Redline training - How far can I push it?

So I am a little behind. Things have been hectic and posting has been on the back burner.

5/4 - I did something but really didn't write down much.

5/6 Dynamic effort upper

Elitefts sholder saver 265. 285. 305, 325, 345x5

speed bench w/ 1 chain 9x5 185 3x5, 205 3x5, 225 3x5

close grip bench+ 1 chain 305 2x1, 325x1

rolling dumbell extension on incline 50 4x10, then a drop set 45, 40, 35x 10


5/7 upper assistance 

Tbar rows work to a hard 10 190x10
straight arm grenade pulldowns 60x12, 60 2x12
pull ups with band assistance 3xfail (20, 12, 12)

side raises to heavy 8 - 40x8
Ahrens press - 30 3x15
bradford press+1 muscle round   85 miss on set 5 rep 4, rest 20 set get 3 more reps.
band pull aparts monster mini 2x50

barbell curls 3 sec up and 3 down - 65 x12, 10, 8
light band pushdown x100
db preacher curl 20 x12, 10, 10

5/8 Max effort lower

short strap hypers 205 3x12
pulldown abs 4x12
alternating leg curl with iso hold on opposite leg - org 4x10
Yoke bar Anderson squat + chain  405, 435, 455x1, strip set 235x10, 185x10, 135x10
leg extension with 5 second lower 3x12
single leg hypers 250 2x8

5/10 Max effort upper

BW 238.5

Floor press 273x5, 311x5, 354x2, 379x1, 409x1

Took too big of a jump with no hand out. I got greedy and should have played it smart.
Dumbell press on 4 inch incline 70, 100x12 130x12,12,9


Started doing Fat DD pulldows to upper abs inbetween dumbells and continued into next set of exercises. 130 5x12

Barbell extension to neck 135 4x6 superset with dips 5x15 and a few sets of pulldowns
Hex dumbbell press together low incline 20x12, high 20x12 superset with alternating dumbell curls 25 2x12

Alternating dumbbell curls 3x12, facepulls orange 3x20, band upright rows 3x20 orange triset
Trifecta (rear, side front raise without putting down dumbbell 12x20/20/20, 15/15/15, 12/12/12

Redline training - week 1

Redline training

Stress has been extremely high and the iron has been my therapy. I am pushing training very hard for a meet in July.  All the training has been a raw focus and will continue that for the next 8-10 weeks.

4/4 Max effort bench

W1

Close grip bench (thumb knuckle from smooth)

315x5, 335x2, 355x2, 365, 380x1

Add catapult 365x6, 385x6

Overhead press

115x6, 135x6, 145x6, 6, 12

A1 - Dips against orange band 12, 12, 12, 12, 10, 10

A2 – Mag grip pulldown 130 4x12, 1x10

6 way muscle rounds 8x1, 10x1, 10 – fail on 4^th set

B1 – hammer curls 35 3x12, 1x10

B2 – band pull aparts mini 4x20

4/8 BW 243 – dynamic effort bench

Elitefts Shoulder saver bench Up to 340x6

Swiss bar speed bench 225 9x5

Close grip bench w/ 60 pound of chain 285 5x1

A1 - Jm press (reverse light band) to foam pad 225x6, 245x6, 265x6

A2 - Neutral grip pushdown 50 5x15

Band fly – mini band x100 reps with 10 second hold at 25, 50, 75 and 100

4/9 BW 244.5 – upper assistance

Dead stop dumbbell rows 100x10, 130 3x10

Tbar scap rows+tbar rows (12 of each) 3x12/12

Serrano arm complex – 3x (top secret)

Trifecta – 20 2x muscle round

As you can see there has been a ton of volume.  My time in the gym has helped to keep me from going crazy. Going into the void like Dave Tate.  But pushing this hard into the red will eventually be my on undoing.  Let's see how far we can take this before that happens. 

Training log with video

Friday Dec 3

Speed squat with green band 275 3x2, 315 3x2

speed deadlift sumo
with monster mini 315 2x1,
add 2 set of chain 315 6x1
conventional 315 w/ monster mini 2x1



Green band leg curls x50
short strap hypers 180 3x12
decline situps 50 4x10


Sunday Dec 5

Bench 225 2x5
neutral grip pull ups 5x5
dips 3x8
y + t 4x12 each way
barbell curls - till pumped

My shoulder held up pretty good this week and I have little pain pressing. I still have some pain right after a set of squats but I hope with time it goes away.

Training log update

My training has picked up the last 2 weeks. My schedule is close to normal so training has been pretty good. I will say the last few months have not been good to my bench. I am close to setting records but my lockout strength has really suffered and I need to really bring it up if I expect to bench anything good.

Work on
bench - triceps/lockout
squat/deadlift - hips/hamstrings

I will give you the video first then you can see the specific workouts below.



3/28
Illegal wide bench worked up to 120 kg x 8

jm press 60kg 2x8, 70kgx8
band pushdowns 3x10
db rows 70 3x12

curls 3x10
band pull aparts 3x12
jump rope x200


3/29
Deadlift while standing on 2 inch blocks
445, 495, 535, 585, 605x1

front squat 185x5, 205x5, 225x5
single leg hypers 90 3x10

green band leg curls 3x10
decline situps 25 3x8

3/31
Had to push training forward one day due to other stuff going on this week. Should have just done some rep stuff but I decided to do 4 board anyway. I was still sore and everything felt heavy. I still hit 90% of my best so I will take it.

225x3, 275x1 add 4 board 315, 365x1, 385x1, 405x1, 425x1, 455 miss

oh press 125x5, 145x5, 165x5
chuck V pulldowns 140 2x10, 160 4x10o
preacher curls 5 5x10
neck harness 2x12

Tates 55/60 x 10, 10, 10, 8, 8
-Thought I had 2 55's but I had one 55 and one 60. I did not notice until I was done with 3 sets. So I just switched hands and did 2 more sets.


4/2
Speed squat ssb + green band on foam pad 275 6x2, 315 2x2

rdl 225 4x6
manual leg curl 2x6
pulldown abs 4x8

prowler 90# 10x30 yards

4/6
good mornings with straight bar.
225, 275, 315, 365, 405x3, 435x2 could have done another but my mid back did not feel right.

front squat 185x3, 225x3, 245x2
hypers single leg - 2x10 90, double 180 2x10
green band leg curls 3x12
decline situps 3x8

prowler 10x30 yards 90#s

4/7
Metal Militia reverse band green deload about 160#s at chest but all gone at the top.
225x3, 275x3, 315, 365, 405, 435x1, 465xmiss

oh press 135x3, 155x3, 175x3
chuck v pulldowns 140 5x12
tates 60 4x8
preacher curls 80? 3x10
shrugs 225 3x12

Training log update

The last few weeks have been pretty busy and crazy for me so I apologize for not keeping up on my log. To catch you up I had a visit to Westside barbell the weekend of the Arnold where I pulled 585 off pin two against quad monster mini bands using a conventional stance. We did two weeks of a blue band and then deloaded thinking we were going to do circa max.

We changed the meet that we are doing so we are scrapping circa max since we are not squatting at this meet, but wil still push up our speed work. So here are the last few workouts.

3/6
Friday at Westside

Pin 2 rack pulls against quad monster minis. Conventional stance
135, 225, 315, 365, 405, 455, 495, 545, 585x1 started to loose my grip at the top
605xmiss

reverse hyper with extra traction. 3x8
hyper with weight behind feet 3x8
glute hams 2x8


afternoon
gravity crunch, more glute hams, kettlebell swings working up to 40kg 2x12

3/11

Deload upper

db bench 40, 60, 80, 100 2x12
face pulls green band 2x12
tates 40 and mini 5x12
prowler walk 2 plates each side 2x 50 steps


afternoon
curls
pulldown abs
pull ups

3/13

Max effort lower deload week

hamstring goodmornings 135 2x8
poor man back attack 4x12
side bends 80 4x12
sled drags 3 plates 10x100ft

3/15

Max upper deload
Illegal wide bench 135, 185, 225, 275x6
bradford press 135 4x8
Fat DD t bar rows 3 plates 3x12
Rolling dumbell extensions on the floor 40 2x8, 50 3x8

3/16

Wife went back to work today after materninty leave so I had to cut my morning workout short.

SSB with purple band over plates. 365 5x2
deadlift with plates 1/2 inch lower than feet 245, 335, 435, 475, 525, 565, 615x1 First time deadlifting in this suit and not bad. Still a little beat up from last couple of weeks.

pull thrus 4x8 130-150 and some added tension with a mini band.


Afternoon

Done in a circuit 3 times

reverse hypers short strap 330 3x12
overhead keg lunges 3x6 each leg
judo throw pulldown abs with green band 3x8 each side



belt dragging 3 plates and a quater 10x100ft

3/18

Speed bench 185 and mini band 9x3

db press 80x12, 100x12, 12, 20 ties a rep record for 3 sets. If I would have know I would have done one more.

pull ups x5, 4, 4, 3 all different grips

tates with mini band behind back. 45x12, 50 x12, 12, 12, 10

piston face pulls - purple band each hand 3x15

bb curls 70 3x12


Afternoon
shoulder traction
external rotators 3x15
pushdowns 2x12
foam roller situps 2x12 8kg kettlebell each hand

3/20

Deadlift standing on 2 inch plaform
135, 225, 275, 315, 365, 405, 455, 495, 545, 595, 615x1

Video of pulls and good mornings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6blEpN6wBY

camber bar goodmornings 225x8, 315x8, 405x6

green band leg curls single leg 3x12

pull down abs 3x12

3/21

3 board bench with 3 chain per side. 135, 185, 225, 275, 295, 315, 335x1

far bar 6 board 275, 315, 365x8, 405x6

bradford press 95, 135, 155 2x8

t bar rows with fat DD handle 135 4x12

dumbell extensions on floor 50 5x10



That should bring you up to speed. If you have any questions about my training send me a message. Thanks.

Training log update

2/25/09 Speed bench

Speed bench 2 chain 185 6x3
Pin press while laying on floor 225, 315, 405, 455, 495x5
incline JM press 185 2x6
dumbell overhead press 50 2x15
fat man rows against mini band 4x8
hammer curls 4x8




2/27/09 Max effort lower

Free squat 145, 195 add briefs, 255, 345, 395, 435, add suit straps down, 545, 635x2, 685 2x2

Here is the video of todays squatting.



rackable camber bar goodmornings 135, 225, 315, 405x6, 315x8
poor man back attack 2x12
superset with short strap hypers 140 2x20


Afternoon session
16kg kettlebell front squats with heels elevated 2x8
side bends 80 4x10

Making adjustments to max effort training

For those who do not know me most of my training is Westside based. I was fortunate enough to get to visit Westside Barbell when I first started powerlifting. I continued to visit every month and at one point I was there for six weekends in a row. I followed the basic template and did a max effort single every week. Now about seven years later I have made a few changes to my training.



I have found that I would do a certain lift and not come back to it for a long time. Then if I did not get a record, I would be disappointed and question my training. I found it hard to gauge if I was doing the right things week in and week out to make my lifts improve other than testing in my powerlifting gear. My bench for instance has always been a week point. With very long arms, I must do the right things or it suffers severly. I have tried doing the same exercise two or three weeks in a row but some exercises I could do for three weeks and some I could only do one before I stalled.



So this is how I set up my training over the last 12 weeks. This will look pretty vanilla but you should be able to get the idea. There are also a few things you will need to know.



I have been lifting weights for 17 years so I now feel a deload week should/needs to be added in to stay healthy and keep my mind/body fresh.



I do two main exercises. Thefirst exercise listed was done with the prescribed reps and the second exercise was done for sets of 3-5 for a couple of hard sets.



The first three weeks all max effort exercises were triples. Some exercises were done for singles if it was hard to do reps (like rack pulls).



Every fourth week we did a dumbbell press for three sets to failure on dynamic day and an exercise we do not normally do for a hard set of six on max effort day.



The second cycle doubles were done and the third cycle all singles.



This got me a raw bench pr (I do not normally train for a raw bench increase).



Here is how it would look.





Week

1 - triples (floor press, cambered bar bench)



2 - triples (3 board, suspended lockout)



3 - triples (reverse green bench, 4 board)



4 - rep work, max 6 Illegal wide bench, goodmornings sets of 12, sled work



5 - doubles (same exercise as week 1)



6 - doubles (same exercsie as week 2)



7 - doubles (same exercise as week 3)



8 - same as week 4 - try to beat rep record



9 - singles (same exercise as week 1)



10 - singles (same exercise as week 2)



11 - singles (same exercise as week 3)



12 - new deload exercise







We kept the same assistance exercises for each 4 week cycle. Starting during the deload week.



On the other two days speed work was done and heavy supplemental exercises done second.



My upperbody work went very well and my lower went as well as possible while trying to deal with a knee problem. I am starting a new 12 week cycle and will see how this continues to evolve.