[Chew]

I'm running 5/3/1 at the moment to try and improve my crappy lifts. Decided to start a log since no one else wants to listen to me talking about how many reps I got today or what lifts I did :tongue:

I'm training 4 times a week:

Mon: Deadlift

Tues: Bench

Thurs: Squat

Fri: Mil Press

I do cardio after my lifting 4 times a week. Usually do sprints on the treadmill or intervals on the cross trainer.

I've been messing about with accessory work but at the end of the last cycle I started doing the Boring But Big template that Wendler sets out in the book. I've been doing 5x10 of my main lift (except on Mil Press day I do Push Press as my accessory) at roughly 50-60% of my max.

My current training max's are with my last one rep max lifts in brackets (I am aware of how weak I am :tongue: ):

Bench: 65 (70)

Deadlift: 85 (100)

Squat: 87.5 (Never attempted a 1RM, think I'm good for 100 though)

Mil Press: 45 (Never done a 1RM)

My deadlift is set lower than my squat because I was coming back from a back injury when I started the program. It is probably stronger now and at some point I may increase my Deadlift training max to above my squat.

I can lift heavier than those max's. Last time I was doing deadlifts I lifted 100 with ease just to see if I could. But that's kinda the point of 5/3/1, uses sub-maximal weights and go for rep records.

I'm making improvements with the training max's set low so I'm not changing it since I'm hoping to keep this going until at least Christmas without stalling.

Goals for the end of the year are:

135 Deadlift

120 Squat

85kg Bench

55kg Mil Press

I think those are quite conservative goals and I should be able to hit them easily by the end of november at the latest.

I had thought about doing a program like Starting Strength and getting the gains quickly but my lower back still gives me grief and I don't think I could handle squatting 3 times a week.

I'm only 20 so I would like to get my lifts up to a respectable level and compete unequipped at junior level before I turn 24 with a 500kg+ total at 90kg.

I'll post todays workout in a new post.

 

[Chew]

Cycle 4 - Week 1 - 3x5 - Squat

Warm-up + foam roller

5x57.5

5x65

15x72.5

Accessory work:

Squats: 5 sets of 10 at 50kg

Hyper extensions

Weighted sit ups

20 mins Cross trainer intervals.

When I checked my spreadsheet I found out I was meant to be doing 75kg for my last set but read it wrong before I left the house. Still pleased with my 15 reps though.

My back feels pretty dead tonight but I think thats because I didn't stretch it well enough. I will do a lot of foam roller work before Mil Press tomorrow

 

[Bulkamania]

Wow, seems like everyone's doing this now lol.

Best of luck mate

 

[Chew]

Back still feeling pretty sore today. Its right at the base of my back at the top of my glutes, I'm hoping its just tightness and it will go away with a bit of foam roller work and some stretching.

Going to train Mil Press at about 2, hopefully will manage ok. Then watch Scotland vs Lithuania tonight!

 

[Chew]

Cycle 4 - Week 1 - 3x5 - Mil Press

Warm-up + foam roller

5x30

5x32.5

5x37.5

Accessory work:

5 sets of 10 push press

Negative chin ups 20 reps

20 mins Cross trainer

Training was rather **** today. I've hit 37.5 for 10 before and I hit 40 for 5 on the last cycle. Back was kinda sore and I didn't eat nearly enough, basically had my breakfast and my My Protein Pulse shake before I went in the gym.

I am weak and can't do a single chin up so I only do the negative portion for sets of 2 or 3 reps, trying for as slow a negative as I can manage. Hopefully be able to do full ones soon.

Got to hit 40 for 3+ next week on Mil Press so hopefully I'll get 6 out of it and I'll still be making progress. Some times you just have off days.

 

[Chew]

Back is feeling better today.

Might have to swap my days around next week due to work and my training partner's other commitments. Might have to bench on Monday and deadlift on Tuesday.

Was not impressed with Scotland performance last night. I said I would settle for a draw but was hoping for it to be a scoring draw atleast!

 

[Gza1]

will be waching this mate, 5\3\1 is good im hoping to try it agen in the future, if you eat right you cant go wrong on a programe like this, good luk buddy

 

[Chew]

Should be ok to deadlift tomorrow. Worst fears is my back injury coming back with full force but that hasn't happened.

I deadlift sumo anyway, so my back should be a bit safer.

 

[Chew]

Cycle 4 - Week 1 - 3x5 - Deadlift

Warm-up

5x57.5

5x62.5

8x72.5

Accessory work:

5 sets of 10 deadlift at 50kg

Sit ups

Foam roller after the workout

Deadlifting went ok, back was still kinda tight but managed fine. The 8 reps that I got out were easy, didn't want to risk going for high reps in case I hurt my back. 8 was what I got the last time I did 72.5 conventional and the 8 reps sumo felt much easier.

For the 5 sets of 10 I tried to focus on pulling as fast as possible because the one thing I find suffers when I'm pulling sumo is speed off the floor, ones its off the floor its easy to lock out so I want to work on getting as much speed as I can. Will probably up the weight a bit for the next session.

Didn't do any conditioning because I had to work straight after training and I ran out of time.

Think I will mix myself up tomorrow and do Mil Press instead of bench because I'll have a training partner on friday so it makes more sense to bench then.

 

[Chew]

Swapped Mil Press and Bench this week so my Mil Press is one week ahead, shouldn't make too much difference. Will get them all back to the same stage after this cycle

Cycle 4 - Week 2 - 3x3 - Mil Press

Warm-up + Foam roller + 5 mins cross trainer

3x30

3x35

7x40

Accessory work:

Push press: 5x40/10x35/10x32.5/10x30/10x25

Negative pull ups: 5x4

10 mins Cross trainer (intervals)

Foam roller

Pleased with this workout, 40 was my 5 rep max so to beat it by 2 reps is good. Push presses were hard after going balls to the wall with the Mil Press so I decided to pyramid down with the weights.

Still can't do pull ups but I am getting better. Hopefully be able to do a couple soon.

Managed to hit the right spot on my back with the foam roller and it feels a lot better now. Will do some more foam roller tomorrow before I start my work. I'm lucky enough to work in the same sports centre that I train in, so I can usually get 10-15 mins foam roller work done on my break if I'm not training that day.

On a non-training note: Scotland better win tonight or Craig Levein will have hell to pay!

 

[Chew]

Gonna squat today. Might go for max reps or might just get the prescribed reps and try to work up to a single at 100 then do my accessory work.

 

[snakebulge]

Just noticed your log mate and will follow with interest. Sub'd :thumb:

 

[Chew]

Cycle 4 - Week 2 - 3x3 - Squat

Warm-up + Foam roller

3x60

3x70

3x77.5

1x85

1x92.5

1x100

7x77.5

Accessory work:

Weighted hypers (10kg plate in hands) 3x10

Foam roller

Decided just to work up to the 100 single for a bit of a challenge. I managed it but it was one of the ****tiest squats I've ever done lol. My legs felt strong for the hole lift it was my upper body that messed it up. It just seemed to crumple underneath the weight. Started going forward on the way up and didn't think I was gonna get the lift until I pushed my head right back into the bar and managed to get my back in the correct position about 1/3 of the way up.

Still got it up though. Will be able to hit it properly with good form after a few more cycles when I'm pushing 85-90kg for reps in training.

My upper back and core were definitely the weakest parts of the squat, I think my legs could have handled at least 110kg but I didn't want to risk injuring my back in the process.

I was wearing a different pair of shorts as well which were too tight and kept falling down which didn't help. Was going to hit 77.5 for ten after the 100 single but my shorts were gradually getting closer to my ankles so I stopped at 7.

Didn't feel like I needed to do any accessory squat work today because I had taxed my body hard with a new one rep max, so I just hit some weighted hypers. Had to start work straight after training so didn't have time to do any conditioning so will do some extra hard conditioning work tomorrow.

 

[Chew]

Ended up not training today. Had a wee night out last night because I'm moving on Sunday and felt too rough for training today.

It was a 3x5 bench workout I missed and the weights I was meant to be using were quite light so its not a total disaster. Will just skip straight to the 3x3 workout next week.

 

[Chew]

Not updated this in two weeks as the old back injury flared up again and I decided to take 2 weeks out.

Going to start training again tomorrow, going to re-start the cycle I was on and definetly going to do the deload every 4th week. I had trained for 4 cycles without a deload and it really took its toll on my body.

Going to squat tomorrow before my first lecture at uni.

 

[Chew]

Eventually got round to starting back up training today. Like I said I was going to I started cycle 4 again =.

Cycle 4 - Week 1 - 3x5 - Mil press

Warm-up

5x30

5x32.5

5x37.5

Accessory work:

Push Press 10/8/8

Pull ups (negatives) 3x3

Foam roller

Did some power cleans as well and they were quite good fun, going to throw them in as my deadlift warm up.

Obviously feeling week from my 3 weeks out. Hopefully the strength will come back pretty quickly.

 

[snakebulge]

Strength should come back pretty quickly mate. Just stick at it and keep doing what you're proposing to do and watch the strength appear again!

 

[Chew]

Strength should come back pretty quickly mate. Just stick at it and keep doing what you're proposing to do and watch the strength appear again!

Cheers mate. Not gonna take any one rep max tests for the rest of the year and I'll see how much I've gained in january.

 

[Chew]

Forgot to add that I'm adding in some cardio a couple of nights a week as well. Carrying far too much bodyfat these days.

 

[snakebulge]

Cheers mate. Not gonna take any one rep max tests for the rest of the year and I'll see how much I've gained in january.

Probably a good idea mate as in 3 months you should have all your strength back plus more so will be interesting to see how much strength you've gained extra to where you were before.