I skipped SE Lower this week to make it easier to adjust my schedule. The new version (probably starting a bit later in the week rather than immediately) has me doing conditioning work on all of my off-days.
Conditioning here is the same for all days (at least in my current thinking) -
Monday - Lunchtime/Afternoon Conditioning
Tuesday - Evening ME Lower
Wednesday - Lunchtime/Afternoon Conditioning
Thursday - Evening ME Upper
Friday - Lunchtime/Afternoon Conditioning
Saturday - Evening SE Lower
Sunday - Evening SE Upper
Conditioning in this case runs the full gamut of Sled Drags, Farmer's Walks, Push-Ups, and TVA exercises (probably just Stomach Vacuums). I may also get a rope for rowing the sled. Farmer trips may stay on the shorter end, particularly since I'm still hard up for good collars and it's a pain in the ass when the plates slip.
One trick here could be to drag the sled "there and back," farmer's walk "there," and then rope-row the sled to the new resting point. This is a tad limited by rope length (longest I can get from EFS is 50 feet, and 100ft of any rope could be a huge pain to store...though I guess there's always my trunk). For now I can probably just row the sled using the basic straps, honestly. I can't remember how hard Farmer's Walks hit my quads, but if I'm not satisfied there I can probably do Forward Drag, Backward Drag, Row, Farmer's Walk, Push-Ups or something...or maybe I should just stagger things and not be a lunatic. Kettlebell swings also come to mind as something I could to cut down on space and time (and for them I could honestly just omit the sled and carry work altogether and just do those plus push-ups, but I'm skeptical of this idea).
I'm also going to integrate more soft tissue work and stretching, especially for pecs, quads, calves, hamstrings, and glutes. Also put Glute Activation back in my warmups and do suitable prehab the way I said I would. I've also got some general mobility stuff I should do, and I'm guessing that'll fall heavily on the conditioning days - in particular, I need to sort out my side-to-side imbalance in hip rotation.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Program Spitballing
I've had an idea for future training stuff if I leave the RSF for any reason (or get tired of what I'm doing now, or whatever). I don't plan to try this soon, but it's basically the Texas Method augmented with Emevas' deadlift ROM progression (not shown in the outline because it can move around). This is basically targeted at increasing all of the lifts at a reasonable clip without access to anything less portable than a decent pair of squat stands. Incidentally, this isn't something I plan to try before I'm done with my cut.
Volume Day -
Squat 5x5 @ 90% 5RM
Pressing 5x5 @ 90% 5RM
Volume Day or Following -
Deadlift ROM Progression set at a ~9-week cycle from 6-7", <1" drops, and skipping any <1" days
(e.g. 6.75" start, drop 0.75" per week, skip the single-mat day)
Recovery Day -
Squat 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate
Pressing 5x2 @ 65% 5RM or Alternate
Intensity Day -
Squat 5x1 @ Max
Pressing 5x1 @ Max
Accessories and additional movements for each day are a bit more malleable.
The basic scheme is that, while the Volume day will take ages to complete and suck absolute balls (possibly to the point of shifting the deads forward a day), everything keeps with the recovery scheme that made the original program work so well. The Pressing approach here should probably run on what Rippetoe outlines in Practical Programming (Push Press for Volume and Intensity due to the higher weights used, Strict Press for recovery due to lighter weights per unit difficulty), though other approaches are obviously fine as long as they work (Push/Strict Press alternated with Floor Press from the ground comes to mind).
Additional deadlifting can probably spread throughout the week. My guess is just Speed Pulls on Intensity Day (especially if the volume comes a day after squatting), though if everything's on the same volume day you could probably stick light RDLs on Recovery Day.
Deload weeks at the end of each Dead cycle would probably be a good idea. It might help to add in another one somewhere in the middle (after week 4 or 5). Also note that there's probably a lot to be said for additional recovery days (and possibly even training on an 8-day week rather than 7) - I could see myself lifting every day with a lot of light squats and pressing to help feed into the Volume and Intensity workouts.
The hope with this outline is that since it mirrors the original layout and uses a relatively low-stress method for driving deadlift progress, I'd be able to move steadily on all of the full power competition lifts without getting completely sucked into squatting at the cost of everything else. The rest of this post just details some layouts, so I'm including a break to shorten the page.
Dietary Update for Cutting
I'm having fun in the gym again, which is great. My numbers are progressing, I (generally) want to go in when I plan to, and I'm always having a fairly good time (even when I'm passing out or talking too much).
My goal now is twofold: Keep getting stronger and drop more weight (towards actual shreddedness).
In light of Greg Nuckols' recent post (http://gregnuckols.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/slow-and-steady-weight-loss-i-think-not/) I'm actually torn on how to go about the weight loss. My experience agrees with his post (gaining back weight I lost very quickly has always been a huge pain in the ass), so I'm going to rethink my dietary approach and head back towards intermittent fasting (and Jamie Lewis-style at that).
My main concerns here have mostly to do with training - I generally train better on a (pretty damn) full stomach, and I'm not sure how I want to handle carbs around training (this is partly pending analysis of Kiefer's thing about avoiding carbs before training). My guess is that I'll emphasize a big meal before training and some manner of carb intake immediately afterwards, and otherwise focus on protein. This is also handy financially.
http://alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-part-2-false-hopes-for-fasted-cardio.html
I'll need to look further into the liver glycogen thing (it heavily affects whether or not I'll allow myself any fructose), but ultimately it looks like I should have some carbs before conditioning. Emphasis some. It looks like just having reasonably large meals with sufficient protein before and after training will have a pretty decent effect on its own.
Since we're fine-tuning here, my guess is that I should be aiming to get virtually of my fat from saturated, monounsaturated, and omega-3 sources. I'll look into ideal meats for this but it looks like I'm going to be focusing on lamb, beef, pork, fish (including shellfish), eggs, olives, and their fat derivatives. Chicken looks fine with the skin off (skin's w-6 levels are on the silly end). Sesame oil looks iffy (equal mono- and poly- but virtually no w-3), unfortunately. Protein for the rest of the day should be dominantly animal, and I should probably add some leafy greens to everything for general nutritional reasons.
It looks like glycogen replenishment after strength training actually isn't a huge concern - the short durations involved with weight training don't seem to deplete stores as much as I (and a lot of other people) thought they did. Carbs definitely look important after conditioning work, but not as much with the weights. Fruit looks like it'll be a valuable part of the post-training meal due to mental and anticatabolic effects of sustaining liver glycogen. They're also beautifully nutrient-dense (depending heavily on the fruit).
I'm somewhat inclined to ignore Kiefer's stuff on pre-workout carbs - I don't remember having any issues with low-carb meals before training (275x5x5 squat last summer on nothing but a stock of chicken wings, for instance), but I've also had great training days on very large meals (albeit with a decent break to lose some of the fullness) and today was a good example of one that went well on a small meal six hours ahead and a moderate-sized carb-heavy one about 2 hours earlier. The very large meal day is actually the best submax bench day I've had in a while, come to think of it. I'll read the papers he cites, but if they're anything like the rest of his sources they probably say something less relevant than what he claims.
I'm going to try to keep this paleo-based. Given my cooking tendencies, that basically just means no dairy products or derivatives, honey instead of sugar in marinades, and an emphasis on calorie-free mixers at bars and clubs. I'd also like to hit all of my micronutrient targets with whole foods (e.g. actual plants and a reasonable variety of them). Drinking's an evening activity for me, so I'm inclined to keep regular training in the evenings and either do conditioning in the later afternoon or hit it on my lunch break and label Friday something of a cheat day. Given the way my training's set up I don't think I'll do any full-day fasts, but that's subject to revision (heavily based on Lewis's recommendations).
I'm not going to skip breakfast. Between regular sources and review papers Aragon has a staggering body of evidence in support of eating early in the morning, and Kiefer has one source suggesting that a high-energy breakfast is unnecessary and possibly detrimental.
From this we actually get a fairly nice layout:
Have very low-carb, very low-fat, fairly high-protein meals throughout the day (1-3 hours; read Lewis for further guidelines) until about 2-3 hours pre-training (probably marinaded chicken breasts or low-fat fish [e.g. shrimp] plus some leafy greens for micros and fiber). ~1 hour pre-training have a moderately-sized meal consisting of meat, starch (subject to review for lifting days), and greens, followed with fish oil. Post-training have a second meal consisting of meat, starch, fruit, and possibly more greens, followed with fish oil and creatine. Daily intakes should be planned out to meet or exceed RDA for all micronutrients. ZMA before bed.
Protein goal is 25g/meal and 175g/day (both minimum). Collective calorie intake should probably fall under 2000 per day (which works out ok with drinks, actually - a single drink with a zero-calorie mixer comes in at 100-200kcal). It's probably realistic to hit 250g given that a single chicken breast runs up 40g on its own.
For practical food prep this basically means doing all laborious prep on the weekends (e.g. that's when we'll make a shitton of pasted garlic and ginger for stir-fries, set up any chicken kievs, vaccuum seal everything along with the relevant dry rubs or long marinades, etc.) so things are just ready to cook on arrival. I'm guessing I'll marinade the chicken in tandoori+vindaloo the way I have been, though now it'll be sans yogurt and with marinade scraped off after roasting. I'll probably cook the chicken in batch twice each week.
Cheat days should remain approximately paleo as well.
Meal size is subject to manipulation based on performance. If having them both moderate-sized doesn't work out for whatever reason (performance-wise, but also mentally etc.), I'll shift calories pre-workout initially, then try shifting them post-workout, then return to baseline and add calories preworkout, shift that to post-workout, then even out the two meals at the new higher level and repeat until good. My guess for performance is that I'll want pre-workout on the larger end so I've got enough of a "belly base" to use as a foundation - I've found that the sense of satisfaction I get from a big meal seems to carry over to my bench fairly well.
My goal now is twofold: Keep getting stronger and drop more weight (towards actual shreddedness).
In light of Greg Nuckols' recent post (http://gregnuckols.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/slow-and-steady-weight-loss-i-think-not/) I'm actually torn on how to go about the weight loss. My experience agrees with his post (gaining back weight I lost very quickly has always been a huge pain in the ass), so I'm going to rethink my dietary approach and head back towards intermittent fasting (and Jamie Lewis-style at that).
My main concerns here have mostly to do with training - I generally train better on a (pretty damn) full stomach, and I'm not sure how I want to handle carbs around training (this is partly pending analysis of Kiefer's thing about avoiding carbs before training). My guess is that I'll emphasize a big meal before training and some manner of carb intake immediately afterwards, and otherwise focus on protein. This is also handy financially.
http://alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-part-2-false-hopes-for-fasted-cardio.html
I'll need to look further into the liver glycogen thing (it heavily affects whether or not I'll allow myself any fructose), but ultimately it looks like I should have some carbs before conditioning. Emphasis some. It looks like just having reasonably large meals with sufficient protein before and after training will have a pretty decent effect on its own.
Since we're fine-tuning here, my guess is that I should be aiming to get virtually of my fat from saturated, monounsaturated, and omega-3 sources. I'll look into ideal meats for this but it looks like I'm going to be focusing on lamb, beef, pork, fish (including shellfish), eggs, olives, and their fat derivatives. Chicken looks fine with the skin off (skin's w-6 levels are on the silly end). Sesame oil looks iffy (equal mono- and poly- but virtually no w-3), unfortunately. Protein for the rest of the day should be dominantly animal, and I should probably add some leafy greens to everything for general nutritional reasons.
It looks like glycogen replenishment after strength training actually isn't a huge concern - the short durations involved with weight training don't seem to deplete stores as much as I (and a lot of other people) thought they did. Carbs definitely look important after conditioning work, but not as much with the weights. Fruit looks like it'll be a valuable part of the post-training meal due to mental and anticatabolic effects of sustaining liver glycogen. They're also beautifully nutrient-dense (depending heavily on the fruit).
I'm somewhat inclined to ignore Kiefer's stuff on pre-workout carbs - I don't remember having any issues with low-carb meals before training (275x5x5 squat last summer on nothing but a stock of chicken wings, for instance), but I've also had great training days on very large meals (albeit with a decent break to lose some of the fullness) and today was a good example of one that went well on a small meal six hours ahead and a moderate-sized carb-heavy one about 2 hours earlier. The very large meal day is actually the best submax bench day I've had in a while, come to think of it. I'll read the papers he cites, but if they're anything like the rest of his sources they probably say something less relevant than what he claims.
I'm going to try to keep this paleo-based. Given my cooking tendencies, that basically just means no dairy products or derivatives, honey instead of sugar in marinades, and an emphasis on calorie-free mixers at bars and clubs. I'd also like to hit all of my micronutrient targets with whole foods (e.g. actual plants and a reasonable variety of them). Drinking's an evening activity for me, so I'm inclined to keep regular training in the evenings and either do conditioning in the later afternoon or hit it on my lunch break and label Friday something of a cheat day. Given the way my training's set up I don't think I'll do any full-day fasts, but that's subject to revision (heavily based on Lewis's recommendations).
I'm not going to skip breakfast. Between regular sources and review papers Aragon has a staggering body of evidence in support of eating early in the morning, and Kiefer has one source suggesting that a high-energy breakfast is unnecessary and possibly detrimental.
From this we actually get a fairly nice layout:
Have very low-carb, very low-fat, fairly high-protein meals throughout the day (1-3 hours; read Lewis for further guidelines) until about 2-3 hours pre-training (probably marinaded chicken breasts or low-fat fish [e.g. shrimp] plus some leafy greens for micros and fiber). ~1 hour pre-training have a moderately-sized meal consisting of meat, starch (subject to review for lifting days), and greens, followed with fish oil. Post-training have a second meal consisting of meat, starch, fruit, and possibly more greens, followed with fish oil and creatine. Daily intakes should be planned out to meet or exceed RDA for all micronutrients. ZMA before bed.
Protein goal is 25g/meal and 175g/day (both minimum). Collective calorie intake should probably fall under 2000 per day (which works out ok with drinks, actually - a single drink with a zero-calorie mixer comes in at 100-200kcal). It's probably realistic to hit 250g given that a single chicken breast runs up 40g on its own.
For practical food prep this basically means doing all laborious prep on the weekends (e.g. that's when we'll make a shitton of pasted garlic and ginger for stir-fries, set up any chicken kievs, vaccuum seal everything along with the relevant dry rubs or long marinades, etc.) so things are just ready to cook on arrival. I'm guessing I'll marinade the chicken in tandoori+vindaloo the way I have been, though now it'll be sans yogurt and with marinade scraped off after roasting. I'll probably cook the chicken in batch twice each week.
Cheat days should remain approximately paleo as well.
Meal size is subject to manipulation based on performance. If having them both moderate-sized doesn't work out for whatever reason (performance-wise, but also mentally etc.), I'll shift calories pre-workout initially, then try shifting them post-workout, then return to baseline and add calories preworkout, shift that to post-workout, then even out the two meals at the new higher level and repeat until good. My guess for performance is that I'll want pre-workout on the larger end so I've got enough of a "belly base" to use as a foundation - I've found that the sense of satisfaction I get from a big meal seems to carry over to my bench fairly well.
6/9/2013 - Submax Bench
Warmup (mostly shoulder rolling)
Bench -
45x5x3
95x5x2
135x3
155x3x7
Focusing on touching a bit higher. I may have to take my grip out a bit to facilitate this, and I think the effect will be positive in the long run. Remastering the technique may take a while, though.
Press -
45x5x3
80x5x2
115x5x5
Took my grip out a bit further so I could get the bar down to my collarbone - now it's about a finger's width inside of the rings. The last rep of set 5 took me back to my old quad cramp days (which are probably coming back next cycle), but everything's good besides that.
I did the second set without breathing. It was pretty cool.
Hitting the floor press next week - starting at 150lbs, which should make for some fast early progress. I'm pretty sure I can match my pressing progress here.
I also made a note to lower the pitch of my exclamations.
Blast Strap Push-Up -
10, 6, 3, 3, 3
Had some lockout issues on several of these, but at least I finally hit 10 serious reps on the first set. I may cut these at 10 reps per set in the future.
Pulldown -
105x12, 6-8, 6, 5, 5
Focusing on lat activation makes counting a pain in the ass. I may have to start filming these for an accurate count.
Plate Halo -
25x10ea
These are getting easier on my triceps tendon, so I may actually push to the full rehab protocol fairly soon. Doing the halo relatively high on my head helps.
I'll try doing counterclockwise first next time.
Bench -
45x5x3
95x5x2
135x3
155x3x7
Focusing on touching a bit higher. I may have to take my grip out a bit to facilitate this, and I think the effect will be positive in the long run. Remastering the technique may take a while, though.
Press -
45x5x3
80x5x2
115x5x5
Took my grip out a bit further so I could get the bar down to my collarbone - now it's about a finger's width inside of the rings. The last rep of set 5 took me back to my old quad cramp days (which are probably coming back next cycle), but everything's good besides that.
I did the second set without breathing. It was pretty cool.
Hitting the floor press next week - starting at 150lbs, which should make for some fast early progress. I'm pretty sure I can match my pressing progress here.
I also made a note to lower the pitch of my exclamations.
Blast Strap Push-Up -
10, 6, 3, 3, 3
Had some lockout issues on several of these, but at least I finally hit 10 serious reps on the first set. I may cut these at 10 reps per set in the future.
Pulldown -
105x12, 6-8, 6, 5, 5
Focusing on lat activation makes counting a pain in the ass. I may have to start filming these for an accurate count.
Plate Halo -
25x10ea
These are getting easier on my triceps tendon, so I may actually push to the full rehab protocol fairly soon. Doing the halo relatively high on my head helps.
I'll try doing counterclockwise first next time.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
6/7/2013 - ME Bench
Warmup - mostly lacrosse ball on shoulder and shoulder warmup
Bench -
45x5x3
95x5x2
135x5
160x3
2-Board Press -
185x3
195x3
205x3
215x2 (3F)
210x3
215x3
220x2 (3F)
Good old-fashioned ME day. All failures were within an inch or so of the board.
Music helped with the later ones - I should probably save Lose Yourself for the emergencies and stick with Peace Sells for anything where I'm not really reaching.
Looking to hit a 235 single next week.
DB Bench -
65s - 6-7, 6, 5, 5, 4
Lots of technical issues on the later ones, but it's nice to feel stuff in my triceps.
Getting this next week.
Pulldowns -
100x 10(ish), 7-8, 6, 5, 5
1/3 of the way to the top.
DB Cuban -
15x10
12x10
12x12
12x10x2
The 15s made my shoulders hurt at the start of the external rotation; I'm not sure if this is actual joint pain or just my delts complaining about being used again. We'll see.
Skipped prehab and curls today so I could grab a drink with Paul.
Bench -
45x5x3
95x5x2
135x5
160x3
2-Board Press -
185x3
195x3
205x3
215x2 (3F)
210x3
215x3
220x2 (3F)
Good old-fashioned ME day. All failures were within an inch or so of the board.
Music helped with the later ones - I should probably save Lose Yourself for the emergencies and stick with Peace Sells for anything where I'm not really reaching.
Looking to hit a 235 single next week.
DB Bench -
65s - 6-7, 6, 5, 5, 4
Lots of technical issues on the later ones, but it's nice to feel stuff in my triceps.
Getting this next week.
Pulldowns -
100x 10(ish), 7-8, 6, 5, 5
1/3 of the way to the top.
DB Cuban -
15x10
12x10
12x12
12x10x2
The 15s made my shoulders hurt at the start of the external rotation; I'm not sure if this is actual joint pain or just my delts complaining about being used again. We'll see.
Skipped prehab and curls today so I could grab a drink with Paul.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Submax Lower and Upper for last week
I can't really be bothered to get the dates on these.
Overhead Squat -
45x5x3
65x5x2
75x5
80x5
GHR -Ow
Row -
135x6x2
135x4x1
135x5x2
Lack of success here fed into my change in rowing technique for the future. Not focusing as much on thorax anymore, at least for now.
Front Squat Hold -
275x30ct
295x30ctx4
295x25ct
Fun
Prone Y - 2.5x12x3
Incline Retraction - 7.5sx12x3
Face Pull - 20x12x3
Curl - 22.5sx10x3
----
Bench -
45x5x3
95x5x2
135x3
150x4x5
Press -
45x5x3
75x5x2
110x5x5
Very happy here. Discovered that breathing while holding the top of a rep really helps maintain tightness and prevent issues at the end of a set.
Blast Strap Pushup -
8, 6, 6, 3, 3.5
Noticing some weird stuff with my left scapula here - the right one stays locked down, left one flares up. Not sure what problem that indicates but fairly sure I should stop my sets shorter so it doesn't happen.
Pulldown -
95x 10, 8, 7, 5, 5
Plate Halo -
25x12x1
Yup
Overhead Squat -
45x5x3
65x5x2
75x5
80x5
GHR -Ow
Row -
135x6x2
135x4x1
135x5x2
Lack of success here fed into my change in rowing technique for the future. Not focusing as much on thorax anymore, at least for now.
Front Squat Hold -
275x30ct
295x30ctx4
295x25ct
Fun
Prone Y - 2.5x12x3
Incline Retraction - 7.5sx12x3
Face Pull - 20x12x3
Curl - 22.5sx10x3
----
Bench -
45x5x3
95x5x2
135x3
150x4x5
Press -
45x5x3
75x5x2
110x5x5
Very happy here. Discovered that breathing while holding the top of a rep really helps maintain tightness and prevent issues at the end of a set.
Blast Strap Pushup -
8, 6, 6, 3, 3.5
Noticing some weird stuff with my left scapula here - the right one stays locked down, left one flares up. Not sure what problem that indicates but fairly sure I should stop my sets shorter so it doesn't happen.
Pulldown -
95x 10, 8, 7, 5, 5
Plate Halo -
25x12x1
Yup
6/5/2013 - Deadlift Day
Warmup with rolling
Deadlift -
135x10
185x10
225x8
275x5 (mixed)
Added mats and plates (2x25, 2xMat)
315x4 (mixed)
365x 6+2 (strapped)
Solidly cutting myself off at 5 before the rest-pause now. Also need to focus more on proper upper back movement while maintaining the lower back (which I'm doing better now, actually).
I'm not sure what I'm going to do RE: mat thickness but I have a feeling that dropping 1.25 inches every week is a poor choice and I should go go for less (2/3 inch?).
Romanians/Stiff Legs:
185x10x5
Glutes dying, hopefully low back as well. I'm liking these again (couldn't do GHRs due to calf tightness, may alternate the two or something). 195lbs next week (going to really hammer my calf tightness so I can hit the GHRs on Saturday).
Barbell Rows:
135x8x5
Bodybuilder-style (except for the first set). Focused on pulling with my elbows to emphasize mid-back stuff (hint from...somewhere, probably EFS). 140lbs next week.
Rollout:
9, 8, 7, 5, 4
Need to work on TVA activation when I do these.
Skipped prehab.
Deadlift -
135x10
185x10
225x8
275x5 (mixed)
Added mats and plates (2x25, 2xMat)
315x4 (mixed)
365x 6+2 (strapped)
Solidly cutting myself off at 5 before the rest-pause now. Also need to focus more on proper upper back movement while maintaining the lower back (which I'm doing better now, actually).
I'm not sure what I'm going to do RE: mat thickness but I have a feeling that dropping 1.25 inches every week is a poor choice and I should go go for less (2/3 inch?).
Romanians/Stiff Legs:
185x10x5
Glutes dying, hopefully low back as well. I'm liking these again (couldn't do GHRs due to calf tightness, may alternate the two or something). 195lbs next week (going to really hammer my calf tightness so I can hit the GHRs on Saturday).
Barbell Rows:
135x8x5
Bodybuilder-style (except for the first set). Focused on pulling with my elbows to emphasize mid-back stuff (hint from...somewhere, probably EFS). 140lbs next week.
Rollout:
9, 8, 7, 5, 4
Need to work on TVA activation when I do these.
Skipped prehab.
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