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You're turning into a big, strong lad, you've earned "Easy" so use it liberally when needed. Great workout, excellent job on the squats especially. Very nice!Originally Posted by MazdaMatt
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...says Mr. Fourplates... :-)
Okay, so I've gone the way of the glossy-magazine bodybuilder and I have the latest super-intense suppliment stack of all time... A medium coffee. This has really helped my last two workouts. I don't want to make it a habbit, though, because of my typical sleeping problems. At least now I know about this super suppliment in case I'm feeling blah after work before the gym.
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Yesterday - I'm a pussy
Squat 5x5@270
bench warmup
Quit and went home. A double at 135 on the bench was brutally hard. I'm not sure I could have had a single rep on my work weight. Sinus infection has struck again and it drained me after squats.
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Deload week? You're 1/3 of the way there already, and look at what it did for hbriem.
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1/3 of the way where? My last 4-5 weeks have been 2 sessions per week, so I'd have a hard time believing oertraining is at work. I just got sick and it killed my endurance, methinks.
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I think that a major problem that I've been having is that I've gotten pretty good for my strength level at squatting and I'm ALWAYS burned out after squats. This has been knocking down my other lifts' progress for a while now. For a few reasons including this one, plus boredom of the program, plus my gf asking me to balance out my body (squat ass out to there), plus I've reached my squat goal but need lots of deadlift and bench progress to reach goals, I'm going to completely change things up for a short cycle. I'm going to do the Russian Bear program.
My workout tonight will be:
Deadlift 300x5 (conservative start), 270x5, 240x5xF (sets of 5 till I fail, maximum 15 sets)
Bench 125x5 (conservative start), 112.5x5, 100x5xF (sets of 5 till I fail, maximum 15 sets)
5 min rest after the first set, 1min rest after each other set. Just to "try stuff out" I'm going to alternate starting with bench and starting with deads. If I can get 15 light sets I will increase by 5lbs on the next day's start set (the others are 90% and 80% of start). I will do this 3 times per week until I can not get 10 light sets then return to your regularly scheduled program (Same Rip time, same Rip channel).
Once I get rolling, I will consider chins and dips in an accessory fashion.
Wish me luck :-)
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That Russian method seems pretty hardcore, especially to be doing it on Deadlifts.
I would say depending on what your aiming to "fill out" to balance your proportions you may want to make that your first exercise to focus on. You've said yourself that you feel burned out once you've done your squats, so perhaps place bench/press first in your workout.
Remember, SS is a guideline to help people get stronger and get over the "beginner" stages of lifting. If you have reached a goal in your squat but are lacking in another area, imo, go to doing squats once a week to maintain, continue pushing deads 1-2 times a week (but don't overdo sets) and focus on bench and press lifting Monday and Friday.
Just my two cents coming from a "wanna-be" bodybuilding background and having lifted with a former bench press competitor. Lots of bench will make it happen. But again, it depends on what exercises and body parts you are trying to fill.
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Zee, thanks for the input. I'm cool with the notion that it is going to be a brutal program. I fully expect to end up starting every workout with bench as it is less fatiguing than deads; I'm just going to alternate in the beginning to feel it out.
I will be doing overhead squats and light squats as warmup for this program to keep practice.
This should be a fun, killer program.
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Nice, this sounds cool. Couple questions to help me track your progress on this.
How long do you think your going to run the bear?
Whats is your starting bench 5rm,3rm,1rm if tested?
Same for Deadlift.
Worried about your squat regressing?
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Bench 5rm is barely more than the 152.5 that I managed 5,5,4. I could MAYBE if preparing for a 5rm do 160x5, but that's pushing it.
Deadlift 5rm is maybe a bit more than the 350 that I crushed last week. I have no 3rm/1rm numbers for you.
Not worried about squat regression because my squat is (in my opinion) proportionally higher than I'd prefer. I imagine I can keep it the same just by doing warmups and working hard on deadlifts.
Duration is supposed to be 6 weeks max, I think. Hopefully my starting numbers are not stupid and I'll be able to cruise for a while before dropping down to 10 sets and quitting.
Is this a great program? I have no idea.
Is this an optimal program for my position? I don't fucking care.
Is this a brutal program? I hope so.
Is this spurred by programming ADHD? Probably, but I'm cool with that. I need a break from squat/press/pull 3x/wk
My goal: This is lofty, but I'd like to nail down my end-of-year deadlift and bench goals when I finish this program. That is 1rm 400lb dead, 1rm 200lb bench. I think I can do the deadlift, the bench is pushing it. 180 would be badass in my opinion, 200 and I might start going to church/synagog/mosque (if I can find one with a power rack)
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