Mattonaise's Training Log

leonardopm said:
Excellent video. I agree almost entirely with him, except that we can use a 6 months horizon instead of the entire year proposed on the video. I believe that with the correct nutrition, effort AND observation/control anyone is able to evaluate a routine after six months.
Click to expand...

But he has only been doing HST for 6 weeks!!
 
Last edited:
You guys are all correct, I'm not downplaying the importance of sticking to a routine, but the decision wasn't made simply to "switch it up" like Totentanz suggested, I just think it may be more conducive to my goals at this point in my training. If you think HST will get me better strength gains then you can suggest it to me, but I was focusing so much on the numbers during my run that I think strength is too important to me to fully be satisfied with HST. Granted, I did only run it for six weeks that is very true, but over the course of six weeks I do feel as if my strength can improve faster than it did on HST. If you guys disagree then I'm open to your input. At this point in my training, size should come with strength.

First workout was yesterday anyhow:

Wednesday (2/4/2015)

Weight: 144 (a new high, though I'm not sure how regular the weight gain was)

Paused Squat: 5x5x135
Front Squat: 5x5x95 (actually did these paused as well)
SLDL: 5x5x135

I like the paused work, it definitely exposed my weaknesses in the bottom of the squat. Also, I noted I was able to keep my upper back much tighter if I didn't wrap my thumb around the bar, instead it went over the same way my fingers did. I believe it helped me maintain a more upright torso due to the added tightness. Is this a more correct/beneficial technique?
 
Yes strength gains will be slower on HST than doing a standard strength programme as HST is about hypertrophy. It really depends on whether you want to get stronger or more muscular
 
mickc1965 said:
Yes strength gains will be slower on HST than doing a standard strength programme as HST is about hypertrophy. It really depends on whether you want to get stronger or more muscular
Click to expand...
Why_not_both.jpg
 
Thursday (2/5/2015)

Weight: 145.0

Paused Bench: 5x5x105
Overhead Press: 5x5x85
Dips: 5x5xBW
Finished with a set of external rotations, some shoulder dislocations, and some band pull aparts.
 
Friday (2/6/2015)

Weight: 144.0
Deadlift: 3x5x185,205,225 (felt damn heavy)
Snatch Grip Deadlift: 2x5x155 (fuaaarrkkkk my grip)
Wide Grip Cable Row: 5x5x100 (still experimenting with this exercise)
Pullups: 5x5xBW
Finished with a set of facepulls, shoulder dislocations, and band pull aparts.

I'm getting the same problem with my deadlifts as I did in my SLDLs, namely the intense soreness in my lower back, so I'm probably gonna need to lower the weight and fix my form. The snatch grip deadlifts hurt my hands like a mother-fucker, so hopefully they will be beneficial. Also, I'm experimenting with the wide grip cable row, it was interesting cause the grip is so wide it reduces the ROM to something similar to a T-bar row with a barbell. As a result you need to go fairly heavy to feel it working the back. I'll continue with these, but if they end up not being very useful to me I'll switch the wide grip out for the parallel grip attachment as is usually used on a cable row. I could do some other form of row, but since legs is right after my pull day on which I do deads, I want to save my lower back from chronic fatigue as much as I can.
 
Take a side-view video of your deadlift and post it here for us to critique.

Why are you doing snatch-grip deadlifts?
 
The main reasons I included a snatch grip deadlift are to help me maintain thoracic extension which will help during my squat, I've heard snatch grip deadlifts are excellent for this purpose. Other than that it is some damn good grip work and just lets me get more volume in for a deadlift-like movement. I'm very open to suggestions if anyone has better ideas.
 
Too much low back impacting lifts in one day. Switch the rows to chest supported or drop rows completely, I rarely recommend rows on a deadlift day.
 
The cable rows haven't been tiring my lower back yet, and I can't imagine a pull day without some sort of rowing, I'll probably drop the snatch grip deads before the rows if lower back fatigue becomes a problem.
 
Rows and deads both hammer the lower back, usually cable rows are fine though. But it's fairly unusual to pair rows with deads, usually you pair deads with pulldowns, chins or something similar. I agree you should drop the snatch grip deads first though. If you want to work on grip strength, that's not the most efficient way to go at this point. You'd be better off doing static holds or rack pulls. If you actually get all into grip training, there is a whole bunch of stuff you can do (captain of crush grippers, stuff like that) but I don't think that's necessary for most people.
 
I am doing pull-ups if you didn't catch them, though they are after rows at the moment. The main reason why I have snatch grip deads are for the thoracic extension, not the grip work it's just an added bonus. Also I think I'll alternate conventional deads and snatch grip deads each pull workout, heavy deadlifts twice a week probably aren't the best idea if I'm concerned with lower back fatigue. I'll do conventional deads the first pull day of the week when my back is the freshest, then snatch grip deads on the second, both working up to a max set of 5.
 
Mattonaise said:
I am doing pull-ups if you didn't catch them, though they are after rows at the moment. The main reason why I have snatch grip deads are for the thoracic extension, not the grip work it's just an added bonus. Also I think I'll alternate conventional deads and snatch grip deads each pull workout, heavy deadlifts twice a week probably aren't the best idea if I'm concerned with lower back fatigue. I'll do conventional deads the first pull day of the week when my back is the freshest, then snatch grip deads on the second, both working up to a max set of 5.
Click to expand...

I think at your current strength level, you need to be hammering the movement patterns you want to get stronger at. I don't think you need a snatch grip deadlift. If you're having trouble keeping yourself from excessively rounding over with 225lb, then something is screwy with your setup and you should be posting a side-view video of a heavy pull or at least a picture of your setup right before you pull off the ground so we can look at your form.

Heavy deadlifts twice a week is definitely something you should be doing as long as volume is manageable enough to clamp down on fatigue. Many of us pull 85-90% 1RM multiple times a week. What you shouldn't be doing is following deadlifts up with multiple accessory movements that continue to fatigue the lower back, like following a deadlift up with a snatch-grip deadlift.
 
Sunday (2/8/2015) (I would have done it Saturday but I was at a friends house the entire time)

Weight: 144.5

Paused Squats: 5x5x140
Front Squats: 5x5x100
Seated Leg Curl: 5x8x80

The paused squats I do think will be useful, even at this low of a weight it is noticeably difficult to get out of the bottom as fast as I can. Also, I realized as the weight on both squats get heavier, using SLDLs for hamstring work will become impractical due to fatigue. I used seated leg curls today to hit the hamstrings some more, though I'm still looking for a better hamstring dominant movement that minimally involves the lower back. A GHR would be perfect, but I have not found a way to do them at my gym.
 
TangoDown said:
I think at your current strength level, you need to be hammering the movement patterns you want to get stronger at. I don't think you need a snatch grip deadlift. If you're having trouble keeping yourself from excessively rounding over with 225lb, then something is screwy with your setup and you should be posting a side-view video of a heavy pull or at least a picture of your setup right before you pull off the ground so we can look at your form.

Heavy deadlifts twice a week is definitely something you should be doing as long as volume is manageable enough to clamp down on fatigue. Many of us pull 85-90% 1RM multiple times a week. What you shouldn't be doing is following deadlifts up with multiple accessory movements that continue to fatigue the lower back, like following a deadlift up with a snatch-grip deadlift.
Click to expand...

So should I drop the snatch grip deads and just do conventional deads both pull days? I am removing as much fatigue on the lower back as possible like I stated in my last post, so it should be good. I don't think I'm rounding, at least not excessively, but I am getting instense soreness so maybe I am without noticing.
 
Where you are now, you might not have a lot of motor control and can't really "feel" how much extension/flexion you're in. Sometimes I have problems with this too.

Video yourself.

Yes, I would try to pull conventionally at least twice a week. I don't know what sort of programming you're following now though...HST or something else since you're referring to a "pull day."
 
Just a linear progression at this point. If I fail a set and I have sets left I'll drop the weight by one increment and get all 5 reps in the other sets, I think that will be more beneficial then trying to grind out more sets essentially going to failure.
 
I saw you were doing pullups, just typically deads, rows and pullups or downs all in the same day isn't done. No reason you can't do it though, lower back will toughen up eventually. For reference, when I was near your strength level, I was doing squats and deads in the same workout three times a week and didn't have problems until I got stronger. You could just keep doing them and see if your lower back becomes stronger, as long as you know your body well enough to know if you are getting close to injury. So... in that vein, probably not the best idea.

I'm not a big fan of push/pull days. There is no real reason to split them out this way either, people just do it because. Better to spread the lifts out across the week in a way that ensures the best environment for anabolism and strength development with appropriate recovery.
 
From what I've seen from the fitness community, push/pull/legs are very praised both in the bodybuilding world and the strength world. What would you personally recommend instead?
 
The bodybuilding world also widely praises a split where you only hit a muscle once a week, so take that for what it is worth.

As I said, I would spread the lifts out across the week so you are hitting the same muscle group multiple times a week. So deads once or twice a week, rows on the opposing days, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top