Hi all,
Welcome to my training log for the next year. This will cover 12 cycles of a bastardised 5/3/1 program. As Jim Wendler says, if you change the program then it isn’t 5/3/1, its just easier to explain my parameters in those terms. The program I am following centers on a Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri split, using 5/3/1 parameters for the bench press/squat/deadlift/clean to push press respectively. Other exercises aren’t set in stone yet but will be reasonably high volume except for week 4 of each cycle which will always be a deload to allow me to progress with the core lifts.
Goals:
Muscle growth and increased strength. This program is a compromise of the two; if my core lifts begin to stall then I shall put more emphasis back on them and cut out some of the other work.
Current stats:
5’ 11’’
190 lbs
1RM:
Squat - 350 lbs
Deadlift - 330 lbs
Bench Press - 230 lbs
Clean to Push Press - 150 lbs
Nutrition:
For now, aiming for
3500 cal/day with a bare minimum 3000 cal/day
250 g protein/day
< 15% calories to come from carbs
Shall evaluate in 2 weeks whether this amount of calories is enough for growth.
-DeadPunk
Week One, Workout One, Chest and Biceps:
Bench Press:
135 lbs x 5
155 lbs x 5
175 lbs x 10
DB Triple Press:
60 lbs x 8,5,5 - 8,4,4 - 7,3,3
Dips:
30 lbs x 6 - 4 - 4
Flyes:
30 lbs x 8 - 8 - 8
Bicep Triple:
1)Seated Incline Curls 30 lbs x 8 - 8 - 6
2)Seated Hammer Curls 30 lbs x 8 - 6 - 4
3)Pinwheel Curls 20 lbs x 8 - 8 - 8
Finally for today, a ‘before’ type shot. No, I can’t pose, and yes, that is the least of my worries 
Week One, Workout Two, Legs:
Squat:
205 lbs x 5
235 lbs x 5
270 lbs x 6
Standing Machine Calf Raise:
200 lbs x 10 - 10 - 10
Ham-Glute Raises (on floor):
BW x 10 - 10 - 10
Good Mornings:
135 lbs x 10 - 10 - 10
Trap Bar Walk:
225 lbs x 20 - 20 - 20 - 20
Notes:
I’ve been quad dominant and happily ignoring it since at least age 15: squats were my reason for going to the gym for a long time. The size of my quads compared to everything else is getting comical now so I’m leaving the squats as the only quad work in my program until I regain some balance.
Biceps are sore today, really its just a sign that I haven’t done much isolation work previously but I’m taking it as a positive anyway, I was definitely hitting them yesterday.
Week One, Workout Three, Back:
Deadlift:
195 lbs x 5
225 lbs x 5
255 lbs x 8
Wide Grip Pull-ups:
BW x 6 - 5 - 4
Iso-dynamic Seated Cable Rows (numbers indicate no. of seconds each rep is held in the isometric):
100 x 12,10,8,6,4,2 - 12,10,8,6,4,2 - 12,10,6
BB Row:
135 lbs x 10 - 10 - 10 - 7
One Arm DB Row:
70 lbs x 10 - 10
Piss-poor performance today, allowing myself a bit of a carb up for the rest of today so that I can nail tomorrow’s workout. Angry as hell at myself right now. Could only feel the seated cable rows in my biceps and shoulders.
Week One, Workout Four, Shoulders and Triceps:
Clean to Push Press:
105 lbs x 5
120 lbs x 5
135 lbs x 5
Delt Triple (lateral raise, front raise, arnold press):
15 lbs x 12,12,12 - 10,10,10 - 10,10,10
Skullcrushers:
65 lbs x 10 - 8 - 8
Close Grip Bench Press:
135 lbs x 10 - 8 - 8
Tricep Pressdown (Cable machine):
12 x 10 - 10 - 4
Seated Calf Raise:
135 lbs x 15 - 15 - 15
Having to change things up a bit this week due to travel:
Week Two, Workout One, Legs:
Squat:
225 lbs x 3
255 lbs x 3
285 lbs x 5
Standing Calf Raise:
220 lbs x 10 - 10 - 10
Glute-Ham Raises:
BW x 10 - 10 - 10
BB Good Morning:
135 lbs x 10 - 10 - 10
Last week’s travel disrupted things but back in the gym today, jet lagged as I was:
Week Three, Workout One, Chest and Biceps:
Bench Press:
155 lbs x 3
175 lbs x 3
185 lbs x 5
DB Triple Press:
65 lbs x 8,5,4 - 8,4,4 - 7,3,4
Dips:
BW x 8 - 6
Flyes:
35 lbs x 10 - 10 - 6
Bicep Triple:
1)Seated Incline Curls 30 lbs x 8 - 8
2)Seated Hammer Curls 30 lbs x 8 - 6
3)Pinwheel Curls 30 lbs x 8 - 8
Legs:
Squat:
235 lbs x 5
265 lbs x 3
305 lbs x 3
Standing Calf Raise
220 lbs x 8
240 lbs x 6
260 lbs x 4
280 lbs x 4
Glute-Ham Raise
BW x 10 - 10 - 10
Good Mornings
135 lbs x 10 - 10 - 10
DB Farmer’s Walk
200 lbs x ~150 paces
Chest and Biceps:
Bench Press:
155 lbs x 5
175 lbs x 3
195 lbs x 8
DB Triple Press:
65 lbs x 8,7,6 - 7,3,3 - 6,3,4
Gironda Dips:
BW x 8 - 8
Bicep Triple:
1)Seated Incline Curls 35 lbs x 8 - 4
2)Seated Hammer Curls 35 lbs x 8 - 4
3)Pinwheel Curls 35 lbs x 8 - 4
Back:
Deadlift:
225 lbs x 5
255 lbs x 3
285 lbs x 4 (grip gave out)
Iso-dynamic Seated Cable Rows (numbers indicate no. of seconds each rep is held in the isometric):
100 x 12,10,8,6,4,2 - 12,10,8,6,4,2 - 12,10,8,6,4,2
BB Row:
145 lbs x 8 - 8
Facepulls:
8 (cable machine) x 8 - 8 - 8 - 8
One Arm DB Row:
60 lbs x 5
70 lbs x 5
80 lbs x 5
90 lbs x 5
Shoulders/Triceps:
Push Press:
120 lbs x 5
135 lbs x 3
150 lbs x 2
DB Triple
20 lbs x 12,12,12 - 12,6,6 - 3,3,3
Close Grip Bench:
145 lbs x 10 - 10 - 10
Tricep Pressdown
12 x 10 - 10 - 10
Seated Calf Raise
145 lbs x 15 - 15 -15
Legs:
Squat:
210 lbs x 5
245 lbs x 5
270 lbs x 7
BB Lunge
185 lbs x 10 - 10 - 10
Standing Machine Calf Press:
220 x 10 - 10 - 10
Glute-Ham Raises:
BW x 10 - 10
Good Mornings:
135 lbs x 10 - 10 - 10
Chest & Bi’s:
Bench:
135 lbs x 5
155 lbs x 5
185 lbs x 10
DB Triple Press:
65 lbs x 8,8,8 - 8,4,4 - 6,X,X
Seated Incline DB Curl:
35 lbs x 8 - 5
Seated Incline DB Hammer Curl:
35 lbs x 8 - 3
Pinwheel Curl:
35 lbs x 8 - 3
Could see my quads shrinking already with the decreased volume I’ve been using. Decided to add in a 5/3/1 front squat this cycle to see if that will get them back up. I really don’t know how my DLs are going to progress, my grip strength is utter garbage.
Deadlift:
205 lbs x 5
235 lbs x 5
270 lbs x 9
Front Squat:
135 lbs x 5
155 lbs x 5
175 lbs x 8
Iso-dynamic Seated Cable Rows (numbers indicate no. of seconds each rep is held in the isometric):
110 x 12,10,8,6,4,2 - 12,10,8,6,4,2 - 12,10,8
Single Arm DB Rows:
60 lbs x 8
70 lbs x 7
80 lbs x 6
90 lbs x 5
Really didn’t get the volume in that I wanted today but I woke up late and had to cut things short to get to work, where I’m now procrastinating by writing this 
May chuck in a second workout tonight, feel like I can take it and I’ve been ignoring my abs completely so could do some work on those as well.
Another bad day in the gym… push press reps are limited due to wrist strength, not shoulder strength (using clean grip). Anyway, just have to see how things go for the rest of the cycle:
Push Press:
105 lbs x 5
120 lbs x 5
140 lbs x 5
Seated Delt Triple (Lateral raise, Front raise, Arnold press):
20 lbs x 12,12,12 - 8,8,8
Close Grip Bench Press:
155 lbs x 10 - 6
Triceps Pushdown (Cable):
13 x 10 - 6
Triceps Dip:
40 lbs x 8
Seated Calf Raise:
155 lbs x 15 - 12
You are similar height and weight to me so it will be interesting how you progress. You could possibly look to up your calories even more. You will be surprised how much your strength and size can improve with the extra food. In a four months I probably made more progress than I had with over a year of training previously, just by increasing the calories quite significantly, which in turn helped me up the intensity in the gym. Also fat gain was quite minimal as well despite all the food I was eating. Good luck anyway.
Thanks Ironwarrior, I re-read Berardi’s massive eating articles a couple of days ago and recalculated my calories to 4000, so I’m aiming for that now. Loving the 5/3/1 but there’s still an awful lot of trial and error going on with my assistance work.
Edit- my weight’s now up to 202 btw, definitely some fat gain there but I’m still upping the cals to keep progress with the big lifts going for as long as possible.
I finally got the potency of Wendler’s “Rep Max as a motivator” idea today, calculated what I needed to do to increase it last night, got in the gym this morning and nailed it. Also, technique seemed better, I could really feel my shoulder blades set together throughout the lift.
Legs:
Squat:
230 lbs x 3
260 lbs x 3
295 lbs x 7
Walking BB Lunge:
195 lbs x 5 - 4 - 3
Standing Calf Raises:
220 x 5
240 x 5
260 x 5
Prone Leg Curls:
75 x 8 (2 up, 1down)
100 x 6 (normal)
Good Mornings:
135 lbs x 6
155 lbs x 3
Finished with some ab work, chucked a set of chins in whenever I happened to walk past the bar. Good workout.
DeadPunk <3 Squat day.
Edit - DeadPunk also loves walking into a store, buying 3 lbs of chicken, 1 lb of calves liver, 12 eggs and 4 cans of tuna, knowing that he’s gonna be back by mid-week at the latest. 