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Whats good Iron Bretheren of the Sherfam. starting a log to hold a record ofmy noobs gains and often futile attempts to ascend to sherdonis status.
ill title each section so you can skip the blah blah
any advice knowledge bombs etc are why i put this here pick and choose what yall wanna read and drop some knowledge
Background (please skip if you have anything going on in your life):
my training:
I have been running Madcow since i was in my 20's but i didnt have the dedication to stick with it i would often jump ship. so i have been really following it, i did one 12 week cycle this summer and now i am in my second phase. I am tryign to modify this cycle to be an upper body focus. as i like to fancy myself an adherent of powerbuilding i try to run a split of 60% power lifting 30% body building and 10% strongman/other stuff
upperbody focus madcow:
squat redesign:
Bench experiment:
bodybuilding work:
ill title each section so you can skip the blah blah
any advice knowledge bombs etc are why i put this here pick and choose what yall wanna read and drop some knowledge
Background (please skip if you have anything going on in your life):
Like most i grew up watching action movies and reading muscle and fitness. I wanted to be freaky big and strong. That led me to becoming a gym bro in my teens. arm days for months. even at one point i would do a bicep day followed by a tricep day. just to show the depth of my brosanity i was also doing boxing back then so i didnt want to get so jacked that my punches would lose speed so i would do dumbell curls with a 10lb lighter db in my left hand so my jab would stay quicker(lmao). and would try to hold my stance with dbs in my hand i went all the way to 40's lol.
like most who follow the bro path you get some gains early but nothing substantial and plateau hard. I figured i was just not genetically meant to be a fridge. Some trainers and bros tried to point me in the right direction but i was too much of an arrogant asshole to head their advice.
once a guy recommended i start squating and i tried to in the smith machine but put the bar on my neck and was in crazy pain doing 1/4th squats. i went back and told him i probably cant do squats as my neck is not made for it. He must have laughed himself to death later.
anyway in my 20's i started reading the faq's here and i found a real powerlifting gym. it changed my whole training mindset etc.. I gained alot and my lifts and form got way better. but life always gets in the way. I let the bar for about a decade i had periods of lifting but not anything serious or dedicated.
at the begining of this summer if found myself at the heaviest i have ever been, which is one thing but the real annoying part for me was that i felt weak and lacked energy to keep up with my kids and my job. I found a pretty decent little gym that i could bend some barbells in and i have been really settling down and focusing on really improving my lifting.
weirdness but i feel like from taking so much time off i am kind of in a another newbie stage, i am gaining muscle and able to train alot hard again and i still havent lost everything from when i was young which is a blessing in a way
like most who follow the bro path you get some gains early but nothing substantial and plateau hard. I figured i was just not genetically meant to be a fridge. Some trainers and bros tried to point me in the right direction but i was too much of an arrogant asshole to head their advice.
once a guy recommended i start squating and i tried to in the smith machine but put the bar on my neck and was in crazy pain doing 1/4th squats. i went back and told him i probably cant do squats as my neck is not made for it. He must have laughed himself to death later.
anyway in my 20's i started reading the faq's here and i found a real powerlifting gym. it changed my whole training mindset etc.. I gained alot and my lifts and form got way better. but life always gets in the way. I let the bar for about a decade i had periods of lifting but not anything serious or dedicated.
at the begining of this summer if found myself at the heaviest i have ever been, which is one thing but the real annoying part for me was that i felt weak and lacked energy to keep up with my kids and my job. I found a pretty decent little gym that i could bend some barbells in and i have been really settling down and focusing on really improving my lifting.
weirdness but i feel like from taking so much time off i am kind of in a another newbie stage, i am gaining muscle and able to train alot hard again and i still havent lost everything from when i was young which is a blessing in a way
my training:
I have been running Madcow since i was in my 20's but i didnt have the dedication to stick with it i would often jump ship. so i have been really following it, i did one 12 week cycle this summer and now i am in my second phase. I am tryign to modify this cycle to be an upper body focus. as i like to fancy myself an adherent of powerbuilding i try to run a split of 60% power lifting 30% body building and 10% strongman/other stuff
upperbody focus madcow:
so i changed out the light squat work for zercher squats from the ground. and i do extra dead lift work but i do the lighter work as snatch grip and then do the heavy stuff as traditional deadlift.
for assistance i also added up right rows
otherwise i follow the madcow routine from the faqs
for assistance i also added up right rows
otherwise i follow the madcow routine from the faqs
squat redesign:
starting in the summer i really wanted to redesign my squat and get a full a2g squat that felt good. i am much better now i do all my squats a2g but i had to really rebuild the weight starting low and moving up again.
right now i find my self doing a wider stance low bar a2g and it feels good
i ahve been doing front squats and zerchers to build up the quads and good mornings for the hams.
right now i find my self doing a wider stance low bar a2g and it feels good
i ahve been doing front squats and zerchers to build up the quads and good mornings for the hams.
Bench experiment:
I have decided to run the dumbest broiest program for powerlifting whic is smolov. so i have been running smolov jr. for bench. during this phase of madcow i took out all the bench work and replaced it with 3 waves of smolov jr. i calculated ti by doing my first wave based on my 5 rep max #, next wave will we be my old one rep max and then if i amek ti through that try a not so heavy third wave jsut to really master the 200's
for assistance i traditonally really like close grip bench but i have been doing spoto press and i am loving it.
for assistance i traditonally really like close grip bench but i have been doing spoto press and i am loving it.
bodybuilding work:
Arm routine: i got this from a Dr.Mike video. once a week i do a three exercise routine where you do set number of reps over myorepstyle sets. so to begin triceps 40 reps, side delts 40 reps, biceps 25 reps. and then each week you add 5 reps. I have been playing with different exercises.
the original routine was reverse skull crushers, some delt machine and lying down curls. I have kept the lying down curls as they always get the job done but i replaced the machine with flys and reverse skull crushers with jm press in the smith.
Chest routine: i got this from a JM Blakely vid. once a week or once every two weeks, i do machine for chest press and flys and do half reps and iso stuff that is killer. i also do incline db presses once a week.
the original routine was reverse skull crushers, some delt machine and lying down curls. I have kept the lying down curls as they always get the job done but i replaced the machine with flys and reverse skull crushers with jm press in the smith.
Chest routine: i got this from a JM Blakely vid. once a week or once every two weeks, i do machine for chest press and flys and do half reps and iso stuff that is killer. i also do incline db presses once a week.
