AB's Keeling Over Reeling Through Exhaustion

[anotherbutters]

Have you worked out how you're going to run next week yet? As a fall-back, you could run week 5 just as Korte has it. It's not a bad way to deload. Of course, you'll have to pick some sensible numbers.

I think I'll go ahead with an intensity phase once I'm done loading. Thanks for your comments the other day.

One option is to follow Korte, but peaking using triples. I think I'd prefer triples over singles or 5 reps since I haven't peaked them before and I'd want to peak triples before peaking singles. Here's my progress so far, along with a possible week 8. The 60% baseline lifts are higher than 60% because I just know I'll be able to cope.

All weights in kg.
SQUAT			BENCH			DEAD			TONNAGE
Weight	Sets	Reps	Weight	Sets	Reps	Weight	Sets	Reps	
									
Progress so far:							
67	6	5	48	6	6	87	6	5	6348
67	7	5	48	7	6	87	7	5	7406
69	7	5	50	7	6	90	7	5	7665
71	7	5	52	7	6	92	7	5	7889
71	8	5	54	7	6	94	7	5	8398
73	8	5	56	7	6	96	7	5	8632
75	8	5	58	8	6	98	7	5	9214
78	8	5	59	8	6	101	7	5	9487
80	8	5	60	8	6	103	7	5	9685
82	8	5	61	8	6	105	7	5	9883
84	8	5	62	8	6	108	8	5	10656
									
Possible week 8:						
115	1	3	58	5	4	100	3	3	2405
75	3	3	82	1	3	100	3	3	1821
75	3	3	58	5	4	150	1	3	2285

The tonnage is slashed, as indended, but I'm worried about a big detraining effect if I do this for 4 weeks. I'll probably finish each workout in 10 minutes

I know Prilepin would have you do more, but this is supposed to be an intensity phase, peaking a 3RM. Warmups would be exactly that, not a ramp. Maybe I should employ backoff sets, or maybe I shouldn't mess with it.

I noticed Practical Periodisation has been renamed to Practical Programming. Still due out next month. I wish I had a copy right now.

---
Damn, I've just realised the figures I used for week 8 are my projected 1RM figures, but I'm using them for triples. I'll rework the figures another time. My comments still apply as to whether this is a good idea. Or I could do something completely different. I don't know. I'm warming to the above though.

 

[blut wump]

You could ramp down your higher triples over the weeks. In the standard intensity phase, he'd have you doing a couple of singles in the early weeks and single singles later. You could start with three triples dropping to two and then a single triple. Just a suggestion.

You don't yet know how long you're going to take to deload so there's still going to be an big element of playng it by ear. Don't worry about the daunting final figures, you're stronger now than you were. As BiggT commented to me several times as a reminder, moving into new territory is always a bit scary.

One to go.

 

[anotherbutters]

Korte: Week 4, Day 3

I've been trying my best to get more sleep and it's definitely helped this week. I felt fresher today, but I could still feel the loading. Well, I thought so. Sometimes I wonder how fatigued I really am. I find it difficult to gauge as it's a new feeling to me. I feel a little slower, but definitely not run down into the ground. From the results of this workout, I'm still not sure.

On the third set of squats my shorts burst open, almost completely in half. They were in tatters with my arse hanging out. Good job I work out at home Don't worry, no video today. On Wednesday, I was worried I wouldn't complete today's squats. I did my usual 2 minute start times today, but the 5th set went up slowly and I didn't think the 6th would go up, so I abandoned the 2 minute thing. It worked - the remaining sets were still hard, but not in doubt. It felt like I'd let the brakes off, giving me another aid to help me through the workouts. By the time I'd finished squats, I felt like I'd be able to carry on loading into next week.

Bench had longer rest times too and as a consequence wasn't as hard as Wednesday, which admittedly, was a bit silly with ~1 min rest times. Bench was hard, but managable today.

Deads were a problem. The sharp pain in my right rear delt came back straight away during my warmups (60x5, 80x5, 100x1). On the first real set, the pain got a lot worse on each rep and by the third rep there was a big light in my head saying STOP NOW! I waited 30 seconds and finished the set. The pain was enough that I knew there was an injury there for the taking, but I really didn't want to stop at this stage. I tried set 2, but forgot my chalk and had to pause for 20 secs before finishing it. The pain was still there. I carried on and found the pain was less in some sets. By set 6, I'd figured out that a big arch in my back and a lower start position was what I needed - no pain. In fact, the weight was flying up at that stage. I guess my legs are stronger I'm really pleased with how easy these deads feel. 3 plates is in the bag, I know it.

So, I've made it to the end of week 4 and I'm just about injury free. What a ride. I love this program! But, I don't think I'm done loading yet. When I started, I was stuck on 93x5. I want to get 90x8x5 next Wednesday and I think I just might be able to make it.

Workout time: 85 mins

Bodyweight: 184lb

All weights in kg, warmups excluded.

................Squat...................Bench...................................Deads...........
W1 D1: .... 67 x 6 x 5 reps ..... 48 x 6 x 6 reps (WSNWSN) ....... 87 x 6 x 5 reps ... (147lb/106lb/191lb)
W1 D2: .... 67 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 48 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 87 x 7 x 5 reps
W1 D3: .... 69 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 50 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 90 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D1: .... 71 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 52 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 92 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D2: .... 71 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 54 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 94 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D3: .... 73 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 56 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 96 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D1: .... 75 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 58 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 98 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D2: .... 78 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 59 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 101 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D3: .... 80 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 60 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 103 x 7 x 5 reps
W4 D1: .... 82 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 61 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 105 x 7 x 5 reps
W4 D2: .... 84 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 62 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 108 x 8 x 5 reps
TODAY: ... 86 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 63 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 111 x 8 x 5 reps ... (189lb/139lb/244lb)

 

[blut wump]

Careful with the deadlifting pain. One of the great things of the Korte is the amount of practice you get to work around injuries.

It sounds to me as though you might be able to keep going. Your first couple of weeks didn't seem to be much real stress on you. The third started to be an effort but wasn't too bad. Guage how you feel over the weekend.

Thanks for not posting any video.

 

[anotherbutters]

Korte: Week 5, Day 1 (intensity phase)

After squats, today was a nice, slow, lazy workout. Squats felt heavy and went up slowly, but weren't in doubt. Bench was easy. I'm finding a slightly narrower grip than my old wide grip to be easier, but I varied between the two today. I warmed up carefully with more sets on deads today: 60x5 70x4 80x3 90x2, but felt the shoulder pain on the 60, 80 and 90 weights. The worst was the first rep on 60kg, even though I was being careful. Again, I wasn't sure whether to continue, but did so. The pain didn't get any worse on the top sets and wasn't present on the final triple. It's not an intense pain, but it's worrying. I'm particularly worried about Friday now. I'm even thinking of trying to see the physio before then.

I threw in 7 sets of Needsize crunches today, with a 5 second pause. They were a lot easier than last time I tried them. Do you concentrate on tensing your abs when doing these, because it seems like it's easy to cheat and use your hips to pull you up?

Workout time: 40 mins

Bodyweight: 185lb

All weights in kg, warmups excluded.

................Squat...................Bench...................................Deads...........
W1 D1: .... 67 x 6 x 5 reps ..... 48 x 6 x 6 reps (WSNWSN) ....... 87 x 6 x 5 reps ... (147lb/106lb/191lb)
W1 D2: .... 67 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 48 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 87 x 7 x 5 reps
W1 D3: .... 69 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 50 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 90 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D1: .... 71 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 52 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 92 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D2: .... 71 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 54 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 94 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D3: .... 73 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 56 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 96 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D1: .... 75 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 58 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 98 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D2: .... 78 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 59 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 101 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D3: .... 80 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 60 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 103 x 7 x 5 reps
W4 D1: .... 82 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 61 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 105 x 7 x 5 reps
W4 D2: .... 84 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 62 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 108 x 8 x 5 reps
W4 D3: .... 86 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 63 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 111 x 8 x 5 reps
TODAY: ... 92 x 3 x 3 reps ..... 57 x 5 x 4 reps ....................... 105 x 3 x 3 reps ... (202lb/125lb/231lb)

 

[Cynical Simian]

Do you concentrate on tensing your abs when doing these, because it seems like it's easy to cheat and use your hips to pull you up?

Yep, especially when descending to the hold position. It seems like the hips take over if you lower yourself too quickly. Needsize mentions a few good tips in the thread from which the description in the sticky is taken.

Good luck sorting out the shoulder issue.

 

[anotherbutters]

Thanks. I feel like I've been told to read my own sticky

 

[anotherbutters]

Korte: Week 5, Day 2

Not much to comment on today. Squats and bench were ok. I started my deadlift warmups at 40kg (trivial) and progressed slowly. Every rep was slow and tentative as I could feel my shoulder waiting to become painful, but I carried on and managed to finish the workout with only a couple of small twinges. It's not fixed and I'm still worried about Friday, but we'll see what happens then. I was trying to keep my shoulders back and stay more upright, which seemed to keep it happy.

I finished with some more Needsize crunches. I can feel my back loading up when I do these, so I only did 4 sets of 5 seconds and stopped. I still start every workout with 7x10 seconds of back bridges, curlups, side bridges and bird dogs. Maybe I just need to practise the NS crunches more.

Bodyweight: 185lb

All weights in kg, warmups excluded.

................Squat...................Bench...................................Deads...........
W1 D1: .... 67 x 6 x 5 reps ..... 48 x 6 x 6 reps (WSNWSN) ....... 87 x 6 x 5 reps ... (147lb/106lb/191lb)
W1 D2: .... 67 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 48 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 87 x 7 x 5 reps
W1 D3: .... 69 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 50 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 90 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D1: .... 71 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 52 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 92 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D2: .... 71 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 54 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 94 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D3: .... 73 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 56 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 96 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D1: .... 75 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 58 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 98 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D2: .... 78 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 59 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 101 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D3: .... 80 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 60 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 103 x 7 x 5 reps
W4 D1: .... 82 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 61 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 105 x 7 x 5 reps
W4 D2: .... 84 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 62 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 108 x 8 x 5 reps
W4 D3: .... 86 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 63 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 111 x 8 x 5 reps
W5 D1: .... 92 x 3 x 3 reps ..... 57 x 5 x 4 reps ...................... 105 x 3 x 3 reps ... (202lb squat)
TODAY: ... 80 x 3 x 3 reps ..... 66 x 3 x 3 reps ...................... 105 x 3 x 3 reps ... (145lb bench)

 

[anotherbutters]

Korte: Week 5, Day 3

Thankfully, my shoulder's better. Squats and bench were easy. Deads were a little heavy and my form wasn't brilliant, but my shoulder was a lot better today. I was worried it wouldn't stand up to an intensity phase, but I think with another week before I deadlift 'heavy' again, the worst is over. My thumbs are starting to get a little black in the corners from the hook grip. The grip itself is solid enough with chalk and not too uncomfortable.

Quick workout today as I was in a rush to go out with friends. No core work.

Bodyweight: 186lb

All weights in kg, warmups excluded.

................Squat...................Bench...................................Deads...........
W1 D1: .... 67 x 6 x 5 reps ..... 48 x 6 x 6 reps (WSNWSN) ....... 87 x 6 x 5 reps ... (147lb/106lb/191lb)
W1 D2: .... 67 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 48 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 87 x 7 x 5 reps
W1 D3: .... 69 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 50 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 90 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D1: .... 71 x 7 x 5 reps ..... 52 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 92 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D2: .... 71 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 54 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 94 x 7 x 5 reps
W2 D3: .... 73 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 56 x 7 x 6 reps (NSWNSWN) ..... 96 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D1: .... 75 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 58 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 98 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D2: .... 78 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 59 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 101 x 7 x 5 reps
W3 D3: .... 80 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 60 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 103 x 7 x 5 reps
W4 D1: .... 82 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 61 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 105 x 7 x 5 reps
W4 D2: .... 84 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 62 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 108 x 8 x 5 reps
W4 D3: .... 86 x 8 x 5 reps ..... 63 x 8 x 6 reps (NSWNSWNS) ... 111 x 8 x 5 reps
W5 D1: .... 92 x 3 x 3 reps ..... 57 x 5 x 4 reps ...................... 105 x 3 x 3 reps ... (202lb squat)
W5 D2: .... 80 x 3 x 3 reps ..... 66 x 3 x 3 reps ...................... 105 x 3 x 3 reps ... (145lb bench)
TODAY: ... 80 x 3 x 3 reps ..... 57 x 5 x 4 reps ...................... 120 x 3 x 3 reps ... (264lb dead)

 

[blut wump]

Your weight is climbing. Is that intentional?

Good news on the shoulder.