Road to a 405 bench

[ECGordyn]

How does this look for a starting position (deadlift):

Have to see it in action to see where your hips are when the bar leaves the floor. But it looks like your knees are a bit far back relative to your forearms, so could be you need to drop your hips a bit. Do you have a vid?

[SaviorSelfJT]

Have to see it in action to see where your hips are when the bar leaves the floor. But it looks like your knees are a bit far back relative to your forearms, so could be you need to drop your hips a bit. Do you have a vid?

Sure, here's a trimmed/cropped vid of the first rep: https://streamable.com/8ely45

How high do you think the hips look? Does it look closer to a SLDL than a DL? I'm intentionally keeping my hips pretty high, I feel my hamstrings being stretched at the start.

Before I used to almost squat the weight up which I don't think is the right way to do it

[ECGordyn]

Sure, here's a trimmed/cropped vid of the first rep: https://streamable.com/8ely45

How high do you think the hips look? Does it look closer to a SLDL than a DL? I'm intentionally keeping my hips pretty high, I feel my hamstrings being stretched at the start.

Before I used to almost squat the weight up which I don't think is the right way to do it

Actually, looks fine in action. Looks like the bar clips your knees a bit, which means you're keeping the bar close. Starting hip position does look a bit like an SLDL but the only way to see exactly would be to compare still pics.

Pause DLs my hips are lower when I have to hold the weight, but my normal DL has somewhat high hips too.

But if you don't notice a problem then no need to change anything.

[SaviorSelfJT]

Actually, looks fine in action. Looks like the bar clips your knees a bit, which means you're keeping the bar close. Starting hip position does look a bit like an SLDL but the only way to see exactly would be to compare still pics.

Pause DLs my hips are lower when I have to hold the weight, but my normal DL has somewhat high hips too.

But if you don't notice a problem then no need to change anything.

Thanks man, I'm going to keep this form for a while then.

I think I'm going to change training stuff now. What I've been doing got me to some decent lifts, but it hasn't been working in a while and I think I've actually regressed. At first it was just my deadlift but now even my bench is down (I had difficulty benching 315 and pressing 175 for 5 reps the last time). I'm just not all in there mentally so to speak and not training as hard I think.

Some possible factors:
- I'm needing excessive rest times between sets just to maintain, which is making for really long workouts. I don't know how true the science is, but long workouts are said to release stress hormones which work against you
- My sleep is all messed up. I think its due to a lot of things, but work from home means I don't have to get up at a reasonable time and I've always struggled with waking up my whole life. Caffeine use and other stress I'm sure makes it worse
- Good chance I'm not eating enough protein. It wasn't a problem before because I was eating a massive surplus and even if I wasn't eating very high protein foods, the sheer quantity meant I was eating enough protein. But now that I've just been maintaining it may be a problem


A long time ago I did john broz's training system for a few months, and the gains were phenomenal. Not only that, but it was actually enjoyable to train. It seemed so less taxing than constantly trying to beat your previous 5RM or whatever.

Basically its very brief workouts (aim for 45 min), very frequently (ideally daily) at very high intensity (go for a training max of the day) and very low volume per workout (maybe do a couple back off sets after the training max)

I work from home and train in my basement. No reason I can't do this again

-------
Today I did

Good mornings:
45x5
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x1

Deadlift:
135x3
225x1
315x1
365x1
405x1

Chins
6
6
6

Total time about 30 min. I counted 13 sets. When I think I'm ready I'll add in backoff sets but this is what a typical workout should look like

[ECGordyn]

Is John Broz a Bulgarian style training? I Googled and that came up. Why did you switch from it before?

Yeah maxing at 5's every session seems to beat everybody down. Probably spiking your stress hormones and interfering with sleep.

RTS has some great templates and methods for developing your own programming. The powerbuilding and the hypertrophy are worth considering. Google for the PDF or I can send to you here.

[SaviorSelfJT]

Is John Broz a Bulgarian style training? I Googled and that came up. Why did you switch from it before?

Yeah maxing at 5's every session seems to beat everybody down. Probably spiking your stress hormones and interfering with sleep.

RTS has some great templates and methods for developing your own programming. The powerbuilding and the hypertrophy are worth considering. Google for the PDF or I can send to you here.

Yep, its bulgarian style. To be clear, Broz isn't the name of a program, he's an olympic weightlifting coach that advocates this kind of training. So it's really just a set of principles and you make the workouts yourself basically. It's based in olympic lifting, but I see no reason it can't be adapted to my kind of training.

When I did it in the past, I think it was in between high school and when I started college, which by now is a quite a long time ago. It's not that I switched to a different program, I just stopped lifting altogether once I started school again

I'll see if I can find the RTS doc, seems a lot of people use it so I should get familiar with it.

Btw, Greg nuckols has an article about bulgarian training: https://www.t-nation.com/training/ma...ifts-every-day. It seems he as an overall positive stance on it

[SaviorSelfJT]

Been a long time since I've trained two days in a row. Training felt great, I actually feel better right afterwards than right before.

Squat-
various warm up sets
315x1
365x1
405x1
365x2

Bench-
various warm up sets
225x1
275x1
315x1
275x2

Curls-
45x3
65x3
95x3
115x3

Pretty short workout. I did one work set after squat/bench

[SaviorSelfJT]

High box squat:
135x5
225x5
315x4
405x2
415x1
385x5

Strict Press:
45x5
95x5
115x3
135x1
155x1
175x1
195x1
175x2

Static hold:
225x6s
315x6s
405x15s


easy

[SaviorSelfJT]

Didn't get a full night of sleep last night. Worked almost 11 hours straight today and then had a 2 frustrating hour long phone call. Was really hungry. Despite that decent training

Good morning
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x1
230x1
205x3

Bench
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x2
315x1
295x2

Barbell row
135x5
225x2
275x1
275x1 (was supposed to be 295, knew it felt too light)
295x1

[SaviorSelfJT]

5 day streak, feeling pretty good still

Squat:
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1
365x1
405x1
415x1
375x2

Deadlift
135x3
225x2
315x1
365x1
415x1 (pretty sure this is the heaviest weight I've done with no straps)
375x2

Pullups
6
6
6

[SaviorSelfJT]

6 day streak

Box Squat, (few inches high as usual)
135x5
225x5
315x43
405x1
425x1
395x5

Press
95x5
135x3
155x1
180x1
200xfail had it right on my forehead for what felt like a couple seconds
185x2

Rear delt flies
25(2)x9
x10
x12

[SaviorSelfJT]

1 full week. Brr it was cold in the basement, wore thermals under my sweats and really thick wool socks

Squat- (top sets)
365x1
405x1
425x1
385x2

Bench- (top sets)
275x1
315x1 (felt a lot easier than many times before so I tried 325)
325xmiss (it was like I just lost focus at the bottom and completely relaxed for a sec. Then got stuck halfway up :/
295x2


Rev grip curl
65x5
85x5
95x5
105x5

For bench I tried a grip width a little narrower than usual, maybe that explains the weird 325 miss. Either way, according to Nuckols/the bulgarian method the solution to being stuck is simple. Gradually increase the volume by sprinkling in more work sets so thats what im going to do

[SaviorSelfJT]

I just noticed something awful about me using mixed grip on deadlifts. My arms are not straight, if I extend my arms with palms up, my arms bend away from my elbow. But what this means for mixed grip is that I need to hold the bar at different places in the knurling on each side to be "even". My right knee kept hitting my right arm and I thought I wasn't setting up correctly

So tempting to go back to straps...

Good morning-
up to 225x1
205x3

Deadlift-
up to 365x1
405x1 (I reset like four times due to the above reason, cause I thought I was getting my stance wrong)
385x2

Pullups
4
4

Didn't feel very strong today

[SaviorSelfJT]

The fatigue is real, these all felt really heavy

Squat-
warm up sets
365x1
405x1
375x2
375x2

Bench-
warm up sets
225x3
275x1
255x2
255x2

Curls
95x5
115x5

[SaviorSelfJT]

Still feel pretty tired. Took it light today

Box squat-
315x1
365x1
315x2
315x2

Press-
135x1
155x1
135x2
135x1

[SaviorSelfJT]

For the first few times in a few days I woke up and didn't immediately feel like chit

But then I had a really long day at work, had a beer right after/before lifting



Good morning-
225x1
240x1
225x2
225x2

Bench-
225x2
275x1
295x1
275x2
275x2
275x2

Row-
225x2
275x1
295x1
275x2
275x2
275x2

[SaviorSelfJT]

Felt really good today. Really glad I stayed with this, the most recent 5 days or so have been really tough. At one point I really wanted to quit and do 5/3/1 or something else easy cause of how chitty I was feeling.

Squats-
up to 430x1
405x2
405x2

Deadlift-
405x1 (this felt practically effortless in my body, but I felt like I was barely able to hold onto it. Felt like I had to put it down really quickly or else it would slip out)
430xmiss (probably grip)

Various band pull a parts (for shoulder health)



Not sure if my grip is weak cause I could barely hold onto 405. However, my hands felt a little oily, I don't use chalk, and my bar has really crappy knurling.

A long time ago in the past I used to use chalk and its like it filled the gaps in my knurl, so I took a steel brush to it as nothing else would get it out. It , but it seemed to dull the knurl :/

Want to go back to straps so fuking bad but I don't want toothpick sized forearms

[SaviorSelfJT]

High box squat-
up to 445x1
405x2
405x2

Press-
up to 175x1
155x2
155x2

Rev grip curl
95x5, all my forearms could take

[ECGordyn]

High box squat-
up to 445x1
405x2
405x2

Press-
up to 175x1
155x2
155x2

Rev grip curl
95x5, all my forearms could take

Very impressive squats man

[SaviorSelfJT]

Very impressive squats man

Thanks man, certaintly feels like squats have been the main thing progressing recently. My right shoulder has been bothering me a bit which has hurt my pressing, and my DL has lagged behind a little like it always has.

My shoulder felt a lot better today, not sure if its the band pull aparts I've been doing recently, or the fact that I've been purposefully flaring my arms out a little instead of tucking in so much


Squat:
405x1
425x1
405x2
405x2

When I walk the weight back in, I'm putting a LOT of stress on my right calf

Bench:
275x1
295x1
305x1
295x2
295x2
295x2

305 felt great, the past week or so anything around this weight has been feeling bad. Like on the first rep I have to lower the weight super slow or else it feels like my arms are going to be ripped off. I think its most likely shoulder instability and focusing on rear delts is helping

Pullups/band pull aparts/rear delt flies

[SaviorSelfJT]

Stayed up past 5AM last night and had a few drinks, started the day slightly hungover

Good morning:
245x1
225x3
225x3

Deadlift:
405x1
315x1
315x1
365x1
185x1

Some banded pull aparts

Was getting some stomach discomfort while lifting

Also just realized I've been training every day for over 2 weeks now, I think I'm over the "dark" period

[SaviorSelfJT]

Legs felt pretty tired, so squats were pretty light

Squat:
385x1
335x2
335x2

Bench:
315x1
295x3
295x3

Some random rear delt flies with 25s/35s

Bicep curl:
115x10

[SaviorSelfJT]

Box squat (NOT high, used concrete blocks)
up to 415x1
365x5

Press-
185x1
175x2
175x2
175x2

Rear delts

[SaviorSelfJT]

Felt pretty good today:

GM-
250x1
235x2
235x2

Bench-
325x1 (paused, recorded and noticed this was def a pause bench)
305x2
305x2

Row-
305x1
275x3 (little cheating on these)

upright row-
95x5
95x5
95x5

wondering if these will help my shoulders. or hurt



chitty vid, but heres the 325
https://streamable.com/9i8808

[SaviorSelfJT]

Squat-
up to 445x1
405x2
405x2

Deadlift-
up to 415x1
315
335
355
375
feelin a little lightheaded so stopped

Couple sets of pullups

[tobistrength]

Strong lifts all around man. That bench press had a nice pause too

[SaviorSelfJT]

Strong lifts all around man. That bench press had a nice pause too

Thanks, the pause wasn't even intentional lol, I try to touch and go. Its just that my shoulder has been feeling a little "rubbery" lately and its like I have to lower it so slowly it pauses. I've been hammering my shoulders a lot recently and I think thats helping.

I'm getting real close to hitting all time PRs, and this is after training daily for I think 3 weeks now at maximal intensities so I have to be stronger. I've been tracking my highest lifts in a spreadsheet, and the trendline for each lift is increasing over time which is good. But my squat has gone up and down up and down, but on average its going up


Had a strong beer (10% ABV) preworkout again, so was pretty loosened up before:

Box squat-
up to 405x1
then 315x12

Press-
up to 195x1
185x2
185x2
155x10

Rev grip curl-
95x5
95x5
95x5

Upright rows-
95x7
95x7
95x7

[SaviorSelfJT]

Glutes were sore as hell when I woke up this morning, quads a little too. Foam rolled earlier in the day

Squats-
up to 445x1 (felt easier than last time. Was tempted to go for a PR; 460lbs but decided to stay down)
315x8
335x3
355x3
375x3

Bench-
up to 315x1
245x8
265x3
275x5
Trying to flare a little more and bring the bar lower. These were all paused

Some rear delts with grey bands

[SaviorSelfJT]

Pretty sore muscles (glutes, quads, everything in that area) but not as sore as yesterday. Foam rolled right before lifting:

Good morning-
255x1
225x5

DL-
up to 420x1 (I've done more with straps, but technically a PR without straps)

Couple sets of pullups, couldn't do much

Called it a day, next time I'll do some lighter backoff sets but now I don't want to overdo it

[SaviorSelfJT]

465 lbs squat (+10lb PR)
https://streamable.com/zrwbfp

That flew up fast, was tempted to try 475 but I'll hold off for another day

I ripped my pants earlier in the workout too lol



----------------

Squat-
up to 465x1 (PR!)
No backoff sets

Bench-
up to 325x1
225x17 (done 20 before but haven't done high rep like this in a long time)

Curls-
115x5