Lorenzo's Training Log

Did you substitute chains for the reverse average bands and keep the same bar weight?

Also, really happy to see you finally running a program--this will be great for your development.

No it was originally supposed to be 435lbs with the bands, but I dropped the weight and added chains.

I'm happy I started it and look forward to the gains.

LTomasiello wrote:

No it was originally supposed to be 435lbs with the bands, but I dropped the weight and added chains.

I'm happy I started it and look forward to the gains.

Repped for smarts.

Alright my fellow powerlifters I am back from vacation. Today was my first day of cube method and I think it went pretty well. Weights were challenging, but this made it fun. Current weight is 216 lbs. I honestly expected more since the past week my diet went almost out the window, but anyway heres training from today...
"Deadlift Reps"
Deadlift 1 inch deficit @ 70%:
410lbs 1 set of 8 reps
Deadlift 4 inch block pull @ 80%:
465lbs 2 sets of 4 reps
SSB Squats @ 50%:
275lbs 3 sets of 8 reps
note: My facility lacks a safety squat bar so I had to do some research. I came across placing the bar in the high bar position and using straps as the handles. This was pretty difficult to balance probably because I've never done a movement like this before.
GHR:
4 sets of 10 reps
Back Raises:
50 reps (2 sets of 25 reps)

"Bench Heavy"
Floor Press @ 80%:
270lbs 5 sets of 2 reps
275lbs 1 set of 2 reps
throwing in an extra set can't hurt right?
Bench Press @ 60-70%:
210lbs 1 set of 15 reps
235lbs 1 set of 11 reps
okay it was stupid of me to increase the weight on this one. I started out at 60% percent and the last couple were kind of a grind, but I decided to up the weight to 70% anyway. So I ended up failing at 11 taking a rest for a few seconds and finishing out the last 4. In the ebook it clearly stated multiple times "no missed reps" so I felt kind of bad.
Lat Pulldown: 3x12
Band Pressdown: 4x25
Dumbbell Shrugs: 3x15
Military Press: 3x12
I am still struggling with this. I don't exactly know how to approach my overhead press or military press in this case. I feel like my grip is still the trickiest part, so I'm going to have to play around with it for a bit. If anyone has any advice on OHP don't hesitate to let me know.
After following the program I decided to throw in some pullups and that it.

Advice for overhead:
1. Grip bar
2. Put it over your head
3. Put it back down

I could spout off some babble about technique and stuff but honestly that is all I do.

I don't know what your history is with training your overhead press, but in my case it's weak because I just neglected training it for quite some time. I suspect that with your strength base you should start seeing improvements with it soon just with regular training. It does seem to progress slowly though in comparison with benching, and I think this is partly due to the fact that it is a weaker lift so it likely will progress in relatively small increments. As far as grip goes, I'm finding most people use a narrower grip than bench pressing. I grip with my index fingers about an inch and a half outside the edge of the inner knulings, and I'm working on bringing it in a little. I think this is about where Dalton grips it too, and I think that Chris and Josh grip at right about the edge of the inner knurlings.

Thanks for the input, Chris and Andy!

Thursday Jun 26th:
"Squat Explosive"
Squat @ 60%:
325lbs  8 sets of 3 reps
Note: all sets performed beltless
Squat w/ chains @ 80%:
405lbs+30lbs of chains 1 set of 2 reps
Note: Program called for Reverse Avg bands which I don't have so I had to compromise.
Olympic Squat:
275lbs 4 sets of 5 reps
315lbs 1 set of 5 reps
Note: all sets performed beltless
Leg Press:
4 sets of 15 reps
Reverse Hypers:
3 sets of 12 reps
Note: Do not have a reverse hyper machine so I had to get creative. I feel like I am going to be doing this a bit with this training method.
Dumbbell Swings:
3 sets of 15 reps

Friday Jun 27th
"Bodybuilding Day"
Military Press
4 sets of 8 reps
Pendlay Rows
4 sets of 10 reps
Incline Dumbbell Press
3 sets of 10 reps
Lateral Raises
3 sets of 15 reps (last 2 sets drop sets)
Band Pull apart
3 sets of 15 reps
Weighted Dips
4 sets of 12 reps
Reverse Curls
3 sets of 10 reps
Note: This day I kind of took and just put my own spin on it. Mainly worked on areas I felt were the weakest.

Monday June 30th
Deadlift explosion
Deadlift @ 60%:
350lbs 8 sets of 3 reps
4" block pull snatch grip @ 50%:
295 3 sets of 12 reps (w/ wrist straps)
SSB Squat 3x8 reps
BB Shrugs 3x12 reps
Back Raises 50 reps
Lat Pulldown 3x15 reps

Wednesday July 2nd
Incline Bench Press @70%
235lbs 6 reps
225lbs 7 reps
185lbs 10 reps
was supposed to be 1 set of 8 reps but kept failing
DB Incline Press:
45lbs 2 sets of 20 reps
CG Bench:
185lbs 3x12 reps
Band Fly 3x15 reps
Tricep Pressdown 100 reps
Mil. Press 3x12 reps

Friday July 4th:
Squat Heavy
Squat @ 80%:
435lbs 4 sets of 2
435lbs 1 set of 5
Goodmorning;
135lbs 8 reps
185lbs 2 sets of 8 reps
Leg Press: 3x20
Lunges: 3x12
Back Raises: 60 reps
Band Leg Curls: 2x50 reps

Just from my experience with two cycles of the cube, the squat days works very well and i made excellent progress. As far as bench and deadlift goes, i would recommend changing the variations to just bench or just deadlift. Still do all of the assistance work and such

Yeah I realized that there is some tweaking that needs to be done. I do enjoy the squat days as we speak I'm getting my ass kicked by DOMS from yesterday's training session. Now its just a matter of figuring out how to tweak the program to cater to my needs. I do have some weaknesses that the cube has addressed so I want to continue to work on those without changing the programming all together .

Saturday July 5th
Bodybuilding
OHP
135lbs 4x8 reps
Pendlay rows
225lbs 4x10
Incline BB Press
95lbs 15 reps
135lbs 12 reps
185lbs 10 reps
205lbs 8 reps
205lbs 6 reps
205lbs 6 reps
Lateral Raises
3x15 reps
Dips w/ chains
4x12 reps
Rev. Curls
3x10 reps

Monday July 7th
Deadlift heavy
Deadlift 4" blocks @80%
465lbs 4x2 reps
465lbs 5 reps
Snatch-Grip Deadlift
375lbs 2x8 reps
DB Rows
90 lbs 3x10
DB shrugs
3x20
Planks

oh my god lorenzo would you use the space bar more often please

Only since you asked nicely...

Tuesday July 8th
Bench Explosion
Floor Press @60%: 205lbs 8x3
Dumbbell Incline Press: 70lbs 3x15
Band press down: 100 reps
Dumbbell OHP: 45lbs 3x10
Band Fly: 3x15
Pull ups: 80 reps
Abs: 50 reps

So unfortunately I will be unable to train next week, and however much longer, since I will be recovering from getting my wisdom teeth removed. I am debating attempting a PR on deadlift this week since my goal for the summer was to pull 600 before my 19th birthday. Thoughts on this anyone?

LTomasiello wrote:

So unfortunately I will be unable to train next week, and however much longer, since I will be recovering from getting my wisdom teeth removed. I am debating attempting a PR on deadlift this week since my goal for the summer was to pull 600 before my 19th birthday. Thoughts on this anyone?

Recovering from wisdom teeth removal should take 3 days max. No need to cut out the whole week. In Marine Corps boot camp if you had to get your teeth pulled you got them pulled in the morning and had the rest of the day to rest. You were back at it screaming and running around the next day. I felt bad for those unlucky fuckers.

As far as the deadlift goes, I'd say if you feel well rested enough then go for it. It was over a month ago (according to your log) that you went super heavy on deadlifts and tried to PR. I'm sure you've made some progress since then.

I've heard it varies from person to person, so I'm hoping 3 days max is the case.
When it comes to the deadlift I do feel like I've put in some significant work over the past month so I feel like I should be ready. I just don't want to screw with the programming.
Thanks for your input, Sam!

Yeah, agreed with Sam. Getting your wisdom teeth pulled isn't a very big deal. As long as you are able to avoid taking the vicatin or whatever crazy pain meds they give you for that, I don't see why you wouldn't be back at it in 3 days max. You still have plenty of time to PR your deadlift this summer, as I seriously doubt this will be more than a few days set back. When is your birthday? You may have opportunity to better prepare yourself before you go for it if your just a little more patient with the wisdom teeth thing. But as Sam said, if you're feeling good and strong and up for it, I see no real reason not to go for it.

I guess we'll just see how surgery goes! My birthday is July 29th. I just finished my first wave of the cube so my birthday would fall on the last week of the second wave ( there are 3 waves and at the end of 3rd wave you test your PR's). I'm gonna work up to some heavy weight today and if I'm feeling good I'll go for it. Otherwise it will just be a normal deadlift day. Thanks for the input guys. I really appreciate it!

I feel like going heavy on a day you feel good isn't necessarily going to set you back. Going heavy too consecutively might though. I'm pretty sure we've all had those training days where we feel good and the weight we usually work with feels a little bit lighter than normal. I say train whatever you're normally going to do today, and if it feels like you're ready then go for it. You have to be honest with yourself. If not, then one more cycle of Cube really isn't all that long to wait.

Disclaimer long post ahead...
Alright so I'm going to take the time to talk about my current progress with the Cube Method in this post. I have made it through the first 3 week wave of the cube and have just started wave 2 which I will eventually peak after wave 3. I'm going to break this down in accordance with the three lifts and then go from there.  
Squat: Although my squat hasn't necessarily been challenged in terms of heavy weight it has been challenged in terms of rep ranges (sets of 8, 50 rep squat) and just plain volume. There would be training sessions where I would stay in the same power rack for a majority of the session. Although it hasn't been tested I still feel that I am getting stronger with each training session thanks to the volume of the workouts. I plan on seeing some decent progress when I decide to test myself again.
Bench: I am a little disappointed with bench. My bench press likes to respond to, well, a lot of benching. The Cube Method hasn't provided me with anywhere near as much benching as my last program. I'll be honest my last program, which I made myself, was a little insane. I had myself benching 3 days a week and working up to almost 90% every week. This programming just completely dragged me down, but the volume actually worked in increasing my bench... surprisingly. I am going to continue in following the cube's programming and see how it pans out. As of right now I'm just kind of bored with it and am looking for a challenge. Plus, all that extra volume I did in my last program really gave me time to just practice my technique which really helped me a lot, the cube... not so much. I have actually done very little work on a flat bench. Most of my work is done on floor press, but we'll see how it goes.
Deadlift: My deadlift is actually responding pretty well to the cube's programming. It's addressing weaknesses that I have been neglecting in the past (glute, ham, low back strength) and its been really helping. Not only that, but its even helped my so called strengths. Before I started the cube I attempted a 600 pull. The lift was slow off the ground and stalled at about mid shin. After 3 weeks on the cube I attempted it again. This time it was so much quicker off the ground stalled at my knees. Just to see that kind of improvement in 3 weeks to me is an accomplishment in and of itself. So even though I missed the lift I was still very satisfied with the attempt. During my second 600 pull I noticed the main give was my upper back so I'm going to need to address that later on. Otherwise I'm happy.

Monday June 14th 10:00 PM-12:00 AM
"Deadlift Reps"
1" deficit deadlift @80%: 465lbs 6 reps
4" block pull @80%: 465lbs 2x3
SSB squat Oly stance @50%: 275lbs 3x8
GHR: 4x10
Back Raises: 50 reps

Wednesday July 16th
Bench Heavy
Floor Press @85%: 285lbs 3x2
Bench Press @60%: 205lbs 2x15
Lat Pulldown: 3x12
Band Pressdown: 4x25
DB Shrug: 3x15
Military Press: 115lbs 3x12

Thursday July 17th
Squat Explosion
Squat @65%: 355lbs 6x2
Squat w/chains @80%: 435lbs (405lbs+30lb chains) 2 reps
Oly Squat: 315lbs 5x5
Leg Press: 3x15
Rev Hypers: 3x12
DB Swing: 3x15