Workout 1 of “Get Big” (week 4)
Post workout weight : 184 lbs
Weighted Chinups – BWx6, BW+25x6, BW+25x6, BW+15x6, BW+15x6, BWx2
Decline BB Close grip bench press – WARMUP 135x5, 165x6 – WORK: 190x6, 195x6, 200x6, 200x6, 210x5
Deadlift – WARMUP 115x5, 165x6, 195x6, 215x6 – WORK: 235x6, 250x6, 260x6, 265x6, 270x5
Standing 1 leg calf raise w/DB – 40x8, 60x6, 60x7, 60x6, 40x8
Workout 2 Week 4 of “Get Big”
1 Arm Cable Row – WARMUP: 60x5, 70x5 – WORK: 80x10, 85x10, 85x10, 80x10 , 80x3
1 Arm Standing DB Press – WARMUP: 30x5 – WORK: 45x12, 50x10, 45x12, 50x7, 50x3
DB Bulgarian Split Squat – WORK 40x10, 40x10, 40x10, 40x10 (per arm)
1 Arm Standing Tri Ext – WARMUP 15x6 – WORK: 25x12, 30x10, 30x8, 25x10, 25x6, 25x3
Workout 3 Week 4 of “Get Big”
High Pull – WARMUP: 95x6 – WORK: 105x6 115x6, 120x6, 125x5, 130x3
Front Squat – WARMUP: 135x6 – WORK: 185x6, 195x6, 205x6, 205x5, 205x3
Incline DB Bench Press – WARMUP: 50x8, 65x5 – WORK: 75x6, 80x6, 80x6, 80x6, 85x7 (per arm)
Hammer Curl – WARMUP: 22.5x6 – WORK: 35x6, 40x6, 35x6, 40x5, 35x6, 35x4, 25x6 (per arm)
Mid-level face pull – 45x20, 50x20, 60x10
Cable standing chest press – 70x20, 80x20, 90x10 (per arm)
Dumbbell deadlift – 40x20, 50x20, 65x20 (per arm)
Lat pulldown* – 150x10, 135x10, 135x10
*due to exams, going home for christmas, and being unsure of my gym situation for those weeks im doing a variation of the phase 1 deload, in 2 workouts instead of 3, so i can start phase 2 sooner.
2nd deload workout
DB Standing shoulder press – 40x10, 45x10, 50x10 (per arm)
Side lunge – 60x10, 60x10
Seated face pull – 75x10, 80x10, 85x10
Pushups on swiss ball – 3 sets of 10
Cable Squat* – 10 reps, 12, reps, 15 reps
Get big Phase 2 Workout 1
Post workout weight: 185 lbs
Pullups – BW+10 x 3, BW+15 x2, BW+15 x3, BW+15 x3, BW+15 x3, BW+15 x2
Dips – BW+70 x3, BW+90 x3, BW+90 x3, BW+100 x3, BW+100 x2, BW+90 x3, BW+90 x2
Hack Squat* – 185x3, 205x3, 215x3, 215x3, 215x3
“Hack Slide” Machine** – 225x5, 225x5
1-leg standing calf raise – 65x3, 75x3, 80x3, 80x4, 80x4
Decline curls*** – 30x8, 30x8, 30x5 (per arm)
*Hack squat felt super weird. No matter how hard I tried I kept hitting my hams and ass, and was definitely arching my mid-back along the way. I think I’m gonna skip out on these until I can get someone who knows how to do them to show me how to do them properly.
**Used one of the hack squat type machines to see what the range of motion was supposed to feel like…
***Felt like doing some curls. Not prescribed but did them anyway.
Get Big Phase 2 W/O 2
Standing palm up 1 arm cable row – WARMUP: 60x6, 75x12 – WORK: 80x12, 80x 12, 85x10, 95x10
(right arm weaker)
1 Arm DB Bench press * – 60x12, 65x12, 65x10, 65x8
(right arm weaker)
Single leg deadlift – 20x12, 25x12, 25x10, 25x10 (per arm)
(left leg weaker)
Decline 1 arm tri extension – 25x10, 25x12, 25x10, 30x6, 25x7
Get Big Phase 2 W/O 3
Standing mid pully v-grip cable row – 165x12, 175x12, 185x10, 190x10
Standing DB Press – 45x12, 50x10, 45x11, 50x7
Squat – 185x12, 195x12, 205x10, 205x6
BB Curl – 65x10, 65x10, 65x10, 65x8, 65x6
So I havent posted here in a month and a half, I stopped “Get Big” because I knew I wouldnt be able to keep up with it for the next month (exam schedule, going home for the Christmas break, not knowing if I would have access to a gym at home, being one of the head organizers of a student conference in the beginning of january, running for president of the student government at my university… long stoy).
I decided I wanted to try a few different splits, and that when things stabilized with school, I would start 5/3/1. I also wanted to take a few weeks to give my spine a break so I didnt do any heavy squatting or deadlifting. After the conference I took a week to try all my PR’s for 5/3/1.
I started 5/3/1 a few weeks ago and so far I like it, I know its a long term program, so I will stick to the 5/3/1 framework of it for at least the next 6 months, though I might try different assistance work.
I kept a log of most of what I did in that time in Dec (I didnt keep track in Jan), and here it is:
Chest-Shoulder-Tri (@my regular gym at school)
Incline BB Bench Press – 135x3, 155x3, 175x3,175x3, 175x3, 170x3, 170x3, 175x3, 180x3, 185x2*, 180x2*
Flat DB Bench Press – 50x10, 55x10, 60x10, 65x10, 70x10, 75x6 (per arm)
Hammer Strength Iso Shoulder Press – 35x10, 40x10, 45x10 (per arm)
1 Arm overhead tri ext – 25x10, 25x10, 25x10, 22.5x10
1 Arm cable tri ext – 20x10, 25x10, 35x8, 40x8
Pec-deck – 165x12, 165x8, 165x8
Back-Bi (@my regular gym at school)
Post w/o weight: 187.7
Pullups – BWx3, BWx3, BW+7.5x3, BW+15x3, BW+15x3. BW+15x3, BW+15x3, BW+7.5x3, BW+7.5x3, BW+15x2, BW+15x2
BB Bent over Row – 95x7, 115x6, 135x5, 155x6, 165x6, 165x6
DB 1 Arm Bent over Row – 55x12, 60x12, 60x12, 60x12
Seated High Incline curl – 25x10, 25x10, 25x8, 25x7
Standing 1 Arm incline curl – 25x6, 25x6, 25x6
Face Pulls – 60x12, 60x12, 60x12, 60x12
Legs (at home)
Pistol Squats – 5 sets of 5
SLDL (with 30lb bag) – 4 sets of 10
Band resisted overhead squat – 3 sets of 10
Glute ham raise* – 3 sets of 8
Single leg Calf raise (with 30 lb bag) – 4 sets of 10, 1 set without bag
*Used a bosu for my knees, and had my feet held down, had to push up with my arms because my hamstrings aren’t that strong
Chest-Tri (@my regular gym at school)
BB Bench Press – 135x3, 155x3, 170x3, 175, 180x3, 185x3, 190x3, 195x3, 200x3, 205x3, 210x4*
Incline DB Bench Press – 50x10, 55x10, 60x10, 65x10, 65x10, 65x8 (per arm)
1 Arm decline tri ext – 25x8, 25x10, 25x10, 25x8
Close grip pressdown – 50x10, 55x10, 60x10, 65x10
Pec-deck – 150x12, 165x10, 165x8
*spotter caught it on the 4th rep
Back-Bi (commercial gym my dad goes to)
Pullups – BWx4, BWx4, BWx4, BWx4, BWx4, BWx3, BWx3
BB Bent over Row – 105x6, 125x6, 145x5, 155x6, 165x6, 175x3, 175x3, 175x3*
DB 1 Arm Bent over Row – 50x12, 55x12, 60x12, 65x12
Standing 1 Arm incline curl – 25x8, 25x8, 25x8, 25x6
Hammer curl – 30x5, 30x5, 30x5 (per arm)
BB Curl – 40x10, 40x10
Face Pulls (questionable stack) – 30x12, 35x12, 40x12, 35x12
*probably could have done 5 or 6 of 170, but didnt have any 2.5lb plates around, grip was main limiter here though.
Legs (commercial gym my dad goes to)
Leg press – 90x10, 180x10, 270x10, 360x10, 410x10
Dumbell deadlifts – 40x10, 50x10, 60x10, 65x10 (per arm)
1 leg calf raise – 50x8, 50x8, 50x8, 50x6, BWx8
Hamstring curl – 80x10, 90x10, 100x10, 110x8, 120x6
Arms (my buddy’s home gym)
3 supersets:
BB Curl* – 70x6, 80x6, 85x6, 85x6
Tricep dips off a chair – BWx12, BW+10x12, BW*10x12, BW+25x12
Hammer curl (1 arm at a time)** – 30x8, 30x8, 30x8, 30x8
1 arm overhead tri ext** --25x8, 25x8, 25x8, 25x8
Concentration curl * *-- 20x10, 20x10, 20x10
Close stance pushups – 10, 15, 13
Chest-Tri (commercial gym my dad goes to, not my regular gym)
BB Bench Press – 135x3, 160x3, 175x3, 185x3, 190x3, 185x3, 195x3, 200x3, 200x3, 205x3, 210x3, 215x3
Incline DB Bench Press – 50x10, 55x10, 60x10, 60x10, 60x10 (per arm)
1 Arm decline tri ext – 25x9, 25x9, 25x8, 25x8
Close grip pressdown (questionable stack) – 50x10, 55x10, 60x10, 65x10
Pec-deck – 60x12, 90x10, 80x8
Back-Bi (commercial gym my dad goes to)
Pullups – BWx3, BWx3, BW+10x3, BW+10x3, BW+15x3, BW+15x3, BW+15x3, BW+15x3, BW+10x1
BB Bent over Row – 100x6, 120x6, 140x6, 160x6, 165x6, 170x6, 170x6, 175x3
DB 1 Arm Bent over Row – 60x12, 60x12, 65x12, 65x12
Standing 1 Arm incline curl – 25x8, 25x8, 25x8, 25x11
Hammer curl – 30x5, 30x5, 30x6 (per arm)
Face Pulls (questionable stack) – 35x12, 45x12, 40x12, 40x12
When I tested my PR’s for the 5/3/1, by ramping with sets of 3, and stopping when I no longer felt comfortable adding more weight. So a few weeks ago my numbers were:
Bench – 215x3
OHP – 135x3
DL – 3x280
Squat --3x265
Im using an excel file I found on the forums here to log it and will be using this as well, the 1RM I used for the first cycle is (i.e 90% of the calculated 1RM):
Bench – 210
OHP – 130
DL – 270
Squat --250
My progress so far has been:
Military Press
Week3 9X115
Week2 8X120
Week3 7X125
Deadlift
Wk1 15x230
Wk2 15x245
Wk3 15x260
Bench
Wk1 10x180
wk2 10x190
Squat
wk1 12x215
wk2 15x225
I want to do “Boring But Big”, but I feel kindof fat right now (ballooned up to a soft 193 during the break) so I am doing stuff similar to BBB but lower reps and supersets. Mostly, I am doing things I am comfortable doing but know kick my ass.
I am also doing direct arm work. I would like to do calves too, but I hurt my ankle a few weeks ago so its a bit of a pain. I also have to get my eating back in check as well.
Anyway, I will be logging everything regularly again, the last two months just weren’t conducive to keeping a log or consistent training or eating.
So today was deadlift day and this is what I did, as I mentioned its a modification from boring but big, and feedback and criticism on it would be appreciated:
5/3/1 Cycle 1, Week 3 (5/3/1 week)
Deadlift – Warmup: 5x110, 5x135, 3x165 – Work: 5x205, 3x230, 15x260
Superset*:
Hanging Leg Raise – 6, 8, 8, 8
Deadlift – 8x185, 8x185, 8x185, 6x185
Calf raise on a leg press machine** – 15x40 lbs, 15x 60lbs, 12x80 lbs, 12x80lbs
Rowing machine for 10 minutes
Crunches – 15, 15, 15
Plank – 60s, 60s, 60s
5/3/1 Cycle 1, Week 3 (5/3/1 week)
Bench – Warmup: 5x85, 5x105, 3x130 – Work: 5x160, 3x180, 9x200
Superset 1:
DB Bench Press: 60x8, 65x8, 70x8, 75x8
BB Bent Over Row: 145x8, 155x8, 160x8, 160x8
Superset 2:
Dips: BW+25x10, BW+25x10, BW+25x10
1 Arm DB Row*: 75x8, 75x8, 75x10
Incline Curl*: 25x8, 25x9, 25x10
Hammer Curl: 30x6, 30x7, 30x8
5/3/1 Cycle 1, Week 3 (5/3/1 week)
Squat* – Warmup: 100x5, 125x5, 150x3
Work: 190x5, 215x3, 240x14
Downsets: 225x5, 185x6, 135x10
1 Leg Hamstring Curl Machinge – 40x8, 45x8, 50x8, 55x8 (left leg first)
Bulgarian Split Squat** – BWx10, 25x8, 35x8, 35x8
Weighted decine situps – 25x8, 35x8, 35x12
Calf raise on Leg Press Machine – 50x12, 80x12, 80x12, 90x10, 95x10
Back Extension – 25x10, 35x10, 35x10
it sucks, but at least with 5/3/1 I think I can progress my squat5/3/1 Cycle 1, Week 3 (5/3/1 week)
Squat* – Warmup: 100x5, 125x5, 150x3
Work: 190x5, 215x3, 240x14
Downsets: 225x5, 185x6, 135x10
1 Leg Hamstring Curl Machinge – 40x8, 45x8, 50x8, 55x8 (left leg first)
Bulgarian Split Squat** – BWx10, 25x8, 35x8, 35x8
Weighted decine situps – 25x8, 35x8, 35x12
Calf raise on Leg Press Machine – 50x12, 80x12, 80x12, 90x10, 95x10
Back Extension – 25x10, 35x10, 35x10
it sucks, but at least with 5/3/1 I think I can progress my squat5/3/1 Cycle 1, Week 4 (deload week)
Post workout weight 187
Military Press – Warmup: 55x5, 65x5, 80x3
Work: 80x5, 85x5, 95x5
Pullups – BWx3, BWx5, BWx9, BWx5
DB Military Press – 40x8, 45x8
Dips – BWx10,BWx10
Facepulls – 37.5x12, 42.5x12
DB Curl – 25x10
1 Arm Standing Tri Ext. – 25x10
5/3/1 Cycle 1, Week 4 (deload week)
Deadlift – Warmup: 115x5, 140x5, 170x3
Work: 170x5, 185x5, 190x5
Hanging Leg raises – 6, 6
1 leg standing calf raise w/DB – 35x6, 40x6
Crunches – 25
Plank – 60s
Didnt go to the gym today (off day, plus its closed for a stat holiday anyway). I figured it is time to start using fitday again, I put in some of the weight data I had in this log and found this interesting chart.
Fitday really helped me with losing weight last year, so it should come in handy now.
I guess I should use fit-day when I am bulking too, or at least use graphs like this as a guideline for the future for when I should stop bulking. In all fareness, Id say the fat portion in the last 5-10 pounds I gained weren’t from the bulking in particular, but because of stress and not being able to monitor/control food due to stress.
Anyway, its an interesting plot so I thought I would post it.
5/3/1 Cycle 1, Week 4 (deload week)
Bench – Warmup: 5x85, 5x105, 3x130
Work: 5x130, 5x140, 5x150
BB Bent Over Row: 135x8, 155x8
DB Bench Press: 65x8, 70x8
1 Arm DB Row*: 70x10,70x10
Dips: BWx10
Incline Curl: 25x8, 25x8
hopped on a bike after for 25 minutes
Deloading is boring…
5/3/1 Cycle 1, Week 4 (deload week)
Squat – Warmup: 100x5, 125x5, 150x3
Work: 150x5, 165x5, 175x5
1 Leg Hamstring Curl Machinge – 45x8, 45x8
Bulgarian Split Squat – BW + 25x8, BW+ 25x8
Weighted decine situps – 25x12, 25x12
Calf raise on Leg Press Machine – 50x12, 50x12
15 mins of stationary rowing
5/3/1 Cycle 2, Week 1 (3x5 week)
Post workout weight 185
Military Press – Warmup: 55x5, 70x5, 85x3 – Work: 105x5, 110x5, 115x10
Superset 1:
DB Military Press – x,x, 40x8, 40x8, 40x8, 40x8
Pullups – BWx3, BWx4, BWx10, BWx6, BWx5, BWx4 (10 reps was a PR)
Superset 2:
Bodyweight Dips – 12, 12, 11,x
Facepulls – 37.5x12, 37.5x12, 42.5x12, 42.5x12
1 Arm Standing Tri Ext.* – 25x8, 25x8, 25x8
Close grip cable pressdown – 50x10, 55x10, 60x10
Rec cycle doing intervals for 18 minutes
*left tricep still weaker (and not as much range) than right, i don’t know if this is only in overhead movements, i think it works harder during dips, which might also be a cause… dont know for sure
5/3/1 Cycle 2, Week 1 (3x5 week)
Deadlift – Warmup: 5x115, 5x140, 3x170 – Work: 5x210, 5x225, 17x240
Superset:
Hanging Leg Raise – 8, 8, 6, 8
Deadlift – 8x185, 8x185, 8x185, 8x185
Weighted decline situps – 35x10, 35x10, 35x12
Steady state cycling for 30 mins
Leg elevated Crunches – 17, 17, 20
Plank – 60s, 60s, 60s