Aug 8
Back Squat 5 x 90kg, 5 x 105kg, 3 x 5 x 120kg
More Back Squat BBB 5 x 10 x 60kg (75 secs)
Pogo Jumps 5 x 20
Abs 2 x 2 mins
Wanted a warm up so looked up what the first sets would be if i was dong 5 x 120kg for 5/3/1 and did those, then did 5/3/1 Boring But Big assistance work and threw the weight around with ease. Tempted to do 5 x 5 in midweek then this at weekends. Had no time today (10th) so will do upper body after rugby tomorrow or maybe even Tuesday.
Aug 11
Rugby Training
Backs passing drills. Got the hang of it eventually and for once we were short of wingers so I got to run every other line and as I was running second line of attack I often got the ball. Got to a main game but lightning storm was VERY close by so we had to give up. Game on Thursday but probably going to skip it to have dinner with friends.
Weights
Bench Press 5 x 70kg, 5 x 80kg, 3 x 5 x 90kg
DB Incline Row 5 x 10 x 20kg (75 secs)
Close Grip Bench Press 5 x 10 x 45kg (60 secs)
Abs 2 x 2 mins
Close Grip was pretty easy, will increase that next week. Incline row was pretty decent, just enough effort. Depending on how my legs feel tomorrow I will do legs Tues or Wed.
Aug 13
Back Squat 5 x 90kg, 5 x 105kg, 3 x 5 x 120kg
BBB Back Squat 5 x 10 x 65kg (60 secs)
Pogo Jumps 2 x 50
Abs 2 mins
Short of time so did the 5/3/1 blend session again. I think 120kg is tough for five sets but probably within me for three so i’ll probably ramp that up next time. Cruised through the assistance work but legs were shaking when I was cooking dinner so clearly did something. Want to make sure I don’t “major in the minors” and get distracted by PB’s in the assistance work, my friend said if I smash the heavy stuff then 5 x 10 will wipe me out.
Aug 14
Bench Press 3 x 72.5kg, 3 x 85kg, 3 x 3 x 95kg
Incline Row 5 x 10 x 20kg (60 secs)
Close Grip Bench Press 5 x 10 x 50kg (60 secs)
Abs 2 x 2 mins
yawn pretty routine session, will have to increase the weight next time. Close grip was 45kg last time and my 5kg jump clearly wasn’t enough, feel like i’m just moving my arms unimpeded, will try 55kg so i don’t have to come back down if 60kg is too much. I’m starting to feel like I can recruit my muscles 100% now and have that sense of raw power that comes with it. Reckon I can bump my squat up 5kg and do 92.5kg for 5, also hope to put on some lean mass with this BBB assistance work as I feel it the next morning.
Aug 17
Bench Press 5 x 72.5kg, 5 x 82.5kg, 3 x 5 x 92.5kg
Incline Row 5 x 10 x 20kg (60 secs)
Close Grip Bench Press 5 x 10 x 55kg (60 secs)
Rotator Cuff 2 x 10 x 2.5kg - need to go heavier
Increased to 92.5kg and coped fine, would’ve liked a more assured final rep as I maybe lost a cm or two of depth but ended up being untroubled by it. Close grip was spot on, could have squirmed out an 11th rep on the last set but no more than that. Added in rotator cuff as I always say it manages to sneak its way out my session so I put it back in.
Aug 17 (part 2)
Back Squat
5 x 95kg, 5 x 110kg, 3 x 5 x 125kg - biggest risk i’ve taken in a few years going down for final rep
Pogo Jumps 2 x 20, 3 x 20 x 1.25kg
BBB Back Squats 5 x 10 x 70kg (60 secs)
Abs 2 x 2 mins
Have a busy work week so squatted today as well. Last set of squats was very close and I probably didn’t have the strongest lower back position. Actually went down for the final rep giving myself a 50/50 chance of success, no safety rack and I hate bailing out squats so quite risky. I’m happy to stay at 125kg for a few weeks unless it becomes easy. BBB was…still manageable. After the third set I thought it would be a struggle but I worked on deep breath between each rep and valsalva, and I just found a rhythm and smashed them out.
Yesterday I weighed in at 75.9kg which is cool because normally I dough out in my mid-section when I put on weight but this seems to be lean mass.
Aug 21
Back Squat
5 x 95kg, 5 x 110kg, 3 x 5 x 125kg - comfy
Pogo Jumps 5 x 20 x 2.5kg
BBB Back Squats 5 x 10 x 75kg (60 secs)
Abs 2 x 2 mins
Four days since the last workout as I needed every one of them. This was very pleasing, I felt good during warm up and was in control for my heavy sets. I knew in that kind of shape that my BBB wasn’t going to trouble me at the new weight but rather than jump more than 5kg I just cruised through 75kg, though was breathing hard in the final set. Pogo jumps are my plyometrics and as such I don’t want to go any heavier than 2.5kg, which is just to simulate the extra bit of muscle I hope to have on me in the next month or so. Feel springy.
Bench tomoz eve I guess.
Aug 24
Bench Press 5 x 72.5kg, 5 x 82.5kg, 3 x 5 x 92.5kg
Incline Row 5 x 10 x 20kg (60 secs)
Close Grip Bench Press 5 x 10 x 55kg (60 secs)
Rotator Cuff 2 x 10 x 5kg
No access to gym from Monday afternoon to Friday evening next week as i’m visiting family so postponed bench until today and will do squats tomorrow morning. Bench was fine, could increase that. Again my close grip was spot on and I was lagging for the last few reps. Rotator cuff work with 5kg is much better.
What are pogo jumps?
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Video is 5 x 125kg squat. Just wanted to see what it looks like. Look quite untroubled by the weight but shifting my weight to balls of feet, knees are a bit close to caving on the way up and although if I sit on the bucket my hip crease is below the top of my knee it looks like I need more depth.
Bird - pogo jumps are just plyometric jumps, i’ve pulled my calf twice last year so i’m just looking to load them up explosively.
Aug 25
Back Squat 5 x 95kg, 5 x 110kg, 3 x 5 x 125kg
Pogo Jumps 5 x 20 x 2.5kg
BBB Back Squats 5 x 10 x 80kg (60 secs)
Abs 2 x 2 mins
I didn’t feel amazing but I felt pretty fresh. 125kg was fine again, maybe one more to be sure then onwards to 130kg and beyond. BBB Squats were…still manageable. Felt easier than 75kg actually, I just get in a rhythm with my breathing and smash them out. I think there’s a tipping point where lactic will suddenly hit me like a train so still going up by 5kg a time. I read Dan John’s article the other day about doing 50 squats (hope he meant 50 total and not 1 x 50) and for my weight category it said do 185lbs, which is ~85kg, so i’m pleased that i’ll be on that next week.
As I said in last post no gym until Friday, but possibly back a day early depending on the weather.
Sept 1
Back Squat 5 x 95kg, 5 x 110kg, 3 x 5 x 125kg
Pogo Jumps 4 x 25 x 2.5kg
BBB Back Squats 5 x 10 x 85kg (60 secs) shudders
Right so I had my dad’s birthday meal and then stayed another day at my parents, meaning I went a whole 7 days without lifting. On the plus side it took until day 5 for my legs to feel fresh again. I felt a little unconditioned but still strong, so my legs were tiring quicker. This meant that BBB Squats were a real challenge and although I still had something left in the tank it wasn’t much.
Sept 2
Bench Press 5 x 75kg, 5 x 85kg, 3 x 5 x 95kg
Incline Row 5 x 10 x 20kg (60 secs)
Close Grip Bench Press 5 x 10 x 55kg (60 secs)
Rotator Cuff 2 x 10 x 5kg
Abs 2 x 2 mins
Increased bench press and found it ok, should really jump by 5kg increments. Close grip was spot on as always. Legs feel horrible after yesterday, walked 3 mins to the shops and has to sit down at the bus stop on the way as they were so tired. Did a bit of jogging on the spot between sets as active recovery to get the blood flowing. Haven’t been to rugby training in a while, first game that doesn’t clash with work is 27th and they are doing Wednesdays only from next week so will try and go then.
Sept 5
Back Squat 5 x 100kg, 5 x 115kg, 4,4,3 x 130kg - had to bail out in the first set trying a 5th rep
Pogo Jumps 4 x 25 x 2.5kg
BBB Back Squats 5 x 10 x 90kg (60 secs)
“Stir the pot” abs 3 x 5 each way
Slow Seated Leg Raise 3 x 10
I was kind of speechless at my squat fail, it felt routine but obviously quite tough, had no expectation that I wasn’t coming back up and then I don’t really have a memory of it for a few seconds and next thing i’d tipped it off my shoulders and was standing there bemused. I took all the plates off, racked it and tried again but my upper back was a little hurt from the bail so I did 4 and 3 reps to finish.
Went for dinner with friends yesterday and a guy i’d written workouts for last year was now doing 10 x 95kg so I felt less badass about my 85kg squats so attempted 5 x 10 x 90kg and it felt pretty laboured to begin with but didnt get any worse.
Read the ab article and threw in a few of those, keeping it easy as i’m benching tomorrow. Really liked ‘stir the pot’ on the swiss ball and anything that avoids spinal flexion is a plus for me.
Bench Press 5 x 70kg, 5 x 80kg, 9 x 90kg
Incline Row 10,10,10,7,6 x 22.5kg (60 secs)
Close Grip Bench Press 10,10,10,10,6 x 60kg (60 secs)
Rotator Cuff 2 x 10 x 5kg
Seated Leg Raise 3 x 20
Side Plank with Raised Leg 2 x 20 secs per side
Want a lie in so did this today instead of tomorrow morning.
After failing at squats this afternoon I thought back to years ago when i failed trying 10 x 130kg, and I realised not only does my strength just seem to oscillate (I knew that already) but i’ve never really got back to the strength levels of when i was sprinting at Uni. So I sifted through my old training logs back to when I started posting on T-Nation and used an online 1RM calculator to work out my estimated 1RM for my Bench and Squat each month* (bit geeky but I was curious). So i’ve attached the result in graphical form, with a 12 month moving average line of best fit.
*months I don’t lift I just took previous months number
Why does it look like this? A mixture of hopping from program to program, focussing more on sprints than max strength in the early days, flitting between wanting to be Brad Pitt Fight Club ripped and Dwayne Johnson beefy, some injuries, doing more deadlifts and OHP or DB bench and lunges etc etc.
So i’ve been doing this current 3 x 5, 5 x 10 variation for 6 weeks and have put 18kg on the predicted squat and 6kg on predicted bench. I’m finding it takes 5-6 days to recover from squats so i’m going to do 5/3/1 with BBB but twice a week and maybe only the 5+, then bench can follow that. I’m going to do this without change until 2015 and see where i’m at, and i bet it’s stronger than i’d be if I did anything new.
Nice graph.
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Sept 8
Bench Press 3 x 72.5kg, 3 x 85kg, 7 x 95kg
Incline Row 10,10,10,9,7 x 22.5kg (60 secs)
Close Grip Bench Press 10,10,10,10,8 x 60kg (60 secs)
Rotator Cuff 2 x 10 x 5kg
Ab Circuit (3 sets, 30 secs rest):
A1 Stir the Pot 3 x 5 each way
A2 Side Plank with Raised Leg 2 x 20 secs per side
A3 Seated Leg Raise 3 x 15
Legs are still tired, emphasizing my point of needing 5/3/1 so there’s only one heavy set. Arms felt fine so did upper body today, all fine. Abs were good, need to set the squat rack up to do hanging leg raise as those were too easy, otherwise quite tough.
Sept 9
Back Squat 5 x 90kg, 5 x 105kg, 7 x 120kg
Pogo Jumps 4 x 25 x 2.5kg
BBB Back Squats 5 x 10 x 95kg (60 secs)
Ab Circuit (30 secs rest):
A1 Stir the Pot 3 x 5 reps each way
A3 Hanging Leg Raise 6, 6, 3
Expected an extra rep or two but didn’t feel 100% going into it. I think the single heavy set helped me get to the end the assistance, which still destroyed me. Was breathing hard and legs were seizing up from the third set but kept the big breathing going and tried to keep the rhythm until rep 7. Finished with 2 of 3 ab exercises, thought hanging leg raise was ok until the third set and the short rest wiped me out.
Sept 11
Bench Press 5 x 80kg, 3 x 90kg, 4 x 100kg
Incline Row 10,10,10,9,5 x 22.5kg (60 secs)
Close Grip Bench Press 10,10,10,10,8 x 60kg (60 secs)
A1 DB Hammer Curls 2 x 20 x 10kg
A2 DB Skull Crushers 20, 15 x 10kg
Rotator Cuff 2 x 10 x 5kg
Burpees 3 x 15
Bench felt good, pretty similar on the rows and close grip. Although i’m working hard I felt I could add in some exercises so threw in high rep bi’s and tri’s then burpees as a conditioning finisher, though didn’t manage too many sets of either.
Sept 15
Bench Press 5 x 72.5kg, 5 x 82.5kg, 7 x 92.5kg - so close to an 8th but had to roll it off me
Incline Row 10,10,10,10,7 x 22.5kg (60 secs)
Close Grip Bench Press 10,10,10,10,8 x 60kg (60 secs)
Ab Circuit (3 sets, 30 secs rest):
A1 Stir the Pot 3 x 5 each way
A2 Side Plank with Raised Leg 2 x 20 secs per side
A3 Hanging Leg Raise 3 x 6
B1 DB Hammer Curls 20,20,18 x 10kg
B2 DB Skull Crushers 20,20 x 10kg
Rotator Cuff 2 x 10 x 5kg
Burpees 3 x 15 - best of 48 secs
Looks like a lot of volume but apart from 5/3/1 its 60-90 secs recovery so doesn’t take that long to get through. Legs are stilll tired, might have to cut BBB to 3 sets so I can do it twice a week. Bi-Tri superset felt easier, good pump from that. Burpees were a lot easier, reckon I can bash out sets of 20 when I improve my CV a bit.
Oh and I bought a Hex Bar…so that will feature in 5/3/1 deadlift from Sunday.
