Thanks man I really appreciate it! I try to get as many people as I can into lifting, gyms are really missing that guidance from “the big guy” so I’m really trying to be that for everyone I can both at my gym and in my family. A lifting mentor is really important! I wouldn’t be where I am without all of those who have helped and inspired me, and that includes you!
2 Likes
I definitely got greedy with last night’s workout. Everything was feeling light, so I doubled the recommended volume on Press and Weighted chins. I went nuts. I have to set a good example for my cousin so he can see the kind of work you have to put in to make gains. So I did 10x10 on Press with an AMRAP on the final set because it absolutely felt like baby weight (it was, it’s only 85 pounds). I also doubled up on the reps on weighted pull ups, as the 35 pound dumbbell sets up better between my feet than the 52.5 Bowflex one. I’m certainly not someone who’s into breaking the parameters of a program, but I played this one by ear and had one hell of a workout! Interestingly, I’ve noticed that Jim Built this program to have ascending tonnage during the week and this workout featured my highest tonnage ever, according to my app! Pretty cool!
Building the Monolith W2D3
Squat 210x5, 240x5, 270x5, 175x20
Press 85 9x10, 1x30
Weighted Pull Ups 35lb Dumbbell 5x10
Barbell Shrugs 225 5x20
Banded Face Pulls x100
9 Likes
I just have to say, this workout was HARD! 1’s week this week. On paper, this should definitely be the most challenging day of the week. Doing 305 for 5x5 on squats is completely uncharted territory for me, so I can’t lie, I had some fear. I regretted making my squat training maxes as high as I did, but then when I actually go down and my hamstrings hit my calves and I try to explode up, the weight actually moves. I went deep, ass to grass and the weight still returned to the top position. Every single rep to the last set. I honestly surprised myself. I even hit a rep PR on Press today. Decided to consolidate the last 2 sets of assistance into 1 and doing 20 reps on each, plus an extra for good measure.
If you’ve followed my log for a while, you may remember when I was doing DC Training last October, I reached a new threshold for my squat strength when I could do 275 for 6 reps. Super weak numbers, yes. But to me, I was in all new awesome territory. But now, I’m here 10 months later and I’m doing 305 for 5 sets of 5. I’m completely mogging the me of the past and that’s what this game is all about.
Building The Monolith W3D1
Squat 240x5, 270x5, 305 5x5(Tonnage PR)
Press 130x5, 145x5, 160x5, 130x21(Rep PR)
Chin-Ups 101(8x10, 1x21)
Dips 101(8x10, 1x21)
Banded Face Pulls 101(8x10, 1x21)
9 Likes
I’ll be interested to see your gains from this compared to the surge challenge. Are you up in weight?
1 Like
Good question. I haven’t weighed myself since the end of the Surge Challenge. I’ll weigh myself soon and get back to you on that.
I am slightly up in weight, which came as a surprise to me as I’ve also been leaning out a bit the past two weeks or so! My weight was just below 215 yesterday.
Well this workout absolutely kicked my ass!! Unfortunately I could only manage two sets of 430 for 5 reps on deadlift. After the first set, it was so hard I was thinking “that’s it, I can’t possibly do even one more set, let alone two” but after a few minutes had past and I still hadn’t racked my weight I thought “screw it”, re-chalked my hands and gave it everything I got. First 3 reps were pretty clean, double overhand. My hands slipped off on the next rep, so I switched to over-under and had a bit of a Grindy rep, but got it. I missed my first attempt at rep 5, so I just kneeled in front of the bar with my hands still attached for a minute or two to summon the strength and courage to get that fifth rep. I couldn’t let the bar beat me. I got back into position and absolutely grinded through the slowest rep of all time. I’m sure it was ugly, but I got it. (I’m sure how extremely sweaty I was along with the humid stuffy garage made this worse than it needed to be, should’ve just used straps). With jiu jitsu tonight, I do not regret my decision to not go for that last set. I put everything I had into that rep 5 of set 2. Trying to pick my battles wisely here. But I will remember this moment some time next year when I’m doing 5 plates on deadlift for reps.
Bench went phenomenally. I remember about 10 months ago Missing a set of 2 with 275 and now I’m hitting 280 for 5 sets of 5. Just crazy how much my size and strength has progressed Since then. This is all just a process and I get better every day. I cut the assistance down to 4 sets with 25 reps rather than 5 of 20. Progression.
Building The Monolith W3D2
Deadlift 340x5, 385x5, 430 2x5
Bench 225x5, 250x5, 280 5x5 (Tonnage PR)
Db Row 52.5 4x25
Db Curl 25 4x25
8 Likes
Yesterday’s workout was quick and hard. I did 5x10 instead of 10x5 on Press, using the Malcolm X approach and supersetting it with all assistance. Got it done in 45 minutes. Great workout.
Building the Monolith W3D3
Squat 240x5, 270x5, 305x5, 175x20
Press 130 5x10
Weighted Pull Ups 35 lb dumbbell 5x10
Shrugs 225 5x20
Banded Face Pulls 5x20
3 Likes
This workout took me on a first class trip to fatigue city! I was so exhausted Post workout, it took me about 15 minutes to muster up the strength and will to get upstairs to shower! This week was obviously not quite as heavy as last week, but the fatigue is definitely accumulating. It will be nice to be a little bit lighter next week before really finishing things with a bang in week 6!
In my assistance work today, instead of 10 sets of 10, I really really wanted to get it all done in 5 sets of 20. I could tell after set 3 I wouldn’t be able to continue getting sets of 20 on Chin ups, so I dropped to 10 for the last 4 sets. My pump in my upper body was truly insane by the end of the workout, which was of course buoyed by the Surge Workout Fuel. I did 2 doses this time because these Monday workouts are always brutal. I weighed myself at the end of this fish fry I went to on Saturday night and weighed 219.4! Obviously that is probably a lot of water weight, but still a scale PR lol I’ve actually had several people I roll with tell me that I’ve been looking a lot bigger lately! I can’t wait to see what my family in Oklahoma says when I finally come back Friday.
Building the Monolith W4D1
Squat 225x5, 255x5, 290 5x5
Press 120x5, 135x5, 155x5, 120x24(Rep PR)
Chin Up 3x20, 4x10
Dip 3x20, 4x10
Banded Face Pulls 3x20, 4x10
7 Likes
From the outside looking in, you seem to dominate every program you take on. You killed the Surge Challenge, too. Keep doing what you’re doing!
1 Like
Thank you so much man! I think my motivation just stays really high because I’m loving the process so much! Every time I run a program, it’s one I WANT to run and I’m excited about it and the challenges that lie therein. Being excited about my lifts helps me stay consistent and give everything I can into that workout.
On a side note: I wish I could’ve taken part in the Metcon for Muscle program with 5/3/1 progression on the main lifts like Andrewgen is doing, but I lack a LOT of the implements that said program uses. Even at my gym in Oklahoma.
I believe once I finish BtM, I will take the advice that Jim Wendler himself gave to me personally about what I should do from his recent Instagram Q&A and that’s “4 weeks of easy main lifts and moderate assistance “. My interpretation of that is 5s Pro on the main lifts and 50 reps of each assistance category. Now I should’ve followed up with a question regarding supplemental (if any) so you guys think I should do 5x5 FSL or maybe FSL Widowmakers?
Jim is big on being smart and not going balls-to-the-wall all the time. By moderate assistance, he means something like 5 sets of 5 with FSL weight. While Widowmakers are awesome, they would not be considered moderate supplemental work.
You’re doing awesome work here. You had inspired me to re-do BtM, which was one of my favorites of Jim’s stuff. But, I’m in a bit of a transitory phase now, and I’ve been reading CT’s log and I just copied his workout. In the near future, I’d like to run BTM with 2 days a week of crossfit for conditioning and another day of easy conditioning.
2 Likes
Thanks so much for the feedback man. That’s exactly what my first thought was. Sometimes I just get overzealous haha! It’ll be nice to take a break from eating so much damn food, maybe lean out a tad.
I honestly can not recommend the program enough! It has paired really nicely as a follow up to the Surge Challenge as a means of gaining size! I have never looked so so big through my chest, shoulders, back, and neck in my life! This program has me feeling like a monster! Excited to see your CT training and eventual return to BtM!
1 Like
Kind of split my workout up today to workout with my brothers in law early in the morning and then finished the workout with my cousin this afternoon. It actually went great! I knocked out Bench, dips, and chins in the morning (they’re doing the 5/3/1 Triumvirate program), finished off with abs and then knocked out deadlifts and curls this afternoon for a great 1-2 punch.
I actually felt well-rested and great for the second workout! So good that I actually decided to go for 10 reps on my second set of deadlifts instead of 5, just to get it all knocked out at once. Bar moved super easy for me today and my grip on the bar was much better, probably because I used more chalk. I also had zero lower back pain or tightness in the spinal erectors as I often do after squats and deadlifts, so that was phenomenal. Both workouts took about half an hour.
Building The Monolith W4D2
Bench 205x5, 235x5, 265 5x5
Deadlift 315x5, 365x5, 405x5, 405x10
Weighted Pull Ups 35lb Dumbbell 5x10
Dips 5x15
Dumbbell Curls 35 4x25
Ab Circuit Med Ball Leg Raises 2x10, Med Ball Sit Ups 2x10, Ab Wheel Rollouts 2x10, Bicycle Crunches 2x10
7 Likes
First workout since being back in Oklahoma. It really went well and the workout was quicker than ever because the gym allows me access to equipment faster than in the home gym. 42 minutes for this workout! I really blasted through this and just killed it. My family couldn’t believe how big I’ve gotten since I’ve last seen them in person 3 months ago. My mom NEVER notices me making gains, and she seemed beside herself when she saw me and the first thing she said to me was that I looked about 20 pounds bigger (I’m up to about 217-219, so not far off). Definitely great motivation to keep things rolling! Also got to do today’s workout with my brother, which was so awesome! I love getting to work out with him!
Building The Monolith W4D3
Squat 225x5, 255x5, 290x5, 160x20
Press 105 5x10
Weighted Pull Up 45lb plate 5x10
Shrugs 245 5x20
Face Pulls 130 5x20
Calf Raises DC style 300x10
6 Likes
Lighter week this week, but the bar was still feeling extremely heavy today. That 5x5 just always feels hard. No matter what what week it is. I’m super stoked though that I managed to finish the assistance movements in 5 sets of 20 this week! Major PR!! Strength and size are manifesting like crazy for me right now. It’s just going right. I think I will remember this program as “very challenging, but one of the most result producing programs you could do for the course of 6 weeks”. Did 2 scoops of Surge today. Not saying that’s why I got that assistance PR, but I’m certainly not ruling it out!
Building the Monolith W5D1
Squat 210x5, 240x5, 270 5x5
Press 110x5, 130x5, 145x5, 110x29(rep PR)
Chin Up 5x20
Dip 5x20
Banded Face Pulls 5x20
6 Likes
Nice work! Congrats on the PR, that’s huge.
1 Like
Thank you! That went so smooth, I’m still surprised, every rep felt great on that one and the last rep wasn’t even a grind like it can tend to be for me on PR sets.
1 Like
I’m a little late in updating my log, as I had simply forgotten about updating it today. The lack of sleep the last couple of nights is starting to haunt me a bit. Today’s deadlift session didn’t feel heavy necessarily, but it sure was harder than I was expecting. Just one of those days where you just have to “bite down on the mouthpiece”, metaphorically speaking, and fight through this workout. Also the end of the barbell I was using kept slipping and I had to adjust it a few times. Very annoying and broke my concentration. Happy I got through the workout.
As far as the next big program I’m going to run, I’m not totally sure yet. I’m out here in Oklahoma for a few more weeks before I go back out to Ontario for the last time before I get married and then back to Oklahoma for the honeymoon and then back to Ontario a week later (all driving). Honestly, I should be able to stay on schedule with my training through that time, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Building the Monolith W5D2
Deadlift 295x5, 340x5, 385 3x5
Bench 195x5, 225x5, 255 5x5
Db Row 100 5x10
Db Curl 30 10x10
4 Likes
Yesterday’s workout was a true marathon with 15 Press sets! First 5 sets featured supersetting with assistance, and I was thinking it was only 10 sets of 5, but no 15!! This program is really reaching its apex as I approach week 6, the final week!! It’s about to be heavy, it’s about to be hard! The squat sets felt LIGHT, which is tremendous. I can really tell my strength is going through the roof.
Building The Monolith W5D3
Squat 210x5, 240x5, 270x5, 210x20
Press 115 15x5 (volume PR)
Weighted Pull Ups 45 5x10
Barbell Shrugs 245 5x20
Banded Face Pulls 5x20
4 Likes