Journey To Re-build My Strength.

Nytol said:
I never had a naturally strong bench I just made it strong over 20yrs of consistent training.

Have you ever tried training like that? It's more a rhetorical question because almost no one has.

I love to train and be in the gym, but I choose the results over the enjoyment.

I've not benched for 2yrs due to a shoulder injury, but a few weeks ago I did a bit and it did not seem to make it worse, just one semi heavy rep, that was it.

Two days ago I benched 202.5kg for one rep, my 4th session back, and if my shoulder holds up I have no doubt that I will progress to heavier weights.

I'm not being critical, you are an intelligent guy, just saying keep an open mind that extremes at the other end of the spectrum can and do work.
Click to expand...

It's definitely something I will try, this program is 6 weeks long, then I've seen another program that has you work up to a weekly max effort then a few light reps, so not too dissimilar. I will probably try a few different programs this year and see which works best.
 
darkside said:
It's definitely something I will try, this program is 6 weeks long, then I've seen another program that has you work up to a weekly max effort then a few light reps, so not too dissimilar. I will probably try a few different programs this year and see which works best.
Click to expand...

Don't get stuck in the 7 day week thing, it is a man made idea and has nothing to do with biology/muscle recovery, experiment with benching every 9 days the results may surprise you :)
 
Nytol said:
Don't get stuck in the 7 day week thing, it is a man made idea and has nothing to do with biology/muscle recovery, experiment with benching every 9 days the results may surprise you :)
Click to expand...

I think I will try this with deadlift and see what happens, what would you advise doing just working up to a near max and that's it?

Today's training

Bench
Up to 120kg x 1
130kg x 3 felt very heavy
130kg x 4 felt lighter and better
130kg x 5 about same as previous set
130kg x 4
130kg x 4

Then tried the double overhand deadlift, got upto 180kg doh, then pulled 190kg mixed.

Push press
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 2
120kg x 1 felt good could have got 2 or 3
130kg x 3 fails nearly got it just didn't have the strength to stabilise overhead
 
darkside said:
I think I will try this with deadlift and see what happens, what would you advise doing just working up to a near max and that's it?
Click to expand...

That's what I have done in the past and it has worked better than multiple sets, or adding assistance work in.

Around 90-95% of your true 1RM, but start even lower, at 85%, then add 2.5kg per week, or less if you have smaller plates, get the momentum going and keep the progression going for as long as possible.

So say 200kg was you 1RM (for ease of numbers, no disrespect intended :) )

I'd go

120kg x 5
150kg x 3
180kg x 1

Then go home.

If your top weight will be more, then possibly adding in a 3rd prep set would be wise, some need more, some need less.

If I was going for 300 I'd go

140 x 5
180 x 3
220 x 2
270 x 1
300 x 1

Or numbers very similar, I am not totally anal about %, as long as it is around the right number and makes loading the bar easier.

A friend of mine who has followed my way is on target for a 160kg pull next week, with no belt and no straps, which is not that special until you find out she is an 11st woman (5'9 so a decent way to pull it too), then it becomes a lot more impressive.
 
Hand felt ok, felt good and strong all the way up the weights, until the 190kg then it just felt like I couldn't squeeze it hard enough to keep hold of bar, (need to start my gripper training again).

@Nytol ithink I will follow this and see what happens, I will start off with today's weight of 190kg, and will go up to 192.5kg my next session, and just keep building, deadlifts do seem to take a lot out of my back so doing them every 9 days will probably work well for me.
 
darkside said:
Hand felt ok, felt good and strong all the way up the weights, until the 190kg then it just felt like I couldn't squeeze it hard enough to keep hold of bar, (need to start my gripper training again).

@Nytol ithink I will follow this and see what happens, I will start off with today's weight of 190kg, and will go up to 192.5kg my next session, and just keep building, deadlifts do seem to take a lot out of my back so doing them every 9 days will probably work well for me.
Click to expand...

I know it will work very well, all of the very good powerlifters I've known only deadlift every 2 weeks, as it takes a lot of recovery.
 
Nytol said:
I know it will work very well, all of the very good powerlifters I've known only deadlift every 2 weeks, as it takes a lot of recovery.
Click to expand...
When I did PLing it was all westside methods so speed one day and a pull variation the other for max effort on the second day.
#1 I think speed work on the deadlift is very overrated. I never became faster nor stronger from doing that stuff. I could see the point if you did sumo with a suit because if you went fast enough you may just pull through the sticking point.
#2 Westside has never had the best pullers. Their expertise lies in super heavy squatting to parallel (not that there is any thing wrong with that) but the whole program really pushes that up more than any thing else IMO.
 
Con said:
When I did PLing it was all westside methods so speed one day and a pull variation the other for max effort on the second day.
#1 I think speed work on the deadlift is very overrated. I never became faster nor stronger from doing that stuff. I could see the point if you did sumo with a suit because if you went fast enough you may just pull through the sticking point.
#2 Westside has never had the best pullers. Their expertise lies in super heavy squatting to parallel (not that there is any thing wrong with that) but the whole program really pushes that up more than any thing else IMO.
Click to expand...

The whole thing always seemed far too over complicated and unnecessary to me.

I tried 'speed work' on chins for about 6 weeks, pulling so fast and hard that I slammed my chest into the bar and shook the whole unit.

Started with bodyweight and just added small amount so I kept the 'speed' after 6 weeks I went back to 40 or 50kg, and the results of my speed work were zero.

So that whole 'accelerating the bar to make up for lack or weight' thing to me is bollocks, nothing makes up for lack of weight.
 
Nytol said:
The whole thing always seemed far too over complicated and unnecessary to me.

I tried 'speed work' on chins for about 6 weeks, pulling so fast and hard that I slammed my chest into the bar and shook the whole unit.

Started with bodyweight and just added small amount so I kept the 'speed' after 6 weeks I went back to 40 or 50kg, and the results of my speed work were zero.

So that whole 'accelerating the bar to make up for lack or weight' thing to me is bollocks, nothing makes up for lack of weight.
Click to expand...

Would be interesting to know what distribution of muscle fibre types you have. I'm going to guess at mostly fast twitch ones.
 
LittleLiam said:
Would be interesting to know what distribution of muscle fibre types you have. I'm going to guess at mostly fast twitch ones.
Click to expand...

Never had a biopsy, but I'd guess fast.

As a child I was always the fastest sprinter in the school, but after 100m I would literally shut down.
 
This mornings training

Bench
60kg x 10
100kg x 3
120kg x 2
130kg x 5
130kg x 5
130kg x 5
130kg x 5
Felt easier than Friday's reps, I've done all my 60 reps with 130kg in less than a week, so my next gym session I don't need to do any bench press, next weeks benching is 136kg for 40 reps.

Squat beltless
60kg x 5
100kg x 3
140kg x 1
160kg x 1
170kg x 1
Next session will go up to 175kg for a single.

Then finished with some barbbell curls, then some dumbbell hammer curls.
 
I've noticed my weight is creeping back up, I'm in two minds as to leave it while I'm trying to gain my strength back up or try loose some weight? I'm currently 138kg I don't know weather to try get down to 120kg.
Wondering if adding in high rep work will help me loose some weight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top