BW - 200
PBN (seated) -
BarX10, 10
55X4
65X3
85X2
95X1
85X17, 8
DB Rows -
60sX12
70sX12, 9, 8, 8
DB Bench - 55sX18, 11, 8, 7
Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
275X1
Um...I think this is the first time I've ever done seated PBNs. Is that weird?
The hardest part of these is unracking them by myself. My shoulders felt...vulnerable in that position, so I started leaning back a little and that seemed to help. 85X17 is an all-around PR in BTN pressing. Are you supposed to be stronger seated vs. standing?
DB Rowing felt more stable than it ever has in the past. No low back discomfort like I've had in the past with them, however my abs started cramping up at the top of the rep on the last couple of sets. I redoubled my focus on keeping my shoulders steady, and that seemed to help. My goal for the cycle is 75sX12+. Should get there, and go past it, although this pressing day only happens 3 times in the 6 week cycle.
18 reps with the 55s is an all-around PR on DB Benching. My goal for the cycle is 60sX15+. Again, should get there even with only 3 sessions.
I am NOT supposed to be Deadlifting on the Big-15, however I don't feel confident that my technique is settled, much less ingrained enough to justify taking 3+ months off from pulling. So I will do maintenance pulls during these sessions. 275 is only 87% of my EVERYDAY Max, and, once again, this programmed day only occurs every other week.
Today with the pull, I worked on something Paul Carter's been talking about which is finding the spot where your hips don't get so low that your shoulders and knees get away from the bar path. This seems to involve a more vertical shin position for me, but with the shins still already touching the bar at the start. Another big difference is that this has my chest starting off down a bit more, and so I have to cue chest up even harder after the pull starts to keep a neutral spine. The 275 was fast, but it should be, and therefore it's hard to judge the form tweaks.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 1. Shoulders
BW - 200
Upright Rows - 55X20, 18, 15, 12, 10 (30 sec. rests)
DB Rear Delts - 20sX20, 18, 15, 12, 10 (30 sec. rests)
Upright Rows - 55X20, 18, 15, 12, 10 (30 sec. rests)
DB Rear Delts - 20sX20, 18, 15, 12, 10 (30 sec. rests)
Saturday, August 24, 2013
LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 1. Arms and Squats
Friday-
BW - 200
Incline DB Curls - 30sX20, 15, 12, 10, 8
PJR Pullovers -
40X20
50X17, 13, 12, 8
Ab Wheel - X10, 10, 8, 8, 8
Saturday-
BW - 200
Squats -
BarX12 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
145X4
175X3
215X2
245X1
205X11, 6
Leg Curls - X20, 15, 12, 10
Lunges - BWX30, 20, 20, 20
Woo-ee. I wish I didn't end up with hangovers so much on squat days. Between that and not having kept up with my conditioning, today was a shaky, sweaty, brutal affair. HOWEVER, 205X11 is a Rep PR. And this is more full squat volume than I've had in over a year.
Forgot to do the 3 sets of calves before squats.
On the small session of arms the day before, I probably went a little heavier than I should have. Think I'll stay at these same weights for the X15 day.
Ab strength has dropped off the last couple months.
BW - 200
Incline DB Curls - 30sX20, 15, 12, 10, 8
PJR Pullovers -
40X20
50X17, 13, 12, 8
Ab Wheel - X10, 10, 8, 8, 8
Saturday-
BW - 200
Squats -
BarX12 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
145X4
175X3
215X2
245X1
205X11, 6
Leg Curls - X20, 15, 12, 10
Lunges - BWX30, 20, 20, 20
Woo-ee. I wish I didn't end up with hangovers so much on squat days. Between that and not having kept up with my conditioning, today was a shaky, sweaty, brutal affair. HOWEVER, 205X11 is a Rep PR. And this is more full squat volume than I've had in over a year.
Forgot to do the 3 sets of calves before squats.
On the small session of arms the day before, I probably went a little heavier than I should have. Think I'll stay at these same weights for the X15 day.
Ab strength has dropped off the last couple months.
Friday, August 23, 2013
LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 1. Bench
BW - 200
Bench -
BarX15
85X5
95X4
115X3
145X2
165X1
155X12, 5
Chins (shoulder-width/neutral grip) -
BWX5
+15X5
+20X3, 3
+25X2
+30X1
+25X6, 4
BWX8
DB Incline - 45sX21, 12, 11, 10
1st session on the Big-15 cycles. This will run for two 6-week cycles. Looking forward to it.
155X12 is an all-around PR. My goal on bench this cycle is to hit 155 for 15 or more. I should hit that, and possibly fairly quickly. If I hit 15 before the 6 weeks are up, I think I will continue to rep 155 for the rest of cycle 1, but possibly bump up the warm-up weights to a top single at 175, or my previous Everyday Max. I would like to hit 225X1 sooner rather than later in the next year, and while 155X15 technically projects to that, I figure I can milk 155 for a few reps above that to help cement the musculature I will need when I finally attempt it.
This was my first time doing weighted chins, so these are all PRs to some degree, but really more like baselines. My goal for the 6 weeks will be to hit BW+25X10. Again, if I hit that before the 6 weeks are up, I will just keep pushing the reps. Jesus, anything over 10 is usually a decent chinning-day for me anyhow. Maybe this will help change that.
Another thing I will be doing for the 1st phase will be focusing on DB movements for a lot of the assistance/accessory work. I've largely stayed away from that stuff for compound movements the last couple of years, and I think at least this 1st body-building phase is a good opportunity to explore them, and with gusto. My initial goal is set at 55sX15 for Incline, but because it's such an under-used movement for me, it could ramp up really quickly, so if I hit 55X15+ next week and the week after, I will bump the weight up.
Bench -
BarX15
85X5
95X4
115X3
145X2
165X1
155X12, 5
Chins (shoulder-width/neutral grip) -
BWX5
+15X5
+20X3, 3
+25X2
+30X1
+25X6, 4
BWX8
DB Incline - 45sX21, 12, 11, 10
1st session on the Big-15 cycles. This will run for two 6-week cycles. Looking forward to it.
155X12 is an all-around PR. My goal on bench this cycle is to hit 155 for 15 or more. I should hit that, and possibly fairly quickly. If I hit 15 before the 6 weeks are up, I think I will continue to rep 155 for the rest of cycle 1, but possibly bump up the warm-up weights to a top single at 175, or my previous Everyday Max. I would like to hit 225X1 sooner rather than later in the next year, and while 155X15 technically projects to that, I figure I can milk 155 for a few reps above that to help cement the musculature I will need when I finally attempt it.
This was my first time doing weighted chins, so these are all PRs to some degree, but really more like baselines. My goal for the 6 weeks will be to hit BW+25X10. Again, if I hit that before the 6 weeks are up, I will just keep pushing the reps. Jesus, anything over 10 is usually a decent chinning-day for me anyhow. Maybe this will help change that.
Another thing I will be doing for the 1st phase will be focusing on DB movements for a lot of the assistance/accessory work. I've largely stayed away from that stuff for compound movements the last couple of years, and I think at least this 1st body-building phase is a good opportunity to explore them, and with gusto. My initial goal is set at 55sX15 for Incline, but because it's such an under-used movement for me, it could ramp up really quickly, so if I hit 55X15+ next week and the week after, I will bump the weight up.
Monday, August 19, 2013
LRB 365: Strong-15 Short (and LRB Split). In Review
My goals for the LRB Split and Strong-15 Short Cycle boil down to:
1) Chase Rep PRs in assistance work to build supporting musculature.
2) Focus on the Squat overall.
3) Eat real food, prepared by myself as much as possible, and try to eat "normally."
More detail on each of these.
1) Rep PRs. I covered a lot of the Rep PRs under the LRB Split here. DB OHP, T-Bar Rows, Fronts, GMs, RDLs.
Under the Strong-15 Short, I had Rep PRs in Bench, Incline Bench, and more RDLs. Additionally, the way Paul Carter programs Squats and Deads, you could look at my back-off sets as volume PRs. 5 sets of 3 for both Pause Squats and Deadlifts after working up to the day's single. In my last Deadlift workout, I backed-off to 4 sets of 3 with 295. Now I've lifted 295X8 before, but the density of volume is even more here, AND the bar speed was fast on all the reps. For Pause Squats, at the end of the Strong-15 I did 1 set of 3 with 215. At the end of the Short Cycle, I did 3 sets of 3 with that same weight.
Leg Presses were also introduced and used in both cycles and the weight/reps were pushed throughout; you could say weight/rep PRs and volume PRs were set on that as well, but 1) it's a machine and therefore highly variable and 2) it's a seldom used exercise for me and so is ripe for improvement.
2) Squat Focus. For the LRB Split, I wanted to emphasize quad development as much as possible, so I did Front Squats on both leg days. On the heavy squat day, I did 4 sets of 10 with fronts after my back squats, and on on light squat day, fronts were my main movement. The program calls for working up to a few fast triples on that movement, however I over-rode that, and pushed for max reps on the last set 531-style. I set Rep PRs every week on that day. This was all in addition to Leg Presses, BW Lunges, and Leg Extensions. Really trying to take what Dan Green says to heart.
For the Strong-15 Short, I decided to back all my goals down from what I did on the full Strong-15 earlier this year. I decided for Bench and Deadlift I would program so that my top single at the end of the cycle would be my Everyday Max (EDM), 175 and 315 respectively. For squat I programmed to hit 255, or 10 lbs. over what I thought my EDM was.
The culmination of the squat focus was that I killed my pause squats and top singles every week, including the EDM+10 in the last week. And my legs are bigger.
3) Diet and Food Prep. Not a lot to say here. I'm an avid cook, so the main thing was making time one day a week to cook a large amount of lifting friendly food. This mostly consisted of a variety of grilled meat with some vegetables and rice on the side. No supplements, and minimized eating out as much as possible. Over the two cycles my weight slowly and steadily climbed from the low 190s to the low 200s. About an 8-10 lb. swing, or about a pound a week.
Conclusion. I had a great time running these. I looked forward to every training session and felt like I got a lot of good feedback from what I ran. I set modest goals and hit them. Now I can only hope I'm setting the stage for continued progress. It's been an awfully slow climb for me this last year and a half considering how light my weights are. I'm pretty good about not comparing myself to what other people are doing, but because I like to read up about this stuff it's hard not to notice 175 lb. guys on straight linear progression squatting 450. I want weight on the bar, but I've just got to be patient and believe it will come if I keep putting in the work and the time on a consistent basis.
1) Chase Rep PRs in assistance work to build supporting musculature.
2) Focus on the Squat overall.
3) Eat real food, prepared by myself as much as possible, and try to eat "normally."
More detail on each of these.
1) Rep PRs. I covered a lot of the Rep PRs under the LRB Split here. DB OHP, T-Bar Rows, Fronts, GMs, RDLs.
Under the Strong-15 Short, I had Rep PRs in Bench, Incline Bench, and more RDLs. Additionally, the way Paul Carter programs Squats and Deads, you could look at my back-off sets as volume PRs. 5 sets of 3 for both Pause Squats and Deadlifts after working up to the day's single. In my last Deadlift workout, I backed-off to 4 sets of 3 with 295. Now I've lifted 295X8 before, but the density of volume is even more here, AND the bar speed was fast on all the reps. For Pause Squats, at the end of the Strong-15 I did 1 set of 3 with 215. At the end of the Short Cycle, I did 3 sets of 3 with that same weight.
Leg Presses were also introduced and used in both cycles and the weight/reps were pushed throughout; you could say weight/rep PRs and volume PRs were set on that as well, but 1) it's a machine and therefore highly variable and 2) it's a seldom used exercise for me and so is ripe for improvement.
2) Squat Focus. For the LRB Split, I wanted to emphasize quad development as much as possible, so I did Front Squats on both leg days. On the heavy squat day, I did 4 sets of 10 with fronts after my back squats, and on on light squat day, fronts were my main movement. The program calls for working up to a few fast triples on that movement, however I over-rode that, and pushed for max reps on the last set 531-style. I set Rep PRs every week on that day. This was all in addition to Leg Presses, BW Lunges, and Leg Extensions. Really trying to take what Dan Green says to heart.
For the Strong-15 Short, I decided to back all my goals down from what I did on the full Strong-15 earlier this year. I decided for Bench and Deadlift I would program so that my top single at the end of the cycle would be my Everyday Max (EDM), 175 and 315 respectively. For squat I programmed to hit 255, or 10 lbs. over what I thought my EDM was.
The culmination of the squat focus was that I killed my pause squats and top singles every week, including the EDM+10 in the last week. And my legs are bigger.
3) Diet and Food Prep. Not a lot to say here. I'm an avid cook, so the main thing was making time one day a week to cook a large amount of lifting friendly food. This mostly consisted of a variety of grilled meat with some vegetables and rice on the side. No supplements, and minimized eating out as much as possible. Over the two cycles my weight slowly and steadily climbed from the low 190s to the low 200s. About an 8-10 lb. swing, or about a pound a week.
Conclusion. I had a great time running these. I looked forward to every training session and felt like I got a lot of good feedback from what I ran. I set modest goals and hit them. Now I can only hope I'm setting the stage for continued progress. It's been an awfully slow climb for me this last year and a half considering how light my weights are. I'm pretty good about not comparing myself to what other people are doing, but because I like to read up about this stuff it's hard not to notice 175 lb. guys on straight linear progression squatting 450. I want weight on the bar, but I've just got to be patient and believe it will come if I keep putting in the work and the time on a consistent basis.
LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 5. Deadlift
BW - 205
Deadlift -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3
245X2
285X1
295X1
315X1
295X3, 3, 3, 3
RDL -
245X2 (double-overhand)
245X7 (mixed grip)
245X14 (straps)
Shrugs -
455X5
365X17
Chins (neutral, shoulder-width)- BWX8, 5, 4
DB Curls - 40sX10, 7
Last workout of the Short-15. Everything went pretty well, but as usual on this cycle's deadlift day I was exhausted by the end.
The 315X1 (my Everyday Max) felt good, and actually looked even better on video:
My grip on my left-hand got a little slippy double-overhand here, so I'm not 100% this lift would pass in a power-lifting competition.
I tried to keep going double-overhand on my back-offs, but it got dicey, and by my last set of 295X3, I had to go full mixed-grip:
Just like my last two sessions with Squat and Bench, this is my first time ever seeing myself deadlift, and to my eyes these look good. I'm pondering if I should ask some Internet guru or other for a 'form check,' but the more I think about that the more distasteful it gets.
I wanted to go double-overhand strapless on RDLs to get more grip work in, but it was clear that wasn't happening today. I ended up pulling a PR with straps at 245X14.
Since it was the last session I decided to go all-out and bump the weight up on shrugs by 50 lbs. for both sets. Felt strong.
Chins and curls felt weak after all this other work. I was able to use the adjustable chin station so I got that elusive neutral/shoulder-width grip I've been toying with. My whole upper back is achy today from all this work, and it's impossible to say if any one movement contributed more than any other.
Deadlift -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3
245X2
285X1
295X1
315X1
295X3, 3, 3, 3
RDL -
245X2 (double-overhand)
245X7 (mixed grip)
245X14 (straps)
Shrugs -
455X5
365X17
Chins (neutral, shoulder-width)- BWX8, 5, 4
DB Curls - 40sX10, 7
Last workout of the Short-15. Everything went pretty well, but as usual on this cycle's deadlift day I was exhausted by the end.
The 315X1 (my Everyday Max) felt good, and actually looked even better on video:
I tried to keep going double-overhand on my back-offs, but it got dicey, and by my last set of 295X3, I had to go full mixed-grip:
I wanted to go double-overhand strapless on RDLs to get more grip work in, but it was clear that wasn't happening today. I ended up pulling a PR with straps at 245X14.
Since it was the last session I decided to go all-out and bump the weight up on shrugs by 50 lbs. for both sets. Felt strong.
Chins and curls felt weak after all this other work. I was able to use the adjustable chin station so I got that elusive neutral/shoulder-width grip I've been toying with. My whole upper back is achy today from all this work, and it's impossible to say if any one movement contributed more than any other.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 5. Bench
BW - 199
Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X5
135X3
145X2
165X1, 1
175X1
145X14, 6
Incline - 115X14, 6
Dips - BWX13, 10, 8, 5, 5
Nice, PR-laden session. The 175 felt good, and I videoed again, and it looks about like it felt:
The video just supports what I know, which is that I'm having a bitch of a time reconciling leg drive with keeping my butt on the bench. 175 is what I've got down as my EDM for bench.
The back-off set is an all-around PR at 145X14. I videoed that as well, but didn't see anything particularly informative.
115X14 is an all-around PR on Inclines. So Rep PRs that project new highs in 1RM for both flat bench and incline. That's what the program is designed to do here, and hopefully the top end strength really is moving.
Nothing spectacular on dips, but I did get more reps per set that previously.
Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X5
135X3
145X2
165X1, 1
175X1
145X14, 6
Incline - 115X14, 6
Dips - BWX13, 10, 8, 5, 5
Nice, PR-laden session. The 175 felt good, and I videoed again, and it looks about like it felt:
The back-off set is an all-around PR at 145X14. I videoed that as well, but didn't see anything particularly informative.
115X14 is an all-around PR on Inclines. So Rep PRs that project new highs in 1RM for both flat bench and incline. That's what the program is designed to do here, and hopefully the top end strength really is moving.
Nothing spectacular on dips, but I did get more reps per set that previously.
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