Generally speaking, if your grip is off and that hurts your wrists then fixing your grip is the first thing you need to do. If you just feel that your wrists need more support overall then wrist wraps are a good idea, I use them for all bench/pressing work sets as well as squatting.
Ohhh, okay. I was using my normal bench grip for JM presss. I’ll fix that. I’ll probably start looking into wrist wraps soon.
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Week 12: Day 4
Deadlift: 1x2-265lbs; 5x3-225lbs
Split Squat: 3x6/leg-50lb Dbs
Rows: 3x8-135lbs
Preworkout: feeling good and pretty energized
Workout: Felt really good- I finally got 265 for more than a single! Unfortunately, volume sets ended up a lot harder than expected and I kind of just gave up after the 5th set. Split squats killed me, but I was impressed that I pushed through 6 reps with 50lb dumbbells. Rows really pumped forearms and a lot harder than expected. Got a bit lightheaded.
Postworkout: felt really accomplished but really tired
Week 12: Day 5
Front Squat: 1x1-140lbs- fail 2nd attempt; 8x3-125lbs
RDL: 2x7,1x8- 175lbs
DB Row: 3x10-26kg DB
Preworkout: nothing sore except knees felt surprisingly good
Workout: I was feeling pretty good so I decided to do the normal front squat workout. Unfortunately, everything started feeling heavy. I took the weight down for back offs and did the volume instead. RDLs felt surprisingly good, but grip started failing. Really hard on back, core and glutes but couldn’t really feel in hamstrings. DB rows felt fine
Postworkout: really tired and legs dead, felt pretty accomplished for doing two lower body sessions in a row
Week 12: Day 6
Touch and go Bench: 3x3-115lbs
DB incline bench: 2x6, 1x7-18kg Dbs
Skull crushers: 2x20-55lbs
HS walk technique
Preworkout: legs tired, but felt pretty energized over all
Workout: felt pretty good, nothing too hard. My DB incline bench’s been doing really well. Skullcrushers absolutely destroyed triceps.
Postworkout: same as preworkout. Crazy tricep pump
Week 13: Day 1
Paused Bench: 1x2,1x1-115lbs; 5x5-100lbs
Dips: 2x13, 1x12-10kg DB
Face Pull: 3x12-56lbs
Preworkout: supposed to squat today, but legs weren’t having it. Bench instead. Overall energy good
Workout: Felt pretty strong and happy that I got 115 for 2, arch still bothered back a bit. Dips easier than expected but still burned. Face pulls a lot harder than expected
Postworkout: energy same as preworkout, upper body pumped, legs feeling better
*I’ve noticed that the muscles around my knees/my knees always feel tight and a bit sore. What’s up with that and what can I do?
Week 13: Day 2
I’m thinking about taking this week easy, then doing Candito’s 6 week strength starting next week
Back Squat: 3x(3 w/ 3sec pause+3 regular)-160lbs; 1x6-160lbs
3x(6-135lbs+20- bodyweight)- all w/ band around knee to fix my hip shift
KB RDL: 3x20-45lb Kbs w/ 45sec rests
Weighted Pistol: try for max weight- 50 for R, fail L side
Abs: 7xtabata- Hollow hold
Preworkout: feeling pretty good, legs felt pretty recovered but knees still a bit tight. pretty excited to squat
Workout: felt surprisingly good and light despite heavy feeling warmups. Pause really hard on abs and mentally tough. Didn’t really feel in quads that much. Got a really good glute pump from rest of work, especially banded squats. Tabata killed abs
Postworkout: glutes dead but felt good and accomplished
Week 13: Day 3
Bench Press: 3x(3-close grip+3- paused)-100lbs
Dips: 1x14,2x13-10kg DB
Tricep push downs: 3x(12-35lbs+12-30lbs)
Technique: HS walk
Preworkout: legs tired and pretty sore, upper body fine and pretty energized
Workout: Weights heavier than expected but felt great. Killed chest and triceps and got really good pump. Wrists fine, which confirms that the problem last week was the weird set up and not my form
Postworkout: entire upper body pumped, felt pretty good and strangely buzzed, legs still pretty trash
I get the feeling that you aren’t arching right. You should mostly be arching at the thoracic spine (mid to upper back), not so much your lower back. It can hurt and make your back cramp up, it’s definitely not worth it because if you mess your back up benching to get a few extra pounds out of your arch you will suffer on the deadlift where you should be able to lift way more. I don’t have a video in mind, but look around on youtube and watch some instructional videos on can arching. Working on thoracic mobility can help though, if you have a foam roller you can lay your upper back on it and try to reach up and back over and over, do this in multiple spots on your back and it should improve mobility.
Maybe your squat technique is messed up, impossible to tell without a video. If it’s your quads then stretching your quads and doing some sort of myofascial release (like foam rolling, lacrosse ball, massage, etc.) can help, if it’s the knee joint then it’s a problem for sure and most likely due to technical problems. Where exactly does it hurt? Right above or below the knee cap? In your thigh muscle? Shins?
This can do it
this too
I can’t really tell you what to do, but I don’t think that’s a particularly good program. It has you go from high reps to low reps in too short of a time frame, you might make some progress but it doesn’t seem like the way to go. Deloading would be a good idea though, once you start to feel beat up and weights feel heavier than usual it’s a sign that you are not recovering properly. If your legs were too messed up to squat on Monday it would have been better to just deload right then and there.
Right now, I would say either turn this into a full-out deload for the rest of the week, or otherwise keep doing your regular bench workouts but for the two lower body days just do your top set and maybe 2 down sets and cut it there, then deload next week. If it’s just sore legs but you can still lift and don’t feel like crap overall then the 2nd option is good, if you are burnt out then the first option is better, if your knees are messed up then don’t squat or deadlift heavy until they feel better, and try to find out what is going on. The last thing you want is a serious injury that sets you back for a long period of time.
Thanks for the help.
My knees don’t hurt, they just feel tight after lower body days. I can still (usually) get the work in. I’m working on the hip shift
I think I’ll deload for the rest of the week on lower body and keep my upper body days consistent since it feels fine.
Since Candito’s isn’t a good idea, what should I do?
What do you mean, like it’s hard to bend your knees because your quads are tight? If that’s all then stretching should fix it, like the stretch where you reach behind and grab your ankle while standing or even just sit in a full squat, you could do it while holding something to keep your balance and make it easier to relax in that position. If it’s the knee joint itself then you have a problem.
It’s hard to say, you are sort of advanced so you need something customized. What I would get you to do is some lighter weights and more volume, similar to what you did when you started following my advice. I think that trying to build up volume to increase work capacity and add some muscle would be a good idea at this point since you haven’t gained any weight. However, you also need to eat a bit more and you need to make sure your knees are OK.
As far as pre-written programs from the internet, you could do much worse that Candito. I think 5/3/1 with 5’s progression, opposite first set last, and 2 bench days would be OK, but it’s also going to require you to make decisions right there in the gym rather than just following a predetermined plan.
Week 13: Day 4
Deadlift: 4x5-200lbs, 1x1min max-155lbs (17), 135lbs(24)
Rows: 4x10-50kg w/40sec rests
Abs: 6x8 toes to bar
Preworkout: Feeling okay but not great, Hamstrings and knees pretty tight (knees felt cold) but quads and glutes ok.
Workout: Kees felt a lot looser (and literally warmer) after warmups, but warmups felt heavy. the 4x5 felt absolutely HORRIBLE. Entire back kind of seized up and got pretty lightheaded. Was going to do 5 sets but really mentally (maybe physically?) couldn’t. The 1min maxes actually felt great and loosened everything up. Those really got my hearrate up. Rows were pretty intense but not too bad. Split squats weren’t going to happen so I did some ab work instead
Postworkout: really tired but felt accomplished. I basically laid on the ground “foam rolling” for a solid 10 min after
If you are overreaching/starting to burn out then the last thing you should be doing is this sort of stuff
I would just do a couple work sets, not push anything too hard, and maybe go for a walk or something. Pushing yourself too hard on the wrong things is likely one reason why you aren’t progressing at the rate you should be, you body has to use up all its resources just to recover and get you back to normal and there is nothing left to adapt and get stronger.
Ohh okay
Week 13: Day 5
Lunge: 3x12- 120lbs
Front Squat: 3x8-45kg
Toes to bar: 6x6 EMOM
Preworkout: legs actually felt great and not tired but mentally not really there
Workout: Squats weren’t really happening mentally so I decided to do lunges instead. I eventually got the motivation to do some squats but kept them light. Finished off with some toes to bar which pretty much killed my abs, felt good though
Postworkout: legs pumped but pretty tired. Better than yesterday
Week 13: Day 6
DB Incline Bench: 1x8,7,6- 18kg DBs
Overhead Press: 3x10-65lbs
Skullcrushers: 3x12-65lbs
Preworkout: quads were killing me but upper body fine, felt pretty good, not too tired
Workout: DB incline bench killed shoulders but happy I got a set of 8 with the 18kg Dbs. Tired shoulders meant overhead press was a struggle, but I guess I achieved my goal of overloading the shoulders. Skullcrushers gave me a sick tricep pump
Postworkout: pretty energized and really pumped.
Any tips for soreness? I’ve tries stretching and foam rolling but both hurt so much I give up after about 5 minutes
Starting next week, I was thinking I could do a top set of 5 starting at 80% then 6-8x3 at that weight. I’ll keep the same accessories.
Does this seem good?
Right now the best thing would be for you to add some muscle mass, what you could do is a top set at 80% and then 5x5 with 65%. The next week add 5lbs to the top set but keep the same weight for the volume work but add a set. Do that for 6 weeks in a row and you will be doing 10 sets of 5 by the end. It’s a good way to add muscle, practice technique, and build specific work capacity. Just do this for squat, bench, and deadlift, not everything or you might die.
For front squats you could just do 5x5 and add weight each week. If you want to do lunges then do them in place of spilt squats, definitely don’t do them as the main lift of the day. Since you are able to move some relatively heavy weight with front squats I would keep them in there, people who don’t get anything out of them (like myself) usually aren’t able to do them properly or have issues with the rack position.
Keep the reps high on everything else, 8-12 or more on isolation exercises.
It depends what sort of soreness, but anything that works is probably going to be uncomfortable. If it’s just regular DOMS then I wouldn’t worry too much, going for a walk or bike ride might help but stuff like contrast showers and things where you are trying to flush out the muscles can actually prevent adaptation to training. If you were in some other sport like soccer or hockey and you have a game tomorrow then it would be good, but if you are trying to get bigger and stronger then it’s not good at all.
If you are talking about your knees, it depends what the cause is. If your technique is messed up that could definitely be the cause, if you can’t record yourself in the gym then you need to get someone who knows what a good squat looks like and get them to watch you lift.
If it’s just tight muscles around the knee then foam rolling your quads and shins might help, even better would be to use some sort of massage stick or blunt object (you could use the handle of a screwdriver if you can’t find anything better) and dig into the lower portion of your quads, focus on painful spots. You can hold it on the painful spots and flex and extend your knee. Also, work on the anterior tibialis (its in your shin, look it up). I have done this in the past and it works, it hurts but I’m willing to bet that blowing out a knee feels worse. If you have tendinitis or some other sort of issue then this probably wont help, and is likely due to bad form. Doing too much volume or too much heavy work can cause tendinitis but I don’t think that’s the issue here.
I’m starting a new cycle so I’ll restart this week with Week 1
Week 1: Day 1
Back Squat: 1x5-165lbs; 5x5-145lbs w/ 1min rests
Pause Squat: 3x5-145lbs
Lat pulldowns: 3x12-24kg
Preworkout: felt good and pretty energized, nothing sore or tired
Workout: normal squats were very easy and fast but pause squats killed me. I tend to have a hard time holding my breath and keeping tight with the pause. Lat pulldowns were fine
Postworkout: Legs and glutes super pumped and really tired, felt good and accomplished
It looks like you started a bit too heavy on the pause squats, you could go 10-20lbs. lighter. You don’t want any workout to be killing you if you are training 6 days a week, and certainly not in the first week of a new training block. If your max is 205 (assuming 165=80%) then I would have told you to do 125x6x3 sets.
Week 1: Day 2
Bench Press: 1x5-100lbs; 5x5-90lbs, paused
Dips: 2x8, 1x10-12kg DB
Face Pulls: 3x15-35lbs
Pullups: 6x4-EMOM
Preworkout: Legs felt horrible, espcially hamstrings and glutes. Felt better after warmup though. upper body felt great though
Workout: Bench felt strong. The 100lbs felt a bit heavy but the volume sets practically flew up. Dips felt good but my foot started cramping from holding the dumbbell. I dropped the weight on the face pulls because I realized I was using horrible form. Also, I’m starting to work on my pullups, I want to get at least 10
Postworkout: Felt great, legs felt better and upper body pumped