Training log: 21 August 2016 - Pull day
Pull:
Diet:
The reason I didn’t “complete” the calories is because I ate more than this (ate some nuts w/o info, some vegetables, fruits…)Hey look! Progress. Good job.
Thanks bro, everyone’s given me so much damn motivation, it really helps me push everytime.
You can actually fix this BY doing more lower body work. If you train more frequently, the body will adapt, but if you always spend a full week to recover, it will have no reason to.
You can train through soreness. Do your warm ups and it will feel better. Even some conditioning work will help.
Training Log: 22 August 2016 - Push
Did Push today. I’m pissed off to be honest.
I’ve given up on the barbell bench press. Its just a lift I wasn’t made for. I’ve deloaded at least 6 times now, but I cannot break through 40kg = 88lbs. Thinking of switching completely over to dumbbells.
Mentally I couldn’t keep up today after seeing my bench fail hard so here goes:
Push:
Overall, disappointed today, definitely pissed off at the bench press and I think mentally its just time to ditch the exercise altogether. Deloads haven’t worked and I think its better to use just dumbbells and then the cable machine.
Alright guys, that’s it.
Meal at the end of the day.
I’ve spoken before about your negativity, so this is going to sound like a broken record: your bench is not broken. You are not simply “not made to bench press”. You are not giving yourself ANY time at all to progress. Remember that long ass post on your thread where i said don’t stop what you’re doing until spring? Well is it spring yet?
At the same time, no one has a gun to your head. If you don’t want to bench, but want to do other exercises no one can stop you, and maybe its not even a bad thing. The attitude where you say “i am just not made for benching” needs to go however. Stop quitting on things before there is any chance for them to succeed.
Have you only been doing 3x5 for bench this entire time?
I know, but having not progressed in the bench for over 4 months is really getting to me. I think I’ll just stick to the DB press where I kept on adding reps from 8->12 and progressed every single time.
I can’t handle 5x5. Even if I deloaded down to the bar, when I would get back up to 35-40kg (total) I would stall. 5x5 is simply too difficult. Bench press is a difficult exercise for me with the barbell.
When my friend was doing 20kg DB press x 8, he was benching 135x8, but I did 20kg DB press x 5 (6 if you count the muscle up first rep) and still sturggle with 88x5 bench. Its just difficult for me to do the BB bench so a while back I moved solely to dumbbells and went from 17.5kg each hand 6 reps 4 sets to 10 reps 4 sets in 2-3 weeks. Now I did 20kg x 6 one set.
I think the answer to my question was “yes”.
Use a variety of rep ranges, not just one. Doing the same rep ranges over and over again will stagnate you.
I don’t know if I want to continue with the barbell bench press. Is there a disadvantage to using only dumbbells? If its progression scheme, I would go from 8888, then 9, 9, 8 ,8 then 9, 9, 9, 9 the… until 12 12 12 12, so move 5lbs per hand every 3-5 weeks. Currently I can do 39-40 lbs for 8-9 reps each hand if I start fresh.
Training log: 23 August 2016: Biceps only at home.
No access to the gym for the near week/2 weeks, but the grind don’t stop =) I don’t have any weights at home, but I had a bag, suit, shoes and water bottles (1 liter each).
Biceps:
The disadvantage is that you are abandoning something because you are not good at it. To me this is a major no-no. We get bigger and stronger by working at the things we suck at. If you struggle with the bench, at your level, you most likely just need more practice with technique with a lower weight.
When I look at your log I see a confused guy that kinda wants to be bigger,kinda wants to be leaner,kinda wants to be stronger
How I’d go about it:
I’d do 531 aiming for a 220 lbs bench,130-150 ohp,300-315 squat
531 has the advantage that not only you have limitless information out there,but access to Jim himself for free
In the meanwhile I’d eat at maintenance or slightly above,If you wanna cut eat 10 % below but not for too long
After you get these goals,in about a year or so,you’d be not only stronger,but bigger too and due to the muscle look better,even if not that lean
Anyway,no matter what you choose to do,wish you the best mate
God dammit, no matter how much I want to disagree I can’t. It is true that I am abandoning it because I wasn’t doing good in it.
How would you suggest working the bench on push days? In terms of sets and reps?
Thanks man, and not just “kinda,” I really do want all of those.
220lbs bench is insane for me I’d say. I am struggling with 90 lbs after months of benching.
I’m interested in 531, but how would that go hand in hand with PPLRPPR? Where can I talk to Jim Wendler?
If you are going to do 5/3/1, do it for all 4 lifts not just the bench. You should download one or all of Jim’s e-books and have a read before trying to set it up, but its very simple and easy to understand. You can get in touch with Jim directly on the “Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Coaching” forum here on this site.
I wasn’t trying to offend you,I just mean that you better focus on being bigger and stronger for the time being and not trying to do everything at once
531 is an upper lower split written by a great lifter,so if you decide to run it don’t try to fit it into PPL…,do it as it is meant to be runed
https://t-nation.com/c/jim-wendler-5-3-1-coaching
You can ask Jim any questions here,and most of your questions are probably already answered
Last with a solid program you’ll be at 220 in no time.There are amazing lifters that started at a 90 or 135 pounds bench.Where you start has nothing to do with where you can end up with
Thanks for the motivation. But when I first started lifting completely, my 1RM bench was 45 lbs and that one rep was painful to complete. But thats no excuse.
Alright, what I am going to do is try this:
In one week, Push twice.
Push 1: 3x5 bench weight A
Push 2: 5x5 bench weight A
Then increase weight by 5 lbs and do the same. How does this look?
Question: What/how much should be eaten prior? How long prior?
I looked into 5/3/1, but I figured I’d get really bored of it, and one thing that drives the workouts is the fun, which I find much more in PPL.
I could retort by saying you wont get bored of 5/3/1 because you can essentially do what ever assistance moves you enjoy, more or less.
It is also an extremely successful program. I myself used it to put almost 40 pounds on my bench in 6 months. I think adding 5 pounds a workout will not help you, you need to get better at handling the weights you have now. 5/3/1 adds 5-10 lbs a month, which are the end of the year is anywhere from 60-120 lbs. Wouldnt that be more amazing than what you’re doing? marathon not a sprint.
Also, did you just hear yourself, you started at 45 for one painful rep, and now you’re at 90lbs!! thats a huge step man, be proud of that progress. That is the entire point of doing this, to progress toward something every single day. Be better today than you were yesterday.
Thanks for saying that bro.
Concern: Frequency is one issue I am seeing with the 5/3/1.
Okay, just a question now: I’m sort of mixing in the ICG 5x5 progression scheme with this. Where Blaha said progress every other workout with 5 lbs.
5/3/1 is adding 5-10/month – so should I try (with a deload down to 40kg) to keep trying the linear progression (5 lbs every other workout)until I stall?
