2/2

AM:

F Squat 40kgx5 50x3 55kgx3
65kgx4 60kg 2x5
Bench 60kg 6,5,4+3,1

Progress.

PM

PT:

reverse lunge
arm reaches front, back straight, back V
Goblet Squat
pushup
one leg balances
one leg rdl (new)
crunch
glute bridges
heel tap
one leg heel isometric
americana raises on bench
straight arm raises on bench
v arm raises on bench
pushup plank
renegade rows from pushup plank (new)
pushup bottom position plank
plank
side plank

2/1

F Squat 60kg 1x5

1/31 ?

lost a day. PT work.

Backed off a few days for recovery. Skipped pull-ups. I’ve found I can’t pullup the day before, day of, or day after climbing.

Still figuring out how to program everything. Finding that adding weight on bench every 4-5 days seems best for me, and I could see this changing to adding weight once every week in the intermediate future. The pushups and dec db bench will assist that process. Adding 5kg to the front squat is similarly not going to be possible every session if I squat every 2-3 days. I'm keeping the squats in the 2-5 range and gravitating towards heavy doubles and triples. Adding 5kg to the front squat every 4-5 days should be the sweet spot if possible. At that rate I'll be squatting 100kg again in a month. I may have to settle for 5kg/week. Even then, 6 weeks

Conversly, adding 10lb a week to the DL/SLDL is not enough right now: I need to pull max every 4-5 days rather than once a week. My front squat is behind my deadlift and I see my deadlift staying steady while the front squat increases rapidly and then falls in line with the rest of my lifts.

As far as the pullups, I absolutely need to be doing pullups at least 2x/week, so it seems that plus the climbing is all I can handle. Once I hit 12-15 reps I'll start doing weighted work

2/4 AM

pullups 4,5,4,4,6

F Squat
40kgX6
50x4 55x3
70x3x2 65x4

RDL 80kgx14

Pullups the day after climbing. Boom.

2/3

SLDL 30
Squat 30

climbing 2.5 hours

2/5 AM

Gym PT/Assistance Day

Face Pull 5lbx25, 10lbx20, 20x20, 25x20
Dec DB Bench 35sx10 45x6 50x5 65x7+2+2+1
DB Bench Row 40x10 50x5 65x 8 L 10 R
Kettleball swing 32kg 10 reps
DB Trap Shrugs 90'sx10 80's x12 grip
DB farmers walk 70s 38 sec fast 80's 2x15 sec lost grip

Rear Delt Raises bench BWx20,
5sx15,10
Americana Raises Bench 2x20
Straight Arm Raises Bench 20
Cable Lateral Raises 5 10/arm 10lb 10,8/arm
Americana raises standing 2x20, 5lbx20
Palloff Press 40lb 30 sec/side, 50lb 25 sec
Ring chins 3 reps
Ring leg raise to upside down- 2 reps (back lever progression)

Notes:

-added kettleball swing and palloff press and ring leg raises
-left side of back and oblique was sore from front squat sessions and idk what several days prior
-upper back gassed quicker than my last gym PT day
-not doing DB farmers walk again because of rounding my back and grip inadequacy
-no more seated cable row
-going lighter and higher rep on DB trap shrugs

Happy with overall progress so far. Conventional deadlifting next session. Really enjoying the workouts

2/6

Deadlift

60x7
80x5
90x2x2
100x2
110 1x5
120 2x2
130 (286) 5x1

Back rounded over 110. Core couldn't take it. Catching up on Front Squats and the core work I'm doing should fix this.

Lockouts were very easy

Going to conventional heavy once a week and focus on pushing out the core to keep the lumbar in extension. Still going to emphasize SLDL/RDL

2/7

CoC close 20/hand throughout day

2/8

Pullups TEST:

1, MAX: 9 reps

Pushups: 10

bw: 193

For reference:

1/11

Pullups narrow grip 2, 2,
pushups ng 4, 3,2
pullups ng 3

I'll take that for <4 weeks progress.

2/8 PM:

DL+SLDL 120kg 1+3
Pullups 7

2/9

RDL 80x7
90x15
bench press 40x6 50x5 55x3
65x4 60x5
front squat 40x5 50x3 60x3
75 2x2 65 3x3
Back squat 60x3

PM:

front squat 60 3x3
Bent over barbell row 60 8,3
speed DL 70kg 5x3

Lost my bench spotter. Had to cut reps.

Can finally hit the bottom on front and back squats with a neutral spine.

Tried bent over barbell rows. Not sure if I like these. DB row might be better but BB could have more transference to the deadlift.

Left hand is still hurting a little from BJJ over a month ago now. May have to rehab it.

I would add weight to chins as soon as you hit 6-8...Two different energy systems at work for weighted 5,4,3,2,1 versus 8+ imo...

Good idea. I hit 9 pullups a few days ago.

What type of rep/loading scheme would you recommend?

I need more reps to assist climbing endurance, but the ultimate goal is definitely max strength. My training partner just started hitting 1-arm pullups and back levers and is putting me to absolute shame

2/10

bouldering, grip holds, front lever progression

Closed CoC trainer around 30x/hand the last week. Closing it single handed without setting now for reps. Can barely close the #1 now. #2 seems far away. I'll get it back.

2/11 AM

Pullups 1,6,6,6,5
Front Squat 40x6 50x5 60x4
70x4 65x6

Planks and max effort PT in the PM. Haven't been logging my bodyweight PT work. Been going very easy at it, just putting in volume.

Increasing volume.

Going to start posting some videos while I ramp up weight for form evaluation

Here was today's 70kg front squat and one of my CoC cold close sets on Friday

https://youtu.be/g-4ztJmlyho

https://youtu.be/Ax9VNLKNgBs





The squats were not as tight as last session and I had a couple of issues with knees shifting and back angle changing. Need more volume at lower intensity. Core strength is an issue

2/12

Climbing 1.5hr

Skipping DB press and PT workout due to snow.

Heading to a ninja gym in CT this Thursday

2/13 AM

Deadlift
60x7 70x5 80x3 90x3 100x1
110x2 115x1

125x3+1,0,1,1,1

DL+SLDL
110kg 1+4
Deadlift
110kg 1,1,1
pullups
2,2
Weighted Pullup
bw+15 3,2+1+1

Double overhanded DL. Grip failed on rep 2 of 125x3 and I switched to mixed.

Things to work on:

(1) right knee caving in max squat and deadlift
(2) lumbar rounding in deadlift, deadlift setup
(3) core strength in everything, core instability
(4) upper back instability and shoulder ROM limitations
(5) overall instability, shifting in car, shifting while standing

My methods to address these issues:

(1)volume repetition at the highest intensity possible without this issue occurring. Work below maxes.
(2) setup work, and speed pulls from the floor with perfect form. Accept a degree of lumbar rounding for a single max pull set a week.
(3) planks, advanced core variations, heavy squats and deadlifts
(4) PT work: pushups, cable work, face pulls and retraction movements with cables, bench db raises: americana raises, straight arm raise, rear delt raise
(5) continued mindfulness and posture work, planks and stability work, palloff press

I though the FS looked pretty good. Doing more and adding weight will obviously help you there. Also think FS is cure for what ails most peoples's BS.

RE: Weighted Chins

IMO, Triples, doubles and singles....don't let the weight dictate the reps let the reps dictate the weight working in 85% territory for all three with good volume and periodic max effort days.

Thanks!

I'll start with one weighted max effort day per week to compliment the BW work and go from there.

New climbers:

2/16

Light climb: 3-4 routes

PT work in evening

2/15

front squat
40x5 50x3 55x3 60x2 65x1
80 2x2
70 3x3

DL+ RDL 95kg 1+9
Back squat 60x5

Light climb: 5-6 routes

-I like the idea of doing a little back squatting at the end of my front squat workouts. Get's some extra volume in without further crushing the core and forcing up the elbows.
-Decided I need more front squat warmup volume, and more warmup volume in general outside of DL

2/14 rest

climber pullups 2x1/arm

Updates:

-Focused heavily on climbing the past week at the expensive of pullups, CoC, and my hands. Just can't help myself.
-Skipped my last Gym PT/db bench workout and my last bench workout. No more bb bench due to losing my spotter. Switching to 2 workouts a week, DB bench and Dec DB bench
-Cutting back to 1 DL day a week and making it a modified Coan 10-week DL routine:
http://tsampa.org/training/scripts/c...lipi_deadlift/
It's not the Coan program because I'm neglecting some of the assistance, only because I just don't need it all to add weight to my DL right now, and may not be ready to handle the volume. Max Effort DL scheme will be the same as the program.

There's all this stuff I want to do, pullups 2x/week+ dead hangs, CoC, climbing, deadlifts, front squats, db bench, PT work, gym PT work. So I'm just going to do it. Even if it means overtraining, taping my hands and making slower progress at everything, I just have to start this stuff now or I'm never going to do it. The bench and front squat and deadlifts fit in easily. It's the climbing and pullups and hang work which are really tough to schedule.

New weekly setup: pullups 2x+, front squat 2-3x, DL once, climbing 2x+, db bench 2x, gym PT 2x+, PT at home

New schedule:

Fri
Front Squat. DB Bench, Gym PT work. Pushups.

Sat
Max Effort Climb. BW pullups and dead hangs. Lever progression.

Sun

Gym PT work.

Mon

Coan Deadlift: Deadlift 1x2 (changes), speed pulls, pullups, RDL, bb row, front squat?

Tues

Db bench. Gym PT work. lever progression. Pushups

Weds

Front Squat (Max Effort doubles)
light hip extension? GHR?

Thurs

climb. pullups, dead hangs. lever progression

Just going to have to fit in dead hangs, CoC, and extra climbs whenever I can.

For translating to climbing endurance, frenchies (and lockoffs in general) are really good. You lock off once for a 3 count on every pullup rep alternating at the top, 90 degrees, and 120 degrees.

For shoulder retraction ROM, I like "shoulder dislocations":


and long stretches (6 minutes) lying face down with cactus arms resting on pillows or blocks at your sides building up to 6". You can also stand with back against a wall and cactus arms completely pressed against the wall then slowly reach overhead keeping all parts in contact with the wall, thinking of touching your shoulder blades together. Or just plain cactus arms and try to pull the shoulder blades together.

Also, if you reach straight overhead as far as you can and rotate your left arm counterclockwise and your right clockwise then try to press your shoulder blades and arms further upwards you may find more and more reach (accompanied by soreness in the blade area). You may not have to do a 1 arm pullup if you can just reach the next hold!

You've said you have trouble with pullups the day after climbing, and the numbers look a bit dramatic to me. There's probably room to accommodate both climbing and pullup work with a little strategy. What are you doing to warmup for the pullups? Is this muscular or a joint pain issue? What kind of climbing are you doing, like all bouldering or overhanging routes or more straight faces? If it's muscular, are you specifically trying to get better by climbing in a way that's using arm power, or can you just tighten your technique? Is it possible you are borrowing too much from how your super-strong partner climbs? You might try to stagger the climbing intensity so you'll sometimes have a day focused on footwork and straight arms and easyish handholds prior to an effortful pullup day. Or if you're not *totally gassed* after climbing you could try finishing with some pullups and taking the next day off (or...max out on pullups *before* climbing to force yourself to climb fatigued). What about taking some weight-assist for the day-after pullups to get the volume you want, or just doing more sets of doubles? For sore joints, I always found NSAIDs and icing after climbing helpful.

Anyway, good luck. You certainly do have a lot you want to do!

Thanks for the input! Have you been climbing for long?

I'm primarily interested in bouldering right now. I started less than 2 months ago and am still working my way up the routes.

I definitely cannot boulder pre-fatigued from pullups because the start is already very difficult for me. I weigh 190+ and only started climbing more than once a week this month. I probably wouldn't make the first reach on V1 if I maxed on pullups beforehand.

I don't warmup for pullups, just do a couple singles and doubles and move onto my work sets. I do pullups Monday for my deadlift session and need 1-2 other days to fit in volume. Ideally I want a volume day and a max effort day. I'm also considering some 1-arm climber pullups and weighted pullups. I'm not sure I can fit the weighted pullups right now and maybe they aren't worth it yet, because I'm only doing 8-10 regular overhand pullups as of this moment.

My warmup for climbing has been a little work on the hang board but not enough to pre-fatigue. I guess I should do more.

I'm doing a single max effort climb day per week right now and 1-2 light climbs during the week. I probably send 10-15 routes on my max effort day and 6-7 at lower grade on my light days.

I'm definitely just doing what my climbing partner does/says and don't have the strength to complete many of the moves. That's why its so important for me to dead hang and work pullups and lockoffs. When I first started he was telling me every move. At this point I get coached during the max effort day on harder climbs, and try to send the routes on my own during the week.

I'm doing some reaching work for PT already. How do you feel about dead hangs? I've only got a 2 mins in me at most right now. Another Q on this topic: do you full dead hang or keep the shoulders in neutral?

I definitely NEED to start lockoffs as they are a huge weakness and I need a 1-arm lockoff eventually for sure, to be a better climber, progress to the 1 arm pullup, and generally be a stronger person.

Any recommendations for volume or intensity there? I'm thinking a lockoff at the top of a pullup, and at the point where my elbows form a right angle.

My goal is to be as good at climbing as possible which means perfect technique and max strength. I'm not willing to cut a lot of weight.

Finally, I'm having no problems whatsoever with soreness or joint pain, thank god. The skin on my hands is a commodity right now and is what stops me from climbing most days. I'm limited by finger strength, core strength, and my CNS not being able to handle all the strength work. I'm making progress all the same but the volume for pullups and assistance has to increase significantly to make the gains I want. I'm really weak on the hang board right now.

Pretty much retired. Started fat and at my best was bouldering questionable V8s at 185 or a bit less (I'm 6'3"). Btw, V9/V10 requires you be a vampire or a cyborg or some ****! After spinal fusion surgery I switched to strictly sport routes in gyms. Made it to 5.12 but it was just never as fun.

When I did climb, I used weights and assistance work a lot more than anyone else I knew; skinny ****ers who could just get high and fun climb their way to rapid improvement.

Ah, ok. That's more of a beginner than I thought. Definitely forget the pre-pullup thing! Have you checked out the climbing thread in OOT?

Eh, that's a decent enough warmup for pullups, usually. I'll go 1-2-3 and then maybe another 3 depending on feel, but I guess I'll also do a few minutes of rowing on my way in and some hi-rep hammer curls to get some blood flowing. Not sure what "1-arm climber pullups" are. I'm sure BPA234's advice is sound (it's not what I've ever followed but that was 15 years ago and he knows up-to-date stuff) for weighted pullups, but I think you may be better served by doing frenchies or lockoffs for now (and while those will soon become endurance-builders, right now they will probably work that strength energy system).

The great thing about a climbing warmup is if you don't do enough you get a flash-pump so you know you need to warmup more!

My favorite climbing partner was a chick less than 5 feet tall, precisely because we could pretty much never approach a problem the same way. Be careful about too much volume on problems with a true strength deficit once that deficit quickly goes away--campfire science used to say it took 6 months for your finger joints to strengthen up enough for climbing V3 or so.

Hmm...I never really did much pure dead hang, other than fingerboard stuff where the focus was the grip and I'd be neutral. I just figured I was getting enough hanging from climbing (gym toproping and whatnot). Guess I would add some hang after pullups with shoulders in neutral, and always did pullups, lockoffs, and such on fingertips.

I'm actually targeting getting back to a 1-arm pullup this year, but at 244 and 41, it will be a challenge. Whelp, since I'm doing pullups anyway...

If you include a 3rd angle a bit more open than a right angle (like 120 or 135 degrees) then you'll be effectively working the entire ROM for isometric strength. Technically, though, you need the top lockoff the most for climbing. You can add time to the hold or weight the 2-handed lockoff, but to better simulate climbing you'll favor one side if not outright one-handed with weight assist (which does let you measure progress).

In general I'd say, "As much and as often as you can." but within that first 6 month window probably be willing to skip whenever in doubt. While you're climbing, you are probably *not* going to lose isometric arm strength so you should basically always be able to pick up from your last workout even after a couple of weeks. At one point I decided I had to stop all pullup and lockoff work when I was getting in 6-hour long grueling overhanging bouldering and power sessions, assuming it meant putting off getting to a 1-arm pullup, then after a month or so...I could just do a 1-arm pullup.

There's nothing as immediately addictive and obsessive as climbing, and you'll have plenty of ability to improve before strength to weight ratio becomes a limiting factor (if ever) but recovery is important and learning to gauge the hole your workload puts you in is something you'll have to feel out for yourself. Like it's possible that the climbing you are doing is actually plenty on its own for core strength, for now. For pure finger strength, I never could beat standing barbell finger curls, starting at about half bodyweight and progressing rapidly. You just pick up the bar with a closed grip and open as far as you can without dropping it before curling it back up.

Yeah definitely a beginner. I couldn't top out most of the Vb routes my first climb. I'm sending V1 now after 7-8 sessions and took down one V1 that was rated by everyone at V2. My climbing partner says if I can get my CNS up to snuff I have the physical ability to climb V3-4. But it will take time. The constant progress is very encouraging. I definitely worry about my tendons but have had zero problems so far.

Always good to hear a story about large guys who can still climb. V8 is something else, congrats on the accomplishment. My current super strong climbing partner is climbing V7. I haven't gotten to climb with my friend who took down V10 at 220. He showed me a video before I got into climbing and it was the most impressive thing I had ever seen anyone do.

Man, getting a 1-arm at your age and weight would be a truly incredible achievement. Will definitely check out your log. I'm going to get there.

Re: weighted pullups, OK going to skip them for now. I should get back to the 15-20 range and I think there's a big carryover from the BW pullups to my climbing endurance right now. I'm adding in lockoffs twice a week along with dead hangs. Ty.

I love watching the women perform. There is an aesthetic quality the guys just don't have. I'm looking forward to heading to a more serious climbing gym next week and watching some of the higher levels. The diversity of successful approaches for different body types and strengths is encouraging.

Hey at your size, did you bother work any of the gymnastic progressions? I would really like a front lever one day but I'm so low in the progression right now. I can't straighten out a single leg and my back is still lightly rounded. According to my climbing partner, the front lever is about equal to the one arm pullup. I have heavy legs and am speculative about my ability to ever perform these movements.

Thanks for all the pointers. It's seriously the most addictive thing ever. It's making me question whether I even want to fight this year. Definitely looking forward to improvement.

Holliday is basically a super hero so I have no doubt he can get that one arm chin.

I don't know anything about climbing but it seems like it is a sport where you need to train both energy systems and be extremely strong for 1-3 seconds and have the endurance behind it.

Given that, for chins I would do BW for amrap several times a week and do weighted triples, doubles and singles in sequence working in 85% plus range training with max intensity on each once a week. Obv based on ability to recover, sleep food etc.