So f*ck submarines. Lifting heavy/Gaining Mass/Strength

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You'd benefit from some real box squats, DBS. It's probably too late to incorporate them into your training and see the benefits for this meet, but they'd help your squat depth.

I wouldn't be too bummed about it. Squat as deep as you can without compromising your form at your meet, and let the judges figure it out. You might want to have a "plan b" stance (like a wider stance) that you think will help you reach depth if you get red-lighted, but otherwise, go there to squat a big number and let the judges do their job.
 
Ok will do. Squatting again today and I'm going to focus on getting deep as I can during warmups and hopefully carry that over to my top sets. 425 for 10 sets of 3, going to be rough, but I gotta do it.

Thanks again for the help.
 
Fuck my life

I hope squats go better for you tonight then they went for me, I almost failed my last rep on my last 3 sets, 365 felt like 500 pounds, this is a week after I did 390x3, fuuuuuuuck

Good luck tonight man
 
Hehe, well it was a good thought

Basically worked up to 425, got 4 sets of 3, did one rep next set and put it down.

I was incredibly sore, never felt warmed up, and I was on the ground in pain during set. I'm surprised I even tried one rep at 425 after my last warmup (365) felt like the world was on my shoulders. Elbows, shoulders, and knees were all super sore.

Unfortunately smolov kicked my ass. Too much too fast. I'm going to rest up and do a few light pressing and deadlift workouts this week and start something new next week. If I ever attempt smolov again:

1) Using 90% of my max instead of my no shit 1RM
2) Not doing squat/bench on sam days
3) Taking a day of rest in between EVERY work out, no matter what

Sorry jester I tried but it was just too much to recover from. I feel kind of dumb, very arrogant, because the very first workout was too hard for what it was and that should have clued me in.

On the one plus side, I was getting deep (About 1" deeper) on all sets.
 
Random day today. Pressed 185 x 1, 155 x 3, pulled 495 x 2, did some DB snatches. Day 2 of no carbs as part of the 10 day intro phase for carb backloading. Feeling low on energy.
 
Another random day, but a little more structured. Did some light bench, some close-grip bench volume, pullups, seated rows, face pulls, triceps, and biceps. Day 4 of no carbs, feeling a little better but drained after workouts.

Pretty sure I'm going to do some westside style training up until the competition and, depending on how I do on it, either continue with westside after or do the sheiko 13 week raw program. Kind of excited to be on a structured program again. Think I'm close to being recovered from that week of stupidity lol.
 
Front squats - Worked up to 315 x 5 +1 Rep PR
Shrugs, core, and some HIIT on the bike getting ready for PRT

Day 6 of no carbs, strength isn't too bad but energy is still a little low. I'm fine during the workout but pretty exhausted afterwards. I'm gonna cut the prep phase at 7 days tomorrow and start my carb backload Monday evening after DE bench. I've done a few HIIT sessions and worked out 3 times since Monday so should be carb depleted by now.
 
Monday - 4/2/12 - DE Bench Press

DE Bench Press
Bar x 5
Bar+mini x 5
95+mini x 5
135+mini x 3
145+mini x 8 sets of 3 (Cycling through close, medium, and normal grip)

Reverse Band Floor Press (Mini monsters)
225 x 5
245 x 3
265 x 3
275 x 3
285 x 2 + Fail (Triceps already getting toasty)
275 x 3

DB Rows
75 x 15
100 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 10
115 x 12

DB Incline Press
60s x 10
65s x 10
65s x 8 (Triceps were done)

Superset with:

Band Pull Aparts
20
20
20

So today was the first day of westside and I'm pretty happy with how it went. Benching with bands was a little different but I liked how it felt. The only issue was speed started to slow down a bit so I'm thinking next week of doing some sets with the bands and some without, or maybe just going up slightly in weight but not using band tension, or maybe just do the same damn thing over again and hopefully be faster. Something to play with.

Everything else felt solid. Triceps and back are pretty toasty. We are probably going to Stan Efferding's gym "Flex Fitness" tomorrow for ME low box squat so I am pretty fucking excited about that. First time squatting in a monolift, going to be interesting.

On the diet front I ended my 8 day low carb phase today. My weight dropped 9 pounds and I lost 1.5" off my waist. I'm carb backloading like a mother fucker right now so hopefully energy will be sky high tomorrow.
 
Tuesday - 4/3/12 - ME Lower

Low Bow Squat (~2" below parallel)
Bar x 8
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 2
365 x 1
405 x 1
425 x 1
425 x 1

Romanian Deadlifts
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 8
275 x 8
275 x 8
275 x 8

Back Extensions
20
20

Not really happy with this workout in terms of focus and effort. Worked out with a group of 4 people and the pace was slow and the intensity wasn't there. I didn't feel focused enough for my sets and my form suffered. The box was also really low and took some getting used to. Going to do some conditioning and core work tomorrow since I didn't get any done today.
 
Good luck with Westside! It's strangely unpopular here, when you consider the results it gets and some of the forum members who use the general approach. I bet you will get great results.
 
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Westside? You.meant backside right?
 
Thanks guys. I'm optimistic about it.

Wednesday - 4/4/12 - GPP/Core

Makeshift Prowler Pushes
135 x 75 ft then sprint 75 ft back
7 sets

Core Superset
Decline Situps: BW+10 (Behind neck) x 10
Russian Twists: 25 x 10/side
4 sets

Bosu Ball Pushup Plank
BW+135 x 40 sec
BW+90 x 50 sec

Did a little extra workout today just to raise the work capacity and also because I didn't get to do nearly the amount of assistance I wanted to yesterday. This is the first day of any real conditioning I've done in a long time, the prowler pushes killed me. My legs felt like jello afterwards and trying to sprint back must have been a funny sight.

On the diet front I gained back 2 pounds after 2 days off carb backloading which is way less than I expected. I'm still down a net 7 pounds and 2" from my waist in a week and a half so can't complain. Strength and energy through workouts feels solid still. Tomorrow is ME close grip bench and I hope to hit at least 260.
 
Thursday - 4/5/12 - ME Bench Press

Close-grip Bench Press
Bar x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
245 x 1
255 x 1
260 x 1 +5 PR
265 x Fail (Stuck about halfway up for a good second)
205 x 10 (Backoff set)

DB Tate Press
30s x 15
50s x 15
50s x 15
55s x 14

Band-assisted Pullups
8 (Normal)
10 (Chinups)
6 (Wide)
7 (Chinups)

Face Pulls
12
12
15
15

Neutral grip Curls
75 x 10
75 x 10
75 x 8
75 x 7

Pretty good workout today. I felt a little beat up going in because this is my 4th day in a row in the gym but had a pretty good performance. Hit a little 5 lb PR on close-grip bench. I think I would have had 265 on a better day but my lats were super sore and it was hard to get tight on the setup. All the assistance work felt good.

On a side note, there was a lot of tension in this new workout group that kind of bogged me down and made it hard to stay focused. Basically one guy doesn't like the other guy but the other guy keeps showing up to work out and we all kind of just dealt with it. I think we're going to start going to a different gym just to avoid the other guy as well as the fact that this gym we're in now is just packed. It should be nice, plus the new gym is much closer to where I live.

Diet is still pretty good. I had a mini-backload yesterday because I didn't get enough food in Tuesday and felt a little watery waking up but that quickly went away.
 
Saturday - 4/7/12 - DE Squat

DE Box Squat (Parallel, maybe 1" below)
Bar x 8
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
245 x 2 x 10 sets
245+MM bands x 2 x 3 sets

DE Deadlift
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3

Good Mornings
95 x 5
135 x 8
185 x 8
205 x 8
225 x 8

Core Superset
Ab Wheel: BW x 15
DB Side Bends: 60 x 10/side
2 sets

Great workout today. The dynamic box squats felt good and quick, and form was tight throughout. The mini-monster bands didn't add too much but it was noticable and bar speed stayed pretty constant so that's good. Might try doing the last couple sets with light bands next week. Speed pulls were quick and easy, good mornings felt good. No belt today on anything, core feels strong.
 
Nice looking workout Spikes :D
 
Thanks jester. I'm digging westside so far. It only took about an hour and a half, we were pushing a pretty decent pace. Technique on everything felt good also.
 
Thanks jester. I'm digging westside so far. It only took about an hour and a half, we were pushing a pretty decent pace. Technique on everything felt good also.

Yeah it's a good looking workout.

I can't wait for my change of pace
 
Monday - 4/9/12 - DE Bench Press

DE Bench Press
Bar x 10
95 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 8 sets of 3 (Cycling through close, medium, and normal grip)
165+mini x 3 sets of 3

Reverse Band Floor Press (Mini monsters)
225 x 5 (Pause at bottom)
265 x 3
275 x 3
285 x 3
285 x 3
285 x 3
275 x 5 (Touch and go)

DB Rows
75 x 10
100 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 13

DB Bench Press
60s x 15
70s x 15
75s x 10
70s x 8

Superset with:

Band Pull Aparts
15
15
15
15

Another great workout today. Did the majority of pressing without the bands and added them in the last 3 sets. Bench felt very quick, and moved a bit heavier weight today (60% vice 55%). All the assistance was done with a little more intensity and we got a lot of work done at a pretty decent pace. I'm super excited for max deadlift tomorrow. I'm hoping to at least equal 515, if not get at least 525 with better form.

The only thing that''s bugging me is doing the DB rows the day before deadlifting. Hopefully it won't bite me in the ass tomorrow.
 
Tuesday - 4/10/12 - ME Deadlift

Deadlift
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 2
365 x 2
405 x 2
455 x 1
510 x 1
520 x Fail

Front Squat
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
255 x 5
255 x 5
255 x 5
255 x 5
255 x 5

Core Superset
Back Extensions: BW x 15
Extreme Decline Situps: BW x 15
2 sets

Today wasn't that great. I've been a little sick and couldn't seem to shrug it off during the workout, mostly I was extremely congested. Lower back was exhausted as well, warmups just didn't feel very good. I'm not too disappointed though because I hit like a 98% single and I was conservative with 520. I could have probably locked it out but with some hitching so I decided to just let it go.

Front squats went really well; 255 was flying up easy. I'm going to do some more core work and conditioning tomorrow since I didn't get that much done today.
 
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