My Weak End Part Three

In the last post I had explained my second week of the Sheiko Training along with briefly touching upon my nutritional strategy that I followed during the four weeks of the program. I will now detail the last two weeks.

Week Three
Monday
Squat
55% 5×1, 65% 4×1, 75% 3×2, 85% 2×4
Bench Presses
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 3×6
Flies
10×5
Pushups
10×5
Squats
50% 3×1, 60% 3×1, 70% 3×1, 80% 3×4
Good Mornings
5×5

Wednesday
Deadlift off box
50% 3×2, 60% 3×2, 65% 3×4
Bench Presses
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 2×3, 85% 2×2, 80% 3×2
Flies
10×5
Deadlift from Pins (rack pull)
60% 4×1, 70% 4×2, 80% 3×2, 90% 2×3
Lunges
5×5

Friday
Squat
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 3×6
Bench Presses
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 3×7
Flies
10×5
Military Press
4×5
Good Mornings
5×5

Week Four
Monday
Squat
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 3×5
Bench Press
55% 5×1, 65% 5×1, 75% 4×5
Flies
10×5
Dips
8×5
Front Squats
40% 5×2, 50% 4×2, 60% 3×3
Good Mornings
5×5

Wednesday
Bench Presses
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 3×2, 85% 2×3
Deadlift
50% 3×1, 60% 3×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 3×2, 85% 2×3, 80% 2×3
Bench Presses
50% 5×1, 60% 5×1, 70% 5×4
Flies
10×5

Friday
Squats
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 3×6
Bench Presses
50% 6×1, 60% 5×1, 70% 4×2, 80% 3×2, 85% 2×2, 80% 3×2, 70% 4×1, 60% 6×1, 50% 8×1
Flies
10×5
Dips
8×5
Good Mornings
5×5
Abs
10×3

This concludes the 4 Week Sheiko Beginner program which I followed. The week after this was my testing week in which I performed one lift per night to determine my new one rep maximum poundages. Check back for Part Four with my results along with my thoughts on the program.

My Weak End Part Two

The last post, My Weak End Part One, addressed the training system that I chose to embark on for my strength improvements. I want to touch upon the nutritional approach before going into the remaining weeks of training.

Nutrition: I don’t exactly have a normal schedule. My day usually consists of waking up early with my daughter, around 6:00am or so. My day is non stop from there until around 1:30 or 2:00am when I return home from the gym and sleep for the few hours I have before the process is repeated. This led me to rely heavilly on supplements for my meals and to enhance recovery. I utilized MNC Whey, Phenom Labs Chains and Phenom Labs Massacare.

I used the MNC Whey post training and in the morning mixed with whole milk for additional protein. I used Phenom Labs Massacre with my first and third meals as directed. I had also used Phenom Labs Chains, which is a Branch Chain Amino Acid formula, in between all meals as well as during my training session. I feel that these supplements along with consuming 3 to 5 whole food meals per day high in protein and carbs but keeping dietary fats to a minimum helped as I regained a good portion of my strength back. During this time period my bodyweight increased from 190lbs to 215lbs.*

Now let us get back to the training portion of this 4 week transformation.

Sheiko Week 2 Beginner Template
Monday
Squats
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 2×5
Bench Presses
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 2×2, 80% 3×5
Flies
10×5
Pushups
10×5
Front Squats
45% 3×2, 55% 3×2, 60% 2×4
Good Mornings
5×5

Wednesday
Deadlift to Knees
50% 3×1, 60% 3×1, 70% 3×2, 75% 2×4
Bench Presses
50% 6×1, 60% 6×2, 65% 6×4
Flies
10×5
Deadlift from Pins (also referred to as a rack pull)
55% 4×1, 65% 4×1, 75% 4×2, 80% 4×4
Lunges
5×5

Friday
Squats
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 2×5
Bench Presses
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 80% 2×2, 75% 3×1, 65% 5×1, 55% 7×1
Flies
10×5
Squats
50% 5×1, 60% 5×2, 70% 4×4
Good Mornings
5×5

In the next post I will address Week 3 of training and beyond.

*my bodyweight had increased from 190lbs to 215lbs during the 4 weeks of this program. My heaviest bodyweight in the past has been 252lbs. I am by no means claiming that a 25lb bodyweight increase with the program and my supplement strategy will be achieved by any or all who follow it.

Please remember to consult with your physician prior to beginning any training or nutritional programs.

My Weak End Part One

I had suffered numerous setbacks which led to one of the worst off seasons I have ever experienced. My three powerlifts (bench press, squat and deadlift) had been reduced to 275lbs, 315lbs and 365lbs respectively for my one rep maximum lifts. Instead of remain discouraged I needed a plan of action and quick. Enter the Sheiko Beginner Training Template.

Training Strategy:
I decided after I took my maximum lifts to employ the Sheiko Beginner Template. This program was chosen for it’s simplicity and the fact that it uses a 4 week training split. The program calls for Monday, Wednesday and Friday as training days. Here is how the four weeks were layed out:
WEEK ONE
Monday
Bench Press
50% 5×1, 60% 4×2, 70% 3×2, 75% 3×5
Squats
50% 5×1, 60% 5×2, 70% 5×5
Bench Press
50% 5×1, 60% 5×1, 70% 4×4
Flies
10×5
Good Mornings
5×5

Wednesday
Deadlift to the knees
50% 3×1, 60% 3×1, 70% 3×2, 75% 3×4
Incline Bench
6×4
Dips
5×5
Deadlift from pins
55% 4×1, 65% 4×1, 75% 4×2, 85% 3×4
Lunges
5×5
Abs
10×3

Friday
Bench Press
50% 5×1, 60% 5×1, 70% 4×1, 75% 3×2, 80% 2×2, 75% 3×2, 70% 4×1, 60% 6×1, 50% 8×1
Flies
10×5
Squats
50% 5×1, 60% 4×1, 70% 3×2, 75% 3×5
Good Mornings
5×5

Note: the first number above represents sets the number after the x represents the repetitions per set.

As you can see the training template is a basic format utilizing percentages and my workouts averaged 2 hours per session. I was training from 11:00pm until around 1:00am.

In Part Two I will continue to list the workouts for the remaining weeks of the program.

Wednesday Workout

The schedule for Wednesday went as follows:

Bench Presses
Deadlifts
Bench Presses
Flies

I can say that I feel my strength coming around even though the program is based on percentages of what was my current one rep maximum lifts. Also my whole body is sore amost every single day from the workouts. One more workout for this week to be performed tomorrow and then comes our retesting week for new maximum lifts.

Monday’s Training Session

The workout tonight went great and was as follows:
Squats
Bench Presses
Flies
Dips
Front Squats
Good Mornings

Sheiko Cycle Coming to an End

This week will mark the last in our 4 Week Sheiko Beginners training cycle. The program is deceptive as the percentages start low and the volume does not immediately appear overwhelming. The program came with several warnings from current and previous trainees online stating the workouts would take around 2 hours to complete, which is very accurate for almost all of them in my case. I have followed the program as outlined and haven’t done any additional training which was not prescribed within the program.

I feel confident in that the system has worked for me and will be testing my current strength levels next week. The three powerlifts will be trained for single rep maximum poundages giving me a good idea of where I am currently at, how effective the program was at increasing my strenght and how much further I need to go to regain all of my former strength.

Looking forward to keeping everyone updated and once again thank you all for checking in to show your support

Friday Night Workout

Friday nights training session just finished up and went great. The workout was:

Squats
Bench Presses
Flies
Military Presses
Good Mornings

Wednesday Night Training Session

The second workout of Week 3 was completed at 1:15am this morning. Here is what the training session looked like:

Deadlifts off a 5inch box
Bench Presses
Flies
Deadlifts from the pins
Lunges

My complete body is sore from the session and I can’t wait for Week 4 to be over so I can test my new maxes.

Phenom Labs Promotional Code

Everyone, I just wanted to take the time to thank Phenom Labs for extending a promotional code for all of their products at www.phenomlabs.com

I have been using their Branched Chain Amino Acid product, Chains, with great success. Chains helps with increased recovery, protein synthesis and nitrogen retention. In simple terms this will help you to achieve your physique goals, without going into too much drawn out detail.

I personally use the product during my training sessions and also several times throughout the day between meals.

For anyone interested in trying chains for themselves or any of the other Phenom Labs products for that matter simply visit their website and at the completion of your shopping enter the code: 15strong into the discount code section for 15% off of your entire order. Anyone who does please feel free to post a comment here with your personal product experience as well.

Wishing everyone the best in achieving their physique goals in 2012.

Matt Cena

*for the record: I am not endorsed or affiliated with Phenom Labs in any manner. I am providing this code to the readers of my blog as an unbiased review of what I feel to be an effective product.

Monday Night’s Workout

Last night was Week 3 of my 4 Week Shieko training phase. The workouts have been averaging around 2 hours to complete and there are three workouts per week.

The training session went as follows:
Squats
Bench Presses
Flat Bench Dumbbell Flyes
Pushups
Squats
Good Mornings

We started at 7pm and finished around 8:50pm. This morning everything was sore and I am glad tonight is an off night from training. After the 4th and final week we will be doing 1 week of testing to determine our new 1 rep maximum lifts to properly plan the next training phase effectively.