Myosynthesis Forums

Had been keeping this log over at the SS forum, but the culture over there's terrible and no one's got any worthwhile feedback to give.

Recently, I've been keeping tabs on all of the buzz over high frequency training at Senor Perryman's blog, the Pendlay forum and whatever I could find over at IGX, more out of intellectual curiosity than anything. But I decided I could benefit from daily training (just working up to a single on most things, not really incorporating a lot of volume quite yet). I've only been at this a week, so there's not really much to report yet, and I'm not a terribly strong guy at this juncture, so I'm not sure how much any of you advanced lifters will be able to learn from my little experiment realistically; but here it goes, nevertheless.

5 days a week, my training will continue to look like this, for a little while:

Press X 1 maybe 2 singles depending on how I feel
Deadlift X 1
Weighted chin-up X 5 reps X 1-2 sets
Weighted bent-knee sit-up X 10 reps X 1 set

As far as weight, I'm selecting loads that feel like an 8 or lowish 9 on the RPE scale. If I feel like I can do more that day, I do. Last week, motivation to train waxed and waned just like you'd expect, with my worst training day being Wednesday; Thursday and Friday, I was definitely feeling tired, but the top singles themselves felt "relatively" effortless considering. Aches and pains are cropping up, but nothing horribly showstopping as of yet. Yes, I know deadlifts have a reputation for beating you up, I'm a crazy person.

7.12.10

Press - 124 lbs. X 1-1 rep
Deadlift - 330 lbs. X 1 rep http://vimeo.com/13275015 (ignore the CrossTards in the background please)
Weighted chin-up - BW + 20 lbs. X 5-5 reps
Weighted bent-knee sit-up - 52 lbs. X 10 reps

Feedback welcome, of course.

-Stacey

Good shit. Just remember to stay on top of recovery and don't get stuck into the trap of pushing too hard in any session.

(07-13-2010 01:22 PM)ThePman Wrote: [ -> ]Good shit. Just remember to stay on top of recovery and don't get stuck into the trap of pushing too hard in any session.

That will be the hard part, telling myself to hold back because, after all, I've always got tomorrow to train.

So far, the way I'm managing to get in and train every day, even though I don't feel like training at times, is telling myself that, like a manual laborer, I don't have any choice, it's my "job," I just have to do it regardless. This is working so far.

***

7.13.10

Interesting thing about today's session: my low back had been feeling tight and wanting to complain yesterday during deadlifts, following my two days off, but today it actually felt better. And in spite of having had only 4 maybe 5 hours of sleep last night (I have to open the gym here on Tuesdays and Thursdays, get up early), my energy level wasn't all that bad. Certainly didn't feel like pushing myself, but didn't feel especially drained either.

Press - 122 lbs. X 1 rep (didn't feel "springy," so I stopped here)
Deadlift - 330 lbs. X 1 rep (hands f**king hurt, otherwise felt okay)
Weighted chin-up - BW+20 lbs. X 5 reps
Weighted bent-knee sit-up - 52 lbs. X 10 reps

-S.

7.14.10

Just like the middle of the week last week, my motivation sucked. Didn't really want to be lifting--even loading and unloading the weights on the bar felt like an effort. All the lifts felt like a lowish 9 on the RPE scale. Low back is the only thing right now giving me any sort of trouble, with burning down there during and in-between sets being the most aggravating thing; aches a little bit after I'm done. Won't kill me.

Press - 122 lbs. X 1 rep
Deadlift - 330 lbs. X 1 rep
Weighted chin-up - BW+20 lbs. X 5-5 reps
Weighted bent-knee sit-up - 52 lbs. X 10 reps

7.15.10

Better. More motivation. All the lifts today felt like an 8-8.5 on the RPE scale. Low back again burning like a wildfire during and in-between sets. And I've never had the bones of my hands actually ache before; this is a new experience.

Press - 124 lbs. X 1 rep (then backed off to 115 lbs. and did a few singles, 1 every 90 seconds [might use this method to start adding volume?])
Deadlift - 330 lbs. X 1 rep
Weighted chin-up - BW+20 lbs. X 5 reps
Bent-knee sit-up - 52 lbs. X 10 reps

-S.

Expect all kinds of new pains and discomforts to hit you. It passes after a few weeks. Or at least you get used to it.

7.16.10

Presses felt relatively effortless today--that's the good news. Deadlifts, on the other hand, felt like a big pile of suck. Painful hands were the biggest issue (when gripping the bar itself becomes trouble, so goes the upper back extension), and after that, keeping the back locked tight top to bottom felt next to impossible. Mentally and emotionally, I'm feeling pretty wound up as well, like I could just snap at anything, and the crappy lifting just did me in further. These next two days off are gonna feel sweeeeet. On a side note: I'm getting addicted to doing weighted chins.

Press - 124 lbs. X 1, 115 lbs X 1-1-1 rep (90 sec. rest between each)
Deadlift - 330 lbs. X 1 (suckage)
Weighted chin-up - BW+20 lbs. X 5-5 reps
Weighted bent-knee sit-up - 52 lbs. X 10 reps

-S.

lol, welcome to the mindfuck. That's all normal. Then you'll go in one day and have an amazing workout out of nowhere.

Thanks for the reassurance, I keep telling myself that.

In the meantime, a bourbon and ibuprofen cocktail awaits

Starting my 3rd week of high-frequency training...

7.19.10

Press - 125 lbs. X 1, 115 lbs. X 1-1-1 rep, 60 sec. rest between each single
(These were easy breezy, I'm pleased to say. However, I'm not going to commit to doing back-off work every single day of the week until maybe next week, but when I do, it'll probably be like this, doing a single every 60 seconds at a lighter weight until I've accrued the desired number of reps.)

Deadlift - 330 lbs. X 1 rep, 295 lbs. X 1-1-1 rep, 60 sec. rest between each single
(The lift itself felt easy: felt like a high 7 on the RPE scale. The tale of the tape says something different. The upper and mid back, no matter how firmly I set them down there at the beginning, aren't staying locked. This problem doesn't show up until beyond 300 lbs. (my local maxima--to use a Perryman turn of phrase--was a sloppy 375 lbs. for a single recently, so 330 lbs. would be not quite 90 percent of my 1 RM; but again, ultimately this single felt damned easy):

http://vimeo.com/13459420

Weighted chin-up - BW+20 lbs. X 5-5 reps

Weighted bent-knee sit-up - 55 lbs. X 9 reps

-S.

7.20.10

General achiness was at a whole new level today. Guess it's the "lifter's flu?"

Press - 125 lbs. X 1, 115 lbs. X 1-1-1 rep, 60 sec. rest between singles
(Piece of cake. Felt just like "another day at work.")

Deadlift - 330 lbs. X 1 rep, 295 X 1-1-1 rep
(Didn't go well. The weight itself didn't feel like I challenge--getting mentally acclimated to daily "heavy" lifting would account for that, I guess--but the lift just keeps getting sloppier as the days go by, to the point where I just don't have the strength to hold a good strong position anymore. Low back is getting chronically tighter and more painful, and this only gets worse as my warm-up sets get heavier, until it becomes a full-on throbbing ache that lingers for several minutes after I've finished my top single.

Weighted chin-up - BW+20 lbs. X 5 reps

Bent-knee sit-up - 55 lbs. X 10 reps

7.21.10

Press - 125 lbs. X 1 rep, 115 lbs. X 1-1-1 rep
(Not bad. Not as good as yesterday, but not very difficult either.)

Deadlift - 330 lbs. X 1 rep
(Back felt worse instead of better. Again, the weight didn't feel all that heavy, but the deep ache through the low back into the upper glute seemed worse [old L5-S1 injury to blame?] It might be too early for jumping to conclusions (I'm only two and half weeks into this high frequency stuff), but I'm wondering if--for me, at least--the high frequency deadlift work is going to be productive; right now, I can't imagine even coming within 10-20 pounds of hitting my most recent deadlift PR. The press seems to be responding the best out of the two lifts, so I've made up my mind--and this seems to jive with what a lot of really strong, experienced pressers have to say--to continue with daily conservative max singles in the press from this point forward, regardless of whether I continue to do so with any of the other lifts.

Weighted chin-up - BW+20 lbs. X 5-5 reps

Bent-knee sit-up - 55 lbs. X 10 reps

-S.