Modi's Coan/Philippi Experiment

Coan/Philippi DL Cycle Week 2

05/22/08 - Deadlift (ME)

A) Deadlift (80%)
135x6
225x6
315x3
405x2
455x1
505x2

B) Speed Deadlift (65%)
410x3x8

I woke up at 6am, ate breakfast and then lifted at 6:30. Deadlifting that early sucks, but it was the only way to get a lift in today. 505x2 felt ok, not great. I didn’t get a huge breath of air to start because I was a little full from eating so close to my lifting.

I skipped the back circuit because we spent the next 13 hours gutting our kitchen. Betweek ripping down cabinets and loading them into a dumpster. Tearing out the subfloor, laying new floor, etc. My back got plenty of work.

I will not be Deadlifting before the crack of dawn again…

BW: 259.6lbs

05/25/08 - Upper (RE)

A) Flat Bench
barx20x2
135x8
185x5
225x3
285x6
305x5x2
320x4x2

B) Incline Bench
195x8x3

C1) 4 Board Medium Grip Bench
300x8x3

C2) Side Delt Raise
30x10x3

C3) Rear Delt Raise
30x10x3

Pretty happy with the way things went today considering that I went into it sore from the past 3 days of remodeling the kitchen. My shoulders took a little while to loosen up. I’m down 5lbs in 3 days. I’m sure part of it is dehydration, but I know food intake has been down as well. I can’t wait to have a kitchen back so life can return to normal.

I also had to postpone this lift by a day. I woke up early yesterday morning, went down to the basement, popped a couple of spike and started to warm up for the bench, when my plumber showed up. It was barely 7am. I can’t really complain, because he actually came early on Memorial Day weekend.

Anyways, with my gym in the basement, and with him running new gas lines, and moving a radiator line, there was no way I was going to get a lift in. Good news is that I was fired up from the spike so I got a lot of work done on the kitchen in a short amount of time!

05/26/08 - Squat (RE)

A) Squat
barx10
135x8
225x5
315x5x5

B) 13" Box Squat w/Yoke Bar
185x5
275x5
275+1 chainx8x3

C) Pullups (wide overhand)
7x3

D) Hanging Leg Raise
KTEx10
ROx15
x20

Squats felt solid today. My shoulder was tight from yesterday Bench session, but once it loosened up, I got the bar a little lower on my back, and made the squats much easier.

I’m still getting used to the 13" box. 1" shouldn’t make that much of a difference, but when you’re used to a 14" box, and you hit that depth and there’s nothing there, you get that feeling of ‘oh shit, did someone pull the chair out from underneath me?’. Ah, good times.

05/28/08 - Upper (ME)

A) Flat Bench (first rep paused)

275x1
320x3x2
340x2x2

B) Manpon Press
380x1
275x12x3 (close grip)

C1) Seated Shoulder Press from Pin #15
185x6x3

C2) Plate Raise
75x8x3

C3) EZ Curls
90x8x3

Bench felt very solid today. My eating has been back on track and I lifted at my usual time which definitely helped.

I think I’m going to switch the Manpon Press and the Seated Shoulder Press so that I can do my overhead work before frying my tri’s with the close grip work. I’ll make the Manpon Press the first movement in my circuit and move the weight up or at least the reps up on the Shoulder Press.

Solid day today.

Do you have any more thoughts on the Manpon Press? The name is awesome lol.

The BFS program benches to one of the tampon pads that you see in the gym in season, but I’ve never heard of anyone using a foam roller for it before.

[quote]IronAbrams wrote:
Do you have any more thoughts on the Manpon Press? The name is awesome lol.

The BFS program benches to one of the tampon pads that you see in the gym in season, but I’ve never heard of anyone using a foam roller for it before.[/quote]

I think I stole the name from the guys over at Elitefts. Actually I first heard it from my old training partner, but I think he got it from Elite.

For me, it’s just another variation where I can take some stress off my shoulders and really hammer my tri’s with a partial range of motion movement. I’ve been doing 3 and 4 boards on my RE day and the Manpon on my ME day. I’ll switch up some of the board pressing later on for rack lockouts at varying heights, and I also have a half Manpon that I can use if I need the variety.

Coan Philippi Deadlift Cycle Week 3

OUCH.

05/30/08 - Deadlift (ME)

A) Deadlift
135x6
225x6
315x3
405x3
475x1
535x2 (PR + 20lbs)

B) Speed Deadlift (70%)
440x3x6

C) Back Circuit (90-120sec b/w sets, 2-3 min. b/w circuits)

C1) RDL
325x8x3

C2) Bent Over Row
235x8x3 (PR +2 reps)

C3) Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown
150x8x3

C4) Arched Back GM w/Yoke Bar
235x8x3

Ouch again. It weren’t purdy, but none of my deadlifts ever are. I’ve hit 515 for a double and also for a triple in the past, so the PR isn’t as big as it looks, but it is the heaviest double I’ve ever done, so I’m pretty happy with it.

Speed deads are a joke…there’s nothing speedy about them at 70% of my predicted new max, but they were all clean reps, and they certainly take their toll.

I upped the weight by 10lbs on everything in my back circuit. These were pretty brutal by the last round. Next week is the last week for the back circuit, and then it switches to 3 sets of 5 for straight sets and adds in power shrugs.

My back is fried right now, but I feel pretty good. I don’t have that lingering fog that I usually get after pulling a max effort, so I should have a little left in the tank for next week. Next weeks plan is 565x2 and then 475x3x5 for speed. That should be interesting…

Deadlift 535x2:

Following with interest.

I’m on week 2 tomorrow and noticed the same thing with the “speed” pulls, they aren’t very speedy.

While I felt absolutely whipped after wk 1, I have been looking forward to pulling all week.

[quote]mahwah wrote:
Following with interest.

I’m on week 2 tomorrow and noticed the same thing with the “speed” pulls, they aren’t very speedy.

While I felt absolutely whipped after wk 1, I have been looking forward to pulling all week.
[/quote]

From the few logs that I’ve found, most people comment on how the speed deads really slow down going into weeks 3 and 4. My guess is that in week 5 when the load drops back down to 65% and the volume drops considerably, then the speed will pick back up.

The speeds stop being speeds and become regular deadlifts lol

[quote]IronAbrams wrote:
The speeds stop being speeds and become regular deadlifts lol[/quote]

Exactly.

06/01/08 - Upper (RE)

A) Flat Bench

225x3
290x6
305x5
305x5
325x3

B) Incline Press
135x5
205x8x3

C) Shoulder/Triceps Circuit (90sec b/w sets)

C1) Medium Grip 5 Board Press (26" b/w pinkies)
315x8x3

C2) Rolling Triceps Extensions
EZ+100x8x3

C3) DB Side Delt Raise
30x12x3

C4) Light Band Rear Delt Pullaparts
12x3

I didn’t really expect to feel all that strong today after another full day of Kitchen bullshit. I spent about 10 hours on my hands and knees tiling the floor, and my back and knees really felt it. Once again I only had 3 meals, 6am, 2pm and 10pm. We ordered late night Chinese take out and I could have eaten the styrofoam container it came in, I was so hungry.

The bar flew off my chest on the Bench Press. I really couldn’t believe how light the first few sets felt. I got all of my planned reps without a problem, so I’m very happy with this.

Same for Incline Press, I will definitely move up to 215x8x3 next week, and then hopefully to 225 the following week.

My basement was about 100 degrees and the dryer was going full blast, so by the time I got to the 2nd and 3rd set of the circuit, I was ready to be done…but I accomplished what I wanted today, so I can’t complain.

Happy with today’s progress. Don’t ever want to tile again.

06/02/08 - Squat (RE)

A) Squat
barx8
135x6
225x5
315x3
340x5x5

B) 13" Box Squat w/Yoke Bar
185x5
275x5
275+1 chainx2
275+2 chainsx8x3

C1) Pullups
8x3

C2) Weighted Situps (wt. over head)
45x15
90x12x2

Squats were smooth as butter today. My back and knees were sore from the weekend of tiling, but once I was warm, all the reps felt great. My 5x5 PR is 345x5x5, and that was tough last time I hit it. I’ll increase the weight to 370x5x5 next week, and then back off the following week.

I’m torn between upping the weight to 300 or 315 on the Box Squats and dumping the chains next week, or adding one more chain and keeping the weight the same. I’ll probably add one more chain, and then up the weight the following week to stay consistent with my regular Squat work.

Hard work today, but I felt very good throughout.

06/04/08 - Upper (ME)

A) Bench Press (first rep paused)

275x1 (speed rep)
325x3x2
345x1 (miss on 2, hit safety bar)
345x2x2 (PR +5lbs) twice

B) Manpon Press
385x1

C) Seated Shoulder Press from Pin #15
135x5
205x5x3

D1) Manpon Press
275x12
250x15
225x20

D2) Plate Raise
90x8x3 (PR +10lbs)

D3) EZ Curls
110x8x3

My shoulder was a little sore going into today because I played softball last night. It never really bothered me, but it didn’t feel as strong as usual. However, 275 went up like speed weight.

325x3 felt pretty good. On my first set at 345 I hit the right safety bar at the bottom, and I don’t know if it threw me off physically or mentally, but I stalled HARD, about 3/4 of the way up. I thought I was going to grind it out, but just couldn’t lock it. On the second set my ass wanted to come up off the bench. Both cheeks were in contact the whole time, but there was no pressure on them at all. I knew I had to take a third set, and come away with a clean PR to feel good about today. The last set was solid, and I’m happy with the PR.

I moved the Manpon for reps to my circuit, and did the Seated Shoulder Press by itself today. My PR for Shoulder Press is 205x6, so 205x5x3 was a solid effort.

In the future, I’d rather not play softball the day before pressing. It definitely effects my strength…unfortunately I don’t control the softball schedule. Overall, I’m reasonably happy with today’s effort.

Video from today:

325x3x2
345x1 (miss on 2)
345x2x2 (PR +5lbs)

Coan/Philippi Deadlift Cycle Week 4

Dear God make it stop!

06/05/08 - Deadlift (ME)

A) Deadlift
135x6
225x6
315x3
405x2
495x1
[b]565x2 (PR +30lbs)/b

B) Speed (haha) Deadlifts (90sec b/w sets)
475x3x5 (75%)

C) Back Circuit (90sec b/w sets, 2-3 min b/w circuits)

C1) RDL
335x8x3

C2) Bent Over Row
245x8x3 (PR +10lbs)

C3) Reverse Grip Pulldowns
155x8x3

C4) Arched Back GM’s w/Yoke Bar
245x8x3

A solid, but slightly ugly PR on Deadlift today. Once again, I say, it wasn’t the prettiest of Deads, but it went up. I almost sucked the entire ammonia cap through my nostril before the 565x2. My head was whirling after the second pull, but I’m very happy with this attempt. Can’t wait to do it again in 4 weeks…

Speed deads have slowed to a snail’s pace. I was fried after the PR, and just got 'em up. I’m glad the load is dropping next week so I can resume the speed work.

I increased all of the weights on the back circuit. I was very tempted to use the wrist straps on the RDL’s and BOR’s. My hands were chewed up from all of the DLing before hand. I thought I was going to tear some calluses, but they held up. I think next time I’ll probably strap up, since grip is not an issue for me on max pulls.

Today was brutally hard. It may not look that hard on paper, but the 90% lifts are of my predicted max not my current max, and 5 sets of 3 at 475 was very taxing, especially when you’re rest is cut to 90 seconds.

Good stuff today.

If your program is like mine, it drops back to week 2 numbers, yes?

After today’s session, 505 should feel like a warm-up and you should throw around 410!

Good lookin’ workout.

[quote]mahwah wrote:
If your program is like mine, it drops back to week 2 numbers, yes?

After today’s session, 505 should feel like a warm-up and you should throw around 410!

Good lookin’ workout.[/quote]

Thanks man. I’m looking forward to the drop in weight. One thing that’s interesting in week 5 is that it becomes a 3x3. I’ve often wondered if this was a misprint, or what the reasoning was for this. I’m sure you’ve looked at the program, but if anyone else has thoughts on it, I’d be interested.

Basically it goes like this:

Wk 1 - 75%x2
Wk 2 - 80%x2
Wk 3 - 85%x2
Wk 4 - 90%x2
Wk 5 - 80%x3x3
Wk 6 - 85%x2
Wk 7 - 90%x2
Wk 8 - 95%x2
Wk 9 - 97.5%x1
Wk 10 - 100%x1

Why is week 5 the only on that does 3 sets at the heaviest weight, where every other week only has you doing 1 set? Maybe the drop in load is enough to allow the increased volume? Thoughts?

I guess I assumed that it was due to the decreased intensity overall in week 5.

With the decrease in percentages, a drop from 8 to 5 (week 4) to 3 sets of speed pulls. Also a drop in volume for the assistance exercises (96 total reps to 45).

It is a bit out of place looking at the program as a whole.

I’m sure I’ll be excited about it after the brutal week 4, aren’t you?