Finishing 2010 with volume

[bigdogbob]

Those weights are great TFB :clap: Specially those front squats man they're tough :shock: I would need to increase my weights by bout 10-15kgs too to front squat body weight Soon for you I think \:D/

[teamfatboy]

Saturday 17 July

Sheiko 29, Week 2, Day 2 (yes, it should have been yesterday, but life got in the way). Anyhoo, it's deads deads deads again :jive:

Deadlift to the knees

1x 3x 100 kg

2x 3x 110 kg

2x 3x 130 kg

4x 2x 140 kg

BB Bench

1x 6x 50 kg

2x 6x 60 kg

4x 6x 70 kg

DB Flies

5x 10x 15s

Deadlifts from the knees

1x 4x 100 kg

1x 4x 120 kg

2x 4x 140 kg

4x 4x 150 kg

BB lunges

2x 5x 40kg, 3x 5x 60kg

Stretches and done... again. 8)

Upped the 1RM setting for deadlifts to 180kg for this week when doing the maths, plus a bit of rounding upwards for good measure. Found grip strength a bit of an issue towards the end, so straps from the 120 kg rack pulls upwards, and belt for the 150s. All good, tho, the 150s were OK, and even the 140kg pulls to knees with a 2-count pause weren't too bad... although my face was an interesting shade of red. That's a good thing, right? Better than blue, or white ? :grin:

[ThePman]

Front squats are pretty technique-heavy compared to backs. If you aren't training them regularly there can be a large disparity between what you're capable of doing strength wise and what you can do on any given day at the gym.

Belting up has never helped me much (it's more a matter of racking securely vs. choking out) but if it does help you feel more secure I don't see anything wrong with it.

RE: your predicted 1RMs, you're going to find that being conservative pays off. I don't use Sheiko but any percent-based program that relies on volume will do better with conservative maxes. If in doubt, use a lower number. The mindset behind the program is different from how most people train and a high training max can beat you up much more than is called for.

[teamfatboy]

Thanks, Pman...

The thing with the front squats was the big step-up represented by the prescribed weights. My form's pretty good up thru around 85kg or so, the inhibiting factor's always been shoulders. But, I said back in January that I wanted to front-squat bw for reps, and sitting on 85kg was getting old, so if Sheiko's plan expects a certain correlation between back- and front-squats, I decided to try to step up.

I'm trying to keep belt to a minimum, but having had both QL's pack-up on me at various times over the last six months, I'm being cautious for the moment. Physio's given me a lot of steerage to strengthen supporting muscles, so as I improve those imbalances I can avoid becoming reliant on it.

As for the 1RM, that IS a grey area for me... never having really tested it. Having been frustrated with the plateau in my bench, I was looking to a structured programme to help shake things up a little. Similarly, back in January I noted the goal for the year (to hit 180 for squat and dead, 90 for bench), and hadn't been making as much progress as I'd have liked. So, I was looking for a programme that removed that "lift as much as you feel capable of" option.

To help me learn, could you please elaborate on the logic behind being conservative with 1RM ? As I see it, setting a conservative 1RM appears to be a recovery option, perhaps when compared with preparing for a competition?

[ThePman]

The whole concept behind Sheiko (and a lot of Russian programming in general) is what's called "delayed training effect". This is based on the idea that you build up a lot of accumulated stress when you do a lot of training, but that all the training also helps to develop strength and other positive/fitness qualities. It's a matter of practicing vs. exhausting.

The idea is to think of recovery over longer periods of time. Mainstream thinking is that you recover from workout to workout. Blast a body part, take a week off. This paradigm has you thinking in terms of hard weeks and light weeks, or hard months and light months. Training is a matter of increasing and decreasing stress over a larger scale, so that any single workout really isn't that important in the bigger process.

Sheiko uses a wave-like system to fluctuate the weekly stress up and down by adjusting the number of lifts done each week, which is why week 4 isn't so bad but week 3 will murder you. There are other variants, which run in 5-8 week cycles (and have two-a-days five days a week), but those are for relatively high-level lifters.

Back to the point about the 1RM, these "volume based" training cycles create their effect by doing a lot of work and then occasionally backing off that work. But this relies on using moderate and even low intensities - outside a few peaking cycles Sheiko doesn't really go much above 80%.

If you set a 1RM too high, suddenly light/moderate percentages become heavy and you blow yourself out trying to push through it.

There's also something to be said for building up momentum with easier work before you get into heavier and more challenging training. You won't be worse off for getting adjusted to the volume with more manageable weights, versus starting out with a bad cycle that was too heavy.

In short: there's no rush, and setting high 1RMs has good odds of beating you up good. Conservative always pays off.

[teamfatboy]

Sunday 18 July

Sheiko 29, Week 2, Day 3

[Warm-up 5m bike, 50 miserable calories gone ]

BB Squats

1x 5x 50% 90kg

1x 4x 60% 110kg

2x 3x 70% 130kg

5x 2x 80% 150kg (belted for these)

BB Bench

1x 5x 50% 50kg

1x 4x 60% 60kg

2x 3x 70% 70kg

2x 2x 80% 80kg

1x 3x 75% 75kg

1x 5x 65% 65kg

1x 7x 55% 55kg

DB Flies

5x 10x 15s

BB Squats

1x 5x 50% 90kg

2x 5x 60% 110kg

4x 4x 70% 130kg

Standing Good Mornings

5x 5x 60kg

Stretches and done.

Again, getting comfortable that I'm pitching it right for the moment, but let's see whether I agree after week 3 :think:

[bar-belle]

even the 140kg pulls to knees with a 2-count pause weren't too bad... although my face was an interesting shade of red. That's a good thing, right? Better than blue, or white ? :grin:

that happens to me to...I find the pulls to knees particularly taxing :?

Boris seems to be treating you right tho :nod:

[teamfatboy]

Boris seems to be treating you right tho :nod:

Famous last words, Bar-belle... I think Boris tagged me with a Sheiko uppercut today :doh:

Tuesday 20 July

Sheiko #29, Week 3, Day 1.

BB Squats

1x 5x 55% 90kg

1x 4x 65% 110kg

2x 3x 75% 140kg (belted)

4x 2x 85% 160kg - nope, not even close... eased back to 150, completed them but it wasn't pretty, even if I did get a "you don't see many people deep squatting these days" comment from the guy on the next rack. I just hope it wasn't sarcasm :shifty: - I was trying, honest!

BB Bench

1x 5x 50% 50kg

1x 4x 60% 60kg

2x 3x 70% 70kg

6x 3x 80% 80kg

DB Flies

5x 10x 15s

Press-ups

5x 10x BW

BB Squats

1x 3x 50% 90 kg

1x 3x 60% 110kg

1x 3x 70% 130kg

4x 3x 80% 140kg for the first two, 150kg for the last two sets

BB Good mornings

5x 5x 60kg

Stretches and done...

But a couple of hours later I'm feeling real beat-up, so glad I didn't round-up any more aggressively. The chest work was fine, no real grinders in the 6 working sets, all solid touch-and-pause. Hell, even the press-ups were fine which is unusual for me, but back wasn't real happy without the belt, despite having had the physio loosen it up nicely only five or six hours earlier.

Hoping for forty-eight quiet hours :pray: til deadlift day, which will be Thursday, all things being equal.

[teamfatboy]

Oh, and yes, I was taking things conservatively, listening to the advice from the PMan, Steak, BigJohn et al - the back niggle is something of a recurring thing, it likely would have happened regardless of whether I was on Sheiko or not, it's a carry-over from something that happened nearly a month ago.

I will get thru this first #29, take it easy for a month and really let the back recover - then I may well look at trying harder to lift some real weight.

[bar-belle]

Boris seems to be treating you right tho :nod:

Famous last words, Bar-belle... I think Boris tagged me with a Sheiko uppercut today :doh:

Bugger :? ...remedy = eat well, do some recovery work and get plenty of rest. You'll get there!!

[Old Bull]

Oh, and yes, I was taking things conservatively, listening to the advice from the PMan, Steak, BigJohn et al - the back niggle is something of a recurring thing, it likely would have happened regardless of whether I was on Sheiko or not, it's a carry-over from something that happened nearly a month ago.

I will get thru this first #29, take it easy for a month and really let the back recover - then I may well look at trying harder to lift some real weight.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Old Bull]

Oh, and yes, I was taking things conservatively, listening to the advice from the PMan, Steak, BigJohn et al - the back niggle is something of a recurring thing, it likely would have happened regardless of whether I was on Sheiko or not, it's a carry-over from something that happened nearly a month ago.

I will get thru this first #29, take it easy for a month and really let the back recover - then I may well look at trying harder to lift some real weight.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Big john]

I think Boris tagged me with a Sheiko uppercut today :doh:

he does that quite often, when u least expect it! :shock:

But stick at it mate your making some dam fine progress!, lift big, eat big, and rest big! haha go hard bro!

[teamfatboy]

Cheers guys

Wednesday 21 July...return of the cardio monkey.

HIIT on the spin bike

2m warm-up

10x 30s on/ 30s off

2m recovery

10x 60s on/ 30s off

1m30 recovery

10x 90s on/ 30s off

2m recovery

some random flying sprints, chubby legs a blur, to finish.

Deadlift day tomorrow \:D/

[teamfatboy]

Thursday 22 July

Sheiko #29, Week 3, Day 2

1RM - Deadlift - 180, Bench 100.

Deficit Deadlifts (done off two floor tiles, maybe 40-50mm)

2x 3x 50% 90kg

2x 3x 60% 110kg

4x 3x 65% 120kg

BB Bench

1x 5x 50% 50kg

1x 4x 60% 60kg

2x 3x 70% 70kg

3x 2x 80% 80kg

2x 2x 85% 85kg

3x 2x 80% 80kg

DB Flies

5x 10x 15kg/side

Rack Pulls - bar on power rack pins about 30cm below bottom of kneecap

1x 4x 60% 110kg

2x 4x 70% 130kg

2x 3x 80% 150kg

3x 2x 90% 165kg - nope, couldn't string two reps into a set without looong rests, so I'll call it three singles at 165, before the form went to custard and I dropped to 155 and completed 2x 2x 155kg.

But, ran out of time for lunges, had to split. Grrrrrrrrrr :

Overall - happy with deficit deads, although I kinda think maybe the depth should have been greater? Bench was fine, I have my mantra for the 3-rep sets, which goes "Boris" (push) "Says" (push) "I CAN!" (push)... mostly it's only in my head, let's hope it wasn't out loud!

As for rack pulls, happy with them since any lift of 165kg is a 5 kg PB, and I know I could pull one off the floor. But I keep noting the advice to go conservative and even 155 kg is well over where I previously set the 1RM. I'd had it at 160, in which case 90% would have been 145 or so.

[teamfatboy]

Had some time later on, added shoulder workout

SM shoulder Press 20/15/12 reps

WG BB Upright Row 20/15/15 reps

DB Side Lat Raise 15/15/15 reps

DB Rear Delt Fly 15/12/12 reps

Seated DB Press 15/15/15 reps and then to finish

Seated DB Press 20-rep dropset 5/7/8 reps or summat like that.

Stuffed if I can remember what the weights were, shoulders munted now tho :grin:

Rest day tomorrow, Sheiko 29.3.3. to come - which reminds me of a question: on the spreadsheet, at the end of #29, week 3, day 3, (which consists of squats and bench) in the white cells it just says "press", 5 sets of 4 reps. Am I right in thinking what Boris wants is a shoulder move, not more benching? The other 'white cell' moves are db flies and good mornings, so I'm picking this is about flushing the muscles, stretching etc?

[teamfatboy]

This is worth space in a wo journal...

[Big john]

which reminds me of a question: on the spreadsheet, at the end of #29, week 3, day 3, (which consists of squats and bench) in the white cells it just says "press", 5 sets of 4 reps. Am I right in thinking what Boris wants is a shoulder move, not more benching? The other 'white cell' moves are db flies and good mornings, so I'm picking this is about flushing the muscles, stretching etc?

can be some sorta of pressing movement eg. DB presses but base it at around 40-45% of 1rm nothing spastic just nice assist/recovery..Liking the Dumbell flies after the benching marathons?

[runveerun]

Looking good TFB 8) good to see some smashing of le weights going on, hello sheiko goodbye nasty cardio! :grin:

[teamfatboy]

(finally, after a hectic three days completely devoid of training)

Monday 26 July

Sheiko 29, Week 3, day 3

BB Squats

1x 5x 50% 90

1x 4x 60% 110

2x 3x 70% 130

6x 3x 80% 150kg

Bench press

1x 5x 50% 50

1x 4x 60% 60

2x 3x 70% 70

7x 3x 80% 80kg

Dumbbell fly 5x 10x 15s

French Press 4x 5x 20kg db

Seated DB Press 4x 5x 12kg dbs

Good morning (standing)5x 5x 60kg bb

Happy with the squats, belted up for the six sets of three at 150kg. Not all the reps were absolutely parallel, but they were all mighty close. The last set of three had me turning all sorts of interesting colours tho!

But a plague on Monday National Bench Day, I had to do my bench on a Smith Machine 'cos there were numpties on all the flat benches - I suppose I could have done them in a squat rack, but I figured the extra weight of the bar (which weighs about 5kg, I figure) was off-set by the lack of need to stabilise the bar. And 7x3 - kinda brutal :shock:

Oh, and I was halfway thru the French Press (for triceps) when I realised it should have been a shoulder movement... the seated DB press was good and light tho...

And so, on to week Four :pray:

[bar-belle]

Looking good TFB

Are you going to do a de load week after week 4 then test?

[teamfatboy]

Thanks Bar-belle

I'm looking at doing quite a long de-load to give the lower-back niggle some breathing room - but there'd be a test of some description in there. I'd been talking with Vee about a 1RM day

After that, I'll dial another Sheiko number and see what answers :grin:

Wicked work at the weekend, BTW - awesome to see!

[teamfatboy]

Wednesday 28 July

Sheiko #29, Week 4, Day 1

[Warm-up, 5m rowing]

BB Squats

1x 5x 50% 90kg

1x 4x 60% 110kg

2x 3x 70% 130kg

5x 3x 80% 150kg

BB Bench Press

1x 5x 55% 55kg

1x 4x 65% 65kg

5x 4x 75% 75kg

DB Flies

5x 10x 15s

Dips (dip station)

5x 5x BW

BB Front Squats

2x 5x 40% 80kg

2x 4x 50% 90kg

3x 3x 60% 100kg - nope, managed two good 'uns before I lost it forward (shoulders again :madman: ) so decided to drop weight to 50% and work on ROM, went 2x 3x 90 for ATG.

BB Good mornings

5x 5x 60kg

Stretches, and done.

Front Squats continue to be a bugbear, but I'm learning heaps about the fine detail of foot placement, knee angle and how to squat properly, so that's a definite win. I experimented with 'clean grip' for front squats, but I think skeletal geometry will be against me, my forearms seem to be too long to allow me to prop bar on collarbones. But, it's something I can look at working on during the deload.

[bar-belle]

I'm looking at doing quite a long de-load to give the lower-back niggle some breathing room - but there'd be a test of some description in there. I'd been talking with Vee about a 1RM day

Woot woot TFB and Vee doing 1 RM day....videos please :nod:

Just ask Steak if you want any info on test days he's done it a couple of times now.

After that, I'll dial another Sheiko number and see what answers :grin:

I'm sure Boris won't leave you on hold...he's always looking for the next victim :pfft:

Wicked work at the weekend, BTW - awesome to see!

Thankyou Sir :salute: work in progress.

[teamfatboy]

Woot woot TFB and Vee doing 1 RM day....videos please :nod:

OMG - what have I done :shifty: ... I think Vee has a rule against videos in Le Sewer :pray: - thank goodness.

Just ask Steak if you want any info on test days he's done it a couple of times now.

I'll do that, have some questions about skill work as well.