How to NDTP

[Igor]

Hi everyone! My name is Igor and this is my first time logging my training online. I hope it'll be interesting.

Bio, background and experience.

Age:24
Height:186cm (~6'1'')
Weight: 107-110kg (235-242 lbs) cutting right now to around 100kg ~220lbs. Not rushing it though. I gain weight very easily (was a bit chubby in school tbh) but losing it is a nightmare to me.

I've been lifting for a few years now but my numbers are far from impressive. Like most of us I had quite a experience exercising in the gym before finding out how to train properly. Not to mention lack of consistency that sometimes can make up a bit for poor programming. For the last month or so I've been finally consistent and I hope to squeeze some LP gains before switching to intermediate programming. Right now my program is changing a bit since I'm introducing a light squat day (like adv novice SS), stalled on my presses and want to do DL on the press day instead of bench press day. I will post entire layout after it establish itself again over the course of a few days. You will see that my program is influenced by Greyskull LP (bench before squats, last set is an AMRAP although I don't do more than 8 reps on it) and PTW novice program (more sets on presses than on squats). I train every other day, sometimes I give myself 2 days of rest but it's not set in stone. On the off days I try to do some cardio, it doesn't happen everyday though. Depending on my schedule I do 45-70 mins of LISS on my stationary bike while watching TV or playing games or I go to the gym to do some HIIT.

As far as diet goes I don't really count anything. I just eliminated almost all drinks that have calories. I drink mostly water, sometimes Coca Cola zero, the only drink with calories I drink daily is coffee with 2-3 spoons of sugar. Also I try to eat carbs only around my training (1-2 meals before the session and 1 meal after it). Apart from that I try to limit them as much as possible. So my weight fluctuates quite a bit depending on carb intake.

So todays training looked like this (sets x reps x weight):

Bench Press 3x5x90kg, 1x7x90kg Today was the first day I tried something I've seen on IPF Worlds yesterday. Unracking the weight with feet and butt up and then putting them down. Feels better, more stable.

Low Bar Squat w/Belt 2x5x145kg yeah my amrap set this time was 5. Note that up to this point I was doing 5kg jumps.

Deadlift w/hook grip 1x2x150kg, w/straps 1x5x150kg Yeah I'm still getting used to the hook. Never done more than 4 reps on working weight. I hope I will get rid of the straps soon. I want the hook grip to be my default grip on a DL.

Power Clean 3x2x60kg just some technique work, next real PC workout will be in 27th at best.

Tomorrow I plan to do some HIIT.

[Igor]

Yesterday I went to the gym for some conditioning but it was more of a exercising by it's pure definition. I tried some very light power snatches and I really enjoyed them, I think I will implement into my training at some point in the future (maybe when I Power Clean 2 plates per side). Did some KB swings, box jumps and played around with battling ropes. Pretty much fuckin' around but I got sweaty, heart rate went up. Good enough .

Also I was there with my GF and as far as BB training goes I only managed to get her squatting and benching. She has extreme anxiety in the gym, she thinks that everyone around is looking at her and judging what she does, how she looks etc. So I don't want to force her to anything. I'd like her to actually enjoy strength training sooner or later. After this we went to sauna to relax. Today I'm going to actually train and lift some weights.

[Igor]

Low Bar Squat w/belt 2x5x148 kg. I don't think I could hit a 6th rep on any of these sets without grinding the shit out of myself... Also I have to pay closer attention to my hands position since I had some minor left elbow/bicep insertion pain despite using wrist wraps. Doing some light bicep and hammer curls in between sets helped a bit though

Press w/belt 4x5x65kg. I really wanted to push that last set but was out of breath for some bizzare reason and didn't want to compromise form for the sake of an extra rep or two.

Deadlift w/hook grip 1x2x155kg, DL w/straps 1x5x155kg. From now on DL will be on a "Press" day.

Power Clean 3x2x50kg. I planned on doing 65-70kg but I couldn't get the form right today. Probably due to lower back being fried. Luckily in 2 days I will do them relative fresh (after light Front Squats and Benching).

Aside from no of sets and light PCs at the end that looked like pretty much like the Sacred Program

[Chris McCarthy]

Welcome!

[Igor]

Thanks! Next week I think I will have an established template and will update my 1st post then. Should've registered and started this log like a month ago or so when I was squatting only ~100kg. Everything was going more smoothly back then. Hope I can still squeeze some LP gains while slowly cutting (yes I am well aware that it's far from optimal).

[Meshuggah]

I've never done "The Program" Good luck with your training.

[Igor]

60 mins of LISS cardio on a stationary bike. Revived my ancient Nintendo 64 and collected some stars playing Mario .

[Igor]

Front Squat 3x5x75kg. Very easy, I was taking relatively short rest periods between the sets.

Bench Press 2x5x93kg, 2x4x93kg (on the last set the spotter didn't understand "don't touch the bar unless I'm about to die") I felt very depleted doing those, late cardio session definetely impacted this. However form wasn't perfect either.

Power Clean 5x3x70kg. Considering my PCs from the last session they went surprisingly smooth. Warming up I had some donkey kick action on 2 reps but I corrected it. On some of the working sets reps I caught the bar a bit lower than I'd like to but I am happy overally.

DB Rows 10x20kg, 8x30kg, 8x40kg, 10x40kg.

Press 2x5x50kg I should not have really even do these. I was pretty much exhausted. After Rows I should've just call it a day or do some fluff work like side raises or facepulls.

I will defintely not do any cardio tomorrow. However considering my issues with the bench press I will do one set of bench at 95kg at the beggining of the next training session. Depending on how it will all work out I will have those Bench (maybe alternating with Press) "intensity days" every week.

[Igor]

Bench Press 1x6x95kg. that went really nice

Low Bar Squat w/belt 2x4x150kg. I felt like I really screwed up here. Only a few reps were good technique wise, I pretty much front squatted it. On the 1st set I'm pretty sure I cut depth on the 4th rep as well. I will repeat this weight next time and really focus on the technique.

Press w/belt 3x5x67kg, 1x6x67kg. Tried to keep rest times under 3 mins on sets 1-3. Really happy with Presses today. Although on the last rep today I unconciously went on my toes a bit so technically I shouldn't really count this rep.

Deadlift w/hook grip 1x2x160kg. Pretty confident that if I tried 3rd rep it'd slip.
Deadlift w/straps 1x4x160kg. Couldn't grip the bar evenly so had to re-adjust the grip after each rep. On first 2 reps I was leaning to the left because of this. I really hate straps but the hook grip is still my limiting factor... Maybe I should try DLing with a different, thinner bar?

Mixed feelings about this session. Presses went fine (I will definetely do 1 set of heavy benches once a week on the Press day), lower body lifts not so much, but not really due to lack of recovery.

[Igor]

Bench Press 3x5x93kg, 1x6x93kg (failed at 7th rep).

Low Bar Squat w/belt 1x5x150kg. Grinded out the shit out of this set and I knew there's no point in trying this for the 2nd time. Not to mention I screwed up my headphones which provide me with proper dose of heavy metal \m/

Power Clean 3x60kg, 3x70kg, 3x3x75kg. PC finally felt heavy on the last 3 sets.

DB Rows 10x30kg, 3x10x40kg

Lateral Raises 15x8kg, 15x10kg, 2x12x10kg