John Phung

Training Log: Tuesday January 8, 2013

January 8, 2013 — Leave a comment

Jump Rope

  • 3 minutes on, 1 minute off
  • 3 minutes on, 1 minute off
  • 3 minutes on, 1 minute off
  • 3 minutes on, 1 minute off
  • 3 minutes on, 1 minute off

L-Sit Chin Ups

  • Body weight (200lbs): 11,11,11,10,10
    • Performed before, in between sets, and after neck exercise.
    • +1 rep (total) from last week..

Neck Training

Using the Ironmind neck harness and low pulley attachment.

Neck Extension (Harness)

  • 30lbs: 20
  • 60lbs: 20
  • 100bs: 20

Neck Flexion (Harness)

  • 30lbs: 20
  • 60lbs: 20
  • 100lbs: 20

Neck Side Flexion (Harness)

  • 30lbs: 20
  • 50lbs: 20
  • 70lbs: 20
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John Phung

Training Log: Monday January 7, 2013

January 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

My cold is almost gone. I'm at that stage where I'm periodically coughing up really sticky phlegm.

Texas method volume day.

Foam Rolling

Low Bar Squat

  • 45 lb: 20
  • 140 lb: 10
  • 230 lb: 5
  • 320 lb: 3
  • 410 lb: 1
  • 460 lb: 1
    • Left nostril started bleeding. First time that has ever happened to me while lifting. Cool!
  • 397.5 lb: 3,3,3,3,3

High Bar Squat

  • 345 lb: 5,5,6
    • +2.5lbs from last week
    • Wanted more reps on the last set,but feeling exhausted. Probably because of my almost-gone cold.

Face Pulls

  • 70 lb: 12

Reverse Grip Bench Press

Paused until work sets.

Paused first rep on work sets.

I missed the last rep during the last set last week, but I'm going to increase the weight this week anyways.

Also, I obtained an anti-slip shelf and drawer liner to help prevent my back from slipping on the bench. Works pretty well so far!

  • 45 lb: 10
  • 140 lb: 5
  • 230 lb: 3
  • 320 lb: 1
  • 280 lb: 5,5,5,5,5
    • Benching felt strong today.
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John Phung

Programmable Pressure Cooker, Mikhail Koklyaev Interview And Detox

January 6, 2013 — 2 Comments

Not much to report in this week as far as training goes. Caught a cold last week which took it's toll this week, but I was still able to get in all my main training sessions.

I tried Zercher squats on Wednesday and I don't think I'll be sticking with it. It's a pain in the ass arms. I'll reincorporate paused squats on recovery day instead.

I missed a 360 lb bench press on Friday, probably due to my back slipping on the bench again. Try again next week!

Lastly, I've been using a slow cooker for a couple of years, and have recently upgraded to a programmable pressure cooker. It's like a super fast version of a slow cooker (cooking in ~1 hour instead of 9 hours), and moonlights as a rice cooker, slow cooker along with a few other functions as well. Solid investment to save time and cook large quantities of delicious food.

Anyway, here are a couple of must read articles to check out:

  1. "Mikhail Koklyaev Interview on Olympics, Breaking Plateaus and Recovering from Inflamed Elbows" at All Things Gym
    • A lot of real world wisdom from one of the strongest men on the planet.
  2. "The Detox Delusion" by Scott Gavura
    • I've heard the word "detox" used for a lot of snake oil treatments. Don't be fooled!

 

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John Phung

Training Log: Friday January 4, 2013

January 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

Still feeling sick! Damn cold. It hurts my nasal cavity to breath.

And my glutes are sore today. Maybe from those damn Zercher squats on Wednesday.

Or the CPR/AED class I did yesterday. Had to do a lot of chest compressions and mouth to mouth on a dummy. A lot of leaning over and sitting up (all while I'm on my knees), and repeating a million times. I'm not used to that many repetitions. Partner complained of glute DOMS as well.

Texas method intensity day.

Foam Rolling

Low Bar Squat

  • 45 lb: 20
  • 140 lb:10
  • 230 lb: 5
  • 320 lb: 3
  • 410 lb: 1
  • 460 lb: 1
  • 412.5 lb: 3,3
    • +2.5 lb from last week

High Bar Squat

  • 377.5 lb: 5
    • +2.5 lb from last week

Face Pulls

  • 70lbs: 12

Reverse Grip Bench Press

  • 45 lb: 10
  • 140 lb: 5
  • 230 lb: 3
  • 320 lb: 1
  • 360 lb: MISSED
    • Back slid on the bench.
  • 360 lb: MISSED
  • 307.5 lb: 3,3,3
    • Finally got 307.5 x 3 x 3. Been trying since Dec 14.

Deadlift

Going to skip deadlifts today.

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John Phung

Q&A: Your Custom Texas Method

January 3, 2013 — Leave a comment

I got an email from someone who was interested in how I’m running Texas Method (TM):

Hi John,

I enjoy your blog and I was going through your log to “reverse engineer” your custom TM.

  1. Can you give more details on the weight progression and the rep scheme?
  2. Also, don’t you feel drained after the volume squat? That’s the issue I had with vanilla TM, I was dying after the squat and the volume on pressing was not as productive as it could be if I was fresher (e.g. the next day). I would be interested to know your opinion on splitting TM (volume upper/volume lower/intensity upper/intensity lower).

Thanks,
Julien

Hey Julien,

Glad you enjoy my blog! And I'm flattered that you're reverse engineering what I'm doing haha.

To answer your questions:

1. For weight progression, currently I am increasing by 2.5 lb weekly. It used to be 5 lb, but I've lowered it to 2.5 lb for all lifts. It’s more manageable, and I probably won’t hit any plateaus anytime soon.

If I’m trying to hit a PR, it might be 5 lb or more.

For rep schemes:

Volume Day (Monday):

Total of 30 reps of squats. I’ve done 5x5 and 10x3 previously. Right now it’s:

  • Low bar squat: 5x3
  • High bar squat: 3x5
  • Bench press: 5x5

Recovery Day (Wednesday):

  • Some sort of squat: 2x5
  • OHP: work up to a heavy single, then back off sets. Usually 3,5, up to 10 reps.

Intensity Day (Friday):

  • Low bar squat: 1x3
  • High bar squat: 1x5
  • Bench press: 3x3
  • Deadlift: 2x3

Sometimes it varies a bit, but that's generally it. I’m thinking about trying out Zercher squats on recovery day, because doing lighter squats are a bit boring.

I do not alternate bench presses and overhead presses like in the standard Texas Method template.

2. Yes, I feel drained after volume squats. I like that feeling actually. If I'm not breathing heavy in between sets and a little bit fearful of my next set, then it doesn't feel right (for volume day squats that is).

Doing volume squats will affect anything after it, but I find that I catch my breath after a few warm up sets of my next exercise.

These days I do not perform OHP on volume days. I do them on recovery day only and bench press twice a week. This has been working well as I am getting stronger in both lifts.

I've read of people doing splits with TM (in 70sbig.com Texas Method ebooks I believe). I’ve never tried it myself though, but it looks like it could work well. Try it out!

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