Well, it's been two or three months since I last posted a training log. Not sure why. I just never got around to it. So first things first; here's a quick overview of what I've been up to.
I competed on May 17 in the NASA Tennessee State Championships. It did not go well. I went 4 for 9, and not a PR was set that day. Not by me at least. Several other lifters had a great day, and there were some big numbers going up.
I only had about 8 weeks to train for that meet, and I experimented with more of a linear progression type program. I just used the squat, bench, and deadlift as my main lifts, and tried to increase the intensity each week. I felt like the training went alright, even though the result at the meet wasn't fantastic. There were a few problems that cropped up, though.
I got bored. I missed the variety that Westside training offers.
It was probably no coincidence that I developed a bad habit of my hips coming up too fast in the squat and having to good morning the weight up during this cycle. I never used to do that when I was rotating in box squats and SSB squats.
I feel like the lack of speed work hurt me. All my lifts started feeling sluggish.
I'm just lacking muscle. That's not necessarily a problem with the program I used, but it is a problem. I won't say that I'm small, because at 200lbs I'm not really a little guy anymore, but too much of that weight is fat. I need to try to change my body composition so that I'm still near 200lbs, but with a lot more lean mass to show for it. You can't flex fat.
All that brings me to my current training. There's talk of another NASA meet in the fall, so I need to be ready to redeem myself when that comes around. I would go back to westside, but I'm playing coed softball this summer, and I don't feel that I would be able to adequately recover form training four days a week plus softball. So I've come up with a hybrid program that should address all of my current issues.
It's loosely based on the concept of the Cube Method. I say loosely because I've never actually read the Cube Method manual, so I don't know the specifics of the program. I do know, however, that the basis is that you rotate your lifts through the Max Effort, Dynamic Effort, and Repetition Effort methods throughout the week, and you have an extra "bodybuilding day" for building some extra muscle and working on your weaknesses.
Here's my variation of that. It's built around an 8-day week. Monday is Repetition Effort, Wednesday is Max Effort, and Friday is Dynamic Effort. The bodybuilding day is gone. Most of my accessory work will focus on hypertrophy principles to increase muscle mass. The reason it's an 8-day week is that I'll have four workouts: Bench/Chest/Triceps, Squat/Legs (quad emphasis)/Back, Bench/Chest/Shoulders, Deadlift/Back/Legs (hamstring/glute emphasis). The whole system works around a four week cycle. Here's an example.
Monday - Volume - Squat/Legs (quad emphasis)/Back
Wednesday - Max Effort - Bench/Chest/Triceps
Friday - Dynamic Effort - Deadlift/Back/Legs (hamstring/glute emphasis)
Monday - Volume - Bench/Chest/Shoulders
Wednesday - Max Effort - Squat/Legs (quad emphasis)/Back
Friday - Dynamic Effort - Bench/Chest/Triceps
Monday - Volume - Deadlift/Back/Legs (hamstrings/glute emphasis)
Wednesday - Max Effort- Bench/Chest/Shoulders
Friday - Dynamic Effort - Squat/Legs (quad emphasis)/Back
Monday - Volume - Bench/Chest/Tris
Wednesday - Max Effort - Deadlift/Back/Legs (hamstring/glute emphasis)
Friday - Dynamic Effort - Bench/Chest/ Shoulders
My main movements will change depending on the day. For example, I'll use Front Squats on Monday for volume, and SSB Squats on Wednesday for Max Effort Work. Supplemental lifts will stay the same regardless of the day, and will be used for the full four weeks before being rotated out, eg. if I choose close grip 4-board press on bench days to hit build my triceps, I'll do that as my supplemental work regardless of the whether it was a volume day, heavy day, or speed day. Accessory movements will stay in rotation for as long as I feel they are working (up to about 8 weeks) or until I get bored with them.
I only lift heavy once a week. I only bench heavy every other week. I only squat and deadlift heavy once every four weeks. Of course when I say heavy I'm talking true max effort stuff. I'll still be going relatively heavy on volume days. Somewhere in the 80% range for sets of 5-8. Theoretically this program has all the parts required to build strength, add muscle, and increase my speed while allowing me ample time to recover. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works.
Now that all that's out of the way, here's my training for the week, following the template above.
Monday - 6/2/14 Volume Squat/Legs/Back
Front Squat: 45x2x8, 95x8, 135x5, 185x8,5,5,4. I should have just stuck with sets of five on this. Next time I'll know better.
Leg Press: 225x10, 315x10, 365x2x10. Not sure how I felt about these. I may switch them out for something else.
Lying Hamstring Curls s/s Leg Extensions: 110x12,12,12,9,6 / 100x12,12,9,7,4. The last set of each was a drop set.
Lat Pulldown: 100x12, 120x2x12. I may trade these out for pull-ups.
Straight Arm Pulldown: 55x15, 45x2x15. Started out a little too heavy.
Wednesday 6/4/14 Max Effort Bench/Chest/Triceps
Close-Grip Bench: 45x2x10, 95x8, 135x3, 155x2, 185x1, 195x1, 205x0. I had Kathryne there spotting me on 205. I was sure I would get it, but I couldn't lock it out.
Close-Grip Board Press: 3-board 225x1, 4-board 185x5, 195x5,5,5,4. These things lit my triceps up. It took me a few sets to find the right weight, but I got it.
Isolateral Plate Loaded Incline Press: 50x10, 90x10, 140x7, 110x8. Again, I'm having to play around with these movements to find the right weight. (Also, form this point on, anything that starts with Isolateral Plate Loaded will be abbreviated as IPL.)
IPL Incline Side Chest Press: 25x3x12
Cable Crossover: 30x15, 40x2x15
Rolling Triceps Extensions: 30x3x12
Rope Triceps Extensions: 90x3x15
I had a huge pump in my chest and shoulders after all this.
Saturday 6/7/14 Dynamic Effort Deadlift/Back/Legs
Deadlift: 45x8, 135x5, (added short mini bands; about 50lbs of tensions) 135x3, 185x3, 225x8x2. These all moved well. It was about 275 at the top, which is 68% of my max.
Barbell Row: 135x8, 185x5, 205x4x5. Used straps for this.
Romanian Deadlift: 225x3x8. Used straps for this as well. Kept each rep slow and controlled. I focused on getting a good stretch and then contracting my hamstrings and glutes to stand up.
Meadows Rows s/s Standing Abs: 90x2x10 / 140x2x10.
That was it for this session. I was going to do some high rep inverted rows, but I just didn't have the energy. It's fine though. As I type this, my hamstrings and upper back are sore, so I think I got plenty of work in.
And that's it. My first week into this program. I'll try to keep this log up again. Mainly for my benefit. If this works, I want to be able to look back and see exactly what I did.
