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.