I’m starting to feel a little less beat down physically. Obviously I cut the volume of my training and I have been mobbing and sleeping more. I will continue to cut accessory lifts out over the next two weeks, leaving me to just press/bench/deadlift/squat when I’m 7 days out. Cutting the volume this week made me feel much better, so let’s hope that continues. Also, if you guys have questions feel free to ask, I don’t get very many, but I’ll answer all of them. K c ya.
20130204
SlingShot BP 325 3×5
Press 185 3×3
Bent Row 345 3×3 (will lower to 315 next week)
Curls 95 4×10
20130205
SQ 425 3×3
RDL 365 3×3
Prowler 4×100′ w/210
20130207
BP 345,365,375,385 4×1 (+15 PR, next two weeks will be pause bench)
Press 205,225,240 3×1 (most I’ve done in a while, wanted 250 but it wasn’t there)
Pullups 2×8
FG Curls 45 3×10
20130209
SQ 315 6×2
DL 550,600 2×1 (felt pretty easy, but I wish the lockout had been faster)
Sled 2×80′ w/260
Sled 2×80′ w/215
20 days out
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I gotta question:
Do you program deloads? And if so, how? I’m running TM, fairly new to is. Short story: tweaked my back on a deadlift. Nothing serious, it feels a lot better, but I have a strong feeling I won’t be able to squat volume tomorrow or do any heavy pulling.
Would the answer in this case be to take a light week, or some other precaution?
Guess I got to this a bit late, sorry. Anyway, for a long time, I programmed deloads. However, I no longer do it. If you’re new to TM, experiment with a programmed deload. I was doing 4 on followed by a deload, then 6 on followed by a deload, before I switched to deloading as needed. I also competed 4 times in the latter part of 2012, so programmed deloads weren’t working that well. This is obviously going to depend on the individual. For example, Chris never cared for programmed deloads. As for your back, I wouldn’t push it. Start warming up, and if it hurts, do something else. Leg press, leg curl, whatever. Just try to get some work in. If it doesn’t hurt, just squat light, but be smart about it. There’s no reason to hurt yourself and end up making it worse. -Mike
No worries. I appreciate the response! My back’s feeling better. I am new to TM and really trying to adapt to it. I’m learning fast that it isn’t a program to take lightly, or on the other hand a program that never requires modification. I’ll take your advice though and give it a whirl. Probably will lean toward the as needed.
Copy. No sweat. No one really ever asks questions so I’ve got time to answer any that I do get!-Mike
Here’s another question for you:
What’s your opinion on resting at the top of a squat set? Like the seconds between reps to catch breathe, psyche yourself up, whatever?
Example: me squatting 310:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6mB9EAazpA
Do you think it’s “less efficient” that I take five-seven seconds?
I would try to cut the time you’re waiting in between reps by half. I think if you had spent less time at the top, you may have gotten 5 reps on that set. Also, try to take a bigger breath, and get tighter when you unrack the bar. It’s definitely going to help when you’re approaching a 1RM.-Mike
Hey Mike. I’d be curious about your advice on this. I am tall and have long arms/legs and short torso like I believe you do. I’m at 435 SQ, 295 BP, 600 DL. I feel like my DL should be at most 100-120lbs > SQ, not 165, and that I am leaving a lot of lbs on the table on my squat.
Without going into exhaustive form analysis, I was just curious if you had any general training advice about this. I was thinking I might have weak quads and might benefit from HB/front SQ. I know I’m a very hip-dominant squatter as I use flat shoes (tried oly shoes and hated them), low bar, medium stance and have a good bit of forward lean. I have the TM ebooks and read that you were experimenting with HB/FSQ and was wondering if they helped you with any similar issues. But I’ve also noticed your SQ/DL have always been pretty proportional.
Hmmm….that’s kind of tricky. Do you have any videos of you squatting? It might not be a terrible idea to experiment with some HB/FSQ. I would recommend going back to Oly shoes for those though, and see how you feel. I would just be careful to see how it impacts your LB form, and probably wouldn’t do it very close to a meet. My knees started to come in a bit more when I would LB after doing a lot of HB/FSQ. SO if you’re running TM I would try FSQ one week and HB the next for similar volume/intensity for your volume squats.-Mike
Here’s a decent squat video, still might be a little hard to see everything that’s going on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–3grthSa2E
And here’s a deadlift video for comparison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZkLtk99xyQ
OK, without knowing more about your current programming, here are a few technical things to focus on that may clean up your technique a bit.
1) You need to get tighter both when you unrack your squat, and before you descend. I think that lack of tightness is part of the reason your chest drops in your squat.
2) I think your deadlift could be even better if instead of yanking the bar off the ground, you think about pushing the floor away. We have pretty similar anthropometry, and I’ve tried hard (at times unsuccessfully) to fix the same issue with my own technique.
Next time you do a volume squat do me a favor and take a video.-Mike
Tightness has definitely always been an issue for me. That 425 squat is actually tighter than I used to get. I used to almost completely GM out of the hole. But I will definitely work to improve my tightness more. I’ve already been trying to work on pushing the floor away more on deadlift on my speed days – that 600 was shit form, but pretty indicative of what happens when I go that heavy. I also think I need to position the bar a little further away from my body due to my proportions.
BTW – my programming is a very simple TM setup based on the ebooks and observing your and Chris’ logs. I do an upper/lower split and the intensity progressions are simply LP triples until I can only get a double, then LP doubles until I can only get a single, then LP single til I stall. Volume is kept ~85% of the triple (or what I think I could triple when I’m doing singles and doubles). I rotate speed/heavy deadlift, but am still currently squatting heavy every week since I feel I really need to improve it. Here is my log: http://adampowerlifting.blogspot.com/
I will take a video of my next volume squats on Tuesday. Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it!
Sounds good man, I look forward to it. I’ll also check out your log.-Mike
Thanks for the advice. Will implement that today.
No sweat-Mike