Today's menu featured lots of bench press supersetted with upper back work. I mentioned before at this stage of my training cycle supersetting the upper back in allows me to hit it with extra volume and it does not take away from my chest workout. This was all based on 5's Progressive and BBB sets for all my bench press sets. Calculated weights felt just right for the sets of 5 and was feeling a small burn by the end of the lighter sets of 10 reps. First up was bench press 4 sets of 5 reps with my feet up. Paused all my reps at the chest and drilled the bar up (CAT style). Took about 15 secs of rest and then cranked out 10 wide grip pullups after each set. Next was a big weight reduction on the bar for my 5 sets of 10 reps (BBB). Setup another bar so I could do bent over rows as a superset. Same thing bench press with feet up and really focused on driving the bar upwards as hard as possible. After each set took about a 5 sec break and cranked out 10 reps with bent over rows. Did one final set of flat bench DB neutral grip presses. The neutral grip is harder to do and also allows you a deeper range of motion. I like these for the chest and triceps. Three sets of these was my finisher. A few weeks prior to my meet most of my accessory work was cut out and a week deload prior to the meet plus the extra rest days after the meet, all means my body needs to readjust to this training load. As I roll along in the next 6 weeks, weights will be going up as my body adjusts to having it's ass kicked. Todays workout Bench Press feet up supersetted with Wide Grip Pullups 185 x 5, 205 x 5, 235 x 5, 265 x 5 BW x 10 4 sets Bench Press feet up CAT supersetted with BB bent over rows 155 x 10 5 sets 135 x 10 5 sets Lying DB Presses Neutral Grip 75 x 10, 90 x 10, 90 x 10
Let me elaborate on what I based this training cycle on. I took one of the programs from Jim Wendlers book 5/3/1 Forever titled 5's Pro Forever. For people that have read the short articles on the basic 5/3/1 program and think not enough volume not enough intensity not enough blah blah blah, they should really read some of his more recent material. He has expanded vastly on the original 5/3/1 program. K off my soap box, the reason I picked this program. It provides variety for each lift, allows each lift to be trained with different amounts of volume and PR (personal records) sets are only done when you want. Your TM (training max) can be varied for each lift if you want. Each main lift will start with the 5's progression which I detailed in my last blog. The supplemental volume can be taken from many of his other programs like BBB (boring but big), BBS (boring but strong), FSL (first set last), SSL (second set last) and widowmaker. For the next 6 weeks I'm doing the following: Shoulders 5's Pro and BBB Squat 5's Pro and BBB Bench 5's Pro and BBB Deadlift just BBB Once the 6 weeks is done I will do something he calls the 7th week protocol. This can be a deload, test your training max or hit a rep PR. For all my lifts I will be doing a rep PR and NOT 1 rep max attempts. Onto today's training which got modified right from the start. I planned for high bar squats but after warming up, high bar squats just really felt like complete SHIT. So I went back to low bar squats but I went with pin low bar squats. Set the pin so I was below parallel and started lifting. The programmed numbers felt just right for this one for the 5's Pro. Next up was low bar squat without the pins for the BBB. Kept the rest period down on this one so my heart rate was slightly elevated by the end of the 5 sets :). Next was front squats but I did them on a smith machine to reduce the stress on my lower back. This one kicked my ass but I powered thru. Last item on the menu was RDL but higher reps and less weight then normal. I'm fully expecting this one to create leg DOMS :). Today's workout Pin Low Bar Squat 5's Pro 245 x 5, 275 x 5, 315 x 5 Low Bar Squat BBB 185 x 10 5 sets Smith Machine Front Squats 135 x 10, 185 x 10 3 sets RDL 185 x 15 4 sets
Here we go starting into the next evolution of my training cycle. This particular training cycle on paper is going for 6 weeks and will focus on hypertrophy, cardio and core work. Yes you read that right cardio, you might think WTF why cardio. Cardio is essential in any lifting program but it must be customized to what type of training you are doing. For me this training cycle I will be doing either air dyne interval training for 12 mins or 20 mins of interval training on the treadmill, 3 to 4 times a week. This amount of cardio will not effect my weight training and it actually helps me recover better when lifting heavier weights and overall I just feel better. In order to try and improve my bench press I will need to hammer my shoulders/pecs/triceps and force them to grow a little. But I also want to take the stress of my lower back so standing military presses are off the menu for now. Instead I will replace them with seated DB presses and may add in seated military press in another week. Next week I'm also going to superset in a back exercise while I'm doing the main shoulder exercise. This will get more volume work on my upper back without adding much more time to my workout and it does not take away from working my shoulders. This exercise will be some variation of a pull up. This day also is my secondary workout for the bench press so I included the close grip bench press with feet up. The final exercise will be another upper back exercise and then cardio to finish it out. For this plan I'm still basing most of the workout on principles from Jim Wendler. This workout will start with 5's progressive and then BBB sets (boring but big). The 5's progressive will still target the lower rep range with fairly heavy weights. The BBB work will focus on hypertrophy work by increasing the reps and sets. I'm also decreasing my training max from 90% to 85%. First lets explain how 5's progressive is structured. Each week increases the intensity for 3 weeks with no AMRAP sets. I will then increase the weights for my main lifts in normal 5/3/1 fashion and start over for another 3 weeks. 5's Progressive Week 1 65% x 5 Week 2 70% x 5 Week 3 75% x 5 75% x 5 80% x 5 85% x 5 85% x 5 90% x 5 95% x 5 Next is the BBB sets. It's very basic take a certain amount of weight and work it for 5 sets of 10 reps. Think this is easy think again, if the weights are calculated properly muscle soreness will be your new friend. To make this more brutal you can also decrease your rest intervals. Each week I'm going to increase the percentage by 5. Week 1 5 x 10 50% Week 2 5 x 10 55% Week 3 5 x 10 60% Week 4 5 x 10 65% Week 5 5 x 10 70% Week 6 5 x 10 75%
Here is my workout from today.
Seated DB Press 5'S 60 x 5, 70 x 5, 80 x 5 Seated DB Press BBB 50 x 10 for 5 sets. Only took 30 to 45 secs rest between sets. I also supersetted in rubber band side and rear laterals until I snapped the band. Close Grip Bench Press feet up 215 x 5 3 sets One Arm DB Rows 75 x 10 5 sets Air Dyne 12 mins 20 secs on 10 secs off
Overall I was very happy with my performance at this meet with 8 out of 9 good attempts . I had one other person in my weight category but for me it's not about competing against the other guys. It's about achieving the goals I set for myself, essentially me against the weights. Today was my first day back in the gym but I just did a arm workout and interval training on the treadmill. Overall my body feels real good and no injuries or aches left over from the contest. My goals for this meet was too exceed my previous deadlift record of 240kg and take a shot at the total record. I managed to increase the deadlift record but the total record was gone after I failed my third squat attempt. Warm ups for my squats did not feel good and the weights felt heavy so I dropped my opener. My lower back on the right side was tight which pissed me off because it had been gtg in all my training leading up to this point. With this on my mind all my squat attempts were just parallel nothing deeper. I got called on depth for my third attempt which after looking at the video was a bullshit call but hey judges rule. With this lift I think I could have done better. Next up was the bench press and honestly I had no idea how this was going to go. I opened at about 330 lbs and finished at around 365 lbs on my third attempt or 165kg. I was very happy to hit this number but on this day that would have been my max, maybe 2.5kg more but that's it. Last lift is the deadlift and this one is always my best lift these days. It's very basic pick heavy shit off the floor and place it down. Warm ups went awesome and all my warm up reps flew off the floor. I knew at this point I was going to crack my record. My second attempt was actually funny, they had a mix up in the lifting order. So the guy goes out and the head judge says are you Steven Reade nope, go back Steven is up so I literally walked out with no mental prep and lifted the weight at 245 kg. The weight did feel heavy so I was conservative on my third attempt and went with 250 kg. Because I had time to mentally prepare for my final lift it actually felt way easier then my second attempt...again I could have gone heavier and believe I could have made 575 lbs on this day. Overall I officially increased my overall total by 10 kg, compared to my total at Provincials in June which I'm very happy with. The road ahead and what goals will I set for myself. At this point my next competition is in March 2019 at the Canadian Nationals. This gives me a few months to prepare which is awesome. Goals Squat at least 450 lbs My worst enemy break the 400 lbs barrier for the bench press... Take a stab at the current national deadlift record which is 605 lbs Those are my goals and the training kicks off starting this Saturday towards them. Like normal prior to this competition I was already reading a ton and thinking about how I was going to structure my training after this competition. I was actually writing out my workout plans on the plane ride there and coming back. Again I learned a few things this training block that I will address this time around. First thing is squat slightly deeper. It's a fine line because going past parallel can decrease the amount of weight you can lift, but if you have judges at a meet that are squat nazi's you can suffer. So like the bench press train for a long pause and the squat go deeper in training. Because most of the time I do not have a training partner, I will address the squat depth issue by doing pin squats. Basically find a squat rack and set the safety bar at a height that forces me just past parallel. This will force me to squat lower and get a feel for it. Muscle memory so it will become natural how it feels to achieve this position. Believe in what the 1RM estimator is telling me. My 1 repetition max is calculated by a formula based off what I enter into the RTS software and is very similar to what 5/3/1 tells me. I'm not big on hitting super heavy weights in my pre meet training or training to a 1 rep max failure. For example the software was telling me my 1RM for the squat was 440 lbs, bench 365 lbs and deadlift 575 lbs prior to this contest. I could have hit that squat and deadlift number at the meet...I just need to force myself to grow a set of nuts and just do it, leave it all on the platform no regrets. Isometric holds and heavy static holds in my bench press training work. I did keep telling myself before and during the lift light weight, light weight. But the weight did feel better and move better compared to my last meet. This could also be a result of way less manual labour leading up to this contest compared to last time. This type of training can only be applied at certain times and for brief periods. The way I trained leading up to this competition for a peak was very similar to how I did it last time and it's working for me. I want to feel fresh going into a competition NOT beat to hell. Wave loading my deadlift workouts work for me. Looking back in the software I can see my heaviest deadlift workout for volume and PR was Aug 4 over a month away from the actual contest. My last heavy pull was Aug 25 with over a 2000 lbs volume cut. This tells me I can peak for my deadlift a month out from the contest. The plan for the next 6 weeks is to focus on hypertrophy mainly and give my lower back a break from heavy weights. The squat will be changed to a high bar squat which will shift the emphasis on the quads more and less stress on the lower back. My second squat day will be the normal low bar squat but a pin squat which is less weight. The reps will go upwards along with volume. The bench press will be feet up and slightly wider grip on my primary day, again to take strain off my lower back and force my upper body to press the weight. My secondary day will be close grip with feet up again. The reps and volume will also go up for this one. Deadlift at this time I'm going to stick with the classic 5/3/1 formula but will switch to a hex bar. Again less stress on the lower back and may pull these from a 1 inch deficit. I'll save all the details for future blogs as I go thru the workouts next week. I'm expecting a boat load of DOMS from the high volume high rep training can hardly wait.
Made it thru my last week of heavy training with no issues and overall feeling gtg :). Just were I want my body feeling at this point. Stuck to most of what I wrote about in my last blog. Axed the shoulder day which is day 1 completely so my first day of training was my day 2 which is squats. Squats I wanted to work up to a heavy set doing sets of 1 rep. The last 3 weeks of squat training have been simple; sets of 3, sets of 2 and this week sets of 1 all with back down sets afterward. I managed 425 lbs 9.5 RPE with my final squat which I was very happy with. This should allow me to exceed my squat PR from the last competition. I then felt good enough to crank out 7 sets of back down sets at a lighter weight 315 x 3 and one final set of breathing squats 225 x 20. Just one big squat session with nothing else. My bench press training is currently cursed, two weeks in a row late nights because of work have fucked my training session. Again I arrived at the gym tired for this one and my plan changed as the workout progressed. Call it instinctive training.. What my goal for this workout was and what my body was telling me where two different things. I had no spotters but I decided to work the 1 rep range just like my leg day and feel my way past 315. Took both 325 and 335 for a ride and it felt gtg. That was my limit for this day so I have my opener figured out but everything afterward will be dependant on how each lift goes. Did some back down sets in the 3 rep range followed by a isometric hold and two sets of AMRAP pushups. Bench is getting a major overhaul after this competition. Bench press just feels like lead in my hands, nothing about it feels light anymore.... My last day of training was sumo deadlift but light focusing on technique, which I finally feel is dialed in. After all my warm up sets I pulled 365 and 405 for a rep each pausing it. This training cycle my heaviest deadlift has been 495 lbs but I'm confident I can exceed my deadlift PR in this competition. After deadlifts were done I setup the bar for rack pulls just to test my grip strength with weights I can hopefully try at the competition. No issues with holding onto the bar...those weights are classified :). Finished the workout with a few sets of pin squats set right at parallel. Nothing real heavy just a little extra work on the legs. Yesterday was a recovery workout which consisted of 20 mins on the treadmill doing intervals 2 mins on jogging 1 min fast walking. A circuit of front plank, side plank both sides, ab roller, dead hangs, kettle bell swings and hyperextensions for 3 rounds and then pushed the tank for 10 rounds. Worked up a good sweat but did not tax my body... Today was a light bicep/tricep workout and lots of lifting Allan block at home, which amounts to an overall body workout when the blocks weight 75 lbs a piece. The rest of this week will just be light maintenance workouts, nothing crazy for weights and cruise control until the start of the competition this coming Sunday morning. Train to achieve your goals gym rats.
Active recovery is something most people neglect but should be paying attention to. Jim Wendler writes briefly on the subject but I think active recovery is customized to each individual and what they find works thru trial and error. For me it all depends on what type of workout I just finished. With deadlift workouts I like to do some active recovery right after I'm done the workout. This is normally a round robin of hyper extensions, dead hangs from the bar and kettle bell swings. All done at a warm down pace, light weights and not to failure. Essentially working the major muscles you just annihilated and helping to decompress the spine after stressing it just slightly :). Static stretching of the muscles can also be a good idea but it all comes down to how much time you have to dedicate to this portion of your workout. Walks are also another good way to help your body recover but you may find you need to add in stations as you walk like stopping and doing a set of push ups, walking lunges, short distance jogs. Something that breaks the repetitive pattern of just walking and targets muscle groups you want to aid recovery with. Blow by blow of how each day of training went this week. Day 1 shoulders had my only accessory work of the week, which was upper back. Stuck with sets of 3 reps as I hit the heavier sets and worked up to a 9RPE weight, which was 10 lbs lighter than last week. Day 2 was squats working the 2 rep range as I got into my heavier weights. Managed a 405 x 2 at 9RPE, which is my best squat ever in training. Did 5 sets of back off sets or first set last whatever you want to call them. Basically called a weight for myself I felt at the time I could manage 5 sets of 3 reps with, ended up being 335. It was rough on my lower back but I pulled thru. Nothing else for day 2 just lots of squats. Day 3 Leading up to day 3 I was out of town with work so it was a rough two nights of little sleep and lots of stress. I was a walking zombie going into the gym and trying to pull out a heavy ass bench session on Friday. That went over like a lead balloon. Worked up to 315 for 3 at 9RPE and the plan was sets of 305 for 3 reps after that but my strength went south fast. Did some lighter pin presses and then instead of a static hold at the end, I did two sets of isometric holds at mid height. Basically push the barbell against the safety bars as hard as possible for 8 seconds. Day 4 was back to sumo deadlifts which felt good but my lower back was giving me some grieve. Took video of all my max attempts as I was playing around with my setup once again. Worked up to 495 which moved really well of the floor. My lower back and left hip flexor where complaining so I called it and did some active recovery like hyper extensions and dead hangs. No more heavy attempts now for this lift, the next ones will be saved for competition day. Just some light work next week. This week coming is my last week of serious training and will contain zero accessory work. I'm even going to drop the shoulder day and just do 3 training days. Squats I'm going to feel my way thru that workout. After my heavy volume session this week I'll probably do no back down sets just a standard 5/3/1 with maybe a few extra sets of 1 rep. Bench will be no max attempts but will move ahead with heavy sets of 3 with hopefully 305 or 315 on the bar for all sets. Deadlift will be light and just working on setup with a pause of the floor.
I dropped subtle hints to my awesome wife about a book I wanted and surprise surprise on my birthday what did I get. I've read most of the book a few times since then so I'll kick this one of with a quick book review. This book is written by guess who....Jim Wendler of course and is titled 5/3/1/ Forever. Much to my dismay this will never come out in kindle format, paper version only. His latest book and packed with 269 pages of information so this booked is jammed with many different training plans. I would highly suggest if interested in getting this book also purchase one of his earlier books like Beyond 5/3/1. These two books make an ideal combination and give you all the information you need to create programs for yourself. The book itself has lots of information but finding it is a pain in the ass. The contents list part 1 - beginning part 2 - training/programming part 3 - conditioning/recovery and that is it. Its not broken down into any further details so if you find a training program you like or something else you best mark the page. Not sure why he did it this way but a mistake in my view. Overall written in plain no holds barred Jim style, which keeps it simple to understand. All the programs have been used and refined by his clients so they work. I have my eyes on a program called 5's Pro Forever, which I'll start into after my next competition in September and blog in more detail later how this one works. As with all his programs nothing fancy and complicated to figure out. Alright now into week 6 of training. Highlights for me was squat 365 x 3 RPE9, bench 315 x 3 RPE9 and sumo deadlift 455 x 1. Was happy with all my training that week and kept all of my assistance work up. The deadlift I'm basically loading in a wave pattern so this week I even debated not deadlifting at all. In the end I work up to one heavy set for a rep and called it. My hip flexors and a few other parts are starting to take a shit kicking from lifting all this heavy stuff go figure. But my lower back is holding up so all is good :). Onto week 7 I took a slightly different approach to my training this week. I eliminated my bench press on Day 1 and just kept it to shoulders and back work. Instead of going with a programmed amount of weight for my top set, I worked my way up to a top set of 3 reps that was at 8 or 9RPE for military press, bench press and squat. I was happy with my military press hit, 165 for 3 reps and 375 for 3 reps in the squat. Bench went slightly backwards from last week but I was pausing all my reps this week which makes a huge difference. Deadlift should have been on the wave up but again my hip flexors etc are feeling beat up still so I did some heavy work with regular stance deadlifts and they actually felt pretty damn good. My top set was 455 x 3 8RPE. Was going to load 495 on the bar but got side tracked with explaining powerlifting to somebody and 15 mins later....I decided to move onto my next exercise which was pin squats. These actually went fantastic. Set the spotting rack so I would hit parallel and worked up to a top set of 365 x 3 RPE8. I keep it simple and if you want to learn a simple 5 step process for deadlift setup have a look at these two videos, they are pure gold. My bench press workout this week which is very different from all my other lifting this week and something I do NOT do on a regular basis. I can only handle this type of volume/intensity for short durations of 3 weeks max and 1 workout per week. Bench Press all paused reps CAT style 225 x 5, 275 x 3, 295 x 3 5 sets total with same weight and reps Pin Press Bench Press middle position 315 x 1, 335 x 1, 365 x 1 Bench Press static hold top position 405 1 set 10 sec hold. Train smart gym rats
