Squats forge Iron Gods...

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 33

I still have a little cold and against my better judgment I ended up in the gym.

I decided to start (A slightly modified version.) of CT's 6 Weeks to superhero today. As I mentioned it before, I am curious by nature about different types of training protocols and trying them always keeps me motivated and committed to my gym sessions.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... f_fat_fast

So for the next 6 weeks I'm looking to improve body composition (as well as shoulder mobility/flexibility).

Today meant to be overhead and squat work. However I will change the overhead portion of the program to back and biceps work. (While my shoulder ROM improved it is still not good enough to warrant serious overhead work, thus the change to the program.)

(A1) Top half squat (R stands for ROUND)

R1 130 x 3

R2 130 x 3

R3 130 x 2

(A2) Front squats

R1 110 x 4

R2 110 x 4

R3 110 x 3

(A3) Snatch high pulls

R1 45 x 3

R2 45 x 3

R3 45 x 3

(A4) DB jump squats

R1 15 x 8

R2 15 x 8

R3 15 x 8

(A5) Vertical jump

R1 8

R2 8

R3 8

Chest supported BB row with 2 second pause

5 sets of 8 reps @ 55

Face pulls

3 sets of 10 reps

DB incline curls

4 sets of 8 @ 12.5

Hammer curls (On an incline bench face down.)

3 sets of 8 reps @ 10

BB front raises

2 x tri-sets @ 15

Interesting session. Not sure if I like this style of approach to training :pfft:

Of course it is not necessary a bad thing. Could be just the "Kick up the bum I needed. Time will tell. Also I so-post to have done 4-6 rounds but I only managed 3. Still a bit sick so I'm just taking it easy-ish.

Top half squat The good news is that now I am able to hold the bar without the help of straps :oops: The bed news is that 130 did feel on the heavy side. I set the pins up so I would stop just above parallel. I'm now officially in the club of mile high squats a shame never to be lived down :smackbottom:

Front squats These felt heavy today. Must be due to being sick. Planning to rep 120 in a week or two.

Snatch high pulls The program calls for power snatch but the good old shoulder ROM issues discourage me from them. These will give me most of the benefits anyways. The weight felt relatively easy on these.

DB squat jump I felt like an idiot doing these. So NOT masculine!

Vertical jumps Same as above. I feel like a frog on this program :pfft: I SERIOUSLY disliked the landing part of it while wearing Olympic weightlifting shoes. So I may switch this to box jumps next week.

The rest of the session was good.

The two seconds pause on BB rows is a number killer. Looking forward to some good back development from it tho. Time will tell if it meant to be...

BW: 76

Food: High protein, medium high carbs inline with training day needs.

Shoulder ROM work: 20 minutes. Some more latter on if all goes to plan.

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 34

(A1)Top half deadlift

R1 130x5

R2 140x5

R3 150x5

(A2)Deadlift

R1 100x5

R2 110x5

R3 120x5

(A3)Powercleans from hang

R1 40x3

R2 40x3

R3 40x3

(A4)Good morning jumps

R1 8 @ BW + 10

R2 same as above

R3 same as above

(B1)Top half BP off pins

R1 100x3

R2 100x4

R3 100x2

(B2)Bench

R1 90x5

R2 90x5

R3 90x5

(B3)Speed bench

3 rounds all of them @ 60 for 5 reps.

(B4)Pylo push ups

R1 7

R2 6

R3 7

Ok session, considering that I still have a sore throat, pulled a rib or something during my warm ups and only had 5 hours sleep.

I omitted two exercises from the rounds. broad jumps and medicine ball throws. I feel like that all this jumping is turning me into a frog :pfft:

Weight: 76.6

Food: High protein, medium carbs. Good food choices.

Shoulder savers: Got some partner assisted stretching done. I liked it.

[Pseudonym]

Man, stop hiding these photos in your journal! You've got a great physique, and made noticeable progress in just 4 weeks. Post this in the Pics forum, and you'll get the kudos you deserve. :doh:

[OnlyHuman]

Man, stop hiding these photos in your journal! You've got a great physique, and made noticeable progress in just 4 weeks. Post this in the Pics forum, and you'll get the kudos you deserve. :doh:

Oh :oops: Thank you Pseudonym !

Just a little shy. Perhaps after a few weeks of this program I do some comparative pictures and a short write up on it. If I feel brave enough :shifty:

Thank you for the kind words!

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 34

(A1) Top half squat (R stands for ROUND)

R1 130 x 5

R2 130 x 5

R3 130 x 5

(A2) Front squats

R1 110 x 5

R2 110 x 5

R3 110 x 4

(A3) Snatch high pulls

R1 45 x 3

R2 45 x 3

R3 45 x 3

(A4) DB jump squats

R1 15 x 8

R2 15 x 8

R3 15 x 8

(A5) Box jump

R1 8

R2 8

R3 8

Chest supported BB row with 2 second pause

3 sets of 8 reps @ 55

3 sets of 8 reps @ 57.5

Hammer rows with 2 sec pause

3 sets of 10 reps @ 30

DB incline curls

2 sets of 8 @ 15

1 set of 6 @ 15

1 set of 10 @ 12.5

Hammer curls (On an incline bench, face down.)

3 sets of 10 reps @ 10

Reasonably good session. Still sick, (also ended up with a migraine yesterday) so just taking it easy-ish. :roll:

Top half and front squats both felt better than last time.

I tried box jumps instead of vertical jumps. I like it. The landing part seem to be easier on the joints.

The back and biceps part of the session went well. Nothing too straining yet. Good pump.

BW: 76.2

Food: High protein, medium carbs. Could do with a carb load at some stage.

Shoulder ROM work: 20 minutes.

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 34

(A1)Top half deadlift

R1 150x5

R2 150x5

R3 150x5

(A2)Deadlift

R1 120x5

R2 120x5

R3 120x5

(A3) Hang cleans

R1 45x3

R2 45x3

R3 45x3

(A4)Good morning jumps

R1 8 @ BW + 10

R2 same as above

R3 same as above

(B1)Top half BP off pins

R1 100x3

R2 100x4

R3 100x4

(B2)Bench

R1 90x5

R2 90x5

R3 90x5

(B3)Speed bench

3 rounds all of them @ 60 for 5 reps.

(B4)Pylo push ups

R1 10

R2 8

R3 8

Core

Band resisted ab wheel roll outs

Suitcase deadlifts

Extra stuff ( I was going by the gym 2 hours later... I thought to my self... Why not? :-s )

One leg BB deadlifts 3 sets

Single leg leg curls 3 sets

Cable cross overs 4 sets

Good session. Happy with how things are ticking along. I still have some sore throat here and there but I think I'm loosing fat.

Pin presses felt better today but I found some yoga blocks at the gym that I may end up using them for board presses. If, or when I do, I swap the pin presses for it. The blocks are about two board height.

I will slowly bring the weight up on both the deadlift and top half deadlifts. Probably 5 kg per week or something like that.

Glad that I ended up doing some core work.

Weight: 76

Food: High protein, medium carbs. Good food choices (Apart of one slice of apple cake. IIFYM :pfft: )

Shoulder savers: Most of it still to come. Been working on it.

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 35

(A1) Top half squat (R stands for ROUND)

R1 140 x 4

R2 140 x 3

R3 130 x 5

(A2) Front squats

R1 120 x 3

R2 120 x 3

R3 110 x 5

(A3) Snatch high pulls

R1 50 x 3

R2 50 x 3

R3 40 x 3

(A4) DB jump squats

R1 15 x 8

R2 15 x 8

R3 15 x 8

(A5) Box jump

R1 8

R2 8

R3 8

Hammer rows with 2 sec pause

3 sets of 10 reps @ 45

DB incline curls

2 sets of 8 @ 15

1 set of 12 @ 12.5

Hammer curls

2 sets of high reps...

Reasonably good session. Still feeling the throat here and there.

I had to cut the session a bit short as they were closing up. So I just did some maintenance work on the back and biceps.

Upped the weight on both the Top Half and Front squats.

Top half 130 felt easy enough so I bumped it up. 140 felt heavy :oops:

Fronts felt reasonably good considering I'm coming back from a cold etc but not quite as good as prior to my cold. Triples were hard work today while a few weeks ago I was confident that I would hit them for at least 4 reps (maybe even 5) but at this stage I'm happy with it :nod: I'm sure it will bounce back in a few session.

Snatch high pulls... nice.

BW: 76.3

Food: Today... High protein, medium carbs. (Yesterday ... cheat day :shifty: )

Shoulder ROM work: Not quite enough the last two days :oops: I did do some partner assisted work on it but I need to make some time for it and put more energy into it tomorrow.

[Android]

Man, stop hiding these photos in your journal! You've got a great physique, and made noticeable progress in just 4 weeks. Post this in the Pics forum, and you'll get the kudos you deserve. :doh:

TOtally agree with Pseudonym you look awesome dude keep doing whatever you're doing.

[soundsgood]

Have to admit, I am guility of only visiting a few of the journals on here too, miss some of the gems. A quick read over the last couple of pages and there is some good progress being made and you a are building a quality physique OH. Keep up the good work bro.

[OnlyHuman]

Man, stop hiding these photos in your journal! You've got a great physique, and made noticeable progress in just 4 weeks. Post this in the Pics forum, and you'll get the kudos you deserve. :doh:

TOtally agree with Pseudonym you look awesome dude keep doing whatever you're doing.

Have to admit, I am guility of only visiting a few of the journals on here too, miss some of the gems. A quick read over the last couple of pages and there is some good progress being made and you a are building a quality physique OH. Keep up the good work bro.

Thank You guys! I really appreciate the kind words and encouragement. :nod:

Thanks again!

Week # 35

(A1)Top half deadlift

R1 150x3

R2 150x4

R3 150x5

(A2)Deadlift

R1 130x5

R2 130x5

R3 130x5

(A3) Hang cleans

R1 40x3

R2 40x3

R3 40x3

(A4)Good morning jumps

R1 8 @ BW + 10

R2 same as above

R3 same as above

(B1)2 Board

R1 100x5

R2 105x5

R3 105x5

(B2)Bench

R1 95x5

R2 95x5

R3 95x5

(B3)Speed bench

3 rounds all of them @ 60 for 5 reps.

(B4)Pylo push ups

R1 8

R2 8

R3 8

Core

Band resisted ab wheel roll outs

Roman chair sit ups

Suitcase deadlifts

Very good session.

I left my training diary home by exident so there I was hoping I will remember all I will need to do. Turned out alright

Pin pulls: Same weight as last week but dropped the pin hight. Pulled form about 2 inches below the knees this time around. Not bad.

Deadlift: Popped an other 10 on. On the easy side. Happy.

Light on the hang cleans. The rib I busted last week was bothering me on these.

2 board: It has been a long time since I played with these. Glad to have them back in the program. These always done me right for triceps size / strength before.

Bench:Upped the weight 5 kg. Shoulders are feeling very good. I should bump the weight up next week as well.

Weight: 76.2 (In gym gear.)

Food: High protein, medium carbs.

Shoulder savers: 20 minutes + some partner assisted stretches. Good.

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 35

I only had 4 and a half hours of sleep on Thursday night so I only ended up doing a maintenance workout yesterday. Not really worth logging.

I did one rounds (excluding warm ups obviously) of the squat complexes and realized there won't be much energy to burn on these so I just did some good volume and intensity on the back and biceps. I really wanted to work on those two to "catch up" on the reduced volume of last session of back and biceps training.

I haven't had a chance to get my BF tested again but here is an updated picture.

left to right. Day 0 (coming back from nearly 4 weeks layoff) Than 4 weeks worth. Than an additional 2 weeks worth of "change".

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 35

(A1)Deadlift off pins, from 2" below the knees

R1 150x5

R2 160x5

R3 160x5

(A2)Deadlift

R1 130x5

R2 130x5

R3 130x5

(A3) Hang cleans

R1 40x3

R2 45x5

R3 50x5

(A4)Good morning jumps

R1 8 @ BW + 10

R2 same as above

R3 same as above

(B1)2 board BP

R1 110x3

R2 110x3

R3 105x5

(B2)Bench

R1 100x4

R2 100x3

R3 95x3

(B3)Speed bench

3 rounds all of them @ 60 for 5 reps.

(B4)Pylo push ups

R1 6

R2 6

R3 6

Extra stuff ...

Single leg leg curls: 5 sets of varying reps/weight

Golfers pick up: 3 sets of 8

Good session considering I did not feel super energized prior to the training session.

Weight: 75.5 \:D/ Quite curious to see how light I can drop before it affects my strength levels.

Food: In the last two weeks I tried to have moderate amount of carbs per day with a carb re-feed every 4th day or so. Now I feel like giving a go at carb cycling between 1 low and 1 medium high day. Will keep protein high.

Shoulder savers: About 15 minutes worth today. Tissue quality seems to improved a bit around the pecks, sub-scap, teres minor & major. Right now I find it hard to get to my lats with the foam roller and other instruments of torture. See if I can figure out something to solve this "problem".

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 35

Back squat

Just wanted to see where my back squat is at the moment so I worked up to

145 x 1

(A1) Front squats

R1 100 x 5

R2 100 x 5

R3 100 x 5

(A2) Snatch high pulls

R1 40 x 3

R2 40 x 3

R3 40 x 3

(A3) DB jump squats

R1 15 x 8

R2 15 x 8

R3 15 x 8

(A4) Box jump

R1 8

R2 8

R3 8

Chest supported BB rows (2 second pause)

4 sets of 8 reps @ 60

Hammer rows with 2 sec pause

3 sets of 8 reps @ 45/50/55

DB incline curls

3 sets of 8 @ 15

Hammer curls

2 sets of high reps...

I only had 6 hours sleep :? but for some reason I was curious to see how I would go on the back squats. Not too bad. Nearly managed to hit a double body weight but I ended up stopping at 145 when things started to slow down. I did not have a spotter and after all not like I have been trashing the back squats a lot lately either, so I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of my trial run.

In the past when I was concurrently back and front squatting I used to have an extra 20 - 30kg on my front squats with high bar Olympic back squats. So I guess there is some room for improvement by doing a few more session of back squats in the near future....

The rest of the session was ok. As I mentioned I did not have a lot of energy but I got trough it.

BW: 75.4 in gym gear. Getting nice and light.

Food: Today... High protein, high carbs (YEY :pfft: ). Yesterday: high protein, low carbs.

Operation shoulder "can opener": Got some soft tissue work done as well as some stretching on my side. I was a bit tight in the pecs today.. :shifty:

[drizzt]

BRO you are looking sharp as! Nice! As Pseu says, get those pics into the pics section mate :nod:

And good work as usual 8) How tall are you out of interest?

[OnlyHuman]

BRO you are looking sharp as! Nice! As Pseu says, get those pics into the pics section mate :nod:

And good work as usual 8) How tall are you out of interest?

Oh :oops: Thank you! Perhaps, slowly getting leaner. I Think I'm sitting around 12% in the last pic. (Was measured at 15% in the first.) I try to get done to around 10 % if I can by end of next week :pray:

Not sure if I am brave enough to venture into the picture forum just yet. Don't want to get roasted too much :pfft: :flames:

I'm 5'7"

Thanks once again!

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 36

(A1)Deadlift off pins, from the knees

R1 160x5

R2 160x5

R3 160x5

(A2)Deadlift

R1 140x5

R2 140x5

R3 140x5

(A3) Hang cleans

R1 40x3

R2 40x5

R3 40x5

(A4)Good morning jumps

R1 8 @ BW + 10

R2 same as above

R3 same as above

(B1)2 board BP

R1 105x5

R2 105x5

R3 105x4

(B2)Bench

R1 95x5

R2 95x5

R3 95x5

(B3)Speed bench

3 rounds all of them @ 60 for 5 reps.

Average session. Got my BF measured. (4 point) If I disregard my age group I came in at 10.4%. Happy with that. Like to take it done to 8% nice and slowly.

Deadlifts: Good. Off the pin = easy. Floor = like wise. Not so sure about getting my low - back loaded this often tho. One thing I don't like about the program is that my senile age can't handle this much low - back loading I think :pfft:

Bench was so - so today. Not enough volume I think.

Weight: 75.3 in gym gear.

Food:Good. Been doing my carb rotation. High carb day today... love it :nod:

Shoulder savers: Got some soft tissue done on them. They are so - so at the moment.

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 36

I felt like some training today but did not want to load the lower back. Indeed I decided to end my short and sweet encounter with CT's superhero program. I think it is something to consider as a nice change if your current training program is based around the standard once a week body part split stuff, and your lower back is able to tolerate being loaded 4 times / week. Mine doesn't really like it. I never feel like it recovers enough between sessions so I'm changing my approach of training to a 5 day cycle for a little while... ON, ON , OFF, ON, OFF.

Still aiming to drop body fat to 8% ish and planning to post an update picture next weekend or so. However, those of you who has been reading my journal on a regular basis should know that weight/strength ratio is something that is close to my heart, and I think it is time for me to start working on it, but I still want to look good naked :pfft: we shall see if it is possible to have both and be a pound for pound bad ass :pfft: while remaining aesthetically pleasing :oops: Can I sit on two horses with one ass?

Thinking to push my numbers on the good old Squat, Bench, Deadlift and my beloved Front squats.

So apologies for the training ADHD and let me commence my journey to a six pack and P4P word domination :pfft: (Jokes!)

Bench

8 sets of 3 reps @ 100

Chest supported BB row with 2 second pause

5 sets of 8 reps @ 60

Shoulder pin presses

5 sets of 5 reps @ 60

Uni-hand hold cable pull downs with 2 second pause

2 sets of 8 @ 54

3 sets of 8 @ 60

Bench These were hard work today. I'm looking forward to whooping my bench numbers into shape.

Chest supported BB rows... These are improving nicely. Initially the 2 second pause in contracted position ate into my numbers but now I feel like it is getting better. Perhaps the initial set back will pay dividends?

Shoulder pin pressesThese are ok on my shoulders so I'm happy to welcome an overhead movement into my training regime.

Uni lateral cable pull downs I'm actually unsure what to name this exercise. I perform it on a cable pull down station and it allows me to have two individual attachments to the cable/stack to perform pull downs. These let me move my arms independently from each other as well as supinate or pronate as I please during the movement and do not bother my shoulders at all so I think I will keep at them for a while.

BW: 75.7

Sleep: Good quality, could do with a few more hours.

Stress: Average

Food: Medium carb today.

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 36

Back squats

120 x 3

120 x 3

120 x 3

120 x 3

120 x 3

120 x 3

Single leg BB deadlift

40 x 6

50 x 6

60 x 6

Single leg hip thrusts

3 sets of 6 per side @ BW + 10

Core

Roman chair sit ups

Straight leg raises

Ok session. Some things went nice and smooth. Could have done with a bit more energy but nothing too bad and probably an acceptable "introductory" session.

Back squats Were ok. Did not feel super strong on these. Indeed I was pondering that sometimes doing the same weight for front squats feels like less of a work. Something to polish up a little I guess.

Single leg BB deadlifts Trying to iron out some glute imbalance. Nothing too difficult at this stage. I will ramp it up over time.

Hip thrust Same as above.

Weight: 76 (Carbs 2 days in a row :? Not a good start to P4P domination :pfft: )

Sleep: So - so quality. Not quite enough quantity either.

Stress: Medium

[OnlyHuman]

Week # 37

AM Session

(A1) Bench

6 singles @ 105

(A2) External rotations

Couple of sets...

PM session

Bench

100 x 2

100 x 2

100 x 2

100 x 2

100 x 2

100 x 2

Chest supported BB row HIGH (clavicles) with 2 sec pause

3 sets of 10 reps @ 40

Uni lateral cable pull downs with 2 second pause

2 sets of 12 @ 54

2 Board press

100 x 3

105 x 3

110 x 3

105 x 3

Seated military

40 x 5

45 x 5

45 x 5

DB curls

3 sets of 8 reps @ 15

Ok sessions.

Bench: I have a lot of work to do when it comes to my bench. I'm defenatly weak on these at the moment, even if we consider my body weight. Looking to make a difference and iron out my weaknesses one by one.

BB rows: Aimed high today. Just to hit the rear delts and romboids a little. Should build these a bit to look after my shoulders. I'm planning to rotate the point I pull to on these. (Eg: high/low/high etc)

Uni-lat pull down: Got to do some work on scapular depression. I like this movement.

2 board: I'm not sure on actuall hight of the board (as it is a joga block) but I suspect its about 4". triceps are weak. (For now :twisted: )

Seated military: My shoulder strenght blows as well :pfft:

DB curls: Only 3 sets due to the pauses on the back movements give it a nice little stimuly already. Once it has acustomized to those I will hit them a bit harder.

"Ut phoenix ex cinerius resurgam." Like a phoenix I will rise from the ashes :wink:

[OnlyHuman]

Came down with a sore throath and a blocked nose. Started on monday night I think. It is pretty bad so no training for a few days I will get back into it when I bounce back a little. Apetite is not affected but I'm eating lots of comfort food. Not good for the waist line.... A pretty shity start to world domination huh :pfft: LOL @ myself!!!

[Pseudonym]

pound for pound word domination

Which word were you planning to dominate? :wink:

[OnlyHuman]

pound for pound word domination

Which word were you planning to dominate? :wink:

Ha Ha Ha :pfft: I'm such a retard!

[OnlyHuman]

Madcow Intermediate... trial session.

Squats

60 x 5

75 x 5

90 x 5

105 x 5

115 x 5

Bench

62.5 x 5

67.5 x 5

75 x 5

80 x 5

87.5 x 5

BB rows

35 x 5

45 x 5

52.5 x 5

62.5 x 5

70 x 5

Extra:

4 sets of 3 reps of pull ups @ BW :oops: LULz are on me! :pfft:

Back to training but still a bit sick. Taking some antibiotics and it is helping a lot so just wanted to have a play in the gym.

I did monday's workout with slightly reduced weights on the squats to get a feel for the program. Right now it feels light and amost like I barely did anything in the gym :roll: Eg: I usually never count some of those sets on either of those exercises as a part of my workout. :shrug:

From what I read it is pretty usuall to feel like it over the first few weeks.

Maybe it is the frequency that takes care of business.

Most people report weight gain on the program but I doubt I will do so on this much volume. I could be wrong, I'm sure time will tell.

I tought squats might be a bit hard today due to coming back from a cold (still battleing it) but it wasn't too bad.

BW: 76 (Surprised as I had quite a bit of comfort food over the last few days.)

Food: As above.

Stress: Medium

Sleep: Not bad.

Streching/Mobility work: Yes

[Monarchking]

I did a mad cow 5x5 ages ago and kept adding to the bar for about 3months and smahsed all my records and got real fat. was pro.

Id only trained a year so was still pretty fresh. But definitely worked for me

[OnlyHuman]

I did a mad cow 5x5 ages ago and kept adding to the bar for about 3months and smahsed all my records and got real fat. was pro.

Id only trained a year so was still pretty fresh. But definitely worked for me

3 months :clap: wow... You must have made some insane improvements on your numbers! I be happy to make the gains last for 8-9 weeks to be honest (Including the initial 4 weeks it takes to work up to current maxes).

Have you done much supplemental work on it? If yes how did you organize it?

How was your recovery on it?

Thanks for the feedback!