Making the Superman

I'm mixing up my split a bit after talking with a few guys about it (mainly Randoja). Here's what it looks like:

Bench, Rows, Bis
Squats, Hams
Cardio
Overhead Press, Dips, Calves
Deads, Pullups, Lunges
 
supermanjow said:
From this morning:

531 Week 3 Day 2 SQUATS 425x6
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Nice set, makes my 325 x 6 look like peanuts. I'll be back up there hopefully by next summer.
 
supermanjow said:
Stick with it!
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I was sitting on my couch this morning eating breakfast and planning my routine out for today when I realized something. I did body building style training from the age 15 to 22. Then started up again at 24 and I'm 26 now. Even my most intense bodybuilding routine don't even come close to power lifting. I mean I used to get sore and DOMS back then, but this is a whole new sore like on a cellular level. After last weeks dead lifting routine I literally went home and had to lay on the couch the rest of the day cause my legs were numb.
 
Bigcountry08 said:
I was sitting on my couch this morning eating breakfast and planning my routine out for today when I realized something. I did body building style training from the age 15 to 22. Then started up again at 24 and I'm 26 now. Even my most intense bodybuilding routine don't even come close to power lifting. I mean I used to get sore and DOMS back then, but this is a whole new sore like on a cellular level. After last weeks dead lifting routine I literally went home and had to lay on the couch the rest of the day cause my legs were numb.
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Powerlifting is much harder on the nervous system. That's why I like 531. I can keep myself in the Hypertrophy rep range while still gaining strength and shocking the nervous system with weight progression.
 
Much better dude. You sat back nicely and looks like your upper back remained strong the whole time. Minor butt dip but no biggie
 
Sean1332 said:
Much better dude. You sat back nicely and looks like your upper back remained strong the whole time. Minor butt dip but no biggie
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What's funny is that I've used this foot spacing in the past and for some reason I'd started bringing my feet in without even thinking about it. It was crazy how much deeper and stable I was just by widening.
 
Originally Posted by supermanjow View Post
Beautiful deads man! Just watching this would have saved me some time researching technique again today.

I may be pulling more, but I'm technically challenged and need to work on my form again. Old habits die hard.

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2 cents...
Pretty strong pulls there IMO, form does not look bad to me really. As you hit near the knees, you just seem to smooth into the lockout by straightening up, (which may not be a bad thing) but maybe, you could try driving the hips forward more before the knees, or for lack of a better word (a bit more aggressive!?) May help with heavier loads and a bit more pop at top.
 
PaulBlack said:
2 cents...
Pretty strong pulls there IMO, form does not look bad to me really. As you hit near the knees, you just seem to smooth into the lockout by straightening up, (which may not be a bad thing) but maybe, you could try driving the hips forward more before the knees, or for lack of a better word (a bit more aggressive!?) May help with heavier loads and a bit more pop at top.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to be working on my hip positioning and my explosiveness. I researched technique again yesterday and remembered that when I start with slightly higher hip placement I get better leg drive and explosiveness.
 
You're going to absolutely explode those weights once you get your groove again dude. Lookin huge yourself as well man
 
Ok, last Friday I tweaked my back on the last rep. I was pretty hurt up all weekend long but I still did my tree chopping on Saturday. On Sunday, my father-in-law was kind enough to get me a 45 minute massage while our girls shopped at the mall. It really seemed to help, because Monday morning I woke up with it feeling pretty good. Still had to support myself getting out of bed Monday and Tuesday, but yesterday I was able to do my usual get out of bed sit-up. So, this morning I decided to hit my lifts at my deload percentages (40%, 50%, 60%). I also practiced my new form on dead. Boy did it make a WORLD of difference. Not only was I able to do deads without any pain, but I was able to do them with ease and speed while my lower back still isn't 100%. I'd say my backs around 80-90%. So just a few more days of healing. Hopefully I'll be back at it on Monday.
 
Slightly higher hip position, beginning the movement with a knee thrust, and RDL'ing them dropping the weight on the way down. Crazy thing is my leg and back are straightening at the same pace now. I've got to remember to arch my back right before initiating the rep as well. I caught myself not doing that a couple times.
 
That's exactly what Tony G told me yesterday. Even about the RDL. RDL it back down to your knees, THEN let your knees break over the bar to drop it.

Lookin forward to seein your improvements
 
Finally back at it full bore again today. I'm glad I took a deload/rest week last week though. Not only is my back at 100% again, but my chest strain is gone too.

I've been researching mobility and form a lot over the last week. I started doing some band work between sets today in the form of two types of band pull aparts. The first one mimics my bench form and involves scapular contractions. The second one is the classic pull apart with arms fully extended.

If you couldn't tell today was bench and row day. Max weights went up 5 (upper body) & 10 lbs (lower body) starting this week. This was week 1 so rep range is at 5. Another thing I've started doing is Jim Wendler's 10% warm-ups. Basically, start at a lesser weight and work up to your heavy sets by 10% increments. It creates a few more warm-up sets than I usually do, but my joints and ligaments are MUCH happier when I start getting into the thick of it. Here's what I did today:

BENCH
135x10, 165x3, 195x3, 225x5, 265x5, 300x10 (almost got 11), 155x18
BARBELL ROWS
135x10, 165x3, 195x3, 225x5, 265x5, 300x11

As I mentioned above, I've been researching form and mobility videos on YouTube. Well, one I've been watching over this weekend was Dave Tate's series "So You Think You Can Squat." I've noticed a few things that I've been doing wrong that will certainly help tomorrow when I hit squats. Like the guy in the vid, I'm pretty quad dominant. I'll really be practicing on my lighter sets and hopefully I'll have some good motor memory built in when I go for the big one. Here's the link to the video series: Invalid Link Removed

I'll be taking video tomorrow to see how things go.
 
Bigass lifting as usual man. I'll send ya some PDFs later of some mobility stuff. Also check out Donnie Thompson on YouTube. He's a big SHW, but mobile as hell and has some good tips. As well as Eric Cressy
 
Sean1332 said:
Bigass lifting as usual man. I'll send ya some PDFs later of some mobility stuff. Also check out Donnie Thompson on YouTube. He's a big SHW, but mobile as hell and has some good tips. As well as Eric Cressy
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Thanks mang!!! I've neglected it for too long.
 
I was practicing the setup tips from SO YOU THINK YOU CAN SQUAT tonight with just my body weight and I was able to sink another 2-3" without even trying. This could get interesting.
 
Well, no vid today. Dude that opens the fun was running late this morning. He's usually there at 445 and today he was there at 455. I really need those extra ten minutes on squat day. Regardless, I've got work to do. For now, I'm backing off on all poundages until my nervous system catches up. I'm planning on using 531 still, but I'm thinking of either dropping to 75-80% of my previous 1RM or just doing multiple sets with the first weight of the day and then singles with the higher weights. Either way, I'm planning on doing a back off set to failure. From what I experienced this morning, I've got three glaring weaknesses: upper back strength, keeping my lower back set, and hamstring strength.

For upper back, it's a lack of strength endurance combined with looking down at my feet which then gets my back rounding. Now it's not as exaggerated as the guy in the vid, but it's still a problem. I've gotta break myself of that. I'm also gonna start doing the seated good mornings they showed on the vid. I don't have a safety squat bar, but I think I manage at least initially with a straight bar.

I kept catching myself get lazy with my lower back set. It had nothing to do with strength. When I really focused on it I could keep it set and really get good depth without even trying. I even had one rep where I almost fell backwards. What I'm planning to do to address this is practice, but also I'm going to be doing box squats from now on. That should force me to do that because you can't sit back with the weight without setting your lower back and initiating the movement with your butt. I'll tell you one thing, my butt was feeling tired after today because I was using it my than usual.

I've neglected my hams for a while now. No more. I'm going to be doing glute ham raises twice a week: once with squats and again with deads.

I also discovered today that my back isn't 100%. I also discovered that my squats may have been a bigger contributor than my deads. Every time I let my lower back tuck instead of keeping it set, it would hurt. Every rep where it stayed set, no pain at all. I think my deads a couple weeks ago were the last straw, but I think that my squats have been the main impetus.

Hopefully these mitigative measures keep things moving forward and help me correct my issues. It's not the first time I've done this. Years ago I was a half squatter. And now I'm going to correct about 8 years worth of bad habits. It should be a lot better and as the next few months go by and I start shoring up my weaknesses, the weights will climb once again. Anyways, here's what I did today:

Squats - 135x10, 175x3, 215x3, 255x3, 290x5, 335x5, 380x1
Glute Ham Raises (lat pulldown) - BWx3xF + push up assisted reps to failure
 
I'm so glad that you're able to recognize what needs to be changed. That's hard for myself, and others, to be able to do. You've got nowhere to go but up from here on out dude.
 
This cycle ended up being a bit of a dud. My back still isn't completely healed, I got laid out by a bout of bronchitis, and I'm having problems at work which are causing me to have to drive from Longmont to Golden everyday for the next couple of weeks. This means my lifting is jacked. Once I get over the bronchitis though, I've devised a plan to have me in and out in 15 minutes. I'm going to do an off shoot of GVT.

My plan is to start at 50% of my 1RM and do 9 sets of 5 reps with only 30s rest or as a superset with another exercise and 30s of rest. Then, on the tenth set, I'm going to failure. The next week I add 5 lbs to the upper body exercises and 10lbs to the lower body. Hopefully, this will keep me progressing while giving my joints a break. It will also give me the much needed chance to work on my form.

My new split will be:
Monday: Squats SS Glute Ham Raises
Tuesday: Overhead Press SS Bench
Wednesday: Deads SS Neutral Grip Pullups
Thursday: MEDLEY - Standing Calf Raises, Lying Barbell Extensions, Barbell Curls, Standing Cable Crunches
 
Finally back at. 3 weeks off for bronchitis has been rough. I used the time to cut back on my diet a little though and lost some weight. Hopefully not too much muscle. But I'm back into my 34" waist jeans. To start getting myself back on track, I'm doing a medley with 50% of my previous 1RM's. So here's how today went:

Started at 4:50am -
5 sets of 5 reps
Standing overhead press - 110
Bench - 200
Overhand bent over rows - 200
Underhand Pullups - BW

Last sets at 5:15am
TO FAILURE (or close to it)
SOHP - 110x11
Bench - 200x12
UHBOR - 200x12
UHPU - BWx8

Finished 5:20am
 
Welcome back man. You and those quick training sessions baffle me. I kinda imagine you just going crazy in a corner someplace then running out the gym.
 
Nooshefx said:
Welcome back man. You and those quick training sessions baffle me. I kinda imagine you just going crazy in a corner someplace then running out the gym.
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Lol! Pretty close. Did everything except the pullups at a bench. I used a couple of steppers to make it easier to unrack the bar and not hit the bench on the rows. Unfortunately, it is a necessity right now. After a week or two I will adjust my schedule the one I posted a few weeks back (3 day split with an auxiliary day).
 
Had a little more time today. I had to run to Grand Junction for a couple meetings this morning. So at 4am I rolled out of bed, threw on my clothes, and headed out the door for the 4 1/2 hr drive. But this also meant an afternoon workout before heading home. Today I superset squats with deads and a short rest. I opted for more sub failure sets instead of a finish set to failure. It didn't matter much anyways in the end. I was pretty spent after that last set of deads. I'm really practicing my form, and I'm practicing my hook-grip on deads. It hurts like a mofo the first few sets, but when nervous system started compensating it wasn't so bad. After today's workout I've discovered that I'm very lazy at keeping my lower back set and my glutes tight during squats. I think that's why hurt my back and have such a bad butt tuck at the bottom. When I kept tight not only did sitting back feel more natural I felt stronger out of the hole with no back pain. I also played with keeping my arms tucked in closer. It will take some getting used to, but it definitely provided extra stability to my upper back and my tris were even more involved. That bodes very well for them as weights go up (not bad for bench either). Deads felt very natural and my cadence is much improved. Now, the workout:

Start 1:45pm
Squats & deads (7 supersets of 5 reps per set with a drink and short breather)
135, 225, 250/275, 250/275, 250/275, 250/275, 250/275

SUPERSET 2
Glute Ham raises (lat pulldown bench, BW neg with push-up assisted pos)
5, 5, 4, 3
BW Hyperextension
5, 5, 5, 5

End 2:25pm
 
Sean1332 said:
Sounds like things are back on track.

Hook grip=brutal
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Getting there. I'm sucking wind right now for sure! My back feels better than it has in quite a while after today. For the longest time I could only get it to pop by twisting one direction. After the workout it finally released the other direction and everything feels normal again back there. Just needed to get the muscles loosened and now continue practicing good form. I'm going to add 5% to all my lifts next week and go from there.
 
10/23 - Shoulders, Tris, Bis
Seated Shoulder Press
50x12, 70x10, 80x4, 40x12
Mid pulley Face pull
35x12, 50x12, 65x8, 35x10
Lying Behind Head Extension
70x12, 90x12, 110x5, 50x12
Standing Barbell Curl
70x12, 90x10, 110x3, 50x12

Did my workout between a late afternoon meeting and a 5 1/2 hour drive. A little rough, but it felt great! Shoulders were pumped. Arms were pumped. First arm workout in about 4 weeks. Hopefully I can get my leg workout in today before I get home. If not, first thing tomorrow.
 
10/25 Legs - Performed as Giant Sets
Front Squats
135x10, 185x10, 225x10, 275x6
BW Glute Ham Raises on Lat Pulldown Bench
10 push-up assisted, 10 hands behind knees, 8 hbk, 5 neg with push-up assured pos
Hack Squat Calf Raises
90x10, 180x10, 270x10, 360x8

Great quick workout. Had sometime this afternoon before hitting the road for a work function. I think the two days of high altitude yesterday and we'd helped me today. I felt like I could push myself a little harder. Feels good doing more of a BB style workout again. I like doing PL style periodically, but I'm a BB at heart. That feeling of trashed muscle is definitely a high to me. Gonna try and get chest and back hit again tomorrow.
 
Last week's travel took a toll on me. My cough has come back with a vengeance. Not sure it's full blown bronchitis though. I've taken the last few mornings off to get another hour of sleep. I'll be back at it tomorrow morning. I want to get at least three workouts in before Friday. Hopefully my daughter will get to bed at a decent time tonight.
 
TRAINING

FINALLY!!! Got back to the gym this morning!!! I’m not 100% but getting VERY close to it. Had a nice and easy chest and back day that got the blood pumping and my not-so-well trained muscles feeling it today. Workout was 20 minutes long. It consisted of one chest exercise, one back width exercise, and one back thickness exercise. I switched things up a bit and stayed on machines instead of the free weights I have been doing for a while now. Here’s how today went:

11/4/2013 Chest and Back (Weights are plate weight only)
Hammer Strength (HS) Incline Press
90x12, 140x10, 180x10, 230x10, 90x11
HS High Row, Underhand Grip
90x12, 140x10, 180x10, 230x10, 90x11
HS Yates Row
90x12, 90x12, 140x10, 140x8, 90x8

Reps were slow and controlled with a pause and extra squeeze on each contraction. The key today was lower weight and really just feel the muscles working again. Sets were done in a rotating fashion Presses->High Row->Yates Row. Breaks were taken between rounds to increase the weight, take a drink and a few breaths, and then back at it.

DIET

The wife and I have been looking for ways to make life easier AND cheaper. One of the things we’re starting to do that is easily going to help achieve this is cooking all our meals for at least two weeks at a time over the weekend. Now I know this is something a lot of guys do already for themselves, but perhaps you don’t do it with your spouse. AND unfortunately, my wife doesn’t have the mental will to eat the same thing day in and day out. So, creating meals that are delicious and being able to do it in a manner that’s easy is a challenge and something I’ve been trying to do for quite a while now. It’s seemed like an insurmountable task. BUT last week while I was listening to Focus on the Family’s weekly broadcasts, they had a gal on the show that’s done just that for over a decade now. Not only that, she cooks all the meals for her family of 5 for a whole month! She’s created a book that lines out the meals, lays out the shopping lists, and even helps step you through how to cook everything as easy as possible. After researching it some more, there are many other resources out there that can help you do it as well. Last night was day one. Unfortunately, I had to do the grocery shopping and get some cooking done all on the same day, which is not recommended. DEFINITELY cook and shop on separate days if you are planning on doing two weeks or more on the same day. It took me two hours to shop and two hours to cook, but I only got four meals done. By the end of that I was exhausted! I’ve got several more to make, but it should only take me about an hour to get everything else prepped. I’m really looking forward to making this a habit. It cost us only $200 to have two weeks’ worth of meals. Usually we struggle with a budget of $300 per week being cooking just a few meals and then eating out for the rest. I may have to increase it a little to make sure I’m getting enough for a guy my size, but I see this style of cooking saving us $300-500 a month!!! Since we’re still paying off debts and student loans, trying to get to where we can save up for a house, and taking care of an eight month that’s going to be a BIG help!!!

So, keep me honest here guys. I need this, our family needs this to become a regular thing.

SUPPS

I’m bumping myself back up to the normal two-a-day dosing once again. Gotta make up for lost time, but I’m going to let the XFORCE do its job instead of delaying my return to full health by killing myself in the gym. Here’s my latest pic, not much change from the first except maybe a little softer from the lack of exercise.
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11/5/13 - Shoulders and Arms

*SUPERSET 1*
Dumbbell Press
25x12, 45x10, 70x10, 35x12
Standing Dumbbell Curls
25x10, 35x10, 40x8, 20x12
*SUPERSET 2*
Rope Pull Aparts
15x12, 25x10, 42.5x8, 20x12
Rope Pressdowns
25x12, 42.5x10, 62.5x10, 30x12

Today's workout went at a nice pace. Today is the best I've felt in over a month by far. I've still got a little bit of a cough, but I don't feel flemmy and I don't feel sick. Things are definitely starting to look up!!! Which is good because I want to get back to doing some real work. Probably got my workout done in about 15 minutes. I did some quick warm-ups and then I had to take a dump. So, I was pushing it. Felt good to press some heavy dumbbells too. All-in-all, today was a good day.

Cooking has been going well. It's great to reap the benefits of my labor over the weekend. Dinner took 30 minutes to warm and get on the table. It was delicious and I had more than enough food. The rest went back into the freezer too and there will be enough for another full meal for the two of us. I would have taken it for lunch, but I'm still working on Sunday's left-overs. That should be gone today though: chicken parmesan meatballs with four cheese tortellini and a garlic Italian sausage tomato sauce. Last night's was Southern Chicken casserole over Southern Style Biscuits: Chicken breasts, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, bag of frozen mixed veggies, biscuits. Good eatin'!

I've noticed a little difference between today's pics and yesterday's. My muscles are filling back in even after just two days of workouts. The extra Epi and LMG can't be hurting either. Since I kept them low dose during my week off I don't think it's too farfetched to claim that my body is already responding to it because it's had plenty of time to build up in my system. Here's this morning's pics. I'm planning on taking pics after every morning's workout and hopefully get a few vids taken before the end of the log. I'll start bringing my tablet with me again because it makes video recording easier than my phone.

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11/6/13 - Legs

Front Squats (paused)
135x10, 185x10, 205x9
Calf Raises on Leg Press Machine
150x10, 300x10, 350x6 drop 150x12
Lying Leg Curls
40x10, 80x10, 110x10 drop 50x6

Paused front squats are where it's at!!! Forced me to keep everything tight and REALLY shocked the legs. I found out today that a lot of the bad habits I have with back squats I don't do when I do front squats. I start front squats with both feet together, never look down to see where my foot placement is at, always keep my chest high and look up, and just sit down with the weight. I'm going to keep them as a priority lift and hopefully get my good habits on fronts to translate to back squats. It was a weird discovery.

My workout was only 15 minutes long this morning. Damn colon! I sat down for my morning BM at 4:35 and wasn't done until 4:50. So I wasn't out of the house until 4:55 and didn't get to the rack until 5:05. So, I was only able to get three rounds in. Oh well, at least I got that and in less than a week we'll do it all over again!!! One thing that will help is that I'm going to make my preworkout up the night before and then I'll be able to start slamming it as soon as the alarm goes off. That way, I've got water going where it matters first thing. That always speeds up the process. Anyways, enough ****ty talk.

Looking forward to my second chest and back day of the week tomorrow. Feels so good! I'm planning on flat bench, barbell rows, and rope pullovers. Here's this morning's pics. Thought I'd get a close-up of the glute ham tie-in. I'm starting to get better balance between my quads and hams too.

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Is it ok to have the PWO sitting for that amount of time? I guess you would know. That post about the bathroom time the other morning was hella funny. Sometimes things like that happen
 
Nooshefx said:
Is it ok to have the PWO sitting for that amount of time? I guess you would know. That post about the bathroom time the other morning was hella funny. Sometimes things like that happen
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It depends on what's in it. Creatine should be ok. BCAA's may start to degrade. But my current one doesn't contain any. It really sucks the mornings that happens. We're going to be switching gyms soon.
 
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