Tom Nikkola | VIGOR Training

"I want to do squats but they hurt my back." "Every time I do bench press, it hurts my shoulders."

Do you ever get sore somewhere that you weren't really training the day before? Maybe your back has more delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) than your legs after a leg workout.

Or your neck aches after doing upper body exercises.

Or, maybe something hurts during an exercise that you aren't really training?

If so, you're not alone.

In fact, one of the most common excuses people have for not strength training is that it causes pain in areas it shouldn't cause pain.

Though there are cases where people have structural dysfunction, or perhaps a past injury causes significant problems, in most cases, there is...

nothing wrong with their bodynothing wrong with the exercisesomething wrong with their technique

The purpose of an exercise is to train the muscles involved the movement.

That might seem like an obvious statement, but it's often overlooked.

For example, if you're supposed to do 8 reps of squats, your legs (quads, glutes, and hamstrings) are the main movers in that exercise. If your back starts to get sore or tired first, your back is doing more of the work than your legs.

When I was young, I only cared about the weight on the bar and the reps I could complete. I thought that as long as I used more and more weight, and got the set done, my body would adapt and make me stronger, no matter how ugly my technique was.

Today, I care more about longevity, health, and fitness. Those are the same objectives I have for VIGOR Training. Athletic performance only matters as long as you're fit and healthy.

When you train legs, train your legs as hard as possible without sacrificing form and putting stress on your back.

When you train your back, keep the focus on your lats, traps, rhomboids, etc., and not on your biceps and forearms.

When you train chest, keep the focus on your pecs and not on your shoulders and triceps.

Part of the process of improving with strength training is to improve your mind-muscle connection. Make sure you're working what you're supposed to be working, and not what you shouldn't be. That will resolve at least 75% of the aches and pains people experience when strength training.

Of course, improving your mind-muscle connection will also make your working muscles more sore the next day. But as you know, we learn through pain and suffering.

If after training, you're sore where you shouldn't be, and you're not sore where you should be, then your technique is probably the problem, not the exercise.

VIGOR Training Members, if you're wondering about your technique on a movement, or you're getting sore in places you don't think you should be, post a video in the Facebook group and I'll give you some guidance on how to improve.

"I want to do squats but they hurt my back." "Every time I do bench press, it hurts my shoulders."

Do you ever get sore somewhere that you weren't really training the day before? Maybe your back has more delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) than your legs after a leg workout.

Or your neck aches after doing upper body exercises.

Or, maybe something hurts during an exercise that you aren't really training?

If so, you're not alone.

In fact, one of the most common excuses people have for not strength training is that it causes pain in areas it shouldn't cause pain.

Though there are cases where people have structural dysfunction, or perhaps a past injury causes significant problems, in most cases, there is...

* nothing wrong with their body* nothing wrong with the exercise* something wrong with their technique

The purpose of an exercise is to train the muscles involved the movement.

That might seem like an obvious statement, but it's often overlooked.

For example, if you're supposed to do 8 reps of squats, your legs (quads, glutes, and hamstrings) are the main movers in that exercise. If your back starts to get sore or tired first, your back is doing more of the work than your legs.

When I was young, I only cared about the weight on the bar and the reps I could complete. I thought that as long as I used more and more weight, and got the set done, my body would adapt and make me stronger, no matter how ugly my technique was.

Today, I care more about longevity, health, and fitness. Those are the same objectives I have for VIGOR Training. Athletic performance only matters as long as you're fit and healthy.

When you train legs, train your legs as hard as possible without sacrificing form and putting stress on your back.

When you train your back, keep the focus on your lats, traps, rhomboids, etc., and not on your biceps and forearms.

When you train chest, keep the focus on your pecs and not on your shoulders and triceps.

Part of the process of improving with strength training is to improve your mind-muscle connection. Make sure you're working what you're supposed to be working, and not what you shouldn't be. That will resolve at least 75% of the aches and pains people experience when strength training.

Of course, improving your mind-muscle connection will also make your working muscles more sore the next day. But as you know, we learn through pain and suffering.

If after training, you're sore where you shouldn't be, and you're not sore where you should be, then your technique is probably the problem, not the exercise.

VIGOR Training Members, if you're wondering about your technique on a movement, or you're getting sore in places you don't think you should be, post a video in the Facebook group and I'll give you some guidance on how to improve.

"I want to do squats but they hurt my back." "Every time I do bench press, it hurts my shoulders."

Do you ever get sore somewhere that you weren't really training the day before? Maybe your back has more delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) than your legs after a leg workout.

Or your neck aches after doing upper body exercises.

Or, maybe something hurts during an exercise that you aren't really training?

If so, you're not alone.

In fact, one of the most common excuses people have for not strength training is that it causes pain in areas it shouldn't cause pain.

Though there are cases where people have structural dysfunction, or perhaps a past injury causes significant problems, in most cases, there is...

nothing wrong with their bodynothing wrong with the exercisesomething wrong with their technique

The purpose of an exercise is to train the muscles involved the movement.

That might seem like an obvious statement, but it's often overlooked.

For example, if you're supposed to do 8 reps of squats, your legs (quads, glutes, and hamstrings) are the main movers in that exercise. If your back starts to get sore or tired first, your back is doing more of the work than your legs.

When I was young, I only cared about the weight on the bar and the reps I could complete. I thought that as long as I used more and more weight, and got the set done, my body would adapt and make me stronger, no matter how ugly my technique was.

Today, I care more about longevity, health, and fitness. Those are the same objectives I have for VIGOR Training. Athletic performance only matters as long as you're fit and healthy.

When you train legs, train your legs as hard as possible without sacrificing form and putting stress on your back.

When you train your back, keep the focus on your lats, traps, rhomboids, etc., and not on your biceps and forearms.

When you train chest, keep the focus on your pecs and not on your shoulders and triceps.

Part of the process of improving with strength training is to improve your mind-muscle connection. Make sure you're working what you're supposed to be working, and not what you shouldn't be. That will resolve at least 75% of the aches and pains people experience when strength training.

Of course, improving your mind-muscle connection will also make your working muscles more sore the next day. But as you know, we learn through pain and suffering.

If after training, you're sore where you shouldn't be, and you're not sore where you should be, then your technique is probably the problem, not the exercise.

VIGOR Training Members, if you're wondering about your technique on a movement, or you're getting sore in places you don't think you should be, post a video in the Facebook group and I'll give you some guidance on how to improve.

Within 24 hours of starting VIGOR Training, half of the member-athletes send me a message, wondering what diet they should follow.

Outside of training for a physique competition or a special event, like a wedding or class reunion, I usually steer people away from a specific diet.

Note: if you do have a special event and need to get lean quickly, check out 28 Days: Four Week’s of Fat Loss.

I’m not saying diets don’t work. They just don’t work long-term.

In fact, most people end up worse off a few months after the end of a diet than if they’d never followed a diet to begin with. 

Instead of following a diet with a bunch of strict rules, I encourage you to adopt a handful of guidelines, and change the way you think about eating for the rest of your life.

These are the first five (and most important) guidelines to adopt. In this order:

Work up to eating a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound ideal body weight every day. Increasing protein intake alone has a significant effect on body composition, recovery, satiety, and more. Most people experience a significant difference in how they look, feel, and perform, after making just this one change! To build muscle, you need to eat enough protein.

Eat no more than four times per day, and ideally two or three, while still adhering to guideline 1. When I say “eat,” that includes snacks. In fact, don’t snack. Growth hormone levels rise about three hours after a meal. If you’re constantly putting food in your mouth, you miss out on the fat-mobilizing, muscle-building benefits of growth hormone. I’m not saying you should start intermittent fasting; at least not yet. Just stop eating between meals. When you get up from the table, you’re done.

Save your carbs for dinner. Unless you’re a competitive athlete, you don’t need to eat carbs earlier in the day. They’ll only make you crave more carbs, cause your energy levels to rise and fall, and make it harder to use fat for fuel. Research shows that when people eat the same amount of carbs, but eat them all at dinner time instead of spread across the day, they get leaner.

Stop eating about three hours before bed. I mentioned growth hormone already. When your blood sugar and insulin are high from a meal, it blunts growth hormone secretion. Elevations in melatonin and growth hormone help your body rebuild muscle tissue, repair itself, and mobilize more fat for fuel. Growth hormone and melatonin should peak just after falling asleep.

Eliminate gluten. Like don’t eat any. Gluten offers no value for your health, and carries numerous risks. Those who have gluten allergies and sensitivities are fortunate because their body clearly says, “Stop eating that crap!” Unfortunately, the long-term damage gluten can do doesn’t always show up as an allergy or sensitivity. Instead, it can contribute to numerous other health problems years down the road. Don’t eat it. You can find almost every food you like to eat in a gluten-free version instead.

It might take you three months to make these five guidelines a consistent part of your lifestyle. It might take two years. I'm certain that once you do, you'll be glad you did.

Are there other ways of making your diet work harder for you? Yes. 

Are some food sources better than others? Yes.

But the finer details don’t matter if you’re not consistent with the first five points above.

Like many of my methods, this is counter to the “track every macro, weigh and measure your food, carry your food with you wherever you go” BS sold elsewhere.

My hope is that in ten years, when you pick up a restaurant menu or consider the question, “What should we have for dinner?”, you’re still guided by the habits you developed in VIGOR Training, not beholden to the macronutrient counts from an app on your phone.

Within 24 hours of starting VIGOR Training, half of the member-athletes send me a message, wondering what diet they should follow.

Outside of training for a physique competition or a special event, like a wedding or class reunion, I usually steer people away from a specific diet.

Note: if you do have a special event and need to get lean quickly, check out 28 Days: Four Week’s of Fat Loss.

I’m not saying diets don’t work. They just don’t work long-term.

In fact, most people end up worse off a few months after the end of a diet than if they’d never followed a diet to begin with. 

Instead of following a diet with a bunch of strict rules, I encourage you to adopt a handful of guidelines, and change the way you think about eating for the rest of your life.

These are the first five (and most important) guidelines to adopt. In this order:

* Work up to eating a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound ideal body weight every day. Increasing protein intake alone has a significant effect on body composition, recovery, satiety, and more. Most people experience a significant difference in how they look, feel, and perform, after making just this one change!* Eat no more than four times per day, and ideally two or three, while still adhering to guideline 1. When I say “eat,” that includes snacks. In fact, don’t snack. Growth hormone levels rise about three hours after a meal. If you’re constantly putting food in your mouth, you miss out on the fat-mobilizing, muscle-building benefits of growth hormone. I’m not saying you should start intermittent fasting; at least not yet. Just stop eating between meals. When you get up from the table, you’re done.* Save your carbs for dinner. Unless you’re a competitive athlete, you don’t need to eat carbs earlier in the day. They’ll only make you crave more carbs, cause your energy levels to rise and fall, and make it harder to use fat for fuel. Research shows that when people eat the same amount of carbs, but eat them all at dinner time instead of spread across the day, they get leaner.* Stop eating about three hours before bed. I mentioned growth hormone already. When your blood sugar and insulin are high from a meal, it blunts growth hormone secretion. Elevations in melatonin and growth hormone help your body rebuild muscle tissue, repair itself, and mobilize more fat for fuel. Growth hormone and melatonin should peak just after falling asleep.* Eliminate gluten. Like don’t eat any. Gluten offers no value for your health, and carries numerous risks. Those who have gluten allergies and sensitivities are fortunate because their body clearly says, “Stop eating that crap!” Unfortunately, the long-term damage gluten can do doesn’t always show up as an allergy or sensitivity. Instead, it can contribute to numerous other health problems years down the road. Don’t eat it. You can find almost every food you like to eat in a gluten-free version instead.

It might take you three months to make these five guidelines a consistent part of your lifestyle. It might take two years. I'm certain that once you do, you'll be glad you did.

Are there other ways of making your diet work harder for you? Yes. 

Are some food sources better than others? Yes.

Within 24 hours of starting VIGOR Training, half of the member-athletes send me a message, wondering what diet they should follow.

Outside of training for a physique competition or a special event, like a wedding or class reunion, I usually steer people away from a specific diet.

Note: if you do have a special event and need to get lean quickly, check out 28 Days: Four Week’s of Fat Loss.

I’m not saying diets don’t work. They just don’t work long-term.

In fact, most people end up worse off a few months after the end of a diet than if they’d never followed a diet to begin with. 

Instead of following a diet with a bunch of strict rules, I encourage you to adopt a handful of guidelines, and change the way you think about eating for the rest of your life.

These are the first five (and most important) guidelines to adopt. In this order:

Work up to eating a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound ideal body weight every day. Increasing protein intake alone has a significant effect on body composition, recovery, satiety, and more. Most people experience a significant difference in how they look, feel, and perform, after making just this one change! To build muscle, you need to eat enough protein.Eat no more than four times per day, and ideally two or three, while still adhering to guideline 1. When I say “eat,” that includes snacks. In fact, don’t snack. Growth hormone levels rise about three hours after a meal. If you’re constantly putting food in your mouth, you miss out on the fat-mobilizing, muscle-building benefits of growth hormone. I’m not saying you should start intermittent fasting; at least not yet. Just stop eating between meals. When you get up from the table, you’re done.Save your carbs for dinner. Unless you’re a competitive athlete, you don’t need to eat carbs earlier in the day. They’ll only make you crave more carbs, cause your energy levels to rise and fall, and make it harder to use fat for fuel. Research shows that when people eat the same amount of carbs, but eat them all at dinner time instead of spread across the day, they get leaner.Stop eating about three hours before bed. I mentioned growth hormone already. When your blood sugar and insulin are high from a meal, it blunts growth hormone secretion. Elevations in melatonin and growth hormone help your body rebuild muscle tissue, repair itself, and mobilize more fat for fuel. Growth hormone and melatonin should peak just after falling asleep.Eliminate gluten. Like don’t eat any. Gluten offers no value for your health, and carries numerous risks. Those who have gluten allergies and sensitivities are fortunate because their body clearly says, “Stop eating that crap!” Unfortunately, the long-term damage gluten can do doesn’t always show up as an allergy or sensitivity. Instead, it can contribute to numerous other health problems years down the road. Don’t eat it. You can find almost every food you like to eat in a gluten-free version instead.

It might take you three months to make these five guidelines a consistent part of your lifestyle. It might take two years. I'm certain that once you do, you'll be glad you did.

Are there other ways of making your diet work harder for you? Yes. 

Are some food sources better than others? Yes.

But the finer details don’t matter if you’re not consistent with the first five points above.

Like many of my methods, this is counter to the “track every macro, weigh and measure your food, carry your food with you wherever you go” BS sold elsewhere.

My hope is that in ten years, when you pick up a restaurant menu or consider the question, “What should we have for dinner?”, you’re still guided by the habits you developed in VIGOR Training, not beholden to the macronutrient counts from an app on your phone.

Going vegan is all the rage today. Along with the belief it will save the planet, some believe it's also a healthier way to eat.

I expect the vegan diet will get even more popular this fall when Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron release their movie The Game Changers. I mean, if most of Hollywood is behind a movement or agenda, it must be the right way to go, right (insert sarcasm here)?

As you might imagine, I'm not a proponent of a vegan diet.

In addition to the more obvious issues of, like missing out on the benefits of a higher-protein diet and omega-3 fats, a just-published article in the British Medical Journal points out another significant concern: choline deficiency.

What is Choline?

Choline is one of many micronutrients found in animal-based foods. Your body can’t make enough of it, and you don't get much from plant-based foods.

[Choline] is needed for neurotransmitter synthesis (acetylcholine), cell-membrane signaling (phospholipids), lipid transport (lipoproteins), and methyl-group metabolism (homocysteine reduction).

Zeisel and de Costa

Pregnant women who follow a vegan diet are at the greatest risk of choline deficiency. Choline needs double during pregnancy, and inadequate intakes can cause significant damage to the developing baby.

After birth, babies need high levels of choline too. Human breast milk is rich in it. Though a mother's choline production increases during pregnancy, the massive amount delivered to the fetus, and then to the baby through breast milk, can quickly deplete the mother’s stores of the nutrient.

In addition to causing cognitive dysfunction in infants, choline deficiency in older adults leads to other problems like fatty liver and muscle damage.

In fact, research shows people have developed liver damage when deficient in choline, even when they supplemented with other important micronutrients like methionine and folate.

A high-quality multivitamin should include choline, but that doesn't mean you can use a quality multi and skip out on animal products and meet your needs. You need both.

Health Risks of Choline Deficiency

The following are some health risks of insufficient choline intake.

Increased risk of neural tube defects

Though increasing folate consumption helps to reduce the risk of neural tube defects, adequate choline is also needed.

In one study, women in the lowest quartile for choline intake had a four times higher risk of delivering babies with neural tube defect compared to the women in the highest quartile.

Compromised Memory and Cognitive Function

Animal research shows that choline deficiency can compromise memory development in a developing fetus. Interestingly, animal research also shows that if a mother consumes extra choline during pregnancy, it may reduce memory loss in old age of the mother’s offspring.

More simply, a mother’s choline consumption could reduce the chance that her son or daughter will develop memory loss when they get old.

Low choline intakes can lead to other neurological problems as well.

Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Elevated homocysteine is a risk factor for heart disease. To lower homocysteine levels, it must be methylated. However, low choline levels compromise the methylation process and increase the risk of heart disease. Elevated homocysteine may also contribute to cancer, cognitive decline and bone fractures.

Those with higher choline and betaine intakes have lower levels of inflammation, which can also affect cardiovascular disease risk.

Increased Cancer Risk

Low choline levels contribute to DNA damage and cell death. Research has shown a clear connection between low choline intakes and breast cancer risk. However, some research also shows lymphocytes can be damaged by low choline levels, which could contribute to other forms of cancer.

Increased Risk of Fatty Liver Disease

I already mentioned the fact that choline is necessary for methy...

Going vegan is all the rage today. Along with the belief it will save the planet, some believe it's also a healthier way to eat.

I expect the vegan diet will get even more popular this fall when Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron release their movie The Game Changers. I mean, if most of Hollywood is behind a movement or agenda, it must be the right way to go, right (insert sarcasm here)?

As you might imagine, I'm not a proponent of a vegan diet.

In addition to the more obvious issues of, like missing out on the benefits of a higher-protein diet and omega-3 fats, a just-published article in the British Medical Journal points out another significant concern: choline deficiency.

What is Choline?

Choline is one of many micronutrients found in animal-based foods. Your body can’t make enough of it, and you don't get much from plant-based foods.

[Choline] is needed for neurotransmitter synthesis (acetylcholine), cell-membrane signaling (phospholipids), lipid transport (lipoproteins), and methyl-group metabolism (homocysteine reduction).Zeisel and de Costa

Pregnant women who follow a vegan diet are at the greatest risk of choline deficiency. Choline needs double during pregnancy, and inadequate intakes can cause significant damage to the developing baby.

After birth, babies need high levels of choline too. Human breast milk is rich in it. Though a mother's choline production increases during pregnancy, the massive amount delivered to the fetus, and then to the baby through breast milk, can quickly deplete the mother’s stores of the nutrient.

In addition to causing cognitive dysfunction in infants, choline deficiency in older adults leads to other problems like fatty liver and muscle damage.

In fact, research shows people have developed liver damage when deficient in choline, even when they supplemented with other important micronutrients like methionine and folate.

A high-quality multivitamin should include choline, but that doesn't mean you can use a quality multi and skip out on animal products and meet your needs. You need both.

Health Risks of Choline Deficiency

The following are some health risks of insufficient choline intake.

Increased risk of neural tube defects

Though increasing folate consumption helps to reduce the risk of neural tube defects, adequate choline is also needed.

In one study, women in the lowest quartile for choline intake had a four times higher risk of delivering babies with neural tube defect compared to the women in the highest quartile.

Compromised Memory and Cognitive Function

Animal research shows that choline deficiency can compromise memory development in a developing fetus. Interestingly, animal research also shows that if a mother consumes extra choline during pregnancy, it may reduce memory loss in old age of the mother’s offspring.

More simply, a mother’s choline consumption could reduce the chance that her son or daughter will develop memory loss when they get old.

Low choline intakes can lead to other neurological problems as well.

Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Elevated homocysteine is a risk factor for heart disease. To lower homocysteine levels, it must be methylated. However, low choline levels compromise the methylation process and increase the risk of heart disease. Elevated homocysteine may also contribute to cancer, cognitive decline and bone fractures.

Those with higher choline and betaine intakes have lower levels of inflammation, which can also affect cardiovascular disease risk.

Increased Cancer Risk

Low choline levels contribute to DNA damage and cell death. Research has shown a clear connection between low choline intakes and breast cancer risk. However, some research also shows lymphocytes can be damaged by low choline levels, which could contribute to other forms of cancer.

Increased Risk of Fatty Liver Disease

I already mentioned the fact that choline is necessary for methyla...

Somewhere between what your ego would have you do, and your body wants to do, there's a middle ground of enough weight to make progress, and not so much that you’re going to get hurt.

As long as you work within the boundaries I set in whichever VIGOR Training program you follow, which includes your sets, rep ranges, and rest periods, you will make progress as long as you remain consistent.

How much weight should I use or reps should I do?

For most training sessions, each set of each exercise has a target rep number. For example, it might be “Back squats for 4 sets of 10 reps.”

Unless I specifically say, "You must hit 10 reps," use the rep range I highlight in the app.

In the case of a 10-rep target, the range is 6-10. If you can't get 6 reps, the weight is too heavy. When you're able to get 10 reps on all sets, increase the weight the next training session. In this way, your goal is to either get more reps with the same weight as last week, or use more weight, even if you’re at the lower end of your rep range. 

All that said, the first week of a new block of training often requires a little guesswork. By the second week, you should know how much to use. By the third week, you'll probably be increasing the weight on that specific exercise.

Because the app stores all of your previously logged training sessions, you can easily look back at what you've done, and strive to do more the next time. Some sessions you might get just one more rep per set. Others, you'll be able to bump up the weight significantly.

How many warm-up sets should I do?

For the first exercise of any major muscle group, I recommend anywhere from one to four warm-up sets. The heavier the weight you use, the more warm-up sets you should use. 

Warm-up sets don't get entered into the app.

Should I use the same weight for all sets, or increase the weight through the sets?

"Pyramiding" your sets means that you increase or decrease your weight, while also decreasing or increasing your reps. 

It's one of many methods for designing training plans. If I use this method, I'll be clear about it in the instructions.

Most of the time, I expect that you’re using the same weight for all working sets.

Putting these together...

Using the back squat example again, let's say your working set weight is 225 lbs.

You warm up with just the bar for a set of 5-10. Then, you do a set of 5 with 135 lbs. And another set of 3-5 with 185 lbs. After a little rest, you do your first working set with 225 lbs. for 10 reps. Your second set, you get 10 again. Then, on your third and fourth sets, you get 8 and 9.

You'd stay with that same weight the next week, assuming the training session is the same, and go for 10 reps on all four sets. After that, you'd bump up the weight.

Somewhere between what your ego would have you do, and your body wants to do, there's a middle ground of enough weight to make progress, and not so much that you’re going to get hurt.

As long as you work within the boundaries I set in whichever VIGOR Training program you follow, which includes your sets, rep ranges, and rest periods, you will make progress as long as you remain consistent.

How much weight should I use or reps should I do?

For most training sessions, each set of each exercise has a target rep number. For example, it might be “Back squats for 4 sets of 10 reps.”

Unless I specifically say, "You must hit 10 reps," use the rep range I highlight in the app.

In the case of a 10-rep target, the range is 6-10. If you can't get 6 reps, the weight is too heavy. When you're able to get 10 reps on all sets, increase the weight the next training session. In this way, your goal is to either get more reps with the same weight as last week, or use more weight, even if you’re at the lower end of your rep range. 

All that said, the first week of a new block of training often requires a little guesswork. By the second week, you should know how much to use. By the third week, you'll probably be increasing the weight on that specific exercise.

Because the app stores all of your previously logged training sessions, you can easily look back at what you've done, and strive to do more the next time. Some sessions you might get just one more rep per set. Others, you'll be able to bump up the weight significantly.

How many warm-up sets should I do?

For the first exercise of any major muscle group, I recommend anywhere from one to four warm-up sets. The heavier the weight you use, the more warm-up sets you should use. 

Warm-up sets don't get entered into the app.

Should I use the same weight for all sets, or increase the weight through the sets?

"Pyramiding" your sets means that you increase or decrease your weight, while also decreasing or increasing your reps. 

It's one of many methods for designing training plans. If I use this method, I'll be clear about it in the instructions.

Most of the time, I expect that you’re using the same weight for all working sets.

Putting these together...

Using the back squat example again, let's say your working set weight is 225 lbs.

You warm up with just the bar for a set of 5-10. Then, you do a set of 5 with 135 lbs. And another set of 3-5 with 185 lbs. After a little rest, you do your first working set with 225 lbs. for 10 reps. Your second set, you get 10 again. Then, on your third and fourth sets, you get 8 and 9.

You'd stay with that same weight the next week, assuming the training session is the same, and go for 10 reps on all four sets. After that, you'd bump up the weight.