With the 2018 coming up I’ve decided to finally join Tnation and share my journey to a hopefully bigger deadlift and bench press.
My current stats are:
Weight =93kg (~205lbs)
Height= 193cm (6’4")
bodyfat = 12% ish
age= 23
Max 1rm deadlift =180kg (400lbs)
Max 1rm incline bench = 90kg (200lbs)
(Previously both 30kg [~65lbs] higher before a torn rotator cuff)
After reading other peoples logs for years I’m going to be doing everyday deadlifts and incline bench, but will add bodybuilding movements to maintain a well-rounded physique.
I’ll aim to keep this log updated at least once a week
deadlifts, really light, 60kg X 80 reps done within 15 minutes
incline bench, light, 40kg X 65 reps in 10 mins
chinups bw X 3, 3, 2
curls 16kg X 8, 7, 5
Feeling buggered tonight although it was a light workout. Not used to all the volume for deadlifts.
Shoulders were a bit iffy near the end of the incline bench so stopped 5 minutes short of my ‘max reps in 15 minute’ goal. The reps were mostly completed in sets of 5 to 10 reps
Not a single muscle feels fresh. The sorest muscles are definitely my traps, lowerback, hamstrings and triceps.
Not looking forward to another workout in a few hours but I’ve made the commitment.
Let me know how dealt with the muscle soreness whilst doing daily exercises such as squats or pushups cause my body is so sore. Hopefully I can avoid overtraining over the course of 2018!!
Workout 2
Based on my experience with last workout, I’ve decided to do a form of linear progression. Each day I’ll add 2.5kg (~5lbs) to my deadlift and 1kg (~2lbs) to my incline bench and do as many reps as possible of each for 15 minutes. I’ll continue this until I reach my previous 1rm, after which I’ll try and reach a new PR followed by a week of recovery training.
The reasoning is that I need to increase volume of both movements to improve form and maximise hypertrophy, but it will keep it light enough not to burn out my CNS early on.
Now to the workout:
Deadlifts, light, 62.5kg (~140lbs) X 50 reps in 15 mins
incline bench, light, 41kg (~90lbs) X 50 reps in 15 mins
dumbbell lateral raises 6kg (~13lbs) X 10, 6, 6
dumbbell rear delt flyes 6kg (~13lbs) X 7, 7, 5
I was absolutely exhausted today for my workout as I haven’t been sleeping properly with the heat in Brissy so I did dramatically worse than yesterday. The lateral raises and rear delt flyes are significantly weaker than normal, meaning that they are either affected by muscle exhaustion or CNS exhaustion
I also notice that I’m sore and stiff just about everywhere, but my shoulder feels fine.
Workout 3
Felt a lot better today than yesterday as I managed to get a full night of rest. I didn’t push the workout too hard today though as many of my muscle are still feeling super sore and tight.
The workout:
Deadlifts, 65kg (~143lbs) X 50 reps total in 15 mins
Incline bench, 42kg (~93lbs) X 50 reps in 15 mins
Hanging leg raises X10, 5, 5
Back extensions with bent legs X 8, 8, 8 (I use these to hit the glutes- kinda like a less awkward Hip Thrust)
BW dips X 5, 5, 4 (felt really weird and weak, probably due to tired shoulders)
I still notice that all my additional exercises are way off their usual mark. Maybe they’ll get back to normal once I get used to daily deadlifting and incline benching.
Why I made this program for myself
I’ve done most basic programs out there, but what I have noticed was that the more frequently I do an exercise, as long as I get enough rest and reduce stress, the stronger I get at it. High volume low frequency tends to not make me get stronger.
About a year ago I came across the video of Broz advocating for daily squatting and denying overtraining. Than recently I came across a study about daily training in Norwegian powerlifting. There seems to be a lot of information online about training, but it is weirdly quite limited when it comes to daily training. When an article does refer to it generally the author has done it for barely 30 days, so I cant really draw any conclusions from that. Otherwise, it’s bros on the internet telling us that will instantly die from overtraining. So I thought it commit to it for a year and share my personal results.
Also, when I was a skinny teenager I was obsessed with getting to a one arm chinup. I got a 3/4 rep eventually (just not quite full range of motion). I got there by simply doing heaps of chinups initially, then slowly progressing by doing isometrics and eventually negatives daily.
And the most important reason for doing the exercises daily is that I need to form a habit of daily weight training. This is easier if I keep things more consistent.
Broz talks about a dark period with daily squatting- I think I’ve reached that already cause of daily deadlifting. After a couple of days of not being able to sleep properly I’ve gotten sick. Light-headed, feeling lethargic and unable to eat kinda sick. Still not too sure that it isn’t just overtraining me, but I’ll get through it
However, because I’m commited to deadlifting/ incline benching daily I’ve decided that I need to still do something everyday. So the last few days I just did one set of each (low volume to allow me to recover), not following the progression I had set out to do. Instead, yesterday I did one set with just 80kg (176lbs) for deadlifts and 50kg (110lbs) for incline bench and today I did 90kg (198lbs) and 55kg (121lbs) respectively.
It’s funny its affected me though, because overall the weights I am using are very light relative to my maxes- barely 50% and 60% of the max weights for the respective exercises. I guess it’s also because i didn’t ease into it with any sort of high frequency work (i.e. 3-4 times per week per exercise). My advice so far to anyone trying this approach- ease into it just like is generally recommended. I dunno if my opinion will change though, so take this advice with a grain of salt!!
Today my cold hit me hard. However, I was lucky to get enough sleep last night so it didn’t kill me.
Because of this, in line with the principles of autoregulation, I decided to do another low volume quick workout. Can’t wait to add back in more sets to increase my progress!
My workout today was as follows:
Deadlifts: 60kg X 5, 100kg X 7
Incline bench: 60kg X 6
These numbers represent 55% and 66% of my max. However, my form for my deadlifts is quite different to my normal deadlifts.
Exercise Execution
The Deadlifts:
The deadlift is performed using a wider than normal grip making it a snatch grip deadlift. The reason for this is as follows:
More quad recruitment versus the hamstrings, making it a balanced lower body exercise
More trap recruitment as opposed to lat recruitment. By placing the hands wider the lats get recruited less as the extension of the arms is decreased. However, it does increase the recruitment of the traps and rear delts, balancing out the pressing movement better.
Also, the deadlifts for the purposes of daily training is performed without straps and double overhanded. This is to decrease the chance of bicep injury and get my weak grip to catch up to my back strength
The incline bench:
The incline bench is performed with a 30 degree incline to preferentially recruit the chest over the shoulders but still stimulate the front delts enough to grow.
The grip width is moderate to narrow so the triceps get plenty of stimulation as well, and to save my shitty shoulders from excess stress.
This meant it was more like 66% of my max deadlift of this form anyways.
Over the next few days I will stick to these weight, mostly because it is convenient to load up and heavy enough to cause strength increases (over 65% of your 1RM). Instead of increasing weights I will increase the reps till I get bored of this strategy.
Workout 8
Felt sick still last night. I did the workout after having an hour and a half nap as I felt so lethargic. However, overall it was better than the day before. I kept volume low again but will increase this when I start feeling better.
My workout:
Deadlifts= 60kg X 5, 100kg X8 (up 1 rep from yesterday)
Incline bench= bar X 10, 40X X 5, 60kg X 8 (up 2 reps from yesterday)
Most of my volume increases will be in the form of warm up sets to reduce the chance of another shoulder injury.
Actually feeling quite good today, not very sore or anything. Looking forward to my next workout.
Workout 9
Much better this afternoon than yesterday. Felt good enough to increase my volume
My workout:
Deadlifts= 60kg X 5, 80kg X 5, 100kg X 11 (up 3 reps from yesterday)
Incline bench= bar X 15, 40kg X 5, 60kg X 10 (up 2 reps from yesterday)
Parallel grip chins= 3, 3, 2 (very weak atm on these, my PR as a teen was 21)
Hanging leg raises= 5, 4, 3 (limited by shoulder stability to keep my scapula depressed)
GHR= 4, 4, 2
Good to be able to get some volume in again, but weak atm hopefully better soon
But I have to get this off my chest (feeling a bit feminine today ).
Been feelin super anxious last few days (and I’m an anxious person, which sucks). Constantly worried about work, about my lack of achievement in life at the age of almost 24.
I should be feeling grateful. I mean, I have a wonderful girl in my life who one day soon I’ll marry; I’m finally heading in the right direction doing a trade apprenticeship and finishing of University (college for them Americans) part time online. I just feel that I’m doing things wrong, stuffing up too much at work that one day I’ll be fired (even though I know I’m an asset to the business I work for); not made enough progress in the gym even though soo much effort has been put in for almost 8 years now (not consistent); not making enough friends; not having a successful business yet.
Maybe its just my overreaching from working out showing itself. I think it’s just making this all worse though.
Back to being solution focused: Whether I’m truly overtraining rather than overreaching can’t be determined yet. Possible I’ll get over this dark period soon so I just have to remain consistent and wait. I might just stick to Workout 9’s volume for a while to prevent making it worse.
I can tell anyone trying daily deadlifts this much- it sucks heaps at least for a while!!! More on the emotional department rather than just the physically exhausted side of things.
Workout 10
A nothing special workout:
Deadlifts= 60kg X 5, 80kg X 5, 100kg X 12 (up 1 rep)
Incline bench press= bar X 15, 40kg X 5, 60kg X 11 (up 1 rep)
This is aan interesting idea you’re working on. I think you should take off one day each week, but it’s your workout, so I’ll read along and see how things go for you.
Thanks for the reply mate. I considered taking a day off a week. If I still feel up and down in a couple of weeks I will for sure!! I hoped to regulate recovery mostly through volume but we shall see how this goes! I’ll keep you updated
I need to focus a lot more on diet. I noticed last night that after a heap of rice I felt sooo much better. It’s amazing what a little food can do. I tend to eat about 200 grams of protein a day throughout 5 meals as my body doesn’t feel very protein hungry but I need to up the carbs.
Any suggestions on what thread offers convenient meals rich in carbs which I can eat when I’m on the go? It gets difficult to eat somethings in my bosses car which is when I get my lunch break!
Hmm, I struggled with this for years as I drove trucks and buses while studying.
I used to take oats crushed into a fine powder with whey in a shaker and just add milk from the servo, pork crackle in a bag, jerky, made my own bars, cold roast chicken with veg with some sort of sauce. Heaps of ideas if you think about what you can handle cold.
Not much help as they’re all mostly protein, haha
Maybe I’ll just add heaps of rice to all that chicken and stuff.
I like your idea of crushed oats, that’s something I will definitely start applying!!
If I want to continue making progress I need to take diet more seriously
Workout 11
First time I went backwards on an exercise:
Deadlifts= 60kg X 5, 80kg X 5, 100kg X13 (up 1 rep)
Incline bench press= bar X 15, 40kg X 5, 60kg X 10 (down 1 rep), 40kg X 6
Dumbbell lateral raises = 8kg X 11, 6kg X 11, 6kg X 7
Barbell front holds= 60kg for 3 sets holding at the front till fatique ← I have quite a weak upper back in this position
Dips= BW X 8, 6, 6 (feeling quite positive that this increased since a few workouts ago
hopefully better soon
).