Training in the Wolf's Lair

I've decided to change the schedule up a bit. The lifting workouts were taking over 2 hours and sometimes I felt so hammered the next day it was easy to skip conditioning. So I'm splitting upper and lower body and doing strength, then conditioning in the same workout. For conditioning I'm just picking exercises that work the muscles involved in the main lifts plus core work and doing high rep circuits for time. On the lower body days there will be some sprinting, jumping, db swings, burpees, etc along with abs, for upper body days it will be bodybuilding type stuff like dumbell presses, pulldowns, cable rows, arm work and obliques. I'm also walking 2 miles the morning of leg day, and running 2 miles for time the morning of upper body day.

6/26/08

Deadlift, 363.75 x 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Squat, 108.75 x 5/5/5/5/5

5 rounds in 9:09 of:
10 back extensions
10 Burpees(no pushup)
10 roman shair situps

neck work

6/27/08

Dip, 262.5 x 5/5/5/5/5
High Pull, 155 x 5/5/5/5/5

5 rounds in 8:25 of: (not much good for cardio, but I haven't done arm work in a while)
25s x 10 Dumbell Curl
40lbs x 10 Tricep Pushdown(with rope)
15lbs x 10 Russian Twist

Grip work

These took about 1 hour 20 minutes each.
 
6/29/08

Back Squat, 310 x 5/5/5/5/5
Power Snatch, 125 x 5/5/5/5/5

back felt good, I was worried about completing the squats after last weeks workout, I'm getting stronger

5 rounds in 14:08 of:
25's x 10 each leg, Reverse Lunge
25's x 10 Two Dumbell Swing
10 Ab Wheel Rollouts from knees

the toughest circuit so far

neck work

6/30/08

Bench Press, 226.25 x 4/4/4/4/4
Bent Row, 215 x 5/5/5/5/5

5 rounds in 10:53 of:
65's x 10 Dumbell Bench Press
130lbs x 10 Seated Cable Row
45 x 10 Standing Barbell Twist

L-Fly, Grip Work
 
How's the back?

The pain was worse the day after I injured it, and its been flaring up the last week when I sit for long periods, but it has not been a problem for my workouts, and today I feel no pain at all.
 
7/2/08

Front Squat, 238.75 x 5/5/5/5/5
Power Clean, 182.5 x 5/5/5/5/5

5 rounds in 10:35 of:
30m Sprint
10 Vertical Jumps
10 Hanging Leg Raise

Neck work

7/3/08

Overhead Press, 137.5 x 4/4/4/4/4
Chinup, 238.75 x 5/5/5/5/5

5 rounds in 9:29 of:
40's x 10 Dumbell OHP
130 x 10 Pulldown
45 x 10 Side Bend (barbell across shoulders)

L-fly, grip work

I'll be out of town on vacation until the 9th.
 
Did a light workout today just to break back into things after the trip. Worked up to 275 in the squat which felt HEAVY, 315 deadlift, some chinups, and very light bench and overhead work. 5 days of complete inactivity and shitty eating pretty much ruined me. And my shoulder did not heal. The innactivity seemed to make it worse
 
7/13/08

Deadlift, 367.5 x 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Squat, 110 x 5/5/5/5/5

The deadlifts absolutely floored me. I had to lay on the floor fighting off nausia for a while before I could do the OHS. I finished with a set of back extensions and situps and called it a day. It seems my conditioning detrains easily.

7/14/08

Dips, 265 x 5/5/5/5/5
High Pull, 156.25 x 5/5/5/5/5

felt strong on both of these

5 rounds in 7:44(41 seconds off the last time) of:

25s x 10 Dumbell Curl
40 x 10 Tricep Pushdown
25 x 10 Russian Twist
 
Ok, well, I'm bailing on this routine. Just too much volume. I'm starting to feel beat down. The prospect of pounding myself against 5 work sets of squats or deadlifts for the forseable future is not jiving with my psyche. Its not a loss. The routine has been productive. I've uped my workload by quite a bit. My projected maxes have gone up by 4%. But I'm just stupid. This routine might work long term for someone eating to gain weight, and focusing on lifting, limiting cardio, and for someone with PATIENCE. But for me, trying to stay under 200, trying to up conditioning, it was folly. I'm going to try a sort of ME, DE, conjugate thing with less volume.

Day 1, Max effort lower body
Day 2, Dynamic effort upper body
off
Day 3, Dynamic effort lower body
Day 4, Max effort upper body
off
repeat

I'll use the same exercises but on a 3 workout rotation. For instance:

Max effort lower body: 1st 3 weeks, Back Squat, Power Snatch
2nd 3 weeks, Front Squat, Power Clean
3rd 3 weeks, Deadlift, Overhead Squat

Dynamic effort upper body: Bench Press, Bent Row
Overhead Press, Chinup
Dip, High Pull

Dynamic effort lower body: Front Squat, Power Clean
Deadlift, Overhead Squat
Back Squat, Power Snatch

Max effort upper body: Dip, High Pull
Bench Press, Bent Row
Overhead Press, Chinup

As you see, the same lift won't be done on DE during the same cycle. Each lift will rotate like this, 3 workouts DE, 3 workouts ME, 3 workouts off.

I'll use a variation of the 5-3-1 system for ME. But just use 80%, 90%, 100% for max reps. Week one will work up to one top set at 80%, week two 90%, week three I go for a new max. DE will just be 5x5 @ 50% with one minute between sets. I'll still do the same conditioning circuits after the main lifts.
 
7/17/08

I took my projected max from my last workout and took a little bit off to be conservative(I want to hit my first max). 380 will be the goal for squats, 155 for power snatch. So today I work up to 80%.

Back Squat, 190x5, 230x4, 265x3,285x3, 303.75x7*
Power Snatch, 80x5, 95x4, 110x3, 115x2, 123.75x6*

5 rounds in 12:48 (80 seconds off) of:
25s x 10 each leg, Reverse Lunge
25s x 10, Two Dumbell Swing
10, Ab Wheel Rollouts fron knees

Neck work

7/18/08

Dynamic effort upper body

Bench Press, 137.5 x 5x5 (275 projected max)
Bent Row, 132.5 x 5x5 (265 projected max)

5 rounds in 9:58(55 seconds off) of:
65s x 10 Dumbell Bench Press
130 x 10 Seated Cable Row
45 x 10, Standing Barbell Twist

Rotator, Grip work
 
7/20/08 DE Lower Body

Front Squat, 147.5 x 5x5 100% effort on each rep
Power Clean, 112.5 x 5x5

5 rounds in 10:00(35 sec off) of:

30 m sprint
10 Vertical Jumps
10 Hanging Leg Raises

Neck work

7/21/08 ME Upper Body

Dip goal is 331.25(total weight)
High Pull Goal is 195

Dip, Assisted x 5, BW x 4, 230 x 3, 250 x 2, 265 x 7*
High Pull, 100 x 5, 115 x 4, 135 x 3, 145 x 2, 156.25 x 7*

5 rounds in 7:44(same time :( ) of:

25s x 10 Dumbell Curl
40 x 10 Tricep Pushdown
25 x 10 Russian Twist

Rotator, Grip work
 
7/23/08 ME lower body

Back Squat, 190 x 5, 230 x 4, 265 x 3, 305 x 2, 325 x 1, 342.5 x 3*, 325 x 3, 305 x 3
Power Snatch, 80 x 5, 95 x 4, 110 x 3, 125 x 2, 132.5 x 1, 140 x 1:mad: , 135 x 2,2

I added some backoff sets. I think I'll keep doing that. Dissapointed with the power snatches. The story on these: I used to do them with sloppy form, I would jump my feet way out wide to catch it. I did 155 that way. Then I stopped doing them for a while. This time around I've worked on not jumping my feet out at all. I thought 150 might be doable with this sticter style and that is what my percentages were based on. Well 80% of that was no problem for 5x5, but it seems like they drop off real quick. That one rep with 140 was ugly and I had to press it out. Next time its max time, so I'll just work up to a solid lift in good form and go from there.

5 rounds in 11:33(75 seconds off) of:
25's x 10 each leg, Reverse Lunge
25's x 10, Two Dumbell Swing
10 Ab Wheel Rollouts from knees

Neck work
 
7/25/08 DE Upper Body

Bench Press, 137.5 x 5x5
Bent Row, 132.5 x 5x5

5 rounds in 9:14(44 seconds off) of:
65's x 10 Dumbell Bench Press
130 x 10 Seated Cable Row
45 x 10 Standing Barbell Twist

Rotator, Grip work
 
7/28/08
DE Lower Body

Front Squat, 191.25(65%) x 4/4/4/4/4
Power Clean, 146.25(65%) x 4/4/4/4/4

5 rounds in 9:05(55 seconds off) of:
30m sprint
10 x Vertical Jump
10 x Hanging Leg Raise

Neck Work

7/29/08
ME Upper Body

Dip, assisted x 5, 200x4, 230x3, 265x2, 280x1, 298.75x3*, 280x4, 265x6
High Pull, 100x5, 115x4, 135x3, 155x2, 165x1, 175x3*, 165x5, 155x7

5 rounds in 6:50(54 seconds off!) of:
25's x 10 Dumbell Curl
40 x 10 Tricep Pushdown
25 x 10 Russian Twist

Rotator, Grip work
 
7/31/08 ME Lower Body

Back Squat, 190x5, 230x4, 265x3, 305x2, 340x1, 360x1, 380x1*
Power Snatch, 70x5, 85x4, 100x3, 115x2, 125x1, 135x1*, 140xFail, 137.5xFail

New squat 1RM, and established strict(no jumping feet out, no press out) power snatch 1RM


8/1/08 DE Upper Body

Bench Press, 220(80%)x3/3/3/3/3
Bent Row, 212.5(80%)x3/3/3/3/3

Didn't feel like doing the whole circuit, so I just did one set for max reps of:
25's x 25 Dumbell Curl
140 x 23 Tricep Pushdown
45 x 25 Standing Barbell Twist
 
8/4/08 DE Lower Body

Front Squat, 236.25(80%)x3/3/3/3/3
Power Clean 180(80%)x3/3/3/3/3

5 rounds in 8:51(14 seconds off) of:
30m Sprint
10 x Vertical Jump
10 x Hanging Leg Raise

Neck work

8/6/08 ME Upper Body

Dip, Assistedx5, BWx4, 230x3, 265x2, 300x1, 315x1, 331.25x1*
High Pull, 100x5, 115x4, 135x3, 155x2, 175x1, 185x1, 195x1, 200x1*

very pleased with the Dip PR

One top set each of:
25'sx20 Dumbell Curl
140x19 Tricep Pushdown
25x20 Russian Twist

Rotator, Grip work
 
Ok, now Squats, Power Snatch, Dips, and High Pulls are rotated out. The new ME lifts will be Front Squat, Power Clean, Bench Press, Bent Row. DE will be Overhead Press, Chinup, Deadlift, Overhead Squat.

I'm also doing something different with the loading. ME goals will be 90% for 5 sets of 2 the first week, then 95% for 5 singles, then a new max attempt. DE will ramp up through the weeks, 50% for 5x5, 65% for 5x4, 80% for 5x3.

8/8/08 ME Lower Body

Front Squat, 265 x 2/2/2/2/2
Power Clean, 202.5 x 2/2/1/1/0 ...it looks like I overestimated the cleans with the new style like I did the snatches...

5 rounds in 8:07(44 seconds off) of:
30m Sprint
10 x Vertical Jump
10 x Hanging Leg Raise ...really busted ass on this circuit. This time will be hard to beat in the future.

Neck work

8/10/08 DE Upper Body

Overhead Press, 83.75 x 5/5/5/5/5
Chinup, (jumping) x 5/5/5/5/5 ...used jump assitance to approximate a 50% load.

5 rounds in 8:39(50 seconds off) of:
40's x 10 Dumbell OHP
130 x 10 Lat Pulldown
45 x 10 Side Bends w/barbell behind neck

Rotator, Grip work
 
8/12/08 DE Lower Body

Deadlift, 225 x 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Squat, 67.5 x 5/5/5/5/5

5 rounds in 8:42(27 seconds off) of:
10 Back Extensions
10 Burpees
10 Roman Chair Situps

Neck work

8/13/08 ME Upper Body

Bench Press, 247.5 x 2/2/2/2/2
Bent Row, 238.75 x 2/2/2/2/2

5 rounds in 8:55(19 seconds off) of:
65's x 10 Dumbell Bench Press
130 x 10 Seated Cable Row
45 x 10 Standing Barbell Twist

Rotator, Grip work
 
8/19/08 ME Lower Body

Front Squat, 280 x 1/1/1/1/1
Power Clean, 210 x 0/1/1/0/0 ...looks like the 1RM target will be 212.5

5 rounds in 7:42(25 seconds off) of:
30m Sprint
10 x Vertical Jump
10 x Hanging Leg Raise....I took no rest at all between rounds or exercises, so this will be hard to improve upon.

Neck work

8/20/08 DE Upper Body

Overhead Press, 108.75 x 4/4/4/4/4
Chinup, BW x 4/4/4/4/4

5 rounds in 7:59(40 seconds off) of:
40's x 10 Dumbell OHP
130 x 10 Lat Pulldown
45 x 10 Side Bends w/barbell behind neck

Rotator, Grip work
 
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