Kruegs Journal

[Krueg]

Thanks Stig, most the time I like to try to do my presses strict. But, on the last two singles I added a little push to get the bar going.

 

[Krueg]

Sunday, July 7th. 2013
Wave 2 Cycle 2: 3x5

Squat
45x8
105x5
130x5
155x3
165x5
190x5
220x5
165x3

Leg Press: 3x10
GHR's: 4x8 w/ 25 plate (Rep PR)
Back Raises: 3x10 x BW
DB Side Bends: 3x8
RKC Planks 3 sets of 10 sec. Holds

 

[Krueg]

Just realized I accidently wrote down this weeks training percents, last week. Oh well, I guess nothing wrong pushing the same weight a little harder today...

Tuesday, June 9th. 2013
Wave 2 Cycle 2: 5's week

Bench
2x5x45
60x5
75x5
90x3
95x5
110x5
125x7 (Rep PR)

Incline DB Press: 3x10
Chin-Ups: 4 sets @ Body Weight (Suck at these)
Tricep Press Downs: 4x10
Face Pulls: 50 reps

 

[TheStig]

Dang dude how'd that 50 rep set of face pulls feel? Pretty good I'd imagine lol

 

[Krueg]

Thanks Stig, It was my first time doing face pulls so I went light. But had a pretty good pump in my upper-back/rear delts. I like these better than doing rear laterals for my rear delts.

 

[Krueg]

Thursday, July 11. 2013
Wave 2 Cycle 2: 3x5

Deadlift
115x5
140x5
170x3
185x5
210x5
235x7 (Rep PR)

Deficit Pulls
2x5x155
*First time doing these, so I went light to experiment. Stood on a thick 45lb plate.)

Arched-Back GM's
3x6x135
*Been doing bent-over good mornings lately, thought I'd switch it up.

GHR's
2x8 x 25 plate
2x5 x 35 plate (PR)

Barbell Shrugs (Grip/Traps)
135x10
155x10
185x8
205x5
225 - 3 sets of 10 sec. holds

Finished off with ab work...

Havent been pushing my last sets lately, thing I'll start trying to go all out to get some rep work in and focus less on singles. Need to work on building my strength up rather than testing it.

 

[TheStig]

Solid

 

[Krueg]

Sunday, July 14th. 2013
Wave 2 Cycle 2: 3x5

OH Press
45x10
50x5
60x5
75x3
80x5
90x5
100x6 (+1)

Assistance:

Barbell Rows: 4x10
CGBP: 3x8
Side Laterals: 3 x 10,10,8
Hammer Curls 3 x 12,10,8

 

[Krueg]

Monday July 15th. 2013
Wave 3 Cycle 2: 5/3/1

Squat
45x8
105x5
130x5
155x3
190x5
220x3
245x1
255x1
265x1
*Squats felt good, worked up to 5lbs less than my all time best. 265 was tough getting out of the hole so didn't feel like trying for a new PR this time...

GHR's
4 sets of 6,6,6,8 x 35 plate

Back Raises
3 sets of 10,8,8 x BW

Side Bends
3x8 x 75 DB

Weighted Sit-Ups
3x10 x 45 plate

 

[Krueg]

Wednesday, July 17th. 2013
Wave 3 Cycle 2: 5/3/1

Bench
2x10x45
60x5
75x5
90x3
110x5
125x3
140x1
160x0

*160 would of been a 5lb PR but, I just couldn't finish locking out. So I went home and cried - ate some Ben & Jerry's..

Edit: Come to think of it, I switched up my grip in the last couple months and been benching a little wider. Think I'm gonna bring in my grip a little bit to where I was stronger and see if theres a difference.

Thursday, July 18th. 2013
Wave 3: Cycle 2

Deadlift
115x5
140x5
170x3
210x5
235x3
265x1
275x1
205x3 (back off set)

 

[Lifeforce]

Thanks rice!

@Fugly, Yes I could switch/change my assistance exercises. The way I choose assistant work is based off the muscles involved in each lift...

Squat/Dead
-Glutes/Hams
-Low Back
-Abs

Bench
-Triceps
-Lats/Upper Back
-Delts
-Chest/Forearms/Biceps

Sometimes I'll switch it up, but If I feel its not helping my main lift I'll dump it from the program.

If you got some ideas or advice, I'm open to it..

You ever videotaped yourself while you are lifting? Usually there is plenty of room for improvement in the technique department. It's the first thing I'm always looking out if my lifts stall. Most of the time I find a small error in technique and can correct it or it's a combination of bad technique and muscle weakness. (in my bench for example my triceps is a bit weak).

Accessory work is all fine and good but shouldn't really be needed until form is perfected. This is when it's possible to actually differentiate between muscle weakness and muscle weakness due to lifting with subpar technique. Just throwing it out there. Adding some high rep work with very low weight to focus on technique might be beneficial to change the neural motor unit activation pattern. Takes loads of reps to incorporate any technique changes.

Lifts are looking good, strong OH press compared to bench. With that bench your OH should be closer to 100 lbs.

 

[Krueg]

You ever videotaped yourself while you are lifting? Usually there is plenty of room for improvement in the technique department. It's the first thing I'm always looking out if my lifts stall. Most of the time I find a small error in technique and can correct it or it's a combination of bad technique and muscle weakness. (in my bench for example my triceps is a bit weak).

Accessory work is all fine and good but shouldn't really be needed until form is perfected. This is when it's possible to actually differentiate between muscle weakness and muscle weakness due to lifting with subpar technique. Just throwing it out there. Adding some high rep work with very low weight to focus on technique might be beneficial to change the neural motor unit activation pattern. Takes loads of reps to incorporate any technique changes.

Lifts are looking good, strong OH press compared to bench. With that bench your OH should be closer to 100 lbs.

I don't have a way to video tape myself, A co-worker has offered to film me. Havent got around to it. Though I met a competitive powerlifter at my gym who pulled 685 in competition said my deadlift form is good. Though he did tell me to keep eating Big! He's been lifting for 5 years and powerlifting the last 3 years. I on the other hand, only been seriously lifting for a little over a year. Will be nice to see where I'm at after 3-5 years of training

Form is something I'm always focusing on and will have to keep focusing on as the weight gets heavier. I know I wont lift anything big with sh!tty form/technique..

Accessory work is usually done with Low Intensity/High Volume. Except for a few exercises I will go harder on. (Discussed in your previous post) Such as GHR's, Abs and sometimes good mornings for heavier triples. Other than that its usually lighter weight for higher reps. Though even at my (weaker level) I still need assistant work. I cant just squat, bench and deadlift forever and expect things to go up. I have to include the repetition method to keep my gains coming and to build up my weaker areas. But, not being very experienced or strong, I like to work everything to get stronger all over. Some assistant work is set in stone, others I like to play around with to see what works and what doesn't. Havent been training long enough to know which exercise is the best.

Lifts are looking good, strong OH press compared to bench. With that bench your OH should be closer to 100 lbs.

Thanks, my all time best Press is 125(lbs) and my best Bench is 155. Nothing awesome but, its gone up from where I was not too long ago...

 

[Krueg]

Monday, July 22. 2013
Wave 3 Cycle 2: 5/3/1

OH Press
45x10
50x8
60x5
75x3
90x5
100x3
115x2 (Rep PR)
130x1 (5lb PR)

Been awhile since my press went up, so its about time! Thinking my bench should go up now as well... Finished off with Rows, Dips and some Curls. Gonna continue running 5/3/1 for a little while longer and see how things go. Thinking about switching things & up trying out the Conjugate System aka Westside Barbell. Similar to the 5/3/1 program but, a little more advanced. Think I'll shoot for 4 more cycles to get at least 1 year out it.

 

[TheStig]

I agree with Lifeforce, your OH press is reaaaaally close to your bench, which is something I haven't seen before. I'd consider that a good thing, I wish my OH press was as close to my bench as yours is...the most I've ever OH pressed was 155 last week haha. Good job on the double PRs too, 15 lbs is a big increase when you get near maximal loads.

 

[Krueg]

I agree with Lifeforce, your OH press is reaaaaally close to your bench, which is something I haven't seen before. I'd consider that a good thing, I wish my OH press was as close to my bench as yours is...the most I've ever OH pressed was 155 last week haha. Good job on the double PRs too, 15 lbs is a big increase when you get near maximal loads.

Thanks Stig, Yea it is kinda odd how close my OH Press is, I'd think my bench should be better but, the bench press is just one of those lifts I've never really been good at. Could be a mental thing, weakness or possibly my grip when benching. I have been benching a little wider lately to focus more on my chest. Think I'll bring things in a couple inches and use a little more triceps and see if that helps.

 

[TheStig]

Thanks Stig, Yea it is kinda odd how close my OH Press is, I'd think my bench should be better but, the bench press is just one of those lifts I've never really been good at. Could be a mental thing, weakness or possibly my grip when benching. I have been benching a little wider lately to focus more on my chest. Think I'll bring things in a couple inches and use a little more triceps and see if that helps.

Yeah actually a narrower grip has helped me a lot. Also having my elbow in more has helped. I don't think the reason it helps is more triceps, because they usually are the limiting factor on the bench. Think about it, the triceps are a much smaller muscle group than the chest, so they will be much more likely to fail before your chest really gets fatigued.

With a wide grip, I think shoulders would be more involved, which isn't really a good thing because it's such an awkward position for them to be used in.

When I bench I put each pinky on the first smooth ring, right at the outside edge of the first knurl past the center knurl (if there is one), if that makes sense. You might use a different checkpoint for your grip, because I'm probably taller than you are (6'2"). So basically my arms are a little passed shoulder width. Also bringing the bar down lower on my chest helps me generate more power.

I don't know if this will help because I haven't seen you bench, but it was what came to mind off the top of my head.

 

[Krueg]

Thanks for tips Stig, I'm gonna take a few days off from lifting and start a new program. I have made some increases with my current program but, things have slowed and gains arent really coming like they were. A couple lifts haven't gone up in like 2-3 months... Could be my fault, but I think I need to move on to something a little different. Will post the new log this weeked...

 

[TheStig]

Yeah no problem man. When you say new log you don't mean a whole new thread do you?

 

[Krueg]

I could make a new one but, will probably just stick with this one. Keep it simple!

 

[Krueg]

Alright, time to get the new Program started. I will now be following the Westside Barbell Method, don't ask me to explain it cause theres a lot to the system lol. Anyways, today was considered speed day. Lifting sub-maximum weight as fast as possible...



Friday, July 26th. 2013
Dynamic Effort Squat/Dead

Squat
45x10
75x8
95x5
115x3
------
12x2 x 135 @ 50% Squat Max (45 sec Rest)


Deadlift
115x5
135x3
------
6x1 x 160 @ 55% Deadlift Max (About 30 sec Rest)



GHR's
3x10,10,8 x 35 plate

Back Raises
3x8 w/ 10lb plate behind head.

Lat Pulls
3x10x70

Standing Ab Pull Dows
2x10x20
2x10x30

Pretty brutal but the percents felt right and moved everything explosively.