Skid (Marc's) log

[Chebass88]

I'll pass them on & the sources when I get a chance.

[skid]

2/25

Warm-up - 500M row in 1:53.5

Press - 225-1, 250-f,f, - 225 went up fairly easily and I did it strictly. Tried 250 twice, no go...
Push press - 250-1,1, 275-f,f,f, - Since I couldn't get 250 up even with press 2.0 I did two push presses with it. Got greedy and tried 275 3 times. Almost got it but couldn't lock it out.
Press - 215- f, 205-3,3,3, - At this point I was getting tired. Rx called for 215 for 3's, had to drop to 205 to get the reps.

Deadlift - 480-2,2,2, - First set was hard, last set was brutally hard. Lower back now hurts a bit...

Chins - BW-9,7, - Didn't push these too hard as I was getting burnt out at this point. Left a few in the tank.

GHR's - 8,8, - Again didn't push these at all. Just went through the motions with body weight.

[skid]

Interesting. Do you have any links to articles describing this? Also, what kind of a set-up do you use for the inclined board?

Just came across another article right here on the Starting Strength website - Grippaldi the Great: How to Train the Overhead Press | Marty Gallagher

...70-degree steep incline barbell press: Grippaldi’s number one assistance exercise was the steep incline press. No mention of the poundage used, but no doubt it was bar-bending. Again, from an Olympic press standpoint this exercise makes perfect sense. “I try and duplicate the lowest push point, the lowest layback angle I encounter performing a press in competition.” Lower the barbell all the way down and let it rest on the chest replicating the starting layback position. Imagine in your mind a referee’s clap and at that instant push upward; let the elbows flair slightly (not too much) as you struggle through the sticking point. Phil performed six sets of five reps. Please keep in mind he was using 300+ pounds for his top sets and he likely needed 3-4 warm-up sets to get there, perhaps 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2 then the work sets of 315x5 and 335x5. A normal human will only need a warm-up set or two before hitting 1-2 all-out top sets.

[Chebass88]

I can see how the Hepburn program would work well for a long period of time. Most people are looking for quicker methods of gaining strength, but over a longer period of time the Hepburn program will likely allow greater and more consistent gains, with less chance of injury (the 5 pounds per month method you mentioned in your log). It does seem like there are several different ways to program the lifts though. I'd be interested in the programming for the power and pump routine, but haven't seen any definitive way of doing that..

I'm reproducing a few of these from memory here, but I'll include the references where I remember them. I'm omitting the warmups that Hepburn describes - those can be figured out easily enough. His programming recommendations changed throughout his life - you'll often read people saying things like "I thought he said this...". As to where Hepburn got these ideas - In Thurston's book, he claims to have copied the training style of John Davis. Davis would typically do eight sets of doubles, up to four times per week!

A Program (described in Appendix 1, of Strongman by Tom Thurston, Hepburn's Autobiography)

Power sets: 8 sets of 2 reps. Working weight at the 8RM (I believe the exact description is "a weight with which you can do eight reps but not nine). Add one rep per session until 8x3. Take a 5-10 minute break, and then do the "pump" sets, at ~80% of the "power" weight. Pump sets: 3 sets of 6 reps. Add one rep to each set until 3x8. When power sets reach 8x3, increase weight (see notes below), and when pump sets reach 3x8, increase weight. These are not concurrent (power sets takes 8 sessions to earn an increase, pump sets take 7 sessions to earn an increase), but add weight when completed.

Sessions look like:
1. Power: 8x2 Pump: 3x6
2. Power: 1x3, 7x2; Pump: 7,6,6
3. Power: 2sx3r, 6x2; Pump: 7,7,6
etc.

I've made a few modifications which worked for me. In my experience, an 8RM is typically ~80% 1RM, so I use that number, usually rounded to the closest increment of 5lbs for easier plate loading. I used the pump sets previously (in 2012), but learned that I could make progress with just the power sets, so I omitted them. I only use the power sets for the big lifts (squat, deadlift, row). I am currently using the power & pump sets as described by Hepburn in this Appendix. I seek to get an increase of +5lb for upper body lifts and +10lbs for lower body lifts. Rest time between sets is short (by Rippetoe standards), of 2-3 minutes. This jives well with Ditillo's recommendations as well.

"B Program" (also from Thurston's book)
Power sets: 5-8 singles at 3RM weight, followed by pump sets of 6x3 at 80% power weight. Add one single per session, and one rep to the pump sets. Increase weight once 8 singles met, and once pump sets at 6x5. Increases are also not concurrent on this program.

Progression would be:
1. Power: 5x1, Pump: 6x3
2. Power: 6x1; Pump: 1x4, 5x3
3. Power: 7x1; Pump: 2x4, 4x3
4. Power: 8x1; Pump: 3x4, 3x3,
5. Power: 5x1; Pump: 4x4, 2x3
etc.

I've never used this program, but am looking forward to trying it this year in pursuit of the 275lb press. I interpret a 3RM to be ~90% 1RM (which jives well with Prilepin's chart).

There are also some references to a "C Program", which consists of 5 triples, adding a triple per session until 8x3 done. I did this once with my deadlift - in my opinion, it was just as easy to do the Hepburn A program (8x2 --> 8x3). There is also one where you start with five triples and add some reps until 5x5 is met. In general, I've typically kept all of my lifts on similar programming - I suppose the A & B programs could be mixed for different lifts (e.g., squat on A, press on B, etc.). I'll find out in a few months.

Hope this helps!

ian

[skid]

I'm reproducing a few of these from memory here, but I'll include the references where I remember them. I'm omitting the warmups that Hepburn describes - those can be figured out easily enough. His programming recommendations changed throughout his life - you'll often read people saying things like "I thought he said this...". As to where Hepburn got these ideas - In Thurston's book, he claims to have copied the training style of John Davis. Davis would typically do eight sets of doubles, up to four times per week!

A Program (described in Appendix 1, of Strongman by Tom Thurston, Hepburn's Autobiography)

Power sets: 8 sets of 2 reps. Working weight at the 8RM (I believe the exact description is "a weight with which you can do eight reps but not nine). Add one rep per session until 8x3. Take a 5-10 minute break, and then do the "pump" sets, at ~80% of the "power" weight. Pump sets: 3 sets of 6 reps. Add one rep to each set until 3x8. When power sets reach 8x3, increase weight (see notes below), and when pump sets reach 3x8, increase weight. These are not concurrent (power sets takes 8 sessions to earn an increase, pump sets take 7 sessions to earn an increase), but add weight when completed.

Sessions look like:
1. Power: 8x2 Pump: 3x6
2. Power: 1x3, 7x2; Pump: 7,6,6
3. Power: 2sx3r, 6x2; Pump: 7,7,6
etc.

I've made a few modifications which worked for me. In my experience, an 8RM is typically ~80% 1RM, so I use that number, usually rounded to the closest increment of 5lbs for easier plate loading. I used the pump sets previously (in 2012), but learned that I could make progress with just the power sets, so I omitted them. I only use the power sets for the big lifts (squat, deadlift, row). I am currently using the power & pump sets as described by Hepburn in this Appendix. I seek to get an increase of +5lb for upper body lifts and +10lbs for lower body lifts. Rest time between sets is short (by Rippetoe standards), of 2-3 minutes. This jives well with Ditillo's recommendations as well.

"B Program" (also from Thurston's book)
Power sets: 5-8 singles at 3RM weight, followed by pump sets of 6x3 at 80% power weight. Add one single per session, and one rep to the pump sets. Increase weight once 8 singles met, and once pump sets at 6x5. Increases are also not concurrent on this program.

Progression would be:
1. Power: 5x1, Pump: 6x3
2. Power: 6x1; Pump: 1x4, 5x3
3. Power: 7x1; Pump: 2x4, 4x3
4. Power: 8x1; Pump: 3x4, 3x3,
5. Power: 5x1; Pump: 4x4, 2x3
etc.

I've never used this program, but am looking forward to trying it this year in pursuit of the 275lb press. I interpret a 3RM to be ~90% 1RM (which jives well with Prilepin's chart).

There are also some references to a "C Program", which consists of 5 triples, adding a triple per session until 8x3 done. I did this once with my deadlift - in my opinion, it was just as easy to do the Hepburn A program (8x2 --> 8x3). There is also one where you start with five triples and add some reps until 5x5 is met. In general, I've typically kept all of my lifts on similar programming - I suppose the A & B programs could be mixed for different lifts (e.g., squat on A, press on B, etc.). I'll find out in a few months.

Hope this helps!

ian

Wow, Ian, thanks for the detailed explanation! I like the idea of the slow but steady Hepburn program as my geezer body can hardly keep up with some of the more aggressive programs...

[Chebass88]

Marc, If you get a chance, read as much as you can from the Tight Tan Slacks blog. There are tons of great articles on there, especially on how to build the press. A few years ago, I printed out a bunch of them, and refer to them quite often.

I had a look through these collected articles tonight, as I remembered printing out several Hepburn articles. I wanted to see if his recommendations for sets & reps was different than the two programs I described above. Hepburn used to write articles on each of the big lifts - for publications (?) - I found them on the Tight Tan Slacks blog. In his articles on the Squat (The Deep Knee Bend) and Deadlift (the two-hands deadlift), he recommended 5-8 singles followed by 5x3 --> 5x5 (vice the 6x3 --> 6x5 recommended in the "B Program"). He didn't give percentages, but per Prilepin's chart, heavy singles are typically in the ~90% range. Doing backoff sets with 80% of the workset isn't unreasonable, but he doesn't give any guidance on what poundage to use. The article actually states "Decrease the poundage on the bar so that five sets of THREE CONSECUTIVE REPS can be done and stay with this weight until FIVE SETS OF FIVE REPS can be done. Then, increase the weight so that five sets of three reps can be performed again and again and again work up to five sets of five repetitions, etc. etc." (emphasis in original)

In his article for the front squat, he recommended doing 5 sets of 3, adding a triple until 8x3 met, but did not recommend backoff work.

From the article, "How I trained to break the Press Record - by Doug Hepburn, as told to Charles Smith (1951)", Hepburn described using the same training style as John Davis, i.e., 6 or 8 sets of 2 repetitions. He didn't recommend back-off work at that point, and only pressed once per week (yet Davis pressed in that style up to 4X/week). Hepburn thought that more than two reps would lead to sloppiness in style.

Lastly, his "Strength and Bulk" method is pretty ludicrous. He recommended the 8x2 --> 8x3 as the power set, with the 6x3 --> 6x5 in the "Mass Group", lastly followed by a "pump set" of 10. A similar style of programming is described in the pamphlet "Hepburn's Law", which is a fun read from the late 70s or early 80s. I found it online in a pdf format. That is a ridiculous amount of volume for any given lift. I've never attempted this one, due to the very large amount of volume.

Best,

ian

[skid]

Ian, thanks for taking the time to spell this out in such detail. You certainly are a Hepburn expert and have definitely piqued my interest.

Regarding the incline press , I'm just finishing another project in my shop and then will make a proper incline rest for a squat rack. I've got all the materials except for the pad and cover but have that ordered. I'll detail it in pictures or video so anyone interested can see how I built it.

Marc

[skid]

2/28

Warm-up - 500M row in 1:59

Squat - 425-2,1,1, - Rx called for 2 reps x 3 sets. I went into my squats with high hopes, psyched up after watching Bryan's squats, then reality set in. The first set I squeaked out a double, but on the remaining sets I felt I wouldn't get the second rep. I blame being sick and having two crappy squat workouts prior to this, anti-biotics, lingering illness, poor sleep the night before, micro-aggressions from my boss, my wife nagging me, Donald Trump, and being a sissy.

Light Bench - 265-2,2,2,2,2, - At least these went well. I did these close grip with a pause, and speed/power on the way up.

DB rows - 105 - 10,10, - Managed to squeeze another 10 pounds on my heaviest Dumbbell. Still easy.

Tricep push downs - 135-10,10,10,10, - Good tricep pump.

[skid]

3/3

Warm-up - 300M row

Had a couple of interruptions to my workout that made it go way longer than it should have. First my VP called to talk about my retirement (yes I am taking an early retirement) and the handoff to the new manager. This took around 15 minutes. Then a truck driver showed up with a dump truck load of gravel for my driveway as I need to do some repairs, and wanted to talk about my water wheel sitting in my front yard. Took another ten minutes talking and to show him where to dump it.

Press - 185-1, 225-1, 250-1PR, 200-4,5,5,5, - Experimented with grip width a little after watching an old video of Ken Patera pressing 485. He took a surprisingly wide grip. I've always put my index finger at the edge of the knurling, but went out wider about an inch and a half. Set a new PR of 250. Don't know if I'm getting stronger or the wider grip helped.

In the video I should have taken another breath but held my breath before I lifted it out of the rack. I was getting dizzy re-racking the bar. A little knee kick as well as I need to work on my technique, but I'll keep trying to increase the weight even if my form isn't the greatest.



Deadlift - 430-5,5,5,5,5, - Did both dead stop and light touch and goes. Seemed hard both ways...

Incline standing press - 180-6,6,6, - Increase of 5 pounds from last time. These were strict and easy. I'll keep adding weight. Alternated these with my deadlifts.

[Bryan Dobson]

You did all the deadlifts, most people would find a reason not to, earning a pr.