200, 300, 400, 500 - A quest for greatness
- Thread starter mikeynov
- Start date
Mikey, you may obviously want to do what Aaron said (
) but if you still get problems with your thumbs just tape them up a bit. That should prevent bits being torn off. I can see how it could be possible to rip your nail off, although I've never even come close to doing that. Chalk helps a whole lot but I'm assuming you always use chalk.
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup (band)
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5 (band)
215 x 5 (no band)
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
Hook Grip Deadlifts
135 x warmup
225 x warmup
245 x warmup
275 x 5
275 x 5
Discussion
Pause Squats - A little asymmetric today, though I haven't gone up to 215 for 5's before without a belt. I think this is partially related to my foot angle - in order to achieve as much asymmetry as possible, I place my right foot first into a "natural" position, then match it with my left. Even if that angle winds up slightly suboptimal for the left, I am A) more symmetric and B) my left is stronger anyways, so it's not really an issue, seemingly.
Chins - Effort here similar.
Bench - felt unusually easy today. Paused rep #5 on my chest on set #2 for probably ~5 full seconds, and it still wasn't that hard.
Deadlifts - Decided to bump this to 275, as it seems like pain is really the only factor barring me lifting more, not strength. The sets of 5 really weren't that bad, though my form was a little uneven (was squatting the weight too much set #2 at first). I taped my thumbs on this, and, non-shockingly, this helped.
Bar x warmup (band)
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5 (band)
215 x 5 (no band)
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
Hook Grip Deadlifts
135 x warmup
225 x warmup
245 x warmup
275 x 5
275 x 5
Discussion
Pause Squats - A little asymmetric today, though I haven't gone up to 215 for 5's before without a belt. I think this is partially related to my foot angle - in order to achieve as much asymmetry as possible, I place my right foot first into a "natural" position, then match it with my left. Even if that angle winds up slightly suboptimal for the left, I am A) more symmetric and B) my left is stronger anyways, so it's not really an issue, seemingly.
Chins - Effort here similar.
Bench - felt unusually easy today. Paused rep #5 on my chest on set #2 for probably ~5 full seconds, and it still wasn't that hard.
Deadlifts - Decided to bump this to 275, as it seems like pain is really the only factor barring me lifting more, not strength. The sets of 5 really weren't that bad, though my form was a little uneven (was squatting the weight too much set #2 at first). I taped my thumbs on this, and, non-shockingly, this helped.
Second part of my cycle...3 sets of 5 rep block...forgot how tough this is :-x
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5 (band)
215 x 5 (no band)
215 x 5 (no band)
Chins
Me + 75 x 5 (might have accidentally done 6?)
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
210 x 5
Elevated Bridge
Shoulders on bench, legs on chair, so you get an extended ROM throughout.
2 sets of me x 15 in this. The second set I got the form rather nice, the feeling is brace your abs and squeeze your glutes all the way up. A very distinct feeling, feels...needed.
Discussion
After thinking things over, deadlifts are now going to be done once weekly. Squatting AND deadlifting even four days per week just does not seem like the path of wisdom, my back was getting very stiff, whereas last cycle I always felt good even squatting 5 days per week.
Things were mostly fine today. I paid more attention to even foot position on squats, which seems to have helped my symmetry a bit. Weirdly my sets of chins/bench almost got easier after a set or two, particularly bench. Had to wake my nervous system up I guess, this could also be a consequence of not warming up enough? Hmm.
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5 (band)
215 x 5 (no band)
215 x 5 (no band)
Chins
Me + 75 x 5 (might have accidentally done 6?)
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
210 x 5
Elevated Bridge
Shoulders on bench, legs on chair, so you get an extended ROM throughout.
2 sets of me x 15 in this. The second set I got the form rather nice, the feeling is brace your abs and squeeze your glutes all the way up. A very distinct feeling, feels...needed.
Discussion
After thinking things over, deadlifts are now going to be done once weekly. Squatting AND deadlifting even four days per week just does not seem like the path of wisdom, my back was getting very stiff, whereas last cycle I always felt good even squatting 5 days per week.
Things were mostly fine today. I paid more attention to even foot position on squats, which seems to have helped my symmetry a bit. Weirdly my sets of chins/bench almost got easier after a set or two, particularly bench. Had to wake my nervous system up I guess, this could also be a consequence of not warming up enough? Hmm.
Wow...fatigue from yesterday already caught up to me :-x
Pause Squats
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5 (band)
215 x 5
215 x 5
Chins
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
210 x 5
Accessory ****
Roman Chair Situps - me + 25 x 15
Extended ROM bridge - me x 15
Discussion
Things were rather tiring today. Squats were odd - I consistently had the bar placed such that it was tilting to one side, yet I had LESS hip drift than usual. I am an asymmetric mess. Third set of 5 was bizarrely hard, I got randomly juiced.
Everything else was more or less fine, albeit similarly tiring.
Pause Squats
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5 (band)
215 x 5
215 x 5
Chins
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
210 x 5
Accessory ****
Roman Chair Situps - me + 25 x 15
Extended ROM bridge - me x 15
Discussion
Things were rather tiring today. Squats were odd - I consistently had the bar placed such that it was tilting to one side, yet I had LESS hip drift than usual. I am an asymmetric mess. Third set of 5 was bizarrely hard, I got randomly juiced.
Everything else was more or less fine, albeit similarly tiring.
Better session today, energy was really good.
Pause Squats
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5 (band)
215 x 5 (no band)
215 x 5 (no band)
Pause Chins
I might as well call it this since I pause every rep at the bottom.
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
210 x 5
Accessory ****
Extended ROM Bridges - Me x 15. Wow, just like that glute guy on t-mag said, I actually felt my glutes really "turn on" towards the end of this set, normally I have a problem feeling bridges in my glutes.
Roman Chair Situps - me + 25 x 15
Discussion
Things felt pretty solid today. No long-winded commentary necessary
Pause Squats
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5 (band)
215 x 5 (no band)
215 x 5 (no band)
Pause Chins
I might as well call it this since I pause every rep at the bottom.
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
210 x 5
Accessory ****
Extended ROM Bridges - Me x 15. Wow, just like that glute guy on t-mag said, I actually felt my glutes really "turn on" towards the end of this set, normally I have a problem feeling bridges in my glutes.
Roman Chair Situps - me + 25 x 15
Discussion
Things felt pretty solid today. No long-winded commentary necessary
<div>
(_tim @ Sep. 24 2009,1:44)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">When you say (band) Mike, are you using a powerlifting band? If so - which size? I'm going to incorporate them in my next microcycle and am really not sure which to start with.</div>
It's actually a little theraband thing that I tie off to give me a certain resistance towards abduction, haven't tried using any of the jumps stretch bands I have for it as the theraband works quite well.
(_tim @ Sep. 24 2009,1:44)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">When you say (band) Mike, are you using a powerlifting band? If so - which size? I'm going to incorporate them in my next microcycle and am really not sure which to start with.</div>
It's actually a little theraband thing that I tie off to give me a certain resistance towards abduction, haven't tried using any of the jumps stretch bands I have for it as the theraband works quite well.
<div>
(Lol @ Sep. 24 2009,5:12)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What's next? Pause Deads?!
</div>
Haha, deadlifts are inherently paused, too!
Yes, I am pausing everything, not sure how I got into the habit, but I enjoy the absolute mastery over the weight.
(Lol @ Sep. 24 2009,5:12)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What's next? Pause Deads?!
Haha, deadlifts are inherently paused, too!
Yes, I am pausing everything, not sure how I got into the habit, but I enjoy the absolute mastery over the weight.
Reasonable day...started off tired, but woke up at some point.
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5
215 x 5
215 x 5
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5 (wider grip)
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
210 x 5 (wider grip)
Discussion
I've experimented a little with varying the grip and such on sets, to prevent boredom. Kind of fun, I may continue to do so.
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
215 x 5
215 x 5
215 x 5
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5
Me + 75 x 5 (wider grip)
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
210 x 5
210 x 5
210 x 5 (wider grip)
Discussion
I've experimented a little with varying the grip and such on sets, to prevent boredom. Kind of fun, I may continue to do so.
RUSS
Member
Deads are funny - I wish I could do them every work out but have had to settle for 2x/wk doing singles (7x1) starting around 80%1RM , adding 5# per workout and dropping down and resetting more often than any other lift. I reset when I find I have to use mixed grip to finish the singles.
For me, I've found that this is a sweet spot - I do them on day2 and 4 of a 4x/wk upper/lower split; the only other movement I do that day is front squats (5x10) treating them as an assistance/warm up exersize.
This is going very well the volume of the squats is showing in growth and by de-emphasizing balls out low reps in the squat I'm primed and warmed up to really make those seven deadlift singles my bitch. I have deadlifted once a week before also and made good progress that way too by using higher %ages and/or more volume per workout. I'm always keen to read how others program deadlifts as in my experience it's the one lift that will make or break the efficiency of a routine depending on how it's programmed.
Good luck Mikey!
For me, I've found that this is a sweet spot - I do them on day2 and 4 of a 4x/wk upper/lower split; the only other movement I do that day is front squats (5x10) treating them as an assistance/warm up exersize.
This is going very well the volume of the squats is showing in growth and by de-emphasizing balls out low reps in the squat I'm primed and warmed up to really make those seven deadlift singles my bitch. I have deadlifted once a week before also and made good progress that way too by using higher %ages and/or more volume per workout. I'm always keen to read how others program deadlifts as in my experience it's the one lift that will make or break the efficiency of a routine depending on how it's programmed.
Good luck Mikey!
Feeling saucy so I decided to bump up my weights a little for my second/last week of 3 sets of 5.
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
220 x 5 (band)
220 x 5 (no band)
220 x 5 (no band)
Chins
Okay, I feel silly calling these pause chins, even though they are...
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me x 1/side (1 finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5
Pause Roman Chair Situps (yes, there's a full pause at the bottom of each)
Me + 30 x 15
Discussion
Squats were a bit asymmetric at first, but I found yet another thing I was doing that wasn't helping my asymmetry - I wasn't really keeping my gaze fixed. When I actually forced myself to look at the same spot without deviating, I magically got more symmetric. Go figure...sometimes it's the simple things.
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
185 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
220 x 5 (band)
220 x 5 (no band)
220 x 5 (no band)
Chins
Okay, I feel silly calling these pause chins, even though they are...
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me x 1/side (1 finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5
Pause Roman Chair Situps (yes, there's a full pause at the bottom of each)
Me + 30 x 15
Discussion
Squats were a bit asymmetric at first, but I found yet another thing I was doing that wasn't helping my asymmetry - I wasn't really keeping my gaze fixed. When I actually forced myself to look at the same spot without deviating, I magically got more symmetric. Go figure...sometimes it's the simple things.
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
220 x 5 (band)
220 x 5 (no band)
220 x 5 (no band)
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me x 1/side (1 finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5 (wider grip)
Roman Chair Situps
Me + 35 x 15
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
220 x 5 (band)
220 x 5 (no band)
220 x 5 (no band)
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me x 1/side (1 finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5 (wider grip)
Roman Chair Situps
Me + 35 x 15
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
220 x 5 (band)
220 x 5
220 x 5
Chins
Me x 3/side (two finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5 (wider grip)
Roman Chair Situps
Me + 35 x 15
Discussion
A bit tired today, and squats were GM-ier than I'd like on the last two sets, but such is life.
Bar x warmup
135 x warmup (band)
205 x warmup (band)
220 x 5 (band)
220 x 5
220 x 5
Chins
Me x 3/side (two finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5
212.5 x 5 (wider grip)
Roman Chair Situps
Me + 35 x 15
Discussion
A bit tired today, and squats were GM-ier than I'd like on the last two sets, but such is life.
Man, last day of a two week block of 3 sets of 5, and I feel it.
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup (no shoes)
135 x warmup (no shoes, band)
185 x warmup (no shoes, band)
205 x warmup (no shoes, band)
220 x 5 (no shoes, band)
220 x 5 (no shoes)
220 x 5 (oly shoes)
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me x 1/side (1 finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
212.5 x 5 (normal grip)
212.5 x 5 (close grip)
212.5 x 5 (normal grip)
Hook Grip Deadlifts
135 x warmup
225 x warmup
245 x warmup
275 x warmup
295 x 5 (reset on the last two reps)
295 x 5 (continuous)
Roman Chair Situps
Me + 35 x 15
Discussion
I played with barefoot squatting a bit today, to see if it really made any particular difference. Not sure it really did, I think I might prefer the slightly more upright feel of oly shoes. If/when I get some Vibram's, I will probably play with this more, though.
Deadlifts were a little awkward finding my proper groove. The first set I was squatting it way too much on the way up after rep 1 (i.e. hips too low). I didn't like having to reset my grip (since I'm also working on the double overhand hook strength), so I did another set without resetting and getting the hips to the right height. Much better.
Pause Squats
Bar x warmup (no shoes)
135 x warmup (no shoes, band)
185 x warmup (no shoes, band)
205 x warmup (no shoes, band)
220 x 5 (no shoes, band)
220 x 5 (no shoes)
220 x 5 (oly shoes)
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me x 1/side (1 finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
212.5 x 5 (normal grip)
212.5 x 5 (close grip)
212.5 x 5 (normal grip)
Hook Grip Deadlifts
135 x warmup
225 x warmup
245 x warmup
275 x warmup
295 x 5 (reset on the last two reps)
295 x 5 (continuous)
Roman Chair Situps
Me + 35 x 15
Discussion
I played with barefoot squatting a bit today, to see if it really made any particular difference. Not sure it really did, I think I might prefer the slightly more upright feel of oly shoes. If/when I get some Vibram's, I will probably play with this more, though.
Deadlifts were a little awkward finding my proper groove. The first set I was squatting it way too much on the way up after rep 1 (i.e. hips too low). I didn't like having to reset my grip (since I'm also working on the double overhand hook strength), so I did another set without resetting and getting the hips to the right height. Much better.
Pause Squats (right foot turned in - more below)
Bar x practice
135 x practice
185 x practice
205 x a bunch of practice
225 x 5
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me x 1/side (1 finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
215 x 5
High Rep Stuff
Elevated Bulgarian Split Squats - me + 50 x 15
Lat Pulldowns - 80 x 25
Pushups - me x 25
Discussion
I experimented with altered foot placement today due to having a positive Craig's test, i.e. a retroverted right hip. The idea being that, at any given "matching" foot angle, my right hip is actually externally rotated an extra ~15-20 degrees, which is the fundamental source of my weirdness/asymmetry. I.e. I am LITERALLY a mutant, have a bony difference on the femur on the right side. FML.
The idea here is that I'm trying to actually match hip angle, and the way to do that is to do some combination of turning the left foot out more, or the right out less. Thinking it over, I came up with a ~30 - ~15 placement left to right.
This seemed to make my squat more symmetric without thinking about anything, particularly the bottom position. Normally I have to really concentrate on balance to keep things symmetric, this time I tested just sinking down without thought and going back up. It actually stayed symmetric.
On the downside, my compensation patterns are still there at higher weights, but I am now convinced these compensation patterns may be a result of a fundamental, structural difference between hips, and that by altering the "line of pull" with the 30/15 stance, may even things out more over time. Hopefully.
Nothing else too awesome to report, though my form in the elevated bulgarian split squats suck, I think due to the forward lean inherent in holding dumbbells. Back went into flexion, and despite this not mattering all that much with weight this light, I'm still not going to **** with that.
Bar x practice
135 x practice
185 x practice
205 x a bunch of practice
225 x 5
Chins
Me x 3/side (2 finger assist)
Me x 1/side (1 finger assist)
Me + 80 x 5
Pause Bench
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
215 x 5
High Rep Stuff
Elevated Bulgarian Split Squats - me + 50 x 15
Lat Pulldowns - 80 x 25
Pushups - me x 25
Discussion
I experimented with altered foot placement today due to having a positive Craig's test, i.e. a retroverted right hip. The idea being that, at any given "matching" foot angle, my right hip is actually externally rotated an extra ~15-20 degrees, which is the fundamental source of my weirdness/asymmetry. I.e. I am LITERALLY a mutant, have a bony difference on the femur on the right side. FML.
The idea here is that I'm trying to actually match hip angle, and the way to do that is to do some combination of turning the left foot out more, or the right out less. Thinking it over, I came up with a ~30 - ~15 placement left to right.
This seemed to make my squat more symmetric without thinking about anything, particularly the bottom position. Normally I have to really concentrate on balance to keep things symmetric, this time I tested just sinking down without thought and going back up. It actually stayed symmetric.
On the downside, my compensation patterns are still there at higher weights, but I am now convinced these compensation patterns may be a result of a fundamental, structural difference between hips, and that by altering the "line of pull" with the 30/15 stance, may even things out more over time. Hopefully.
Nothing else too awesome to report, though my form in the elevated bulgarian split squats suck, I think due to the forward lean inherent in holding dumbbells. Back went into flexion, and despite this not mattering all that much with weight this light, I'm still not going to **** with that.
<div>
(Lol @ Oct. 05 2009,9:00)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">It's very cool that you have finally nailed a solution to your hip weirdness Mikey. All the best with getting the foot placement working at heavier loads. Hope to see you hitting some new squat PRs in the not-to-distant future.</div>
Honestly, I'm not sure I have a "solution" - I've been talking with a physical therapist buddy about the diagnosis (made by an instructor but seen by several PT's in my program), and we're sort of debating what should be done about it, if anything. The altered foot angle has a certain logic to it, but it's a question of whether this will really "help" in terms of introducing a different source of asymmetry vs. just trying to make everything outwardly asymmetric and hope for the best.
(Lol @ Oct. 05 2009,9:00)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">It's very cool that you have finally nailed a solution to your hip weirdness Mikey. All the best with getting the foot placement working at heavier loads. Hope to see you hitting some new squat PRs in the not-to-distant future.</div>
Honestly, I'm not sure I have a "solution" - I've been talking with a physical therapist buddy about the diagnosis (made by an instructor but seen by several PT's in my program), and we're sort of debating what should be done about it, if anything. The altered foot angle has a certain logic to it, but it's a question of whether this will really "help" in terms of introducing a different source of asymmetry vs. just trying to make everything outwardly asymmetric and hope for the best.