving into our new apartment (Our house won't be complete until April 2006)and will be completely out the 28th. My son's parent-teacher conference was today, and we sign our house title paperwork tomorrow. Then, there's Thanksgiving. Not much time for my full workout until maybe the middle of next week, if not the beginning of the following week. So, I figured that I could do one or two lifts here and there. Just the very basics.

Conventional Deadlift: 135x3, 155x3, 185x3, 205x3, 225x2, 245x2, 275x1, 295x1, 315x1, 335x1. I had to test this lift for the program, and I wanted a lot of bang for my buck. My form was actually pretty good.

My favorite spotter was there doing his bench press workout. He asked me to spot and I asked to jump in. Did 225 for a 2RM, then 225 for a single. I loaded up 240 and lowered it inadvertently to a spot lower than normal but my elbows might have been tucked a little more because it launched faster and I just flared the elbows a bit towards the top for a strong lockout. We then finished with a 135 lbs rep out. He got 15 reps; I got 15 and was going for 16 but the burn was too much and I only got it halfway up. It was a fun workout, makes me wish for a partner sometimes.

Wk1: ME Bench

Nautilus Vertical Bench (set deep on #4): 45x6, 60x5, 75x4, 90x3, 105x3, 120x3, 135x3, 150x3, 160x6, 190x1 (Grind), 170x6, 200x0 (Barely moved an inch, then I strained for dear life hoping it would move some more), 115x15 (Rest paused twice). Yesterday's impromptu workout probably took a chunk out of me, but I managed all but the 200 I really wanted. I'll incorporate some of yesterday's in my regular plans and leave lunchtime for fat loss stuff. I noticed that this machine has a 245 lbs stack plus 10 lbs extra in 5 lbs increments. Hmmmmmmmmmm . . . . . . .

3-Way Shoulder Raises: 4lbs for 20 reps, 5 lbs for 20 reps, 6 lbs for 20 reps. This gave my shoulders a wicked burn, but I feel like such a wuss. But this lets me know my shoulders themselves need to be brought up from my triceps' shadow.

Hoist Wide Pullups (BWT 244.5): 84.5x3, 94.5x3, 104.5x3, 114.5x3, 94.5x3x5. Yeah, yesterday's back work made this tough, too.

Seated External Rotations: 5x8, 8x8, 10x8, 12x8, 15x8, 20x8.

Standing Reverse Curls: 20x10, 30x10, 40x10.

Rage for The Machines

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/rage.htm

Had to be thrown in for good measure, especially with the debates on my blog pro and con. In short, the right machine can be a great tool in our quest to get bigger and stronger and faster - - - as long as it doesn't become the toolbox. That, and some people just want only better health and no hassle - - - yes, not everyone wants a huge squat/DL/bench/total or legs to fill out those retarded ultra baggy pants! Thus the popularity of places like Curves, and all your chrome palaces that pass for gyms. My question to everyone is: which machines do you find of great value to your training goals, and which are some of the worst you have ever used? Keep in mind what Jim Wendler says in this article, there are some machines that are really benches (Like GHRs). No one will think of you any less for admitting that they use them, especially me (I use some for assistance work and some occasional gonzo workouts).

Also, what would the male version of Curves be called?

Oh yeah, and I'm one of the guys that wants the huge squat/DL/bench/total!!!

Mecca!!!

A disclaimer: today was intended to be a rest day. And it still was . . . . sort of.

I went to check out the gym at the new base where I work, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA. While I love the gym over at Bangor, I have to car pool it over to home, then jump in my car, drive there, then I have to work out with no fooling around. So I'm considering options for some days. It's a 5 minute walk from my office each way, all upstairs coming back, which left me winded. Not as hardcore as Bangor's: not enough squat or bench press racks. Not as many machines, but that's fine. It's smaller. But it had something Bangor does not: a shitload of Hammer Strength machines, including the MTS line (selectorized iso-lateral machines). All back and chest angles covered - - - Oh boy!!!

I did the following circuit for three trips, worked up to 10 reps each. I left the gym with a crazy pump, my back especially.

Hammer MTS Front Pulldown: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10
Hammer MTS High Row: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10
Hammer MTS Bench Press: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10
Hammer MTS Row: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10
Hammer MTS Incline Bench: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10

Wk1: ME Squat/DL

Two days ago, I was emailing John McDonald and I said two things that made me think real hard about the ME movement to kick off this cycle. One, that I should just squat to get my confidence back and because I've been doing boxes too much over a long stretch of time. The other thing I said was that one should work what they are not good at in order to get better.

Squats: 105x6, 125x5, 145x4, 165x3, 185x3, 205x3, 225x3, 245x3 (3RM). I was gonna wave train this but thought it best to just do a 3RM (per the Manual) to regain my skill and build myself back up. Good call. On the 245, that just about killed me - - - I was seeing stars on the last rep, I thought of that chick trying to crawl out of well in THE RING!!!! Today, I feel beat up. This will pay off, I know, just may want to do things to increase my GPP and aerobic capacity. After a long while without squatting or deadlifting, I knew I was gonna be sucking wind.

Bulgarian Split Squats: 3 sets of 8. I did these only with bodyweight because I've never done them and my balance was an issue. Tough enough for a newbie, even tougher after squats.

Arched Back Good Morning: 3 sets of 10 at 115, 125, and 135. Squats took it out of my lower back, too, but these weren't too bad because I was not holding the bar in my hand.

Trap Bar Shrugs: 94x10, 114x10, 124x10, 144x7.

Hoist Calf Press: 35x10, 45x10, 55x10, 65x8.

Lying Leg Thrusts: 3 sets of 8.

Barbell 21s: 3 sets at 40 lbs. Didn't get much out of the hammer curls on Monday, decided to do barbell movements for biceps from now on for this cycle.

Structural Balance for 280

Last bench cycle, this was what I used as a guide for my bench. It's written in Excel, I just plug in a value for the Flat Bench Press. The addition of the Nautilus Bench (3 is the seat height S and 4 is the setting to push the back rest forward D for more depth) and Incline Bench is because those two movements I currently finding the most challenging in the bottom position, my weakness right now. As you can see, the supinated chinups need a lot of work as do the preacher curls - - - I also say that because the chin is tough to increase. My mindset is that my back work would finally break the 200 lbs barrier only when my bicep strength greatly increases, like my bench barriers broke with the addition of heavy triceps movements. My off the chest movements require work, no doubt, but not as much as one would think. That's only because I use my lats and upper back to help launch the weight from the bottom, as well as speed work. Once I get that weight 3 inches off my chest, my 2 board strength takes over. At some point, I will do behind the neck press just to stay in line but getting a 26 pound gain in that lift in 15 weeks won't be a problem. The goals for external rotations won't be a problem either, but I'm not stopping there. I might gun for the same goal in YTWLs, just because they made me eat humble pie. Close Grips are doable but I may have to do forearm work so that I can hold that much with a close grip. I think all the deadlifting will help there.

Wk1: DE Bench

Flat Bench Press w/3 different grips: 55x3, 75x3, 95x3, 115x3, 145x3x8. Used pinkies on first ring for first set, then second ring on second set, then a little wider than that, etc. Speed was good but since I haven't benched much in two weeks (Time off is great, even if filled with stress), my stability didn't kick in until the 4th set.

2-Board Press: 165x3, 185x3, 215x3, 225x3. That last set was almost an ego booster if it wasn't so hard. If I'm not going to do direct tricep work, this will do. At some point, I want to handle big weight and this will be the way.

Hoist Neutral Grip Chinups (BWT 241 lbs): 131x3x10. I was going to do this for biceps, the 10x3, since on the structured balance list they are the most glaring weakness. But I figured that I should hammer the shit out of my back this way, then see where biceps are at the end.

YTWLs: 3 sets of 5 with 5 lbs. A Mark Verstegen favorite, and you can see it on a recent article by Alwyn Cosgrove for T-nation. These are humbling, to say the least. Very different stuff for RC work.

Reverse Incline Hammer Curls: 25x8x3.

Mission Complete!!!

Slept through Friday and enjoyed the day off. Had Navy drill this weekend. At 3 PM, I wrapped up my work and went to PT.

I want to start the EFS beginners program this week. Maybe, I was tired of putting so much on the bench and want the squat and deadlift numbers I know I was meant for. I also wanted a change. I also thought of the goals I reached: 200+ band bench, 200+ incline, 220 close grip, and 20x8 for external rotations. Yeah, my last bench session pounded me to a pulp but with a week's rest, it had to be worth something. Right?

I walked over to the bench, loaded up 240 on the bar (I'm sure Dave Tate and Jim Wendler would have a heart attack at any suggestion of the use of 5s and 2.5 lbs disks!!!). At first, my goal was just to get a feel for it, how close to it I can get. Cold.

I took a 26" wide grip (pinkies on the second ring). The spotter gave me a lift off, and I told him to not touch the bar unless I told him to. And that's when I went from a testing mindset to one where I was going to get it. It felt as light as that 225 lift a week or so ago. Felt that way going down, too. The weight was just one steady push to the top. Goal reached.

I have not decided on goals for the 12 week program yet. Might be more fun to try to hit PRs each week a la Westside and see where that goes. But since the whole structural balance thing worked well for me for this cycle, I will probably start looking at what it will take to hit a 280 bench at the end of this cycle. That, and I will start looking for a meet at the end of it.

Wipeout

It just had to happen. Last workout, I turned the intensity up on my triceps work on heavy day plus the 10x3 on back. On paper, I should have known: the inclines had 8 reps over 90% 1RM including one at 100% and one over 100%, and so was dips. Then 25 reps over 90% for DB push press . . .

The results? I will be OK tomorrow, which will be Wednesday's leg day that I didn't do. But I was so overtrained that I haven't slept well in three days. My back recovered the fastest, so the 10x3 is fine. I think all the box lifting and carting stuff back and forth for my job move has kept my shoulders limber so I'll be ready for Monday's DE bench session. But my CNS was crispy fried, and the added stress from my job relocation only added to it. A lot of naps have helped, and I might just get some sleep tonight. Stupid, eh? I want the 240 bad, but not this bad!!!

On a related side note, I received Elite FTS Beginners Training Manual in the mail yesterday and have to say it is a lot more logical and effective layout than Dave's 9 week plan of old. You can definitely see Jim Wendler's touch on some of it. There is no Good Mornings as a max effort movement, and some of the heavy triceps accessory movements are now 4 to 5 board presses. I might use some of this for my current 3 weeks, especially the 3 way shoulder raises instead of push presses, and one of the arrangements for legs. For now, I'll keep the dips and close grips for triceps but use the wave I had before (only one rep above 90%, total). I'll keep the 10x3 for back. I can't wait to start it!!!