With gym’s re-opening again tomorrow (in the UK) after months of no training I thought it would be best to use the internet for good and create an online log to keep myself accountable and also get office when I stall and need input.
I have been lifting weights on and off for the past 10 years but honestly must of that time has been a complete waste… Time spent eating LOW LOW calories to stay at a certain weight (I use to be an amature boxer with same day weigh ins), high volume workouts and just spinning my wheels.
Currently I am training MMA ( Love It!) and strength/ performance gains are my main goal (as opposed to focusing on mass gain) but I have a much better relationship with food and now I am actively looking to gain weight.
Also worth adding over the last couple of months during lockdown due to lack of equipment I have focused A LOT on cardio (sprints, long runs), bodyweight circuits etc with a goal of having my base cardio sorted and once gyms re-open I can focus on gaining strength and technical work without worrying about this.
Basic info about me:
Age: 28
Weight: 123lb as of this morning ( I did say I focused a lot on cardio!)
Deadlift before lockdown: 150kg/330lb
Squat before lockdown: 130kg/ 286lb
Bench before lockdown: 80kg/ 176lb
The Plan:
I will be running Juggernaut method by Chad Wesley Smith as I feel a programme designed to go with an athletes sport training would be best suited to fit in with my MMA training, I enjoyed running it before lockdown and also the progression scheme will let me progress at a good rate once I get into the grove again. Will be using roughly 85% of my last max for the programme and main accessory work will be using 5/3/1 % (except no Max rep at last set)
Disappointed with the MR set as when I saw the weight I needed to hit I expected to get more. However, new gym means new benches and these benches are ridiculously low so need to work on technique. Non the less no reps missed so can’t complain
3x5 Close Grip Bench Press
10x5 Barbell Rows
5x4 Weighted pull ups
4x6 Incline DB Press
3x seated shoulder press
3x super set of neutral grip pull ups and T-bar row machine
3 bicep curls
3x Rolling DB extensions
Squats felt… Really good… until the last two sets when my quads starting aching. But got the sets out. Have high hopes for the MR set at the end of the 10s waves!
Sumo deadlift (5/3/1%): 75kg/165lbs x 5, 87.5kg/193lbs x 5 and 100kg/220lbs x 5
3x6 RDL and then a few core exercises
6x3 Jumping Hex deadlifts
6x3 triple jumps over 1x small hurdle, 1x medium hurdle, 1x 26 inch Box
6x3 Box jumps
3x3 Bulgarian Split Squat jumps
3x Ladder footwork drill
10 Kicks on the bag each leg. (As fast and hard as possible)
3x Max effort push on the Tank M4 all surface sled
The prescribed warm up sets + 2x10 and 1x 11 with 47.5kg/ 105lbs
3x5 Close Grip Bench Press
10x5 Barbell Rows
5x4 Weighted pull ups
4x6 Incline DB Press
3x seated shoulder press
3x super set of neutral grip pull ups and T-bar row machine
3 bicep curls
3x Rolling DB extensions
Really disappointed with my MR set. I feel like I’m not recovering enough due to lack of sleep. Work is being a ***** at the moment and have to do a decent amount out of hours, add MMA training to that and I average about 4 hours of sleep a night at the moment
The prescribed warm up sets+ 2x10 and 1x 12 with 75kg/ 165lbs
Again feeling like my body is craving more sleep and is a tad beat up. Not happy with the 12 reps but guess next week is the only week these MR sets matter
7x1 pin squats with 75kg/ 165lbs
Sumo deadlift (5/3/1%): 82.5kg/182lbs x 3, 95kg/209lbs x 3 and 105kg/231lbs x 3
3x6 RDL and then a few core exercises
Awesome dude!
If you search "juggernaut method " on this forum you’ll find some people who have logged running it. Could be useful to ask them if you have any questions/get stuck.
Incline Bench (instead of Military Press) 10 waves Intensification week
The prescribed warm up sets+ 2x10 and 1x 13 with 35kg/ 77lbs
Paused Bench: 45kg/99lbs, 50kg/ 110lb and 57.5kg/127lb all for 3 reps
10 Barbell Rows
5x Weighted pull ups
4x DB Bench Press
4x Seated Shoulder DB press
3x bicep curls
3x tricep extensions
6x3 Jumping Hex deadlifts
6x3 triple jumps over 1x small hurdle, 1x medium hurdle, 1x 26 inch Box
6x3 Box jumps
3x3 Bulgarian Split Squat jumps
3x Ladder footwork drill
10 Kicks on the bag each leg. (As fast and hard as possible)
3x Max effort push on the Tank M4 all surface sled
Today’s upper body Plyo Session
6x3 plyo push ups ground to box
6x3 plyo push ups with feet elevated
3x3 single arm ball throws
3x3 each side rotating ball throws
6x3 ball throws lying on a bench
3x3 heavy medicine ball throws
3x Max effort weighted sled rope pulls
3x Flat db press
3x Neutral grip incline db press
3x shoulder raises
Yesterday’s deadlift session got 15 reps on the MR adding 10kg/22lb to my working max and today’s bench session got 13 reps adding 2.5kg/ 5lb to my max.
Sorry for non complete logging running on sub 4 hours rest with work, gym, MMA practice and general life obligations
Ok so had a horrendous week actually getting to training. Feel like I slacked off hard and missed most MMA sessions and a decent amount of Gym sessions. Also been having “bloat issues” since increasing calories but feel like eating 3k calories daily this week and skipping most sessions has resulted in a few lb weight gain.
Finished my main lifts for the programme yesterday and got
Squat
82.5kg/ 182 lbs x 21
Incline press
37.5kg/82lb x 16
I’m very happy overall with the MR results all round BUT there is an issue with squats. With 11 extra reps that puts it as a 55lb/25kg increase in weight and i’m not sure if I should add that. I mean I don’t think that I would be able to hit the predicted 1rm for a single… But the working numbers for the next cycle would be do -able so ::
Nothing great to report seeing as it’s the first bench workout of the 8’s cycle. My shoulders have been giving me slight issues and I’m realising that the weighted pull ups done over the year during lockdown and my posture at work has resulted in me having much more rounded shoulders than I use to. Guess I need to find a way of adding mobility work/ band work.
3x5 Close Grip Bench Press
5x Weighted pull ups
4x6 Incline DB Press
3x seated shoulder press
3x super set of neutral grip pull ups and T-bar row machine
3 bicep curls
3x Rolling DB extensions
