This is an anti extension exercise. Maintaining a neutral spine IS the ab work.
Iāll just have to film a set and post it.
DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 12* (WEEK 3, WORKOUT 4)
LUNCHTIME WORKOUT
Texas Deadlift Bar touch and go deadlifts 368
1x12
8x11
Box jumps
5x10
Buffalo bar squats 225
1x20
1x10
Notes: 3:45 between sets. Put an asterisk up because this was supposed to be the bench workout, but a slight audible called today. Wife has company in town and schedule is getting a little adjusted, and I found myself with a large window of freetime so I decided to take it. Kept the rest consistent between rounds: no struggling at the end. I imagine a lunch time workout the day after Thanksgiving was a big part of it. Iāve had zero high carb meals since starting the beginner program, so a day of moderate carbs with some dessert felt like rocket fuel.
I must admit I am a coward when it comes to box jumps. Set up the plyo box again and found my mindās internal govenor preventend me from landing. Just didnāt have the confidence in it. I have a plan though: Iām going to start from the horse stall mat next time to reduce the height slightly, and use a ROM progression approach to work up to the real height. Focused on going for max height today with the jumps I did.
Squats looked awful, even for me. Feet were all jacked up.
Woke up at 201.0. Need to focus on getting in more calories, as Iām soon approaching the hardest workout of the program.
6 Likes
DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 13* (WEEK 4, WORKOUT 1)
AM WORKOUT
Axle bench press 276
3x10
Close grip axle bench press 236
1x10
1x9
1x7
Incline swiss bar bench 200
1x10
1x9
1x7
Dips
1x25
1x22
1x21
Notes: 2:50 between sets. Workout rotation still a little jacked up for the holidays, but I got it all in in some way. This is now 50lbs up on my bench since starting the program, itās getting pretty nuts.
No weigh in this morning.
6 Likes
Genuinely donāt know how you did 20 reps of squats followed by a set of ten after the 9 sets of deads. Iām dead as shit after them and even find the lunges hard as fuck. I did a set of 30 with 225 yesterday before deads to save time and felt like dying. I couldnāt imagine doing that after.
3 Likes
Oldbeancam, T3h Punisherās energy and endurance likely make him about one in a million.
Also a dedication factor hereā¦
3 Likes
@oldbeancam Funny enough, I canāt imagine doing the sets of deads AFTER the squats, haha. I know the program says to do the squats first, but the idea of starting those under any degree of fatigue is unfathomable to me. I give myself 5 minutes of lying down on the floor and feeling sorry for myself after the deads, and after that Iām pretty regenerated.
@biker Thanks man! One in a million is probably for the best, haha. Probably a bad scene if there were a lot of me running around.
DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 14 (WEEK 4, WORKOUT 2)
AM WORKOUT
Axle strict press 146
1x12
8x11*
SUPERSET W/
Band pull aparts
9x10
Axle curls 108
3x10
2x8
Notes: 3:50 between sets. Put an asterisk on it because I had to rack the axle on the 9th rep of the final set, take a few breaths, then finish it. Biggest x-factor was hitting the bench workout yesterday. Woke up and the front delts were pretty pissed off. I think coming into this fresh it woulda been no problem, but it was still a solid challenge. Really letting the slop creep in on the curls, but it seems to be paying off. Ran out of time for the lateral raises, might get them in later.
Woke up at 201.8.
4 Likes
That is utterly insane. Have you noticed a similar boost to your press?
There havenāt been any real opportunities to test is, due to the training structure of the program. I know it grows between sessions, but no real idea on poundage.
1 Like
Just something I want to throw in while itās on my mind: planning on having my first real cheat meal since starting the program back in Sep. Plan is some stuffed crust pizza the night before the squats. After seeing how well this deadlift workout went after Thanksgiving, I think it should have a good payoff.
Iām also planning out how Iāll get my 100 reps in 8 sets, and I think Iāve found the most ideal approach. Iām going to start with a set of 15, then 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 10, then rest for quite a while (program says you can rest as much as you need on this day) and finish up with a set of 15. I think hitting fewer and fewer reps each set will ease me mentally and give my body a chance to prep for one big set at the end.
6 Likes
Iāve done something similar twice before with 8 sets, as most things Iāve run only do 10x10
One time, I did a huge first set, just go until I couldnāt
From memory I got out +30 (odd) reps and in my rest time I figured out how I would finish them
The other time was as even as possible, it was 14 14 12 12 12 etcā¦
Both had there own proās and conās
Judging by this article of power cleans, I fathom he would run it as even as possible
I felt fatigued just reading it
1 Like
Fantastic read. I remember seeing it in Power magazine. It was always my favorite part of the magazine, haha. Iāve done the workout once before as 4x13/4x12, but thatās just breaking my brain right now. It might happen on gameday, but something tells me Iād do better to hit more reps at the start.
1 Like
Yeah for sure, when the inevitable comes, Iām going to go the route of most reps first instead of trying to save them for set 6/7/8
(Iām gunna run this program btw, strongman is there and Iāll try implement certain bars and whatnot with the program, but strength is strength, you know)
3 Likes
I think the main issue with this is its not going to be a weight where you can do that many more for the first set. I intend on doing something similar as well (something like 4x15 4x10 or something similar, hopefully), but you go from the recommended 70% of your 10RM to 80% with zero chance to āget used to the weight.ā Instead of having a somewhat of a break in period and do the 10x10 with 80%, youāre asked to do 100 in 9 sets, followed by 100 in 8 sets a week later.
After writing this I honestly canāt see myself doing 4 sets of 15 followed by 4 sets of 10 without dying, so weāll see I suppose. I really like the idea of 15,14,13,12,11,10,10,15. That last 15 is going to be a massive fight. Good luck to you and Pwn as well. This is going to be the make or break point of the program
3 Likes
@anon96032531 Iām excited for you dude. This has been a fantastic experience as far as growth does. 19 years into training and Iām still finding something that challenges me. Be great to see how it goes.
@oldbeancam That massive jump is why I ended up having to work a bridge between beginner and intermediate programs. I genuinely donāt think I could have just made the jump from 70 to 80%, so I ended up running the intermediate program with 75% weight, and itās STILL awful, haha. So much so that I may just jump straight to advanced from here, and then re-run the whole 18 weeks with a higher max.
But youāre spot on: the final squat workout is going to be the real test. It was that way with the beginner workout. And I say that KNOWING itās a mistake to not take the deads seriously, but itās just the situation I experience. The squats just always suck the life out of me, but I think being allowed longer rest periods for this day might be the one saving grace.
And yeah: no way I could do 4x15 with this weight, haha.
2 Likes
That was my plan to do so as well. That would be almost 40 pounds extra in a week and to do an extra rep or so a set just seemed excessive ha. Doing 20 pounds more on the bridge workout and another 20 or whatever for the next week just seems less intimidating I suppose.
This is what Iām looking at doing as well honestly. Just kind of dedicating almost all of 2019 to this style of training before returning to Base Building by Paul Carter. As much as I loathe training and hurt weekly from this style of training, I love leaving everyday gassed as shit knowing no one else could beat me that day, and knowing Iām upping the ante more next week. The few weeks Iāve done this has been a real wake up call from regular training and reminded me of how I used to train before I had more knowledge of training. This way, I get both the intensity of my younger self, and the programmed, knowledgeable side of my older self.
I knew going in if I didnāt do something insane, I wouldnāt take the deadlift workouts seriously because Iām decent at deadlifting. I purposely started higher and intend to continue going higher just to stay in that mindset haha. The final squat set I did last week took me 2:15 to complete all the way. That was the hardest Iāve worked on squats in awhile, and itās showing in the way my squats are improving in such a short time. The last weeks of the intermediate literally make my stomach drop thinking about doing them, but Iām excited to see how close to threshold I can get.
3 Likes
Readers of this training log are receiving strength by osmosis, and likely sharing in sympathy dread for your workouts.
3 Likes
@oldbeancam Glad to know Iām not the only one that saw the intermediate weights and went āman f**k thatā, haha. Youāre spot on in the assessment too. This is crazy youthful training with a little more intellect. Really awesome to have you along for the ride.
@mr.v3lv3t If Iām spreading strength and dread, Iām doing my job, haha. Been a long time since I feared workouts so much.
3 Likes
Yaāll are really making me enjoy my Daily Dose of Deadlifts with 3-5 singles 5 days a week. Iām doing 5 singles so it takes me 4 weeks to complete one of your workouts 
2 Likes
@Frank_C that approach to training breaks my brain, haha. Just never could get it.
DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 15 (WEEK 4, WORKOUT 3)
AM WORKOUT
Clean pulls 205
3x10
Power cleans 148
1x12
8x11
Chins
1x22 double over
1x18 NG
1x16 NG
Notes: 3:00 between clean pulls, 3:20 between cleans, chins done at different points in workout. First time in a while I got the whole workout done all at once. I keep learning as I go with the cleans. Figured out it was better to keep the upper back firm at the start of the pull to be able to recruit the quads into the first pull rather than try to deadlift it up. Still not quite getting the triple extension, but itās coming along. Since there is no alternating weeks on the cleans, I made the rest times a little shorter to make it more challenging.
Woke up at 202.6.
2 Likes