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Thread: Dillon's Intermediate Log

  1. #141
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
    • starting strength seminar jume 2024
    • starting strength seminar august 2024
    9/25/19
    Squats 365x1 315x5x3
    SGDL 255x5x3

    Still feeling out how to work this comeback. Really just doing what I can to get in the gym at least 3 times/week. So far for the heavy lifts for the day that's meant working up to a reasonably heavy single, almost an "over warmup" I guess, with some back offs at a totally improvised weight. Was conservative with my fahves on the squat, because even before my layoff I kind of did a mini peak to get my 405 squat, so I haven't done a really challenging set of 5 since July. They went just fine, and I hope I can make some bigger jumps there. I made my light pull snatch grip deads just because I like them. If I keep with this plan, I'll probably keep them there. I was musing about programming today though, and am considering the unoffical 2 lift/day LP. Might get me back sooner with the standard LP no longer an option. I'll just have to give it more thought and figure out what will work best for me.

  2. #142
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    I'm still back here watching and learning, man. Trying to parse your availability and failing; what's your current ability to train, in terms of time-in-gym and days-in-gym?

  3. #143
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    Yeah man, I'm trying and failing too haha Prepare for an essay

    My current number of days available is 3-4, but the two most consistently available are Saturday and Sunday, which is what makes an upper/lower split ideal in that I can train on back to back days. I can also usually get another day or two in during the week, but even if it's two, which two is unpredictable. Might be back to back, might not be. My girlfriend also has a ton on her plate for the next few months, so I'm the primary chef, dishwasher, and laundry doer, so keeping those weeknight sessions to about an hour is key. I have more flexibility with my time in the gym on weekends. For the next couple of workouts I'm mostly focused on just making them happen and getting a bit of info on where to start back. Hence the heavy single to get an idea of where my top end strength is, and some fives across. I'll adjust accordingly based on how everything felt.

    I'll lay out the main options I've been considering and some of the pros and cons of each as I see them. Input is more than welcome! All this is with the caveat that the right answer is vanilla NLP, but it's not in the cards. Part of why I've been kinda discouraged about training, since my last run went so well and then immediately got tanked by life. Boo hoo for me.

    Option 1 4 day TM on a 2 week cycle (assuming I get all 4 workouts in each week)
    W1D1 (probably Saturday)
    Heavy Bench Volume 5x5
    Light press 3x5
    Chins and maybe some bro shit

    W1D2 (probably Sunday)
    Heavy Squat Volume 5x5
    Light pull (SGDL, maybe PCs)
    Maybe some accessory stuff

    W1D3
    Intensity Press A bunch of heavy singles
    Light bench or bench variant
    Accessories as time allows

    W1D4
    Intensity Deads
    Light squats
    Accessories as time allows

    W2D1
    Bench Intensity
    Light press
    Chins and accessory

    W2D2
    Squat Intensity
    Light pull
    Accessory

    W2D3
    Heavy Press Volume 5x5
    Light bench or variant
    Accessory

    W2D4
    Volume Deads
    Light squats
    Accessory

    Pros: Upper/lower split allows for back to back training days, hitting only one lift hard and heavy each day means I can do the light lifts and accessory/bro shit on short rest, I've found 4 day splits very flexible in that if you only get three workouts in, you just make the fourth your first of the next week, I get to stay acquainted with some heavier weights than I'd hit for 5s across, light slots can be variants which is just fun.
    Cons: The two week cycle means slower progress, only hit each lift "heavy" (either for volume or intensity) once each week.

    Option 2 Two Lift/Day LP
    Workout A
    Squats 3x5
    Press 3x5

    Workout B
    Bench 3x5
    Deadlift 1x5

    Pros: Much closer to a proper LP, which is one hell of a pro.
    Cons: Worried about back to back days interfering with one another, grinding out 5 across, even for two lifts, can take a while, and I'm so fucking sick of 3x5s haha

    Basically I'm just trying to get a bit of a sense of where I'm at before I choose. I should probably start with option 2, and transition to option 1 when I get a bit stronger again or get bored as fuck, but in some ways I feel surprisingly close to where I left off, which was definite intermediate territory.

    Like I said, input is welcome!
    Last edited by Dillon Spencer; 09-26-2019 at 11:06 AM. Reason: Formatting nightmare

  4. #144
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    9/28/19
    Press 170x1 145x5x3
    Incline bench 135x5x7 2 mins rest
    Chins BWx10,7,6
    Curls 60x8x3
    Low cable flyes 5x9x3
    Incline bench preacher curls 15x8 10x12x2
    Cable face pulls 10x15x3

    9/29/19
    Deadlifts 425x1 345x5x2
    Squats 275x5x2
    Bench 190x3 TnG+1 pause x4


    So someone just posted this article on one of the other boards How to Train Without A Plan - Andy Baker and I realized it's basically what I'm doing right now. I think I'll stick with it, but just tweak it a bit to bring it more in line with what Andy recommends. A top single for the day, 90%x2-4, and 80%xAMRAP and then whatever else I feel like doing. Very much what appeals to me at this time. So from here on out my "plan" is Andy Baker's "No Plan Plan."

    On Saturday, I was pretty happy to hit a smooth single at 170. My press always seems to get stuck right around there, and this was no problem at all. Should have gone for more, and with Baker's No Plan Plan I would have. A few back offs and that was the main lift for the day. I may have abandoned my Montana Method experiment, but some of the different set and rep schemes it uses are handy for getting some decent work in quickly, at least according to some of the folks at a website that shall not be named. Figured they kind of fit nicely into a light variant slot. Today it was incline because all the flat benches were full. My girlfriend wanted me to stay out of the house for a while (don't worry she actually likes me) so I dicked around with lots of extra stuff. Was pretty happy to hit a set of 10 on chins because they've felt like trash the last few times I've done them.

    Sunday was all about the deadlift. Planned to work up to a single at 425, and it was super smooth. Technically this ties a PR, but it was from months ago and my deadlift has gotten a lot stronger since then. I just haven't tested any singles. In hindsight I should have just made a point of pulling any kind of PR. Silly me. I'll pull a PR on the No Plan Plan next week. Did some very light squats afterwards. Was going to go a bit heavier, but felt a little groin tweak warming up. Nothing serious, but enough that I took it easy. They're light squats, so whatever. I did lots of pressing on Saturday, but no flat benching. Since the MM protocols are meant to not be super fatiguing, I figured I'd do one of them afterwards just for some extra bench work. I'd really like to get my bench and press moving if I can, and that might mean doing one or the other on a lower body day for a bit of extra frequency.

  5. #145
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    I dig it (the No Plan Plan). Let's see how it shakes down. So: That 425 deadlift was a tie for your all-time single, or?

  6. #146
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    Yup it was a tie for a single last December, but since then I got my fahves up to 410. Now I haven't done that for a couple of months, so I'm sure there's been some detraining. But 425 flew up no problem. Might even try for something like 450 next week and see how it goes.

  7. #147
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    10/2/19
    Bench 250x1 (1PR!) 225x3 200x8
    Press 10m Density Block 135x4,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,2,1,1,1 30 reps
    LTEs 70x8x3
    Low cable flyes 5x10x3

    So the first day of the No Plan Plan had the bench as the main lift, and it resulted in a PR! Sure, it was a PR that was probably there for the taking months ago when I wasn't hitting singles, but a PR none the less! During warm ups, 235 was kind of my indicator lift to decide how far to push the single. It flew. Decided to go for a nice round 250, and while it didn't fly, it got up just fine. After that I was free styling. Want to bench and press as often as possible, so I did a density block to get a bunch of pressing in quickly. Then I just super setted some LTEs and cable flyes with the time I had left. Felt like a nice, tight workout. So far, I'm digging the No Plan Plan.

  8. #148
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    Bam! Spice Weasel!

    Nice on the PR single, man. Good times.

    Density block: How do you administrate that? I see you got 13 microsets in 10 minutes. When do you know it's time to go again?

  9. #149
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    Haha thanks!

    This is only the second time I've done a density block so I'm not sure what the optimal strategy is, but I've done it in a similar way both times. For the first 10 sets it was just EMOM, dropping from triples to doubles when the third got grindy. The singles were all snuck in during the last minute. Basically just racked it, shook my arms out, and hit it again. By the end even the singles were a chore. So far I like it as a way to get some pressing in quickly and walk away feeling a pretty good pump haha

  10. #150
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    starting strength coach development program
    10/4/19
    Squats 375x1 385x1 345x3 305x8
    Curls 60x12,10,10
    Cable rows 120x10x3
    Incline bench preacher curls 10x20,15,10
    Chest supported rows (rear delt grip) 65x10x3

    So today's No Plan Plan lift was squats. Was thinking about a top single at 375, but it moved so fast I went up to 385. Only 20 lbs off my 405 all time PR, so I was pretty happy with that. The AMRAP at 305 sucked, and so does my conditioning! This is the first time I've squatted more than 5 reps in a set in about a year and a half, so even though it was only 305 I was sucking wind afterwards. Might have had another rep or two, but called it. Recently I've been doing snatch grip deads after squatting, but I want to pull a PR on Sunday so just went full bodybuilder back and bis when I was done. Save the low back for Sunday!

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