Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Ok, so I need a new log, since I am finished with my Stronglift's 5x5 cycle. It really worked for my squats (18kg/40lb increase), which was my primary focus. I didn't bench well during the cycle, but I did hit a 167kg/370lb bench in my meet. I really didn't follow the deadlift plan, so I won't mention any of that.
Now, I started Sheiko #29 today, since I'm a beginner. And I will follow that up with a Skills Eval and deload before I move on to my Russian Peaking Cycle. Unfortunately, I am still feeling the ill-effects of the meet and could not squat up to my low standards. The bar that I was using was bent. This had to have happened during my two week absence from the gym. It was one of my favorite to use for squats, but it kept rolling off my shoulder. But, that was just part of it, because I did not have the "gas" for 5x5 w/171kg(378lbs). I hit one rep and my legs were extremely shaky, so I called it quits for squats. Bench went well enough, but I did miss my very last rep and had to re-rack and hit a single really fast.
I will run the rest of the week and see how "bad off" I am. If I can hit the next two sessions without missing many reps (if any), then I will move forward to week 2. If it is a sub-par week, I will repeat week 1.
Sidenote: my next meet has changed the date from late November to early December (but that may change back), so I'm not too worried about falling off schedule.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
So, night 2 is kind of in the books. The "kind of" is because I fell short of the required set/rep schema again. The focus was on Dead's, not my favorite and not something I am very good at doing. The dead's from the floor to my knees was no problem, the sets and reps flew by. But, after the incline work and dips, the rack pulls were not so much fun. My hands have become soft, like a woman's, and my grip failed me once I got to the last sets (4 sets of 3 w/200kg/440lbs).
Overall, I feel better about today's training. I have done rack pulls with significantly more weight, but that was over a year ago. The good thing about Sheiko so far is that my weaknesses are GLARING, which pisses me off and makes me work harder. I can't wait to see how Thursday's squats go....
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Well, week one ended on a positive note: all sets and reps hit during today's session. My hips are still below 75% and my quads are pretty fried since the meet, so I will have to add a light week after the off week following the meet. Not much to say, everything fell into place fairly well.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Late update: 8/9
Long f-ing day. 3 1/2hrs to get thru the session. Hit all the reps, but my joints are taking a beating. Time to start popping the fish oil again. I'm glad this is only going to last 5 weeks, cause my wife would start getting suspicious.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Yeah. The good thing is it's a LOT more intense than I thought it would be with the percentages. But working 12-14hrs a day and having a family makes 3+hr session bad.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Tonight sucked a fat one. My callouses got torn pretty good tonight and all of this benching is starting to get to my shoulders. I need to put on my big girl panties and suck it up...
Join date: Mar 2008
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posts: 1673
Yeah the percentages seem pretty tame but the fatigue accumulates. It can be kind of a mind fuck when easy weights feel heavy, but it is for the best.
I feel your pain on the torn callouses. Two things that have helped me: liquid bandages and athletic tape.
Good luck with the rest of the program.
If you don't feel the need for the whole 4 week competition cycle don't use it. I believe Sheiko 32, the generic comp cycle is commonly run after 2 or 3 prep cycles.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
I guess I didnt record my Thursday workout. My joints were stiff, but all sets/reps were completed. I tood Sunday off, because my back was not feeling very well and I wanted to hang out with the little lady.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
So, running behind on updating. Since I skipped my Sunday workout and my back was not feeling great, I moved Sunday's workout to Tuesday. I was running behind and I dropped the second squat "cluster". These workouts are waaayyyyyy too long. I only have 1 week left, then I can start the peaking program....so much fun!
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
My "Honey-Do" list was a killer on Saturday, so I had to do a few things differently for my Sunday workout. I had to sport my Inzer briefs for the first time in almost two years. I forgot how much those things can pinch and how much they help my hips. I may have to wear them every other session till my hips feel better. I also had to drop front squats and the Good-Mornings. I figure moving and manuvering 12 railroad ties alone makes up for the skipped exercises.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Today was an "ok" day. I got most of the deads done (my back and hip were kind of hinkey, so I dropped the last 3 drop-sets). Maybe, my deadlift sucks not because I have back issues, but because I'm lazy... I was happy to be doing some regular pulls instead of rack or box pulls. One more session and then I can go back to my 2- 2 1/2hour sessions. I am interested in seeing how my body will react when I switch to the peaking program, since I haven't done any work over 85%.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
The last session of Sheiko#29 was painful. Squatting hurt, only because my hips didn't want to cooperate. After the first 2 sets, the last 4 felt a bit better. My bench was ok, but my back was sore still from the pull-ups. I had to take off, so I dropped the Good-Mornings. That's not a bad thing, since I will be finishing my retaining wall tomorrow and Saturday. I will do the Evaluation next week. It will be interesting to see how 95% feels, since I haven't been there since my last meet.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
I skipped Sundays workout, due to it being a very light day and my back was extremely tight from moving railroad ties yet again. It paid off. My back was still a little tight, but not "hindering" tight. Squats went better than expected, since this was the first time I had gone over 208kg(460lbs) since my meet in July.I felt really comfortable. Bench was a different story. I have developed a "nag" in my right shoulder joint. It showed when I went for 170kg(370lbs).
I exploded off my chest, but my arm locked at 4inches above and it was THROBBING. I was ok with missing the press though, cause that was 5lbs more than what I hit easily in the meet. And, even though I missed the lift, I know healing is all I have to do to nail it. I also did a static hold with 181kg(400lbs). I was going to do a negative, until my shoulder issue happened upon me. I have two months to hit that goal. Dead's sucked because we have ghetto bars in the gym, no knurling left at all and we cant use chalk. So, that means I have to focus too much on my hands and I usually don't get in a good position for my pulls.
The manager ordered 2 new bars, so that wont be an issue soon. But, today it was hell. Max'd out at 224kg(495lbs) and it was not the easiest lift because I could barely hold on to the bar, but it was smooth. Unfortunately, I took my cam, but forgot both a tape and the usb cable, so I can't even reveiw. But, I know how it felt and that's good enough.
Sheiko #29 is an ass-kicker. The only things I would change are benching every session. My shoulders hurt like hell. And, I would add in more back work. Since I only did one 4wk cycle, I didn't expect my numbers to jump up. I was using Sheiko as a jump off for the extended peaking cycle I am going to run in preparation for my Nov/Dec meet. So, I will close out this Evaluation week and do a "deload" just to give my joints a break before the pain starts again.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
The last of the Sheiko workouts are completed (for now). I will have to figure out when I can do the workouts justice. Unfortunately, I don't know when that will be, since all of my projects will be over and my schedule will return to normal. It will be a slow week, so that I can move 3 tons of dirt before I pick it up again. I can't wait...
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
It's getting hard because I am starting to feel the itch. I really need to push some heavy weights. It's coming soon and I am going to miss this relaxed feeling.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Today felt really solid, other than a few form breakdowns on squats and needing to get used to my 2-setp drop again. That was due to a lack of concentration (I don't workout well around female gingers) and I was NOT hydrated at all. I broke into the cold sweat between squat sets 2 and 3. And it didn't help that I was pushing myself pretty hard and trying not to rest too long. I was trying to cut down on my time at the gym and I ended up having to take quite a long break before I started benching. Next week, I will keep the rest as short as possible for the first few sets to see how my body reacts when I'm ready.
I am still fine-tuning the assistance exercises, so you may see things change drastically after week 2. After week 4, the assistance exercises will modify in frequency until the final peaking week, when they will be dropped completely.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Instead of doing the deadlifting cycle from the extended peaking workout, I am substituting the Phillipi/Coan deadlifting cycle. The workout was good, but it felt a little light on the workload end. This is only week 1, so it is really hard to judge how everything is going to fall into place at the end.
I know with stronglift's 5x5, the first and second weeks were candy and I wasn't really happy. But after that, it really started cranking. I'm hoping to produce something like that with this program, only with a better feeling first 2 weeks.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Other than a little nag in my lower back, I felt really good going into today. Since that was the case and I have 3 days of recovery coming, I wanted to push the pace a bit. The only break I took on my squat warmups was to load more weight. Once I got to my work sets, I took 90secs rest between sets. If you watch the vid, you will see me get out of my groove on a few reps due to laziness. I finished all the working sets in a little under 15 minutes and broke a good sweat doing so. I took about 3minutes break before I started benching. I was feeling pretty good, so I just did two warmup sets before hitting the work. I didn't time between the sets, but I am sure it wasn't much more than 120secs on most sets. The rows, presses, and pushdowns were all completed within 5 minutes. I liked the feel of this workout. The only thing missing was core work, but that got in a lot of action on the single arm work. i will do some planks and shoulder-bridges tomorrow.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Today was a pretty good day. After the third set on squat, I started having small form issues. But, nothing to get too excited about. I think I need to take better rest periods. I have a tendency to stand a lot between sets. My legs felt like jelly on the last two sets and next week I will be doing 30reps. This feels a lot like Smolov, minus two days. I would add a third squat day, but I have to stay focused on the goal of upping the total not upping one lift.
Join date: Jun 2007
Location: Virginia, USA
Posts: 885
undesired08 wrote:
Today was a pretty good day. After the third set on squat, I started having small form issues. But, nothing to get too excited about. I think I need to take better rest periods. I have a tendency to stand a lot between sets. My legs felt like jelly on the last two sets and next week I will be doing 30reps. This feels a lot like Smolov, minus two days. I would add a third squat day, but I have to stay focused on the goal of upping the total not upping one lift.
Squat
.....6x4 195kg/430lbs
Bench
.....6x2 136kg/300lbs
Bent Over Rows
.....5x1 84kg/185lbs
.....5x4 102kg/225lbs
Lateral Raises
.....5x3 14kg/30lbs
DB Tri Extensions
..... 8x3 18kg/40lbs
High-Pulley Crunches
.....20x1 36kg/80lbs
.....15x2 45kg/100lbs
Seated Calf Raises
.....15x3 4plates
Squat-
6x4 with 430 on squats is pretty damn good. Nice work and will be interesting to see how this program plays out for you.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
novaeer wrote:
undesired08 wrote:
6x4 with 430 on squats is pretty damn good. Nice work and will be interesting to see how this program plays out for you.
Thanks, novaeer. Hopefully, I will be able to get a little smoother and get my squat to the next level.
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
Dead's didn't feel too good, so I cut the session short by 6 sets. The next few weeks of squats will be very testing, so I am doing everything I need to do to keep moving forward. The most important thing is that I am working on getting my hips down a little more. Added in a little grip work today. Let's see how severe the DOMS is soon :-)
Join date: Jul 2006
Location: Arkansas, USA
Posts: 845
I wanted to work without my belt today, to hit my core from the most important angle to me. It was only 6 sets of 2, but it was outside my comfort zone. I'm not becoming a "raw purist", but I think it is important to work from as many different angles as possible for maximal results. ANYWAY, the squats were ok, but I was cutting them a little high. Since there were a number of people in the gym, I didn't record my bench (that's the only lift at which I feel technically sound, anyway). All sets are reps were comfortable, but I did get a lift-off on the last set.
I liked the weights chosen for my accessory work. Everything just felt solid, so I added some chest presses to give me some more pushing work. I think I will do some close-grip benching sometime next week to hit my tri's a little more.
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