7WP, Deload - summary
First, I finally posted the c19w3 summary. In retrospect, it was a pretty awesome week.
So, the deload week. Schedule was off, getting into the weight room was a mental challenge, energy was low, and the workouts left me drained despite being short. Pretty typical for a deload, really. That said, the weights moved reasonably well, I bounced back quickly once the workouts were done, and I hit my goals for the week, so really I can’t complain.
Now…
New Year, New Template. I really enjoyed 5/3/1 & Bodybuilding. I’ve already said it’s not so different from many of the other templates I’ve run, and I stand by that. It is different, however. Or it feels different, at least, and so I want to run it again.
But 6 weeks of PR sets are no good for me, so I’m going to run a mashed-up version that we’ll call “Frankenbuilding.” Basically I’ll run 5s PRO for the main work with 5/3/1 & Bodybuilding “supplemental” and assistance.
I’m going to hit a full 50 reps on the supplemental, but I’ll do that Malcom-X style. (Except for BB hack squat—the target there will remain 75 reps, but I’ll do Malcom-X for those as well.)
And I’m not doing a weighted vest walk every day—those’ll come on easy conditioning days, and instead I’ll do a more typical conditioning workout as the afternoon work on lifting days.
Frankenbuilding will be a 6-week, 2-cycle run, and each will be executed 3/5/1. Pretty simple, really, but hopefully effective.
Given that, then, my goals for Cycle 20, Week 1 are:
- Complete all 4 lifting workouts
- Complete 3 days of easy conditioning & direct calf work
- Hit my triceps with a high-rep movement every day
- Do 500 28-kg KB swings every day
- Dial in my nutrition
I’ve decided big triceps are super-cool. (They may be even cooler than big biceps, but please don’t tell @TrainForPain.) I’ve also decided my triceps are not big, and that means daily triceps work for the foreseeable future.
Speaking of arms: I’ve also decided to set aside the +1-rep a week goal on those Poundstone (empty BB) curls—I met the 2022 goal and I got out of that challenge everything I wanted, so that’s that.
The “shoulders & biceps” day gives me some direct biceps work already, but I should probably still do some kind of Poundstone-esque set weekly… But whether that’s just a 100+ set with an empty bar, or working toward 100+ with additional weight, or just some other mentally-challenging (biceps?) work remains to be seen…
I talked about force-feeding during the last two weeks of 5/3/1 & Bodybuilding, and how I’d like to avoid that by driving my hunger with higher-intensity work, so that’s my plan for Frankenbuilding—the daily weighted vest walks in Cycles 18 and 19 were fine, but they didn’t do much for my appetite.
I’ve been debating between daily front squat tabata workouts like I did in the early part of last year—that was surprisingly effective—and some kind of attempt at the 10K Swing Challenge while also lifting normally…
You can see I’ve decided on daily swings. I was doing about 1200 swings/day for that 12-day period before vacation in October, and though I was hungry, my appetite was not through the roof, so this plan could back-fire.
However, aside from a few lifts between rounds per the 10K Swing Challenge protocol, those swings were my ONLY work for the day during that period. I’m actually counting on the fact that I’ll be doing 500 swings ON TOP of my normal work each week to keep me hungry. Besides, if it doesn’t work out like I hope, I can always revisit daily FS tabatas—we all know THOSE will do the job!
I’m carrying the TMs from last week’s deload into Cycle 20:
Press - 160 lbs
Squat - 305 lbs
Bench - 275 lbs
Dead - 375 lbs
Those are up from Cycle 19, and they might be aggressive for 5s PRO, particularly given how the deload top sets felt last week. Like the daily swings, I can adjust if these don’t work out—but I’m gonna fight like hell to make ‘em work first.
And finally, here are my #t-ransformation2023 “before” shots on this first day of 2023:
Happy New Year, everybody! Let’s keep up the good work.
