Vlad's training log

[Vlad]

18 Feb 2009. Workout 16.
Squat: 55 kg (121 lb) – 5x5 (wu: 20 kg 2x5, 30 kg – 3, 40 kg – 3, 50 kg - 2)
OHP: 30 kg (66 lb) – 5x5 (wu: 11 kg 3x5, 16 kg 2x5, 20 kg – 5, 25 kg – 3, 27.5 kg - 2)
DL: 115 kg (253 lb) – 1x5 (wu: 60 kg – 5, 80 kg – 3, 90 kg – 2, 100 kg – 1, 110 kg - 1)
Pull-ups: ¾ pull-ups – 4x1, 3, 2, 2, 2 (13 in total)
Rev. crunches: 8 kg – 3x12

Squat is still not difficult, but now it started to challenge my cardiovascular system (I started to sweat a little ), although nowhere near the effect I get from power clean and deadlift. Today OHP was not easy any more. I could still complete all of the reps fast without any slowing down and it actually felt easier after the third set. This is somewhat surprising for me because I did a very thorough warm-up. DL was difficult today. I am only 5 kg away from my previous best result. I am very anxious to see how it will feel when I get to 120 kg. Last time it was sooow difficult. Pull-ups are easy now. The numbers do not reflect how many I can do at the moment. My strategy is just to add 1 rep each workout to the total number, and when I get to the deadline (25 April), I will check if I can do 10 reps in one set (my goal). Rev. crunches are easy now, and the weight does not seem like it serves any purpose anymore.

Today I ran into a problem that I came one hour late to my work after the training (I train before work). It takes me about 2 hours to complete the workout and coming late to work is simply not acceptable. I cannot start my workout earlier because I have to drive my son to the kindergarten at a set time.

So I decided to abbreviate my training workouts. It seems to be acceptable to train 2x per week with a slower progress. This is OK for me. It’s better to have some progress than nothing at all. But I want to train 3x per week and quickly instead of 2x per week and slowly (because this way I will still be late for work). My solution is to spread the workload of two workouts between three workouts.

This is how I am going to do it:

Workout 1:
Squat,
BP

Workout 2:
Power clean
Squat
Push-ups

Workout 3:
DL
OHP
Pull-ups

In workout 2, I have put power clean before squat because doing a fast technical exercise such as power clean immediately after heavy squat is not productive. This is how Olympic weightlifters train actually: fast technical exercises first (power clean, snatch) and then slow strength exercises such as squat. Mark Rippetoe also recommends to do the power clean first if one wants to emphasise it, and I really WANT to emphasise it.

In workout 3, I have put DL before OHP. In this workout DL will be the hardest exercise and will provide a superior warm-up for the OHP (like squat for the BP in workout 1). I will do more reps and/or sets with the deadlift to get more warm-up in the absence of squat.

I have got some shoulder issues now. This is not due to SL 5x5. I had them before I started. I do a LOT of trigger point massage for the shoulders, and without the massage my shoulders would have collapsed by now. But I feel that I simply need more recovery time for my shoulders, and in particular I find that doing push-ups after BP in Workout A of SL 5x5 is just too much for my shoulders at the moment. With my modified SL program, I will have shoulder work as follows:
BP, 1 day rest, push-ups, 1 day rest, OHP, 2 days rest.
So my shoulder work is more evenly spread out. With the regular program I have to do the following:
BP and push-ups, 1 day rest, OHP, 1 day rest, BP and push-ups.
This is OK for normal shoulders, but for me that is just too much. My shoulder recovery even with the massage is simply not good enough for the regular program.

To summarise:

1) I will work my legs hard 3x per week, which is very important in order to get the hormonal/metabolic benefits.
2) Squat will be empathised in workout 1, Power clean – in workout 2, DL – in workout 3.
3) Shoulder work will be more evenly spread with more time fore recovery.
4) Workouts will take less time, so I will be thinking about the exercises, and not about how long time I have left so that I am not late for work
5) My progress is expected to be slower, but I accept this.

[taifun]

Vlad, this looks interesting. I have some of the same issues as you with getting the kids to kindergarten and school, then training before work. I'm a little luckier as I don't have a set time I have to be at work, but still, the later I get there, the later I get home.

I'll be watching your experiment with an eager eye.

[DaveT]

Vlad,
I understand you want more rest for your shoulder, but have you considered these suggestions?

Can I split StrongLifts 5x5 into an AM/PM Session?
Yes, but make sure you don't lose more time this way because of extra showering/driving to gym/etc. You could do this:
AM: main exercises. Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Overhead Press & Inverted Rows, according to workout A/B.
PM: assistance exercises. Pull-ups, Chin-ups, Push-ups, Reverse Crunches, Prone Iso Bridges, again according to workout A/B.

The workouts last too long, I have a busy schedule. What Can I do?
- Remove Pull-ups, Chin-ups, Push-ups, Reverse Crunches, Prone Iso Bridges. Do only Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Overhead Press & Inverted Rows.
- If that's still too long, switch to 3x5 instead of 5x5. This reduces gym time by almost half.

[Vlad]

@Taifun
I see, we have the same time problems. BTW, how long time does it take for you to complete the workout now when the weights are getting pretty heavy?

@Dave
Yes, I saw that and thought about it. I consider pull-ups and push-ups as very important exercises. Push-ups are very important for shoulder health, and I am quite bad at them: that could be a part of explanation why I have shoulder problems in the first place. I thought about throwing them away. However, it actually takes only a few minutes to do them (since I do not do them both in the same workout), so I decided to keep them. I could do push-ups at home to save time (but not pull-ups), but I really need a good warm-up before I can do them safely. I think I could easily throw away the reverse crunches and prone bridges: they are now too easy anyway.
I thought about doing 3x5 to save time, but the frequency of shoulder work will be the same (too high), and it will reduce the time for BP and OHP only a little because I do LOTS of warm-up sets for these two lifts to ensure that my shoulders are pain free for the working sets. In the end, regular SL at 3x5 has approximately the same volume as my modified version.

I could easily be wrong, but I see the following advantages FOR ME (this could be different for another person) of my program over the regular SL at 3x5, which both have the same volume:

1) DL performance is not compromised due to a heavy squat before it.
2) Power clean is emphasized in the program (this is of course irrelevant for those not doing it).
3) Squat is done at 5x5 instead of 3x5 (so the workouts are harder, and there is more time for recovery)
4) BP and OHP are less frequent (more recovery time) but are harder at 5x5 than at 3x5.

Again, the above advantages could be actually disadvantages for someone else.



Thank you, guys, for your interest and comments.

Vlad

[taifun]

If I'm being really efficient I can get through workout A in about an hour. Workout B takes a bit longer. However I usually spend a lot of time warming up and stretching, so most SL workouts are hour-and-a-half up to two hours. I get to the gym just after 8am and try to be out of there by 10, shower included. I can certainly cut down on the warmup time, but I don't particularly want to.

[Vlad]

I put my modified program into a spreadsheet and I can see that some of my goals are not achievable even theoretically before the deadline (25 April). This of course does not make sense, so I reduced my goals for OHP to 40 kg, BP – to 60 kg, and power clean – to 60 kg.

So my goals now are achievable only if I do not stall a single time.

That is tough.

[Vlad]

If I'm being really efficient I can get through workout A in about an hour. Workout B takes a bit longer. However I usually spend a lot of time warming up and stretching, so most SL workouts are hour-and-a-half up to two hours. I get to the gym just after 8am and try to be out of there by 10, shower included. I can certainly cut down on the warmup time, but I don't particularly want to.

I get to the gym at 7:30 and should get out (after shower) before 8:45. So I have 1 h and 15 min for everything.

[bluestreak]

I use a wooden ball, and you can press really hard with it, MUCH harder than with a tennice ball.

Hey bluestreak, you're a kiwi. You can use a cricket ball.

Technically I'm a Canadian living in NZ Good idea! I was looking for one and ended up getting a cheap (field) hockey ball instead. It's really hard and, to quote Rugger, "it hurts so good"

Vlad - thank you for the advice on the massage. It's helped a lot.

I also forgot to mention: I've been doing SL for a year and I've noticed that about every 3 months I need to take a good week off. I find the body needs time to catchup, heal. I have to deload a bit but each time I come back stronger.

[rere]

I also forgot to mention: I've been doing SL for a year and I've noticed that about every 3 months I need to take a good week off. I find the body needs time to catchup, heal. I have to deload a bit but each time I come back stronger.

Do you deload on all your lifts or is it a select few after a week off?

Apologies Vlad for jumping on your log

[bluestreak]

I also forgot to mention: I've been doing SL for a year and I've noticed that about every 3 months I need to take a good week off. I find the body needs time to catchup, heal. I have to deload a bit but each time I come back stronger.

Do you deload on all your lifts or is it a select few after a week off?

Apologies Vlad for jumping on your log

I stay out of the gym for a week and do a light deload on everything. Well, depends on how I'm doing. If, say, I was struggling with OHP form I might do a major deload, nail the form and then work my way up to some new PRs. I've had form issues with all my lifts and have had to pick them off one by one. Taking the time off also gives me a chance to think.

[Vlad]

@bluestreak

Vlad - thank you for the advice on the massage. It's helped a lot.

I also forgot to mention: I've been doing SL for a year and I've noticed that about every 3 months I need to take a good week off. I find the body needs time to catchup, heal. I have to deload a bit but each time I come back stronger.

I am glad it has helped you. I think I will also get some rest after 3 months. Thanks for the advice.

[Vlad]

21 Feb 2009. Workout 17.
Squat: 58.5 kg (129 lb) – 5x5 (wu: 21 kg – 2x5, 31 kg – 3, 41 kg – 3, 51 kg - 3)
BP: 38.5 kg (85 lb) – 5x5 (wu: 13.5 kg – 3x5, 18.5 kg – 2x5, 23.5 kg – 5, 28.5 kg – 3, 33.5 kg - 3)
Chin-ups: ¾ range – 4x1, 3x3

Squat felt very easy during the warm-up. But during the first set I got suddenly a sharp pain in my groin. That was totally unexpected since there were no warning signs, and I had a thorough warm-up which felt so great. I was quite scared that this would ruin my training, but I was able to fix my groin by trigger point massage. I went to a bathroom so as not to make a wrong impression on people in the gym. My groin area was tense, and it was VERY painful to massage it. I pressed very hard into it for a few minutes, and then went for the second set. I narrowed my stance a little to make smaller load on the groin muscle, and it felt just fine. I massaged then my groin after every set. Squat was actually not difficult. Later during the day I massaged the groin every time I went to bathroom. The area was very sore (also as a result of very rigorous massage), but there was no pain during movement of the legs.

BP was OK: neither easy nor hard. No shoulder pain after my thorough warm-up.

Started to do chin-ups. They did not seem for me easier than pull-ups. Maybe my biceps are week. Will be alternating chin-ups and pull-ups from now on.

Mixed feelings about the workout: quite scary at first, but turned out OK later on.

[Vlad]

23 Feb 2009. Workout 18.
Front squat: 21 kg – 2x5, 31 kg – 3
Power clean: 38.5 kg (85 lb) – 5x5 (wu: 16 kg – 5, 21 kg – 5, 26 kg – 3, 31 kg – 2, 36 kg - 2)
Squat: 61 kg (134 lb) – 5x5 (wu: 41 kg – 3, 51 kg - 3)
Push-ups: 3x6

Front squat was used as part of the warm-up for the power clean. Power clean was quite taxing as usual, but I did not feel exhausted after it as previously since it was done first, before squat. I feel quite confident with power clean now, but my technique is still slightly un-reproducible. Power clean provided a great warm-up for the subsequent squat. No groin issue today. Squat still feels easy. Push-ups were difficult, and I think they are harder than my BP at the moment. A good workout.

Time to measure BW and BF. BW was 100.6 kg (0.6 kg up from the beginning of the program) and BF was approximately the same as in the beginning: 17%. So, no major changes yet .

[helm]

hey vlad, just read through your log. nice to see that you decided to train again after that many years. that 130kg squat at 70kg is impressive. did they teach you good form and technique back then, especially going lower than parallel?

and I was wondering why you take that long. could it be that you do too much warmup sets?

that's what mehdi once told me, when I was at the same weight back then:

Should be enough:
5,5 x bar
3 x 35kg
2 x 50kg
5x5 59kg
If you feel you need more, better to spend time on dynamic stretches. you're exhausting yourself with so many warm up sets

so maybe if you cut down on your warmup sets, you could also save some time...

[Vlad]

Hi Helm,
I did not pay much attention to the way I did squat 20 years ago because I hated squat at that time. Considered it a necessary eveil in order to sprint fast. So just did what my trainer told me. I lived in the Soviet Union at that time, and there was no sport for fun in the old times: only the competitive one, which ment that either you do what you are told or you go home. But I did a full squat: as low as possible, much below parallel, ATG as is said on this site. I guess my trainer knew what he wanted from me because I never had any problems with my knees and lower back at that time.

I read Mehdi's recommendation about the warm-up. It just does not work for me. I need much more warm-up (getting older ). So you are right. My warm-up does take a lot of time. But I would not compromise on this one.

Thanks for visiting my log and good luck with your program!
Vlad