Mixed grip makes a HUGE difference, you will notice a big improvement

Also, you might find one way mixed is better than others. I am right handed but grip under with my right hand and feel much more powerful that way. I have a bad left wrist so I can't really do well with my left wrist turned that way. Most people are stronger with their non-dominant hand under though.

3/15/2012 1:43:54 PM

For your DL...

If you are going to go high rep, do your heavier sets before before hitting the volume hard. You don't want to go intense pre-fatigued, especially on the DL.

For your grip, start using chalk and mixed grip for your top sets. I find doing high rep RDLs to be a great grip and posterior chain worker. Take ~50% of your DL 1RM and do sets of 3x8-12 of RDLs using double overhand grip. Add weight as it feels easy.

3/15/2012 1:47:04 PM

yeah the order i posted it was the order i did it

3/15/2012 1:55:13 PM

Crushed a pretty nice workout today:

Bench Press: 205x5. 230x3. 255x4*
1arm 70#DB Standing Overhead Press: 3x6each
1arm 105#DB Row: 3x6each
Incline Infolding Tricep Ext. 50#DBs 3x6
Front Raises 35#DB 3x8

*This is a +3 increase in reps with this weight from last month and the bar was moving very quick, so I am satisfied. However, my bench is still too low from where I feel I should be.

I really recommend heavy 1arm DB presses. They help teach you to stabilize like crazy, which will help drive up your lifts.

Cut starts Sunday... 20lbs over 6-10weeks!

[Edited on March 15, 2012 at 2:59 PM. Reason : ;]

3/15/2012 2:58:54 PM

any of you guys compete? im thinking about getting into powerlifting competitions, been working to get over the 1100 point mark. was thinking it could be fun to have something more to work toward.

[Edited on March 16, 2012 at 3:39 PM. Reason : ]

3/16/2012 3:39:23 PM

I wish, Dr doesn't want me doing any more spinal compressing movements for the rest of my life if I want any chance at returning feeling in my toes. Instead I'm coaching special Olympics powerlifting for wake county

3/16/2012 4:06:23 PM

theres a competition here in richmond next month but im thinking about actively training for something further out to give myself some time to get the deadlift over 500 and cut some weight. the impression i get is that the people at the competitions are super supportive and friendly.

[Edited on March 16, 2012 at 4:11 PM. Reason : ]

3/16/2012 4:10:49 PM

Porcha, you never had any kind of surgery for decompression?

3/16/2012 4:18:40 PM

No, its not debilitating bad, just constant numbness/tingling in 2 of my left toes, one calf is gimpy too. I took some drug Lyrica for the tingling and it helped somewhat but at $140/mo it wasn't worth it. I am spotty with my at home physical therapy. Had a surgery consult and they gave me a 50/50 on its success. I can live without squats and deadlifts. My legs are still tree trunks, I just do pretty much every other leg exercise.

3/16/2012 6:29:01 PM

Hit a 475 lb dead lift today for a 10lb personal best. No vid this time...maybe could have gotten 480 but didn't bother trying.

3/23/2012 8:31:16 PM

Here's a pretty interesting article about lifting speed vs strength/power gained from the lift

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/sports-training/the-force-velocity-curve/

4/2/2012 8:39:21 AM

Bought the 5/3/1 book.

We'll see how this goes

http://www.amazon.com/Simplest-Effective-Training-Strength-Edition/dp/B00686OYGQ/ref=pd_sim_b_1

4/5/2012 1:26:35 PM

5/3/1 is primarily a strength program, not a bodybuilding program. Wender suggests a modification of 5/3/1 for bodybuilding - "Big but boring".

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_boring_but_big_3month_challenge

[Edited on April 5, 2012 at 1:59 PM. Reason : ]

4/5/2012 1:58:58 PM

Depending on how you structure the assistance/accessory work, I consider 531 a "power building" program. A hybrid of strength training and body building.

To be honest, if you have a training history of <3 years and want to have a great physique, adhering to strength training principles and biasing towards the 6-12rep range for assistance work is going to be the most effective.

4/5/2012 3:24:22 PM

Do you really need to buy a book to put together a routine? I mean if you aren't planning on competing you can easily find all the information you could want online for free.

4/5/2012 3:55:59 PM

dat wendler yoke.

the three month challenge looks really interesting. having done a few cycles of 5/3/1 with bbb, the concept of doing 5x10 at 70% is ffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuu.... 50% tended to wipe me out on squat days, but the other days i could have done more.

when i get back from my honeymoon i plan to get back into 5/3/1 training, and not slack off on the conditioning part.

been swimming more, in preparation for doing a ton of snorkling/scuba, and man my conditioning has gone to shit.

4/5/2012 4:27:32 PM

if you want to get big, you have to leave your ego at home and realize that strength and size rarely come together.

4/5/2012 5:37:17 PM

Eleusis, you really need to qualify "big".

Almost all beginner lifters simply don't have the strength to transform their physique quickly. Telling some 5'10'' 150lbs kid to do a high volume training program of 4x12 or something similar will not be as effective as getting them stronger in the barbell lifts with sets of 3-8reps.

Furthermore, for a beginner the minimum threshold stimulus to grow is pretty low, a challenging but not ball busting 3x5 will do the trick wonderfully. Going overboard on reps and going to failure/getting a burn every set can be very counter productive.

I agree with you, if you want to get monster size and bodybuilder muscles, then yes you will have to do lot of volume. IMO, getting a stable strong foundation is critical to long term lifting success. Think about it this way, would you recommend DC Training to a kid who just picked up his first dumbbell?

Learning to grind and squeeze out those last effort reps is a skill and a metabolic/structural adaptation. The skill can be rapidly developed by circa maximal training.

Quote :

"Do you really need to buy a book to put together a routine? I mean if you aren't planning on competing you can easily find all the information you could want online for free. "

Buying high quality material encourages and compensates smart minds to put out good work.

You are right, you can learn a lot on the internet. But, some people don't have the time to sift through all the nonsense and fluff. Dropping a few bones on well known, high quality material is a smart move.


[Edited on April 6, 2012 at 8:42 AM. Reason : moar words]

4/6/2012 8:34:30 AM

I've gathered plenty of information over the years and have lifted a ton on my own off and on, but never really get anywhere because I dont have a program to focus on and eventually get sidetracked. I'd rather stop trying to do the same thing over and over and buy into a proven program for something new. Plus its very time consuming and boring reading through broscience on the internet by whothefuck trying to get the correct information, so id like to try the established program for once.

Tl;dr: ^

Honestly what gave me the final push was finding this blog on Reddit http://531year.blogspot.com/

Especially this intro passage

Quote :

" I'm 27 years old, 5'8" and 165lbs. I'm a normal guy, not an athlete, nor do I have any sort of formal training in physical fitness. I have, however, been lifting weights (poorly) for 14 years. And though I've had some success, I've never followed any particular routine -- I just lifted what I felt like lifting. Obviously --well, not obviously to me, since I never realized until now-- this was not, nor would ever be very productive in terms of gaining size or strength. Although I've lifted 500lbs on the deadlift, I've never maintained any sort of progress and have basically been at the same level of strength for most of my adult life. My current lifts are: 405x7 deadlift (touch-and-go), 405x1 (quarter) squat, 230lb clean and jerk, and 260x1 bench. Not too bad, but not going to win any competitions either."

Because thats basically me, except a little younger and bigger (5'11" 200lbs) and probably about the same lifting stats.

[Edited on April 7, 2012 at 12:52 AM. Reason : ]

4/7/2012 12:30:42 AM

Quote :

"Almost all beginner lifters simply don't have the strength to transform their physique quickly. Telling some 5'10'' 150lbs kid to do a high volume training program of 4x12 or something similar will not be as effective as getting them stronger in the barbell lifts with sets of 3-8reps. "

and what I'm saying is that getting them stronger on their lifts by training in the lower rep range will do very little for actually making them bigger. I'm not saying that they need to do volume training by doing 16-20 sets per muscle group; I'm saying that 3-8 reps is too low and that they need to training in the 10-12 rep range. As much as most people talk about how they want to get stronger, the truth of the matter is that most lifters want to get bigger and add definition. It's a lot more effective to train at higher rep ranges for size and then go back after you have size and train at lower rep ranges to get that hard grainy look to the muscles. Unfortunately, most people can't check their ego at the door and train with the lower weights that will get them to that goal.

4/7/2012 11:24:41 AM

I understand what you are saying. And it is right. Especially about the ego checking to put in the lower intensity volume.

There's a lot more to it than just doing reps of 3-8 or 10-12. You could do 5x8, 8x3, 4x12; and still get a growth stimulus from it. As long as it meets the minimum level of tension threshold and you cause metabolic/structural fatigue; there will be a positive strength/growth adaption. The closer you adapt towards your genetic potential, the more meticulous and complex your programming has to be, so for most n00bs, they can get away with almost anything for a little while.

I am quick to counter or clarify someone when they make vague/broad statements about training because many people will read in to it completely wrong. So I hope you don't interpret this as me trying to argue or 1-up ya.



[Edited on April 7, 2012 at 12:24 PM. Reason : typo]

4/7/2012 12:22:28 PM

410 deadlift (95% of 1RM)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIUOjIFB7Xw&feature=plcp&context=C485ee47VDvjVQa1PpcFPxnbt5YNiyoDVYKGSmex4MHbbD6SrIUpk%3D

hows the form look? trying to get to add 75lbs in the next 12 months.

4/15/2012 10:16:41 AM

You'd get much better if you got your grip strength up, so you can start from a tall standing position. This would allow you to get in to better alignment/angles. If you watch closely there is a lot of extra movement with the bar horizontally as the system (you + barbell) attempts to find equilibrium before any work (movement vertically against gravity) occurs.

The pull wasn't bad for being circa maximal. A little mid/lower back rounding. You need to work on your form lowering the bar. You need to romanian DL it down to the knees (initiating the lowering with the hips back) and then drop the knees forward once the bar crosses them. In this lift, you initiated the lowering with your knees.

Here's an old video of one of my female clients. This was a PR pull for her, but obviously not maximal since her technique and bar speed were so good. Notice how vertical the pull his, how little she whips her low back at lock out and lowers the bar much more under control.

Granted, when you are going maximal those technical points break down, but that is how you want to DL in 90% of your training sessions.




[Edited on April 15, 2012 at 11:06 AM. Reason : vid]

4/15/2012 10:58:55 AM

grip strength is one of my bigger limiting factors i think. ive recently started actively working to fix that. id definitely like to pull the mid 400s without straps. even with the straps i see what you are saying about the set up and can easily correct that.

i see what you are saying about the lowering portion of the lift, never really thought about that before.

4/15/2012 11:14:00 AM

Nauseous and drenched in sweat after squats today. Ugh. Anyone ever experience that?

4/17/2012 1:16:37 PM

Not in a long time. Although when I do high rep squats it takes me a good 30seconds to stop panting.

4/17/2012 1:17:32 PM

^^ That is pretty much how I feel after any heavy squat day

4/17/2012 2:22:59 PM

Maybe I'm dehydrated. I pretty much only drink coffee in the morning and lift around noon.

I used to hit a water fountain repeatedly, but I stopped because someone always tries to commandeer my rack after I have stepped 15ft away (and the weights are still on).

4/17/2012 3:35:39 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE2BX0ghres

Well, I feel like a pussy now.

4/17/2012 6:11:58 PM

^That is bad ass!

Holy hell my legs are going to be sore tomorrow! I took a week off from training due to being busier than hell, and hit it hard today. I can already feel the soreness

Dead lift: 260/300/340x5
12" Box Squat: 225 + chains 6x2 1min rest.
Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats: 45/40/35DBs x 6/8/10
Abs.

4/17/2012 8:49:16 PM

switched to push/pull routine, i think i have it mapped out pretty well

M - Upper Push
T - Lower Pull
W - GF's cardio class
Th - Upper Pull
F - Lower Push
Sa - GF's cardio class
Su - Rest, like god

3x10 for most of the exercises, ME on BW exercises

I had been doing pure uppper/lower days and had forgot how awful you feel after a good workout, i better be sore

5/3/2012 8:19:07 PM

I need to start cutting, time to put some extra cardio in on the daily mix.

5/3/2012 8:57:51 PM

Quote :

"Here's a pretty interesting article about lifting speed vs strength/power gained from the lift http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/sports-training/the-force-velocity-curve/"

Interesting - but not nearly as in-depth as I was hoping.

How does one "shift right" down the curve? Over what time frame? and do you need to shift back left and start over periodically? Obviously a lot of theorizing is involved, but it's an intriguing topic.

5/3/2012 9:43:41 PM

Been making this shit called "protein fluff". Basically, you take protein powder (needs to be casein, whey doesn't seem to "fluff up"), fruit (I've been using mixed berries), and a little bit of milk or water, then mix it together. You get this:



High in protein, low calorie, delicious, and filling as fuck.

[Edited on May 3, 2012 at 10:05 PM. Reason : ]

5/3/2012 9:56:14 PM

when i would low carb i would mix cake batter / vanilla / chocolate whey with heavy cream

taste and consistency of cake/brownie batter with little to no carbs, high fat, high protein

5/3/2012 11:57:10 PM

what about coconut milk you guys! it is all the rage these days!

5/4/2012 12:05:36 AM

^^^that looks...interesting

Started my first week again. Last time I did a week along with rep-based max outs and had to take a few days off, but then shit hit the fan at work so I didn't have any time or energy to lift at all.

Finally starting to feel human again so I'm back on the swole train . Eggs and bacon for breakfast, make lunch every day, good filling dinner...gonna hold off on protein powder for now.

5/4/2012 10:38:18 AM

Still on the swole train

With the overhead press, do you people use Olympic bars (thick grip) or thinner bars? I can definitely notice a difference in ease of lift at the same weight, but curious if working with a larger grip is necessary/gives better results when I already do "Kroc" rows for increasing grip strength.

6/19/2012 2:03:08 PM

thicker bars have no influence on pushing strength, but they will cause a reduction in pulling strength. at really heavy weights, a thinner bar will probably increase your pushing strength as well due to spring in the bar. Okie deadlift bars are based around this concept.

6/19/2012 11:08:41 PM

I disagree, from both my reading and personal experience.

Anything that influences your ability to grip is going to affect your ability to produce force.

A smaller bar allows you to squeeze it harder, causing more tension in the musculature; resulting in a higher rate of innervation ---> more force/tension in the muscle.

6/20/2012 4:32:09 AM

Trying to add some size to my rear delts. I've focused way too much on front/medial delts and kind of neglected the rear delts. For isolating rear delts, what has worked well for other folks?

4/1/2013 12:42:04 PM

Face pulls, Reverse flys (I really like using light bands and doing 15-25 rep sets), row variations with arms abducted rather than tucked, Band pull aparts.

Those are all good and you can actually add a significantly volume of it without it taking away from anything.

4/1/2013 12:54:18 PM

Bands are a good idea. My problem is that the traps/lats/arms get involved when I'm really trying to pump up the rear delts. I just don't have a good mind-muscle connection there yet, so I'm trying to think of some good cues to make sure I'm truly isolating.

4/1/2013 12:58:29 PM

On your upper body day, after the big heavy lift (or even with that too) just do like sets of 15 on the reverse band flys, in between all of your pressing variations.

If you can accumulate ~200 reps on it over the course of the week for a month or so, you should definitely get some development.

[Edited on April 1, 2013 at 2:08 PM. Reason : ;]

4/1/2013 2:08:33 PM

forget the mind-muscle crap and just incorporate more heavy rowing movements that pull the bar higher towards your chest and with your elbows flared instead of tucked at your side. You didn't grow your front delts by doing a lot of isolation work, so why are you going to use isolation exercises to make the rear delts bigger?

4/1/2013 5:26:42 PM

I'll second heavy face pulls for rear delts

4/1/2013 11:34:05 PM

bttt

5/6/2014 7:43:22 PM