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Feeling Undiminished, Blut Attempts Restoration

blut wump

blut wump

New member
Old log here

My last real workout was 9th March. Since then I had two workouts to ramp back up from a 6-day layoff due to hamstrings problems and then one workout straight after the stomach illness I had. The stomach bug led straight into a sprained ankle which leads to this being basically a month-long layoff. My bodyweight this morning was 119.2 Kg (262.2 lbs).

There'll probably be little worth seeing here for a good few weeks but I kind of miss my log and I'm feeling good about playing with my nice new shiny weights so I thought I'd start a new log anyway.

Shiny new weights here. They've acquired some concrete scuffs now :(

I'm not running with any plan yet except to hit the weights and get some conditioning back and to see where I am. I still need to be careful with my ankle which was complaining today. Everything was complaining today, though. I was gasping for breath before I'd finished my squat warmups.

I don't have a bench at home so was planning to do OHP for pressing but I reckoned that I'd try some floor presses for a change. They were harder than I expected. I'd done some earlier in the day to try them out at 60Kg but when I came to do the 60s here it didn't want to leave the ground. Maybe I had started with them on my chest earlier. Anyway, I put a couple of 20Kg plates and a 15 and a 2.5 on the floor at each end which left the bar just fractions below my bottom point so I could get started easily and not be touching the plates at the bottom. It's great having workout kit at home.

I guzzled 4.5 Imperial pints of water during this workout which is about 5.6 American pints. We're in a heat wave.


All weights in Kilos, all weights except the 20s are +0.5Kg for the collars.
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x5, 100x5, 20x20
Floor Press
20x10, 40x10, 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x5, 100x5
BB Row
20x10, 60x5, 65x5, 70x5, 75x5, 80x5

Minor edit:
I'd double-entered one of the weights.
 
Last edited:
subscribed....

Just to throw it out there, 6 weeks of 20 rep squats might not be a bad idea now....you can start light for the ankle, and you'll definitely get your conditioning back.
 
A bit of rough sandpaper on that shiny new bar of yours will stop the weights sliding off, then you won't have to worry about the 0.5kg anomaly. Or you could leave them outside in the chicken shed and wait for them to rust up a bit ;)

I'm enjoying the heat too - I downed well over 2 litres of water whilst working out yesterday.

Welcome back!
 
That's an interesting and appealing idea. Maybe run triples on the Friday, something intermediate (5s) on the Weds and crazy 20-reppers on the Monday. I'll take another look at Guinness's 20-rep squat work.
 
You could even do a 3 week 'rehab' phase.....do 20 reppers 3 times a week and start out very, very light....like week one do 135 on mon, 155 on wed, 175 on fri, week 2 would be 195, 215, 235, week 3 would be 255, 275, 295, then do a deload week, and come back to 5's
 
BiggT said:
You could even do a 3 week 'rehab' phase.....do 20 reppers 3 times a week and start out very, very light....like week one do 135 on mon, 155 on wed, 175 on fri, week 2 would be 195, 215, 235, week 3 would be 255, 275, 295, then do a deload week, and come back to 5's
Click to expand...
Now that sounds scary.

It's something I've never tried and occasionally thought about, though. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see what Monday brings. My biggest fear at this stage is that I've lost all of the gains I made during the last program. It would be silly to drive myself into overload trying to get back to near to 4 plates too quickly though. Conditioning first.
 
the time off might even help, if it re-sensitizes you to the lighter loads.. that's never worked for me but apparently it does for some people ;)
 
anotherbutters said:
A bit of rough sandpaper on that shiny new bar of yours will stop the weights sliding off, then you won't have to worry about the 0.5kg anomaly. Or you could leave them outside in the chicken shed and wait for them to rust up a bit ;)

I'm enjoying the heat too - I downed well over 2 litres of water whilst working out yesterday.

Welcome back!
Click to expand...
There's a thin covering of oil over everything, plates and bar, so they'll take some time to rust but they are living outside.

I couldn't think about taking an abrasive to it. That'd be a fubar.
 
Tweakle said:
the time off might even help, if it re-sensitizes you to the lighter loads.. that's never worked for me but apparently it does for some people ;)
Click to expand...
Cheers. :)

I don't think it's ever worked for me either. I just see the lighter weights as something I have to go through to get back to where I was.
 
That 3 week 20 repper program BiggT recommended sounds pukalicious. I did 2 weeks of 15's for my HST adding weight every workout and was happy to have it end.

OTOH, I do think it upped my conditioning as the 5's don't seem so bad now.

Regardless, welcome back.
 
I'm feeling tempted by the 20-rep squats, mostly because I've never tried to do them before progressively. I'm not sure I've ever done 20 or more reps with more than 135. I remember doing 15 reps with 150 a very long time ago.

Yesterday, I finished off with 20 reps with just the bar with the vague thought that it might benefit my ankle so BiggT's chiming in with the suggestion to do 20-rep squats hit a chord. I'm also thinking that if I just proceed normally then I have a fairly tedious month ahead of me just trying to get back and this is a nice way of stepping outside the box. It's also starting to feel like a personal challenge.
 
I'll be watching. I'd really like to see progressive 20-reppers. I just don't want to hear any whining about CNS burnout, lactic acid build up, etc. LoL I've gotten the 20 rep bug before too. I acted on it, for like one or two very light backoff sets just to see what happened. LoL That taste made me want to tackle it progressively but I didn't want to screw up my program so I dropped 'em. Regardless of whether you do 'em, I'll be checking in.
 
None whatsoever. I'm pretty sure I can do it at one-plate so that'd be a good place to start. I can't even go outside and test it meaningfully since the number would be quickly out of date. Either I just dive in and keep trying to add weight or not.
 
BW, with the progressive 20-reppers, if you followed the basic layout of poundages (which I think is more than realistic, considering you were a low-400's squatter pre-injury) the first 2.5 weeks will really be conditioning work, and you may or may not find the last 2 workouts of 275 and 295 to be tough, but soreness won't be a big issue from the conditioning you'd have built up, and you'd be surprised how easy they get when you 'toughen up' after you gain the work capicity needed.....at that point, you'd be able to probably get back into 5 reppers at around 315 and you'd probably be maybe 4-6 weeks away at most from 365ishx5's......you could make the 20 reppers twice a week for 4 weeks if you'd feel more comfortable that way......the only thing, from my experiences at least, is that 20 reppers work best when thats all you do.....doing 5's or 3's or 10's or front squats or whatever on the other days has always been a recipe for premature burnout.
 
BiggT said:
BW, with the progressive 20-reppers, if you followed the basic layout of poundages (which I think is more than realistic, considering you were a low-400's squatter pre-injury) the first 2.5 weeks will really be conditioning work, and you may or may not find the last 2 workouts of 275 and 295 to be tough, but soreness won't be a big issue from the conditioning you'd have built up, and you'd be surprised how easy they get when you 'toughen up' after you gain the work capicity needed.....at that point, you'd be able to probably get back into 5 reppers at around 315 and you'd probably be maybe 4-6 weeks away at most from 365ishx5's......you could make the 20 reppers twice a week for 4 weeks if you'd feel more comfortable that way......the only thing, from my experiences at least, is that 20 reppers work best when thats all you do.....doing 5's or 3's or 10's or front squats or whatever on the other days has always been a recipe for premature burnout.
Click to expand...
I'd managed to work out the last part. :)

I'm definitely tempted by these. I'll probably do my usual warmups and work up to, maybe, a triple 20% higher than the 20-rep set.

For pressing I'll do some OHP and floor presses. For pulling, I'll probably just stick with Pendlay rows. The workload from these should be low enough not to interfere with the squats and the squats should be enough work at 3x per week to provide whole-body stimulation.

I've been thinking since yesterday about the weight progression you posted. It doesn't give me any real concern until the third week, pretty much as you say. At that stage my conditioning and endurance should be up that I'll have a decent shot at the third week, anyway.

Hit or miss, it'll be a new experience.
 
Squat 20s - W1 D1

I might be driving to visit family next Friday so I thought I'd shuffle the week back by a day. I also managed to get this workout in during the morning before the heat hits. I'd intended to do a workout yesterday but once the afternoon came around, it wasn't going to happen.

The 20-rep set at 60Kg, as expected, wasn't so bad. I got to 15 reps and took a couple of extra breaths. Not really a pause just a couple of gasps of air. 18, 19, 20 were odd, it was almost an act of faith to come up with the weight as though my legs were likely not to respond. I was breathing heavily after that.

I went for floor press again. Again it felt heavier than I expected and I kept thinking I was wanting to throw up so popped into the kitchen to grab a couple of Rennie. I did a couple of sets of close grip at 60Kg to finish off. I guess I could claim PRs on these since I had never done them before last week but that'd be silly.

Rows, I kept the set start-to-start time down to 75 seconds.

For the duration of these squats, I'll probably do flat sets of rows on day1 and flat sets of floor press on day3. I'm still not sure what to do on day2. I'll probably do OHP for pressing but not sure what to do as a pull yet. I'm thinking that getting into deadlifts while working 20-rep squats would be asking for trouble. Maybe SLDL would be OK. I don't want to get ballistic until my ankle feels a bit better.

The workout was about three hours ago and my legs feel fine. They felt fine already by the time I'd finished setting things up for the floor pressing. I'll see what aches tomorrow brings. :)


All weight in Kilos, +.5Kg unless just the bar.
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 90x3, 60x20
Floor Press
20x10, 40x10, 60x5, 75x5, 85x5, 95x5, 105x5, Close Grip 60x10 for 2 sets
BB Row
20x10, 60x5, 75x5x5
 
blut wump said:
There's a thin covering of oil over everything, plates and bar, so they'll take some time to rust but they are living outside.

I couldn't think about taking an abrasive to it. That'd be a fubar.
Click to expand...
yea, but over in the chicken coop, they'd collect a ton of poop! ;)
 
blut wump said:
That's an interesting and appealing idea. Maybe run triples on the Friday, something intermediate (5s) on the Weds and crazy 20-reppers on the Monday. I'll take another look at Guinness's 20-rep squat work.
Click to expand...


the old school program I posted 3 years ago incorporates 20 rep deads/squats with a standard 5x5
 
The Shadow said:
the old school program I posted 3 years ago incorporates 20 rep deads/squats with a standard 5x5
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll go take a read.

I've just taken about a month out with illness and injuries and am still nursing a bad ankle. This seems like a way to make getting back into my workouts a little more interesting.
 
supine benching on the floor......unrack and bench, obviously until upper arms hit floor...works middle to lockout
 
The Shadow said:
supine benching on the floor......unrack and bench, obviously until upper arms hit floor...works middle to lockout
Click to expand...
plus you don't have the advantage of much arch or any leg drive... so it also hits the muscles harder.
 
silver_shadow said:
plus you don't have the advantage of much arch or any leg drive... so it also hits the muscles harder.
Click to expand...
You can still tuck and arch. The deweighting at the bottom as your upper arms hit the ground adds to the difficulty.

You also have the option of turning it into a decline press by bending your knees and forming a bridge.
 
Squat 20s - W1 D2

The heat here is not ideal. The two triples at 85Kg and 95Kg felt hard and I was thinking that the 20-repper just wasn't going to happen. No problems, though. I took a longer pause today after 15 reps and a brief pause before the last rep. The last three reps didn't give me that feeling today that my legs might not cooperate in bringing me back up. I was gasping for air, though.

The MP was a lot harder than expected. I took a look in my log book and saw that I did 60x5x5 when I started tha last 5x5 so decided to do sets of 6 and finish on 60Kg. The last set was pretty tough.

I still couldn't decide what to do for a pull and settled on doing some power cleans practice from the hang position. Lots of sets of lots of reps with just the bar and then with a 10Kg weight on each end. I might give them another go this evening.

I think I mentioned elsewhere that I've never before tried to get under the bar for a clean. I've always just cleaned it straight to my shoulders. I think my best was 90Kg x 3 and I'd like to see how much further I can take it with a duck-under.


All weight in Kilos, +.5Kg unless just the bar.
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 85x3, 95x3, 70x20
Military Press
20x10, 40x6, 45x6, 50x6, 55x6, 60x6, 20x10
 
I got my rubber mats down. After unloading ten of them from the van and then carrying three around to the stable I reckoned I'd done enough work to count as an evening workout. They're not especially heavy, I reckon around 60-70 pounds, but they are very unwieldy. They're also going to be smelly for weeks.

I might take a picture of the stable tomorrow. I just need to think about a power rack and bench now. :)
 
It's tough on the home-gym front. My initial intent was just to have some weights at home, mostly so that I could mess with them on off-days and practice some rare exercises such as snatches, cleans or overhead squats without using up gym-time. I reckoned they'd also be handy for occasional days when it's not convenient to go to the gym or even for days when I'm not planning to bench or squat. Getting the squat stand enabled squats and was fairly cheap so I grabbed one of those too.

It's cost me another £120 for the rubber mats and so the cost has grown to more than £400, about $780. I'm also finding it a lot more pleasant to work out at home rather than blow 40 minutes driving to the gym. It'll cost me about the same again to get the power-rack I've been fancying along with a bench.

It's just tempting is all. I'll then have all I need for complete home workouts if I grab some Oly DB handles too.
 
Squat 20s - W1 D3

Once again I thought the 20-repper was going to be tough but no problems. I took a breather again at 15 but less than last time. Legs felt a little wobbly for the last rep. I was huffing like a steam train but the muscles felt ok within seconds of stopping.

Not much to say about floor press except that again it was harder than I expected. I have no idea how to compare floor press with bench for relative difficulty, though. I'd like to think my flat bench at this weight would be easier than these were. The two close-grip sets had my triceps complaining. I guess I should be saying something like "Wow, what a pump" but I really don't like the feeling.

The BBRow was easier than I expected especially since I couldn't be bothered taking the 15Kg plates off and putting the 20s on so the bar was lower than usual.

Overall, I'm not displeased with my first week back after a month-long layoff. I'm having a long weekend so I should be fresh for next week.

All weight in Kilos, +.5Kg unless just the bar.
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 100x3, 80x20
Floor Press
20x10, 40x10, 60x5, 80x3, 90x5x5, Close Grip 62.5x10 for 2 sets
BB Row
20x10, 50x5, 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x5
 
I stacked 2x20Kg plates, a 15 and a 2.5 on the floor on each side and that left the bar just fractions below my bottoming-out point so I could lift off easily.

I don't mind doing floor press another two weeks while I'm doing these squats and getting back from the layoff. I still have a gym membership lasting until October so I'll be back at the gym soon enough. I might even get back to the gym after next week so I have a proper rack in case I need to dump the bar in the final week. :)
 
Nice improvisation, i imagine squatting 80 x 20 after 100 x 3 is tough especially for an old guy ;) You think you can get 100 x 20 ?
I have just finished HST where i finished on 100 x 15 x 2 and it was both mentally and physically tough, but aftwards i felt good and that's what kept me going.
 
Thanks, I think. No, the 100x3 felt light. It was just to go a little over.

I think I'll be fine up to 110Kg. I expect to get 120Kg. 130 and 140 will be a struggle.

Actually, now that you've gotten me thinking about the numbers, I'm wondering whether to fudge them down slightly:
Make this next week 90, 100, 107.5
Final week 115, 125, 135 or, maybe, 115, 122.5, 130.

I'm going to get booed now. :(
 
Squat 20s - W2 D1

I'm starting to enjoy the 20-rep squats. As I started the set, I could feel that 90Kg was heavier than last Thursday's 80Kg but the effort of repping didn't seem as great. I didn't pause until after rep 16 and I had neither wobbles nor particular discomfort through finishing. I think I might even have been gasping for air a little less.

The floor press is getting tough already and the last rep was a slow grind to lockout. If I haven't yet dragged myself back to the gym by next week then I'll only bump these by a small amount. My shiny new plates are sticking together less than they did and my two little piles of plates to raise the bar for lift-off were sliding around. I need a better solution.

The Pendlay Rows were fine. Just about right for a second week back into workouts. I never seem to have much to say about rows.

I was half expecting a cruddy workout due to the paucity of sleep from the trip to visit family but the vast amount of eating I did over the weekend probably carried me through. I tend to forget how much cooking my sister does and then, as soon as she suspects that the food might have settled, around come the pastries, ice creams, sweets (candies), fruits, offers of sandwiches just to tide me over to the next meal. A bowl of nuts for nibbling is always available. Luxury!

All weight in Kilos, +.5Kg unless just the bar. Last week in orange
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 90x3, 60x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 85x3, 95x3, 70x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 100x3, 80x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 85x3, 110x3, 90x20
Floor Press
20x10, 40x10, 60x5, 75x5, 85x5, 95x5, 105x5, Close Grip 60x10 for 2 sets
20x10, 40x8, 60x5, 75x5, 90x5, 100x5, 110x5, Close Grip 65x10 for 2 sets
BB Row
20x10, 60x5, 75x5x5
20x10, 60x5, 85x5x5
 
Good stuff with those squats, the 15's killed me i can imagine how tough those 20's are.

If you have just gotten a brand new bar i'm guessing it is coverd with that thin layer of greece, so you have to use those chunky collars to keep the plates from sliding around. I had to use my collars when i first got my bar but after a while the grease wears away and i don't use collars no more. (i'm 2 lazy to tighten and unfasten them)

If i remember rightly you have a power rack, if so then why not get a bench ? I'm sure you will find a good deal on ebay.
 
The oily residue is slowly going away. The weights live outside in the stable which should speed the process as the dust gets blown around. The wind blowing through is doing a grand job of taking the pungent aroma from the rubber mats.

I only bought spring collars. They seem to be able to do the job. No rack yet. I went for a squat stand, thinking that I'd be happy with just that and some weights. I'm now wanting a power rack and a bench.

I was amazed at not keeling over on these. I think the 20-rep sets have been easier each time. I can feel that I'm squatting more weight but endurance must be increasing since I'm coping ever better with the set.
 
Blut - are you using a rack for the squats??

you can use for the floor presses as well
 
RE: your comment about endurance . . . do you think that after an initial conditioning blitz here, that you'll be able to push pretty heavy weights on 20 reppers? I always kind of wonder if the light weights needed to let you hit 20 is somehow "less good" than heavy triples or fives, etc. Probably both good, at diff't times. . .
 
I'm glad the 20-reppers are going well, and there is nothing eating everything in sight when you visit family
 
Protobuilder said:
RE: your comment about endurance . . . do you think that after an initial conditioning blitz here, that you'll be able to push pretty heavy weights on 20 reppers? I always kind of wonder if the light weights needed to let you hit 20 is somehow "less good" than heavy triples or fives, etc. Probably both good, at diff't times. . .
Click to expand...


Great progress can be made by adding 5 pounds to the bar at each workout....you can usually getall 20 for 6-8 sessions....then add 10 pounds at each session and work your way back down to a set of 3.


the 1RM will typically jump by 15%.
 
I know 1 thing, when i came off the 10 and 15 reps of HST, i was much less tired after squating in old PR range on sets of 5.
 
maybe I missed the reply..

Blut - you have a training/power rack with adjustable racks?
 
No, I have just a squat stand which is why I'm floor pressing from a pile of weights. Luckily, I've not yet had to dump a bar while squatting but I have rubber mats down to afford some protection to the bar, weights and concrete.

If I stick with this home-gym plan then a power-rack and bench are the next items.
 
No workout yesterday as we had a disaster with the chickens. I was sure that we'd secured the place against any fox intrusion but it looks like a fanged rodent got in. It actually tore it's own entrance through the roofing material and killed eight chickens. Somehow seven others survived although two of them have wounds.

After reinforcing the fortifications and disposing of the corpses and clucking around the others I reckoned the workout could wait a day. It was very saddening.
 
Squat 20s - W2 D2

As I mentioned in the last post, this workout is a day late. It's one of benefits or downsides to having kit at home. It's no real hassle to slip or gain a day since I have no weekend opening hours to worry about.

The 20-rep set was, without any doubt, the hardest so far. I got to 12 reps before taking a short breather and then got to 16. After that it was single then pause until all twenty were done. During those last few, a part of me was just telling me to dump the bar. A very strange feeling. None of the reps was in any doubt, though. As I was going down I knew I'd be coming back up and then there was that feeling again, while I was grabbing some air, just to dump the bar. Obviously, I was gasping for breath after finishing.

I decided to revert to sets of five rather than six on MP. The last set was fairly hard. A bit more in the tank but not a lot. I think I'm judging these weights overall quite well for a three-week stint.

I didn't feel like doing cleans and so was still stuck for a pull. I don't want to add deads while doing the 20-rep squats, maybe next run, so I settled for more rowing. I dropped the weight down about 20% from Monday and decided to run them with 60 seconds between starting each set. I should probably have gone for 45 seconds. Nothing much to report.

All in all, things are still moving. The 120Kg triple felt heavyish but I knew I had plenty more reps in me if needed. I think I shall go for 107.5Kg (plus 0.5 for the collars) next workout. I'm currently 5 pounds ahead of BiggT's scheduling (220 rather than 215 at this stage) and dropping the increments down will bring it back in line and I might even have a shot at making it to the end. I can't really say that today's 20-repper was entirely pleasant but it was something new.


All weight in Kilos, +.5Kg unless just the bar. Last week in orange
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 90x3, 60x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 85x3, 95x3, 70x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 100x3, 80x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 85x3, 110x3, 90x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 90x3, 120x3, 100x20
Military Press
20x10, 40x6, 45x6, 50x6, 55x6, 60x6, 20x10
20x10, 40x5, 47.5x5, 55x5, 62.5x5, 70x5
BB Row
20x10, 60x5, 70x5x5
 
anotherbutters said:
Another one? Sorry to hear that. You're not having much luck with those chickens.
Click to expand...
I felt gutted last night when two of the chickens seemed to be in a panic at having to return to the coop for the night. Much of the time one just thinks of them as chickens but it's easy to get attached to them and view them as pets and have favourites. I'm a tad depressed by the incident.
 
solarclimax said:
Just think if you ate those chickens, your squat might shoot up :RADAR
:evil:
Click to expand...
I put them at the base of a nearby oak for scavengers to take. That's what we usually do with the rabbits we shoot, too.
 
Squat 20s - W2 D3

The weights are a bit messed up on squats. I'd intended 80, 110, 130 but, when I took the 10s off and replaced them with 15s, I forgot to put the 10s back. I was very pleased at how comfortable '110' felt and even more pleased at how comfortable '130' felt when I added the two 10s. I plead temporary insanity.

The real 130Kg was fine and didn't really feel any worse than 100Kg did a week and a half ago. I can't say the same for the 20-repper. I made it to 11 reps before having to pause for breath. I noticed that I was bellowing a bit near to the end but there was no-one around to hear. A gruelling set but I've made it through two weeks. I added a nice, steady single at 107.5 just to make sure that my mind was aware it has nothing to fear from a puny 108Kg.

My floor-press setup is getting to be a hazard as the weights are sliding about a bit now. The 100Kg sets were an effort but fine. I'm kind of itching to see where I stand on a normal bench press.

The last set of rows were a real struggle - pretty much maximal effort. I got distracted by my wife getting home after the fourth set, though, so probably lost a bit to cooling off.

I starting to feel like I'm kind of strong again but I know I'm nowhere near where I was seven or eight weeks ago. It feels pretty tragic to go through that last 5x5 and lose it all to a stomach bug and a twisted ankle. Still, think how much further back I'd have been without that run and I have to remember that this is still only two weeks of getting back into the workouts.

I'm a bit anxious about next week's 20-reppers. I'll go for 115Kg (254 lbs with my collars) next, which I expect to get, but probably slow down to 120Kg after that and, maybe, 125 to finish depending on what happens at 120. I hope nobody is going to pop in and tell me not to be a wuss.


All weight in Kilos, +.5Kg unless just the bar.
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 90x3, 60x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 85x3, 95x3, 70x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 100x3, 80x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 85x3, 110x3, 90x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 90x3, 120x3, 100x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 90x3, 110x3, 130x3, 107.5x20, 107.5x1
Floor Press
20x10, 40x10, 60x5, 80x3, 90x5x5, Close Grip 62.5x10 for 2 sets
20x10, 40x8, 60x5, 80x3, 100x5x5, Close Grip 67.5x10 for 2 sets
BB Row
20x10, 50x5, 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x5
20x10, 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x5, 100x5
 
blut wump said:
The real 130Kg was fine...
Click to expand...
For a brief moment, I thought that was your 20 rep set. Imagine my disappointment to see it was only for a triple ;). Still, if you do make it up to 125kgx20, 130 isn't that much more :)

Any signs of loading?
 
I'm falling asleep watching the Formula 1 qualifying if that counts. Otherwise, not really, no.

Sorry to be such a disappointment. :)


Edit:-
The qualifying is over and I'm now feeling wide awake. I think it was just the driving that was inducing the somnolence.
 
I received an Iron Mind leaflet through the post today and they have a book called "Super Squats - Your Guide to 20-Rep Squats". Does anyone know of it? Will it teach me anything more than BiggT aleady is? :)

It says I can gain 30 pounds of muscle in six weeks. I'd better not buy it. My shoes are getting a bit thin underneath as it is.

They also have some stats on Colin Bryce who comperes the Strongman. It seems he's done an 89cm vertical jump (35"), power cleaned 165Kg and power snatched 135Kg. I never knew. He made the finals of British Strongest Man in 1999 and was in the British bobsleigh team at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
 
BW, I think that is the original '20 rep squat' template. I would run an internet search before buying the book, I can't recall off-hand, but I think it is like the Smolov, where it is easily accessible on the internet. If I remember, it is 6 weeks, squatting either 2 or 3 times a week depending on your recovery.....assistance was minimal, little to nothing, thats the program with the pullovers right after the squats.

Two approaches guys use is one, to take the 12-rep max, do a 20 rep breathing set, then go up from there.....the other is to take the 5 rep max, knock 60lbs off, and do 20's for 6 weeks finishing with the old 5rm for a set of 20 on the final workout.

Dig around the net before you buy the book though, because I think it is floating around out there.

You're already doing progressive 20 reppers tailored to suit yourself, so again, all a book provides is a basic template, that you'd most likely have to tweak a bit anyway, and it'd most likely just end up like what you're doing now.
 
There's a plethora of 20-rep squat routines on the 'Net. I've not seen any other piling 20 pounds a session onto the bar, though.

The weight start and progression coupled with the time-frame pleased me about this template you outlined almost from first seeing it. You even predicted when I'd start to think about stalling. Pretty impressive and thanks again for the suggestion.
 
Thanks....Thats something I've done after a layoff, and a friend of mine used it back in college coming off surgery to repair his ACL. The 20lb jumps work well because you start out with such a relatively light load compared to pre-layoff/injury, and it builds the necessary conditioning after the layoff, plus the 20-reppers aren't such a connective tissue strain post-injury and you're in a good position to respond well to the 3-5 rep range when you start a new training cycle.
 
blut wump said:
I received an Iron Mind leaflet through the post today and they have a book called "Super Squats - Your Guide to 20-Rep Squats". Does anyone know of it? Will it teach me anything more than BiggT aleady is? :)

It says I can gain 30 pounds of muscle in six weeks. I'd better not buy it. My shoes are getting a bit thin underneath as it is.
Click to expand...

I have the book, I just dug it out recently a few weeks ago. I'll skim through it and give you a little rundown.
 
Basically:

Take your current 10RM and do 20 reps. Every workout add 5lbs to the bar. Frequency is recommended 3 x week to start with. If that's too much, try twice per week. If you're too old and feeble for that try every 5 or 6 days ;)

He also recommends 1 gallon of milk per day (where have I heard that before?) to get that 30lbs of muscle.

The rest of the book is stuff you already know about form and other exercises, some motivational things, a few programs and some stuff about diet, rest and nutrition.

Anyway, I think the book is only $10 so I like having it.
 
Thanks Jim. That program really is plastered all over the 'Net.

I mentioned to my wife that my legs were feeling a bit fatigued. I think she misunderstood me to be asking whether I could go work out in the sand school. Next I knew I was being packed off with a large bottle of water in the searing heat to go level the sand and rubber. 40 minutes of 'sled'-dragging had me well-knackered and passing out on the sofa.

Back in answer to AB's question I reckon maybe I am having early signs of loading.
 
I found this description of 20-rep squats on BB.com. I thought it was amusing.

1. easy
2. easy
3. alright this is gonna be a piece of cake
4. Ill be at 20 in no time
5. Oh cool my favorite song
6. (starts sweating) alright 14 more
7. 13 more
8. ok 12 more this is still going to be easy
9. one more and ill be halfway
10. wew half way
11. damn my legs are burning
12. ok, it cant get any worse then this
13. ahh damn
14. oh i hope my legs colapse and this falls on me
15. damn BiggT for telling me to do this
16. F***
17. oh kill me please
18. Next time I do this im gonna be on serious pain killers
19. Im never doing this again.
19 1/2. ahhhh (craps himself) which makes him light enough to get the last half rep up.
 
Blut:
Maybe someone already asked you this but I have been wondering this for a while - what is that red thing your dog is wearing? A leash? A bandana? WTF?? lol
 
VSUdude said:
Blut:
Maybe someone already asked you this but I have been wondering this for a while - what is that red thing your dog is wearing? A leash? A bandana? WTF?? lol
Click to expand...
It's a harness. It allows you to apply a lot of force to telling the dog which way to go without hurting its neck. Similarly, for a dog such as a greyhound or lurcher, that is very quick off the mark, you can stop them again without danger to the neck.

That picture was taken about 15-20 minutes after the dog arrived with us. He was a known 'dangerous dog' and my wife rescued him from death row as a last chance since we'd had success with other dogs. She brought him down from the rescue centre and he arrived with the harness on and a muzzle. We were under strict instructions not to touch his neck because he would definitely bite. He'd spent the previous year in a 4'x3'x3' cage in solitary confinement, taken out only for toilet breaks and only by their most-experienced handlers. You can clearly tell that I'm an over-confident idiot.

The rest is history. He's a calm and relaxed member of the household now.
 
Squat 20s - W3 D1

I approached today's squats with a different mindset to previous sessions. I had little confidence of just attacking the 115Kg 20-repper and expecting to carry it to the end with pure willpower. Accordingly, my "20% over" set became just a walkout, which I held for a slow 10-count before racking it.

The 20-repper itself I deliberately kept nice and steady. Rather than blasting away until I was tired and then struggling to the end, I took a little breather before I was tired after 6 or 7 reps. I took myself to 12 or 13 with doubles and singles. After that it was just singles. After 15 I was taking 6 or 7 deep breaths between reps. The end never felt in doubt but I did get a little cramp in my calf.

The last three sets of floor press felt like hard work. When I came to load up 112.5, I didn't have enough weights. I had to swap a pair of 1.25Kg weights for the 2.5s on the support stacks to make the 112.5 on the bar. Tough final set which locked out more easily than the 110Kg last week. I felt satisfied with it.

I felt like throwing up through the rowing. I blame the floor pressing for having me moving weights around on the floor all doubled up so much of the time. I somehow finished without loss of fluid so no problem. The weight could have been a shade heavier but not a lot.

I hope no-one views the change of technique on the 20-repper as cheating. I decided that the goal is to get to the end, not to take the scenic route getting there. I've read a few articles on 20-reppers and everyone seems to think that the time spent standing and just holding the bar is fair recompense for the breather you're taking. I didn't have any pump to worry about this time. It was just a matter of gasping for air until I could grab a good lungful and take it down for another rep.


All weight in Kilos, +.5Kg unless just the bar. Previous weeks in orange
Squats
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 90x3, 60x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 85x3, 95x3, 70x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 100x3, 80x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 85x3, 110x3, 90x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 90x3, 120x3, 100x20
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 80x3, 90x3, 110x3, 130x3, 107.5x20, 107.5x1
20x10, 30x10, 60x5, 90x3, 110x3, 150 - 10s walkout, 115x20
Floor Press
20x10, 40x10, 60x5, 75x5, 85x5, 95x5, 105x5, Close Grip 60x10 for 2 sets
20x10, 40x8, 60x5, 75x5, 90x5, 100x5, 110x5, Close Grip 65x10 for 2 sets
20x10, 40x8, 60x5, 75x5, 90x5, 102.5x5, 112.5x5, Close Grip 70x10 for 2 sets
BB Row
20x10, 60x5, 75x5x5
20x10, 60x5, 85x5x5
20x10, 60x5, 90x5x5
 
I'm not sure yet, I'll certainly be backing off a little next week. Probably the usual three sets of triples.

My legs today hadn't fully recovered from last week so I'm expecting some struggling as this one progresses. Foolishly, I'm thinking of going for 125Kg rather than 120 in two days time. Maybe I'll compromise at 122.5 then 130.
 
Nice workout.

The way to do 20 reppers is to just do 20 reps by yourself, whichever way you can. I can remember doing them and gasping for air at 5 or 6, lol. The only thing that is cheating is re-racking the bar and resting a bit, lol, everything else is all good.
 
blut wump said:
I'm not sure yet, I'll certainly be backing off a little next week. Probably the usual three sets of triples.

My legs today hadn't fully recovered from last week so I'm expecting some struggling as this one progresses. Foolishly, I'm thinking of going for 125Kg rather than 120 in two days time. Maybe I'll compromise at 122.5 then 130.
Click to expand...


TRUST ME ON THIS:


If you can't keep the reps at 20 while adding the specified weight dont compromise the weight..keep adding week to week and let the reps fall where they will....nothing wrong with dropping a few reps here and there while adding weight.


When you get back down to a set of 12 or so...check your 3rm
 
This is my last week of the 20-reppers: just two sessions left. I only launched into this as a way to recondition and get my basic strength levels back after a month-long layoff due to illness and injury. The 20-pound session-to-session increases weren't expected to be long sustainable.

I might run an extended 6-weeker of these at some point in the future but I tend to use 3 to 5 reps as my basic bread and butter work range. The intention is to get my breath back next week and then I might go back into a fairly standard 5x5 to get my main lifts restored to where they were.
 
not cheating at all m8, you got the reps.

You could always throw in some 4 x 5 cumulative fatigue work later on if you want the benefits of the 20's without all the problems of form breakdown as the weights get up. Personally I way prefer breaking it into 4 mini sets, do 5 with your 10rm, rack it for 90 seconds, do another 5 etc. It's a lot easier to make each rep perfect rather than banging them out to get to 20 & get the weight off your back.
 
your numbers for 20 reppers are pretty impressive. what were some of your squat PRs (5RM maybe 10RM) before you got injured?
 
Thanks.

I was up to 170Kg x 3 and climbing, a couple of weeks earlier I'd done 160Kg x 4 all beltless and fully deep. I've not done a 10-repper except for warmups in recent memory.

My last log is here. You can see where I ended up before injury. I had a week out to rest my hamstrings, was just getting back into the work and got a stomach bug followed immediately by a sprained ankle. At that point I decided I could take a hint.

Last log - a 5x5 program:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=460736
 
I've had it described as a generic power squat. I go down until hammies make solid contact wth calves with a foot stance about shoulder width, maybe a shade wider. It's more Oly style than PL style, back reasonably vertical, bar somewhere between high and low etc.

My first set of 20 reps at 60Kg (132 pounds) was a bit shaky over the last three reps. After that it's mostly been easier. Pacing myself, as I did today, helped a lot, too. When I racked the bar today, I felt I had a good few more in me with the long breathers. It's mostly a matter of staying focused.
 
blut wump said:
I've had it described as a generic power squat. I go down until hammies make solid contact wth calves with a foot stance about shoulder width, maybe a shade wider. It's more Oly style than PL style, back reasonably vertical, bar somewhere between high and low etc.

My first set of 20 reps at 60Kg (132 pounds) was a bit shaky over the last three reps. After that it's mostly been easier. Pacing myself, as I did today, helped a lot, too. When I racked the bar today, I felt I had a good few more in me with the long breathers. It's mostly a matter of staying focused.
Click to expand...
ok. i think we're along the same level as far as those go. i do my squats very much like you describe. very low, i drop till i stop. i even pause for a second, which does kind of eliminate any stretch reflex. but my stance is pretty conservative, shoulder width, bar high to mid. i've been doing 5x5's for years now though, wonder how my legs will blow up with 20 rep sets....
 
blut wump said:
Take a Google, you'll find lots of 6-week 20-rep offerings.
Click to expand...
that's true too. using a program is the best way to go, instead of winging it weekly...
 
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