Results so far after 15's

[imported_get456]

Just finished my round of 15's yesterday and wanted to post up my results.

Previous 15RM:
Squat- 225
Calves- 250
Bench- 185
SLDL 225
OHP- 115
Row (Pendlay-190
Curl- 80
Ext- 90
Shrug- 315
Dip- 80

My original plan was to do 2 sets of 15 reps up to my 15RM in 5 work outs. My 6th workout would be 1 set of 15 but increasing my max by 5%.

I found a couple things to be the case for me:

1- There are too many movements there for me to do 2 sets of 15 for all of them. By the last 3 I was SO exhausted that I was really lacking in effort and stamina.

2- Dips are bad for me. My elbows and joints just cant take the weight Im doing after all the other pressing work, especially for so many reps, so at the end i just did a few sets of Bodyweight dips to go along with the Extensions.

3- It is actually easier for me to work close to my RM than it is to do lighter weights.

What I ended up doing was each workout, I would generally do two sets for the big lifts (squats, bench, OHP, Row) and one set for the others. Except curls, I generally did 2 sets as well.

IMO, this worked out very well for me because yesterday I was able to do the following (1 set):

Squat- 236.25
Calves- 260
Bench- 195 (18 reps)
OHP- 120
Row- 195
Curl- 85
Shrug- 335

I was very happy with those increases especially on the Squat (11.25 lbs more), Bench (10lbs more for 3 more reps even!) and OHP (5lbs)... very good increases for me.

 

[quadancer]

Were it me, and mind you, do what you wish, I would set it up this way:
Squat alt. with Deads
Calves 1x/week, high rep
Bench
OHP
Row alt. with pullups
Shrug
Dip
Add abs, rotator work after workout, stretches.
Arms 1x/week, ramping to top set of reps in current mesocycle. If arms don't grow from this, try 3x/week in your next cycle.

 

[colby2152]

Quad, why would you want to do calves only once a week? I prefer highest frequency possible for calves in the low rep range instead of the high rep range. The higher loads are better for calves since daily walking and aerobics/sports utilize the calves all the time.

 

[quadancer]

I just threw that out there for him being new. But let's keep one thing in perspective. Arnold may have built his tiny calves into wine bottles with high reps, but he was on gear so he could stay with it. But aka many convo's in this forum, we find that whatever is working this cycle, or year, or month...will stall out sooner or later and you'll have to switch to something else.
Even HST stalled for me after 7-8 cycles, so I went to 5x5. I'll be returning to HST even before stalling on 5x5. Why? Because I'll be needing healing, mitochondria, flexibility, etc.
And what good is the strength if I don't use it to grow?
And what good is growth if I don't add strength to it?
But if I keep doing the same thing all the time, I'll do pretty much nothing. I was actually surprised when my HST gains dropped off, but younger lifters may get more than 8 cycles. My last four years frontal relaxed pictures I collaged tonight show me a lot of improvements, less each year, but still coming nonetheless. I've only recently made a mantra out of changeups, but not every month or anything like that. I've come to believe in working a system until observation shows a tapering off of gains.
I would have made better gains by not beating dead horses along with being afraid to eat.
I cut calves down in an effort to give more strength to the other lifts...but putting them on the end of the workout is pretty good too. No doubt in my mind that keeping it simple (less exersizes) lends more strength and better workouts. And it was all just suggestions anyway.