Cal's Training Journal

[Madcow2]

yeah, i might regret this in the future, but right now with my numbers so low i'd rather have a little bit more strength and a little less hypertrophy.

Unfortunately it's not an either-or. If you don't allow for adequate unloading your body does not recover from the volume phase and all adaptation strength/hypertrophy etc... falls prey to erosion from varying levels of overtraining. That's what loading really is, a systematic application of overtraining.

You can't run that volume phase for a long time and around week 4 is where most people absolutely need to quit if they set the weights right. As an experiment a friend of mine and I dragged the loading out for the fun of it to see exactly where our tolerance really was and how badly we would crash (like a carpenter smashing his hand with a hammer to make sure it hurts). A bit more about the importance of unloading and my deliberate overtraining experiement using this very workout here (do not ever do this - results are destroyed and you need about 4 weeks to actually recover enough to begin another program): http://forum.mesomorphosis.com/showpost.php?p=407440&postcount=9

 

[super_rice]

5x5 Deloading Phase: Week 5, Day 1
Monday, 7 February, 2005

Crap, I just realized I spelled "February" wrong. Dammit.

Anyway, very good day for me, I got 96% on my Chemistry final, and 98% on my World Issues final.

Today was the first deloading workout and man, it went by easy. What a cake walk - one I really needed.

Full Olympic Backsquat [ Set 3 Video ]
Bar x 5
115lbs 2 x 5
135lbs 1 x 5
175lbs 1 x 5
200lbs 3 x 3

Bench Press
Bar x 10
95lbs 1 x 10
125lbs 1 x 5
135lbs 1 x 5
170lbs 1 x 2
185lbs 1 x 3

Bent Over Rows
Bar x 10
75lbs 1 x 8
125lbs 1 x 3
145lbs 1 x 3

Assistance
L - Flyes 25lbs 2 x 6
Weighted Leg Raises 25lbs x 8, 20lbs x 8
Partner Resistance Leg Raises 2 x 10

 

[coolcolj]

yeah, i might regret this in the future, but right now with my numbers so low i'd rather have a little bit more strength and a little less hypertrophy.

CCJ: i lift with a 50 dollar bar that does not spin freely at the sleeves and gets a bow with ~275 beat that!

get some WD40

 

[d-dub]

Good vids. I like the squat depth, i cant get that deep while remaining so upright with the torso. How tall are you?

 

[super_rice]

i'm a short bro. 5'8. i used to have a lot better flexibility than i do now, but have lost quite a bit since i put on a good 30-35lbs, and got lazy in terms of stretching

the way i have my torso set so upright is a sort of new thing, only within the last month or so. before, i don't believe i had the ham strength to keep the position before

the two things have cost me a bit though, when i began squatting i used a closer stance and got closer to "ass to heels"

 

[d-dub]

I can sit back now more also with increased hammy strenght. Im no where near as upright as you tho - which gives me something to aim for form wise

Not sure how achievable it is with my different lever lengths, curse these long legs .

 

[coolcolj]

If you sit back, you can't be upright, simple physics

sit straight down, and you can be pretty upright, need flexible ankles though with a close stance

a wider stance also allows you to be more upright as well, with less flexible ankles

 

[d-dub]

True ccj - im gonna try it next time i squat. I was using wide stance-low bar squats for a while and i think im sitting to far back for oly style.

Apologies for the mini-hijack superice - your vids were a good thing to get me thinking about squat form

 

[super_rice]

no problem

 

[super_rice]

5x5 Deloading Phase: Week 5, Day 2
9 February, 2005

Man, what terrible workout I had. None of my movements were as snappy, light, or powerful as they could be - not even on jerks, snatches, and cleans with what would normally be GPP.

Warmups
Squat Cleans, Cleans, Jerks, Drop Snatches, Squat Snatches, Full Squats, etc. Just to get the body temp up.

Hang Snatch
Bar x 5
100lbs x 1 Miss
100lbs x 1 Miss
100lbs x 1 Miss

That's right, I got the bar overhead and could not hold it. I don't know wtf was wrong, I was so tight and off and everything was so damn heavy. This is supposed to be a warmup!

Deadlifts
100, 135, 165, 185, 200, 225 warmups
Set 1: 245 x 3
Set 2: 245 x 3
Set 3: 245 x 3

These didn't go so bad, but still was not great as they usually are. Did not feel good at all.

Weighed Chinups
Bodyweight + 10lbs 3 x 3

Rotator Cuff
L-Flyes 20lbs 2x8

I got out of there ASAP. What a crappy workout. First one in 5 weeks.