Texas Method Light night 2 July 2014

Light night on Texas Method. 

I'm feeling really good right now working out. I'm making good gains on all of my lifts and I should be making a good show of it in 5 weeks at the NZ National Championships.

Volume day has been going great and light night fits right in there. After tonight I am ready for intensity night on Friday.

This workout looked like this-
 

Squat	Reps	Kgs		Overhead Press	Reps	Kgs		Bent over Row	Reps	Kgs
	5	20			5	20			5	20
	5	40			5	40			12	60
	5	60			3	60			12	80
	5	80			5	65			10	100
	5	100			5	65
	5	115			5	65
	5	115			2	75
	5	115			1	80
Total	40	3225		Totals	31	1685		Totals	39	2780
								Grand		7690

Squats - no problem with the weight and I got some really good stretching in.

OHP- I decided to go for a max tonight. My previous 1RM was 75kgs. After my 3sets of 5 I did a double at 70kgs and then 80kgs x1. I tried a second rep but I think with the volume before the arms were a little tired.. I went for a rep at 85 but I was only resting about 90 seconds between sets. A little longer rest might have helped out. I am still happy with a new PR.

Rows - went ok but I think the fatigue from max effort on the press took a little toll. I was hoping to increase reps on the 100kgs set but only managed to match last weeks set.

Still happy overall with my progress all around.

30 June 2014 Texas Method Advanced Volume Day

I haven't been putting much into my blog lately because I have been logging everything in the forum I belong to.

This was Volume night on our Texas Method Advanced program.

The program incorporates a system of Volume/Light/Intensity days to stimulate strength grown. Monday is volume night and has multiple sets at a moderate weight to get in some work. Wed. night is light night that gives some active recovery and Friday night is Intensity night where you lift heavy with the aim of setting a rep PR every time. Lifts are the main lifts with some assistance worked in.

Tonight's work out looked like this

Monday  30/06/14		SET 1				SET 2				SET 3				SET 4				Exercise Total
Exercise		Rep	Weight	Total		Rep	Weight	Total		Rep	Weight	Total		Rep	Weight	Total		Rep	Weight	Total
Squat		5.0	155.0	775.0		5.0	155.0	775.0		5.0	155.0	775.0				0.0		15	465.0	2325.0
Bench press		5.0	95.0	475.0		5.0	95.0	475.0		5.0	95.0	475.0				0.0		15	285.0	1425.0
Pin Press		5.0	90.0	450.0		5.0	90.0	450.0		5.0	90.0	450.0				0.0		15	270.0	1350.0
RDL		12.0	60.0	720.0		12.0	80.0	960.0		12.0	100.0	1200.0		12.0	120.0	1440.0		48	360.0	4320.0
																		93		9420.0

We have incorporated some assistance work for the bench in the form of pin presses. RDLs are a recommended lift to assist with deadlifts. Since deadlifts are my worse lift I am hoping these help out.

Squats were a little heavy and found myself losing concentration. I had to remind myself of cues. Lead with the head and elbows under the bar.

Bench press is feeling good. All the extra work put in is paying off.

Pin Presses - I cannot say it enough- these are going to be what pushes my bench up to 140kgs by the end of the year. I hate to say it but Mehdi had a suggestion of starting from the top instead of off the rack. He was right it does position the bar better.

RDLs - I have decided that 12 is the number to go to on RDLs. Once I can do 12 reps at a weight 3 times I am going to add 20 kgs more. 2 more times to go at 120kgs. This has got to be helping my Deadlift.

Workout from Wed. 12/02/14

Deadlift 5x60kg
5x100kg
5x120kg
3x140kg
4x4 155kg

Deadlift
2/1 172.5kg

Deadlift
4x155kg

Overhead Press
5x20kg
5x40kg
3x5 60kg

Notes
Well looks like things have caught up with me. I am really disappointed in this workout and that is not a feeling I am overly used to of late. My workouts recently have been hard and all out but a person can't go full out for ever. After Monday's squats I don't think I recovered enough from the stresses I put on my CNS to hit it this hard. Couple that with major stress at work and a lack of sleep and you get a less than optimal workout

Deadlifts- 2 weeks ago I did this same workout and didn't miss a beat. This week everything was a struggle. My lighter sets felt heavy and I wondered if I was going to get them. I got my 4x4. My heavy 2x2 was a nightmare. My 1st rep was a great big "0", but I was not to be whipped. I gave it another go and pulled my 2 reps. My second set I got my 1st rep but the 2nd was a no go. I just had no energy. For my volume set I am supposed to get 8 plus but I got 4.. Time to rethink my programing now.

Overhead Press- these actually went ok. They were hard because I was so tired but got all of my reps in. after 3 sets I was done, I had pretty much nothing left and I felt beat.

With no energy we skipped our normal facepulls.

It is time for some review and rethinking. I have to stop thinking like a beginner now.
I am lifting at intermediate levels and I need to program that way. I don't need to lift huge weights for lots of reps to make gains. I need to provide a stimulus in a different fashion. I can get as much out of fewer reps as I can from 5x5 without having to sacrifice recovery.
So my workout partner and I will come up with tweak and see how it goes..

My work out for Monday February 10th 2014. The single sets are my warm ups and the multiple sets are my work weights.

Squat

5x20kg

5x40kg

5x60kg

5x80kg

5x100kg

4x120kg

3x140kg

1x160kg

5x5 167.5kg

Bench Press

5x20kg

5x40kg

5x60kg

3x80kg

2x100kg

3x5 107.5kg

Barbell Row

5x5 85kg

Notes

Well that began a new week of lifting and the hardest I have had in awhile. The weights are now back to a point to where you can really feel them and it takes a good 4-5 minute rest to get back into it. I am happy to be feeling the stimulation of heavier weights and hopefully I can keep it going a little longer.

Squats- well this is another 5x5 PR for me. Right now any 5x5 I advance to is a PR. It is a feeling I haven't had in awhile and it's pretty cool. I had to give it a good push but not what I would call a grind just yet.. but soon, that's for sure.

 

Bench press- This is getting really heavy for me. I thought about switching to 3x3 but my workout partner wanted to push on at 5x3. I'm glad he did, no sense in cheating myself out of potential gains. We will see how it goes next time but the switch is coming.

 

 

Rows- we were so spent after squats an benching that these almost got a miss but I like heavy rows and banging them out. Plus I was groovin' so bang them I did

 

There were a couple of young guys watching us squat tonight. My partner Ken hit his first 3 plate 5x5 (it was cool to watch) and these guys climbed under the bar after we cleared the rack. When the kid put the pad on the bar I knew he was needing some help. So Ken and I stepped over and gave some pointers to him on how to squat. I hate these kids that squat down past parallel with no problems. I have to do hip stretching and warm ups before I can get down that low and I think he was getting lower still. After a couple of minutes the kid had a good idea of what to do. hopefully he will listen and make some gains following a program.

 

Bring on Deadlift Wed.

 This is my workout for Friday February 7th 2014 along with notes..

Squat
5x20kg
5x40kg
5x60kg
5x80kg
5x100kg
4x120kg
3x140kg
1x160kg
5x5 165kg

Bench Press
5x20kg
5x40kg
5x60kg
4x80kg
3x90kg
1x100kg
3x5 105kg

Barbell Row
3x5 80kg

 Not a bad night at the gym. Earlier in the day I wondered whether I would be going to the gym at all. I woke up with a headache and it got worse as the morning went on until I was on the verge of a full blown migraine. I took a few pills and after lunch I felt a little better and a few more pills later it was a dull stab that was bearable. After dinner I was finally almost headache free. I'm not sure what the deal was but I'm glad it got better.
Tonight was a night for PR's for reps, and I couldn't be happier with how things are going. Next Saturday I am going to lift in a practice meet. Its mostly just to get some experience in commands and protocols. I'm not doing any real prep other than taking Friday off. So there won't be any records set (except maybe squats)
Squats- I was looking forward to squats tonight because 165kgs 5x5 is a PR for 5x5. I really didn't have and problems with these. Over the past couple of weeks my rests have stretched right out to 4-5minutes between sets. I am amazed again at how much impact 30-40 seconds of heavy lifting has on your CNS. I am more confident after tonight that I will hit 170kgs 5x5.

 Bench- tonight was heavy and for some reason my left arm was really weak and I struggled abit with it. I really feel these in my traps. I think I am getting something right with these since I'm not feeling them in my shoulder so much. I think it is time to think about switching to 3x3 on these.

 Rows- after squats and bench I was about done but I got in my rows, just not as noisy as normal.

I won't hit 170kgs 5x5 next week with Friday off but I'll nail it a week from Monday for sure.

An old guy getting stronger and how

When I decided to be as strong as I can be I needed to find away to get there. I did some research and found a good beginner's program in Stronglifts 5x5. It is a linear progression that adds weight each workout and for a beginner it is one of the best ways to go to build a base to go on. It is based on a tried and true method that has been around since the 1950's and used by some of the great powerlifting bodybuilders like Reg Park and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The program is meant to run 12 weeks and then change but I ran it for about 20 weeks and made great gains. Some good background on 5x5 is in this article A Look at the Classic 5X5 Program Body Re-composition

After that I needed an intermediate program and went to the Texas Method. An article by Mark Rippetoe kind of sealed my choice and I did some research. I found a spread sheet to help me along and had a read of other articles like Texas Method-Pt 2 by Justin at 70'sbig.com. I worked the program for about 13 weeks right up to my first competition and made some good progress. I increased my lifts and made a good showing for myself. The Texas Method Part 1 book has really good info on how to use and modify the program for targeted gains.

I have moved on to a different program but I am considering a program based on The Texas Method Advanced in the future. I can imagine that in the future I will use a number of plans in my quest to get into the record books.