I wish I could squat that.
Trust me, itās not impressive. Just focus on being consistent and putting the work in and you will see improvement.
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Whatās the most youāve squatted?
Lifetime pr is 335-345, but that was 5 years ago or so. I think I can do that now and will find out two weeks from now when I max. The heaviest I have lifted recently was the 275. I am just ramping up the weight every time I workout and since I had a month setback recently that is all I have worked up to. Like I said neither of those is impressive and thatās mostly due to me only working out for maybe 3 months at a time. Thatās why I say just be consistent and put in the work. Other than that it just takes time
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14 October 2019
Peaking upper body day 1 week 1
Bench
2 sets x 3 reps x 230 lb
Thatās it. Pain in my biceps has now become a deep pain in my arms. Hopefully that will go away before max day. Felt heavy but I guess bar speed was ok.
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I realized I should probably document what Iām doing to peak.
For squat and deadlift:
Week 1 day 1 - 2 sets x 3 reps @ 85% e1rm
Week 1 day 2 - 3 sets x 1 rep @ 90 % e1rm
Week 2 day 1 - 2 sets x 1 rep @ 90 % e1rm
Week 2 day 2 - max
For bench, I feel like I am more beat up so I am doing the following:
Week 1 day 1 - 2 sets x 3 reps @ 80% e1rm
Week 1 day 2 - 2 sets x 3 reps @ 85 % e1rm
Week 2 day 1 - 2 sets x 1 rep @ 90% e1rm
Week 2 day 2 - max
Iāll see how it goes I guess. Only peaking examples I have seen are much longer than two weeks so this is kind of a trial run.
15 October 2019
Squat
2 sets x 3 reps x 290 lb
Deadlift
2 sets x 3 reps x 285 lb
Everything moved well. May have been a little high on the last rep of squats hard to tell on the video because of dark clothing, lighting, and angle. Iām sure it will be fone as I get used to squatting heavy weight again. Deadlifts felt great. Back felt really strong. Yes, I am squatting in sandals. Yes, I know it wasnāt the smartest idea, but I couldnāt find socks and I was lazy.
Plans got derailed today. I was very busy studying for a midterm and running errands and I didnāt get a chance to workout. I will not be able to workout tomorrow either due to a research conference I have to attend. Because of this I am going to move max day to Monday since I will probably peak sooner than expected and I will just start the program the following week.
I think this will work out better in the long run because it will allow me to add another week to the program at 95% for 3 sets of 2. This will be added because I feel like the jump from 90% 3x3 to 95% 3x3 is too large.
I have been drinking beer again because of added stress lately and I know I need to cut it out. Itās not much, but given my condition it isnāt great for me and I donāt like the idea of wasted calories. Iām going to try to clean up my diet and post it on here to keep myself accountable.
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22 October 2019
Maxes:
Squat 345 lb beltless (tied beltless pr)
355 lb with belt (pr with belt)
Bench 280 lb
Deadlift 325 lb
Really happy with squat and deadlift. I think the belted squat was a tad high bc of me being timid in the hole. I am especially happy with the deadlift considering the back injury a little over a month ago and only deadlifting for about two weeks. Bench wasnāt where I was hoping it was but it was close enough I suppose.
@MarkKO I tried beltless and with a belt and didnāt see much of a difference. Do you see anything in my form that may be an issue?
On another note, my wife squatted 245 lb, benched 140 lb and deadlifted 205 lb today,so thatās pretty awesome.
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Nothing jumps out to me as an issue. Try moving the belt a bit higher.
Ok thanks a lot man. Why the random 280 quote lol?
I have no idea. I thought I just replied to the post.
Iām honestly a bit confused that you get so little out of a belt. There isnāt anything wrong with that, it just isnāt something Iāve come across before.
Lol oh ok. Well maybe I need practice with bracing. Like I have said this is just a 3 inch belt so Iām sure that reduces the effectiveness a little. Could it also just be that my legs are the weak point not my core? Idk just a thought.
Both are a possibility
24 October 2019
Training notes:
Discussing 915 with my wife, we both realized that we will not have enough time to complete the workouts. Mainly the first few weeks. Because of this we decided to do 531 boring but big beefcake a little sooner than we expected. Considering I still want to increase my bench numbers, I will be doing something different for bench days involving decreasing rest times between 8 sets of 1 rep with my 4rm. The rest will be 60 seconds the first week, 45 the second, 30 the third, and 15 the fourth. Amrap the fifth week, then repeat the whole thing with a new 4rm. It is something, I have done before and had great results with on other exercises. Hopefully it works well for bench.
After 6 weeks of bbb beefcake we will deload and then do 531 for powerlifters for a cycle then probably the rest of what t3hpwnisher laid out.
Edit: the other change I will be making to bbb beefcake is 5x5 weighted pullups instead of 50 chin ups because I find they increase my pulling strength more and help my pullup numbers increase more than BW chips do.
Looks like a solid planā¦time to crush it
Yeah thanks. Funny thing is I have had a lot of reserves about starting a 531 based program. Especially since the cornerstone is submaximal training and it just doesnāt fit with a lot of the research I have seen out there. However, i am wanting to figure out what works for me by trying out different programs and seeing what I respond well to and so many people have good things to say about 531 on tnation I figure it is a good place to start. So I guess we will see how it turns out.
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Realized I have not been getting on to log food, so for now, I will just post a weekly outline from my fitness pal app.
Average Kcal 2500
Average Protien 200
Average Carbs 250
Average Fats 85
Meals mostly consist of:
Breakfast:
Daveās killer bread- plain awesome bagel and two tablespoons of peanut butter (pretty much every morning)
Lunch:
Greek Yogurt and Chicken Sandwich or Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Waffles with two eggs
Dinner:
1 Cup of rice or Seeds of Change Quinoa and Brown Rice pack and 6 oz of meat (sometimes more) and 1.5 cups of broccoli
After Dinner Snack:
Chicken Sandwich (always)
Working on adding in more vegetables. This seems to be the hardest thing for me since it is hard to eat enough as is. I am aiming to get in 3-4 servings a day, so I really only need two and a half servings more. Also, I have had a couple of beers a few nights this week and that is something I am watching out for so it doesnāt become a bad habit.
Where the fuck did you find this?
The majority of successful powerlifting systems are built around submaximal training.
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Various sources I have seen say 85 % of your max and up is the place to train for strength. It has been a while since I have looked into the literature though.