Slapshotz' SST journal

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(Slapshotz @ Jul. 04 2007,16:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Liege wrote:
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Definitely keep doing C&amp;J; jerks are pretty technical and you should still do them to improve form. Jerks, split or push, will strengthen the shoulders and should carry-over to the bench. As I wrote in another thread, all the olympic lifters I know have big benches without training the bench often.</div>

Good points, Liege. It's going to be a tough decision, because the jerk movements take a lot out of you, and my focus right now is getting my bench &amp; squat up. Since I'd be doing jerks with squats, it may detract from my squat numbers. I guess for now I'll stick with my incline/squat combo until my squat is back around 300.

MS Overload Week VI, Workout III

Flat Bench: Max Lift - 225 (2 MS reps)
Weighted Chins: Max Lift - BW+70 (3 MS reps)
Shrugs: 405 - 5

15 mins. cardio

NOTES: Pretty lousy weather this 4th of July, so not much to do other than do some errands with the wife &amp; work out. Definitely feeling &quot;overtrained&quot;, and clearly my strength dropped over the last 3 days, which is exactly what I wanted. Next workout will be next Monday, where I'll be going for bigger numbers on incline &amp; squats.</div>
I understand slapz. Don't use as much weight on jerks, use only 135 or less just to keep your form good. Do rack jerks and max-stim them.
 
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(liegelord @ Jul. 06 2007,01:40)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(Slapshotz @ Jul. 04 2007,16:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Liege wrote:
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Definitely keep doing C&amp;J; jerks are pretty technical and you should still do them to improve form.  Jerks, split or push, will strengthen the shoulders and should carry-over to the bench.  As I wrote in another thread, all the olympic lifters I know have big benches without training the bench often.</div>

Good points, Liege.  It's going to be a tough decision, because the jerk movements take a lot out of you, and my focus right now is getting my bench &amp; squat up.  Since I'd be doing jerks with squats, it may detract from my squat numbers.  I guess for now I'll stick with my incline/squat combo until my squat is back around 300.

MS Overload Week VI, Workout III

Flat Bench:  Max Lift - 225 (2 MS reps)
Weighted Chins:  Max Lift - BW+70 (3 MS reps)
Shrugs:  405 - 5

15 mins. cardio

NOTES:  Pretty lousy weather this 4th of July, so not much to do other than do some errands with the wife &amp; work out.  Definitely feeling &quot;overtrained&quot;, and clearly my strength dropped over the last 3 days, which is exactly what I wanted.  Next workout will be next Monday, where I'll be going for bigger numbers on incline &amp; squats.</div>
I understand slapz.  Don't use as much weight on jerks, use only 135 or less just to keep your form good.  Do rack jerks and max-stim them.</div>
ah, decisions, decisions...well, come monday, i'll figure out what to do...tks for the input!
 
MS Overload Week VII, Workout I

Incline Bench:  Max Lift - 190 (1 MS Rep)
Barbbell Squats:  Max Lift - 290 (1 MS Rep)

15 mins. cardio

NOTES:  Darned butt injury is back, though not as bad.  Kills me to contemplate having to avoid both deads AND squats for another protracted length of time, but I may not have much choice.  I'll gut it out this week, and reassess.  Other than that, workout went well.

Oh, I also did a good two hours worth of surfing today. It was 99 degrees inland, about 92 at the shore. Great day for hitting the waves!
 
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(fearfactory @ Jul. 09 2007,19:36)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">jealous on the surf.  but hey, nice lifting!</div>
lol...thanks!

MS Overload Week VII, Workout II

Incline Bench: Max Lift - 175
Barbbell Squats: Max Lift - 275

10 mins. cardio

NOTES: Okay, so today my butt injury gave me no pain. Weird. I'm gonna see a sports medicine ortho next week and have an x-ray taken. It's bothersome how this comes &amp; goes like this.

Anyhoo, was really tired today for the workout b/c of a hellish day at work. Even w/out the work, though, my lifts probably would have decreased.
 
MS Overload Week VII, Workout III

Incline Bench: Max Lift - 170
Barbbell Squats: Max Lift - 275

15 mins. cardio

NOTES: Once again, no butt pain...can't figure this injury out, but I guess I won't complain. I'm thoroughly wiped, having worked out last night and this morning.

The tweaks I've made to my MS program so far seem to be working, and I anticipate new PRs in the next couple months for sure.
 
What is your split like during the week?  3 consecutive days on, 4 off?  I've been watching your log a lot, as it seems to have many good ideas for a cut.  Though it will probably be some time before I ever need to do that, as I still got plenty of weight I want to pack on first.

Glad to hear the injury went away for the time being.  Knock on wood
 
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(UFGatorDude30 @ Jul. 11 2007,11:53)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What is your split like during the week?  3 consecutive days on, 4 off?  I've been watching your log a lot, as it seems to have many good ideas for a cut.  Though it will probably be some time before I ever need to do that, as I still got plenty of weight I want to pack on first.

Glad to hear the injury went away for the time being.  Knock on wood</div>
yup, that's exactly what I'm doing, GD.

No doubt this works for a cut, but I'm trying to reach all time highs in strength now that I'm on maintenance.

It's gonna be tough, because most of my maxes were attained at a bw of @167, and now at 159 I first have to work my way back up to those maxes at a lighter, leaner bw.  Not easy, but I can do it if I remain patient and take baby steps so that I avoid serious injury (besides my recurring butt cheek strain
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)

I'm using a (dare I say) a T-mag suggestion, by purposely overtraining these muscle groups to the point that I'm weaker by the last workout, and after adequate rest, the concept is that you *should* come back even stronger.  

If you are able to pyramid straight up in your strength, there is no reason to do this.  I, however, need this tweak, because pyramiding up to previous highs are not possible at my new weight.  So far, the combo of overtraining and MS-style reps are working out pretty well.

Another advantage of strength training is that your muscles always have a full, dense look, even at rest.  That fact was very kindly pointed out to me on the beach by a friend I hadn't seen since last year.  She thought I looked much bigger than last year, despite the fact that I was much smaller in reality.  

Anyhoo, having seen your pic, you won't need to cut for a looooooong time, and you have years of strength gains ahead of you b/4 you need to resort to these types of tactics.  So, for now, enjoy the ride!
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MS Overload Week VIII, Workout I

Flat Bench:  Max Lift - 255
Weighted Chin-ups:  Max Lift - BW+110 ***NEW PB@BW+110***

15 mins. cardio

NOTES:  I sat down w/my trainer for a few minutes this weekend, and he basically said that I would need to squat 335 and bench 275 to match my prior strength highs from when I was heavier &amp; carried more fat.  So, taking his advice, I'm focussing on the micro goal of matching what I was able to do before, at least on a percentage basis.

Once I hit the squat &amp; bench goal, then I will reassess.  This method will, I think, push me beyond those numbers.  Not to mention the fact that I'm doing true powerlifting reps each time in an MS style...aka, remove bar, lower, hold, raise.  I treat each rep as if it were a contest rep.

I don't want to jinx myself, but 255 went up pretty easy, and the new PB on weighted chins was an awesome feeling!
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I think there's definitely something valid to the method of brief bouts of overtraining, extended rest, and coming back stronger.  I'm only eight weeks in, but the evidence is mounting!
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">extended rest</div>

That's the critical point.

Congrats on your chins PR!
 
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(Slapshotz @ Jul. 15 2007,19:26)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Cardio day: two hours of surfing in rough seas. I'm spent
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You have a kind of suffering we know not of...
 
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(UFGatorDude30 @ Jul. 17 2007,11:22)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">So, sticking to flat and chins this week... then onto incline and squats next week?

Great job on the new PR.  110 chins is ridiculous!</div>
Thanks, guys!

yeah, GD, that's the plan.

Unfortunately, work threw me a curve ball. Couldn't train today (just finished work about 5 minutes ago), and tomorrow it's more of the same, which totally effs up my 3-day on 4-day off split
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Oh, well...I haven't had any *real* time off in 8 weeks, so maybe this will be the week. If I resume training Thursday, I won't have enough rest b/4 next week's sessions.

The only way I can squeeze something in this week is if tomorrow's assignment is shorter than expected. Time will tell...
 
MS Overload Week VIII, Workout II

Flat Bench: Max Lift - 245
Weighted Chin-ups: Max Lift - BW+90
Shrugs: 455 - 5

15 mins. cardio

NOTES: Work was shorter than expected today, so I did a workout, and threw some shrugs in there. Feeling like $hit, probably a cold/flu type deal. I don't have to leave my house until 9:00 tomorrow, so wil probably hit it again first thing in the morning...unless, of course, I feel even worse.
 
MS Overload Week IX, Workout I

Incline Bench: Max Lift - 200
Barbbell Squats: Max Lift - 305

15 mins. cardio

NOTES: Solid. Not sure if I'll get 3 w/o days in a row cuz of work, but hopefully I can get all three days in.
 
MS Overload Week IX, Workout II

Incline Bench: Max Lift - 190
Barbbell Squats: Max Lift - 295

15 mins. cardio

NOTES: What an effed up day. After my a.m. workout, I felt kind of loogy. By 10:30 in the morning, I was outright sick, and went to bed with a 102 fever. At least the fever broke overnight. Needless to say, my third workout will, again, be missed. This is the second week in a row I've missed my third w/o. Man, am I pissed.
 
MS Overload, Workout 26

Flat Bench:  Max Lift - 260
Barbbell Squats:  Max Lift - 315
Weighted Chins:  Max Lift - BW+115
Barbbell shrugs: 405- 8

20 mins. cardio

NOTES:  Strong as heck today
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.  Now for the bad news.

In these past couple weeks, I've learned a couple things...and the only logical conclusion is that some things must change.

After 10 weeks of this program, I can honestly say that purposely overtraining definitely works...but  I don't have it in me to do it anymore.

The last two days, I felt awesome...better than I have in probably the last month.  I went into my workout rested, refreshed, and raring to go, and today's lifts are proof.  This was on the heels of a wicked illness, which felt to me a LOT like when I had mono.  For the past several weeks I was run down, constantly irritated, lethargic, and only after I started to feel better did I realize how run down this program had left me.  

The bottom line is, I have to keep my priorities straight; family, work, THEN working out.  I can't do any of these things well if my training is so intense &amp; so frequent that there's little left for anything else.  

On the other hand, if my training is reduced to lifting wimp weights just so that I can lift more frequently, I might as well quit.  I get no enjoyment out of that style of lifting.  If I'm going to lift at all, it has to be heavy.  Having reached my leanness goal, my goal going forward is strength...and lots of it.

It's not all bleak, though
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I think I have what will prove to be a happy medium.

Going forward for the next several weeks, I plan on lifting only when my body tells me it's recovered from the prior workout.  Experience tells me my workouts will be 2 to 4 days apart.  Each workout will have 3 or 4 core lifts where I go for one or two MS-style reps, followed by a reduced set in the 5 to 7 rep range.  Cardio will remain a staple.

Short.  Intense.  Plenty of recovery.  And my diet will stay the same.

Conclusion:

I know this is not the optimal way to train, but I have to face reality.  My training sessions are extremely intense, so I must have adequate rest in between sessions to avoid overtraining.  If the only symptom of &quot;overtraining&quot; was sore muscles, there would be no issue.  That, I can handle.
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  The mental fogginess, irritibility, trouble sleeping, lethargy, and increased susceptibility to illness is what's making me change paths here.

We'll see where it all leads to, I suppose.
 
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