Left elbow is shot. Work is seriously wearing on me. Working a ton of overtime and weekends, in turn my ability to get in the zone after work is suffering pretty badly. Definitely in need of some rest. Mentally not there today to push anything. Hit 120x5, I think I’d be able to get a couple more in a less fatigued state, I’m not completely disappointed, but I wish I could’ve capitalized a bit more on this anchor cycle so far.
You and me both man. I’m in the middle of a pretty serious construction project at home, and I’m basically worthless now. I’m cutting out all but the first set from the pulling movements and curls of the last cycle of GMM, then after GMM ends this weeks I don’t plan to do a curl for a long time.
120x5 is great. I’m a ways behind you but maybe I’ll catch up LOL. Have you given more thought to Primer 4, and if so, what exercises would you choose to start? Would you add any assistance movements?
It seems like a lot of people I’m around in person and people I’ve acquainted myself with on this forum are slumping lately man. Head up, lay off the throttle where you can so that life is manageable, and keep on keepin’ on.
Again, not terribly pissed about lack of reps, but whatever. I have already chalked this week up as a partial loss, but it is a good frame of reference for future PR cycles.
I’m down another couple lbs. Weighed 210 before bed last night, so prob 206-208 in the morning. Not good.
@garagerocker13 yeah man, life is exhausting. You’re right tho, sometimes easing off the gas is what needs to happen. Sucks that it has to be dialing back lifting, but it is what it is. Today was the first day ever in my life I had considered leaving my job due to quality of life suffering (and no available correction to the issues). Without getting too deep into it, lots of work, no one to actually do it.
@jdm135 yeah 120x5 is ok. You’ll definitely catch up to me. Not a doubt in my.mind. My pressing has been stalled for a year lol.
I do plan on giving Primer a go, likely it’ll be back squat, deadlift, incline press, db press, pullups (edit: and zercher squats, aka the greatest lift of all time) and that’s about as far as I’ve gotten with my plans at this point. I’d like to add a little assistance for shoulders and maybe some tricep stuff but I’ll have to feel that out after a couple of the more intense days. Not a bad idea cutting out curling, like I said, no way it’ll hurt you by leaving it out for a little.
How do you find the amrap deadlifts affect your recovery on the following days training? Just been hitting 5/3/5 as my top sets since I’m doing a lot of extra lower work and rows etc
I personally don’t feel as though it effects me too much as far as soreness or anything like that. I get a brain fog the day after, feeling tired and a little lethargic for a while but nothing unmanageable (that may also just be due to life…). If anything it makes it hard for me to “get in the zone”. It’s only 3 weeks of PR sets and then a deload so it’s a bit easier to push through with an end in sight.
Squats have been 4 days after deadlift so I feel like that’s more than enough time for my hams to recover. I don’t even really get sore or DOMS from deadlifting, maybe a bit In my traps and erectors, but nothing debilitating.
At one point I set up my training like you for a few months, doing straight 5’s pro. Took out a lot of the guesswork and made the top sets so much easier to mentally prepare for. I liked training that way, especially for pushing supplemental and assistance like you are.
Damn man that sucks you guys are so understaffed. I had a lot pile up on me too, but I’m guessing not to the level that you did. Definitely a good time to back lifting off a bit after this cycle and recover.
Thanks dude, yeah it sucks but I’m hoping only temporarily. The pandemic really screwed with a lot of people and I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. Just gotta roll with it and take it a day at a time.
Yeah I read that in your log, hope everything is good man. Like you said, a lot of people are feeling it these days. Wild world we live in right now.
Definitely. Had a good talk with my wife last night on why my mental state is bothering me and we have some plans to help that. I told her I need her to push me to do better than just getting by - motivation has been my issue lately. I love that the woman accepts me as I am, but I told her sometimes I need a minor boot in the ass to keep me honest.
Yeah motivation has a huge impact on my well-being as well. Good for you to reach out and ask for a bit of help from her, even if sometimes you might not want that boot in the ass, it may be necessary.
I try and self motivate as much as possible… I basically am alone 3/4 of the day, at work and working out, so when I catch myself slipping, I have to tell myself to be better. It’s easy to fall into a spiral of being ok with less than your best… But striving to be the best you can will always make you feel accomplished. Just gotta push through man.
@dagill2 didn’t want to block up her log, but yeah I looked quickly at MMS on t nation and I was thoroughly confused. Is the e book worth it to have things explained a bit better?
If you intend to do the program, I would say the ebook is a must. I did a hybrid of the two versions because I know 531 works as a basic strength program. I’ll sum it up quickly for you:
A Mass Made Simple workout looks like this:
A - Basic Strength work:
2 basic, low rep strength moves.
Either:
Dan John’s version which uses Bench Press and single armed press with some light correctives for balance.
Or:
531 Bench/Front Squat and Deadlift/Press on alternating workouts.
B - Complexes:
3 - 5 sets of 3 - 5 reps on 6 (?) exercises without putting the bar down. This is laid out clearly in the e-book
C - High rep squats:
This is the killer part of the program, you start with something like 2 x 25 at a really light weight and slowly increase this to a single set of 50 at roughly bodyweight over the course of the program. The progression is again laid out sensibly in the ebook.
At some point I may try it. I feel as though it’s a far departure from what I have been doing and am used to in my short stint lifting… and learning all the new movements…
It also seems pretty centered around the squat, which is definitely awesome, but I’ve been pushing mine pretty damn hard the past couple months, so I may dial back on it a bit and concentrate a bit more on deadlift- also, I am far from lean, so a heavy bulk is not in my plan right now. Regardless- your recommendation has been heard and I will definitely run this once I feel like it would be necessary, likely when my deadlift bench and ohp meet up with you squat strength.
@garagerocker13 pervertor it is, moderate TMs, going to eat to maintain or slowly gain at first, then add in cals as necessary. Does that sound about right?
Had to put off squats on Saturday and Sunday due to service calls all weekend. Eating has been trash and so has sleep… Not in a very great headspace right now, but I decided to go for a PR today.
Got it, and also unracked and walked out 360lb, but decided against it. Too many bad things happening right now and it fucked with my brain so I reracked it.
Might just screw around with some BB stuff this week and get back to 531 next week, we’ll see. Definitely need to fix diet and sleep before I do anything though.
Did some incline bb presses, rear delt flys and lateral raises. Got a little bit of a pump.
Eating was ok today. Had a bacon egg and cheese, and a sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwich (2 fried eggs per) for breakfast, 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs with rotini for lunch, and having ground turkey chili for dinner. We had to throw out half of our fridge yesterday due to a power outage overnight, so it’s been slim pickings today. Going to go grocery shopping tomorrow.
Have you made a plan for your next program? More 5/3/1 or ?
I’ve been busy and not thought about it myself. If I can’t decide before Monday’s workout, I’ll default to 5/3/1 BBB doing only press, squat, bench. Rows, deadlifts, any meaningful pulling is out for 2 weeks minimum.
Hey man, yeah I am planning on doing the pervertor template per @garagerocker13 s recommendation. I’m at a cross roads about my TMs, not too sure where to start bench (or completely switch to incline press, which I will likely end up doing) and ohp.
I’m going to keep rolling with my DL TM, as I want to hit 405 for reps before my 31st b day in May. Squats are going to take a little bit of a back seat this go around, as I’m happy with my progress so far, and I’d be cool with them progressing more slowly.
Diet has been pretty spot on this week, so I just have to keep it up. Sleep is still less than optimal, but I’m doing the best I can.
One thing I really want to start focusing on is a bit more of the aesthetics. I don’t look like I lift, got a big ol butt and midsection and pretty wiry everywhere else. I’d like to start looking like I have spent 2.5 years lifting. Never focused on that before, so it’s going to be an interesting trial and error as far as diet is concerned. Not sure where to start on that though, so I’ll just stick to where I’m at for now until I can get a good baseline with the new template.
I personally wasn’t ever a fan of bbb, but to each their own. Any particular reason you’re gravitating toward that template? Or are you planning on the 3 month challenge?
Edit: sorry for the long winded response, it turned from an answer to brain vomit.
I like the simplicity of literally a single exercise per session. Plus, since I have to get my elbow healed and have decided not to pull for a couple weeks, programs with more variety are going to include rowing and pulling.
I don’t think I want 3 months of it though. Just a few weeks while I rest my elbow. But again, it’s not so much that I want to do 5/3/1, as that I know it works and is better than me doing “what I feel like” as I have this week.
