I gained muscle and reduced fat?
I’ll try to eat more anyway just to understand
I’ll try to eat more anyway just to understand
Ding ding ding.
It’s not about building muscle: it’s about gaining bodyweight. Boring but BIG. Embrace that.
I think i need to add something with some calories in it. Got a suggestion? Something healthy obviously. I’m moving between 76-78kg for quite some time now. Last week i was 78kg after a shit but now i’m 77kg
If you check my log, I post my meals every day. I’m a fan of meat and eggs. I also like ghee for a fat source.
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Monday
This time I combined squat and bench because of the holidays. I did squat first so bench got hit a bit.
Squat: 107.5kg x5, 122.5x3, 137.5x5, 72.5 5x10. I could grind on the 137.5 for probably another rep but kept it in tank. The 5x10 was fatiguing. The weight was light but my quads were pretty fatigued.
Bench: 77.5x5, 87.5x3, 97.5x4, 52.5 5x10. Not really a strong set, i expected doing like 97.5 x6, but probably lost some reps because i was fatigued from the squat. The 5x10 was pretty easy. I do all my sets with a pause.
Did leg extensions 5x10 superset with dips 3x10. It was my first time doing dips and they were really hard on my chest and triceps. Felt it in my shoulders also but not too much. My chest burned after the 3x10 so i stopped.
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Thursday - Deadlift day. 5/3/1 third week
Deadlift: 132.5kg x5, 150x3, 167.5x6, 90 5x10. The deadlifts felt pretty good. Not too hard.
Did later some leg curls 5x10 and leg raises 5x10. I’m thinking about switching the leg curls with back extension. The leg curls feel weird on my knees so I rather not overload them, even though they’re healthy. Leg curls target my hams better than the back extension so thats why i hesitate.
The leg raises are pretty easy, so i might be replacing that with something more challenging.
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Friday - OHP. Third week, final workout.
OHP: 47.5x5, 52.5x3, 60x5, 32.5 5x10. Pretty easy workout.
Did also: dumbbell rows 5x10, pull ups 3x8, dips 5x10, full rom lateral raises 2x8 and bicep curls 3x8. This time dips were pretty easy.
This is the end of the first cycle. I’m gonna do now a deload week, although i saw that it’s actually recommended to do 2 cycles without a deload week in between, but i want to come more ready.
Happy to hear some kind of criticism about the amount of volume i’m doing besides the 5/3/1 sets. In the next cycle i plan on doing on the upper days: dumbbell rows 5x10, pull ups (will do at most 5 sets, depends on how i feel), dips, bicep curls and lateral raises.
Overall, 5/3/1 is nice. The workouts are not long, I feel recovered each week, the intensity is nice and the volume is fun. I might add next cycle some Joker sets. There were some days I felt I could do more, but is it really necessary?
Current BW: 77.5kg. I didn’t really up in bodyweight, but I do feel bigger. I did eat more for sure. I don’t think I got to 3000 calories. I think I have gained muscle mass, but I might kid myself. 3 weeks is a short time to see any kind of significant change I believe. As long as I can keep up with the program and add 5kg and 2.5kg, it probably means I’m gaining muscle.
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As long as I can keep up with the program and add 5kg and 2.5kg, it probably means I’m gaining muscle.
I would not venture into this line of thinking myself. The goal of BBB is still bodyWEIGHT gain: it’s not a recomposition protocol. I would eat to move the needle on the scale if, for nothing else, to be able to develop the habits that get you there. As you noted: you weren’t reaching your goal of 3000 calories: figure out how you can accomplish your goal there.
The training is the easy part: the eating is the challenge.
Joker sets work against the goal of BBB. Save it for when it’s time to do them. That’s going to be something you do AFTER BBB.
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I didn’t lose any bodyweight before starting this program, but now I eat more and still didn’t gain any. Doesn’t it mean I was on some maintenance and now that I eat more I should actually gain bodyweight?
Doesn’t it mean I was on some maintenance and now that I eat more I should actually gain bodyweight?
If we accept “Calories in/Calories out” as a system here, what this is saying to me is that your calories OUT has changed, and calories IN needs to change to accommodate in order to achieve bodyweight gain.
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Monday - squat day - 4th/deload week
Squat: 80kgx5, 90x5, 110x5, 80 3x10.
Today the session felt a bit heavy, didn’t really feel like a deload.
I used this time some online calculator because I forgot my spreadsheet. Apparently, I looked at the wrong column. I was supposed to do: 57.5kg x5, 72.5x5, 87.5x5, 75 3x10 
So I got a bit more intensity than I would’ve wanted.
Anyway, did then some easy leg exts, leg raises and done.
I decided to do a bit of BBB on the deload week. Just some easy 3x10 so I can get a bit more volume.
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This isn’t right either…
Why not just run it like the book says?
Are you talking about the 3x10?
This is by the book.
Disregard: I read your annotation as 72kg 5x, then 87kg 5x5, rather than 72.5 for one set of 5.
However, this does beg the question: why are you wanting to add extra volume on a deload week? What’s the function of the volume?
To drive a bit more muscle growth. I feel like the fatigue actually comes more from the 5/3/1 sets, not from the BBB sets. I still lowered the volume and didn’t do 5x10 but 3x10 so it still will count as a deload. You think this volume is useless (right now)?
To drive a bit more muscle growth
That’s not the goal in a deload week. The reason you’re training at all is to maintain proficiency in the lifts. It’s just strength practice. Otherwise, the intent of the week is to let fatigue dissipate so that you can perform better in the following weeks.
You think this volume is useless (right now)?
The volume certainly has a use: it just doesn’t meet the goal of the training.
Remember the Dan John quote “The goal is to keep the goal the goal”. Approach each training session understanding the goal of the session and meet it. If you need a pump, the assistance work is great for that. And the main work is great for keeping form. For a deload week, the supplemental work doesn’t serve a function benefiting the week.
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Should I keep the assistance work the same? For example I do twice a week 5x10 dumbbell rows, is it too much for a deload week?
It’s a question of it’s impact on your recovery. I don’t tend to do much of anything on my deloads. Pretty much just focus on easy conditioning. My goal is to recover as much as possible so I can give the next training cycle my max effort.
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Tuesday - deload week - bench
Bench: 40kg x5, 52.5x5, 62.5x5. Obviously easy work.
3x10 dumbbell rows, 2x10 pull ups, 2x10 dips, bicep curls. Lowered down the sets because of the deload.
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Friday - deload week - OHP
Did deadlifts on Wednesday. Pretty easy. Did something like
deadlift: 80kg x5, 90x5, 110x5. I know it’s not the exact percentages but it doesn’t really matter at this week. Then I did some leg curls and leg raises.
Today:
OHP: 30kg x5, 35x5, 40x5.
Then some accessories: db rows 3x10, dips 2x10, pull ups 3x8-10, bicep curls. All were pretty easy.
Next week is gonna be the second cycle. My bodyweight still haven’t really move. I’m probably not eating calorie dense food. Here is an example of what i eat on a normal day:
- Breakfast: 4 eggs with some yellow cheese. Probably will also squeeze in some white cheese. Maybe bread also. Also a salad.
- Lunch: Meat or chicken with some rice or something similar. These days I’ll put more on my plate, but the food is not really calorie dense.
- Dinner: Find something lol. Preferable some calories with some protein.
There are some days I make some pancakes, or eat frozen pizzas.
I’m gonna start eating some peanuts, which i saw have some good calories in. I’ll look also what more to add.
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