What She Said

June 5, 2012 - 8:26 pm
Irradiated by LabRat
8 Comments

So tired. My sinuses objected most strenuously to the steep changes in altitude during allergy season, plus starting the new regime as soon as I started to feel better have wiped me out.

So instead go read Farmgirl on the subject of open vs. concealed carry, or rather opinionating on the matter. She said pretty much what I would have.

8 Responses to “What She Said”

  1. bluntobject Says:

    A thought on 5/3/1 with skating and conditioning on the side: Don’t go beyond the required reps on the last set. That’s basically what Wendler lays out in this article, and sticking to the minimum reps is working out really well for me and Lifting Buddy. Just my two cents.

  2. LabRat Says:

    We’re doing Triumvirate rather than Boring But Big, mostly because I wanted derby-applicable stuff (see: lunges, which are exactly how you’re meant to get up after a fall), and also because I’d freaking shoot myself if it was that boring.

  3. bluntobject Says:

    Understood, but I think the point stands. Wendler suggests sticking to required reps in BBB because the extra volume (5×10 squats after heavy deadlifts, for example) really taxes recovery; I’m thinking that the same line of reasoning would apply to your extra conditioning and actual roller-derby play/practice. Driving your system (close) to absolute failure on the last set might be more trouble than it’s worth.

  4. LabRat Says:

    This is true and I will take into account. It will make me feel less bad about 5 being my limit on the last set of today’s inaugural, though I think I may have gotten too froggy on the deadlift max I used for calculation’s sake.

  5. bluntobject Says:

    It took me months to adapt to “heavy deadlifts for reps” in place of “heavy deadlifts are Special and I must only do them for singles”. Maybe you’re getting the same thing?

  6. LabRat Says:

    Oh, absolutely I am. I haven’t done any more volume than 5×5 in years and heavy singles were still my staple. It got me pretty damn far from my starting point, but I eventually stalled out on nearly everything.

  7. bluntobject Says:

    I’m quickly discovering that 5/3/1 with required reps and weights high enough to merit them is pretty damn perfect for me. I’m probably going to settle on something like the BBB template I linked to, only with less volume on the assistance lifts (say 5×8 at 60% rather than 5×10), for a regular lifting scheme. When I have the recovery leeway to get strong I’ll do a cycle of Smolov. Going for “as many as possible” on the last sets of 5/3/1 just seems to wreck me in about a week and a half.

  8. LabRat Says:

    Overhead press went infinitely better than the deadlift did (probably predictable since I love them and for some reason have developed a hatred of deads), and I could not resist pressing for more reps on the last set.

    I will probably find out pretty rapidly what works for me and what doesn’t. I’m still adjusting to refiguring a normal idea of how much food I actually need. (As it turns out, about twice as much as I’m inclined to eat without prompting.) Probably if I had done that without altering a single other thing my gains would have reappeared.