_tim's Log

Wearing Vibrams when you run, like running barefoot, tends to put extra strain and stretch on your achilles tendon. So be aware of that when you switch from puffy cross-trainers to Vibrams.

With regard to squats, the better, dedicated squat shoes seem to have a heel lift built in. Sort of like the pics of Arnold doing squats with a 2x4 under his heels. Vibrams (and my Chuck Taylors) leave your feet totally flat. It's not so much a negative as it is a lack of the positive assist you get with dedicated squat shoes.

[full disclosure: I wear Vibrams for all my lifts, including squats]
 
I tend to always squat in my Oly-shoes because I like the snug fit and solid feel of the soles. However, while they are great for front squats, I'm pretty sure that Chuck's or VFF's would be better for low-bar back squats, especially when using a wider powerlifting-type stance. Having a raised heel in Oly-shoes tends to force your knees forward a little which is ok for front squats but not ideal for back-squats.

For deads, a raised heel is effectively forcing you to lift the bar further/higher than if you had no heel. I can definitely break the bar off the floor more easily if I deadlift in flat-soled shoes (or barefoot) rather than in Oly shoes. That being said, training deads in Oly shoes doesn't seem to have any negative effects and may even be a good way to train for a new 1RM (ie. train sets and reps in Oly-shoes and then go for a new 1RM in flat soles). It's a bit like doing your deadlift training standing on a 1 inch block.
 
Get Back

Here we go!

20:00 jog (treadmill); 1.7 miles
First jog since I broke my foot. Truly a jog pace.

Explanation coming soon for the rest...

Bench: 135 x 12; 155 x 10; 165 x 10
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DB Rows: 45 x 8; 55 x 25, 10

Squat: 135 x 10
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Leg Raise: 10

Pulldowns: 130 x 5, 3
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Pushdowns: 110 x 10; 130 x 5

OK. To say that I'm untrained is an understatement! The infection that I had back on Halloween never went away. I've now been on 4 different kinds of medicine since October. Each pretty much sacked me. I'm now on a 20-day round that leaves me with a bit more in the tank - so I decided to start the process of getting back to the gym. I'm going to spend at least a week doing light supersets and cardio work; warmup loads today felt heavy. Strength work will begin when I feel a bit more like me.
 
Great to see you back in the fray Tim. With what looks like month long SD you should be starting out with the 50s micro-cycle.
 
I was actually exaggerating a little. What I was referring to was back when I tried a full cycle of Myo-reps which have you starting out at the 25 rep range and progressing to 20s, 15s etc. . . . Theoretically after such a long SD your muscles should be primed to grow with almost any stimulus. However, beware if you try the 25 rep range Myo-reps they were brutal but did serve as an excellent conditioning workout.
 
Gotcha - the 25 set I did was just a Kroc set. I plan on testing myself as much as I can this week, but am not sure what that ultimately it's going to look like. Likely it will be a combination of single set volume and sets across volume - I'm a huge fan of 5x10 for sets across volume and 25-40 for single set volume. I have absolutely no idea, though, what i'll be able to handle after such a long layoff. It should be fun regardless. Thanks G11!
 
Cottage Cheese Be Damned

Another round of Get Back.......

Squats: 185 x 10,8; 165 x 5; 155 x 4
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Knee Raises: 3 x 10
Last workout I really only glanced at the surface of lower body work, so tonight was intended to kick the tires a bit. I am deriving a few conclusions that I'll share in a second.

Dips: BW x 10,10,5
This was very telling - further strengthening my conclusion.... Until......

Chins: BW x 3,2
So I happened to look up at one of my arms and what do I see but cellulite as the skin stretched. This infuriated me, and caused the final set of the night to be a blast from the past........

Cable Curls: 50 x 40
This is a finishing set from a workout I used to do a bunch of years ago. The set is done very slowly and deliberately, without stopping. The idea is painfully simple - break it down, painful like. So that's what I did.

OK. It truly makes no sense to do a triples cycle now. I'm way too untrained. So - starting next week, I'm going to do another 5/3/1 cycle and see where I am after that. Ugly stuff guys - but I'm changing that. The schedule is going to be weird, but what else is new.
 
It Begins

WU: Kipping Pullups x 6, 4
Re-learning form. Gonna take a few wo's to get it back I think.

Pause Bench: 155, 165 x 5; 175 x 8
It's a start. Loads this cycle are gonna be a tad on the light side, and the hope is that maybe by the time I hit 5/3/1 wo's, muscle memory has kicked in.

Repetition Bench: 155, 145, 135 x 10
MUCH harder than I ever expected. I think I'm going to be saying that quite a bit as we get going.

Kroc Rows: 60 x 25
Breath stealing - but no clustering.

Dips: BW + 10 x 10
I actually tried a second set at the same load and at BW and could not do a single rep.

Well - got the first one in (morning! Day off). Schedule-wise, it's going to be a bit weird as usual. Looking to get a minimum of 3 wo's in per 7 days. At times that will be exceeded, but 3 per week will be the min.
 
We’ll be watching Tim. You better stick with it or I’ll post over at the Westside forum for a couple of the guys to come “visit” you. ;)
 
Challenge accepted, G11.

Pause Squats: 175, 195, 205 x 5
Yeah, the last set was ME. All reps ATG, no belt, Vibrams.

Repetition Squats: 155, 145, 135 x 10
I had intended to do 5 sets but form became suspect on set 3 and I had no intention of getting hurt after just getting back.

Bench Abs: 2 x 10(3) @ 135
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Chins: 4, 3
OK - first the notation for the bench abs for any who haven't seen it before. That's two sets of three movements (counted as 1 rep, 10 times) done with 135 pounds. The chins still depress me - but it's a work in progress.

All in all - a gem because my squat form hit it's stride in the second paused set.
 
Pause Standing Press: 95, 100 x 5; 105 x 7
This has historically been a tough lift for me - and today was no different, even with the baby weights.

Repetition Standing Press: 80, 75, 70 x 10
One word: humbling.

Kroc Rows: 65 x 25
Got through em without clustering - just chalk on my hands to focus more on grip.

Dips: BW + 10: x 10, 4, 1; BW x 2
Well - still mighty pathetic, but improvement.

Strive Curls: 65 x 5, 5, 3
If you're not familiar, these are machines with cams shaped to put tension on different parts of the lift. The first setting puts tension in the middle of the lift, the second the end of the lift, and the third the beginning of the lift. I am remembering from previous cycles that my biceps require extra attention in the form of iso's for the first couple weeks - hence the reason for these sets.

All in all, a pretty good session.
 
Tried to get this one in yesterday. Schedules are fun!

Pause Deads: 195, 215 x 5; 225 x 8
First deads in a very long time. Chalk only, hook grip throughout, no belt, Vibrams.

Repetition Deads: 175, 165, 155, 145, 135 x 8
Very good volume from a training perspective; deads essentially train every muscle group in the body, and this was a test in endurance despite the puny loads. Same setup as before - chalk/hook/etc.

Hanging Leg Raise: 4 x 10
These were mostly knee to chest, but I did a couple with a more intense hip rotation such that my knees were almost in my armpits.

Chins: BW x 5, 3, 2+
The first set was done with pauses (dead hangs) between reps. The second did that too, but added a pause mid-rep both up and down, and the last rep was a static hold to negative movement. The third set was slow up, slow down. The + was a couple mini-reps around 90 degrees that then faded into a negative to complete the rep.

Best one yet - both strength and endurance are definitely improving. Next wo possibility looks to be Thursday and I move to 3's.
 
A Good, Old Fashioned Ass Kicking...

Pause Bench: 165 x 5; 175 x 3; 185 x 6
I completely goofed on the first set, forgetting that this was 3's day. In general, form felt better and power out of the pause is increasing.

Repetition Bench: 155 x 10, 8; 145 x 10, 5; 135 x 6
So - I figured I'd try my hand at forcing increased muscle recruitment today, and this was step 1. By far, I did more volume on bench than I've done in a very long time tonight.

Kroc Rows: 70 x 25
For the most part, I still had a tiny bit in the tank for both arms when I finished both sets. So - that began step 2 to my master plan...

DB Rows: 3 x 5 @ 75
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Dips: BW + 10 x 10, 4; BW x 4
I figured that I'd see how far I could push my upper body with these sets, so the whole thing went like this: I'd do the row sets back to back between arms with no rest and then immediately get on the dip bar. Rest between supersets was kept to be about 15 breaths. By the end of the last BW dip set, the tank was positively empty.

OK - so there we go. I know that I won't have another shot at the gym until probably Monday, and given that I only got two in this week kinda encouraged me to push a bit tonight. Now - I know that this wasn't a ton; but for me, tonight sparked the old fire of insanity that went dim when my foot was busted up - and then went out when I was sick for so long. It's gradually getting closer to the time when I need to turn it on with the intent of shattering PR's again. At the same time - I desperately want all of my endurance back, so that too will become clearer as time goes on. For now though - time to start hoping for DOMS to hit my lats, bi's, and he-titties.
 
From Saturday -

Pause Squats: 195, 205 x 3; 215 x 4
This was the first morning workout in a while, and it showed. My lack of energy was noticeable.

Repetition Squats: 175, 165, 155 x 10; 145 x 7
I was crazy ow in time, so recovery times were tiny.

That was all I had time for. The coming week looks to be even worse than last in terms of available time, so it may be another 1 workout week. Not too happy about that.
 
Broken record time. I'm sick again - this time walking pneumonia. Apparently it's presumed I've had this for a while. Anyway - training is going to change once I get back, whenever that is. Structured cycles make no sense for me at this point - so a new experiment will be starting soon. ---I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?fdzlft - not really, but the app was close....
 
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I’m not sure I’ve said this here before since I say it so often . . . don’t ever live where palm trees can’t grow outdoors. ;)

P.S. Get well Tim, it sucks to be sick.
 
You know, G11 - there are times where I very severly question living in Ohio, but it's home. If I find a state that doesn't hit my allergies as bad, who knows though..........OK - so I want to put out there what I'm thinking about for the next experiment. I sorta want to pull from all of my prior training experience and do a period of training in which workouts have only preliminary thoughts as to what they will be prior to beginning them. In other words - I'll know that one of my core lifts (bench, squats, deads, presses, BB rows, chins) will be the focus, and I'll decide on approach after I warm up. I'll work up to what I feel is an appropriate volume for the primary lift and then begin assistance work. I've long believed that there are a ton of ways to approach training, and this seems as plausible as any to me. Now - I know that there is one inherent flaw in this that some may perceive: a lack of being able to guarantee progression. I've actually thought about that a bit and feel that if I do this right, progression will be a natural element of the approach. The focus will be on strength primarily, and endurance secondarily. The latter will be worked more out of the gym than in via sandbag training that will couple Tabata work with lots of other movement.The simple reason for this approach is really simple - my lack of consistency over the past 18 months, and my ever changing schedule. It's utterly maddening to lay out a cycle, get 4 workouts in and then get sidelined by life in some way. At least with this approach, each trip to the gym will in some way be unique and bound only to that particular moment for measure.I'm still way too sick to begin this now - but hopefully that changes by Monday.
 
I know what you mean about home, I just had an aunt and uncle out here visiting for 6 weeks form Illinois who would love to move here but just can’t move away from their families. My mother an one of my cousins out of a very large family are the only two who moved away otherwise they all still live in about a 20-30 miles from each other.

I’m sure there are many systems out there that would fit the needs you describe but I can vouch for the Westside Barbell Conjugate Method for being great at building power, strength, mass and endurance all at the same time. The way it is designed any progressive loading is kept short so if you get sick there is no issue of do I start a new cycle or pick up where I left off, you always just pick up where you left off and just let your body tell you how much you can do on a given day.

There are also variations of the system designed more toward building strength and/or mass and endurance without the powerlifting aspect. These usually have you skipping the speed work by substituting more repetition work or even switching the max effort work from 1RM maxes to 3-5RM maxes to build more mass than power.

Here is a description of how to set up the workouts for the vanilla system, just scroll down to the section called “The Westside Barbell Conjugate Method: A Guide to Accessory Work.” You can also check for variants like Westside for skinny bastards, Westside for body builders to see what changes others have made to emphasize things other than powerlifting.

http://www.syattfitness.com/category/westside-barbell/

One think I’ve liked about doing this so far is that in some cases I don’t even decide what exercises I’m going to do until just before I start my workout. Also since you are doing a max attempt twice a week and always trying to improve the weight or reps on almost every exercise you always know if you are gaining or losing strength and can adjust your routine accordingly.

Beware that most people say and I’m also finding out it can take months, up to 10, to get this system down because you need to learn weight or rep maxes on so many different exercises and if powerlifting which of those exercises translate over to your main lifts.

Cheers,
Dean
 
Hi Tim,

I've not been around here much myself so a belated get well soon from me! It'll be great to know you're back under the bar. All the best.

My training has been all but non-existent too. I'm still hoping to make some PRs this year if my shoulder issue resolves and I want to get into doing a bit of running.

I ordered two pairs of Vibram FF KSO's online last eve only to get a call from my bank telling me that the site I bought from was most likely fraudulent and so my payment had been blocked. In fact, the beggars had tried to charge me three times and for more than I expected! I now have to cancel a bunch of cards just to be on the safe side. :/ After a little research (should have done that sooner!), it seems that there are lots of counterfeit crooks targeting these shoes. Add to that the fact that I've had no reply from what purports to to be the genuine Vibram website following several emails and I am seriously thinking of not bothering with them. Are you still happy with yours? Are they holding together well? How about your calf/achilles issues?
 
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