Normally when I don’t write for a really long time, I like to give you all a little update on my training progress. Well, that’s really no fun. I know exactly where my progress is, and I’m willing to bet a lot of you could really give two sh*ts about me.
With that in mind, I really DO care about YOUR progress. Are you still progressing with your goals? Have you stalled or are you setting PR’s everyday?
Tell me about you. If you need help, I’m always a comment or email away.
Be awesome.
P.S. I’ll have a post up about MY results at the Tactical Strength Challenge soon. :-p
I’ve gotten back into pull-ups this summer. With consistent training 20 fell relatively quickly. Right now, I am pretty consistent at 24/25 as a max. How do I get to 30? 30 does not seem impossible, it just seems a long way off.
My routine looks like this:
Mon:
Work in sets during the day following this progression-
7 pull-ups / 45s rest / 7 pull-ups
continue through
11 pull-ups / 45s rest / 11 pull-ups
Tues:
Morning: 20 pull-ups / 1m rest / 10 pull-ups
Afternoon: 20 pull-ups / 1m rest / 10 pull-ups
Wed:
Time under tension.
Morning: 45s up and 45s down (this can get ugly)
Afternoon: 45s up and 45s down
Th: No pull-ups
Fri: Go for a max set
Sat & Sun: No pull-ups
Thoughts?
Oooo!!! 1 more thing:
What about different grip variations? Leading up to the TSC, I had done nothing but weighted chin-ups for sets of 2 or 3, and still managed to bust out 18 pull-ups without training for them.
Not saying that was the only reason, but progressing a common movement should also progress your primary movement.
okbai
As long as you have a plan and are continuing to progress, I’d say stick with it. But if you’re looking for tweaks, here are some suggestions off the top of my head:
1) Do you just need to get stronger? Lower reps/add weight?
2) How about speed work like clapping pull-ups or just where you release your hands from the bar and catch yourself on the way down?
3) I’m not a fan of any TUT training.
4) I somewhat question the progression on Monday.
5) Are you doing any vertical pressing to balance out your tissue?
Again, if you’re progressing at a pace you’re happy with, just keep rocking. If not, then it’s time to test some other things.
Thanks for the comment as always!
My biggest constraint on progress is time available (primarily from new baby) and negative state from my job (that I am detesting right now). Fatigue from spending majority of 10-11hrs a shift on my feet doesn’t help either.
I’m working to get my pull-ups back up after not working them for over a year. Progress is slow but constant. The best part is that after working that a bit, my KB Press is testing okay again after testing bad for a while now.
I work the (standing) Arnold Press an average of once a week and got from 3reps*15kg/side to 5reps*20kg/side or 1rep*25kg/side at approx 73kgBW in pretty short order.
Seated Row is testing well, seeming to indicatethat my back needs reinforcing. Volume and density are shooting up there too.
So, considering I end up getting about a total of 1.5hrs a week to (formally) exercise, things are good. Messing with 16hr fasts has got me leaner than ever as well (from the mirror test, nothing empirical).
I’ve always had the hardest time gaining size through my arms, especially biceps. Currently my training is crazy cuz Im running the metrodash.com this Saturday but as soon as that’s over I’m ready to start packing on some extra wgt through the winter months. Currently 165lbs and 11%bf according to BIA heaviest was 187 with 15% bf but it just about killed me eating 5-6000 cals a day. So what I’m looking for in the next couple of months is some extra circ on the arms and I can do 5-6 days a week 1-1.5 hour workouts. Max leg press 1000 max bench a measly 200 but getting better. Would like to get another professionals opinion. Thanks a ton and love the quality content.
I got to my goal of setting 225 pounds on the bench (have done as many as 5 per set, around 20-25 reps seperated by a couple of minutes). This is done on decline and flat bench depending on how they test that day. Now I think I’m going to start alternating higher rep sets at 225 and trying to push two-rep max higher while still using both benches.
That was my main goal, but it’s been accompanied by steady improvement in back row ability (now generally doing 3 or 4 sets of 8 @ 220 lbs). I’ve also started doing my pullups with up to 15 lbs on my back, though I seem to have hit a bit of a stopping point on that in the last couple of weeks (possible reps not increasing). I think I’ll try those clap pullups. Am obviously shifting grips as well (basically following your pullup video). Just today I set a new vertical press record with a couple sets of 125, and also a new rep record at 115.
I’d say that’s where my most easily reportable progress has been. The bench numbers are most impressive, as I was doing 65-70 lb barbell presses for maybe 2 years before I switched to straight benching around 145 lbs in March, started using biofeedback and a few other pieces of your advice, went from 170 lbs to 215 lbs benching over the summer, and polished off my goal of 225 lbs (two plates, NFL combine press weight) just last week, despite fighting some pre-existing shoulder tissue impediments in the process. Yay.
@Piers
Always good to hear from you and your experimentations. I can relate about being in a negative state most of the day. I’m the same way, but have been given some ideas to try get out of that.
Glad that you’re still able to progress on such a short time period. And glad you’re checking out the 16 hr fasts. I’ve never been on an easier “diet” or gotten better results.
Good luck with the newborn! Must be exciting times!
@Blake
It kind of sounds like you could benefit from the same advice I gave to Adam: variety is the spice of life. Different variations, different speeds, different loads. The key is to find which one will be best for you on that day, a la an active range of motion test found in the Grip and Rip DVD.
Not only that, but the tricep is actually a much larger muscle than the bicep. Make sure you give them more attention than the biceps. Which in turn will force you to grow your shoulders.
My favorite lifts (but may not be your favorite lifts) are: weighted chins, shoulder pressing, bench variations, weighted dips, and the occasional standing EZ bar curl.
Again, testing your movements will ensure the greatest and fastest gains. Hope that helps, and thanks for the comment!
well life has been pretty stressful the past few weeks/months..
the past few months i had “surgery”, and a bunch of family crap… so i had gained some weight from not being able to workout and eating what i wanted (bad time to do it LOL)
so its been running season, been running with some runners on wednesdays, iv only been running wed and on the weekend if i ahve a race and thats about it.. my ankle still isnt 100%… i wear the vibrams occasionally just around and later in the evening my ankle hurts, but im hoping its the muscles getting sore/stronger and not the tendons…
i ran a few 5k’s… not super happy with the times but they have been hilly courses.. around a 8:00 pace.. the runner friends seem to think im improving since each race has been tougher/hillier then the previous and time stayed the same.. i think the extra 10-15 pounds might be slowing me down some, i hit i think 177 im around 174-175 now..
so i guess my questions are.. since its almost the end of season..
do i worry as much about my weight in the off season? obviously not let it get any higher.. or should i try and stick to stayin in as good of shape as possible?
also im still trying to figure out what my cross training routine should look like, guess i’m going to work on higher reps and look into the density stuff ( fit as many reps in in a given time as possible and try and improve)unless you have more advice..
also iv done the 24 hour fasts but no 16hr… do you ahve a link on them, basically how often, what you eat when ur off your fast etc..
@Adam
I’m going to be needing to get a testimonial from you, mkay?
Awesome friggin job!
@Derrick
If your goal is to continue to do endurance type events, I would try to stay within a comfortable weight range. Being that it is the offseason, I wouldn’t stress A LOT about some weight gain, but I also wouldn’t let myself get too far out from “competition ready”.
I think working on density is a very good place to start. The point of a race is to finish the fastest, right? So it makes sense to perform your movements as fast and safely as possible.
I’ve linked to Martin Berkhan’s site several times in other posts. He has outlined his exact plan and how you can use it too. You typically do the 16 hr. fasts everyday. You can pretty much eat any food you want within the 8 hr feeding window as long as you stay within your caloric restrictions and are using a macro breakdown that’s good for you. That’s how I get away with eating fair food and Smashburger. 😉
Dave,
Thanks for the advice, headed to the gym to get after it starting Monday. Gotta race this Saturday metrodash.com then back to the wgts. Again great ideas!
Blake R
Ok, I’ll bite. If you remember, I mentioned that I was getting some really bad tightness down in my shins from running. This has gotten better, but it’s still happening in my right leg, which is the leg I had surgery on due to a torn ACL. I’m thinking something with my stride is off, which is causing the pain, so I’ve been working on my form like you suggested, which has made it better. Stretching a lot before hand seems to help as well. So far, I’ve gained a lot of muscle, I’ve increased all the weight for my exercises, but I hit something of a wall with my bicep curls. I’ve been doing seated bicep curls where I brace my elbow on the inside of my leg for support, but my left arm started to feel like the muscles were tearing away from the bone. I read online where a lot of guys had this problem, turns out it was tendinitis, and that doing standing curls where your arm has more range of motion will help with this. When I first started working out, I was at 252lbs. and have gotten down to 238lbs., so basically I just need to stick with it and I’ll eventually get down to my target of 200lbs.
I could do a testimonial for you, if you were. It’s probably the least I could do since I basically used a whole bunch free Dave advice instead of training sessions or the DVD to make most of my gains.