Archives for workouts (page 19)

The lightest close-grip bench day of the prilepin bench cycle did not come a day too early. Although I was benching with only 73% of my max, the triceps felt a little sluggish and slow. Hopefully, this is not an early sign of overtraining, but a testimony to how well cycled this program is. The heaviest bench session, 3x2 @ 90%, is scheduled for Friday, which should give a good indication of how things are progressing.

150th entry. Time flies.

It finally happened. I forgot my training shirt at home. Tripped over to the 50% discount rack and found a blue Better Bodies tee that agreed with my constitution. Hefty discount, but still hefty price: 19 euro. Next time I think I will be forgetting my pants.

Week 3 of Patrik Nyman’s Prilepin Bench program with a target of 5 sets of 3 at 86% of max. It was a pinch, but I got them.

JM Presses next. This time I experimented with allowing the elbows to come down a little to make it feel less like a french press/extension movement and more like a press hybrid (video 1.4M). Also hoped this would take some of the stress off the wrists caused by tucking them forward at the bottom of the stroke. Worked well, and actually put me in a position very similar to that shown on the JM Blakley video (screenshots here). This is how I will be doing them from now on.

My back was still stiff, although now the pain had migrated from the left side more toward the center. Reverse-grip pulldowns proved to be too stressful in this department, so back to the faithful standby: chest-supported T-bar rows. Could also feel my back just doing Bradford presses. Enough is enough; after doing some one-handed reverse-grip pressdowns with the same weight I used for the same exercise with an overhand grip last time, I made my way over to the front desk and booked a time to the resident osteopath for tomorrow. Interesting times ahead.

Second go at squats powerlifting style without a box. Thought I would go for 3x3 with something like 75 kg/166 lbs or 80 kg/177 lbs. Everything went so-so until I did 3 @ 70 kg/155 lbs, when the left side of my hip towards the back decided to stiffen up on the second rep. I’ve had things like this before; hopefully it will go away with some rest and massage. How smart is it to continue doing a third rep after feeling that something is not quite right on the second rep? Plain stupid. I’ve never been one to stop a set as long as I’m not injured, but it is high time I learn this noble art. And how smart is it doing good mornings following this? “The pain is to the side, will probably feel better after some light GMs”… Plain very darn stupid, that’s what. The fact that I stopped here without continuing with calves and abs gives a glimmer of hope for the future.

Did tape my squats and tried hard to get the elbows in instead of flaring them back. Overall, today’s clips do not really represent any improvement over those from ten days ago, if anything these sets look worse (you will just have to trust me on this, ain’t gonna upload ‘em). Simply wasn’t my kind of training day today. Give it a rant on the blog and move on. Preferably into a nice pre-warmed bed.

3 kg/7 lbs more on the close-grip bench than last week for the same 5 sets of 3. Went quite well, and still had the required extra rep in me. Except for on the last set that is, when the last rep started being tough. After reviewing the clips of the bench, it turned out that I had mismanaged my set count as I found clips of six sets! All in all, not too shabby then.

Got some more reps on the assistance work as well. If it weren’t for the extra rest added to this program, by rotating the four training days over three training sessions a week, I think working the assistance exercises this hard might be a no-no. At least for me.

The video from today (5.6M) shows all exercises, including the face pulls above. As you can see, I have really sobered up on the dumbell side raises by dropping the weight drastically from the 16 kg/35 lbs dumbells I was heaving up on the clip from 10 December 2003. I am now a wanna-be technique junkie.

Before I fade to black, I should mention that Dave Tate has another article out at T-mag entitled The Education of a Powerlifter (Part I), “a story about one man’s journey into the cult of powerlifting”.

After that near max dead last week, I mentioned that I was looking for a “12 or 16 week moderate percentage based program” that would hone my lifting technique and keep me away from the max lifts so typical of regular Westside training while I make sure that my back has indeed recuperated from the injury. To get some much needed advice I again started a thread over at Westsidebar.net (as usual, this one is in Finnish).

Petteri suggested something like five weeks of tens, five weeks of sixes and five weeks of triples with the training load adjusted so that a very conservative 5 kg/11 lbs would be added to the 3RM. The load would be determined by first adding this gain to the last week (15) and then subtracting 2.5 kg/5.5 lbs from that every week. Below is his example using a current 3RM of 120 kg/265 lbs. Note that this scheme very naturally introduces a degree of load cycling; the weight remains the same at every transition from a higher rep range to a lower, i.e. the program gets easier for a couple of weeks before again becoming progressively more demanding. The total number of sets is left to the lifter’s consideration.

Triples
week 15: 125 kg/276 lbs
week 14: 122.5 kg/271 lbs
week 13: 120 kg/265 lbs
week 12: 117.5 kg/260 lbs
week 11: 115 kg/254 lbs

Sixes
week 10: 115 kg/254 lbs
week 9: 112.5 kg/249 lbs
week 8: 110 kg/243 lbs
week 7: 107.5 kg/238 lbs
week 6: 105 kg/232 lbs

Tens
week 5: 105 kg/232 lbs
week 4: 107.5 kg/238 lbs
week 3: 105 kg/232 lbs
week 2: 102.5 kg/227 lbs
week 1: 100 kg/221 lbs

I like this scheme for its simplicity and moderate nature. Some posters thought it was a waste of time to do more than five rep sets for powerlifting, while noting that higher reps on the deadlift tends to screw up their backs without fail. Don’t know about that, but I feel this program might not be totally ideal for technique training as the high rep range makes it harder to concentrate on good technique on every rep. I feel a 3-5 rep program that stays at least a rep short of failure would be most appropriate for me in my current condition. Will have to try something like this at some point though.

Riku wrote that he was looking for a similar moderate program, and that he was considering doing a 5x5 program over at Joe Skopec’s for his squat. I almost succumbed to the charms of this 16 week cycle that begins fairly moderately ending with 5 reps with the former max. I could have subtracted a little weight from my true max and this program would have been at a good intensity level. Yet, the idea of locking myself into a long-term moderate program does not seem all that appealing since it would not really give me any tools to adjust the intensity level up or down according to feedback from my body. Come to think of it, that is really what I need: the option to go heavy if it feels good, and the option to throttle back if needed. Bye bye, percentage programs!

To break out of paralysis due to analysis, I decided to keep it simple: do 3-5 reps a set for 2-5 sets. The aim is to slowly push up the training weights, but there will be no shame in lowering weights if needed.

This was then what I did today. Despite a nagging headache, I worked up to three sets of triples with 110 kg/243 lbs. Heavy enough, but not too heavy. Then punished the midsection with standing ab crunches, the twisting ab machine and dumbell side bends. By the end of it, the headache was gone. Quelle miracle!

Not a very good bench performance today when taking into account that I had 10 kg/22 lbs less weight on the bar than last week. Still had a little sore pecs, so perhaps that’s were to point the shivering finger of blame. Bad bad pecs, how could you?! In the end it does not matter really; I got my 5x3 @ 78 kg/172 lbs without having to strain.

Spent quite some time working on the JM Press according to the form JM Blakley presents on his XTM bench video (first two of the video screenshots): upper arms at a 45 degree angle from the centerline of the body, bar lowered somewhere around the clavicle/neck area without dropping the elbows and with the wrists tucked away from the body, then press up. If done correctly, the bar should not be able to touch you as the forearms plus biceps meet before that.

I started with several sets with a broomstick, then continued with the bar and finally did 2x10 @ 30 kg/66 lbs. In the beginning it felt really awkward, and the tucking of the wrists hurt a little. On the last set, I didn’t flex the wrists quite as much and that started feeling quite good.

On the video, JM emphasizes that as long as the exercise hits the lower triceps extremely hard one is doing OK, even if the form is not quite perfect. Previously, I lowered the elbows a little trying to emulate the form shown on the Westside Bench Secrets video (last screenshot - hey, that’s Louie Simmons right there).

I will need to take a closer look at my form still, but it is getting too late and I want to start recuperating under the sheets.

Today’s clip (5.3M) has all movements excluding the last set of one-handed pressdowns, i.e. precisely the movement where my triceps look good ;^)

The much anticipated first go at squats powerlifting style without a box… Did several lights sets with the box first and then did my working sets trying to sit back on top of a lower step board without actually touching it. Went fairly well, but squatting this style feels pretty heavy, probably because I don’t get the benefits of a hefty forward lean. Just got to get used to the technique I guess. Looking at the video, I am quite happy about my shins that stay fairly vertical, but still need to push the abdomen out and head back more aggressively while trying to get the elbows in further. Worked up to 5 @ 70 kg/155 lbs. Might go a little heavier next time.

Did some good mornings too. As most readers no doubt are aware, this is the exercise were I injured my back in early December so I am going to start working back into it very slowly. Did 5 @ 50 kg/111 lbs, i.e. 50% less than my PR of 5 @ 100 kg/221 lbs, using the pins as a depth guide to make sure that I don’t go quite as low as I used to (parallel) as the last inches seem to be the ones were the injury risk and fear factor unite.

Beginning today, I am going to start packing the training clips a little more aggressively to make the file size 50% smaller. Today’s clip is a long one as the emphasis is on reviewing technique; with the old packing format it would have been 7MB, now it is only 3.7MB. I am also starting a practice of linking the image from the training clip to the video itself (the friendly click-a-pic scheme). On another note, the fact that I am currently taking a slight break from pure Westside means that the blog categories are a little bit awkward. Basically, since I don’t really have a Dynamic Effort day at the moment I am going to file all workouts under the Maximum Effort sections.

The dark Finnish winter months are gone. Waking up at 7am it is no longer pitch black; an hour later the sun is already high enough above the cityscape to warm us with its rays. The morning temperature of -10 C/14 F climbs steadily with the sun, almost nudging zero making it pleasurably warm and injecting spring dreams into the Finnish mind. A clear blue sky… perfect weather for skiing or ice skating! This perfect winter weather will probably be with us for a few weeks and then… BOOOM! Takatalvi hits, which would be the Finnish term for the horrible awakening to a period of heavy blizzards and temperatures below -20 C/-4 F just when everybody thought spring is just around the corner… typically in April.

With season changes outside also comes season changes in the gym. For one thing most everybody seemed to be in a great mood today; the iron was light and spirits ran high! One Nigerian guy told me he woke up with this big smile on his face in the morning. On the downside, the sun is making it a lot more congested inside. Lying down on the bench, the sun also caught me straight in the eyes via the mirror. There is no question, no question at all, that overall the introspective winter mood is being replaced by the joy of being alive, which cannot but make training even more fun!

You don’t have to be a distant relative of Einstein to figure out where this post is heading. That is my cue to time out after blurting this out: close-grip benches went extremely well, I had a great groove, 80 kg/177 lbs for sets of three with a full stop felt like paper, got just the right weight for all exercises, blah blah blah… Great workout! Great life!

Blogs are usually about spilling your soul beans out in public. Catharsis and all that stuff. In that respect this blog is not worthy, and should probably be retired. Not that this will save it, but let me tell you that I have never trained in a tank top at a public gym before out of fear that someone will think that I’m trying to show off goods I don’t have. Let me further brief you on the fact that my social consciousness would probably have rebelled big time if I had tried taking clips a few years ago. I mean, it is kind of embarrassing filming a 130 kg/287 lbs deadlift when the guy next to you is repping with weights above 200 kg/440 lbs. If I can handle that, I can surely also train in one of the MuscleTees Sanna’s aunt graciously sent me for Christmas from the States without even having met me. I must be getting old, or then I’m just getting used to being in the spotlight whether lecturing, exposing myself on a public web site or pulling small weights in a tank top in front of a camera besides the next Ed Coan. I guess that must be why I didn’t flinch today when one guy at the gym asked, only half-jokingly, whether I am filming the next Dorian Yates training video. Go figure.

Or perhaps it all boils down to different attitudes towards clip taking. I suspect powerlifters in general understand clips in terms of technique feedback and camaraderie, while bodybuilders will naturally look at what muscle happened to land on the dude standing in front of the camera. If there is none, it is kind of embarrassing to them even if the weights are on the heavier side (real heavy and even a rhino will take notice). Guess this proves that I have succeeded in becoming a powerlifter at heart; not too hard a transformation when you have uncut arms and a stomach protecting your six-packs. Perhaps I should shave my head and get a tattoo. Perhaps not.

Now back to the regular program. Played around with some heavy deadlifting for the first time since my back injury. Tried pulling without bending the legs as much as I normally do, which turned out to look darn ugly on the video (4.1M). Went up to 130 kg/287 lbs, the same weight I had pulled back in June after one month of powerlifting training (in November I pulled 145 kg/320 lbs). I freely admit fearing that this lift might cause me to tear my ligament again, but since I have been able to do Zercher squats fairly comfortably I decided to give it a go and let it drop if things started feeling bad. Not wanting to risk an explosive start, I pulled it off the ground quite slowly as a feeler with the result that it slowed down severely at the knee. That felt dangerous enough and I was thinking I am pretty stupid still holding on to it. Pulled it all the way and felt grateful I still had my back intact. Basically, I fear that I have some scar tissue at the injury site which could cause the ligament to tear quite easily (in this regard Sanna’s massage did wonders - for the first time, the injury spot did not feel cold during the workout!). Did some easy ham work after that and finished off with standing lat pulley ab crunches.

After the workout I concluded that maxing out on singles fearing that the back will snap is neither nice nor very clever. Zercher squats are one thing, deadlifts quite another. I decided that the best thing to do is give it some more time and play it safe. As Westside has me pushing the envelope every workout, I am going to drop that for a while instead doing a 12 or 16 week moderate percentage based program. Ideally, it would have both a squat and a deadlift day, which would give me an opportunity for honing my vulgar form. Assistance work could be quite heavy for both the hams/erectors (heavy pull-throughs I can handle) and the abs. After three or four months of this I should be ready to go and in the meantime I would probably make some decent gains without putting my back health on the line. I figure I have another good twenty years in me for improving my squat and deadlift, and I don’t want to become a bench expert (I am already feeling like one). If this isn’t good sense I don’t know what is.

Da bench program based on da Prilepin’s table begins. I’m quite busy at the moment, but will write a script for it either of these days and also need to update the training routine page. Meanwhile, you will need to be content with this tiny look into the routine and a video clip of the JM Press (2.3M). I took this snippet so that I could see how well it stacks up to JM Blakley’s form as shown on his XTM video. Haven’t reviewed it yet, but even with this form the movement hits my lower triceps like no other.

But back to the bench. Today called for three sets of two reps at 89% of my max, i.e. 3x2 @ 87 kg. A good opportunity to grab the tiny 0.5 kg/1.1 lbs plates! I locate three of them in the gym, then it turned out that there were some more lying around in a box in the storage room along with a bunch of 0.25 kg/0.6 lbs and 1.25 kg/2.8 lbs plates. Having done mostly singles, I had no idea whether doing doubles with 89% would be easy or too hard. Turned out to be the perfect balance; got all the three sets without too much trouble. I got really tight and lowered the bar pretty slowly on all reps, which gave me a real sense of control. Benching twice a week will probably do wonders for my technique!

If I remember, I will take a clip of the Bradford presses next time. Today was the first time I tried this movement, that at least Jim Wendler swears is one of the best movements for building a big raw bench. The barbell is pressed from the chest just slightly over the head to behind the head and then back again (this is one rep). Effectively takes much of the triceps out of the movement and puts all the stress on the shoulders. Also trains lateral movement of the shoulders in an original way. On the downside, Bradfords are a good way to take your own scalp as the bar has a tendency to travel closer and closer to your head as you get tired. This warning says it all…

you must do these carefully, it can damage your
head.

After the workout it was time to replenish my protein and maltodextrin supplies as my 1 kg/4.9 lbs box of Eiselt’s Fastway was alarmingly empty (oh dear, panic strikes!!). Bought a 1.5 kg/3.3 lbs box of Eiselt’s Protec. The bigger proportion of casein in the latter made the vanilla flavor pretty thick. After a few sips I was already beginning to long for the good old strawberry Fastway. If I can’t take it, I guess I will just have to buy another box of Fastway and mix them 50-50… of course I can take it, but you know how nice a good tasting postworkout shake is… Mental note to self, next time use a pair of scissors when opening the bag…

Should also mention that I seem to be coming down with another flu. Am raising the standard defenses, but we will have to see if they are enough.