Overtraining for strength and size

[Eiji]

I've been training for 13 months. The first 6 months was calisthenics only BW and weighted. During month 5-7 I was into running a great deal and lost a lot of muscle. I ended up weighing a lean 170 in Feb. I then turned to SS and GOMAD and gained 25 lb in 6 weeks.
Doing SS was great for my squat, DL and bench but my OHP went nowhere. I dropped GOMAD because my bf was going up too fast. But after dropping gomad I started stalling on squats. I tried 531 for a bit but it didn't suit me. After a little Internet searching I decided to try a Hepburn progression. I love it and have been using a modified version of it for nearly everything. I've also added some wave loading for my OHP.

The last couple of months have been awesome. I really put my focus on my weak overhead strength, puny arms, and front squats. I switched to front squats only because my ass was getting too muscular and I didn't want have to keep buying new pants. My wife was mad enough that I had to do it once already.

This summer I have been doing home workouts during the week with dumbbells and rings and one heavy workout at the gym on the weekend.

I've titled this log overtraining because I have found that I am responding better to more frequent workouts than is excepted. OHP strength is moving with 3-4 sessions per week and arms are responding to 5-6 days straight. I'm hitting squats only on the heavy day for now.

I'm 37 male, 5-11, and 195 lbs

I'm going to bring you guys up to speed by filling in the last 6 weeks or so.

[Eiji]

6/22
DB Press 35 x 12,12,12
Ring Pullup BW x 11,10,5
Ring Dip BW x 8,7,5
Ring Row BW x 10,8
Ring Pushup BW x 10,8

6/25
DB Press 45 x 8,8,8
ring Pullup BW x 10,10,8
ring Dip BW x 8,7,4
ring Row BW x 8,8
Ring pushup BW x 10,10
DB curl 35 x 12,11
Hmr curl 35 x 5

6/27
DB Press 45 x 9,9,9
Ring Pullup BW x 10,10,9
Ring Dip BW x 8,8,7
Ring Row BW x 10,8
Ring Pushup BW x 12,12
DB curl 35 x 12,12
Hmr curl 20 x 6

6/29
Barbell OHP
135x2
125x5,4,4
CGBP
155 x 7,7,7
Squat
185 x 6,6 Feeling pretty weak and went home

7/02
DB press 45 x 10,10,9
Ring pull up BW x 10,10,10
Ring Dip BW x 8,8,9
Ring Row BW x 10,10
Ring push up BW x 15,15,15
DB curl 35 x 13,12,7
Hmr curl 20 x 19

[Eiji]

I'm going to add a progress note next to each movement.

7/03 3.5 mile run - 26 min 40 sec

7/04
DB Press
45 x 11,10,10 P = +2

Ring Pull up
BW x 11,10,8 P = -1

Ring dip
BW x 9,9,8 P = +1

Ring Row
BW x 10,10 P = 0

Ring Pushup
BW x 20,15,12 P = +2

DB Curl
35 x 12,12,10 P = +2

Hammer Curl
35 x 7,8,8 P = 15lbs and 2 sets

7/06
OHP
135 x 2,3,3,2,3

Front Squat
135x3
155x3
175x3
195x3
215 x 2,2,2,2,2

Kroc Row 100 x 12
back pedaled here a little bit but I was running on empty from the fasted workout.

Awesome progress on both barbell overhead press and front squat

[Eiji]

7/08
3.3 mile run

7/09
DB Press
45 x 11,11,10 +1

Ring Pull up
BW x 11,10,10 +2

Ring Dip
BW x 9,9,10 +2

Ring Row
BW x 12,12 +4

Ring Push up
BW x 20,18,15 +6

DB Curl
35 x 12,12,11 +1

Hammer Curl
35 x 8,9,9 +3

A great workout. Funny thing was that I almost cut it short because I was feeling tired and weak after the dips. hehe. Fasted workouts. I also wanted to change things a bit because I just brought home a pair of 100lb dumbbells and wanted to incorporate them into the routine. I will have to use some discipline not to change something that is still yielding good results.

[Eiji]

7/09

toe to bar
Hanging leg raises 90 sec rest
8,8,7

200lb farmer's carry
2x30'
2x70'

7/10

DB Press
45 x 11,11,9 -1

Ring Pull ups
BW x 11,11,9 +/-0

Ring Dips
BW x 10,10,9 +1

Ring Row
BW x 12,11 -1

Ring Push up
BW x 20,18,18 +3

DB Curl
35 x 12,12,13 +2

Hammer Curl
35 x 9,10,11 +4

7/12
Today I wasnt quite looking forward to the workout. still sore in arms, chest and shoulders. Not feeling strong. I decided to have breakfast this morning to see if it would effect my workout.


DB Press
45 x 11,11,11 +2

Ring Pull up
BW x 11,11,11 +2

Ring Dip
BW x 10,10,9 +0

Ring Row
BW x 12,11 +0

Ring Pushup
BW x 20,20,18 +2

DB Curl
40 x 10,10,12 +2

Hammer Curl
35 x 10,10,12 +2

I'm glad I didnt listen to my feelings and went ahead with the workout. Making progress while not feeling 100% is pretty darn cool. I guess the difference I felt with having breakfast was that I didnt feel quite as drained at the end of the workout.

[Eiji]

7/14 first try at wave loading

OHP
115x3
125x2
135x1

125x3
135x2
140x1

135x3
140x2 PR
145x1 PR

OHP Speed triples 30 sec rest
100x3
95x3
85x3,3,3

Front Squat
185x3
205x2
225x1 PR

215x2

I think I over did it on OHP, didnt have much left to work on Front Squats. I did the speed triples because all the reps in the waves were really slow.
Next time I will do all 5lb jumps in OHP and 10lbs jumps in the squats.

7/16

DB Press
45 x 11,12,10 +0

Ring Pull up
BW x 11,9
ouch first set was tough to get 11. accumulated fatigue from going to an every other day workout vs 3x per week. I guess I wasnt ready for the added session this week and not getting that extra day off. I have to be discipined about dialing down the effort if I want to increase the frequency.

I decide to skip Dips, Row and Pushups today and will pick those up on Thursday.

DB Curl
40 x 12,12,12 +4 NICE!

Hammer Curl
35 x 12,12,14 +6HELLO!

I was thinking that db curl should be close to what I can press to make it easier to set up once Im getting to the real heavy presses. This progress makes them pretty close.

[Eiji]

7/18

DB Press
45 x 12,12,11 +2

Ring Pull up
BW x 11,11,6 better than last workout but -5 from last week. Im going to drop back down in reps, perfect form and go to 5 sets x 6 reps and progress from there.

Ring Dip
BW x 10,10,9 +0 second week with no progress here. Will deload with same protocol as pull ups

Ring Row
BW x 12,10 -1 these have been very inconsistant so I will back off reps and add a set, going for 3x8 and go from there.

Ring Push up
BW x 20,18,12 -8 Will deload here and drop back to 3x17 and push to 3x25 before adding weight.

DB Curl
45 x 9,9,9 +3 these felt strong and I couldve got 10 reps for the first 2 sets.

Farmer's Walk
200 x 30yd. x 2 I will add another set next session then start adding distance in 10 yd increments

Hammer Curl
40 x 10,10,10 +6

DB Tricep kickbacks superset w/ DB single arm overhead extensions
20 x 10/12 x 3sets

[Eiji]

7/20

I woke early this morning read a bit and went disc golfing. Its fun but wears out my right arm. After playing I headed to the gym. I am not feeling particularly strong and still feel slightly soar in my chest shoulders and arms. In the past, when I was a youth, I would emphasize recovery over frequency but now I feel that frequency is much more important than I previously thought.

OHP
115 x 3
125 x 2
135 x 1

125 x 3
135 x 2
145 x 1
150 x 1 PR! I shouldve left it at that but it went up so easy I had to try
155 x fail

125 x 7 PR!

I thought about heading home. I really didnt want to squat, Im tired. I talked myself out of being a puss and got set.

Front Squat
135 x 3
155 x 3
175 x 3
195 x 3
215 x 3
225 x 3 PR!
225 x 3 again!

[Eiji]

7/23

I decided to take it easy on overhead work today since I worked it pretty hard on Sat hitting those singles.

DB Press
45 x 10,10,10

Ring Pull ups 60-90 sec rests
BW x 6,6,6,6,6

Ring Dips 60 sec rests
BW 6,6,6,6,6

Ring Row, paired with push ups and 45 sec rests
BW x 8,8,8

Ring Push ups, paired with rows and 45 sec rests
BW x 17,15,15

DB Curl
45 x 10,9,9 +1

Farmer's Carry
200lbs x 40m x 3 +60m

Hammer Curl
40 x 10,10,12 +2

[Eiji]

6/22 - 7/22
Monthly Progress Report:

I have been keeping track of progress workout to workout but have never really looked at monthly progress. I think this might be a valuable tool to assess what is working and what isnt in the routine.

DB Press 35 x 12 ---> 45 x 12

Barbell OHP 135 x 2 ---> 150 x 1

Front Squat 205 x 3 ---> 225 x 3

Ring Pull ups Progressed from 11,10,5 to 11,11,11 in 2.5 weeks then regressed back to starting point.

Ring Dips,Ring Rows,Ring Pushups all showed early progress and have regressed or stagnated as of late.

DB Curl 35 x 12 ---> 45 x 10
Hammer Curl 35 x 7 ---> 40 x 12

I see excellent progress on overhead strength and biceps strength and development. All my ring exercises have suffered the last 3-4 workouts. I thought maybe the addition of the farmer's carries was to blame but looking back the numbers showed me something else. All the numbers for the different exercises fell after a workout with a last set or multiple set efforts that were a 10 RPE. I have always been a little too hardcore and dialing back is going to be tough but if I know it is negatively affecting progress I will have an easier time dialing back the effort.


I think I might separate the Ring work into 2 separate workouts with pull ups and dips in one and rows and push ups in the other. I will think about it.