Topics

1

Universal Topics / Chains

« on: July 30, 2015, 01:26:54 AM »

Borrowed some chains today for bench, and they were pretty awesome - now I need to get some for myself.

I'd rather not shell out $$ to eliteFTS for something I could pick up at the hardware store for cheap... but I'm not sure on some of the specifics.

People who have bought their own chains:
 - what length of chain did you get?
 - what grade/thickness?
 - Is there any other equipment you need? I just looped them around a few times today, but I wasn't sure if there are better ways to secure them.
 - How much total weight should I shoot for? 45 lbs per side seems to be the norm looking around various Westside articles, but the spreadsheet on the 4-day program calls for 10-25 lbs. I guess this question is really answered by the total length and thickness per link.

2

Eye of Sheiko / Squat form check request

« on: July 24, 2015, 11:50:11 PM »

Hi,

I was hoping to get some feedback on my squat technique. Any input is welcome.

! No longer available

! No longer available

I have a lot more videos in my training log, and if a specific angle would be useful I can record one next session.
Thanks!

3

Universal Topics / Sheiko Exercise Substitutions

« on: July 19, 2015, 02:20:14 AM »

So I've been cyber-stalking our friend BenchPolkov recently, and he has a lot of really interesting posts across the interwebs. I hope he doesn't mind me posting this here:

For Sheiko exercise substitution...

SPP by definition:
Classification of Exercises:

Competition Exercises
Special Preparatory Exercises
General Preparatory Exercises

The competition exercises are the actual exercises of the sport competition i.e. the squat, bench press, and the deadlift. The powerlifting competition exercises play an obvious important role in one’s training since without them it is impossible to fully provide the athlete with the specific requirements of the squat, bench press, and the deadlift.

Special preparatory exercises are made up of components and variations of the competition exercises. They are very similar in regards to the form and the character of the abilities displayed. Depending upon the primary emphasis of the SPP exercises, we can further categorize to supplementary and developmental.

Supplementary SPP exercises: Designed to help the athlete master the form of the movement. These exercises, depending upon their coordination demands, methods of training and amount and type of resistance improve and solidify the development of the necessary physical qualities and *should* greatly contribute to perfecting technical mastery. Since athletes lift heavy weights and work at great power, this group-along with the competition exercises-is the fundamental group in the powerlifter’s training.

Examples of Supplementary SPP Exercises: Can all be found in the Sheiko Book in each section i.e. squat, bench, deadlift.

Squat: box squats, front squats, squatting with tempo and form manipulations
Bench: wide grip, board presses, close grip bench, tempo manipulations, etc.
Deadlift: DL from deficit, to the knees, from blocks (rack lockouts), tempo manipulations

Developmental SPP exercises: Emphasize the development of physical qualities that contribute to the execution of the competition exercises. They can be done with barbells, machines, with kettle bells and other types of resistances (bands and chains). For the most part they have a local effect, are executed with smaller weights, and thus the power developed is comparatively small. Thus the training parameters need to be quite different than the competition exercises.

Developmental exercises also serve as additional means in physical preparation (GPP) but not limited to this role. They should always be executed with a large range of motion (and in all directions) in the joints to have a positive impact on the development of the tendons and ligaments-very important! The strength of tendons and ligaments increases slowly when compared to muscle which can affect speed-strength which can result in injury. That is why it is recommended to devote training time to strengthening the tendons and ligaments by doing voluminous work (comparatively) with low intensity.

In order to properly and accurately evaluate training the exercises in the first group (competition and supplementary) are counted as fundamental loading and the second group (developmental) is considered as additional. They are both calculated and analyzed separately.

General Preparatory Exercises: These are the most extensive and most diverse group of training “exercises”. This is where the powerlifter becomes athletic and maintains that athleticism in general ways as well as specific ways inherent to powerlifting.

Functions of G.P.P.: 1)”The formation, strengthening, or restoration of the skills which play an auxiliary role in sport perfection”.
2)”As a means of educating abilities, developed insufficiently by one’s sport which preserves or raises the general work capacity”.
As active rest, assisting the restoration processes after significant specific loading and counteracting the monotony of one’s training”.

General Preparatory Exercises for weightlifters/powerlifters: Acceleration runs of 400-1000 meters, jumping exercises, track and field exercises (shot put, hammer, etc.), kettle bell exercises, strongman exercises, gymnastics, acrobatics, sport games (basketball, soccer, football, etc.), cycling, mountain biking, rowing, swimming, hiking, skiing, etc. The objective is to be active and athletic and hone skills that powerlifting does not touch.





BORIS'S SPP LIST
Well call me a Borisnerd but i went through the online translation yesterday and tried to get a hold of what the big man reckons SPP is all about.

Here's the list:

SQUAT

SUPPLEMENTAL

Pause Sq
Box Sq
Fr Box Sq
DE Sq
Slow Sq
Front Sq
Wide Front Sq

DEVELOPMENTAL

Zercher Lunge
Front Lunge
Hack Lunge
Duck Foot Sq
Negative Sq
Belt Sq
Sq Lockouts
Crouch Sq ?
Sq with Chains
Smith Machine Sq
Leg Press
Leg Extension
Ham Curls
Sq Jumps
Depth Jumps
Box Jumps
Calf Raises
Snatch Grip High Pulls
Snatch Grip High Pulls from Boxes
Seated High Pulls ?
Hyperextensions/Weighted in various ways
Seated GM

BENCH

SUPPLEMENTAL

Wide Grip High-touch Bench
Medium Grip Bench
Close Grip Bench
Bench over Foam (arch)
Flat Back Bench
Slow Bench
3-5 sec Pause Bench
Rvs Grip Bench
DE Bench
Negatives
Lockouts
Bench with Chains

DEVELOPMENTAL

Incline Bench (high touch)
Decline Bench (low touch)
Incline OHP
OHP
Behind-the-neck Press
Push Press
Seated OHP
Seated Behind-the-neck Press
Alternate DB OHP Standing
Alternate DB OHP Seated
DB Bench
Nosebreakers
Pec Deck
Flyes
Incline Flyes
Weighted Dips
Weighted Pushups
Wide Grip Weighted Pushups
Bench Dips
Pushdowns
Curls

DEADLIFT

SUPPLEMENTAL

Defecit DL
Pulls to Knees
Pause Pulls to Knees
Pulls to Knees + finish
Pulls to Knees + Mid Thigh (2 Stops)
Pulls from Boxes + Slow Eccentric
Pulls from Boxes (BTK)
DL Lockouts
Pulls from High Boxes (ATK)
Snatch Grip Pulls from Boxes

DEVELOPMENTAL

Snatch Grip Pulls
Pulls with Chains
High Pulls
Shrugs
Belt Sqs
Seated Pulls ?
GM’s
Stiff Leg GM’s
Seated GM’s
Hyperextensions/Weighted Hypers
Roman Chair Situp
Decline Situp
Leg Raises


This aint gospel lads and lasses cos some of them words in the book come out of the translator right funny, but I reckon I worked out most of 'em. The ones with a ? are pure stabs in the dark though.

4

Universal Topics / Incorporating RTS principles in a Sheiko template

« on: July 04, 2015, 08:09:54 PM »

Hello all,

I'm finishing my first two prep cycles in the under-80kg program, and just about to start the comp cycle. So, I'm starting to think ahead about my training over the next several months.

I was originally planning to run another cycle of the u80kg program, and I would still like to stick to that. However, I have lately become interested in RTS principles utilizing autoregulation, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience doing so?

Mike Tucscherer wrote an article several years back on how to modify #37 for this purpose:
http://forum.reactivetrainingsystems.com/content.php?73-Using-RTS-on-a-Sheiko-base-program

To breakdown his approach, below is the standard first day of #37 followed by Mike's modifications:
Bench: 75%x3x5 ---> x3 @8, 5% Fatigue
Squat: 70%x3x5 ---> x5 @8, 5% Fatigue
Bench: 65%x4x6 ---> x6 @8, 5% Fatigue

I imagine repeats would be the best way to accumulate the fatigue. Obviously, this is a very different approach from what Boris typically lays out, but it seems like it is consistent with the core philosophy. Does anyone have any thoughts/comments/experience?

5

Support / Inconsistency between app and spreadsheet

« on: May 28, 2015, 02:17:13 AM »

I noticed a minor inconsistency between the app and the spreadsheet for the Intermediate Large load / under-80kg 3 day programs, respectively. For the second deadlift movement on week 2, the spreadsheet says deadlift, while the app calls for deadlifts from boxes. I was planning on going off of the spreadsheet template.

In general, can I assume that when there's an inconsistency, the spreadsheet is true to Boris's original template? I imagine the app was just transcribed from the spreadsheet, thus introducing the possibility for errors.

6

Training Logs / Dahmkooler's Journal

« on: May 22, 2015, 09:15:57 PM »

Relatively new lifter here. Just finishing up my first week of Sheiko, so I thought I'd keep a log here to track my progress, and also to get input on programming from time to time. I'm running the under-80 kg 3 day template, #37,30,32. I don't have any meets lined up yet for the end of the cycle; I'm currently planning on running at least 2 cycles back-to-back before competing, which will put me around November. I'll probably try and find a meet then.

Since I don't really have time for 2.5 hour gym sessions, I'll split the upper and lower sessions over two days, so that I have squat/bench/dead/bench/squat/bench over 6 training days throughout the week. I did this previously on a push/pull/legs split, and I enjoyed making shorter sessions frequently during the week. Surprisingly, I've never seen anyone report using this format, so it should be an interesting experiment.

My maxes for this first cycle are:
Squat: 335 lbs         
Bench: 235 lbs
Deadlift: 375 lbs


Bodyweight is currently around 167 lbs, gaining about 0.5 lbs/week. My goals for the end of the year are 405/275/455. Might be a bit optimistic, but I'd rather aim high anyway. We'll see how it goes. Below are the previous workouts from week 1.

Monday, 5/18/2015 - Sheiko #37 D1W1 Squat
Squat:
170x5
200x5x2
235x5x5

Back extension: 35x5x5
Lateral raise: 80x12x3
Ab crunch: 60x10x3

Notes: Today was my first time squatting in about 10 days, so it took a little work to get back on proper form.


Tuesday, 5/19/2015 - #37 W1D1 Bench
Bench:
120x5
140x4x2
165x3x2
175x3x5 (paused)

Hammer row: 140x8, 90x10x4

Bench:
120x6
140x6x2
155x6x4 (tng)

Cable flys: 60x10x5
Cable curls: 80x10x2
Face pulls: 80x12x3
Hammer curls: 3x10

Notes: Tried to pause reps when possible, and I made it up until the last 4x6. My chest is pumped.


Wednesday, 5/20/2015 - W1D2 Deadlift
Deadlift:
190x5
225x5x2
260x4x2
280x3x4

DB Shrugs: 100x12x3

Deadlift from boxes (below knee):
190x5
225x5x2
260x4x2
300x3x4

BB split squats: 95x5x5
Hanging leg raise: 10x5

Notes: Wow, I sort of feel like I got run over by a truck. I took a hot/cold contrast shower as soon as I got back as well as some foam rolling and stretching, so hopefully that will speed along recovery a little bit.


Thursday, 5/21/2015 - #37 W1D2 Bench
Incline Bench: 165x4x6
DB Bench: 80x5x3, 65x7x2
Lat pulldown: 10x6 (first 3 sets pronated grip, 4th set supinated, last 2 neutral grip)
Preacher curl: Bar + 30x10, 20x10x3
Laterals: ~15x15,12
Tricep eccentrics: 115x15 (for elbow health)

Notes: I got my theracane last night, and after 10 minutes of work I decided it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. My lower back was incredibly sore and tight from deadlifts yesterday morning, but after just a little bit of work all the tension was just gone. I highly recommend it - but be warned! It hurts like hell.

Just a light bench session today. I used a neutral close-grip for the first time on pulldowns, and I was really impressed. It felt like it hit my lower lats really hard. Now I have a day off tomorrow before squats and bench on Saturday. Going to do the full day 3 session to get back on schedule for week 2.