Greg's Strength Journal

Training Over 35 Lifter
122

Thanks Shane. :slight_smile:

Yeah the 531 concurrent is basically a combo of a max effort day and a dynamic day during the week. Tomorrow will be my dynamic effort bench day where I’ll either do 6 sets of 3 at FSL with red bands or 6 sets of 2 at SSL. I haven’t been doing the Dynamic Effort for squats recently as it was causing stress on the joints. Also, I haven’t been deadlifts at all recently so I can focus most of my energy on bench and squats. I’m using 531 for the weight progression percentages but do a lot of triples doubles and singles which is not really standard 531. Basically at this point I’m really running my own custom Frankenstein program.

Concurrent is basically a Westside concept of training max effort and speed and/or repetitions concurrently in the same training week. When most people talk about conjugate they really mean concurrent. Conjugate really involves rotating other movements for max effort (i.e. regular bench, swiss bar bench, overhead press, incline bench, etc.). Once I hit 405 on bench I plan to start doing more of that.

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123

Thanks Trent. :slight_smile:

Yeah I really love the heavy weight / low rep style of working out. I’m still able to get in a lot of work and push my maxes, without causing too much strain on my joints.

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124

10-4. Thanks for the explanation!

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125

Btw, I’m sorry if that was more info than you wanted on that…I’ve been studying for a Westside certification and I’m overflowing with it…that combined with lots of coffee leads to long posts. LOL :smile:

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LoL. No worries man, it actually made a lot of sense. I have been looking at Westside, when I considered doing a powerlifting comp, but decided to just go with 531.

That is cool you are looking at getting a Westside cert.

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127

Today I completed a workout as follows:

1/8/2025 – 6:38 am - Home Gym

531 Cycle 93 - Concurrent Program - Cycle 1, Week 1, Workout C

Bench Press - 10-45, 3-135, 3-175, 3-205, 6 sets of 3 @ 225 (FSL)
superset with:
Band Facepulls - 10 sets of 10

Multi-Grip Pullups - 6, 5, 5
superset with:
KB French Press - 3 sets of 6 @ 60

Bodyweight: ???
Workout Duration: 0:33:21.87 h:mm:ss.ms

This was a good but brief workout. I got a late start so I had to move quickly. I wound up leaving the bands off today and did my FSL bench sets with just the bar and weights.

Since my shoulder surgery a few years ago I haven’t been able to push accessory work as much. I’m trying to get the KB French Press back in the rotation so I started lightly today and kept the reps at 6. I did basically the same thing with the pullups. I’ll be pushing that more in the weeks to come as both of those moves really help my bench move up.

On a side note, a few months ago my in-laws moved in with us so I lost my in-house gym spot and had to buy a shipping container and move my gym equipment into that. On days like this, when it was 37 degrees, the container gets damn cold so abbreviated workouts become more the norm than I’d like. I’ve got a little heater in there but it just seems to make the cold angrier. :smile:

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128

Nice work Greg. I didn’t realize you had shoulder surgery. I remember when you tore a pec, twice if I remember right.

I do remember you having to move the gym to a shipping container. I can imagine a metal box on a cold day is highly motivating to get in and out of as quickly as possible. :joy:

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129

Good looking session today Greg! Man, I’m not which is worse, having your in-laws move in or having your gym in a shipping container. My vote would be the in-laws moving in. I’d rather train outside in the elements than have them move in. :joy: J/K, my in-laws are great people. :sunglasses: Still, I could see how that saps your motivation. Having a conditioned gym a mile from the house is a hell of a perk. I shouldn’t complain. :joy:

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130

Yeah, it turned out that even though my pec bruised up twice I hadn’t torn it. Instead I tore the labrum in my shoulder twice and that caused my pec to strain and bruise up (twice). I had the shoulder tears fixed, which was painful as hell and took a lot of recovery, but in the long run added better shoulder stability in. My mobility is still not what it was before the tears, and I can’t do overhead press with a barbell very well, but otherwise it is much better with less pain.

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Yeah Trent, it’s definitely been an adjustment living with the in-laws, but all in all it’s going well. The container gets damn cold in the winter and hot in the summer, but at least I’ve still got a happy place LOL. :smile:

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132

Saturday I completed a workout as follows:

1/11/2025 – 10:15 am - Untamed Strength

531 Cycle 93 - Concurrent Program - Cycle 1, Week 2, Workout A

Bench Press - 3-135, 3-185, 3-205, 2-235, 2-275, 1-305, 1-335, 1-345, 1-365, 5-275
superset with:
Orange Band Facepulls - 5 sets of 10

Viking Press Machine - 5-75, 5-105, 5-145, 1-235, 3-195

Lat Pulldowns - 8-150, 8-170, 8-170
superset with:
Triceps Pressdowns - 10-130, 10-140, 10-150

Upright Rows - 8-80, 8-90, 8-100

Bodyweight: 223.4
Workout Duration: 1:19:00.00 h:mm:ss.ms

Sunday I completed a workout as follows:

1/12/2025 – 09:45 am - Home Gym

531 Cycle 93 - Concurrent Program - Cycle 1, Week 2, Workout B

SSB 18” Box Squats - 3-65, 3-155, 3-205, 3-245, 3-285, 2-335, 1-365, 1-405, 1-450, 3-335

Back Raises - 3x10 w/ 50 pound kettlebell
superset with:
Bench Leg Raises - 3x10

Bodyweight: ???
Workout Duration: 0:45:23.68 h:mm:ss.ms

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133

Great job on those last few sessions Greg! I can’t even imagine hitting numbers like that on box squats! :exploding_head: I’d love to have a detached garage to train in and play guitar. I never turn the amp up very loud while people are in the house (which is most of the time). My wife leaves in the morning to take our kids to school and I crank that thing up and probably scare the hell out of our neighbors at 7:00AM. :joy:

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134

Strong sets everywhere Greg. Bench, squats, and that Viking press are all very impressive!

365 bench is just unreal man. Killing it!

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135

Today I completed a workout as follows:

2/1/2025 – 10:00 am - Limitless Fitness - Grass Valley, CA

WSBB Conjugate Club - Limited Equipment
Month 1 - Week 2 - Day 1

Dynamic Effort Bench Press - 5x5 w/ 185 pounds bar weight + 120 pounds black bands
Incline DB BP - 4x10 @ 45 pounds
Low Cable Rows - 4x10 @ 130, 140, 150, 170
DB Tate Presses - 5x8 @ 35 pounds
Upright Rows - 5-105, 8-95, 8-95
DB BOLR - 3x10 @ 30 pounds
DB Hammer Curls - 3x10 @ 35 pounds

Bodyweight: ???
Workout Duration: 1:07:22.55 h:mm:ss.ms

Life’s been crazy busy lately and I’ve fallen down a bit on my log entries. I’ve made the switch to doing full bore conjugate training now so you’ll see a bit more variety in my lifts. I’m very excited to see where this takes me.

Also of note is that I signed up for a “Powerlifting Experience” seminar at Westside Barbell in Columbus on 4/19, so I’m also super excited about that too. I think it’ll supercharge my training and also give me more knowledge I can use to actually launch a training business. I’ve been a certified trainer for a few years now but have limited my coaching to my family. I’m thinking this will help me take it up a notch.

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136

Great looking session Greg! Very respectful sets in that one! That seminar sounds awesome. I remember reading about the Conjugate method years ago and that is when I started switching up my strength lifts. Nowadays I do more of a Conjugate maintenance routine where I rotate the exercises and rep schemes every week. I’m not really aiming to make strength gains at this point but the constant variety keeps it fresh and interesting at least. Sounds like a cool conference and I’d love to be a personal trainer. Not sure how hard it would be to obtain that having zero education in that stuff?

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137

Solid workout Greg. Over 300
Pounds with band tension for reps on BP is very strong man.

When you Columbus, are you traveling out to Ohio to do this? Doing it at actual Westside? That would be pretty amazing man!

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138

Thanks Trent.

Yeah the more I’ve learned about the Conjugate System the more I really like it. Like you say, keeping the body guessing is a huge benefit. For me too, as I’ve aged, rotating the lifts is necessary. If I do the same lift too long my joints start complaining, but if I just switch up the movement it keeps that from happening as bad.

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139

Thanks Shane. Yeah I’ll be going to Columbus, OH for the seminar. I talked to Craig Bongelli who is running their education stuff now and cleared bringing Waylon with me too. That’ll be a good father/son deal and I think it could really be a big deal to Waylon. I’m really looking forward to it.

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140

Yesterday I completed a Max Effort Bench workout as follows:

2/4/2025 – 6:00 am - Home

WSBB Conjugate Club - Limited Equipment
Month 1 - Week 2 - Day 3

Fat Bar BP - 1x320, Backoff set of 2 @ 240 (was going to do AMRAP but the bar started rolling out of my hand so I had to stop at 2)
Black Band Facepulls - 9x10
Dips - 4x6 @ BW
superset with:
Pullups - 4x6 @ BW
DB Tate Presses - 8-35, 10-35, 9-35
superset with:
DB Hammer Curls - 3x10 @ 35

Bodyweight: 225.6
Workout Duration: 0:56:21.04 h:mm:ss.ms

Excellent workout! I’m really enjoying the variation in this new programming. I’ve been watching lots of YouTube and reading articles and have settled into a good setup for my workouts. My strength and power feel like they’re going up, and by making sure to hit the accessories each workout my muscles are starting to grow more too. Previously I did a lot of “Jack Shit” style 531 where I’d hit the main lift, run out of time, and do minimum accessories. To hit everything I have to wake up at 4:30 am, but so far it’s been worth it.

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141

Great looking session this morning Greg! Solid sets across the board! I hear you on waking up at 4:30AM. Good job getting up and getting it done. Nowadays I usually get up around 5:30AM and am working out by 6:45AM. I have friends that wait until midday or later in the afternoon to train and they miss a lot of sessions because of it. :-1: I try to tell them you have to get it in in the morning if you really want to train consistently. Maybe one day they’ll listen…

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