The Iowa Method (AKA Callador's guinea pig)

[Dillman]

It is about time to get serious about training. I am taking the new year and Callador's 4x4 split as opportunity and path to prepare for a meet (NASA) I plan on competing in on April 20th.

The thread name comes from the fact that as of the date of this posting I am living in Iowa and more fine states need to have fine training programs named after them.

Stats:
Age: 30
Body weight: 215-220 (started SS around 195 lbs)
Height: 5'9"

Training history:

Other than 1.5 years of wrestling in junior high and mediocre bench pressing in high school I have no athletic/training experience until October 2011. I found Starting Strength and took a weight training class at my university. I was so impressed with SS that I assumed it would be the textbook for my class. It was not. The class was annoying and I was happy to be done with it so I could move on with better, and more intelligent training. I followed SS for 3-6 months, farted around with some other stuff during the summer and ran the Texas Method (as written sans powercleans) from September through December of 2012.

Injury History:

I fell rock climbing in 2004 resulting in a shattered ankle joint and crushed cartilage. This injury has left me with poor ankle mobility and constant ankle pain. I had the hardware (3 plates and 16 screws) removed in February 2012. The hardware removal did not help. I can't jog because it hurts, can't really front squat because of limited dorsiflexion, and I don't bother with powercleans because every time I try to jump or extend my hips, knees, and ankles quickly I end up doing it all with my left (strong) side. So you won't see power cleans around here but you will see me squatting with a wide stance that accommodates my poor ankle flexibility

Program:

The program is laid out pretty well in this thread. I have also attached an image containing the planned weights for the main lifts as well as assistance exercises (see below). It is basically a program that lies between TM and 531 in terms of rate of progression. It also has periodic deloads (every three weeks) which I think will be good since I was forced to deload on TM due to accumulated fatigue. I have it mapped out for 12 weeks. This will give me enough time to "test" the method and properly prepare for the meet in April

Calladors 4x4.jpg

I established the 1RM values today at QC Barbell with SS coach Grant McCaulley. It was a good time and I made a video of all the "heavy" attempts. I think my form was decent but I have plenty of work to do, on all of the lifts. Unfortunately the 395 squat attempt was obscured. I think it was just to parallel but certainly good enough for benchmarking purposes. I pressed 190 for a few singles about 2 months ago.



Goals:

April Meet

Squat: 405
Bench Press: 315
Deadlift: 495

Squat is all but in the bag. Bench and deadlift may be a stretch but I'll shoot for them anyway.

2013

Squat: 455
Bench Press: 330
Deadlift: 525
Press: 225

[Patrick Stroup]

Awesome! Its cool to see people giving this a legit try. That thread initially bugged the shit out of me. Because it was full of a bunch of tire kickers!

I think you laid out some S.M.A.R.T. goals and made a solid plan to achieve them! GET TO IT BROTHER!

[bustermonkey2]

I would love to see how this goes, especially as I live in Sioux City, Iowa. Dillman- which meet are you thinking about in April, the NASA Iowa State meet?

[StrongLiftMyBalls]

Most interesting log on here. Fact. (except when Callador posts a new video).

Will definitely be following this and cheering from behind the screen. Good luck.

[Les Hahn]

Awesome! :-)

I hope the split routine works well for you. There are a few other guys doing it too (been talking to them via PM's). If you have any questions, please let me know.

Best of luck getting ready for the NASA meet!

[Les Hahn]

Oh, one thing I forgot...

Since you are doing NASA, you can use knee wraps. For percentage purposes, you could have a wrapped max and unwrapped max. I would use the wraped max for the heavy single/double and unwrapped for the 4x4+.

[Meshuggah]

That looks like a solid program, I might have to consider it.

[Dillman]

Thanks for checking in everybody. Got a question. After doing 1RM efforts (like in a meet) do you feel like you have been in a fight? All day Sunday and this morning I felt all beat up. Don't know if this is normal or if I am getting a bit of cold simultaneously (my kids have all been sick little dogs so I am almost certain I have a little something). Anyway I look forward to this first week being a light week. should be able to get through it alright even if I am slightly under the weather.

@bustermonkey2. Yes it is the Iowa State NASA meet. Will you be there?

@Callador. Thanks for putting this thing together. The more I think about it the more I think it fits my level of advancement really well. I don't know about the wraps. Maybe further down the road. Right now it is just one more piece of equipment and one more thing I need to learn how to use. I have plenty of other things to worry about right now. I am sure I'll be asking you questions as I go along.

[Briks42]

Great stuff on the one rep maxes. Yeah, I think since you did a handful of heavy singles for each lift, it's not a suprise at all that your body is beat up.

I'm really interested to see how you do with Callador's program. It's really interesting and I wouldn't be surprised if I try it myself at some point. I'll be rooting you on.

What is your height and weight right now? What weight class are you shooting for at your meet?

[Grant Mccaulley]

Hey Dillman

Great lifts! Sorry Brad was in the way of that 395 squats, what a dumbass!!! LOL!