Enter the Montana Method

[SquatsALot]

Found this forum about a month ago, and decided it was time to come out of hiding and create a log.

About me: 37, male, training for 6 months. No athletic background - typically skinnyfat computer programmer type. Worked with a local SSC to complete LP, and he put me on HLM when I crashed and burned on LP with a rather undignified end. Have gained 20 lbs this year and am now sitting at 180.

LP finishing weights: Squat 250, DL 270, Press 100.

I introduced Bench Press only a month or so ago as I have been battling shoulder issues all year. Did the PT thing earlier this year, which helped with range of motion. Finally gave up all the light band work and started pressing, and it is feeling better most of the time. Being very careful on Bench Press.

Transition from LP included a 10% deload to dissipate all the fatigue.

Working weights at the creation of this log:
Squat 265 3x3
Press 105 3x3
Bench Press 127.5 3x3
DL 285 3x3

[SquatsALot]

I am planning to start MM tomorrow, as I want more upper body volume. Also, I just want to do something different and, reading the program, it seems to be more in line with industry thinking. I am planning to move back to highbar for Hypertrophy day to take some stress off my shoulder.

I'll go ahead and log my most recent sessions of HLM as a starting point.

[SquatsALot]

11/17 - Heavy Day

I will use Sets x Reps, not the SS style of logging which still to this day seems counterintuitive to me.

Squat 260 lbs, 3x3
Press 105 lbs, 3x3
Deadlift 285 lbs, 2x3
Chins 3x3

Squat went up surprisingly easy, depth was good.
I have more headroom in my press than I thought, although I still have issues hip drahve even after 4 months with my SSC. These ended up being more strict with layback, but they went up and weren't grindy, so whatever.

Thought I had lots of room on my deadlift, but these wiped me out. Just an off day for that I guess. Though I've been on a deficit for 3 weeks, so that's not helping.

Chins seems to be bothering my shoulder, probably won't do them the rest of the week. Wishing rows were programmed as a pull in my program, would help my shoulder health a ton.

[SquatsALot]

11/19 - Light day

3s Pause Squats 187.5 2x6
Floating DL 230 2x3
BP 110 3x5

Bench is too light. Need to either LP it up now that the shoulder has been holding up to it or else switch programming. But 2.5 lb advancement every 2 weeks is not enough when it's so far behind.
Pause squats still suck. I kind of like them though. I'd probably like simply more volume of regular squats better though lol.

[SquatsALot]

11/21 - Medium Day

Squats (Low Bar) 235 lbs 3x5
Press 95 lbs 3x5
Rack Pulls 225 2x3

Rack Pulls are supposed to be at 255 today but I decided to do the smart thing and manage the fatigue I'm still having in my lower back and deload it and cut a set. These are just an accessory for my DL anyway, and I'm planning to repeat last week's weight on Heavy day (I'm done with grinding).

[SquatsALot]

11/23 - no workout today, just a general entry. Decided to switch to MM for a few reasons:

-I want to incorporate high bar squats into at least one workout to reduce stress on my shoulder. My SSC has not been open to it.
-Upper body volume - time to see some actual progress
-MM looks like a good compromise between strength and hypertrophy. I like the look of that density block of BB rows programmed on day 1.

Oh, and I'm going back to a caloric surplus.

[BenM]

Welcome aboard sir SquatsALot, looking forward to seeing how you go with MM! It’s a great way to go, IMO.

[ChrisMcCarthy1979]

Welcome!

[SquatsALot]

11/24/18 - First day of Montana Method

Modified the spreadsheet I got off of the master MM thread in the Training/Programming subforum to adjust the percentage on Hypertrophy Day squats down to 60% to reflect the fact that I will be using High Bar squats for that day and I do not know my High Bar estimated 1RM. I figure knocking an additional 10% off my low bar is good. Perhaps I will ask in the Programming forum to see if this jives with the conensus.

Went great! My gut feeling is that I used too low 1RM, but I see that Hypertrophy Day on week 2 is a higher %, so we'll not make any adjustments until the end of the 1st cycle and I see how fatigue is. I was expecting to struggle as I haven't done more volume than 3x5 in 6 months, so I did put 1RM in the spreadsheet that are probably 10 lbs light across the board.

Squats: 180 lbs (High Bar) 6x5 Last Set RPE 8
Bench Press: 105 lbs 7x5 Last Set RPE 7
BB Row: Tested 1RM first - 145 lbs. Shortened Density block to 7 mins to compensate for the 1RM test, went with 70%, so 100 lbs. Got 41 reps.

I'm loving the fact that I got a lot of work in and I'm not beat up tonight.

[SquatsALot]

11/26 - Montana Method Power Day

Started with Bench Press. Decided to figure out my 1RM or a close approximation, so did singles up to 160 lbs. Cut the CGBP short to compensate for the BP testing. Did LBBS second, which was a mistake, as there was no time for my lower back to recover before starting DL. I'm considering Hanley's advice to simply switch to HBBS exclusively, which will let pulls be more prioritized due to less stress on the lower back. Might make it easier to DTFP.

Also, decided to only do 3 sets of the prescribed 5 on DL today as even 3 is twice my previous volume. Will probably go to the full load next week. Also, didn't have the 'feels' on squats. Should have been super duper easy but I was a bit out of whack. Usually this means I have a bit of built up fatigue. However, didn't sleep well the night before the workout, so could have had something to do with it. Not going to overthink it, just logging it.

Squats: Single up to 252.5 lbs
BP: Singles up to 160 lbs
CGBP: 1 set of 8 @95 lbs
DL: Single at 270, then 3x4 @225

[damufunman]

I will use Sets x Reps, not the SS style of logging which still to this day seems counterintuitive to me.

You will be assumed a terrible person until proven otherwise.



Also, welcome.

[SquatsALot]

Thanks for popping into my thread guys!

11/28/18 - Strength Day

Got 2 sets into squats and my lower back was smoked. Thinking on Hanley's comment about it, and realized it probably is holding back my pulls, so I switched to high bar in the middle of the workout. I'm officially off the doctrine. Also, video'd my SGDL, first time ever attempting this lift. If I put my hands way out past the rings, I cannot maintain back extension. If I put my index finger on the ring, it's pretty close to my regular DL as for some reason my SSC always had my hands out relatively wide on the pulls. So, need to research this lift before next week.

Squats:
237.5 (lbbs) 2x3
207.5 (hbbs) 3x3

Bench Press: 120 lbs, 3x4, plus the 4 single comp pause

SGDL: 165 lbs, 3x5. Will ramp up to full number of sets next week.

[SquatsALot]

11/29/18 - Press Density Block

What sadistic bastard thought of putting the words 'Press' and 'Density Block' together? I cannot feel my shoulders at the moment.

Single @110 lbs
7 min Density @87.5, got 19 reps

That was fun, but boy, do I need practice at this hypertrophy thing.

[SquatsALot]

12/1/18 - Hypertrophy Day Week 2 Day 1

Squat: 195 lbs 3x4, 4x3
BP: 112.5 lbs 3x4, 4x3
Rows 105 lbs 7 min, 41 reps

Knees aren't quite used to high bar yet, but I am getting used to the weight of the bar on my traps. No irritation of my shoulder, so that's great. Squats are a bit light but I'm fine with de-prioritizing them and leaving some energy for pulls, so I probably won't make a very large training max adjustment on them, maybe 10 lbs.

Bench Press is obviously way way too light, but I'm just going to go 10 lbs per cycle on it for the next 2 cycles instead of trying to adjust week to week. It's a huge volume jump for my shoulder so I'll let it ramp up.

In other news, I finally have my sleep study on Monday. Unfortunately it's the take-home machine. Maybe I'll finally get my CPAP or whatever is going to allow me to sleep on my back again without waking myself up from snoring.

[djl236]

I will use Sets x Reps, not the SS style of logging which still to this day seems counterintuitive to me.

I log the same way for the same reason. Welcome.

[GlasgowJock]

Welcome mate.

Don't overthink this stuff. SGDL is good volume work for "posterior chain" or w/e we're calling it post-SS. I high bar myself, when you're squatting ~400lb, who the fuck cares eh? find what's comfortable.

Get the volume in. Enjoy lifting. Inshallah.

[SquatsALot]

Welcome mate.

Don't overthink this stuff. SGDL is good volume work for "posterior chain" or w/e we're calling it post-SS. I high bar myself, when you're squatting ~400lb, who the fuck cares eh? find what's comfortable.

Get the volume in. Enjoy lifting. Inshallah.

Yup Yup. I'm done with the ideological BS. I tripled bench volume, dropped low bar, and my shoulder instantly feels better. Who would have thought? Plus after doing 5 sets of DL 2 days ago, my lower back is already fully recovered. Huge difference vs. the intensity-based training where even one poorly executed squat rep could fry my entire workout.

[SquatsALot]

Power Day - 12/3/18

Squat (High Bar) - top single @230
Bench Press - top single @135
Close Grip BP - 3x8 @97.5
Deadlift - Top single @275, 5x4 @240

Lower back was toasted after the workout, but it was just a muscle pump due to the extra volume I'm not used to, and dissipated in about an hour. Felt great the next day! Compared to the last workout on HLM, where I did 2 sets of 3 @285 and it took me 1.5 weeks to recover. I am starting to dig this volume accumulation at lower intensity approach, and feel like I'm responding better.

Yes, my pulls are way behind. I blame SS emphasis on low-bar squats.

Short Term Goals:
BP to bodyweight. Training Max is at 160 right now, and will go 10 lbs per cycle. So TM will pass BW in about a month, and probably another month before my single hits it? I might have to work in a test day again after Christmas.
Squats to 1.5x bodyweight (so 275 - TM will be there next week but I'm not counting it til I do a single - I could easily do this low bar for a single if I tested it)
DL to 2x (This is a ways away for me unless I have a breakthrough on my pulls)

[SquatsALot]

12/5/18

Wk2 Day 3 (Strength Day)

Squats: 212.5 lbs 3x3, 3x2
Bench Press: 122.5 lbs 4x3, 3x2
SGDL: 180 lbs 4x5

Everything was fine. Probably go +10 lbs on every lift except Press on the next block. Not sure if I'm going to get my density block in tonight due to work holiday party starting at 3 PM.

Overall, I think this first cycle was a good transition.

[crunchyKnees]

Welcome. I'm planning on starting MM next. I'm just finishing the bridge this week. Will follow your log with interest. Good luck and happy lifting.