Deadlift (500 1RM) - 5 x 275/3 x 275/3 x 315/ /5 x 355/4 x 375/3 x 405/2 x 425/1 x 455
Bench - 10 x 135/3 x 155/185/ /5 x 205/4 x 215/3 x 230/2 x 245/1 x 255
Rack SGHP - 3 x 135/135/135/ /5 x 155/4 x 165/3 x 175/2 x 185/1 x 195
Wtd Pullup - 3 x BW/BW/BW/ /5 x 40/4 x 50/3 x 60/2 x 70/1 x 82.5
OHP - 10 x 65/3 x 85/95/ /5 x 105/4 x 110/3 x 115/2 x 125/1 x 130
Warm Up - 12:20
Total - 51:34
Assistance Circuit (3 rounds)(30-45 sec rest between moves, 1-2 min between rounds)
(Rnd 1 - 12-15 reps, Rnd 2 - 10-12, Rnd 3 - 8-10<goal is failure in each rep range)
Screw Curl - 1 - 40 x 15*/2 - 45 x 10/3 - 50 x 8
Decline Skull Crushers - 1 - 30 x 15*/2 - 40 x 12/3 - 45 x 8
Lateral Raise - 1 - 25 x 15*/2 - 30 x 12/3 - 35 x 10
Reverse EZ Curl - 1 - 60 x 15/2 - 70 x 10/3 - 75 x 8
20:17
Main circuits - no issues here aside from (once again) feeling like I’m moving at a good pace and then seeing time just disappear on the clock. Better not have any issues - this is the lightest day of the training week. Be kind of sad if on the lightest day I was missing reps or something.
Just to repeat myself, I am alternating deadlift with front squats (deadlift on the lighter percentage days), and am using my most recent deadlift 1RM of 500 to figure the percentages off of.
Assistance circuit went well, except with this being the first time I’ve done this one I was way too conservative. The weights for the first round were all too light with the exception of reverse curl, that one was right on the line - not exactly failure on that last rep but not too far off. The rest of the sets I felt like I chose better weights aside from lateral raises, I never did find failure on those. Kind of surprised myself too, don’t think I’ve ever done 35 x 10 on those before.
My bodyweight jumped 3-4 pounds in the last day which is odd. This is also my last training day before I travel, so we’ll see what I weight when I get home in a few days. That will be the real tell, weighing myself naked first thing in the morning. Haven’t been able to do that here, the scale is in the gym and someone might have an issue with that…
How do you recover from doing the 5 main lifts every training day? I know I’d have trouble recovering, but I’m still doing novice linear progression.
And unrelated, but I noticed you are a retired Navy SWCC. I’m a member over at the subreddit r/navyseals, where wannabes aspiring to different SOF units talk training and SOF selection prep. Our mods are former SEALs and several have done AMAs; any chance you might be interested in doing an AMA over there sometime?
Hard to say, but it works. I had no issue with Built For Bad when I would do that in the past either. I’ve also learned I can tolerate a lot of volume in training - on several of my post-mil deployments I would train every single day without taking any off days. Two days lifting, a cardio/conditioning day, two lifting days, cardio day, and repeat.
I’m not on reddit, I can probably count on my fingers how many times I’ve even read anything from there.
16 July 2018 (Monday)
BFBattle
3 RM Day (Bodyweight: 221)
Front Squat - 10 x 135/5 x 185/3 x 225/275/315/365
Bench - 10 x 135/5 x 185/3 x 225/245/265/285
(Skipped SGHP)
Weighted Pullup - 10 x BW/5 x 40/3 x 50/60/70/80
OHP - 10 x 65/5 x 85/3 x 105/115/135/150
Went to the gym in the morning, asked one of the trainers what the deadest time was, then came back then - not quite as dead as I would have liked, but managed to get the equipment I wanted. Used one rack for front squat, another for bench, and cleaned the bar from the ground for OHP. Bench felt a little wobbly (even before I got to the final set), and so did front squat until I realized I wasn’t bracing the way Alsruhe recommends (seemed to help in the last few weeks). Remembered and implemented for the last sets of front squat and OHP, and saw a difference.
Weighed myself this morning after a pretty sizeable dump (first decent one since I got home a few days ago - probably dropped three pounds right there) - 221. Trying to figure how to setup so I can do SGHP from the rack (pins at knee height). The gym used to have three racks in the main free weight area, then they moved one into the other room where the lifting platform is (place has a really odd layout, used to be a middle school and I can’t figure out what this end was in the school, cafeteria maybe). I hate benching from a standard bench, you have to do half a rep just to get set to start. I could do hang SGHP, but I like them better from the rack (feel like I get a better rep). DOn’t know, guess I’ll have to think on it some more.
Think that was due to having a higher threshold for physical pain due to BCT and the rest of the SWCC pipeline, or just adaptation over time? BFB looks like a good program to try once I finish up with my linear progression, but I don’t use supplements (just eat and sleep a shit ton), so I’m not sure how I’d hold up.
I’m not particularly strong yet (295# squat and 355# DL), should I keep solidifying my strength base (with other programs perhaps) before attempting BFB?
That is up to you. If you’re coming off of a program that emphasizes strength then it would be a good change of pace.
I’m planning to run it for 3-6 weeks and that will probably be split up into two phases of three weeks each. If all goes well (with my joint health) then I’ll go back to CT’s Guaranteed Simple Strength & Size program for 12 weeks.
You can always change your program… Is it wise… depends on a lot of things.
You are on a linear progression, if you are still progressing and enjoying the program, I would stick to it.
Have you stalled and/or resetted a lot of times, then a change to things could do the trick.
Either way I always recommend to do something you like and motivates you.
I’ve been doing the old BFB I could keep it up for about 4 weeks, this new approach seems way more legit for a long term approach.
Let’s see how long time Boatguy can stick to it
I think that’s kind of a chicken/egg argument - did I gain that threshold for pain and punishment from going through the pipeline (it was much shorter in my day, pre- BCT/CQT) or did I make it through the pipeline and career because I already had that threshold?
I am on TRT injections now, but the first few times I ran Built For Bad I was completely natural, and I haven’t used much in the way of supplements in a long time - just eat, lift, sleep. BFB (either of them) are absolutely doable for a natural lifter - if you notice, pretty much every thing Thibs puts on here is geared towards the ungeared lifter/athlete. BFBattle (I think) is a little more doable for most because he has you using your 3RM rather than your 1RM - this translates to about 93% of your 1RM, which is similar to Wendler and Smith’s ‘training max’ idea (90% of 1RM) without having to do any math.
Front Squat - (10 x 135)/3 x 185/225/275/ /5 x 295/4 x 315/3 x 330/2 x 345/1 x 365
Bench - 10 x 135/5 x 185/3 x 205/ /5 x 235/4 x 245/3 x 255/2 x 270/1 x 285
Rack SGHP - 3 x 135/135/155/ /5 x 165/4 x 175/3 x 185/2 x 195/1 x 205
Weighted Pullup - 10 x BW/5 x BW/3 x 40/ /5 x 50/4 x 60/3 x 70/2 x 80/1 x 90
OHP - 10 x 65/5 x 85/3 x 105/ /5 x 120/4 x 125/3 x 135/2 x 140/1 x 150
Total - 60:15
Today took a while, because I was moving back and forth between three rooms of the gym. I go at a time when there are the least possible amount of other customers (so as not to take up a bunch of equipment when others need it), but I still try to take up as minimal a foot print as possible. Front squat, SGHP, and OHP were in one room (portable stands for front squat, rack for the other two), bench in another room, and pullups in yet another.
Felt pretty good though, nice to be back in the a/c when lifting. You may notice I back slid on SGHP weight - that is because I had planned on doing those from the hang position and then figured out a way to do them from the rack (which I have mentioned before, I prefer anyway). My set up is SGHP inside the rack on the safety bars (set as close to knee height as the rack allows), and OHP on the hooks outside the rack. I already had lowered the weight (slightly) for hang position and written it in my book, so I just went with it. I’ll bump it back up later.
My current plan is to run this until I start classes, because then I won’t be able to hit the gym during this dead period. At that point I will most likely revert back to Juggernaut. So if I complete my plan, that will give me 6 weeks straight of running this. We’ll see what happens.
Two caveats: 1) I may drop the 3RM day and run the rest of BFBattle as a 4 day, this would free up my Saturday and allow me to get back on the mat again - have been wanting to get back into grappling, just haven’t pulled the trigger. 2) Every so often I get a wild hair up my ass and decide to run the Smolov base cycle (3 weeks of squatting 4 days per week - front squat for me). I am fighting that one off for now, but when I go back to Juggernaut I may run SMolov Jr (built off the base cycle with minor adjustments to the set/rep scheme) to try and boost my front squat.
Either of the BFB programs can be done at any strength level, but if you are still trying to strengthen then this might not be the time to do it. It’s been my experience with BFB that any strength gains are slow and incremental - very small jumps to be able to continue with the protocol. Having said that, doing a 4-6 week run of BFBattle might be a good shocker to your program, especially if (as mort said) your progress has been stalling a little.
How would you split the week? Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri?
This crossed my mind today as I was assessing my last two weeks of training. Last week I felt beat down by the end of Wednesday. I feel the same this week. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish the training week due to some extracurriculars and poor planning so I don’t know if I’ll bounce back.
If you’re skipping the 3RM day then I assume you’ll use steady progression week to week by adding a few pounds to your 3RM. Would you still do the days on order?
I feel best on Mondays so I might move the heavy day (Friday) to Monday. I’d follow that with Saturday’s session, Thursday would be Tuesday’s session, and Friday would be Wednesday’s session.
How about if you used the steady progression, then you’d have that 1RM weight to calculate the rest of the week. If you get the last 1 repper of the day you’re cleared to do it heavier the next week, if not, you’d have to back off to the weight the week before?
Huh, that’s a good analogy to make. Which of the two would you say it was?
I may indeed consider it. I definitely like the idea of sub-maximal lifts; Starting Strength’s max effort lifts are starting to take their toll. It’s kind of down to Smolov Jr (been itching to try it out for a while) or BFB once I hit 315 on the squat, but I suppose I could try a cycle of Smolov Jr and then try my hand at BFB. I’d just have to find the deadest time for my gym as well, we only have one power rack… though thankfully most of the clients are octogenarians, so I often have the rack to myself.
Hard to say. I think it’s a little of both. Guys who make it through the various SOF pipelines already have the necessary motivation to complete training, including the tolerance for pain (a lot of this is mindset). While some basic SOF skills are taught, these are also selection courses so they don’t exactly coach you on how to make it through. And once you have completed the pipeline, you now know you can tolerate a lot more than you might have realized before. So like I said, little column A, little column B.
And that’s the trick - the mindset. There were guys in way better shape than me who just flat out quit, and from what I’ve heard talking to guys in other communities it happens every where. It’s become a ‘known fact’ so to speak at BUD/S, when one of the stronger candidates quits, there is an avalanche of quitters behind them. “Shit, he’s in way better shape than me, if he’s quitting then there’s no way I’m gonna pass, I may as well quit too.” I’m not claiming to be any kind of hard-ass SOF god, but when I saw those guys quit and I was still standing I took it as a morale booster - that guy quit but I’m still here, motherfucker.
In my opinion, that’s all that separates SOF operators from ‘normal’ guys who are in really good shape but don’t think they could make it - when the operators had those doubts early on, they squashed them and drove on. The other guys talked themselves out of it.
Yep, that’s exactly the schedule I was thinking, same one I used for BFB in the past (I only ever did 4 days rather than 5 so I could get 1-2 running days in - I did more running back then).
As for progression, here’s what I was thinking: My ‘marker’ will be the days where ‘3RM’ shows up as a loading prescription - as long as I get the reps each time then I’ll add 5 lbs. If I don’t make the reps (or it’s a real grinder), then I’ll stay where I’m at.
I was divided on adding 5 lbs across the board, or adding to the 3RM and calculating off of that, so I made the changes on my spreadsheet (yes, I’m a geek - I made an excel spreadsheet with the proper formulas so all I have to do is change my 3RMs and it automatically generates the prescribed weights for each circuit of the week). Turns out, adding 5 pounds to the 3RM number somehow equals a 4-5 pound increase on each set. Odd. But anyway, that’s what I’ll do starting next week. As to order, I’ll keep it the same.
You said you feel beat down by Wednesday - that’s how I felt on DH. Today I felt great when I showed up, and carried that energy all the way through (fastest time yet - 44:06 including warm up).
