Prince of Pull

[miked8c]

Hey guys, many of you on this board already know me. I had a log up for sometime(miked8c: 300 and beyond), but I recently let it fall off. This log represents a new chapter in my training. I have been training seriously for a year now and here is where I am at:

BW: 195(on empty stomach in the AM)
Realistically 198(during the day)

Bench: 290x1
Deadlift: 405x7
Squat: 335x13(ATG)
Military Press: 185x2

The reason I am writing this intro is for myself, just as much as it is for those who read this. I am hoping that by the end of this I can organize my goals better and just confirm what I am really trying to do and how I am setting out to do it.

The goal: This log will be focused on the next 9 weeks of my training. In this time I have 1 main goal, 1 minor goal and 1 constraint:

(1st Priority)Pull 500x1
(2nd) Rep 315 on the Bench

Constraint: Do not exceed BW of 210

1. I am a relatively strong dead lifter IMO, as I have gotten to this level of strength doing nothing but 531 which is very high reps(345x14)that are not focused for strength at all. I believe if I dedicate my efforts to lower reps, with higher weight, I can gain some serious numbers through straight up linear progression.

2. The bench I am not as focused on, I have already hit 315 for 1RM, however my BW was 210 at the time(YouTube - My Movie). To me, a strong bench is not as impressive as a 2.5BW, quarter ton, deadlift.

Constraint: As for the restriction of not going beyond 210, its is purely about pound for pound efficiency. The more weight I put on, the less impressive my 1RMS become. Also, at 210 I really wasn't loving the way I was looking.

The program:

Deadlift Day: 9 weeks of linear progression starting with 410x5(already did 405x5). I will be ramping up to every top set. I use chalk and belt on all top sets.

W1 (1x5) 205 255 305 355 405
W2 (1x5) 205 255 310 360 410
W3 (1x5) 210 260 310 365 415
W4 (1x5) 210 265 315 370 420
W5 (1x5) 215 265 320 370 425
W6 (1x3) 220 275 330 385 440
W7 (1x3) 230 285 340 400 455
W8 (1x3) 235 290 350 405 465
W9 (1x3) 240 295 355 415 475

Assistance: Romanians, GHRs, Core Work
If I stall towards the end I will throw in some rack pulls.

Bench Days:
For this portion of the program, I will be following Dave Tate's 6 Week Bench Program. It got me to 315 the first time, I think it will again. T NATION | Dave Tate's Six-Week Bench Press Cure

Squat Day:

I am done with the high rep squatting of 531, I believe at this point I can squat 405x2, so I will work with 405 for singles, doubles, and triples. These low reps will require less recovery than breathing squats, saving me energy for my dead lift day. My squat will be on the afterburner for this program, however I will not completely neglect them. I do think that I will have a decent increase on these by the end of te 9 weeks.

Assistance: On this day I will do Front squats(singles, doubles, and triples, for core strength)followed by weighted chins(sets of 5), these will serve as a spinal decompresser and upper back work which will hopefully transfer to my DL lockout.

Here is the Day by Day:

Monday: Bench 1
Tuesday: Deadlift
Wednesday: off
Thursday: Bench 2
Friday: Squat
Saturday: off
Sunday: off

Comments: I realize that at first, for a program dedicated to deadlifting, I may not be giving it enough emphasis. Like how I am only pulling once a week while benching twice. However, I think that dead lifts are the most taxing exercise you can do, for your muscles, and especially for you CNS. Hence, I only pull once a week because it is intense enough that if I did it anymore my performance would suffer and it would be pointless. I bench the day before I deadlift because I don't think that the weight I use on bench will be significant enough to have an effect on my deadlift. Whereas if I pulled the day before I benched my upper body would be too worn out to have an effective bench day.

Diet: I don't follow any particular plan, I just eat 6 meals a day, all spread out 3-4 hours over the day, plus a PW shake. I eat hardy food, not a lot of junk but there are some things I could take out if I wanted to cut, which I dont.

Final Thoughts: While I am running two separate programs at once, I believe both goals to not only be realistic, but somewhat easily attainable. I am not asking for too much, for bench or deadlift. Thank you all who follow this log.

My first documented workout will be in two days, on Monday.

Les Get It!!!

 

[coreygb]

Good luck! I don't think you'll have any trouble achieving those goals.

 

[_cato_]

Looks good. The fact that you took the time to research, plan all of this out and write it down speaks a lot of your chances of success.

 

[oso0960]

Looks solid, good luck bro

 

[Tblock1]

Solid man cant wait to see your progress!

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

I do think it's possible you can achieve this over 9 weeks.

I do not think it will be easy though. You basically don't want to gain much weight at all while increasing your bench max by about 70lbs(315x5=360ish) over 9 weeks AND going from 405x7 on deads to 475x3 all in only 9 weeks.

Again I think it's doable, but that's a pretty aggressive scaling for that time period especially considering it's 2 lifts and you're not trying to gain much weight nor are you a rank beginner.

I hope you do hit your goals. Just be prepared to bust your ass and since you aren't trying to gain much really make sure that you are getting 9 hours a night of sleep and keeping a high protein intake as these will be the most important recovery factors. Even more so than when there is plenty of caloric excess which there won't be in this case. I would also recommend against ANY drinking whatsoever if you are really serious about these goals. 6 beers on a Saturday night is 1-3 days of partially impaired progress/recovery.

Good luck amigo.

 

[miked8c]

Thanks ghetto.

By saying I want to rep 315, I was not clear. I just want to hit it for more than a 1RM, it could be anything from a 2RM to a 5RM(improbable). Just as long as I get it more than 1 rep I will know I have gotten stronger than when I was at a heavier weight hitting it for a 1RM before I shipped out for two months.

Another thing. I am not expecting to do this without gaining any weight. That is why I gave myself about 12 lbs. of leeway. The reason I am limiting the weight I gain is so that this does not become some kind of bulking phase just for the sake of being able to say I can DL 500. That would be to easy, anyone can get fat and add weight to their lifts.

I will not be restricting my diet for this, I will begin drinking casein before bed. I will eat often, and when I am hungry. Lets my body naturally tell me when and what it needs.

Thanks for all the encouragement guys.

 

[miked8c]

Floor Press: Heavy 5RM

95x5
135x5
165x5
185x5
205x5
225x5
235x5
250x5
200x8

Felt good, really struggled on the last rep of 250. My left side was definitely lagging for some unknown reason.

Paused DB Skull Crushers 2x8
40/8
35/8

Tried to explode on these

Chest Supported Row 3x8

295x8x3

This was a machine, tried to pull fast and hard on these, pausing after each rep. Explosion is the name of the game for this program. Didn't go too hard on these guys, deadlift tommorow.

Honestly I think my pre-workout screwed with me this workout, I got a new flavor of jack3d it was watermelon. I know its just a flavor but I would put 20 bills down that they messed with the ingredients cause I got almost no pump.

Tomorrow should be fun, 410x5.

 

[Tblock1]

thats interesting about your left side lagging man the same thing happened to me on floor press. I could almost swear that I put an extra 5 on my left side it got so unbalanced at one point. Also I'm doing the Dave Tate routine also do you think floor press should be done with a pause on each rep like Ive been doing it or should it be touch n go like normal bench?

 

[_cato_]

It depends on what you want out of the movement. Pausing at the bottom will help your power at the bottom of your bench more, since it eliminates or reduces the stretch reflex. Touch and go would be more oriented toward the top of the movement in comparison.