How To Deadlift 495lb - 5 Plates

This year I raised my Deadlift PR by 55lb, pulling 495lb yesterday morning. I posted earlier in the year about my Deadlift history. The middle of last year was my first time pulling 405lb. The year before that I was pulling 315lb (for 8 reps). To think I could be pulling 585lb at the end of next year sounds insane, but it's possible.

For at least the first half of the year, I was plateaued around 450-465, and my lift wasn't that clean looking, and my technique began to dissolve a bit. I solved the problem first switching to a mixed grip, which I find sets my back and locks it into place much more than double overhand with straps. I tried pulling with a mixed grip and straps, but it feels a little awkward, and makes the bar unnecessarily larger in circumference.

So after adapting a mixed grip, I found my hands were falling apart as they were destroyed after every lifting day, and was preventing progress. I didn't understand why my hands were getting so beat up as I had good hand care, but the answer was ultimately chalk. I do a lot of research, and it's easy to bypass little tips and heeded warnings. I assumed chalk would be too messy and would get me kicked immediately from my gym. But it turns out, it's pretty easy to not spill much chalk and benefit greatly.

Chalk is a drying agent. Our bodies are 50-65% water, and when your hands dry up, they become hard like armor, and prevent things from hurting you because you don't have soft fleshy bits exposed. The chalk also enhances your grip. You have so much friction from the chalk and the bar that nothing can budge your grip. It's truly a safety tool in the respect that you'll be less likely to drop the bar (in bench press for example). Pull-Ups require less effort as your grip is more cemented to the bar. Hanging straight leg raises are easier to perform. All lifts are enhanced including squats to prevent the bar from moving.

The inclusion of a belt is also an essential tool. The first time I pulled 420lb my spine was hurt in a minor fashion that affected me for a few months. I pulled 420lb for a dozen singles without using a belt, but since having the belt, I use it for practically every rep. It protects your spine and gives you the confidence to pull, knowing you'll be safe. You'll still need good technique, but there's less chance of injury. My other favorite aspect of wearing a belt is that your recovery time improves because the lower back doesn't get as taxed and thus doesn't need to recover as hard.

You might think that wearing a belt too often may not develop the lower back, but the muscle still gets worked - just in a shorter ROM (range of motion) because of the belt, and in a safer ROM.

Goblin Goo - New Beginner Routine

A very good friend came to me seeking the most efficient path to strength and general fitness. I poured over the most recommended and respected beginner routines, and I determined which two I liked the most, but decided my true preference would be of one that is not written, and thus I've made my own as I'm apt to do. First, I would like to point out this great picture which goes a handful of good beginner routine:

The two I liked most are Greyskull (Phrakture's variant):

And the other being Strong Lifts (which is similar to SS - Starting Strength):

So I like the frequency of squatting in starting strength. Squats are knee-dominant, but largely a hip exercise, and the hips are the most powerful part of a human. Deadlifting is great, but it takes longer to recover from Deadlifting than Squats, and Squats are known to carry over to Deadlifts more so than vice versa.

The difference between SL (Strong Lifts) and SS is 3 sets versus 5 and the swap of barbell rows for power cleans. I don't like power cleans for beginners as I find the form complicated, and I know barbell rows to be hard on the lower back. The reason I like 5 sets of 5 for beginners over 3 sets of 5 is that technique takes a long time to learn, and the more reps you perform, the practice you have in that technique. If you're squatting 25 reps instead of 15 reps in a workout, you'll have more information from the 25 reps that you can both mentally and physically reap. And if that's 30 reps versus 60 reps a week, you may progress twice as fast in technique. 5x5 eventually turns into 3x5. There's no reason to jump to the max as a beginner. Enjoy the grind.

I like the dips and pull-ups as exercises that force body control, I like the frequent Squats, I feel the dumbbell rows will aid in faster recovery. There's more Deadlift work than usual, but I think it's for the best as a single set is not enough reps to practice nor to really get in the groove of the exercise. Multiple sets are in most cases superior to single sets. I like the calf work to fill out the legs. I did not include curls, but they can be done as well as triceps work. Good Mornings are a godlike exercise that aren't ever done in casual gyms, but should be. They work the erector spinae, hamstrings to a great extent, abs, flexibility, and mobility.

I would do this routine for 3-6 months, or however long you're reaping gains and not plateauing. The way beginner programs change when transitioning to intermediate programs is less frequency/volume because as you go up in weights, you need more recovery, and your nervous system pool is drained more quickly as a result. The bit of squat work on workout C helps practice form and is a good warm-up before Deadlifts.

I don't believe in resting for a long duration between sets. The quicker it can be done, the stronger, more powerful you are and the more endurance you have. Attack the weight, execute reps, leave it all out there, and recover for next time.

Lifting with Technique by Using and Utilizing Variables

Depending on your goal in lifting, you may lift in a slow tempo for muscle tension, igniting muscle growth, an explosive rep to push the heaviest weight possible, or a steady controlled fast pace for endurance.

If you lay down for a bench press for example, grab the bar and press it until lock out, and then rack the bar, you may have transitioned from one location in space to another, but how many variables did you take into account? There is to take in mind the following: hand grip width, bar placement in hand, position of feet, toes or heels touching the ground, the amount of lower back curvature via arch, how close the shoulders are pinned, whether the lats are contracting to aid, the twist of the arm, the vertical movement whether a j hook is used, whether you're using chalk or wrist wraps, the desired range of motion, or how much the shoulder, chest, and triceps are emphasized and used in the movement. It's the difference between a controller with two buttons or a keyboard with a hundred buttons.

The willingness to attack the bar on every rep and set is significant in progressing, avoiding injury, and ensuring mental confidence that prevails until the end of the session. A note on individuals who claim health to be their only goal, I find this admittance to be a deception with the reality being with the correct knowledge you can weight train at any age and with even very serious injuries. It's healthier to have bones with more density. I wouldn't go to the gym if I were to just do the same weight day in and day out. I don't want to be the man I was yesterday, I want to advance to the next platform that goes along with its own valued attributes. Do not settle for meagerness. We live and we die, and that life can be lived in a host which is lacking mobility, posture, movement, addicted to doctors and prescription medication, or you can live with the dignity your genes deserve.

The Bodybuilding Version of The Strength Training Routine 5/3/1 - Presenting 8/6/3

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 strength training routine is a great tool for progression. He has a few books on the program and offers dozens of variations. One that is a true diamond in the rough is 8/6/3. After spending about 5 five months on 5/3/1, and seeing good gains in strength, I could see myself spending several more months on 5/3/1. I departed though from that route because I wanted more size. I'm sure I read somewhere in the 5/3/1 book about a variation that changed the rep scheme, because I changed it to 8/6/3, and adjusted the percentages for the different rep scheme, and then searched 8/6/3 online, and stumbled upon a T-Nation article about 8/6/3 with is own prescribed percentages (not by Jim Wendler).

I had done this right before I had started the program, and compared the percentages that I came up with and the author of this article did, and some of our numbers were the same, but his were most definitely higher. The way I started 5/3/1 was with a fair amount of breathing room from my real 1 rep max on percentages, and I think that helped welcome me to the program before getting challenged too hard, which could lead to injuries and a lack of easy progression to follow.

So having calculated the routine for myself, I realized the first month would be harder than what was my 5th cycle of 5/3/1. I may have started with too low of percentages on 5/3/1 when I started it, but I think I was trying to avoid injuries, and was doing many 1 rep maxes in the form of joker sets. I got much better at both Front Squats and High Bar Back Squats. My Bench Press has also become more of a staple, and has no longer cause any pain. So I think I was able to concentrate on technique while following progression albeit not the most I could lift, but in ramping up with my heaviest singles, I was using my intensity for the singles, which aren't going to cause much muscle growth, but strength. Now I'm redirecting that intensity toward building mass.

I finished the second week of my first cycle, and have really seen the glory of the program. I think it's working perfectly. I'm getting a little beat up, but I've decided that I'll take the deload weeks 100% seriously. When I first began 5/3/1, I did the first cycle's deload week, but I believe I skipped the rest after finding my bodyfat percentage rising too much, and boredom setting in, and having read that it's common to skip deloads, and I believe Jim even prescribes it as a variation.

The first week is 3 sets of 8, the second week is 3 sets of 6, the third week is a set of 8, 6, 3, and the fourth and last week is a deload with 3 sets of 8-10. To find the percentage for yourself, open Calculator on your computer, and take your 1 rep max, for instance, 200lb, and multiply it by the percentage given .7 (70%). Round the given answer up or down to the nearest 5lb. Every month you add 5lb to each set, or you could add 10lb on deadlifts and squats.

Depending on the amount of days you can or wish to go to the gym, you can run this on a multitude of lifts including: squats, front squats, bench press, incline bench press, deadlift, and military press (overhead pres). I'm going 5 days a week, and combining squats and incline bench press on one day. I have pull-ups and push-ups programmed 3x a week, and dips programmed 2x a week. I throw in Face Pulls for shoulder health, lateral raises, and dumbbell overhead presses. Add 5lb per cycle to the base number used to calculate the lifts (1 rep training max - 90% of 1rm).

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
70% x 6	65% x 8	75% x 8	40% x 8-10
80% x 6	75% x 8	85% x 6	50% x 8-10
85% x 6+	80% x 8+	90% x 3+	60% x 8-10

Lifting for Women

Exercises themselves are not exclusive to sex, but the goals of a person (woman) can define the program, depending on the body part you would like to develop, or if it's lower body development only, or if strength is a goal.

Here is a list of good lower body exercises:

Main Compound:
Barbell Squats
Barbell Deadlifts
Barbell Front Squats

Auxiliary:
Barbell Lunges
Barbell Standing Calf Raises
Barbell Romanian Deadlifts
Barbell Hack Squats
Barbell Bulgarian Split Squats
Barbell Good Mornings
Barbell Side Lunge

Decide how many days you're willing to go to the gym (2-5). Plan a routine with built-in progression. The first week you lift X amount of reps for 3 to 5 sets on any given main compound exercise. Afterwards, you do 2 to 3 sets on auxiliary exercises.

If you're a beginner, increase the weight by 5-10lb every week on the main compound exercises. You may raise the weight on the auxiliary exercises, but it shouldn't be the focus, and shouldn't hurt your recovery, or even be done if time is not available.

Additional mobility and balance can be attained through yoga, which can be done anywhere. An extra lower body body weight routine that can be done is as follows:

Body Weight Squats - Wide Stance (18)
Body Weight Alternating Lunges (31)
Body Weight Bulgarian Split Squat w/ No Chair (12 per leg)
Body Weight Bulgarian Split Squat w/ Chair (21 per leg)
Laying Face Up Straight-Leg Leg Raises Alternating (18)
Standing Leg Curl - Learn Forward on a Counter (20 per leg)
Kneeling Straight-Leg Donkey Kick (20 per leg)

Here is a list of good upper body exercises:

Main Compound:
Barbell Bench Press
Barbell Incline Bench Press
Barbell Military Press

Auxiliary:
Pull-Ups
Push-Ups
Dips
Crunches
Dumbbell Bench Press
Dumbbell One-Arm Rows
Dumbbell Curls
Dumbbell Lateral Raises
Dumbbell Standing One-Arm Shoulder Press

Muffin Recipe with High Protein and High Fiber

Here is a classic recipe I've designed and refined over the years. It makes 11 muffins.

2.5 tbsp of cinnamon

.75 tsp of salt

.5 tbsp cocoa powder

4 eggs (not large)

1 to the brim cup of milk

1 to the brim cup of oats

3 cups of flour (white whole wheat)

.38 cups of sugar

.5 tsp of baking soda

2 tbsp of baking powder

1 cup of frozen mixed berries (torn up strawberries), blueberries, blackberries - defrost 3 minutes

1 stick of butter (power 8 20 seconds)

.4 cups of chocolate chips

Coat muffin pan very thick with coconut oil.

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients.

Mix ingredients by hand, place them into muffin pan so that they're just at the brim and just barely over. this makes 11 muffins.

Bake at 375 F (make sure it's all the way to the right if knob is loose).

Bake for 18:35 min, pull out of oven, let cool for 10 minutes, pop out muffins with a knife by digging into the side and crowbarring them out.

Eat with coffee or beer or water.

201.7g calories

8g protein

6g fiber

37.9g carbs

1.3g fat

7g sugar

They taste absolutely delicious, reminding me of Drake's Coffee Cakes. You can lower the amount of Oats for less fiber, or lour the Flour for less carbs..

Are You Lifting or Are You Recovering? And Nervous System Nuisances

To maximize efficiency in the world of lifting, you must either be lifting or recovering. You can even branch that out to each of your muscles/limbs. Are they recovering? Could they be? Because of the variance of our bone length and proportions, less or more work may be necessary. Not all lifts are equal in their ability to work a muscle. Cut the filler, strategize, and execute. Every day counts. It's 24 hours. The effect of using time extremely efficiently is akin to time traveling. Four workouts a week versus two workouts a week could potentially double your gains. Do not forget that it takes desire, and 'want'. If your body fights you, and sends you signals of distress, your reaction should be to diagnose, analyze, and repair. Do not let injuries fester. Attend them and be done with it. Attack, and know that rest shouldn't be something you look forward to; it is simply a necessity that'll occur during the convenient time duration of your choice. Conquer.

I've noticed some strange happenings with my nervous system with the increased volume in push-ups and pull-ups, and the swap to the 8/6/3 routine from 5/3/1. I wouldn't say that it's fried, but it's constantly there for me. I have a constant flow of available strength through the nervous system that isn't typically there. For instance, I feel I could Deadlift 450lb with no warm-up at any point of the day. That strength is just lying in the grass waiting for me to channel the thoughts of achieving said violation. It could be a foreshadowing of overreaching coming to play, which is basically a less serious version of over-training. I can imagine this would be a good state to be in for physically fighting.

As I am battling my nervous system and joints beginning to fail, recovery has been paramount, although I never turn off the recovery switch in regular training. On a daily basis, I use tools such as a foam roller, stretch out straps (8ft long piece of material with loops along it), Theracane (for traps, lats, anterior delts), and general stretches (unconventional) throughout the day. Showers seem to help as well.

How To Do 300 Push-Ups In One Workout - Count Master

As previously stated in an entry, the human mind is fallible to the degree where it is laughable, and thus we can predict how it'll act, and can keep our focus. Instead of counting linearly and thinking of each number either before or after the rep, I find counting only to five a much simpler task for your brain. So to count to 50, you would count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - 1, then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - 2, etc. until you get to 10 groups of 5. It gets a little trickier counting to 100+. I will select some 'markers' (you can use any object - a few markers of different colors) and I'll denote each marker to 5 groups of 5, representing 25 reps, and thus four of these markers represent 100 altogether.

The reason I implemented the counting technique is that as I did high rep sets of push-ups, there would be a sticking point (for example say 60). If I count linearly and once I come upon 55, I know that there's only 5 more to do until I hit 60, and because of that, I'll slow the reps down, granting them more intensity, but at the same time burning out my energy and strength so that I'll feel done at 60 repetitions.

The high reps may have a few different affects on your body. The first stage is the pump, which comes after the first and second set. The muscles fill with blood, which supplies oxygen to the cells, making you feel better than fantastic. If you take too long of a break between sets, your body may go cold - at this point you would have lost the pump and you'd have a cold sweat on you. Obviously that isn't desirable, but it can easily happen if you get sidetracked in a conversation for instance. Another feeling you may experience is a sort of general fatigue setting in at the half way point to your goal. With lifting in general, I find that staying calm with a regular pulse between sets will allow you to recover faster. So if you feel fatigue, do not give up hope. Instead, keep your eyes out for your second wind, which is surprisingly common when doing any type of endurance work.

The last bodily state you may find yourself in is when you've had a good pump, and have done most of the work, but your body no longer feels strong, and your muscles feel entirely used up, but more reps are possible. Usually at this state, the amount of reps you can do per set increases. I don't know whether or not it's good to continue at that state. On one hand, you may complete the desired amount of repetitions, and so you should continue, on the other hand, you may be doing more bad than good, and an injury could show its face.

How To Do 50 Pull-Ups In One Workout - Muscle Endurance, Hypertrophy, and Heart

The first aspect of conquering said colossal amount of repetitions is to let the idea slither around your brain and solidify so that you know what will be coming in the workout. There's a different mindset for lower reps and higher reps. The more reps you choose to do, the more breathing plays a role in aiding you get those reps. In the middle of a set, it can be easy to loose focus. On each lift there is an eccentric part and a concentric part. Once you've hit the eccentric, you have no choice but to hit the concentric - but if you hesitate, you lose momentum, and it will either end the set for you, or drain your strength and energy, limiting your amount of reps.

When I Squat or Deadlift at my heaviest weights, I need to internally tell myself, "Up!". One would think that the direction to move is obvious and couldn't possibly need a cue, but when lifting your heaviest, your mind is highly fallible. There is only folly in thinking that you are perfect. Humans have demonstrated that every single one of their senses can malfunction, or pick up false senses. We tell ourselves we won't quit when things get tough, but when they get tough, you may not be able to silent the voice telling you to stop or your body will break. I don't need the "Up!" cue on pull-ups or push-ups, but you may find it useful.

One of the main components of doing this volume is knowing when you're fresh again after a set is complete. I have noticed that if you do two sets back to back with not enough rest, and it's very taxing on you, then by doing that 2nd set too soon without any rest, you may blow out a muscle, leaving you unable to get the volume you were attempting to attain. Stretching before all the reps are done is something else you must be cautious of. Too much of a stretch will almost tell your muscles that it's OK to relax, and that you no longer need them to be taut.

Just as in weight lifting the idea of keeping a vertical bar path also applies in pull-ups. Once you've grabbed the bar, you can set your back and chest to any angle you choose, and what you should be looking for is the groove that requires the least amount of effort because it is there in that groove that you'll get the most reps, and by doing more reps than you would have been able to initially, you'll experience working the muscles to a greater degree, and you'll have more muscle endurance.

Failure can play mind games on you, and can defeat you entirely. Dealing with failure is a slippery slope. You do not want to fail as it will lower your confidence, and yet never failing is evidence you never tried 'that' hard. So ideally we fail from time to time, but not too consistently or it'll drive the fire out of our bellies. To better avoid failure, taking a wide perspective of the workout and the workouts for the rest of the week will allow you to know what has to be accomplished. If you're doing a routine where there are 10 lifts in one session, you cannot drain yourself of strength and energy entirely before the 10th lift. You need to know how much fuel to keep in the gas tank.

8/6/3 Routine For Building Muscle and Power

I've done 5/3/1 for the past four out of five months. It has been very enjoyable, and is a very clear cut program - a sort of bare-bones, but it works amazingly well. Each month is a cycle with the last week of each month being a deload (which can be skipped a few times). It has progression built in to your core lifts, so that the program can't go stale on account of lack of recovery and therefore can have a longer life than beginner programs. You can start with lower 1 rep maxes as well to get more cycles in before plateauing.

I added about 20lb to each of my lifts, and they were all about to go up with having none stalled. The program can be known as low volume, but that can be fixed through adding Joker sets, which are sets that built up to a PR breaker on any given workout. I've been breaking my PRs all through the Joker sets instead of normal planning - so you can see the potential of the program. I choose to divert from it temporarily to focus on building more muscle.

My weight has gone up as planned, and I'm 199lb at 5'11. The new routine will drop my weight due to the extra workouts, higher reps, and push-up and pull-up total volume weekly. I'll be able to cut down with more muscle than last year. I won't be cutting calories in so much that the extra exercise will eat away at the caloric expenditure.

I've also realized that in chasing my 1 rep max on a daily and weekly basis that my risk of injury was high, and although I focused on muscle contractions, I wasn't getting the volume correlated with the hard facts of higher repetitions for muscle growth. I was thinking of reenacting another of my bodybuilding routines, but I've enjoyed 5/3/1 so much. I believe in its ability to spurt progression, and I know it'll work for other rep schemes. To break an 8 rep PR is rewarding just as a much of a 1 rep max PR. I also felt the higher volume coincides well with the push-up and pull-up high volume programs I'm running. I find that when doing repetitions on any given day that you get used to breathing and counting the reps a certain way, and to change out of that rep scheme would break the flow of concentration.

It's nice running this program now because the first cycle's deload week hits along the week of Christmas. This year in lifting for me has worked out far better than I imagined or planned. In the start of November I broke PRs nonstop every week in all lifts, and have just now devised the next program at a great time as I had been strength training for half the year. I am switching between the two: bodybuilding and strength training. I hit upon 5/3/1 for strength training, and have now just hit upon 8/6/3 for bodybuilding as I was using a good program before for bodybuilding, but it didn't have the same consistently planned route of progression as does the 5/3/1 method. It's a matter of programming a routine with the amount of complexity needed for said lifter. As I look at my lifting career, I've frequently pulled back my perspective to see what I've done and where I want to go.

Yoga Explained and A Look at the Future

Yoga has taken the West in a very odd manner. There are hard coded associations with yoga that are entirely irrelevant. It's generally known as a slow-paced form of exercise that is spiritual and meditative, and requires either instructors, music, or exquisite scenery. None of this is essential to yoga.  In fact, I would describe yoga as a series of poses which aid in mobility, flexibility, balance, and recovery.

These poses often include opening your hips, twisting your spine, and opening the shoulder girdle, which all aid in mobility. The muscles used are mainly the quads and hamstrings. An element consistent in yoga is breathing. Each pose can be considered a sort of body deformation. As it is easy to become stiff and rigid in our every day lives of having too much comfort, the mobility of yoga should be a strong appeal. To be able to breathe in the different poses, you are exercising the lungs and quickening the circulatory system and delivering oxygen to your bodily compartments via blood flow.

It's rather odd how suppressed children are raised being forced to sit in a classroom for 6 hours a day with very limited movement. It's as if we purposely attempt to diminish athletic ability. With today's technology, office jobs where people sit 8 hours a day is also become open to discussion as we don't need to be tethered to a desk to do work all day long. Software can be controlled remotely, files can be accessed in a cloud online (where it's inevitably going to end up since projects are collaborations).

Perhaps in the future when virtual reality is abound, fitness will be more important in order to have more efficient movement within the game. Or that all work is freelance completed at home in shorter duration than a work day, leaving people with the bulk of their day to enjoy the sunlight, and therein train their body to enjoy life to its fullest. Or perhaps our avatars will represent us 99% of the time, leaving our original bodies entirely insignificant.

How to Build Strong Full Spherelike Biceps and Thick Veiny Forearms

The Biceps are responsible for elbow flexion hence Biceps Curls being the most optimal biceps exercise. Chin-ups and Pull-ups both activate the biceps brachii. Curls can be done at three different angles. A close grip on a barbell, or curling a dumbbell inward toward your other shoulder will hit the long head of the biceps, which is the outer part. A wide grip, or curling outwardly works the inner biceps, which is the short head of the biceps. A curl with a standard grip or with a dumbbell that is curled neither inward or outward will hit both heads. Hammer Curls and Reverse Curls are good for hitting the biceps from a different angle as well as including some forearm muscles like the brachioradialis.

The Forearms can be hit in standard Wrist Curls, which hits the flexors (bottom of forearms), and Reverse Wrist Curls, which hit the extensors (top of forearms). They can also be hit through two other angles which can be done when your hand is turned neutral (hammer grip) and you point your wrist upwards. This hits the extensors from a different angle. The reverse of this hits the flexors from a different angle. Aside from these curls, Wrist Rolls are effective especially in the extensors. A high volume of pull-ups will work your forearms strongly as well as not using gloves or straps in all of your lifts.

Auxiliary Vortex: Recovery, Mobility, and Becoming Cut

I often find the times in which I design a new program, or come up with a new idea is when I"m injured. The injury will tell me how much volume and/or weight can injure said body part. The most recent injury to have plagued me is a minor roto cuff injury in my right shoulder. I think it's from cleaning and pressing 150lb over head. I don't train the clean at all, and that alone could have easily upset the roto cuff.

I took this week off from weight training, but have been hard at work in yoga, push-ups, and crunches. I can do a decent number of push-ups (172) without rest, and high total amount as well, but I haven't followed a routine for years in push-ups, and so I'm going to resume my previous push-up program, but have revised it to how I would prefer to do it. For example, I initially added push-up variations somewhat down the line from the start of the program, but I would probably do the variations from the start. I' resuming the program with Week 7. I completed the first three push-up workouts totaling at 832 push-ups for that week. This coming week will be 907 total.

In addition to the inclusion of the push-up program, I've gone back to my old pull-up program. I resumed week 5.5, which had 50 pull-ups total in 11 sets. My body had fallen apart after getting to about 125 pull-ups total and 750 push-ups total, so I'm starting at the half way point, and in three months expect to be in a very good place. I'm feeling the soreness from this past week's routines, and I'm a little worried about how the weight lifting will affect the pull-ups and push-ups. I'm looking at my weight lifting routine, and I'm trying to minimize it as much as I can, but the six lifts I want to do 5/3/1 with just seems to be too much work  My body will definitely fall apart after X number of months on this schedule (I'm aiming for three months), but hopefully I'll have reaped said forthcoming gains no matter how long I stay on it. I'll cut volume and lifts out entirely if I'm too beaten up. I think taking the joker sets (PR sets or +90% 1RM) out will keep me more fresh.

Furthermore into becoming more cut, I've been performing an ab circuit consisting of 69 total sit-ups. The first 45 are for the upper abs and the last 24 are for the lower abs. Yoga and foam rolling are recovery tools to keep your body mobile and functioning. Ultimately when devising this routine, I was looking for a way to continue strength training with heavy weight via 5/3/1 whilst having enough volume to act as a calorie burner, and a means to define the muscle. Programming push-ups and pull-ups in high volume serve that role. The crunches are something I may take into high volume, but are currently for a type of mere exercise to keep the abs strong and define them a little. Crunches have been known to strain your back and neck in high volume as well so the lower reps are good in that sense.

I am missing something for legs, and have been researching some leg routines, and hit upon a nice one today with decent volume, and after performing it, my legs felt very full. I'll do it a few more times, and continue looking around for others to compare and contrast more before I definitely structure something.

The Road to the 500lb Deadlift

I'll briefly comb over the routines I used with Deadlifting to get to my current PR of 480lb, which is shy a mere 20lb from 500lb. I first started Deadlifting three years ago with two 28lb dumbbells. I immediately loved the feeling of having my posture corrected. I hadn't ever worked my spinal erectors before that. Unknowingly while doing calf raises with a barbell at my hips, I was rack lifting the weight off the flat bench in order to start each set. This gave me some confidence in handling heavier weight.

I Deadlifted 135lb for 8 reps and felt exhausted, and recovered after a few days, and went up 5lb and did 8 reps until I was Deadlifting 385lb for 8 reps. At that point, I deloaded to about 225lb and did 8 reps, 2 sets, and climbed back up to 385lb. This was a routine I thought of myself which is as simple as it can get, which is how beginner routines should be. This gave me a strong lower back, and a stronger back in general, and also upped my muscle endurance and increased my CNS's ability to recover and take a beating.

After that, I somewhat neglected Deadlifting for a while because I had inadvertently ignored my other lifts comparatively. When I went back to Deadlifting, I focused on pulling heavy singles (405lb+). I hurt my spine on 420lb the first time I lifted it, and came back two weeks or so later and pulled it for twelve singles. I realized at around the 430-465lb range that my technique suffered very badly to the point where it was injuring me. This led to less Deadlifting, and made me even doubt my own strength, thinking what if 465lb was my maximum ability. I don't think in terms of maximum ability and ceilings though. I'd rather shoot for the stars and hit the ceiling than to implement an artificial ceiling when things feel like they're getting tough.

Dropping the straps, using a belt, and using a mixed grip launched me out of the 430-465lb range to 480lb as of two days ago, and it was not a hard pull, meaning my true PR is higher. The chalk is my latest added element that's increased my total lift weight. A funny note on adding my weight belt is that it makes crouching a bit harder because you're less mobile in the belt because of its tightness, and so I couldn't easily crouch down to tie in my straps. It was another reason to ditch the straps.

I've been using the 5/3/1 routine the past year, and it's a good method of progression that has you lifting in all three rep ranges of 5, 3, and 1. I find that lifting heavy weight for lower reps feels better on my body and is less harsh on my joints than higher reps with less weight. The amount of volume you do in any given lift is still customizable, so that you can also get significant time under tension and a high amount of muscle contractions.

Chalk for Weight Lifting

The subject of accessories such as gloves, straps, and chalk is important albeit sounding like a frivolous issue. The reason all three of those things comes up is because of grip strength and how conditioned your hands are to lifting. Gloves may sound like a good idea to prevent damage to your hands and to prevent the weight from slipping, but instead it acts as a handicap. No glove will fit correctly, and most limit finger and hand movement. Like doing yoga with bare feet for better friction, it is better to handle weights with your bare hands.

Upon the starting of Deadlifting, I ran into grip strength issues around 315lb. I started using straps on every set for about two years. My back got very strong as did my shoulders and lats, but my grip strength although stronger wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be. I plateaued at a 465lb Deadlift using prone grip with straps, and I realized that using a prone grip changes how your back is set compared to a mixed grip. I had heard it to be silly to use a mixed grip with straps since you are using the straps, and that the bar won't slip regardless, but what I've learned is that mixed grip is indeed significantly different than prone grip.

I taught this lesson to myself by forcing myself to not use the straps in Deadlifting to prove I had good grip strength. I was able to pull 405lb, and pulled a bit heavier than that, and the more I pulled without straps, the more I realized my technique was improving, and I ditched the straps entirely. I tried mixed grip with straps, but didn't like the feeling, and knew bare hands were better. Now I'm pulling PRs with no straps bare hands and better technique.

The chalk is something that I didn't think would be necessary for myself. I figured I would stick with straps as to not limit my total weight lifted, but as I switched to bare hands, I noticed my hands ached from both volume and heavy weight. The answer was chalk. When applied before a set, you feel ten times stronger and more confident. Your grip is so snug that it feels like your flesh would be ripped off or your fingers broken before you would drop the bar by means of it slipping. This tightness in the grip along with its high friction forces you to keep your hands still, and so you don't mess around with your grip after you take it, and I feel you can set your back and entire frame in the lift better because of this.

I really recommend using chalk, and even if you're a beginner (if you are serious). It'll improve pull-ups, deadlifts, bench press, military press, curls, rows, muscle-ups, and dips. There is actually quite a large safety element in the use of chalk as well. In a pull-up, you could slip off the bar or in bench press you could drop the bar for example.

Intensity Unlocker - A Larger CNS Pool

An elusive variable to the lifting game is the size of your CNS pool. The Central Nervous System can take only so much abuse before your CNS is fried. A few years ago, and even recently I trained two days a week, performing huge workouts that spanned 2-3 hours or longer, and I felt I was able to keep up with the pace despite often hearing people recommending to keep workouts no longer than 1 hour. I did make gains at the time, and improved, but to comparatively look at a routine that has you in the gym four days a week for example with the same volume as the two day routine, but spread out amongst those four days, we can see that the CNS pool will be larger and allow us to lift with more intensity on each exercise.

Intensity in lifting terms is part of the trio in the formula intensity, frequency, and volume. To raise one of those three, you must lower one of the other two or both. Frequency is how often you lift, volume is the amount of reps per lift, and intensity is the available strength and power that you have at that given moment. A fallacy would be for someone to claim that they are so great their intensity is always ten out of ten, which is simply impossible. To excel in lifting, is to bend time to your advantage. For instance, any given muscle can take 24-72 hours to recover, and thus to hammer those muscles with lifting as soon as they're recovered will allow you to be more efficient.  The 24-72 hours rule is not a hard rule. For example, if I do only five reps of biceps curls, it won't take 24 hours to recover.

Muscles and their recovery is one aspect of lifting as are tendon strength, joint strength, and your CNS. It is easy to picture muscles, tendons, and joints, in our minds but the CNS is much more of a global aspect than a localized one. Compound lifts are often prescribed in many genres of fitness because they involve multiple joints, and thus work more of the body than an isolation exercise. Compounds will drain your CNS more so than isolations. The Deadlift especially is known for zapping the CNS, which is why it's often heard of that people do not program their Deadlift as frequently as other lifts, and many people seem to rely on their Squat to carry over to the Deadlift, which it does and not vice versa. I believe that reason is because they're both hip-dominant, although the Squat is more knee-dominant.

Deadlifts are infamous for making your lower back sore. Though I've noticed it is less the case when using a belt. The lower back (which is not a muscle in itself) takes longer to recover than any other muscle in our bodies. The lower back is part of the spinal erectors, which can often go neglected because they're hit the hardest in Deadlifts, and not everyone Deadlifts. I was recently Deadlifting after I had done the Back Squat and Front Squat at my heaviest weights, and therein it's clear that my CNS pool wasn't that large going into Deadlifts every week. I find grip strength, and having recovered hands (pain-free) is also a key aspect in training. I feel a soar of confidence when I have both my CNS and grip strength at disposal.

Upper Chest Information - A More Connected and Tighter Core

There are many chest related tidbits I'd like to hit upon. Firstly, a chest contraction is achieved by crossing the humerus (upper arm bone) across the sternum. So the most popular chest exercise - the Bench Press - can be hard to achieve a good chest (pec) contraction. It is more of an anterior deltoid (front of the shoulder muscle) and triceps exercise. If your arm angle is 90 degrees, you can hit the chest more easily, but the shoulders are left more vulnerable as are its interior rotator cuffs.

The Bench Press is commonly done on one of three bench positions - Flat, Incline, or Decline. There is much debate over the effects of using each bench position. For instance, bench pressing at a decline eliminates leg drive, shortens the range of motion, and decreases anterior delt activation, but is said to target the lower chest as well as the entirety of the chest. Dips when performed leaning forward can also hit the lower chest. Incline is said to hit the upper chest and the anterior delts more so than flat or decline. Lastly, flat is said to hit the mid chest.

At first I used just the flat bench, then switched to all 3 bench positions, then switched to just decline for a while, and hit my heaviest bench weight (275lb). After that, I stayed on flat for a long time to work on technique. I switched from a wider grip to a more narrow one to hit the triceps harder and to protect my shoulders for the long run. I often didn't feel comfortable with a wider grip, and had much elbow pain in the past from too many pull-ups and other elbow hinge joint movements. Lately, I've switched to incline bench only, and it's been a godsend.

The past few months I've been very focused on the Military Press especially, and have found a greater technique in keeping a tighter back and grip throughout the entirety of the movement. This has allowed me to lift heavier weights with more confidence and having less luck involved in making lifts. I allow the weight to slide upwards through the tension of my lats until it's overhead. I feel the incline barbell bench press in a similar way, but with much more chest involvement, and more anterior delt than my standard military press.

In having hit the incline bb bp consistently for a few weeks now, I can feel the entirety of my chest more easily. Everything is tighter around my upper chest are, and thus it allows me to have more tension. Any part of your body you feel lacks muscle activation can be brought up by working the surrounding muscles. The larger you grow your muscle bellies, the more beneficial they are in the terms of levers, which allow you to lift heavy weights.

I've been pairing my incline pressing with flat dumbbell bench pressing. I prefer using heavier weights for it, and have been using the 90s and 95s lately for reps. There is definitely a difference in using lighter weights versus heavier weights. I can often feel an ache in a limb or part of the body, and after doing a heavy weight lift utilizing that aching part, it feels better instantly.

300lb Squat

Squats didn't come easy to me. I had nowhere near the needed mobility and flexibility to hit the main key parts. I have long legs, and I think that makes for a slower and more awkward knee bend. I find my hamstrings are very strong, but my quads don't get worked as much. It's easier to load the hamstrings via the Deadlift than load the quads via the Squat.

I started with Low Bar Squats and switched to High Bar Squats about a year ago. I found them to target my quads much better than Low Bar Squats. I had to lower the weight though and learn a new technique. On a really crazy run, I hit 300lb in my squat, and hit 315lb the very next time, but haven't hit that since. Although I lift for strength, I also lift for building muscle mass, and I like to feel the weight a certain way before I increase it too much. I find that too heavy a weight, even if liftable, may not be as helpful as doing lighter weight with a better mind-muscle connection.

My last three squat days, I hit 300lb+, and the weight is very heavy, but it's a nice accomplishment. I think 315lb is a grab away, and thus a steal, so 405lb is the next goal.

Lat Control In Military Press and Incline Bench Press

I was doing the 5/3/1 routine, and I've been having trouble recovering fast enough, and have opted for only two workout days a week. Because the focus is on the Bench Press, the Squat, and the Deadlift, I've neglected my overhead press a bit. I stayed with Flat Barbell Bench Press for a long time (over a year), and have gotten to try many rep ranges, and have a good idea of where my strength is and the technique I have for it is quite nailed down. I wish I had a spotter, as I don't feel I can train as hard as I could. I'll have to try out the power rack one of these days.

I've decided to cut the flat barbell bench press and switch in Incline Barbell Bench Press and the Military Press. I also Front Squat on that day, and on the other day, I Squat and Deadlift.

My technique on the Military Press recently changed to having a much tighter back. After military pressing, I do Incline Barbell Bench Press, which is a very similar movement. It hits the shoulders well and hits the upper chest in a way that flat barbell bench press can not hit effectively. I also inlcude Lateral Raises and Rear Delt Rows. I think Front Squats work in well because they're not as taxing as Back Squats - one reason being the weight is lighter (half the amount). I also feel there's less back work in Front Squats, and less central nervous system overload like the big three.

This workout taxes my lats and shoulders heavily. The weather's changed recently, and I feel like my conditioning is a bit lacking. I can endure long workouts, but it feels a bit too tiring and draining at times. I Deadlifted 420lb for three singles this morning. I've switched from using straps to bare hands with mixed grip, and it feels really great on the body, and awful on the hands of course. I feel I can't lift for as many reps if I use just bare hands, but I think it may be just as beneficial. Having the grip to Deadlift 500lb for example would likely make every other lift that much easier because you've conditioned yourself to withstanding such weight.

Deadlift Grip - Prone or Mixed

Deadlifting with a double overhand grip is the standard grip for the deadlift. As you go up in the weight, and your grip fails, it's recommended to use a mixed grip (one over, one under). I've mostly used straps in deadlifts, and for straps, they say to use double overhand b/c you have straps that there is no reason to use a mixed grip. I found this to be incorrect at least for myself.

Asymmetry is normal and expected in humans. You can have a higher shoulder or a longer arm, and thus your back may not get hit ideally with just a double overhand grip. Turning your hand palm up (supine) shortens your arm, and so a shorter arm and a longer arm via mixed grip allows you to set your back tightness differently than prone (double overhand).

Technique seems easier to achieve in a mixed grip. Like a chin-up over a pull-up, your scapulae are more set when the hand is supine, whereas a more conscious effort is needed in a pull-up or double overhand deadlift. So while I've found a mixed grip is better for me to pull with (far less injuries and more strength and confidence), I've adapted the technique to straps as well. It doesn't feel as good as not using straps, but it again sets the back right, and gets you read for your main lift.

As far as alternating which hand is under and which is over, I do like to alternate, and pull with whichever grip feels stronger at the time. I know it feels different on each lat depending on the palm being up and down, and so I know there would be an imbalance both in strength and muscle if I didn't alternate.

Dumbbell Lunges for Leg Development

Squats are hailed as the king of all exercises, though Deadlift could be considered such as well, but Squats won't necessarily give muscle mass to the legs. The main muscles are the adductors, quads, and hamstrings. All of these areas are hit with an exercise I began doing recently - Dumbbell Lunges.

I've done lunges in the past with barbells and dumbbells, but have ran into knee trouble, but I've found how to avoid all knee pain and injury. For each lunge, take your step forward and descend with the weights hanging at your sides on each side of your front ankle whilst keeping an erect back. If your lower back rounds, it'll make it sore, and a sore lower back takes longer to recover than any other muscle.

I've only just begun doing lunges, and I'm doing them three sets of 36 reps mostly because they're walking lunges, and that's how many steps the route I planned takes. A recommended finisher afterwards are jump spin squats. These help shake out the leg muscles. Lastly I will mention they hit the glutes hard as well

Bench Press Technique and Military Press Technique for Better Leverage and Strength, and Chest Muscle Control

I noticed for Bench Press that in some reps I had better control, and the weight went up with less effort. This is how you can find the groove, but sometimes it can take a while to comprehend what's happening and how to use it to your advantage as a skill (technique). The trick is to press much lower on the body than you would think. Press the weight closer to your hips than your neck, and you can basically push yourself under the weight. I use the same technique for Cable Cross Overs, pressing low, which is close to the hip.

For Military Press, I've been struggling for a while with advancing much further than 135lb. I ran into similar issues in the Squat before progressing it. The problem is that I don't have enough tightness to support weights heavier than 135lb. I normally adapted this tightness at the start of the lift, but lose it very quickly in the transition to overhead. I've solved that problem now. The key is full lat tension. A Military Press involves having your heels together with your toes pointed out. This allows for your to incorporate the abs and labs more tautly than an overhead press with a wider stance, but with less strength from having a more narrow base.

Starting with the weight over your chest at your shoulders with your triceps tight, keep your lats tight, and keep them tight throughout the lift. Raise the weight by sliding it up your lats until it's the weight's overhead. Generally people have trouble with lat activation and pull-ups. I practice muscle control regularly, which involves many lat poses. Just as with practicing anything, it becomes more accessible, and easier to perform. The lats are very large muscles that tie the shoulders to the hips, and so you can imagine how powerful the control can be to have a tight connection between those areas, which lead to great strength and power.

To apply Muscle Control to the chest, you can work two main functions. The chest can be squeezed together, or pushed apart. If you clasp your hands together in front of your chest, and squeeze your chest together, then while keeping that inner tension, raise your arms overhead whilst inhaling, then bring them down still clasped together, exhaling while keeping inner chest tension. After a few reps, apply outer chest tension, and raise your arms overhead and back down while breathing and keeping tension. Then lower your clasped hands to your hips and perform the inner chest circuit then the outer chest circuit. I find this gives the chest a good blood pump and enables control of them.

   

Chest Growth, and Muscle Control for the Chest and Lats

I've known for some time that my Bench Press style is a close grip (inside rings) and that makes it more Triceps dominant. It also helps with tucking your elbows, and takes stress off the shoulder, and therein roto cuff. I feel my body is in a tighter position, but it doesn't allow for as much chest work, though there is still chest in the lift. I've been dumbbell bench pressing in addition to barbell bench pressing for a while now. Dumbbells allow for a more free-range, natural movement, and will require your muscles to stabilize the weight as well as be able to target your chest more easily since your arm can move transversely, which is horizontally.

Wide grip barbell bench press is something I added specifically to hit my chest with light weight and high reps. The grip causes elbow flare, which leaves the shoulder more vulnerable to injury, but it's necessary to target the chest better than a more narrow grip. Both hit the chest. A narrow grip will hit the inner chest whereas a wide grip will hit the outer chest more. I don't bother locking out, and try to a keep a faster rhythm in the reps, staying in a shorter range of motion, and trying to feel the mass of that muscle, and spread out that contraction to it's extent, and dig the muscle (pull down) into the insertions.

I added Face Pulls to my routine, which are a rear delt exercise with a cable machine, and a rope attachment. You pull the rope with a wide grip towards your face - you can vary the heights of the pull. It's great for a scapula blood pump that lubricates the shoulders and is a nice warm down for any bench pressing, or other push moves as well as being good for shoulder health, and increasing the strength and power of the upper back. When I first started doing them, I did 100 reps on each bench press day, but since then have cut down to two sets of 12 with 30lb usually. You can go heavier if you want. I find that as you increase the weight, you have less control over the muscle and it becomes more of a movement rather than you guiding the muscles to contract freely and fully. It's good to switch between heavy, medium, and light on everything, and often I'll just climb the stack, doing every single stopgap often without rest between sets.

The last exercise I want to mention are Cable Cross Overs, but specifically with one-arm. Here's the reason: the way the chest (Pecs) contract is that the humerus (upper arm bone) must cross inward towards the mid-line of the body (e.g. clap hands). You can cross your arm further than the mid-line and keep going, but since you have two arms they're in each other's way of seeking the best contraction. It's also easier to contract only one side of your body rather than the entire body. I keep the arm not involved in the lift close to my chest and the mid-line of my body so that the pec that's not doing the main work is still activated for support as well as a hard lat and delt contraction.

Strength Training and Bodybuilding

Since last posting I've discovered the Holy Grail of strength training - 5/3/1. A program developed by Jim Wendler with intelligence built in that assesses your 1 rep max, and has you crushing your PRs (personal record). I recommend his latest book that describes the routine in detail called Beyond 531.

3x3          3x5          5/3/1        3x5, deload
Week 1   Week 2    Week 3    Week 4
70% x 3   65% x 5   75% x  5  40% x 5
80% x 3   75% x 5   85% x  3  50% x 5
90% x 3+ 85% x 5+ 95% x 1+ 60% x 5

The system's quite flexible, leading to a more individualized tuned program. For instance, there are Joker Sets, which are sets of triples, doubles, and singles done after the main working sets that lead up to your 1 rep max. The amount of Joker Sets and whether you do them at all is up to you. Drop sets an an option after the Joker Sets. The auxiliary work is highly customizable. Any lift can be 5/3/1 programmed, and you can run it for as many cycles as you like.

My first time on it I ran it about 1.75-2.75 months. I had gained 20lb through upping calories and a lack of cardio. I started bodybuilding and lose the 20lb in about a week. Therein I've found how I want to train from now on - cycle between strength training and bodybuilding.

The reason to switch back to strength training, is that I found bodybuilding wrecks your body. The volume and frequency are higher, and the weight is lower. I've found that lifting heavier weights strengthens the body. I ran into some minor injuries while trying to train as hard and consistently as possible. In the arm, between the Biceps and Triceps is the Coracobrachialis, which is responsible for shoulder adduction. Somehow that muscle's been sore on one of my arms for over a month. The injury seems to tie into the Lat and Triceps as well. It mostly limits me from doing pull-ups. I think it'll heal itself in time. I haven't had many injuries thus far in my lifting career. I solved my outer elbow tendinitis. I really took a toll on my sternum from deep chest dips. Some of my ribs don't feel that great at times.

Two exercises I've added to my routine are wide grip barbell bench press and one-arm cable crossovers. They both hit the chest well.

5/3/1 Routine With Joker Sets and Drop Sets

 The 5/3/1 routine consists of devoting one of the four days scheduled in the program to one of the major compound lifts : the Military Press, the Deadlift, the Bench Press, and the Squat. One cycle takes a month. One week is three sets of 5, another is three sets of 3, the third is a set of 5, 3, 1, and the fourth week is a deload @ 50% of your training max. The poundage is decided via your training max, which is 10% below your true max.

3x3          3x5          5/3/1        3x5, deload
Week 1   Week 2    Week 3    Week 4
70% x 3   65% x 5   75% x  5  40% x 5
80% x 3   75% x 5   85% x  3  50% x 5
90% x 3+ 85% x 5+ 95% x 1+ 60% x 5

The Joker sets are additional sets after the main work load, which allow you to ramp up to a PR. The Drop Sets are after even the Joker Sets, and serve as extra volume.

New Routine and New Site

Click on the image below to see it larger.

I made a new site on fitness here - http://goblin.neocities.org/ Take a look.

Lifting Analysis

I have read people saying that you can't critique someone's workout without knowing their goals. While this is true, I find that the groups of people who seek merely to be fit, strong, and aesthetic are still left with a myriad of options. Some muscles my be prioritized, or some movements for functional display. Through researching lifting, I have gravitated to Powerlifting as it focuses on Bench Press, Squats, and the Deadlift.

I remember when I first started training, I had the idea that opposed to Bench Pressing, I'd do Push-Ups, and opposed to Deadlifting, I'd do Pull-Ups, expecting to be able to achieve the same results. This didn't work though, because those body movements were too hard to weight unlike their Powerlifting counterparts, and they also used less muscles to complete. In the Powerlifting world, only those three lifts matter, and to raise your numbers in those lifts is the goal. I've chased this for a bit, but there is the realization that while lifting for fitness and aesthetics, the poundage doesn't matter. When we walk about the city, we don't have our 'big 3' numbers floating above our head. People who don't lift can't comprehend or appreciate the difference in poundage.

Unfortunately, there's gaps in every system. No matter the exercise, there's something being left out. This can also vary depending on the person's limb lengths and leverage. I'm going to plan out a new Bodybuilding routine.

Post WK1 Bodybuilding Split

After having spent 2 months strength training 2 times a week. I ended it with training 3 times the last week. The bodybuilding split has me doing 5 days a week. This method lets me cut bodyfat whilst not changing diet. I will overeat at times while bulking (necessary for fast metabolism), but not while cutting. Water intake has been higher with the additional workouts. There is no joint pain unlike strength training. My lower back is literally never sore. I don't do conventional deadlift, and stick with trap-bar deadlift for that very reason.

Just going through the first week, I've dropped 3 pounds bodyweight to 186lb at 5'11 at about 12% bodyfat.

New Bodybuilding Split

I've cycled a bastardized version of Arnold's Beginner Routine, which is 6 days a week, a few times now, and I've had good results, but I burn out after a month of it. The past two months I had switched to more of a powerlifter routine that consisted of 2 workout days a week. I've been making good strength gains, but my bodyfat has gone up a little. Instead of running a 6 day routine, I've devised a new routine  that I feel I'll be able to sustain longer than a month, will have me bodybuilding as a priority, and will have my bodyfat drop quickly.

I realized especially from the last two months, that you can do an exercise only once a week, and make gains. That said, performing an exercise three times a week is a waste of energy and there won't be progression, and if there is it will be short-lived. Two times a week is a fine number. I've also decided to progress the weight weekly opposed to by session. This is common in intermediate routines as progression slows down. It'll allow me to stay in the groove of my weight scheme longer.

I've replaced the traditional Deadlift with the trap-bar Deadlift. I've added back in Hack Squats. I added DB Curls and Cable Pushdowns.

My focus in workouts has largely been to progress in weight and have clean form. My new direction will be that of working the muscle. So every time I go to the gym, I get a pump in the planned exercises and leave afterwards. I'm not going to work past a fatigued muscle, I'm not going to have long workouts, and I won't need much rest.

Intensity Increase

For the past two months, I've been training 2x a week. One day was Bench Press, Military Press, shoulder work, Chin-Ups, and Dips. The other day was Squats, Deadlifts, and DB Bench Press. It was Tuesdays and Fridays, so I had 2 days of rest before the Deadlift day, then 3 days off until the next day. The extended recovery has helped my joints heal up from more vigorous training. I'm lifting the heaviest in Bench Press and Deadlifts.

What I found is that my Bench Press day had my muscles fatigued only half way through the workout, but I still finished the workout, and with heavy weight. I have very good endurance, but recently I've been getting nauseous at that halfway point too, but could still continue to lift impressively. I've been wanting more cardio in my routine. So I decided to cut that workout in half, and have 3 training days a week instead of 2.

I"ve heard that it's actually better to lift 2x a day because you have more intensity for the exercises. I found this hard to believe because I enjoy long workouts (3 hours). I figure that my endurance is good enough and I have enduring willpower to make it through these workouts, but what I've learned is that hard work is not necessarily the path to success. To work smart is more important than working hard - of course working smart and hard is ideal.

So am I now down to 6 exercises a workout, and 3 training days a week. That second half of my workout routine that had me exhausted to begin with now hit my muscles in ways they hadn't before. People love to say overtraining is a myth, but in my experience it's very easy to overtrain. The extra workout day also gave me the extra cardio I was looking for.

Bench Press Technique

The Bench Press is a deceiver. It's welcoming and easy looking. You lay on a bench unlike Squats of Deadlifts, and push weight from your chest to extension.  It's taken me some time to nail down myh Bench Press technique. There were a few things holding me back: grip on the bar, grip width on the bar, back arch, body placement on the bench, and lastly leg drive.

I'll start with the problems that I addressed chronologically. The grip width on the bar determines how much chest or arms you use in the movement. One would think it would be as easy as wide grip for chest and narrow grip for arms, but there can be other complications. For example, I used to take about an average width grip, and I was constantly in elbow pain. After doing research, I found elbow tendinitis very common with The Bench Press, Dips, Pull-Ups, and other Triceps movements. There are ways to treat the tendinitis temporarily to relieve pain, but to cure yourself of it, you must either adjust your technique, or drop the lift from your routine. The pain is excruciating. The best method of dealing with it is Voodoo Flossing or the equivalence. Biceps curls also alleviate pain.

So as to fix my technique to avoid tendinitis, I realized I needed to tuck my elbows more. At first I tried doing it with my normal grip width, but I found it took too much concentration, and that I wasn't very good at it, leading me to lift lighter weights. The fix was to narrow my grip width  I now grip just inside the rings. This is the grip associated with the Close-Grip Bench Press. One might think that if I'm targeting my chest, I shouldn't use the narrow grip, but regardless of it being narrow grip, it hits your chest. This method also protects your shoulders and elbows in the long run.

Body placement on the bench, back arch, and leg drive are all handled in one technique. I lifted this from the great powerlifter Dave Tate. Grab the very center of the bar with only your thumbs. Having them about an inch apart, pull your body up on the bench (towards head) so that your head is literally off the bench. Now raise your body into the bar and upon lowering yourself, arch the entirety of your lower back, or just one side like I like to do, and set that arched side, readjust your grip on the bar, and pin the other arched lower back side to the bench. You should feel uncomfortable. You are in essence, pushing yourself so hard into the bench that you can't even press the bar (45lb) correctly, because it's too light for you to maintain tightness and posture.

I find this position the most comfortable for unracking the weight and racking it once you finish the set.  Once you've repositioned on the bench, you are lower on the bench and so your head isn't hanging off any longer. I plant my toes and keep my glutes on the bench. The leg drive is from the toes, or you can plant your heels. I actually got sore calves from benching the other week. The arch in your lower back should be so severe as to minimize the distance horizontally from your upper back to your glutes. This provides better leverage.

The grip on the bar most importantly needs to rest in the palms of your hands.This place is halfway between your thumb and wrist. Your wrists should be straight as to transfer the load from your grip to your elbows, which will let you lift with your pecs, triceps, and lats. An important notion to think about is that you couldn't possibly bench 200lb+ with ease unless you're setup is positioned optimally enough for leverage. This leverage actually makes you use less muscle, but allows you to lift heavier weight, which induces muscle and strength growth.

An example of a beginner you may see would have them laying flat on their back with no arch, no leg drive, flared elbows, and poor ROM (range of motion). I benched the below this morning at 188lb bodyweight.

• 45 lb x 5 reps
• 240 lb x 3 reps
• 240 lb x 3 reps
• 220 lb x 5 reps
• 220 lb x 5 reps
• 220 lb x 5 reps
• 200 lb x 5 reps
• 200 lb x 5 reps

The Deadlift

The Deadlift is known to be the second king of all exercises besides the Squat. It utilizes many muscle groups and allows you to lift more weight than any other lift. The Spinal Erector muscles are hit hard, which includes the Lower Back. Recovery time can be 72 hours. Many programs avoid the Deadlift so that you can train more often. Another alternative would be to Deadlift at a lower weight for higher reps.

Just short of two years ago I started Deadlifting. I started by doing a set of 12 and got to 225lb. Then I switched to 8 reps, but my grip failed at around 245lb for higher reps, and so I started using straps. Without deloading, I got to 8 reps of 385lb, which granted took six months of adding 5lb each session. After that I deloaded to 8 reps of 200lb for 2 sets. So six months later, I pulled 8 reps of 375lb for 2 sets.

At that point, I pulled 405lb for a single, and about a week later 420lb, which injured the middle of my back to a minor degree. The lift was fine, but I held the weight too long. A couple weeks later, I pulled 425lb, then 435lb, and more recently 450lb, and will break that in 2 weeks time.

The Deadlift has corrected my posture to be more upright, made me stronger in all other exercises, developed my back muscles significantly, and have helped build my endurance. I have not yet used a weightbelt with them.

The technique I use is a very narrow stance with the heels touching each other. My grip is just between the rings. I start on the ground with the weight rolled forward, set my breathing, and roll the weight back into myself as I engage my Hamstrings and Traps and lift the bar until lockout, shoving my hips forward, and squeezing my Triceps, Biceps, Pecs, Quads, Glutes, and Abs.

DB Powered v2 Progress

My current style of lifting is only training two days a week, and having the rest to recover and recharge the needed power. I've noticed my body feeling more sore compared to training five to six days a week. The reason for this is debatable. Some say that soreness is not a good indicator of muscle growth or strength growth, but in all fairness it would seem that it can be. Muscles are typically known to recover within 48 hours, and some muscles within 72 hours. It's possible to train with muscles that are not fully recovered. I have heard of the style of lifting where you purposely do this to double the damage to the muscle and therefore to double the recovery and thus the muscle and strength growth. Another aspect I might be experiencing is from changing my method of training from a high frequency to a low frequency after some time. I think most people lean on that practice far too much. I think it's important to dutifully run the course of a routine to give it its merits, and to have a deeper pool of data for analysis.

I feel with lower frequency that there is greater body awareness, which leads to better mind-muscle connection, which I think is a key to muscular development. It's bizarre, but it would seem that just as under-training is possible, over-training is possible, regardless of how many deny it. I was recently looking at some people's routines, and I saw someone doing 10 sets of 10 on many exercises. Their poundage was not impressive, which in turn tells me their physique is not as well. Something I've been keen on is that for muscle growth, you need to lift heavy, and that if you do lift heavy, your muscles will haven choice but to grow. I thought about this a lot when my Squats were stuck and plateaued at 180lb max. I had been resetting often, and I think something slowed me down in progress is resetting to low, and having too great a range to climb through for every reset, leading me to lift heavy weight less often than I could have and should have perhaps.

I would like to welcome the concept of lifting heavy weights. Something that struck is that many beginners or people that don't lift very heavy mostly have poor technique. It's not feasible to lift heavy weight poor technique. How could they possible lift heavy weight with such poor leverage, range of motion, poor joint articulation, or lack of controlled breathing. There's much talk of avoiding chasing PRs, but it is possible to tailor your routine in a way where it does not harm you, and in fact charges you up, benefiting you. On the flip side, I think lifting too heavy with too high a close percentage to your max will burn you out quickly and will not take advantage of periodization as well as bruising your confidence and therefore mental game, which is huge in lifting.

Lastly, I'd like to recommend purchasing your consistent grocery purchases online opposed to any local store. I discovered the price of oats, flour, sugar, among other baking goods were less than half the price.

Highliting Recovery

After having a few months of 5-6 day workouts in a week, I'm experiencing the flip side - more rest days than training days. I had flu-like symptoms nine days ago, which kept me out of the gym, but gave me time to realize something which is that after any workout, your muscles are sore and take time to recover. You can workout before they fully recover, and even if you have lower back stiffness, you can find a way to still work it as well as having inflamed joints. But if you do take that time off, you can experience the body awareness of the recovery, and you'll know when the strength is back and the muscles are truly ready to be hit again. I think high frequency is great for hammering skill technique, elevating your strength, and using lots of time under tension, but I think low frequency also has its merits. I feel it's easy to become less active, less flexible, and less driven on a low frequency workout. The trade though is full recovery, body awareness, high intensity, and lots of free time. For my next workout, I plan to hammer chin-ups, bench press, military press, and dips. I've had a strange experience with Barbell Rows lately. They've been taking out my lower back, regardless of even pulling off the safeties. I want to try wearing a belt for them, but don't have one yet, so I'm switching to Kroc Rows, and will be adding Barbell Curls. I switch between two workouts: one with Squats, Deadlifts, and DB Bench Press, the other with Barbell Bench Press, Military Press, Shrugs, Kroc Rows, Chin-Ups, Dips, and Curls. I'll also sprinkle in Calf Raises, Rear Delt Rows, Lateral Raises, 1-Leg Leg Ball Curls, Bent Press, and Muscle-Ups.

450lb Deadlift PR

Muscle Recovery and Joint Recovery

Glenn Pendlay has said that if you think you are overtrained, you're probably not getting enough sleep and/or food. Sometimes your body is beat up, and injuries are on the horizon, yet still avoidable if the right precautions are taken. Mobility work seems to be a rather new concept in lifting. I was once under the impression and obsession with the idea that if you trained a muscle more than once within 48 hours, you wouldn't get your gains. Not all muscles are the same size, and muscles can be either slow-twitch or fast-twitch, so there are many variables.

When I was Deadlifting very heavy, I knew that I had to take many rest days to recover my Lower Back and that if I had just stopped Deadlifting, I'd be able to train other exercises more frequently. I held onto this idea and just kept it in my head far too long. At points I realized that I had been doing exercises on days back-to-back that used the same muscles, and it was working as far as strength and muscle gains. High frequency drills technique into you. Weight lifting is about technique and leverage. All the strength in the world misguided is for naught. Before I got into lifting, there would be times I felt or even commanded myself to harness and radiate energy, yet I didn't know what to do with this energy. I could punch walls, jump into walls, or some form of injuring myself, and flooding my mind with psychosis. Actually, it was a good source of intuition for writing creatively.

My current routine for transforming from a Mummy to an agile Werewolf is a series of mobility tools.

• The Stick
• Useful  for Calves and Quads mostly.
• Foam Roller
• The number one tool for recovery. Rolling out your lower back will get you lifting heavier quicker.
• Every major muscle can be rolled.
• Most active recovery tool. It can be considered ground work, and will build strength, endurance, and joint strength.
• Rolls out muscle knots, soft tissue, and helps ligaments and joints recover faster.
• Excellent for the hip muscles.
• Theracane
• Specifically designed for Trap relief. You can dig in very deep.
• Useful for Traps, Posterior Delts, Anterior Delts, Pecs, Glutes, Lats, Teres Major, Triceps, and Biceps.
• You can hit every inch of the Pecs, which is unlike any of the other tools.
• Voodoo Flossing
• Instant and lasting joint relief in any limb.
• Useful for Knees, Ankles, Wrists, and Elbows.
• A sense of power and stability comes from its use.
• Stretch-Out Straps
• Useful for Shoulders in all ranges of movements, Triceps, and Lats.
• Builds Grip strength.
• Good way to stretch your Pecs and Anterior Delts.
• Yoga
• Flexibility and Mobility.

Using all of these techniques or even some is night and day between neglecting them. For hand care, I love to hold and squeeze ice cubes, and to apply Bag Balm throughout the day. If any part of your hands gets very raw, tape it every workout. Lastly, water should always be within arms-reach. I really believe in eating several pieces of fruit a day as well. They bring me focus, clarity, nutrition, energy, and they help digestion. 

Pectoralis Extravaganza

I have been working towards enhancing my physique by focusing on developing my Triceps and Pecs. I've made good progress, and learned many things on this set path. I remember as far back as when I initially started. I would be doing pull-ups as I eyeballed the Bench Press across the room. I was proud of doing bodyweight exercises, and figured my muscles would develop through them, but I also longed for myself to attain a reputable Bench Press number. No matter the amount of Push-Ups, the chest muscles could only be under so much stress via bodyweight.

I began Bench Pressing, and scheduled it all wrong of course, and I used gloves nonetheless. It took me a very long time to build my Bench strength, and it took far more injuries than Deadlifting ever caused, and I would say more than even Squats. The Bench Press is particularly deceiving. What could be easier than laying on a bench and pushing something away? Well, it turns out, nearly everything is easier than the Bench Press.

Something I've noticed that applies for all lifts is that 'beginners', whilst lifting light weight opposed to a lifting veteran lifting heavier, is not braced for heavier weight. For example, if someone walks in the gym and can bench 180lb for their 1RM, you'll probably noticed that they're not braced to lift heavier. Lifting is about leverage, and when lifting lift, certain leverage doesn't or something can't be applied. I supposed I first witnessed this through the Deadlift. It's not easy to rep 135lb and make it look clean, whereas with 250lb, I find it easier to maintain form. I can sink my weight into the lift, whereas I'd fall over with 135lb. So instead of looking at other people and thinking that they're weak; make it a point to realize they are probably lifting as heavy as they can with their current technique, diet, rest, knowledge, etc. In this sense, people aren't weak or strong, they're intelligent or brute.

I believe my technique improves in any given exercise after I've researched the lift via watching form and tutorial videos, reading articles, reading controversial opinions on parts of the lift, studying the anatomical form and functions of the targeted muscles, and both thinking about the technique in my head and practicing it in the real word, and finally analyzing my results, predictions to fully understand why things are happening exactly how they're happening.

I've found much success in developing my back through Deadlifting 3x a week, and at times even more. I've also found success in Squats through adding variations and frequency. So now I'm applying this logic to the Bench Press - the last of the big 3. That Bench Press variation is simply Bench using dumbbells. Powerlifters frequently perform it as an auxiliary exercise.

In forgetting my Dip belt this morning for both Weighted Dips and Weighted Chins, I decided to do Muscle-Ups with 6 reps of dips atop the Pull-Up bar. I did 10 sets altogether, so that's 60 dips, and I realized that performing a dip on a single bar with a prone grip is like a Bench Press, but using your bodyweight as the weight. When you do a dip on the standard parallel bars, you're using mostly Triceps, although you can lean forward to utilize more chest. I believe even more of the Pecs are utilized in the single-bar prone grip dip. Another place you could do these dips is on a Smith Machine barbell. It would be a little tricky to setup with a Power Rack or Squat Rack, but could be done.