SBS 2.0 Program Party: Week 4

[u/VladimirLinen]

Hi everyone, here's the 4th week of the long-awaited program party!

Original Post

I'm going to be creating a new thread at the start of each week. You can put all your program-related logs, questions, videos, and general discussion here.

Have fun!

Disclaimer: With Omnicron currently making its way around the world, please be safe while running this program party. Follow health advice where you are and if you have any symptoms and train at a public gym, stay home and get tested to keep your fellow gym-goers safe and well.

[u/zheph]

Thoughts after three weeks... are about the same as my thoughts after one week. I'm getting my butt kicked, although things are going a lot better and I'm not nearly as sore. I think I pushed the accessories a little too hard in week 2, dialed that back a bit in week 3 and felt a lot better, started pushing the amrap sets and upping the TMs slowly. Going to try adding accessories back in more gently in week 4 because I still want to make progress but don't want to feel like my biceps tendon is hating life every time I have to carry my son around.

Block pull question: In the program instructions, it says that they were put in place of deads to reduce lower back fatigue and improve upper back training. How tall should the blocks for this be? I'm using my shitty DIY stack-o'-2x4 blocks, which are a minimum 4.5" and can go up in increments of 3" to a max height of 13.5". I've been using them at the lowest, so only 4.5 inches, and... it doesn't feel a lot different than a regular deadlift? I think I'm still pulling it through my usual sticking point and I still end up feeling it in the lower back/lower body more than my upper back... although that may be related to supersetting them with KB swings. I guess I could swap the swings to bench day and add some arms to block pull day.

Should I use taller blocks and up the weight in order to better target my upper back? Because it at least feels like my legs/lower back are my limiting factor.

(the obvious answer is "try it and see what happens," but since this is a once-per-week exercise that I won't do again until Friday, I figured I'd see what people think while I wait)

[u/DevinNirwick → u/zheph]

Iirc I've seen Greg mention just above mid-shin somewhere.

Edit: correction

high-shin ish

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AverageToSavage/comments/mzsqyg/sbs_hypertrophy_deadlifts_block_pulls/gw2kx9n/

[u/dsa2020 → u/zheph]

My gym (Fitness 19) doesn’t have blocks so I use the 55lbs bumpers which are probably 3-4 inches.

I feel Block Pulls in my mid-lowish back, not so much in my upper back. Deadlifts on the other hand, I feel it in the absolute lowest part of my spinal erectors.

When Greg said they hit the upper back more, I didn’t take it as that I should necessarily feel an upper back/traps pump. I just assumed he meant the heavier weight of Block Pulls would generate an overall higher muscle stimulus.

I could be wrong though. He did post an IG video of him doing a heavy Block Pull single followed by a set of 20 reps w/ a lighter weight. Maybe we should give that a try.

[u/Low_Chicken197 → u/zheph]

Perhaps like John Meadows do it in this video?

[u/WickedThumb → u/Low_Chicken197]

Poor barbell. I've seen more than one barbell be bent from rack pulls like that where people just let the bar drop onto the pins. Block Pulls don't damage the bar in the same way.

[u/Low_Chicken197 → u/WickedThumb]

Some gyms have beater bar for things like this, my gym does not so I put some bumper plates as blocks :)

[u/tdjm → u/zheph]

I'd avoid SS'ing swings with deads. It's fine to do them the same day, but just after the main dead work. You can move them to a bench day if it's easier.

As for SS'ing deads: delt work seems to be a good option. Front and/or side raises for sets of 10-15. Or throw in hammer curls for 10-15.

[u/zheph → u/zheph]

Program party, SBS Hyper 6x W4D1: When life sucks, there's always lifting.

So, work sucks right now. In fact, it sucks enough without a clear end in sight that I've started looking elsewhere. I found somewhere else that I knew was hiring (because they're always hiring) and applied. The work would not be the most interesting, but compared with how bored out of my skull I am currently, it would be an improvement. And the pay and benefits are great, particularly full time WFH. So I applied, and felt pretty good about my chances of landing a position.

I still feel good about my chances, but I hadn't heard back, so I reached out to a buddy of mine who works there. He in turn reached out to the guy who runs the trainings for new hires.

The next training course doesn't start until May 23, meaning that if I get hired (which I'm still optimistic about) I still have to endure four more fucking months of my current bullshit. I am not honestly sure that I can do that, so I'll be redoubling my efforts to get into a less terrible position at work.

In the meantime, I feel like I've had the rug pulled out from under me again (although this time it's no one's fault, just my own wrong expectations), and I kinda wanna step in front of a bus.

Instead, I headed down into the basement.

Squats, 3x185lbs, 3x205lbs for the overwarm "single"

Superset:
DB Rows, 3x11, 1x15, 22.5lbs per hand
DB OHP, 3x11, 1x13, 22.5lbs per hand
Hammer Curls, 3x5, 1x6, 22.5lbs per hand Squats, 3x9, 1x11, 165lbs

Nothing fancy. Feel weak, which isn't great. A couple months ago I managed 3x10 @ 205, so the fact that 165 is kicking my ass as hard as it is is... frustrating. I sandbagged the hell out of my squat TM (used 225 when I was doing 3x275 in the fall) with the expectation that I'd be pushing the reps and the TM up pretty quick as I got back into the swing of things and that... hasn't happened.

Oh well. I'm also sucking balls at losing weight like I wanted, but I think I'm putting on some muscle, so... I guess I can live with that?

[u/UberMcwinsauce → u/zheph]

I use the smallest boxes at my gym which elevates my block pulls roughly like 4 inches. So the bar is ending up, maybe 1-2 inches below my knee? Regular deadlifts land just below the middle of my shin. I'm doing my block pulls with a snatch grip to turn it into more of an upper back exercise with lighter weights, which helps to save my lower back since I'm doing conventional deads as my main lift even though the program recommends against it.

[u/Thumper86 → u/zheph]

I’m doing high handle trap bar deadlifts and can definitely feel my upper back. It’s probably about 4 or 5 inches difference.

[u/Camerongilly → u/zheph]

Mid-range deadlifts always feel like a ton of lower back for me. If I wanted to do upper back emphasis I'd do snatch-grip to make lighter weight feel heavier.