Thanks, I'm feeling pretty good so should be a 551 attempt if all goes to plan. Then bigger next training cycle. Not planning to take time off after russia and there are meets in the spring. Bench is my biggest focus currently
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Hey Dan are the periods of time where you just don't feel motivated and are burnt out from life and lifting becomes more of a task or job then it is fun. How do you handle that? IF you even experience it lol
Hey Dan are the periods of time where you just don't feel motivated and are burnt out from life and lifting becomes more of a task or job then it is fun. How do you handle that? IF you even experience it lol
If I feel burned out from lifting then I just take time off. If life is stressful then that's where being grounded is important. For me, prayer and some solitude can go a long ways. Sometimes we feel burned out because we focus on what we want and what we don't have, not what we DO have and who we have in our lives who we care for. It's not always as easy as this makes it sound, but it's important to have a way of working through stress and burnout not just getting frustrated and going into a tailspin
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Hey man, I read an interview you did about your training and how you taught yourself to be so strong so maybe you can help me figure out why one of my lifts is so far in advance to others
I squat 205kg 1rm and 250kg super grinder deadlift, yet my stiff leg deadlifts seem way out of proportion, I can do 210/215kg for 10 - maybe more, I just cant figure out how I can translate this into my other lifts
I will say I am very tight in my hams so I squat narrow and slowly trying to widen it up, could this be purely hamstring flexibility? Widen my stance, stretch like crazy then try upping my numbers and maybe trying sumo? (my adductors are also tight AF)
or could I be missing something entirely different here?
Hey man, I read an interview you did about your training and how you taught yourself to be so strong so maybe you can help me figure out why one of my lifts is so far in advance to others
I squat 205kg 1rm and 250kg super grinder deadlift, yet my stiff leg deadlifts seem way out of proportion, I can do 210/215kg for 10 - maybe more, I just cant figure out how I can translate this into my other lifts
I will say I am very tight in my hams so I squat narrow and slowly trying to widen it up, could this be purely hamstring flexibility? Widen my stance, stretch like crazy then try upping my numbers and maybe trying sumo? (my adductors are also tight AF)
or could I be missing something entirely different here?
It seems like from what you've said that your back strength is strong but maybe your leg strength is behind. With that said, working on slowly widening your squat stance should help you squat more in time. For your deadlift first, if you don't already, train every rep from a dead stop--no touch and go reps. This will get your legs into the lift more even though it will be harder at first. Also, do some heavy deadlifts from blocks or a power rack with the weights elevated 4-6". This will also help you to be tight at the start of the lift so your legs can contribute. Lastly, you should add in some hack squats or front squats to try to make your leg strength increase.
At least, this is my best guess based on what you said above. Hope it helps
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
It seems like from what you've said that your back strength is strong but maybe your leg strength is behind. With that said, working on slowly widening your squat stance should help you squat more in time. For your deadlift first, if you don't already, train every rep from a dead stop--no touch and go reps. This will get your legs into the lift more even though it will be harder at first. Also, do some heavy deadlifts from blocks or a power rack with the weights elevated 4-6". This will also help you to be tight at the start of the lift so your legs can contribute. Lastly, you should add in some hack squats or front squats to try to make your leg strength increase.
At least, this is my best guess based on what you said above. Hope it helps
Thanks man, gonna do exactly that. Appreciate it :)
I'm just benching and doing some back stuff still. I got an MRI which showed some stuff that wasn't intolerable, but the acute problem is what's called a parapatellar plica. Basically there is a sleeve of tissue that surrounds the knee joint and keeps the fluid in place, but it has some seams or folds which, for some people can become inflamed. For me, the inflammation is causing this fold to become pinched inside the knee joint on the inner side (medial) when I squat, even just bodyweight. I'm seeing a specialist tomorrow. It's not a major injury by any means and the paths are to either wait for the inflammation to subside (4-6 weeks), go with stronger anti-inflammatory meds like cortisone, or getting it scoped, where they can just trim it down. It's been just over 4 weeks since I last tried to squat (and it pinched with almost no weight).
SO I'm not in any rush, just want to get it sorted out and fully healed... but for now just benching is perfectly enjoyable
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Hey Dan, first of all, same as a lot of people here - huge inspiration and role model. Thank you for replying and sharing knowledge with everyone here, I've spent the last 3-4 days reading the whole thread and I've found a lot of useful info. I had some cartilage problems in my right knee, did orthokin therapy, switched to PL when a friend who competes in it suggested it so I could strengthen everything and honestly I've never felt better. I used some of your tips yesterday, regarding squats, how to move your knees and hips; did low bar, high bar and pause squats (high bar) and haven't felt ANY pain in my knee neither during the workout nor after which hasn't happened in months! In the end, I've decided to make a profile here, so I could thank you first of all and then ask you some questions; hopefully you can help me and sorry for the long post.
1)
I've been following a five day split:
Monday - wide grip bench, close grip bench, incline or flat DB press and some flyes either lying or seated and some biceps work after this
Tuesday - low bar squats, front squats, RDLs and maybe some lying curls
Wednesday - seated barbell press, DB press, lateral raises, rear flyes for shoulders and barbell skullcrushers, DB skullcrushers and cable pushdowns (pressdowns, whatever) for triceps
Thursday - deadlifts (convential), pull-ups or front pulldowns, DB rows or T-bar rows and maybe some seated cable rows
Friday - wide grip bench, close grip bench, floor press, DB press and some flyes again, almost the same as Monday
When it comes to sets and reps, for bench, squats and deads I do 2-6 sets of 2-8 reps, I just pick say 4x6, next week I'll try either 5x5 or 3x5, and the week after that 2x4, 4x4 or 6x4, depending on the lift, how I feel and the weight, same principle goes for everything else (when it comes to sets and reps). Monday is a volume day, reps 4 or above and Friday is reps 4 or below, so more of intensity. I make it to be like linear progression, adding the minimal weight on the last set and trying to do same reps as the previous sets and every week I try to increase, of course if I can. When it comes to DB presses, rows or curls 3-5 sets of 8-10 reps and for the flyes, curls and... whatever's left, 4-6 sets of 10-15 reps.
Now for the first question (finally) - thoughts on this program? I've found that I am getting stronger, week after week, but I'm not sure I'm giving my all.
2)
As I said earlier, for the legs 2d ago, I really liked that session, felt great, but I'm not sure how and when to implement pause squats, front squats, high bar squats and RDLs. I train with a lot of volume as you can see, but I don't think it's smart to do 5 different variations of squats on the same day and do deads 2d after... Same thing goes for back day, I wanted to implement sumo, block pulls and deficit pulls (since I understood why are they so important from the previous 80 pages of the thread), but don't know where, how many reps and sets...
I think that's all for now, I'm looking forward for your reply, thanks in advance and thanks again for sharing the wisdom - strong and humble.
Hey Dan, first of all, same as a lot of people here - huge inspiration and role model. Thank you for replying and sharing knowledge with everyone here, I've spent the last 3-4 days reading the whole thread and I've found a lot of useful info. I had some cartilage problems in my right knee, did orthokin therapy, switched to PL when a friend who competes in it suggested it so I could strengthen everything and honestly I've never felt better. I used some of your tips yesterday, regarding squats, how to move your knees and hips; did low bar, high bar and pause squats (high bar) and haven't felt ANY pain in my knee neither during the workout nor after which hasn't happened in months! In the end, I've decided to make a profile here, so I could thank you first of all and then ask you some questions; hopefully you can help me and sorry for the long post.
1)
I've been following a five day split:
Monday - wide grip bench, close grip bench, incline or flat DB press and some flyes either lying or seated and some biceps work after this
Tuesday - low bar squats, front squats, RDLs and maybe some lying curls
Wednesday - seated barbell press, DB press, lateral raises, rear flyes for shoulders and barbell skullcrushers, DB skullcrushers and cable pushdowns (pressdowns, whatever) for triceps
Thursday - deadlifts (convential), pull-ups or front pulldowns, DB rows or T-bar rows and maybe some seated cable rows
Friday - wide grip bench, close grip bench, floor press, DB press and some flyes again, almost the same as Monday
When it comes to sets and reps, for bench, squats and deads I do 2-6 sets of 2-8 reps, I just pick say 4x6, next week I'll try either 5x5 or 3x5, and the week after that 2x4, 4x4 or 6x4, depending on the lift, how I feel and the weight, same principle goes for everything else (when it comes to sets and reps). Monday is a volume day, reps 4 or above and Friday is reps 4 or below, so more of intensity. I make it to be like linear progression, adding the minimal weight on the last set and trying to do same reps as the previous sets and every week I try to increase, of course if I can. When it comes to DB presses, rows or curls 3-5 sets of 8-10 reps and for the flyes, curls and... whatever's left, 4-6 sets of 10-15 reps.
Now for the first question (finally) - thoughts on this program? I've found that I am getting stronger, week after week, but I'm not sure I'm giving my all.
2)
As I said earlier, for the legs 2d ago, I really liked that session, felt great, but I'm not sure how and when to implement pause squats, front squats, high bar squats and RDLs. I train with a lot of volume as you can see, but I don't think it's smart to do 5 different variations of squats on the same day and do deads 2d after... Same thing goes for back day, I wanted to implement sumo, block pulls and deficit pulls (since I understood why are they so important from the previous 80 pages of the thread), but don't know where, how many reps and sets...
I think that's all for now, I'm looking forward for your reply, thanks in advance and thanks again for sharing the wisdom - strong and humble.
Hey man thanks for the message first off. I definitely appreciate what you said about the inspiration as well as the usefulness of what's in the thread here.
First, for you question on the program. I think it's pretty solid. Two things stand out that are positives. One, you have some rationale for everything in there which sounds obvious, but is still the most important thing. YOU know why you are doing what you are doing because YOU are listening to the feedback you are getting from doing it. Thinking for yourself is perfect. Second, it's a great template, BUT you're describing flexibility in reps/sets. So the program isn't too taxing and rigid where it's going to burn you out. It's right in the middle where you can do more when you feel good and less when you sense that's smarter. So basically, you're planning ahead, paying attention during your training, and adjusting based on the feedback afterward. Clearly you are an intelligent guy, so great start.
Your second question on how to swap variations in and out... The way I think about exercises is: one--how much skill is involved? a low bar squat takes the most IMO because you have to find the perfect balance of optimizing torso lean to utilize more or less back, and stance width to use more or less hip strength. You've got to optimize the balance of legs, back and hips. For high bar and front squats and pauses you aren't trying to take advantage of better leverages, you are trying to stay more upright and NOT utilize the hips and back as much and therefore build simple brute strength. Take it a step further, and hack squats or leg presses have virtually zero skill to perform. The more skill involved, the longer the training cycle can utilize that same lift week in and week out, because your skill improves as you get stronger (unless you're fooling yourself into dismissing the importance of technique!). For the secondary lifts that have less "skill", you must play around with the loading patterns more to keep them stimulating. What this does for us in the practical sense is say we can do shorter 4-6 week cycles where we focus on a secondary variation as the main variation and benefit highly, or we can rotate them each week on an A-B week or A-B-C weeks. One week low bar as the first squat, the next week high bar and so forth. I've utilized this on dead by alternating a deadlift bar one week then a stiff bar the following. You could rotate squats with a belt one week and squats without a belt the next and so forth. This method allows you to make the lift work the body in a slightly different way each week, keeps it "interesting" physically and mentally, AND, a very important aspect, allows the "B" week to be a variation that is just as "intense" but puts less weight on the spine/joints. Going main lift on the A week practices your lift heavy and builds technique to optimize your strengths while the B week deloads just a little because less weight is used, and can focus on a variation that highlights a weakness. The last method that you could use is simply picking a variation like hack squat and basically using that every 3rd or 4th workout to both deload and to go high reps to really pump up the quads. this was a favorite method of Sam Byrd and I also love hack squats for just this reason. 3-4 sets of 20 for a crazy pump in the quads and no real stress on the spine or CNS
In the end, don't discard the main lift to only hammer the weaknesses, train both. Just create a balance between main vs variations. Also, if you train for a comp, then the number of weeks away you are from the comp should determine the balance of main vs variation. Far enough and you are in the "off season" and should heavily focus on variations. Maybe even pick one variation to build up for 4-6 weeks as the main focus. 12-6 weeks to go? You need to at least train the main lift every other week and the variation must be a close variation. The difference in poundage should be within 10%. In other words say you squat 405x5 low bar. If you squat 375x5 high bar thats within 10% so it's a good choice. If you squat 315x5 high bar, with no belt and a close stance, that's too fancy a variation, it's more than 20% weaker.
In the end, you are doing good things so far. You are getting stronger so don't get fancy, just make sure you always make technical mastery the top priority.
For variations, remember the main lift is still king, and after that just try to find 2-5 variations that are good and be loyal to those. Don't be a jack of all trades, just master the main lifts, master the close variations that work for you, and when you hit accessory lifts, don't just rush through--make them count.
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Hey man thanks for the message first off. I definitely appreciate what you said about the inspiration as well as the usefulness of what's in the thread here.
First, for you question on the program. I think it's pretty solid. Two things stand out that are positives. One, you have some rationale for everything in there which sounds obvious, but is still the most important thing. YOU know why you are doing what you are doing because YOU are listening to the feedback you are getting from doing it. Thinking for yourself is perfect. Second, it's a great template, BUT you're describing flexibility in reps/sets. So the program isn't too taxing and rigid where it's going to burn you out. It's right in the middle where you can do more when you feel good and less when you sense that's smarter. So basically, you're planning ahead, paying attention during your training, and adjusting based on the feedback afterward. Clearly you are an intelligent guy, so great start.
Your second question on how to swap variations in and out... The way I think about exercises is: one--how much skill is involved? a low bar squat takes the most IMO because you have to find the perfect balance of optimizing torso lean to utilize more or less back, and stance width to use more or less hip strength. You've got to optimize the balance of legs, back and hips. For high bar and front squats and pauses you aren't trying to take advantage of better leverages, you are trying to stay more upright and NOT utilize the hips and back as much and therefore build simple brute strength. Take it a step further, and hack squats or leg presses have virtually zero skill to perform. The more skill involved, the longer the training cycle can utilize that same lift week in and week out, because your skill improves as you get stronger (unless you're fooling yourself into dismissing the importance of technique!). For the secondary lifts that have less "skill", you must play around with the loading patterns more to keep them stimulating. What this does for us in the practical sense is say we can do shorter 4-6 week cycles where we focus on a secondary variation as the main variation and benefit highly, or we can rotate them each week on an A-B week or A-B-C weeks. One week low bar as the first squat, the next week high bar and so forth. I've utilized this on dead by alternating a deadlift bar one week then a stiff bar the following. You could rotate squats with a belt one week and squats without a belt the next and so forth. This method allows you to make the lift work the body in a slightly different way each week, keeps it "interesting" physically and mentally, AND, a very important aspect, allows the "B" week to be a variation that is just as "intense" but puts less weight on the spine/joints. Going main lift on the A week practices your lift heavy and builds technique to optimize your strengths while the B week deloads just a little because less weight is used, and can focus on a variation that highlights a weakness. The last method that you could use is simply picking a variation like hack squat and basically using that every 3rd or 4th workout to both deload and to go high reps to really pump up the quads. this was a favorite method of Sam Byrd and I also love hack squats for just this reason. 3-4 sets of 20 for a crazy pump in the quads and no real stress on the spine or CNS
In the end, don't discard the main lift to only hammer the weaknesses, train both. Just create a balance between main vs variations. Also, if you train for a comp, then the number of weeks away you are from the comp should determine the balance of main vs variation. Far enough and you are in the "off season" and should heavily focus on variations. Maybe even pick one variation to build up for 4-6 weeks as the main focus. 12-6 weeks to go? You need to at least train the main lift every other week and the variation must be a close variation. The difference in poundage should be within 10%. In other words say you squat 405x5 low bar. If you squat 375x5 high bar thats within 10% so it's a good choice. If you squat 315x5 high bar, with no belt and a close stance, that's too fancy a variation, it's more than 20% weaker.
In the end, you are doing good things so far. You are getting stronger so don't get fancy, just make sure you always make technical mastery the top priority.
For variations, remember the main lift is still king, and after that just try to find 2-5 variations that are good and be loyal to those. Don't be a jack of all trades, just master the main lifts, master the close variations that work for you, and when you hit accessory lifts, don't just rush through--make them count.
Thank you so much for your reply and thank you for saying that I'm intelligent about my program/training, means a lot coming from an athlete like you!
When it comes to my second question, thank you so much on such a detailed and in depth answer, it helped a lot to understand how I should organize accessory lifts around the main ones.
And yes, since I started training in general, I always trained "smart" - learning the proper form and technique, as I find that's the most important thing in lifting, the weight(s) will come eventually.
Btw, I remembered one more thing I wanted to ask - I want to make those blocks for block pulls, I saw that you're suggesting the 4'' ones, that's like 10cm - should I make only those and should the "platform" for deficit deads be that high too? Also is there any suggestion when it comes to which wood should I use and which ruber? For the ruber I was thinking about using the ones that is used for the gym floor.
Thanks again for your time and advices!
Thank you so much for your reply and thank you for saying that I'm intelligent about my program/training, means a lot coming from an athlete like you!
When it comes to my second question, thank you so much on such a detailed and in depth answer, it helped a lot to understand how I should organize accessory lifts around the main ones.
And yes, since I started training in general, I always trained "smart" - learning the proper form and technique, as I find that's the most important thing in lifting, the weight(s) will come eventually.
Btw, I remembered one more thing I wanted to ask - I want to make those blocks for block pulls, I saw that you're suggesting the 4'' ones, that's like 10cm - should I make only those and should the "platform" for deficit deads be that high too? Also is there any suggestion when it comes to which wood should I use and which ruber? For the ruber I was thinking about using the ones that is used for the gym floor.
Thanks again for your time and advices!
Gym floor rubber is fine. The easiest way to make the boxes is to lay 2x4s flat to form the base, with a second layer of 2x4s underneath going across (perpendicular). This is 3" tall so just add 1-2 layers of rubber on top. This is fine for the deficits as well as long as it's big enough to stand on.
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
When I squat, regardless of the percentage I'm working at I develop severe DOMS in my hamstrings/adductor region. Out of this world, muscle splitting, unbearable DOMS for days. It is nothing like I experience with any other muscle group, it's not a normal "workout" soreness. I become susceptible to injury from the smallest little things and the smallest tweaks make my muscles feel like they're ripping off the bone. I've put up with this for years and I cannot figure out what causes it or what to do about it. I imagine it is technique driven somehow, but I was wondering if you have any experience/thoughts/knowledge you could maybe pass on that could be of some help.
Hey dan, quick question - how beneficial do you find low rep weighted pullups to be? Like somehere around 3-4 reps per set?
Most of my life I've done high reps on pull-ups. But I've done them in 5x5 fashion which I like where 5 was not max reps and that was good. I've also done weighted with over 100lbs for 3-4 sets of 3-4. I don't know that those were terribly productive, but I only did them as part of a progression during a time when I had been really hammering all upper back training. So I'm not sure they made me stronger or I just did them because my back was stronger at the time from other stuff!
I still think that heavy 1 arm DB rows are the best lat exercise for strength and mass but there are a million different technique variations so you just need to do them in a good form and consistently. Not so strict that you can't move any weight, but not so heavy that you can't get a good feel for the lats and traps either. I usually start strict and finish with a little momentum... the best of both worlds
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
When I squat, regardless of the percentage I'm working at I develop severe DOMS in my hamstrings/adductor region. Out of this world, muscle splitting, unbearable DOMS for days. It is nothing like I experience with any other muscle group, it's not a normal "workout" soreness. I become susceptible to injury from the smallest little things and the smallest tweaks make my muscles feel like they're ripping off the bone. I've put up with this for years and I cannot figure out what causes it or what to do about it. I imagine it is technique driven somehow, but I was wondering if you have any experience/thoughts/knowledge you could maybe pass on that could be of some help.
Thank you for taking the time.
If you post a link to a video I can tell you if it's technique... Other things could be that you are extremely tight, or if it's as extreme as you are describing, it could actually be that there's an injury you aren't aware of already.
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
When I squat, regardless of the percentage I'm working at I develop severe DOMS in my hamstrings/adductor region. Out of this world, muscle splitting, unbearable DOMS for days. It is nothing like I experience with any other muscle group, it's not a normal "workout" soreness. I become susceptible to injury from the smallest little things and the smallest tweaks make my muscles feel like they're ripping off the bone. I've put up with this for years and I cannot figure out what causes it or what to do about it. I imagine it is technique driven somehow, but I was wondering if you have any experience/thoughts/knowledge you could maybe pass on that could be of some help.
Thank you for taking the time.
I actually have this same problem. I get it after squatting and I can't do anything for nearly a week, and even getting out of bed can cause a strain. I don't get this problem pulling sumo with a wide stance.