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

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Wednesday - 4/11/12 - GPP/Conditioning

Cable Pull-throughs
15
15
15
15

Floor GHRs
12
12
12
12

Bosu Ball Pushup Planks
BW+90 x 60 sec
BW+90 x 60 sec

Conditioning
Ghetto Prowler Push: 3 plates x 75 ft
Medicine Ball "Keg Toss": 4-5 throws (75 ft)
10 sets

Had another pretty good conditioning day yesterday. My GPP/conditioning feels like it's going up fast. I could barely get 6 trips with the ghetto prowler last week with much longer rests and this week we knocked out 10 trips in under 15 mins supersetted with the medicine ball overhead throws. I want my work capacity to be through the roof especially if I ever do sheiko so gonna keep this going.
 
Thursday - 4/12/12 - ME Bench Press

Incline Bench Press
Bar x 10
95 x 10
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 3
225 x 1
235 x 1 +10 PR
245 x F (Dropped too low)
235 x 1
245 x 1 +20 PR

Close-grip Bench Press
135 x 5
155 x 21

Strict Press
135 x 7
135 x 6
135 x 6
135 x 6

Band-assisted Pullups
9
8
8
8

Arms Superset
Tricep Pushdowns: 10
DB Curls: 40s x 10
4 sets

Lots of volume today. This was our first day using the incline as a ME press and it went pretty well overall. The incline at this gym is fixed and it's a little higher than I'm used to; I think it's a 45 angle instead of the 30 I usually use. Still hit a nice number and something to build off of. For some volume instead of doing backoff sets we moved to the close-grip and did an all out rep set at 155. I'm pretty happy with 21 and I probably could have kept going but the lockout was slowing down considerably. Did some OHP for shoulder work, some pullups, finished up with tricep/bicep work. Overall a great day.
 
Saturday - 4/14/12 - DE Squat

DE Box Squat (Parallel or slightly below)
Bar x 10
95 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
265 x 2 x 10 sets
265+light bands x 2 x 2 sets

Dimel Deadlifts
185 x 20
205 x 20
205 x 23

Back Extension Isometric Holds
+45 x 60 sec
+45 x 60 sec

Core Superset
Ab Wheel: 15, 15, 10
RML (Right, Middle, Left) Leg Raises: 8, 6, 5

Quick and pretty intense workout today. We started out slow doing an active warmup and waiting for a little guido to stop curling his 65 pounds in the squat rack but once we started the work sets it was full speed ahead for a good hour and a half. The DE squats felt quick until we added in the light bands; the first set with them was pretty slow but the second one was a lot quicker. We had the bands choked across 2 DBs (95 and a 100) so the tension at the top was pretty decent.

Did some dimel deadlifts also inspired by Keowasa and they were no joke. My glutes are actually sore which never happens, was gettinng a real explosive lockout. The back extension holds were also brutal. Basically we held a 45 across the chest and held the lockout of a back extension for 60 seconds. Lower back, hams, and glutes were all stressed to the max. Core work to finish.

Girlfriend's birthday was today so we went out and I definitely got a nice backload in. Carb backloading has been pretty good so far. Weight is staying the same but I am getting noticably leaner and waist is going down. I'd like to get it down to a consistent 35-36, it's about 37ish right now.
 
Monday - 4/16/12 - DE Bench Press

DE Bench Press
Bar x 10
95 x 10
135 x 5
135+minis x 3
165+minis x 3 x 8 sets

Reverse Band Floor Press (Mini monsters)
225 x 5
275 x 3
285 x 3
295 x 3 +10 PR
295 x 3
295 x 3
275 x 8 (TnG)

DB Rows
100 x 10
110 x 10
120 x 10
130 x 10
140 x 10

DB Incline Press
60s x 15
60s x 12
60s x 10
60s x 8

Superset with:

Band Pull Aparts
15
15
15
15

Great workout today but very tiring. The DE benches felt very fast despite a decent amount of tension at the top. We went heavy on pretty much everything and had a lot of nice volume. I think we're going to cycle bench press on a 3 week wave the same as squats; maybe 55/60/65%. We're also going to change out the lockout assistance/back assistance/shoulder assistance every 3 weeks. I went very heavy on the DB rows and they were pretty damn strict. I love them but they are very taxing, happy to switch to chest-supported rows next week.

So far I'm liking conjugate method. I feel like work capacity, speed, and intensity are all high and switching it up is keeping things fresh. We are maxing front squat tomorrow and I'd like to hit at least 365 and then hit romanian DLs hard for 3-4 sets at 315 or so.

Diet is good. Weight is consistent but still leaning down slowly.
 
you thinking of sticking with it after your meet or you still switching to Sheiko?
 
You know I'm still not sure. I still want to wait and see if it'll pay off in bringing up my big 3 before making that decision. I think either one would work well. It is nice doing this method with a group of 3 because I always have a spotter and I feel like I can take full advantage of everything. I am definitely going to try sheiko at some point, just not sure if it'll be in May or not.
 
DeathBySpikes said:
You know I'm still not sure. I still want to wait and see if it'll pay off in bringing up my big 3 before making that decision. I think either one would work well. It is nice doing this method with a group of 3 because I always have a spotter and I feel like I can take full advantage of everything. I am definitely going to try sheiko at some point, just not sure if it'll be in May or not.
Click to expand...

Nice, your meet is sneaking up fast man, you excited?
 
Tuesday - 4/17/12 - ME Lower

Front Squat
Bar x 8
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 1
315 x 1
345 x 1
365 x 1 +10 PR
375 x 1 +20 PR

Romanian Deadlifts
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 8
295 x 8
305 x 8
315 x 10 (Belted)

Back Extensions
BW x 20
BW x 15
BW x 15

Superset with:

Band Pull Throughs
Average x 15
Average x 15
Average x 15

Isometric Hold + Knee Ups (Put some weight on the cable machine with the straight bar, pull it down straight and hold tight with lats, raise knees up high one at a time)
15/side
15/side
15/side

Another great workout today! I felt good going in and knew I was going to hit a big number but was still surprised to get 375. I really tried to just bury the depth and the only trouble I had was keeping my elbows up when the weight got heavy. Still very happy with the PR and the speed. RDLs were BRUTAL! Focused hard on pushing the ass back and really squeezing the glutes hard at the top (Thanks CRZA!). Top set I put a belt on and it was much easier.

Assistance all delivered a ridiculous lower back pump. I was pretty sore and thrashed by the end. Plan is to do conditioning tomorrow and max out normal grip bench on Thursday. I'm going to aim for at least 265...

Video of the front squat:



Elbows definitely fell forward but my upper back is pretty thrashed from yesterday.
 
Wednesday - 4/18/12 - GPP/Conditioning

Floor GHRs
BW x 10 x 5 sets

Core Superset
Decline Situps (Weight behind head): +25 x 10, +10 x 10 x 4 sets
Russian Twists: +35 x 10/side, +25 x 10/side x 4 sets

Ab Wheel Isometric Hold
BW x 30 sec x 3 sets

Conditioning
Ghetto Prowler Push: 4 plates x 75 ft
Sprint: 75 ft
Box Jumps: 3
8 sets

Killer conditioning day today. Hit the hamstrings and core very hard with good intensity. I did an extra plate with the prowler pushes today and damn it was tough. I'm not sure on the height for box jumps but I psyched myself out on the tall box and hit the medium one for my sets. After we were done I said fuck it and jumped onto the tall box which I'm happy with. Feeling great, ready to kill it tomorrow for bench.

I WILL set a new PR tomorrow and get us some more points for the competition, guaranteed!
 
Thursday - 4/19/12 - ME Bench Press

Bench Press
Bar x 10
95 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 3
185 x 5
205 x 3
225 x 2
245 x 1
255 x 1
265 x 1 +10 PR
275 x 1 +20 PR
280 x Fail (Halfway up)

Standing OHP
65 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 3 (Collar failed and weights starting coming off one side so racked it)
145 x 5
145 x 8
145 x 7

Close-grip Bench (Backoff sets)
185 x 12
185 x 12

Band-assisted Pullups
8
6
6
6

Tricep Pushdowns
Stack x 12
Stack+weight x 10
Stack+weight x 9
Stack x 9

Superset with:

DB Curls
40s x 10
40s x 10
40s x 10
40s x 10

Pretty decent workout today. There was a little tension at the start because my workout partners were late as fuck and I sat there 30 mins after already doing a long active warmup. Bench felt pretty solid, I was confident in 275. 280 felt great off the chest but I started drifting towards the rack and my wrists got ****ed on the way up. I feel like I have it in me though.

Workout partners wanted to do OHP and honestly I think we did too much volume for it. I don't think I'm going to push OHP very hard the next 3 weeks if at all I might do some seated DB press with lighter weight. I just feel like we tried to do too much. Close-grip backoff sets felt great. I probably would have got 15 on the first one and called it good but I was set up too close to the pins again and kept hitting them on the way up. Next time I might try to hit a 20 repper with 185 close-grip.

All in all a good day. The bench press is +20 for the competition jester. Sorry I didn't get it on video, but I will get another PR before June on video for sure.
 
Saturday - 4/21/12 - DE Squat

DE Box Squat
Bar x 10
95 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 2
285 x 2 x 8 sets
285+mini monsters (Choked across 2 DBs) x 2 x 4 sets

DE Deadlift
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 1
315 x 1
365 x 1 x 8 sets

Good Mornings
95 x 5
135 x 10 x 5 sets

Ab Wheel Rollouts
BW x 15 x 3 sets

Superset with:

Side Leg Raises
BW x 7/side x 3 sets

Great workout today! Intensity was high the entire time, less bitching than last time, we were all in sync with each other. The DE squats felt fast and just kept going faster as we progressed even with 60 seconds or so of rest in between. The mini-monsters added ~60 pounds at the top it felt like and my last set was literally the fastest set I've ever done. I flew off the box.

Speed pulls started out kind of slow (Beat up from squats) but got faster. I focused on a tighter setup and I found I pull better when I get my grip set then just drop my hips and pull. Good Mornings were very explosive. 135 is light but we were burning through the sets quick and really popping the hips through fast at the top; felt great. Core work to finish, decent volume.

So I'm going to incorporate the slingshot into my DE benching days for a few sets of 5-8 after DE bench. Also going to switch some assistance around so doing chest-supported rows and then DB flat bench supersetted with DB rear delt raises. Also going to switch out incline as a ME press for floor press and instead use incline as a shoulder movement after ME pressing on Thursday. Feel pretty good about the changes as I feel like it'll help my bench a bit more and I'd really like to hit at least 275 at my meet.

Diet has been kind of funky lately, been feeling kind of bloated. I need to scale back how many carbs I'm backloading and also keep an eye on how much fat I'm getting post workout. Waist still sitting at 37" though so not too bad.
 
Monday - 4/23/12 - DE Bench Press

DE Bench Press
Bar x 10
95 x 10
135 x 5
135+minis x 3
150+minis x 3 x 3 sets
160+minis x 3 x 3 sets
170+minis x 3 x 3 sets

Slingshot Bench (Medium grip)
225 x 6
245 x 6
265 x 6 +10 PR
275 x 6 +20 PR
285 x 6 +30 PR
245 x 12

Chest-supported Rows
2 plates x 10
3 plates x 10 x 4 sets

DB Flat Bench
65s x 10
75s x 12
75s x 9
75s x 8

Superset with:

DB Rear Delt Flies
20s x 15
20s x 10 x 3 sets

I was very worried about today's workout this morning. I woke up yesterday and my right shoulder felt terrible. I don't know if I slept on it or what but it was extremely tight and it hurt to move it in a full rotation. I took it easy all day yesterday and did a mini band session followed by static stretching last night to try and get as much blood flow into my right shoulder as possible. It still felt bad this morning and all day today but I said fuck it, popped 4 ibuprofens, went to the gym and hit it.

I spent a good 20 minutes warming my shoulder up and my first few sets of DE bench felt a bit slow as I was babying it. The last 4-5 sets felt fast though. I LOVE THE SLINGSHOT! I was able to go pretty heavy (For me) and it felt great on my shoulder. Lockout felt extremely strong. I was pretty exhausted after all the slingshot work but the rest of the assistance went well enough.

So tomorrow is ME squat day. I'm thinking of doing 405 for a double and then 445 and up from there. The last time I maxed out squat I wasn't very confident in the depth/form so I'm not hoping for anything higher than 475 this time around as long as I nail the depth. My shoulder is still a little tight so I'm going to either heat/ice it and stretch the shit out of it before tomorrow. Should be ok.
 
Tuesday - 4/24/12 - ME Squat

Squat
Bar x 10
95 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 2
445 x 1
475 x Fail ...
455 x 1 Most difficult rep ever
325 x 15 Wanted 20 but was losing it on my back so racked it

Back Extensions
BW x 15 x 3 sets

Superset with:

Band Pull-throughs
Average x 15 x 3 sets

Today was a tough pill to swallow. It's been nagging me in the back of my mind for awhile now that my depth was questionable. I've had some oly lifting shoes for about a month now and I love them but today was my first day squatting heavy in them. I know I was hitting good depth but I was feeling unstable as the weight went up. I found it hard to keep my chest up and kept folding over. I dumped 475 way in the hole, I really wasn't sure what happened but I just couldn't keep upright. I hit 455 but still felt folded over and it was a VERY slow rep. I feel the depth was good but I'm going to have my friend send me the video to be sure. I need to post a form check and get some help, this is literally scaring me. I took a 45 pound drop today but at least (I think) I know that the rep was legit. I always questioned if I got 500 clean because I had no video and I'm sure now that it was not clean. Very frustrated, but will pick myself up from here.

TLDR for wall of text: First time maxing in oly shoes, need form help, finally fixing depth issue.
 
Wednesday - 4/25/12 - GPP/Conditioning

Decline Situps
BW+25 (Behind head) x 10
BW+10 x 10 x 3 sets

Superset with:

Russian Twists
BW+35 x 10 x 4 sets

Isometric Knee Raises
Stack x 20/side x 4 sets

Superset with:

DB Side Bends
50 x 15/side x 4 sets

Leg Raises
BW x 20 x 3 sets

Planks
BW x 60 sec
BW+45 x 30 sec

Conditioning
A few ghetto prowler pushes. The weights at this gym are too thin so the stack wasn't nearly high enough to push realistically.

Decent conditioning day today, but mind wasn't there. Shoulders are still nagging me. I feel like I'm doing enough prehab but the pain is still there. If it's still there tomorrow I'm going to be forced to push off ME press day. I really don't want to, life is shitty.
 
Update time. Took about 4 days off to let the shoulder heal. I woke up this morning and it felt a good bit better, just tiny twinges of pain if I moved it in certain directions. I decided to go to the gym this morning, not sure what I was going to do. I ended up doing some deadlifts.

Tuesday - 5/1/12 - Deadlift

Warmup
5 minutes elliptical
10 minutes active warmup/mobility/foam roll with focus on right shoulder and lower back

Deadlift
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 1
455 x 1
475 x 1
495 x 1
520 x 1 +5 PR
315 x 15 Backoff

Face Pulls
15 x 3 sets

Back Extensions
BW x 20 x 2 sets

Shoulder Rehab/Mobility
Front/Angle/Side Raises: 5 lb DBs x 10 (30 total)
Band Pull Aparts: Mini band x 30 x 2 sets
Various rotator cuff mobility stuff with DB

This was a pretty spontaneous workout. I got my new lever belt in the mail and decided it would be fun to try it out, and I was tired of sitting on my ass the past 4 days. I was originally just going to do some deadlift singles for form checks but felt pretty good and went for a PR. Lockout was pretty tough but I believe I got it clean. I feel like my back was a bit rounded, didn't take a whole lot of setup time. Afterwards did some face pulls and back extensions then some shoulder stuff. Ate when I got home, took a long hot bath, an intense contrast shower, and some stretching. I'm feeling pretty good right now with the only thing bugging me is my lower back is a little sore.

Form check videos are below. Any advice/input from you guys is very much appreciated. I even got a video of the PR for the comp this time jester! Woohoo.

455 x 1



475 x 1



495 x 1 (Forgot to turn camera off ran long)



520 x 1 +5 PR (+45 for the competition)



315 x 15 Backoff Set

 
Last edited:
Nice work man. Congrats on the PR!
 
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