Aurelius's Workout Shenanigans

[aurelius]

Week 2 in the books.

Capture.JPG

-Only got 2 sets on the deadlifts before I crapped out.
-Been using the Fat Gripz One on all assistance work.

Velocity info in the spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

[aurelius]

Cycle 1 complete:

Capture.JPG

Just did the bare minimum. No added cardio or 'bro' days. Probably need to get more regular and have 'bro' day where I get more leg volume (leg press and stuff).

Used VBT to set weights. Still dialing that in. Didn't really push the training by adding sets if velocity told me to. I'm on a time crunch. Work out with the SO and she has a 1 hour tolerance for the gym. Got to stay focused!

[aurelius]

Cycle 2 Week 1

Capture.JPG

[aurelius]

Had an 'off' couple of weeks. Elbow tendinitis flared up. Got back at it last week. Repeated Week 1 with 6's. Used VBT and ended up doing 4 sets before velocity dropped. Went more bro-like on the assistance.

Capture.JPG

[aurelius]

Switching to touch and go for everything except warm ups. Elbows feel okay for once. Small victories. Ended up only do 3 sets for 3x3 per VBT. Posting my road map moving forward.

Capture.JPG

I tend to guess too high on some of my accessory work and end up doing less reps. Need to man up, drop the weight, and get the reps.

[aurelius]

Another week under my belt. Went ahead and expanded to show my full program. Didn't start pushing the VBT until week 3. The sets of 5 will be higher my next time running this program.

Capture.JPG

Also, I make substitutions to the assistance work as needed. My priority with that work is volume and health. I'm looking for low impact movements that do no agitate my lower back or elbows. The list shows the most current movement and maybe not the movement performed on any given week. Example. I went from speed squat to leg press. Went from speed deadlift to RDL and now the goodmorning after the HB squats. Just trying to find something that does not make me crawl out of the gym. I found all of the speed movements AB had programmed to be hard on my joints.

[aurelius]

Not a great last week. Got a bug or something. Missed a few days so just did the bare minimum at the end of the week. Hit it hard this week.

Capture.JPG

[aurelius]

Decent week. Looking forward to going to 3's and then a rest over the next two weeks.

Capture.JPG

I'm just removing alternate deadlifting from my program. I can't find a movement that doesn't murder my lower back. I'm going to sub in superset hip thrusts and hamstring curls after HB Squat.

[aurelius]

Week 8 down. Felt alright. Next week is test/rest week.

Capture.JPG

[aurelius]

Just rested and did not test. Elbows flaring up again. Finished Week 1 of a new cycle.

Capture.JPG

[aurelius]

Figured why not and decided to shout into the void.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... ue&sd=true

[oldguy]

Figured why not and decided to shout into the void.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... ue&sd=true

Couldn’t access but I’m technologically challenged. Hope it’s all good stuff ….

[aurelius]

Couldn’t access but I’m technologically challenged. Hope it’s all good stuff ….

That's odd. Should be able to view it with the link.

I am playing around with a 4 day bro-split for the past 30 plus weeks. You can see the evolution as I work within my recovery constraints, being a 40+ lifter, and the struggles of coming out of a prolonged period of inconsistent training (COVID). I have settled on a strategy of reducing absolute intensity and implementing 'recovery' weeks of reduced relative intensity and volume every 3rd week.

[DCR]

@aurelius, this looks like something out of Ironman Magazine circa 1998 - I love it. Please excuse my laziness in not sitting down and figuring it from your cycles, but can you explain how you’re progressing things? Progression was the one thing they never got into in those late 90s pieces - it was like, “Add 5 lbs sometime and good luck!”

[aurelius]

this looks like something out of Ironman Magazine circa 1998 - I love it. Please excuse my laziness in not sitting down and figuring it from your cycles, but can you explain how you’re progressing things? Progression was the one thing they never got into in those late 90s pieces - it was like, “Add 5 lbs sometime and good luck!”

Found the 'base' for this on the internet. My goals are to 1) feel good (not beat myself up) 2) Look good naked 3) maintain strength. I am not trying to push 1RM maxes with this. I do feel like I have gotten stronger in my upper body movements. Likely due to the increased volume and emphasis a four day bro-split places on upper body. Most changes occurred because 1) I was getting beat up or 2) the gym is really busy and I found myself waiting around too long between movements.

As to progression: Major lifts I am trying to add 5 to 10 pounds a week. I will hit a wall with that soon. I might change the 2 reps of 6 for Andy Baker's 8-5-2 or a similar progression. For the minor lifts I will add weight once I hit the set and rep scheme. Not a lot of science. 100% based on 'feels'.

[DCR]

this looks like something out of Ironman Magazine circa 1998 - I love it. Please excuse my laziness in not sitting down and figuring it from your cycles, but can you explain how you’re progressing things? Progression was the one thing they never got into in those late 90s pieces - it was like, “Add 5 lbs sometime and good luck!”

Found the 'base' for this on the internet. My goals are to 1) feel good (not beat myself up) 2) Look good naked 3) maintain strength. I am not trying to push 1RM maxes with this. I do feel like I have gotten stronger in my upper body movements. Likely due to the increased volume and emphasis a four day bro-split places on upper body. Most changes occurred because 1) I was getting beat up or 2) the gym is really busy and I found myself waiting around too long between movements.

As to progression: Major lifts I am trying to add 5 to 10 pounds a week. I will hit a wall with that soon. I might change the 2 reps of 6 for Andy Baker's 8-5-2 or a similar progression. For the minor lifts I will add weight once I hit the set and rep scheme. Not a lot of science. 100% based on 'feels'.

Cool, thanks for responding. Will be watching this space.

[aurelius]

Been running a slightly modified Andy Baker program for 6 weeks. Hit a bench 1 RM of 325. Kind of exciting.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... =956607367

[aurelius]

Ran SBS until week 13. Had a bunch of travel and didn't feel like doing the peaking stuff/not important to me.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... d=53514635

Now I'm doing a modified HLM.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1583861992

[aurelius]

I'm 36, 5'9", 180 pounds. I have been lifting since I was 31. I'm dead sexy. My PR's are:
Squat: 485# BW@180 (low bar)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH1WwbdYSxE
Deadlift: 545# BW@180
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDor7kDKKdA
Bench Press: 315# BW@190
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9mmn56NgE8
Press: 215# BW@190
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od2OykQ78Mg

Progress Check: I am 42, 185 pounds, balding. Not dead sexy. My current 1RM that I have done in last 6 months:
Squat: 415# (high bar)
Deadlift: 505#
Bench Press: 325# stop&Go
Press: 210#

Not a whole lot of progress since 2017. 2 years of COVID kept me out of a proper gym. I have not really trained for 1RM since COVID. Possible I could still hit old PR's if I trained for it. But looking at BW, can I really expect to get significantly stronger maintaining BW?

Goals Moving Forward: maintain muscle mass, reduce overall BF, increase general fitness level

Measurables to determine if I am meeting goals: maintain strength, reduce BW to 175-180, increase conditioning (actually do cardio)

[DCR]

Ran SBS until week 13. Had a bunch of travel and didn't feel like doing the peaking stuff/not important to me.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... d=53514635

Now I'm doing a modified HLM.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1583861992

Fantastic tabs in your spreadsheet.

You're fucking strong.