What is on the menu tonight Sven?
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everything…LOL
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This!
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5/3/1 & Bodybuilding - c18w3d6
Friday - 02 December 2022
Workout: Legs & abs, 0520-0640 (80 minutes)
Indigo-3G - 0500
Surge - 0530-0636
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0537; End: 0635; Duration: 58 minutes
Squat - 150x5, 180x5, 215x5 | 245x5, 280x3, 310x2
BB hack squat - 135 lbs - 15, 15, 15, 15, 15
Leg curl - 75 lbs - 15, 15, 15, 15, 15
Leg extension - 100 lbs - 12, 12, 12, 12
Ab wheel - ramp (19) - 12, 12, 12, 8 + 4
Upright row - 55 lbs - 15, 15, 15, 15, 15
Semi-fasted: black coffee upon waking, then Indigo-3G and Surge as above.
I’m exhausted, my friends, which means I’m irrational, so I’m gonna try to just stick to the facts:
- I did not eat enough yesterday.
- I did not want to do this workout.
- 280 felt ridiculously heavy.
- 310 was even worse.
- I did not want to attempt the 3rd rep at 310.
- I did anyway.
- It crushed me.
- My TMs for deadlift and squat are too high.
- My TM for bench press might be too high.
- My TM for press seems about right.
Warm-up sets in 5 minutes, main work in 10 minutes, supplemental in 14 minutes. Assistance rounds were decent today, and the highlight is 3 rounds of 12 ab wheel rollouts without a rest-pause.
Easy conditioning to follow later, as you’d expect.
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Time for a little 5-forward-3-back, maybe?
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Actually, yes—that’s a great idea! I’m 99% sure JW abandoned that in favor of more frequent 7WP TM Test weeks in Forever, but this is an aspect of the 5/3/1 programming history I’ve never tried.
I was planning to cycle down for deadlift and squat (at least) as I move into the back half of this template next week, and I don’t want to burn a week on actual TM testing, so I’m gonna go for this option—it used to work and I’ve never tried it, so let’s do it!
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5/3/1 & Bodybuilding - c18w3d6
Friday - 02 December 2022
Workout: Easy conditioning, 1700-1755 (55 minutes)
1-pump burpees + 28-kg KB swings - 2x(25 + 25), 25-second rest between
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 30 minutes
Second day in a row (and maybe the 3rd or 4th day this week) that I’ve not eaten lunch. It’s not a matter of prep (like breakfast was) but literally having a chance to chew-and-swallow NOT in my colleagues virtual faces. No wonder I can’t lift for sh*t these days…
Yeah, so: Done. Let’s eat!
(@tlgains - Because I know you’re wondering, it’s breakfast for dinner tonight!)
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I don’t see supplemental work in 531 bodybuilding (although I don’t want to get overly caught up in nomenclature):
531 work: 3 warm up sets + 3 working sets
Assistance: the rest.
What do you mean to be the supplemental work vs the assistance?
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That label is entirely mine and entirely for my own mental processes.
I call the heavier sets that target the same major muscle group as the main work “supplemental,” so here:
- DB press “supplements” overhead press → shoulders
- BB row “supplements” deadlift → lower/upper back
- Weighted dip “supplements” bench → chest & tris
- BB hack squat “supplements” squat → lower body
I guess I do that because, as I understand it from Forever, I could choose pretty much the same collection of second movements for the supplemental work in many other 5/3/1 templates. I also run all of those sets immediately after the main work, and I try to keep them (way) under 20 minutes, just like I typically do in other 5/3/1 templates.
And I guess I call the rest “assistance” because it tends to be lighter DB or machine work and I run it in a circuit, just like I typically do in other 5/3/1 templates.
But really it matters absolutely not at all.
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That’s what I kinda figured. I’m geeky on the 531 terminology so just wanted to understand. Do you do the assistance as a circuit?
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Typically I do, yes. In this template and in most others.
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5/3/1 & Bodybuilding - c18w3d7
Saturday - 03 December 2022
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0725-0820 (55 minutes)
1-pump burpees + 28-kg KB swings - 2x(25 + 25), 25-second rest between
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 30 minutes
Fasted. Done. Let’s eat!
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5/3/1 & Bodybuilding - c18w3d7
Saturday - 03 December 2022
Workout: Calves, daily work, & extra conditioning, 1710-1800 (50 minutes)
Towel hop tabata - 4x40/10
3 rounds of:
a) DB gorilla rows - 2x30 lbs - L/R - 15, 15, 15
b) KB swings - 28 kg - 50, 50, 50
c) Single-leg calf raises - L/R - 35 lbs - 10, 8, 6
Towel hop tabata - 4x40/10
(Half) Cindy WOD - AMRAP, 10 minutes
a) 5 pull-ups
b) 10 push-ups
c) 15 air squats
Rounds: 8 + 0 reps
BOOM!!! Got it: 8 full rounds in 9:51, but I was so gassed I couldn’t even start the 9th. I don’t care, though, 'cause that was awesome!
Didn’t feel like doing Wednesday’s jump rope, so I technically swapped in tomorrow’s towel hop tabata instead. I’ll jump rope tomorrow.
I have BB curls yet—gotta get 148 unbroken—but I’m not sure this evening’s activities are gonna cooperate. We’ll just have to see what happens…
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Nice! Looks like my kind of workout.
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Dude always gets it right, but once again, this was just what I needed to hear:
“And despite all of this, the bell goes off and we go and give 100% of the 80% that we are. … When it comes to physical transformation, our only opponent is ourselves”
Not sure why it was so rough, and definitely sure I don’t care, but that sums up my week—I gave 100% of whatever I had.
Thanks, @T3hPwnisher!
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Always appreciated dude! You are absolutely living this out.
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5/3/1 & Bodybuilding - c18w3 - summary
Okay, not much to say that hasn’t already been said: It was a rough week, and though I’m not sure why it was rough, I really did give it all I had, so I’m just moving on.
I can’t ignore the fact that I missed too many reps, though, and, referring to my TMs for Cycle 18, I realize I said this at the start of this template:
Lesson learned: There’s no point to a TM Test if I’m just going to ignore it—my body tried to tell me weeks ago what was up, but I just didn’t listen. So I’m backing up my squat and deadlift TMs according to the old “5-forward-3-back” wisdom from 5/3/1 that @kdjohn mentioned. (I am leaving my bench TM the same, and I’m actually cycling my press TM forward and, as it turns out, I’m going to do the same for the press TM, too.)
I’m entering the back half of this template, which I’m still totally loving, and it’ll be a 3s week. My goals are:
- Complete all 4 lifting workouts
- Do a 30-minute weighted vest walk every day
- Hit my upper back with a high-rep movement every day
- Complete 3 days of hard conditioning & direct calf work
- Eat lunch every day
- Eat well
Sadly I have to call out eating lunch and make it a specific goal. I’m hoping that doing so will help me make sure I get it in, because I think at least part of last week’s trouble was insufficient food: I woke up feel kinda lean most mornings—not like at the end of my 12-day run of the 10K Swing Challenge, but a bit lean nonetheless—and while it’s possible I’m just shedding some fat from vacation and a few off-menu meals with my in-laws during the Thanksgiving holiday, I really think that’s an indication I’m just not getting enough sustenance.
My TMs for this cycle are:
Press - 160 lbs 155 lbs
Squat - 295 lbs
Dead - 365 lbs
Bench - 270 lbs
That’s +5 +0 on press, -30 on each of squat and deadlift, and +0 on bench. Together with more food, I think I’ll be on track to crush the next 3 weeks.
That’s the plan, anyway, so let’s get after it!
Edit: After Monday’s work, I’m going to stick with 155 lbs for the press TM. I’m all about challenging myself, but I can’t risk missing reps when size is the goal.
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5/3/1 & Bodybuilding - c19w1d1
Sunday - 04 December 2022
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0605-0700 (55 minutes)
1-pump burpees + 28-kg KB swings - 2x(25 + 25), 25-second rest between
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 30 minutes
Fasted.
Didn’t get to those curls—yesterday was spent almost entirely in the basement, including after dinner: putting back together is harder and more tedious than tearing apart, that’s for sure. I didn’t quit until about 8:30 or 9:00, and at that point, I was mentally and physically spent.
Today might look the same, but Mrs. SvenG travels for work this week, so I’ve got other things to attend to so I can give the kids and myself a fighting chance to survive while she’s gone! Point being: I can’t spend all day in the basement, so I’ll get those curls in today, come hell or high water.
And the rest of it, too, obviously. But for now—yeah, you’re right—done: Let’s eat!
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5/3/1 & Bodybuilding - c19w1d1
Sunday - 04 December 2022
Workout: Daily work, calves, & extra conditioning + BB curls, 1405-1500 + 1620-1635 (55 + 15 minutes)
Jump rope - 300+ reps
3 rounds of:
a) Single-leg calf raises - L/R - 35 lbs - 10, 8, 8
b) Wendler rows - 90 lbs - 20, 20, 35
c) 1-pump burpees + 30-inch box jumps - 10 + 10, 10 + 10, 10 + 10
Jump rope - 300+ reps
Pwn’s Tabearta - 8x20/10 - 65 lbs - 6x3, 2x2
BB curl - 148 (rep PR)
Well, at least my conditioning is coming back: 8 full rounds in the (Half) Cindy yesterday, and I got 6 3-rep rounds in Tabearta today—and I might’ve been able to get 7! (But I was glad I didn’t have to do that in order to hit today’s goal: I was absolutely dying just trying to get 2 clean reps in the last round.)
Finally knocked out last Wednesday’s jump rope reps, too, so all the swapping around is done and I’m back on track. All that’s left for today is 148 unbroken BB curls, which I’ll edit in once they’re done.
Edit: So that’s BB curls done: 8:43 today. I confess I was pausing at the top a bit today—nothing crazy, and not like in the past, but just enough to open my hands and try to get my grip and forearms to relax before blasting them again, maybe 1-2 seconds at most. Regardless, I am SO ready for this challenge to be over… Just a few more weeks, I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.
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