doubled mini's ?

yeah, de bench tears up my elbows too.

kinda quiet around here , so here's some random shit..........



I've been hitting some huge PR's ( n.g. press , low box squat , GM's were the most noteworthy so far ) this cycle . I realize that a training PR isnt quite a meet PR , but proof of progress rocks none the less . most notably was the narrow-grip press 2RM (15 lb) and 1RM ( frikkin 25 lbs ) in the same session . where the fuck that came from I have no clue , but Im hopin' it's a sign of things to come .

which brings me to the next article of randomness.....

Im thinkin' like.... ummmm.....maybe I need to narrow my bench grip a bit .

I moved to a very PLer friendly gym last November'ish . it just dawned on me what the biggest difference between this place and the Y where I used to train at .


in between sets ,the lifters at the new place talk about their own goals , training and programming strategys , competition experiences........such and such .


at the old place , during commercials , everybody would be talking about Brett Farve , or Prince Fielder , or Ryan Seacrest ( I dont even know who this dude is ).....basically any schmuck they've seen on TV . never would they talk about their own goals or accomplishments .......only about the happenings in somebody elses life , usually a celebrity or athlete .


fail

Hi, guys. Just saw this thread. Never been to Westside, although I live in Columbus. However, 4 months ago got an invite to train at Ludus Magnus. It was started by some guys who used to be at Westside. Their training seems Westside-ish.

My lifts suck, but that's why I joined - I needed industrial strength training to whip my butt into shape. It's working, starting to get PR's, conditioning toughening up and such.

Just got done with a brutal period and doing a week deload now. They don't use the terminology you're using, but seems to be the same.

I think someone may have already said this , but here it is again from my perspective . if you can learn this methodology from someone who is proficient with it , you will progress faster than if you are forced to learn it all on your own . and I believe this to be true .


give it a shot Cav . but ya gotta believe in all of it .good luck .

I've been flirting with the idea of incorporating banded speed pulls into my routine late, and could use a few thoughts. Based on what I gathered (from the forum at least), people seem to think it's only for geared lifters and that it will have no profound effect for raw lifting. Is that true?

Thank you guys for the clarification. Since reading this thread, I have incorporated a day of speed squats/pulls into my routine. It has been only a month, but my last ME day for deadlift I hit a 15lb PR (not to mention I am now 20lb lighter than when I hit my old 1RM). It is working well for me right now so I don't foresee changing up anytime soon until the lifts go stale. I am just forward looking by considering bands as a potential addition to my routine.

If you guys don't mind, I'd be interested in hearing about the theory/philosophy of the applications of band work for speed pulls!

Thank you that was an informative read!

a very cool trick I've discovered when gunnin' for a questionable PR is to pull against bands right up until the last set , and then take them off for the last set .

havent tried it yet for bench or squat .

I wanted to weigh in on my recent meet and training leading up to it using the methods from this thread and the gargantuan first one. Big thanks to Storm and Chicksan and everyone else who weighed in with their experience.

I did a full meet writeup on my training log (still waiting to get the videos, also has all of my training going back months and months) but I went 430/285/525 @ 220 at my last meet as a junior. Squat and deadlift were all time PRs, and the paused 285 was only ten pounds off my best touch and go.

I started incorporating more of the methods in November after I got back from AT. I decided to seize the opportunity of the winter to move up from 205 to a PR bodyweight of 220 and thought that this would be an excellent way.

My first LTT squat session was absolutely terrible. I'd estimate that it took a good 10-12 weeks to really become confident in my speed and form off of the low box. Using 45/50/55 for percentages until I got more proficient was a good choice. Deadlift took much less time and I eventually moved up the DE pulling percentages to 60/65/70 from 50/55/60 more in line with the training I used on Eric Cressey's programs. Bench Press was perfect at the recommended percentages and .I'm contemplating moving it up slightly for the next run.

After the initial four weeks of Accumulation I incorporated 40 lbs of chain during the Intensification phase and then 80 pounds two months later. I think it was of great benefit to the squat (my sticking point is just above a half squat rather than out of the hole) although I haven't tried using it as a ME exercise. On deadlift I've stuck to straight weight, my difficulty is off the floor and I didn't feel like the carryover was as great as the squat. 40 lbs was perfect on bench, the groove of the chain fits my strength curve perfectly.

For the first eight weeks (four Accumulation/four Intensification) I alternated Squat/Front Squat/Deadlift variations on ME Lower day and Straight Bar/Slingshot/Fat Bar on bench press. During the next eight I decided to alternate Squat and Deadlift and use the front squat more as assistance which I felt was more effective. My bench set up remains the same.

I have access to a Safety Squat Bar, Giant Cambered Bar, Fat Bar, 80+ pounds of chain, EliteFTS bands, Slingshot and all other kinds of weird training implements that I've acquired over time so I have some variety to choose from. I decided to take these four months or so to try as many strange exercises as I could and really nail down what I thought had the best carryover.

With assistance work I tried to get outside of my comfort zone and really make myself uncomfortable. A big part of this was incorporating more failure and pre-exhaustion work, as well as a bodybuilding style back day into my weekly training. Hitting a 6-10RM on incline bench and then thirty seconds later only hitting 28 reps with 50 pound dumbbells on the flat bench was a massive hit to the ego but it was effective as hell. Another favorite of mine was hitting a 40-50 RM on the leg curl followed by 3x10-15 on the back extension. As crazy as it sounds this seemed to increase my posterior chain conditioning immensely.

Most of all I was surprised by how well conditioned I was at the meet. I've heard of a lot of people that can barely hit their opener deadlift from being exhausted by their earlier attempts. I wasn't tired in the slightest come my 9th attempt despite it being 6 pm. I can attribute a lot of this to going hard on the DE and LTT lower days and incorporating a lot more strength endurance work including battle ropes.

All in all, a successful training experience. I'm going to incorporating more of the Cube Method for the foreseeable future but I won't be throwing out anything that I've learned from these threads.

First, just wanted to say a big thanks to STB and everyone else who contributed to these two threads. Read through them all, and despite having read every book or article and watched every video I could find from Louie, these two threads have taught me a ton.

I have a couple questions related to the accumulation/intensification split, especially for someone who doesn't plan on competing for at least another year or two. The main one is whether it would be a mistake to work up to a true 1RM on the ME days during the accumulation block. Louie has written on several instances that his guys work up to a true 1RM year round. And he has also noted a couple times (I'm paraphrasing) that a 1RM will do a lot more for building absolute strength than working up to a 3RM or 5RM. But I see STB and others advocate a 3RM or 5RM during accumulation phase. Would it be counter-productive for me to be doing a 1RM during this phase, just with no bands or chains? Could you see it as even being a benefit to working up to a true 1RM during this wave, while still doing LTT and very light band tension on the DE days, and a bunch of higher rep work and DB work for the assistance exercises during this phase?

The other question relates to how often one should do the standard lifts (BP, Free Squat, DL) as compared to variations on ME days. Some have said to "test" these lifts instead of a variation is kind of a wasted day. But if it's just throwing in the conventional lifts once every 6 weeks or so, while doing a variation on the other 5, shouldn't you be getting the same benefits of the conjugate system on the occasional days when you do a regular bench press, squat or DL? My concern is not getting enough practice in developing form/technique in the 3 conventional lifts. I know that you get to work a lot on form/technique on the DE days, but to me that's never the same as working on form/technique with intensity at 95%+. This is especially true with a raw squat, for me at least, where I feel the form is quite a bit different than the way Louie teaches the box squat (another kudos to this thread. I was box squatting the way DeFranco coached it before reading these threads. While box squatting properly as Louie teaches it was a little humbling, the switch has had a noticeable carryover in both my DL and squat.)