Back at it after a two week break traveling the world for work. Took the weights down and reworked my program after re-re-reading Beyond 5/3/1 and some observations from mortdk.
10 noon Fish oil / Vitamin D / Curcumin / Selenium
12 noon Berberine / Curcumin
2 pm Fish oil / Vitamin C
9 pm Fish oil / Magnesium
Plus typically one protein shake 150g cal 10g carb 25g casein before noon and one after with 15g BCAA (split between the two shakes because nothing tastes worse than unflavored BCAAs).
Notes: I’ve stopped doing cardio at the end of the session on Tuesday and Thursdays to save time. Still doing the 30 min treadmill routine Monday/Squats and Friday/Deadlift. Making it up with an 8-minute threshold training routine before and a 15-minute HICT routine after jiu-jitsu training Tue & Thu evenings.
Bench/Tuesday
Work (supersetted with DB rows 20 x 8 x 3)
95 x 5
110 x 5
125 x 9
Joker (supersetted with DB rows 20 x 8 x 3)
140 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 3
FSL
95 x 8 x 3
Horizontal row Pyramid
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10
80 x 10
70 x 10
OHP / Thursday
Work (supersetted with DB hammer curls 20 x 8 x 3)
60 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 9
Joker (supersetted with DB hammer curls 20 x 8 x 3)
90 x 5
100 x 5
105 x 3
FSL
60 x 8 x 3
Horizontal Row Pyramid (performed btw work sets and Joker sets)
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10
80 x 10
70 x 10
Looking at my notes, I’m about at 85% of my 1RM equivalents as of mid-February when I had to take a few weeks away from training for work travel. At this pace, I should be back to 100% or more by the end of the month (which is 2/3 of the way through my next cycle)
Work (supersetted with DB rows 20 x 8 x 3)
150 x 5
175 x 5
195 x 9
Joker (supersetted with DB rows 20 x 8 x 3)
220 x 5
245 x 3
FSL
150 x 8 x 3
Lat pulldowns
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10
80 x 10
70 x 10
Latest photo update with just under two months to go in the T-nation T-ransformation2018 Challenge. I’m about 146 lbs in this picture, 14-15% BF estimated.
Trying to improve sleep habits and tighten up on diet for the last two months. Also intensifying cardio (less LSD, more HICT). Adding accessory lifts (vertical pulls/hammer curls/horizontal pulls/DB rows) to bring on a bit of upper body hypertrophy for summer.
Beginning Week 2 of Cycle 4: Very happy about today’s workout. The triple at 235 today felt significantly less brutal than last Monday’s triple at 215. Also too, a quick look at my notes from my workouts over the past two years tells me that this is first time I’ve squatted over 215. It felt a little Brave New World putting that second plate on the bar this afternoon - now I know why.
I’m giving a little credit for my squat gains to the lightweight jump squats I’ve been doing as part of my post-BJJ circuit training Tuesday and Thursday nights. One thing I liked about squatting heavy twice a week last year was how dialed in I felt technically (key for a neuro type 3!). Doing a little bit of extra squatting after jiujitsu - even if it’s 5x5 just-above-bar-weight jump squats - seems to be helping me rise to the challenge of heavy squatting only once a week.
Squats/Work (supersetted with DB hammer curls 20 x 8 x 3)
140 x 5
160 x 5
180 x 7
Lat pulldowns
50 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10
80 x 10
70 x 10
Squats/Joker (supersetted with DB hammer curls 20 x 8 x 3)
205 x 3
215 x 3
235 x 3
Squats/FSL
140 x 8 x 3
LSD cardio/treadmill
9.0 calories/minute for 30 minutes
Life on the mats back in balance with life in the gym. The saying “drillers make killers” in jiu jitsu could not be truer.
As for weights, new PRs in OHP (110 x 3) and deadlift (265 x 3). Never before pressed that much weight over my head nor pulled that much weight from the floor. Nice way to end the weightlifting week. Woke up today at 145.0 on the dot. All good going into the weekend and looking forward to a rare Saturday session on the mats tomorrow.
OHP/Thursday
Work (supersetted with DB hammer curls 20 x 8 x 3)
65 x 3
75 x 3
85 x 7
Diverging Low Row
50 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10
80 x 10
70 x 70
OHP/Joker (supersetted with hammer DB curls 20 x 8 x 3)
95 x 3
100 x 3
110 x 3
OHP/FSL
65 x 8 x 3
Friday/Deadlifts
Work (supersetted with DB rows 20 x 8 x 3)
160 x 3
185 x 3
210 x 7
Lat pulldown
50 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10
80 x 10
70 x 10
Deadlift/Joker (supersetted with DB rows 20 x 8 x 3)
235 x 3
245 x 3
265 x 3