I'm just going to give a little introduction, since I'll be blogging my workouts here from now on.
My name is Justin, I'm a sophomore here and I'm trying to get really strong. I'd like a 455 squat/365 bench by next fall. My current maxes are a 315 bench and a 365 squat.
I know most of you. I know Danny because, well it's hard not to know the guy who shakes the gym every time he deadlifts. I know Frank/Rene/Shanker from just seeing them at the z pretty frequently. I know Aaron because he lives in my dorm.
Right now I'm on 5/3/1. The only difference is that I am subbing decline bench for bench. Currently, I'm doing the deload week for my first cycle, so the next couple of workouts are going to be wishywashy while I prepare for the next cycle (and finals!). I made some really exciting progress over the first cycle (except for squat, which I'm still struggling with as far as technique is concerned), so I'm going to go ahead and post that.
Week 1: Squat 275*7 Military 130*9 Deadlift 270*8 Decline Bench 225*11
Week 2: Squat 295*4 Military 140*7 Deadlift 285*9 Decline Bench 240*11
Week 3: Squat 315*5 Military 145*6 Deadlift 300*10 Decline Bench 250*11
Bench/Deadlift progress was really exciting, but squat inconsistency bothered me. I'm going to sub in box squats for my next cycle and see how that goes. Maybe one of these days I can learn to do it right...
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
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Hey Justin, good to see you. Just two small administrative points: (1) Put your name in the title so we know who the post is about without having the read the whole thing and (2) Tag your post so people can search for it easily in the future (maybe justin, intro, or something).
ReplyDeleteHi.
ReplyDelete- Like we've said to everyone here, train hard and smart and don't set unreasonable goals. Everyone wants 90 lbs on their squat in less than a year, and maybe it will happen, but don't think you've failed if you don't get there.
- Why decline bench? I personally consider that to be an accessory exercise at best. It doesn't let you train leg drive and its basically a board press because the abs are so high, except that you are pressing in the wrong direction for when you actually bench, and you also touch somewhere near your belly button.
- Rene and others may disagree with me, but I'm not a big fan of box squats unless you squat in canvas. I would first get form advice from others that post here and try some variation of the movement without a box.
I picked decline bench because my progress on flat bench had stalled.
ReplyDeleteI'll keep my mind open regarding the box squats, but I really need to learn to sit back.
Also- How do I tag my posts?
My personal experience with heavy box squats is that they completely screwed my form. You are supposed to "bounce" from the posterior chain, now from a box. In competition, it won't be there (maybe except IPA).
ReplyDeleteHowever, DE work with box squats was very productive for me, and I developed relatively good explosive strength.
So box squats may have their place, but in addition, not instead (at least not for long periods of time).
There are other ways to work on bench besides decline if your bench has stalled. I think the general rule is to find out where your weak point is (at the bottom? at the top? etc.) and work on it. Decline is pretty far down the list of useful exercises for the bench press.
ReplyDeleteWhen creating or editing your post, there's an option right below the body that allows you to add tags.
Hi Justin, welcome. Long time no see...
ReplyDeleteNate, I don't disagree. I skipped box squats alltogether for this cycle, and probably for the next ones as well. I had the guys doing them for learning how to sit back, but everything else will be contest movements from now on.