Brian - Long Update

This has been a strange lifting year for me, but I thought I would give an update in order to contribute a bit to our lifting community. It will probably be long, but hopefully it's useful. Let's do a timeline:

Nov 2008 - Start lifting aimlessly w/ Jon @ 133lbs
Summer 2009 - Start lifting w/ Rene and others @ 150ish lbs
Feb 2010 - AAU lifting competition @ 163lbs (Bench: 232, SQ: 297, DL: 417)
Feb - August - No lifting (minus a few workouts where I tried to get back)
August - Sheiko
Sept - Missed 1.5 weeks
Sept - Present - Sheiko Sheiko Sheiko

First, excuses: I didn't lift Feb - August (well, I did a little bit sporadically) because I just didn't feel like it most of the time. It's not in me to do something I'm not committed to, and for whatever reason (or... spending lots of time w/ Tab), I decided to skip the gym in my daily routine. I still ran a lot. In August I recommitted myself again, and only missed a 1.5 weeks since then because of a work trip to Geneva, Switz.

When I came back in August, my maxes were significantly lower than the competition ones I hit in Feb. I had also lost some weight (running + no lifting) and dropped below 160 again (~155lbs). I would estimate that when I started again, my maxes looked like this:

Bench - 200
Squat - 235
Deadlift - 365

Comparing my maxes now to these would greatly over estimate the benefits of sheiko, because naturally I would get a lot back (quickly) when I started lifting again. However, this was essentially my starting point, so take that disclaimer FWIW.

Now, let's talk Sheiko.

Essentially it's a program that emphasizes the 3 main lifts without any (or, very very few) variations and without much assistance work. The other tenant of the program is the fact that you never lift over 85% of your max (and even that's only 1 time per month). Most lifts are done 60-80%. It's a lot of volume.

Here are some things that I've learned/want to mention (they're not all specific to Sheiko). Remember, these are all just personal opinions. Also, you might disagree on a few, so feel free to yell at me in the comments.

(1) Lifting lighter avoids injuries and leads to faster recovery
Nagging injuries and incessant, uncomfortable amounts of pain inhibit progress. By lifting lighter and cranking through tons of volume I've been able to stay injury free and generally feel fresh at the start of every day. There are some sore/tired days in every cycle, but that's unavoidable. The point is - I get an awesome workout every time I hit the gym, and I (nor my workouts) suffer for it 2 days later. I like this.

(2) Higher volume + lighter weight = better technique
Lowering the weight and doing more sets has helped me focus on proper technique. That doesn't mean I don't have to grind a set once in a while (see #3 and #4), but with the lighter weight I can really hit some perfect reps and still be able to focus on good technique when fatigue sets in. This has led to many benefits as I've started to really push my maxes up, namely the fact that I stay injury free and that (I believe) progress comes faster.

(3) Sheiko knows how to schedule
I think everyone that's tried Sheiko has those moments of shame in the gym where they are grinding out a set of 135 of bench after 20 bench sets. It might look silly, but believe me, it's hard. I usually look at a day and think "wow, can I finish this?" and somehow I always do. The program's ability to keep pushing the limits perfectly is almost uncanny. Also, the max calculations were spot on for me. During one cycle my maxes were 235, 275, and 400. My tested maxes at the end of the cycle were 235, 275, and 405.

(4) Comeback exercises are incredibly hard but useful
Squat, bench, squat days are sort of puke-worthy. However, I feel that I make most of my progress from pushing through the comeback sets, even though they're typically at a lighter weight. I think focusing on good technique, explosiveness, and mental focus when I'm very tired has paid dividends on the upper end of my lifts.

(5) Losing my ego helped improve my technique
I sucked (still do?) at deadlifting. Even though I was able to DL 417 @ 163BW, I did so with pretty shitty form, and I wasn't convinced I could improve my max without first improving my form. I dropped my Sheiko max to 360 for a long time to work on technique using much lower weights. I think this paid dividends when I moved up.

(6) My belt hurts me on deadlifts
Either my belt either doesn't fit properly for deadlifts or I don't know how to lift with it, but my form is much better when I don't use it. I can actually feel my ab tightness without the belt, and I think it helps mentally not to have the "assistance." Might be a placebo effect, but so far lifting without it has help tremendously.

(7) High hips help me on deadlifts
For a while I was told to keep squashing my hips down until my lower back arched. Because I'm not very flexible in that direction, my hips had to get pretty low. Starting with a flatish back and high hips has made my lifts much faster and, I think, improved my form since I'm lifting from a more mechanically advantageous position. The more flexible I get, the better this starting position "fits" me.

(8) Comeback deadlifts hurt my paws
On days with comeback deadlifts, my hands hurt SO MUCH. My hands hurt thinking about it. owww....

(9) Squatting in the mirror is a helpful training method
This is apparently very taboo amongst serious powerlifter types. However, I found that it has been very useful for improving my form, hitting the correct (read: not too deep) height, and firing out of the hole. Also, I find it most useful during challenging sets when my form would typically degrade. By squatting in the mirror I can ensure that I correct all of the little things before it gets to be a bad habit or diverge into something major. I plan on eventually transitioning away from the mirror when I get more comfortable with my squats, but I still consider myself very much a novice when it comes to squats.

(10) Yoga is awesome
My flexibility is greatly improved, and I any soreness is hugely improved after 30 mins of yoga. My gf bought me a video and a book (yoga for athletes) so I've been doing it at home on non-lifting days. I'm a big fan.

(11) The key to success (at our level) isn't programming - its consistency
After trying a few programs before this one, reading this blog, lifting a lot, and talking to many people, I firmly believe that consistency is much more important than programming. But, there's a feedback loop here. A program that doesn't fit you can negatively impact your consistency (too much injury, not into it mentally, etc). The key is to find something that you like, and keep doing it.

(12) Training partners are as important as the weights that you lift
Without good training partners, I would probably not be at the gym, let alone be making any progress. I consider lifting a hobby and an escape from the daily grind. Training partners not only motivate me to go to the gym and give me advice, but they're also good friends that I look forward to talking to and spending time with. In the absence of that, lifting wouldn't be a fun hobby, and that would cause me to not take it as seriously as I do.

A current update on my progress:

BW: 167
Sheiko maxes - Bench: 262, SQ: 315, DL: 425

Well that's it. Hope this helps someone out there. See you all at the gym.

(btw Dee you can tweet/FB/socialmediaize this)