Missed my lift

TunnelRat

Active Member
TR's Ed Coan Deadlift Program (utterly modified)

Monday, January 21

Okay, I’ve been going nuts not having any goals or following any sort of pre-planned lifting schedule. I feel as though I’ve been wasting my time in the gym.

Currently, due to my shoulder difficulties, I am unable to do number of major exercises. My rehab guy says no bench presses, no overhead presses, no dips, no pec dec. Pretty much, anything fun is out the window.

In addition, I’ve been cutting, trying to lose the last five pounds that will let me get down to 10% body fat. I’ve been eating a bit less than 10 calories per pound of body weight (though I do make sure that I get at least one gram of protein per pound in order to lessen the likelihood of muscle loss). Anyhow, with a calorie deficit, it is not likely that I am going to produce any new muscle. Even using HST principles to workout, there’s not going to be any growth without sufficient fuel to feed the manufacturing process.

So here I sit with no particularly good reason to go to the gym. Oh, yeah, I know I’ve gotta lift “heavy” in order to retain muscle, but what program should I use? HST? 5X5? All the major programs seem designed for growth, and right now I’m in the fat losing mode. I can’t even do Korte’s program again (Thank God!) because I can’t bench.

After giving the matter some thought, I’ve decided to try Ed Coan’s Deadlift program. Here’s the right url for the spreadsheet:
http://www.ontariostrongman.ca/Resources/training/phillipicoan.xls.

If I’m not going to gain muscle, I ought to at least endeavor to gain strength. Besides, Coan’s program doesn’t require any of my “forbidden” exercises. Heck, it doesn’t even include squats…! I figured I’d try his workout to see if I am able to do it, and maybe add a bit to my deadlift.

My goals:
Deadlift 315 lbs (had been 325).
10% Body fat.
Total body weight 126 lbs (though not necessarily – 10% BF is the big one).
By April 1 (April Fool’s Day – how appropriate!)

(note: having re-assessed my goal and re-doing a couple of weeks, I may have to change my goal date to April 15th, Tax Day – still appropriate).

Of course, as a good HSTer, I felt very free to tweak things to suit my particular situation. I don’t really want to do without squats, so I decided I would use them as my warmup exercise, alternating front squats and back squats every other workout. Twenty good squats oughta have my legs and back ready for some heavy lifting.

Coan’s ten-week program consists of mainly of deadlifts with some assistance exercises done in sets of 3x8 (no doubt Stephan Korte would roll over in his grave…). The deads are done with two heavy lifts and then 8X3 speed sets, though this varies some in later weeks. As the weights get pretty heavy (for me) pretty quickly, I’ll probably switch the 8x3 deadlifts to Max-Stim before long.

Dan Moore reminds us that “WORK as defined in physics is Force X Displacement, a scientific way of saying Work=Weight X Distance Moved. Putting this into a context we are interested in, we can say Work = Load X Reps X Sets.” Thus doing 24 Max-Stim reps produces the same amount of work as eight sets of three, only the fatigue is managed differently.

The assistance exercises are Stiff Leg Deadlifts (I’ll do Romanian Deadlifts instead; they’re about the same thing, but I think I understand the RDL better than the SLDL), Bent Over Rows, Good Mornings, and lat pulldowns. Coan doesn’t assign any particular weights for the assistance exercises, and, since they are all new and unfamiliar to me, I intend to start with very light weights and only gradually work my way up.

The heavy deadlift starts at 75% of the goal weight and ramps up 5% per week for the first four weeks. The speed sets start at 60% of the goal weight and also increases by 5% per week for the first four weeks. Weeks five through nine also operate on a percentage basis, though the percentage varies.

I thought I’d give this a try. I’ve got nothing to lose but my pride (and those last five pounds of body fat). After a couple workouts I decided to add in some calf and tricep work at the very end of the workout (if I still have any energy left). This makes for a lot of lifts, but most of them are relatively light. As things get heavier I may have to drop my extra lifts and concentrate on what Dr. Coan has prescribed.


My proposed A Routine

*Front Squat

Deadlift Heavy
Deadlift Speed Set

Romanian Deadlift
Bent over Row
Good Mornings
Lat Pulldown

*Seated Single Calf Raise
*Standing Calf Raise

My proposed B Routine

*Back Squat

Deadlift Heavy
Deadlift Speed Set

Romanian Deadlift
Bent over Row
Good Mornings
Lat Pulldown

*Tricep Pushdown
*Dumbbell Skullcrushers

(*these are my additions to Coan’s program)

During Week 5 (repeating Week 3’s weights), I figured out that Ed Coan apparently expected this program to be used only once a week! On other weekdays workouts would emphasize squats or bench. I wondered when those exercises got their turn...

I hope I am not overtraining my lower back by doing deads three times per week. However, since I can’t really do bench presses anyhow, I may as well continue my routine. Perhaps I’ll add in a “Squat Day” with squats and squat assistance exercises…

Monday, January 21 (Week 1)

Front Squat 4x5x85
Deadlift Heavy 2x245
Deadlift Speed Set 8x3x195

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x95
Barbell Bent over Row 3x8x75
Waiter’s Bow 3x8x25
Lat Pulldown 3x8x90

Wednesday, January 23

Back Squat 20x155 ms
Deadlift Heavy 2x245
Deadlift Speed Set 25x195 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x85
Bent over Row 3x8x85
Waiter’s Bow 3x8x25
Lat Pulldown 3x8x90

Seated Single Calf Raise 2x10x55
Standing Calf Raise 2x10x120
Tricep Pushdowns 2x10x90

Okay, 8 sets of 3 are fun, but I’m a Max-Stim kind of guy. I seem to be able to regulate my fatigue much better using ms reps rather than a series of sets. So I changed my “Speed Sets” to Max-Stim (they weren’t very speedy anyhow…).

Friday, January 25

Front Squat 4x5x95
Deadlift Heavy 2x245
Deadlift Speed Set 25x195 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x85
Dumbbell prone Row 25x35 ms
Waiter’s Bow 3x8x25
Lat Pulldown 3x8x90

Seated Single Calf Raise 2x10x55
Standing Calf Raise 1x20x120
Tricep Pushdowns 2x10x90

Yeah, okay, bent over rows – whatever. My lower back is taking a beating from all the squats, deads, Romanians, and good mornings, so I changed my rows to prone rows on a bench using dumbbells. You gotta love a guy who schedules deads, RDLs, good mornings, and bent over rows into one workout, but since I’ve added in squats, I figured I could skip the bent over rows.


Monday, January 28, 2008 (Week 2)

Back Squat 20x155 ms
Deadlift Heavy 2x260
Deadlift Speed Set 25x215 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x95
Dumbbell prone Row 25x35 ms
Waiter’s Bow 3x8x25
Lat Pulldown 3x8x100

Tricep Pushdowns 2x10x100
Dumbbell Skullcrushers 2x10x10

I did not do well during today’s workout. I was halfway through my warm-ups (I use my squats as a warm-up) and I was tired already. I began reasoning with myself that 10 Max-Stim reps were plenty, that it was just for warm-up; I didn’t really need to finish all 20… and so forth, but I did them anyhow... I was beat the whole time, from beginning to end.

The deads were heavy today. The heavy lift at 260 lbs was twice my body weight. It went right up, but it went slowly (btw, last October 19, it took 275 lbs to double my body weight; apparently I’ve managed to lose a few pounds since then!). The Max-Stim reps of 215 about did me in.

I threw in a coupla sets of dumbbell skullcrushers with my vet’s approval. I’m only allowed to use ten pound weights, but it’s a start. I was very tired all the way through the workout, and went home feeling like a zombie (but, hey, a zombie who had just lifted twice his rotting body weight…!).

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Front Squat 5x45, 5x65, 5x85, 20x100 ms
Deadlift Heavy 2x260
Deadlift Speed Set 24x215 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x95
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x35
Waiter’s Bow 3x8x25
Lat Pulldown 3x8x100

Seated Single Calf Raise 2x10x55
Standing Calf Raise 2x10x120

I wasn’t nearly so beat afterwards today as I was on Monday. The more deads I did, the better I felt and the easier they went up.

Friday. February 1, 2008

Back Squat 10x45, 5x95, 3x135, 20x155 ms
Deadlift Heavy 2x260
Deadlift Speed Set 25x215 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x95
Dumbbell prone Row 8x35 ms, 2x8x40 ms
Waiter’s Bow 2x8x25, 1x8x35
Lat Pulldown 3x8x100

Tricep Pushdowns 2x10x100
Dumbbell Skullcrushers 2x10x10

The heavy deads felt heavy today, but everything else went well. Maybe it helped that I ate nearly 60 grams of carbs before I went to the gym. That’s more than I had all day yesterday…

I had to share the squat rack with some high school kid and his coach. Actually, I thought it was kind of a treat to see someone else doing squats! This kid is an offensive tackle – about the size of a small Canadian bear. He started his squats at 315 lbs and went up from there. Heck, my goal for my whole deadlift program is only 325 lbs…!

Monday, February 5, 2008 (Week 3)

Front Squat 5x45, 5x95, 20x105 ms
Deadlift Heavy 2x280
Deadlift Speed Set 18x230 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x105
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x40
Good Mornings 3x8x45
Lat Pulldown 3x8x100

Seated Single Calf Raise 2x10x60
Standing Calf Raise 2x10x130

280 lbs went right up, though the second lift was a bit of a struggle. Front squats seem to be much more pleasant than back squats. I am able to go noticeably lower.

I upped the weight on most exercises. Not by a lot, but enough to serve as a reminder that I’m supposed to be following at least some HST principles. I’m still trying to lose those last five pounds, so I’m not eating enough to generate any sort of hypertrophy. Even so, the concept of progressive load keeps urging me to add a bit, weekly if not daily.

I quit screwing around with the Good Mornings. I had been trying to do a Zercher-type variation, a sort of a Waiter’s Bow. I’ve been using first a 25 lb plate and then a 35 lb plate, holding it to my chest as I bent over at the hips. Today I used an empty bar on my shoulders and just did a clunky old Good Morning; I found that it was much easier. I’ll begin to add some weight to this exercise, but slowly as I gain more confidence with it.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Back Squat 10x155 ms
Deadlift Heavy 2x280
Deadlift Speed Set 18x230 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x105
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x40 ms
Good Mornings 2x8x65
Lat Pulldown 3x8x100

Tricep Pushdowns 2x10x100
Dumbbell Skullcrushers 2x10x12

I was tired going in to my workout. I decided to do only 10 squats for my warmup. I figured I could do 10 more afterwards if I had any juice left. I didn’t…


Friday. February 8, 2008

Front Squat 5x95, 5x115 ms
Deadlift Heavy 1x280 (I missed my second lift)
Deadlift Speed Set 18x230 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x105
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x40
Good Mornings 3x8x65
Lat Pulldown 3x8x100

I couldn’t get the heavy lift up today. I only did a very few front squats, then decided to go ahead with my deads. After a brief warm up with 3x135 lbs, then 3x230 lbs, I went to lift the 280, but it did not move. This is the same weight I lifted twice on Monday and twice on Tuesday, but today it had a mind of its own. I didn’t sleep at all last night; perhaps that contributed to my failure.

I remembered some of the advice I’ve received about lifting – especially that a lot of it is mental. So I sat down and rested for two minutes then went back to the bar. This time it went up. It was heavy and slow but it went up. I did a little victory lap afterwards – I felt like Rocky…!

After another few minutes, I went for my second lift, but this time it wouldn’t go up. I could just break it from the floor, but it wouldn’t go up. I tried another coupla times, then let it go. I went on and finished the rest of my workout.

I think I’m beginning to get the hang of the Romanian Deadlifts. Today my back was straighter, my butt went farther back, and the bar went farther down than anytime previous. I’ve only been using 105 lbs, but now I think I can bump that up a bit.

The same goes for my Good Mornings. My back was straighter, my butt went back farther, and I got clear down to parallel without much effort. Again, I might try adding a bit more weight.

I didn’t do any calf raises today. My time was running long. Besides, I figured if I missed my most important heavy lifts, it wouldn’t matter much whether I did my calves or not.

I am a bit concerned going into next week. I am scheduled to lift 295 on Monday. I think I may skip the warm up squats. Instead I’ll just warm up with some 135 and 225 deads, then I’ll do a 280 in order to prove to myself that I can do it. That’ll put me back on track, and I can go on and do my 295’s.
 
Were it me, I'd do 135x3, 175x3, 225x3, 265x3, 295x however many you can get. By increasing 40# each time, then only 30# at the final, it can fool the body into feeling lighter than it is, and you may be surprised at how many reps you get. Forget the single man, go for the Gold!
 
Tunnel, if my sleep is bad the night before deads I definitely find them harder. Also, get some more calories in prior to your workout. How about a bit of choccy? Think like Andy Bolton! It might be just the ticket.
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I actually think you did really well to go back to the bar and lift it especially after only two minutes. If I fail an attempt it really takes the stuffing out of me and I need at least three minutes before I'm ready to try again.

I agree about going straight to deads next week. You can always do your front squats afterwards.

You have a whole weekend to think about making that lift on Monday. So, get some good sleep and plenty of calories and then come back and tell us how you got on.

Oh, one more tip: have a coffee before your workout as that can help fire you up too.
 
Coffee nothin' - I have to take a full blown thermo to work out these days, and TR is my age or thereabouts. Guarana or yohimbe on a heavy max day seems to do well.
Choccy? Man, you kill me!
laugh.gif
Down here, that's "Chawklit".
 
Monday, February 11, 2008

Deadlift Heavy 3x135, 3x175, 2x225, 1x265,
295 miss, 295 miss, 1x280, 280 miss
Deadlift Speed Set 18x230 ms
Romanian Deadlift 3x8x115
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x45
Good Mornings 3x8x115
Lat Pulldown 3x8x110

Well, today was a tad discouraging as I missed my assigned lifts again. I came prepared with a good night’s sleep, a solid break-fast, several cups of coffee, and 36 grams of “choccy”. In that one meal I consumed well over 100 grams of carbs. That’s more than I’ve had in any one day for the past week! This also marks the first day over 1300 calories in the past week.

I managed to break the 295 off the floor, but my legs turned into rubber and I just could not get the bar up past my knees. I struggled with it for what seemed like several hours, but finally had to set the bar back down. I waited three minutes and tried again, but this time I couldn’t even break the bar from the floor.

Then I set the bar at 280 lbs. It came up once, but it refused to budge on the second lift.

It occurs to me that perhaps it is time to stop and rethink my program:

1. It may be that Ed Coan’s spreadsheet doesn’t work so well for folks on the light end of the spectrum. That is to say, adding 20 pounds to a 300 pound lift is not the same thing as adding 20 pounds to a 500 pound lift.

2. It may be that I have simply overestimated my current 1RM. That is not at all an unreasonable assumption. I last lifted 305 lbs. early in November. Since then I’ve had to take a deal of time off. It should be no surprise if my current 1RM is less than 300. To be fair to Ed, where he calls for 3x8 Speed Sets, I’ve been doing 18 reps using Max-Stim. That may be a sign that I am in well over my head…

3. Ed also assigns a series of assistance exercises, including Good Mornings and RDLs. However, he did not prescribe any of the weights to be used with these assistance exercises. Since these are new to me, it has taken me a while to get used to doing them (heck, I did my first RDLs with an empty bar, and it took me several weeks before I even worked up to an empty bar with my Good Mornings!). It was only this week that I have begun to use an appreciable percentage of my body weight on these exercises. So while I like to think I have been doing my assignments, it may well be that I have been way too light on these.

4. I don’t suppose my cutting diet has been much help either…

Thus, all things considered, perhaps I should modify my present course. I could either reset my spreadsheet for a lower goal, or maybe just go back and re-do the last couple of weeks over again.

Okay, looking at the Ed Coan spreadsheet with adjustments, I think I’m going to plan to reset my goal for 315 lbs (which is what I was after all along, anyhow…). I will re-do my Week 3 requirements at 2x270 and 18x225. I can do that in a walk. Then next week I will repeat Week 4, using 2x285 and 15x240. I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to it (All things are possible; only believe).
 
Oh well. It worked for me. You were good to try. One thing about deads I found out - once you fail you're stuffed. Stick a fork in you; you're done. I've never got one up after failing, maybe others can, I dunno.
I was getting ready to do some romanians and good mornings, getting braver with my back and then read some advice on an over 40 forum and again in one of the sites recently linked on here...that we older lifters shouldn't do them. I'm on the fence on this one; not sure if I should or not, but if I do, will start with just a 135 lb. bar or so.
 
When a program promises to add 20 pounds to a 500-lb lift, then I'd just recalculate the percentage and go with that. Adding twenty pounds to a 500-lb lift means an increase of 4%, right? And adding 4% to 300 pounds makes 312 pounds - not 320 pounds. So your new 1 RM is 312 pounds, and you need to recalculate the weights for the entire program based on that.
 
<div>
(XFatMan @ Feb. 12 2008,04:57)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">you need to recalculate the weights for the entire program based on that.</div>
Yup, that's about what I've done. I'm not really discouraged; I just need to recalibrate my goals.

Besides, who among us has ever managed to finish a cycle without a glitch...? I'll be back at it again tomorrow.
 
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Deadlift Heavy 3x135, 3x185, 3x225, 2x270
Deadlift Speed Set 15x225 ms

I had to drive down to take care of my mom today. It’s a 375 mile round trip (600 kilometers) through leftover snow. I got back late and had only about a half hour before the gym closed. So I did my deads and left everything else for another day. Never skip deads.

If my missed lifts of the past few days have taught me anything, it is that my current 1RM is 280 pounds. I’ve adjusted my program to reflect that. I’m not going to start over, but neither do I feel quite ready to move on to Week 4 of the schedule (especially after today’s truncated workout). Thus I’ll finish out this week using Week 3 weights, then do a full Week 3 over again next week. That should put me back on pace.
 
Your patience and willingness to step back and reevaluate your cycle will pay off in the long run. Keep at it and before you know it you'll reach your goals. Good work!!
 
Friday, February 15, 2008

Front Squats 5x45, 5x65, 5x85, 5x115
Deadlift Heavy 3x135, 3x185, 2x270
Deadlift Speed Set 18x225 ms
Romanian Deadlift 3x8x115
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x45
Good Mornings 3x8x115
Lat Pulldown 3x8x110

Okay, this seems to be working well so far. I cut my front squats short to make sure I had enough juice to finish my whole program. I’ll do 270 lbs and 225 lbs on my deads next week, too. Then I’ll move up to 285 lbs the following week.
 
Monday, February 18, 2008

Back Squat 5x45, 5x95, 5x135, 2x10x155
Deadlift Heavy 2x270
Deadlift Speed Set 18x225 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x135
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x50
Good Mornings 3x8x115
Lat Pulldown 3x8x110

Seated Single Calf Raise 3x10x65
Standing Calf Raise 3x10x130
 
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Front Squats 5x45, 5x65, 5x85, 5x115
Deadlift Heavy 3x135, 3x225, 2x270
Deadlift Speed Set 18x225 ms
Romanian Deadlift 3x8x135
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x50
Good Mornings 3x8x115
Lat Pulldown 3x8x110

I didn't do a full work set of front squats. I figured I'd better take it easy until I can get a more solid handle on my deads again.

Thus I had a bit of time left in my hour, so I did a few curls, pushdowns, and dumbbell skull crushers. Then I did one minute of 30% 1RM squats.

The RDLs are getting easier, though the Good Mornings still take a lot out of me.
 
squats, deads romanian deadlifts, and good mornings on the same day.

you are an amazing man.
 
<div>
(fearfactory @ Feb. 20 2008,21:14)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">squats, deads romanian deadlifts, and good mornings on the same day.

you are an amazing man.</div>
I chust follow orrders. These are the exercises Ed Coan has set out.
 
Friday, February 22, 2008

Deadlift 5x135, 5x185, 5x225, 2x275
Deadlift Speed Set 13x225 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x135
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x50
Good Mornings 3x8x120
Lat Pulldown 3x8x110

Seated Single Calf Raise 3x10x65
Standing Calf Raise 3x10x130

I had plenty of time left (having skipped squats today) so I did some weighted abs on the machine, and played around with the Pec Dec.

I’ve decided to do deads on Mondays and Fridays only. Squats and deads everyday were beginning to take their toll. I’ll do squats on Wednesdays along with a few isos for my arms and shoulders. I miss my bench presses and figure maybe I could use some arm and shoulder work to make up for them.

I did 275 lbs on my deadlift instead of the prescribed 270. I figured that I pretty much own 270; besides, 275 sort of gives me a leg up on the 285 lbs I’ll be doing on Monday.

My RDLs continue to improve. On the last rep of the last set, the plates actually touched the floor! Apparently my hamstrings are getting something of a stretch from all these assistance exercises.

I increased a few more pounds on my Good Mornings. I was surprised at how much harder they became with the addition of only five more pounds!

What is considered a fair weight for Good Mornings? I am using over 90% of my bodyweight now, or just a bit over 50% of my back squat 1RM. Is that too much?
 
<div>
(TunnelRat @ Feb. 23 2008,04:25)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What is considered a fair weight for Good Mornings? I am using over 90% of my bodyweight now, or just a bit over 50% of my back squat 1RM. Is that too much?</div>
Tunnel, I don't know what a good ratio for load to body weight is for good mornings but I do know that if your form is good for 8 reps with 120lb then all is well and the load is not too heavy. I do know that some of the heavyweight Oly lifters (who often do good mornings a bit differently: less bend and then fast rise up on to toes) use massive loads in the region of 4/500lbs or so!
 
<div>
(Lol @ Feb. 23 2008,18:09)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Tunnel, I don't know what a good ratio for load to body weight is for good mornings but I do know that if your form is good for 8 reps with 120lb then all is well and the load is not too heavy. I do know that some of the heavyweight Oly lifters (who often do good mornings a bit differently: less bend and then fast rise up on to toes) use massive loads in the region of 4/500lbs or so!</div>
Yup, I've looked at articles about Arched Back Good Mornings. There are pics of guys moving a whole lot of weight, but for only a few inches. I've been bending almost parallel to the floor, but it surely starts to get heavy after a bit. That third set is a killer...
 
Arched Back??? That sounds like a recipe for disaster! I can only think of a Good Morning as the traditional parallel, rigid torso movement we all hate.
One very strong college guy I know (Gallaman) in the MuscleNow program is into strength training now and despite his size, strength and endurance abilities, only uses around 200 lbs. for them, and he is one strong buck. They helped his deads go over 550 lbs.
 
<div>
(quadancer @ Feb. 24 2008,08:29)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Arched Back??? That sounds like a recipe for disaster! I can only think of a Good Morning as the traditional parallel, rigid torso movement we all hate.
One very strong college guy I know (Gallaman) in the MuscleNow program is into strength training now and despite his size, strength and endurance abilities, only uses around 200 lbs. for them, and he is one strong buck. They helped his deads go over 550 lbs.</div>
Yeah, I'm not sure what &quot;Arched Back&quot; is supposed to mean. I've just been doing mine very like RDLs: my chin is forward; my chest is up; my butt is back; my glutes are clenched tightly, and my back is held carefully straight.

I'm hoping these turn out to be a help for my deadlift, too.
 
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