Goals
The goals listed here are going to be differentiated by long term, short term, specific, general, powerlifting and bodybuilding because goals are inherently time and situationally dependent. I have been lifting progressively more seriously for about 7-8 years now, so I thought it was time to really nail down some serious lifting goals this as this my first really documented training block:
1) Get deadlift up to 405 pounds by the end of the training block. After integrating deadlifts back into training during the summer of 2020 after about 2.5 years, I have been progressively getting stronger in the lift throughout the last year and 2021. In May, after finishing my normal sets up to 385 for a set of 4, I tried to pull 405 but wasn’t able to get it past my knee, so I dedicated this training session to pulling 405 from the ground.
2) Increase leg strength. There was no real goal number to lift on the squat, as I had lifted 405 last summer but rarely gone back up to, but I wanted to increase the amount of reps I could do at heavier working sets.
3) Get bench press back up to 275 pounds or higher. I ended 2020 successfully having lifting 275 pounds in bare weight for 2 reps, which is my personal best. 2020 turned into 2021 and and winter hit, and once it got colder I started training at the commercial gym I am a member of. I started lifting more for hypertrophy, so I used other means to train chest other than bench press. When the weather improved in March I started lifting back in the garage and found the weight I could handle in the bench press had gone down to 245 over the months.
4) Improve overhead press strength. Shoulder strength is important to performing bench press and the best way to increase shoulder strength is to overhead press.
5) Increase muscle mass. This goal sounds so general it feels stupid like typing out, but it really is because the most of the other goals listed are quite specific and this one is more for the body, not the movement.
The Program
My job demands I am able to carry up to 50-60 pounds in totes for 8-11 hours a day, so it is both a driving force of motivation and freedom. Lifting helps me be able to do my job without too much of a threat of injury and gives me a warm up and the conditioning that allows me to lift hard without worrying about cardio and conditioning. If I didn’t do what I do, I would have to think about my programs I follow very differently. I lifted Monday through Friday after work and rested passively, outside of rounds of golf, on the weekend. This is the break down of my lifting week:
Monday
Bench Press: 135 warm up, 225 lbs x 8 reps, 235 x 6 reps, 245 x 4-5, 255 to failure (usually 3-4), 265 to failure (usually 2-3), 275 to failure (usually 1-2).
Chest press with cambered press bar: 128 lbs 158 lbs, 178 lbs, 198 lbs, 218 lbs.
Wide Lat Pulldown: 90 lb x 10-12, 115 x 8-10, 125 x 6-8, 140 x 6-8
T-Bar Row, wide handle: 45 lbs 10-12, 90 x 10-12, 115 x 8-10, 140 x 6-8
Tricep push down, pyramids: 70 lbs x 10-12, 80 x 10-12, 90 x 8-10, 100 x 6-8
Ez Curl Bar curl, Preacher Bench both inner and outer grip: 75 lbs x 8-10, 85 x 8-10, 95 x 8-10, 105 x 6-8
Standing EZ curl bar curl, inner and outer grip: 75 lbs x 8-10, 85 x 8-10, 95 x 8-10, 105 x 6-8
Single arm cable tricep push down: 25 lbs, 35, 45 x failure.
I started by super setting standing ez bar curl with pyramid pushdowns to get blood flowing into the arms before starting bench press. It was the main exercise on Mondays, and also got superset with wide grip lat pull downs. After bench press, I used the cambered pressing bar to do cluster sets with starting with inner most grip, and working my way out to hit a progression of inner chest, tricep, and lats. Each set ended up being 25-30 reps at the lower weight and 18-24 on the heavier. That closer set could be super stetted with a T- Bar row for extra burn. This exercise was done to supplement the bench press, and because I wanted both a strength chest lift and a hypertrophy lift. I finished with standing EZ curl and single arm tricep push down superset to burn out. I only did the push down on my left arm to try to get my left tricep to increase size to match my right tricep, which is slightly larger.
Tuesday
Straight Bar Squat: 135lbs warm up, 225 x8, 315 x 6-8, 345 x 4-6, 365 x 3-4, 385 to failure (usually 3-4), 405 to failure (usually 2ish).
Rack Pulls (through week 9): 315 lbs x 5-6, 345 5-6, 365 x 4-6, 385 x 4-5, 405 x 3, 415 x 3.
Block pulls (week 10-12): 315 lbs x 5-6, 345 5-6, 365 x 4-5, 385 x 3-4, 405 x 3
Leg Extension (through week 9): 150 lbs x 8-10, 170 x 8-10, 190 x 8-10, 210 x 6-8
Leg Extension (week 10-12): 110 lbs x 8-10, 130 x 8-10, 150 x 8-10, 170 x 6-8
Calf Raise: 225 lbs x 8-10, 235 x 8-10, 245 x 8-10, 255 x 6-8
T-Bar Row, neutral grip: 45 lbs 10-12, 90 x 10-12, 115 x 8-10, 140 x 6-8
I chose a low bar straight bar squat, despite my options, because I wanted to keep maintaining the skill of doing so. It is quite a challenging lift because most of the time merely getting my hands into position on the bar and gripping it isn’t easy by any means. I follow with pulls from my rack (off of safety straps positioned so the bar is 2 inches below my knee at starting position). This was done to limit the effect on the quadriceps during the pull and focus on lower back and hamstrings. Towards the middle weeks the reps would be more Romanian Deadlift as my shin position was more perpendicular to the foot, rather than my knee over my foot at starting position. Once the deadlift mats arrived, I started to pull from the ground, elevated from the floor 3 inches. This made quite a difference in intensity. The starting position on the block pulls was 3-4 inches below what I had been doing, so I was pulling with much more quadricep action. As a result, the I was not able to hit the heaviest sets I was able to from the safety straps.
I would superset the rack pulls with Leg extension weeks 1-9 to accomplish two things: 1) work all elements of the deadlift but do so in a way that separated the muscle groups, and 2) to save me time. I chose to do a medium tempo extension at higher weight for higher resistance because it’s all I’ve really known, but I began to experiment with holding the the end position and found I liked the way the tension held. I held it for 5 seconds, and rested for 5 more seconds before doing another one. I had to bring the weight down in order to get any volume out of it. Even then the last couple reps were extremely hard, even to the point of not being able to being able to a full rep. I didn’t always do a T-Bar Row on this day. It depended on how much I felt I needed to do it between the squat and the rack pull.
Wednesday
Seated Should Press, Cambered Press Bar: 128 lbs x 6-8, 138 x 5-6, 148 x 4-5, 158 x 2-4
Log Press, clean and press: 101 lbs x 6-8, 111 x 6-8, 121 x 5-6, 131 x 4-6, 141 x 4-5, 151 x 3
Viking Press: 115 lbs x 10-12, 140 x 8-10, 165 x 8-10, 165 plus 1 30 lb chain 6-8, 165 plus 2 chains 6-8
Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Flies: 20 lb dumbbell x 10-12, 30 lb dumbbell x 8-10, 40 lb dumbbell x 8-10, 50 lb dumbbell x 6-8
Side Lateral Raise: 25 lbs x 8-10, 30 lbs x 8-10, 35 x 6-8
This was the physically the shortest day time wise because of how I chose to break down the muscle groups through the week. My job is a combination of load carrying and overhead lifting movement so I felt I could put my heavy overhead press day all in one session. After starting using bars and other lifting implements that were neutral grip or slightly pronated in 2020, I have found I like them more for overhead press than a fully pronated bar grip. Only lifts that were super setted were the rear deltoid flies and side lateral raises at the end of the session.I At the start of the block, I did a seated press with the cambered press bar but in the last couple weeks I did it third of the three main overhead movements. I didn’t find fatigue to much of an issue in terms of weight pressed.
Log Press, for most of the sessions, was the second lift I did on Wednesdays and my main standing overhead press. I was able to strict press for most of the reps and would only push press only at the of a set to get a few more reps lifted. Viking Press, done on an attachment to a landmine connected to a power rack, developed into one of my favorite overhead press lifts. I initially got the attachment for front deltoid development but found very quickly that it was my best lift for hitting read rear deltoid and upper back very specifically. It was a game changer in that regard, and something that will be a major part of my lifting plans going forward.
Thursday
Bench Press, with Chain: 135, without chain, lbs x warm up, 225, without chain, x 6-8, 225 w/chain x 6, 235 w/chain x 4-6, 245 w/chain x 3-4, 255 w/chain x 1-2
Chained Tricep Extension: 75 lbs x 8-10, 75 w/chain x 8-10, 85 w/chain 8-10, 95 w/chain to failure (usually 6-8)
Incline Dumbbell Press: 100 lb x 6-8, 110 x 4-6, 115 x 4-6, 95 x 6-8, 85 to failure (usually 6-8)
Standing Lat Pulls: 70 lbs x 10-12, 80 x 8-10, 90 x 8-10, 100 x 6-8
Narrow Neutral grip Lat pulls: 90 lb x 10-12, 115 x 8-10, 140 x 6-8, 150 x 6-8
Tricep push down, pronated grip: 70 lbs x 10-12, 80 x 10-12, 90 x 8-10, 100 x 6-8
Ez Curl Bar curl, Preacher Bench both inner and outer grip: 75 lbs x 8-10, 85 x 8-10, 95 x 8-10, 105 x 6-8
Standing EZ curl bar curl, inner and outer grip: 75 lbs x 8-10, 85 x 8-10, 95 x 8-10, 105 x 6-8
Single arm cable tricep push down: 25 lbs, 35, 45 x failure.
The second chest/lat/arm day of the week employs resistance other than bare weights to challenge. The chains I used weigh just short of 30 lbs each and through careful measurement I was able to determine that about 22 lbs stays up in the air at the starting position of the lift. At the lowest position of the bench press probably about 34 extra pounds of chain weight in addition to the amount loaded in plates. I supplemented the main movement with a chained tricep extension and to work on the tricep part of the bench press at higher weight than I do on pushdowns. The chains came in handy giving extra resistance at the top of the extension. Occasionally I also did a few sets pin presses from the middle part of the bench press. The standing lat pulldown was a movement I learned last year and chose to use it as a secondary lat pulldown movement for the week.
Friday
Bench squat, with SS Yoke Bar: 155 lbs x warm up, 245 x 8-10, 335 x 6-8, 355 x 6-8, 355 w/chain x 4-6
Hatfield Bench Squat: 385 lbs w/chain x 6-8, 405 w/chain 6-8, 425 w/chain 4-6, 435 w/chain to failure (usually 3-4)
Rack Pull, with Bands: 135 lbs with 70 lb band warm up, 185 w/ 70 lb band and chain 8-10, 205 w/70 band and chain 8-10, 225 w/70 lb band and chain 6-8, 225 w/100 lb band 6-8, 235 w/band and chain 6-8, 245 w/100 lb band and chain 4-6, 255 w/100 lb band and chain 3-4, 265 w/100 lb band and chain x-2-3
Calf Raise: 245 lb x 10-12, 255 x 8-10, 265 x 8-10
Cambered Bar Squat (starting week 8): 175 lbs x 8-10, 225 x 8-10, 275 x 6-8, 325 x 4-6
A lot of this day’s session were designed to be as heavy and killer as possible because of amount of rest between days legs and back were targeted. To that end, the SS Yoke Bar was the perfect choice of bar for the squat. It is able to stay to stay on my shoulders without being held there by my hands. It made overloaded leg work easier to do and transition without wasting time moving weights around. A box would have be ideal but the bench was better than nothing to squat on so I used it. After the handles that were attachable to my power rack arrived, it allowed me to start using Hatfield Squats into the program to use as a supplemental exercise. By being able to leverage a stable upper body position, I was able to effectively to do standing leg presses. The handles also helped me increase the weight I could perform calf raises at towards the end of the block.
My main back exercise of choice for Friday is one I found to be very effective lift in 2020 after I got my squat stand (that turned into my current power rack) and spotter arms. I wanted a movement that took focused on the movement of the deadlift from the knee up to help train the lockout. I found last year that adding bands to the weight being lifted made me feel it all the way up my back into my lats and even the hamstrings if started right below the knee. The bands, 70 pound an 100 pound resistance, forced me to pull the weight with both maximum effort and with fully correct form or else the lockout was virtually impossible. The goal of the of the lift is to make the upper part of the deadlift faster to the lock out the more weight I put on the bar, and I feel it was very successful. I was able to increase the weight used in the lift and the speed up to the lock out increased throughout the training block.
I had been wanting a cambered bar for the better part of the last year and finally bought it in July. I had learned about it’s benefits to training and it didn’t disappoint. I had been searching for a secondary quadricep exercise for the session and didn’t want to repeat doing leg extensions again, and initially arrived at front squats. However, I wasn’t able to find a good front rack position so I ditched them for the time being. The cambered bar squat felt like a front squat the first time I tried it so I integrated it into the session as a finisher to give that hard stretch of the quads at the end of the workout.
Results
This training block was a very successful one in all of its phases. Some the results were both expected and surprising. I successfully deadlifted 405 pounds in week 10 after performing block pulls to that weight for a set of 3. It wasn’t a lift that would have counted in a powerlifting meet, especially since I used straps, but it definitely met the Strongman standard so I counted it. In the process of getting there I found my back strength increasing in a linear way through the training block. I was able to lift more weight without a powerlifting belt, only employing the belt at 405 for block pulls in the last few weeks.
Leg strength also improved in the way I was looking for it to do. I regularly trained up 385, and at times was able to successfully do 405 pound reps on a straight bar squat for 2-4 reps. I didn’t do a lot of hypertrophy work in the legs until later in the block, so didn’t really develop a lot of the visual signs of muscle mass increase but could definitely feel it. This program was more strength based for legs and back.
I was also able to hit my goal of getting my bench press back up to 275 about 8 weeks into the program. It was a longer road than I had expected. I knew from previous year’s work outs that dumbbells don’t translate to bench press power in 1:1 ratio kind of way so I knew it would take time. Part of that was learning how to bench press better by learning how to arch my back while doing the lift. That shift in technique is undoubtedly responsible for some of the increase is strength. Once I got through a few weeks in I started to focus more on lifting for strength rather than hypertrophy so I stayed 225 pounds and above in terms of weight. I began to note about week 9 or so was that I had a hard time putting reps together at 275. Something else I learned this block was the value of spotters in bench pressing. That wasn’t news to me but I found the true value of spotter wasn’t at the end of the lift, but at the lift off. I found that at maximum weights it was hard for me to bury the lats into the bench prior to pressing.
Shoulder strength is where I increased the most during the summer. Prior to June, most I had strict pressed over my head was 131 pounds with a Rogue 8 inch log, didn’t really challenge weight when doing Viking Press, and 148 pounds seated using EliteFTS’s American Cambered Bar was a real struggle to get 3-4 reps. I found the Viking Press to be one of my best exercises because I could really overload the weight in ways I couldn’t Log Press. The interesting part to me was that I could feel my entire upper back activating when I did the lift, not just the deltoids, so it was a press up and a pull down in the same rep. In both log press and seated overhead press I saw a 20 pound improvement on working seats over the 12 weeks. I also saw an increase in muscle mass in the shoulders in general as well so I couldn’t be happier with it.
I wasn’t as concerned with gaining muscle mass with this program as I was more after power, and I did make adjustments in the lifts during the 12 weeks depending on the evolving patterns that were showing up. For example, my taking out hypertrophy sets at the beginning of bench press out because of an understanding that I had a finite amount of presses in me, especially at max loads. Arms and lats got the biggest dose of muscle building concentration but I could feel and see it muscle development everywhere. I did feel wider in the shoulders and upper back when I finished the 12 weeks and the triceps and lats helping pressing movements more throughout the block, I could both see and feel bicep development continuing every week.
This program succeeded in pretty much every phase I thought it could. I could have bought a program or used free one from the internet from reputable strength athletes, but this was the next step in the mental side of strength training. This program was kind of a culmination of what strength training taught me in 2020.
Life Through Lifting 