Sunday -
incline db curls - 6 sets of 10 w 40's
kickbacks - 6 sets of 20 w 40's
Today -
upright rows - 135x6sets of 10
reverse crunch abs - 4 sets of 20
Strength Life Legacy
Monday, April 9, 2012
Chaos and Bang 2........2
So Jamie and I did a follow up last night, and without giving another double dutch rudder, I'd like to say it turned out to be a really solid discussion. And over the course of the conversation we had quite a few "aha" moments about training and eating. Tons of good stuff.
Some of the shit we went over (off the top of my head)
RUM5 and shit he would have done things differently in training for that meet
How he changed his training after the meet
Injuries we have been dealing with
Going with instinct in both eating and training
Balancing training hard with training frequency and volume (this turned out some quality discussion)
How to get women with dark chocolate and fried chicken
Quite a bit of other stuff for a very interesting and colorful discussion. Look for the audio up later today or tomorrow.
Some of the shit we went over (off the top of my head)
RUM5 and shit he would have done things differently in training for that meet
How he changed his training after the meet
Injuries we have been dealing with
Going with instinct in both eating and training
Balancing training hard with training frequency and volume (this turned out some quality discussion)
How to get women with dark chocolate and fried chicken
Quite a bit of other stuff for a very interesting and colorful discussion. Look for the audio up later today or tomorrow.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
More on 50% sets and finding balance......
I've written a ton about 50% sets in the past, but there still seems to be confusion about this technique (kinda like licking the alphabet, I suppose).
It's pretty simple.
After you run the over-warm up, go to failure, or close to it on your down set/working set and then rest 60 seconds, and go again. On the second set, try to get half the number of reps you got on the first set, i.e. 50% of your first set.
For example, I would notate it like so........
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
344x1
285x15-6 50%
So I got 285x15 on my first set, rested 60, and got 6 on the second set.
I first read about this technique many years ago from Dr. Ken Leistner. He used it in a bench specialization routine with great success for himself and a lot of the guys he trained. I worked it in to my routines also with great success.
Years when I ran DoggCrapp training, I realized these two techniques were variations of the same animal, with slightly different spots.
In DC training, the point is to beat the logbooks total reps from the previous week. With 50% sets you can do that as well, however you also have a goal for the day, that gets set after the first set ends.
Both techniques do a pretty unique thing in your training.
It's pretty simple.
After you run the over-warm up, go to failure, or close to it on your down set/working set and then rest 60 seconds, and go again. On the second set, try to get half the number of reps you got on the first set, i.e. 50% of your first set.
For example, I would notate it like so........
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
344x1
285x15-6 50%
So I got 285x15 on my first set, rested 60, and got 6 on the second set.
I first read about this technique many years ago from Dr. Ken Leistner. He used it in a bench specialization routine with great success for himself and a lot of the guys he trained. I worked it in to my routines also with great success.
Years when I ran DoggCrapp training, I realized these two techniques were variations of the same animal, with slightly different spots.
In DC training, the point is to beat the logbooks total reps from the previous week. With 50% sets you can do that as well, however you also have a goal for the day, that gets set after the first set ends.
Both techniques do a pretty unique thing in your training.
- They up the ante a bit. Dante used to write that if you failed to make progress on a movement after two consecutive workouts, you had to drop it. So if you had a favorite movement, you risked having to drop it for something else if you weren't progressing. With the 50% sets, you have a goal to beat as soon as the first set is over.
- Both put "pressure" on you during the set and workout. This is a great performance tool. Anytime you up the pressure, good things should happen in regards to lifting. Most trainees don't put enough pressure on themselves to progress or improve without a stimulus to do so. A competition, a training partner, something, anything. Most of us need something tangible we can sink our teeth into, to take training up another level. Simply adding in a goal for THAT workout can do that.
Eventually DC training wore me out. Mentally I just dreaded having to "get up" for set after set of rest/pause three times for almost every single movement. With the 50% sets on the new big-15, I scaled it back to two big movements with the 50% technique on upperbody days, then 1 big movement without the 50% technique. On lower body days it's just the 1 big movement, which is usually a squat or type of squat, and leg press is possible too, if you want to see Jesus without dying.
So the big movements will get the 50% PIT (perceived intensity technique) for the most part, and the small movements will get lots of volume of sets and reps with short rest periods. If you can't grow on this template, go take up underwater basket weaving.
Finding Balance -
A theme I am starting to see creep across the lifting landscape now, is something I have been harping on for a while.
Finding balance across everything related to your training paradigm.
Diet, training, conditioning.
Everyone knows I wrote a somewhat tongue in cheek article about Paleo, but I don't have a problem with Paleo. I have a problem with dogmatism and extremes. I mean, you're not going to convince me that it's bad to eat a god damn potato that comes from the ground. You're not. If a caveman could grow it and eat it without dying, he'd do so. I don't even want to get off on that tangent again!
Anyway, something that has been going through my head more and more however, is just asking myself some basic questions when it comes to eating.
"Will this help my performance?"
How about something even simpler......
"Is this healthy?"
I know some people can say "that's a tricky question." But let's cut through the bullshit. It's not.
Eating sirloin and sweet potatoes with a big salad? Looks good. Seems like that would help build muscle, and fuel performance and help recovery.
Eating half a gallon of ice cream? Seems like it would taste really fucking awesome, but I can't in good conscience say it's healthy or would improve my performance.
Seems to me, you can't go wrong with the following.......
- Chicken, steak, turkey, fish, and buffalo.
- All veggies
- All fruits
- Potatoes
- Nuts
- Nut butters
- Quality protein powder
None of this is scientific. Again, it's common sense.
Lift hard enough to stimulate growth
Eat enough quality foods to aid in that process
Condition so that your ability to work hard isn't limited by being an out of shape fat ass
Be strong, be in shape.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Training - Big Workout #2 - Lower Body #1
Bodyweight - 240
Standing Calf -
stack x 3 sets of 12
Rack pulls below the knee -
225x3, 3
315x3
405x1
500x1
585x1
675x1
725xM
705x1 <- PR
Deadlifts - 500x3,3
Glute Bridges in Smith - 225x4sets of 20
Lunges - 3 sets of 20 bodyweight only
Notes - Fuck, just missed 725 from below the knee. This would have been a massive PR. It came off the pins, and usually for me when something comes off the pins I got it. But it stalled out in the transition from the knee to lockout. Oh well, felt good to pull over 700 from this position.
Standing Calf -
stack x 3 sets of 12
Rack pulls below the knee -
225x3, 3
315x3
405x1
500x1
585x1
675x1
725xM
705x1 <- PR
Deadlifts - 500x3,3
Glute Bridges in Smith - 225x4sets of 20
Lunges - 3 sets of 20 bodyweight only
Notes - Fuck, just missed 725 from below the knee. This would have been a massive PR. It came off the pins, and usually for me when something comes off the pins I got it. But it stalled out in the transition from the knee to lockout. Oh well, felt good to pull over 700 from this position.
Last Two Small Workouts
Thursday -
db curls - 40's x 5sets of 15
rope pushdowns - 5 sets of 15
Friday -
upright rows - 115x5sets of 15
bent laterals - 30's x 5 sets of 15
db curls - 40's x 5sets of 15
rope pushdowns - 5 sets of 15
Friday -
upright rows - 115x5sets of 15
bent laterals - 30's x 5 sets of 15
Friday, April 6, 2012
Thoughts about life, crap, training and stuff and going after the WCS standards......
So as I noted in the training entry the other night, I had a very rude wake up call.
"You haven't been training very hard, Paul."
I think it some ways that was a tough pill to swallow. Not because of pride, just because I got to where I am through brutally hard training, and have fallen a little bit on my laurels. I have written about this several times, and how it slowly slithers into your training and mindset. People will laugh, but things like 5x5 and volume on the big lifts and all sorts of other shit end up becoming excuses not to train balls out.
We trained with the first Big session on Wednesday night, and all day yesterday I was tired as hell, hungry as shit. I ate a giant plate of roast and potatoes last night, then had a whole container of strawberries (more on this later). I woke up in the middle of the night starving and had a shake and half a jar of peanut butter.
Point of all this is, I remember all these feelings all too well. They were ignited by hard, heavy, intense, brutally hard training. And I've been moseying around the weights for far too long now.
No more.
Until at least late in the year, I will be pushing the new big-15 program focusing on meeting the WCS standards. Since I can't squat, and won't be able to for a while, that's out. But I will be tackling everything else.
How do I feel about my chances?
Not sure.
Let's start where I am closest and go from there with likely % of making it.
Standing Press - 315x1 90%
If I could clean 300, I could overhead press it right now. 225x10 Wednesday was a bit of a joke and I could have easily done 13 or so reps I believe. I could take it out of the rack, but watching someone clean the weight then press it, is far more boss to me than taking it out of the rack. So my limiting factor here my just be the clean. Which I vow to get better at. My other issue here is elbow health. Overhead pressing tends to beat my elbows up the most. So we'll see.
Bench Press - 315x20 90%
13 reps Wednesday night, not feeling too great. On a good night 15 or so I think. 17 is my best. The difference in 17 and 20 is pretty significant though. I feel like I have a solid shot here.
Deadlifts - 500x20 85%
My deadlift is higher than it's ever been right now. Just missing a 650 double off the 4" blocks I know puts me at at least 675, but more than likely 690-700. However after that the quad starting getting worse and playing a factor when I pulled. Nothing worse than trying to pull and "feeling" to see if something is going to hurt. I do know that my "speed" sets with 500-550 were the easiest and fastest they had ever been. This is a big one for me. I have no doubt that 500x20 would cement me well over 700. Since I am worlds shittiest deadlifter and I can't squat right now, I am going to pour all of my energy into making this happen. I think if I repped right now, 12 or 13 would be doable. But I must get better. Phil Stevens and I are going to go head to head on 500 for reps soon and he's a 750+ puller. And I fucking hate losing.
Chins - 100x10 85%
My chins usually run up pretty fast. I haven't chinned in a while and Wednesday night I did 75 for a stupid easy single, then 15 with bodyweight only. Best is 100x3.
Dips - 200x10 70%
No clue. I haven't dipped in forever. Will dip next week and see how it feels. Dips often aggravate my pec tendon, so if I do them it will be sparingly. This limits my chance for success.
Curls - 185x10 40%
Not a lot of hope here because I hate curling and my template calls for lighter curls. I will however, give some heavy curls for a set of 10 a shot on the little days of 6x10.
Squats - 500x20 0%
It's be hard to squat 500xanything right now with my hip/quad in the shape it's in. However this may be a good thing as I will have a chance to really push the deadlift without also beating myself up on the squat. It's very possible that my dead climbed like it did this past cycle because my squats were so light the whole time.
As far as eating goes, I'm not going to eat to "lose fat" or to "gain mass". I'm going to eat for performance and to fuel my workouts and recovery. I will still be doing conditioning several days a week. Mainly a mixture of steady state several times then some interval work too.
I will only be doing two big sessions a week as I feel like that suits my recovery best. So my split looks like, or will look something like this.........
Week 1 -
Big Session 1 - Upperbody 1
Close Grips - 50% set
Chins - 50% set
Clean and Press - 1xmax reps w 225 or 245
Big Session 2 - Lowerbody 1
Calf Raises - 4x10
Leg Press - 6x20
Leg Curl - 4x20
1-Legged Squats - 4x20
Week 2 -
Big Session 1 - Upperbody 2
Incline Press - 50% set
Rows - 4-6x8-20
Weighted Dips - 1x8-12
Big Session 2 - Lowerbody 2
Calf Raises - 4x10
Deadlifts - 50% set
Leg Ext - 4x20
Lunges - 4-6x20
If I could squat, I would honestly squat one week, and pull the next. This kind of training on a per session basis gets to be a chore, and recovery, especially for someone with the amount of miles on them that I have, is very important.
Eating -
So my fight coach has been on my ass about changing some things in my diet that he thinks will make even more of a difference. Dropping all complex carbs, and getting all my carbs from fruits and vegetables with some potatoes thrown in now and again. Hmmmmm, that sounds like fucking Paleo. Fear not fellow readers, I am not doing Paleo. However, I will try this for a while because the one thing I do like is that I can basically eat fruit until I die and not worry about weight gain like I have to with other carb sources. So I'm always open to ideas and I'll give this one a try.
50% sets -
I can't believe how many people are asking what these means. I wrote about it in the PoTP's and have talked about them many times before. But what the hey, let's do it again!
A 50% set means you go to failure, or close to it on your working set, then you rest for 60 seconds, and try to get half as many reps as you got on the first set.
So.....
300x10 on first set.....rest 60 seconds
Shoot for at least 5 on the second set
That's it.
What are my goals?
To get as close to the standards as I possibly can. To improve my conditioning. Simply, to get better.
The book -
It's coming! I know lots of you are freaking out and thinking it's going to be like a year from now. Maybe 6 weeks or so. I am pouring as much into this thing as I can, as far as I what I feel is important from a cradle to grave aspect.
Know how to squat, bench, and pull properly.
The new strong-15 and big-15 templates and cycles.
The new block pull cycle
A pause squat cycle
Pre-hab and rehab at a blue collar level.
Training for old mother fuckers
Training for noobies and intermediates
A shit ton of training splits
A conditioning plan
Thoughts about being a better man
Bodypart specialization. You guys saw what I did in short periods with trap and back specialization. I am covering the whole body in this regard.
A lot of this is already written but I'm still writing, and fleshing it all out. Be patient. It will be well worth it. Anytime someone has a question about training, I'd like for them to be able to open it up and find an answer, or some idea of an answer. That has been my goal.
It's Friday, and I'm happy. I got a solid nights sleep last night for the first time in a while, even if it was only 6 hours, I only woke up once.
I won't lie, dropping the meet has taken some stress off. With mom's surgery and other things I've had going on, it was weighing on me. Not because of the competition, but because of my leg and all the other shit around me. It was just another stress, and eventually I decided it was a stress I could remove for now that would benefit me in the long run. It was a very tough decision but I feel like now, it was the right now. I have no doubt at all once my leg is good, 1800 no belt is in the fucking bag.
I hope all you bitches have a great weekend and do something worth talking about. You get one go around. Make it count for something.
"You haven't been training very hard, Paul."
I think it some ways that was a tough pill to swallow. Not because of pride, just because I got to where I am through brutally hard training, and have fallen a little bit on my laurels. I have written about this several times, and how it slowly slithers into your training and mindset. People will laugh, but things like 5x5 and volume on the big lifts and all sorts of other shit end up becoming excuses not to train balls out.
We trained with the first Big session on Wednesday night, and all day yesterday I was tired as hell, hungry as shit. I ate a giant plate of roast and potatoes last night, then had a whole container of strawberries (more on this later). I woke up in the middle of the night starving and had a shake and half a jar of peanut butter.
Point of all this is, I remember all these feelings all too well. They were ignited by hard, heavy, intense, brutally hard training. And I've been moseying around the weights for far too long now.
No more.
Until at least late in the year, I will be pushing the new big-15 program focusing on meeting the WCS standards. Since I can't squat, and won't be able to for a while, that's out. But I will be tackling everything else.
How do I feel about my chances?
Not sure.
Let's start where I am closest and go from there with likely % of making it.
Standing Press - 315x1 90%
If I could clean 300, I could overhead press it right now. 225x10 Wednesday was a bit of a joke and I could have easily done 13 or so reps I believe. I could take it out of the rack, but watching someone clean the weight then press it, is far more boss to me than taking it out of the rack. So my limiting factor here my just be the clean. Which I vow to get better at. My other issue here is elbow health. Overhead pressing tends to beat my elbows up the most. So we'll see.
Bench Press - 315x20 90%
13 reps Wednesday night, not feeling too great. On a good night 15 or so I think. 17 is my best. The difference in 17 and 20 is pretty significant though. I feel like I have a solid shot here.
Deadlifts - 500x20 85%
My deadlift is higher than it's ever been right now. Just missing a 650 double off the 4" blocks I know puts me at at least 675, but more than likely 690-700. However after that the quad starting getting worse and playing a factor when I pulled. Nothing worse than trying to pull and "feeling" to see if something is going to hurt. I do know that my "speed" sets with 500-550 were the easiest and fastest they had ever been. This is a big one for me. I have no doubt that 500x20 would cement me well over 700. Since I am worlds shittiest deadlifter and I can't squat right now, I am going to pour all of my energy into making this happen. I think if I repped right now, 12 or 13 would be doable. But I must get better. Phil Stevens and I are going to go head to head on 500 for reps soon and he's a 750+ puller. And I fucking hate losing.
Chins - 100x10 85%
My chins usually run up pretty fast. I haven't chinned in a while and Wednesday night I did 75 for a stupid easy single, then 15 with bodyweight only. Best is 100x3.
Dips - 200x10 70%
No clue. I haven't dipped in forever. Will dip next week and see how it feels. Dips often aggravate my pec tendon, so if I do them it will be sparingly. This limits my chance for success.
Curls - 185x10 40%
Not a lot of hope here because I hate curling and my template calls for lighter curls. I will however, give some heavy curls for a set of 10 a shot on the little days of 6x10.
Squats - 500x20 0%
It's be hard to squat 500xanything right now with my hip/quad in the shape it's in. However this may be a good thing as I will have a chance to really push the deadlift without also beating myself up on the squat. It's very possible that my dead climbed like it did this past cycle because my squats were so light the whole time.
As far as eating goes, I'm not going to eat to "lose fat" or to "gain mass". I'm going to eat for performance and to fuel my workouts and recovery. I will still be doing conditioning several days a week. Mainly a mixture of steady state several times then some interval work too.
I will only be doing two big sessions a week as I feel like that suits my recovery best. So my split looks like, or will look something like this.........
Week 1 -
Big Session 1 - Upperbody 1
Close Grips - 50% set
Chins - 50% set
Clean and Press - 1xmax reps w 225 or 245
Big Session 2 - Lowerbody 1
Calf Raises - 4x10
Leg Press - 6x20
Leg Curl - 4x20
1-Legged Squats - 4x20
Week 2 -
Big Session 1 - Upperbody 2
Incline Press - 50% set
Rows - 4-6x8-20
Weighted Dips - 1x8-12
Big Session 2 - Lowerbody 2
Calf Raises - 4x10
Deadlifts - 50% set
Leg Ext - 4x20
Lunges - 4-6x20
If I could squat, I would honestly squat one week, and pull the next. This kind of training on a per session basis gets to be a chore, and recovery, especially for someone with the amount of miles on them that I have, is very important.
Eating -
So my fight coach has been on my ass about changing some things in my diet that he thinks will make even more of a difference. Dropping all complex carbs, and getting all my carbs from fruits and vegetables with some potatoes thrown in now and again. Hmmmmm, that sounds like fucking Paleo. Fear not fellow readers, I am not doing Paleo. However, I will try this for a while because the one thing I do like is that I can basically eat fruit until I die and not worry about weight gain like I have to with other carb sources. So I'm always open to ideas and I'll give this one a try.
50% sets -
I can't believe how many people are asking what these means. I wrote about it in the PoTP's and have talked about them many times before. But what the hey, let's do it again!
A 50% set means you go to failure, or close to it on your working set, then you rest for 60 seconds, and try to get half as many reps as you got on the first set.
So.....
300x10 on first set.....rest 60 seconds
Shoot for at least 5 on the second set
That's it.
What are my goals?
To get as close to the standards as I possibly can. To improve my conditioning. Simply, to get better.
The book -
It's coming! I know lots of you are freaking out and thinking it's going to be like a year from now. Maybe 6 weeks or so. I am pouring as much into this thing as I can, as far as I what I feel is important from a cradle to grave aspect.
Know how to squat, bench, and pull properly.
The new strong-15 and big-15 templates and cycles.
The new block pull cycle
A pause squat cycle
Pre-hab and rehab at a blue collar level.
Training for old mother fuckers
Training for noobies and intermediates
A shit ton of training splits
A conditioning plan
Thoughts about being a better man
Bodypart specialization. You guys saw what I did in short periods with trap and back specialization. I am covering the whole body in this regard.
A lot of this is already written but I'm still writing, and fleshing it all out. Be patient. It will be well worth it. Anytime someone has a question about training, I'd like for them to be able to open it up and find an answer, or some idea of an answer. That has been my goal.
It's Friday, and I'm happy. I got a solid nights sleep last night for the first time in a while, even if it was only 6 hours, I only woke up once.
I won't lie, dropping the meet has taken some stress off. With mom's surgery and other things I've had going on, it was weighing on me. Not because of the competition, but because of my leg and all the other shit around me. It was just another stress, and eventually I decided it was a stress I could remove for now that would benefit me in the long run. It was a very tough decision but I feel like now, it was the right now. I have no doubt at all once my leg is good, 1800 no belt is in the fucking bag.
I hope all you bitches have a great weekend and do something worth talking about. You get one go around. Make it count for something.
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