whistle's training log

Lol said:
Great cycle whistledixie!

Keep up the good work—after your well-earned rest! :)

Are you planning on increasing your bw over the next few cycles? I would have thought that a lean 175lb would be a good goal for someone of your height. Definitely doable but maybe you don't want to get that heavy?
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175 lbs would be awesome!

My weight has dropped a little the past month - I think, due to increased demand at work and the stress that accompanied it. Things are leveling out, though and I hope to add back 6 or 7 lbs in the next couple of months.

But I'm not going to be 'bulking' again until after I run a local 5k later this year that I've already committed to. I want to beat my time from last year and hopefully hit a lifetime PB.

I was thinking about trying the 20-rep squat (squats & milk) thing for bulking this fall. I have sort of batted the idea around of doing a squats & milk/HST hybrid. Since the squats & milk program has a few assistance lifts - I thought about programming the assistance stuff so it follows the HST 15 - 10 - 5 rep progressive load formula. Could be interesting.

If I can keep my bw somewhere close to 160 lbs between now and then, the squats & milk program should easily give me another 15 lbs.
 
Today:

Bench Press - 140# x10
Shoulder Press - 100# x1
Pullup - BW+25# x3
Dip - BW+20# x3

It's actually gonna be kind of hard logging this. I'd have to take notes during the session and write out a detailed report.

Basically, we played around with the above but the loads and reps changed from set to set. We worked up to 75% max loads and will tomorrow for lower body. We're gonna do this as a 4 week progression up to our 95% max loads. What reps we do on the big 4 - bench, press, dl, and squat will depend on the quality of the reps.

The focus is on technique and I did learn some things about the shoulder press that made a huge difference. I went full ROM from my shoulders to full lockout (which I didn't know was sort of a shrug up with your traps to lockout) with 100 lbs and it felt very different.

There was some short ab sets and a jog after, but I'll quit rambling now and get back to work. :-)
 
Please share as much as you have time for Dix. It’s interesting to read about different the focus of differing coaching methods.
 
Friday, March 18:

Back Squat - 160# x5
Good Mornings - 45# x3
Front Squat - 70# x3
Superset x3:
Hack Squat - 55# x8
Burpees x10

I was feeling pretty weak on the squats, but I was told my form is impeccable. :-)

Later on that day, I realized why I was feeling weak - I was coming down with some sort of flu or stomach virus. I spent the next 12 hours in agony. Then the following 2 days doing little more than sleep and attempt to keep hydrated. I felt better yesterday, but didn't workout.

I'll see how it goes today.
 
Yeah something has been making the rounds. I got hit with the same thing last week Monday. Had a decent workout, went home, started to eat dinner then suddenly... horrible.

I hope you feel up to working out today and that it goes well.
 
Yesterday:


DB Incline Press - 70# x8, x8, x20
DB Row - 90# x8, x8, x8, x20
DB Curl - 50# x8, x8, x16
Explosive Pushup - BW x8, x8, x9
Upright Row - 50# x8, x8, x18
Cable Row - 70# x8, x8, x15

*all DB weights total weight for both

I felt okay. The only lingering problem from the bug is that my appetite is still very poor.

All the weights above need to come up, but I was being cautious. This is sort of like a repetition or dynamic effort workout day, but with movements that primarily recruit stabilizers. There is a leg day programmed with the same purpose. The rest of the group was doing leg day, but I'm a day behind. I'll get back on track this week though.

The session was easy, but those explosive pushups were rough. Start at the bottom, push up explosively so that your hands come off the ground (like clapping pushups) and land on 6" high blocks, lower deep into a pushup (while on the blocks) , explode back up and land in the starting position. I was trying to max out on the 3rd set and could only get 9.
 
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Last night:

Deadlift - 210# x5
DB Split Squat - 30# x8, x8, x12
Suitcase Deadlift - 45# x8, x8, x8
Knees-to-elbows - BW x10, x10, x10

Did this at home last night to get caught up. Not a bad session, good core work. My weight has dropped to 150 since the flu. But my appetite is back, so I'm doing everything I can to reverse that. I wasn't planning on 'eating for size' until later this year, but I really need to get my weight back up.
 
Today:

Bench Press - 130# x5, 140# x3, 150# x1, 150# x5
Shoulder Press - 80# x5, 90# x3, 100# x1, 105# x1
Pullup - BW+20 x5, BW+30 x5, 5
Dip - BW+20 x5, BW+25 x3, 3
Bench Press - 90# x20
Jack knife x15, 15, 15

Didn't write down all the warm up sets, but there were some sets of 10 - 12 on the bench and shoulder press prior to what is written above.

Slow reps were the chosen method today. Weight I could normally handle well felt very hard at the 4 second down, pause, 4 second up tempo.
 
Let's see, gotta try to decipher my notes....

Friday, March 25:

Back Squat - 140# x5, 150# x3, 160# x3, 170# x1, 170# x4
Good Morning - 45# x5, 55# x3, 65# x3
Front Squat - 65# x5, 75# x3, 80# x3

Superset:
Hack Squat 90# x8, 8, 8
Burpees BW x10, 10, 10

Plank Hold 60 sec. x3

We explored varying widths on the squat stance to feel the difference. I prefer a wider stance, but I could really tell how much more the narrower stance recruits the quads. My hip adductors were pretty sore after this session as well. The hack squat/burpee superset was done with as little rest as possible and is an excellent metabolic finisher.
 
Yesterday, March 27:

Warm up: shoulder rotations, stretch, pushups

Incline DB Press - 80# x8, 8, 10
DB Row - 90# x8, 8, 20
DB Curl - 60# x8, 8, 8
Explosive Pushup - BW x8, 8, 8
Upright Row - 70# x8, 60# x8
Cable Row - 105# x8, 8
Knees-to-elbows - BW x10, 10, 10

Cooldown: 500m row in 2:50, 10 min. incline treadmill walk

*DB weights totalled

There's a lot of built in conditioning stuff in these workouts. The explosive pushups were a killer again. Afterwards, I had a little trouble with the up-rows so I had to dial it down for the 2nd set.

The BB and DB at the gym is a little thicker than mine at home and it is working my forearms real good.

Things are going real well with the new program, I'm pleased
 
Today:

Warm up: 500m row x2 - 2:50 pace, 2:02 pace (60 sec rest between)

Deadlift - 165# x5, 180# x3, 190# x3, 220# x1, 220# x7 (PB)

Superset:
DB Split Squat - 50# (total weight) x8, 8, 8
DB Suitcase DL - 55# DB (1 side at a time) x8, 8, 8

DB Shrug - 180# (total weight) x6

Cooldown: Messed around with the glute-ham raise - it will be featured next phase; 5 minute walk, 10 minute jog, 5 minute walk

Strength finally feels like it's come back after the flu 10 days ago. I hit a PB on deadlifts and thats exciting! Now 2 days of rest...
 
Today:

Bench Press - work up to 160# x1, 2; 135# x5 +3+3
Shoulder Press - work up to 105# x1, 1; 90# x5
Pullup - BW+30 x5, BW+40 x3, 3, BW x5 +3+3
Dip - BW+20 x5, BW+30 x3, 3, BW x5 +3+3
Bicycle kicks x15, 15, 15
Stretch

Coach introduced us to myo-reps today. :-) Not the first lesson in class I already knew about. But it was a great workout. Started feeling a little something in my left elbow on the shoulder press, so I didn't do anymore reps after the first drop set to 90#. Let's hope that goes away.
 
From Friday, April 1:

Back Squat - warm up sets; 150# x5, 160# x3, 170# x3, 180# x1, 180# x1
Good Morning - 55# x5, 65# x3, 75# x3
Front Squat - 75# x5, 85# x3, 90# x3

Superset:
Hack Squat - 95# x8, 8, 8
Burpee - BW x10, 10, 10

Cool down: Plank Holds x3, 10 min walk

I got in a bicycle accident Friday morning. A dog was chasing me and biting at my front tire. I thought it was funny and was enjoying the challenge of racing the dog, until the dog actually got a hold of my back tire wheel and all I heard was a yelp, and me hitting the pavement. My left shin was bloody, my right hand felt like it might have broken at the wrist. I was more concerned for the dog at first. The dog seemed okay, just scared. No injuries. I ended up feeling fine after 'walking it off' on the way back to the house. My bike might have some damage - which really sucks.

So, I was a little worried about hitting the squats at the gym a few hours later. I didn't push for any new PBs. I just hit the loads planned and got out of there. I rested on Saturday and kept trying to evaluate my right wrist/hand area to see if I thought I might be able to press or pushup on Sunday (yesterday). It is still really bruised now, but it feels okay. My grip doesn't seem to have suffered.
 
Yesterday, April 3:

Incline DB Press - 70# x8; 90# x8, 8, 12
DB Row - 70# x8; 110# x8, 8, 18
DB Curl - 60# x8, 8, 50# x8
Pushup - BW x8, 8, 8
Upright Row - 70# x8, 8
Cable Row - 120# x8, 8

Cool down - machine crunch 80# x15, 15, 15; 5 min walk, 10 min jog, 5 min walk

(all DB weights totalled)

I was being timid yesterday. My grip felt okay. I felt something in my elbow last week doing shoulder presses and the bike accident left a huge swollen bruise on my lower hand/wrist, so I held back this session. I did a lighter set of DB press and rows to make sure I'd be alright. Then I just repeated the load from the last session instead of increasing. Pushups were a little painful (just from the bruise, I believe), so I didn't do the explosive pushups, just normal chest-to-deck.

By the end I felt okay and wished I'd used the loads programmed. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
 
Today:

Warm up: POSE running practice (hated it) for 5 min, warm up sets of DL

Deadlift - 180# x5, 205# x3, 215# x3, 230# x1, 230# x5

Supersets:
DB Split Squat - 60# x8, 8, 8
Suitcase DL - 120# x8, 8, 8

DB Shrug - 180# x10

Knees-to-elbows - BW x10, 10, 10, 10

Cooldown - stretch, 5 min walk, 10 min jog, 5 min walk

(all DB weights totalled)

Deadlifts are seeing the most improvement with this programming. I hit a PB last week and today.

My quads are looking freakin' huge. It might be the split squats.

My grip is fried after pulling those deads, holding the DBs for the supersets, holding the DBs for the shrugs, holding the bar on the knees-to-elbows. Tomorrow is a welcomed rest day - then our schedule changes to Wed, Fri, Sun, Mon. I think I'll like that better.
 
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Today:

Warm up: Power clean practice w/empty bar, warm up sets of bench and shoulder press

Bench Press - 135# x5 - 150# x3 - 160# x2 - 170# x1, x1 - 135# x11
Shoulder Press - 80# x5 - 90# x3 - 100# x2 - 110 x1
Push Press - 115# x7
Pullup - BW+30# x5 - BW+40# x3, x3
Dip - BW+25# x5, BW+35# x3, x3

Cooldown: pullup and dip competition (I could only get 18 pullups, 14 dips I was so wiped out - but I still won); 15 minute walk

It was a stellar start to the final week of this phase! I felt stronger today than I have on bench since the end of my last HST cycle.
 
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