Derek's Mass Gain Manifesto and Milestone Log

[Derek Simonds]

Friday February 22

I woke up at 5:15 with no alarm and felt really good so I decided to get up and lift. I didn't have anything planned so I did a dynamic warmup then started playing with the B/WU. Everything felt really good from the mid thigh hang position so I decided to do some HPS and HPC.

Mid Thigh HPS
45 X 3, 61 X 3, 81 X 3, 91 X 3 X 4, 95, 105, 115

Last HPS had a little press out but still really happy with these numbers as I haven't ever really worked the HPS.

Mid Thigh HPC&J all jerks with right leg forward
95 X 4, 105 X 3, 115 X 3, 125, 135, 145 (PR on PC definitely PR R Leg Jerk)

I did 3 DJ Press Outs on the last rep of all the jerks.

Metcon for time
21, 15, 9 54 LB KB Swing and Double Unders
6:28 This was a perfect smoker at the end. My DU's suck so I am going to incorporate them through out my warm ups.

No problem with the knee but still very limited range of motion. Precautionary icing.

[Leo Soubbotine]

Good work Derek! Soon it'll be time to squat and set new pr's!

[Derek Simonds]

I know a little at a time. But man the weights they are a calling me.

Leo your training looks SOLID. Did you drop the ranger ron pull up progression?

[Leo Soubbotine]

No man. I just do it all the time late at night and forget to post it next day.
Been doing dead hang chinups and 50 kg shoulder presses (kipping pullups kill the grip too much too soon). Plus I don't have a kipping technique issue, rather grip/back strength & endurance, so deadhangs help a lot!

[Derek Simonds]

Saturday February 23

Morning workout with my son.

Wall Slides 2 X 12
Diesel Y's 2 X 10
B/E's 2 X 15

Pull Ups 9, 8, 6, 5 C, 4 C
Push Ups Plus 12, 12, 10, 10, 8

BB Complex 75 LB's X 5 Reps 90 seconds rest 3 times
Straight Leg DL's
Hang Power Clean
Press
Good Mornings
Push Press

Incline Press 45 LB DB's X 8 X 3
Hammer Curl 30 LB DB's X 8 X 3

Jr did pull/ups, 1 arm pull/ups, mountain climbers, rope climbs, timed hangs pretty much he spent the whole time hanging from the pull up bar. He did do some C&J practice. His jerk is coming along nicely.

Grip training and some ab work later.

[Derek Simonds]

Monday February 25

I am going to do a 4 week cycle using the 3 day a week full body workout for hypertrophy from Coach Dos. I am going to be another 2 weeks before I have a chance at getting cleared for contact with my knee so that eliminates almost all DL's, Cleans and Snatches and any variants that start at the ground. With that in mind here I go.

D W/U
Mod B W/U
B/E's 2 X 12
S/U's 2 X 20

HPC 45 X 3, 65 X 3, 95 X 3, 105 X 3, 115 X 3, 120 X 3, 125 X 3
FS BW X 10, 45 X 10, 95 X 10, 105 X 8, 115 X 8, 120 X 6
1 Leg RDL Each Leg 8KG X 10, 16 KG X 8, 16 KG X 8, 24 KG X 6

P/U's 9, 8, 7, 5C, 4C
PP 45 X 10, 65 X 10, 95 X 8, 95 X 8, 95 X 6

Bench 95 X 10, 115 X 8, 135 X 8, 145 X 6
DB Row Each Arm 40 X 10, 45 X 8, 45 X 8, 45 X 6

Russian Twist 20 LB MB 10 X 4
Plank KTE 30 Reps X 4

With W/U took 1:15 with very little breaks. This was harder than I thought it was going to be. I have lost a ton of strength in my squat with the knee problem. I was really feeling the squats in my adductors. On the FS I wanted to make sure not to extend to far with my knee so I went to a med ball. P/U's still progressing nicely. I need to look at my log and see when to take a back off week. I will ask Leo about that today.

[Allen Yeh]

Originally Posted by Derek Simonds

Monday February 25

I am going to do a 4 week cycle using the 3 day a week full body workout for hypertrophy from Coach Dos. I am going to be another 2 weeks before I have a chance at getting cleared for contact with my knee so that eliminates almost all DL's, Cleans and Snatches and any variants that start at the ground. With that in mind here I go.

His Powertraining book?

[Derek Simonds]

Originally Posted by Allen Yeh

His Powertraining book?

Yep. Lot of stuff we all have been around. Very good exercise descriptions and lots of pictures.

I have used it on guys that aren't interested in going all the way over to CrossFit or Olympic Lifting. I like his push / pull thoughts a lot.

[Allen Yeh]

Originally Posted by Derek Simonds

Yep. Lot of stuff we all have been around. Very good exercise descriptions and lots of pictures.

I have used it on guys that aren't interested in going all the way over to CrossFit or Olympic Lifting. I like his push / pull thoughts a lot.

I've heard good things about that book, I was kind of surprised at his thoughts on deadlifts on his Fitcast interview. He basically viewed a deadlift as a squat from the ground, somewhat shocking to me since I've always viewed them as a completely different stimulus, especially if you are talking about the olympic squat.

[Garrett Smith]

I used to deadlift like a squat--until Rippetoe had me as an example of a long torso guy deadlifting at my first CF cert. Now I know that deadlifting is, as you said Allen, a totally different stimulus and movement.

I even heard that JC Santana did a demo of KB swings the other day at a Perform Better seminar, teaching them like a squat movement instead of hinging mostly at the hip (like the difference between a squat and a deadlift!). I'd bet he's never had any training in KB movements at all.

People are so scared of really using their posterior chain properly. It's sad.