5th cycle - 5/3/1 BBB - Week 1 - Squat
Squat: 97.5x5, 112x5, 127.5x5, 82.5x5x10. Overall easy. My hip flexors are cooked though, was tough to get down deep. Doing now TM: 150kg, 55% BBB.
Accessories: 5x10 leg ext superset leg raises.
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5th cycle - 5/3/1 BBB - Week 1 - Bench
Bench: 67.5x5, 80x5, 90x5, 57.5x5x10 superset 3x10 pull ups. The fatigue is real, don’t know if it’s CNS fatigue or whatever but I’m fatigued on heavy sets.
Accessories: db rows 5x10, dips 5x10, biceps and lateral raises.
Looked at the mirror and upper back got bigger suddenly, specifically the erectors and traps.
BW: 80-81kg.
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Nice! Always exciting when you can visualize progress!!
For sure. Makes a good day.
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5th cycle - 5/3/1 BBB - Week 1 - Deadlift
Deadlift: 127.5x5, 147.5x5, 165x5, 97.5x5x10. Couldn’t find my straps, so I thought I would try today mixed grip, and it went well. I tried previously mixed grip, but it would cause me wrist pain. I still get wrist pain from this grip but much less, not something significant. I wonder if it’s flexibility.
I always wanted to deadlift without straps, but it just limits my leg development. Maybe with mixed grip I would look into it. Deadlifting without straps is also harder, I have to focus much more on the grip.
Accessories: leg curls 5x10 superset leg raises.
2 Likes
5th cycle - 5/3/1 BBB - Week 1 - OHP
OHP: 42.5x5, 50x5, 55x5, 37.5x5x10 superset pull ups.
Accessories: db rows 5x10, dips 5x10, biceps
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5th cycle - 5/3/1 BBB - Week 2 - Squat
Squat: 105x5, 120x5, 135x5, 82.5x5x10. Supplemental work was much easier than last time. Repped it quickly. Expected 135x5 to be easier, considering my estimated 1RM is 162.5-170, but I repped it.
Accessories: leg ext 5x10 superset leg raises.
3 Likes
5th cycle - 5/3/1 BBB - Week 2 - Bench
Bench: 72.5x5, 85x5, 95x5, 57.5x5x10. Forearms are irritated. Did some armwrestling Friday, and I always get something after armwrestling.
Accessories: db rows 5x10, dips 5x10, lateral raises. Skipped biceps and pull ups because of forearms.
4 Likes
From now on I’ll only update from time to time.
I’m still on 5/3/1 BBB, starting from next week my 6th cycle after a deload. My BW is now 82kg, so still progressing but I think I’m gonna cut down on the calories or replace it with more protein because there is starting to be some fat.
My legs seriously gotten big. My back gotten bigger also. All the other body parts are pretty much the same I think. I want to grow some of my chest more, as my upper chest is flatter than the lower chest. I care more about strength but still I need some good exercise without sacrificing any strength gains.
Ending the cycle with a PR of 185kgx5 on the deadlift, 2 reps PR without any peaking. One thing that’s bothering me is that my knee caves in sometimes. It doesn’t give me any pain obviously but it’s not good technique. My guess is my quads are trying to take over, and I already have a pretty narrow stance.
Gonna up 5kg on the lower exercises and 2.5kg on the upper exercises next cycle.
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I’m still on 5/3/1 BBB, starting from next week my 6th cycle after a deload. My BW is now 82kg, so still progressing but I think I’m gonna cut down on the calories or replace it with more protein because there is starting to be some fat.
6 cycles is the time to move on, so it would make sense to change up the diet to coincide with a change in planning. Jim recommends following BBB for 2-5 cycles, unless it’s specifically the 3 month challenge.
Be a great time to shave off the volume, drop the food and chase some PRs.
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Thanks for the feedback.
I like the program and the volume since I got some good gains from it. I also got some PRs. My plan was just to continue and get consistent rep PRs. The program is so simple it’s pretty nice. What would you recommend otherwise now doing?
Crazy how time flies also.
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Just as I wrote: cut down the volume and food and go for PRs. I would use the main work for PR sets or jokers and use something like 5x5 FSL or widow makers for the supplemental. SVR II could work as well.
Yeah I think I’m gonna do something like this. PR sets and maybe jokers, then 5x5 FSL. Widow makers ain’t for me haha, too hard without much benefit in my opinion.
Cutting down the food isn’t risky?
Its a natural part of the process. Since volume is down, you aren’t imposing as much of a recovery demand. Less demand means less supply.
Don’t artificially restrict food: eat less because you need less
PR sets are also pretty fatiguing no? And 5x5
You’ll note I actually wrote about volume rather than fatigue.
But if 5x5 FSL is generating a lot of fatigue, your TM is too high
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I guess I’ll experiment and see what’s up. I did 150kg TM now, so doing something like 115kg for 155kg TM doesn’t seem bad.
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Started 3/5/1 with PR sets, jokers and 5x5 FSL.
Did on squat day 140kgx7 as PR set, joker 147.5x2 and 107.5x5x5. I came pretty strong, and everything was pretty easy. The deload week is really helpful.
Did on bench day 97.5x6 as a PR set, then 75x5x5. I tried for a 7th rep because that’s what I aimed for but failed mid push. Not what I expected. I feel like my chest and arms didn’t grow as much as my legs on BBB phase, so I want to add more volume but this might defeat the purpose here. I did some dips but this time I emphasized much more on my chest, leaning with my torso forward. Flys always made my chest grow, so maybe I would add them now or next hypertrophy phase. What do you think T3hPwnisher?
This is week 1 of a realization block of training right after accumulation: you still need to give your body a chance to REMEMBER how to be strong before you can really start rendering evaluation. That said, it’s NOT the time to push for hypertrophy: that’s competing signals and demands. I’d use this as an opportunity to realize the strength that was built with the accumulation. Use assistance to maintain muscle now.
Given how much you talked about a lack of conditioning to be able to do BBB Beefcake/widowmakers, it may be worth following up this block with a GPP block and then back to accumulation.
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Should I cut down the volume for assistance exercises that target the same muscle as the main lifts? For example for dips instead of 5 sets then like 3 sets? I think I can recover from that.
I think I’m pretty conditioned. I play basketball twice a week for like a few hours. The reason I didn’t want to do beefcake is because I was worried I might not eat enough calories. Widowmakers is just because of the mentality.