Fantastic mid point write up, the shifting schedule thing and the 3rd day running into 4th day squats were always something that were slightly awkward for me, I tend to cram a lot more training at the end of the week due to work schedule so often ended up with those days back to back and the recovery wasn’t quite there.
Definitely spot on with the no real light day, particularly as you get down the back half of the program, but for me that’s part of the appeal, I like working up to a weight by feel on the day, like if I’m feeling great why limit myself to X% because it’s a lighter day, I can keep the rep range and still keep pushing the weight up until I’m really seeing the edge, similar if I’m feeling awful and warming up with feels like trying to lift dark matter, no sweat. I know what’s not what your digging at though, I’m now just rambling, yea 5 reps and under, there’s no real lighter work, agreed.
I won’t ramble any further otherwise I’ll just dissect your entire post via aimless commentary. Great write up, great results 3-4lbs of quality mass in just over 2 months is fantastic, let’s hope the last half treats you as well and you’ll be smashing the T-ransformation!
Yes I totally agree, and its why I said I was indifferent rather than saying I didn’t like it. I didn’t follow his percentage guidelines for the top set stuff at all. If he said “work up in 5s on Pin Squats” I just worked up until I wouldn’t have been able to get another set. So maybe that was more on me and my interpretation? But like I said, those variations don’t take as much out of you.
Digging your run of LP! I already saw some pretty creative brutality going on in there!
3/8/25 - Daily Work
12 chins/42 pushups/66 BW squats in 5:00
3/9/25 - Daily Work
12 chins/42 pushups/66 BW squats in 5:00
3/9/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 6, Day 1 (Medium Deadlift)
Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) Trap Bar Dead - 154/198/242/275/303/314 x 3
A2) Ab Wheel - 6 sets of 5
Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) Trap Bar Dead - 220 x 4 x 10
B2) Dip Bar Crunches - 10 sets of 5
Assistance (10 minute time limit/all done with 88lb Axle):
C1) Bent Row x 7/10/10/10/11
C2) SLDL x 5/6/6/6/6
C3) Zercher Squat (first rep picked from floor) x 3/5/4/5/4
C4) Zercher march in place x 15 seconds x 5 sets
45:12
It’s official: Brian Alsruhe is no longer on my Christmas card list.
Joking aside, rare weekend lift as I had the day to myself and figured I’d get this knocked out rather than do it tomorrow at the crack of dawn. The trap bar is a fickle lover and was tilting forward or backward on me for a few sets when I didn’t grab it just right, but I still added weight to the top set and drop sets. The assistance work is from one of his deadlift youtube videos and was probably one of my favorite finishers I’ve done so far. The marching had my abs especially lit up.
Progression from Cycle 1: Strength 297 x 4 > 314 x 3, Volume 209 x 4 x 10 > 220 x 4 x 10
3/10/25 - Daily Work
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest
10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00
3/11/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 6, Day 2 (Light Press)
Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) BTN Press - 67/78/89/100/111 x 4, 117 x 3 (missed the 4th rep)
A2) Hanging Knee Crunches - 6 sets of 5
Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) BTN Press - 74 x 5 x 10
B2) V-Ups - 10 sets of 5
Assistance (10 minute time limit):
C1) Seated DB Press - 29’s x 9/10/9/7
C2) Wide Bar Dips - 10/9/9/7
C3) Lateral Raises - 10’s x 10/9/7/7
C4) TRX-style Face Pulls - 10/9/10/9
41:25
Pretty stupid to miss my first rep of the cycle on a “light” day. I should have taken a smaller jump on that last set after how slow the prior one had been, especially since I knew from this day last cycle that once you hit the wall on BTN Press, it’s a grind. Oh well, live and learn. Probably cosmic karma for bemoaning last week that there are no true light days on this program.
Volume work was speedy and the V-Ups were a good addition to the core rotation. Can really feel the whole abdominal wall working on them.
Have to give credit to @T3hPwnisher for that assistance giant set, I think he wrote about it on his blog or ebook. Definitely just blows up the shoulder girdle from all angles. And it plugs into Brian’s assistance time domains perfectly. A keeper for sure.
Progression from Cycle 1: Strength 111 x 5 > 117 x 3, Volume 67 x 5 x 10 > 74 x 5 x 10
3/11/25 - Daily Work
12 chins/42 pushups/66 BW squats in 5:00
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest
3/12/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 6, Day 3 (Heavy Events) Carries (10 minute EMOM):
A) Suitcase Carry - 128 x 100 ft x 10 (First 4 rounds were turn halfway/no drops, last 6 rounds were switch sides at 50ft)
Back (10 minute EMOM):
B1) Rope Chins - 4/4/3/4/3/4/3/3/3/3
B2) Dip Bar Crunches - 10 sets of 5
Loading (10 minute EMOM):
C) Sandbag One-Motion to Chest - 100 x 4 x 10
39:32
Still a little pissed at missing that rep yesterday. I feel like for how much I have my recovery and everything dialed in and since my BW is up a few pounds that I shouldn’t be scraping by for micro progress, but I guess that’s the nature of overhead pressing. Reaffirms my belief that my next program should be more volume/multi-set based. I’m just not a good low rep/limit lifter. My best results ever came from doing 5/3/1 and having my training max set to where I was getting 8-20 reps on my top set. I’ve always crashed and burned when trying to spend a ton of time grinding out heavy sets of 1-6 or so. I’m determined to see this through though.
Carries were solid. I actually loaded a bit more than I intended, but they were still doable. Very satisfied with how my conditioning has adapted to the workload. The difference between the carry day in week 1 and today is astounding.
Rope chins were a good move for the pullup block. Also thinking of getting a pair of the grenade ball style grips. I have fat grips too, but my pullup bar is already so thick that they are pretty redundant. I think I tried to slide them on and they didn’t even fit. Towels are an option as well. Between rotating hand position, grip implements, and adding weight, there will be plenty of ways to progress pullups besides just doing reps (since I already do so many in my daily work).
The sandbag work was one of those rare eureka moments. I don’t think I’ve ever tried one-motions before, so I did one rep as a warmup, and knew right away they were gonna be a winner. The only downside is now I have no excuse not to use the 150 exclusively for shouldering, hehehe.
3/12/25 - Daily Work
10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest
3/13/25 - Daily Work
10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest
@SvenG When you say 5/3/1 are you talking about the OG with just working up to a rep max, or did you use any of the million variations that are out there? My best results were just the OG with rep maxes; Squat/Press one day, Bench/Deadlift another, then a 3rd day for strongman events/hard conditioning, as well as it being the same time I first did the “squats/pushups/pullups everyday” experiment along with lots of rucking. I set incredible PRs on a weekly basis, but eventually the stress of hitting crazy stuff like a 20 rep squat PR on Monday followed with a 15 rep Deadlift PR on Thursday burned me out, and I’ve never been able to replicate it. In hindsight, I should have looked at what I was doing before that to set me up for success, and wouldn’t you know it, it was a lot of low-rep/multi-set work; lots of 5x5 and 5x3.
The latter—I’m not sure I’ve ever run OG 5/3/1: I started reading JW’s work with Forever, and though I eventually bought and devoured the original and Beyond, I just adopted his updated recommendations in Forever and never looked back.
It was probably the 10+ back-to-back cycles of 5/3/1 leading up to it moreso than any particular template I happened to run during that time, but I got my best (165x1) as a Joker during the anchor in a run of Perverator in May 2022, and then again in February 2023 during a deload week following my Frakenbuilding mash-up, which was 5s PRO for the main work with 5/3/1 & Bodybuilding "supplemental” and assistance.
In the end, all roads lead to Rome—if you work hard enough, consistently enough, and long enough—and that’s why I’m excited for you!
3/14/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 6, Day 4 (Medium Squat)
Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) Front Squat - 133/177/199/221/232 x 3, 243 x 2 (not a miss, just wasn’t sure the rep was there and didn’t want to risk dumping the bar on my patio)
A2) Ab Wheel - 6 sets of 5
Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) Front Squat - 166 x 4 x 10
B2) Hanging Knee Crunches - 10 sets of 3
Assistance (10 minute AMRAP): Got 5 rounds + 10 BW Squats & 10 Lunges
C1) BW Squat x 10
C2) Lunge x 10
C3) Jump Lunge x 10
C4) Jump Squat x 10
44:04
Man, I hate front squats. They make me better though. That is all.
Progression from Cycle 1: Strength 227 x 4 > 232 x 3 & 243 x 2, Volume 159 x 4 x 10 > 166 x 4 x 10
That was a good session. I finished the strength portion feeling like there was another set in me, which is probably how these sessions are supposed to go. It’s not sustainable (for me anyway) to hit the redline each session.
That was my own assistance work. Brian had heavy rows, but that didn’t seem smart since I am going to Rack Pull heavy tomorrow. I love the bodyweight work to just totally flush a bunch of blood through and catch a massive pump. Feels great for the joints.
On that note, dealing with some minor elbow pain in the left arm. Not sure if it’s from the daily work, spending so much time in low rep land, or from one of my movement variations, but it’s been popping up mostly on bench day. Something to monitor.
Progression from Cycle 1: Strength 194 x 3 > 201 x 2, Volume 155 x 3 x 10 > 162 x 3 x 10
Have to admit that I’m getting a little burnt out on this program. I started on 1/27 with a 3RM Heavy Deadlift day, so that’s dang near close to 2 months that I’ve spent working in this quite heavy/low-rep zone, and I’m just mentally exhausted and kind of regressing to be honest. BUT, on the other hand, I am absolutely crushing the volume work. I wrote on that first day that the “EMOM was the longest 10 minutes of my life”, but today I added 33lb to it for the exact same rep scheme, and while it was certainly a doozy, there was never a doubt I would get through it. So, I am left with some very thought-provoking questions about what kinds of training I respond best to and where I should focus my energies…
Progression from Cycle 1: Strength 309 x 3 > 331 x 2 > 331 x1 , Volume 243 x 3 x 10 > 265 x 3 x 10 > 276 > 3 x 10
3/18/25 - Daily Work
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest
10 chins/50 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00
3/19/25 - Daily Work
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest
10 chins/50 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00
Dwelling a little more on my post yesterday- I think one of the main things this program has done has opened my eyes to the relationship between main and supplemental work (to steal 5/3/1 terms), and how you have to choose which one you want to push. I’m making great progress on the volume sets, so it makes sense that I’m carrying a little fatigue and unable to really show it on the heavy top sets. I’m fairly confident that with a little deload I would be able to set some PRs, but I don’t really care about PRs in the gym, I just want to keep progressing. It also brings up the idea of “training vs testing” and all that jazz.
3/20/25 - Daily Work part 1
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest
3/20/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 7, Day 2 (Medium Press)
Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) Trap Bar Press - 66/88/105/116/123 x 2
A2) Hanging Knee Crunches - 5 sets of 5
Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) Trap Bar Press - 92 x 4 x 10
B2) V-Ups - 10 sets of 5
Assistance (10 minute time limit):
C1) DB Press - 22’s x 12/11/11/11/13
C2) DB Waiter Walks - 22’s x 50ish ft x 5 rounds
C3) TRX-style Face Pulls - 13/11/12/11/12
40:30
Took my own advice for once and treated the strength portion like an over-warmup rather than a rep max, and shut it down once the bar speed started to drop. Still pleased to have a little progress over last cycle there.
This will probably go down as my favorite day overall from the program. The trap bar press is an awesome movement that really should be in the repertoire of anyone who has access to the implement, and this was far and away my favorite assistance finisher of the ebook.
Satisfied that I’ve been able to carry the same volume schemes through the program so far when Brian gives the option to drop the reps there if need be. I’d like to keep that up to the very end. I’m not sure if I’m going to bring these exact movements into RPM (probably not if I’m being honest) but its good to have this baseline knowledge of what I can reasonably do for the 10 sets of 3-5 reps EMOMs.
Speaking of RPM, may do a little write-up soon on how I plan to setup my template. I’ve got most of my movements picked out already. Want to get this off my brain because the day after I finish this program, I get on a plane to Arizona and I’d rather not think about training at all while I vacation. Then I can come home and jump right in.
Progression from Cycle 1: Strength 110 x 4 > 121 x 3 > 123 x 2, Volume 77 x 4 x 10 > 88 x 4 x 10 > 92 x 4 x 10
3/20/25 - Daily Work part 2
10 chins/50 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00
3/21/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 7, Day 3 (Light Events) Carries (10 minute EMOM):
A) Farmers - 77 per hand x 150 ft (2 turn course/no drops) x 10
Back (10 minute EMOM):
B1) Wide Grip Pullups - 10 sets of 3
B2) Dip Bar Crunches - 10 sets of 5
Loading (10 minute EMOM):
C) Sandbag to Shoulder - 150 x 1 x 10 (alt. sides each set)
40:30
In the words of Simo, that was proper hard work.
150ft farmers EMOM is just brutal. Barely any rest at all, just run the course, set them down, chalk back up, and go again.
Pleased on the pullup block. Last wave I was only good for doubles across so this is a legit improvement. I think the daily work is starting to pay dividends as far as my BW movements are concerned. And apparently my grip endurance is improving as well.
Thus begins the journey of mastering the 150lb bag. Took a few sets to get the technique right in terms of how to position the bag on the ground and where to hug it in my lap (low low low). I think there is definite room to add some reps here next go round.
@alex_uk how were you feeling at this stage of the program? I think I had a bit of crisis a few weeks ago feeling like I bit off more than I could chew, but now that I’ve kinda figured out how to balance the intensity and volume I’m feeling like I might actually run this again.
Interesting question, I think from memory I enjoyed the program more the more it went on, but I really prefer heavier work at lower reps. I have about zero self awareness in regard to fatigue the only time I noticed real fatigue was after doing 90kg per hand farmers EMOM, that was absolutely killer the next day, felt like I’d been hit by a bus.
The other factor was I think I did 3-4 sessions per week, very rarely 5, so I probably was already in a well rested state 90% of the time anyway.
Thanks @alex_uk. It’s funny you mention the farmers because after those 150ft EMOMs Friday I was totally wiped out all weekend. Once again, that day looks so simple on paper but continues to be the real killer of this program.
3/21/25 - Daily Work & Easy Conditioning
10 chins/50 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest
Changing how I label things slightly. The BW work is the “daily work” and the vest walk is the “easy conditioning”. Just trust me, it makes sense in my mind.
3/22/25 - Daily Work
60 pushups/75 BW squats in 5:00
Weather kept me from the pullup bar here.
3/23/25 - Daily Work
10 chins/50 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00
3/24/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 7, Day 5 (Medium Bench)
Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) Wide Bench - 89 x 5, 111 x 4, 133 x 3, 155/168/179 x 2
A2) Lying Leg Raises - 6 sets of 5
Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) Wide Bench - 135 x 4 x 10
B2) Lying Leg Raises - 10 sets of 5
Taking the sessions slightly out of order. This morning called for Pin Squats and Bulgarians, but I wasn’t quite in the mood for that (and really, who ever is?). Much easier to get excited for bench and arms. Will knock out the squats tomorrow when I don’t have to wake up early to get to the office in time.
I liked Wide Bench but probably won’t use it again. Just felt a little “off” for the unrack and lockout, for lack of a better term. I think dumbbells are probably a better way to hit this range of motion.
I’ve used this kind of assistance work a couple times on this program when I didn’t feel like setting up another barbell or dumbbell, and it kicks ass every time. I got the idea for a lot of these movements from Jamie Lewis’ series about how inmates set up their bodyweight workouts. My “TRX” is just a rope thrown over my power tower.
Progression from Cycle 1: Strength 161 x 4 > 177 x 3 > 179 x 2, Volume 111 x 4 x 10 > 133 x 4 x 10 > 135 x 4 x 10
Haha, farmers - like deadlifts but with walking! Fatigue city.
Really looking forward to your end of program review on this. It’s awesome to me to see your focus on this, because you’ve ended up really seeing that volume progress, I can’t even remember what the volume progress was like on my run, I was just top end focused. Same program, different people see things a different way, but you’re still seeing great results. All that said, this:
Was the clincher for me running this program. It’s such a stripped back program but it works.
@simo74 - but apart from that lunatic no one! Changing sessions to fit life happened to me most weeks!
Already have some thoughts jotted down in my drafts folder! My top takeaway, honestly, was I just wasn’t working as hard before as I thought as I was. It’s a good thing the sessions are brief like you highlighted, because I don’t think I could sustain this pace and intensity for an hour or more.
Also, it’s funny you bring up your dichotomy between top end and volume as well, because that’s another one of my lessons learned. You either have to push one or the other. I pushed the volume hard, so I’m not too worried if the top end strength isn’t there right now. I just Rack Pulled 10x3 @ 85% for 10 minutes, I’m a little tired right now. But I can see how you could let the volume work slide to free up some energy for the rep maxes. Balance!
