This was a really good workout. The volume was right were I wanted it to be which was pretty high. I hit a solid 5 pound PR in the squat, which is significant for me. This movement has improved a lot in a short amount of time, but Im glad to be leaving it next week for suit work. Its gonna get serious already! The bench work was good also, but I barely eeked out a 2 pound PR here. Either way, the weight was appreciable and the volume was fairly high. I was gassed by the time I got to SSB work. The first two sets moved well. The 3rd set was good, but it really took the energy out of me. The 4th set was barely hanging on. I did what I could and terminated the set. No sense in pushing beyond that today.
This was a decent workout. The volume was low and the intensity was high, so it was kind of fun. Benching wasnt too great. I should have read my own signs. I knew I hadnt done this lift in a while and I should be careful going for PRs on week 1, but I didnt listen to myself and I went over the percentages for the day. Not a big deal in this case, just dumb. But I learned during the Deadlifts! I did doubles the whole way up to my top set so I could gauge if going for a PR was a smart decision. In this case it was, so I nailed it. All in all, pretty good workout and a good week of training.
Weekly Analysis This was the first really solid week of training since Nationals and this will be the way it continues to be. The varied stresses that Im using during the week seem to be working out well in producing the combined result I was looking for. What that means is the method I am using to emphasize either raw or equipped lifts is working. The numbers this week were on target overall. The volume was pretty even overall, but intensity was slightly weighted to the upperbody lifts due to a couple mistakes I made. All in all, not a bad week. It will provide good foundational training for the remainder of the cycle.
In case anybody didnt see this on the other forum:
I know the manual is taking forever to get out, but it should only be about 2 more weeks. I've never published a book before; I had no idea there was so much stuff involved. But one way or another it will be available shortly!
Also in the works is another project Eric Talmant and I have been working on. It's called The Progressive Powerlifting Seminar. It will be held in St Louis, MO on Sept 27 and 28th. Eric will discuss: Training the Beginner Training the Rated Lifter Training the Sports Mastery Group Proper GPP implementation Proper Exercise Selection
I will discuss: RTS Basics A How-to guide for starting RTS The planning of the Macro Cycle The next step: RTS Volume 2
Day 1 will consist of lectures from Eric and I. Day 2 will be a hands-on training day where we show you exactly what we mean. The price for the 2-day seminar is $100. We are strictly limited to 30 seats, so if you're interested, email myself (Power275@gmail.com) or Eric Talmant (etalmant@hotmail.com) and we can assist you from there.
hey mike got a question for ya. i am thinking of trying a new exercise that i hear you are a master at. what u do is hold a 100lb plate over your head and open doors with your mouth. i know it sounds gay, but i hear it really helps with your legs and lower back. any suggestions:)
I see you caught Brady doing his thing. Ya know, Brady is a really modest guy, so I'm sure he tried to give me the credit for inventing this, but it was all him. I told him that if I had to do that to get my squat to go up, I just was gonna have a crappy squat.
Well Dane, I'll do my best to explain it having never tried it myself. Start off with no weight and add weight as you get proficient. Just walk up to a door knob and try to open it with your mouth. Yep, that's it. That's called the Brady Lift.
Overall this was a good one. The squat was good I hit another solid PR this week. However, the tendo is proving to be less reliable than I thought. Theres no pattern emerging some squats are light and slow while others are heavier and faster. It makes no sense. Now Im getting disagreeing data points. Im going to keep playing with it and maybe a more accurate tendo unit will tell me more, but for right now it doesnt look promising. The actual squatting was good, though. The bench work felt really strong today. The weights were right on target and it got me a small PR, but it just felt strong overall. The GMs were a surprise today. I hadnt done them with a Safety bar in a long time and it showed today. Oh well, it was good lifting anyway and it will definitely build my back. All in all, a good session.
Obviously there was quite a lot of work done today. It took forever, too. The shirt work started off a little iffy (to be expected after 6 weeks out of a shirt), but it got better by the end. I dont think Im too far from where I left off. I think Ill be killing stuff here in another week or two. The Deadlift went much better than expected. I dropped all my working weights down after Nationals, but I think the preparatory phase did its job and put me where I ought to be. I bumped the weights up a little, but now Im going to let things happen naturally as I make improvements. I want that record so bad I can taste it. By the time I got to standing military, I was kind of ticked off it was taking so long. I need to pack a lunch on these days. I rushed things a bit, screwed up my top set, and went home. Not exactly setting an example to follow here, but the problem is noted and will be corrected. All in all, this was a good workout, even though I needed another haircut by the time it was finished.
Wednesday GPP Single Arm External rotations- 35x10x3 Barbell Rollouts- 2x10 RDL, Row, FSQ, SMil, Lunge, Sn+OHSQ Giant Set- 85lbs to 12m or 3% fatigue (whichever 1st) 1st set: 2:55, 166bpm (15s post-set) 2nd set: 2:50, 174bpm (15s post-set) Stretching
The whole conditioning portion of the workout took 7min and 30s. I think thats about right considering where I want to be. I feel like the autoregulation is pretty much dialed in right now. I had a tough workout yesterday, so the volume should automatically lower itself. I dont want to induce a ton of fatigue, so I kept it at 3% (should be fully recovered in the oxidative system within 18 hours). I typically do 3 sets of this circuit. Today I only did two. I think the adjustment worked just as I intend it to.
This was another ridiculous volume workout, but I conquered it. Squats went really well for the first week back. The weight did feel a little heavy on the walkout, but not too bad. It took a long time to get through these, but I got through them. When I got to bench, I was already exhausted and it was getting late. I blazed through bench quickly and it went as planned. I really didnt want to go to SSB work. I was just smoked before I even started, but I sucked it up and pushed through. It went well enough for a PR. Afterwards, I trudged home.
Well Dane, I'll do my best to explain it having never tried it myself. Start off with no weight and add weight as you get proficient. Just walk up to a door knob and try to open it with your mouth. Yep, that's it. That's called the Brady Lift.
Thats reall funny Mike. You still are the master at it. Probably the strongest in the World at it. You should explain to Dane the spotting technique you've created for the doorknob squat. No one spots quite like you do!
The volume is regulated based on the stress I'm trying to induce for the given week/workout/whatever. Originally, I used Fatigue Percents like I have you doing (like I outline in the book). As this began to stabilize and patterns emerged, I developed some custom volume charts that are tailored to my specific ability levels. That's what I'm doing to regulate the volume of the individual exercise right now. I still use it within the framework of stress and intensity, so that stuff still matters.
This workout was pretty quick and I got some real solid work done. The benching was good I hit a decent PR there. The deadlifts went great considering how little Ive been training this specific movement. I set a 13 pound PR on this movement today, which is really good for me. By the time I got to 3Boards, I was exhausted, but I still put in my work and went home.
This was a really interesting workout. First of all, I hit a solid All Time raw squat PR with my Olympic shoes today. My best with the Safes shoes was 650x3 where the last rep took 2.18 seconds to complete. Today I did 655x3 and the last rep took 1.68 seconds to complete. Not only that, but my depth was pretty good and honestly a bit easier wearing these shoes. Im contemplating a switch, but well see. That will require some thought and some cycle adjustments. Inputs are welcome. As good as squats were, benches were just as bad. According to past performance of this exercise, which includes 355x3 @9, 375x2 @9, and 352x3 @9, I expected to go just over 355 today for a triple at a 9. Obviously, I struggled to get a double, much less a solid triple. At first, I blamed the RPE system for misleading me on an estimated 1RM, but then I realized that the RPEs were telling me after my 1st set that I didnt have it today. I just didnt listen. The discipline is the hardest part of the RPE system, but any sort of on-the-fly feedback system will have this same difficulty. The key is to just be disciplined and listen to you body (thats the point of the RPE system). As far as why my performance was so substandard today I think I just had a crappy day and Ive been working this exercise too long. As I said, a very interesting workout. Lots to think about here.
Deadlift- 75-85%, 16-18 NL 605x3 @8 655x2 @8 680x3 @9 (23m) cut it there b/c my hands were killing me
Total Training Time: 111min
So this workout was kind of crappy. I felt sick the whole time I was benching (have no idea why) and when I got to DL, I realized my hands hurt so bad that I was happy just to make my goal weight today. After that, I couldnt pull anything else. I also opted out of inclines because I was tired and beat up and I just wanted to rest a little.
-- Edited by Mike Tuchscherer at 01:23, 2008-07-30
-- Edited by Mike Tuchscherer at 01:24, 2008-07-30
-- Edited by Mike Tuchscherer at 01:25, 2008-07-30