Week 8, Day 1
FRONT SQUAT
235 x 9
255 x 7
275 x 5
SS BAR REVERSE LUNGES
135 x 8
135 x 8
135 x 8
135 x 8
RDL
255 x 10
255 x 10
255 x 10
WEIGHTED DECLINE SIT-UP
+55 x 20
+55 x 20
+55 x 20
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Week 8, Day 2
OH PRESS
135 x 9
140 x 7
150 x 5
ā¦withā¦
WEIGHTED CHINS
+70 x 5
+70 x 5
+70 x 5
WEIGHTED DIPS
+55 x 10
+55 x 10
+55 x 10
+55 x 10
+55 x 10
+55 x 10
+55 x 10
+55 x 10
+55 x 10
+55 x 10
ā¦withā¦
T-BAR HIGH ROW
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
Just in on this.
What are your lifts at now?
Man, my lifts have gotten weak! I think most everything has fallen a good 10% based on how weights feel, and move. I have no idea what my 1RMs are at the momentā¦
Deadlift: I have no clue. Havenāt done it in 6 months.
Bench Press: I have no clue. Havenāt done it in over a year.
Squat: MAYBE 405.
Front Squat: around 355.
OH Press: 185
Sadly, if I compare that to my lifts this time last year:
Bench: 320
Squat: 455-465
Front Squat: 395-405
Deadlift: 545
OH Press: 185
Week 8, Day 3
INCLINE BENCH PRESS
160 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 10
DB ROW
80 x 15
80 x 15
80 x 15
80 x 15
80 x 15
CURLS
100 total reps
TRCIEPS
100 total reps
Week 8, Day 4
FRONT SQUAT
295 x 5
265 x 5
HB SQUAT
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
GHR
x20
x20
DONE!
Youāre a lot lighter now though, right?
Your strength is pretty much what I want to achieve at roughly the same bodyweight. How long have you been lifting?
Yeah man, Iām a solid 20-25 pounds lighter. I was hovering between 195-200, and now I sit between 170-175. It is never easy losing strength-- it has happened to me numerous times. I have found as a natural lifter, you have a lot of ups and downs, and it is harder to hang on to your top end strength. You have to let it go for a period of time if you want to stay healthy and be able to train on a consistent basis. Basically, you have to increase what I call your ābaseline strengthā over time. That is the numbers you can hit all year, all the time, any time, on little sleep, or no food, at varying bodyweights. You can peak all you want through hard training and volume (which is good and necessary), but it comes down to being able to raise those minimums about 50-100 pounds behind your best numbers. To me that is the progress that has stuck with me and helped me be a stronger me.
Iāve been lifting for about 10 years, with a year long break in 2012. I made my best progress from 2013 to present day. When I started I was 130 lbs, at 23 years old. I could not even squat 185 or deadlift 200. Just remember, DIET and SLEEP is an astounding part of it and it is really all about slow steady progress. Donāt be in a rush and just enjoy yourself. It is like āThe Tortoise and The Hare.ā I sincerely love training and I do it for me, and that is why I have stuck with it. It has helped me in more ways than I can begin to explain.
Week 8, Day 5
OH PRESS
160 x 4
145 x 5
145 x 5
ā¦withā¦
PULL-UPS
x23
x20
x15
SEATED DB SHOULDER PRESS
50ās x 10
50ās x 10
50ās x 10
50ās x 9
50ās x 9
50ās x 9
50ās x 9
50ās x 9
50ās x 8
50ās x 8
ā¦withā¦
TRAP BAR ROWS
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
Now dat right der is what I call volume
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[quote=āEvolv, post:1050, topic:171810, full:trueā]
Yeah man, Iām a solid 20-25 pounds lighter. I was hovering between 195-200, and now I sit between 170-175. It is never easy losing strength-- it has happened to me numerous times. I have found as a natural lifter, you have a lot of ups and downs, and it is harder to hang on to your top end strength. You have to let it go for a period of time if you want to stay healthy and be able to train on a consistent basis. Basically, you have to increase what I call your ābaseline strengthā over time. That is the numbers you can hit all year, all the time, any time, on little sleep, or no food, at varying bodyweights. You can peak all you want through hard training and volume (which is good and necessary), but it comes down to being able to raise those minimums about 50-100 pounds behind your best numbers. To me that is the progress that has stuck with me and helped me be a stronger me.[/quote]
Thatās what Iāve realized last year, thereās really no point trying to work in actually heavy weight ranges all the time. It led me nowhere.
So Iāve been spending the last couple of months doing exactly what you suggested- increase baseline strength. I dunno if I can hit the weight/reps Iāve been hitting on the deadlift/squat with little sleep/food, but I am undeniably stronger than I was last year.
Iāve been lifting for about 5ish years now. Now that Iāve mostly figured out how to improve my lower body strength, I hope to reach your current squat numbers in about 2-3 yearish time =D
Sounds reasonable, what are you lifts at right now?
Tested back squat to be at 315lb about two months ago. Did a 245lb front squat couple of weeks ago.
My back squat goal has always been to hit a 2xbw squat while maintaining weight somewhere in between 165-170lb, so a back squat of 345lb or so. I think that is quite achievable within the next 5-6 months if I keep doing what Iām doing right now.
But now that Iām in range of hitting a 345lb squat while still carrying a good bit of bf (pure visual guess would be that Iām somewhere in between 18-22%), Iām willing to dream big and go for 405lb in the future.
I think I can have some bragging rights if I get a beltless 405lb back squat while keeping my bw somewhere around 170lb =P
Yeah, a 405 beltless back squat at 170 is not unreasonable. Very, very doable.
How do you currently squat (high bar, low bar)? I hit 430 at a 175 lbs bodyweight about 3 years ago-- albeit it was a low bar powerlifterās style squat. I can give you the exact programming I did to do that.
After that, I got more into the olympic style squatā¦ which it all depends on your goals as to which you choose. However, it is much easier to load up a low-bar back squat than it is a high-bar squat. Both, in my experience, require a different technique and level of difficulty.
For example, this is way less weight on the bar, but way more difficult than the video above. This is about 2 years later and I am much, much stronger hereā¦
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I squat low-bar, but with a narrow stance. One of the things I can improve is stance consistency. I try to get it just outside shoulder-width, occasionally Iād just do shoulder width if Iām not paying attention and focusing more on getting the set going. Iād honestly prefer to do high-bar squats but I get knee pains when I do them, so I adjusted.
One of the problems Iāve been having is setting goals, actually. When I did judo I wanted to get strong enough to be able to move my body without a problem. Now that Iāve stopped practicing judo, just getting stronger is a real option. The problem is that I donāt plan on competing in any strength sport, so it sorta feels like a meaningless pursuit. Being strong for strongās sake was never something I planned on doing.
Thatās why Iām probably going to change my training to accommodate multiple days of yoga so that I can get better mobility. My back mobility/flexibility is horrid, and thatās something that I really want to address. Hopefully getting that mobility will be useful in both day-to-day living and lifting in the gym.
Yeah man, everyone has to find their own balance and why they do something. Just because you are not competing doesnāt mean you shouldnāt strive to be your best and see where your highest potential is. I personally donāt set specific goals anymore, I just train. I have certain things that I have found that work for me and that is why I do them. It is why I havenāt benched in so long and donāt really deadlift anymore either. Every once in awhile I will come up with some random feat I want to achieveā¦ but they are far and fewer between these days. You definitely have to find your own path manā¦ and that can be hard to do when the measuring stick is often somewhere else.
I probably lift for only 30-40 minutes, it is hard and fast usually. I stretch and do mobility (with some yoga) for about 30 minutes every day I lift. I believe mobility work, soft tissue work, and stretching are extremely important in order to feel good and maintain a youthful range of motion, while maintaining healthy joints.
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Week 9, Day 1
FRONT SQUAT
250 x 8
270 x 6
285 x 4
SS BAR REVERSE LUNGES
135 x 8
135 x 8
135 x 8
RDL
260 x 8
260 x 8
260 x 8
WEIGHTED DECLINE SIT-UPS
+55 x 20
+55 x 20
+55 x 20
Easily the most brutal part of this was the lunges with the safety squat barā¦ these things hammer me.
Week 9, Day 2
OH PRESS
140 x 8
145 x 6
150 x 4
ā¦withā¦
WEIGHTED CHINS
+70 x 6
+70 x 6
+70 x 6
WEIGHTED DIPS
+60 x 10
+60 x 10
+60 x 10
+60 x 10
+60 x 10
+60 x 8
+60 x 8
+60 x 8
+60 x 8
+60 x 8
ā¦withā¦
T-BAR HIGH ROW
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
I train nowadays because I think you need to do something thatās reasonably difficult on the body on a daily basis to be healthy, and the alternatives to lifting (such as sprinting/doing actual runs/blah blah) generally bore me.
Spending too much time in the gym is one of the reasons why Iām feeling this way, I think. One of the things I plan on doing in the near future is effectively splitting training up into two parts- Main strength move of the day, then superset or do giant sets for all the assistance stuff. You spend more time resting than doing anything if you do more than 2-3 movements. I think Iām going to go through the entirety of your log and see if thereās combinations I can learn to use.
I understand what youāre saying. The centerpiece of my training has always been to get stronger. With that said, it doesnāt necessarily mean I have always tried to just increase my 1RM. You can work on increasing your 3RM, 5RM, 10RM, or even 20RM. They all have theyāre own brutal nature.
Whenever I am busy with the rest of my life or donāt feel like spending extra time in the gym-- I simply just focus on the main movement and nothing else. You can get in and out of the weight room in about 25 minutes usually this way. A lot of us, including myself, get caught up into fringe lifting-- doing a lot of the small stuff that doesnāt have a tremendous amount of carry over to our actual goals. If you just want to be strong and have limited focus for the moment, just do the main lifts. Assistance work, accessory work, and all that stuff is not that important. Some of my strongest times were when I was focusing exclusively on just a few lifts and not beating myself down with the other stuff.
You certainly need to be creative with your training, but at the same time keep it very simple and basic. I was always a fan of daily squatting, however, it isnāt for everybody and it takes discipline to know when to back off-- most people over-do it.
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