Middle Aged Muscles

Tag: bench press

  • Changing Programs for Short Periods: Why and How

    I mentioned in a previous post that when coming back from vacation I was temporarily moving from my conjugate style of training into something completely different. This is not a permanent change and is only scheduled for 6 weeks. While it seems odd to do, I have my reasons and I’m going to walk you…

  • Killer Birthday Workout for my 40th!!!

    I’ve always thought the idea of doing a special “birthday workout” yearly is a bit of a meme, but every year there I am thinking “I need to figure out what to do for my birthday”… This year was no different, and to top it off I’m turning 40 which is a milestone and even…

  • What do you do if something isn’t working?

    My last post revolved around a small mistake I made in my programming and what I was doing to fix it. To refresh, I did very little low bar squatting and that which I did, was almost exclusively to a box. When I went to test my low bar squat without a box it didn’t…

  • Changing Weeks / Blocks: How and Why I Use Them

    In past post I’ve outlined the framework for how I write my programs and how I work out. My version of the conjugate method works for me and would likely work for a lot of you (there is no perfect program that works for everyone) but I don’t run it every single week of the…

  • Picking Your Secondary Variations

    If you’re lifting for strength, your main movers are easy to identify. You’ll never find a person who has a good squat, deadlift, bench and overhead press, yet isn’t strong. While some powerlifting programs will keep you doing nothing but the comp lifts, I’ve always been an advocate of using variations within your programming. Before…

  • Time Management in the Gym

    No I didn’t stop this blog, or go on another vacation, I’ve just gotten really busy with life and work. It happens and when it does, I need to prioritize. While I’ve intended to make a blog post the past few weeks, I had to manage my time in and out of the gym, which…

  • Shoulder Issues Update

    We talked about this a while back and I’ll be honest, we’ll eventually talk about it again. For those that didn’t read my first post I have a long history of shoulder issues that predate me ever stepping foot in a gym. I’ve came a long way just to get “functional” but am now in…

  • Rep Schemes: Using the Reverse Pyramid

    This weekend I decided I wanted to go hard and heavy on my max effort lower day and decided to use a “Reverse Pyramid” rep scheme to get volume in after I maxed out. Later in the day I was talking to a friend who asked my why I chose this vs a full pyramid,…

  • If They Powerlifted: NFL All Pro DT Dexter Lawrence

    Anyone that has spent a lot of time in the gym eventually will find themself watching a sporting event and think “I wonder what Player X squats”. I’ve done it before, I’ve gotten into debates with my friends over it. Its all projecting, but its fun to talk about. In comes my “If They Powerlifted”…

  • Conjugate, How I Westside on the East Coast: DE Upper

    I saved this one for last for one really good reason: I find DE Upper Day extraordinarily boring… Boring or not, there is still a valid reason to do a DE (Dynamic Effort) Upper day and it makes a large impact for some people, myself included. In previous posts I talked about the value of…