Timmy: The Quest for 315

[TimmyTM]

It's been coming for a while. I decided that HGM is just making me wish for it to be over. And while it's awesome to do something and stick with it, I'm man enough to admit I'm not into it. So like so many others, screw this, I'm doing my own thing. I've done enough reading, I know how to put together a decent routine. I have a beta of something I thought I'd implement after HGM. Well. You know what? Let's try it right now.

Right now, I want to focus in on some goals. Let's annotate them, off the top of my head, for posterity.

#1: Deadlift 315 lbs

There's many ways to do this, and there's no need to specifically annotate a long-term plan. That's right. Screw the plan. I'm too early in lifting to get caught up in things like that.

#2: Stop being shitty at pull-ups.

That's right, I DO have upper body goals. Pull-ups have been a weakness, so I intend to attack it. I'd like to do sets of ten, and pop off singles with a 45 lb plate attached to me.

#3: Shoulder Press 50 lb dumbbells.

As for overhead pressing, it has both physical hypertrophy aspects I like, and I just like being able to overhead press. Also, I understand that overhead pressing can help your bench, as your shoulders kick in heavily during benching. I know I've been accused of having a weenie bench press. : D

#4: Eat.

It could easily be #1, but if I'm going to attack the weights, I better attack the trough. I can get the frequency thing down, but I think it may come down to how much pre-sleep cottage cheese I injest. No gain on the scale, no gain in the mirror.

#5: Squat 275 lbs

Oh yeah, want to pad that, too. But that's not too imperative, I'd rather work on my work set weight. Can you say squats supersetted with lunges?

#6: Rest for a full week every 3-4 months.

Plan it. Do it.

#7: Keep iron portion of lifting to under an hour.

I don't necessarily mind if I take a little longer to add some stretching, but if I'm taking over an hour for the lifting portion of my workout, I'm taking too long. I consider the "iron" portion to be from the moment I walk into the weight room, to the last rep of any set, even if it's dinkie shoulder accessory work. Stretching is more of a cool-down, and moments away from post-workout nutrition.

#8: Keep a rotation of unilateral work.

Something I want to try is a one-armed DB shoulder press. Lunges will be around, as well as bulgarian split squats.

#9: I know I'll be using mostly compound exercises, but this is just a mental note that if I add any isolation, not to go overboard.

#10: Have fun. I want to run any of my phases for three to six weeks. Why three? If it sucks, better ditch it. Lifting is my time. For all the dick-waving, if I didn't genuinely enjoy lifting, I wouldn't do it.


Oh wow, ten things. I am awesome. I suppose it's good to annotate for personal and public reference those dick-waving personal bests. Though, personally, I like waving my balls.

Deadlift: 2 @ 245 lbs (6-29-6)
Squat: 1 @ 225 lbs (12-30-6)
Bench: 1 @ 135 lbs (12-8-6)
Pull-up: 1 @ 183 lbs {BW +25} (12-8-6)

I don't need to say anything else, unless there's any questions. I have this tendency to overexplain myself incessantly. Enough talk. It's time to pick up heavy shit!

[Terry Monk]

Alright. Goals. That's the best place to start. I wish you nothing but the best.

[slimsaw00]

good luck on your list of goals man! This reminds me of a "cool-tip" from T-nation, and that is to simply train to what your goals are. . . . I think it was Dan John or Staley that said it.

I think I need to do kinda the same kind of thing. Make a list of goals and simply train to meet those. It seems that I have the hardest time sticking to a program. I think I have some kind of weightlifting program A.D.D. or something.

Enough rambling on your log here. . . good luck!




-Matt

[capebill]

Timmy

I've seen your posts and you seem very intelligent about weightlifting. My guess is if you switch it up and go 'heavy' you will set PR's of 20% more within two months. I think you have put in enough time on HGM.....just my opinion..

[Lost Dog]

Good move.

(hgm blows)

[Iamjennmedic]

Awesome Timmy! Great goals you have set for yourself and I have no doubt that you will achieve them. Best of luck. I look forward to reading about your new lifting journey.

Jenn

[Alcoholiday]

I think you would make awesome progress just doing a few movements a workout.. like 3-4, and doing multiple working sets of them. Deadlift once or twice a week, squat every week, and bench every week. Plus, eating a lot of food. You don't look fat at all in any of the pictures you posted, and i think you would be well suited with lots of food, NOT worrying about eating lots of cottage cheese, but lots of pretty clean calories. I think you would get all your goals in no time doing this.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Good luck dude, Your last log was awesome. Your pull will move up quick if you focus on it. Good luck re the 100 lb challenge also!

[TimmyTM]

Today's workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Upper Day, Workout I
  
  Superset A
  Chins: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 @ BW (volume=6049.6 lbs)
  Dips: 12, 6, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2 @ BW (volume=6686.4 lbs)
  
  Superset B
  BB Push Press: 4 @ 85 lbs; 6, 6, 6 @ 75 lbs
  DB One-Armed Row: 4 @ 55 lbs; 6, 6, 6 @ 50 lbs
  
  Superset C
  Neutral-Grip Face Pull: 12 @ 30 lbs; 12, 12 @ 40 lbs
  DB Shoulder Press To Raise: 12, 10, 10 @ 15 lbs
  
  current bodyweight: 159.2 lbs (+1 lb; weekly average of 158.85 lbs)

Tank: What do you need, besides a miracle?
Neo: Chins. Lots of chins.

Ha ha. I don't think three sets of chins is enough to make a difference. So I'm doing ten sets of chins. (And dips.) I'm not worried about any rep range, because I can't do enough with my own bodyweight. I do the superset, write down what I did, take two breaths, and do the next superset. I'm guessing I averaged 75 seconds rest. I don't have a watch on me. My basic goal is to just use density and volume to force some growth. I annotated the volume, because it's useless to compare day-to-day chin progress, as my weight will always be changing. So, I'll compare workout-to-workout volume. If I can do more volume in the same ten sets, then I've improved.

I overestimated the weight for both push presses and rows. But the push presses, I should rebound quickly. For one, my lats were a little tight after all those chins. I'll have to stretch a little, and do a warm-up beyond just the bar for push presses. I know I can do better.

Those face pulls were fun. I felt it in my rhomboids, and somewhere in my upper trapezius. As for the other exercise, that's personal indulgence. That's my idea of isolation! One thing that always struck me as odd about lateral raises is that you can't go above parallel. DB shoulder press to raise, or whatever I should call it, lets me use more weight for an eccentric contraction, and moves it through a greater range of motion. I like that.

Total time after stretching was around 58 minutes. I am pleased.

Adjustments: Do a more proper warm-up for push presses. That's about it.

Also, thanks to everyone that commented.

[Steve-O-68]

Good stuff Tim! Now...

... GET 315 SON!!!

[TimmyTM]

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Lower Day, Workout II
  
  Deficit Deadlift (Off 6 inch platform):
  4 @ 135 lbs
  6x4 @ 185 lbs
  
  BB Front Squat:
  4 @ 95 lbs
  4, 3 @ 155 lbs
  4x4 @ 145 lbs
  
  Grip Superset
  Rack Pull:
  3, 3, 2 @ 275 lbs
  Farmer's Walks:
  @ 50 lbs
  Uh, see annotations
  
  current bodyweight: 158.6 lbs (-.6 lb; weekly average of 158.9 lbs)

I'm eating right now, I swear.

I remember the trouble I had with snatch-grip deadlifts. The point of those are to get you closer to the floor. The side-effect is that it throws off my grip. I end up feeling rather awkward.

Anyway, my problem is off the floor. Or so it feels. If it isn't, well, no harm in working the floor. Range of motion equals good. I was puzzled at first what to use as a platform. The little platforms they have around are all about a foot tall. That places the bar below the floor for me. That's too much depth. I considered using 45 plates, but they weren't stable enough. Then I remembered the little.. I don't know what to call them. Those little platforms people use for dinky cardio workouts? Yeah. That placed the height at around 6 and a half inches. I didn't have a ruler on me, I just marked off where it was on my arm, so I could later measure it. I'm smart like that. That placed the bar above my toes

One thing I wanted to make sure I didn't do was bounce the weight. I considered standing up after each rep, but that just threw off my rhythm, and my grip. So I just paused for a second at the bottom of each rep. Not even a second. Just long enough that there was no bounce.

I could have done more weight, but I wanted to make sure I was pulling with good form. Well, relatively good form. I felt it in my quads during the initial few inches. Given that I've never really done high-set, low-rep training, I think patience is important. As opposed to fearlessly putting on as much weight as I can for a ruple and risking a drop in form. I also declined to try a single at the end.

By the middle of my front squats, I was tired. Which kind of motivated me, because it meant I had to keep pushing. I dropped the weight after the second set, because my form was faltering. I don't want my chest to drop.

I've never done rack pulls before. I had the bars just below my knees. I picked 275 lbs, because I've done RDLs with it. My grip was fine - I was just surprised at how hard it was to get that initial pull. That's a lot of energy from a dead-stop! I'm thinking, given my goals, maybe I shouldn't be doing it for multiple reps. Since I'm doing it for grip-strength, I COULD just pick up the bar and stand with it.

Also, no matter how gently you try, lowering the bar down to those damn safeties in the squat cage always makes a loud crashing noise. Something else. During the lift portion of the rack pull, I felt like my lats were contracting like crazy.

I picked 50 lbs for farmer's walks, because I recalled how hard lungeing with 50 lbs was. I thought I'd just measure it by laps, but there was a spin class. Uh. I tried walking halfway and walking back. My forearms burned earlier during the second set. And the third set, I had to put it down before getting back to the cage. I could just grab the dumbbells by the rack, stand there and watch the nearby clock, and put the back down. Which is sure to get me even more odd looks than I normally get.

Including the time it took me to figure out how to make a platform, I ran over 70 minutes. Maybe 75, I can't remember. While I know 60 minutes isn't some magical number when cortisol levels rise, I'd prefer to keep my workouts shorter and intense. If I run over too long next time, too, then I'll drop back my front squat sets or something. Or maybe my rest periods were too long. I don't have a stopwatch. Short rest periods require me to just haul ass, but longer rest periods are harder to pull off - as in avoiding resting TOO long. I don't need three minute rest periods, I'll see if I can keep it to around two minutes. Oh hell, I'll just try to track the more next time.

On a side note, my rep choice. People do 5 reps (5x5), and people do triples (8x3 or 10x3), but I rarely see anybody do ruples. (Or is it quads? As in, quadruple.) I didn't want to do 5x5, and I wanted to save triples for a later point. Between triples and 5 reps is the ruple. So there I am. That, and I thought 8 sets would be too exhausting right now. If I did 8x3 or 10x3, I probably wouldn't do much else. I wanted to be focused each set.

Oh. And. My chest and my lats are sore as hell. Those dips didn't phase my triceps at all. Overhead stretches feel soooo good right now.

Adjustments: Deficit Deadlifts move to 195 lbs. I'll try the front squats again at 155 lbs.

[Mahler]

Go Timmy
Go Timmy
Go Timmy

Good goals. Better man.

[TimmyTM]

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Upper Day, Workout I
  
  Superset A
  Chins: 7, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2 @ BW (volume=4622.6 lbs)
  Dips: 10, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 1 @ BW (volume=5897.8 lbs)
  
  
  current bodyweight: 159.4 lbs (+.8 lb; weekly average of 159.1 lbs)

I thought I'd just pound out the basics, because I wasn't making any pull-up progress with just three sets. Sigh.

Okay. I had to stop after my chins`n`dips because I felt something odd in my shoulders when I did any movement. I was still sore from Wednesday, but I had three nights of sleep, and two full days of good eating. I thought I would have recovered. My performance will rebound.

Anyway. I think what did it was I accidentally hit failure on that last dip. Normally I jump up, hold my lockout for a second, and lower myself down slowly. I jumped out, and kind of came back down? I didn't feel anything odd. I cursed internally and said, "Get back up." This is partly why I'm choosing dips over bench. If you fuck up that last set of presses, you got a bar on your chest. Dips, you can will yourself into one more rep.

I was warming up for push presses, and my shoulders felt odd. I did some light overhead presses with dumbbells to see how it felt. I didn't like it. I thought I'd just do my rows, but that didn't feel right, either. So I stopped the workout.

It pisses me off, more than anything else. I thought what I needed was a swift kick in the ass, just pound out the basics. Nothing too fancy. Maybe will myself a little bit, have some determination. Like that how I got three reps on that sixth set of chins, after getting two on the previous. That was all will. My upper body is weak. I want to show everybody that if you open your mouth at me, I'm going to shove my hairy nutsac in it. Never mess with a man with an inferiority complex.

I was going to do my lower tomorrow, and then lift again Tuesday/Wednesday, and Friday/Saturday, so I can get back to MondayTuesday and FridaySaturday. Instead, I think I'll push my lower until Monday, and then wait until Friday/Saturday to do my upper again. Amusingly, my lower body was barely sore yesterday. Go figure.

I could lower it to 8 sets. Maybe it's overkill, I don't know. Doing more pull-ups is more of an endurance feat than a strength feat, so adding weight isn't useful right now. Right now, at least.

[TimmyTM]

I've been thinking about The Basics. As in, just pounding out the basics. Which makes me wonder just how I got to this point in the first place. I'm coming up at a point where I started tracking all my workouts a year ago. Last year, on this day, this was my workout:

Pull-up: 6, 3, 2
Back Row: 20 @ 50? lbs, 8, 8 @ 55? lbs
Tibia Dorsi: 2 x 20 @ 33 lbs
Deadlift: 10, 10, 8 @ 95 lbs
Shrug: 2 x 15 @ 95 lbs
Hip Adductor: 15, 10 @ 120 lbs
Hamstring Curl: 2 x 5 @ 120 lbs

And the day before, this was my workout:

BB Overhead Press: 3x8 @ 55 lbs
BB Bench Press 10 @ 60 lbs, 2x8 @ 65 lbs
Hip Adductor 2 x 10 @ 100 lbs
Squat 3x10 @ 95 lbs
Standing Calf Raise 2 x 15 @ 95 lbs
Decline Sit-up 2 x 15 @ 10 lbs

A take on a push/pull, if it wasn't obvious.

Aside from the fact that I had silly isolation exercises (shrugs, adductor/abductor, hamstring curl, etc), what pops out at me was that I was squatting and deadlifting 95 lbs. Which makes me wonder how I did it. Was it all just n00b gains? According to my logs, by March 10th, I was squatting 135 for 3x9, and deadlifting 115 for 3x6.

A month later.. What the hell? Man, my memory is bad. I knew I toyed with overhead squats, but I don't remember actually doing them for a month. Just the bar, maybe 55 lbs. Yes! Now it's coming back to me. Think this was when I figured out how to nail Romanian Deadlifts, starting with 115 lbs for 3x10, working my way up to 165 lbs for 5x5 in one month's time. This was back when I wasn't so concerned with sets and reps. If I did more reps, I'd do less sets. If I did less reps, I'd do more sets. Same day, May 9th, I have marked that I squatted 175 for 5x5. What the hell? I wonder how my form was.

I remember the time I hit failure on front squats. I was trying 5x5, and I hit failure on the second rep of the fourth set. Logs indicate it was May 14th. I was front squatting 125 lbs.

I made a lot of progress in a relatively short amount of time. So naturally I'm a little frustrated when it's February 2007 and I just haven't made that kind of progress again. But how? Maybe some of it was n00b gains. Neural inhibition and such. My programs were relatively simple then. What carried me through May and June was more or less an A/B full-body split. I'd do a squat variation one day, do a deadlift variation the other, toss in a upper body push and pull, and that was that. Yeah, there was some other crap in there, but I remember how I set it up.

I guess I'm scared. It pissed me off that I couldn't pull 255 last December. Three attempts, and I couldn't do it. Did I not warm-up properly? Did setting a squat PR exhaust me? I don't know. I don't want to think that I just randomly peaked and that's that. Then again. That month of June, I'd deadlifting all month. I haven't done any deadlift-specific stuff in a long time.

I'm thinking about the leg days that HGM had. Did I get stronger? I don't know. Did I bust my ass? Absolutely. Maybe if I had been eating more, I would have grown. Maybe supersets will be useful at some point. They're fun. They make me feel like I'm killing myself. But strength? I don't know.

It pisses me off that every other person who has done Phase III of HGM ended up loving it and made good gains, meanwhile I was just spinning in circles. That pissed me off! I thought for sure I'd break my PR. That never happened. But if I remember correctly, it wasn't my legs that gave out, it was my grip. Snatch-grip destroys your ability to hold the bar. I rack pulled 275 lbs the other day, and my grip was just fine, damn it. (Actually, the reason I picked 275 lbs is because I've RDLed it.)

The basics. I didn't get those gains by thinking too hard. I didn't get them by doing more sets than I needed. I'd walk in excited every single day because I knew I was going to do something I'd never done before. If that doesn't make you excited to lift, you better check your pulse. I need to keep this all in mind. I don't need to overkill myself every time I lift. Stimulate, don't annihilate.

Deficit deadlifts. 6x4 @ 185 lbs. All very good, clean reps. Part of me wonders if there will be some neural inhibition which will hold me back, since I'm doing straight sets. The body likes to become more efficient at things. But that's overthinking. In fact, I'm doing the opposite. I'm lifting below where I normally deadlift, so I'm getting greater range of motion. A month from now, when I go back to the floor, I should pull at least 10 - 20 lbs more than what I'm deficit pulling. 195 lbs. 205 lbs. 215 lbs. 225 lbs. I own those numbers. 235 lbs. And finally 245 lbs, the number that is mocking me. I shouldn't even mark it as a double, I know I bounced that second rep a little. But when I break that PR and pull 255, it won't be a single. It'll be for reps, from a deficit.

This is really what's on my mind lately. I usually just keep it to myself because I know 99% of my friends wouldn't have a goddamn clue what I'm talking about.

[TimmyTM]

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Lower Day, Workout IV
  
  Deficit Deadlift (Off 6 inch platform):
  4 @ 135 lbs
  6x4 @ 195 lbs (+10 lbs)
  
  BB Front Squat:
  4 @ 95 lbs
  4, 4, 4, 3 @ 155 lbs (No drop in weight)
  
  current bodyweight: 159.6 lbs (+.2 lb; weekly average of 159.2 lbs)

I find the first pull is the hardest. After that, it's like my body is "set", and the subsequent reps aren't nearly as hard. They're all clean reps, I pause at the bottom for a split second to ensure I don't bounce the weight. I can do more weight, but I'd rather be patient. Nice and slow. No singles.

That 155 lbs felt lighter than it did a few days ago. I swear. I remember when having near-bodyweight on the front of my shoulders felt heavy. I also don't feel it in my wrists at all. Though, that's partly due to the low reps. Stopped at three on the last set, because my shoulders weren't staying up. I won't sacrifice form.

Ten work sets. That'll do. I decided that while rack pulls and farmer's walks are awesome, they're not something I need right now. I'm better off shortening my workout. Moreover, I don't need gripwork at all right now. Maybe I'll try doing my sets with an overhand grip, rather than alternating grip.

Adjustments: Upgrade deficit deadlifts to 205 lbs. Let's see how far I can take this before I start grinding out reps. Keep front squats at 155. I'll get it next time.

[jvernacchio]

Awesome job Tim BB Front Squats are my Arch Nemisis. I have avioded them like the plague until recently and have found them to be a great challenge. I suck at them so I suppose that is why I stayed away from them but they definitly are a great addition to my squat regiment.