Jwood's New Log

[jwood]

Jun 9, 2009, 6:10pm »

I started my new routine yesterday and I am loving it so far. It is basically a 2 on 1 off 2 on 2 off routine. I am still going to be doing sandbag training and other stuff on the days off but here it is.

Monday: Chest/Shoulders/Tris
Tuesday:Legs (Squat), upper back work
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: chest/Shoulders/tris (more focus on shoulders)
Friday: Legs (deadlift) Upper Back

There will be a decent amount of variety from week to week so I only posted the skelaton of the workout.

[jwood]

Jun 9, 2009, 6:13pm »

Here is monday's workout:

Bench Press 5x5
185,205,225,245,275
(the strongest I have felt on bench for a while, perfect form on all reps)

Incline Bench Press 4x6
185, 205x5, 185, 185

Dumbell Shoulder Press
70 pound dumbells for 6,6,4
(My shoulders were feeling it from benching my body is adjusting to the volume)

Skull Crushers
95 x 6 reps x 3 sets

[jwood]

Jun 9, 2009, 6:16pm »

Here is today's lower body workout. I am going to stick to box squats for a while, they really killed my quads and I overestimated them today so weights are a little wierd

Box Squat 5x5
225,275,315x4,245,255

Powercleans
185x6
205x4 x 2 sets
215x 3 (supposed to be 2 reps but felt a little light)

Good Mornings
95 x6 x 3 sets (back and hamstrings were fried)

T-bar rows 5x5 with 160

Barbell Curls 95x8 reps x 3 sets

[BendtheBar]

Glad to hear you like it. I'm looking forward to seeing if your bench changes. Hit 'er hard bro.

And, yeah! Good Mornings!

[jwood]

Today was really rough on the good mornings, I have never really done them too much before. What is a good weight to work towards?? I was really feeling them today.

[BendtheBar]

I do them right after squats, and generally rep at about about 55% of my squat max. I think repping at 55-60% of squat max is a good goal to strive for. Many guys work up to 3 rep max on good mornings, but I've never tired that.

One of the reasons I do good mornings after squats is because they feel so much lighter. It's a CNS mind trick to put heavy weight on your back, and then drop down and rep out. The weight always feels lighter.

Jedi mind tricks!

BTW, if you ever want to totally destroy your hamstrings, try sumo deadlifts.

[jwood]

Yes I have tried sumo deadlifts before and I like them, I throw them in every once in a while. 60 percent seems like a lot right now but I am sure I will get there some day once I get used to doing them and perfect the form.

I really like the power cleans so I think I am going to keep them before good mornings, just because I feel like I need some explosive power.

Also I am thinking of doing thursday bench work as a 8x3 of speed benching. I have been reading a lot about it and I think building the explosive power will be helpful, Your opinion please????? Thanks

[BendtheBar]

For speed benches, explode up, but don't lower them quickly. Some guys will disagree with me, but I don't think there is any point in jerking the weight down. There are a lot of bad/sloppy speed bench videos on Youtube.

Explosive power/speed benches are a "must try". Don't be afraid to use a bit more then 55-60% of your max if the weight seems too light. I'm not talking a boat-load more...5-15 pounds more.

And stick with them for a couple months. They might seem like they are pointless initially, but they do work for most.

Really try to concentrate on bending the bar in so your shoulders don't get tweaked.

And down the road, get some chains. Hang those puppies over the ends of each aside of the bench and do some speed benches. The weight gets lighter at the bottom. It's a nice training variation.

For good mornings, where you doing them narrow or ultra-wide stance? There is no right or wrong way, but ultra wide allows me to go heavier. My good mornings are like a half good mofning, half squat.

[jwood]

I did good mornings today with a variety of stances today, but I felt the wider stance a lot more in my hamstrings. I am definitely going to do speed benches, are bands an option? They are kinda similar to chains, in the fact there is less weight in the bottom.

What do you mean bending the bar in??

[BendtheBar]

Bands are fine if you have them.

Bending the bar in is just a gripping technique. After racking, just pretend you are bending the ends of the bar towards one another across the horizontal plane. This tension generally moves the elbows into a better position, which saves the shoulders more.

I had a good Youtube video on this but lost it