_tim's Log

Glad I could help, FF. I can't believe how badly I misinterpreted what a hook grip actually is.

Liege - I'm doing the sumo deadlifts because the starting position allowed for a more natural position for my lower back. I hear you on the lack of carry over - which is precisely why I'm training the Oly lifts the way that I am.

...And that brings me to my first tweak of the program. Shock and surprise, right?

Starting with my next power week (starting 10/1) I'm going to train one lift per day. I haven't figured out what the progression will be, but I came to that idea yesterday. If I do that, I can focus 100% on form for one lift, for a full workout. I think that may really help me to get my form down quicker - for all the lifts, not just the Oly stuff. I know I can improve my form for my deadlifts and squats, especially as I get deeper into each set.

The other reason for the change is that if I continue to have this much rest through the week, I'm gonna go nuts.
 
tim,

what prompted you to go so high with volume? You are looking for 90 reps per exercise in 30 increments. How did you come up with this? I am only halfway through my first cycle, but I must mention that during the first weeks of 2x15 my muscles did feel very hard and dense. I don't believe they lost any size either coming from a heavy low rep, 1 body part/day split.
 
soflsun -

The whole idea for this nonsense came from a trainer at my gym who took me through a rather intense workout, and talked to me quite a bit about lifting in general.

To give you some background, one of the things I absolutely hated about my last cycle (which was SST) was that I felt that I had no endurance, and though I was getting stronger, I felt like the human equivalent of maple syrup. Before that cycle, I did a slightly modified HST cycle (modified only in terms of volume) and came away having loved the cycle, but still felt something was missing.

Fast forward to that session with the trainer. One of the things he had me do was a couple very long sets of squats - 22-25 reps each. I wanted to puke something fierce, but something felt different. The next day, I felt incredible. So incredible, in fact, that I decide to ditch the SST cycle and start on this new setup.

The biggest part of that session, we talked about this setup - one week of strict, heavy, powerlifting/Oly-only lifts and one week of muscle group-specific volume training. We talked about muscle density, endurance, size, physiology. It all made sense, and the day-after effect of those volume sets was apparent. If you could have seen this guy and been a part of the conversation, I think maybe you'd get it more than what I'm writing here.

I'll be the first to admit that this is counter to what many would expect to be productive. That's fine. I simply cannot replicate the feeling I get after these workouts. It's not a lactic acid thing (or at least I don't think so anyway). The big unknown is what this will do to me on an ongoing basis. Since I arrived on this site, I've approached everything I've done as a hypothesis. This is absolutely no different.

So - that's my long-winded answer, my friend. I hope you check back and see how this goes - and please, ask questions. I'll be as open as I can about what I experience. Next week is my first attempt at a full week of volume training - that's a first hurdle, and may prove to force another tweak or two to the cycle. That, too, is just fine - and all part of how I do this thing.
 
Power B - Soon to be Squat Day

I'm definitely splitting up these power days.  If I would have just done squats, I would have left everything I had in that squat rack.  Instead, I held back a little bit to save some energy for my bench effort.

ATG Squats WU: 135 x 15; 185 x 10; 205 x 7; 225 x 5
275 x 2; 295 x 1 - Kept my form.  300 will be in the rear view mirror the next time I lift squats heavy.
Step down: 235 x 4; 135 x 10 - See?  I could have done lots more.  


Bench Press WU: 135 x 15; 185 x 10; 205 x 3
225 x 1; 245 x 2 - Only used a spotter on that last set.  The 225 rep count would have been higher, but without a spotter I freaked myself out and just re-racked after one rep.
Step down: 135 x 17 - I'm looking forward to focusing on Bench on it's day.  I know I can do more.

All in all, a good workout.  I know that my decision to separate the exercises into days for the heavy week is the right one now.

Next week - volume.
 
Week 2
Volume - Back

I knew this was gonna be rough before I even got to the gym. We cleaned the garage yesterday, and I ended up carrying this solid cement fountain the entire length of the driveway by myself. It's in 3 pieces, but they're all solid cement. Along with everything else that I did yesterday, that pretty much killed any chance for this workout to be a good one.

Pendlay Rows: WU: 125 x 15
115 x 20; 125 x 15, 13 - After the 115, I knew I was shot.

Pullups: BW x 7, 3+Hold, 2 - See? DEAD.

DB Rows: 25 x 20; 40 x 20; 50 x 20 - Light but felt good.

WNGP: Static hold x 2 - I couldn't put even one full rep in. This was just a "how spent am I" kind of thing.

All in all. for being completely fatigued, a good start to the volume week.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"> The big unknown is what this will do to me on an ongoing basis. Since I arrived on this site, I've approached everything I've done as a hypothesis. This is absolutely no different.</div>

Your results are what matters, but they aren't the telling factor... your diet is.
 
<div>
(colby2152 @ Sep. 24 2007,21:08)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Your results are what matters, but they aren't the telling factor... your diet is.</div>
Well Colby, I use one supplement (Beverly Mass Amino) both pre- and post-workout, and with breakfast (I also take a multi-vitamin with breakfast). I eat 4 meals per day, and shoot for about a 2350-2450 caloric intake per day. I'm not always perfect in that, but I've tried to follow your &quot;Optimizing your caloric intake&quot; thread guidelines as closely as I can. I'll admit that I don't always get enough calories, and I probably don't get enough protein, but I am growing nicely at this point, and my strength/endurance levels are increasing. I continue to try and get the diet thing nailed down, and I keep getting better - but I'm not there just yet.
 
Chest

Kinda short on time this morning, but it didn't matter.

Decline Bench: 135 x 20; 155 x 20; 165 x 6 - Haven't done these in a long time. Felt good.

DB Incline Press: 45 x 20, 11; 40 x 8 - Started too heavy.

DB Fly: 25 x 12, 14 - Form broke down. Also started these too heavy, but wanted to push through.

Dips: BW x 6 - DEAD? Why yes, yes indeed.

Good workout! I'd like the endurance part to kick in a bit more, but that'll come with time. My triceps got nailed (just like my biceps yesterday) so a nice hidden benefit of this volume stuff is really training my arms to be able to handle extended work. So far, I love this. I feel amazing.
 
Legs

I may come off sounding slightly like a whiny bitch today, and for that, I apologize.

I tried Front Squatting foir the first time today seriously, and it hurt my wirsts so bad, I quit and went to the Hack Squat machine (which I wanted to avoid) just to get the reps in. When I got in today, I looked up said Front Squat for the correct hand position, and found this site. I tried the Hang Clean-type grip and also the arms crossed method. Nothing felt right. Suggestions?

Hack Squats: 90 x 20; 110 x 20; 120 x 20 - clustered every set after the 11th rep. I added the weight mostly to try and further fatigue the muscles; I knew getting 20 reps was unlikely for me, as my endurance for my legs is pretty bad. That's one big reason why I so easily justified this workout style.

Standing Calf Raise: 180 x 20; 200 x 13, 9 - I forgot how bad that stupid Hack machine nailed my calves. These weights are insanely light for my calves, even at 20 reps per set.

Constant Tension Squat: 135 x 6, 6, 10 - This was one of the exercises that trainer showed me and it's gonna take a while to get used to. Basically, the stance is a tad bit narrower than I'm used to (I squat with a rather wide stance due to my man-birthing hips). Descend into the bottom of an ATG squat, then come up just below 90 degrees. Trust me, that last reps coming back up to re-rack ain't no fun at all.

I then did a couple sets of ab-related stuff, but one of the gym staff came over and talked my ear off. So, it's not even worth noting those sets.

All in all, a tough workout.
 
Tim, do you do a static hold at the end of the ROM for the constant tension squat?

No back squats? You can try looking at Zephyr squats (similar to front squats).
 
<div>
(colby2152 @ Sep. 26 2007,12:16)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Tim, do you do a static hold at the end of the ROM for the constant tension squat?

No back squats? You can try looking at Zephyr squats (similar to front squats).</div>
colby -

You can do the constant tension squat two different ways (or at least I've been told to do them 2 different ways):

- fast reps without a hold at the top of the rep;
- normally-paced reps with a slight hold at the top of the rep.

I do ATG squats on their own day during my heavy week - I'm trying to avoid duplicating any of those lifts during the volume week.

I'll check out the Zephyr squat as you suggested - thanks for the tip!
 
Delts

I was scared for this one. My shoulders are my weak link in my upper body, and this workout absolutely spotlighted that fact.

Standing Press: 65 x 20; 75 x 16, 5 - Um, I'll jst say that these got evil in the later part of each set.

Lateral Raise: 15 x 20, 15, 10 - I increased the load to use 20's after the first set and didn't get one clean rep. So, I stayed with the girlie 15's. Felt like I should be wearing a damn sports bra or something.

Anterior Raise (fake barbell): 30 x 20, 20; 40 x 15 - I say &quot;fake barbell&quot; because they're pre-filled bars. I vastly underestimated my anterior delts - I should have increased after the first set, but it hurt so bad that I just stayed put. The last set was surprising - I thought I'd get maybe 5. I'm not sure what else to call this exercise, so if you need some clarification, let me know.

Bent Lateral Raise (Seated): 10 x 12, Static hold - By this time, the whole of my deltoids were a bit angry. Feeling that perhaps my posterior delts hadn't quite gotten hit enough, I picked up the childlike 10's and started the set. The thing was, my posterior delts were quite fatigued, so I simple turned the set into a &quot;how many holds can I do before I cry&quot; kind of thing. I held each one for about a 3 count.

Lastly...

Roman Chair Situps: 25 x 10 x 2 - Got 'em in from yesterday. Didn't do the second half of the superset like usual though. I was really tired by this point and just wanted to get on with the day.

Humbling workout to say the least.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">- fast reps without a hold at the top of the rep;
- normally-paced reps with a slight hold at the top of the rep.</div>

I'm not sure why someone would do the first version unless it was high reps. The tempo of the latter version of tension squats fits better with the name itself. Which one are you doing?
 
I did the fast rep version simply to fatigue my quads. That was the last exercise I did, finishing out the volume day for legs.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Lateral Raise: 15 x 20, 15, 10 - I increased the load to use 20's after the first set and didn't get one clean rep. So, I stayed with the girlie 15's. Felt like I should be wearing a damn sports bra or something.</div>
Yup, I've found that the sports bra really tends to help with the lateral raises. You don't feel quite so humiliated by the little weights...
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Bent Lateral Raise (Seated): 10 x 12, Static holdFeeling that perhaps my posterior delts hadn't quite gotten hit enough, I picked up the childlike 10's and started the set. The thing was, my posterior delts were quite fatigued, so I simple turned the set into a &quot;how many holds can I do before I cry&quot; kind of thing. I held each one for about a 3 count.</div>
The posterior delts are really small muscles. It doesn't take a lot to wear them out. I started out with the pink weights and gradually worked my way up to the powder blue ones. After a few weeks I could do a coupla sets with the tiny lacy ones...

Be encouraged -- you are not alone.
 
I LOVE the lacy ones! You too, TunnelRat!

Thanks for the advice on the sports bra - I just had a feeling it would truly help.

biggrin.gif


On a more serious note, I like to overwhelm my posterior delts when I do iso-delt work, usually because I end up hitting my rhomboids and the edges of my traps in the process. Reason being, that whole collection of muscle groups is responsible for helping ease the nastiness of my neck tension. TRUST me - I've used little 2.5 pound weights for some of the therapeutic lifts I do, and that is PLENTY heavy. Still, doing some of these more conventional lifts at the same time as some female members of the gym (who happened to be using the same weight that I was) was humbling to say the least.
 
Arms

I had a real problem with this workout conceptually. Simply put, I've been very much against working the bi's and tri's together because of my days as a Dr. Squat disciple. (He is very much against it, and I bought into his reasoning whole-heartedly.) It took quite a bit of soul searching to do this one, but in the end, I'm glad that I did.

Barbell Preacher Curls: 65 x 20, 8, 4 - I think I started too heavy. On that first set, I clustered the last 3 reps.

Barbell Skullz: 75 x 20; 85 x 20; 95 x 9 - Pretty happy that I got 2 complete sets in.

[HS Curl + DB Hammer Curl] (SS): [55 x 20 + 25 x 3]; [60 x 8 + 25 x 2.5], [60 x 5 + 25 x 1.5] - Pretty good pump here.

Rope Tricep Extension: 55 x 20; 75 x 20; 85 x 11 - Started too light. I actually wanted to superset these with close-grip bench, but on my first set, my delts highly objected to doing anything involving them as a primary stabilizer. So, no more superset.

Overall, VERY happy with this week. I got through it - that was my first test. It will be interesting to see what the effect of these volume weeks will have, other than size. I must admit - I'm SO glad that this round of volume is done. To say they're rough workouts is putting it mildly. The other thing, though, is this: I feel amazing. I haven't felt this physically good in a very long time. I hope that this continues to be the result of this nutso cycle I have going.
 
Deadlift Day

I'm currently at about 190 pounds. That will become relevant when you read my top two weights today.

I gave the hook grip a good shot today and don't understand how the thumb doesn't get broken. I'll keep trying it and hopefully all will work out.

All these were done sumo style. Oh - and I didn't scrape up my legs today. Better form maybe?


135 x 10

185 x 10

225 x 4, switch to straps, x 5

275 x 3

315 x 2

365 x 1

385 x 1 PB, TWO OF ME!

405 x 1 PB, BROKE 400!


Step down...


225 x 10

135 x 20


OK. So I feel incredible about today's workout. I'm very curious, though, why the deadlift is given so much credit for mass building. If anyone knows of a good article I could read in that regard, could you let me know?
 
Bench

Um, Bench after heavy Deadlift Day ain't my idea of a good time. Tweak #2: After Deads during the heavy week, I'm going to either take a day off and do yoga, or do light cardio. I'm also thinking of rotating the exercises such that I'm not always doing Deadlifts first in the week. It's really Deadlifts, Bench and Squats that are the focus here - the Oly lifts will have their place in the week, but they're not at the same level as those three core lifts. We'll see how it works out after I get through the rest of this week


135 x 15

185 x 10

205 x 7

225 x 3

245 x 2 (spotter)


Step Down:

185 x 6

135 x 15

10 Minutes HIIT Treadmill

OK. So though I didn't improve on my 245 at the top (which felt really heavy today, by the way), there was at least one noticeable improvement:
Last time I benched, I got 205 for 3 reps and 225 for 1 rep. Today, 7 and 3 respectively. That's a nice improvement - and perhaps proof that my volume training is doing something. I truly feel trashed today, but in a good way. I think this is how I should feel after heavy deadlifts - like practically every muscle fiber in my body was picked like a guitar string. Nothing hurts - I'm just very fatigued.

Good stuff.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">365 x 1

385 x 1 PB, TWO OF ME!

405 x 1 PB, BROKE 400!</div>

Awesome, but I am curious to see how you do without straps.
 
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