65% 100 x 5
75% 115 x 5
85% 130 x 5 Superset:
-65% 10 x 5 @ 100
-Snatch Grip High Pulls 10 x 10 @ 100
Bodyweight: 5 Rounds of:
5 Neutrel Grip Chins
10 Dips
15 Sit ups on GHR
-Chest Supported DB Row 5 x 10 @ 50
Cardio
-15 minutes incline treadmill
Good day, pushes felt fine, my little giant set felt good, got the sweat going like I hoped, thinking of adding in a giant body weight set every day, mixing in push-ups and squats, to bring general conditioning up. Solid day, not overly taxing.
70% 210 x 5
80% 240 x 5
90% 270 x 10 PR set
70% 210 x 20
Assistance:
Standing Calf Raises 5 x 15 @ 115 (in Smith machine)
Lily Shrugs 5 x 15 @ 45lb DBs
BB Curl 4 x 12 @ 50(ish) done with slightly thicker bar
Cardio:
15 Minute Incline Treadmill
Today sucked, weight moved, but I hardly ever train core directly, definitely felt it, damn near folded in half on the 10th rep, ha, recovered with no issue, racked it and moved on, easiest feeling 20 set I’ve had for this cycle by far the first 10-12 shot up (I usually get 7-9 initially) so that was cool. Definitely feeling like I need a deload here soon. Cannot express how much I love the Lily Shrugs (picked them up watching a Brandon Lily video) those things torch my hammies as well as hitting my upper back, win-win.
I think someone is selling themselves short on their 1RM?
270/0.9/0.9 = 333lbs
Do you think your 1RM is only ~335lbs, or are you just using a super conservative 1RM?
A 70% widowmaker set should never ever allow to word easy/easiest to even enter your brain. Death is the only word that comes to mind during/after this set for me!
Just looked these up. Might have to give them a go. Hamstring and traps could always use a little extra work.
Best I’ve done is 315 for a solid(ish) triple on squats which equates to about 345, dropped 10 pounds off that and used it to calculate my TM (at 85% of 1RM not 90%), so pretty conservative,this one felt easy (relative to other ones, ha) but I also trained nothing but 20 sets for 6 weeks leading up to doing hardgainers, I was doing 3 x 20, 15, 12 @ 225 in January on my back squat day (working up to the full 3 x 20) those…I felt in my soul. haha I do appreciate the confidence in my strength (if that’s where you were headed) because I lack that confidence, especially in the squat.
Damn dude, could this be just a lack of confidence? I can’t see you getting 31 minutes, 6 reps on final set on the 405lb deadlift challenge and only squat 345lbs (yes I understand there isn’t always a correlation between success of these movements - but still). A buddy of mine (that I have trained with twice - guy who encouraged me to pursue strongman) had a 1RM of 385lb on the squat when I started training with him, but his other lifts were all a lot closer to mine.
Long story short, I called him out, told him to put his purse down, lift up his skirt and stand up with some adult sized weight on his back. Somehow his 1RM went up by 70lbs within a month. Mindset.
I have a feeling you could slam up a 405lb squat if you needed to.
######DISCLAIMER: I assume no responsibility of injuries sustained while attempting a weight that is absurdly above your 1RM.
That’s a legitimate question, and also may be the nicest thing anyone has said about my squat, ha! my mindset on deads and squats are exactly opposite, with deads if that thing budges off the floor I am locking it out or cracking the floor, but with squats? If I get wobbly my mind gets wobbly, part of the reason I started so light, but you may be exactly right, need to attack squats in a similar way to how I approach the deadlift and stop being a bit of a gasp weenie.
Edit: This is pretty much exactly why I joined this site and started logging, because without a good training partner you don’t get a chance to have your shit called out, and it’s nice, and greatly appreciated!
With the Squat / Deadlift ratio I think it depends on your Squat style and your leverages. I’m 6’4" with super long legs (bad for squats) and really long arms (good for deadlift). When I was doing low bar, wider stance squats a couple of years ago there wasn’t as big of a discrepancy between my Squat and Deadlift. Switching to a high bar, narrow stance squat and dropping well below parallel, there was a pretty big difference. Mostly because I had to build back up and work on technique I’ve always had a stronger back and compared to my legs. So now I’m working with a 400 Squat and 550 Deadlift. Still a pretty sizable difference but it’s a lot better than before. If you reach a point in your programming where you can work on singles, this will build your confidence and no doubt you will be in the 400’s very soon!
Side note: I don’t like the term Ass to Grass (ATG) when referring to squatting all the way down. Yes it’s sounds cool but in reality I’m squatting in an indoor gym on hard floor and the nearest grass field is 2 miles up the road.
Definitely, I’m so used to “body builder” type volume that I rarely ever work up to really heavy stuff, and that is probably a big part of it, I do squat high bar as it is more comfortable for me and with a fairly narrow stance, my squat and deadlift stance are very similar, I believe. I think as both of you (@littlesleeper@jblues85) have mentioned it’s probably a confidence thing, a lot easier to fail a heavy deadlift than a squat, but I may do an original 5/3/1 style template after running the Hardgainer progression, to start working in those heavier triples and singles, find out what I’m really made of. And absolutely, that’s what training partners (in this case the community here) are for, to make you think, re-think, and sometimes call ya a lil’ bitch haha
220 moved a bit slower than expected, but smooth enough. The superset of dips and pull ups had me feelin thicker than a Snicker for sure. Another uneventful press day, yaaaaay. (I’m the worst bro ever)
-Strict Curls 3 x 10 @ 25 w/ Fat Grips
-Tricep Extensions 3 x 20 @ 50lbs
Bodyweight Circuit: 5 Rounds of:
10 Fatman pull ups
10 Push ups
15 sit ups on GHR
No where near fatigue, felt good to get the blood flowing knowing I am going to be driving all afternoon and most of tomorrow, should have plenty of time to let the muscles relax, ha. Seems like a lot now that I have it all written down, but felt easy and loose throughout, good stuff.
Edit: I am the director/manager/supervisor at a small local gym and rarely work Saturdays as I leave it to our part timers, is typically super duper slow so when I do work Saturdays I can’t complain too much.
70% 300 x 5
80% 345 x 5
90% 385 x 8 (What the actual fuck…)
70% 5 x 5 @ 300
Assistance:
Dips 10 x 5 +25lbs
Lat Pulldown 1 x 10 @ 110 5 x 10 @ 150
Chest Supported DB Rows 5 x 10 @ 60
Was really looking forward to deadlifting today, especially after the strong showing with the deadlift challenge, but everything just felt terrible, couldn’t find a groove, bar drifting away, my normal cues weren’t working for me, what the shit! Ah well, still pulled my PR set for +3, should’ve gotten 10-12, thinking it was an accumulation of things, driving for 13 hours over the course of 20 total hours, eating a half a pound of seeds for dinner the night before, plus 2 monsters (sugar free, mind you) and little sleep (excuses abound!)
70% 110 x 5
80% 125 x 5
90% 140 x 5
70% 10 x 5 @ 110
Assistance:
Pendlay Rows 5 x 5 @ 205
Skull Crushers 3 x 20 @ 55
Rear Delt Fly/Row Hybrid 40 @ 10lbs, 30 @ 10lbs, 2 x 20 @ 25lbs
Standard Shrugs 5 x 12 @ 55lb DBs
Had a solid shoulder pump, haven’t worn a cut-off/sleeveless shirt in a long while, so it was super motivating to see some striations and vascularity in my shoulders while lifting today, typically wear a sweatshirt or a full tee so as not to be a d-bag…but today…today was that day, haha. Almost made up for the shitty deadlift session.
-Band Pull Aparts/Up-And-Overs (Dislocates?) 5 x 20/15
-DB Curls 3 x 10 @ 20 (Good lord, I have zero mmc with my biceps at this point haha)
Body Weight Circuit
5 Rounds 20 second rest between rounds
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats
Only took a couple minutes, felt good.
-Tricep Extensions 4 x 25
20 Minutes LISS - Incline treadmill walk
Am going to start paying more attention to my nutrition, restricting myself a bit, have gotten soft, gained a solid 3-5lbs in the last 6 weeks running the hardgainers style progression and eating well, am going to deload, take 2 steps back for my cycle reset and see if I can tighten up a bit and maintain strength.
75% 225 x 5
85% 255 x 5
95% 285 x 7 (hmm…)
75% 225 x 20
Assistance:
RDLs 5 x 10 @ 135 Partial ROM
Kroc Rows 18, 15, 15 @ 100
Standing Calves 5 x 12 @ 90
Dips 25, 15, 10 @ BW
20 minutes incline treadmill
Not super impressed with my last couple of workouts, it was bound to happen, but damnit I don’t have to like it, I typically squat in stocking feet and squatted in my metcons today (slight heel) felt like I was headed forward the whole time, may need to experiment with a lower bar position as well, a bit peeved at myself, but this is right before a deload week, so will attack it again with a vengeance in coming weeks.
Edit: This is also the 2nd day of tightened up eating, taking an IF approach to carbs at the moment, limiting carbs to between 1-8 as opposed to with every meal, a simple way to put myself in a caloric deficit without messing with my schedule, but this may have something to do with a couple real shat lifts…(hopefully)
Had a hotel gym and a limited amount of time. Did a bunch of low impact stuff, only thing of real note is 30 minutes of incline treadmill walking, just enough arm work to get a pump, then went and played with the dogs.
4/15/17
Bench Press
75% 185 x 5
85% 210 x 5
95% 230 x 5 x 5
Assistance:
Incline Bench Press
135 x 12
185 x 5/5 (half/full rom)
185 x 5/5
135 x 10
Lat Pull down 5 x 10-12
Neutrel Grip Hammer Strength Press 3 x 12 @ 45lb ea. side
NG Seated Row 3 x 12 @ 150
Ab Wheel Roll-Out 3 x 10
Bent Over Fly/Row Hybrid 3 x 12 @ 25
Best bench day I’ve had in a long time, maybe it is cyclical…great lower body lifts for awhile, then solid upper body… All the weights moved really smoothly and had good bar speed throughout, usually start to slow down on the 4th and 5th sets, but it went up solid, was pretty happy about this showing.
Got a bike this weekend, wife wants to take bike rides together now that it is nice, which I’m excited about, took a little ride last night, found a hill, absolutely torched my quads, will be incorporating this nearly every day, have a 1.2 mile ride to work, down hill headed there, uphill headed home, it is one of those big, fat tired bastards, 7 speed (figuring out the more gears the better) but even the ride to work this morning got my quads pumped…so…looking forward to forcing myself into some moderate cardio/conditioning on a daily basis (that hill is gonna suck…) Today is deadlift day, will update (for those of you awaiting anxiously for my numbers, haha)
75% 325 x 5 (Dbl Overhand)
85% 365 x 5 (Dble Overhand)
95% 410 x 7 (Mixed Grip)
75% 325 x 5 x 5 (Mixed Grip)
Assistance:
NG T-Bar Row
-45 x 10
-90 x 10
-135 x 8 x 2
-90 x 12
-Lat Pulldown 4 x 10 @ 150, 100 x 20
Superset:
-Dips 5 x 10
-Single Arm BB Row 5 x 10 @ 45
Might have been the best deadlift day yet, rode my bike to work for the first time so I forgot to pack everything except my Plazma, wasn’t sure where my grip would be on the top set, or how I’d feel pulling without a belt for the first time in quite awhile at relatively heavy weights, or how my legs would hold up after a couple days of torching my quads riding my bike. Everything felt great, felt 100% better than the 385 from last week, got it for 7 rock solid (at least in my opinion) pulls, am actually really, really happy with this PR set.
75% 115 x 5
85% 130 x 5
95% 145 x 5
5 x 10 @ 115 (75%)
Assistance:
-Chest Supported Rear Delt Fly 5 x 15 @ 20
-Chest Supported Row 5 x 10 @ 60lb DBs
-Lateral Raises 5 x 15 @ 20
-Plate Raise 5 x 15 @ 35
This wraps up three full cycles of the hardgainer edition of D’s training, will be taking a solid week to deload and then going to come back with the original pure strength template for 5/3/1 and start working on hitting those numbers from my original post. Am up in the air as far as maxes, should I use the maxes I have adjusted to throughout the three cycles (up 10lbs on uppers, 20lbs on lowers) and use those to base my TM off of, or should I do a total reset and take a week and re-max, I’m inclined to simply continue using the maxes I have been using and move from there but am looking for feedback (@ActivitiesGuy@littlesleeper@MarkKO) any and all is appreciated.
This is the ‘slow and steady’ approach that makes 5/3/1 so great for long term progression.
I always want to push things a little faster than prescribed but end up having to back track after I overreach, and I’m sure it ends up stalling my progress more than moving it forward.
Sometimes it is tough to push your ego aside and just keep on the prescribed progression long term, but I’m of the impression that there is no better way for continued success in the weight room!