Meltdown training advice from me

Hello all. here’s something I realized in the last weeks

Meltdown I and HIIT don’t mix. Sorry Don.
Ive been Doing it for the past 3 weeks with “moderate” success (10 lb fat lost, 2 lb muscle gained, BF down to 8%) but My lower back was so overtrained… deads supersetted with squats high reps (10 is high) no rest, some barbell rows same reps, and on top off everything sprints and rope jumping which terrorised my lower back. anyway if you where working the glicolytic path in training why work it in the aerobics as well?

I also took a tip from staley and dumped the BB rows.
one more week to meltdown

and then it’s RR&D and it’s time for some HIIT! they fit together perfectly.

Ummm, dropping 10lbs of fat and gaining 2lbs of LBM is better than “moderate” success.

Thank you steve, my diet was never dialed in so perfectly.

Also it’s the first time I’m going P+C and P+F meals. I used to eliminate all fats and only go P+C all day. John Berardy is right on the money there. I’m also upping my calories every week of my diet as per his recommendations and it’s working.

I had great results the first time I tried meltdown I - never had bf% tested but waist went from 35 to 33 in 3 weeks while body weight was unchanged

That said I agree 100% about the excessive lower back work. Trying meltdown again and have modified it slightly to account for this (and other issues such as a supra tear)

Day 1.

Squat/Chins/Dips/Ham Curl

Day 2.

Deads/Bench/Rows/Lunges

Really felt I needed to split squats & deads - not only because of the lower back but I wanted the more coordination intensive exercises at the start of the circuit. Ham curl doesn’t quite feel right though - any suggestions for an alternative?

i agree on the not feeling right…not natural enough or something. i think youll find the glute-ham raise a better choice.

Hey mook.

I think that splitting the deads and squats and staying with the BB rows wiil fry your lower back considering the prescribed reps/rest, especialy if youre doing anything in the off days.

I would stick to prescribed regimen just drop the BB rows you are doing pull ups and deads, who needs a BB row? - I replaced it with a minute of overhead walks - you can either do that or go for some power cleans from hang, another good option, bith fit perfectly. the ham curl is not a compound move so it doesnt fit this program (anyway it’s a MACHINE exersize… [gasp])

Forgot to mention - I do the OH walks AFTER the superset with the push press other wise it will be a bad idea.

Yeah, the lower back work was very difficult during the first week (Iron Dog 209 version of MD1), but during this 2nd week, my body has adapted to it, and I even added a tiny 5lb increase to all lifts. Your 10 pound fat loss is magnificent, as my fat loss was around 2.3lbs in week 1 and only 0.8lbs fat loss in week 2.

The whole idea of Meltdown is to bring a lot of pain (and lactic acid) into the large muscle groups
Since the lower back is one of the best muscles at handling alot of volume (through supporting at all movements) you will never get any lactic acid there, unless you isolate it, so why bother?

You can add a front squat or hang clean as I mentioned.

The thing about the lower back is that the most fat is burned in “gravity fighting” aerobics and intervals like rope skipping, sprints, stairs etc. I do them and they terroised my LB, ofcourse if you are pedaling away on your bike your lower back is yawning…

Fat loss? I do 90 minutes Intervals and 90 minutes aerobics per week as per JB recommendations. Food choises also go a long way - agian, JB is on the money here.

BTW, I dropped about least half a pound of fat A DAY in my first 18 days but seem to have stalled in the last 2 days. I’m going to up my callories by 200 per day, and going to switch to something like RR&D(modified by myself to fit me) in a couple of days.

Hope you are doing OK!

A few points:

First, as has been mentioned, your results aren’t “moderate”. Ten pounds of fat off and 2 pounds of muscle gained?!? For fuck’s sake, what do you want out of a program? Instead of saying “Sorry, Don”, you should be prostrating yourself in front of him, offering him your sisters, bringing him food.

Second, jumping rope hurts your lower back? Hmmm. Perhaps you should try jumping on a level surface, rather than that Swiss Ball.

Third, substituting overhead walks for anything in Meltdown I is contrary to the intent of the program, which is to produce a severe lactic acid build-up via slow positives. Not sure why you would do that…unless, of course, you take a three-count to raise up on your toes with each step. Then it might work.

Sorry, but this whole thread has just really pissed me off.

I’d love to be able to do GHRs - unfortunately there’s no way I’m getting 10 x 4s concentric reps.

“the ham curl is not a compound move so it doesnt fit this program (anyway it’s a MACHINE exersize… [gasp])”

hehe yeah exactly my point … I was trying to find a relatively low coordination ham focussed lift I could do at the end of the circuit and that’s all I could come up with - but I tried it and it felt like a cop out - figure I might just have to do lunges on both days.

About the back issue - doing fine with the split as I’ve adjusted it. My real problem was deads and squats on the same day - esp deads at the end of the circuit. Even with very low weight fatigue would mess my form and they’d fry my back and mess with the next set of squats. Ended up in a loop with deterioration in form being caused by lower back discomfort which cause further loss of form and so on.

Char-dawg my brutha don’t get pissed off. you must always consider it first a missunderstanding and only after that option is checked you can flame my silly ass.

you said:

"First, as has been mentioned, your results aren’t “moderate”. Ten pounds of fat off and 2 pounds of muscle gained?!? For fuck’s sake, what do you want out of a program? Instead of saying “Sorry, Don”, you should be prostrating yourself in front of him, offering him your sisters, bringing him food. "

Thats all good and true but if I injure my back after two weeks what good is it gonna do me? It’s a great program, just goews better with regular cardio, JMO, thats what I said. it is still a great program especialy for certain situations. And I attribute most of the results to JB because I have followed stuff similar to meltdown in the past but my nutrition is dialed in so perfectly right now. never the less, Don will get credit in my 5% thank you speech.

"Second, jumping rope hurts your lower back? Hmmm. Perhaps you should try jumping on a level surface, rather than that Swiss Ball. "

Yes, it’s called shock absorbing. especialy if you do that almost everyday as don recommends.

"Third, substituting overhead walks for anything in Meltdown I is contrary to the intent of the program, which is to produce a severe lactic acid build-up via slow positives. Not sure why you would do that…unless, of course, you take a three-count to raise up on your toes with each step. Then it might work. "

Dude, Did you ever try this excersize? 45 sec set will fry your shoulder girdle and triceps with lactic acid, FYI. I bet you did and I just missunderstood, silly me.

"Sorry, but this whole thread has just really pissed me off. "

Did I mention the horrible effect of cortisol? if you wake up with second chin tommorow, just know you need some anger management in your life.

just kidding on that last one…

Ok, so this week I was supposed to start week 3 of the 8 week ID#209 program. For those of you who’ve read it, that means it’s time to figure out your 1RMs and start the 2 week Meltdown #2 program. However, my 1RMs have just been pussy-fied by the 2 week hiatus (spelling?) from lifting heavy to doing MD1. My bench 1RM was 365lbs before starting, and now I cant even crank out 5reps with 275lbs. I know a lot of you T-mag readers lift a hell of a lot more than that. So I think what I’m going to do is take a 4 week block off dedicated to one of Thibadeau’s strength programs. What do you all think? I don’t care if you wanna flame, just gimme some advice here.

ofcourse that 8 week 2 times a day lactic acid training will hurt your strength.

you got to compensate and pay the price if you want to cuat FAST like that.

I dont think that switching goals and programs every two weeks is good. ofcourse if yiu realzied you made a mistake chnage but take your next choice more carefully

Mook,

How about trying one of the hamstring exercises from Coach Davies’ Hamstrings from Hell article?

I agree that glute/ham raises would be a good choice. You don’t have to get the concentric contraction on every rep. Just push off the floor with your hands and fire yourself back up the best you can. It’ll still burn the hell out of your hammies!

But if you really want something else, try Romanian Deads or Zercher Deads in place of the ham curls. They should be different enough from the conventional deads on Day 2 of the workout.

And, for what it’s worth, I think your exercise selections make sense. You’ve got quad dominant, horizontal chest and back, ham dominant (well, you will have), then for Day 2 you’ve got vertical chest and back with your leg work. I think that’s a good program.

Good luck melting down!

And, having some experience with Meltdown I, I agree with glute-spanker that HIIT is not a good cardio choice to go with it. It’s just too demanding a workout to be able to manage HIIT at the same time. Both are brutal!

Glute, yeah, cutting fast is purely for looks I guess, not strength. Thanks for the insight.

I would cut down the deadlifts rather than the intervals. I had the same problem, and I just did deadlifts with less weight and less often, replacing them with lunges and rows and shrugs. I had to do more sets that way, but my lower back appreciated it.

It worked fine for me.

There is a reason for the intervals. Don’t get rid of them.