I'm really not a fan of 5/3/1. Benching and squatting once a week just doesn't work for me. This discussion already happened before, where many people said the program was ok and someone who tried it said it was a waste of time as I recall it.
@Ehzera
If you have been training regularly you just go and do it. I don't know man, are you up to it? Just do the program with your real 1 rep max, eat a lot and massage yourself. Bench on your off days. Only do the base cycle of smolov, the other parts are worthless.
The first time I did smolov my squat went from 150 to 170. The second one 170 to 190. If you add 15kg you have the entire year for the other 7,5kg and the record. Go for it!
I think I'll do the introductory microcycle, because my 145kg PR was actually this Monday, and I wanna make sure I'm all recovered too. Maybe I'll just do the first week of it tho and skip the 2nd.
On April 25 2015 20:56 marvellosity wrote: how tall are you Najda?
5'10"
On April 25 2015 22:17 GoTuNk! wrote: @Najda
I'm really not a fan of 5/3/1. Benching and squatting once a week just doesn't work for me. This discussion already happened before, where many people said the program was ok and someone who tried it said it was a waste of time as I recall it.
What's a good frequency in your opinion? I was thinking of doing something Squat Bench Deadlift Bench Squat days in that order.
I'm sure any program will work well enough, eating is just the hard part for me. I'm already starting to plan out things I can prepare on sundays to eat for the week.
Smolov worked well for me, squatted every other day instead of going 4x in 7 days. Also added some KG's on my DL aswell afterwards which was a nice bonus. Just remember to take good care your skin on your back since it started to tear and bleed which made me stop it earlier than I had planned to.
5/3/1 was fine but what worked even better for me was switching it a bit up and do 3/5/1. But that program is IMO more to use between meets rather than prepare for a meet in the near future.
Today's workout: DL: 170kg x 1.
First deadlift since forever and very very happy with how much of the strength remained. Forever = prolly 2 years wut
I'm really not a fan of 5/3/1. Benching and squatting once a week just doesn't work for me. This discussion already happened before, where many people said the program was ok and someone who tried it said it was a waste of time as I recall it.
What's a good frequency in your opinion? I was thinking of doing something Squat Bench Deadlift Bench Squat days in that order.
I'm sure any program will work well enough, eating is just the hard part for me. I'm already starting to plan out things I can prepare on sundays to eat for the week.
I'm of the opinion upper body work does not need a separate day. Compared to squatting and deadlifting, benching and other upper body accesories it's like a day on the beach in terms of effort.
I like the general scheme of: (SQ/DL include a variant of the main lift and accesory exercises from them) off include stuff you want to try out, like curls
SQ/DL/off/SQ/off/DL Bench/all the other accesories/off/Bench/all the other accesories/off
Currently doing:
M: Paused Squats Squat Walks Bench Front Lever progression/abs
T: OHP Deficit DL Weighted Dips Sumo DL
W: Oly lifting for the lulz, overhead squats, various lying rows and weighted pull ups
T: Regular Squats Half Squats Bench Front Lever progression/abs
F; OHP Weighted Dips Klokov Press
S: DL and more DL DL from the knee Snatch Grip DL (was doing 1 leg DL previous weeks) Grip work
Needless to say, as a begginer you don't have to spend 4 hours a day every day on the gym :D
I do lower body work on the same schedule as Gotunk but I have my benching on a separate day purely because it would be a rest day if i didnt and I'm around the gym (its at school) 6 days a week anyway, so why not. 4 days a week is a good setup.
If you can squat a real 400 lbs and want to get as big as possible and as strong as possible as quickly as possible I recommend dog crapp training. I put on the most my mass in my life and added the most weight to the bar in every lift doing that program. If you are trying to compete in a weight class and just want to get super strong at a certain bodyweight then Gotunk's frequency probably best for most people. Lifts have to be practiced like any skill.
Made my climb and back safely. Just. Weather took a turn for the worse just as we were approaching the peak. And holy shit was I done once we reached the peak. The last few meters I had to stop every 3 steps to catch breath.
This was when I briefly though I was going to die (imagine strong side winds):
Long story short for these workouts, upper body progress has felt amazing while the lower body lifts have felt progressively tougher. The rows this week were tough admittedly, but every other lift felt pretty good. The spoto press seems to be really helpful for power at the bottom of the bench press (for anyone who doesn't know, a spoto press is a bench where you pause a few inches above the chest for a couple of seconds). My bench has felt stronger than ever and my OHP is continuing to go up really smoothly. Next week I should hopefully hit 120x6 on OHP, and maybe 102.5x10 on the control day. Pullups are progressing fine, and the accessory stuff isn't really too important.
The lower body lifts have been okay. Front squats were getting a bit too taxing after already doing squats and deadlifts, and I feel like I already got some use out of using them. I think pistol squats will be a nice quad exercise that's not too lower back intensive and will help me with my stability. Decided to throw some ab exercises back into the mix because I haven't really trained abs in a long time. I think I'll probably keep those in the rotation for the rest of the summer.
Deadlifts are getting to be pretty tough with the 15 lb/week progression, but hopefully I can make it through this cycle. If I make it to 300 lbs for six, I'll be ecstatic. I don't really think that's realistic, even though I've hit that weight before. I guess I'll have to wait and see.
Really hoping I can hit a bodyweight overhead press and 1.5xbodyweight pullup before the summer ends. Those should be within reach I think.
So close to being done with school now. Then I have all the free time in the world to eat and lift :D
Did 240kg beltless (PR), but could only do 5 reps with 210. No crowd might have affected me
I'm gonna start benching on the morning on monday/thursdays so the evening session isn't so long and to have more recovery time to my tuesday pressing session. Also to be able to do more gymnastics, will start doing the cross position progression.
On the front lever one after 2 weeks I can do the tucked plank for a long time but straightening my legs is really hard, my butt and quads are fucking heavy
I'm really not a fan of 5/3/1. Benching and squatting once a week just doesn't work for me. This discussion already happened before, where many people said the program was ok and someone who tried it said it was a waste of time as I recall it.
What's a good frequency in your opinion? I was thinking of doing something Squat Bench Deadlift Bench Squat days in that order.
I'm sure any program will work well enough, eating is just the hard part for me. I'm already starting to plan out things I can prepare on sundays to eat for the week.
I'm of the opinion upper body work does not need a separate day. Compared to squatting and deadlifting, benching and other upper body accesories it's like a day on the beach in terms of effort.
I like the general scheme of: (SQ/DL include a variant of the main lift and accesory exercises from them) off include stuff you want to try out, like curls
SQ/DL/off/SQ/off/DL Bench/all the other accesories/off/Bench/all the other accesories/off
Currently doing:
M: Paused Squats Squat Walks Bench Front Lever progression/abs
T: OHP Deficit DL Weighted Dips Sumo DL
W: Oly lifting for the lulz, overhead squats, various lying rows and weighted pull ups
T: Regular Squats Half Squats Bench Front Lever progression/abs
F; OHP Weighted Dips Klokov Press
S: DL and more DL DL from the knee Snatch Grip DL (was doing 1 leg DL previous weeks) Grip work
Needless to say, as a begginer you don't have to spend 4 hours a day every day on the gym :D
Thank you for writing this out, I'm definitely base my program around something like this.
On April 27 2015 07:50 GoTuNk! wrote: what is a pause deadlift?
Rippetoe refers to them as "halting" deadlifts. Basically you start like you would with a normal deadlift, but as soon as you break off the ground you hold for a second or two and then finish the deadlift. Some people like Ben Rice use "double pause" deadlifts where they stop right off the ground and right above the knee and then finish the pull.
It actually helps me focus on the contraction in my hamstrings and keeping my spine neutral. Some people like them a lot (Jonnie Candito, Ben Rice) and others don't really use them at all.
Can't believe it took me two weeks to figure out I have swimmers shoulder. Ugh. Any tips beyond what I can google? Only manifesting on my left but I'm going to guess my right isn't far behind.
On April 21 2015 05:38 sJarl wrote: Awesome GoTuNk!! No doubt the whole time.
Sounded like you were playing Amon Amarth in the background?
Yes, proper Deadlift music.
I will have the chance to bring stuff from USA free,
Could anyone recommend the best whey protein for bulk purchase ? (I usually buy whey on gold, it's super expensive though, buying a 20lb bag at the US would still be worth it for me)
create your own protein from here and buy in bulk. I would recommend trying beef protein isolate if you have any issues digesting whey.
"modern lifters spend more time programming and making excuses for their shit lifts than they actually spend lifting. They endlessly discuss their lack of progress, parse their programs, and nitpick their form, because doing all of that shit means they never actually have to exert themselves in the gym"
EPT
