Calloused Palms

[savage]

Here's a little background on me to provide context for anyone with similar circumstances hoping to get strong.

Age: 27
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 143 lbs

ORIGIN:
Age: 15
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 112 lbs

Started lifting after deciding not to go through with wrestling out of fear of being unable to maintain my GPA. I got sick of the wrestlers passing me in the hall calling me a pussy for backing out. Friends on the football team showed me how to lift.

Over the years, I jumped from program to program, all of which did not work because they were bullshit from muscle magazines or bullshit uniquely tailored to one bodybuilder. I was also not very committed.

Got my first dose of "hardcore" training when I discovered Training for Warriors by Martin Rooney and later RossTraining. A year and a half ago, I took on gymnastics strength training. My routine consisted of two strength sessions and two HIIT sessions per week. I thought I was pretty damn strong in some aspects, but I knew I was lacking in others.

Age: 26
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 143 lbs

Bench: 205 x 9
Squat: 240-ish
Deadlift: 395
Weighted Dips: 135 x 7
Pull-ups: 27

Something was wrong. On certain days, I would absolutely crush my weighted dips and deadlift. A week later, I would struggle with 90% of the same weights. On certain days, I felt flat and sluggish. I had read about overtraining and tapering, but all my information on the subject came from Infinite Intensity by Ross Enamait. I love Ross, but I now realize that his prescriptions are sometimes generalized and thus not always true to the science on which he bases them.

My response to my random inability to match my recent accomplishments was to ramp up my intensity and bury my CNS deeper into a rut.

I struggled to deadlift 365 today when a week ago I did 390? I should add DLs of 135 into my HIIT sessions!

I could barely squat 225 today? I should add more bodyweight squats to my HIIT sessions!

I never thought the Overtraining Monster would claim me as one of its victims, but I see now that it did.

[swilczewski]

How are you programming your training now, what are your goals?

[savage]

PROGRAM
Completed the Building Blocks model and am now doing TSFOSB (Two Steps Forward, One Step Back).

TRAINING GOALS
Bench: 300
Squat: 360
Deadlift: 450
Press: 160
Power Clean: 225

CURRENT STATS
Age: 27
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 143 lbs

Bench: 265
Squat: 310
Deadlift: 425
Press: 135
Power Clean: 195
Weighted Dips: 145 x 4
Pull-ups: 30

OCCUPATION
Something corporate. Would rather not reveal what it is exactly. I work 80 to 100 hours a week and sometimes up to 115. Many times I have gotten home at 5:30 AM feeling catatonic after being skull-fucked by work, cringing at the idea of going back to the office in a few hours. It's OK, my boss said I could come in "a little later" because I stayed so late. She means 10:30 AM instead of 9 AM. It'll only be for a few years, however, and it pays very well.

DESIRED RESULTS FROM TRAINING
As much strength as I can pack on to my frame while adding as little weight as possible
Maintain flexibility
Become more explosive
Maintain single-digit body fat %
Do some crazy shit on the gymnastics rings every now and then

I'd love to train MMA when I'm done with my current job and can actually attend an evening class without fear of being chewed out.

[dsp]

You have to be the strongest skinny person on the board, nice! What's your BF%, <10%?

[savage]

WEEK 1, DAY 1
70% of 1RM, 5 x 5

Power Clean:
45 x 5 (PC jumps w/o rack)
45 x 5
95 x 3
135 x 2 x 5

Box Squat: (just below parallel)
45 x 5
65 x 5
95 x 3
135 x 2
145 x 5 x 1
155 x 5 x 1
165 x 5 x 3

Work sets felt super easy, even as I was ramping up the weight. Read somewhere (can't remember) that box squats should be done with 2/3 the load of a regular squat. Clearly way too easy for me. Decided to up the weight in next session.

Bench Press:
45 x 5
95 x 3
135 x 2
182 x 5 x 5 (decided to base it off 260 instead of 265)

Easy. Nothing draining about the work sets.

[hamburgerfan]

There is no limit to my jealousy of little guys who can outbench me. Are you a powerlifter?

[savage]

You have to be the strongest skinny person on the board, nice! What's your BF%, <10%?

Not to be hyper-defensive, but I wouldn't say I'm skinny. Given my waist size, I routinely have to get my clothes tailored because my proportions are very atypical. Also, I weigh 143 at a height of 5'6". I know a kid who's 6' and weighs the same -- HE is skinny.

My BF % is probably 6 to 7%.

[savage]

There is no limit to my jealousy of little guys who can outbench me. Are you a powerlifter?

Nope. I have a desk job that works me 80 to 100 hours a week, sometimes up to 115. Yes, it is extremely painful at times. Without the fear of stormy waters and enemy bullets, I can sort of empathize with commercial fisherman and infantrymen.

[dsp]

Sorry when I said skinny, I meant equipped with body armor!

[savage]

WEEK 1, DAY 2
70% of 1RM, 5 x 5

Decided to designate this a high-intensity interval training day. 4 laps of a circuit that lasts 20 minutes. I can't remember what I did exactly, but it involved the following:

Tick-tocks
Speed rope work
Ring dips
Jumping jacks
L-sit ring chin-ups

Made sure to keep the reps on the BW strength work very low.

Before starting, I wanted to see if I could still do a back lever. I hadn't touched my rings at all since I began the Building Blocks program and worked only with barbells. It was incredibly EASY. Never before had my shoulders felt so in control of my body's descent into parallel. Before this attempt, I could do a back lever half, meaning my legs were held together but slightly bent. This time, my legs were fully extended and together AND IT WAS SO EASY.

The barbell work I did with the Building Blocks model had definitely strengthened some weak areas in my upper body and it had also allowed me to adequately rest and supercompensate for the work I had put in. Instead of the go-hard-or-go-home approach of adding more weight each session and mindlessly exhausting myself, I was rested and recovered, and thus a helluva lot stronger.

I held a legit back lever.