Yea I never can think of a good title so I picked the worst one possible.
Any way I’ve been doing 531 for a while now and I really enjoy it. I’m going to start tracking progress here, hopefully I can get some pointers or encouragement as I go.
I’m 185 5’11 23 years old. I’ve gone to the gym on and off with no real goal for a while but I have been very dedicated for a few months now. I had a lot of free time after graduating before getting a job. ok so this is all boring… to the training! Today( Sunday) I just did a bicep workout and some sprints. Tomorrow is over head press. Look forward to keeping this updated.
oh yea i guess i should add goals. I want to start to actively bulk up. I’ve gained some size and strength by just eating my maintenance cals. I think ill increase intake. Im hesitant to start though. adding carbs AND cals is scary haha
I can’t believe i missed my first work out now that ive started this log. Tonight was my grandmas 89th birthday so a late night at work bad commute family dinner =doing a double tomorrow. Thats all i can say for now
Alright back on track.
over head press. Training max 130
5x 100
3x 110
10x125(pr)
after the 531 sets I put some weight on for push press. 155 x 5 175 x 5 190 x 2. after that I went back to over head press with 55% of my max 3x10. Then I finished up with 25 pull/chin ups( mixed it up) and 25 dips . I just got some Fat Gripz today so I used them for the pullups and they were awesome! They made pull ups very hard, but I feel like they made the close grip chinups easier. I was flying above the bar. Over all it was a good shoulder day. Deadlifts tomorrow.
dang I wrote a nice post about deadlifting yesterday but it didn’t get posted . well here are the numbers wiht out the fluff
training max 385
290x 5
325 x 3
365 x 10 (PR)
5x10 @ 50% ( boring but big)
4x3 ( or maybe 3x4 ) with fat gripz @ 50% max ( brutal)
25 pullups(body weight with fat grips)
25 dips (bw)
Would have done sprints today but my glutes / hamstrings are trashed from the deadlifts . And my hour and a half stop and go commute put me in a terrible mood. ( im having trouble posting still so this might be a coppy_
Here are a few pics. Legs are recent others are a little bit older( month or two)
Lats. not really sure how to flex my back so that all the muscles pop out. I can either get them to flex and look defined and narrow, or wide and flat. Also, can I post multiple pics in one post? this is probably annoying
Bench today! This is my least favorite lift of all. I never had a good bench . I try and i try, but the weight just does not go on like it does for my other lifts. I maxed out at 270 last time I tried, but honestly I don’t know how it happened haha .
Training max 240
warm up bar x 5, 95 x 5, 120 x 5 , 145 x 3 ( all very explosive)
180x 5
205x 3
230 x 4
5 x 10 @56% max ( just did 135) I mixed my grips up a little bit. 2 wide 1 narrow and 2 normal. The wide grip presses felt great. got a nice stretch on the pecs
then i did some dips : 10 with 25 lbs added 10 with 45 lbs added and 5 with 70 lbs added. Then i did a few clusters of pullups with 25 lbs and fatgrips. that was very difficult. I think i did 8, than 5, then 5 again, switched the grip to narrow supinated and got 5, and then i went to wide pronated with no weight ( still used fatgrips) and finished the remaining 8.
I planned on doing some DB bench and some BB shrugs but the gym closed at 9. I did a few sets of pushups and il do the traps after squatting tomorrow.
By far the best move of the day was dodging the 33 mile back up on 95 south . I took the hutch instead and saved my self probably 2 hours in stop and go. I think thats a PR of sorts
Today I finished up some of what i was unable to do last night and a little bit more. I started off with bent over rows, working my way up to 185 then doing that 3x10. I have been having better results from keeping the reps a little bit higher and holding the contraction at the top. After that I did DB bench. The highest weights they have there are 60’s so I did them nice and slow and made sure to get a good stretch on the pecs. after that I did BB shrugs 135 x 10 225 x10( 5 second hold at the top) 315 x 5 ( 5 second hold at the top) 315 x 5 singles( 5 second hold at the top) 225 x 10 ( hold) and then 225 x 16( failure). finished up with 25 pullups and 25 dips.
TLDR
bent row
3x10 @ 185
DB Bench
3x10 @ 120( 60 each db)
BB Shrugs
135 x 10
225 x 10 ( 5 second hold)
315 x 5 ( “”)
5x1 @ 315 (“”)
225x10(“”)
225 x 16 ( failure)
Pullups /dips x 25 each
Just went on a nice 1 week vacation. Back down to college to see my friends and girlfriend. no lifting while i was gone but the time off was nice . Today i started the first week of the meso cycle
military press 135 max
90 x 5
100 x 5
115 x 10( +2 with a little bit of legs)
push press 135, 155
5x 10 @ 55%
pullups 25
dips ZERO! I went to do one and I almost collapsed, something went terribly wrong in my right elbow area so i just called it a day. it feels much better now but the drive home and about the first hour at home was very painful. Deadlifts tomorrow
Alright need to update for last night, I was just too drained from work and working out to get on here and type it out.
Last night I did deadlifts. 385 is my new training max for the month. I did the standard 40% 50% 60% warm up along with some jumping from a deadlifting starting position, and a few very fast pulls with the bar and with 135.
the 5 3 1 works out as follows:
255 x 5
295 x 5
335 x 10
I only got 10 today after getting 365 x 10 last week( well the week before, last week was a deload) I was surprised by this but not disappointed, its the lightest week of the cycle and I had a rough day at work so maybe my head wasn’t in it 100%
After that I did 5 x 10 @ 5x% ( I rounded up from 197 or something like that ) and then finally for the deadlift category I did that same weight but I held the weights them selves rather than the bar, in that very wide gripped style that John Meadows had a video about last month. I feel it for sure in the middle of my back.
I finished up with the usual 25 dips and 25 pullups. I was actually able to do the dips today. Not pain free but close. By tomorrow im sure I wont even think about it. My max pullups with fat grips has improved by 4 since I got them. I can do 12 straight before my grip slips. My pullup max is 21. Thats it for now. If your reading this let me know what you think of it so far!
I finally increased my( theoretical) bench max!I did 270 in the past, and using Wendlers rep max conversion, it put me at 273. wow 3 lbs! It was better than that though, I have been stuck on the bench lately, I just don’t understand why but today I pushed through it and finally matched and beat my max.
Bench training max 245
160 x 5
180 x 5
205x 10 ( pr)
5 x 10 @ 145
then i did the same progression with bent over rows( its been a while on those so I made sure to go heavy, and do lots or reps) 25 pull ups, 25 dips and I think that was it for the day. it felt good over all. im really glad my bench finally improved. Ive never done 10 x 205. Aslo my weight is 192 with my clothes on, at night. Im assuming this is mainly water and such from the newly increased carbs but you never know. I ll keep an eye out on my waistline
This is going to be a double post to cover yesterdays and todays workouts. I just did not have the time to log in last night.
over head press training max 135
70 80 90 % x 3
95 110 120(x10)
push press 135 x 1 155 x 1 185 x 2( missed the third right above my head. when I miss a push press, I MISS it! that weight came down fast)
5x10 @ 55% ( on the fifth set, after the 10th rep, i did 10 more with out resting , as push presses. The bar was flying off my chest because it was so light with the leg drive, but my arms would really doing fuck all when I tried to lower it down. Probably not much of a muscle building movement but it got my heart racing)
after that i finished with 25 pullups and dips with 35 lbs added.
Today I did the deadlift.
Training max 395
70 80 90 % x 3
275 315 355(x12 in hindsight I think I had another 1 or two in me but that’s not worth a whole lot my muscles felt all fried, high rep deadlifts are strange)
then I did 3 x 10 at 60% but I had to get home early so i cut the work out short and left off the last 2 sets and the dips and pullups. I think my right elbow will thank me any way, its been very sore lately. I arm wrestled a buddy of mine and both of us have not been the same since haha
Well its been quite some time since I posted. I am currently 206, big gain in size and strength. Today i had deadlifts. 95% = 395
395 x 10 ( PR)
5x 10 @ 250
Now for the weird thing. I am bigger than ever, stronger than ever, suffering from loin rage, and yet, at 23 years old, I have low T! My blood work indicated that my total test was 126. I could not believe it. I am going to speak to my Dr. about it and hopefully get a referral to an endocrinologist. Im attaching ! pic of my back. I see some improvement in the shoulders/ lats. That was from september. Ill take some new pics now that im starting with this again. Maybe im not though… maybe im just freaking out about the low T. What the hell!
