Backgorund
I recently started a program I developed that draws heavily from the Texas Method, Nick Delgadillo’s article and video on the press, The Wisconsin method, Bulgarian training, and my own personal experiences. This program is currently evolving and will likely change as my goals and strength levels change, but four things will always remain core objectives in my program: the press, the bench, the deadlift, and the squat.
I have been seriously logging my lifts for the last 8-9 months but will not be posting old information aside from my past week and a few previous maxes to get a rough idea of the progress made prior to starting this log. I started going to the gym around August of 2018 doing typical bodybuilder junk with lots of exercises and repetitions, but I was very untrained meaning I still saw progress. Aside from the “noob gains” I saw very little progress until the beginning of 2020, hell, I couldn’t even properly squat using my hips because I was so caught in the mindset that it is “quads” nor could I deadlift properly due to fears of hurting my back. Ironically, I was previously deadlifting with bad form which was much worse for my back.
Around February of 2020, I discovered a guy on YouTube named Eric Bugenhagen who is known for his unique method of training that he based off the Bulgarian program. He essentially picked a single exercise and did it every day and tried to set a new 1RM. I was so shocked by the results that I decided to give the program a try and saw some very quick strength gains on my bench, press, and deadlift (I was still squatting wrong, so I don’t count those squat numbers). Obviously, this type of training has its limitations and I quickly reached another plateau, but something was and has been different ever since. This experienced challenged what I believed to be true regarding strength and muscle gains and led me to many different schools of thought regarding barbell training.
Eventually I stumbled upon Ripetoe’s work and really REALLY liked what he had to say. Everything seemed to make so much sense and was laid out so simply. I finally learned to properly squat by using the hips, getting below parallel never felt easier. I had absorbed a lot of information, but had not changed my programming to a large extent. I had certainly cut back on exercise selection which helped, but the consistency of the lifts, the sets, and the reps was poor (except deadlift because I just set a new 1RM each week). This still worked and likely still would, but I was unsatisfied with the lack of structure because it did not maximize my progress. All this led me to come up with my current program which I call “Dirty Texas Boy”.
Diet
I am a FIRM believer in GOMAD. I gained 30 pounds rapidly when I started GOMAD and attribute my rapid strength gains to this dietary change as well as my change in training. I do not still drink a gallon of milk per day, but always drink between one and three quarts of whole milk per day. Aside from milk, my staples consist of : potatoes, beef, chicken, whey, kiwi, pineapple, and whatever deserts Walmart has on clearance. I am not a big believer in vegetables and almost never eat them.
The Program (Dirty Texas Boy)
Sunday:
rest
Monday:
Squat 5RM, attempt more reps if possible
Bench 5x5 90%
Tuesday:
Weighted Sternum Pull ups 3x5
Strict Curl 3x5
*originally this was 3x3 deadlift but had to change after the first week due to fatigue they caused
Wednesday:
Squat 5x5 90%
Press 5x5 90%
Thursday:
rest
Friday:
Squat 2x5 80% (optional)
Bench 5RM
Press 5-7 heavy singles, possible 1RM attempt
Saturday:
Deadlift 1x3 until plateau then 1x2 then 1RM until plateau
Last Week after squats on 8/26 my left knee felt a little weird, after 8/31 squats it felt worse. There was not pain, it felt like the knee had been compressed and just had to pop. It felt fine during deadlifts although the session was disappointing. Hopefully it will feel fine on Monday. If it starts to fell odd during the warmup I will not attempt the new PR.
09-16-2020, 08:36 PM
Kempton
9/6/20 - 9/13/20
Well definitely should not have squatted Monday. Felt off during warmups but wanted to go for it and hurt myself on the first repetition. Could not walk well for a week but am just now getting back to normal but still have some pains. Rehab will likely take some time. If it seems like more than 2-3 weeks I will likely modify the program to do more pressing.
03-30-2021, 10:49 PM
Kempton
After getting a feature on the infamous "comments from the haters" I felt I should update my training log on here. I am not going to go in depth on my programming changes and how I healed my hurt knee. I have added more volume into my program and added some curls because who doesn't want big biceps?
My bench has been a slow and rough grind. I recently have been stuck at 250 pounds and have been hitting it for 4 reps but gradually getting better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeDQ5gWsyd4
Squats had been rough after the injury, but I eventually broke through the glut and was able to build up to 330x5 followed by two sets of 4. I have taken some time off squatting again because I would rather focus on other lifts. Squats have never been appealing to me for some reason so I go through cycles of dreading squats then getting really excited to build my squat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9YDSZ54-ns
My deadlift progress have been the most satisfying thing in my training recently. I switched to deadlifting twice weekly; one set of 5 with chains on Monday then a heavy single on Friday. This has worked well for me and I plan to continue this for a few more weeks or until I stall out. A few weeks ago I was feeling really good and pulled 500x2 on my single day and my most recent pull was a 510 single. That same day I received a positive covid test so I set a PR with covid which is cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7fGLzf1Alo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOD0o02I4G8
