You know, I hate to suggest something after you've started ... but ...
Since you've never really followed a peaking program, you probably don't have a good idea of what your squat/bench/dead maxes are. How did you determine those for this cycle? It might be a good idea to take Wednesday off and just max on each lift.
OR, you can make (conservative) estimates and just go through the cycle. You'll still probably be pleasantly surprised by the end at your gains, but you might think the whole program is too easy. (Or too hard if you pick maxes too heavy.)
Also note -- if flies start hurting your shoulders at any point, you can rotate those out for dumbell bench ... it's recommended that you use palms-in and focus on range of motion.
But really, you have some flexibility in choosing the recovery lifts and/or assistance lifts.
For my bench I used a max of 190 which I think is right around my actual max. For the squat and deadlift I'm using 250 and 365 which are about 10-15 lbs below my actual maxes.
Since it's a 13 week program it probably would have been a good idea to check my maxes beforehand, and I would check them on Wednesday but I don't really have a spotter for the squat and bench, so I'll probably just stick to my chosen maxes.
Also, I won't be lifting during the 2nd week of September so the way the current cycle is set up I'll be missing a week AFTER week 9 in the program which has a 'skills evaluation day.'
I have a few other questions:
1. For the assistance exercises, should I be going pretty hard and increase the weights when I can or should it be relatively light?
2. When it says to do shirt work or suited work, should I just ignore it and do the same sets/reps?
For example for one of the workouts for it says
squat: 1 x 4 (50%) 1 x 4 (60%) 1 x 3 (70%) squat suit: 1 x 3 (70%) 4 x 2 (80%)
It seems like that first set in the squat suit may be redundant if I'm going raw.
3. I realized that I didn't really specify that I'm doing the program raw. Despite all the equipped work in the program, it's meant for unequipped lifters too right?
Sorry for bombarding you with questions. I tried to read the sheiko online translation on elitefts.com but it was really hard to understand (and long as hell).
No problem. And fuck the online translation, that thing is ridiculous. But if you *really* try, you actually start to understand that gibberish. Jake and I gave it a shot a while back. But honestly, don't bother.
1. In Sheiko, these are 'active recovery.' So they should be very light. On your last set, you still shouldn't feel gassed.
2. Yes, just use the same numbers for both. I've seen pure raw versions of this program, and they have you do both sets of 70%. So it becomes 70% x 2 sets. I would just stick with that, since the 70% won't drain you much anyway.
3. Yes, Sheiko is definitely meant for raw lifters as well. In fact, I have some doubts about it as an equipped program. (Can you really touch weight in a good shirt at 70%? Probably not.)
Also, you *might* want to reconsider intentionally using low squat/dead maxes. Be as accurate as you can without overshooting.
When you put it that way it might be a better idea to max my lifts before starting the program. The reason I chose 250 for my squat max was that I thought it would be better to use a conservative squat max. If it's important to use an accurate squat max, then I'd better check it because I honestly haven't maxed my squat since last summer.
As for the deadlift, I hit 381 a month ago with the guys at UCLA, but as you probably saw in the video my form was pretty bad (particularly the lower back rounding). My initial reason for wanting to do a sheiko program was to improve my deadlift technique (through all the actual deadlifting). If I do check my maxes tomorrow, for the deadlift should I just stop increasing the weight when form breaks down and use a 'good form' max? Because I'm pretty sure I can do at least 30-40 lbs more using bad form.
I'd just do whatever your actual maxes are. At worst, you'll hit them again at the end with good form. At best you'll beat them with good form. I did a 260 touch-and-go bench before I started my "Sheiko" program for it, and I used it as my max (which should technically have a pause). Worse comes to worst you'll improve your form, and you can use the new maxes from the end of this cycle as "perfect" maxes for your next cycle.
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Holla! Rock that conditioning week!
You know, I hate to suggest something after you've started ... but ...
Since you've never really followed a peaking program, you probably don't have a good idea of what your squat/bench/dead maxes are. How did you determine those for this cycle? It might be a good idea to take Wednesday off and just max on each lift.
OR, you can make (conservative) estimates and just go through the cycle. You'll still probably be pleasantly surprised by the end at your gains, but you might think the whole program is too easy. (Or too hard if you pick maxes too heavy.)
Also note -- if flies start hurting your shoulders at any point, you can rotate those out for dumbell bench ... it's recommended that you use palms-in and focus on range of motion.
But really, you have some flexibility in choosing the recovery lifts and/or assistance lifts.
For my bench I used a max of 190 which I think is right around my actual max. For the squat and deadlift I'm using 250 and 365 which are about 10-15 lbs below my actual maxes.
Since it's a 13 week program it probably would have been a good idea to check my maxes beforehand, and I would check them on Wednesday but I don't really have a spotter for the squat and bench, so I'll probably just stick to my chosen maxes.
Also, I won't be lifting during the 2nd week of September so the way the current cycle is set up I'll be missing a week AFTER week 9 in the program which has a 'skills evaluation day.'
I have a few other questions:
1. For the assistance exercises, should I be going pretty hard and increase the weights when I can or should it be relatively light?
2. When it says to do shirt work or suited work, should I just ignore it and do the same sets/reps?
For example for one of the workouts for it says
squat:
1 x 4 (50%)
1 x 4 (60%)
1 x 3 (70%)
squat suit:
1 x 3 (70%)
4 x 2 (80%)
It seems like that first set in the squat suit may be redundant if I'm going raw.
3. I realized that I didn't really specify that I'm doing the program raw. Despite all the equipped work in the program, it's meant for unequipped lifters too right?
Sorry for bombarding you with questions. I tried to read the sheiko online translation on elitefts.com but it was really hard to understand (and long as hell).
No problem. And fuck the online translation, that thing is ridiculous. But if you *really* try, you actually start to understand that gibberish. Jake and I gave it a shot a while back. But honestly, don't bother.
1. In Sheiko, these are 'active recovery.' So they should be very light. On your last set, you still shouldn't feel gassed.
2. Yes, just use the same numbers for both. I've seen pure raw versions of this program, and they have you do both sets of 70%. So it becomes 70% x 2 sets. I would just stick with that, since the 70% won't drain you much anyway.
3. Yes, Sheiko is definitely meant for raw lifters as well. In fact, I have some doubts about it as an equipped program. (Can you really touch weight in a good shirt at 70%? Probably not.)
Also, you *might* want to reconsider intentionally using low squat/dead maxes. Be as accurate as you can without overshooting.
When you put it that way it might be a better idea to max my lifts before starting the program. The reason I chose 250 for my squat max was that I thought it would be better to use a conservative squat max. If it's important to use an accurate squat max, then I'd better check it because I honestly haven't maxed my squat since last summer.
As for the deadlift, I hit 381 a month ago with the guys at UCLA, but as you probably saw in the video my form was pretty bad (particularly the lower back rounding). My initial reason for wanting to do a sheiko program was to improve my deadlift technique (through all the actual deadlifting). If I do check my maxes tomorrow, for the deadlift should I just stop increasing the weight when form breaks down and use a 'good form' max? Because I'm pretty sure I can do at least 30-40 lbs more using bad form.
I'd just do whatever your actual maxes are. At worst, you'll hit them again at the end with good form. At best you'll beat them with good form. I did a 260 touch-and-go bench before I started my "Sheiko" program for it, and I used it as my max (which should technically have a pause). Worse comes to worst you'll improve your form, and you can use the new maxes from the end of this cycle as "perfect" maxes for your next cycle.
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