Bulgarian Method/HIHF training

ovidnine

McCloud33 wrote: »

@ovidnine How much time are you resting between your singles?

Between 90-120 seconds on average I'd say but I should actually check.

I do a set, set up plates for next set, walk a circuit around the weight area which takes 20-30 seconds, then reset myself on the bench take a few deep breaths and go.

ovidnine

Checked my rest and I was right on my guesstimate.

Felt pretty good today. Got plenty of sleep. Didn't get a chance to lift yesterday as I took my wife to the airport and forgot to pack any of my gym gear to lift after work. I could've gone home and back out, but no, that doesn't happen. lol

My plan is Saturday to do some sort of high volume squatting. Maybe just a bunch of reps at 60% or something to see how it feels.

Anyway:

Bench:
135x10
155x8
165x5
170x4
175x3
180x3
185x3
190x1
195x1
200x1
205x1
200x1
195x1
190x2
190x2


I'll admit the last 190 rep wasn't exactly pretty but 3 total reps of >200 felt pretty good. I'm still amazed by how not sore I've been through this whole thing. Sure there's some, but stretching helps and by the time I'm done with my warmup sets its pretty much completely gone.

jmule24

Nice progress!

ovidnine

jmule24 wrote: »

Nice progress!

Thanks! Its been kinda fun and its really helped me mentally & physically with my bench.

I think I'll do this again next winter around this time but ramp up faster and only run it for 5 weeks tops.

ovidnine

Its Friday.

Its bench day.

Also jogged today, everything felt good so definitely going to try squats tomorrow and see how that goes.

Bench:
135x10
155x7
165x5
170x4
175x3
180x3
185x2
190x1
195x1
200x1
205x1
195x1
185x2
185x2

ovidnine

I skwaated again!!!! Yay! It felt good. Not used to doing so many reps/set. That was sorta sad but anyway

Squat
135x10
155x10
165x15
165x10
165x10
165x10

Bench
135x10
155x7
165x5
170x3
175x2
180x2
185x2
190x1
195x1
200x1
190x2

Was tired today a little bit. Mostly due to squatting before benching which obviously I haven't been doing all week. 165 is 60% of my max so its not much weight, just haven't been squatting for high reps in a couple months and not used to doing it.

Another full week left to go on this little journey. Its been fun.

ovidnine

Morning all. Was a bit sore from all the squats Saturday but worked it out. Now I'm sore from the squats today. lol

Squat
135x10
155x10
185x7
205x5
215x3
225x3
235x2
245x2
250x1
255x1
260x1
265x1 (i'll admit it wasn't the prettiest but since my previous 1rm was 275 i'll take it)
245x2

Bench
135x10
155x7
165x5
170x4
175x3
180x2
185x2
190x1
195x1
200x1
2x190x2
190x1


Definitely a bit sore in my shoulders but still according to my tracker my daily max is right about 200lb average. Not shabby for me.

Looking forward to wrapping this up this week, testing my PRs next week. Then vacation, then back to a normal program.

ovidnine

Yesterday night totally pigged out. I'd like to believe that helped me this morning. Was feeling a bit sore from yesterday and kind of assumed that today wasn't gonna be all that great. I was wrong. It's nice being wrong like that.

Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x7
205x5
215x4
225x4
235x3
245x1
255x1
260x1
265x1
270x1
255x2

Bench:
135x10
155x7
165x5
170x4
175x3
180x3
185x2
190x1
195x1
200x1
205x1
195x2
200x1
205x1
195x2
195x1


I really wanted to try 275 on squat but 270 was really slow so I didn't. Got to 205 didn't think I had enough for 210. Dropped back to 195x2 and it went up nicely so I said screw it and built back up to 205. I think I could've had 210 and wish I'd gone for it. Ah well.

ovidnine

Yeah, so I might've worked a little hard yesterday. I was asleep before 8:15 and sore as hell today. My shoulders were sore pretty much the entire time benching. lol

Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x7
205x5
215x4
225x3
235x2
245x1
255x1
260x1
255x1
255x1
245x2

Bench:
135x10
155x7
165x4
175x3
180x3
185x2
190x1
195x1
200x1

Did 5 sets of wide grip cable rows 120x10 to finish things off.

Needless to say, I was worn today. lol Didn't do any dropback sets. Got to 200 said "yup, that's good" and called it.

ovidnine

Someone was actually using the squat rack this morning so I had to bench first. lol It was all good, he was doing some decent front squats so it wasn't being wasted. Bit tired and sore this morning but more for bench than squats. This is my last week of doing this. Testing some maxes next week and then vacation for a week and back to my regular routine.

Bench:
135x10
155x8
165x5
175x4
180x3
185x3
190x1
195x1
200x1
190x2
190x2

Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x7
205x4
225x3
235x3
245x1
255x1
260x1
265x1
270x1
250x2
250x2

The 2x250x2 at the end wasn't bad. Heck, the 270 wasn't bad. It wasn't like I popped up, but the hitch in the movement wasn't terrible and I worked through it fine. Apparently my body is getting used to lifting "heavier" which is good. My shoulders still sort of wonder WTF I'm doing to them though. lol

ovidnine

Final full bore day of this. Probably gonna do some light work tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday try for some PRs. Next Friday I leave on vacation for a week and then back to a more normal routine.

Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x7
205x5
215x3
225x3
235x2
245x1
255x1
260x1
265x1
270x1
255x2
255x2

Bench:
135x10
155x7
165x5
175x3
180x3
185x3
190x1
195x1
200x1
205x1
210x1 ^%#*#%!@$%*%@ YES!
2x190x2
190x1

Got 210 up cleanly with no spotter. On a Friday. After lifting heavy all week. feelsgoodman.jpg lol

That's a new PR for me so I'm interested to see what I can do when fresher.

McCloud33

ovidnine wrote: »

Final full bore day of this. Probably gonna do some light work tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday try for some PRs. Next Friday I leave on vacation for a week and then back to a more normal routine.

Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x7
205x5
215x3
225x3
235x2
245x1
255x1
260x1
265x1
270x1
255x2
255x2

Bench:
135x10
155x7
165x5
175x3
180x3
185x3
190x1
195x1
200x1
205x1
210x1 ^%#*#%!@$%*%@ YES!
2x190x2
190x1

Got 210 up cleanly with no spotter. On a Friday. After lifting heavy all week. feelsgoodman.jpg lol

That's a new PR for me so I'm interested to see what I can do when fresher.

Good luck! Looks like you've made some good progress!

ovidnine

Thanks! I've sorta eaten like a pig this week too which probably hasn't hurt things. lol

jmule24

You can now say you bench three plates..... (45/35/2.5)

ovidnine

jmule24 wrote: »

You can now say you bench three plates..... (45/35/2.5)

WOO HOO!!

rofl

jmule24

ovidnine wrote: »

jmule24 wrote: »

You can now say you bench three plates..... (45/35/2.5)

WOO HOO!!

rofl

I'm stuck at 205 currently so I know your feelings!!!!!

ovidnine

jmule24 wrote: »

ovidnine wrote: »

jmule24 wrote: »

You can now say you bench three plates..... (45/35/2.5)

WOO HOO!!

rofl

I'm stuck at 205 currently so I know your feelings!!!!!

You'll bust through it!


Light day today.

Squat:
135x10
155x10
165x10

Front Squat:
2x135x7

Bench:
135x10
145x10
155x9

Paused Bench: (F' these things lol )
3x165x2
175x2

Then some pullups, seated cable rows, pulldowns.

Monday mostly light again working up to the lower end of heavy for me to prep for Tuesday's max testing.

ovidnine

Final day: The Reckoning.

Didn't even bother tracking yesterday, just light stuff to work out the kinks and some soreness for testing maxes today.

Previous PRs: Squat 270 (sometime in December) Bench 205 (back in August)

Started with Squat
135x5
155x5
185x3
205x3
225x2
245x1
260x1
270x1
290x1
300x1 PR!!!!!!
305x1 Pf'ingR!

Then to bench. Self spotted in squat rack, no help with liftoffs.
135x7 (short stroked)
155x3
175x2
185x1
195x1
205x1
215x1 PR
220x0 Lifted off no problem, got to chest and nu-uh.

So, it was a good morning in the gym to say the least. I wanted to try for 3 plates on squats but knowing I still had benching left I decided to call it. Not sure I could've done it anyway. 305 was hard, but not a total "OMG form going to hell I want to die" grind. Just happy to have the 300 barrier out of the way.

Bench, the reason I did this whole thing, went well. Benching in the power rack I never feel I have the exact right positioning. Still, got 215 up with good form. It was slow, but form was good. 220 I think I was just mentally done at that point. I'd already hit 3 PRs for the day and just wasn't in the "zone." Anymore. That's ok, 2 plates is within reach.

I'm happy with my results and my chest and legs are bigger than when I started as well. I really should've measured things first. ah well.

Thoughts on Bulgarian Manual:

I've enjoyed doing this HI/HF lifting for the past couple of months. I'd suggest this program to someone looking for a 4-6 week break in their program who wants to really focus on going heavy without destroying themselves. Granted "heavy" is relative but throughout the program I was surprised but how sore I wasn't. I honestly expected to feel lots worse than I did and it wasn't bad.

I do think getting enough rest is a major part of this. If you have a schedule where you aren't getting a solid amount of good sleep every single night I think you'd get beat up pretty bad trying this.

I plan on doing this again probably next winter around this time and I'll do a few things differently. The ramp-up will be a lot shorter. I did "The Fire Rises" approach fully for bench and accelerated for squats and realized I could've done the accelerated for bench too.

Second, I'll also do it for less time overall. This has stretched over about 2 full months (there were 2 breaks 1 for holidays and 1 for a minor prodecure). While you theoretically can do this for as long as you like I think I'd condense it to 4-6 weeks max for me.

Finally, I'll start doing dropback sets earlier. I didn't at first because I just wasn't sure how my body would react. Now I know I can do more dropback sets and yes, this will increase soreness and need more recovery, but it could be managed.

I plan on squatting a whole lot more than I used to after this. If not every day, almost every day. It won't always be high/low bar back squats, but there will be more squatting in my life.

I also don't hate the bench as much as I used to. I had some success at mentally conquering it and I have some plans of attack to continue to build my strength overall.

I will say I'm looking forward to getting back to my normal routine again. lol

Here's Greg and Omar talking to a couple of guys who are WAAAAY stronger than me who'd been running it. Thanks for to all who followed along and chimed in with support!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPRm8rPMWgA

McCloud33

very nice! been fun following your progress.

jmule24

Great job! It was fun to follow.

JoRocka

Wow I'm super disapointed I totally missed this till today. I have been venue shopping for my wedding- and honestly- I wasn't on here for at all for like 2 months. - so I totally missed this thread even though Sam tagged me in it. I am JUST reading it to day. #failjofail

I'm glad you found you liked it- I've been running Sheiko on and off for almost 3 years (wow has it been that long- crap)

And you're right- it's a lot of work- but it rarely makes you feel like sore or blown out. Which is why I like it. I personally like the fatigue that comes from doubling/tripling up on major lifts (Sheiko is very Squat/Bench/Squat/Bench heavy) and you bench EVER lift. So its' either a bench oreo (bench squat bench) or a squat oreo- or dead lift oreos.

and who doesn't like oreos!!! LOL

I like it- it's definitely not for everyone- but I like it.

The one thing I would caution going forward- is powerlifting- and high volume- it takes time to do them (my workouts sometimes stretch 2 hrs long) and it's easy to cut mobility work- and any sort of functional limber stuff. Powerlifters who run training programs like this- which are very linear- often have SI joint issues bc of the constant linear plane in which we work.

So doing any sort of mobility/training that A. bends the spine forward- and B. bends you laterally will help reduce your risk of SI joint inflammation.

ovidnine

@JoRocka I remember Sam mentioning you were running Sheiko. Pretty cool you've been doing it 3 years! I like the visual of oreo workouts. lol

You bring up 2 excellent points about this style:

Time- If/when I run this again I might split it and do a morning/night session. Bench morning/squat night or something along those lines. I was often getting close to running out of time trying to get everything in during my time in the morning which is usually roughly 70-90 minutes.

Mobility- YES! This actually forced me to do more mobility work than I typically do (little) which was very good for me. But yeah, you can't slack on it or you're going to hate yourself. I still have a lot of work to do in this area especially through my hips, but I'm slowly but surely getting better at it and going to make sure I keep at this aspect of things.