Pistol Squat Density Training

Being that you got 25 reps on pistol squats why not see if you have better luck with density training. That is if you think you got them down well enough.


I think 20 minutes is much too long. Try 12 to 15 at the most. And simply do as many reps in that period as you can. Rest as needed. Escalating Density style I guess (I'm almost choking on the words, lol). That probably will be useful for about three workouts. And then you can go to straight sets and see where you are. But really you don't need so many reps before you can start adding weight so the idea here should also be to become more efficient and skilled at them.

500 Deadlift

After this, 3 weeks of Quality Volume Training starting at 85% i.e. 425 lbs.


Eric's Message:



Work up to an intitial starting weight of around 85% of your max. After that you can do anywhere between 1 and 3 reps depending on your perception of how good the previous set went, etc…


You can go as heavy as you like and maintain quality. For this, the amount of lumbar flexion you had on the 500 is not allowed even though it was GREAT quality for such a PR. You don't have to be crazy strict about it but try to maintain the best quality you can.


Repeat weights if you feel it's heavier than it should be. Cut sets short for the same reason. Take you time and just do it by "feel". (Sleeper is my trainer now).


Do it the same way you've always done quality volume. There are not many rules. Long rests.

Another miserable fucking workout

Eric,


I am so fucking angry right now. Today's Deadlift workout was a DISASTER.


I did


455 x 1
475 x 1
495 x FAIL «— I failed at the knees. Fuck me…this should've gone up smoothly.
455 x FAIL
455 x FAIL


After that 495 attempt everything just went to shit. Fuck me. I hate this. Really.


Ashiem


ps: I am beginning the singles training 4 week cycle come next week. This workout was such a disaster I cannot count it as the first week. What a disappointing performance. This is the 3rd miserable deadlift workout in a row. How can anyone's body fail at lifting this many number of times. It must be some kind of a record to be this epically disappointing.


Ashiem you have been pushing the hell out of the deads. You probably just need some recoup time. But how many times have you ever done 495 that you should expect it to automatically go up smoothly. If you treat the singles workouts like this you will be beating your head against the wall.


I understand you being upset about the 455 failing after the 495 but it probably took more out of you than you thought. You did get 475. I've been pushing you really hard but you have to let go of "should" and "could" and all of that. You know this.


You are not an amalgem of every lift you've done in the past. You simply are what you are right now. You may have built on what came before but that does not mean what came before defines what happens now. What you are now defines that. So let what is BE. You've already forgotten when 400 pounds felt like a dream that would never happen!


Once you hit the 475 and failed at the 495 then 475 became your relative max. YOU could have went ALL THE WAY DOWN to 430 and you would have been perfectly fine and well within your goals for a singles workout. Instead you attempted to go right to ~96 percent of your relative just after a big attempt and fail. These are WORKOUTS. Not contests.


Next time go down lighter when these things happen. Take your time and build back up IF POSSIBLE. If not keep it low but just over 90%.

How many singles should I do?

Pick a range rather than exact numbers.


So like


Week 1: 6-8 Singles
Week 2: 4-6 Singles
Week 3: 7-10 Singles
Week 4: 2-3 Singles

Arguing about Deadlifts

Ok so ignoring the widowmaker thing…

It seems to me as if you were doing you're thing and his progress is fine and they stepped in and make a claim or statement about only doing 1x5 on deadlifts. If that is what happened then it is not up to YOU to prove anything. It is up to them to prove that one cannot do 1x5 regardless of circumstances. And I'm sure they are stupid enough to say regardless of circumstances.

AND they need to do it without, as Hale would say, an appeal to authority.

Just saying "deadlifts are really hard" or "they take a lot out of you" is not going to cut it. You putting the burden of proof on yourself is actually empowering them. That is nothing more than a dogmatic beleif with no basis in objective fact. I'd say it's grounded in one of these assumptions, depending on who says it:

1. Deadlifts, by virtue of the weight you lift and the amount of large muscle groups that come to play, "deplete the CNS" and thus must be kept to one set.

So, where's the proof that deadlifts do something like that? But wait, first you must DEFINE what it means to deplete the CNS or cause neural fatigue. (There are proposed definitions but nothing based on a direct observance of what it is..in other words the defintions are not really descriptive of the underlying physical process).

2. The deadlifts murder the lower back and thus you can't do more than one set.

Based on NOTHING but anecdotal evidence and circular thinking. Deadlifts seem no tougher on the lower back than squats to me, and to many others, but then again, I know how to fucking deadlift. This is a case of "speak for yourself", I think.

3. Deadlifts just "take a lot out of you".

I dont know how to argue against such and unscientific and imprecise statement except to point out that it is unscientific and imprecise.

Deadlifts are a demanding exercise but they are still part of the whole interchange with overal stress and recovery. Deadlifts have become the bad guy by people who don't even have a decent fucking deadlift (relatively speaking). There are only a handful of really big deadlifters who do that whole "no deadlift" deadlift training. Most people with big deadlifts get there by pulling their ass off.

For some reason, the deadlift is the crook even though it's programmed as part of either high volume or moderate volume with aggressive loading. Why is this?

Because the people who trumpet the one set of deadlifts bullshit think that the back squat is MAGIC and that you always must prioritize it and hit it like it's a fucking congo and that it will just give give give because it, apparently is handed down from the God's.

Logically, as long as one is not willing to program the squat, and others, any other way, deadlift may be seen as the "bad guy" in the equation, lol. Frankly, you have people obsessed with squatting, thinking it will make you super strong, super big, and super athletic ad infinitum who DON'T EVEN GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE DEADLIFT because they believe whatever the bullshitter like Rippetoe or whoever tell them. If you're so ate up about squatting and never compromise on it what the fuck do you know about programming any ONE lift, including the deadlift? Nothing.

These people know nothing about lifting. Period. They are bodybuilders trying to ride a strength training donkey.

Of course on a 5x5 you're going to do only one or two sets of deadlifts if squats always have to be on fucking Monday.

Why the hell do we have to deal with stupid dogmatic shit like this? You want to do more deadlifts then do less of other things. Or, work up your tolerance slowly and do more of everything…to a degree of course.

Upper Heavy Pulling High Volume

It's just for the pullups, haha.


Actually here's something. Today was a big upper body day what with all the pullups and the OH squat. I also did dumbell lunge presses, lat pulldown and pushups.


You know that I do a lot of volume on pulling in general, not that today was really high volume.


Anyway on upper body days sometimes stretching the pecs out helps and especially before rows. Sometimes with really heavy days what I want is to keep the shoulders back and down rather than really stretch the chest. This helps keep the back feeling right and it helps the trap soreness I get which is an ache.
So in between sets what I will do is take a stretch band, grab it in the middle about shoulder width or so apart and bring it around behind me so that it is wrapped around my upper back. This forces my arms and hands back so that I am in a position like the bottom position of a pushup, except with a bit more stretch due to the band. The scapula are forced into passive retraction. I just let the band hold me that way and I also keep the shoulders depressed and get a bit of stretch in the neck. Then I just walk around that way between the set. Feels great and makes everything feel just so again.

More on Density

Yes that increases density and that is good but it drops the total volume, which may in this case be appropriate but I think it may be too heavy.

Well the reason it's confusing is because you are using stepped sets (or at least different weights). If it had been all the same weight sets then it would be very clear.

volume is reps x sets

workload is reps x sets x weight

Simple enough right.

Here is why you are confused. You are looking at individual weights. You are thinking 450 versus 455 versus 435 and all of that. What you have to realize is that when you are increasing density and volume, you are really only concerned with the average intensity.

The difference between 435 and 455 is about 4 percent. The difference between 450 and 455 is negligible. That means for the purposes of these workouts, whether you hit 455 versus 450 really doesn't matter. And if you were to choose all sorts of weights between 435 and 455 it still wouldn't matter if you were able to keep the average instensity on par.

Get the average intensity:

Take the workload: 6585

And divide it be the total sets: 15

439 is the average

So that is your median weight.

So think about that as all you HAVE to do on average in terms of weight. Then think about the top weights 450 or 455 as what you'd LIKE to do.

Now I don't know what you are able to put on the bar. But say you did 440 x 4 x 4. That would increase density while keeping the intensity within the proper range.

But since you looking to 'blitz' it for a short time period, you would LIKE to go heavier.

So any thing heavier than that 440 for sets of 4 would do it. And you'd need at least 4 sets. Preferably at least one of those sets at 450 or 455 but it is not completely necessary at all.

Your plan increases the density of the sets but it lowers the volume so that within the time frame of the workout the total density is lower.

Look at density as the amount of work you do in a certain time frame. Well there are different time frames within a workout, right?

One timeframe is the time from the beginning of one rest period to the end of the next, for instance. The beginning and end can be any point of reference, really.

Say the rest period is 5 minutes, then a set, then another 5 minute rest periods. The time it takes you to do the reps is negligible. That is, assuming you are doing one after another as quick as you can safely, the time it would take to add another rep or two doesn't add time to your frame.

So assuming all that, you add reps to any set you increase the density in that way.

But there is also the timeframe of the entire session. If you take the individual sets and increase them all by one you've added maybe, what, 10 seconds or so to each of your time-frames. As far as your body is concerned the work has increased a LOT per unit of time.

Just increasing work per unit of time, in itself is increasig density. If you decrease the overall volume so that you are asking your body to do less overall work it's like you've traded work per unit of time for volume of work, see? So you want to try and at least match the overall volume..reps x sets.

And within that you think about workload. If you can match or beat the workload that would be great but workload is what throws us under the bus. Instead, think about the average intensity like I explained above and then think about maybe hitting your upper weight limits for at least one of your sets. And that set doesn't even have to be more dense.

Now, I know we don't time our workout precisely. This is not 'density' training. We are assuming that our rest periods are reasonably similar and our rep cadense is fairly constant. So your workout is separated into several timeframes that contain a set, and those timeframes make up the total time which is the session.

As long as you increase work in some, most, or all of those timeframes and don't do less overal volume or take more overall time..you've increased density.

It's hard to spell this out in a precise way. It's quite intuitive.