Friday, November 22, 2013

Base Building for my offseason

Now that the manual is done, and there are no meets on the horizon for a while, I feel a lot of stress off and I can get back to delivering a bit more content here.

So the obvious issue that I need to address for the offseason are the quad/leg injuries I've been having during competition.

I want to cover some really, really dumb fucking shit I've read about theories on why this may be happening. Or mainly, just one.

"Paul doesn't believe in training heavy so then he gets into a meet and has to go heavy and he tears something."

It's hard for me to believe that someone wrote this, that claims they have read my writings or ideas about training.

Before Relentless, I squatted 585 for an easy double, no belt.  A week before that I did 555 for an easy triple.

Before Nationals I squatted 595 for an easy single, no belt.  A week before that I did 545 for an easy triple.

So I'm not sure where the idea comes from that I don't believe or do any heavy training.  I mean, I have a youtube channel that video logs most of my top sets, so basically this is nonsense based on nothing more than taking a few pieces of information here and there completely out of context.

The Base Building methodology is based around sub max training, bar speed, and volume.  This has been detailed very well in the new manual.  All of the principles behind it are sound, have been proven by tons of elite level strength athletes, and stood the test of time.

My peaking programs do in fact require one to train heavy, but for a shorter period of time.

If I had to attribute my last two meet injuries to anything, it would be......

1.  Massive weight cuts
2.  Lack of quad strength/mass

The #2 there has been the hardest for me to swallow.  Because my legs are in fact, more than 30".  However, if I am going to be honest with myself, it's because my adductors are so damn big.  My actual quads need a TON of work.  I have thought this for a while and just not given it the attention it deserves.  My thoughts about this was cemented when my diet guru Michael Israetel told me "Paul, you have the upperbody, shoulders, and back of a guy that's near 300 pounds.  The quads?  Well, not so much."

Burn.  I needed aloe vera for that burn.

But the fact is, the hardest shit to hear is often what you NEED to hear the most.  And for me, that means hey, my quads are well behind where they need to be.

The Zenith -

If you did not purchase the Base Building Manual, well then, kill yourself.

If you don't want to kill yourself, and do in fact want to live and become bigger and stronger, then purchase it and read about the Zenith split.

BASE BUILDING MANUAL

My offseason split is going to be a modified version of the Zenith.  It will use the same principles that created that split, but with a little more emphasis on quad building.

Here is how I plan on laying this long offseason out -

Week 1 - 

Day 1 - Bench 
Bench - BB Phase I with fatigue singles
Hammer Bench/Db Incline - 2x6, 2x12
Hammer Pulldowns - 2x6, 2x12

Day 2 - Squat/Deadlift
High Bar Squat - BB Phase I
Deadlift - BB Phase III
Hacks - 1x8-15 - big-15 method

Day 3 - Incline
Incline - 350 method
Tricep Extensions - 4x20
Curls - 1x100

Week 2 - 

Day 1 - Front Squat
Fronts - BB Phase III with fatigue singles
Barbell Rows - 3x8
Leg Curls - 4x20

Day 2 - Press
Press Behind the Neck - 1x8-15 50% set - big-15 method
Dip Machine - 4x20
Curls - 1x100

Day 3 - Squat
Low Bar Pause Squats - BB Phase II with fatigue singles
Barbell Rows - 3x8
Leg Curls - 4x20

Week 3 - 

Day 1 - Bench
Bench Press - BB Phase I with fatigue singles
Hammer Pulldowns - 2x6, 2x12
Tricep Extensions - 4x20
Curls - 1x100

Day 2 - Squat/Pull
Squat - BB Phase II Tapered Version
Deadlift - BB Phase III
Leg Press - 10x10

Day 3 - Back
Chins - 50 total reps
Cable Rows - 4x25
Shrugs - 5x20
Db Rows - 1x20-30
V-Grip Pulldowns - 2x6, 2x12


Notes - LOTS of leg and back volume.  Listen, that is where your bread and butter is for getting massive, and moving big weights.  And I am going to spend a great deal of my time hammering the fuck out of those areas before I make a decision to compete again.









24 comments:

  1. Gonna continue cutting for meets?

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  2. Not a Kiefer disciple anymore?

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    Replies
    1. Can you disclose what changed/the reasons?

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    2. well because eventually I just realized shoveling junk food down your mouth, regardless of how it's presented, is counter productive.

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    3. Fully agree.

      Incidentally I read this quote from Dan John yesterday:

      "Honestly, seriously, you don’t know what to do about food? Here is an idea: eat like an adult. Stop eating fast food, stop eating kid’s cereal, knock it off with all the sweets and comfort foods whenever your favorite show is not on when you want it on, ease up on the snacking and, don’t act like you don’t know this, but eat vegetables and fruits more. Really, how difficult is this? Stop with the whining. Stop with the excuses. Act like an adult and stop eating like a television commercial. Grow up."

      Delete
    4. Yeah i also found this out after doing CBL as kiefer suggest with junk etc. Just got fat (as you'd expect, eating pizza and doughnuts almost every day!!)

      I still follow backloading in terms of timing carbs after training, but stick to decent quality foods. Still works, feel healthier, look better. I have cheats every now and again (one meal a week max) but that's it.

      It never made sense to me, even in the face of the explanations in the book, that eating shit foods could be a good thing. This isn't the first time other people have mirrored that, either.

      Delete
  3. I've seen people suggest that you have an unusual amount of forward lean when you front squat. Do you reject that, or are you going to try and focus at all on a more vertical torso for all this?

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    Replies
    1. I probably do yes. I do need to be more upright for fronts. It's just way harder without a belt.

      Delete
  4. Looks good to me. I think they're overused by a lot of aspiring powerlifters now, but olympic shoes really do help making front squats more upright and quad-dominant. Even the cheaper ones have a great benefit. probably not raw raw raw though

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  5. What are your thoughts on Sheiko? Good for an intermediate guy? Seems to kind of fit into your base building principles, except a bit heavier. I was also wondering about the percentages for your squat models in the manual. They seem realllllyyy low, even with maximal acceleration. I finished the Phase 3 squat model in 15 minutes. Is that normal? Sorry for all the questions.

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    Replies
    1. use the search function. I've answered 1000 questions about Sheiko before.

      How much weight are you using? Weaker guys may finish faster than guys using much heavier loads.

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    2. Also, the low percentages were explained pretty well, so I'm not sure why you are confused, or what you are confused about.

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    3. That makes sense then, seeing as how I'm only using 195lbs lol. Just feels absurdly light, but I guess that's the point.

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    4. Uhhh yeah if it's 195 your recovery rate isn't the same as a guy using say 405-455. Also, you may not understand that your last set has to literally have no slow down on any rep and be as explosive as any set you performed.

      Delete
  6. Hi Paul,

    One of my favorite templates you've created is the LRB template.

    Could this be modified to fit the base building methodology by replacing the Strong-15 with one of the BB phases for the bench/DL/squat?

    Thanks for your time.

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  7. Mr.Carter any chance you could do a post or series on bringing up weak bodyparts ? Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did many chapters on that in Strength Life Legacy

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  8. Great post yet again Paul. Can't understand where some morons have the balls to suggest that you blew your quad because you, "don't believe in lifting heavy". Shit dude, all one needs to do is take a look at your videos to see this is not true. That's like saying Usain Bolt blew his hamstring because he doesn't believe in running fast...idiots!

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  9. Not competing for a while...? What happened to "C-Note at Worlds if I don't pull 700?" What/when is "worlds" anyway?
    http://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/comments/1eag5r/paul_carter_meet_report_6404356751750_242/c9yoqnx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't compete at worlds because the WPF doesn't have a raw division. Which MANY pulled out of worlds after they became aware of it.

      You're lucky I posted this, as you're not even man enough to post with a real name. More sackless reddit pussies.

      Delete
  10. Oh. Hi Paul, my name is Will. I've managed to avoid linking all my stuff to Google (youtube and all that), so I guess it comes up as Unknown. Sucks about the raw division, didn't know it was WPF you were going to compete in.

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    Replies
    1. I didn't know it was until later. I thought it was still under the USPF fed.

      Delete