What I'm Capable of - Breaking Down Barriers

[Matthew]

July 8 - bench

bench
209x1
220xFx a few
215xF
209x1x3


weighted sit ups
standing pulley crunches




Honestly, I'm just glad I can bench with no elbow pain.
209 is a 4 pound PR. Woohooo
I would have gotten 215 if I had tried it before the 220.

[Simon C]

Hey man, a PR is a PR, good work.

220 isn't far, only 11lbs

I don't think you should push back your first comp to next summer. The sooner the better infact. I'm not sure why you would postpone competing, it will be really good for your training, and an awesome learning experience, and a ton of fun too. Nothing to be afraid of, that September comp sounds good!

[Matthew]

Trevor is out of the country until the 17, so I'm on my own as far as deciding where to go next.

I think I'm going to cut my losses and start a new program next week, rather than finishing this one off. This program calls for another rest week next week (one day working up to my first attempt weight, and then just warm up the rest of the week), and then the competition at the end of the week (a day I was going to use to test my lifts). At this point, after having a week completely off for the trip, I don't feel this time off will benefit me in any way. And I'm pretty sure I've already hit all the PRs I'm going to make, since my squat/pull dropped 20 pounds the last week.


I'm going to spend some serious time in the lower rep ranges. Since I fucked up the last phase of this program so badly, I think I'm really lacking there.

I think I'll back squat twice a week, pull once. Maybe some leg presses, goodmornings, RDLs thrown in.
I'll bench twice a week as well, one heavy and one light. OH presses, db presses, maybe some machine work thrown in.

[Frank.S]

why is your squat/pull down again? a week off should only improve your strength.

I think you need to really push up your bench, your only up like 4lbs in 7 months. I think whatever you have been doing - do the complete opposite. I made gains with super low volume bench work, then they stopped so now im doing super high volume - 3 hour workouts and im gaining like crazy.

[Matthew]

Ya, good point. I think I'll have to try some super high volume bench training. I've always done one or two movements, always tried to keep pressing volume lower than my pulling volume. I should do the opposite, you're right. If everything I've done up to this point has been wrong, than the opposite must be right!
Once again, Seinfeld holds the answer.

A week off would be good, if I had spent it relaxing by the beach or something. I got no more than four hours sleep in a night, I drank a few nights (I NEVER drink), I had so little to eat that I lost 6-8 pounds (over a week later, I'm still down 6), I went without breakfast a few days because we woke up late and had to rush out to make it to the work site on time, I spent a total of 74 hours on a Greyhound, with only granola bars and the occasional peanut butter sandwich. And I worked four days in what must have been 35-40 degree weather, and nearly died (not really).

I came home completely worn out.

That being said, it was the most amazing trip I've ever been on, and well worth every sacrifice.

[Alcoholiday]

throwing in my 2 cents...

i would say you need to get on a set plan. Instead of just going to the gym and hitting singles or doubles or whatever, i think you need to have set rep ranges for each week.

don't over think the stuff. Hit sets of 8 or so to warm up, then drop down to 5 and grind out a 3-5 sets. maybe the next week, go down to 3x3, and the week after test 5/3/1. This is what Wendler talks about in his book (you should get it when it's PDF file b/c it has lots of programming ideas). Your workouts should be brutal b/c it's training.

I think the higher rep sets are what you're really lacking though. You do A LOT of training in the 1-3 rep range. I'm the same way, and i'm going back and doing more volume.

i would say if you're still going to stick with lower reps, do high rep sets to warm up at least.

i think another thing is that this program had you doing things that didn't really benefit you much (like those quarter squats w/ much more weight than you can fully squat). Just stick with the things you know FOR YOU will work. You can never go wrong with the basics of squatting, front squatting, stiff leg deads, etc.

Just my 2 cents.

[Frank.S]

You dont have to up the number of reps to get more volume. Look at my bench training now, huge volume but usually just triples.

matthew you may like the style of bench training i am doing, i would change it for a raw lifter, something like:


day 1
3 board presses - up to 3rm in 10lbs increments (6-10 sets)
2 board presses - up to 3rm in 10lbs increments (6-10 sets)
CG presses- 5-6 heavy singles
rack lockouts (to get used to heavier weights)

day 2
2 board presses - up to 3rm (6-10 sets)
1 board presses - up to 3rm (6-10 sets)
decline presses - up to 5rm

workouts take a long time, but i am seeing fantastic gains with this style of training. Takes a good month to get used to the stupid volume.

[Simon C]

When I'm into high rep stuff(6-8 reps) I do one heavy single(heavier than my sets) as part of my warm-up.

When I'm into low reps(2-4 reps), I just do warmup sets of 6, 4, 2, and then one or two singles lighter than my work set.

I don't think I have a need to keep up with high reps while in the heavy low rep stages of my cycle, as it's only a few weeks out of every cycle. I think it's important to get those heavy singles in teh warm-ups when the sets are light though, to keep the body used to the heavier weights.

I'm just talking about the Squat, Bench, and Deadlift here by the way.

I agree with Alco that all those extra things didn't seem to benefit you, and you might do well to drop them, and stick to the basics.

I also like Alco's idea that some higher rep training may benefit you(not too high though hehe). But maybe starting with 8's and tapering down to doubles over the next 10 weeks before your September competition(yep ).

[Frank.S]

Originally Posted by Simon C

I also like Alco's idea that some higher rep training may benefit you(not too high though hehe). But maybe starting with 8's and tapering down to doubles over the next 10 weeks before your September competition(yep ).

for powerlifting, i think training like this is a sure fire way to make very little progress.

10 reps carryover to a 1 rep max is small. The form is way different on the 8th rep compared to a 1rm attempt.

You could take those 12 weeks and crank out heavy singles, doubles, triples, overload sections of the movement (ie have the top overloaded to 10% over your best squat, using chains/bands), work on improving bar speed, etc.. you will see more gains no doubt.

[Matthew]

I did high reps for 8 weeks in this program. Even the intensification block had me in the 5-8 range most of the time.

I think this program actually worked really well. I did squat 352 before my trip, with a previous PR of 315. I think had I not gone to New Orleans, I would have still been peaking after that 352 squat, and I would've hit 360, 370 on a good day. I think because of the terrible week off, my "peak" ended and what I'm experiencing now is the decline after the peak. I think this week I've pretty much leveled off, and so I can start making improvements again.

The bench I blame on my elbow problems. There were a few days I couldn't press for shit because I just couldn't hold the bar. That wouldn't have been much higher no matter what I did.
My pull is a form issue, and a mental block like you guys mentioned earlier. Again though, if I hadn't gone to New Orleans I think my pull still would have been going up.

I've only been lifting <3 reps the last couple weeks.

The quarter squat I have to defend. It gave me confidence with a shit load of weight on my back, and I could handle my 1RM a lot better because I was used to heavier loads.
What happened was, for a few weeks I'd come in on squat day and do a heavy as hell quarter squat. Then after those few weeks, I'd come in to the gym and do a full squat, and the weight would seem stupid light because I was expecting a weight > my 1RM.
I think that was actually one of the better points of the program.


Like I said, I have been doing high-ish reps for about two months now, not including the last three weeks. I think I should spend some time at 5 reps and less.


Frank, I need to work on my strength off the chest, my sticking point is maybe an inch off. What do you suggest?
If it matters, I've moved my grip out so that my index finger is on the rings (I used to keep my ring finger or even my pinky on the rings).

I think incline bench, flat bench without an arch (greater ROM), and db bench - all paused a second at the bottom - will cover it. Then just some tri/shoulder work after.

[Frank.S]

Honestly, id stick to similar movements in what i posted above, would probably add in some illegal wide presses somewhere and more back work.

Pretty much all raw lifters (except for me for some reason) fail raw benches off the chest. I think the key is getting heavy weights in your hands and working around the area. Anything can help, inclines, declines, floor press, band presses etc. Just progress on everything

[Matthew]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

You dont have to up the number of reps to get more volume. Look at my bench training now, huge volume but usually just triples.

matthew you may like the style of bench training i am doing, i would change it for a raw lifter, something like:


day 1
3 board presses - up to 3rm in 10lbs increments (6-10 sets)
2 board presses - up to 3rm in 10lbs increments (6-10 sets)
CG presses- 5-6 heavy singles
rack lockouts (to get used to heavier weights)

day 2
2 board presses - up to 3rm (6-10 sets)
1 board presses - up to 3rm (6-10 sets)
decline presses - up to 5rm

workouts take a long time, but i am seeing fantastic gains with this style of training. Takes a good month to get used to the stupid volume.

I like what you're doing here, but I couldn't just jump into something so heavy. If I were to do something like that, I could add two reps to everything, and then drop those reps in a couple weeks.

This is why I'm saying I should stick with 5 and under. I think I should do a lot of 5s and triples in the next few weeks, triples for the main movements and 5s for the accessory stuff, and then in a couple weeks start doing heavy singles and doubles again, and then stick to 3-5 reps for the accessory stuff.

I feel like I can't do a heavy single right now. I mean, I pulled 375 for 2 and felt like I could have gotten a third. Then I fail 385. I couldn't even get one rep.
So I think I should work my way down again in reps.

[Matthew]

Oh shit, sorry. I didn't see where you said that's what you'd do for a raw lifter. I thought that's what you were doing.

[Frank.S]

im doing something similar but using higher boards (4-5 boards) and shirt work on day 1.

the first week i started, it almost killed me. I think i failed 220lbs off of a 4 board on day 2. Now, ive been doing it for 5 weeks + 1 deload week, feeling pretty good.

yes it is heavy, every bench workout i am handling weights greater then my raw 1rm and hitting triples with them.

to be honest, when i first looked at the metal militia bench program (what im doing), I thought it was the stupidest thing ever.
Metal Militia - Strongest Benchers in the World!

now, i love it. Just different style then what most of us are used to seeing. I get to handle big (to me) weights every bench session as well as practice my form and set-up for over 100reps each training day.. its great!

[Matthew]

Actually that looks pretty good. Except for the Saturday workout, since I don't wear a shirt.

Interesting...

[Frank.S]

its a good program, very hard.

if you are raw just stick to the lower boards, no sense doing a 6 board for a raw bench