Fitness 2022

[Faramir2]

Starting a new workout thread for the sake of being able to record what I do, as a means of tracking it, and also for asking advice. I've noticed that I've plateaued in my training. I need to change up what I do, but frankly, I'm getting tired of just doing the "Big 3" lifts and not getting real far because of limited time and limited options for what I can do in a school gym. I need to do change up to more of a bodybuilding approach, but I also don't have much mental bandwidth to program things precisely.

That said, I plan on continuing doing some weight training, because there's nothing like it for building strength. But I plan to also go back to some bodyweight training to work more eccentric movement, explosive work (esp sprinting, burpees, stuff like that), and work in some rucking and similar exercises. Part of what I want is to develop better fighting conditioning. That requires strength and muscle, of course, but I need also to move with my plates on, a backpack, weapons, so on. The wife and I took a walk earlier with our plate carriers on, and man are my shoulders sore now. I probably need to adjust how my carrier is fitted, but the fact also is that I need to adjust my posture and get conditioned to carrying that thing.

So, here's to building strength, fighting conditioning, and getting proficient and strong in odd movement. More programming and results tracking to come. Probably also some tracking pics to track the visual changes.

[Faramir2]

Finally finalized pretty well what I will do fitness-wise. I need to write out a program but have been experimenting a bit with times. Mondays will be runs—ruck runs or sprints, most likely, with my workout buddy. Tuesdays are workouts with the wife—pushups, KB swings, TGUs, pullups, burpees, that sort of thing. Wednesdays and Fridays, weights at the gym—upper/lower split between the two days. Thursdays, bodyweight stuff at home.

Today was mainly chest work.

- Dumbbell bench: 30 lbs, 5x10–15 reps.

- Dumbbell flyes: 15 lbs, 5x10–15 reps.

- Situps: Decline bench, alternating sets with just bodyweight (probably 20 reps a set—forgot to count) and with a 25-lb. plate.

- Pullups: Bodyweight, 10x10 reps (except the last two sets—only got through 9 reps for those sets, since I have noodle arms).

- Planked for one minute, when wrapping up.

- Final item was a set of pushups, bodyweight, to failure—pushed out 30, even after all the other stuff.

[Faramir2]

Yesterday I had to start on a dryer repair project and finish some school work, so only got to do five sets of pullups, about 7–9 reps apiece. Did some neutral grip, some archer grip, and a few with my AR slung over my back. Did a few minutes of dry work and had to call it a night.

Today will be gym time, though.

[Faramir2]

Deadlift day today. Working relatively low weights to get back in the swing of it and also try to focus on hypertrophy.

- 1x10 @ 135 for warmup (after stretching a little).

- 3x10 @ 185.

- 5x10 @ 205

- 1x5 @ 255 (that was tougher than I thought it would be—haven't done deads in a hot minute).

[LawDog]

Deadlift day today. Working relatively low weights to get back in the swing of it and also try to focus on hypertrophy.

- 1x10 @ 135 for warmup (after stretching a little).

- 3x10 @ 185.

- 5x10 @ 205

- 1x5 @ 255 (that was tougher than I thought it would be—haven't done deads in a hot minute).

That’s a whole lot of warm-up. I do a single set of five reps at each weight (each plate) as I work my way up on deadlift. So:

5 reps of 135.
5 reps of 225.
5 reps of 315.
5 reps at max.

I deadlift last, so I’m already warm. The initial lifts are more about priming my mind for the heavy ones.

Deadlifts are all about max effort. There’s not much to be gained by high volume deads.

If you want to save a whole lot of time, try this:

5 reps at 135.
5 at 185.
2 at 225.
And finally 5 at 255.

As long as you’ve warmed up doing something else, you will have cut your deadlift warm-up down from 90 reps to 12. And you’ll be better off spending that time and effort on different exercises.

[Faramir2]

That’s a whole lot of warm-up. I do a single set of five reps at each weight (each plate) as I work my way up on deadlift. So:

5 reps of 135.
5 reps of 225.
5 reps of 315.
5 reps at max.

I deadlift last, so I’m already warm. The initial lifts are more about priming my mind for the heavy ones.

Deadlifts are all about max effort. There’s not much to be gained by high volume deads.

If you want to save a whole lot of time, try this:

5 reps at 135.
5 at 185.
2 at 225.
And finally 5 at 255.

As long as you’ve warmed up doing something else, you will have cut your deadlift warm-up down from 90 reps to 12. And you’ll be better off spending that time and effort on different exercises.

Hm, good suggestion. And I hadn't thought specifically about the point of deadlifts being for max effort. Usually my workout buddy and I do just deadlifts in that workout, but now that I'm thinking about what those muscle groups do, I see your point (principally the ones in the back—the glutes and hamstrings can be more explosive, but that's not really what deadlifts are about). I'll try reducing the overall number of reps and focus on maximizing the effort. I can lift a decent bit on deads (at least for my frame and overall fitness level), and I can definitely pull more than 255; but I suppose I had tired out my back by the end. I'll try your method.

[Mr. Anthony]

There's also benefit to higher-volume deadlifts; just depends on your goals. During my hypertrophy phases (on one now), I do things like 4x12 trap bar deadlifts in the 330-350 range, similar sets of rack pulls at like 375, etc. 1RM conventional deadlift is 500. I tend to cycle through lower rep/heavier and higher rep/lighter, depending on programming.

Depends on goals.

Edit: it takes me much longer to warm up/build to some really heavy singles or doubles than it does to bang out big sets under 400 lbs.

[prestojo]

You might want to check out some of Brian Alsruhe's stuff on YouTube. He works in a lot of conditioning in his strength programs. He lays out the format in his videos, or you can purchase some boiler plate programs for $25 from his website, http://www.neversate.com. He also does personalized programs.

I've been using condensed versions of his programs for the last year, and really like them.

[Faramir2]

There's also benefit to higher-volume deadlifts; just depends on your goals. During my hypertrophy phases (on one now), I do things like 4x12 trap bar deadlifts in the 330-350 range, similar sets of rack pulls at like 375, etc. 1RM conventional deadlift is 500. I tend to cycle through lower rep/heavier and higher rep/lighter, depending on programming.

Depends on goals.

Edit: it takes me much longer to warm up/build to some really heavy singles or doubles than it does to bang out big sets under 400 lbs.

So your opinion is that for hypertrophy purposes, which is what I'm trying to do right now, there's some value to higher volume? That's helpful for knowing how to program.

[LawDog]

Added background: I’m totally focused on strength. I don’t work for hypertrophy at all. I’m naturally built like a rolly-polly, so I don’t try to add thickness.