BigJosh's Holid-A-y/B workout aka "I will grow a beard and smash weight"

[BigJosh]

Originally Posted by Squatter

This may sound like a too simple solution, but my spud belt has really helped me WRT my leaning forward issues. It really help me keep my chest up and core stable & solid, especially on my heavy working sets.

WRT your grip of steel on the rows. Maybe it was a mental issue

Thanks for the suggestion Squatter. I have a cheapy Valeo belt that I wear on my heavy sets. It is one of those cheap 3-4 inches in front, 6 inches in back belts. I bought it 4 years ago or so, when I really didn't know much about belts.
Having said all that, I don't know whether or not the belt is the issue, but there is no doubt that I need to invest in a proper weightlifting belt.

[BigJosh]

Originally Posted by LtL

Strong squatting. Any videos for a form check?

LtL

No. I would have to convince someone with a good camera phone to come to the gym and record me. It's not outside the realm of possibility, so I'll try to make that happen in the near future.

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Glad to help. Destroy it in 2012.

Thanks BtB. As of now I'm thinking of dropping the 3x3 for the singles method you described.
Initially I was leaning toward rotating DE work with the ME 3x3 every other workout, but I think your suggestion would probably be a more effective method based on where I'm at right now.

[BigJosh]

Deadlift
365x1x11x10 minutes

OHP
150x6,6,4

T-bar Row
150x8,8,8

DE Bench Press
105+2 mini bandsx3x8

DB Curls
45x8,8,6

Decline Bench Crunches
35x8,8,6

Captain of Crush #1 x5x3

Overall Workout Grade: A

Notes:
First workout of the New Year! I started with a new deadlift training protocol based on a suggestion from the man/myth/legend Steve Shaw. I pulled 85% of my calculated 1rm for as many singles as I could in 10 minutes. I banged out 11. It was much harder than I assumed. And the change in training was very fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses. I will bump the weight up when I can break the 12 rep mark as suggested by Steve.

I am feeling my OHP. I'm hitting my rep goal every 2 workouts, which is pretty solid progression by my standards. Looking forward to hitting a short term goal of 185x6.

T-bar Row felt strong. On my rows I usually wait a workout or 2 after hitting my rep goal to verify I am hitting it clean with out english. It seems to be working well for me.

DE bench was fun. Still learning on this. For the first time I noticed my rep speed kind of slowed down on the later sets. I will probably stay at the same weight next workout. It's funny how many looks of amazement and awe a few bands get when you bust them out in a commercial gym.

Still Working at closing the COC grippers for 5 clean reps. I can honestly say I feel like I'm getting stronger at it, even though my reps have yet to progress. Fun stuff those grippers are.

All in all, a great way to start the new year.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by BigJosh

First workout of the New Year! I started with a new deadlift training protocol based on a suggestion from the man/myth/legend Steve Shaw. I pulled 85% of my calculated 1rm for as many singles as I could in 10 minutes. I banged out 11. It was much harder than I assumed. And the change in training was very fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses. I will bump the weight up when I can break the 12 rep mark as suggested by Steve.

Sounds like a solid beat down. Let me know how you feel next week. Occasionally when I was doing them I would go for 10-12 in 10 minutes, and then the next week drop the weight by 10% just as a break.

[bruteforce]

Nice work Josh. I'm loving doing this sort of thing with deadlifts right now. Most fun I've had in months. I think you're going to like it and will set some heavy duty new records for yourself in the very near future.

[Pull14]

Many deads, heavy deads, in a one heck of a short time. Some good presses and quick progression too. Great work Josh!

[LtL]

Nice pulls.

LtL

[T-Bone]

Love doing DL's that way too Josh. Looks like a solid session to start 2012.

[BigJosh]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Sounds like a solid beat down. Let me know how you feel next week. Occasionally when I was doing them I would go for 10-12 in 10 minutes, and then the next week drop the weight by 10% just as a break.

It was a solid beat down. It took me a few days to recover. I probably won't drop the weight this week, but maybe the next. I think I need to start implementing more planned deloads. The lack of deloads could be holding me back a bit.
On another note, I realized something I found funny today.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the idea of doing a lift for as many reps possible in a set amount of time (IE 10 minutes) an idea that Dan John talks about in "Never Back Down"?
I believe it is which is funny because in another thread I posted how I didn't really get much out of Dan John's book in regards to strength. Seems to me there is a lesson for me to learn here.....

[BigJosh]

Originally Posted by bruteforce

Nice work Josh. I'm loving doing this sort of thing with deadlifts right now. Most fun I've had in months. I think you're going to like it and will set some heavy duty new records for yourself in the very near future.

Thanks Brute!!!
I can only hope I am able to get the kind of progress out of this that you are currently getting with your routine. The first session was very fun. Only time will tell if I can smash some PRs.