My Training Now

I'm not sure if any of you have been following my training log, but I'd like to talk about what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and what my present goal is.

This might interest you, or it could bore you to tears.

The Goal

My goal right now is to bench press 405.  My all-time best is 385, but that was a year ago, before hip surgery.  I have not made this goal with a deadline, because I'm horrible at being realistic with my strength goal-setting when it comes to hitting actual numbers.  I usually end up pushing too hard, too fast, and either burning out or getting pissed at myself for not being where I think I need to be.

So, I'm taking this one slow.  If my progress continues unimpeded, which is unlikely, I should hit this goal in November.  That being said, I'm aware that I will probably have to reset at some point, so I'm not putting a strict timetable on it.  If I can stick to this approach, I know I'll get there.


The Plan

To accomplish this goal, my training template is as follows:

Monday - Heavy bench or military press

A) Plank for 2 hard sets
B) Heavy pressing movement, working up to a progressively heavier last set (more on that later)
C) Supplemental pressing movement, working up to 1-2 top sets in the 6-12 rep range
D) Lighter chest movement, 1-2 sets of 10-15 reps
E) Lighter tricep movement, 1-2 sets of 10-15 reps
F) Stretch all upper body muscles


Tuesday - Back and Biceps I

A) GHR situp for 2 hard sets in the 10-15 rep range
B) Heavy rowing movement, working up to 1-2 top sets in the 6-12 rep range
C) Chins for reps, 1-2 sets to failure with bodyweight
D) Heavy movement for trapezius, 1 set in the 10-25 rep range
E) Standing curling movement, 1-2 top sets in the 6-12 range
F) Hammer curls, 1 set of 6-12 reps
G) Stretch all upper body muscles


Thursday - "Speed bench"

A) DB Side Bends, 2 sets in the 10-15 range
B) Unilateral calf raise, 1 set with bodyweight of max reps
C) "Speed bench", 5 sets of 3 with a light weight, focusing on bar speed and technique
D) Close Grip Bench - 2 sets of 6 with a moderately challenging weight
E) Lateral Raise - 1 top set of 10-12
F) Upper back/rear delt movement, 1 top set of 8-12
G) Stretch all upper body muscles


Friday - Back and Biceps II

A) GHR Situp, 2 sets of 10-15 reps
B) Weighted Chins, work up to 1 top set of 4-6 reps
C) One Arm DB Row, work up to 1 set of max reps with the 145# bell (biggest one in the gym)
D1) Face Pull, 2 sets of 12-15 superset with
D2) Band Pull Apart, 2 sets of 10-15
E) Reclined Curling Movement, 1-2 sets of 8-12 reps
F) Reverse Curl, 1 top set with 8-12 reps
G) Stretch all upper body muscles

Saturday - The "Don't turn into a fat pig" Day

Condition with either the Prowler or KBs, depending on how my ankle feels.

Diet - The only thing I'm changing from my maintenance intake is adding a double chicken Chipotle burrito after every training session (except Saturday), which is a little over 1000 calories.  That's an extra 4000 calories a week, or an average of ~700 a day.  That's enough to see quality strength and mass gains without too much fat gain.


The Details

• Monday's heavy pressing movement is rotated between bench press and military press.  I have found in the past that benching heavy every week tends to wreck my shoulders and give me pain in my left pec minor, which usually takes a month or more to go away  To get around this I'm only benching heavy every other week, with military press done in the other week.  So far it's working very well and I'm pain-free.

• The heavy pressing movement is done with only one "top" set.  This set goes up by 10 lbs every week.  When I started this about 5 weeks ago, I started with weights that were fairly easy to handle.  I did 305x3 for bench and 185x5 for military.  As the weights get heavier and heavier each week, I will drop to doubles, and then eventually singles for the bench press.  If I miss a rep or feel like I'm at my limit for military, I will just reset the weight back 20 lbs and start over, because I don't want to go below 5 reps on my overhead pressing with this program.  Bench press is the primary focus now.

• Fun fact:  The technical term for adding weight to your lifts in this manner is "linear periodization."

• I am performing an abdominal movement at the beginning of every session because my core was weakened considerably over the 6 months I was on crutches.  When I am able to resume squatting and deadlifting, I would like it to be as strong as possible.  I do it at the beginning of the session because it doesn't take away from my upper body work, and I want to be sure I don't skip it, which is the tendency when I leave it til the end when I'm wiped out from all the other stuff.

• I'm not devoting a day to legs because my doctor wants me to stay away from heavy lower body work until 12 months post-op.  I could have a day where I do light leg work, but I'm confident that my lower body strength will return quickly once I'm able to resume heavy squat and deadlift training, so I'm not doing that.  The conditioning day hits my legs well enough for now.

• I'm performing a set of calf raises to help stretch and strengthen my right ankle, which is still a little gimpy.  It is missing a bone though, so I can't be too upset about it.

• I don't do a lot of "top" sets because one or two is enough for me at this point.  I've been seeing good strength gains this way, so why do more just for the sake of it?

• I have a "speed bench" day because I'm not benching heavy every week, and even when I am I'm not doing many sets or reps.  This allows me to drill my technique on the weeks that I'm not benching, and get some extra practice on the weeks that I do.  Strength on a particular lift is as much dependent on skill as it is on the strength of the muscles involved.  I've always seen my best gains on the bench when I have done a lot of technique practice with lighter weights.

• Conditioning is not a priority for me during this time.  One day a week is enough to maintain it at a decent level and keep me from getting fat while not compromising strength gains.  It is also helping to strengthen my legs (especially the Prowler).

• I perform an extensive warmup before each session consisting of foam rolling, YTWLs, shoulder traction with a 50# DB, swiss ball pushups, and lying KB arm bars.  I also roll my pecs with a lacrosse ball before and after pressing days, and sometimes also on back days.  The purpose of the warmup is to prepare my body for the heavy work to come, and this accomplishes that in under 10 minutes.  I don't skip it for any reason.

• I stretch after every session because it keeps my joints healthy by not letting the muscles around them get too tight.  In the past, I would get wicked elbow tendinitis after a few weeks of heavy training, but stretching the muscles around the elbow (biceps, triceps, even forearms) has helped a lot.  Staying healthy is as important to getting stronger as working hard and eating right are, so I've made stretching a priority.

• I will take the occasional training session or two off if I feel that my body is getting too worn out.  I just did this last week and it worked wonders.  I may even take a whole week off if I really need to.  Only time will tell.

So that, in a rather large, rambling nutshell, is what I'm doing when I go to the gym these days.  I'll be sure to keep my log updated so you can follow my progress if you want, and I'll put up a video of me hitting 405 when it happens.

Thanks for reading.