Bench/Overhead

Bench
275x3; 275x3; 275x3

Push Press
185x3; 185x3; 205x3

Barbell Curls w/ Fat Grip
95x8; 95x5; 95x5; 95x3

Seated Calves supersetted w/ Cable Curls
100x12; 100x12; 100x10; 145x8
90x14; 110x10; 110x8; 110x8

Notes
-Last workout of 2011.  Just did some random pressing stuff.  Recap and 2012 plans to follow.
-Fat grips destroy my biceps.

Deadlifts/Back

Speed Pulls
275x3; 275x3; 275x3; 275x3; 275x3

Bent BB Row
225x5; 275x5; 225x8

Chins
6; 5

Seated Row
200x10; 200x10; 200x10

Notes
-Speed pulls sucked.  Wasn't really into it.
-Surprised I've maintained a decent level of back strength.  275x5 is basically my "standard."  I hit that last night w/ straps and no belt.  I'll take it considering I haven't really done any heavy back work the past 10 weeks.  I'd like the bent row to roughly equal my bench, so I need to hit it hard and heavy in 2012

-No pain at all on chins.  YTI's and facepulls worked.  Yay.

Boxing

Agility Ladders to Warm Up

6 rounds focus gloves

45 minutes of 2 minute rounds

Notes
-Boxing sesh was a lot of fun tonight.  There were only 3 guys total so the time in between round was considerably shorter.  I was totally winded about halfway through the sparring rounds.  I've looked up a couple options for boxing gyms in STL.  I'm 99% I'm going to start doing this if I can find a cheap/convenient gym to join.  I will obviously have to balance lifting, but honestly this is just a lot of fun putting my power and speed to use.  I'd like to box at least 2-3x per week, and lift at least 3x per week.

Overhead

Standing Overheads (in ladder fashion)
135x1; 135x2; 135x3; 135x4; 135x2; 135x3; 134x4; 135x2; 135x3; 134x4; 135x2; 135x3; 134x4; 135x2

Close Grip Bench
185x8; 185x8; 185x8

DB Farmer Walk
90/90 x 70 yds; 90/90 x 70 yds; 90/90 x 70 yds

Notes
-Solid overhead session with Matt tonight.  Overheads were performed at a quick pace.  I did a set, then Matt immediately got under the bar, and so on.

-I have a lot swimming through my head for my next training phase.  Ladders will definitely be incorporated at some point.  I just think its a really solid way to strength train.  Lots of volume, solid crisp reps, and you have to setup and get in position many times in the course of a single workout.

Squat

Squat
315x2; 315x2; 365x5; 405x5

Notes
-Quick squat session with Matt tonight.  Each 405 rep felt grindy.  Squats suck because they are always fucking hard.

Bench and Curls

Bench
275x3; 275x3; 275x3

Close Grip Incline
135x10; 135x10; 135x10

Shrugs
315x3; 365x3; 365x3; 315x3

BB Row
135x12; 135x12; 135x12

Squat Rack Fat Grip BB Curls
75x8; 75x8; 75x8

DB Curl
30x10; 30x8; 30x6

Straight Bar Cable Curl
65x12; 60x12; 55x20

Notes
-Kind of a gay night.  Too sore to do anything good.

Upper Push

Bench
275x2; 295x1; 315x1; 275x6; 225x10

Push Press
185x3; 185x5; 185x5

Incline Smith
225x8; 225x8 225x8

Standing Calves
3 sets

Decline Abs
15; 15; 15

Notes
-Pretty heavy push day this morning.  I'm sore all over. Heavy bench/squat on Monday.  Max OHP on wednesday.  Boxing for the first time Thursday.  Heavy deads and crazy back volume yesterday, and then about 12 hours later I hit all of the big pressing muscles again.

-2012 is going to start with a mixed hypertrophy stage.  Its overdue at this point... Pounding individual body parts this week has been a lot of fun.  Its refreshing to leave the gym with my tri's/shoulders smoked.

Sheiko Realization: Deadlift

Deadlift
405x1; 455x1; 495x1; 545x0; 545x0; 315x10

Pull-Down Machine supersetted w/ Pull-Over Machine
3 sets 10 reps
3 sets 10 reps

The following was performed as one continuous mega set with with zero rest between sets or rounds

HS Low Row supersetted w/ Close Grip Pull-down supersetted w/ Farmers Walks
90x10/10; 90x10/10; 90x10/10

150x8; 150x8; 150x8

100x 50 yds; 100x50yds; 100x50yds


Notes
-Tonight was fun.  It was first time I've missed a gym lift in 1-2 years.  I really don't remember the last time that happened.  I knew I didn't have a big pull in me today as soon as I felt 405.  I was with my old training partner Chris, so I said fuck it and just kept going up.  495 was a grind.  I only attempted 545 because he loaded that for a triple.  When I missed it, I got fucking pissed and retried it.  I just have to lol at my second attempt.  I barely fucking broke the floor with the first, there was no way the second attempt would have happened.  Oh well. It was more fun watching Chris pull 495x5 and 545x3 after not deadlifting for 2 months.  No elaborate plans, no agonizing over stupid shit, he just shows up and destroys whatever is up to be destroyed that day. (He pulled 630x5 a few months ago).

-Even the lowest volume Sheiko sucks for my deadlift.  It has little to do with the deadlift programming, and more to do with the squat volume.  I was constantly pulling in a fatigued state, coming off a meet where I was pulling at an extreme 5x a week frequency.  I could feel my deadlift tanking every week.  The pulls were light compared to my official 570 deadlift, but they always felt heavy as fuck..   I never had a 570 deadlift during the program, and I was never close to it today.

-My 2012 deadlift approach will be slightly revamped.  The biggest change will be speed pulls in place of heavy sets. I've thought about this 1000 times, and there is simply no way for me to program a routine that involves heavy deadlifts on a weekly basis (without impacting every other lift).

-My goal has always been to total elite as a raw natural.  I will do this.  I have no doubts.  I'm not upset about today because I've learned so much the past 6 months.  My path to elite requires precision, and learning how to peak with every lift.  I'm not a Chris.  I can't brute strength my way into a huge total while staying natural a decent bodyweight.  I need to get good at each lift to move big weight.

Boxing

1 hour 20 minutes

Warm-up: Agility Ladders

Sparring: Lost count of the rounds

This was fucking awesome.  Sweated my ass off the entire time.  Learning how to move, defend, and throw basic combos was fun.  I obviously don't know jack shit, but it was a fun time.

Sheiko Realization: Overhead Press

Standing Overhead
135x3; 155x1; 175x1; 185x1; 195x1; 205x1; 215x1


Push Press
225x1


Rep Work
135x3; 135x3; 135x3; 135x2; 135x2; 135x2; 135x2

HS High Iso Row
270x8; 360x5; 360x5; 270x8

OH DB Extension
60x15; 60x15; 60x15

Facepulls
40x16; 40x16; 40x16

Notes
-All time PR in OH and push press.  I haven't done OH with much consistency over the years, but I feel tonight was a solid effort.  I'm going to start incorporating push presses into my routine in 2012.

-I only did the push press for my last heavy set so I could have two wheels over my head.  Felt good mang.

A.M. Cardio / H.I.I.T. Session

20 mins foam roll/stretch.

Row
-8 mins
-worked up to semi intense 2 min sprint

Stationary Bike H.I.I.T.
-15 mins  total
-3 rounds of 30 second sprint, 2 min back-off

Notes
-Feel good.  Will gradually increase work capacity.  Overall I want to keep these sessions moderate. About half the reason I'm doing them is it gives me something to do in the morning.

Recovery Day

Early Afternoon Cardio
-Foam Rolling
-8 Minutes Row
-8 Minutes Stationary Bike

Evening Recovery Session
-Foam Rolling
-53# KB Work: 3 rounds of Goblet Squats, Swings, Clean & Press

Notes
-Let the two-a-days begin.  I have lots of time on my hands, and I absolutely hate being bored.  I'm going to do some form of light cardio every morning.  Lifting/recovery at night.  I'll gradually work the cardio up to about 35 minutes max.
-I'm a little sore from the heavy lifts last night.  One cool thing I noticed: sore lats.  Sore lats from benching makes me happy.

Sheiko Realization

Squat
365x1; 405x1; 425x1; 455x1; 475x1

Bench
275x2; 295x1; 315x1; 225x5; 225x5; 225x3; 225x3; 225x3

YTI's
5x8/8/8; 5x8/8/8; 5x8/8/8

Notes
-Back in NH, got to workout with Matt and see another old training buddy. We had a lot of fun, and basically worked up to a daily max.  I haven't worked out in 10 days due to the final stretch of exams.  I pushed Sheiko as long as I could, but needed last week to go all out on school.

-Pleased with squat.  I did Sheiko with a 450 working max.  I easily had a 5 plate squat in me tonight, but I really just didn't feel like blowing my guts out in the process.  I have 3 weeks to go heavy while I'm home.  Same thing with bench.  Knew I had more in me, but I don't want to miss a rep right now.  Overall, it felt good to get some heavier reps in.

-Had a 3,000 calorie mexican dinner with Matt after training.

Sheiko Week 4 Day 3

Squat

275x3; 275x3; 315x3; 315x3; 365x3; 365x3; 365x3; 365x3; 365x3

Bench

225x3; 240x3; 275x3; 275x3; 290x2; 290x2; 290x2; 255x4; 255x4; 255x4

YTI’s 7.5x8/8/8; 7.5x8/8/8; 7.5x8/8/8

Leg Press

275x15; 365x15; 365x15

Notes

-This was awful.  My lower back was sore as fuck from deadlifts…glutes/tris/upper back were also sore.  Today was the heaviest individual load (intensity + volume) of the last 4 weeks.  I would have never actually gone through with this session if it wasn't the last planned workout of the training block.

-I may or may not have fucked my lower back.  Right now it just feels like my erectors are warm and throbbing, so I think its alright. Yay.

Update: I'm able to foam roll my lower back, albeit with extreme pain and a healthy dose of profanity. So, I think its musculature and I'm probably good.

Sheiko Week 4 Day 2

Deadlift
315x2; 365x2; 405x2; 455x2; 455x2; 475x2

Standing Overhead
160x5; 160x5; 160x5; 160x5(belt last set)

Bulgarian Split Squat
Barx5/5; 95x5/5; 95x5/5

Cable Row
150x8; 150x8; 150x8

Pullups
2; 2; 2

Notes
-Deads had good pop, but I felt the affects of accumulated fatigue with the heavier sets.  I'm not really sore, but there is no way I'm recovered from Monday's workout going into today.
-Overhead is really starting to grind.  I'm deloading next week, but I think I'm going to do some higher rep sets in the next few weeks.  Its really not a strength thing right now.  I've never consistently done standing OH, so I think I need to work on building the muscle that supports the lift for a while.
-Just testing the water with pullups. Moderate "twinge" with overhand grip. Underhand/neutral felt ok.  I don't know if I even care about doing pullups right now.

Sheiko Week 4 Day 1

Squat
225x3; 275x3; 315x2; 365x2; 385x2; 385x2

Bench
225x3; 275x3; 275x3; 275x3; 275x3

Squat
225x3; 275x3; 315x2; 315x2; 365x2; 365x2; 365x2; 365x2

Y.T.I's7.5x8/8/8; 7.5x8/8/8; 7.5x8/8/8... moved up to the 7.5'ers.  woot.

Standing Calf Raise supersetted w/ Tibialis Anterior Raise supersetted w/ DB Curl
150x18; 150x18; 150x18
40x8; 40x8; 40x8
35x12; 35x10; 35x10

Notes
-Squats were decent.  The bar felt much lighter on the second round.  It still sucked doing them though.
-Bench was slow and a little muddy.  I couldn't figure it out during the workout, then I got home and saw my entry for friday and realized it was a pretty heavy bench day.

Sheiko Week 3 Day 3

Bench
3x225; 3x240; 3x240; 3x275; 3x275; 3x275

Squat
3x275; 3x315; 4x345; 4x345; 4x345*

Bench
6x225; 6x225; 4x240; 4x240; 4x240; 4x240

Facepulls
10x12; 10x12; 10x12

Calf Raises and Low HG Cable Row (one continuous set)
135x20; 135x20; 135x20
150x8; 150x8; 150x8

*Dropped one set, but bumped worksets up by 10 lbs.

32 sets (including warm-ups) in 63 minutes.


Notes
-Training is fast and intense right now.  Rest periods are unracking the weight and watching the other person perform the set.  My work capacity has to be at an all time high.  I felt great after this session - pounded some chipotle and then took a 3 hour practice exam.

-Bench felt easier the second time around, which is a good sign.

Sheiko Week 3 Day 2

Deadlift
405x5; 405x5; 405

Standing MP
155x5; 155x5; 155x5; 155x7

Notes
-Obviously nothing about this workout was "Sheiko," but I didn't have time for anything else.
-Training partner and I agreed that our "recovery" kettlebell session went a little too far yesterday and affected the lifts today.

Kettlebell Recovery Session

Stretching, dynamic moves for warm-ups.  Really working on hip flexibility.

KB Complexes
35 lb KB.  Swings x Clean & Press
50; 15/15
50; 15/15
50; 15/15

KB 1 Arm OH Walk
40 yards left, 40 yards right; 40 yards left, 40 yards right

Notes
-Right shoulder almost back to normal.  KB press and waiters walks makes the shoulder joint feel awesome.

Sheiko Week 3 Day 1

Squat
275x3; 315x3; 315x3; 365x3; 365x3; 365x3; 365x3

Bench
225x3; 240x3; 240x3; 275x3; 275x3; 275x3

Leg Press
270x10; 360x10; 450x10; 500x10

YTI's
5x14/14/14; 5x10/10/10; 5x10/10/10

Standing Calves (toes out) supersetted w/ Seated Calves
120x14; 120x14; 120x14
90x8; 90x8; 90x8


Notes
-Dropped the second round of squats, benched as prescribed.  My first exam worth 100% of my grade is one week away.  I'll continue to strive to do the program as outlined, but grades are more important than performing a second squat session while already balls deep in a russian volume routine.

-Overall I feel good. A little beat down, but nothing more than I'd expect.

Sheiko Week 2 Day 3

Warm-ups

Took extra time to warm-up today.  5 mins erg row machine.  Static/dynamic stretching.  Goblet squats, KB Swings, and KB Clean & Press.  Every time I take my time with warm-up I have a better training session.

LIFT

Squat

225x2; 275x2; 315x2; 335x2; 335x2 (vid)

Bench

225x3; 240x3; 255x3; 275x2; 275x2(vid); 290x1; 290x1; 245x3; 225x3

Y.T.I's

5x13/13/13; 5x13/13/13

Farmer's Walks

80/80 x 40 yds; 80/80 x 40 yds; 80/80 x 40 yds; 80/80 x 40 yds;

Standing Calf supersetted w/ Tibialis Anterior Raise

150x15; 150x15; 150x15

10x8; 10x8; 10x8

Squat vid: http://youtu.be/KWCPf1rwFeY

Bench Vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XT2pF7LmOo&feature=youtu.be

Notes
-I significantly reduced squat volume because the gym was closed yesterday, and I have a big squat session on Monday.

-Squat form.  I feel its definitely improved, but still has a long way to go.  Compare the above 335 vid to the 420x5 from September 3rd.  First, I'm getting a lot deeper.  I was below parallel today (especially the second rep).  Second, my upper back work has definitely improved my hand/arm position.  Look how they flared straight back in the 420 vid. At 335, the angle is much better.  I'm also more upright.  With that said, I still don't think it looks great.  Most noticeable is how much forward lean I have before even beginning the squat.  I'm seriously considering moving to a high bar squat.  I'll continue to work on mobility/flexibility...there is a lot I need to address, and really its a matter of totally committing to fixing the issues.  I haven't really been able to do that yet.  I'm doing a bunch of stuff, but I need to do more.  Knee stress was moderate.

-Bench form.  Pretty pleased with this overall.  Its obvious I'm tight and my entire body is under control.  There isn't much movement at all.  Bar path looks good.  I like the arc back towards the pins.  Really engages my triceps.  Also, its hard to tell from the vid angle, but I'm tucking my elbows pretty well.  The most noticeable issue is the head raise.  Honestly, I've done this for a long time and its something I'll have to really focus on changing.

Sheiko Week 2 Day 2

Extra long stretching warm-up

Deadlifts
315x3; 365x2; 405x3; 405x3; 435x3; 435x3; 435x3; 445x2

Standing OHP
150x5; 150x5; 150x1.5* (started to black out, lol wut); 150x5; 150x5; 150x5

Semi-Sumo Rack Pulls 
Bar just below knee caps, in the "soft spot"
315x3; 365x3; 405x3 (straps); 455x3; 455x (vid) 3; 455x3

Close Hammer Grip Cable Row 
elbows tucked and super hard retraction
150x10; 150x10; 150x10

Standing Calf
135x18; 135x18; 135x18

*On my next set after the near blackout, I realized I was attempting to do the entire set without breathing.  Not the brightest thing to when putting a bunch of steel directly above your cranium.

Rack Pull vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsennGncPu4

Notes
-Today ended up being an important training day.  Everything "came together."  I don't mean that I felt extremely strong or fresh.  I shouldn't feel like that on this program.  I felt semi-fatigued, but with the conditioning and power to get through a long heavy workout.  Tons of stuff at play right now, but I navigated the last few weeks correctly to get to the point where these heavy workouts are at the right intensity, and the KB workouts in between are actually working to aid recovery (as opposed to hampering progress).  I only take the time to write stuff like this because it is really helpful down the line when programming for similar situations.

-Tried the semi-sumo pulls because I wanted to get some heavy back work in.  Sheiko actually calls for a bunch of rack pulls and "deadlifts to knees" every week... but its an insane amount of heavy pulling to just start off with week 1.  These felt pretty good.  I did semi-sumo because conventional rack pulls have always felt terrible.  Today was no different.  There is something about the unnatural starting back position that makes it feel dangerous.  I don't feel that way with my knees wider and arms between my legs.

Slight flex, slight gut suck-in.  Haha.

Kettlebell Conditioning

5 minute warm-up on row machine.  Stretching, etc.

KB Swings
50; 50; 50 (150 total, +30 PR)

Superset
Clean & Press
10; 10; 10

Notes
-Swings felt considerably easier as compared to last week. Short term goal: 100 swing set.  Mid term goal: 3 x 100 swings in one workout. When I hit that I'll move up to the 52 lb bell.  I really really like high rep KB swings for recovery.

Sheiko Week 2 Day 1

Warm-up:  5 minute Row machine, stretching, etc.

Squat
4x225; 3x275; 3x315; 3x315; 2x365; 2x365; 2x365; 2x365

Bench
225x3; 240x3; 275x2; 275x2; 275x2; 275x2

Squat
225x3; 250x2; 290x3; 290x3; 335x3; 335x3; 335x3

Y.T.I.'s supersetted w/ Standing Calf
5x12/12/12; 5x12/12/12; 5x10/10/10

120x18; 120x18; 120x18


Notes
-That wasn't too much fun.  No part of my body wanted to get back under the bar a second time for squats.
-Had an olympic lifting bro watch me on my last squat sets and he said I was easily below parallel.

Edit:  Here is what the program called for in terms of sets/reps tonight.  I round to make taking plates on and off easier... at this level of volume it really doesn't matter.

                Sets          Reps

Squat        1              4              50%        225

                1              4              60%        270

                2              3              70%        315

                4              2              80%        360

Bench       1              3              50%        170

                1              3              60%        204

                1              3              70%        238

                4              2              80%        272

Squat        1              3              55%        247.5

                1              3              65%        292.5

                3              3              75%        337.5

Sheiko Week 1 Day 3

Bench
135x8; 185x4; 205x3; 240x3; 255x3; 275x2; 275x2; 290x1; 290x1; 275x6 (rage filled paused reps)

Squat
225x5; 275x3; 315x3; 3x335; 3x335; 3x335; 3x335

YTI's on Incline
5x10/10/10; 5x10/10/10; 5x10/10/10

Leg Press
300x12; 300x12; 300x18

DB Curls (actually squeezing at the top)
35x10; 35x10

Seated DB Press
55x10; 55x10

Facepulls
50x10; 50x10

Notes
-Bench felt great, squat was a struggle.  Week 1 took a toll on my lower back.  I really had to grind through the reps.

-I was supposed to reverse pyramid all the way back down on bench... I have a workout partner now (doing a modified starting strength), so I'm not going to make him sit there are watch me do 5+ more sets.  I ended with a more challenging 275 set.

Sheiko Week 1 Day 2

Deadlift
135x8; 135x8; 225x3; 315x3; 365x1; 405x3; 405x3; 425x3; 425x3; 425x3

Overhead Press
95x8; 135x5; 145x5; 145x5; 145x5; 145x4 (failed 5)

Bulgarian Split Squat
Bar x 5/5; Bar x 5/5

HG Cable Row
3x10... forget weight

Notes
-Well, I've had better days in the gym.  Warming up, I could tell deadlift was weak.  I dropped the two 5x365 sets so I could get the heavier work in.

-OHP felt weak too... I haven't missed a lift in the gym in a long time.  I cant even remember the last time, but it was probably well over a year a go.  Tonight it was a combination of my core being blasted from muscling through deadlifts, and sore tri's from a bunch of benching.  I lost focus as well and didn't really even attempt to grind it out.

Kettlebell Recovery Session

5 minutes of stretching

Kettlebell Work

• Static Holds in the  bottom Goblet Squat Position
• 3 Turkish getups per side
• 50 Swings
• Waiter's Walk:  80 yards down and 80 yards back. Switching hands each time.  3 total trips.

Notes

-Quick, light session to get stretched out and get the blood flowing.  Surprisingly, not too sore from last night. Guess that means my conditioning week worked.

Sheiko: Week 1 Day 1

Bench
135x10; 185x4; 205x3; 240x3; 255x3; 255x3; 255x3; 255x3

Squat
135x8; 225x5; 275x5; 315x5; 315x5; 315x5; 315x5; 315x5

Bench
185x4; 225x4; 225x4; 240x4; 240x4; 240x4; 240x4

Y.T.I's
5x8/8/8; 5x8/8/8; 5x8/8/8

Leg Press
210x10; 210x10; 210x10

Facepulls
10x16; 10x12

Workout Time: 70 minutes.

Notes
-So it begins.  Nothing much to say, the workout volume speaks for itself.   Going back to bench after high volume squats was challenging.  It had to force myself to stay in a tight position.  My body was tired.

-I'm going to sleep like a baby.

Sheiko Conditioning Day 3

Saturday, November 12th - Lift

Squat 
225x3; 275x3; 275x3; 275x3; 275x3; 315x2 (belt); 365x1; 405x3 (wraps)

Bench
3x225; 3x225; 3x240; 3x240; 3x240; 3x245

YTI's
5x/8/8/8; 5x8/8/8; 5x8/8/8

DB Curl supersetted w/ Seated DB Shoulder Press
40x10; 40x10; 40x10
50x10; 50x10; 50x10

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday November 11th - KB Complexes

16kg Complex

Swing x Clean & Press x Goblet Squat

40 x 10/10 x 20

40 x 10/10 x 20

40 x 10/10 x 20

Notes

-I was supposed to stop with the 275 sets, but my friend was testing his max, and I was curious to see where I'm at with backsquats after 8+ weeks off.  405 felt smooth all things considered.  I feel I've lost almost nothing with squats. I had more than 405x3 in me, but I stopped because I had enough information.  

-I attribute a few things to the squat improvements: not squatting, rock solid lowback from deadlifting 5x a week, improved hip flexibility from mobility/goblet squats, and better hand positioning on the bar.  I noticed my hands naturally came in much narrower than usual on the bar.  Elbows were pointed to the floor.  I think this has to do with  the upper back stretching in the past 1.5 weeks.  I have a long way to go, but everything feels more natural.

-Time to turn it up.  Sheiko begins...

Sheiko Conditioning Day 2

Only possible time to deadlift workout today was in the morning.  I wouldn't like doing this on a consistent basis.

Deadlifts
315x1; 345x4; 405x3; 405x3; 405x3

Standing Strict Press
135x3; 135x3; 135x3; 135x3; 185x3  (belt)

Y.T.I.'s on incline
5x10/10/10; 5x10/10/10; 5x10/10/10

Notes
-My body wants nothing to do with deadlifts in the morning.  Pulls felt horrible for the most part, until the last set.  That felt average.

-Press was fun.  I love reading the the old stories about when the Press was the ultimate lift.  I regret not ever seriously training it.  185x3 is technically a PR.  I've done more as a push press, but not super strict.  I'm happy I have a baseline now.  I'll probably train it linear progression for the time being.

Lunch Time Kettlebell Sesh

Kettlebell Swings
45; 45; 40

KB Clean & Press
20 Right, 20 left - one set

Workout time: 13 minutes

I had a uniquely satisfying feeling coming back from the gym, pounding my triple scoop protein shake, and seeing  all the sedentary porkers eating pizza, ravioli's and big-ass sandwiches.

Sheiko Conditioning Week: Day 1

It's retarded to dive head first into Sheiko if you aren't used to the heavy volume.  Since I haven't done a back squat in well over 2 months, I need to ease into this a little bit.


Squat
225x3; 245x3; 275x3; 275x3; 275x3

Bench
185x3; 205x3; 205x3; 240x3; 240x3; 240x3

Y.T.I.'s  (for external rotation)
5x5; 5x5; 5x5

Leg Press
180x10; 180x10; 180x10

DB Row
80x8; 80x8; 80x8

Notes
-So the big question today leading into today was squats.  I actually felt strong haha.  Good pop, and I feel much more upright (compared to where I was before). I still have A LOT of work, but I'm seeing improvement.  I need to get more consistent with my daily mobility work. The couch stretch, glute bridge, and goblet squat seem to have the biggest impact.  Paused goblet squats are really helping me open up my hips and find a better bottom position.

-The Y.T.I's are for external rotation. The "Y" position is excruciating on my shoulder.  Bench and chins 5x a week for 7 weeks really fucked up my shoulder.  I meant to do facepulls and pushups after reading Mike Robertson's article, but I forgot.

A.M. Kettlebell Workout

Stretching/Foam Roller for warm-ups.

Turkish Get-ups
-3 per side

KB Swings
40; 40; 40 (120 swings - PR)

Goblet Squat
10 reps... deep paused in bottom position

Notes
-Great way to start the day.  Finished the KB work by the end of the song.

Kettlebell Complexes

Turkish Get-up form work to warm-up

Complexes 
Swings  x Clean & Press x Goblet Squat
20; 10/10; 20
20; 10/10; 20
20; 10/10; 20

Notes
-I talked Dede into getting the 8kg (17.6 lbs). She joined me and a buddy of mine for today's workout outside.  Its a lot of fun working in a group.  I think KB's are a perfect introduction of strength training for females.  In 10 minutes, she was doing textbook swings and goblet squats.  This is something she can do by herself whenever she wants now.  Try accomplishing that with a barbell back squat.

-I'm contemplating just doing kettlebell stuff for another week before starting sheiko.  I really feel like this is rebuilding my body.  My flexibility, specifically the bottom position of the squat, is really improving.

-Hamstrings are pretty sore right now, but I'm going to start doing KB work daily.  Dan John recommends 75-250 swings for a "minimum effective dose."

Improving the Overhead Press - Keith Wassung

Improving the Overhead Press

By Keith Wassung

The overhead press has always been the premiere shoulder exercise for strength and development. Few exercises are as satisfying as the overhead press. I believe that if you could find a remote, primitive island in the world and left a loaded barbell on the beach in the middle of the night, within a week, the men of the island would be trying to lift it over their heads. The heaviest recorded weight that has been pressed in an overhead manner was 535lbs by Ken Patera, in the early 1970’s. Patera, who became famous as a professional wrestler, may have been the strongest man ever to compete in Olympic lifting, but he lacked the technical proficiency of his competitors

Pressing big weights is a real kick and it is rare to see in most gyms. Many years ago, I visited the original Golds Gym in Santa Monica with some friends. We were dressed in street clothes and were wandering around, watching all of the bodybuilders train. We came to a seated press unit and my friends coaxed me to do some overhead presses. I did not want to do this knowing that I was amongst people who routinely pressed 300lbs for 8-10 reps, or at least that is what I was led to believe by reading the various magazines. I started warming up and as I added weight, I began drawing on-lookers. By the time I had 315lbs on the bar, about three-fourths of the gym members had gathered around to watch (talk about pressure) I did 4 hard reps with the crowd enthusiastically cheering me on.

One of the most common questions that I am asked is what is the best combination of sets and reps to do in order to achieve increased strength and development. My answer has always been that it really does not matter as long as you are training in a progressive manner. Progression and overload are two very important principles that must be followed, yet are often overlooked in many people’s training program. Strength and development is as much of an art, as it is a science. You have to experiment, keep track of your numbers in a training log and make adjustments as necessary. I have always believed that the best way to make consistent, long-term progress is to do a wide range of repetitions in your training,

In order to increase your standing overhead press, you have to develop near perfect technique, strengthen your weak points and get your body physically and mentally prepared to lift heavy weights over your head.

Technique

The body has to work in harmony with itself as a unit. Each muscle or set of contracting muscles has an opposite set of muscles, which are referred to as the antagonistic muscles. For example, the triceps are antagonistic to the biceps when doing barbell curls. To maximize your training, the antagonistic muscles need to be set or balanced against the contractor muscles. When standing in the traditional upright stance, there is little balance and once the lifting begins, the antagonistic muscles actually begin draining the contractor (the ones used in the exercise) muscles of strength and energy. To place yourself in the strongest standing position, you should place one foot approximately 3-4 inches in front of the other in a staggered stance. This will place you in a much stronger stance permitting more work to be performed. Boxers, martial artists, baseball players and track and field athletes also use the staggered stance. If you ever see pictures of past Olympic lifters such as Vasily Alexeev or Paul Anderson, you will notice that their feet are staggered when elevating weights overhead.

Practice with a somewhat narrower grip-many people use the same grip on their overheads that they do on the bench press but bringing your grip in just a bit will give you a stronger and faster press. Take the barbell from the uprights and get set into your stance, maintaining tightness in the mid-section and lower back. When you begin pressing the bar, you want to be looking at a very slight up angle. This will take your head slightly back and will allow the bar to pass in front of your face without having to change the trajectory of the bar. As the bar clears the top of your head, you will want to push the bar up and slightly back in a straight line so that you end up with the bar directly over the center of your head.

You would be surprised how many people perform this movement incorrectly. Instead of pressing so that the weight ends up overhead, it ends up actually in front of the head. The leverage that your shoulders have to work against when you’re in this adverse position can really put undue and unnecessary stress on your shoulders-the joints, not the muscles, and will inhibit you from pressing the maximum amount of weight in this exercise.

Lock the bar out, lower back to your shoulders and repeat for the desired number of reps. It is important to start each press from a stopped position. It is easy to develop a habit of lowering the weight and then rebounding off the shoulders to start the next rep. By starting each rep from a “dead” position, you might initially have to reduce the weight you are lifting, but you will be much stronger in the end, especially when performing maximum singles.

Strengthening Weak Points

One of the limiting factors in the overhead press is the strength and flexibility of the lower back and mid-section. Train your mid-section as hard as you train anything else. Mid-section weakness is very common among lifters. It is not that the mid-section is weak, but it is weak in comparison to other parts of the body that are worked in a progressive manner. If your goal is strength and power, then traditional abdominal isolation exercises, such as crunches and leg raises will only take you so far in your quest for optimal strength and development.

The purpose of the mid-section is primarily for stabilization and therefore this area needs to be worked in a static manner. Do as much of your mid-section training as you can while standing on your feet. Perform overhead lockouts, overhead shrugs and learn to do overhead squats ( Use a search engine and type in overhead squats, Dan John to learn this valuable exercise from the master himself) I like to elevate objects such as dumbbells or a keg over my head and then go for a walk around the neighborhood or up and down the stairs. I walk until I cannot keep the weight overhead, then I place it on the ground, rest for 20 seconds and then keep moving again. These types of exercises will build your mid-section and have a tremendous impact on your overall strength and physical preparedness.

If you have been working hard on basic exercises such as squats, dead lifts or rows, you have no doubt experienced either a stiff back or overworked lumbar muscles to the point where you cannot relax or tighten them completely. Your back can become as "stiff as a board" with the lumbar muscles so hard to the touch or so fatigued that they are like a steel spring that has been overstretched. It is essential to have the back properly stretched and warmed up prior to performing any type of overhead presses. Hanging from a chinning bar for a minute or two each day will decompress the lumbar spine and increase flexibility. I also like to do some hyperextensions and some very light bent leg dead lifts in order to prepare the lumbar spine for overhead presses.

Overload & Adjunct Exercises

Marathon runners traditionally trained by running in excess of one hundred miles each week always at or near marathon pace and speed. The legendary running coach, Arthur Lydiard of New Zealand was one of the first coaches who realized that long distance runners could improve their race times by performing sprint training in their workouts. He used to have his marathon runners compete in the sprint events at the club level. All of his runners hated sprinting but they all loved setting records and winning world and Olympic championships. Coach Lydiard improved his runner’s performance by employing a form of overload. The first principle of weight training is overload. Overload refers to placing greater than usual demands on the muscle group being worked. In essence, to increase muscular performance, a muscle group must be worked harder than it usually works to complete everyday activities. As muscle strength and/or endurance increase, the amount of resistance or repetitions necessary for overload must increase as well. The Overload Principle is a concept based on "overloading" the muscles by lifting more than it is use to doing.

The primary method of overload for the overhead press is the seated overhead press. This exercise will allow you to work the pressing muscles of the upper body, while minimizing the stress on the lower back. I have found that by alternating the standing press with the seated press, I can use heavier weight and train with a much greater frequency that if I were to only perform standing presses.

When performing the seated MAKE SURE that you do this with the back braced-do not do this movement sitting on the end of a flat bench or on a stool as this places a great deal of stress on the lumbar spine, which is what we are trying to avoid in the first place. The design of the seated press machine if very important.

You don’t want the back of the unit to come up in higher than your shoulders-if it does, you can’t get your head out of the way of the bar. You also want to be sure that you can brace your feet against something in order to drive the low back solidly against the backboard of the unit. If you do not have the ideal apparatus as your gym, then might have to mix and match some equipment pieces in order to achieve the desired effect. This is why you should always keep a roll of duct tape in your gym bag!

I also suggest doing the seated presses starting from the bottom position and not where someone hands it to you from the overhead position, and then you bring it down and back up-you want to mimic the mechanics of the standing overhead press as much as possible. For some variety, you can do a seated 80-degree incline press as a core exercise. This also takes the lower back out of it and really allows you to get used to lifting heavy weights overhead. I believe that if I had never done the seated presses and the 80-degree presses, I would have never exceeded 300lbs in the standing overhead press.

The next movement is a heavy push press done in the power rack. Use a weight that is roughly equivalent to your best single rep in the standing overhead press. You put the pins 4-5 inches below the starting position. squat down and get set with the bar, explode up elevate the bar to just over the top of your head, and then slowly count to 4 on the way down, set it on the pins, explode and repeat for 6 total reps-this is the most brutal thing I have ever done for the upper body-you will likely need a spotter (just to yell at you, rather than for safety reasons) and if you feel like or want to do a second set, then you did not use enough weight on your first set. This will do as much to improve your overhead strength capacity as anything I know.

If you need to improve the strength of your triceps then consider doing some overhead presses while using a narrow grip. I use the same grip that I would for a narrow grip bench press with the index fingers being on the smooth part of the bar and the middle finger on the knurling. You will find that your arms may prevent you from lowering the bar all the way down to the upper chest/shoulder region. Use whatever range of motion works for you. As an added twist, you can use this same grip to do overhead lockouts. Place the pins in the power rack so that the bar is even with the top of the head and then press the weight to lockout.

Barbell bent over rows are an excellent adjunct movement for the overhead press. It is safe to say that barbell rows are an excellent adjunct movement for just about every lift. Work this movement hard and don't be surprised if you see increases in all of your lifts as well an increases in muscular development. One of the great aspects of the bent-over row is that there is a wide variety of techniques and variations to chose from which means that just about anyone can find a method of performing this movement regardless of their body structure. The important thing is to ensure that your technique is consistent so that increased poundage is the result of strength gains, not in favorable advantages in the biomechanics of the lift.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The frequency in which you train the overhead press is entirely an individual decision. If you are focused on improving the bench press, then consider adding in the overhead press about once a week. If you want to specialize on the overhead press, then you can do it as much as twice per week. I personally always did best training the overhead press about three times every two weeks. I would suggest doing nothing but standing overhead presses during one workout, then the seated presses and the adjunct work on the second workout. Make sure you are keeping your shoulders healthy with proper warm-ups and rotator cuff training. Best of luck on your quest to 300 and beyond.

 It's not the best athlete who wins, but the best prepared."

- Arthur Lydiard,

Keith Wassung

http://www.ironmass.com/showpost.php?vbseourl=forums/showpost.php&p=25649&postcount=1

First Kettlebell Workout

Broke out the new 16kg kettlebell and did a short little workout with a buddy during lunch today.

Kettlebell Complex 
(KB Swing + Clean & Press + Goblet Squat)
20; 10/10; 20
20; 10/10; 20
10; 5/5; 10

Notes
-This was a short, but adequately intense workout.  I was breathing hard and worked up a decent sweat.  I didn't go crazy for the first workout.
-After the workout, I had that euphoric feeling that accompanies high intensity interval type workouts (minus the prowler - that is a feeling of death).  I feel really loose and warm right now.  The basic kettlebell moves feel natural.  It feels "healthy."

Perform Better 16kg Kettlebell: First Impressions

Last week I decided to buy a 16kg (35.2 lb) Perform Better "First Place" Kettlebell.  Let me just get this out now:  I'm pretty sure I've bashed kettlebells and the kettlebell crowd dozen of times in the past...  and I'm pretty sure I'll keep on bashing the kettlbell crowd in the future. I wanted a kettlebell for a few specific reasons.

First, mobility.  Using a weight to dynamically stretch is awesome.  I found goblet squats and swings do a great job of opening my hips and improving squat flexibility. While at iFast, Gabe commented my squat depth looked much better than it had a few weeks earlier when I posted some squat vids.  This is directly attributable to the stretching, mobility, and dynamic work I'd been doing.

Second, joint health.  I'm specifically thinking about my shoulders here. Barbell lifts (especially flat bench) put the shoulders in a constricted plane over and over again.  I've read, and been told, that KB's do a great job keeping your shoulders healthy and mobile.

Third, GPP and active recovery.  I'm a huge proponent of active recovery.  More is better - within reason.  Many of the top powerlifting and strength coaches promote short extra workouts to increase work capacity, enhance recovery, and bring up weak points.  See e.g., Louie Simmons; Glenn Pendlay; Boris Sheiko.   I won't be taking this to the gym. I want something I can do at home on off-days to get the blood flowing. GPP benefits will be moderate because I'm going to keep my work with the kettlebell moderate..  I'm not looking to become a hardcore KB enthusiast.  A 35 lb ball isn't going to make me "stronger."  This is just another tool to help me on the journey towards being a yoked mother fucker.  Plus, the Russians love these things.  Russians are fucking strong and destroy everyone in barbell strength sports.  So maybe there is something to them.

I plan to use this 2-3x per week at most.  As I said before, I'd like to use it in a moderate fashion.  Maybe two times a week I'll do swings and C&P's, and the other day I'll go outside and walk around with it.

Cost
The Perform Better KB is easily the best value on the market at this time.  The 16kg bell is $59.95, and shipping is free.  Dragon door is literally twice the price.  I'm no kettlebell expert, but I can't think of one good reason why ordering a $125 KB from DD is worth it when there are quality alternatives on the market. (DD used to be the only game in town).

Lifeline USA was also recommended to me.  They have the 16kg KB listed for $69.99 plus $15 shipping.  ($25 more than Perform Better).  These would be a solid choice as well, but from what I've read on KB forums, Perform Better and Lifeline use the exact same manufacturer.  The only difference is the company stamp.


Ordering and Shipping
One of the main reasons I went with Perform Better is their reputation for great customer service.  My experience is limited to one transaction, however the ordering and shipping went as smoothly as anything else I've bought from an online business.  I ordered on a Tuesday afternoon, and my KB shipped 2 hours later.  It arrived on Thursday afternoon.  I don't see how shipping (especially free shipping) could get any faster.  This is as good as Amazon Prime.

Quality and Feel
Well, it's a big, black, iron kettlebell.  The finish is extremely solid.  Most of the good kettlebell companies have a matte black finish that shows the slightly porous surface of the iron.  This is what I wanted.  You can just tell the finish will hold up well - much better than the smooth finishes on KB's in Wal-Mart that are prone to paint chipping.

There are no small jagged edges on the handle.  I've read this can be a problem on lesser quality KB's.  Obviously the handle needs to be smooth or there is risk your hand will get all cut up.

The rubber bottom, another problem area with KB's, is extremely stout.  I can't imagine the rubber sole coming off anytime soon.  It is fastened very tightly, and the KB sits perfectly upright.

The Perform Better KB weighed in at 34.6 on my digital home scale.  Either the scale or the KB is off a little (maybe both).  Either way, even if the KB is truly 34.6 lbs, I would say that is within an acceptable tolerance range for a large cast iron object.

Overall
I'm extremely satisfied with the price, quality, and fast service of Perform Better.  Now its time to see if I'll actually like swinging this thing.  Haha.

Meet Report

Weigh in
I weighed in  at 238.7 pounds Friday morning around 11:30 a.m.   I cut 11 pounds of water in 22 hours by low carbing, not eating, not drinking, using the sauna and hot baths to sweat, caffeine and over the counter diuretics.

• 12:00 p.m. Thursday - Last meal and water.  Low carb - huge romaine taco salad (beef, cheese, guac, lettuce, salsa).  On reflection, I should not have used taco meet.  It is loaded with sodium, which should be minimized 72 hours out from weigh in.
• 5:00 p.m. - 150 m.g. pamabrom, 5 hr energy.
• 5:30 p.m. - light workout with 135 pounds
• 6:00 p.m. - started 20 mins in 180 degree sauna, 5 minutes out.  4 total cycles.
• 9:00 p.m. - scalding hot bath.  Submerged as much as my torso/head/hands as possible.  This was good for another 2 lbs.
• 11:00 p.m. - 100 mg pamabrom, 10 fiber tabs, 2 tbsp peanut butter.
• 7:00 a.m. Friday - 150 mg pamabrom, 10 fiber tabs, 5 hour energy.
• 8:30 a.m. - small coffee (I was "backed up."  This did the trick)
• 11:30 a.m. - weigh in.
• I drank 4 gatorades and a liter of pedialite in the next 20 minutes.
• Spent an hour at all you can eat pizza buffet.  Forced myself to eat/drink the rest of the day.

I'm happy with the amount I loss.  Make no mistake, forcing yourself to endure 90 minutes of the sauna when already dehydrated literally fucking sucks.  I started having crazy thoughts about water later in the night.  I think I would have been good for 15 pounds easily with better sodium loading.  Matt Kroc has two good articles on cutting water using the sweating technique without prescription drugs here and here.  I had no reason to get as extreme as Kroc.

Saturday Morning

I normally don't eat breakfast, but I got up at 7:30 and force fed myself thick cut bacon, greek yogurt, and muscle milk.  I felt refreshed, not withstanding the drunk retards that came into my apt building screaming about the cardinals winning at 2:00 a.m.  (When I came out to tell them to stfu, they said "dude aren't you a cardinals fan?!?!?!?)

I got to the Eagle Gym around 10:00 a.m.  After rules, squats, and the first flight of bench, I didn't start warming up until 1:00 p.m.  I had plenty of protein, gatorade, and beef jerky in the interim.  I felt fucking GREAT warming up.  I immediately felt I was going to have good day.  

Eagle Gym is small, beat-up, cramped, and they put on a kick-ass meet.  Warming up with the big boys had my adrenaline pumping like a mother fucker.  A huge peavey system blared metal as we warmed up.  When I say blare - I mean it was loud as fuck.  You had to lean and shout to communicate with someone standing next to you.  There were no stands, all the spectators just crowded around us.  I can't really describe how pumped this atmosphere made me.  I was a slightly below average bencher in the 2nd flight at this meet, but with 50 people watching just feet away, my form was ultra tight and crisp.  My last warm-up was 275.  I remember thinking it was easily the lightest 275 ever felt.

Bench

I opened with 315.  Confidence soared after warm-ups.  Three plates flew up.  Based on my opener, I knew I had a legit shot at hitting an all time bench PR.  I told the old man keeping track of attempts I'd take 340 for my 2nd lift.

340 was a grinder, but I wanted the PR.  I got the "cns spasms" mid-lift, but overall it wasn't too ugly.  I got a couple compliments for sticking with the lift.

I missed 350 about 3 inches off my chest.  I'm a "fast" lifter, so if its a pound beyond my max, I'll get stapled.  Missing 350 didn't bother me in the least. I hit a PR, and I knew 340 was close to my max, or was my actual max.

Deadlift

Warm-ups only felt average.  The max effort bench (and miss) took a lot out of me.  My lower back felt slightly fatigued from bench.  Still, one of the strongmen from the gym said my pulls were super easy looking during warm-ups.  I stopped with 450.

520 went up without issue.  The old man taking attempts said it looked fast - I told him said it didn't feel that way.  I decided to go for 560 - a five pound all time PR.  I hit 560 on my second attempt and it was hard as hell.  I could tell I was close to my limit, and at this point I had a couple options.

There are two camps when it comes to a third attempt deadlift at the end of a meet.  The first says, "go for broke," or "do something crazy."  Its the last pull of the day, so what do you have to lose?  I've always thought this is fucking stupid.  The entire point of powerlifting is to perform successful green light lifts.  Though I'd just hit a 5 pound all time PR, I knew I'd be pissed if I went for something huge, missed, and left pounds on the platform.  That is a shitty feeling. I opted for the second option and attempted a weight I knew was possible.

570 was loaded for my final attempt.  It was slow the second it left the floor.  My only thoughts were "speed" and "fuuuuuuuccck."  The entire lift was a grind, but I never let it slow. I locked the mother fucker out.  Powerlifting meets are awesome at times like this.  No one knew who I was, but as I was grinding and my head rose, I saw the crowd start to rise with me.  People stand, hands go up, and the yelling swelled as I neared lockout.

I couldn't be happier with this meet.  I hit a 5 pound all time PR in bench, and a 15 pound all time PR in deadlift.  I'm taking next week to rest, recuperate, and come up with a plan going forward.  Before this week I was a little "lost" on whether or not I was going to pursue powerlifting in the short term.  After this meet however, lifting heavier weight is the only thing on my mind.

My Final Week Before Powerlifting Meet

I randomly decided to do a push/pull meet this Saturday.  Ordinarily, I plan for a meet months in advance, but it coincides nicely with my training as I planned to max deadlift and bench anyways this week.  Fuck it, it's just lifting weights.

Last night - 10/24/11

I spent a lot of time thinking through how different routines treat the final week before the meet (hence the post below).  Nothing has been written for my routine - Dan John's 40 Day program - which calls for deadlifting and benching 5x a week.  Even so, the same principles outlined below should apply.  This is a high frequency routine, so I should perform the movements at least twice during the final week.  I've pulled strategies from many of the approaches to come up with this for my own final week:

Daily:  Stretching, mobility work, and shit tons of protein.  This is what I normally do, and its crucial to maintain mobility for a properly leveraged deadlift.

Monday

Bench - 135x5; 185x3; 225x1; 255x1; 275x1; 285x1 (all paused)

Deadlift - 225x1; 225x1; 225x1; 225x1; 225x1 (extremely focused work on setup)

Tuesday - Off

Wednesday - Off

Thursday

Bench - Singles at 185 (approximately 55% of estimated 1rm)

Deadlift - Singles at 185 (just working on setup, flexibility, and form)

Friday - Off (weigh in)

Saturday - Meet at 10:30 a.m.

Openers and Goals

I've never tried to peak off this type of routine, so here is what I have tentatively planned (subject to change on the day of the meet).

Bench - 300, 325, 340.

Deadift, 515, 570, 585-600.

No matter where my strength is the day of the meet, I'll push my body to the max.

Peaking for a Powerlifting Meet: The Final Week

I've  highlighted three approaches to the final week before a meet. The first, from Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 for Powerlifting.  He recommends no lifting at all the week of the meet:

"-Week before the meet so no training

 - Assistance work/conditioning (minimal, if at all)

You can end the meet preparation training however you want. You can have a one-, two- or even three-week deload—whatever you want. I usually recommend only a one-week deload (so week four will lead right to the meet on Saturday). You can really do nothing on that week (actually recommended) or just the bare minimum to keep your mind healthy. This isn't the week to retake your openers. You‘ve already done that numerous times, so don‘t be a pussy."

Lyle McDonald highlights the "classic raw powerlifting" approach that has the lifter benching relatively heavy in the final week before the meet, but ends heavy deads/squats much earlier:

"-10-14 days out: last heavy dead
-7-10 days out: last heavy squat 5 days out: last heavy bench. So Monday, maybe to the opener (90% max) for a single. So light squat before it since squatting does hit the shoulder girdle and will affect your bench.
-5 days out: last heavy bench. So Monday, maybe to the opener (90% max) for a single. So light squat before it since squatting does hit the shoulder girdle and will affect your bench.
-2 days out: light squat,bench,dl. Maybe 60-70%, it should be a warm-up and get someone to call competition commands for the practice. It'll keep you loose, keep your groove, etc."

Finally, in Jack Reape's Cycle, Peak, Taper, Dominate, he recommends an approach somewhere in between the two:

"Gene Bell once told me that you can't make yourself stronger in the last two weeks, but you can let yourself get stronger... 

For a Saturday meet, on week 14 you'll do a light bench press workout on Monday. This is a great time to use chains over bands for speed work as they're easier on the body. Do some light and limited raw squats, and some lat work. Tuesday and Wednesday, don't do a thing but relax, walk a bit, and stretch. These are two days to review your training and make your final meet plan.

You had goals at the outset of the cycle and laid out a plan to get there. If your training went well or not as planned, adjust accordingly. Get it right in your head because after Wednesday night you're done thinking about it. Thursday you go to the gym and do your first two warm-up sets of bench and squat which will feel good.

Friday, you do your first three warm-up sets of bench and squat, preferably at the meet site. These will feel better than the day before. You'll feel amazingly fresh physically, and your adrenaline will rise. You need to suppress this adrenaline rush by distracting yourself and by putting the meet forcibly out of your head. I strongly advise wearing regular clothes and not warm-ups until you weigh in or start to warm up the next day."

So who is right?  Well, it obviously depends on what type of training you've been doing in preparation for the meet.  Low frequency, high intensity training (like 5/3/1) likely benefits from a total week off, or at least an extremely light week.  Each individual workout in 5/3/1 is stressful on the body.  Thus, one need significant time away from the barbell to recover from the high intensity sessions in the weeks immediately preceding the meet.  Keep in mind that Jim Wendler's powerlifting background involved heavily equipped lifting.  Training with gear almost certainly requires extra time off due to the stress of supporting supra-maximal loads.  Westside type training will fit into this category as well.

The "classic raw powerlifting" approach calls for heavier lifting the final week.  Classic powerlifting routines were simpler and focused on performing the competition lifts at high frequency.  A common routine was a Mon-Wed-Fri split, with all three competition lifts performed every day (excluding the deadlift).  See e.g., Bill Star's 5x5 routine.  Training intensity is likely to be lower on an individual day, thus less time is needed to recover from a a single workout.

Sheiko, and Smolov, classic Russian powerlifting routines, have the lifter performing considerable volume in the final meet week.  Sheiko has moderate volume on Monday and Wednesday working up to 75% of the lifters max.  Smolov is just insane - requiring the lifter to perform 4 triples at 95% the Monday before the meet.

After reviewing a cross section of the "spectrum" of powerlifting styles,  a couple of trends emerge.  First, almost all of the plans drop frequency by one third to one half in the final week before the meet.  Therefore, how many days one should lift (if any at all) is dependent upon training frequency leading up to the meet.  It is no surprise that intensity is lower across the board the final week (except Smolov).

Second, almost all accessory work and GPP is dropped during the final week. This makes sense.  Supercompensation works best during both reduced workload and intensity.  You aren't going to bring up weak tri's or a weak core during the last week, but you can inhibit supercompensation by introducing stimuli your body must recover from.

The takeaway seems to be the weight one uses is less important than simply performing the movements in some fashion the final week.  This is especially important in high frequency routines where neural efficiency has greatly increased in the weeks leading to the meet.  The final week should be used to let body heal, and give it a gentle reminder of the bar path it will follow Saturday morning.  

Diet Update

The last couple of months I've tried a bunch of diet variations, and read everything I can in the intermittent fasting/leans gains/backloading/ low-carb genres.  I've finally settled on a basic eating template I can realistically adhere to that compliments my schedule and life.  There are three reasons I've decided this is the right setup for me:  lifestyle, performance, and body composition.

Lifestyle.  Breakfast is a waste of time, money, and calories.  I love getting up, taking a shower and heading out the door.  I'll never go back to eating breakfast. Ever.  Drinking a 75gram  protein shake during lunch is awesome as well.  Again, it saves me time and money.  There is zero food prep at night or in the morning.  I've also come to appreciate the extra 30 minutes of work I get in now that I don't worry about reheating and eating food.  I have time at night and enjoy putting back a big meal post workout.  It's fun and relaxing.  I have something to look forward to all day.

The setup outlined below is a realistic plan.  I need something as easy and convenient as possible.  I'll never be a 6 meal a day/tupperware guy.  Maybe I lack the discipline, but I don't really fucking care.  Who wants to live an existence that is largely dictated by eating and planning a meal every 2.5 hours?  The year is 2011.  We no longer have to hunt and kill our food, so why make it more difficult than it has to be?

Performance.  I'll never choose a diet that substantially impacts gym performance.  If you can't lift hard, then what's the fucking point?  For that reason I'm not taking an anabolic diet type approach.  I think the success of the 6 day low carb, 1 day refeed setup is highly individual.  I've done it before.  It works, but I don't like the poor gym performance at the end of the week, and frankly I don't like the "pressure" of maintaining a constant state of ketosis.

With that said, I've found that I'm fine with 1-3 days of low carb.  I don't need carbs everyday to train hard.  I'm taking a semi-backloading approach on my heavy lifting days.  Two days a week (Monday, Thursday), I'll  eat carbs post-workout if I feel like it.  The insulin spike stimulates growth and blocks protein degradation after an intense day of squats/deads/presses.  Glycogen will be fully restored as well.  Saturday night I'm eating and drinking whatever the fuck I feel like.  Pizza? Cool.  16 budweisers? Cool.  2:00 a.m. Taco Bell?  Cool.

Body Composition.  My body doesn't handle carbs well.  I get fat when I'm sloppy with my diet, which invariably means I'm eating shit carbs at all times of the day.  I've seen the pattern happen with myself over and over again.  There is a ton of science to back-up the IF/backloading/low carb type stuff.  I'm not going to rehash it because I suck at repeating science off the top of my head, and anyone reading would be much better served by just checking out something like this.

I'm leaning out so I know this approach is working.  The scale isn't moving a ton, but I'm also deadlifting 5x a week right now.  My upper back, formerly my most well developed body part, has reached new levels of yoked.  Whatever I'm doing is working, so that's all that matters.  Its not v-diet fast, but the v-diet sucks balls unless you literally want to daydream about stealing the croutons off the girl's salad sitting 3 tables down from you.

DIET

Morning
-6 grams fish oil.  2 capsules Controlled Labs Oximega, 4 capsules Sam's club.
-3 tabs Controlled Labs Orange Triad
-1 Scoop Controlled Labs Greens
-6 Sam's Club Fiber Tabs
-2.25 grams Aniracetam
-3 grams Taurine
-20 mg ephedrine/coffee
-(By the time I get to school, my body is in a euphoric state from all this stimulating, vitamin and anti-oxidant packed goodness)

Lunch
-3 scoops Myofusion Whey Blend

Afternoon
-Either almonds, peanuts, beef jerkey, or slim jims.  I shoot for 300 calories and try to make sure it is an all protein/fat snack that won't spike insulin.
-20 mg ephedrine

Pre-workout: 45-90 mins before (depends on day)
-3 scoops protein
-6 grams fish oil
-6 fiber tabs
-some sort of caffeine

Workout
-5-6 scoops of XTEND BCAA's

Post workout
-1 gatorade
-1-2 scoops whey

Dinner
-Meat and vegetables.  On lower-carb days, I'll stick to higher fat, more filling type red meats.  On backloading days I'll get a chipotle burrito, or something like that.   I'm not getting too specific here because its not rocket science.  Lots of protein, and then manipulate carbs according to the workout day.

Late Night Snacks (10pm)
-Natural Peanut butter or cheese.

Bed Time
-3 capsules Prima-force ZMA

October 21, Day 39

Not Being a Pussy Day

Goblet Squats

45x25

Speed Pulls

275x3; 275x3; 275x3

Speed Bench

185x3; 205x3; 205x3; 205x3

Farmers walks

80/80 x 130 yards; 80/80 x 100 yards; 80/80 x 60 yards

Notes

-After reading Chaos and Pain this afternoon, I decided not to be a pussy and go in and lift.  I was curious to see what pulling/benching would be like after a heavy day yesterday.  Surprisingly, I felt great.  

-Using the 80s for longer farmers walks was awesome.  I'm going to go longer and longer with these.  Trying to go heavy-heavy with DB's just doesn't seem as effective.  It becomes more of a pure grip exericise because the counterbalance is shit.  I feel the longer distance is a brutal total body exercise. This seems like a sweet spot for the time being.

October 20, Day 38

Lift Fucking Weights Day

Warm-up

Normal  static/dynamic stretches.  45x20 goblet squat.

Deadlift

315x2; 365x5; 405x3; 455x3

Front Squats

135x3... fuck front squats

Bench

245x5; 265x3; 275x5 (ALL PAUSED BITCH)

Hammer Chins

9; 6

Dips

18

Ab Wheel 

8


OH Waiter Walks
45 x 60 yards right; 45 x 60 yards left


Workout Time: 50 minutes

Notes

-Extremely pissed going into the gym tonight.  Aside from the law school stuff that put me in a bad mood, I was not looking forward to doing the same fucking workout I've done for the past 38 days.  

-I've developed the following annoying nagging injuries during this routine:  illiopsoas tendinitis from deadlifting 5x a week (diagnosed by med school friend); strained right trap; strained right side neck; sore elbows; very sore/tender right front delt.

-All my reps were slow as hell and I've lost all pop... I'm beaten down.  This was my last heavy workout.  I'm going to max sometime next week.  I expect to seriously injure something during my attempts.

October 18, Day 36

2x5 Day

Deadlift

275x5; 275x5

Bench

205x5; 205x5

Ab Wheel

8

Farmers Walks

110/110 x 50yds; 110 x 50yds; 110/110 x 50yds

October 17 - Day 35

2x5 Day

Deadlift

335x5; 335x5

Bench

225x5; 225x5

Hammer Chins

8; 6

Dips

16; 12

Notes

-Still feeling beat up even with a day off.  Super compensation here I come.

October 15 - Day 33

2x5 Day

Warm-up

I doubled the stretching and dynamic I normally do.  I felt very sore and beat up, so I took my time and got nice and loose.

• Couch stretch, Psoas/IT band stretch, kneeling stretch, hip circles, mountain climbers, knee raises, butt kicks, asian squats, shoulder dislocations.
• 3x10 bw box squats to progressively lower boxes (20, 16, 14).
• 45x20 goblet squats

Deadlift:  315x5; 315x5

Front Squat (all front squats always cleaned from ground: 135x5; 135x5

Bench:  225x5; 225x5

Hammer Chins: 8

Dips: 15

DB Swings: 45x50

Notes

-I felt like shit going into the gym tonight.  8x115 hang cleans and 60 lb 1 arm dumbbell walks left my upper back/traps/core sore as fuck.  Yes pathetic.  I only went in to get some reps in.  I didn't even plan on using my normal 2x5 weight.

Enter the genius of Dan John (I'm on day nine of this 2 week mini-cycle):  "Day Nine is often the day when people see the reasoning behind the program. This is the day where the weights seem to often be just “far too easy.” That is the sign of progress in this program. I remember actually thinking I misloaded the bar and I had to double check my math as the bar seemed to be far too light to be right."

My body felt beat up, but the weight felt like nothing.

October 14 - Day 32

10 Tonic Reps

*Warmup*

Couch Stretch, IT Band/Psoas, Hip Circles, Mountain Climbers, Shoulder Disclocations, some other stuff I can't name

Complexes

1 set of 8 reps at 115 of  Bent Row, Hang Clean, Press, Back Squat, Good Mornings

Deadlift

185x10

Bench

155x10

Chins/Pullup supersetted w/ Dips

6; 6

14; 14

Ab Wheel 

5

1 Arm DB Suitcase Carry

60 lbs x 90 yards right; 60 lbs x 90 yards left

Notes

-Therapeutic day in the gym tonight.  Decided to do complexes as a warm-up.  Dan John lays this out in his Mass Made Simple e-book.  In about a week I'll start doing 3 sets of these before every workout, but I'll probably drop the weight to 95.  115 was a tad much for the first time.

-Just wanted to try the suitcase carry.  The first 45 yards I was like this is easy and pointless. The next 30 yards I started to think "wow I can really feel the opposite side obliques working."  The last 15 yards was mostly filled with thoughts of  "crap" and "mommy."