_tim's Log

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">The rule I'm going to use for the rest of the cycle is this - if I can progress at least one lift, I'll continue. The point where all lifts are at absolute maxes is the point where I'll deload. I don't think an SD is gonna happen this time around - not with all the time off I've had. </div>

That's a good strategy to do when you don't have to worry about end of cycle dates.
 
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(_tim @ Jan. 24 2008,09:49)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">So I tried the push press at the end of my first set, per colby's suggestion.  I got the bar to the halfway point and just died.  I think my triceps were shot after my benching fun.</div>
I'm the same way...my workouts don't generally start w/ standing presses, so I'm generally fatigued somewhat when I start the exercise. On top of that, I never think to push press until failure starts to loom... and so by the time it occurs to me, my tris are shot.
 
Triples - Pull @ 95%

Last week, I said that I couldn't afford to miss any workouts as the loads get heavier. Well, I missed Friday due to all sorts of chaos. So, this week I'm going to tweak the schedule a bit; today I did Friday's workout - and for the remaining four days of the week, I'll do the rest of the 95% and 100% workouts as planned - in succession.

Chins: WU: BW x 10; BW+15 x 7
10 x 3 @ BW+40 - Went well, felt good. FINALLY.

Deads: WU: 185 x 10; 245 x 8
4 x 6 @ 285 - Felt good - but on my third set on the 5th rep, I felt a slight pull in my back. I stretched and felt ok - so I very carefully did my fourth set. I feel fine - don't know what the heck it was that I felt.

DB Rows: 12 x 2 @ 60 - Whew! Those 12's get me after the 3's and 6's!
 
Thanks Bax!

Triples - Push @ 95%

I'll start by saying that I woke up a mess this morning - my back was in knots.

Standing Press: WU: 75 x 10; 95 x 8
5 x 3 @ 115; 5 x 3 @ 120 - It seems that my problem lifts are starting to come in line. 115 felt like a good 90% load - so I bumped to 120, which felt a whole lot more like 95%. Regardless, I was proud of these sets - this lift has been a juggernaut for me since the beginning of the cycle.

Bench Press: WU: 135 x 10; 165 x 8
4 x 6 @ 195 - I used the power bench technique on these sets. Actually - this may have just been &quot;proper&quot; form (per Rippetoe - getting the book soon) - squeezing the shoulder blades together. Regardless, they felt AMAZING. The technique has always been something I've kinda sorta tried - but today I jumped in with both feet. I'll never bench the old way again.

ATG Squats: WU: 185 x 7
215 x 7 - Yes, this should have been 2 sets of 12. My back being what is was, I didn't want to put myself those reps. I unfortunately know back issues well - and those squat reps screamed bad things. I did 'em crazy slow, and very deliberate - so even with 7 reps at a relatively mild weight, I got a decent pump.

Great workout, despite my back.
 
Hey Krieger - I haven't weighed myself in a while. I'll do that tomorrow and let you know. I can tell you that my body composition has changed; I've added a noticeable amount of lean mass during this cycle. I don't have a quantifiable amount to report, but it is noticeable.

Triples - Pull @ 95%

I was nervous about this one, having only had one day of rest since my last 95% pull workout.

DB Row: WU: 55 x 10; 75 x 8
10 x 3 @ 90 - My left side is definitely weaker than my right. I didn't have to cluster, but I had to try for good form a whole lot harder on the left as opposed to the right.

Chins: WU: BW x 10; BW+15 x 5
4 x 6 @ BW+25 - Sets 2-4 were clustered 5-1, 3-2-1, 3-2-1. I held that last rep on the way down for a bit of extra damage. I knew I'd have to cluster these - my bi's are still a little bit sore from Monday. Hopefully the added fatigue will result in some nice results - especially because I have one more pull workout to go this week.

Sumo Deads: WU: 205 x 6
12 x 2 @ 235 - I really focused on form here. The sets were clean and felt good.
 
Taking a couple days off.

The last line of that pop-up window when you enter this site is &quot;Always use your head.&quot; Well guys, for the past few days, a spot of an old injury on my back has been starting to show signs of returning. Essentially, I have this spot near the middle of my back, close to my spine, that pulls very easily - and ever since a car accident 4 years ago, it's been very easy for me to re-aggravate it. I think I partially did so in the gym early this week, and sleeping funny that night didn't help. Bottom line, when I woke up today, I just knew working out would be a bad idea. I'm at the 100% RM point of my cycle; I'd rather be 100% health-wise than 80% and risk REALLY aggravating that spot on my back.

So - I'm taking today and tomorrow (and the weekend) off. I'm going to do my yoga routine each day and see how I feel on Monday. If my back doesn't get any better, I'll probably do a deload week next week and restart the cycle the week after. I'm not anywhere near making that decision yet - but I feel like I made a good one today.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">The last line of that pop-up window when you enter this site is &quot;Always use your head.&quot;</div>

This website has a pop-up window? Hmm, my bookmarks always take my directly to the forum.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Well guys, for the past few days, a spot of an old injury on my back has been starting to show signs of returning. Essentially, I have this spot near the middle of my back, close to my spine, that pulls very easily - and ever since a car accident 4 years ago, it's been very easy for me to re-aggravate it. I think I partially did so in the gym early this week, and sleeping funny that night didn't help.</div>

Take a few days off Tim. Get some rest. Catching up from last week by lifting heavy every day may have not been the best idea. I don't have the best bed either, so I understand not getting proper rest for your back. Yoga will be a good relief for you and your back. Best of luck!
 
Good idea to take some time off and rest.  Hope you heal up quickly.  Yoga, I'd like to try that sometime. Thanks for the dip belt tip. Greatly appreciated!
 
Thanks, Bax and colby!

The yoga is helping a ton - I expect to be back on Monday to start my 100% RM workouts. Part of the yoga routine that I do (in fact, a large part of it) is directed at stretching the spine. That has helped immeasurably.

Have a great weekend!
 
Spoke too soon...

On Saturday when I got out of bed, I apparently re-pulled my back. The yoga really does help, but this is almost a catch-22.

I'm (very begrudgingly) going to end the current cycle and deload this week. What are the deload rules? 50-60% RM?

I'll start a new cycle as soon as I feel I'm ready, with minimal tweaking. I'll post my weight before I begin so those who have asked about my results with 10x3 can see the progress.

Crap.
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Triples, Cycle 2 Layout

Preface: This is gonna be something of a trial-based cycle. My back is almost completely healed, and after some pretty intense talks with my massage therapist, I've decided to re-start my bb efforts with a very heavy emphasis on strengthening my back. I plan on seeing a specialist about my back in the next two weeks, and if he gives me conclusive reasons to stop or tweak this, I will. One thing I've learned recently is that I may have a genetic weakness that is causing the problem in my back - I learned this weekend that the spot on my back that bothers me also bothered 6 other blood relatives. I think strengthening the area is critical to me staying healthy - a very similar theme to the rest of my body.

This is going to be a very similar routine as my last - sort of. Each workout will be three exercises in three different rep ranges - 10 x 3, 4 x 6, 12 x 2. I'll HIIT on a bike or ellyptical at least twice per week. Off days will be yoga. The schedule will usually be a 4-training day week, Monday-Tuedsay-Thursday-Friday; M-Th will be push workouts, Tu-Fr will be pull workouts. If I happen to miss Monday, I'll do four consecutive days, as I did my previous cycle.

Exercises:

Push: Bench Press, Squats, Standing Press (look familiar?)

This is where things change:

Pull: The only constant here will be this particular kind of row that directly hits the problem area in my back. Formally, they are &quot;Reverse-Grip Bent Over Barbell Rows&quot;. See them here. Then, there's my chins. For the 3's - single arm chins, for the 6's - mixed grip chins, for the 12's - close grip chins. Yes, three different exercises for each of the rep ranges. I'm going to do the SA chins max-stim until I am able to do standard sets. The goal for the end of the cycle is to do a 10 x 3 on each arm with bodyweight. I'll periodize this exercise as best I can from week to week. Lastly, I'm going to alternate Sumo Deads with Power Cleans. I'm going to keep my deadlift weight lighter this time around, and the power clean weight will be minimal for the first couple weeks - probably 40-50% of my RM for each rep range.

If it isn't obvious, I'm going to take my back training much more serious this time around. At the same time - I'm going to pay very close attention to whatever my body tells me. In the end, if this works, I may have a solution for this weakness in my back at least in part.

I'll try to get a bodyweight prior to starting tomorrow. I was 194 on Saturday.
 
Push @ 80%, Day 1

Feels good to be back. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a starting weight today - went to a different gym. As soon as I can, I'll start tracking my weight. I'm guessing that I'm somewhere between 190 and 195.

Bench Press: WU: 135 x 10, 165 x 6
10 x 3 @ 185 - Felt easy, so I worked form. I'm sure this will get harder...

Squats: WU: 135 x 10, 185 x 7
4 x 6 @ 205 - Felt good. Knees were creaky, and the reps winded me. Ahh, there's nothing like coming back from a forced SD.

Standing Press: 2 x 12 @ 90 - Second set was clustered 9-3, due to fatigue. Muscles (tris/delts) felt fine - but I was so out of breath after that 9th rep I had to stop. WOO HOO! I'm in shape!
 
Thanks, Bax! Hopefully this pans out. The weird thing is that after that first workout this week, my back quit hurting. Kinda strange. I still have noticeable DOMS in my quads, which I also find to be kinda strange.

The past couple days, I've been downed by yet another sinus-related illness - and a big software release that's stolen quite a bit of my time. So lads, I'll be restarting this experiment next week (hopefully), assuming I'm feeling better. I hate sick-based deconditionings. They're not SD's - because they are anything BUT strategic.

Hopefully you'll see some cycle updates starting Monday.
 
Bummer about your sickness. That flu bug is going around. One of my boys is home with it today. Over half his hockey team has it to. Praying I don't get it. Just trying to eat right, sleep well and take my vitamins. Get well man!
 
Tim, just wondering how you are going to manage single-arm chins at a body weight of around 190lbs? (Great goal to have, by the way.) That's probably equivalent to being able to do a few reps of regular chins with over 150lbs hanging form your belt. Slapz was managing several single-arm chins at a bodyweight around 165lb but I think he was regularly chinning with an added 100lbs or thereabouts. What's your plan? Obviously low bodyfat and a strong upper body will help.  
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Get well soon from me too and hope your back holds out.
 
Well Lol, I'm going to try the SA chins and see how it goes. It's something I'm going to work at all cycle (and all year), and just see how it goes. If I fail miserably, I'll likely try a variation of the SA chin where the non-working arm holds onto either a towel or a rope just below the bar. That way, both arms are doing some work, but the arm on the towel doesn't manage half the load. I'd do those until I could so the SA's with the non-working arm holding onto the working arm's wrist (as Slapz calls it, the Rocky style). Regardless, I'm going to have as a goal a 10 x 3 with both arms doing SA work by the end of the year. It'll always be a goal for the end of each cycle, but my long-range goal is the true SA chin in a 10x3 by the end of the year.

My back feels great. Thanks for the kind words.
 
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