Mattonaise's Training Log

Mattonaise said:
Felt strong again, have had some good workouts recently. During my SLDL I got some pretty intense soreness in my lower back, I have before occasionally. It's not a sharp pain, just a very intense soreness. Anyone know how to prevent this?
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Looking at your log, your SLDLs, your lifting a considerable amount more than your squat. Usually your squat would be a lot stronger.

My 10 rep max for squat is 120kg, but my 10 rep max for SLDL is only 75kg.

Just my 10 cents for what its worth, but I would consider lowering the weight on your SLDL, and ensure your getting your form spot on. When lowering the bar push your hips backwards, keeping the bar as close to your legs as possible, ensure your back is straight and not hunched over. On the upwards part don't think of of standing straight up but contract your glutes and push your hips forwards. If you do it like this you will only feel it in your hams and glutes. Always keep the bar as close to your shins/legs as possible to avoid unnecessary lower back strain. Also don't come to a fully upright position at the top of the movement, keep a slight angle leaning forwards and sqeeze your glutes. This will keep all the tension on you hams and glutes and not your lower back It might be worth uploading a vid of your form so we can help. Alternatively you could switch the exercise for a single leg deadlift with dumbells.

Hope this helps, Im sure there are more knowledgeable people on here, and may be able to critique more accurately.

Good luck, looks like your making good progress from your log!
 
Friday Workout (1/16/2015):

Weight: 143.0

Squat: 2 x 10 x 145
SLDL: 2 x 10 x 135
Bench: 2 x 10 x 110 (I feel as if my progress on the bench will be good, my estimated 10RM at the start of the cycle was only 100, I've gone ten pounds over)
Seated Row: 2 x 10 x 80, 85
Dips : 1 x 10 x BW
Lat Pulldown: 2 x 10 x 115
Military Press: 2 x 10 x 75
Barbell Shrug: 1 x 10 x 170
Cable Curl: 1 x 8 x 80
CGBP: 1 x 10 x 80

Done with the 10s, now moving on to the 5s.

Browner said:
Looking at your log, your SLDLs, your lifting a considerable amount more than your squat. Usually your squat would be a lot stronger.
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Yeah my deadlift has always been disproportionately higher than my squat, I've had far more trouble with the form and stabilization on a squat than a deadlift, so I just feel stronger in that position.

Browner said:
Just my 10 cents for what its worth, but I would consider lowering the weight on your SLDL, and ensure your getting your form spot on. When lowering the bar push your hips backwards, keeping the bar as close to your legs as possible, ensure your back is straight and not hunched over. On the upwards part don't think of of standing straight up but contract your glutes and push your hips forwards. If you do it like this you will only feel it in your hams and glutes. Always keep the bar as close to your shins/legs as possible to avoid unnecessary lower back strain. Also don't come to a fully upright position at the top of the movement, keep a slight angle leaning forwards and sqeeze your glutes. This will keep all the tension on you hams and glutes and not your lower back It might be worth uploading a vid of your form so we can help. Alternatively you could switch the exercise for a single leg deadlift with dumbells.
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I did lower the weight back to 135, and focused on the form like you mentioned and I definitely felt it more in my glutes. Though I do want to clarify I'm doing a SLDL not a romanian, with a SLDL the concentric lift is first and its from the ground each rep. Not sure how I will progress the SLDL over the cycle now though, maybe I could switch to romanians or something else, I am a fan of single leg deadlift with a kettlebell. Thanks for the advice though I will use it to fix my problem.

Browner said:
Good luck, looks like your making good progress from your log!
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Thanks man! Appreciate it
 
Monday Workout (1/19/2015):

Squat: 2 x 5 x 150
Leg Extension: 1 * 15 * 70
SLDL: 2 x 5 x 140
Bench: 2 x 5 x 115
Seated Row: 2 x 5 x 85
Dips : 1 x 15 * 115
Lat Pulldown: 2 x 5 x 120
Lat Pulldown: 1 x 13 x 100
Military Press: 2 x 5 x 80
Lateral Raise: 1 x 15 x 10 (10 lb dumbell in each hand)
Barbell Shrug: 1 x 5 x 155 (not gonna be so agressive with the weight with shrugs, it gets messy, gonna keep it lighter and focus on the squeeze and stretch)
Chinup: 1 x 5 x BW + 10 (chinups are replacing curls in the 5s)
Tricep Extensions: 1 x 8 x 70 (rack was being used so I just did a set of tricep extensions to failure instead)
 
Wednesday Workout (1/21/2015):

Squat: 2 x 5 x 155
Leg Extension: 1 * 15 * 80
SLDL: 2 x 5 x 140
Bench: 2 x 5 x 120
Seated Row: 2 x 5 x 90
Dips : 1 x 15 * 115
Neutral Grip Pullup: 2 * 5 * BW + 10 (switching to pullups for the 5s now)
Lat Pulldown: 1 x 13 x 100
Military Press: 2 x 5 x 85
Lateral Raise: 1 x 12 x 15
Barbell Shrug: 1 x 5 x 160
Chinup: 1 x 4 x BW + 25
CGBP: 1 * 5 * 85
 
Friday Workout (1/23/2015):

Weight: 142.5

Squat: 2 x 5 x 160
Leg Extension: 1 x 15 x 85
SLDL: 2 x 5 x 150
Bench: 2 x 5 x 125
Seated Row: 2 x 5 x 95
Dips : 1 x 16 x 115
Neutral Grip Pullup: 2 x 5 x BW + 12.5
Lat Pulldown: 1 x 14 x 100
Military Press: 2 x 5 x 87.5
Lateral Raise: 1 x 14 x 15
Barbell Shrug: 1 x 5 x 165
Chinup: 1 x 4 x BW + 25
CGBP: 1 x 5 x 90
 
Monday Workout (1/26/2015):

Weight: 142.0

Squat: 2 x 5 x 165
Leg Extension: 1 x 15 x 90
SLDL: 2 x 5 x 155
Bench: 2 x 5 x 130 (fuarrrkk that hurt)
Seated Row: 2 x 5 x 100
Dips : 1 x 16 x 115
Neutral Grip Pullup: 2 x 5 x BW + 15 (surprised at how much stronger I am on these than I thought)
Lat Pulldown: 1 x 15 x 100
Military Press: 2 x 5 x 90
Lateral Raise: 1 x 15 x 15
Barbell Shrug: 1 x 5 x 170
Chinup: 1 x 5 x BW + 25
CGBP: 1 x 5 x 95
 
Monday Workout (1/28/2015):

Weight: 142.0

Squat: 2 x 5 x 170
Leg Extension: 1 x 15 x 95
SLDL: 2 x 5 x 160
Bench: 2 x 3 x 135 (was hoping to get at least 4, but the weights were too damn heavy)
Seated Row: 2 x 5 x 105
Dips : 1 x 17 x 115
Neutral Grip Pullup: 2 x 5 x BW + 17.5 (still easy, my pull-up strength has increased a lot)
Lat Pulldown: 1 x 12 x 105
Military Press: 2 x 5 x 92.5
Lateral Raise: 1 x 12 x 20 (sloppy form, will stick with 15s and increase the reps)
Barbell Shrug: 1 x 5 x 175
Chinup: 1 x 4 x BW + 27.5
CGBP: 1 x 5 x 100

My tendons are pretty beat up, especially from the bench. Bench is starting to hurt my humerus and some surrounding tendons, I don't think I should try to progress linearly on the bench at this point in time. I think I can still linearly progress my other lifts for a few workouts, but eventually soon I may want to start the SD. I don't want to sacrifice my other lifts' progress just because of my bench. I'll take bench lighter on friday, maybe do a max rep set with 95 or something just to get some volume in without going very heavy. I'll decide if I want to start the SD already after fridays workout. Also, it was actually the first time I've ever put on a plate for bench. Lmao1pl8.
 
It might be worth visiting your bench press technique. This is a great video and explanation on how to bench correctly.

 
Browner said:
It might be worth visiting your bench press technique. This is a great video and explanation on how to bench correctly.
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Will do, I love Alan's videos. His technique seems to be more oriented for power-lifting, lifting the most amount possible not necessarily putting the most stress on the chest. Would it be more appropriate for me to reduce the arch like I have been over this cycle, or should I change to his method? Maybe it won't make any difference, especially for me.
 
Benching in a "bodybuilding" style with flared elbows, poor arch, etc, supposedly putting more strain on chest, etc, is well known to cause all manner of issues. The reason why you are able to move more weight using a proper bench technique is because you are using your muscles more efficiently. If you are getting pain in the arms, pretty clearly too much strain is being shifted to your arms rather than your pecs, which is exactly what you expressed concern about running into if you switch to the technique described above. A proper arch should always be used when benching, for example. Drop your bench loads back to somewhere around a 12 RM load and start doing at least 3 sets of no more than 8 reps with using proper technique for the rest of your cycle to fix your neural programming for bench press. Keep in mind that once you shift to the proper technique, strength will be reduced temporarily while your CNS relearns the lift, but once you have proper bench technique down, your loads will quickly surpass your old loads. This will inevitably result in improvements to your pecs, triceps and to some extent, delts.
 
Friday Workout (1/30/2015):

Weight: 143.0

Squat: 2 x 5 x 175 (form is breaking down, not sure I can progress it anymore)
Leg Extension: 1 x 15 x 100
SLDL: 2 x 5 x 165
Seated Row: 2 x 5 x 110
Bench: 3 x 8 x 95 (as per Totentanz advice)
Neutral Grip Pullup: 2 x 5 x BW + 20
Cut the workout short, I'm beat up

Totentanz said:
Benching in a "bodybuilding" style with flared elbows, poor arch, etc, supposedly putting more strain on chest, etc, is well known to cause all manner of issues. The reason why you are able to move more weight using a proper bench technique is because you are using your muscles more efficiently. If you are getting pain in the arms, pretty clearly too much strain is being shifted to your arms rather than your pecs, which is exactly what you expressed concern about running into if you switch to the technique described above. A proper arch should always be used when benching, for example. Drop your bench loads back to somewhere around a 12 RM load and start doing at least 3 sets of no more than 8 reps with using proper technique for the rest of your cycle to fix your neural programming for bench press. Keep in mind that once you shift to the proper technique, strength will be reduced temporarily while your CNS relearns the lift, but once you have proper bench technique down, your loads will quickly surpass your old loads. This will inevitably result in improvements to your pecs, triceps and to some extent, delts.
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Luckily I literally just saw your post before I was about to bench, so I did implement your advice, thanks for the input. However I'm pretty beat up at this point, I'm relearning my bench, and my squat form and depth is suffering at the current weight, so I may start my SD and start a new cycle in a week's time. I would just drop the weight on both exercises, but I'm not sure if I'll be fully healed by monday to prevent more injuries. Should I just wait until I feel healed and continue the cycle at this point, or should I officially end the current one, take an SD to reheal, and start a new cycle? (possibly with a couple exercise substitutions, like deep pause squats instead of squats to reinforce my depth)

Either way the new bench technique will be implemented, but if I start a new cycle I'll start at the 15s again and if I continue the current one I will take Totentanz advice.
 
I've been thinking, I've noticed over my HST cycle I was focusing on my numbers quite a lot, I was looking for strength increases that I'm not sure HST will best provide. Thinking about switching to ICF 5x5 with a couple alterations, it will probably better suit my goals and strength levels. Thoughts? If I do switch I'll post pics to conclude the HST cycle, I do think I've made some size increases.
 
If you aren't getting strength increases on HST then it's mainly a nutrition issue.

Either way, switching to a strength program would be an extremely bad idea until you get the bench form ingrained and get rid of those pains you have been having.
 
My nutrition is not as good as it should be, that is true. I just have would thought given ICF is a linear progression program the increases would be faster. Blaha actually recommends HST after finishing his 5x5.
 
I definitely have a problem with getting distracted by various routines. Now it's this one ran twice a week.
http://oldschooltrainer.com/3-day-push-pull-legs/
I like the sinplicity of it, and the benefits of 5x5 training. I would run it twice a week, so the frequency would still be at least 2x per week. What do you guys think of it? I do think HST principles can be applied to it, most of the principles are obeyed if ran as a linear progression program.
 
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Mattonaise said:
I definitely have a problem with getting distracted by various routines. Now it's this one ran twice a week.
http://oldschooltrainer.com/3-day-push-pull-legs/
I like the sinplicity of it, and the benefits of 5x5 training. I would run it twice a week, so the frequency would still be at least 2x per week. What do you guys think of it? I do think HST principles can be applied to it, most of the principles are obeyed if ran as a linear progression program.
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I think its a good program, and you can apply HST principles, however you don't want to start jumping from program to program. A lot will depend on your goals, is it strength or size (hypertrophy) you are after? If its size I would say your current program is probably better as it is higher frequency. For example the push pull legs program you are looking at, you only hit legs once a week. Although there are dead lifts on the first day, I consider that more of a back exercise (others may disagree)

My advice would be to find a program and stick to it for several months, before deciding if that program is working, but the key to any program, and to achieve your goals would be diet and nutrition.

Good luck.
 
Actually I would run the push pull legs routine twice a week. So it would go push/pull/legs/push/pull/legs/rest, with the volume adjusted as needed. Running it like this would actually be higher frequency than programs like starting strength or stronglifts. For example, in those programs you bench 1.5x per week, while with the push pull legs you bench 2x per week.

About my goals, at this point in my lifting career I do think I need to up my strength, and size gains will follow as a result. This program should facilitate progress in both. Here's my planned routine:

Push:
Paused Barbell Bench 5x5
OHP 5x5
Weighted Dips 5x5

Pull:
Deadlift 3x5 (work up to a max set of 5)
Snatch Grip Deadlifts 2x5 (will help me ensure thoracic extension during squats)
Wide Grip Cable Row 5x5
Weighted Overhand Pullups 5x5

Legs:
Paused ATG High Bar Squat 5x5 (will help me with my depth and explosiveness out of the hole)
Front Squat 5x5 (will help maintain a neutral back during back squats)
SLDL 5x5 (can switch out for another hamstring dominant movement if lower back fatigue becomes a problem)

Thats my planned routine and changes can be implemented as needed. I like the push/pull/legs routine as it can be easily adjusted and gives you both more frequency on specific lifts when compared to more traditional strength programs, while at the same time giving you an extra day of recovery. I will start today with legs, and will keep up this training log.

Also, diet. I need to improve the consistency with my diet.
 
You need to do the same program for at least six months before switching to a different one. Results come over the course of a year (or years) not over the course of a short 6-8 week routine. "Switching it up" is for bro-tards. If you change routines too often, you will never know what actually worked because, unless you are getting into a DEXA machine every eight weeks, you don't actually know what is working best until you've ran a routine for at least six months or so.
 
Excellent video. I agree almost entirely with him, except that we can use a 6 months horizon instead of the entire year proposed on the video. I believe that with the correct nutrition, effort AND observation/control anyone is able to evaluate a routine after six months.
 
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