UB: Strong - Review

I've now completed the 6-week strength cycle from Paul Carter's "Ultimate Beastom - How to get 'What Constitutes Strong.'"   This was a 5X5 program, and here are the results for the four main lifts:

Press:      No 5 Rep PRs, one 2 Rep PR (5 lbs.), no projected increase to 1RM
Deadlift:  Three 5 Rep PRs (10, 20, 30 lbs.), projected increase to 1RM (24 lbs.), best results of program
Bench*:   No 5 Rep PRs, one 4 Rep PR (5 lbs.), projected increase to 1RM (1lb.)
Squat:      Two 5 Rep PRs (5, 25 lbs.), projected increase to 1RM (6 lbs.)

*switched to close-grip for last session; results probably skewed

I also want to high-light some progress on other lifts:

Chin-ups:       Went from BW of 205X9 to BW 212X10
Dips:               Went from BW of 208X11 to BW 208 + 25 lbs.X8
Front Squats:  Went from 115X12 (projected 1RM=161) to 135X8 (1RM=171)

My general impression of the program is that it is successful, and I think the results clearly speak to that.  The two keys would seem to be primarily making sure your targets are realistic, and additionally trying to choose assistance work that will contribute to the main lift.

For the Press, I feel fairly confident that not having OH triceps work in the program resulted in my failure to meet my goal.  This is good though, because this failure provided the evidence that led me to look at my log and see that my press went up when I was doing OH extensions, and dropped off when I was only doing Dips for triceps work.  That is potentially valuable if it proves to be true.  Also, I thought a 10 lb. 5 Rep PR was a modest goal.  If I had to do it again, I would have only shot for 5, and I believe I would have gotten it.

For the Pull, this lift continues to shine for me.  Just more evidence that I am better at this than any other lift.  The thing to keep in mind from that should probably not be that I can do anything on the pull.  That sounds like a good way to fuck myself up.  Rather the take-away should probably be that I don't need to focus on it as much.  I can probably let it take a back-seat while I devote more fuel and effort to other lifts.  Also, I developed a nagging mid-back strain on this program, and I now believe it was from deadlifting, and points to the need to have more rowing in my programs to keep up that area.  Like the OH triceps work for the Press, if this is an accurate assessment, then it was worth it to have this information going forward.

For the Bench, I decided prior to the final sessions to go ahead and switch to close-grip.  That had been my intention for a while, and Paul Carter convinced me to just go ahead and make the change.  I was starting to have some nagging shoulder pain, so that seemed like a good idea.  I still set a Rep PR, and projected 1RM increase.  That suggests the work I did wide-grip was certainly successful.  I suspect the Dips contibuted to the success of the close-grip bench a bit more than the DB benching.  I did feel like I got some good work in once I switched to flat DB bench, after discovering how hard it is to do incline the day after heavy shrugging.  More lessons learned.

For Squats, I did set some PRs.  I also made progress on Front Squats, and also reacquainted myself with RDL's (on which I set several PR's, but didn't include above because it had been so long since I had done them that PR's were likely).  I think my primary take-away with squats is that I need help on form.  I just continually feel that my form is neither correct, nor consistent, and I would like to be both.  The guy that owns and operates my gym is a former champion powerlifter, and I'm going to see how much he wants to charge to form-doctor the 3 big lifts to make sure they're all in good shape.

The main thing I didn't like about his program, particularly in contrast with 531, is that without the constant opportunity to set PR's in a variety of rep ranges, it's not quite as fun.  At any point on 531, I set around 20 PRs in different rep ranges in the same amount of time I only set 7 with this one.  It's not that the programming is more effective, it's just set up differently and you don't have that opportunity.  As I continue to age in "lifting years," I expect that sort of PR progress even on 531 would become less frequent, however it just seems to be set up to allow for that, and that's fun.  Louie Simmons often talks about the benefits of his conjugate system being that his lifter are setting PR's in some lift variation every week, and that allows them to set PRs whenever they want.  This isn't the same as that, but it offers that same level of encouragement.  When I finally discovered progression models for lifting, that was when a switch flipped in my head, and I found myself really able to get into lifting on a regular basis.

That being said, one thing that was really great about this program was starting it.  I'd been on a 2-day split because of my rehearsal schedule, and those workouts were slightly long, and very intense because they each had two of the big lifts with heavy weights, followed by lots of super-setting of assistance work to keep the time down, then core work, and then finishing with some kind of conditioning.  When I started this, and it was lighter weights on the big lifts, and 3 assistance movements of 2-3 sets with medium to high reps, and out, it felt like I had gone on vacation.  It was just awesome to go in and have a short and easy session.  And it was like this for 2-3 weeks instead of the 1 heavy-ish deload week on 531.  This could be crucial in the future for down-shifting and getting back into it, the key would be recognizing the need, rather than lucking out and scheduling a program shift that just happens to correspond witht the need.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with these results.  I reached some great goals, and even the goals I failed to reach taught me a lot that I can build on.  I'm taking 5 days off, and then I'm going to start the conditioning phase.  Looking forward to it!

UB: Strong Week 6. Squat

Defranco Mobility

Squat -
BarX15
135X5
165X5
205X5
235X5
265XFail

Incline Sprints - 10 minutes

As soon as I crossed 200 lbs. today everything felt heavy.  This happens with me with Squats and Pulls, so I didn't worry about it until I did the 235 set.  That felt really heavy, and I got concerned.  I tried to tell myself I was psyching myself out.  That I did 255X5 last week, and that I would at least get 3 reps with 265.   I think I got to far forward on the descent, though, and I had to dump the bar over my head onto the pins.  Prudently, I had decided to use the power rack today.

I looked at that bar sitting on the pins, and I just knew I was done for the day.  I already set a big PR last week so I called that good, and hung it up and went to run some sprints.  I went about 70-80% on these.  Nice and easy, and just got some work in.  I'll do a separate write up of my impressions from this program.

UB: Strong Week 6. Bench

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
135X5
155X5
165X5
175X4 (fail on 5)

DB Bench - 65'sX10, 5

Cable Rows, Medium-width, neutral grip - X15, 12, 8

Reverse Hyper - 100X12X3

This was the final bench session of this strength phase.  So what did I decide to do?  Start close-gripping!  Ha.  This was on Paul Carter's advice that there's no better time than right now to switch to close grip and start saving my shoulder.  And lookee:  I only missed my target for this cycle by one rep!  That could mean that I was too conservative with my target originally, but whatever.  Bench PR.  Killed two birds with one stone.

UB: Strong Week 6. Deadlift

Defranco Mobility

Calf Raises - 245X15, 285X15, 325X15

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5
225X5
255X5
285X5

GHR - BWX10, 12, 10

Pulldowns (slow eccentric) - 70X15, 10, 8, 6

Standing Cable Crunches - 50X20, 70X15, 80X15

Walk home - 20 minutes.

Last day of Deadlifts on this cycle and I pulled another PR!  That's about 30lbs. added to my deadlift on this cycle.  That's awesome.  I didn't even have to gut out any reps, though I did have to take a couple of deep breathes between sets 3 and 4.

My mid-back strain was really acting up today though.  My new guess is that the pulling has been generating this strain.  If that's true, I believe that points to the lack of rowing I've been doing.  There was no rowing at all in this cycle, so while I was working my pull and bringing up my lats and traps, my rhomboids fell back and have had trouble doing their part at the end of the line.  This is good.  I've been feeling for awhile that I was neglecting the row in favor of building my chinning strength.  This is the final confirmation I need to push chins to the back-burner and bring rows forward.

UB: Strong Week 6. Press

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Machine Lateral Neck Flexion - 30X20X2, 20X20

DB Military Press - 15sX20, 10sX20

Press -
BarX5
BarX5
95X5
110X5
125X2 (fail on 3)

BB Overhead Extensions - 65X8X2, 45X15, 10

Rope Push-downs - X10, 20, 15

Timed mile - 2:15, 6:57, 9:53, 12:58

Raised the weight on neck machine, but thought I might be cheating a little bit, so dropped it back down for the last set.

I did some light DB presses to warm-up through a fuller range of motion.  Thought I might need it.

For the up-sets on the Press, I wanted to try and take the lessons I've learned on the other lifts where I've been backing off on the up-sets ahead of a PR attempt.  So I did a couple of sets with the empty bar and focused on drive and snap at the top, then two medium weight sets.  Both of these felt heavy, and I started to get a bad feeling because my top sets on the Press have been feeling heavy for a couple of months.  Sure enough, I couldn't get even 3 reps with 125.  3 times I've missed lifts, once on bench, and twice now on the press.  I was pretty damned pissed.  If I'd been thinking clearer, I would have composed myself, and taken 125 for 3 singles to at least get more time under that weight.  I'll try to remember that next time I fail a lift.

UB: Strong Week 5. Squat

Defranco Mobility Warm-up

Standing Calf Raises - 245X15, 285X15, 325X15

Squat -
BarX10
135X5
185X5
205X5
225X5
255X5

Front Squat - 135X8, 5

RDL - 175X12, 4

Reverse Hyper - 50X18, 15, 15

Working my way back up on calf raises now that I've changed my technique to explode up, slow eccentric, pause at the bottom.  Felt it a little bit more the next day.

255 is a Rep PR, a projected increase to my 1RM, and more weight than I've ever put on my back.  I did this from stands, but next week when I go up to 265 I'll need to use a power rack and ask for a spot, because these were slow.  I didn't really hit a sticking point, though, so I'm optimistic about 265.

UB: Strong Week 5. Bench

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Machine Lateral Neck Flexion - 20X20X3 each side

Bench -
BarX20
105X5
125X5
135X5
155X5
165X5

Flat DB Bench - 60sX12, 7

Dips - Gym BW 208+25X8, 4

Hanging Leg Raise - BWX5 (stopped for shoulder)

DB "Cleans" (external rotation) - 15sX13, 8, 10sX10

Treadmill - 10 minutes jogging

Everything moved smoothly on bench tonight.  I continue to feel more and more confident in my set-up, and then I just focus on pressing the weight instead of feeding myself cues during the lift.  Top set was the same as last week, but all the other sets were heavier.  Next week is the last week of the cycle and I'll be going for a 10lb. 5 Rep PR.  It'll happen for sure.

UB: Strong Week 5. Deadlift

Defranco Mobility

Standing Calf Raises (slow-eccentric; paused at bottom) - 305X15X3

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5
225X5
255X5
275X5

Power Shrugs - 365X12, 7

Chin-ups - Gym BW 212X10, 5

Cable Crunch - 100X11, 12 (kneeling); 100X8 (standing)

Treadmill - 10 minutes jogging

I started reading some Lyle McDonald stuff, and his post about calf-training really jumped out as relevant to what I'm doing right now.  I was bouncing out of the bottom, so I tried it today exploding up, squeezing at the top, taking a slow eccentric and pausing at the bottom.  Much, much harder.  I don't have the promised "can't walk the next day" thing going on, but I guess I didn't do the full routine.  The one thing I don't like is that I pretty much have to take a breath at every pause, and I don't like the way it feels losing tightness with my spine loaded like that.  It's a machine though, so I'm not too worried.

I was a little nervous coming in to set a 10 lb. PR on the deads today.  Similar to my last squat session, I scrapped the programmed weight increases for the initial sets in favor of lowering overall volume and saving everything for the top set.  Also this knotting I have in my mid-back started acting up for the first time doing deadlifts.  Not during the lift thankfully, but really angry after each set.  I gave myself plenty of rest between the top sets, and everything went pretty well.  Every successive set left me feeling more and more confident for the following set.  After I got the 275 I was grinning like crazy, and I don't think I've ever done that after a lift before.  Maybe the first time I got 10 chin-ups last fall.  I almost wanted to throw some more weight on and go again, but I'm trying to show some restraint as I'm scheduled to add another 10lbs. next week to complete the cycle.

UB: Strong Week 5. Press

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Machine Lateral Neck Flexion - 20X20X3 each side

Press -
BarX12
70X5
80X5
90X5
105X5
115X5

BB Upright-Rows - 105X10, 5

DB Laterals - 35sX8, 5

Defranco-style Core circuit - 45lb. plate X2 (spread-eagle sit-ups, crunches, crunches w/ feet up)

Treadmill - 5 min. walk, 5 min. jog

I switched neck work to lateral flexion starting today.  Paul Carter down-played my notion that neck work could contribute to any of the big lifts saying it's just in the program because it's cool to have a big neck.  Nevertheless, I did some digging on exrx.net and it looks like the muscles responsible for lateral neck flexion play a bit of a role in the deadlift; at least more than the other neck muscles are involved in any of the other big lifts, so I might as well work on those if I'm gonna do neck work.

Pressing felt Hea.  Vy.  3 times I've lifted the equivalent of this weight or more in the Press, but I gotta say that I'm nervous I may miss my goal next week.  Maybe not though.  I know I've strained more to make this lift before, so hopefully I can gut out my little 5lb. 5 Rep PR next week.  Similar to my last Squat sessions, I may reduce the total weight of the warm-up sets to save more for the top set next week.

I've gone back and looked at my logs to try and figure out differences between when the press felt strong and when it felt weak like it kind of does now.  Of course there can be lots of factors that effect things, and I don't track diet and weight as closely as a lot of folks do, so I could be missing something there.  But the biggest difference I can see in the logs, is dropping overhead triceps work.  I've been relying on pressing movements and dips for triceps work for a couple of months now, and the press has felt heavier and heavier.  Back when it was shooting up and feeling strong, I was doing a lot of overhead BB extensions.  Hope this is a light-bulb moment.

UB: Strong Week 4. Squat

Defranco Mobility Work

Good-Mornings - BarX10X2

Standing Calf-Raises - 305X15, 365X15, 385X15

Squats -
BarX10
135X5
155X5
185X5
215X5
235X5

Front Squats - 125X11, 125X6

RDL - 175X10, 6

Hammer and Tire - 4 rounds of 20, 1 round of 15 swings "per arm."  10 minutes

I have some sort of strain or something in my mid-back on the left-hand side.  It's been bothering me for two weeks.  I've set Deadlift and Chin-up PR's with it, so it hasn't been interfering with my lifts so far.  However, I got the idea that it might interfere with my Squats today, so I did some empty-bar Good-Mornings with the idea that if a back-strain was going to hamper squats, GM's would be the best candidate for warming-up that part of the back before-hand.  If that makes sense.  Hard to say if it worked or not.  My back didn't bother me during squats, and the painful area felt the same after the work-out as it did before.  This may just be something I have to ride out.

For the calf-raises I again raised the weight on the first two sets, but not the top set.  So increasing volume but not top weight.  Next session I will go up another plate, and I think that will be the full stack.  I don't know how much of this increase is neural and how much is muscular at this point.  Calf training is kind of dicey anyway, as true gains seem to mostly come from being heavier, and weight-training is more of a topper.

I decided to break from plan with Squats a little bit, in that I didn't add weight to the warm-up sets the way I have been.  The way I laid out the program was 5X5 to a top set of 5, and that every week all 5 sets would be heavier than the week before.  All of a sudden this week I had the thought that as I'm working in PR range on the top sets, it might be a good idea to not be pushing as much on the lead-up sets.  So I worked up to, and set, a 5 Rep PR, but the total, accumulated weight for my Squat workout was less than originally programmed.  I feel totally fine about how this worked out as I hit my top-set goal.  It was certainly the hardest set of the cycle so far, but the reps moved smoothly.  That seems to be on target.  Next week will push me into projected increase to 1RM territory on squats.

UB: Strong Week 4. Bench

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Machine Neck Extension - 25X20X2, 30X20

Bench -
BarX30
95X5
115X5
135X5
145X5
165X5

DB Incline - 60sX9, 4

Dips - Gym BW 207+25X8, 5

Hanging Leg Raise (Feet to Bar) - BWX5, 3, 4, 3

10 minutes on treadmill

5th week of neck work in the bag.  I've been growing a beard since October, and I'm shaving it off this weekend.  Wondering if my neck will look drastically different once it's exposed.  I originally started addidng in extensions here, because I thought it might help with upper back tightness in the deadlift.  Paul Carter poo-poo'd that idea, however looking at the deadlift on exrx it mentions the levator being a stabilizer along with the traps.  The levator gets worked in lateral neck flexion, so maybe it would be better to start doing those instead.  2 weeks to go, might as well mix it up a little.

So 165 is right around my projected 5RM.  I did a lot of reps with just the bar to make sure to get a lot of blood flowing into the muscles and get the mechanics locked in.  I took progressively longer rests between sets as I progressed through the 5X5.  On the top 2 sets, I let my focus come away from mechanics and move towards power, or "intent."  Top set felt pretty good.  Hard, but not a grinder.  Next week the weight on the lower sets come up, but the top set remains the same, so everything should be good, and setting the stage for a PR the following week.

UB: Strong Week 4. Deadlift

Defranco mobility work

Standing Calf Raises - 285X15, 345X15, 385X15

SLDL - BarX10

Deadlift -
135X5
165X5
195X5
215X5
245X5
265X5

Power Shrugs - 365X11, 7

Chin-ups - Gym BW 207X10, 5

10 minutes on treadmill

Went up another plate in the stack on the calf machine.  2 to go.

Worried about Deads today.  I spent part of the day staring at my spreadsheet for this cycle and finally had to admit that my goal for Pulls was unrealistic.  I had projected a 30lb. increase in my 5RM, starting by hitting my previous projected max this week, then going for a 20lb. PR next week, and another 10lb. PR the week after that.  As it got closer, that just looked crazy, so I decided to back it off to the max this week, a 10lb. PR next week, and another 10lbs. for the week after, BUT will decide for sure about that after next week's session. 

Also, I had serious tightness on the left side of my mid-back coming into the gym.  Did the Defranco stuff which includes roll-overs, mountain-climbers, and groiners, then did some empty SLDL's and a set of 135, but nothing loosened it up (later at home, a combination of foam-rolling, ice, heat, and a 1/2 dose of ibuprofen mostly did the job).  I was really worried about attempting a near-max pull, but everything went GREAT.  While the top set was "hard," those reps actually went up as fast as any of the lower weight sets did.  Jefit actually projects 265X5 as a very, very minor 1RM increase.  Afterwards my back felt exactly the same as it did beforehand.  No aggravation from the assistance work either.  Either none of the stuff I did today really involved that tight area, or my form was super dialed-in.  Maybe a combination of the two.  I'll take it.

UB: Strong Week 4. Press

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Machine Neck Flexion - 25X20X3

Press -
BarX5
65X5
75X5
85X5
95X5
105X5

Upright Rows - 95X12, 6

DB Laterals - 30sX12, 6

Hanging Leg Raise - BWX5, fail

Timed 1-mile run - 12:30

Hard to make myself get up and go the gym this morning, but felt fine once I got there.

Face pad on the 4-way neck machine just isn't cool.  The padding is fine, but covering your face and doing this kind of thing just feels...wrong.

Press felt good.  Taking plenty of rest between top sets, and really attacked that last one.

UB: Strong Week 3. Squat

Defranco Mobility

Standing Calf Raises - 285X15, 345X15, 365X15

Squats -
BarX5
135X5
155X5
185X5
205X5
225X5

Front Squats - 125X10, 5

RDL - 155X12, 8

Because I'm getting close to the whole stack on the calf raises, but it's also been getting hard on the top reps, I decided to move up the weight on the first sets and keep the top set at the same weight as the previous session.  So more total weight lifted, but no "PR."

Squats felt pretty smooth once I got to the top sets.  Giving myself plenty of rest between those last sets now.  225X5 is just shy of my previous 5RM, although my 5RM projects to 250.

UB: Strong Week 3. Bench

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Machine Neck Extension - 15X20, 20X20, 25X20

Bench -
BarX10
95X5
105X5
125X5
135X5
155X5

DB Incline - 55sX12, 7

Dips - Gym BW 204+5lb.X12, 4

Defranco-style Core Circuit X2

20 minute, brisk walk home

Back of my neck felt a little sore coming into the gym, so I backed off the weight on the extensions.  I'm pretty sure it was just my traps from heavy shrugging the day before, but no point in killing myself on neck extensions anyway.

Bench felt a little better today.  I've been focused so much on tinkering with my set-up, that everything had just felt hard.  Today I tried to just make sure and do the things I KNOW have been good, and not worry as much about other stuff.  That meant setting up high on the bench so that my shoulders end up just below the uprights, and getting into this position by setting my feet then sliding down the bench and then back up onto my upper-back.  The thing I had trouble with today was tucking-and-flaring my elbows through the movement, and pulling the bar apart.  Otherwise, I gave myself decent rests between the top sets, and things mostly felt good.  Next week the top set is my projected 5RM.

UB: Strong Week 3. Deadlift

Defranco Mobility

Standing Calf Raises - 265X15, 325X15, 365X15

Deadlift -
155X5
185X5
205X5
225X5
255X5

Power Shrugs - 315X12, 8

Chin-ups - Gym BW 205X10, 4

Cable Crunch - 100X12, 10, 10

10 minutes on the treadmill

Wasn't sure how things would go today becasue I was running on a sleep deficit, and we had a party at work that involved both alcohol and massage therapy.  However, I didn't feel even a little drunk (except for after the massage) so I thought I'd try to get in my last "light" pull session.

Calf raises are getting harder, so I'm only going to try and go up a plate per session on the top set.

255X5 is only about 10lbs shy of my projected 5 rep max, but I have to say the top set felt pretty good, and, as has been the case lately, felt like the smoothest set of the session.  Next week I use my projected 5RM.