Great work man. Keep going.
Front squat
75% 105 1 5
85% 120 1 3
95% 132.5 1 1+ (12? reps)
75% 105 5 5
Bench
75% 112.5 1 5
85% 127.5 1 3
95% 142.5 1 1+ (5 reps)
75% 115. 5 5
Bad workout…
I lost track of my front squat…I think it was 12. I went cycling yesterday and I wonder if that effected performance but it felt heavy and I felt winded. I also felt a bit off during warmup reps and had to rush to the washroom a bit before AMRAP set. Wonder if I got cold from that delay and maybe that effected it too.
Continuing to do back squats of FSL, but plan to switch to back squats next cycle. Might take next week as a semi-deload as use it to determine my rep max for squat. Curious to see on Sunday if my front squat is bad again.
I wrote the notes above before benching. But I did poorly there too. Really off today. I didn’t do assistance workout due to feeling off and running late and needing to get back to work (I usually workout during lunch).
Bad days happen, don’t overthink it you hit over the prescribed reps it’s a win.
2 Likes
Is your back squat stronger than your front squat? If it is, don’t worry about recalculating a max. Roll with a light training max and get comfortable with the movement before the weight gets heavy. By the time you’re lifting weights that make you nervous, your form will be good enough that it’s automatic.
Just keep a mental note of activities you do Friday and Saturday. If your eating is off and you’re really active, you might have another rough day. If you eat well and keep activity close to normal, you’ll kick ass.
One modification I want to make to the program is rotate between Bench Press and Military Press, so one week I bench twice and press once, then following week I press twice and bench once and just rotate back and force vs always benching twice and pressing once. I would still keep squatting to twice a week and deadlifting to once a week though.
Pretty sure my back squat is better than my front squat, but I’ll test it out on Sunday.
Deadlifts
75% 185 1 5
85% 205 1 3
95% 232.5 1 1+ (15 reps)
75% 185 5 5
Press
75% 92.5 1 5
85% 105 1 3
95% 117.5 1 1+ (7 reps)
75% 92.5 5 5
Assistance
Incline BB bench: 87.5 lbs - 1x10,5x8
Plate high pull: 45 lbs - 2x25,1x15
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I think this is a great idea, and that everyone should Press at least as often as they Bench.
As always, good work in here man. 7 reps on your 1+ week for Press is no joke.
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In the past I highest I ever got on Press was 115x5. That was doing the 5/3/1 for Hardgainers a few years ago, but I plateaued there. Press is my favourite of the big 4, so I wouldn’t mind doing it more too.
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Bench
75% 112.5 1 5
85% 127.5 1 3
95% 142.5 1 1+ (7 reps)
75% 112.5 5 5
Front squat
75% 105 1 5
85% 120 1 3
95% 132.5 1 1+ (15 reps)
Back squat: 115 5 5
Assistance
Skull crushers: ~50 lbs - 1x10, 5x8
Preacher curls: ~37.5 lbs - 3x20
So-so ROM on front squat, but I’m switching to back squat next week. I believe it was parallel but like to go a bit below.
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Start of cycle 6
Back squat
65% 97.5 1 5
75% 112.5 1 5
85% 127.5 1 5+ (20 reps)
65% 97.5 5 5
Press
65% 82.5 1 5
75% 95 1 5
85% 107.5 1 5+ (10 reps)
65% 82.5 5 5
Assistance work:
Dips (body weight): 20,19,15,15,15
Plate high pull: 45 lbs - 2x25,1x15
Switching from front to back squat. Also experimenting with rotating between press and bench. So this week I’ll be pressing twice and benching once.
I actually started doing my bench lifts for press by accident. So not accurate of what I lifted but did do press lifts 5+ and onwards correctly.
Deadlifts
65% 165 1 5
75% 192.5 1 5
85% 217.5 1 5+ (17 reps)
65% 165 5 5
Bench
65% 100 1 5
75% 117.5 1 5
85% 132.5 1 5+ (12 reps)
65% 100 5 5
Assistance
Pushups: 35,25,20 (75 sec rest)
Preacher curls: ~37.5 lbs - 25,20,20 (1 min rest)
Happy with ROM on bench. I think in the past when I benched 132.5 I didn’t lower fully to chest on two reps, but did full ROM this time.
My physique and my upper body strength would be in a much better place if I’d listened to this advice earlier.
Press
65% 82.5 1 5
75% 95 1 5
85% 107.5 1 5+ (10 reps)
65% 82.5 5 5
Back squat
65% 97.5 1 5
75% 112.5 1 5
85% 127.5 1 5+ (20 reps)
65% 97.5 5 5
Assistance
Skull crushers: ~50 lbs - 6x10
Plate high pull: 45 lbs - 30,25,20
Back squat
70% 105 1 3
80% 120 1 3
90% 135 1 3+ (18 reps)
70% 105 5 5
Bench
70% 107.5 1 3
80% 125 1 3
90% 140 1 3+ (8 reps)
70% 107.5 5 5
Assistance work:
Dips (body weight): 20,20,16,15,15
Hey man I haven’t seen any back work in here for awhile, any reason you’ve dropped it? It’s probably the most important assistance work.
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I’ve just been running short on time since I workout at lunch and have been picking quicker assistance workouts (at least for 2nd workout). Today I didn’t even have time for secondary workout, but I will starting adding some in.
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This is so awesome to see when considering you started with a background of not doing the back squat. Great work.
Regarding the back work assistance stuff: when in doubt, do kroc rows. Just 1 set of dumbbell rows, doing for a set of 20-30 reps. OR do a set of rest pause chins: max set of chins, let go of the bar and take 12 deep breaths, max set, let go, 12 deep breaths, max set. Just one set can still go a long way in a short time.
4 Likes
What I do is pull up super set when training in the rack. Most have pull up bars.
I totally forgot to add in good progress man. You’re really getting some results.
2 Likes
X2
Even if they’re lots of submaximal sets, the volume will still add up.
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Deadlifts
70% 177.5 1 3
80% 205 1 3
90% 230 1 3+ (15 reps)
70% 177.5 5 5
Press
70% 90 1 3
80% 102.5 1 3
90% 115 1 3+ (9 reps)
70% 90 5 5
Assistance
DB rows: 40 lbs - 4x15
Preacher curls: ~37.5 lbs - 2x25
3 Likes