Dream's...something or other log

18/07/14 - Madcow - Friday

So much better than I expected and big improvements form Monday. Retook Squat and Bench weight, progressed on BOR.

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
92.5kg x 5
107.5kg x 3 - Fast and strong
80kg x 8

Bench

Bar x lots
35kg x 5
42.5kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
60kg x 5
72.5kg x 3 - So much better
52.5kg x 8 - Strong and speedy

Shoulder treatment and mobility really paid off. Time to maintain it and keep the refined form.

BOR (Pendlay)

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
60kg x 3 - Lovely
45kg x 8

Dips

BW + 5kg x 8
BW + 10kg x 8
BW + 15kg x 5

Shoulders feel better going for ramped sets.

Bro Curlz

EZ + 17.5kg x 8
EZ + 17.5kg x 8
EZ + 17.5kg x 6+1+1

Got to love fatigue kicking in with max 60 sec rests.

Tricep Pushdowns

21.25kg x 8
21.25kg x 8
21.25kg x 8

Easy enough.

New mobility stuff and stretches seem to be really paying off.
Squats felt so much better than last time. The monday session may still be a challenge but hopefully not.
Bench press felt a lot better too, so it may have been a mobility issue last time.
BOR, still going up nice and easy.
 
GSVBagpuss said:
Nice work getting through that mini plateau :) What mobility drills are you doing? Might have to steal them!
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I've started to implement PNF/MET type stretching in with the existing stretches and combining that with mobility movements. As for the movements themselves I'd have to to hunt around for names and videos but I'm going to guess you'll be able to find them on MobilityWOD. I'll see what I can find and get back to you.
 
19/07/14 - Off-Day - Saturday

End of the first dynamic cycle. Hopefully I'll get another 3 cycles out whilst running Madcow.

Dynamic Deadlifts

60kg x 5
80kg x 5
95kg x 5x2

These are getting a lot quicker.

SDL

65kg x 5
75kg x 5
85kg x 5

Surprising what 5kg's make...

Kroc Rows

16kg x 25/25
16kg x 25/25
16kg x 25/25

Entirely unbroken sets so I'll up the weight.

Pull-Ups

BW x 4
BW x 6
BW x 4

Still rubbish at these but I think shoulder mobility is more of an issue here. More tlc and we shall see.

Happy with that. The next cycle should be quite fun starting with 87.5kg x 8x3.
 
21/07/14 - Madcow - Monday

Yay for squats. Boo for bench.

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
92.5kg x 5
107.5kg x 5 -So much better!

Nailed it! Extra/better stretching and mobility, holding in the core properly and keeping the chest up did the trick.

Bench

Bar x lots
35kg x 5
42.5kg x5
52.5kg x 5
62.5kg x 5
72.5kg x 4+1
60kg x 3x3 (Paused)

Well that was disappointing. Strong, but not as strong as Friday but still failed. I've read that extra frequency is needed for benching so I'll be changing the program up slightly.

BOR (Pendlay)

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
60kg x 5

Not as fast as usual but still easy.

Dips

BW + 5kg x 8
BW + 10kg x 8
BW + 15kg x 4

Not sure what happened there but I was focusing on not letting the shoulder roll forward, if it means fewer reps for better shoulder health then so be it.

Back Extensions

BW + 10kg x 12
BW + 10kg x 12

Nice.

I'm really pleased with the squats and 110kg x 3 should be in the bag.
I'm looking into increasing the benching frequency and the rep scheme too. I'm thinking of benching on Wednesday's too and dropping OHP or making it an accessory move.
If I increase bench frequency I'll drop the weighted dips on Monday's to save the shoulders.
 
23/07/14 - Madcow - Wednesday

Fixing tight pecs has seemed to have fixed tight shoulders. So to be on the safe side I didn't OHP tioday and only did bw chins.

Squats (Paused - 2-3 count)

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 2x5

Still nice and easy. Load posterior chain properly, glutes and hammies firing.

Deadlifts

60kg x 5
85kg x 5
110kg x 5
125kg x 5

Just not feeling it. I couldn't keep the bar into me properly, it fell away from me on a rep or two. My left hand grip lop-sided on 125kg and forced me to reset. Lats didn't seem to me kicking in properly and it was just a bit sluggish off the floor. Saying that form was solid except on the forth rep when there was a bit of rounding.

Chin-ups

BW x 8
BW x 8
BW x 8

Easy.

It was nice doing paused squats for a change. I thought it would be worth while focusing on firing out of the hole.
Deads were ok, sluggish, and one iffy (but not bad) rep, but ok. Tightness, lack of food and a sore shoulder from a lot of stretching, mobility and tlc did not help anything either.
Quads, glutes, hammies and hips are dead.
 
25/07/14 - Madcow - Friday

And that's my shoulder healing nicely and my bench technique is fixed. Happy days.

Squats

Bar x lots
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
95kg x 5
110kg x 3 - Boom PB!
80kg x 8

Lovely jubbly. A lot nice than I was expecting.

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
60kg x 3
45kg x 8

Adjusted wrist rotation, elbow positioning (was too tucked in) and how I brought the bar into me. Was absolutely fine.

BOR (Pendlay)

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
62.5kg x 3 - Not bad, not great
45kg x 8

May be getting a smidge heavy. I couldn't row entirely with the lats and the elbows flared on top of the rep.

Bro Curlz

17.5kg x 8
17.5kg x 8
17.5kg x 8


Tricep Pushdowns

23.75kg x 8
23.7kg x 8
23.5kg x 8

Squats were decent. I am however going to try them without my high-heels on to see if I can load the posterior chain better.
Deloading on the bench seemed sensible and it allowed me to fix the issues. I'll be changing up the routine/frequency next week to allow for more benching and to constantly be improving the technique since I've removed the issues that were giving me shoulder problems.
I'll probably retake 60kg on Monday and then progress again to retake the weight. If it still seems off then I'll reload back to ~52.5kg and work back up.
 
For those who are interested, I shall be modifying my current routine to incorporate a higher frequency of benching.

My current routine is as follows:

Monday

Squats 1x5
Bench 1x5
BOR (Pendlay) 1x5

Weighted Dips
Back Extensions


Wednesday

Squats 2x5 - light
OHP 1x5
Deadlifts 1x5

Weighted Chin-ups


Friday (New PR day)

Squats 1x3
Bench 1x3
Rows 1x3

Weighted Dips
Bro Curlz
Tricep Pushdowns


Saturday

Dynamic Deadlifts
SDL
Kroc Rows
Pull-Ups

In order to do so an extra bench press session shall be added to my current Wednesday sessions and the OHP shall be moved to Friday. The current BOR on Friday shall be removed entirely and the progression for BOR shall alternate in the existing Monday sessions of 1x3 and 1x5. OHP shall follow the same format on Friday with some additional volume.

The new routine will look like this:

Monday

Squats 1x5 - Heavy
Bench 5x5 - Volume
BOR (Pendlay) 1x3/5

Back Extensions
Core Work


Wednesday

Squats (Paused) 2x5 - light
Bench (Paused) 2x3-6
Deadlifts 1x5

Core work


Friday (New PR day)

Squats 1x3 - PR
Bench 1x3 - PR
OHP 1x3/5

Weighted Dips
Bro Curlz
Tricep Pushdowns


Saturday

Dynamic Deadlifts 8x3/6x2/5x2
SDL
Kroc Rows
Chin-ups

In order to incorporate the increased volume of benching and save the shoulders, weighted dips on Monday have been completely removed and the chin-ups on Wednesday have been moved to Saturday and have replaced pull-ups.
The OHP replaced the BOR on Friday due to doing Kroc Rows on Saturday. Rowing 3x a week isn't necessary and I figured I'd see a better benefit with a break in-between rowing sessions rather than doing them back-to-back.

The benching progression will follow similar to the Texas method of having a volume day on Monday, a back-off and increased frequency on Wednesday and focus on intensity on Friday. The Monday weight will work at 90% of my current 5rm, starting at a reload weight of 55kg 5x5 (60kg being 5rm) and shall increase by 2.5kg per week. The wednesday session shall use a % or a warm-up set from Monday as the working weight. On friday I shall try a new 3rm pr and will add 2.5kg each time in the same manner to Madcow/Texas method progression.

OHP and BOR shall now have alternating rep schemes of trying 1x3 and then repeating the weight the following week with 1x5. Extra volume shall be added to the OHP.

Squats and deadlifts will use the existing progression method stated in Madcow.

Any/all comments and suggestions are welcome. I am aware that the program is far from perfect but I thought it would be better to modify the current routine where necessary whilst still trying to keep the fundamentals of it.
 
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GSVBagpuss said:
I'm far from an expert on routines but benching twice a week pushed my laughable bench into just "fairly poor" - happy days! Also, lots of compound lifts is never going do anything but make you stronger :D
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mrthingyx said:
Looks fine... just remember to keep a mind on what it is doing for you and the gains you are getting.

GSRV makes a good point: more compound lifts are only a good thing. :)
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Cheers for the responses. I wanted to start to tailor the program to focus on Powerlifting rather than generic strength training so I figured having strong emphasis on the main lifts was necessary. I can't imagine that I'd lose any 'gainz' from what I have switched around and hopefully just see improvements to my weaknesses as I'll still be doing OHP once and Rowing twice as prescribed in the original program.
 
26/07/14 - Off-Day - Saturday

Everything quick. Everything speedy.

Dynamic Deadlifts

60kg x 5
75kg x 5
87.5kg x 8x3

First set or two weren't super explosive but the rest were.

SDL

52.5kg x 10
62.5kg x 10
72.5kg x 10

I'm far too used to lower rep ranges.

Kroc Rows

18kg x 25/25
18kg x 25/25
18kg x 25/25

I'll do the weight again to makes sure I'm using the back properly throughout the entire set. The last few reps aren't perfect but aren't bad either.

Chin-ups

BW x 5
BW x 4
BW x 3

Bicep pump and fatigue ruined these.

Rather pelased with my dynamic session as I'm starting to see a carry over to my 'heavier' deadlifts. Whilst the bar is moving up quicker I still need to focus on pulling the bar in nice and tight at the heavier weights.
 
mrthingyx said:
Kroc rows are meant to be rubbish form: the whole point being Kroczawelski (or whatever his name is) would just walk into the gym, grab the heaviest dumbell and row it for as many reps as possible.

I am not sure it is a very effective form of rowing. :o :D
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I still like to keep as strict as possible if I'm honest, I just find it works better for me. I've kind of adapted the concept of the very high volume for grip strength that comes with it as well as the incline that they're performed at rather unlike standard dumbbell rows.
 
mrthingyx said:
What does "works better" mean?

Easier?
More size?
More carry over into a lift?

I personally think you would be better off with a barbell of done description, or something heavy for 8-12 reps. :)
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More size (albeit not that important in my view, but always nice nonetheless).
More carry over into the deadlift (general grip strength and I've noticed better lockout strength too).

My initial reasoning for doing Kroc's was with the intention of improving grip initially and they were kept in since I was already barbell rowing twice a week so a dumbbell variation was nice.

What would your preference be as an alternative? BOR, T-Bar?
 
28/07/14 - Madcow - Monday

I had the chance to get used to wearing a belt and with the squats going well on Friday I thought I may as well.

Squats

60g x 5
70kg x 5
82.5kg x 5
97.5kg x 5
110kg x 5

Couldn't open up hips properly on 2nd rep so I came forward but still made every rep. Shall be switching to flat shoes on Wednesday to utilise hammies and glutes more for the low-bar style.

Bench

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
47.5kg x 5
55kg x 5x5

Pretty decent most reps and sets were fine. I'm trying to make sure I don't use faulty technique.

BOR (Pendlay)

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
45kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
60kg x 5

Fine but going to deload to make sure there is no shoulder yank whatsoever, and at the moment that can only be a good thing.

Back Extensions

BW + 15kg x 12
BW + 15kg x 12

Nice. Might keep the weight the same for another 2 weeks before moving up though.

Planks

30sec x 1
45sec x 2

Squats were good except for the second rep. Smidge more mobility work should do the trick. I shall also attempt 112.5kg without the belt, I think it helped but I don't think it was necessary. I'm curious as to what it will be like transitioning back to low-bar squatting in powerlifting shoes rather than oly.
Bench was fine so I'll add 2.5kg next Monday and take it from there. I just need to get a lot better at pulling the shoulder back and down and locking it in with the lat, whilst not pulling the elbow so close into me.
BOR's were fine but I'm not enjoying the lift atm due to the pull on the shoulder.
 
mrthingyx said:
If you are going for size, then bodybuilder rows and t-bars are relatively standard. My general suggestion would be 10-12 reps for heavier weights... As heavy stuff is just awesome. :)

My personal preference is for snatch grip work (snatches, deadlifts, from-floor stiff legged deadlifts, etc.) where the lats get roasted trying to hold the bar back, but each to their own. I also do Pendlay and single arm rows, too, depending on what else I am doing...
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I've been doing stiff legged deadlifts using straps to get full emphasis on the hamstrings but I guess I could do the lower sets without for the additional grip work. Size is nice but I simply prefer strength so I might just drop the reps on the Kroc's and go for a heavier weight.
 
mrthingyx said:
If you want strength, the best - IMHO - is snatch pulls, followed by other snatch work and then Pendlay rows for 'regular stuff. :)

I thought you mentioned size in your previous post?
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I meant that I noticed I gained more size but I still stand by saying that as nice as it is, it's not really important to me.
I'll give the snatch pulls a look (and try them) once I'm back in Newcastle and have platforms to lift on.
I know that snatch-grip deadlifts are a big favourite amongst the strength community too so maybe they'd be worth a look to.
I must admit I'm slightly terrified of oly lifting currently as it was only recently that I cleaned a bar into my chin and chipped a tooth.
 
mrthingyx said:
You don't needs platform to pull from - you won't be doing much more than a fast deadlift, really. :)

I would suggest snatch grip dead lifting as a start. :)
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So implement the snatch grip deadlift and replace the kroc's then?
Dynamic deadlifts, stiff legged deadlifts and snatch grip deadlifts all in the same session, it's a good thing I enjoy deadlifts.
 
mrthingyx said:
Not necessarily.

My suggestion for snatch stuff would be instead of your current deadlifts, because you will fry your nervous system. Snatch grip work does a lot more than work your lats, and you might well notice your whole upper back being pulled apart by it. :)

I simply think swapping your Kroc rows for something heavier in the 10-12 rep range would be more productive.
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I'd probably swap out the stiff legged deadlifts then so I can still keep the dynamic work. I'd like to keep the dynamic work because it's teaching me to be quick to improve the pull.
I'll keep the Kroc's for this week and then change the rep range next week as I've already made a lot of adjustments to the program as it is and I don't want to do to much too soon.
 
mrthingyx said:
To be fair, deadlifting followed by snatch grip RDLs is a perfectly fine way to go.

Regardless, your programme should do what you want it do and address your own weaknesses. Only you know what your objectives are in this - I'm just trying to give you ideas as to what may work better... but ultimately, it's your routine, so your call. :)
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If you think that snatch grip deadlifts would work the hamstrings and produce the same glute activation as stiffed legs would then I'd happily swap them out. I have only been doing stiff legged deadlifts for the additional hamstring work as I'm sceptical about doing good-mornings with my injury. And these exercise were only picked out because they seemed to be the 'go-to' accessories for deadlift work, although my hamstring and glute activation has got a lot better as a result.
 
mrthingyx said:
No different from regular SLDL/RDLs, tbh. If you want strength/size, adjust accordingly.
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I was thinking of something along the lines of this for the first cycle:

6,6,6 @ 45%, 45%, 55% - Week 1
4,4,3 @ 45%, 55%, 65% - Week 2
3,3,3 @ 50%, 60%, 70% - Week 3

The percentages are based on a projected 1rm deadlift max.
I thought this would method would be a good way to introduce snatch grip deadlifts into the routine and 'test the waters' to find out appropriate weights. I'm trying to make sure this won't kill me after all the dynamic work, leave me fresh for heavy squats on Monday and not taking anything away from my main deadlifts on Wednesday. But not having done snatch grip before, does this seem appropriate with the focus for strength?
 
mrthingyx said:
Crikey - a bit early in the morning for percentages? :D

I wouldn't necessarily worry about tapering on your assistance work, however, and the percentages you work at are somewhat irrelevant as if you've not done snatch grip work before, you will likely find sticking to a given percentage pretty tough. ;)

Regardless, try it and see how it goes. :)
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The percentages for me result in starting at ~60kg and ending on ~100kg in the 3 week period. I was reading that 70% of a 1rm deadlift was a good starting point. So I thought it would be a goodish number to start (end) on. There are also enough percentages for me to experience to get a rough idea what will work for me and then adjust accordingly from there. I'm just hoping that there's enough volume and intensity for strength purposes. Saying this however, it's still an accessory movement so I shouldn't worry too much.
 
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