New lifter starting the 13-week program

[Deleted]

Just wanted to let you know that I started the 13-weeker by Dave Bates today.

I'll be sure to report back what results I get. I am not strong yet in the world of lifting, but I'm guessing you welcome feedback from lifters at all levels.

I've lifted for roughly two years starting from absolute zero strength.
Age: 25
Height: 192cm / 6'3
Weight: About 100kg +/- (was about 75kg when starting out lifting - underweight)
Programming: SL 5x5 / SS 3x5. Madcow 5x5.

Lifts when starting Sheiko today:
Low-bar squat (crease of hip below knee) - 152.5kg x 5
Benchpress - 100kg x 4
Deadlift - 177.5kg x 5, followed by 185kg x 5. Not taken this to failure yet. I pulled 200kg comfortably around new years'.

I started with fairly realistic 1RM values, and I suspect the next 13 weeks will be difficult.

I'm very excited to see how this works for me. I like the ideas behind the programming and I'm determined to follow it to the best of my ability.

[joeldibattista]

Good luck sir, please report back how you go.

[Deleted]

Thanks!

So far so good.
I have followed it exactly, and I am now on week #1, just having completed the Wednesday session.

Feels great. However today I was a bit shocked by the deadlifts from boxes...
I feel very humbled by the deadlifts from knee height. My grip was screaming at me and I barely willed up the last reps. This includes having to re-grip. I wonder if I'm maybe doing something wrong on these as 80% of max should not make me want to creep up in a corner and just cry/sleep. Or should they?

- Could not set it up AT knee height because of boxes available, so it was a bit below knee joint - and felt akward to start the pull from this position. Where exactly should the bar be?

- Is it normal to experience severe grip problems during this specific session?

Other than that things are great, but I am a little concerned with the grip issues I experienced today.

[joeldibattista]

I always find the pulls from boxes to be tough. I think they are key to building deadlift strength though. They should be below the knee in my opinion.

Crawling into a corner to cry/sleep. LOL, I like it. Welcome to the wonderful world of Sheiko.

[Deleted]

So I just had the first session of week #7 today.

I'm really liking the program.
It's genuinely hard work. I have never been at the point of failure during this program, but some reps are slow and sticky. I'm doing the program exactly like prescribed, except 3x8 dips because dips are so very heavy to me. Found out today I'm going way too deep on them so I will cut some depth off and increase the volume there too as quick as I can.

I'll post an update when I have run the entire program.

Unfortunately I have a booked holiday which collides with my "deload" week. I'm not sure how to handle that, any tips? How would it work to have a week without compunds and then do the deload week before the meet. Or would that really ruin things?

[joeldibattista]

The deload week is before the meet? Are you talking about week 13?

A week with no lifting anytime before your comp isn't ideal really.

[Deleted]

I don't have an actual meet.
When I said meet, I meant the last week of the program which ramps up to get new PRs.

The holiday is after week #11 on the spreadsheet. This means I could do week #12 after I get back from holiday which has less volume before the "meet" in week #13.

My question is if this would be fine, or if I should really strive to do week #12 WHILE being on holiday abroad.

[joeldibattista]

Yeah I would really try to get something done that week. Are you away for the entire week?

[Deleted]

Yes I'm away for the entire week.
I'll strive to get to the gym then

Had my deadlift day today, and it completely violated the grip in my left hand again. Lots of messing around with re-setting grip and having long breaks between every set - but I made it in the end.

I'm so happy there's no more lifting from the knees this cycle after having done those halting deadlifts before in the same session.

[joeldibattista]

I would at least try and get to a gym for one day where you can do some squat, bench and deadlift.

[Deleted]

So I had my skills evaluation on wednesday.

Squat -
157.5kg. Went ok, a bit sticky around my problem-area.
167.5kg. Went deep and decent was controlled. Almost failed it. Grindiest rep I have ever done on the squat. I am concerned about my squat. This was like a 100% effort, 170kg would have pinned me back down almost instantly.

Bench
100kg - Smooth lift
105kg - Fine, but not as smooth as 100. Felt around 95%.

Deadlift
190kg - Quite easy
200kg - Fine


So basically my squat feels weaker than before.
My bench feels a little stronger, but almost the same.
Deadlift feels a little stronger, but not much.

Is this normal? What can I expect the next few weeks?

[Deleted]

Some videos to illustrate the state of affairs.

Squat (157.5kg. Other video did not work out. Just imagine a similar lift except MUCH slower around the sticky point - coming to a complete stop before managing to squeeze through.)



Bench (105kg. Felt okay'ish, but the setup always feels wrong/weird to me when above 100kg):



Deadlift (200kg. Okay. This was the easiest of the three)



Summary: Squat was total suckage. Bench and deadlift felt around 95% as indicated by my spreadsheet.

Does this mean I'm on track for some awesome gains, or has something gone wrong somewhere?

[joeldibattista]

I can't see the videos at work, but I would have some faith in the programming. You will supercompensate with the deload in the next few weeks and will definitely be stronger come skills test day. Did you train at all on your holiday?

[Deleted]

Wasn't this "skills test day" ?
Or do you mean the actual 1RM testing after the full program?

Because I just did the skills test/evaluation at 95%, and didn't really feel much stronger than when I started.

[joeldibattista]

You just did the skills evaluation.

Skills test is at the end where you will go for some new 1RMs.

Generally, you won't feel stronger in week 9 compared to the start due to fatigue accumulation.

[Deleted]

Alright
Thanks for the info.

I do feel fatigued.

140kg/309lbs 6x3 squats felt like hell on earth yesterday, but the technique stayed pretty good on video - even last set.

I'm hoping for some nice strength gains. In the unlikely scenario I have not gained strength, I will at least have better technique and a massive work capacity improvement.

Staying positive.
(My holiday is next week, and I will try to make 3x sessions during that. Looking up local gyms soon)

[Deleted]

So I've been on my holiday now.

The good:
I made my two deload-sessions while on holiday.

The bad:
I've not done my 1rm testing session as scheduled on saturday - as I spent all day on coaches/airplanes.

The bad #2:
My diet and sleep has been awful for the past week (went to Ibiza with friends..). Lots of alcohol and I have to admit my body doesn't feel great after it.

Would an option for me be to repeat my deload week while eating lots of good food and grabbing lots of sleep? And then going for the 1rm tests a week late? Or would it be better to just go for it tomorrow despite feeling like crap?

[Deleted]

Well I just had to go with a hunch and I've decided to start #29 with higher 1RMs rather than do any 1RM testing today.

I believe it was the right choice, because I felt dizzy and bad throughout the squats. Almost spewed over the entire gym, while performing slow squats at a low percentage. A new 1RM with that performance at 75% 5x5 would have been impossible I'm pretty sure.

At least now I'm back in a structured training cycle again immediately instead of flailing at 1RM tests.

I really f**ked this up because of the bingedrinking and undereating for a whole week on holiday, but I still have faith in this type of programming and I'm carrying on (now a classic Sheiko sequence).

I completed all of the 13-week sessions except the "meet/1rm tests". I'm very grateful for this resource and how I had a customized program like this to help me adopt to the Sheiko ways of training.

If you like I can carry on updating here. Despite my shape being poorly these days (hope I'm not going down with something...) I'm pretty sure the 13 weeks of hard training has done me a great deal of good.
- Form / technique
- Work capacity
- Mental strength
- Strength (Especially on bench/deadlift I feel stronger. Squat feels rough but that could be the holiday-mess)

[joeldibattista]

Well life gets in the way. In hindsight, perhaps it would've been best to program your skills test just before you went away drinking.

You could just run #29>#32 which will give you a skills test in 8 weeks.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the input.

Well I've completed week #1 of #29.

I'm really struggling with the squat. It doesn't really feel any stronger than months ago.

I've been told (they also have done Sheiko in the past by the way) that the squat may be hitting me too hard and I'm tearing stuff up quicker than it can be restituted over a longer period of time.

Suggestion was to:
- Take a week or two off with complete rest, with a good diet.
- If I still don't feel stronger during the week of coming back after resting, I'm being too ambitious for my level.

What do you think about this?

I started #29 with an even higher 1RM than the 13-week cycle, so I am a bit concerned I am actually doing "too much" here - and I'm worried about a massive regression. Thoughts?

Would it work to not squat for a while, but carry on with bench and deadlift?
Edit: I feel like progress has been made on bench and deadlift. But squat is feeling pretty horrid.