Grinderbeard

[andygates]

New log!

 

Background: Been doing some sort of barbell strength stuff for about 18mo consistently now, from SL 5x5 thru 531 and now TM.  Have been (deliberately) eating ad libitum and so got big and strong and fat.  Just did my first powerlifting meet and totalled 467.5kg in the 125kg weight class.

 

Midterm goals:  Get to a 500+ total.  Lose some of this belly.  A bit more biking.

 

Methods: Moar Texas Method, I enjoy it - I'm doing a slightly reduced volume flavour to allow my 42yo carcass to cope with the load.  Leangains recomposition eating plan (carb cycling, IF) rather than a cut even though I'm well in cut territory, because strength is my primary objective.  TM is more of the same; Leangains is new to me.  

[andygates]

Today: Heavy Day.  Squat to 150 x3; bench doubles at 95 (ugh, snatchy spotter); deadlift 190 x3. 

 

That last squat rep was hilarious: my eyes looked like two sapphires in a raw steak.

 

In general: I'm adding bodybuilder-type accessory work after the main events on Volume Day and Light Day, but I want to keep Heavy Day pure beastmode. 

[andygates]

Volume! 137.5 squats, 55 ohp was awful (Y U NO PROGRESS), cleans and stuff.

[andygates]

...and light.  Nothing too exciting, lots of gap-plugging dumbbell stuff after.  The 20kg plate for hyperextensions is brutal with an umlaut.

 

Tweaked intake from Moderate to Slight, which basically pulls 400 cals away each day.  No effect on training: I'm still at 3600 carby cals on training days so any AM-fasty sadness is banished by a generous lunch.  

[andygates]

Sunday, iron church style: 155x3 squat, 192.5x3 deadlift, crappy press, some other stuff.

 

I have to say, my legs feel like absolute bloody PISTONS today.  Effortlessly powerful; this volume-light-heavy split is great for my squat.  

[andygates]

Volume day. Squats to 140 5x3, bench 82.5 3x5 before form broke, speed deadlifts 120 4x6, some bodybuilding stuff.

 

There are two stories: one is the "I didn't eat enough before this very long session and after the deadlifts was speaking in tongues" story, the other is those speed deadlifts.  

 

Brandon Lilly (= Zangief) says do some speed work and do some plenty of both styles of pull, so I thought 60% 1RM for sixes as fast as possible.  Holy crap.  It's awesome aggression focus, right in laser-tight RAR SMASH RAR SMASH RAR SMASH RAR SMASH KILLRARSMAAAAASH! It's also the most ridiculous lat pump I've ever had, to the point of giggling at my mandatory silly walk.

 

And then drop sets of dumbbell nonsense to finish, because getting noodle-arm'd by tiny dumbbells amuses me.

 

Recalculating noms to sedentary, but I'll have to eat plenty before training on training days.

[andygates]

And that's heavy day, 160x3, some wider-grip bench experiments to 95x2, a 200 deadlift single.

 

So, decision time.  Heavy day in particular is kicking my ass in the wrong way - it's just too much to have awesome pulls after awesome squats reliably. Also I want to do speed work and light day isn't really geared for it.  There's some rotation needed here, so I bought a copy of Brandon Lilly's Cube method (it's a matrix, really; a magic square even) which basically rotates volume, speed and heavy days for the big three each week, with tons of variations.  

 

Reading it is a bit like unracking a near-max barbell.  A bit of "holy shit, this is going to kick my ass" dread, but it's good dread, because I think I got this.  Rollercoaster guts. Rollercoaster grin, too.  And the guy looks like Zangief, for nerd cred.

 

(For reference I've done nine weeks of Texas Method, padded around a meet and a virtual meet.  Squat PRs and deadlift PRs though nothing much out of my upper body, though that's probably my fault for accessorizing badly.  It's been good and I may well go back to it - lots of fun)

[andygates]

Cube GET. Zangief uses INSANE VOLUME. It's super effective! 

 

The mandatory Beautiful Spreadsheet has come together and there's some interesting stuff in it.  Submaximal weight, supermaximal intensity or volume.    I'm going to take the rest of this week off to line my calendar up sensibly and stare in horror at fifty-rep squat finishers.

[andygates]

Oh gods. Bury me shallow. Cube heavy deadlift day.

 

Block deadlifts: take the squat part out, make it all back.  Okay, I can handle that.

 

Snatch-grip deadlifts: oh, come ON, that's not even funny.  *dies*

 

Also some heavy db rows and then my grip asplode.

[andygates]

Explosive bench day, so everything is light and punchy and the rests are short.  It's not a rep unless the plates clank as you lock out.  8x3 at 60kg, then a ton of dumbbell work.  Some bugger put a ridiculous pre-exhaust (pressdown x100) in so all the dumbbell work got lighter and lighter until I think I had to empty a beer bottle because it was too heavy.  

[andygates]

Oops, spring cleaning woke the fluff demon and I got a lurgy.

 

Back in the game: it's speed deadlifts day.

 

Kill me. Or feed me. 

 

Regular deadlifts 120kg 8 fast triples; snatch-grip deadlift off blocks, 3x12; hypers and shrugs and pulldowns and ting.  Everything bam-bam-bam fast and short rests, so I was the only one in the place pouring with sweat and leaving trails like movie gunshot blood trails.  

 

"There's just one thing bothering me..."

 

I'm probably going to repeat this cube (this three-week microcycle) after I'm done, as there are so many novel exercises and I'm still learning them!

[andygates]

Ugh. Reps bench, which seems to include more incline bench than ever (really, I've never done those before!) and infinite 12+ rep pump fests.  

[andygates]

Heavy squats, which came to 132.5kg doubles, then good mornings and leg press and a bunch of other shenanigans ending in a megaset of hammie curls.  I couldn't get my legs up the stairs.  

[andygates]

Body day gets missed because dammit, I need to be strict on getting enough sleep or I turn to cabbage.

[chairohkey]

I just stumbled on your new battle log. Its awesome you're giving the Cube a go. I'm interested to see how it works out for you.

[andygates]

This first three week cycle I'm going to repeat simply because it's got so many new exercises (to me) that this was a learning phase. Also I've kinda been skipping body day, and for work-reasons I've had lousy sleep hygeine, so I hope to tidy those up too.

 

On which note, deadlift reps day: deficit pulls 1" 137.5kg x8; 4" block pulls 160kg 2x8, light squats, heavy hypers and some abs.

 

That's the first time I've done deficit pulls and it's absurd how much a 1" difference feels!  Lots of last-three-reps-growly-grinding.

[andygates]

And new fun! Floor press, which is like bench press laying on the floor.  Sounded awkward until I heard it described as DEADLIFT FOR CHEST at which point it was awesome.

 

(the idea is that it takes the stretch reflex out entirely with a dead stop, so you have to drive, which develops that mid-ROM drive where many people (including myself) stick.)

 

Then some regular bench and then the usual Cube bodybuilding-style folderol.  

[andygates]

Speed squats on the 20th, ending the first three-week bijoucycle.  A very strict introduction to keeping your glutes tight into and out of the hole, lest ye dive-bomb.  

 

I seem very good at skipping "bodybuilding day".  Hmm.

 

Into the second three-week cycle-ette:  Heavy deadlift day today.  170kg rack pull triples; 120kg snatch-grip 8's (finally finding the form on these, now I can get weight); a couple of heavy singles because my soul needs it (180 and 200 like it ain't no thing) -- tempting to try for more but the mantra here is NO MISSED LIFTS so I'll leave it there.  Heavy db rows and some fluff.

[andygates]

I'm offsetting this hangover missed-day against the epic headbanging night that caused it.  

 

Cardio, see?

[andygates]

Bench, speed day, so mostly floor and incline presses before that bloody hundred-rep noodlizer.  Then tiny-dumbbell flailing.

[andygates]

Yesterday was reps squats - to 132x6 and down again.  Made a mistake and dive-bombed my good mornings, tweaked my back (just a strained erector, no biggie) and had to change the rest to leg press and unweighted lunges.  Bah!

 

Remember kids, dive-bombing is bad, hm'kay?  

 

Now where's that bloody ibuprofen?

[andygates]

Body day, which is gaps and weaknesses, which is arms.    Lots of dumbbell fun with the stuff I have at home as the gym is closed.  

[andygates]

Restarted C25K just now.*  Floody bucking nastursiums, that cardio, eh?

 

Too much deviation in the direction of "mighty glacier".  A half-hour shamble on rest days will not compromise teh gainz, might even feel nice.  

 

 

 

* Newbie start-running intervals, http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

[andygates]

Deadlift day! Speed day! Oh lordy.  All reps punched out as fast as form allows, with rest less-than-I'd-like (around 2 mins instead of many).  I fell into a bucket of chicken after this.  

 

130kg deadlift doubles x6; 107kg snatch-grip deadlift from 4" blocks, 3x12; light squats, shrugs, back and lat stuff.

 

At last I'm grokking snatch-grip deadlift.

[andygates]

Feh, bench was on top of a stressy work day and too much coffee so I rage quit and had to redo it yesterday.  Reps, which is a lot of not-bench things - incline bench and db, close-grip bench, etc.