Were I a lady, it would be full chub.
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BTW, is “beefy” good? This is what comes to mind:
Not sure that’s quite the look I’m going for… Could be worse, I suppose.
5/3/1 & Widowmakers - c6w3d6
Friday - 10 December 2021
Workout: Bench, 0750-0900 (70 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0812; End: 0858; Duration: 46 minutes
Bench - 115x5, 145x5, 170x5 | 195x3, 220x3, 245x6 (rep PR) | 195x20
Pull-up - BW - 13, 13, 12, 7
Deficit reverse lunge - L/R - 2x20 lbs - 25, 20, 10
Standing DB press - 2x35 lbs - 15, 15, 15
OA row - L/R - 45 - 20, 10
Cable crunch - 50 - 20
Band pushdown - red - 30
Assistance totals:
Push - 75 reps
Pull - 75 reps
Single-leg/core - 75 reps
Felt pretty horrible going in, still feeling pretty horrible on the other side of it. But I did it: I set my last rep PR of the cycle and cranked out 20 reps on the Widowmaker at 195 lbs.
Not sure I like those WM reps—I’m relying on all of you to tell me how cheat-y they were. They didn’t feel like it at the time, but seeing the video… Well, you be the judge.
Pull-ups were weak, but I don’t care today; I got 'em all in. Rest of it was fine, as per usual.
Daily work and Pwn’s The Last Castle later today.
9 Likes
You’re awesome at benching! Speedy reps
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Very nice lifts these past days! Also gotta agree with my man @Cyrrex , you’re looking jacked dude!
One thing confuses me: I thought you were in Scandinavia somewhere? Are you immune to the cold or just turning up the heater to full capacity, haha?
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@Bagsy - Thanks, I appreciate the compliment!
@Koestrizer - Thanks to you, too! As it happens, I’m in a region of the US that experiences all 4 seasons, even if we can swing between seasonal/unseasonal temperatures very quickly (as we are now, actually). But my tolerance to cold is high, I guess? No HVAC in the weight room (converted garage), but the insulated walls help!
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Well worth pausing the first second of the widowmaker video if you’re in any doubt of how jacked you look.
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Mate, if you paused it for more than a couple seconds…I mean, you should probably be asking for consent is all.
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Benching 195 x 20 is no joke. Really nice work!
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@dagill2, @bigjeff68 - Thanks, guys! Here, too, I appreciate the compliments.
@Cyrrex - I appreciate… wait a second.
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I am capable of real compliments. That widowmaker set was impressive as hell.
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Wasn’t fishing for one, BTW. I’m just not very witty… But thank you—I do appreciate it!
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Don’t worry about it mate, it is my job to be the perpetual smartass.
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5/3/1 & Widowmakers - c6w3d6
Friday - 10 December 2021
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1335-1430 (55 minutes)
4 rounds of:
a) 25 1-pump burpees
b) 25 BFPs - red
c) 25-second rest
Pwn’s The Last Castle - 10 rounds
a) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x77 lbs
b) 6 alternating DB snatches - L/R - 35 lbs
c) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x77 lbs
d) 10 KB swings - 24 kg
Time: 29:13
From start to finish, that was nothing but an act of sheer will.
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5/3/1 & Widowmakers - c6w3d7
Saturday - 11 December 2021
Workout: Easy conditioning + calves, 0650-0825 (90 minutes)
Weighted vest walk - 26 kg - 35 minutes
Jump rope tabata - 8x40/15 - 1 round
SL CR - L/R - 30x12, 35x10 | 40x8 + isohold: 26s
Bike@120 bpm - 15 minutes
BB curl - 80 + 13, 7
Fasted. I was feeling those curls in the tendons more than the biceps today; not sure what was different, but I don’t like it. Not going to say much else, because I’ve been in a foul mood about these workouts over the past 36 hours or so. Not sure why, but that’s the deal.
Pwn’s Tower of Babel and daily work later.
6 Likes
5/3/1 & Widowmakers - c6w3d7
Saturday - 11 December 2021
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1210-1255 (45 minutes)
7 rounds of:
a) 15 KB swings - 24 kg
b) 15 BFPs - red
c) 15-second rest
15 1-pump burpees
Pwn’s Tower of Babel - 95-lbs thrusters + 5 burpees
1, 2, …, 8, 9, 8, …, 2, 1
Time: 21:17
And so ends 5/3/1 & Widowmakers.
Came in hoping to just stumble across the finish line, but f*ck me if I didn’t set a PR on that Tower workout instead: beat my previous best by 1:29. Definitely not stumbling, my friends—feeling like I could crush the world right now!
I’ll probably have more to say about this cycle, and indeed the whole WM process from the early practice sets to yesterday’s final bench set, but I need a bit more separation from it first, so…
I’ll be back in the morning.
11 Likes
Bloody nice work going on in here mate. Nice to see the tower get some love to. Good to see your progress and good to hear the positive attitude.
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5/3/1 & Widowmakers - c6w3 - summary
TLDR: A kick-ass week and a kick-ass cycle. Lots to celebrate and lots more to be done!
So that was a tough week: started off high (crushed those squat sets!), attitude trending downward by week’s end (I still have a bad taste in my mouth from that bench WM), but came back strong with a time PR on Pwn’s Tower of Babel with 95-lbs thrusters.
I also hit rep PRs on all of the 1+ sets and—with the exception of the overhead press, which I’m not at all upset about—I got all 20 reps on the 75% FSL Widowmaker sets. It’s kinda funny, because you might think I’d be upset about the press, but I gave it my all, I know I gave it my all, and the video backs that up. I might actually be happiest about that WM, even though the squat set was somehow scarier to me.
Beyond that, I hit all of my other goals for the week. Food might have been a little carb-heavy, but pretty good carbs overall—Cheerios and granola, not cookies and cupcakes!
I thought I’d have more to say about the Widowmakers, but I don’t want to build it up and make it something it’s not. I can’t remember exactly when I decided to tackle this 5/3/1 & Widowmakers template, but it had to be 8 or 9 weeks ago, because I started practicing the WMs about 7 weeks ago, at the beginning of Cycle 5. In any case, I’m glad I did. They scared the crap out of me then and I didn’t know if I could muscle through. Now on the other side of it, they still scare the crap out of me but I know I can do it and I actually did do it.
The only other thing I’ll say is that I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished these past 7 weeks: I saw a problem (the Widowmakers), I came up with a plan of attack (the practice set progression), I executed that plan (the actual practice sets in Cycle 5), and I ended up prepared and ready for this anchor. Yes, I’ve still got work to do, but I’m proud of the work I’ve done.
This anchor was also the first cycle with PR sets since I committed to the 5/3/1 programming. Here’s where things stand:
I’m pumped about all of those and the progress they represent. Certainly I’m the strongest I’ve been in a long time, and quite possibly the strongest I ever been, period. And there’s no end in sight!
I’m also looking forward to the weeks and months ahead: I’ll be running Forever BBB for the next little while, and although I haven’t crunched the numbers yet, I’m pretty sure that as long as my TMs keep progressing, I’ll be entering territory where each cycle’s 1s week top sets will become 5-rep PRs.
I’m also pretty happy with how I’m looking these days. Here are some pictures from earlier this morning:
And here’s the progression since the end of June:
And finally, some flexed photos:
Because… anabolic lighting. And vascularity is cool. And my inner bodybuilder thinks it’s fun!
Anyway, I might not be as lean as I was back in September 2020 (leanest overall), or maybe not even as lean as back in March (leanest this year), but I’ve ditched the scale, I’ve stopped obsessing over food, I’m stronger than I was, I think I’m carrying more muscle, and I’m working harder than I’ve ever worked before—and I like it. All of it.
Most importantly, I am happy and my family is happy. That’s the part that matters.
So now I’m moving into another 7th Week Protocol, TM Testing to prep for Forever BBB. My goals for this week are:
- Complete all 4 lifting workouts to establish correct TMs
- Complete 3 days of easy conditioning
- Do 50 burpees + swings every day
- Continue to eat right
I’m also adding 2 kg to my weighted vest walks this week (so 28 kg total), and I will carry that forward into future easy conditioning workouts.
Finally, Tuesday marks 19 years of marriage to Mrs. SvenG and that’s pretty cool. We’re celebrating today, so I’ll be going way off menu for dinner, including an actual dessert.
So here’s to you, Mrs. SvenG! I love you and I’m looking forward to the next 19 years and beyond.
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7WP, TM Test - d1
Sunday - 12 December 2021
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0535-0625 (50 minutes)
25 1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings
Weighted vest walk - 28 kg - 35 minutes
25 1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings
Fasted. Yep, you guess it: I’m happy to be done for the day!
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Congrats on everything!!!
You’re crushing life
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