Blut Wump - Korte 3x3

[blut wump]

That's closer to 80% than to 60%. The way I see it, if you think you have a weakness then the sooner it's dealt with the better all around. At the very least, strengthening your triceps will mean not having to worry about lockout. It's good to have one less thing on your mind when you're concerned about being squished on the bench.

I have no idea what it would do to your sticking point, assuming you have one part way up, but extra triceps strength is likely to help. I know I got a bit of a shock to find myself uncomfortable with the weight on shoulder grip last week. With any luck I'll grab a few newbie gains to help the program along. I've forgotten what the protocol is during the intensity phase regarding whether I'm supposed still to be cycling grips. That could be fun.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Hmm so I glanced at the 3 x 3 bench article for the first time...he says to use weakest grip most often, although intensity is based on your strongest grip (I assume).

So just thinking out loud, even at 64% (heaviest in prep phase) I'd only be doing 180lbs on close grip. That's not too bad, and I don't see any grip cycling in the comp phase. And it's a lot different setup than squat and dead, didn't realize that.

 

[blut wump]

One of the problems with the Korte, as I see it, is that the intensity is meant not only to be based off your strongest grip but also your performance in full contest equipment. This might mean no gear at all for some (me for example) or a full metal jacket with servo assist for others. The singles during the intensity phase are meant to be done in full gear and all other lifts done raw.

This basically means that his percentages are purest fantasy. I know from my own lifting that if I slap on a belt and wraps I can squat another 100lbs ish. Imagine if I were also wearing a squat suit. It could basically mean that my 60% lifts could even be higher than my 1RM raw lift or, at least, comparable with it.

What it ends up meaning is that the weights I'm using as a raw lifter are lower than what I would be using were I to take my 1RM as being fully equipped. This is why I want to increase the weights when I can as and when I adjust to volume. Meanwhile, I get workout speed and reps per set to play with as I manage my fatigue. It might seem like a fully-laid-out program but, by its nature, there are enough variables to juggle that a first run is likely to be sub-optimal.

Still, my first run of the madcow 5x5 was scrappy and went satisfyingly well.

Yay, my 2000th post!

 

[blut wump]

Week 2 Day 2

I was concerned before this workout that my knee was going to be a problem but it coped. It's all about getting the foot placement right. Another aspect, which I mentioned last time is that it is inhibiting my being able to settle-in or, at least, relax at the bottom. I think it's also forcing me to make more of an effort to hold my weight back on my heels so maybe the bad knee is a fortunate happenstance. Especially if it happens to improve my stance. Today's foot placement was shoulder width with a slight flare.

I was looking back to my last madcow 5x5 during my squats and saw that if I make the jump to 100Kg next week, which I'm considering, it'll equal the weight I used for my Monday 5x5 squats in week3 which was a bit of a grind. I can see why some might consider the Korte to be harder than the vanilla 5x5.

My first three working sets of bench felt harder than expected. Maybe I'm not spending enough time on warm-ups. I went for water and the next set was easier. I went for 7 sets and an 8th might have been a bit of a struggle. I was thinking of stopping on 6 but realised that I wouldn't be breaking any patterns by finishing on Wide grip and knew I could do that.

Not much to report on deads. They're back to feeling a little gruelling but not hard by any means. My lower back was giving me its usual grief. I just try to ignore it since it really only bleats between sets.

All weights in Kilos
Bench: N - Narrow, S - Shoulder width, W - Wide

ATF Squat: 20x10, 40x8, 60x5, 80x3, 95 x 5 for 6 sets
Bench: 20x10N, 40x8S, 60x5W, 80x2S, 87.5 x 6 for 7 sets WSNSNSW
Dealift: 60x10, 80x8, 100x5, 120 x 5 for 6 sets

 

[blut wump]

Week 2 Day 3

Not a lot to report, really. I did seven sets on everything rather than the eight I did last week. I'm starting to slow down a little and the workout took more than an hour so maybe the fatigue is starting to build. I also didn't have much inclination to do much besides go home. As ever, no particular set can be called hard but the workout slowly empties the tank as you work though it.

My knee and lower back didn't cause me any problems today. Not great but not a problem either.

I still haven't decided on the weights to use for next week. I was thinking of bumping the Squat to 100Kg and the Deadlift to 125Kg and then move to 105Kg for Squat and 130Kg for Deadlift in week 4. For bench, I'm not sure at all. I expect I'll bump it to 92.5Kg but just stepping to 90Kg might be more sensible on my triceps.

I'm definitely finding the two closer grips easier on bench than I was at the start. I'm also starting to feel concerned that I might be neglecting my wide grip since it gets least use, being my strongest setting. Maybe I should have a day where it gets most use to keep my eye in.

I also doubled up the warmups on bench. Maybe it helped, it certainly didn't do any harm.

All weights in Kilos
Bench: N - Narrow, S - Shoulder width, W - Wide

ATF Squat: 20x15, 40x8, 60x5, 80x3, 95 x 5 for 7 sets
Bench: 20x10NS, 40x8NW, 60x5SW, 80x2SN, 87.5 x 6 for 7 sets WNSNSNW
Deadlift: 60x10, 80x8, 100x5, 120 x 5 for 7 sets

 

[Jim Ouini]

At the end of the prep phase to you expect to be right about at your 6 x 5-6RM max, or even setting PR's?

The original template has 64% 1RM for 5 on dead & squat and for 6 on bench.

I'm just wondering as you're adjusting the weights as you go along if you want to push it to failure at the end. Or if all the volume is going to take care of the loading?

 

[blut wump]

At the end of the prep phase to you expect to be right about at your 6 x 5-6RM max, or even setting PR's?

The original template has 64% 1RM for 5 on dead & squat and for 6 on bench.

I'm just wondering as you're adjusting the weights as you go along if you want to push it to failure at the end. Or if all the volume is going to take care of the loading?

I'm trying to avoid failure. I always feel that I need to get through Monday's workout with enough left over to do the same Wednesday and Friday.

I'm still viewing the percentages as nothing more than guidelines. In the squats I'm going to be doing the same next week as I did on the last run of the madcow 5x5 for day1 in week3. Deads and bench will be much lower than in the 5x5. The other side to squats is that I was still very new to ATF squats during that run of the 5x5 so they'll go where they will.

I'm counting on loading to do its work. It is gruelling to be hitting the three exercises three times each week. I am concerned that I'm working too light but trying to balance it with an extra set or two and the later sets are definitely not over-easy. I just don't know. I guess when it comes down to it I don't have enough experience to know whether I'm pushing hard enough or even grinding myself down to early. Each week I look at the following week and think that it's going to be too much but it isn't. I might have to do another run after this one to maximize benefits with the aid of having done it once already.

 

[Guinness5.0]

I might have to do another run after this one to maximize benefits with the aid of having done it once already.

I'm with you on that one. I'm looking forward to running the same 5x5 run as my first time again. Should be better with little more know-how.

 

[blut wump]

These dual-factor programs are a bit of a hassle in this respect. Whenever you switch from one to another, you're back to guess-work. If I ran this Korte for another run and then went back to the madcow 5x5 I'd be back to guessing what weights to use.

I guess )) you should always aim to have two runs on a dual factor setup.

 

[blut wump]

Just a minor weekend update: thighs, glutes, hams are suffering some doms after a long sleep. Chest and lats also but to a lesser extent. Triceps are fine although they ached a lot last weekend.

I know someone is going to tell me that doms means nothing but the doms does, at least, tell me that I'm working the affected muscles more than they are accustomed to which I can take as a sign that I'm not being overly easy on myself with these workouts.

Week3 coming up: more shit to kill.