Squats Cure Cancer (The Saga of big val)

[big valsalva]

Originally Posted by storm1507

Is this your 4th cycle of 5/3/1 straigth?

What accessory routines have you tried? Do you have a fav. yet?

Nice work on the overhead...my weakest link. I have to get them done today before going out of town for the weekend.

Yes, correct. This is my fourth straight 531 Cycle. Back in Spring and early Summer, 2010, I all but completed four cycles before I was diagnosed with oral cancer. The surgery, recovery, and self pity caused me to set lifting aside for a while.

Accessory routines. I initially picked from whatever Wendler suggested. At the outset (2010), I was concentrating on his suggested bodybuilding accessory lifts. Once upon a time I was doing a doggcrapp style routine. I used to (and may again in the future) incorporate dc style training in my accessory lifts. In case you're not familiar, doggcrapp training involves taking an exercise (let's say leg presses) to failure. Rest 10 seconds or so, and go to failre again. Repeat until you can't complete one good form rep. Certain exercises it works for. DO NOT ATTEMPT WITH SQUATS OR DEADLIFTS!!!!

It didn't take me long to figure out things for myself though. I am a firm believer in efficiency, and if I can acomplish just as much with less work, then fine. So, I've handpicked favorite exercises to incorporate into my routine. My goal is to bust my bum on the core lifts, and IF I have anything left in the tank, then I can add those lifts in. Usually it works out just fine. Sometimes I just do my main lift and go home. I'm fine with that, as long as the effort was put in on the one lift and the goal (increasing my projected 1RM) was acheived.

One thing I've found to work for me though is the BBB format on my bench press. It allows for some dynamic effort work every week, which is where my weak point is. I've got to work on exploding off the chest. So I do that. Treat every rep like a single. Slight pause - BLAST! I am careful to keep track of my projected 1RM after each and every workout so that I can see if I've progressed, and so I know what I need to do to keep progressing. It hasn't let me down yet. As I said, I like the BBB template for my BP. I can't imagine doing it with deads and squats. You seem to be making it work. More power to you. That's the beauty of the 531. No two people are alike. No two training logs are alike. Work hard on the core four, and have fun with the rest.

I will say that I've had so much success with BBB on bench press that I'm thinking about adding it to OHP as well.

Hope this helps.

Have a good time this weekend. Doing anything fun?

[storm1507]

Originally Posted by big valsalva

Yes, correct. This is my fourth straight 531 Cycle. Back in Spring and early Summer, 2010, I all but completed four cycles before I was diagnosed with oral cancer. The surgery, recovery, and self pity caused me to set lifting aside for a while.

Accessory routines. I initially picked from whatever Wendler suggested. At the outset (2010), I was concentrating on his suggested bodybuilding accessory lifts. Once upon a time I was doing a doggcrapp style routine. I used to (and may again in the future) incorporate dc style training in my accessory lifts. In case you're not familiar, doggcrapp training involves taking an exercise (let's say leg presses) to failure. Rest 10 seconds or so, and go to failre again. Repeat until you can't complete one good form rep. Certain exercises it works for. DO NOT ATTEMPT WITH SQUATS OR DEADLIFTS!!!!

It didn't take me long to figure out things for myself though. I am a firm believer in efficiency, and if I can acomplish just as much with less work, then fine. So, I've handpicked favorite exercises to incorporate into my routine. My goal is to bust my bum on the core lifts, and IF I have anything left in the tank, then I can add those lifts in. Usually it works out just fine. Sometimes I just do my main lift and go home. I'm fine with that, as long as the effort was put in on the one lift and the goal (increasing my projected 1RM) was acheived.

One thing I've found to work for me though is the BBB format on my bench press. It allows for some dynamic effort work every week, which is where my weak point is. I've got to work on exploding off the chest. So I do that. Treat every rep like a single. Slight pause - BLAST! I am careful to keep track of my projected 1RM after each and every workout so that I can see if I've progressed, and so I know what I need to do to keep progressing. It hasn't let me down yet. As I said, I like the BBB template for my BP. I can't imagine doing it with deads and squats. You seem to be making it work. More power to you. That's the beauty of the 531. No two people are alike. No two training logs are alike. Work hard on the core four, and have fun with the rest.

I will say that I've had so much success with BBB on bench press that I'm thinking about adding it to OHP as well.

Hope this helps.

Have a good time this weekend. Doing anything fun?

Thanks. We have more in common.

As for BBB on squats/deads....keep in my this is only my 1st cycle. It may get too much for me pretty quick. I hope not I like it. I will switch my accessory lifts next time mainly to emphasize the newer equipment at the gym. Since I got to basically pick what I wanted I better show everyone the benefits of GHR's for example.


Wife and I are deer hunting this weekend hoping to add venison to the freezer.

[big valsalva]

Originally Posted by storm1507

Thanks. We have more in common.

As for BBB on squats/deads....keep in my this is only my 1st cycle. It may get too much for me pretty quick. I hope not I like it. I will switch my accessory lifts next time mainly to emphasize the newer equipment at the gym. Since I got to basically pick what I wanted I better show everyone the benefits of GHR's for example.


Wife and I are deer hunting this weekend hoping to add venison to the freezer.

Good. Work with the equipment you have. I'm rather limited. I would die to have a GHR station. I used to have a reverse hyper station. I wondered forever what that thing was that people kept setting their coats, towels, and notebooks on. Then I finally figured out what it was. I started using it. Two months later, they removed it. I try to make it a habit of running accessory work for at least two cycles. That way it gives me a chance to master a new lift, or at least make some measurable progress on something. So I would advise to keep things simple. Keep things consistant. Nothing wrong with testing out a different lift or piece of equipment. That's part of what I use deload weeks for, I like to experiment. I don't necessarily put a new lift into my next cycle, but I tuck it away and chew on things for future reference.

Originally Posted by Mr.Silverback

Mr. Silverback, I thank you very much. OHP is a very bad lift for me, but I motivate myself to do it, because it will almost certainly transfer over to helping my BP. I'm embarassed by my numbers, but not ashamed. Someday I can feel proud.

Originally Posted by Rich Knapp

Val.

Can you feel the love with all the helpfull tips? lol
lol I think the dig a hole would work providing its summer and your not on bed rock.

Yeah, Rich. Its easy for people to say, "Well, just dig a hole in your back yard." That's why they make squat racks with adjustable safety bars I guess. Here I always thought those things were just for curling.

[big valsalva]

Pray for big val

Thursday, 10/13/11

Well, yesterday was to be the day I tweaked the program a bit and started working in some singles. I had been experiencing some tightness in my right lat during the day, but by evening things had loosened up a bit.

Workout 4.4.2
Squat
45x5
140x5
170x5
200x3
230x3
255x2 - and then it happened. I muxed up my lower back on the second rep. I stood there holding the bar and thought about the third rep for the longest time, but by the time I decided to try it, the bar was slipping, so I racked it.

END OF SESSION

I recall the last time I squatted (about 10 days ago) my hips were tight. That happened to be my deload squat workout. I didn't think much of it at the time, and sort of wrote the whole thing off as "just a deload workout." I didn't stretch out good after that one either. Stupid. Stupid. STOOPID! I hadn't counted on sitting on my butt looking for work on the computer for several hours every day either. So I don't know what to do now. Wendler, Rippetoe, and others all address what to do if you have one bad workout. What they DON'T talk about is what to do if you mess with the program and hurt yourself. So I don't know what to do. Pray for big val.

I missed out on getting to the chiropractor today. Good luck trying to explain this one away. "Well, I hurt myself by squatting. Deep. With more than my bodyweight on the bar." I'll stretch out tonight, and probably hit the hot tub at the Y tomorrow and Sunday. Maybe that will loosen things up enough so that I can get some good stretch sessions. Going forward, I'll probably rehab it for the rest of the cycle and pick it up again next cycle. What about box squats? Might it be a good idea to work on them for a while, or is that asking for more trouble?

Well, we'll see if I can pull things together enough to bench on Sunday. Maybe by Tuesday I'll be good enough to deadlift.

[big valsalva]

Holding Pattern

Tuesday, 10/18/11

OK, my back is still a bit iffy. I went to the chiro yesterday. He worked me over for quite a while. He even performed some manipulations I had never experienced before, and I've been seeing him for 14 years. If things aren't dramatically better by tomorrow, we're going to introduce some enzymes to the biotch and see if that helps matters.

Bottom line: Cycle 4 is currently on hold. Once I fel comfortable, I'm going to go in and do some empty bar rehab squats and slowly add weight for a couple of weeks. Probably going to entail a complete retest and reset of the program. We'll see.

[BendtheBar]

I'll probably rehab it for the rest of the cycle and pick it up again next cycle. What about box squats? Might it be a good idea to work on them for a while, or is that asking for more trouble?

They are worth a shot.Do you have a bench or something that allows you to do them a bit higher than parallel to test the waters?

[big valsalva]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

They are worth a shot.Do you have a bench or something that allows you to do them a bit higher than parallel to test the waters?

Thinking of doing a couple of cycles of box squats after the Rippetoe/Starr Rehab Protocol. Any thoughts? Otherwise, yes there are some progressive stools, benches, boxes at the gym. Maybe Thursday. Maybe Friday.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by big valsalva

Thinking of doing a couple of cycles of box squats after the Rippetoe/Starr Rehab Protocol. Any thoughts? Otherwise, yes there are some progressive stools, benches, boxes at the gym. Maybe Thursday. Maybe Friday.

I am all about personal experience. I think you should give it a run. Just watch your form. I have a tendency to change my squat form when overdoing box squats.

[big valsalva]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

I am all about personal experience. I think you should give it a run. Just watch your form. I have a tendency to change my squat form when overdoing box squats.

Maybe we'll give 'er a go, then. I remember a few years back when I was plateauing on squats, I took some time (four weeks to be exact) and worked boxes. When I resumed conventional squats, my 1RM blew up by 20 pounds. Once the back clears up, I'll try it out. I have another chiro appt. at 9:00 this morning.

[storm1507]

Sorry to hear about the back. Good luck w/ the rehab.