January Training Observations

Mark Brown

January 28, 2022

1. This month has seen me change my training to high set, low rep range lifting structure that is more seen in powerlifting than bodybuilding. I started that the second week of January and have noticed a few different ways that has effected my training. To familiarize those who don’t follow my logs, I lift legs/back on Monday, arm isolation/lats Tuesday, chest/shoulder Wednesday, rest on Thursday, legs/back on Friday, chest/shoulder Saturday, and rest on Sunday. It’s how I have trained since the middle of December. The weather has tried to make me skip a day since then to no avail. For the last couple weeks of December and the first week or January, I had been throwing in some accessory work on those big lifting days like I have for the vast majority of my lifting life.
2. I’ve been listening to Dave Tate’s Table Talk podcast a lot recently and I decided to follow a bit more to the powerlifting session structure he and Sam have talked about. By offloading all of the isolation work in the arms and lats into one of the “off” days, it has allowed me to really focus on the heavy lifting I like doing with the movements. I have noticed it has taken my workout times on my chest/shoulder days to around an hour and half. Part of the decreased time on some of the days is the offloaded accessory work to a “rest” day and being able to organize my lifts to make the session as efficient as possible. Squatting first in the open racks then being able to get my deadlift and moving from there to keep from competing for benches, dumbbells and such on dominantly upper body day for others, for example. Admittedly, I have gotten lucky because I haven’t had to wait on the leg press a lot over the last couple weeks. Cutting down the number of exercises I do has also helped tremendously. I have felt muscular development and strength increase over the last couple weeks so I will be sticking with this for a bit.

The lifts I have brought into the winter program have also started to bear fruit. The sumo deadlift, floor press and standing overhead press have come a long way in the last 3 weeks in line with the way Tate talks about skill acquisition. The first week both lifts were a struggle in both knowing what weights to start with and execution of the lifts themselves. The second week I was able to settle in and get a good target range. I have put up more weight with each successive week on the floor press. The feeling is quite different from then pin press I do on Wednesdays as a supplemental to help train the bench press. There’s just so little tricep help with the lift that it really makes the chest work, especially doing it last. The sumo deadlift is so new to me I don’t know how to forecast growth. I knew it would be a good option as a replacement for the Romanian deadlifts I normally do in the garage. By swapping my foot and hand placement, I bring myself closer to the bar. The only difference I feel is I feel more in the glutes in the sumo deadlift than the Romanian but the hit on the hamstring is still hard. The pull itself is a bit more challenging, too, as the logs indicate top weight lifted. I’m no stranger to a standing overhead press, but doing it with a barbell isn’t my favorite. The weight isn’t tremendously different from what I do with the log, but the feeling it different and I feel the stress in my body differently. Still the numbers show the improvement in strength and it is what I have to work with. I can see progress going quickly with it. It really is a beast of a lift. With all three exercises, the shift to high set, low rep has really helped progress by allowing me to work heavier for longer.