Weight Lifting techniques and tips

monitoring recovery rate is the ebst way to judge if next workout you could and/or should do more.
A more advanced strategy would be to start working in wave cycles where you ramp up the volume/intensity each week only to take a big dive down in the last week of that cycle to allow overcompensation and thus more progress and growth.
So you slowly work towards overtraining only to back off at the right moment.

 

I personally mix up my strength and conditioning days. Strength days usually consist of either deadlifts or squats with 3-5 sets and 3-8 reps depending on the weight. I recommend you to focus on core strength and proper execution of the lift. I like to think the strength days help out when standing up with a heavy pack or loading coolers in and out of trucks.

Conditioning days, I lower the weight and do lots of reps and keep my heart rate elevated and maximize work capacity with as little rest as possible.

My conditioning work out today consisted of the following:
10 rounds of:
5 strict pullups with 45# chains around shoulders
10 squats with 45# chains
10 push ups with 45# chains
10 step ups on bench with 45# chains for each leg
200m jog/spring (jog out to mailbox/sprint back to garage)

I want to take a week off from lifting as recommended by https://betterme.world/articles/taking-a-week-off-from-lifting/ . Will share my experience.

 

A de-load week is often recommended when you feel tired, lacking focus or progress is stale. It refreshes your central nervous system whilst giving your joints a break. The scientific data on it is; that the data is inconclusive. Meaning there is no guideline here. if you think you need one, take one. Sometimes a week of doing nothing will refresh you and yield better results in the week after.
Often advanced lifters will feel like they "loose muscle or strength" when doing nothing for an entire week. This is virtuually impossible as the only thing that will happen is that the central nervous system will fire less intense so one 'feels' a bit weaker the week after, only to fully regainn strength the following week. Musclke atrophy only occurs in a slow manner after doing nothing for 2 weeks. Simply doing a few push ups that week combats that atrophy.

In fact, for most lifters, simply reducing volume and intensity by 50% during a deload week is enough to yield the recovery effects yet combat the atrophy and CNS loss.

If you do happen to plan a deload week, I would increase volume/intensity the week before a deload/rest week with aprox 10% to really make the best of rest period.

Great conditioning stretegy btw. Sprinting is one of the most underrated exercises one can do that has an immediatecarry over effect to daily life. It's a true CNS stimulance that primes your system.

 

That looks like one bad ass belt!

 

It's the wrong kind of saving....
Then again, I do keep my lifting belt alwayys in my gym bag, but can't remember when I last really used it. Besides one set with a heavy set of trap bar deadlifts.

 

I actually decided to skip deadlifts and squas alltogether. the risk vs reward was out of sync for me. I have found better alternatives that get the same job done with minimal risk. Being belt squats, hack squat and trap bar deads.

 

Impressive weights…!

 

Niceeeee!
The Form Police approves this message

 

Great job and indeed again nice form!

 

pretty darn good. Not the sexiest exercise, but an important one!

 

Pretty darn good!
You have a lot of (upper body) strength compared to your build!

Would love to get a workout together, but alas there is an ocean between us.....

 

Curently on a 5 days a week split.
Monday : chest - back - shoulders
Tuesday: (30 min interval cardio + abs
Wednesday: legs (quad dominant) + calves
Thursday: rest
Friday: back - chest - shoulders
Saturday: biceps - triceps - abs
Sunday legs (hamstring dominant) + calves

Recovery on my biceps partial teat has been excellent so I'm able to ramp up volume on it; except staying safe away from 120pound+ heavy barbell curls.
Loving the results so far.

In fact, training most muscle 2x a week feels so much better. I get more overall volume, but less per session so I don't run myself into the ground.
Especialy for the non PED lifters working out the same muscle several times a week makes more sense from a muscle building perspective.

I tend to keep a close eye on my recovery levels as my sleep remains an issue(getting only 5 hours in per night).
What has been a true game changer for me is a heavy serving of EAA's (20gram) + 25 gram of higly branched cyclic dextrin.
I always thought that the science wasn't clear on this matter and that carbs are not pivital for recovery. So I genreally staying with a propytein shake after my workout and be done with it.
Now consuming just a tiny bit of carbs during my workout has made a tremendous difference. I hardly ever get sore, despite my Monday session taking 2 hours!
Have to say that the Cyclic Dextrin (if you get the real stuff!) is just amazing. No stomach issues and instant results.

I you do al ot of volume/workouts, I can not emphaisze this stack enough.
It's a not a supp regimen beginners will need nor feel, yet if you are advanced you will feel it right away!

 

Few questions if you don’t mind.
1. You reversed order of chest and back on the second day of that grouping in the week. Is there a physiologic reason for that, like hitting the muscle group as a priority first, or just a typo?
2. Is hitting biceps and triceps the day after the second round of chest and back hurting your joints at all? Any concerns about recovery on those smaller muscle groups with no rest day in between?
3. General question about deload weeks. If I normally do 6 sets of 12, adjusting the weights so that 12 reps is indeed failure, on the deload week do I do the same weight to failure for 3 sets (50%), or do I drop the weight 50% and do 6 sets of 12? It would seem doing 50% weight for same sets and reps would be so easy peasy it would seem like “just going through the motions.”

Thanks!
Always appreciate the help!