Getting My Act Together

exam week is here, so gym time is short at best.

leg day.

warmup: foam roll, agile 8

RFESS
bwxsome
60x5
80x5
100x3
110x3 PR
120x3 PR

squat work, mobiltiy stuff and done

my food intake was absolute shit. in no particular order

3 bananas
an absolute shitton of milk
a breakfast pastry thingy
chicken ceasar wrap
chicken burrito
almonds

totals: 3, 654 cal, 151 g fat, 360 g carb, 206 g protein, 18 g fiber.
fail

another super quick workout today

warmup: foam roll, agile 8

Press (i used the olympic plates today so te weights are slighly different):
barxsome
65xsome
95x5
115x3
124x3
133x3 PR

Pullups
3x10

and done

as for food, i got all my cals in but not in a good way. i really underestimated the healthy cals i was getting from the shakes and how much that helped. i guess im dirty bulking this week. which sucks, but between the lib and no shake stuff, im just stuffing down what i can when i can. gonna get back healthy eating asap though.

so i had to take thursday and friday off due to exams, and i ate like shit and i felt like shit so im done eating crap. it was horrible and my stomach rebelled hardcore.

back in the gym today for deadlifts…not my best work

warmup: foam roll, agile 8

deadlifts:
45xsome
95xsome
135x5
185x5
225x3
245x3
265x0
265x1 (no idea what happened on these two sets, for some reason i just didnt have it…pretty pissed about that)

some abs, shoulder flexiblity work and done. my legs were fried for some reason. gonna have to hit it harder next week.

looks like you have some pretty solid upper-body strength, esp. for your BW. were you lifting for upper body before you started this program? I’ll have to look at what you’re doing – I need work there myself.

captian - a little, before this i did p90x before this, and ive lifted on and off for a bit, but nothing serious

rolled today for 2 hours, goin to krav class tonight, so no lifting, im pretty beat.

leg day today…felt good to be back

warmup: foam roll, agile 8, ab wheel rollouts 2x10

rfess:
bwxsome
50x5
70x3
90x30
110x3
120x3
130x3 PR

squat work…prayer squats, cossack squats and tons of front squatting…felt ok, nothing too special, but my mobility is definitely getting better.

feel pretty beat up from yesterday, so extra foam rolling and stretching and stuff are in order tonight.

also, weighed myself on sunday and came in at 163.4, a 1.6 lb gain. gonna stick with 3500 cal/day until it slows down.

rolled bjj this morning for about an hour, was fairly killer

then lifted this afternoon, bench day

warmup: foam roll, ab wheel roll outs 2x10

bench:
45xsome
95xsome
115x5
135x5
155x3
175x3
185x3
195x3 PR

pullups:
3x10

incline bench
115x10
135x8, 6

cg rows:
3x120x10

and done, feel fairly beat up

deadlift day!

warmup: foam roll, agile 8

deadlifts:
45xsome
95xsome
135x5
185x3
225x3
245x3
265x3 yay

rdls with dbs:
60x10
80x10

hanging leg raises:
3x8

and done, for some reason im really beat this week, deload is comin next week though, and i need it.

merry christmas!

this is my workout from friday:

Warmup: foam roll, agile 8

Press:
45xsome
95x5
105x3
115x3
125x3
135x3 PR

Pullups
bwxsome
+20x3
+30x3
+35x3
+40x3
+45x3
+50x1

Incline bench
3x135x8

DB rows
80x10 (form faltered and i didnt really squeeze my back so i lowered)
70x10
75x10

and done

played about 75 minutes worth of full court basketball yesterday

this comin week is a deload, which i definitely need. gonna take some time off to stretch and do extra foam rolling

so i kinda just took the holidays totally off from everything, just relaxed and hung outw ith famiyl and friends. also got to play some basketball and roll a bit, which was nice. got back in the gym on sunday night to do upper body, and then headed to nyc to visit a friend. just got back tonight and will be hittin the gym hard tomorrow.

i also weighted in at 164.4, a one lb inc from last week

shoulders(from monday)

warmup: foam roll, light stretching

press:
45xsome
95x5
115x3
130x3
140x3 PR

Pullups: 3x10 (im finding these are harder to do, probably wiht the increased bodyweight im having more trouble)

DB inclines:
40x17
40x16

CG row:
3x110x12

and done.

and FUCK. went to deadlift today and messed up my back. went for 265, which i got for 3 reps last week, and on the first rep felt a huuuge pop in my low back, and was done for the day. im icing it now, but it still kinda hurts. and ive never felt anything like this so im hoping its just minor and nothing serious. anyway…

warmup: foam roll, agile 8

deadlifts:
2x135x5
185x3
225x3
245x3
265x0 (felt the pop on the first rep.)

i think its time i backed off my maxes. the 140 i got on the press on sunday was a huuge grinder and i need to train for the long term gains, not the short term maxes. im gonna read about 5/3/1 tonight and put something together. i definitely need to check my ego and lower my weights. im still weak but im not gonna get any stronger if i just push for a new max 4 days a week every week. stupid.

went to the trainer at my old hs today, got my back looked at. they said it shouldnt be anything serious, no slipped disc or anything, but i need to take it easy for a week or two, which is fine. i need to focus on stretching and mobiltiy anyway, so ill probably do a week of strictly foam rolling and stretching. BJJ has taught me that i really need to focus on my flexibility or lack thereof.

I also need to rethink my workout routine. i need to lower my weights, so im thinking a sort of modified 5/3/1. My front squat form is good enough now that i think i can add some weight to the bar, so i think im gonna start doing that one day a week, just working up as long as my form holds, but not following 5/3/1 until i get stronger, cuz i think a more linear progression idea will help me see better gains. anyway, im thinking something like this…

Bench day:
Bench press 5/3/1 superset with pullups
Incline db bench 5x10 superset with: sgl arm db row 5x10
abs - palloff presses, side bridge with row

Deadlift Day
Deadlift 5/3/1
weighted hip thrusts 3-5x10
abs- hanging leg raises, landmines

Press Day
Press 5/3/1 superset with pullups
incline db bench 5x10 superset with close grip row 5x10
abs - same as bench

Squat Day (the weird day):
3x5 front squat (when i can do 3x5 with a weight with good form, add 5-10 lbs)
3-5x10 RFESS
abs - same as deadlift

i remember reading once that jim wendler said only the back squat with 5/3/1 but for now i have to stick with the front squat. oh well.

anyone have any thoughts on this idea? good, bad, awful?

hey man – sucks about your back. sounds like backing off and resetting is not a bad idea.

re back stuff, I slipped a disc myself 6 years ago. SUCKS. so def. keep an eye on it. I managed to work back from not being able to walk correctly to where I am now, so it can be done, but watch your form – flat back

hey guys sorry its been so long, i ended up heeding the advice of my hs trainer and taking an extra week off. gonna get back into it tomorrow. i rolled bjj this morning for about an hour, felt great.

gonna start the modified 5/3/1 i outlined earlier tomorrow. very excited, i think it will help me a ton.

here are my maxes, as decided by a calculator, along wiht my actual lifts (i havnt done any true maxes recently), and my training maxes

Press: 148x1 (actual 140x3); 133
deadlift: 280x1 (actual 265x3); 252. Because of my recent back issues, im gonna drop my training max down an additional 10 lbs to 242.
bench: 205x1 (actual 195x3); 185
and ill be front squatting on a more linear model, working on progressing only as long as my form holds up

and as usual, ill be doing plenty of foam rolling and more stretching. also getting back into bjj and krav

i weighted in at 162 today, so something went wrong this last week…goal is 175 by the end of school, so im not too worried.
gonna get back on my eating tomorrow

had my first day of 5/3/1…felt pretty good. i miscalculated my weight for the press, it should be 126, not 133. luckily i figured it out before i started lifting.
also, first day back in about two weeks, kept things on the lighter side

warmup:
Foam roll, agile 8

Press:
barxsome
65xsome
80x5
95x5
105x5

Pullups
10, 4x8

Incline db press
35x10
2x40x10

DB rows
50x10
2x55x10

Palloff Presses:
40x10
2x50x10

Curls
30x12
20x12
10x15

Side Bridge with Row
30x10
40x10

Triceps pushdowns:
50x15
50x12

5/3/1 cycle 1, week 1, day 2

Deadlift day, went pretty well. i was worried about my back but it felt ok.

Warmup: foam roll, agile 8

Deadlift
45xsome
2x135x5
155x5
180x5
205x5

Weighted Hip Thrusts w/ 1 sec pause at top
3x135x6 - these were more difficult than i expected, so i kept the reps low.

hanging leg raises
3x8

Landmines 2x25x8…felt pretty good

then had some extra time so…

Famers walks:
100s x barely anywhere
80s for a little longer

shrugs
65x15

and done, did some stretching and whatnot and called it a day. happy with it so far

5/3/1 cycle 1, week 1, day 3

Bench day, didnt have a lot of time cuz i moved back into school and whatnot, so i just did the main lift

bench:
barxsome
95x5
120x5
135x5
155x5

pullups
3x10

done

no lifting today, but i went to krav class for an hour and rolled bjj for about 45 minutes afterwards…twas a pretty good workout, but my calf cramped up pretty bad twoards the end. not quite sure what happened.

anyway, back at school, back on my eating game.

todays intake:

3,545 total cal, 171 g fat, 214 g carb, 277 g pro, 20 g fiber.

pretty happy with that. goal is a lean 175 so im about 12 lbs away