Thursday, October 7, 2010

SQUAT/DL ACCESSORY

5 minutes treadmill
dynamic stretch

Romanian Dead Lift
4 x 10

Machine Leg Press
4 x 10

Pull Through
4 x 10

My right glute med was tight the whole time. The RDLs made my hip and low back tighten up something fierce. I'm gonna have to quit the RDLs for now. I think I'm going to do this:

Pull Through (much heavier)
4 x 10
Leg Press
4 x 10
Back Raise (46* bench or roman chair)
4 x 10

I'm also going to spend more time stretching and warming up my hip.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

Offseason/Upcoming Meet Prep

This will be my plan for any off season I get from now until the next meet, and working up to the meet. I will take most of this week off to get things with work/school/personal life back into focus and to recover from the meet (that means eat a lot and sleep as much as possible, with some stretching). After this coming weekend, though, I'll be back in the saddle.

Here's the template I put together with one of my undergrad buddies in the Kinesiology department:

TRAINING TEMPLATE FALL 2010

SUNDAY – Max Effort Bench Press
-Bench Press = heavy 3, 2, or 1
-JM Press 5 x 10
-Scarecrow 2 x 10 (for shoulder health)

TUESDAY – Repeated Effort Squat/Dead Lift
-Leg Press 5 x 10 (my hip cannot take higher rep squats, so I replace them with this)
-RDL 5 x 10
-Pull Through 5 x 10

THURSDAY – Repeated Effort Bench Press
-Dumbbell Bench Press 5 x 10 (Speed bench press every 3rd week, 8 sets of 3)
-Face Pulls 5 x 10
-Dizenzo Rows 5 x 10

Saturday – Max Effort Squat/Dynamic Effort Dead Lift
-Squat = heavy 3, 2, 1
-Dead Lift = dynamic 8 sets of 3
-Abs

Notes:
Primary goal is hypertrophy (using anti-estrogen and anti-SHBG).
Secondary goal is to improve bench press off the chest, upper back strength, hamstring strength while avoiding planned de-load phases.

M/E days are working up to 2 sets of triples in the high 80% range, 2 sets of doubles in the low 90% range, or 3 sets of singles in the mid to high 90% range. Decrease reps as meet approaches. This is set up so that there are no planned deload phases.

As you can see, this is sort of a modified Westside style setup (who's isn't? haha). I plan to keep myself in good enough condition so as to avoid back off weeks because they end up usually hurting me more than helping me. I'm only 24, so I don't think that's such a bad thing. I got this idea from Bob Youngs.


And here is the schedule:

12 WEEK MEET CYCLE WITH HYPERTROPHY
(Using Training Template Fall 2010)

Weeks 12 - 9
2 sets of 3 in high 80% range for heavy days
assistance as written

Weeks 8 - 6
2 sets of 2 in low 90% range for heavy days
assistance as written

Weeks 5 - 2
3 sets of 1 in mid to high 90% range for heavy days
taper off assistance work as meet approaches staring in week 3

Week 1
stretching and soft tissue work only

Saturday/Sunday
Meet.

I go mostly by feel, so the percentages take on a rather loose interpretation. When I'm actually in meet prep, I'll be using percentages of my goal weights (not yet determined, but I'll post as soon as they are), but if I think it's too heavy for that day I'll just back the weight off a bit. While I'm in off-season, I'll be using my goals for the last meet to calculate the percentages (squat=525, bench press=375, dead lift=535).

For the off season, I will be rotating the 12-9 weeks over and over and maybe using some of the 8-6 weeks if I get bored. I will not work into singles. I definitely think, given my current body composition, that I have a lot of gains to make from hypertrophy (as opposed to CNS activation and muscle contraction coordination via very heavy M/E work), so that is the main goal here. If the meet is really far out, I may do some deloading after 10 weeks or so. I am not particular to a weight class. It would be nice to stay in the 275 class, but if I end up in the SHW, I don't really care. I'll just change my goals to hit elite in that class. I seriously doubt that will happen, as I'm only 5'10" and I want to be able to walk from my car to my desk without working up a sweat.

Here is my plan for nutrition/supplementation:

Nutrition to me is more about my time/budget constraints than it is eating "optimally". I have a demanding social life (I'm not some diva, it's just that I have a serious girlfriend and am a very social person) and I work in a field that is far removed from kinesiology/dietetics/nutrition/exercise physiology. Because of that, I end up eating out a lot and just doing what I can. So, given that, my plan is like this:

Breakfast: Drink some hot tea. That's it.
Lunch: Eat mostly protein and fat. Limit carbs as much as is practical.
Dinner (or post-workout): Eat mostly carbs and protein. I'm not worried too much about dietary fat.

I'll basically eat as much as I want and make sure that protein makes up a good portion of my diet. This is the good thing about being heavy. My girlfriend doesn't care if I don't have a six pack, so neither do I. I'm really in a lot better shape than most anyone else in the world who weighs as much as I do, so I'm not gonna get all crazy about my diet. I'm basically following (loosely) a set up put together by a guy named Kiefer. There is a load of free info at his site http://www.dangerouslyhardcore.com.

For the supplement component, I'll be using "UNLEASHED" for a month and then using "POST-CYCLE" for a month. I'll just cycle this over and over. I really have high hopes for this because Zach uses it and has some damned strong lifts. You can purchase both of these here on the site and both are very reasonably priced.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

Sunday, October 3, 2010

2010 KS State Championships Meet Writeup

The meet was yesterday. I am pretty bummed out about my performance at the meet. I always told myself I'd open light so that I'd never bomb. Well, I bombed.

The squats went very well. 485 was my opener and it went up easily despite my belt being far too loose. One of the guys helped me get it on for the rest of them. My second attempt was 525. This was a grinder, but I got 3 whites! 13 lbs. PR in just 2.5 months. Third attempt was 540. That was a big jump and I got in the hole and had nothing left. I really think a lot of it was psychological, but I'm not going to worry about it. My goal for the next meet is to be at 550.

I opened at 345 for bench press. I think my biggest mistake was not taking into account the fact that I don't pause for the "press" command in my training. I really need to get that down. 345 is easy without the pause. Clearly I need more strength off the chest; it's probably an upper-back or lat strength issue, so it will be addressed. Second attempt was 370 even though I missed the 345. I couldn't hit it, so I was out. They were going to let me finish if I wanted, but I hate deadlifting and I hate getting handouts, so I told them to scratch me. In a national-level meet, I wouldn't have the option, so I don't want them giving it to me now.

Overall, the meet was great. I saw some new faces and got to see some old ones too. There were some high school kids competing which is always good to see as well.

Planning for something better next time.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano