What has Uncle Boris done for you?

[benburgess]

For my 12th birthday he bought me a litre of Stolichyna and a bearskin hat.

[benburgess]

Since then...

I have been running Sheiko cycles since about Feb this year. The cycles I have run are #37 (raw), #37 (some equipment), #29 (raw), #30 (eqp), #31 (eqp), #32 (eqp) and the 5 Wk Comp (eqp).

Mostly they have been in some kind of progression, and most I have run more than once. The 1st one I ran (#37 raw) moved me backwards without a doubt (all lifts) 'cos my body was not ready for the volume. The 2nd I started to get used to it. Since then I have been making steady progress.

So in the last year:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raw Squat - I dont max on this but I feel it hasn't really moved, mostly because I concentrate on my equipped squat. Form has become WAY more consistent and dialed in though.

Eqp Squat - Increased my best competition sq by 10kg. Am a million times more solid and consistent setting up and hitting (IPF) depth too.

Raw Bench - I started the year with a shoulder injury and couldn't really bench. My bench has improved over my pre-injury all-time best by at least 10kg (never raw max).

Eqp Bench - Has gone down by ~15kg. This is partly due to the above but shirt benching and Sheiko is not something I have got the key too yet. This is the most interesting and frustrating bearing in mind that my raw bench is way up. Shows you the importance of the lockout training I 'spose.

Raw DL - Has increased by at least 25kg. I never max on this, but all my 80-85% training weights feel proper piss easy.

Eqp DL - Increased my competition DL by 25kg.

Eqp Total - Increased my competition PB total by 35kg.


Comments - All-in-all, a fairly sucessful year with plenty to be happy about and also things that are getting right on me tits (eqp bench). DL is by far the biggest gainer, although I think the knowlege I've learnt about how me body responds to training this way is probably equally as big a gain (gay).

2009 I HAVE to get the eqp bench moving back the right way. If my raw bench has to suffer for this, so be it. It really is about time my raw squat moved up too. A lot of the problem here is form...I sq wide in a suit and sit right back and use a lot of arse power. This style doesnt work well for me raw full squatting.

[benburgess]

How about any of you lads....

* Time running Sheiko cycles
* Cycle history (#'s etc.)
* Lifts

[erictalmant]

Good post Ben.

I will dig up some emails and I am sure Dave has tons of them and we will see if we can light a fire under this thread because I think it is an excellent idea!

[spsfw]

In April I tore my bicep tendon from the bone and had to have surgery and take 12 weeks off training. During this time I reflected on my lifting and did some research. I decided then to give Sheiko a try and emailed Dave. I did 3 or 4 weeks conditioning work (since I had not trained at all for 12 weeks and had a very weak arm). In August under Dave's guidance I did a 9 week raw cycle and came out with a 5kg PR on squat and 10kg bench. So with a couple of months training post-surgery I was stronger than pre-surgery. I then did 10 weeks equipped and (in competition) hit a 12.5kg on my equipped squat and 10kg on my equipped bench. My deadlift is close to my best- even though I switched to hook grip and hardly deadlifted for the first 9 weeks. The thing I found really pleasing was that the attempts I took in comp were every easy and very solid. I used to frequently miss lifts for technical reasons- I now felt like everything is taken care of in the gym and when I hit the platform its pretty straight forward. My 3rd attempt squat- which was a 12.5kg PR- felt like 95%. It has changed my perspective on what I think I can do and what I am capable of.

[Deleted]

110k over all 3 in the first 13 months. Been doing a month since then and feel more solid than ever. We'll see where it leads.

[Deleted]

Did Sheiko 29 and 32 equipped after having a months break from serious training. Hit 15kg squat pr, 2.5kg bench pr and 17.5kg deadlift pr, 40kg on total. Went 8 for 9 on the day which is my best by far. All the third attempts were easy. A lot of technical issues disappeared during this cycle. All my raw numbers went up too. Just completed 4 week bench only cycle after which I gained 10kg on my raw bench. Raw bench is up 20kg after 12 weeks of Sheiko training (200kg to 220kg).

Still waiting on my bottle of vodka

[erictalmant]

Do you all see a trend developing?

It is one that Dave and I realized several years ago; and that is the more one practices with the correct percentages, the better and better they will get at the movement. It is the most basic of concepts, but in today's world many believe that it has to be more difficult and more "sexy" than this to work-but it really doesn't.

Many of us don't need to dig that deep into the bag of tricks for perhaps 4-5 years even.

Just for thought...

[Deleted]

I did 3 CMS cycles aswell as #30 (16 weeks) in preparation for my last competition. I am 6'1, compete in 90kg class IPF (belt only).

Since starting Sheiko my lifts have gone up a fair bit, espeically considering I had a limiting wrist injury for the whole duration which meant I had to train high bar instead of competition style.

Squat; 215kg (no change due to wrist injury)
Olympic squat; 170kg - 197.5kg (+ 27.5kg)
Bench press; 115kg - 120kg (+ 5kg)
Deadlift; 288.5kg - 288.5kg (+0kg)

The above is slightly misleading since I narrowly missed a 301kg deadlift 2" from lockout due to a hefty cut (wrong scales no less!) which would of been 12.5kg which I am certain I am strong enough for. In the gym I'm confident I can hit 305-310kg.

Leg strength has been brought up massively and expect to squat 235-240kg later this year now my wrist has healed.

Bench wise I have yet to pause my boards (big mistake) and since pausing my 1 board my bench has jumped to 130kg paused in 2 sessions! Using Sheiko for bench should prove to be useful in the future

Now I've changed the SPP exercises and a few techniques around I expect a some more big jumps and hope to hit 240/137/310@90kg. Sheiko FTW ;D

[Deleted]

I could easily get creamed here and jumped from all the Sheiko groupies, but uncle Boris in terms of numbers didn't do all that much for me.. what it did do was teach me how to program my sessions and cycles to help me where most needed, helped me to realize weak points and best of all it has taught me to experiment to learn.

I have ran two straight Sheiko CMS cycles without change, with little improvement, except on the deadlift. This was two years ago, the system I knew was good, but somethings had to change in order for it to work BETTER for ME.

and, boy have I changed it. ahahhahahha

[erictalmant]

Dec 28, 2008 7:44:54 GMT -5 @artica said:

I could easily get creamed here and jumped from all the Sheiko groupies, but uncle Boris in terms of numbers didn't do all that much for me.. what it did do was teach me how to program my sessions and cycles to help me where most needed, helped me to realize weak points and best of all it has taught me to experiment to learn.

I have ran two straight Sheiko CMS cycles without change, with little improvement, except on the deadlift. This was two years ago, the system I knew was good, but somethings had to change in order for it to work BETTER for ME.

and, boy have I changed it. ahahhahahha

Your results are your results and your input is valuable so thank you for sharing it.

My questions to you would be:

1. Are you a CMS according to the ratings chart?
2. If so, then what kind of cycles did you run? Preparatory cycles? Competition cycles?
3. How accurate were the 1RM's that you started the program with? Did you guess or estimate?
4. What did or does you GPP look like?

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2008 9:16:14 GMT -5 erictalmant said:

Dec 28, 2008 7:44:54 GMT -5 @artica said:

I could easily get creamed here and jumped from all the Sheiko groupies, but uncle Boris in terms of numbers didn't do all that much for me.. what it did do was teach me how to program my sessions and cycles to help me where most needed, helped me to realize weak points and best of all it has taught me to experiment to learn.

I have ran two straight Sheiko CMS cycles without change, with little improvement, except on the deadlift. This was two years ago, the system I knew was good, but somethings had to change in order for it to work BETTER for ME.

and, boy have I changed it. ahahhahahha

Your results are your results and your input is valuable so thank you for sharing it.

My questions to you would be:

1. Are you a CMS according to the ratings chart?
2. If so, then what kind of cycles did you run? Preparatory cycles? Competition cycles?
3. How accurate were the 1RM's that you started the program with? Did you guess or estimate?
4. What did or does you GPP look like?

Let me answer your questions Eric:
1. according to the chart CMS would have not been my proper status two years ago... But not by much, the little difference I lagged, in my eyes, was not enough.
2. I ran two 9 week cycles Eric, both were prep followed by comp.
3. The 1rm's were as accurate as they could have been. Dead on as a matter of fact.
4. GPP has always been sporadic because of work schedule etc... but certainly enough, and well managed.

[davebates]

Dec 28, 2008 13:24:58 GMT -5 @artica said:

Dec 28, 2008 9:16:14 GMT -5 erictalmant said:

Your results are your results and your input is valuable so thank you for sharing it.

My questions to you would be:

1. Are you a CMS according to the ratings chart?
2. If so, then what kind of cycles did you run? Preparatory cycles? Competition cycles?
3. How accurate were the 1RM's that you started the program with? Did you guess or estimate?
4. What did or does you GPP look like?

Let me answer your questions Eric:
1. according to the chart CMS would have not been my proper status two years ago... But not by much, the little difference I lagged, in my eyes, was not enough.
2. I ran two 9 week cycles Eric, both were prep followed by comp.
3. The 1rm's were as accurate as they could have been. Dead on as a matter of fact.
4. GPP has always been sporadic because of work schedule etc... but certainly enough, and well managed.

You will never get creamed here, this forum is about sharing information for what works to build your strength and what has not.
What I am more interested in is,
why did it not work for you?

Did you run the cycles using equipment or without?

What did you change, and what was your thinking behind the changes?

Thanks in advance for the feedback...

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2008 7:44:54 GMT -5 @artica said:

I could easily get creamed here and jumped from all the Sheiko groupies, but uncle Boris in terms of numbers didn't do all that much for me.. what it did do was teach me how to program my sessions and cycles to help me where most needed, helped me to realize weak points and best of all it has taught me to experiment to learn.

I have ran two straight Sheiko CMS cycles without change, with little improvement, except on the deadlift. This was two years ago, the system I knew was good, but somethings had to change in order for it to work BETTER for ME.

and, boy have I changed it. ahahhahahha

If I recall correctly boris recommended not taking the programs as they were written in stone.
Cheers.