Great workout today. Everything was connecting well for whatever reason.
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deadlift: 180kgx5x3
Barbell rows: 70kgx22, 13, 11
Pulldowns: 4 sets of 12 various weight, failed on last set and got 7
Machine rows: 3 sets failure various weight
Rope pullovers: 3 sets failure
ez curls: 20kgx30, 4 more sets to failure
I often reflect on what I would have done differently if I could go back and start olympic lifting again. What I always realize is that I would have been way better if I'd trained less hard, paid more attention to recovery habits outside of the gym (although my eating was legendary back then), focused more on accumulating volume and perfecting movement, done more accessory and corrective exercises instead of the classical snatch+cj, and done less maxing out and work over 85%. I'm having a lot of the same issues I was in my olympic lifting career in bodybuilding; the intense stuff gets you faster progress without a doubt, but you run a risk of getting injured and having to take breaks and so your progress can end up being slower or you have career ending injuries. The volume stuff will get you to the same place but slower and with way less injury risk/risk of incurring setbacks.
I'm seeing that the same logic probably applies in bodybuilding. Maybe less free weights, more machines. More pump training, limited rest periods, slow eccentrics, and less balls to the wall sets of failure on big compound barbell and dumbbell lifts.
Going forward I'm going to do mountain dog training more as it is written and stop taking every set to failure on chest+shoulder day. Follow the format of machine press->incline free weight movement with moderate to high intensity->flat free weight movement for volume->fly movement which you can take to failure. My back day already matches the mountain dog 1.0 format except I throw the deadlifts in first: free weight row first, then vertical pull, then machine row, then pullover type movement. Arms and legs, predictable already matching mountain dog 1.0. Arms lotta supersets and pump work, no heavy weights. For Legs mountain dog 1.0-3.0 all follow the format of hamstring curl to pre-exhaust, squatting movement (in my case my unilateral movement is my squatting movement)->easier leg movement like unilateral work, leg press, hack squat->p-chain focused movement like sldl, good morning, or hyperextension.
I'm almost 33 now and when John (rest in peace, you're a fucking legend and my favorite personality to ever grace bodybuilding along with bostin) designed mountain dog 1.0, I think he basically designed it with a guy like me in mind. And I think he more or less got it right and 2.0 and 3.0 were largely just alternatives for people who get 'bored' with training. This is never boring for me, I'm okay with same stuff week in week out. It's nearly always the highlight of my day when I get to train.
I remember he experimented with some periodized programs that went something like this: 6 weeks of progressively adding more volume, 2 weeks of lighter deload, then 4 weeks of low volume high intensity sets to failure striving for prs every session. I'll try something like that. No training to failure on dls though. Not because of injury risk, but just cuts into the rest of the session's training too much.
Some movements like barbell rows and leg press just click so well and I never get hurt or get any pain doing them that I'll keep training those to failure even though they are considered "big" lifts.
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