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Yup, a six week pump bonanza was sweet. I used a few ideas from MuscleNow, but obviously didn't make it a big concern. It's a great hypetrophy program for sure and I'm glad I picked it up when I did. It gets the job done in that department.

Hops, those workouts are rough. I don't know how it compares with just doing the original three week Squat base meso, but the way I set it up, doing the Bench and other stuff as well over 6 weeks, was just plain rough.

The 7x5 and 10x3 Squat sesssions were literally "scary." The first 10x3 at 140KG was scary enough, and then I thought there was no way I'd get through 150KG two weeks later. When I barely scrapped through that, I was convinced there was no way I should even think about dreaming about considering wondering if I'd make it through 155KG. That was the hardest workout I'd ever done; 80 minutes of heavy Squats, but I made it. I've noticed some guys pause between reps on heavy sets. I normally just bang the reps out, but the last 5 sets I also had to pause between reps two and three. On the last set, I was convinced I'd get stuck at the bottom, but grinded it out. It actually felt pretty good.

Though you don't need it to gain, if you've ever thought about trying it but are hesitant because of what it looks like on paper, just don't think about it and give it a go. You'll surprise youself.


I don't know what to expect when I test in a few weeks. I'd like to squat 175, bench 125, and deadlift 200. That would be 30KG on my current best total, which I'd be more than happy with. I got pinned under 120 and 200 barely broke the floor back in April. Actually, given how crappy a bencher I am, I'd be happy with any kind of PR whatsoever there.

I can't imagine I'll bother trying to set up a video. I don't really know how to do it, and I'm not that interested in finding out to be honest. If I'm ever lucky enough to compete one day, that'll probably be the first video.

Thanks for stopping by mate,
Jeff

Hey Guys,

Today was max day, finally. I finished up my deload on Tuesday then had to wait all week to get in there. I was rip roarin' ready to go

Here are the results

SQUAT 175 KG
BENCH 115 KG
DEADLIFT 205 KG

TOTAL = 495 KG

Mixed results I guess. Kind of expected. Here's how the day went.


Got in there at about 11:15 and warmed up for the squat. Things felt good and I knew I'd hit something decent. Here's how the progression went:

SQUAT

70 x 2x5
100 x 3
120 x 2
130 x 1
140 x 1
155 x 1
170 x 1 (PR)
175 x 1 (PR)
180 miss

One seventy felt good and I knew I had a bit more in me. One seventy five felt like a big jump, but I thought I'd give 180 a try. One eighty has been my goal for a while so I thought I was close enough to try it. Well, it burried me and I had to set it down on the pins. Got stuck at the bottom right after the stretch reflex. Actually, that's the first time I've ever failed and had to set it down, so that was a good experience as well. All in all, I wanted 175 KG and I got it, so I'm pretty happy with the 10KG PR.

On to my favorite lift...

BENCH

50 x 2x5
70 x 3
80 x 2
90 x 1
100 x 1
115 x 1
120 miss

Bleh. Warming up I felt strong and hitting my PR of 115 felt alright. I noticed I didn't drive my legs as well on 115, so I made a mental note. I thought I had a really good chance of making 120. I felt tight and strong on the decent, but then I got completely pinned a few inches off my chest and was pretty pissed with myself. Again, zero improvement here. In fact, since I'm 6 KG heavier than I was before, I've actually gotten worse on the bench. Something will have to be done here. I hate this lift; the bench is my nemesis.

On to my stronger lift:

DEADLIFT

70 x 2x5
100 x 3
120 x 1
140 x 1
160 x 1
180 x 1
200 x 1 (PR)
205 x 1 (PR)
210 miss

Pretty happy here. Two hundred felt slow obviously, but very good. I thought I had another 5KG in me and sure enough I ground it out. Was very slow but solid. I'd wanted 200 and I'd just beat it, so I thought I'd go for broke and try 210. The three reds and a blue looked pretty cool on the bar, but it didn't look very cool when it barely broke the floor LOL! It was a good 15 KG PR, so happy with that.

So, ended with a 495 KG total, which is a lousy 5 KG off 500. Next time.


So, the 6 week arse busting phase was tough as hell. The 4 week deload was nice and much needed. I'd definately use this set up again in the future on the SQ and DL, but it didn't do well for the BP. Perhaps the extra shoulder and tricep work I did was just too much for the pressing muscles to deal with. If I do decide to use this set up on the bench again, I'll leave out the other press work.

For now, I'm going to have to think of another strategy for the bench press. Squats and DLs are moving along fine the way it is, but if things continue like this I'll soon be DLing 2x my BP I think a 115 KG bench is too weak to be stuck for long periods of time, especially while the other two lifts truck along. Perhaps I need to use something more simple. The Texas Method didn't do much for it and I ended up spinning my wheels while my Squat continued to improve. Now, my SQ and DL are continuing to improve nicely with more advanced programming, while my BP is being left in the dust. The Sheiko program worked well, which was far less intense than the Smolov, so perhaps I'll look into more of that in the fall. I'll have to think about it.

So, for now I have 4 weeks before a nice 3 week vacation in Spain with the missus. We're really stoked about it. I've been before, but never to Mallorca and the nature reserves in the north. Should be great. Until then, I'm going to continue to shed some weight. I'm 96KG now and I'd like to get to around 90 before I leave. I'm going to do some kind of 4 week cycle and build up a little bit of fatigue to make the 3 weeks worth it. I'm leaning towards a Sheiko beginner program with a few modifications and less pressing work. I'll let ya'll know.

Thanks for reading,
Jeff