Sheiko#29- W2 D2- 8/27/08- Wednesday

2 Hours

Energy- +1

1)Deadlifts to Knees
(50%)285x3
(60%)340x3
(70%)395(belt) x3 x3
(75%)425x2 x2 x2 x2

2)Close Grip Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x6
(60%)180x6 x6
(65%)195x6 x6 x6 x6

3)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Deadlift from Pins
(50%)285x4
(60%)340x4
(70%)395(belt) x4 x4
(80%)450x4 x4 x4 x4

5)DB Reverse Lunges
55x5/side x5 x5 x5 x5

6)Lying DB Tricep Extension
20x10 x10 x10 x10 x10


Notes: The deadlift to knees were extremely slow today with more back rounding than I'm really comfortable with. I think that had I done a few weeks of conditioning to ease myself back into things, then this would not be so extreme. I will probably do this next time around.

Deadlifts from pins were a walk in the park compared to last weeks with 85%.

Added in some DB Tricep Extensions for some extra tricep work.

8/26/08- Tuesday- GPP/Active Recovery

1a)Prone Med Grip Pullups
BWx10 x7

1b)VMO External Rotation
15x15 x15 x12

1c)DB Lateral Raise
35x12 x10 x8

2a)Cable External Rotation (supine grip)
20x12 x12 x12

2b)DB Curl
30x10 x8

31 Minutes Incline Treadmill- 2 miles

Contrast Shower- 20s/45s x4 (end on cold)

Notes: Slept 13 hours last night...guess I needed it, ha!

Sheiko#29- W2 D1- 8/25/08- Monday

2 Hours 5 Minutes

Energy- 0/-1

1)Squats
(50%)215x5
(60%)260x4
(70%)300x3 x3
(80%)345x2 x2 x2 x2 x2

2)2 Board Bench Press (paused)
(50%)160x5
(60%)190x4
(70%)220x2 x2
(80%)250x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

3)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Neutral Close Grip Pushups (w/handles)
30lb Vestx10 x10 x10 x10 x10

5)Front Squat
(45%)195x3 x3
(55%)235x3 x3
(65%)260(belt)x1 (miss on 2nd)
(dropped back in weight) 250x1 x1 x2
260x2

6)Good Mornings
140x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

Notes: Today's session was a slaughter. Compared to the last 2 times on this program, I am increased my squat PB by double. So the work this time around is much more, and I can certainly feel it.

Board presses felt right at this weight rather than basing it off of a higher estimated max. They are now based off of a 315, 2 board max.

Front Squats were brutal. I was having a hard time finding the right width on my stance and making sure that I wasn't going unnecessarily deep. I dumped the second rep of the first set, dropped the weight back a bit and then on the last set, bumped it back up to 260. A nice big nap is in order.

Sheiko#29- W1 D3- Friday- 8/22/08

1 Hour 40 Minutes

Energy- +1

1)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x5
(70%)210x4
(75%)225x3 x3
(80%)240x2 x2
(75%)225x3 x3
(70%)210x4
(60%)180x6
(50%)150x8

2)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

3)Squat
(50%)215x5
(60%)260x4
(70%)300x3 x3
(75%)325x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

4)Lying DB Tricep Extension
15x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

5)Good Mornings
140x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

Power Plate lower body restoration

Notes: Today was not easy. Still sore quite a bit in the lower body. I know that the squats will get easier, but they were pretty difficult today. It's funny to now be using more weight on my 75% work this cycle than 80% last cycle. And by funny, I mean difficult.

8/21/08- Thursday- GPP

1a)Neutral Grip Chins
BWx8 x6 x6

1b)Cable Lateral Raise
x12 x12 x12

1c)Cable Ext Rotation
x12 x12 x15

2)DB Hammer Curl
30x10 x8 x8

Contrast Shower- 20s/60s x4

Sheiko#29- W1 D2- Wed

2 Hours 45 Minutes

Energy- 0

1)Deadlift Till Knees
(50%)285x3
(60%)340x3
(70%)395(belt)x3 x3
(75%)425x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Close Grip Incline Bench (paused)
180x6 x6 x6 x6

3)Dips
BWx5 x5 x5 x5 x5

4)Deadlifts from pins
(55%)310x4
(65%)365x4
(75%)425(belt)x4 x4
(85%)480x3 (.25' lower) x3 x3 x3

5)Good Mornings
140x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

6)Hanging Leg Raises
Straight Legx10 x10 x10


Notes: Today took a bit longer than usual because I met up with Max (aka Diesel Weasel) to help him with his Skills Eval. He kicked ass and took some names.

The deadlifts from pins in this session are probably the hardest deadlift part of all these cycles. The bar always feels literally welded to the pins and it seems like I'm pulling for an eternity before the thing actually moves.

Back, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and pecs all still sore from Monday's session.

8/19/08- Tuesday- Recovery/GPP

1a)Medium Grip Pullups
BWx10 x8 x6

1b)DB Lateral Raise
30x12 x12 x12

1c)VMO External Rotation
15x15 x12 x10

2a)Side Lying Ext Rotation
8x12 x13 x15

2b)Neutral Grip Cable Row
165x8 x8

30 Minutes Incline Treadmill

Foam Rolling Lower Body

Contrast Shower- 20s/60s x4 (end on cold)

Sheiko#29- W1 D1- Monday

1 Hour 40 Minutes

1)2 Board Bench Press (paused)
175x5
205x4 x4
240x3 x3
250x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Squat
(50%)215x5
(60%)260x5 x5
(70%)300(belt)x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

3)2 Board Bench Press (paused)
175x5
205x5
240x4 x4 x4 x3 (miss on last rep)

4)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

5)DB Alt Reverse Lunges
55x5 50x5 x5 x5 x5

Power Plate restoration- Glutes, Quads

Notes: Today's session was super-tough. I think that the board pressing work is just too heavy, or perhaps I'm not used to having so much weight in my hands for such a long period of time anymore. I think that I may have to base the board press work on a lower percentage. I'm also not so sure about these in regards to how they will affect my technique. Perhaps I would be better off using chains instead.

Did lunges instead of good mornings by accident.

I'm beat and off to bed.

SKILLS EVALUATION 7-8-08

SQUAT- Warmups felt fıne but not super-fast. Most of the warmup sets and even 95% was faster ın the skılls evaluatıon a few weeks before. Anyhow, I decıded to make a 15lb jump for my fırst PR. It felt quıte good and looked fast on tape so I bumped ıt up another 10lbs. At thıs poınt, I had defınıtely achıeved more than I had expected and was quıte happy. But I knew that I had somethıng left so I took another 5lbs for a 30lb PR.

I thınk that one of the maın reasons for such a huge PR ıs abılıty to get better and better at hıttıng depth wıthout goıng so deep that I have nothıng comıng out of the hole. I taped sıde depth wıth a second camera and each squat was defınıtely PLENTY deep. But ın the past, I have let the weıght pull me so far down that I cannot recovery. All ın all squat was extremely succesful as I achıeved more ın 3 months than the prevıous 5 months of traınıng.

BENCH- Warmups dıdnt feel too great here. I felt that ın the skılls evaluatıon a few weeks ago that I destroyed 285 and could have gotten 300 almost posıtıvely ıf not 305. Thıs tıme around 285 was slow and awkward. I felt lıke my rıght (ınjured) shoulder almost gave out on the 285 attempt and then agaın on the 300.

I need more trıcep work due to the early flarıng of the elbows and perhaps some dıfferent programıng to progress thıngs a bıt faster. I think that arranging things so that I peak at the right time may be good for some increases in and of itself, but I will also consider some differences in exercise selection as well.

DEADLIFT- Warmups felt pretty good but not especıally fast, so I decıded to start out wıth a 20lb PR attempt. As I was goıng down to the bar, I grıpped ıt probably half an ınch off off-center. The bar was movıng quıte fast off the ground so I decıded to stıck wıth ıt and try to fınısh the pull. The technıcal error left me wıth less than I should have had above the knees and I couldnt make ıt. I decıded that there was no way I was leavıng wıth a PR but that 570 would be too much to attempt for a second tıme.

I dropped ıt back 5lbs and had the slowest deadlıft of my lıfe, but I made ıt. I came very close to rampıng but I stuck ıt out and suprısed myself wıth a 15lb PR. I know for a fact that 570 would have been there had ıt not been for the technıcal error and that 575 could have been a possıbılıty as well. I thınk ıt makes the most sense to base the next traınıng cycle off of 570 or a 20lb PR.

TOTAL- 1280 up from 1230. 50lb PR in 3 months.


Some ınterestıng notes about Sheıko traınıng that I have observed wıth myself. Generally, my 95% lıfts tend to be faster on the fırst skılls evaluatıon day rather than the day that I am attemptıng my maxes. Perhaps there ıs somethıng to thıs and a better way that I mıght be able to peak on testıng day. Or perhaps the speed of the lıft doesnt really have a dırect correlatıon to the PRs that I wıll achıeve. Another ınterestıng thıng ıs that on test days, I rarely feel lıke ıt would be the day for some bıg PRs. If I had a random guess I wouldnt necessarıly thınk the days I test would be those where I hıt my bıggest PRs. But Im realızıng more and more that thıs can only really be determıned when handlıng the workup sets.

Sheiko #32- W3 D2 (LAST TRAINING DAY)- Wednesday- 7/6/08

30 Minutes

Energy- +1

1)Squat
(50%)200x3
(60%)240x3 x3
(70%)280(belt)x2 x2 x2

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x3
(60%)180x3 x3
(70%)210x2 x2 x2

Contrast Shower- 15s/45s x4

Notes: Last day of training today and easy session.

I'm retesting my maxes Friday morning and flying out of the US to Turkey at 5:40PM. I'll probably run home, throw up a video and haul ass to the airport. I'm spending 10 days there (no training) and jumping back into a 16 week cycle for a meet in early December.

I believe that I may not be able to deadlift at my gym. I am really not looking forward to squatting and benching then taking my shit, walking a few blocks over and having to start deadlifting from scratch. But we'll see what happens.

Sheiko#32- W4 D1- Monday- 7/4/08

50 Minutes

Energy- +1

1)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x3
(60%)180x3 x3
(70%)210x2 x2
(75%)225x1 x1 x1 x1

2)Deadlift
(50%)275x3
(60%)330(belt)x2 x2
(70%)385x1 x1 x1 x1

3)Hanging Leg Raises
Straightx10 x10 x10

Contrast Shower- 15s/45s x3

Notes: Bench didn't feel all that great, but it's all super easy here on out. I decided to opt for singles rather than doubles on deadlift and terminated the sets as soon as I felt the speed slow down a little.

I've got all week to sleep big. Last night was 10 hours, haha.

Attempts will likely be

Squat- 410-415 (10-15lb PR)
Bench- 300, 305 (5, 10lb PR)
Deadlift- 570-575 (20-25lb PR)

Squat should be good for 415, but I may stick with 410 just to play it safe. My last meet, I squatted a 10lb PR after my 95% lift, and the 95% took 4 seconds. In my last skills eval, my 95% took 2 seconds, so I should say that I'm safe for a 15lb PR. I may shut it down after that to save some for the deadlift.

Bench Press, I'll go for the 5lb PR and my first 300. The cycle was based off a 300 max, but I think it'd be smarter to hit the 300 and then attempt 305.

I'm really tempted to go 575 (25lb PR) on my first attempt on deadlift, but I'd be super pissed if I missed it and didn't get any PRs, so I might just start with 570 (20lb PR) and assess from there. I just don't want to tire myself out with the 570 and end up missing 575 as a result.

I suppose other than the bench, I'm leaving some things open-ended for the test day.

-Matt

Sheiko#32- W3 D3- Friday- 8/1/08

50 Minutes

Energy- 0

1)Squat
(50%)200x3
(60%)240x3 x3
(70%)280(belt)x2 x2
(75%)300x2 x2 x2

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x3
(60%)180x3
(70%)210x3 x3
(75%)225x2 x2 x2 x2

3)Hanging Leg Raises
Straightx8 x8 x8


Contrast Shower- 20s/60s x4

Notes: Squats and benches felt pretty much where they have by this point in past training cycles. Squats don't feel super fast and bench feels better. 1 week until the big day.