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[Kundahli]

Purpose: A wise man once said "You can never have too many logs". This log is the next chapter in my journey: Re-running Linear Progression for Squats and Pulls. Press & Bench have been moved to intermediate (H/L/M) some time ago and are doing fine. Running a 4 Day Upper/Lower, Heavy/Light split with the lower movements on LP.

History: Ran LP earlier this year from February through May. Hit 308x3 Squat, 355x5 DL, 227.5x3 Bench, 163x4 Press. Tried to transition into Andy Baker's H/L/M for Mass , but got eaten alive. To be very clear, it wasn't the fault of the program. I wasn't eating enough and began losing weight. After stalling I played games with the H/L/M set-up to try to jump start my lifts, but nothing ever got off the ground. I'm attempting to re-run LP for squat and DL. Hopefully I can get a solid 12-16 weeks out of it and maybe even finish higher than where I ended last time.

6'3"
225lbs
26 years of age

Paying The Iron Price: Session #97 October 2nd 2014

LP - Lower Session # 2

Squat: LBBS [4" Belt]
Bar x 2 x 10, 135lbs x 2 x 5, 185x3, 215x1, 235x3x5

Pull: Deadlift [2.5" Belt]
135lbs x 5, 185x2, 225x1, 275x1, 305x1, 320x5

OVERALL: Squat form needs work as always. A little sloppy, but Im confident it will improve with time. Deads were fine, EZPZ

Director's Commentary: Why is that whenever I go to lift something heavy some fuckers need to have a conversation while standing on either end of my loaded barbell? This happened with DL's today. If the bar felt any heavier I would have probably raged out.

May have started Deads a bit too high, we will see. I'm not afraid to deload if need be.

[carson]

Welcome. I'll watch this with fascination. You are a bit stronger than I am but I've mostly stalled with my lifts.

[Kundahli]

Thanks, carson. If you're looking for squat and deadlift tips I'm afraid I can't help much. These lifts are a riddle I can't seem to crack.

However, I've watched a very dedicated, hard working lifter and SSC, Nick Klemetson, get brutally strong on squats and pulls by just busting his ass with the basics. Hopefully this can work for me too.

[Nick Klemetson]

Thanks, carson. If you're looking for squat and deadlift tips I'm afraid I can't help much. These lifts are a riddle I can't seem to crack.

However, I've watched a very dedicated, hard working lifter and SSC, Nick Klemetson, get brutally strong on squats and pulls by just busting his ass with the basics. Hopefully this can work for me too.

Aww thanks buddy. Not brutally strong yet, but it's true that sticking to the basics works. Just have to believe in yourself and be consistent.

May have started Deads a bit too high, we will see. I'm not afraid to deload if need be.

I wouldn't worry about this. Thankfully, deadlifts seem to benefit most from tapering reps. Do sets of 5 until you can get 4, then do 4's until you only get 3, etc... Once you get to doubles, add a back off set of 5 at about 85%.

Let's do this. You've got some time to catch up, since I'm battling a nasty illness now, and have missed today and will miss tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get back Monday.

[Kundahli]

Thanks, Nick. After reading about Brian Jones' recent return to LP the truth really stuck, instead of putzing around trying to get H/L/M to work for my squat I could just make the most of my time and re-run LP where I needed it most, squats and deads. I'll worry about more complicated programming with these lifts once I am sure I've truly exhausted my Novice potential.

[Kundahli]

LIGHT - Upper

Warm-Up:Rolling + Dynamic

Press: Medium [2.5" Belt] [2min interval]
Bar x 2 x 8, 95lbs x 2 x 5, 115x2, 135x2, 155x1, 165x1, 175x5x1

Press: Paused Bench [3ct pause on chest]
Bar x 2 x 8, 115lbs x 5, 145x1, 165x1, 185x1, 205x3x3 Volume PR, 180x8 (no pause)

Bent Arm Pullovers
75lb x 2 x 10

OVERALL: Solid session. Approaching old PR Press weight for multiple singles. My best press in a casual gym competition was 185lbs (my best with a bit-o-knee-bend was 190). These 175lb singles went smoothly, except the last one which got away from me and slowed down around lockout. Paused bench is feeling very strong.

Director's Commentary: In the back of my mind I have some reservations about pushing the Heavy/Light Pressing work too hard. I don't want it to interfere with my LP. I'll probably run the progressions (5s->>1s) out a bit less aggressively. I'm currently in the final singles progression of the H/L/M split Ive worked out.

Singles Progression
Heavy Day:
Bench Press 5 singles
Overhead Press 3x3, 1x6-8 (@90% Light Day)

Light Day:
Overhead Press 5 singles
Paused Bench 3x3, 1x6-8

This seems to be working pretty well. Its basically the Texas Method 4 Day Split just with Heavy/Light designations as opposed to Volume/Intensity. The first exercise is the "Money" exercise, the one I am trying to set PR's in. The second exercise each day is just for added volume (exactly like the Texas Method 4 Day Split), if it feels hard as hell I just hold weight steady the next week.

Progressions:
Press: +2lbs
Paused Bench: hold

[Kundahli]

LP - Lower

Warm-up: Rolling, extra effort on right hip. Dynamic

Squat LP: LBBS [4" Belt]
Bar x 2 x 8, 135lbs x 2 x 5, 185x3, 205x2, 225x1, 240x3x5

Pull: SLDL
Bar x 8, 135x5, 155x2x8

Pull-up Power Hour:
10min x AMRAP

Core: Side Bends:
60lbs x 2 x 10

OVERALL: Squats are coming together. I took some footage today and realized I was dropping too deep. I focused on cutting depth on my last set, which worked quite well. I had some issues with elbow pain during power cleans during my last LP run. In the past I've tried SLDL, paused DL, and speed DL as alternatives but the latter two seem to create too much stress. I'm going to stick with two lighter sets of SLDL, if for nothing more than to just loosen up my back and hamstrings.

Director's Commentary: I have a bad habit of dropping into the hole with my squat. Its great for a rebound but as soon as that momentum dissipates speed craters. I have been working to maintain tension throughout the lift by slowing down my descent. The cue "tension" has been helping quite a bit.

Here is today's last set:

http://youtu.be/MVZ33lAVkOo

Progressions:
Squat +5lbs
SLDL + 5lbs

[Kundahli]

HEAVY - Upper

Warm-up: Rolling, Dynamic, and some band work on shoudlers.

Press: Bench Press [Touch-n-Go] [2min interval for singles]
Bar x 2 x 10, 115lbs x 2 x 5, 145x3, 165x2, 185x1, 205x1, 222.5x1, 237.5x5x1

Press: OHP [2.5" Belt]
Bar x 8, 95lbs x 5, 115x3, 135x2, 147x1, 157x3x3, 132x8

Bent Arm Pullover
85lbs x 2 x 10

OVERALL: Strong and solid benching today. My best bench press single in training was 250lbs. This was during a ramped session. I'm going to wait until I hit 250lbs x 5 x 1 before I officially declare the PR train is pulling out of station. I doubt I will hit the 250lbs during this progression. I plan on working up to 242.5-245 before cycling back to 5s again. Press was strong and solid as well, no complaints.

Director's Commentary: Heard back from the coaches regarding my squat form. Apparently I do not have enough knee bend in my squat and do not drive my ass up hard enough. To correct the former issue it has been recommended I use TUBOW (which surprisingly enough my gym has). As for the latter ass issue, I guess I will just have to consciously focus on this more.

Progressions:
Bench: 2.5lbs
Press: 2.0lbs

[Mr_Rogers]

You're dangerously close to being a bro j/k ;-)

Looking forward to watching you progress!

[Kundahli]

You're dangerously close to being a bro j/k ;-)

Looking forward to watching you progress!

Ha, I know. I went from being a "WTF is legs day!?" guy to having my bench numbers approach my squat numbers.... FML (and my gangly legs) lol.