Training - Tuesday 29th April 2008

Other
Walking: 15minutes light

Notes
Upper body is fried. It has started to cramp already, with the tricep locking solid when I got changed for work.

Training - Training 29th April 2008

Warmups
SS Band pushdowns, rows and pulldown abs: 2px12x3

Main
Bench(paused): warmups, 115x8, 125x7, 137.5x6, 147.5x5, 160x4, 172.5x3x2, 182.5x2x2, 195x1, 200x1, 182.5x2x2, 172.5x3x2, 160x4x2, 147.5x6x2, 137.5x8, 125x10, 115x12
Db Flyes: 16.5x10x5
Band pullapart: px20x5

Other
Stretch

Notes
Will do some cardio work soon, as I had to ditch it early to get my bike in for a service. The pyramid/marathon killed me, I added two sets in this time, bringing the total reps to 102.
This will hurt tomorrow, but I will eat a bit more today as well.

Training - Monday 28th April 2008 PM

Other
Cycle: 20minutes(#2/>40kmh)

Notes
Watching Homer.

Training - Monday 28th April 2008

Main
1board+dble Purples(paused) : warmups, 85x5, 102.5x4, 117.5x3x2, 135x3x6

Other
Pendlay squats(belt): up to 182.5(402)x3
Single Leg Leg Extension: up to 60x5
Rower: 6minutes, warmup, 120sec(1:50.0/500m)x1, warmdown
Stretch/Roller

Notes
Reasonable day, but tired and running late. The 1board went up by around 7.5kg, which made it reasonably hard work, but good. Squats were fine, but was limited by the bar twisting at the bottom of each rep. Some cycling is on for tonight and I did around 50minutes of walking yesterday.

Training - Friday 25th April 2008

Other
Cycle: 25minutes (#2/>35kmh)

Notes
Nothing great, rather boring actually. Watching a kids movie to keep the boy entertained. Brought a second-hand Titan Fury bench shirt today. Size 46, but I will probably have to lose a bit more fat to make it fit 'nicely', as its a tad snug around the chestplate/arms, at least to put on by myself. Another 2-3cm would get the arms seated.

Friday 25th April 2008

No training for Friday, as it's Anzac Day.

I have covered Anzac Day in the past but will also include this picture acquired from Wikipedia

The Ode

They shall grow not old,
As we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,
And in the morning
We will remember them. Lest we Forget

Training - Thursday 24th April 2008 PM

Other
Cycle: 30minutes (#2/>35kmh)

Notes
A nice short cycle. The legs are better now than they used to be doing the same work load. Watching The Sixth Day.

Training - Thursday 24th April 2008

Warmups
Band pushdowns: 2px20x3
Band Row: 2px12x3

Main
2board(paused): warmups, 125(275)x5, 162.5(358)x4, 187.5(413)x3x5

Other
Reverse green sumo pulls: warmups, 180(396)x1, suit on(down), 180x1, 220(484)x1, 257.5(567)x1, 270(594)xmiss, 220x1x3
Xtrainer: 7minutes, warmup, 20:10(#12/>90rpm)x4, warmdown
Leg Extension: 30x120sec

Notes
Board work was harder than the 75% should have been, but got better by the end. Failed on the 270 because the bar was too far forward, aka, poor technique and weak. Cycle tonight.
I have edited this becuase I had also done three fast singles at 220 following my 270kg attempt.

Ubuntu - Update

Well, its not that far away from the release of Ubuntu 8.04 (One day - hahahaha), and I finally have gotten around to fixing a problem I have been having with 7.1

Every now and then it would sudden spin up the HDD and completely hog all of the resources and die. I finally tracked it down to a problem with the swap. So I set up a swapfile based on this FAQ, but instead of the 512Mb example, I made it 1024Mb.

Now the computer appears to work with no real issues, and I can even use Compiz at Full wizz.

Makes for an all together great experience.

Training - Tuesday 22nd April 2008

Main
Bench(paused): warmups, 115(253)x6, 137.5(303)x4, 160(352)x3x2, 182.5(402)x2x3, 172.5(380)x3x2, 160x4, 137.5x6, 115x8
Db Flyes: 16.5x10x5

Other
Clean grip highpulls: up to 140x1
Rower: 4minutes, warmup, 120(1:49.6/500m)x1
Cycle: 10minutes (#4-9/>80rpm)
Stretch

Notes
A bit stiff around the shoulders, but an OK day. Lockout felt a bit off, but that's to be expected. Nothing too stressful.

Training - Monday 21st April 2008

Warmups
Band Pullaparts :px30x2

Main
1board+Double Purples(paused): warmups, 77.5(171)x5, 92.5(204)x4, 112.5(248)x3x2, 127.5(281)x3, 135(297)x3, 140(308)x3, 147.5(325)x2, 155(341)x2, 160(352)x2

Other
Bench Row: 0x15, 0x12, 0x10

Main
3board: warmups, 145(319)x4, 172.5(380)x4, 200(440)x4, 210(462)x4x3

Other
Rower: 10minutes(2:10.7/500m)
Stretch/roller

Notes
Legs have been stiff/sore all weekend, and I hardly did anything to them on Friday. Today was great, all lifts were strong, and reasonably comfortable. 1board was a strong improvement on last time and 3board was just rep work, nothing hard. Good stuff. I think the rower was the fastest I have gone on that, which is also nice. Feeling tired now.

Brian Siders - Questions and Answers

I have been compiling some answers Brian Siders has provided to the numerous questions asked on his forum. There are a lot of people who ask for information about his style of training, and I hope that this document will go someway towards making things a little clearer.

None of the posts are my own. All I have done is stuck them together, performed a little simple editing and printed it to pdf.

Training - Friday 18th April 2008

Warmups
Treadmill: 3minutes light

Main
Incline bench(paused): warmups, 60x(135)4, 90(198)x4, 110(242)x4, 120(264)x4, 125(275)x4, 130(286)x4
Dips: 0x6x5

Other
Pendlay squat(raw dawg): up to 180(396)x1, 100(220)x10
Pulldown rows: warmups, 60x12x4
Leg Curls: up to stackx5
A1: St Arm Pulldown: 48x10x3
A2: Pulldown Abs: 48x10x3
Xtrainer: 20minutes, 18mins(#4-6/>60rpm), cooldown

Notes
Ok day, feeling a little stiff around the shoulders. I did back squats instead of front because my shoulder is still hurting from my jab, but I am not the only one, so it must be a harsh vaccine this year. I did some lat work that wasn't planned, and because I ran out of time last night to get my cardio done, I did a longer session on the Xtrainer. I was planning 10mins, but Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner came on, followed by Hallowed be thy name, and it is bad luck to cut those off early.

Training - Thursday 17th April 2008

Warmups
Band Pushdowns: px30x2

Main
2board(paused): warmups, 125(275)x5, 150(330)x4, 175(385)x3, 200(440)x3x5

Other
Cycle: 9minutes, warmups, 40sec(#12/>120rpm)x3, warmdown

Main
4board(paused): warmups, 155(341)x5, 185(407)x4, 215(473)x3x5

Other
Stretch, Roller

Notes
Missed my cardio again as it was running late, two bench workouts per day makes the session longish. It went well, 2board was strong, 4board was a bit wobbly to start with until I settled into the rhythm. Hands/wrists are sore now. Will do some more cycling tonight to make up for the missed session.

Training - Tuesday 15th April 2008 PM

Other
Cycle: 10minutes (#3/40kmh)

Notes
Evening cardio

Training - Tuesday 15th April 2008

Main
Bench(paused): warmups, 115(253)x6, 137.5(303)x5, 160(352)x4x2, 172.5(380)x3x2, 182.5(402)x2x2, 172.5x3x2, 160x4, 147.5(325)x6, 137.5x8, 115x10
Db Flyes: 21.5x10x5
Band Pullapart: px10x5

Other
Leg Press(plate-loaded machine): up to 120x15
Stretch Roller etc

Notes
Couldn't get in the groove, but everything was OK otherwise, nothing too heavy. I was meant to do SLDL, but its positioning in the program made no sense so I will sort that out today. I missed some aerobic work at the end, but I will catch that back up tonight. Having a coffee and eating some food felt more important than cardio.

Training - Monday 14th April 2008

Warmups
Band Pullaparts: mx30, 2mx30x3

Main
1board+dble Purple(paused): warmups, 80(176)x5, 95(209)x4, 112.5(248)x3x2, 127.5(281)x3x6
Db Flyes: 20x10x5

Other
Snatch grip high pull: up to 100x1x3
Bb Rows: 100x5x2, 110x5
Xtrainer: 8minutes, warmup, 120sec (Revese #8/>70rpm)x1, warmdown

Notes
The pain in the right side continued all weekend, making sleeping a pain in the neck (literally). It has calmed down now, only when I turn my head does it hurt. 1board was strong, and much more weight than last time through.

Training - Friday 11th April 2008

Warmups
Treadmill: 2minutes light

Main
Incline Bench(paused): warmups, 85x4x5, 115x4
Smiths BNP: 60x5, 90x5, 95x5, 100x5, 60x5

Other
Box jump: top box-x3x3
Standing leg curls: 30x15x3
Xtrainer: 13mins, 10mins(#5/>70rpm) and warmdown
Stretch, roller, stretch, roller, stretch

Notes
Entire shoulder girdle feeling like toast. Some pain down the right side, scap area, but otherwise OK. Rest, recover, eat, roll, tennisball, etc

Training - Thursday 10th April 2008

Warmups
Band superset of: pushdowns, rows, presses: 2px12x3
Pullaparts: px12x3

Main
2board(paused): warmups, 195(429)x3, 205(451)x3, 210(462)x3, 225(495)x3, 235(517)x1, 245(539)xhahaha
Dips: 0x6x5
Db Flyes: 16.5x10x5

Other
Front squat: warmups, 100x2, 130x2, 140x2
Leg Curls: up to stackx5
Rower: 5minutes, warmup, 120sec(1:47/500m)x1, warmdown
stretch

Notes
Oh well, I cant add. I thought I would jump to 215, but jumped to 225, or 2.5kg under my 1RM, but hit it for a triple. The new 1rm was easy, and I shouldn't have bothered trying for a ~40lb record on the sixth set of the day, but it didn't go anywhere. I believe it would have been strong if I was not completely wasted by that point. My bicep cramped to hell on the last rep of front squats, now it hurts.

Training - Tuesday 8th April 2008

Main
Bench(paused): warmups, 112.5(248)x5, 135(297)x5, 157.5(347)x5x2, 170(374)x4x5(or 6)
Db Flyes: 16.5x10x5

Other
XTrainer: 14minutes, warmup, 40sec(#9-13/~80rpm)x6, warmdown
Rower: 10minutes (~2:19/500m)
Stretch, roller, stretch

Notes
Right shoulder is still feeling off, I think its from sleeping on it too long, or at least favouring that side. Bench was OK otherwise, I think I did 6 sets but I am unsure, I did the extra just to make sure I did at least 5 total. I need more stretching to do tonight/tomorrow, and see how my shoulder feels on Thursday. Light cardio stuff was not too difficult.

Training - Monday 7th April 2008

Main
Bench(paused): warmups, 112.5(248)x3, 135(297)x3, 157.5(347)x3x2, 180(396)x3, 192.5(424)x3, 200(440)x2, 192.5x2x2, 180x3x2
Dips: 0x6x5
Db Flyes: 16.5x10x5

Other
Xtrainer: 6minutes, warmup, 20:10(#9/>90rpm)x4, warmdown
St Arm Pulldown: 48x120seconds
Treadmill: 5minutes
Stretch, roller

Notes
Even though the weekend was spent sleeping, and recovering as much as I can, today didn't go right. The right side of my back, shoulder etc was feeling off, and I couldn't control the weight perfectly during decent or ascent on this side, making me lockout unevenly, which made the weights much harder than they should have been. I was also meant to do some SLDL, but I decided to give my back a rest.

The SOS Way

Al Caslow from Society of Strength gym has penned an article highlighting his adaptation of Boris Sheiko's Candidate for Master of Sport, Master of Sport (CMS/MS) program.

The majority of the changes allow for the differences in strength curves required for the equipment used in the APF/UPA style federations.

Al is one of the top 75kg/165lb powerlifters in the world, with a squat of 365(804), bench of 227.5(501) and a deadlift of 295(650) for a total of 887.5(1955) in the American Powerlifting Federation.

Special K Advantage™

Kellogg’s have been hammering this product on the TV recently, and I had a nosey at the labels when I was last at the shop.

Special K Advantage™ is a brand new cereal that has been developed to be high in both fibre and protein. Each 40g serve of Special K Advantage™ contains 6.2g of fibre and 5.4g of protein which makes a considerable contribution of these nutrients to your diet.

The bold is Kellogg’s doing, and after reading their label it made me wonder. So I prepared a comparative chart. Normal Special K has a serving size of 30grams, Special K Advantage has a serving size of 40grams and because of this, I standardised both of the products back to 100grams. The chart below presents protein, carbohydrate, fats and fibre as grams per 100grams of Special K.

As can be seen, the Special K Advantage is slightly lower in protein than normal Special K. The major difference is the 5x greater amount of fibre. So yes, it is relatively high in protein for a cereal, but it’s not really higher than the normal brand. The major difference is fibre, which should have an influence on satiety, or fullness following the meal, to make the product have an 'advantage'. But whether it’s worth the extra cost, I don't know that would be for you to decide.

What is the best program for ???

On forums all over the Internet, there are people asking the age old question "What is the best program for...". Occasionally you will get some interesting replies, but mostly you get a reply filled with myopic zeal.

Yes, I know, Westside is a fantastic system, but it's not the be all and end all of the entire training world.

I know Louie Simmons has claimed its the greatest system ever, at the time decrying all other forms of training as ineffective or just plain useless. However, without actual solid evidence behind the various training systems, it gets difficult to define "best".

However, it is unlikely we could ever achieve a true controlled trial examining the programs, and as such we are left in a "My dad is stronger than your dad" comparison.

Who produces the best lifters.

This is a confounded comparison if ever there was one. With the differences in judging, equipment, people, drugs, and approximately 1,284,209 other factors between the federations, saying this is better than that, is extremely difficult.

Some argue that Louie based it on the Russian Research, and these guys "Are so far ahead of our strength research its not funny" (yeah right...) but so did Boris Sheiko, and Elite lifters training from Westside doesn't quite mirror Boris Sheiko's setup.

If you run comparisons over the programs you get similar trends.

Ultimately, strength is built on the gains achieved in each session(day, week, month depending on how you are looking at it). There are three main factors involved in the development of strength and they are inter-related - this relationship I view as The Strength Triangle (taken from the project management area).

If the triangle has fixed sides, altering one aspect will alter the others to maintain the strength gains (in the real world it is possible to change all three at once, however, this will probably not work the best. There are also many other aspects that influence strength gains, I am primarily looking at it from a very basic view.)

If you increase frequency, either volume or load has to decrease, to accommodate this.
Decreasing frequency requires something else to come up to achieve the gains.

Westside offer relatively high intensity (or high power output - speed work) with moderate frequency and relatively low volume.

Sheiko drops the intensity somewhat (He has stated an average workload of 71-72% gives the best gains), while ramping up the volume and frequency.

Coan's style of linear cycle sits in the middle. The early days are lowish intensity, but moderate volume/frequency, but the intensity just gets higher through the cycle.

Metal Militia benching is a tricky one. These guys promote a high volume, high intensity and moderate frequency program. It is, however, predominantly a bench focused program. Sheiko bench program is 5-6 days per week of bench movements. Militia back off routinely to aid in the joint pain/fatigue issues than can come with their workouts.

Drugs of course can aid in this overall focus.

All of these programs work, have produced champions, have aided in the development of mental strength. The main thing is they may go about the gains in slightly different ways, which brings us back to the best program.

The best program is one that offers you, the most enjoyment, the least injuries, suits your temperament, time available and onwards. Telling somebody who wants to get as strong as possible that its best to do Westside - and he then injures himself every other week - is worthless. Just as telling somebody he must do 15hrs of Sheiko programming per week, when they only have 4hrs to spare, is equally worthless.

Not many people in their right mind would want to train seven times a week, for up to 2-3hrs a go, but it works for Brian Siders.

The best program is the one you can do, do repeatedly, do progressively, and enjoy.



I will add a comment, to hopefully cover any negative spin on this. Louie Simmons has added to the knowledge base of powerlifting significantly. With a vast array of alternative exercises (boards, bands, weight releasers, boxes, foam), knowledge on gear, technique in the gear, and with his Video's has allowed an entire generation of lifters to understand how to use these techniques to their advantage. The best coaches will try everything, drop the garbage and keep the good stuff, Louie, amongst others use this concept extremely well, to push powerlifting forwards into new areas.

Training - PR Tracking - Lifts as of 4th April 2008

Bench Moves

Full Range
Equipped Bench: 225(496)x1 - Hybrid shirt
Bench Press: 215(474)x1
Close Grip Bench Press: 200(440)x1
Bench+Doubled purple: 150(286)x2
Bench+Doubled Monster Minis: 160(353)x1

Board Work
Wide Grip 1board: 217.5(479)x1
Wide Grip 2board: 227.5(501)x1
Wide Grip 3board: 245(540)x1
Wide Grip 4board: 260(573)x1
Medium Grip 1board: 190(418)x1
Medium Grip 2board: 220(485)x1
Medium Grip 3board: 212.5(468)x1
Medium Grip 4board: 232.5(512)x1

Squat/Deadlift Movements

Squat - All belt only
Back Squat: 245(540)x1
Box squat (suit down) 260(573)x1
Box squat: 272.5(601)x1
Box squat + Greens: 210(463)x1
Box squat + Purples: 235(518)x1

Deadlift - All belt only
Conventional Deadlift: 275(606)x1
Deadlift + 1double Purple: 230(507)x1
Deadlift + 2double Purple: 207.5(457)x1
Sumo Deadlift: 240(529)x1
Reverse Green Deadlifts: 280(617)x1

Assistance
High Box squat: 320(705)x1
Highish Box squat(suit down): 280(617)x1
Good Morning: 227.5(501)x1
Concentric Good Morning: 200(440)x1
Pin Pulls (knee): 320(705)x1

Training - Friday 4th April 2008

Main
Floor press (paused: warmups, 112.5(248)x6, 135(297)x6, 145(319)x6, 147.5(325)x6x4, 160(352)x6
Tricep pushdown: warmups, five sets upto 72x6

Other
Facepulls: lots of sets at different angles
Xtrainer: 12mins, 10mins at #4/>70rpm plus 2minutes cooldown

Notes
Feeling comfortable. The chest was tight, but the floor press was comfortable enough that I did 3 sets more than I should have. The last was just adding some weight, as I have never worked up on it before, but it was comfortably easy, didn't even feel like I added weight. Xtrainer felt good, but I took my main MP3 player, which has a larger collection of music on it.

Training - Thursday 3rd April 2008 PM

Other
Cycle: approximately 25minutes

Notes
Interupted by power company trying to get me to switch, but if I did, it would cost me more... duuh.

Training - Thursday 3rd April 2008

Main
Bench wave(paused): warmups, 2bd: 122.5(270)x5, 147.5(325)x4, 170(374)x3x2, 195(429)x3, 1bd: 187.5(413)x3, no bd: 180(396)x3, 185(407)x3, 1bd: 192.5(424)x3, 2bd: 205(451)x3
Db Flyes: 16.5x10x5
Dips: 0x6x6

Other
Db Snatch(each side): up to 52.5x1
Bb Rows: up to 130x5
Xtrainer: 9 minutes, warmup, 120sec(#9/~90rpm)x1, warmdown
Stretch/roller

Notes
Felt good going in, but after one warmup set i could tell I was tight/tired in the chest/delt area. Still all weights went well, with nothing overly hard from it all. Db snatch was hard, mainly because the Dbs are starting to get unwieldy for snatching with.

Training - Tuesday 1st April 2008

Warmups
Band pushdowns, band st arm row, band press: 2mx12x3

Main
Bench(paused): warmups, 112.5(248)x8, 125(275)x7, 135(297)x6, 147.5(325)x5, 157.5(347)x4, 170(374)x3x2, 180(396)x2x2, 192.5(424)x1x2, 180x2x2, 170x3x2, 157.5x4, 147.5x6, 135x8, 125x10, 100(220)x12
Db Flyes: 16.5x10x5

Other
Cycle: 9minutes, warmup, 40(#12/>120rpm)x3, warmdown
Xtrainer: 10minutes(#4/60-70rpm)

Notes
Bench absolutely toasted me. Took the other movements slightly easy.