[theNuge]

I just got back from seeing an Orthopaedic doctor. He made me do all kinds of movements and asked me all kinds of questions. In his opinion, I don't have a disc issue. He thinks tight muscles are irritating the sciatic nerve which is causing the tingling. This made a lot of sense. Yesterday and today the tingling went away after I took some ibuprofen. So, I'm going to continue taking the ibuprofen and I'm going to lift my normal three days. Next week I'm hoping to get back to BJJ.

[theNuge]

Friday, April 4th, 2008

ME Upper Body

General Notes: Tonight was a hard workout not because of the weight but because it was really disjointed. I tried to get my wife onto her routine and mine lacked the usual organization I've come to like. My bench press warmup wasn't the best, I had either too much rest in between sets or too little, and I got stuck talking to either my wife or this nice guy who was helping us out. It will be better next week...

Bench Press
---------------
Notes: I need some advice on my warmup and the "working up to a max set of 3-5 reps". The Bill Starr 5x5 was really specific on what I should do while the WS4SB is kind of vague in this area. I'll be trying for 180 pounds again next week.
Warmup: 45x10, 55x7, 95x3
115x7 --> I felt like this was too many reps
135x5
155x5
185x1 --> I was trying for three and this was just too much weight to jump from last week (+10 pounds)
180x1 --> I actually had three "reps" but my dumbass spotter "helped" on the last two

DB Bench Press
--------------------
25's x 10
35's x 10
40 and 35 x 6 --> Some asshole put a 35 in the wrong place on the rack and I didn't look before I lifted
55's x 6

DB Bent Over Rows
-------------------------
45x10
55x10
65x10

Cable Row
-------------
Notes: I was just trying this exercise out. I'm thinking I'll try this one next week.
80x12

DB Seated Power Cleans
-------------------------------
10's x 12
12's x 12
15's x 12

Russian Twists
-----------------
Notes: I'm doing these on a decline bench and I'm thinking that's wrong. Next time I'll do them on the ground like they're meant to be done.
10 x 9 (each side)
15 x 8 (each side)
20 x 8 (each side)

DB Snatches
----------------
Notes: I was just messing around with these.
20 x 3 (each arm)

[theNuge]

Friday, April 4th, 2008

*** Wife's Entry ***

ME Upper Body

General Notes: She did good this time. Last time we worked out she had... something that makes her a tad bit emotional and angry .

Bench Press
---------------
Notes: I was hoping she would get to 85x3 since last week she did 65x5 but that was a lofty goal. In fact she didn't even get to 65x5 this time. I'm thinking it's because we only got to bench once over the week. This week we'll get a repetition day in and that should help her strength for the ME day next week. I also think that next week I'll have her warm up with some preacher curl bars with less than 45 pounds for a warmup.
45x7
50x5
55x5
65x2

DB Bench Press
--------------------
5's x 10
8's x 10
10's x 10
12's x 10
15's x 10

DB Bent Over Rows
-------------------------
10x10
12x10
15x10
20x10

DB Seated Power Cleans
-------------------------------
5's x 10
8's x 10
10's x 10

Russian Twists
-----------------
5 x 6 (each side)
8 x 6 (each side)
10 x 6 (each side)

[theNuge]

I need some advice on how to "work up to a max set of 3-5 reps." Any advice?

The only thing I know how to do is a 5x5 where I increase the weight by 15-25% each time. I'd like to work up to a max set of 3 reps but if that's too advanced right now I can just stick with the 5x5.

I could do a 3x3. I've noticed a few people doing that... I don't know... Right now I'm just rambling.

[theNuge]

I've struck gold! I found this article which was linked to from the FAQ and it explains exactly how to do the max effort for the Bench Press. The only difference between what the article talks about and what I'm doing is I'm working toward a 3-5 rep max instead of a single rep max. It's all so simple now .

Here's my new plan for next week's drive to 180x3 or more:

45x5x2
65x3x2
105x3
125x3
145x3
165x3
175x3
180x3

Here's my plan for my wife for her Bench Press ME day:
15x5x2
25x5x2
45x3
50x3
55x3
60x3
65x3
70x3

I'm also going to have to plan out the Deadlift ME days for us as well.

[theNuge]

Here's my plan for mine and my wife's ME Lower Body day on Sunday:

Me:
135x5x2
155x5
185x3
195x3
205x3
215x3
225x3

My Wife:
65x5x2
75x5
85x5
95x3
105x3
115x3
125x3
135x3

[ghostwipe]

Originally Posted by theNuge

I need some advice on how to "work up to a max set of 3-5 reps." Any advice?

The only thing I know how to do is a 5x5 where I increase the weight by 15-25% each time. I'd like to work up to a max set of 3 reps but if that's too advanced right now I can just stick with the 5x5.

I could do a 3x3. I've noticed a few people doing that... I don't know... Right now I'm just rambling.

You might have to play around with reps at different weights to find out your limits. Set aside a maxout day, but also use that day to take a little weight off the bar, see what you can approximately do for 2 reps, 2 reps, etc. Is that what you mean?

[theNuge]

Originally Posted by ghostwipe

You might have to play around with reps at different weights to find out your limits. Set aside a maxout day, but also use that day to take a little weight off the bar, see what you can approximately do for 2 reps, 2 reps, etc. Is that what you mean?

I think what I was looking for was in that T-Nation article I posted. My ME day plans are going off of the plan outlined in that article. The only thing I'm a little concerned about is my plans have such a small increase in weight for each set which means the volume is going to be large. I don't know if that's conducive to increasing the max.

I don't know. Maybe I should decrease the number of sets in my ME plans. In general, what do you think of those plans?

[theNuge]

My wife and I went to the zoo that is the Mall of America on a Saturday night to check out shoes. I tried on some Chuck Taylor's but I didn't like them at all. They don't have any arch support and I have crazy arches in my feet . I'm gonna hold out for some Olympic lifting shoes.

[theNuge]

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