Strength Training for Singles 2014: Eight-Week Workout Cycle II

See that's the confusing part for me when I try to apply the 80/20 to lifting.
Well, I guess, first off, I think I'm edging more towards a 65/35 or 60/40 split, as I diagrammed above. I think also for running, if I run six days a week, then ideally one run should be tempo/hills/intervals and one LSD, or, alternatively, one tempo and the other one hills/intervals, so that's about a 65/35 split as well.

Su: rest
M: easy 5K
Tu: Tempo/Hills/Intervals
W: easy 5K
Th: easy 5K
F: easy 5K
Sa: LSD

Su: rest
M: easy 5K
Tu: Tempo
W: easy 5K
Th: Hills/Intervals
F: easy 5K
Sa: easy 5K

With your two-runs-per-week plan, you're essentially getting rid of the 60% easy and just doing the 40% hard, right? Or I guess the bike rides could be considered the easy portion.

If you apply the 65:35 ratio to entire ST workouts, then that means one out of three weekly workouts should be heavy, the other two light, or medium and light. I think a lot of people would agree with that.

As the volume goes up, I would think the ratio of easy:hard would go up too. So maybe 80:20 for guys who work out 4-5 days a week? Just as elite runners who log 100 mpw would be doing about 80 miles easy. But for someone like me doing 25-30 mpw, I think 65/35 would still be reasonable (once I attain good running fitness again).

Out of 10 workouts 2 should be at high intensity levels. But what it doesnt't factor is do you treat the lifts as individual programs or is it all inclusive? And if you transpose the lactate threshold to lifting its probably what sub 75% max? Autoreg is working somewhat but the problem is in 10 reps its hard to judge how you are going to feel that day.
Yah, the analogies can never be exact, but I would say lactate threshold in lifting terms would be more like 80-85% 1RM for me. 75% would be closer to aerobic pace I think, getting up in the 8-10 rep range. When I look at a lot of other people's rep schemes, not just bodybuilders but also powerflifters, they do a fair amount of work with higher reps, so you're probably doing the right thing, it's just that for me, it's mental agony to do a lot of reps. I find it mentally easier to do higher intensities at lower reps

The autoreg comes in more with extending sets and/or adding in assistance. On a hard bench day, for example, I'm pretty committed to doing 5x2, but where I might autoreg that is by adding 5-10 pounds if I'm feeling especially good, or taking off 5-10 if I'm feeling lousy. If I'm feeling good, and have the time, I'll also add in some 2-DB Bench Press, and pullover/dips. If I'm feeling low energy, I just do the bench press and that's it.

Another way to do the hard day might still be 2 x 5, but add 20 pounds, and/or add a third set, or do 3/3/4 just 10 pounds below your doubles. I have a chart as a guide, but in practice, I tend to vary the rep schemes based on feel.

ST--3D-6L-10R--14.10.30.jpg

One nice thing about the everyday running is I'm finding my energy levels are more consistent now. That early morning metabolic boost sets everything up nicely the rest of the day.

I'm really trying to simplify the plan a bit so I don't have to think about it as frequently. We kind of simplified the exercises althoug they tend to be more complicated lifts, but then there is the inherent complexity of the rep ranges and weights, and also whats the right max to use etc... So maybe everything at 75% 2 x 5? Then once a week or every two weeks do singles on the DL, and on the other days just use the trap bar at 75%? At this point I know I really only have one hard day a week in me on the deadlift, and within that day I can really only go close to max on it. This is why I think I am beginning to see the squat interference issue.
Well, I guess my plan feels pretty simple to me now, although it's taken a few weeks of messing around to see how the 6x10 plan might work in practice, and I'll continue to mess with it. But basically, it's two lifts done heavy--5x2, 3x3, or 2x5+extra weight (in boldface in the chart)--then four lifts done light--2-3x5--then 2-3 assistance for the two heavy lifts if I have time and energy (also in boldface in the chart). If I have a lot of time and energy, I have several more assistance lifts listed per workout that I try to get in.

One thing to consider is that your lifts are pretty well-matched, it seems to me (OH Press:Bench:Squat: Deadlift = 2:3:4:5, Bench=Row=Pullup), whereas for me, five lifts lag behind the bench, and my pulldowns lag really far behind everything else, so I don't know if it makes sense for me to concentrate on bringing up one lift in particular, as I had been doing with the deadlift this last summer. I've concluded that there's so much carryover between lifts, that it makes the most sense to bring everything up concurrently. But the main focus overall is getting a stronger back, and each of the five non-Bench lifts seems to contribute.

I still intend to get my deadlift up to 400 of course, but it's also just as important to get a 320 squat and about a 170 OH press and do 10 unassisted pullups and do a 250-pound Pendlay row. I'm convinced all those lifts will help bring up the deadlift, and the bench will improve without even trying if I can get stronger on all those other lifts.

So yah, I guess I'm agreeing with you that doing the deadlifts heavy should only be once every week or once every two weeks, but maybe for slightly different reasons. We, and many others, agree that deadlifts are the most taxing and require the most recovery time, but I'm also spacing out the heavy DLs so that I can do other lifts heavy too, which, the theory goes, will ultimately help my DL more than just doing heavy DLs more frequently and letting everything else just coast.

Thoughts? Am I making this too complex? I think the variability is affectinng my sense of consistency.
Perhaps for your sensibility, it might be best to do the same lifts every time, and just do them heavy once a week?

For me, just doing the same lifts every time is consistency enough. I don't feel like I lose that by adding set/rep/selection variability within that basic paramenter. I love the idea that, minimally, all I have to do is six lifts 2 x 5, and be done in 20-30 minutes, but, if I want, I can expand that out to an hour with more sets and fewer reps, and assistance exercises. It's the perfect blend of discipline and flexibility, so far . . .

I guess it would help to know what your goals are, besides the 400 deadlift. Your Bench Press, OH Press, and chinups are proportional, your deadlift is slightly weak in comparison, and your squat is bad, but that's probably because you're not making the effort. I don't have a clear sense of what your rows are like, since you do those 32kg rows. Seems to me that if your goal is becoming a better ultra runner, then you could probably lift in a fairly steady-state pattern, letting the gains come to you, while minimizing interference with your running, right? So just do 6 lifts 2 x 5 and slowly add weight as five reps gets easier? That would be very consistent. Then just add a little variation when it gets boring, like sub DB presses for BB presses, or a different kind of row, etc.


PS, couldn't open that Facebook link.

P.S.P.S., here's some vids of the sweeping deadlift.

P.S.P.S.P.S. Really liking my workout log book: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0968707505/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

P.S.P.S.P.S.P.S. Got a Low Row Foot Plate from Yukon Fitness (http://www.yukon-fitness.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?page=yukon/PROD/ACC/LRP-176), helps extend the cable for a full stretch.
  • 31NlnEFJinL.jpg
  • I think the home gym is pretty much complete now.
 
With your two-runs-per-week plan, you're essentially getting rid of the 60% easy and just doing the 40% hard, right? Or I guess the bike rides could be considered the easy portion.

If you apply the 65:35 ratio to entire ST workouts, then that means one out of three weekly workouts should be heavy, the other two light, or medium and light. I think a lot of people would agree with that.

As the volume goes up, I would think the ratio of easy:hard would go up too. So maybe 80:20 for guys who work out 4-5 days a week? Just as elite runners who log 100 mpw would be doing about 80 miles easy. But for someone like me doing 25-30 mpw, I think 65/35 would still be reasonable (once I attain good running fitness again).

I treat it as the opposite actually, I only do slow runs. I don't really care about my running pace and am looking at the 1-2 run per week as strictly easy running to train for long distance training.

The bike and mountain bike I treat more as speedwork. MTB is inherently similar to fartleks which is one of the reasons I think I like it so much. I'm looking at doing a 3 day staged race early next year on the bike and then doing another longer MTB race in conjunction with the 100 miler. So I shoudl easily get in my speedwork from training for this. The plan now is to run one long race a month, and do one other long run on the weekend, then run to work one day a week. So the running will be limited to 1-2-1-2 over 4 weeks. The alternate weeks I will do a long MTB ride and then my commutes in to work should supplement from the biking side.

Yah, the analogies can never be exact, but I would say lactate threshold in lifting terms would be more like 80-85% 1RM for me. 75% would be closer to aerobic pace I think, getting up in the 8-10 rep range. When I look at a lot of other people's rep schemes, not just bodybuilders but also powerflifters, they do a fair amount of work with higher reps, so you're probably doing the right thing, it's just that for me, it's mental agony to do a lot of reps. I find it mentally easier to do higher intensities at lower reps

The autoreg comes in more with extending sets and/or adding in assistance. On a hard bench day, for example, I'm pretty committed to doing 5x2, but where I might autoreg that is by adding 5-10 pounds if I'm feeling especially good, or taking off 5-10 if I'm feeling lousy. If I'm feeling good, and have the time, I'll also add in some 2-DB Bench Press, and pullover/dips. If I'm feeling low energy, I just do the bench press and that's it.

Another way to do the hard day might still be 2 x 5, but add 20 pounds, and/or add a third set, or do 3/3/4 just 10 pounds below your doubles. I have a chart as a guide, but in practice, I tend to vary the rep schemes based on feel.

One nice thing about the everyday running is I'm finding my energy levels are more consistent now. That early morning metabolic boost sets everything up nicely the rest of the day.

I went for all my lifts today at 80% max and I think that might be a little on the high end, so 75% might be the lactate threshold and lower is aerobic for me. It wasn't consitent obviously the DL's were significantly harder than the squats but that's because they were almost twice as heavy. Bench and Press were about the same difficulty.

No I despise the 8-10 rep lifts too. Its ok for somethings but terrible for others. So 5 reps will likely be my max rep scheme and I will just shorten the rest interval if I want it lighter. For the KB rows. I might just superset with each arm or something so 5 right 5 left 5 right etc...

Just to be lazy I think I will do everything at 2 x 5 and 80% like I did today and then after 3-4 weeks increase the lifts like a linear plan.

Well, I guess my plan feels pretty simple to me now, although it's taken a few weeks of messing around to see how the 6x10 plan might work in practice, and I'll continue to mess with it. But basically, it's two lifts done heavy--5x2, 3x3, or 2x5+extra weight (in boldface in the chart)--then four lifts done light--2-3x5--then 2-3 assistance for the two heavy lifts if I have time and energy (also in boldface in the chart). If I have a lot of time and energy, I have several more assistance lifts listed per workout that I try to get in.

One thing to consider is that your lifts are pretty well-matched, it seems to me (OH Press:Bench:Squat: Deadlift = 2:3:4:5, Bench=Row=Pullup), whereas for me, five lifts lag behind the bench, and my pulldowns lag really far behind everything else, so I don't know if it makes sense for me to concentrate on bringing up one lift in particular, as I had been doing with the deadlift this last summer. I've concluded that there's so much carryover between lifts, that it makes the most sense to bring everything up concurrently. But the main focus overall is getting a stronger back, and each of the five non-Bench lifts seems to contribute.

I still intend to get my deadlift up to 400 of course, but it's also just as important to get a 320 squat and about a 170 OH press and do 10 unassisted pullups and do a 250-pound Pendlay row. I'm convinced all those lifts will help bring up the deadlift, and the bench will improve without even trying if I can get stronger on all those other lifts.

So yah, I guess I'm agreeing with you that doing the deadlifts heavy should only be once every week or once every two weeks, but maybe for slightly different reasons. We, and many others, agree that deadlifts are the most taxing and require the most recovery time, but I'm also spacing out the heavy DLs so that I can do other lifts heavy too, which, the theory goes, will ultimately help my DL more than just doing heavy DLs more frequently and letting everything else just coast.


Perhaps for your sensibility, it might be best to do the same lifts every time, and just do them heavy once a week?

For me, just doing the same lifts every time is consistency enough. I don't feel like I lose that by adding set/rep/selection variability within that basic paramenter. I love the idea that, minimally, all I have to do is six lifts 2 x 5, and be done in 20-30 minutes, but, if I want, I can expand that out to an hour with more sets and fewer reps, and assistance exercises. It's the perfect blend of discipline and flexibility, so far . . .

I guess it would help to know what your goals are, besides the 400 deadlift. Your Bench Press, OH Press, and chinups are proportional, your deadlift is slightly weak in comparison, and your squat is bad, but that's probably because you're not making the effort. I don't have a clear sense of what your rows are like, since you do those 32kg rows. Seems to me that if your goal is becoming a better ultra runner, then you could probably lift in a fairly steady-state pattern, letting the gains come to you, while minimizing interference with your running, right? So just do 6 lifts 2 x 5 and slowly add weight as five reps gets easier? That would be very consistent. Then just add a little variation when it gets boring, like sub DB presses for BB presses, or a different kind of row, etc.


PS, couldn't open that Facebook link.

Thanks for all the thoughts, they have been very helpful. Proportional weight is a good way to think about it.

Honestly right now the goal is 400 for the DL while slowly building a good running/biking base. I'll put lifting goals on hold after December and focus on the running and biking a little more, which is one of the reasons why I want a no brainer program. I figure its good to tinker and talk about it now to get it set up for next year. Come Janaury I will try to drop about 20 lbs of weight so just maintaining or limiting my losses in the gym would be good. Although I think I will continue the 1-2 runs per week, my endurance level feels great and I don't feel any of the creaks. I am glad to hear the every day running is doing you well, I know what you mean though about the wakefulness, the one day I drive to work a week I feel exceptionally sluggish.

Any chance you can scan a page or the important pages of that workout log? I'm curious to see their layout. I might put together a fancy spreadsheet to help consolidate and track the DJ/L'A plan though.

And I'd be interested to see a pic of the gym now its all done. I might make my last purchase this weekend but I can't decide how much I really want another barbell, have you been enjoying having two? I was thinking of building up a corner of wood and buying one of those lat blasters? Or maybe a rope pull to use for some rows.
 
Sorry about the FB link those two articles were probably the only worthwhile thing from it. The rest was dudes arguing about semantics. Like we do about Maf and stuff.
 
I treat it as the opposite actually, I only do slow runs. I don't really care about my running pace and am looking at the 1-2 run per week as strictly easy running to train for long distance training.

The bike and mountain bike I treat more as speedwork. MTB is inherently similar to fartleks which is one of the reasons I think I like it so much. I'm looking at doing a 3 day staged race early next year on the bike and then doing another longer MTB race in conjunction with the 100 miler. So I shoudl easily get in my speedwork from training for this. The plan now is to run one long race a month, and do one other long run on the weekend, then run to work one day a week. So the running will be limited to 1-2-1-2 over 4 weeks. The alternate weeks I will do a long MTB ride and then my commutes in to work should supplement from the biking side.
I guess I was thinking within my own running capabilities. 3-6 miles easy is the base, anything longer or faster than that is 'hard' or part of the 20-35%. So your long runs would definitely count as hard for me, even at a slow pace. But for you, I can see how they would be easy and the MTB and biking more of the 'hard' or 'quality' cardio portion of your training.

I went for all my lifts today at 80% max and I think that might be a little on the high end, so 75% might be the lactate threshold and lower is aerobic for me. It wasn't consitent obviously the DL's were significantly harder than the squats but that's because they were almost twice as heavy. Bench and Press were about the same difficulty.

No I despise the 8-10 rep lifts too. Its ok for somethings but terrible for others. So 5 reps will likely be my max rep scheme and I will just shorten the rest interval if I want it lighter. For the KB rows. I might just superset with each arm or something so 5 right 5 left 5 right etc...

Just to be lazy I think I will do everything at 2 x 5 and 80% like I did today and then after 3-4 weeks increase the lifts like a linear plan.
That sounds like a good plan given everything else you got going. Maybe try inverted rows more often too? I've been laying off most of the prone grip rows until my t-grip bar comes, but I think inverted rows with my suspension straps (i.e., with neutral grip) could be a pretty good option, probably better than the Pendlay barbell rows. The 1-DB rows are still king though, and I've been getting into the 2-DB Bentover rows lately too, as a way of doing two-handed bentover rows with a neutral grip, once again as stop-gap until my t-grip bar arrives.

I guess my program is something like a Daily Undulating/Non-linear Strength plan, given my alternations of relatively low rep-counts resulting in heavy, medium, and light lifts within each workout, cf. http://www.t-nation.com/training/nonlinear-periodization-for-size-and-strength.
for a total body workout:
http://tnation.t-nation.com/free_on...ody_training_performance/the_waterbury_method
Thanks for all the thoughts, they have been very helpful. Proportional weight is a good way to think about it.

Honestly right now the goal is 400 for the DL while slowly building a good running/biking base. I'll put lifting goals on hold after December and focus on the running and biking a little more, which is one of the reasons why I want a no brainer program. I figure its good to tinker and talk about it now to get it set up for next year. Come Janaury I will try to drop about 20 lbs of weight so just maintaining or limiting my losses in the gym would be good. Although I think I will continue the 1-2 runs per week, my endurance level feels great and I don't feel any of the creaks. I am glad to hear the every day running is doing you well, I know what you mean though about the wakefulness, the one day I drive to work a week I feel exceptionally sluggish.

Any chance you can scan a page or the important pages of that workout log? I'm curious to see their layout. I might put together a fancy spreadsheet to help consolidate and track the DJ/L'A plan though.

And I'd be interested to see a pic of the gym now its all done. I might make my last purchase this weekend but I can't decide how much I really want another barbell, have you been enjoying having two? I was thinking of building up a corner of wood and buying one of those lat blasters? Or maybe a rope pull to use for some rows.
Glad I made some sense. It's always a good exercise to try to write down how my thinking on these matters is evolving. I think those proportions, which I've seen in a number of places, are a good guide, although my bench will probably always be better than everything else, simply because it's the only basic lift I've done consistently whenever I've lifted in the past.

Yah, I'm pretty happy about the everyday morning runs. I've been meaning to try it since the beginning of this year. I've had the intuition that it might be the way to go for a long time, but never sure if my legs would tolerate it. It harkens back to my childhood days as a paperboy, starting each morning with some aerobic exercise, out in the elements. This morning was a little rough to start with, the windchill was 12F according to Accuweather, but after a mile the numb-plunge halted and I was comfortably numb the rest of the way. Now I feel great.

Sounds like you've also found your running nirvana in quite the opposite direction. We both agree, however, that we want to run without the creakiness of recovery. I hate running fatigued and I hate waking up the next day barely able to walk. Still, I would eventually like to start doing half-marathonish long runs once or twice a month. I miss that sense of adventure. The short runs don't give you that cool sense of covering varying geography.

I left my log at home, but if you go to the Amazon link, someone scanned the pages in their review. Otherwise, I'll try to take a pic tomorrow when I bring it in. It has some stuff I don't use. Basically, I just write in the lift, then under each 'set' column, there's a row for reps and a row for weight. You could easily make a spreadsheet form for this, but I like the convenience of having a spiral book I can haul back and forth and keep everything in one place.

I'll try to take some pics of my garage gym this afternoon. I'm still missing the t-grip bar, which should come in sometime in November, but everything else feels pretty complete and I love the flow of my workouts now. Having a less cluttered space clears my mind.

Thanks for reminding me about the lat blaster, I should sub those in as my row once in a while. I think I like them better than the barbell rows.

I haven't been using two bars, just the new shorty bar. The 7' Olympic bar just sits in my bar holder now, as does my hex bar and my EZ bar. The 6' shorty bar is perfect for my needs and fits my rack's 3-foot width well. Both Ivanko and Rogue make better shorty bars than the Body Solid one I got, but no one seems to know when the Ivanko will hit the market again.
http://www.ivankobarbell.com/products/ob72/
http://www.roguefitness.com/the-rogue-c-70-bar
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TPRM2C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I may get one of them in the future, especially if I end up with more gym space.

Edit: I emailed Rogue and they said the C-70 should be available in 5-6 weeks. It looks like a real winner, but it ain't cheap. I kind of regret getting the Body Solid bar. Might be a while before I can justify another gear purchase.

I'm starting to fetishize the bar as my 'axe' like a guitarist. I've been enjoying this conversion into a full-fledged meathead, and feel pretty good about the direction my training is going now. The urge to read more has definitely subsided recently (although I still like to read one or two of the weekly T-Nation articles, more for motivation than info)--a clear sign that I'm close to saturation point on all the protocols, and now I'm getting into more of a 'just lift' stage, which is what happened with my running a year or two ago, after reading up on some of the stuff on form and protocols.

One thing: have you tried front squats? I'm thinking that if I squat three times a week, maybe one of those days should be front squats, for a little extra depth and quad development. Thoughts?
 
Ah shoot forgor the inverted rows. I can throw some weight into my backpack and start doing weighted ones now that I have an extra backpack.

You know I spent some bucks on a nice barbell a few years back and I have to admit it's kind of a waste of money. I always preferred lifting with my chear crappy bars honestly. The only thing the bearing bar was better at was cleans and snatches. It actually made the deadlift more difficult. So if you like the body solid bar well enough just save your money and buy another.

I was also thinking of using the cheap landmine corner for doing heavy weighted single arm rows since I don't have any dumbrella or heavier kettlebells. They are the best and then pull ups and I really like farmers for my upper back.

Yeah I was doing front squats for a while a few months back. They could be a nice mix. The loads are lower usually and the while structure is different which isn't a bad thing. If you were squatting once a week I would not do them but squatting 3 times a week is why I was doing them before. I still do my goblet squats as a warmup which is similar to the front squat and it does help with flexibility and warming up the squat technique.

Yeah I've been skipping a lot of reading too. There really is very little that is appliable to what we are doing and it seems better just to figure it out on our own than to keep filling my head with so many ideas. I did read an article about the undulating style being more beneficial for strength gains though is that what you posted? I'll go look.
 
Ah shoot forgor the inverted rows. I can throw some weight into my backpack and start doing weighted ones now that I have an extra backpack.

You know I spent some bucks on a nice barbell a few years back and I have to admit it's kind of a waste of money. I always preferred lifting with my chear crappy bars honestly. The only thing the bearing bar was better at was cleans and snatches. It actually made the deadlift more difficult. So if you like the body solid bar well enough just save your money and buy another.
Yah, I dunno, the Rogue bar just has bushings I think. It's not a Oly bar, although it has both Olympic and Powerlifting knurl marks. The Body Solid bar doesn't have any knurl marks, and the knurling ends kind of vaguely in the middle. I wrapped athletic tape around to mark off the center, and again to align the bar with my rack, but it kinda sucks not having any knurl marks. The hex bolt of the Body Solid also tends to come loose, and it's at least 30mm in diameter, which makes the deadlifts a little harder but doesn't affect anything else. The Rogue bar might make a good Christmas gift for the wife and kids to give me. They complain about how hard it is to gift me, because all I usually buy is academic books, so we'll see.

I was also thinking of using the cheap landmine corner for doing heavy weighted single arm rows since I don't have any dumbrella or heavier kettlebells. They are the best and then pull ups and I really like farmers for my upper back.
Yeah, thanks for reminding me about single-arm rows with the landmine, another nice row variation, and for you, a great way to save having to get dumbbell handles and smaller plates. Since you're overseas, I would imagine you don't want to accumulate too much equipment, unless you plan on going Dutch long term. You might have to rig up a handle, and/or some kind of platform, in order to get full ROM, which is one of the advantages of the dumbbell row, although I read somewhere you don't really want the upper arm to go beyond parallel with the torso.
Yeah I was doing front squats for a while a few months back. They could be a nice mix. The loads are lower usually and the while structure is different which isn't a bad thing. If you were squatting once a week I would not do them but squatting 3 times a week is why I was doing them before. I still do my goblet squats as a warmup which is similar to the front squat and it does help with flexibility and warming up the squat technique.
The only drawback to front squats is that there would probably be even more interference with running, working the quads more, but might just have to man up. I don't really feel like trying any of the deadlift variations, although I have thought about doing them with blocks once in a while, to take a little pressure off the knees and hammies and just work the back.
Yeah I've been skipping a lot of reading too. There really is very little that is appliable to what we are doing and it seems better just to figure it out on our own than to keep filling my head with so many ideas. I did read an article about the undulating style being more beneficial for strength gains though is that what you posted? I'll go look.
Yah, the variations in programming sets, reps, and exercise selection are almost endless, and for intermediate lifters just interested in basic strength, like us, I doubt any of it matters. Mostly I think it's funny that no matter what little tweak I give to my routine, someone has already come up with a name for it. It seems I have adopted a daily undulating style, but it's pretty messy. Yesterday was supposed to be heavy Squats and 1-DB Rows, but I still can't do heavy Squats, because of my right knee, and I was kind of sick of 1-DB Rows, so I did heavy OH Press and heavy Cable Rows instead. Maybe next week I'll come closer to following my chart.

It's funny though, lately I've been finding myself just doing sets of five reps for most of the exercises. That helps keep things simple, but it also feels like the perfect rep count a lot of the time. Monday I might try to do everything 2-3x5 again and see how it feels. It would be funny if after all this messing around I came back to Rip's Starting Strength or the Strong Lifts program, but maybe that's really all there is to it. I could still do singles, doubles, or triples to make a lift heavy--maybe just tack them on at the end?--but I sometimes wonder if it's worth the time to do extra sets. Something like

Squats 3 x 5
OH Press 3 x 5
Row 3 x 5
Bench 3 x 5
Pulldown 3 x 5
Deadlift 3 x 5

every single workout, with some doubles or triples and assistance thrown in per feel. Possibilities for supersetting the upper body stuff in the middle of the workout too.

Anyway, here's a page from the workout log:
IMAG0121.jpg

Didn't have time to take any pics of the garage gym--trick-or-treating prep got in the way. But I might wait till the other bars come, and I'm thinking of getting some j-hooks. The fixed carriage bolts with athletic tape are OK, but not quite right.
 
Yah, I dunno, the Rogue bar just has bushings I think. It's not a Oly bar, although it has both Olympic and Powerlifting knurl marks. The Body Solid bar doesn't have any knurl marks, and the knurling ends kind of vaguely in the middle. I wrapped athletic tape around to mark off the center, and again to align the bar with my rack, but it kinda sucks not having any knurl marks. The hex bolt of the Body Solid also tends to come loose, and it's at least 30mm in diameter, which makes the deadlifts a little harder but doesn't affect anything else. The Rogue bar might make a good Christmas gift for the wife and kids to give me. They complain about how hard it is to gift me, because all I usually buy is academic books, so we'll see.

And I ended up with another olympic bearing bar... I tried getting a cheaper one but they didn't have it in Stock. Oh well I can use it for squats bench and press and keep the other one for deadlifts. Hopefully it's not significantly dinferent.

No marks is kind of a pain I probably would also go with another one too. They had a shorty bar for 65 euro but it wouldn't fit in my rack and only holds about 200 kilo worth of plates. It looked like a decent bar though.
 
Thanks for the scan I printed something up like that in excel to track. It's a one week per page concept with all the weight percentages and a couple of other stats. I think it will work. I like making things pretty but always end up missing sometHong. I would really like a way to put all my lifts and cardiovascular in one somehow.

I do like the simple 2 x 5 scheme a lot as well. Especially for the upper lifts. I might weight the inverted rows so I can keep them at that volume. I feel like with the equipment I have i should be fine forever with weights. Other than a fee things here and there Im pretty settled now I think I did pick up another pair of 20 kilo bumpers to and a quick set of lock jaws.
 
Thanks for the scan I printed something up like that in excel to track. It's a one week per page concept with all the weight percentages and a couple of other stats. I think it will work. I like making things pretty but always end up missing sometHong. I would really like a way to put all my lifts and cardiovascular in one somehow.

I do like the simple 2 x 5 scheme a lot as well. Especially for the upper lifts. I might weight the inverted rows so I can keep them at that volume. I feel like with the equipment I have i should be fine forever with weights. Other than a fee things here and there Im pretty settled now I think I did pick up another pair of 20 kilo bumpers to and a quick set of lock jaws.
That workout log I have does have an aerobic section at the top of each page, but since my running routine doesn't vary much these days, I don't bother to write anything in, plus it would use up a whole page on my st off-days just to write in my run.

Yah, the ultra simple set-up is tempting, but I need the cables for pulldowns until I can do BW chinups, and the dumbbells are nice once in a while. It would be nice to see a few pics of your set-up too. I'll take some of mine on Monday, I promise.

I'll probably try a 3x5 routine tomorrow then. It would be simpler to always do the same weight increment for each lift, maybe even same order of exercises each workout. And progress would be easier to track--just do the 2x5 or 3x5 and when it starts to get easy, add 5-10 pounds/kilos onto it.
And I ended up with another olympic bearing bar... I tried getting a cheaper one but they didn't have it in Stock. Oh well I can use it for squats bench and press and keep the other one for deadlifts. Hopefully it's not significantly dinferent.

No marks is kind of a pain I probably would also go with another one too. They had a shorty bar for 65 euro but it wouldn't fit in my rack and only holds about 200 kilo worth of plates. It looked like a decent bar though.
Yah, the shorty bar only makes sense with my kind of rack, which is 3' across. That Rogue shorty bar is 43" between the sleeves, which is just enough space outside of the rack posts for my squat grip. My Body Solid bar is 46", so with the Rogue bar I'm gaining a little more space on the sleeves. I think they're a full 12", whereas the Body Solid is a little less.
 
---------------Week 5: Cycle 2---------------
14.11.02-11.08

Sunday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 34F, 22F wc, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop. ITB and piri formis felt tight, so stopped to stretch on Franklin Bridge, but windchill there was harsh. With the clock change, got to see a new day dawning on Marshall bridge towards the end. Getting used to having numb feet again, and gaining confidence.

Monday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 40F, 35F wc, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop.

PM
Lifting
Squat: 3 x 5 x 180 (82kg)
OH Press: 3 x 5 x 115 (52kg)
1-DB Row: 2 x 5 x 110 (50kg)
B Press: 2 x 5 x 200 (91kg)
N Pulldown: 2 x 5 x 170 (77kg)
Deadlift: 3/3/4 x 290 (132kg)

Was going to take some pics, but my wife decided to watch my workout, and then she discovered the video of my squats in the point-n-shot camera and became suspicious. I explained that it was to check my form, but she thinks I'm showing off to some online lover. So I'll try to take some pics today.

The set-up and the lifting order worked perfect. I now have my two weakest lifts first, and I did three sets of five instead of two. I was going to do three sets for all the lifts, but I was rapidly getting fatigued, so I cut everything back to two, except for the deadlifts, because my 80% weight there, 290, felt a little heavy for my grip. I guess my grip has atrophied a bit since the strain. Might've also have been fatigue from doing the other five lifts first for a change.

I added another weight increment to my squats, going from 130 to 180, with pretty full ROM I think, and my knee felt fine. That's still only 65% 1RM, but I'm getting my confidence in the knee back. Otherwise, doing everything 80% x five reps across the board felt great, challenging, yet doable. I could see doing everything at 75% once in a while too though. My CNS felt a bit fried towards the end, but that's probably more due to having a low-level head cold and feeling a bit wiped by that. No desire or time for assistance afterwards, but I would like to get in the Hyperextensions/Pikes, Russian Twists, and Loaded Carries fairly often.

Tuesday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 39F, 29F wc, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop. Some definite interference from the squats and deadlifts. Had to stop twice to stretch on the bridges' handrails, but as long as I don't care about pace, I think the running and lifting with work themselves out.

Wednesday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 35F, 32F wc, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop. Felt like there was more windchill than the official version on Accuweather. Took a few walking breaks, feet were comfortably numb.

PM
Lifting
Squat: 4/3/3 x 180
OH Press: 2 x 5 x 90
N. Pulldown: 2 x 5 x 150
Bench Press: 2 x 5 x 180
Cable Row: 2 x 5 x 150
Deadlift: 2 x 5 x 220

Felt really beat and only had 30 minutes, so I did everything light, in the 60-75% range. Still, got a little bit of a pump.

Thursday
PM
Running
6 mi. 40F/32F wc. Ford Parkway-Marshall Bridge. Was good to vary the route and run in the daylight, but six miles felt a bit too far.

Friday
AM
Running
No run. Had to take the kids to school this morning, so slept in.

PM
Lifting
Squat: 3 x 5 x 180 (82kg)
OH Press: 3 x 5 x 110 (50kg)
1-DB Row: 2 x 5 x 110 (50kg)
2-DB B Press: 2 x 5 x 40 (18kg)

I spent some time messing with my new lifting belt before I found a good position, plus it was a bit of a struggle just to tighten the damn thing. It'll be nice when it's more broken in. I started out too low, but once I got the belt position more or less right, I did notice a difference right away on the squats. My trunk felt more solid and stable, and the power transfer more efficient. I think it might add 10-20 pounds.

It occurred to me to try the belt on the last set of my seated overhead presses too, and it helped there as well.

Spent too much time adjusting the j-hooks for my 2-handed dumbbell bench presses, and figuring out if they will work for squats, while moving the carriage bold plate holders around to accommodate these positions. I decided even if I don't get the Rogue shorty bar, the carriage bolts will work better than the j-hooks for racking the bar for squats, as it will allow my grip to come in closer and at a better angle. So I'll just need to move the j-hooks between three positions, one for the bench and seated press, one for the power hooks above, and one just below for my dip station if I ever get around to using it.

With all the messing around with the belt and rack hooks and bolts, I ran out of time before the family came home clamoring for steaks, so I didn't get around to my pulldowns or deadlifts.

Still, this week of mild experimentation has me thinking that next week I'm going to try to do three lifts per workout relatively heavy, and three relatively light, rather than some mix of heavy days and light days. As in the attached chart.

Saturday
AM
Running
Woke up at 2am, but couldn't motivate to run. Should've.

PM
Lifting
Deadlift: 300 x 1/1/2/3/3
Cable Row: 5 x 170, 2 x 3 x 200, 10 x 170
Neut. Pulldown: 170 x 3/5
Supine Pulldown: 2 x 3 x 170, 5 x 150

Spent some time photographing my garage gym setup, then finished the exercises I missed on Friday. Got the Deadlift up to 300 for the first time since the strain. I went slow, just single reps at first, then a double, everything felt OK so then two sets of triples to bring it up to 10 reps. The triples were hard but were just five pounds off where the percentages say they should be, so I guess I'm back in the game on those. Just have to get the squats up now. Should be able to this coming week.

Cable Rows were hard to do with good form at 200. I think I was still recovering from Friday's rows. But 10 reps felt pretty good at 170. Pulldowns were also a little heavy. Like Abide has said, upper body pulls might be best done higher rep with strict form.

So, I'm feeling good about the knee. It still clicks, but I don't have to test it when getting up from a sitting position, and it's just slightly painful when I massage it.
 
---------------Week 5: Cycle 2---------------

Monday 11/3/14
DL --------- 6 x 1 x 140kg
Bench ----- 2 x 4 x 100kg
KB Row --- 3 x 5EA x 32kg
Squat ------ 2 x 5 x 80kg
Pull ups --- 1 x 5 x BW
ABR -------- 1 x 10 x BW
Press ------ 2 x 5 x 55kg
Farmers --- 1 x 80m x 85kg

AM Bike Commute 17.3k - 37:49
PM Bike Commute 17.3k - 37:36

Tuesday 11/4/14
Lunch Yoga
Day of rest

Wednesday 11/5/14
AM Run Commute 17.3k - 1.55:22
PM Bike Commute 17.3k - 37:36

Thursday 11/6/14
AM Bike Commute 17.3k - 39:38
Lunch yoga
PM Bike Commute 17.3k - 36:34

Friday 11/7/14
DL --------- 3 x 3 x 130kg
Bench ----- 2 x 5 x 95kg
Pull ups --- 3 x 5 x 10kg
Squat ------ 1 x 3 x 80kg
Press ------ 3 x 3 x 60kg
Inv Row --- 3 x 5 x BW
Farmers --- 1 x 80m x 100kg

AM Bike Commute 17.3k - 41:58
PM Bike Commute 17.3k -

Still highly frustrated with the squats, there is just no groove with them for some reason and I can feel some weird torque in my knee. I'll give them one more week I think before I drop them. Nasty headwind on the ride in today but a nice sunrise.
 

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Used the new bar and its definitely a little thicker than my other one 32MM according to this and my other is the second link at 30MM. The knurl is smoother too. Felt better for the bench and press, and wasn't as irritating to my neck on the squats.

https://www.helisports.com/barbells/Hastings-220cm-Professional-Barbell-1500LB.html

https://www.helisports.com/barbells/Kroon-OB-86-Olympic-barbell-(220cm).html

Here is a pic of the garage. It's pretty messy right now, moving things in for the winter.
 

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Used the new bar and its definitely a little thicker than my other one 32MM according to this and my other is the second link at 30MM. The knurl is smoother too. Felt better for the bench and press, and wasn't as irritating to my neck on the squats.

https://www.helisports.com/barbells/Hastings-220cm-Professional-Barbell-1500LB.html

https://www.helisports.com/barbells/Kroon-OB-86-Olympic-barbell-(220cm).html

Here is a pic of the garage. It's pretty messy right now, moving things in for the winter.
Yah, my Body Solid bar was listed as either 30mm or 32mm too, but didn't have those price ranges! I think mine must be closer to 32mm. Like you say, the thicker bar feels good for presses. Not sure how I like it for squats, but it's definitely more challenging on the deadlifts. Anyway, I have to wait 4-6 weeks for the Rogue shorty to become available. I ordered some j-clips from them yesterday. I was impressed by their web site.

I like the simple set-up. And I can see how it's nice to have loaded bars. My space is considerably more cramped, though, so I don't think that would work for me. And I've really gear-whored out lately, so I can't really afford getting more plates. It would be nice to eventually get some quality bumper plates, but the 2nd-hand rubber grip plates I got in June are serving me well.
 
Yah, my Body Solid bar was listed as either 30mm or 32mm too, but didn't have those price ranges! I think mine must be closer to 32mm. Like you say, the thicker bar feels good for presses. Not sure how I like it for squats, but it's definitely more challenging on the deadlifts. Anyway, I have to wait 4-6 weeks for the Rogue shorty to become available. I ordered some j-clips from them yesterday. I was impressed by their web site.

I like the simple set-up. And I can see how it's nice to have loaded bars. My space is considerably more cramped, though, so I don't think that would work for me. And I've really gear-whored out lately, so I can't really afford getting more plates. It would be nice to eventually get some quality bumper plates, but the 2nd-hand rubber grip plates I got in June are serving me well.

Yeah I kind of splurged with the bumpers. Although once I load the first bumper plate on the metal plates just slide right on since the diameter is a bit smaller so thats convienient. I also like that its pretty quiet when I lift, no plates clanking together and I like not having to worry about causing any damage to the garage floor. The rubber plates are likely pretty quiet too right? Bumper plates are a pain in the ass to pick up though and they tend to be wider than steel. The ones I have are really narrow the ones Rogue sells are twice as wide. I figure I'm not dropping weight so they are a complete luxury.

Rogue seems like a good company, its a little pricey for me which is why I never order from them.
Those are pretty cheap bars for out here too, well compared to Rogue and that other crossfit wannabee retailer I forget their name. The 21% VAT doesn't help.
 
Yeah I kind of splurged with the bumpers. Although once I load the first bumper plate on the metal plates just slide right on since the diameter is a bit smaller so thats convienient. I also like that its pretty quiet when I lift, no plates clanking together and I like not having to worry about causing any damage to the garage floor. The rubber plates are likely pretty quiet too right? Bumper plates are a pain in the ass to pick up though and they tend to be wider than steel. The ones I have are really narrow the ones Rogue sells are twice as wide. I figure I'm not dropping weight so they are a complete luxury.

Rogue seems like a good company, its a little pricey for me which is why I never order from them.
Those are pretty cheap bars for out here too, well compared to Rogue and that other crossfit wannabee retailer I forget their name. The 21% VAT doesn't help.
Yah, I should've spent a little extra to get rubber for the smaller plates, but I got cheap 2.5-, 5-, and 10-pound plates from Dick's. Still, with the rubber mats, everything is pretty quiet now.

I like the idea of having the first plate on the deadlift bar a little wider than the rest. Saves having to hoist the bar for loading or having a deadlift jack. I guess the official height of the bar should be 8.5 inches, according to a recent article in T-Nation. That's the height they calculated to be safe in case a weightlifter's bar came crashing down over their head. Anything less and the skull could be crushed. I'll try to measure my bar height, but I'm thinking of putting some 4x4" blocks of wood underneath, to take a little pressure off the knees and allow me to work the back with heavier weights while I wait for my right knee to get 100%. I'm never going to compete so who cares if I'm cheating a bit, right?

Yah, Europe is expensive compared to here. America is a consumer paradise, but labor gets a raw deal a lot of the time.

I wonder what the history between Rogue and Crossfit is? Good market niche. It's always nice to support an fully American company.

It's funny, I don't know anything about Crossfit, but I think I've picked up T-Nation's prejudice against it. Seems like they support a pretty active dating scene . . .
 
Here is my log I put together, any thoughts? Am I missing anything? It's nice to have a place to jot everything down and look at percentages. I'll try to link this together to a database and build a chart too. Then I can have total weight lifted etc..

I gave crossfit a whirl for a while and I think most of the complaints about it are valid. I tend to be more cynical though and feel a lot of its silly specifically boot camps, aerobics and personal trainers... Honestly though I would encourage anyone to try it out if they really wanted to and would never chastise someone about it. It's like running, its not for everyone and chances are you are gonna get hurt doing it. Which doesnt stop us!

I never knew that about the barbells but it makes complete sense. Yeah you could also try straight legged deadlifts. It's amazing how much weight you can lift doing those. But yeah people do rack pulls all the time, they seem legit.

Rogue sells out here but the prices are close to twice as much as in the US. I don't like American laborers that much :) besides chinese steel has come a long way in the last 20 years.
 

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Here is my log I put together, any thoughts? Am I missing anything? It's nice to have a place to jot everything down and look at percentages. I'll try to link this together to a database and build a chart too. Then I can have total weight lifted etc..

I gave crossfit a whirl for a while and I think most of the complaints about it are valid. I tend to be more cynical though and feel a lot of its silly specifically boot camps, aerobics and personal trainers... Honestly though I would encourage anyone to try it out if they really wanted to and would never chastise someone about it. It's like running, its not for everyone and chances are you are gonna get hurt doing it. Which doesnt stop us!

I never knew that about the barbells but it makes complete sense. Yeah you could also try straight legged deadlifts. It's amazing how much weight you can lift doing those. But yeah people do rack pulls all the time, they seem legit.

Rogue sells out here but the prices are close to twice as much as in the US. I don't like American laborers that much :) besides chinese steel has come a long way in the last 20 years.
Very pretty. I like the chart a lot. I may have to steal the percentages idea. My current chart is duplicated with the weights given in kilograms. I've also given up trying to match assistance lifts with specific days. Now it's just a list I can chose from if I have the time or inclination on any particular day. I don't think your chart is missing anything, seems pretty complete and smartly organized. I guess total weight would be nice--it could be a way of gauging how hard the total workout is, right? I was thinking a good goal for me, that kind of summarizes the other goals, is 1000 total lbs for the three big lifts. We've discussed this before, right? So that'd be 400DL + 320SQ + 280BP.

Are you always going to do the exercises in that order? You seem to be going from heaviest to lightest, or is it lower to presses to pulls? I'm going to try to stick to the order in my chart this week, there's a certain logic to it, but I'm too lazy to try to explain it right now.
 

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I've been thinking about what you said about slowing things down a little and I think I might go that route as well. I'm thinking of never lifting past the 85% point and maybe just work up the reps from 1-2-3-5 and then each cycle or every 8 weeks add 5kg to the current maxes. Then maybe just work through from 75%-85%? This is kind of why I wanted a log in the gym so I can reference the prior weeks.
Eventually I would like a 1000lb PL total, but I feel like if I want to drop down some weight that might be unattainable? The gainz are coming so much slower these days in everything but the squats.

Uh no thats not the order just clumped by body part. After we talked about starting in one way and then reversing for the next workout I felt like the squats were taking away from the deadlift and the press from the bench. I am not noticing as much intereference when I bench and DL first though. So it's

DL
Pull Ups
Bench
Squat
Row
Press
Farmers

I would put together a list like that but I don't do assistance... that makes things a little simpler. I do a warmup usually 50 jump ropes, 10-15 swings and, 10 goblet squats.
 
I've been thinking about what you said about slowing things down a little and I think I might go that route as well. I'm thinking of never lifting past the 85% point and maybe just work up the reps from 1-2-3-5 and then each cycle or every 8 weeks add 5kg to the current maxes. Then maybe just work through from 75%-85%? This is kind of why I wanted a log in the gym so I can reference the prior weeks.
Eventually I would like a 1000lb PL total, but I feel like if I want to drop down some weight that might be unattainable? The gainz are coming so much slower these days in everything but the squats.

Uh no thats not the order just clumped by body part. After we talked about starting in one way and then reversing for the next workout I felt like the squats were taking away from the deadlift and the press from the bench. I am not noticing as much intereference when I bench and DL first though. So it's

DL
Pull Ups
Bench
Squat
Row
Press
Farmers

I would put together a list like that but I don't do assistance... that makes things a little simpler. I do a warmup usually 50 jump ropes, 10-15 swings and, 10 goblet squats.
Well, it's interesting doing your percentage chart idea. I found a pretty good correspondence between 80, 85, 90 percent and my quintuples, triples, and doubles, respectively. So I guess I'll go with that.

Yah, I think slowing down a bit might speed thing up in the long run if it (1), prevents overtraining, (2) simplifies the scheme and therefore the workouts, and (3) allows me to do a full-body workout each time, thus upping the frequency of each lift. Five reps is still pretty intense with the proper loading. I'll try three sets each lift this afternoon and see if it's too much. Another way to go is 2x5 but some doubles or triples on the days of emphasis for each lift (in boldface).

Adding weight each cycle might be a good approach, but it might mean missing reps if you're not quite ready. I guess I'll see how things go this second half of this cycle. I'll try to be ultra consistent on the 2x5 or 3x5 scheme to get a good feel for it.

Assistance is mostly there in case I get peppy, although there are a few, like the DB Bench Press and OH Squat, for example, that attack things the main lifts miss. I also like having a variety of rows to choose from.

I don't know what to say about dropping weight. I've only thought about dropping fat, but haven't thought much about total body weight. As long as it's lean, I'm all for mass. But I'm not running ultras. I think looking good with my shirt off would be prize enough.
 

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