Ashe's Sheiko Log (Report Back)

[Ashe]

Hi Gents/Gals

I recently completed a Sheiko cycle and kept a log in hard copy. I ended up getting pretty good results so I figured i'd post it here for you guys. So I get to post it all at once The weights outlined in the program are in Kgs as that is the system we use where I live.

A little background: I'm a competitive powerlifter in the 67.5Kg (148.5lb) class, weighing around that weight year-round, 5'3" and 21 years old. I've been training for about 5 years, at first for general size/strength/wellbeing in the gym and then having moved onto powerlifting, with almost 2 years of specialised training under my belt. Prior to specialised training I lifted randomly and on instinct in the gym, sometimes neglecting important movements (squat) and focusing on those I liked (deadlift), and maxing way too often. I never really felt any overtraining symptoms though, so I assume my recovery at 18 was fairly decent. I followed largely a bodybuilding diet.
Prior to Sheiko my powerlifting training has consisted mainly of 3 1.5-hour sessions a week, with one of the main compounds in each session, mostly sticking in the 1 - 5 rep range and maxing periodically as well as sometimes utilising volume techniques and partial movements (15-Rep deadlift standing on block, crocodile deadlifts, 3/4 squats), as well as general variations such as narrows. I deadlift Conventional.

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Right, prior lifts:
I calculated my Sheiko program on my previous best 1RM raw lifts in the gym (in this case, completely raw i.e no knee wraps, belt etc.). At time of starting this program, however, I estimate my 1RM's to have been around 5Kg less than my PRs, but I decided to use the top numbers in the hope that muscle memory would kick in better:

Squat: 170Kg (374lb)
Bench: 135Kg (297lb)
Deadlift: 255Kg (561lb)

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Diet: I pretty much ate whatI liked on the program, making an effort to eat clean and get more than enough protein per day (between 250g - 300g).

Supplements: ON 100% Whey Gold Standard. No other supplements. I decided to give my supplements a break for a bit as I had been taking them for a long time prior and had just come out of illness wherein my routine was screwed up completely. I usually use USN brand Creatine, ON Whey, USN Multivit and periodically some BCAAs and glutamine.

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During the cycle:
Although it is normally advised to split the Sheiko routine into an am and pm workout, this was impossible for me as I am at varsity(college) full time and have many other commitments. I thus completed the entire workout each time, starting at around 5pm. The workload is huge and from time to time I found myself wondering whether I would complete the workout or not, but amazingly enough the reps seem calculated perfectly to stop you just before failure. I generally spent 3 - 4 hours in the gym working this way.
The most important part of this program for me was the inbetween rest days and weekends. I felt like i'd been hit by a truck on the inbetween days, and madesure I had plenty of slep and food the day before so I could be rested for the next day's workout. Weekends were spent much the same. I decided not to incorporate any variations into this program first time round, so the way you see it is the way I did it. No narrows, box squats etc. etc. just the old fashioned compounds. A small issue I had with ths program is the boredom. It is extremely repetitive, especially when repeating the same exercise in the same workout, and from time to time I needed to force myself to actually complete the workouts. During this cycle I never used any restorative measures, but am planning on it next time. All in all I enjoyed the program andtogether with my strength gains felt that my technique improved tremendously from repeating the same movements so many times.

Results:

I completed the below Sheiko routine and then took a week off with no training at all in order to give my body rest before maxing. I then maxed:

Monday: Squat - 200Kg (440lb) with knee wraps. I decided to use knee wraps so that I could see the improvement in my raw competition weight. Prior to the program my max with knee wraps was around 185Kg (407lb) so this gave me a gain of 165Kg (33lb) or so on my squat.

Wednesday: Bench - 140Kg (308lb). More accurately, my pre-cycle best bench was 132.5Kg (291.5lb) so I gained 7.5Kg (16.5lb) on my bench. I struggled with this, but managed it without any help.

Friday: Deadlift - 260Kg (572lb). This is up 10Kg (22lb) from my pre-cycle max of 250Kg (550lb). This lift was very smooth up - I think on a more rested day I could pull 5Kg (11lb) or so more.

All in all i'm EXTREMELY happy with the results of this program. My future plans are to run the alternate base Sheiko preparation (program 2) on new maxes, and once again report back to you guys. The second program has even more volume than this and I have heard there is quite a risk of overtraining, but i'll take it as it comes. I believe my body responds well to volume training and I enjoy increasing my work capacity, but if it becomes a little too insane I will rework the program into a different split of the given work.

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[Ashe]

You'll notice in the below program that there are no weights specified for the assistance exercises. I used whatever weights I felt comfortable with on the day, and did my best to increase these by small increments over the 4 weeks.

Monthly Training Plan - 1 : (BP 135KG, Squat 170KG, Deadlift 255KG)

In base (preparation) period by coach Boris Sheiko (Russia)

Week 1

Day 1 (Monday)

1.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 5, 81Kg x 4, 81Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 3, 94.5Kg x 3, 101.25Kg x3, 101.25Kg x 3, 101.25Kg x 3, 101.25Kg x 3, 101.25Kg x 3. (34 Reps Total)

2.Squat: 85Kg x 5, 102Kg x 5, 102Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 119Kg x5. (40 Reps Total)

3.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 6, 81Kg x 6, 81 Kg x 6, 87.75Kg x 6, 87.75Kg x 6, 87.75Kg x 6, 87.75Kg x 6. (42 Reps Total)

4.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

5.Good mornings: ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

Total: 116 lifts

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Day 3 (Wednesday)

1.Deadlift: 127.5Kg x 5, 153Kg x 5, 153Kg x 5, 178.5Kg x 4, 178.5Kg x 4, 191.25Kg x 3, 191.25Kg x 3, 191.25Kg x 3, 191.25Kg x 3. (35 Reps Total)

2.Incline bench press: ____Kg x 4, ____Kg x 4, ____Kg x 4, ____Kg x 4, ____Kg x 4, ____Kg x 4.

3.Dips: ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

4.Deadlift from boxes: 127.5Kg x 5, 153Kg x 5, 153Kg x 5, 178.5Kg x 4, 178.5Kg x 4, 204Kg x 3, 204Kg x 3, 204Kg x 3, 204Kg x 3. (35 Reps Total)

5.Lunges: ____Kg x 5 Warmup, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

6.Abs: EXERCISE: ___________________. ; ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

Total: 70 lifts

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Day 5 (Friday)

1.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 7, 74.25Kg x 6, 81Kg x 5, 87.75Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 3, 94.5Kg x 3, 101.25Kg x 2, 101.25Kg x 2, 94.5Kg x 3, 94.5Kg x 3, 87.75Kg x 4, 81Kg x 6, 74.25Kg x 8, 67.5Kg x 10. (66 Reps Total)

2.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

3.Squat: 85Kg x 5, 102Kg x 4, 102Kg x 4, 119Kg x 3, 119Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3.(34 Reps Total)

4.French press (Seated Rear Tricep Extension): ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

5.Seated Good Mornings: ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

Total: 100 lifts

Total in a week: 286 lifts


Week 2

Day 1 (Monday)

1.Squat: 85Kg x5, 102Kg x 4, 102Kg x 4, 119Kg x 3, 119Kg x 3, 136Kg x 2, 136Kg x 2, 136Kg x 2, 136Kg x 2, 136Kg x 2. (29 Reps Total)

2.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 5, 81Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 3, 94.5Kg x 3, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2. (27 Reps Total)

3.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

4.Push ups on the floor with weight (hands shoulders wider): ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

5.Squat: 93.5Kg x 3, 110.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3. (18Reps Total)

6.Good mornings: ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

Total: 74 lifts

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Day 3 (Wednesday)

1.Deadlift till knees: 127.5Kg x 4, 153Kg x 4, 153Kg x 4, 178.5 x 4, 178.5 x 4, 178.5 x 4, 178.5 x 4. (28 Reps Total)

2.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 5, 81Kg x 5, 81Kg x 5, 94.5Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 4. (35 Reps Total)

3.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

4.Deadlift: 127.5Kg x 4, 153Kg x 4, 178.5 x 3, 178.5 x 3, 191.25Kg x 3, 191.25Kg x 3, 191.25Kg x 3, 191.25Kg x 3, 191.25Kg x 3. (29 Reps Total)

5.Lunges: ____Kg x 5 Warmup, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

Total: 92 lifts

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Day 5 (Friday)

1.Squat: 85Kg x 4, 102Kg x 4, 119Kg x 3, 119Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 3. (29 Reps Total)

2.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 6, 81Kg x 5, 94.5Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 4, 101.25Kg x 3, 101.25Kg x 3, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2, 101.25Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 5, 81Kg x 6, 67.5Kg x 7. (51 Reps Total)

3.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

4.Triceps: EXERCISE: ___________________. ; ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

5.Squat: 93.5Kg x 3, 110.5Kg x 3, 127.5Kg x 2, 127.5Kg x 2, 127.5Kg x 2, 127.5Kg x 2. (14 Reps Total)

6.Seated Good Mornings: ____Kg x 6, ____Kg x 6, ____Kg x 6, ____Kg x 6, ____Kg x 6.

Total: 94 lifts

Total in a week: 260 lifts



Week 3

Day 1 (Monday)

1.Squat: 85Kg x 5, 102Kg x 4, 102Kg x 4, 119Kg x 3, 119Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3. (34 Reps Total)

2.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 5, 81Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 3, 94.5Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3. (30 Reps Total)

3.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10

4.Push ups on the floor with weight (hands shoulders wider): ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

5.Squat: 85Kg x 5, 102Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5. (35 Reps Total)

6.Good mornings: ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

Total: 99 lifts

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Day 3 (Wednesday)

1.Deadlift till knees: 127.5Kg x 4, 153Kg x 4, 178.5Kg x 4, 178.5Kg x 4, 191.25Kg x 4, 191.25Kg x 4, 191.25Kg x 4, 191.25Kg x 4. (32 Reps Total)

2.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 6, 81Kg x 5, 94.5Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 4, 101.25Kg x 3, 101.25Kg x 3, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2, 101.25Kg x 3, 101.25Kg x 3, 94.5Kg x 4, 87.75Kg x 5, 81Kg x 6, 74.25Kg x 7, 67.5Kg x 8. (65 Reps Total)

3.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10

4.Deadlift from boxes: 153Kg x 5, 178.5Kg x 5, 178.5Kg x 5, 204Kg x 4, 204Kg x 4, 204Kg x 4, 204Kg x 4. (31 Reps Total)

5.Lunges: ____Kg x 5 Warmup, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

6.Abs: EXERCISE: ___________________. ; ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

Total: 128 lifts

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Day 5 (Friday)

1.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 5, 81Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 3, 94.5Kg x 3, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2, 108Kg x 2. (25 Reps Total)

2.Squat: 85Kg x 5, 102Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 119Kg x 5, 127.5Kg x 4, 127.5Kg x 4, 127.5Kg x 4, 127.5Kg x 4, 127.5Kg x 4. (40 Reps Total)

3.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 6, 81Kg x 6, 81Kg x 6, 87.75Kg x 6, 87.75Kg x 6, 87.75Kg x 6, 87.75Kg x 6. (42 Reps Total)

4.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

5.Good mornings: ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

Total: 107 lifts

Total in a week: 334 lifts


Week 4

Day 1 (Monday)

1.Squat: 85Kg x 5, 102Kg x 4, 119Kg x 3, 119Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 144.5Kg x 2, 144.5Kg x 2, 144.5Kg x 2. (27 Reps Total)

2.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 5, 81Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 3, 94.5Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3. (30 Reps Total)

3.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

4.Dips: ____Kg x 8, ____Kg x 8, ____Kg x 8, ____Kg x 8, ____Kg x 8.

5.Squat: 85Kg x 5, 102Kg x 4, 119Kg x 3, 119Kg x 3, 136Kg x 2, 136Kg x 2, 136Kg x 2, 136Kg x 2. (23 Reps Total)

5.Good mornings: ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

Total: 80 lifts

Day 3 (Wednesday)

1.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 5, 81Kg x 4, 94.5Kg x 3, 94.5Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 108Kg x 3, 114.75Kg x 2, 114.75Kg x 2, 114.75Kg x 2. (27 Reps Total)

2.Deadlift: 127.5Kg x 4, 153Kg x 4, 178.5Kg x 3, 178.5Kg x 3, 204Kg x 3, 204Kg x 3, 216.75Kg x 2, 216.75Kg x 2, 216.75Kg x 2. (26 Reps Total)

3.Bench press: 74.25Kg x 5, 87.75Kg x 5, 101.25Kg x 4, 101.25Kg x 4, 101.25Kg x 4, 101.25Kg x 4. (26 Reps Total)

4.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

5.Lunges: ____Kg x 5 Warmup, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

Total: 79 lifts

Day 5 (Friday)

1.Squat: 85Kg x 5, 102Kg x 4, 119Kg x 3, 119Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3, 136Kg x 3. (33 Reps Total)

2.Bench press: 67.5Kg x 5, 81Kg x 5, 81Kg x 5, 94.5Kg x 5, 94.5Kg x 5, 94.5Kg x 5, 94.5Kg x 5, 94.5Kg x 5. (40 Reps Total)

3.Flat dumbbells flies: ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

4.Dips: ____Kg x 8, ____Kg x 8, ____Kg x 8, ____Kg x 8, ____Kg x 8.

5.Seated Good Mornings: ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5, ____Kg x 5.

6.Abs: EXERCISE: ___________________. ; ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10, ____Kg x 10.

Total: 73 lifts

Total in a week: 232 lifts

Total in a month: 1112 lifts



- Ashe