Bigm's "He is not human, he is a piece of iron" Challenge

[The Tin Man]

Took last night off from lifting class. Needed some time to heal. Slightly excited by tonights workout as it includes:

Death By Deadlifts! (@70% 1RM)

For those who have never done that it's 1 the first minute, 2 the second, and so on until you can't complete the round. Tee hee, I heart dead liffts.

Pretty sure I can get 9-10 rounds.

You may end up cursing the fact that your new PR bumped up that workout weight by 35 lbs. #bigPRproblems

[bigm141414]

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! Death By Deadlifts!

So workout tonight:

OHP - 5x5@95 (going light to rest my arms after several weeks of intense olympic stuff)

Then DbDLs

8 round + 3 reps at 315.

(Soo that's 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+3=39 reps of 315lbs DLs or 12,285lbs moved in 8.5min)

Second highest weight in the gym (there is one coach who can out DL me at 470. I wants to beat him!) Not bad. Everything was great until the 8th round and my body hit a wall and said eff this I'm out. Note to self, try not to lift heavy less than a week after setting a new PR. Spezzy has told me before that I should give it like 10 days, but I'm impatient.

BigM is happy.

[catspaw]

YOU ARE A CRAZY MACHINE.

And, as I mentioned in chat, inspired me to do Death By Deadlifts at my workout tomorrow.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I'm losing the arms race... Or backs race...

[Bean]

Spectacular lifting BigM - I am in awe.

How's the back today?

[Hermione Gainser]

You listen to the Spezzy!

But congrats on an awesome workout!

[bigm141414]

YOU ARE A CRAZY MACHINE.

And, as I mentioned in chat, inspired me to do Death By Deadlifts at my workout tomorrow.

Heehee, Thanks Catspaw! I hope your workout goes well.

I'm losing the arms race... Or backs race...

Slowly but surely I'll overcome you. Then Wizardtrip. Then the world!

Spectacular lifting BigM - I am in awe.

How's the back today?

It's actually not bad, I was sore for about 30 min after the workout, but after a good night's rest I feel fine. No soreness what so ever.

You listen to the Spezzy!

But congrats on an awesome workout!

Me? Listen to others? Psssh.

Thanks Laura!

[The Tin Man]

You monster.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Slowly but surely I'll overcome you. Then Wizardtrip. Then the world!

It's actually not bad, I was sore for about 30 min after the workout, but after a good night's rest I feel fine. No soreness what so ever.

I'll fight you every inch! Can't wait to get back into lifting next challenge as long as I can find a gym near my new house, in which case back to deadlifting twice a week. There is a bunch of painting and some carpet replacement that has to be done before I can spend money on the free weights and building the beast, so I'll need to use a gym up until the new year.

As for DbDL, that was fun. My lower back is a little sore since I'm not used to the volume. I really liked doing it and think when I do my new routine planning once I get my own stuff, there's going to be a lightweight, high rep day where I do things like thrusters, power cleans, and death by DLs and squats.

[bigm141414]

Haven't updated in a while. Work - busy. School - busy. Training - busy.

Haven't run or rucked in a long while. And I've been pushing hard at CF but have lagged behind on my other lifts. Need to find more hours in the day.

If you have any, please send them my way

[nightlight]

If you have any, please send them my way

ditto.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

All the hours are belong to me. And they are sadly not enough either...

[msuroo]

Haven't updated in a while. Work - busy. School - busy. Training - busy.

Haven't run or rucked in a long while. And I've been pushing hard at CF but have lagged behind on my other lifts. Need to find more hours in the day.

If you have any, please send them my way

Story of my life.

[bigm141414]

So now that the challenge is over I should have some closing thoughts:

1) I hit my weightlifting goals in spades

• Snatch - 145lbs
  
• Clean and Jerk - 205 (cleans are at 215 )
  
• Deadlift - 445 ( but probably higher since I did an actual workout before hand)
  

1a) Other PRs that I hit during this challenge

• OHP 2@135
  
• Push Press - 1@185 (seriously I was doing this and my coach is WTF BigM, that's to light for you add MOAR weight. So I did. And he was right. )
  
• Front Squat 2@235
  

2) I did not run at all

3) I didn't ruck as much as I should have.

4) I did not study enough.

Points 2-4 need to be fixed in the next challenge/before the end of the year. I am pretty happy with the lifting and have planned that next challenge will focus on deadlifts to get me to 500 in January of next year. The end of the year is looking a little tough to hit it. So overall score is a C-. Pretty average.

Oh and for accountability and you programming nuts here is my program for deadlifts starting next week. C'mon Corey, WizardTrip. I am gonna beat you

Coan/Phillipi 10 week Deadlift Routine

Based on a 455 lbs (206 kg) current max and a 500 lbs (227 kg) desired max we get the following cycle. Weights are rounded to the nearest 5 lbs. Notation: sets x reps @ weight.

NOTES: Percentages for the deadlifts are based on the desired max whereas percentages for the power shrugs are based on the current max. Rest 90-120 sec between sets of all assistance exercises.

Week 1

Deadlift (75%): 1x2 @ 375 lbs

Speed deadlift (60%): 8x3 @ 300 lbs (90 sec rest b/w sets)

3 circuits (rest 90sec between exercises, 2-3 minutes between circuits):

Stiff-leg deadlift: 8 reps

Bent over row: 8 reps

Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 8 reps

Arched back good morning: 8 reps

Week 2

Deadlift (80%): 1x2 @ 400 lbs

Speed deadlift (65%): 8x3 @ 325 lbs (90 sec rest b/w sets)

3 circuits (rest 90sec between exercises, 2-3 minutes between circuits):

Stiff-leg deadlift: 8 reps

Bent over row: 8 reps

Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 8 reps

Arched back good morning: 8 reps

Week 3

Deadlift (85%): 1x2 @ 425 lbs

Speed deadlift (70%): 6x3 @ 350 lbs (90-120 sec rest b/w sets)

3 circuits (rest 90sec between exercises, 2-3 minutes between circuits):

Stiff-leg deadlift: 8 reps

Bent over row: 8 reps

Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 8 reps

Arched back good morning: 8 reps

Week 4

Deadlift (90%): 1x2 @ 450 lbs

Speed deadlift (75%): 5x3 @ 375 lbs (90-120 sec rest b/w sets)

3 circuits (rest 90sec between exercises, 2-3 minutes between circuits):

Stiff-leg deadlift: 8 reps

Bent over row: 8 reps

Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 8 reps

Arched back good morning: 8 reps

Week 5

Deadlift (80%): 3x3 @ 400 lbs

Speed deadlift (65%): 3x3 @ 325 lbs (120 sec rest b/w sets)

Power shrugs (60% of current): 3x5 @ 275 lbs

Stiff-leg deadlift: 3x5

Bent over row: 3x5

Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 3x5

Arched back good morning: 3x5

Week 6

Deadlift (85%): 1x2 @ 425 lbs

Speed deadlift (70%): 3x3 @ 350 lbs (120 sec rest b/w sets)

Power shrugs (65% of current): 3x5 @ 295 lbs

Stiff-leg deadlift: 3x5

Bent over row: 3x5

Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 3x5

Arched back good morning: 3x5

Week 7

Deadlift (90%): 1x2 @ 450 lbs

Speed deadlift (75%): 3x3 @ 375 lbs (120 sec rest b/w sets)

Power shrugs (70% of current): 2x5 @ 320 lbs

Stiff-leg deadlift: 2x5

Bent over row: 2x5

Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 2x5

Arched back good morning: 2x5

Week 8

Deadlift (95%): 1x2 @ 475 lbs

Speed deadlift (70%): 3x3 @ 350 lbs (120 sec rest b/w sets)

Power shrugs (75% of current): 2x5 @ 340 lbs

Stiff-leg deadlift: 2x5

Bent over row: 2x5

Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 2x5

Arched back good morning: 2x5

Week 9

Deadlift (97.5%): 1x1 @ 490 lbs

Speed deadlift (70%): 2x3 @ 350 lbs (rest as needed b/w sets)

Power shrugs (75% of current): 2x5 @ 340 lbs

Stiff-leg deadlift: 2x5

Week 10

Deadlift (100%): 1x1 @ 500 lbs

Speed deadlift (60%): 2x3 @ 300 lbs (rest as needed b/w sets)

[Hermione Gainser]

Holy intense program, BigM! I look forward to seeing this in action. And hearing that you studied. MOAR learning! Congrats on all the PRs this challenge! Truly inspiring!

[Titanium Bulwark]

I like that program. Could it be adapted to any particular exercise or is this deadlift specific?

[bigm141414]

Holy intense program, BigM! I look forward to seeing this in action. And hearing that you studied. MOAR learning! Congrats on all the PRs this challenge! Truly inspiring!

Thanks Laura! It is an intense program. From what I have read it is like Smolov for DLs. And we all know how that program goes.

I like that program. Could it be adapted to any particular exercise or is this deadlift specific?

It is meant to be just for deadlifts. The assistance work is what really makes the program. If you notice the main lift is only 2 reps. The rest is just accessory. To adapt it to another lift, you'd have to rework the assistance lifts.

Edit: As for my other lifts, I am going to try out jdangers APRE program he posted in the knowledge base. Why? Because it looks fun and I need to work on my front squats for the olympic lifts. And for bench and OHP it'll be standard 531. I know, I know, a lot of different programs running at the same time.

[This is Seth]

That's a whole lot of PR hunting! grats buddy

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Yeah, that looks awesomely fun!

I'm tempted to follow in your shoes. I'm going to do 1 more round of Starting Strength to make sure I've squeezed everything out that I can, but maybe I'll modify deadlift days to be in line with programming more like this. I'll have more energy than normal at least in the beginning, because I've dropped my squatting weight by 40 lb. The only problem is I'm moving at the end of the first week of the challenge and getting all my workouts in is going to require a lot of logistics, all of which I'll post in my new challenge thread once the board is up.

[nightlight]

i can't wait to see how this new programming plays out.

maybe if you come to NYC after you hit your 500lb mark, i'll buy you a good steak. (and some tequila)

[bigm141414]

i can't wait to see how this new programming plays out.

maybe if you come to NYC after you hit your 500lb mark, i'll buy you a good steak. (and some tequila)

Done. If I hit 500lbs, I'll fly up and spend time with you in NYC (take me to your CF box!) and the B-town nerds. Also Corey and Wizardtrip will be there to bring me my steaks and cakes

[Max Power]

Dude, when you hit 500 you can just set up a tour of the country and get free steaks from all the nerds.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Dude, when you hit 500 you can just set up a tour of the country and get free steaks from all the nerds.

You could probably pay for your gas in free steaks...

[bigm141414]

You could probably pay for your gas in free steaks...

Me to gas station attendant: "Do you take credit cards or porterhouses?"

[weirdquark]

That deadlift program sounds awesomely intense. I'm adding in a little more deadlift work-- have to think about whether I want to do more than once a week and if I want to do speed deadlifts. Possibly. I'd have to do them at a much lighter weight, so if I paired heavy bench press with high-ish rep speed deadlifts, I could just use the same weight for both and not have to switch things out when alternating between them.

Must also check out this APRE program thing, see what it is.