SS: Novice Routine

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(nipponbiki @ Apr. 04 2008,04:06)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I really think my abs are my weakest link in the chain. I need to do some kind of weighted situp, but not sure how to do this with my simple setup (power rack and simple adjustable bench only). But I need to do them.


I am also going to start doing power cleans, building up the weight very slowly since I cannot simply drop the weight in my apartment.</div>
You could try doing weighted decline crunches(if your bench declines) or simple weighed crunches with a dumbell or plate.  Nice choice with the power cleans.  Good luck with your program!
 
You know, doing deadlifts really hits the abs, and with you firmly having deads incorporated into your program, I'm surprised that you feel that your abs are still so weak! Be very careful not to overtrain if you incorporate the ab iso work given your deadlift work.

Also - if your low back is where your injury was, I'd suggest incorporating some SLDL work into the mix as a just-in-case. I had the exact same issue maybe 2 years back, and SLDL's were the absolute fix.

Looks like you really have a great cycle going - great work!
 
Hey guys, thanks for the replies so far.

Well, it is not that I think my abs are weak per se, just the weakest link in my posterior chain. During rehab for my lower back, I realized I had bad posture in the way I set the weight of my upper body on my lower body. I was always kinda squeezing the lumbar area and gluts and pushing my hips out just slightly. I have been doing for years, and after I finally realized this, I could really tell how overused this area was. I also noticed that anytime I picked something up or balanced something in my hand, I also contracted the muscles in this area. I have since had my spine and hips realigned so that my upper body sits on my lower body the way it is so supposed to. I walk differently, and every time I catch myself supporting myself with my lumber/ass, I straighten out and make the abs do their share.

Thanks for the tips on ab exercises. I plan to do some kind of ab exercise at the end of the workout for the week. So, just once a week to prevent overtraining and interfering with the program itself, but I definitely want to do them as a strength exercise, meaning heavy and 3 X 5. My bench does not decline, unfortunately.

Simple weighted situps seems the easiest way to go, just need to figure out how to support my feet.
 
Yeah, I have already practiced with the bar a bit for power cleans. They actually felt pretty good and fun! I am really excited about incorporating them into the program after I get some weightlifting shoes.

Thanks for the comment about the weight I am lifting. Honestly though, I feel so weak compared to some of you guys. Especially my squat and squat to bench ratio. I guess it appears that my bench and standing press are strong, but the way I feel about it is that my squat is just pitiful.

TunnelRat,

I will switch to skim if and when it becomes necessary. For one thing, skim milk is still not available so much where I live.
 
I was supposed to work out this morning, but .......

I was feeling really terrible yesterday, so I decided to do some yoga during my break at work, just to do some slightly physical, get the blood pumping, and get a nice stretch to better prepare me for today's workout. It was meant to just be some active recovery.

Man, it really wiped me out. Yes, I did it fairly late at night, but still, it's just yoga, right? Anyway, when I woke up today, I could feel that I was way too fatigued (and in a completely different way than after a normal workout) and would have had a crappy to crappy-normal workout, so I decided to do it tomorrow instead.

Maybe yoga was only meant to be done by skinny people with long, thin arms, legs, and torsos???
 
15th workout - 4-8-2008

Squat:   3 X 5 @ 100 kg
Bench Press:   3 X 5 @ 90 kg
Pullups:   1 X 10, 1 X 7, 1 X 6 @ BW

Weight:  77.8 kg
Waist:    80 cm
Adomen:   82.5 cm

Got the squats. You know, squats are really hard to do correctly. With this program I am just now really realizing this. Last year, when I bought the first edition of SS, I really though I was doing it correctly then after reading the book!  There was definitely a huge improvement, but now I know it still wasn't even close. After my failure with 100 last time, I really thought about why it was so hard. I also noticed that my knees felt a little funny, not pain, but not good. That was a huge clue. I realized that I was letting my knees slide in a little toward the bottom. I have terrible adductor flexibility, always have. I was also so busy concentrating on the little details of form that I forgot about hip drive. On the last rep of the last set, my hams couldn't get me out of the bottom, and comlpletely without thinking about it, I leaned forward a bit so my quads could save me. Does anybody else have this tendency? Or is this a clue that I have a serious quad/ham strength imbalance??

Well, today I really focused on my pushing my knees out and hip drive. Not only did I get all the reps, it was much easier, no stress on the lower back, and it felt good. Whaddya know. I feel like such a dumb a$$hole now, haha. For anybody who wants a bigger squat, remember, hip drive and knees, do not make the squat a standing leg press.

So, I am thinking that from now on, I should do 1 kg increments on the squat. I want to master the form and at the same time, I do not want to stall on the same weight just for that purpose. Anybody think this is a bad idea?

Also, primarily for the strong guys, Tot, Quad, and Lol and any others, how often, if ever, do you really use a belt for squats?  At what percentage of 1RM do you use them?  Lol, as you are still relatively new, has your opinion towards belts changed now that you are pretty strong and been in this for a few years now?
I have always had the attitude that a belt should only be used when you are injured or maybe in a little pain. I wonder if I should start using it now.

Also, bench still feels easy. It has felt the same since about 80 kg. I imagine this will continue to around 110 kg.

And check out those pullups!  That is a 4-rep increase in the 3-set total over just last week!  I am very happy with that. I never did pullups before, always chins, as they were easier. Now they are getting close to my chin numbers.
 
<div>
(nipponbiki @ Apr. 08 2008,02:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">On the last rep of the last set, my hams couldn't get me out of the bottom, and comlpletely without thinking about it, I leaned forward a bit so my quads could save me. Does anybody else have this tendency? Or is this a clue that I have a serious quad/ham strength imbalance??</div>
Tipping forward when coming out of the hole is a common error with squats. If you're not careful, your squat becomes a heavy Good Morning...
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Even Lol has commented that it happens to him sometimes.
 
The MOST sore I was ever able to get my abs was with weighted chins.  If you hold the weight between your feet or ankles and bend at the knees while doing them...it will be intense.  It was for me at least.  Where did you get this book about correct squat form and such?
 
16th Workout - 4-10-08

Squat: 3 X 5 @ 101 kg
Standing Press: 3 X 5 @ 62.5 kg
Chins: 1 X 14!!!, 1 X 9, 1 X 7 @ BW

Weight: 78.6 kg
Waist: 80.5 cm
Abdomen: 82.5 cm


Got all my reps and had a nice improvement in chins over last week. Having said that, I did not feel so good during today's workout. Legs felt like rubber the whole time and was a little nauseous throughout the workout as well. I thought I might faint during the last set of presses. I think it is due to my going to the public bath last night and my body getting too relaxed, have to start going when I have an extra day of rest at the end of the week. Just to be safe, I think I will do 63.5 kg for the next press workout before moving on to 65.

Real happy with my improvement in chins/pullups. These have always been one of the weakest lifts, and I never made this kind of progress with regular HST. The most I ever got before was either 12 or 13 and only the first rep was from a dead hang at that time. Today, 14 reps with each and every rep from a paused dead hang, and at nearly the heaviest bodyweight I have ever been at. (peaked at 85 kg last year for a short time, averaged 68 - 73 my entire adult life until my first bulk last year).
 
I stopped using belts or wraps well over a year ago. I've taken on the mentality that whatever assists you desists you, especially for strengthening my back. Squatting low takes care of the knees, squatting in shorts and sneakers takes care of the abs and back. I use versagripps to pull anything I can't keep a hold of: deads, weighted pullups and shrugs. I wrap a wrist for benching, and that's it.
I'm virtually nekkid.
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FF, your welcome!

I don't know what was wrong with me yesterday, but I continued to feel nauseous all day. Feel quite a bit better today though.

I was thinking about something yesterday. At the rate I am going, my bench is either going to match or even beat my squat in a few weeks. On top of that, I just finished reading Lol's log start to finish, all 25 pages. I noticed that my pressing/dipping/bench strength is about the same as his, yet he completely blows me away in everything else, especially squats and deads.

(think Gladiator) This vexes me. I am terribly vexed.

Are my legs really so weak despite being fairly large (around 25 inches)? Am I psyching myself out? Am I secretly afraid to put so much weight on my back? Am I lacking serious motor-firing skills?

Maybe I should just load the bar with 150 kg and see what happens. If I dump it, I dump it. Isn't that what I bought a power rack for??? At any rate, this really concerns me.
 
17th Workout - 4-12-2008

In the spirit of my 'vexed' state of mind yesterday:

Squat: 1 X 5, 1 X 4, 1 X 5 @ 110 kg!

Oh yeah. 9-kg jump over Thursday, but not without its cost as you will see:

Bench: 3 X 5 @ 92.5 kg

Deadlift: 1 X 3 @ 130 kg
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Weight: 78.6 kg
Waist: 81 cm
Abdomen: 83 cm

Well, obviously throwing 150 on the bar would have resulted in a trip to the hospital; probably, but I did decide to just throw 110 on there when I woke up this morning. Honestly, it didn't feel any 'heavier' than the 101 I did on Thursday. What was different is that is felt harder to control and keep in balance. I lost my balance a little on the 3rd rep of the second set, which is why I couldn't get the 5th rep. This is a new 5-rep PR for me. Yay.

However, it did seem to affect my deadlift. Not sure if it was the huge jump in squat or the 10-kg jumps are just too much now or a combination of the two, but those 3 reps were hard, the 4th rep came off the ground, and I knew I could have gotten it if I really wanted it, but at too much of a breakdown in form, so I dropped it.

Bench was still easy.

Back to the squat, I tried something a little different. I tried a stance just a little closer. I have been thinking I was a little too wide. This seemed to help, but I am not sure if it is really because I was too wide or my hams are just not strong enough yet. The nice jump in weight also pointed out another mistake---I am holding the bar wrong or doing something with my arms because my elbows really hurt after each set. Made the bench quite painful as well.

So, I have decided I am definitely buying a video camera this week so I can better analyze my form.

At this point, I have just about regained my former strength (except bench, I was doing between 95-110 kg during the 5s last year, also it was incline bench) and I am over 6 kg lighter!!! Heck, the last deadlift workout of my bulk last year was at 135 kg, and of course that was without doing squats beforehand. I remember clustering to the point it was like a max-stim workout.

From this point forward, it is time to really find out what this SS Novice routine is going to do for me. I am thinking about starting to do front squats on the deadlift day so it won't effect my deads so much. Wishful thinking?
 
Why not work an A/B split and hit Deads and Squats on different days? I would be dreading a workout with both together personally...you just can't give 100% to both IMO.
 
Soflsun,

Good question, I also asked this question to myself when I first read about this routine. But, the answer is because I am doing the SS: Novice routine, not the whatever-I-think-is-best routine. After doing this routine, I may indeed decide that doing both in the same workout is too much. I don't know, we'll see. But for now, I wanted to give it a fair shot as it is and see what results it produces. There a few slight variations in the SS: Novice routine, but they all include squatting every workout. Also, I will be doing power cleans very soon, and I will probably do it by alternating it with deads, which means I will only do deads once every 2 weeks and by the same token, power cleans once every 2 weeks. They are supposed to compliment each other and help make the other stronger. We will see.
 
Nippon: Congrats on new developments; so much of this is mental, and we are our biggest roadblock.
As for training deads every two weeks, I believe you're not understanding the concept of &quot;training&quot; here. That far apart is like only in the occasional realm, sort of like having a diet coke now and then and saying you're on a diet. In two weeks, there is no reactance left over from the previous effort, no consistency to stimulate growth. OTOH, if your legs are 25&quot;, that's fantastic!
 
<div>
(nipponbiki @ Apr. 08 2008,07:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Also, primarily for the strong guys, Tot, Quad, and Lol  and any others, how often, if ever, do you really use a belt for squats?  At what percentage of 1RM do you use them?  Lol, as you are still relatively new, has your opinion towards belts changed now that you are pretty strong and been in this for a few years now?</div>
I used a belt when I first started just because I thought that was what I should do. Then I read more and decided to do without it as much as possible. I haven't used a belt for squats or deads since, not even for PR attempts, but that's just my personal choice. I need to get a proper powerlifting belt (even width all round) and give that a try with my deads just to see if it makes a difference to me now.

Wow, you have some stamina if you read all 25 pages of my log!  
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Many congrats on your progress so far.
 
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(Lol @ Apr. 12 2008,12:02)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I used a belt when I first started just because I thought that was what I should do. Then I read more and decided to do without it as much as possible. I haven't used a belt for squats or deads since, not even for PR attempts, but that's just my personal choice. I need to get a proper powerlifting belt (even thickness all round) and give that a try with my deads just to see if it makes a difference to me now.</div>
I like to use a belt for my deads whenever I get up past 300 lbs. However, I forgot to bring it last week, and thus did my PR 320 lbs without a belt...!

I wonder how much is physical and how much is simply psychological...
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Quad,

I here ya man. But the power clean does include a deadlift in the movement. I guess that is the logic behind the design of the program, I don't know. But like I said in response to Soflsun, I am going to give this routine a fair shot as it is without any major changes. And yes, I don't care about leg hypertrophy right now anyway, I just want to get stronger.

Lol,

Thanks for the comment. Hey, I read 700-1000 page technical books as a hobby! Reading your log wasn't such a big deal compared to that! Haha. By the way, I had no idea you were going through so much health-wise over the last few years why continuing to dominate the rest of us. You set a great example. Quite an inspiration, my friend.

TunnelRat,

Thanks for your comment as well.

Yeah, at this point, not wearing a belt is not the limiting factor in squats or deads. It might be later, we'll see.
I also measured my legs just to make sure I wasn't talking out of my ass.

Legs were 24.5 inches this morning upon waking.

Also measured my arms, what a joke: 13.5 inches.
With a waist of just over 31 inches and such puny arms, maybe you can understand why I am not really interested in leg growth!!!
 
No workout today, again.

Woke up, had my pre-WO shake, and started feeling nauseous again. Dammit. Well, now I know the cause, so the problem has been effectively eliminated.

I will proceed tomorrow as if I did workout today with my first metabolic workout of: as many cycles as I can get within 20 minutes---5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 body squats.
Gonna play with power cleans too!!! Looking forward to that actually.


Really wanted to do the one with the thrusters that I mentioned in Fausto's log, but I think this one will be better active recovery for all the heavy weight I am and will continue to do.
 
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