The initial month of my training cycle went very well. I designed this cycle for a 900-pound bench press. This month I learned a few things that will set me up for greater success in the next block of training.
I’ve found that in order to move forward, it is important to reflect back on previous training. Years ago when I was chasing down a 600-pound raw bench in the 308-pound weight class, Dave Tate taught me how important it was to look back at my old training logs. I certainly think that hard work is the most important component of anyone’s training, but if you want to squeeze out every last ounce of gains, you have to train not only harder but also more intelligently. Get that, people? Hard work first, intelligence second.
First, max effort bench was great. I only missed one lift during the first month of training, and I was able to come back and get it. To be at your best, you have to dance on that fine line of hitting and missing. Most of my top lifts were grinds, and I was hitting at least three lifts in the 90-percent range. I know I got enough equality, hard work.
Regarding max effort assistance, I am glad I stuck with the same exercises, even supplemental movements, for the bench press. With close grip inclines I quickly realized that I did not want to chase the same rep scheme for four weeks, so I alternated. One week I did sets of three and then the following I did sets of five. This worked out well for me.
For the rest of my assistance, I was pleased to see progress instead of having to exercise hop week-to-week. The triceps and shoulder work went well. Unfortunately, I am struggling with biceps issues. This affects my back work and, of course, direct biceps work. I had to step back the last week of month one and lower the intensity of those exercises. To combat this for the next cycle, I will choose exercises that I know do not irritate my biceps. I will also wear lifting straps if necessary.
Dynamic effort bench did not go as well at max effort, but it was still okay. I was not able to push the percentages that I had hoped. That said, I watched a great video from the 2013 NSCA Coaches Conference in which Matt Wenning gave some perspective on dynamic effort. The most important thing about speed work is being fast. It sounds simple, but as a true meathead, my goal is to always add weight to the bar. I know I discussed this somewhat in the first installment of my three-month program, but I quickly forgot. From now on, weight used for speed work will be determined entirely by feel.
Other than this, the supplemental and assistance work went well for dynamic effort days. The numbers moved up every week, which means I always worked harder than the week before. I will switch it up for the next block like I am with the max effort bench day. My supplemental bench movement will be overhead rack lockouts. I haven’t done these in a while. I have noticed some shoulder issues recently and really think that this will remedy the problem. I need to get my shoulders strong again.
Last, and least, is lower-body work. I cannot work speed yet like I had originally planned. After recovering from my hamstring strain, trying to move weight as fast as possible is not a great idea. My man Brian Holloway impressed this upon me. I also need to squat and deadlift on the same day. Deadlifting on Wednesdays is just too close to Friday’s max effort bench. So, I am implementing an accumulation block for squat and deadlift. These will be performed on the same day. The second lower body day of each week will be assistance work. I may try some very light, higher rep trap bar deadlifts on this day. It is subject to how I recover.
Now that the actual lifting is taken care of, here are some other little (I actually consider them big) things. Conditioning is going as planned. I have been doing some kind of conditioning on every non-training day. Looking back, adding conditioning work has helped me in many ways. Since I’m in better condition, I can really push myself a lot harder with the weights. I also recover faster. As much as I never feel like starting my conditioning work, I can’t remember a time I didn’t feel better afterwards.
My nutrition has been on point. I am back to carb back-loading. I have talked plenty about this in my log, so I won’t spend much time on it here. My numbers are going well, I feel great, my body weight is slowly dropping, and my body composition is improving. It works for me.
I do need to spend more time on recovery, specifically sleep, contrast showers, and icing. I can do more of all of them. I know these methods work for me, and there’s no excuse not to do them. Every little bit helps.
Well, there it is: a prescription for success. If I want to keep making gains, I have to constantly improve. I cannot do that without careful thought, evaluation, and smashing f’ing weights!
