You cut yourself off at the calves, you big poontang. They look good for the first 1/2. You need more nuclear arms.
Discuss your arm workout.
So last year I was only hitting them once a week. My workout was:Desertbreh wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:29 pm
You cut yourself off at the calves, you big poontang. They look good for the first 1/2. You need more nuclear arms.
Discuss your arm workout.
I hit arms 2X week and then I started 531. I have a good deadlift but my arms suck. Workin on those for 2019. Tx. for the ideas.SAWCE wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:05 amSo last year I was only hitting them once a week. My workout was:Desertbreh wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 11:29 pm
You cut yourself off at the calves, you big poontang. They look good for the first 1/2. You need more nuclear arms.
Discuss your arm workout.
Barbell curl: 4x 12
Dumbbell curl: 3x 12
Hammer curl: 3x 12
Close grip bench: 4x 10
Skull crushers: 3x 12
Drawing a blank on the last exercise, but it was 3x 12 as well.
Now I’m hitting arms twice a week.
After my chest day I’m hitting 6x 12 on rope triceps extensions.
After back day I’m hitting 6x 12 on hammer curls.
Arm day is now:
Hammer curl 4x 12
Preacher curl 4x 12
Bb curl superset with reverse grip curl 4x 12
Skull crushers: 4x 12
Straight bar extensions: 4x 12
Rope extensions superset with kickbacks 4x 12
So a lot more volume this year than last, hopefully it’s what they need. We’re taking a similar approach to legs since they need more size too to balance out my physique.
No problem man. Let me know how it goes for you.Desertbreh wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:09 amI hit arms 2X week and then I started 531. I have a good deadlift but my arms suck. Workin on those for 2019. Tx. for the ideas.SAWCE wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:05 am
So last year I was only hitting them once a week. My workout was:
Barbell curl: 4x 12
Dumbbell curl: 3x 12
Hammer curl: 3x 12
Close grip bench: 4x 10
Skull crushers: 3x 12
Drawing a blank on the last exercise, but it was 3x 12 as well.
Now I’m hitting arms twice a week.
After my chest day I’m hitting 6x 12 on rope triceps extensions.
After back day I’m hitting 6x 12 on hammer curls.
Arm day is now:
Hammer curl 4x 12
Preacher curl 4x 12
Bb curl superset with reverse grip curl 4x 12
Skull crushers: 4x 12
Straight bar extensions: 4x 12
Rope extensions superset with kickbacks 4x 12
So a lot more volume this year than last, hopefully it’s what they need. We’re taking a similar approach to legs since they need more size too to balance out my physique.
Def need more sleep. Protein intake has been solid though. I think the main factor is that I'm focusing on hitting more isometric work to get rid of imbalances and bring attention to injury prevention so I hit my glutes and quads harder than they're used to with the "balanced" workload.
Recovery as a whole, I'd say - sleep, calories, etc. I'd be willing to bet that you're nowhere near maxing our your novice gains. It's simply tough to continue to increase strength while on a deficit, especially a large one.Big Brain Bradley wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:51 am dang, another meh day here
So I hit 320 on squats last week, a PR. This workout...lets go for 325. I had to crawl out from under the bar ON WARM UPS @305. Did worksets with much struggle at 275, abet with shorter rest periods and really focusing on good, slow form.
Press at 115? my body thinks this is funny. (after a PR of 125 a couple weeks back)
Deadlifts at 275 since I was clearly having a weak af day.
:sauce: 2 questions:
1. you think this sudden weakness might be from diet? We doing 'mostly' whole 30 this month. I say mostly because we have had a few trip ups with drinks over the weekend, a pizza, and a mcdoe trip. (food was on the same day, traveling on W30 diet is hard)
or
2. Not doing a 'light day' and i really have hit the end of my novice linear progression?
I really don't get the science of the light day so not sure if it's that or simply eating less calories. I tend to think its probably calorie related personally, BUT that seems like an awful sudden drop in effective strength...
If your calories dropped drastically doing whole 30 from what you'd normally eat, that could definitely be a part of it. I think it's more likely option 2 though. You've been on the starting strength plan for a while, and that first round where all you do is bench, squat, military, and deadlift is meant to only be run for a month before you make some changes and run phase 2 for a while.Big Brain Bradley wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:51 am dang, another meh day here
So I hit 320 on squats last week, a PR. This workout...lets go for 325. I had to crawl out from under the bar ON WARM UPS @305. Did worksets with much struggle at 275, abet with shorter rest periods and really focusing on good, slow form.
Press at 115? my body thinks this is funny. (after a PR of 125 a couple weeks back)
Deadlifts at 275 since I was clearly having a weak af day.
:sauce: 2 questions:
1. you think this sudden weakness might be from diet? We doing 'mostly' whole 30 this month. I say mostly because we have had a few trip ups with drinks over the weekend, a pizza, and a mcdoe trip. (food was on the same day, traveling on W30 diet is hard)
or
2. Not doing a 'light day' and i really have hit the end of my novice linear progression?
I really don't get the science of the light day so not sure if it's that or simply eating less calories. I tend to think its probably calorie related personally, BUT that seems like an awful sudden drop in effective strength...
Yeah I've been doing more direct glute work on my hamstring day (hip thrusts, and glute kickback), and they get way more sore, but it's also already carrying over to my squat which is awesome to see.Jaxper wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:58 amDef need more sleep. Protein intake has been solid though. I think the main factor is that I'm focusing on hitting more isometric work to get rid of imbalances and bring attention to injury prevention so I hit my glutes and quads harder than they're used to with the "balanced" workload.
SAWCE wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:07 pm
If your calories dropped drastically doing whole 30 from what you'd normally eat, that could definitely be a part of it. I think it's more likely option 2 though. You've been on the starting strength plan for a while, and that first round where all you do is bench, squat, military, and deadlift is meant to only be run for a month before you make some changes and run phase 2 for a while. I would say they dropped, but not drastically. i did move to phase 2 with some of the assistance work back around september.
I'd also want to see your recovery. How much sleep are you getting? How much brotein are you eating? Have you done bloodwork recently to see if there are vitamin deficiencies? Specifically vitamins K and D. Overall stress levels? Work sounds like it's been stressful lately with thoughts of layoffs being possible.. that will absoluetly impact your ability to recover if you have constantly elevated cortisol levels. Sleep is 6.5 to 7.5 a night on the regular. Probably not as much protein on W30 as before. Blood work for vitamins looked good at last dr apt. Stress? with a small kid and work issues? Yea, its there. I TRY not to obsess.
Take care of the basics first with bloodwork to check your general health and for possible deficiencies, and check your sleep habits. 6 hours minimum, 7 is good, 8 is ideal, but I know how rare those nights are when you're as busy as us. I'm lucky to get 7 hours most nights. Track your brotein intake, grab a whey or casein powder to supplement with if you aren't able to eat your bodyweight in lbs as grams of protein. Got it, but not supposed to eat the milk products on W30....
After those things I'd look at changing your program. EIther move to phase 2 of starting strength (actually you've talked about pull ups.. so you may be doing this already?) or switch programs and run 531, the cube method, or some other powerlifting program if brootal strength is still your goal. If you're ready to start going for size over strength, find a good bodybuilding bro split that is sustainable for you. I like Layne Norton's PHAT program for a combination of size and strenght, but you have to be able to dedicate 5 days a week to it. I guess you could do 5 days over 10 or something like that and not use a traditional week as your timeframe, but the frequency of hitting everything twice a week is part of what makes it work. Maybe you could do 5/8 days or something like that.
I've barely been getting 2 days a week in lately it seems. But as I said earlier, I really need to focus on losing some mass around the belly. I was/am making an effort to eat less, do some cardio, and I knew this would result in less strength. I just didn't expect it to be so sudden.
So sleep is good, vitamins/minerals should be good. Managing stress as able.. that all looks good. Protein is what I'd be worried about now, and as Jax mentioned, if you're in a deep enough of a caloric deficit to start moving the mass off your belly, your lifts will suffer unfortunately. Still lift as heavy as you can, like how you failed at 305 and then went down to a tough 275. That's perfect. That will encourage your body to hold onto the muscle mass even if the strength is lost a bit.Big Brain Bradley wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:25 pm I'll do responses in blue
SAWCE wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:07 pm
If your calories dropped drastically doing whole 30 from what you'd normally eat, that could definitely be a part of it. I think it's more likely option 2 though. You've been on the starting strength plan for a while, and that first round where all you do is bench, squat, military, and deadlift is meant to only be run for a month before you make some changes and run phase 2 for a while. I would say they dropped, but not drastically. i did move to phase 2 with some of the assistance work back around september.
I'd also want to see your recovery. How much sleep are you getting? How much brotein are you eating? Have you done bloodwork recently to see if there are vitamin deficiencies? Specifically vitamins K and D. Overall stress levels? Work sounds like it's been stressful lately with thoughts of layoffs being possible.. that will absoluetly impact your ability to recover if you have constantly elevated cortisol levels. Sleep is 6.5 to 7.5 a night on the regular. Probably not as much protein on W30 as before. Blood work for vitamins looked good at last dr apt. Stress? with a small kid and work issues? Yea, its there. I TRY not to obsess.
Take care of the basics first with bloodwork to check your general health and for possible deficiencies, and check your sleep habits. 6 hours minimum, 7 is good, 8 is ideal, but I know how rare those nights are when you're as busy as us. I'm lucky to get 7 hours most nights. Track your brotein intake, grab a whey or casein powder to supplement with if you aren't able to eat your bodyweight in lbs as grams of protein. Got it, but not supposed to eat the milk products on W30....
After those things I'd look at changing your program. EIther move to phase 2 of starting strength (actually you've talked about pull ups.. so you may be doing this already?) or switch programs and run 531, the cube method, or some other powerlifting program if brootal strength is still your goal. If you're ready to start going for size over strength, find a good bodybuilding bro split that is sustainable for you. I like Layne Norton's PHAT program for a combination of size and strenght, but you have to be able to dedicate 5 days a week to it. I guess you could do 5 days over 10 or something like that and not use a traditional week as your timeframe, but the frequency of hitting everything twice a week is part of what makes it work. Maybe you could do 5/8 days or something like that.
I've barely been getting 2 days a week in lately it seems. But as I said earlier, I really need to focus on losing some mass around the belly. I was/am making an effort to eat less, do some cardio, and I knew this would result in less strength. I just didn't expect it to be so sudden.
In addition: since strenght is not my ultimate goal right this second, maybe i should just do my heavy lifts once a week, do some cardio after, then the other days just focus on straight cardio and some barbell complexes.
Nice, thanks for the input. Will implement.SAWCE wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:45 pmSo sleep is good, vitamins/minerals should be good. Managing stress as able.. that all looks good. Protein is what I'd be worried about now, and as Jax mentioned, if you're in a deep enough of a caloric deficit to start moving the mass off your belly, your lifts will suffer unfortunately. Still lift as heavy as you can, like how you failed at 305 and then went down to a tough 275. That's perfect. That will encourage your body to hold onto the muscle mass even if the strength is lost a bit.Big Brain Bradley wrote: ↑Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:25 pm I'll do responses in blue
In addition: since strenght is not my ultimate goal right this second, maybe i should just do my heavy lifts once a week, do some cardio after, then the other days just focus on straight cardio and some barbell complexes.
I like your idea of having one heavy day. Hit the big 3, plus military if you want to and you don't feel that your lower back is going to be compromised hitting squats, deadlifts, and military on the same day. Then try to get 2-3 days of complexes in, and try to get even just 15 minutes of cardio every day to start. Throw the on your shoulders and walk around the block or some shit. Just get moving, then slowly increase that amount of time. If you can manage to get up and do your cardio before the rest of your day starts, that helps. Pull on your shoes and take a walk before you eat anything. If you do this, go to your local CVS/Walgreens and ask the pharmacist for a box of Bronkaid. It has ephedrine in it and that'll help speed up the fasted fat loss.
Bro, that's a full blown workout. I guarantee your heartrate was above a fat burning zone. Keep your cardio basic, and don't worry about what your fitbit says you burned.Big Brain Bradley wrote: ↑Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:14 pm ugh, cardio this morning was brutal..... row...pull ups, barbell complexes....pushups....45 minutes 650 calories...
Yea, I wear it more to keep an on my HR so when I'm really gassed I can take a few breaths and not let it drop out that zone. the calorie count is somewhat suspect. It is at least a legit strap, a polar h2.SAWCE wrote: ↑Thu Jan 17, 2019 3:12 pmBro, that's a full blown workout. I guarantee your heartrate was above a fat burning zone. Keep your cardio basic, and don't worry about what your fitbit says you burned.Big Brain Bradley wrote: ↑Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:14 pm ugh, cardio this morning was brutal..... row...pull ups, barbell complexes....pushups....45 minutes 650 calories...
Just be mindful of that high HR when you're feeling gassed. If it's that high you're likely catabolizing muscle mass for that energy and not burning fat. Scale your cardio back. 120-140bpm. Find something you can do that gets you there and that you can sustain for 20 minutes. Do that until you stop losing weight. Then increase the duration a bit to 30 minutes and pull a few more calories out of your diet. Rinse and repeat.Big Brain Bradley wrote: ↑Thu Jan 17, 2019 3:17 pmYea, I wear it more to keep an on my HR so when I'm really gassed I can take a few breaths and not let it drop out that zone. the calorie count is somewhat suspect. It is at least a legit strap, a polar h2.
thanks for the tipSAWCE wrote: ↑Thu Jan 17, 2019 6:18 pmJust be mindful of that high HR when you're feeling gassed. If it's that high you're likely catabolizing muscle mass for that energy and not burning fat. Scale your cardio back. 120-140bpm. Find something you can do that gets you there and that you can sustain for 20 minutes. Do that until you stop losing weight. Then increase the duration a bit to 30 minutes and pull a few more calories out of your diet. Rinse and repeat.Big Brain Bradley wrote: ↑Thu Jan 17, 2019 3:17 pm
Yea, I wear it more to keep an on my HR so when I'm really gassed I can take a few breaths and not let it drop out that zone. the calorie count is somewhat suspect. It is at least a legit strap, a polar h2.
HIIT/Circuit training for fatloss is a nice idea, but it typically doesn't work out that way.
What does this do for you over the full dead? Strong AF, doe.SAWCE wrote: ↑Mon Jan 21, 2019 10:42 pm Tapa no worky. Uploaded to my Flickr
https://flic.kr/p/23K6hqR