Sci's "Simplify & Win" log

My lats are almost never sore for some reason.

Today, my ENTIRE BACK is sore....lats especially, rear delts, rotators, traps, erectors, EVERYTHING. I used to think that pulldowns and pullups were better for lats, but these wide-grip rows are really targeting the upper-mid back excellently.

Deads and Rows are a killer combo.
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'Light' day.

Bench: 145x5, 160x5, 170 for 3x5
WG Row: 145x5, 155x5, 165 for 3x5
Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 250 for 3x5

about 45 minutes. Light days are the easiest.
 
I missed medium day on thursday because I was too fatigued from work and lifting. Thats the only downside to doing big lifts 3x/week. Overall fatigue can set in fast.
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I decided to do Heavy day a day early since I skipped medium day this week.

Bench Press: 150x5, 160x5, 170x5, 180x5, 210x5 PR

Deadlift: 225x5, 235x5, 250x5, 315x5 PR
I skipped the 4th warmup set, trying to reserve energy, but it was a mistake.  I wasn't neurally warmed up enough for a max effort and the 315 barely came up on the first rep, after that something primal took over and the 5 reps went up with no problem.
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Rows: 145x5, 155x5, 165x5, 175x5, 205 x 3...my back was spent after deads.

Finished off with dumbell laterals, extensions and curls.

Very happy with progress so far, although 3x/week is a bit much.  I may drop down to twice/week alternating light/heavy.
 
Nice Pr's!  3 plates on each side is what brought out the beast in you...

You will hit 225 for reps this cycle on bench as well...the beast will emerge there also with 2 plates on each side
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When 2 45's clank together on a bar, the beast is summoned...
 
Thanks soflsun!

Instead of dropping frequency I decided to tweak the ramping sets so that they are slightly lighter, more even weight jumps and a more effective warmup.

Spreadsheet looks like this:

Tuesday: 5x5 ramping 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80% (of 5rm)
Thursday: 5x5 ramping 60%, 67.5%, 75%, 82.5%, 90% (of 5rm)
Sunday: 5x5 ramping 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% (of 5rm)
 
<div>
(soflsun @ Apr. 20 2008,11:20)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Nice Pr's!  3 plates on each side is what brought out the beast in you...</div>
I agree wholeheartedly (though I can only get that 315 lbs to go up once...
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).
 
It wasn't a link, but good point, so I made it a link now! Click on the book title and it will bring you to the ordering site. I highly recommend the book, especially for those who liked Starting Strength, etc.
 
Light day.

Bench: 130x5, 140x5, 150x5, 160x5, 170x5
Deadlift: 195x5, 210x5, 230x5....DOH!

I was doing something really stupid and playing around with my stance while deadlifting. Light day is pretty boring and unchallenging so its a good day to focus on form. Well I was not being very serious at all, and looking at my feet and trying wider or closer stance, toes pointing out at different angles, etc. I got so focused on stance and my knees that I totally forgot about my back and for one split second I relaxed a little and my lower back loosened and I felt a twinge on the right side. I had to stop lifting immediately and stretch it out. Definitely not serious (thank god it happened on light day on a wram-up set!) but I pulled my lower back on the right side and may have to take the week off from lifting.
Stretching is helping, I may ice it up too.
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Moral of the story...even when doing light warm-up sets....take your form seriously, bad form can cause injury even with light weights!
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Moral of the story...even when doing light warm-up sets....take your form seriously, bad form can cause injury even with light weights! </div>

Been there with deads... form is vital no matter the load.
 
It is finally feeling a bit better. Its a minor tear on my right erector spinae muscle. i won;t be deadlifting for awhile. I think I can get back to upper body stuff in a few days. Probably not lower body stuff until next week at least. Oh well, it was a good warning, at least it wasn't serious.
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My back is healing, its now at the point that it just feels sore, like minor inflammation from a hard workout.
I am going to ease back into training on monday. This time I am going to do more of a HST style in 2 week cycles building up to maxes. Going hard all the time is just too much. Also I am going to throw in a few more exercises (6 total) for more balanced training. In essence my training will look more like typical Simplify and Win HST.
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I am starting training tomorrow, been stretching and warmup up this weekend in order to stay flexible and conditioned during the back injury.
Good news is that I have decided to do a more balanced HST style program for which I am hoping will lead to better hypertrophy and less injury!
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I am going to start legs very light, using split squats and shallowish romanian deadlifts to strengthen and protect the back for now.

HST style training in two-week blocks, 3 times/week frequency using submaximal weights and progressing the load each workout of each cycle. Then refigure rep maxes and repeat....very similar to vanilla HST, but I will go by my 3 sets of 5 rep maximum as a measuring stick and keep short cycles back to back.
This time the exercises will be 6 compounds.

Fullbody &quot;Simplified&quot; Routine
Bench Press
Supported Rows
One-arm dumbell Press
Neutral-grip pulldowns
Romanian Deadlifts
Split Squats

<u>3 warm-up sets followed by 3 working sets.
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Progressing as follows basing loads on my 3x5 set x rep maximum for each exercise:
Monday: 75%
Wednesday: 80%
Friday: 85%
Monday: 90%
Wednesday: 95%
Friday: 100%*

*Once all 3 sets of 5 reps can be done in good form on Friday, the next cycle bumps up the load.

Also...LOTS of stretching of hips, spine, and shoulders this time around. Can't afford another injury.
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