Strength Training for Singles 2014: Eight-Week Workout Cycle II

Yah, just upper body lifts for a few weeks maybe. Might have to work some assistance back in, or try harder to get to the plyo/mobility stuff.

I should also think about doing a proper warm-up at the top of the workout, and mix in some foam rolling and stretching. Maybe that's where I could fit in the plyo/mobility stuff, instead of at the end of the workout. That way I would kill two birds with one stone, getting a nice warm-up and having a way to make sure I get that stuff done. So this:

Hey, I like this idea:

Yeah maybe a quick warm-up might be appropriate for me too, right now I usually grab a cup of coffee and take a short walk but I think doing some groundwork and light plyo stuff to get moving in the morning might be a good idea. The daily yoga stuff I think has been more beneficial than I initially thought. A little more shouldn't hurt, and may help some.

I got that idea from this guy's blog.
http://www.gorunpure.com/
 
---------------Week 2---------------
Sunday
Running
AM: 2miles, then 1mile. 38F/31F wc

Monday
Running
AM: 2miles, then 1mile. 49F/47F wc

Tuesday
Running
AM two miles 50F/44F wc
PM one mile 59F/55F wc

Wednesday
Running
AM two miles, then one mile. 43F/41F wc

Thursday
Running
AM two miles. 40F/38F wc
PM one mile, half walked, 72F!

Strength Training
Bench Press: 3/3/4 x 210 (95kg)
DB Row: 2 x 5 x 110 (50kg)
OH Press: 2 x 5 x 100 (45kg), 1 x 2 x 110 (50kg).
Neut. Pulldown: 2 x 5 x 150 (68)
Russian Twist: 2 x 5 x 75 (34)

Still getting used to the new weight increments, five pounds less than when I was using the 7' Oly bar. I should weigh my new shorty bar though, just to make sure it's 40lbs. I like thinking exclusively in integers of ten.

On the bench, I had another rep in me on the third set, so I did four to make it an even ten reps. I may have to do this regularly.
I added five pounds to my Dumbbell to bring it up to an even 110 too. The handle is a little less than five pounds I think.

On the OH Press, 100 lbs felt a little light for five reps, so I added 10 pounds and tried a third set, but that felt too heavy. So maybe try 105 next time? I think may it would be better to stick to 100 and add a third set.

I got in some Russian Twists too. I just did 75lbs, instead of the usual 100lbs, but it felt a little too easy. However, if I do this more frequently, as a finisher, it might be good to keep it light. I could almost see ending every ST session with Russian Twists, Hyperextensions, and Loaded Carries. I didn't do the latter two because I'm still going easy on my right hamstring and knee.

Felt good to lift after a whole week off. Lifting and running, gotta have it. And the new set-up is definitely more efficient. Still, felt odd not to do any squats and deadlifts. It's hard being patient with this rehab, but it's great feeling niggleless--don't want to blow it.

Friday
Running
Late AM: 3.5 miles around Marshall and Franklin Bridges on the Mississippi.
51F/40Fwc

Saturday
Running
AM: 2 miles, 44F/37Fwc
Noon: 1 mile, 39F

Strength Training
DB Bench Press 3/3/4 x 50 (23kg)
DB OH Press 2 x 5 x 30 (14kg)
Pulldowns 2 x 5 x 150 (68kg)
DB Row 3/3/4 x 130 (59kg)
Hyperextensions: 2 x 10 x BW

Tried my new power hooks with both the DB Bench Press and the DB OH Press. I did them both light in order to get a good feel for how the hooks would work and not get into any trouble. I liked them a lot. Now I need to decide whether the DB Presses will be assistance to the BB Presses or occasional subs for them. I like the greater ROM of the DB Bench Press, and it isolates the pecs a bit better. The DB OH Presses seem to work the top of the delts more.

Did the DB Rows heavy. It was nice to have the rubber mats for the eccentric phases and drop them a bit. 130 is heavy. I added five pounds to both of my heavy dumbbells, from 105 to 110, and 125 to 130, in order to have everything end in zeros and jibe with my 40-pound shorty bar.

Did the hyperextensions without weight. I like doing them higher rep sometimes. Feels more like a reverse sit-up that way. I also wanted to make sure I wasn't straining the hammie at all.

Anyway, the new set-up is set up, looking forward to a good workout week this coming week. Still haven't decided whether to wait another week for the squats and deadlifts, or start trying them light. The workouts feel very incomplete without them. I don't feel nearly as spent and don't get nearly as hungry the next day.

Week 2 totals
2 lifting session
21.5 miles running.
 
Yeah maybe a quick warm-up might be appropriate for me too, right now I usually grab a cup of coffee and take a short walk but I think doing some groundwork and light plyo stuff to get moving in the morning might be a good idea. The daily yoga stuff I think has been more beneficial than I initially thought. A little more shouldn't hurt, and may help some.

I got that idea from this guy's blog.
http://www.gorunpure.com/
Yah, with the return of niggles--first in my left MCL and then my DL strain in my right knee and hammie--I think I have to admit that I've gotten to the age when I can no longer exercise without greater prep. Plus, I've been amazed at how a little more mobility and massaging has helped so much with my left shoulder issue.

Thinking about adjusting the L'Abide plan to include 15 reps for the lesser lifts, but still 10 reps for the big lifts, although I'm hesitant to let go of the elegant simplicity of simply doing 10 reps across the board.

ST--3D-6L-10R--14.10.13.jpg

On the 5x2 days, I have the option of adding a bit more weight and doing 5x1 plus 1x5. For the 15-rep lifts, I could do 3x5 as the default, but also a combo of either 3x3/1x5 or 2x3/2x5.

We'll see how it plays out in practice, but I'm liking the idea of having everything I need in one reference chart.

Today I should finish rearranging the garage gym. The dumbbell rack shows up today.

How'd the 60K go by the way? I ran a little more than 5k on Saturday and got pretty sore!
 
Race went better than expected, thanks for asking. This place is really growing on me. I'll put a post up with some pics soon.

I think 15 reps is fine, until you start pushing into the 90% range. Maybe we should adjust the L'abide plan for total volume per day vs. 10 reps per set for a better representation?
 
abide: i am glad to hear your race went well.

all: well, i survived a travel week. running basically didn't happen except for a single long run on saturday because my flight was overly delayed and i couldn't get home until sunday (instead of friday as planned). at the hotel, they had a tiny "fitness center" that was better than i expected. i found the cable machine a bit impractical for the exercises i wanted to do, so i made use of the dumbbell rack almost exclusively. having one weight in each hand was definitely a different feel than having it all on a single bar with two hands and the weight equivalence seemed a little strange for the shoulder press. as in, i didn't seem to be significantly weaker with the dumbbells than i would have expected compared to my usual barbell. have y'all had any experience with switching back and forth?

i will be back there next month and likely repeatedly as time goes on, so i'm thinking of how to organize an exercise plan during those times to make use of the available equipment (dumbbells in 5lb increments from 10-50lbs; adjustable exercise bench; pretty fancy cable crossover kind of machine; and of course the bouncy dreadmills that are un-fun for running in general, but especially barefoot).
 
Race went better than expected, thanks for asking. This place is really growing on me. I'll put a post up with some pics soon.

I think 15 reps is fine, until you start pushing into the 90% range. Maybe we should adjust the L'abide plan for total volume per day vs. 10 reps per set for a better representation?
Personally, I prefer life as a foreigner. Little things like shopping are inherently more interesting when you don't quite understand everything that's going on. It's really boring to be living in my hometown again, although coming back to it, I appreciate all of its positive aspects more than I did while growing up here.

Look forward to the pics. I'm still committing this cycle to getting back in some kind of running condition. Kyrrinstoch was kind enough to run at my pace on our first group run Saturday. I haven't run with a GPS device for almost a year. He told me we were running at 10:20mm pace, and it felt like I was pushing it a bit above my normal pace. Very embarrassing. And my legs have been sore since then. At least I was able to run three miles or so that day before my calves and hammies began to tighten up. So the rehab from the DL strain is going OK. I'll try to continue to avoid DLs and Squats this week, and then try to work them back in next week at lower weights.

For reps, I guess I'm still fighting that tendency to add stuff back in. Let's keep the L'Abide "60-Rep" or "3D-6L-10R" plan intact and see how it plays out this cycle. I gotta adopt more of your disciplined approach to these programming ideas. For the lesser lifts, if I want to push things a bit, I can try something like 3x3 or 2x3/1x5 and still remain -/+ 1 of 10 reps, same as we're allowing a 3x3 set/rep scheme for the big lifts, as a medium effort day. So in my little chart, 3x3 can be understood to have the option of going 2x3/1x5 as well, just as 5x2 can be done optionally as 5x1/1x5. So now I'm back to a stricter 10-rep protocol, with some heavier days built in for the lesser lifts as well:

ST--3D-6L-10R--14.10.14.jpg

Monday afternoon, messed around too much again getting things set up, and missed the damn workout. The new dumbbell rack is sweet though, perfect for my set, yet still bigger than I imagined. I spent too long trying to figure out a way to get the landmine bar and plates in a position where I could keep it permanently set-up, yet out-of-the-way, without success. Then I discovered the rubber mats aren't perfectly square, so there's always going to be a few cracks here and there. Then my younger brother mentioned he has a bunch of mats a family friend gave him when that friend closed down his gym business for good. Doh!

have y'all had any experience with switching back and forth?
Broad Arrow, I think I can generally do more overall weight with a barbell than with dumbbells but it depends on the lift. For OH Press, the difference isn't as great as, say, for the Bench Press. But part of that might be the difficulty in getting a proper set-up for the later. On the other hand, my DB Row is significantly stronger than my BB Row, because I can support the former with my opposing hand and knee. So perhaps the balance factor of dumbbells decreases the load by 10-20%, but then you have to factor in the set-up/body position factor, which can vary quite a bit?
 
Ok the only lifts I see myself doing more than 10 would be the rows and pull ups simply because I don't have heavier weights for them right now. I could figure out how to load pull ups but I need to pick up a cheap back pack or something. Right now about 6 reps is close to my fatigue level so maybe I'll load them next cycle and try to get to 8 reps regularly this cycle.

I do really like the plan and the variability of sets. It's a little more motivating to push the squats because of the frequency. Plus the 6 x 1 of DLs I did today left me primed for squats. It's a nice combo.

I really think this cycle and hopefully some tweaks to the running plan plus almost daily yoga might be my optimal mix.

Something else I noticed doing heavy bench and heavy presses in the same workout made the presses seem heavier. I think doing one higher rep lighter weight is the way to go.
 
BA don't discount the machines completely some of them can work pretty well if you do the right lifts. Cable machines are great for back workouts and depending on the type you can do some decent chest presses, and triceps extensions with them. At the very least it might add some variety to your program which isn't a bad thing in my opinion. Lifting like a body builder is fun stuff.
 
actually, i think the machine is probably pretty great. i'm just not smart enough to figure out how to use it sensibly with my current focus. here is a kinda small picture.

[failed insertion attempt; copy/paste looks nice until it renders... think nice cable crossover with lots of "handles" you can click on or off]

{new attempt:
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due to the geometry, i think it would be difficult to do any bench press type thing (although, they have actual benches and dumbbells). maybe like a front squat kind of thing with the bar attachment to link the two sides could work. my attempt at shoulder press using the bar to connect the two cables felt a little strange, but more-or-less worked. maybe it is just the psychological difference with "normal" weighs where you are able to see a visual mass rising and falling where you are putting the effort rather than seeing this tiny thing where your hands are and then the big masses moving around by your feet.
 
Ok the only lifts I see myself doing more than 10 would be the rows and pull ups simply because I don't have heavier weights for them right now. I could figure out how to load pull ups but I need to pick up a cheap back pack or something. Right now about 6 reps is close to my fatigue level so maybe I'll load them next cycle and try to get to 8 reps regularly this cycle.

I do really like the plan and the variability of sets. It's a little more motivating to push the squats because of the frequency. Plus the 6 x 1 of DLs I did today left me primed for squats. It's a nice combo.

I really think this cycle and hopefully some tweaks to the running plan plus almost daily yoga might be my optimal mix.

Something else I noticed doing heavy bench and heavy presses in the same workout made the presses seem heavier. I think doing one higher rep lighter weight is the way to go.
If I were you, and could do pullups, I might work my way up to 10 unweighted reps first, and then start splitting them up into weighted sets. That way you could have easy and harder days, doing the 10 straight reps unweighted for easy, and 2-3 sets of weighted pullups, 2x5, or 3x3, for hard.

For the singles, I think I've decided to stick to five, and then get in a set of five lighter reps to finish things off, in keeping with the 10-rep ideal. So 5x1/1x5, or 5x2, for my heavy days on the three big lifts--bench, squat, and dl.

I like the overall plan too, its simplicity yet flexibility, and I'm chomping at the bit to get a full week or two in to see how it plays out. Yesterday I spent more time on my set-up. I found a better spot for the dumbbell rack, and a way to anchor the landmine to it. But because the space is so limited, every time I change something, I need to take all the plates off my power rack and all the dumbbells off the dumbbell rack and shift them around on different sections of the rubber mats. I should probably just put all the dumbbells and plates outside when I need to mess with the infrastructure.

Then, looking at the new set-up, I got an idea for reorganizing the rest of the garage, so once again, no workout.

Yah, I've split up the heavy days for the presses. If you look at my chart, you'll see the heavy OH Presses are coupled with the heavy Deadlifts, the heavy Bench Presses are coupled with the heavy Pulldowns, and the heavy Rows are coupled with the heavy Squats. This, for me, is close to maximal differentiation between the heavy lifts. The whole scheme is anchored by putting heavy days for the major lifts on separate days, and then finding which of the minor lifts can be done heavy with those with minimal interference:

DL-----H-M-L
RW-----L-L-H
OHP---H-L-L
SQ-----L-M-H
BP-----L-H-M
PD-----L-H-L

The heavy deadlift day is the light squat day, and vice versa. On the heavy bench day, both the squat and deadlift are medium. There's a chance I might mix in medium days for the minor lifts too, but for the time being, they are done twice light and once heavy, since, like we've discussed, they seem to be more higher rep lifts anyway, the upper body pulls anyway. If it feels like I'm not getting enough work in on these, I can also add reps on the light days, and do 3x5, but I'd really like to adhere to the 10-rep principle if possible. It's a nice organizing principle.

Right hammie, knee and quads continue to feel better. The hamstring tightness is almost gone, the crinkling feeling in my quads is gone, and the clikcing sound in my knee has also diminished quite a bit. So hopefully next week I can start working in lite squats and deadlifts. I really miss them, and the thought of just doing upper body lifts without at least one of the lower body lifts to prime them seems odd to me now.
 
If I were you, and could do pullups, I might work my way up to 10 unweighted reps first, and then start splitting them up into weighted sets. That way you could have easy and harder days, doing the 10 straight reps unweighted for easy, and 2-3 sets of weighted pullups, 2x5, or 3x3, for hard.

Well I can do 10 pull ups so are you telling me I need to add weight now ha? I just can't do 2 sets of 10 pullups thats why I tend to stick to 3 x 5 or 2 x 6 or 7. I probably should add weight though, I'll be in the lookout for a cheap backpack to use right now.


Yah, I've split up the heavy days for the presses. If you look at my chart, you'll see the heavy OH Presses are coupled with the heavy Deadlifts, the heavy Bench Presses are coupled with the heavy Pulldowns, and the heavy Rows are coupled with the heavy Squats. This, for me, is close to maximal differentiation between the heavy lifts. The whole scheme is anchored by putting heavy days for the major lifts on separate days, and then finding which of the minor lifts can be done heavy with those with minimal interference:

DL-----H-M-L
RW-----L-L-H
OHP---H-L-L
SQ-----L-M-H
BP-----L-H-M
PD-----L-H-L

The heavy deadlift day is the light squat day, and vice versa. On the heavy bench day, both the squat and deadlift are medium. There's a chance I might mix in medium days for the minor lifts too, but for the time being, they are done twice light and once heavy, since, like we've discussed, they seem to be more higher rep lifts anyway, the upper body pulls anyway. If it feels like I'm not getting enough work in on these, I can also add reps on the light days, and do 3x5, but I'd really like to adhere to the 10-rep principle if possible. It's a nice organizing principle.

Right hammie, knee and quads continue to feel better. The hamstring tightness is almost gone, the crinkling feeling in my quads is gone, and the clikcing sound in my knee has also diminished quite a bit. So hopefully next week I can start working in lite squats and deadlifts. I really miss them, and the thought of just doing upper body lifts without at least one of the lower body lifts to prime them seems odd to me now.

I think this is where are opinions might diverge on the heavy/light concept. I think I might prefer to use percentages of 1RM for the concept and try to keep all the worksets of the big 4 lifts at 70% 1RM minimum. If I choose to do the rep schemes I might follow this logic:

6x 1 - 90-95%
3x3 - 80-85%
5/3/2 - 80%/85%/90%
2x5 - 80%

The 6 x 1 at this point will likely only be used for the deadlift, if I want a heavy bench or press day I will use the 5/3/2 to get in extra volume. And squats will I will cycle 2 x 5 on my 6 x 1 DL day, 3 x 3 and 5/3/2 don't matter as much. I am also only going to use the 6 x 1 on DL.

DL----- 6x1 --- 3x3 --- 5/3/2
RW---- 1 x 15 - 2 x 10- 1 x 15
OHP-- 5/3/2 - 2 x 5 -- 3 x 3
SQ----- 2 x 5 -- 5/3/2 - 3 x 3
BP----- 2 x 5 -- 3 x 3 -- 5/3/2
PD----- 2 x 6 -- 1 x 10 - 2 x 6

Glad you leg is doing better, and your gym is getting in order. I have some long overdo maintenance work in the gym I need to do too. Its frustrating looking at it each time I go out there.

What do you think is the root cause of the leg issue?
 
Well I can do 10 pull ups so are you telling me I need to add weight now ha? I just can't do 2 sets of 10 pullups thats why I tend to stick to 3 x 5 or 2 x 6 or 7. I probably should add weight though, I'll be in the lookout for a cheap backpack to use right now.
Yeah, I would think you could do one or two lite days of 10 unweighted pullups, then one day weighted. If you have a lifter's belt, couldn't you use that to hang a plate from?

I think this is where are opinions might diverge on the heavy/light concept. I think I might prefer to use percentages of 1RM for the concept and try to keep all the worksets of the big 4 lifts at 70% 1RM minimum. If I choose to do the rep schemes I might follow this logic:

6x 1 - 90-95%
3x3 - 80-85%
5/3/2 - 80%/85%/90%
2x5 - 80%

The 6 x 1 at this point will likely only be used for the deadlift, if I want a heavy bench or press day I will use the 5/3/2 to get in extra volume. And squats will I will cycle 2 x 5 on my 6 x 1 DL day, 3 x 3 and 5/3/2 don't matter as much. I am also only going to use the 6 x 1 on DL.

DL----- 6x1 --- 3x3 --- 5/3/2
RW---- 1 x 15 - 2 x 10- 1 x 15
OHP-- 5/3/2 - 2 x 5 -- 3 x 3
SQ----- 2 x 5 -- 5/3/2 - 3 x 3
BP----- 2 x 5 -- 3 x 3 -- 5/3/2
PD----- 2 x 6 -- 1 x 10 - 2 x 6

I think we're talking about the same thing, although you have more variety in your rep counts. If you look at my chart, you'll see that there's a cline from heavy to lighter weights corresponding to number of reps in each set. So 5x1>5x2>3x3>2x5 = heavy>lighter. I don't know what the exact percentages are, but they're probably not too far off of yours. For example, my bench press 1RM is around 250, so 5x1 is 240, that's about 95%, right? Then at the lower end, my 2x5 is 190, which is about 75%. I haven't actually tried a full week or two of this scheme, so there will be some adjustments in the weight increments, but they should be roughly equal to the weights I was using in my 1/3/5 protocol last cycle, but possibly reducing a bit to avoid overtraining now that the frequency is up.
Glad you leg is doing better, and your gym is getting in order. I have some long overdo maintenance work in the gym I need to do too. Its frustrating looking at it each time I go out there.
Yeah, spent too long on the gym again yesterday afternoon, and missed another workout. If I had twice as much space I wouldn't have to think about the arrangement so much. And once again, I spent too much time trying to figure out a way to have the landmine permanently loaded yet out of the way. Couldn't do it. Then I set up an area for the kids' winter stuff to dry out near the garage drain. I also put a little dolly under the heavy bag so I can move it into position to hang more easily. The goal is to have everything accessible and uncluttered so I can move from exercise to exercise fairly quickly, and finally get in a full workout, including the plyo/mobility/martial/stabilizer stuff.
What do you think is the root cause of the leg issue?
I think it was probably overtraining the deadlift, but also possibly not massaging my lower legs enough after running. The last few weeks of the last cycle, I was doing heavy (for me) DL singles three times every two weeks. I know everyone warns about not overdoing the deadlift, but I thought I was within my capabilities for recovery. On hindsight, 335 or so began to feel heavier, which was a sign to back off. So, once I'm able to do heavy deadlifts again, I may just do them once every two weeks, instead of once every week, we'll see. I also think I need to bring my squats up before I can push the deadlift again. The fact that my deadlift 1RM is 90 pounds heavier than my squat may indicate that my knees and quads are underdeveloped relative to my hamstrings, which may lead the latter to overcompensate. I dunno, but ideally I would think my squat would be within 20-25% of my deadlift. I know for some of those powerlifters their squat is actually heavier than their deadlift.

It's also funny how the deadlift has a range of execution the bench press and squat just don't have. 365, my 1RM, feels heavy, but so does 335, even 325 and sometimes 315. So it's not as easy to identify what a good training 1RM should be. In the future, I'll err on the side of caution. It was cool this summer discovering I was capable of lifting more than I thought I could, but now I gotta get back to that workaday, 'let the gains come to me' mentality, and not chase goals so much. Set the weights, and when they start to feel easier, add 5-10 pounds. That's how I've always done it in the past.

It was a bit of a scare, I have to say, and I'm still unsure whether I've done something permanent. Only time will tell. I've never had that kind of thing happen in st before. The tightness is diminishing every day, even though I'm running short distances on it, so I take that as a good sign. Also, the injury wasn't acute, so I doubt I screwed up the cartilage or anything. Most likely a strain and the muscles stiffened to protect themselves while they heal. I probably gotta get better about using the foam roller on my upper leg as well, and get back to massaging the piri formis with a ball. Still, there's this occasional clicking in my knee when I get up that's worrying. It's getting better, and I used to have the same thing in my left shoulder, before st took care of it, so hopefully it's not an indication that something broke loose.

It's impressive that you can just go out and run 60K without any issues afterwards. You're in considerably better shape than I am. I'm a little bit frustrated right now, having to back off the lifting and having my running fitness set back so much, but I know it's just a matter of staying consistent and being a bit more moderate and it'll all work out.
 
Yep that's kind of what started out that crazy thread was finding the right mix. I should note that I have kept a relative aerobic base for a long period of time that definitely helped. I also think one of the biggest changes recently was doing away with regular daily running and mixing in a significant amount of biking in its place. Maybe Zap is getting it right? Although I still think long runs are important.

My main question is running simply more difficult to recover from than bikeeping riding? Or are the levels of exertion that different?
 
I think you might be surprised how much you will have left in the tank of you are only doing 10 reps of that lift. I think that is the only reason that it's sustainable. Plus dropping the heavy singles to only 5 is smart. I suspect you are going to be feeling better at heavier weights just don't be tempted to do more. It's a long term concept for sure as you are thinking.

Yeah I could do the belt I just need to pick up some rope or chains to loop the weights on. That will be my weekend project. Think I am going to pick up another barbell and some more 45s in a couple weeks. Then I should find some motivation to clean the gym up a bit.
 
I think you might be surprised how much you will have left in the tank of you are only doing 10 reps of that lift. I think that is the only reason that it's sustainable. Plus dropping the heavy singles to only 5 is smart. I suspect you are going to be feeling better at heavier weights just don't be tempted to do more. It's a long term concept for sure as you are thinking.

Yeah I could do the belt I just need to pick up some rope or chains to loop the weights on. That will be my weekend project. Think I am going to pick up another barbell and some more 45s in a couple weeks. Then I should find some motivation to clean the gym up a bit.

Yah, this dl strain has got me thinking much more longterm now. The short term push was good, and it opened my eyes up to what is possible, but I gotta be more patient. I think the 10-rep protocol will act as a good limiter on enthusiasm for me. Still, I made a lot of progress this summer. Even yesterday messing around in the garage, I almost felt like I got a pump. The muscles are still primed a week after my last workout. I've definitely moved up into another level of st. I'd never gotten to this point before because I was never able to lift for more than 2-3 years at a time.

I couldn't help it, I'm getting some dumbbell hooks too.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000ELZ5/ref=pe_385040_121528360_TE_dp_1
I'm thinking that since I'll be doing the same lifts three times a week, I'd like to mix in db bench and overhead presses on my light days once in a while to change things up.
http://relentlessgains.com/barbell-press-vs-dumbbell-press-for-chest-size-and-strength/
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pectoral-battle-royale.html
http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-...ference-between-seated-standing-dumbbell-and-
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/barbell-dumbbell-shoulder-press-delt-mass

But the db bench press is kinda hard to initiate, so hopefully the hooks will help. Might come in handy on the overhead press as well. Then the only remaining piece of gear for my gym to feel fairly complete will be the t-grip bar. I'm also thinking of using the trap bar once in a while for some variety on the deadlift. Once again, it would probably be a substitute on the light day. Or maybe even some kind of hex-bar jump if I get ambitious. Actually, all the lifts' light days could possibly benefit from some substitution, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, the hooks might work well for weighted dips or pullups if I ever need them. Maybe you could look into something like that too. Now I'm wondering about a belt too. It's kind of against my philosophy, but would it help?

Yep that's kind of what started out that crazy thread was finding the right mix. I should note that I have kept a relative aerobic base for a long period of time that definitely helped. I also think one of the biggest changes recently was doing away with regular daily running and mixing in a significant amount of biking in its place. Maybe Zap is getting it right? Although I still think long runs are important.

My main question is running simply more difficult to recover from than bikeeping riding? Or are the levels of exertion that different?
Yeah, it will be interesting to see how this daily running experiment works out for me. In the past, I've always followed an EOD plan, simply alternating running with st. But DNECHris's example is intriguing, and I know a lot of other people seem to do well with daily running. If it helps me become more consistent and doesn't wear me down, could be the way to go for me.

Zap's example is especially interesting, and I know from experience that if you're in decent shape overall, you can just go for it to a certain extent. Anyway, I don't have any ultra jones at the moment, so it's not really a consideration for me.

I do think running is a lot harder on the body than cycling. Cycling is low-impact. You're muscles may get sore, and your glycogen stores depleted, but you never get that beat-up feeling like you do from running. When I traveled by bicycle, I could pedal eight hours a day at aerobic pace no problem. I couldn't imagine being able to do that running.

Edit: interesting t-nation article on full-body workouts: http://www.t-nation.com/workouts/lift-3-days-a-week-and-grow
 
well, i'm off to take my kids to the park then drive with everybody up to the race site for tomorrow. i've tried to keep everything light and easy this week in some semblance of a mini-taper. we'll see what happens. i'm hoping to get up there early enough to run a couple easy miles on the trail before crashing tonight.
 
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Yeah, it will be interesting to see how this daily running experiment works out for me. In the past, I've always followed an EOD plan, simply alternating running with st. But DNECHris's example is intriguing, and I know a lot of other people seem to do well with daily running. If it helps me become more consistent and doesn't wear me down, could be the way to go for me.

Zap's example is especially interesting, and I know from experience that if you're in decent shape overall, you can just go for it to a certain extent. Anyway, I don't have any ultra jones at the moment, so it's not really a consideration for me.

I do think running is a lot harder on the body than cycling. Cycling is low-impact. You're muscles may get sore, and your glycogen stores depleted, but you never get that beat-up feeling like you do from running. When I traveled by bicycle, I could pedal eight hours a day at aerobic pace no problem. I couldn't imagine being able to do that running.

Edit: interesting t-nation article on full-body workouts: http://www.t-nation.com/workouts/lift-3-days-a-week-and-grow

I've been thinking about this a little today and I am thinking that running likely comes easier to people who tend to be on the not-so-stocky side of the spectrum. Maybe the ability to run on a daily basis is more of a genetic trait vs. a trainable stimulus? It's kind of like squatting and deadlifting, deadlifting comes more natural to me becuase I have longer arms and shorter legs, but squatting is much more difficult and creates a more powerful neural reposnse I think.

That article is kind of what we are doing but with way too much volume I think. Maybe if we were bodybuilding and on drugs?

My lifting session went great again today. I really like this 7 lift concept, its fast and I can push through the whole workout quickly with the setup I am using. The variation is enough that I don't feel burnt out by anything and I seem to walk out with a spring in my step. I'm gonna go for 3 days next week and then rotate back to two the following week.
 
I've been thinking about this a little today and I am thinking that running likely comes easier to people who tend to be on the not-so-stocky side of the spectrum. Maybe the ability to run on a daily basis is more of a genetic trait vs. a trainable stimulus? It's kind of like squatting and deadlifting, deadlifting comes more natural to me becuase I have longer arms and shorter legs, but squatting is much more difficult and creates a more powerful neural reposnse I think.

That article is kind of what we are doing but with way too much volume I think. Maybe if we were bodybuilding and on drugs?

My lifting session went great again today. I really like this 7 lift concept, its fast and I can push through the whole workout quickly with the setup I am using. The variation is enough that I don't feel burnt out by anything and I seem to walk out with a spring in my step. I'm gonna go for 3 days next week and then rotate back to two the following week.
Yah, I see some of the young, slender guys out running at fast paces and they look as graceful as gazelles.
Still, I think running short distances on a daily basis should be possible for me, based on past experiences, but discounting age. Age is the x factor in everything I do these days. All these niggles, never used to happen, so it's hard to say how the body would hold up to daily running. I know I can run one-mile to my office and back every day, but it's open question if I can do greater distances than that. Plus, shorter distances mean running the same routes all the time. Longer runs open up route possibilities, so there's a chance boredom will become a factor too. Then there's the mental aspect. Running longer every other day keeps things fresh. Still, I really love that feeling of starting out the day with an easy run.

Yeah, I meant the article mostly for the 3xweek, full-body concept. I might also think about some of the supersetting ideas in there. We've talked about this before, but one idea would be to do one of the upper-body pulls heavy, supersetted with a lighter upper-body press, or vice versa. As we've discussed, the daily 6-7 lift plan really opens up a lot of set-n-rep possibilities. You're never going to screw up a schedule by adding in something or experimenting a bit in any given workout, cuz there is no schedule. It's the same damn thing every time.

My new set-up made things pretty efficient yesterday too. I can do the workout in as little as 30 minutes if I want to, or up to an hour if I want to do all the plyo/mobility and assistance stuff. Today I feel great, although I miss the lower-body lifts.

Going to run out to Menards now to get some stuff to secure the rubber mats better. They keep sliding towards the garage door.