Zmcdole's Bro Spotted 220lb Log (title inspired by bench monster Dan Goodwin)

[Jason2459]

Nice looking pulls. Where are you griping the bar for the snatch deadlifts?

[zmcdole]

Nice looking pulls. Where are you griping the bar for the snatch deadlifts?

I would say about 3 - 4 inches from the ends of hte inside of the bar. even off the 4" blocks it's like pulling from a deficit. I hate them. Brandon Lily is a *******. However, I think they'll help me.

[Jason2459]

I would say about 3 - 4 inches from the ends of hte inside of the bar. even off the 4" blocks it's like pulling from a deficit. I hate them. Brandon Lily is a *******. However, I think they'll help me.

Yeah, they suck. I tried them the other night from the floor and I was trying to grip way to wide. I was all the way out to the collars. Going to try again a little narrower.

[zmcdole]

Yeah, they suck. I tried them the other night from the floor and I was trying to grip way to wide. I was all the way out to the collars. Going to try again a little narrower.

yeah I honestly cannot believe that there are actually people who can snatch over 300lbs successfully over their heads. mind blowing. whatever. I'll take a 700 raw dead and 500 raw bench over any amount snatched.

I do like the horrible position that they put you in. My glutes and hammies are usually pretty fried after doing them.

[zmcdole]

CUBE METHOD DE BENCH (floor press)
285 x 2 x 6
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 1
The Cube does not call for those singles, but I like to feel some weight in my hands and those singles were all easy.

DB INCLINE
100's x 15
100's x 15
125's x 15

BAND PRESSDOWNS
1 set of 100 with a mini band

STANDING DB MILITARY PRESS (seesaw)
50's x 10
60's x 10
70's x 10

BAND FLIES
3 sets of 15

BOX JUMPS
4 sets of 5 up to 36"

SLEDGE HAMMER WORK
3 sets

[zmcdole]

REP DEADLIFTS
515 x 6 from a 1.25" deficit
515 x 2 sets of 3 from floor

SSB OLYMPIC SQUATS
295 x 3 sets of 8 last set paused all 8 reps

GHRS
4 sets of 10 bw

BACK RAISES
2 sets of 25

I started messing around with keeping my chin tucked in/making a double chin and looking at a spot on the floor in front of my while pulling and I'm really liking it. I normally have my head up and I'll pick a spot across the gym. I think this was causing me to "pull" the weight and not engage my hips quickly and or drive through the floor. I think the tucked chin is allowing for faster hips and better leg drive.

[hods347]

I've actually been doing the packing the neck technique with my deadlift too, and I feel like it really helps lock in my back. Recently I tried lifting my head up a bit (because so many sumo pullers do that), and it just felt awkward and I couldn't get the right type of leg drive. But tucking the chin allows me to use my hips much more effectively.

[Jason2459]

I've seen some guys use a tennis ball under the chin to train a slight tuck and more neutral spine alignment.

[Kent.White]

I am going to have try this next time I deadlift.

[zmcdole]

I've seen some guys use a tennis ball under the chin to train a slight tuck and more neutral spine alignment.

I may have to try this with my training partner to get him to do it consistently and or to show him how inconsistent his lifts are with form.

I am going to have try this next time I deadlift.

give it a go man. You never know when something really small like that might make a significant difference. Tweaking little things here and there just to see is never a bad thing.

[darren.dugan]

Interesting. I normally look straight ahead as well. I assume that tucking may help conventional deads too?

[zmcdole]

Interesting. I normally look straight ahead as well. I assume that tucking may help conventional deads too?

it might. I tried it today pulling my speed pulls conventional and it seemed to help me get more bar speed and quicker hip engagement. My conventional absolutely sucks balls right now and it seemed to help a little.

SPEED PULLS (Cube Method)
415 x 2 x 6 (conventional with stiff bar)

SNATCH GRIP DEADS (from 4" box)
315 x 20

SSB SQUATS
235 x 3 sets of 8 atg

PULLDOWNS
3 sets of 15

[adamsz]

Nice to see a workout in here, I feel like it's been awhile.

Congratulations on the baby, also didn't realize it was your second. Hopefully it won't detract from your training too much

What the hell is going on in the background of the vid? Sounds like a day care center lol.

Snatch grip deads look pretty awesome. I see a lot of positive reviews on them, think I need to give em a chance.

How are you liking the cube method so far? Prior to cube, you were still training conjugate method right?

[zmcdole]

Nice to see a workout in here, I feel like it's been awhile.

Congratulations on the baby, also didn't realize it was your second. Hopefully it won't detract from your training too much

What the hell is going on in the background of the vid? Sounds like a day care center lol.

Snatch grip deads look pretty awesome. I see a lot of positive reviews on them, think I need to give em a chance.

How are you liking the cube method so far? Prior to cube, you were still training conjugate method right?

there's some kids that come in while their parents train MMA so that's why you hear them. It's usually only a few and they're not allowed near the weights nor do they ever go over there. There's also some kids MMA classes so some of them hang around afterwards.

I like the Cube quite a bit so far. I'm not sure how much my lifts are gonna go up right now, but we'll see. You use a lot of submaximal weight which is good because it keeps you fresh and healthy. I'm just curious to see how 90-100% feels in my hands since the most I've used up to this point is 85%.

I was training my bench using the conjugate method, but not my other two lifts. I would do speed work and ME work with my other two lifts, but it definitely wasn't conjugate.

[zmcdole]

HEAVY SQUATS CUBE METHOD
507 x 2 x 3 (last set paused

GMs
165 x 8
185 x 8
210 x 8

LEG PRESS
3 sets of 20 (4 plates a side)

BACK RAISES
60 reps/3 sets of 20

LEG CURLS
3 sets of 25

[zmcdole]

CUBE METHOD REP BENCH
345 x 5

INCLINE DB PRESS
100 x 20 x 2

CLOSE GRIP
245 x 10

BAND PRESSDOWNS
100 reps with orange band

I got not a wink of sleep last night. I was in the ER with my wife from 9-6 this morning. I didn't finish my workout because I was completely shot, but I'm pretty pleased with what I was actually able to accomplish considering.

[Jason2459]

Hope everyone is OK now.

[zmcdole]

Hope everyone is OK now.

For now. My wife had upper right abdominal pains and a fever so we went in to see what the deal was. They did a urine test, blood test, a cat scan, and an ultrasound and found nothing. They did get her on some antibiotics. It's worrisome because she had a c-section just last Sunday and you wonder if there's some serious infection going on.

[ink81]

CUBE METHOD REP BENCH
345 x 5

INCLINE DB PRESS
100 x 20 x 2

CLOSE GRIP
245 x 10

BAND PRESSDOWNS
100 reps with orange band

I got not a wink of sleep last night. I was in the ER with my wife from 9-6 this morning. I didn't finish my workout because I was completely shot, but I'm pretty pleased with what I was actually able to accomplish considering.

Thats some heaving incline benching, well done. Hope the missus is OK

[ampUP11]

How the fuk did it take this long for me to find out you got a cube story log?

As for your desire to start handling 90-100%, the latter half of the cycle starts giving you the opportunity to push the weights up to 100-102.5% of your floor/raw maxes. If you're going by 95% of your maxes for your percentage work, you should be working up towards old maxes around weeks 5 and on. I'm not sure exactly since I took the excel template and flipped the squat and deadlift days around since I dead on Mondays so I think its like week 5-6.

Good to see your cubin it up, I think there's 4 of us now (me, you, bmont, and B1G) but there's probably a lot more who aren't willing to admit that its actually a pretty great program.

[Jason2459]

...*but there's probably a lot more who aren't willing to admit that its actually a pretty great program.

I don't know of anyone that has truly said the program sucks. Its just fun to make fun of. I think it looks like a fine program as its basically westside principles just tweaked out for individual people. Which guess what...that's Westside's principles as there is no strict template to West sides methods. I've tweaked it out for myself as well. Link in my sig. for how I've periodized it. Which is all the Cube method is a periodization of training using the Westside methods.

[ampUP11]

I don't know of anyone that has truly said the program sucks. Its just fun to make fun of. I think it looks like a fine program as its basically westside principles just tweaked out for individual people. Which guess what...that's Westside's principles as there is no strict template to West sides methods. I've tweaked it out for myself as well. Link in my sig. for how I've periodized it. Which is all the Cube method is a periodization of training using the Westside methods.

I'm not saying they're not willing to admit its a well built program because they're stubborn, just that it's too good of a meme to pass up for the next few months till the next big ebook comes out and we make a gif about it lol.

I did a cycle of WS and I'm finishing my 2nd wave of 3 for Cube, and it's obvious there are similarities. The stand out differences are of course ditching accommodating resistance for deficit/block alternatives, spreading out the ME workload, and turning RE into a consistently used training day instead of something to throw in when you feel like you need it. I'll take a look at your log through the week and see how you structured it, and I like that it is similar to WS in that it is relatively simple to tweak it around what you know works for you and the freedom of a 4th workout day to improve lagging bodyparts. I think I'll have to stay on it for at least 2-3 more cycles before I make a point to state my full opinion because there is a degree of acclimation that I'm still dealing with.

[zmcdole]

How the fuk did it take this long for me to find out you got a cube story log?

As for your desire to start handling 90-100%, the latter half of the cycle starts giving you the opportunity to push the weights up to 100-102.5% of your floor/raw maxes. If you're going by 95% of your maxes for your percentage work, you should be working up towards old maxes around weeks 5 and on. I'm not sure exactly since I took the excel template and flipped the squat and deadlift days around since I dead on Mondays so I think its like week 5-6.

Good to see your cubin it up, I think there's 4 of us now (me, you, bmont, and B1G) but there's probably a lot more who aren't willing to admit that its actually a pretty great program.

Glad you're along for the ride. So far I'm really enjoying it and I think I'm gonna see some gains. As far as the weight goes, it's definitely starting to get up there % wise. On paper it doesn't look like a lot, but when you're done you realize you did some work and got better. Right now I'm thinking that the biggest changes I'll make the next time around is not quite as much floor pressing and absolutely no pulling off of blocks. My weakness has always been off the floor as a sumo puller and pulling off of blocks doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me unless you're going > 100%.

I don't know of anyone that has truly said the program sucks. Its just fun to make fun of. I think it looks like a fine program as its basically westside principles just tweaked out for individual people. Which guess what...that's Westside's principles as there is no strict template to West sides methods. I've tweaked it out for myself as well. Link in my sig. for how I've periodized it. Which is all the Cube method is a periodization of training using the Westside methods.

I'm not saying they're not willing to admit its a well built program because they're stubborn, just that it's too good of a meme to pass up for the next few months till the next big ebook comes out and we make a gif about it lol.

I did a cycle of WS and I'm finishing my 2nd wave of 3 for Cube, and it's obvious there are similarities. The stand out differences are of course ditching accommodating resistance for deficit/block alternatives, spreading out the ME workload, and turning RE into a consistently used training day instead of something to throw in when you feel like you need it. I'll take a look at your log through the week and see how you structured it, and I like that it is similar to WS in that it is relatively simple to tweak it around what you know works for you and the freedom of a 4th workout day to improve lagging bodyparts. I think I'll have to stay on it for at least 2-3 more cycles before I make a point to state my full opinion because there is a degree of acclimation that I'm still dealing with.

It's just like any other program to me in that some work and some don't and you just have to try it out. Obviously some work better than others, but I think the biggest problem that people have is they start a program even though they doubt it and they never really fully buy in and end up not seeing the gains they wanted. My training partner does this. He's worried that it doesn't use heavy enough weights to get him stronger. He does the program with me, but I'm not 100% sure he's totally bought in. Your mind is a very powerful thing.

I agree that it takes some time to really decide whether or not a program or training style works. I think a full 9 weeks on this program is enough time for me to decide whether or not it's gonna be something I'm gonna continue with. Right now I'm thinking it will be.

[ampUP11]

Glad you're along for the ride. So far I'm really enjoying it and I think I'm gonna see some gains. As far as the weight goes, it's definitely starting to get up there % wise. On paper it doesn't look like a lot, but when you're done you realize you did some work and got better. Right now I'm thinking that the biggest changes I'll make the next time around is not quite as much floor pressing and absolutely no pulling off of blocks. My weakness has always been off the floor as a sumo puller and pulling off of blocks doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me unless you're going > 100%.


It's just like any other program to me in that some work and some don't and you just have to try it out. Obviously some work better than others, but I think the biggest problem that people have is they start a program even though they doubt it and they never really fully buy in and end up not seeing the gains they wanted. My training partner does this. He's worried that it doesn't use heavy enough weights to get him stronger. He does the program with me, but I'm not 100% sure he's totally bought in. Your mind is a very powerful thing.

I agree that it takes some time to really decide whether or not a program or training style works. I think a full 9 weeks on this program is enough time for me to decide whether or not it's gonna be something I'm gonna continue with. Right now I'm thinking it will be.

It's one of those things where the first cycle is to get yourself used to the workload and how he builds the "meet prep" and then from there you tinker with what you felt worked and what didn't. For me, I pull conventional now and I feel like I need to do more deficit/floor work on top of the mostly block pulls he prescribes in the e book and the early training groups. So next cycle I'll be replacing some of the 2" pulls with 1-2" deficits and seeing what percentages make sense. Floor pressing I also agree has never felt too great for me, I tried doing pause CGBP for 5x5 today on my weak point day after shoulders and biceps and it felt good. Dead stop at the bottom is what I need to do more of in my pauses since my weakness is my force reversal at the bottom off the chest.

I'm not 100% sure I'll hit a big bench PR this cycle since the shoulder work kicked my ass in comparison to WS, but I'm excited to see how you fare by the end of the first 9 weeks.

[zmcdole]

It's one of those things where the first cycle is to get yourself used to the workload and how he builds the "meet prep" and then from there you tinker with what you felt worked and what didn't. For me, I pull conventional now and I feel like I need to do more deficit/floor work on top of the mostly block pulls he prescribes in the e book and the early training groups. So next cycle I'll be replacing some of the 2" pulls with 1-2" deficits and seeing what percentages make sense. Floor pressing I also agree has never felt too great for me, I tried doing pause CGBP for 5x5 today on my weak point day after shoulders and biceps and it felt good. Dead stop at the bottom is what I need to do more of in my pauses since my weakness is my force reversal at the bottom off the chest.

I'm not 100% sure I'll hit a big bench PR this cycle since the shoulder work kicked my ass in comparison to WS, but I'm excited to see how you fare by the end of the first 9 weeks.

I like the floor presses because I'm weaker there than on the actual bench. However, I don't like how I don't spend very much time actually benching on a bench. I'll still use the floor presses, but I'll sprinkle in more actual bench pressing.

[ampUP11]

I like the floor presses because I'm weaker there than on the actual bench. However, I don't like how I don't spend very much time actually benching on a bench. I'll still use the floor presses, but I'll sprinkle in more actual bench pressing.

I don't know if this was asked already but what source are you pulling your program from? E-book or excel?

[zmcdole]

I don't know if this was asked already but what source are you pulling your program from? E-book or excel?

E-book

[TheStigIsBig]

I like the floor presses because I'm weaker there than on the actual bench. However, I don't like how I don't spend very much time actually benching on a bench. I'll still use the floor presses, but I'll sprinkle in more actual bench pressing.

This was the exact issue I mentioned to you a while back on ******** remember?

If I was ever to run the cube, or something similar I would have to do the same thing.

[zmcdole]

This was the exact issue I mentioned to you a while back on ******** remember?

If I was ever to run the cube, or something similar I would have to do the same thing.

Yeah I remember. With any program tweaks have to be made to accommodate the lifter by attacking his or her weaknesses in the most optimal way. As a raw bencher you need strength off your chest unless that's something you're just really good at. For me the floor press is very close if not identical to when I'm on the bench in regards to ROM. I can actually touch my chest when floor pressing. I just like to be able to do movements enough so that they don't feel foreign when I go to test or compete in a meet.

[TheStigIsBig]

Yeah I remember. With any program tweaks have to be made to accommodate the lifter by attacking his or her weaknesses in the most optimal way. As a raw bencher you need strength off your chest unless that's something you're just really good at. For me the floor press is very close if not identical to when I'm on the bench in regards to ROM. I can actually touch my chest when floor pressing. I just like to be able to do movements enough so that they don't feel foreign when I go to test or compete in a meet.

I have no idea how you do it haha. I am a good 4-5 inches from touching the chest. And I grip pretty damn wide.