Gamedog's Training Log

[MazdaMatt]

Not terrible... shit happens. Next cycle, kick ass and enjoy the progress.

[gamedog]

Word ;-)

[gamedog]

You're de-loaded again?

01/29/2011 | Boring But Big (sort of) | Cycle 1, DE-LOAD WEEK

Press
45 lbs. x 5
60 lbs. x 5
75 lbs. x 5
90 lbs. x 5

Boring But Big Press
65 lbs. x 10
65 lbs. x 10
65 lbs. x 10
65 lbs. x 10
65 lbs. x 10

Chin-Ups
Strict: BW x 2 x 3
Band-Assisted: BW x 2 x 5

Just Fucking Around For A Minute Or Two
Close-Grip Bench Press: 65 lbs. x 5 x 12
Pull-Downs': 90 lbs. x 3 x 10

Playlist
Swoon, by Silversun Pickups


Notes

Ryan seems to think that it's never good to schedule a de-load, but rather to just take one when you need one. I can see his point, and it makes perfect sense. But I'm sticking with Wendler on this one...

... I don't think a trainee can get a clear picture of a program until he's run it as properly as he can to the best of his abilities, for at least 3, perhaps even 4 months.

Or maybe that only applies to me. Who knows? Everybody's different after all.

Anyway, Jim says to take a de-load week and that's what I'm doing, and I'm sticking to it. I want to go into Cycle 2 fresh, full of piss and vinegar, ready to fuck shit up. And the only way to do that, is to swallow the old pride, admit that Jim knows better, work the baby weights and rest. And eat well, too.

LOL My "plethora" of assistance work, as Matt calls it. I've been thinking a lot about that... I like Boring But Big a lot. And it's working as advertised, my yoke is growing, shoulders and arms, too, and my legs are beginning to look unholy. The other morning I was having a look, and the various muscles in there are beginning to bulge out more and you can see the lines in-between them.

I don't want to do too much assistance though, and I want to keep the assistance useful. I figured the Close-Grip benching would be good for Press day, and since I'm going light as Hell I just decided to do them and have fun with it. LOL Then I decided to keep them there. I just need to remember that aside from Kroc Rows, I don't need to go super-heavy with the load on assistance sets.

HOWEVER...

I DON'T like only squatting once per training week, even though with the Boring But Big squats, Squat Day is a bitch. Front Squats are fun and all, but let's face it, I'm not an Olympic Weight-Lifter and never will be (no disrespect towards Olympic Lifters of course, Olympic lifts are awesome, I'm just coordinated enough for that, I'm a big clumsy bastard you know), I'm going to be doing regular squats with 70% of the weight that I did last Squat session's heaviest work set at, for 3 sets of 3 on Deadlift Day. That'll help me stay in the groove. I know it's a deviation from the program, and this is where my "do it to the best of your ability" comes into play. I want to Squat more, to stay in the groove because I seem to fall out of the groove if I don't do it at-least twice a week. And like everything else, if I try it and it fucks things up I'll abandon it and if it doesn't (and I doubt very fucking seriously that it would fuck things up) I'll keep doing it.

I've also been doing neck work. Not today mind you, but last session and the one before that. Celli's Fitness Center has a neck harness and it's awesome. My neck is 19 inches around right now, and I want at-least 20, to go with what will hopefully be the monstrous traps I'm working on with the Power Cleans and Power Shrugs...

I just really want to look like the bull on the labels of the 40 ouncers of Schlitz Malt Liquor. majestic, isn't he?

[gamedog]

There'll be Steelers, blocking tackles in the sky, there'll be cans of, Iron City for you and I...

02/01/2011 | Boring But Big (sort of) | Cycle 1, DE-LOAD WEEK

Deadlift
145 lbs. x 5
180 lbs. x 5
215 lbs. x 5

Power Clean
55 lbs. x 5
70 lbs. x 5
80 lbs. x 5

Squats
135 lbs. x 5
225 lbs. x 3
225 lbs. x 3
225 lbs. x 3

Leg Raise
BW x 10
BW x 8
BW x 8

Just Fucking Around For A Minute Or Two
Paul Sousa's Patented Sub-Maximal Chin-Ups: BW x 2 x 3
Lee Priest's Dumbell Curls For Bigger Arms: 25 lbs. x 5 x 12
Neck Harness To Look Like A Bull: 25 lbs. x 1 x 20, 25 lbs. x 1 x 13

Playlist
Blue Skies Forever, by Mary Prankster


Notes

My buddy Mario, who I'd been helping out with a spot while he was benching in-between my deadlift sets, looked over at me while I was on the platform unloading the bar after my set of 215, and said "What! You're done with deads already?" And started laughing at me. I laughed right along with him.

Then I did power cleans. He laughed even harder and said "Man! You're not doing shit today are you!" And I laughed even harder. Then I pointed at my chest and said "Yeah man, I'm even wearing my De-Load T-Shirt today!" ... It's lime green and it's got a graphic on it of Shaggy from Scooby Doo, he's just chillin', arms folded, looking baked, and printed underneath him is one word: "Slacker."

Ryan got a kick out of that too.

Squats came next. I have taken Paul's suggestion to do my Boring But Big squats on deadlift day under advisement, and I will do so if my experiment, doing 70% of what I did last time for 3x3 doesn't work out. As it is, today I took approximately 70% of 320, and after a warm-up set at 135, got started.

The 225 felt great. It didn't feel heavy, just enough to feel like there was some heft on there, enough weight to let me know I was getting some, but would also allow me to concentrate 100% on form. I worked on "sitting back more," down into it as John Casciato suggested I do, and Mario was watching my knees, making note on how far, if any, they drifted over my toes. I also concentrated on my lower back as well, something that occurred to me after reading Rip's latest article on T-Nation, "Proper Back Position For Power" (a great read, by the way, go check it out: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...tion_for_power). According to Mario I'm improving, so that's good. And it felt good to do those three sets, too. I'd been missing that. So so far as squats are concerned, I like this set-up and I hope it works out. And I can't wait to get back to putting up meaningful weight on the squats once the de-load week is over.

Speaking of de-loading, I had a chance to pick Ryan's brain about it a little bit more. Firstly, he clarified his statement and told me that right now, for me as a lifter, where I'm at, my 5/3/1 program is great, and to keep doing it. His beef with de-loading, is that you're basically wasting a training week if you don't really need the de-load. BUT, he advised "A lot of young lifters don't know when, or how to really listen to their body, so scheduled de-loads in their case can and often are beneficial." I paraphrased that, not his exact words, but the point came across.

LOL I don't really "listen to my body" too much. I'm more like the Tazmanian Devil, grunting and whirling around "GIMME THE BAR, BLAAAARGGGHHHH!!!!" ... and most of the time it works great, and other times I have a really, really shitty day.

I'm going to pay more attention to how I feel, what's going on with my program as-a-whole (am I sleeping well, could I be sleeping better, am I eating well enough, could I improve the quality of food at all, am I keeping an eye on stress, etc.) as Jamie advised in a brilliant comment he made on Facebook the other day, and learn more about what my body is doing, internally and how it's coping. And try to manipulate the variables even more to my advantage, to get the most out of 5/3/1.

Not OCD precise you understand, just paying more attention is all...

Good conversation with Ryan and Mario today, and good work too, even if it was all weaksauce LOL

[250orBust]

I am deloading next week but I dont have an appropriate T-shirt, any advice?

[gamedog]

http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Three.../dp/B002HJ377A

There you go buddy!

[Briks42]

Game, just a quick warning. Be careful with adding weight to the neck harness. If you could only get a set of 20 then a set of 13, I think you are too heavy there. You should be able to bang out an easy 100 reps before moving up in weight (eg. 4x25 or 2x50). The neck is a very vulnerable part of the body and you REALLY don't want to hurt it. Be very conservative with the harness and always opt for higher reps over more weight.

[gamedog]

THANK YOU Briks! Oh MAN! I'm glad you came through with this advice! I'll cut the weight back next time and go for reps (my neck's a little sore, today) ;-)

Thanks again!

[Briks42]

Yeah, I learned this the hard way, even after Johnny Pain advised me to be conservative. I pushed it real fast because I wasn't really getting sore, and then I strained my SCM. Not fun. You'll see in my link below that a strained SCM manifests pain in places that AREN'T the neck, so its often misdiagnosed as migraines or something...... Anyway, I am back to using the harness now, but I am conservative with it, as I should have been from the start.

http://www.wellsphere.com/back-neck-...roblems/872881

[gamedog]

The winds of Thor are blowing cold...

02/03/2011 | Boring But Big (sort of) | Cycle 1, DE-LOAD WEEK

Bench Press
85 lbs. x 5
110 lbs. x 5
135 lbs. x 5

Boring But Big Bench Press
135 lbs. x 5
135 lbs. x 5
135 lbs. x 5
135 lbs. x 5
135 lbs. x 5

Dips
BW x 4
BW x 4
BW x 4
BW x 4
BW x 1

Still Not Kroc Rows
100 lbs. x 10 (L+R)

Just Fucking Around For A Minute Or Two
Paul Sousa's Patented Sub-Maximal Chin-Ups: BW x 2 x 3
Over-Head Triceps Extensions: 25 lbs. x 5 x 12

Playlist
Broken Glass, by CROWBAR


Notes

There's definitely something to this program.

Ryan asked me how my de-load week was going, half in jest of course, and I told him straight-up that I felt like I really, really, really wanted to ditch this de-load and just fucking get under the bar and bust out heavy singles. I'm itching to go heavy again. I feel the energy building up. I feel like I'm recharging, coming back, only this time with an even greater capacity than before. Fuck. I didn't even sweat today, except for during the dips, which weren't so bad up until the last set...

All I can think about is going heavy again, and I feel like, in some strange way, my resolve is getting stronger, too. I don't know how to explain it, but, the mental intensity that's building up was 10x's stronger than it was for me on SS yesterday, and it keeps building. And my body feels tougher, too. When this next cycle starts I want to, literally, crush everything. I feel like every particle in my body is buzzing with it.