10/8/15
Overhead Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
OH Press: 180 - 5x3
Bench Press: 235 - 3x5
Pull-Ups: 50 total
No job site inspection so did not have to rush as much. Overhead Presses felt pretty good today. Had a few reps where I was letting the bar drift a little but nothing I couldn’t correct. I did super-sets of pull-ups after my OH Press. Once I finished my Bench Press sets I was half-way to 50 (2 warm-up sets of bench before work sets). Once I hit 35 reps on pull-ups my reps started slowly decreasing even all the way down to doing I think 3 singles at the end. Pull-up strength is coming back but can tell not where I was earlier this year. Good day overall!!!
10/9/15
Power Clean Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Power Clean: 195 - 5x3
Squats: 255 - 3x5
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 135x10, 185x10, 205x10, 225x10, 255x10
Decent workout on Friday. Was happier with how my squats felt on Friday than earlier in the week. Did not feel like doing any kettlebell work at home and just wanted to be lazy!
10/12/15
Bench Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Bench Press: 295 - 5x1
OH Press: 160 - 3x5
Pull-Ups: 5x5 (Super-sets with OH Press)
BB Row: 225 - 5x5
Really good day for Bench Press yesterday. All sets felt very crisp and clean. Of course I’m glad they felt that way because I did not have a spotter at any point. To move the workout a little quicker I decided to do pull-ups between my 2 warm-up sets and 3 work sets of OH Press. I always shot for 50 reps of back work so I finished up with 5x5 Barbell Rows. Happy with how this workout went!!
10/13/15
Squat Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Squat: 320 - 5x1
Walking DB Lunges: 45 - 4x10 (each leg)
Decline Sit Ups: 15,15,10,10
First 3 sets of Squats felt pretty good but the last 2 sets were a pretty tough little grind. Was able to fight off pitching forward even on the last couple of sets so at least that was encouraging. The walking lunges are getting a lot better each week. Not even close to as wobbly as they were when I first started doing these several weeks ago. Good day overall. Just accepting the fact right now my upper body lifts are progressing and my squats are a little on the slow side of progression. Keep grinding along from here.
10/14/15
Overhead Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
OH Press: 200 - 5x1
Power Clean & Push Press: 225x1 (PR)
Bench Press: 235 - 3x5
Pull-Ups: 35 total
Had to hit this workout at around 9:30 yesterday morning. I typically always hang clean my first rep of overhead presses every workout. First set of 200 flew up really fast and felt pretty good about trying for 225. I caught the clean pretty easy and got the bar above my head but couldn’t lockout the strict press but when I brought it back down to my shoulders I gave it a little leg drive and was able to fully lock the weight out. I pretty much missed a PR but also hit a PR with getting 225 pounds over my head just not with a strict press. I will try to strict press 225 again in a few weeks and will feel pretty confident I will get it the next go around. Good day overall!
10/16/15
Power Clean Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Power Clean: 215 - 5x1
Squats: 255 - 3x5
Front Squat: 225 - 5x3
Pretty happy with this workout from Friday. Front Squats felt surprisingly good since I did them at the end of the workout. I was planning on doing a kettlebell workout at home on Saturday but never really had a decent chance to get it done. Yard work, family get-together and playing with my son took up all of Saturday. I’m sure the “No Excuses” Police would probably get after me but who cares!!!
10/19/15
Bench Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Bench Press: 240 - 5x5
OH Press: 165 - 3x5
BB Row: 135x10, 165x10, 185x10, 205x10
Bench Press felt great today. Did a paused rep on the last rep of each set. 240 for 5x5 is a PR for me on Bench Press since the most I got on 5x5 before was 235 and even then I think that was 3x5. OH Presses on the other hand felt like doodoo!! Just never felt like I got into a decent groove at any point. I got all reps completed but the 5th rep on the final set was pretty tough. Hopefully it won’t be as bad when OH Press day comes around. Stopped my BB Rows short at 4 sets since I was starting to get mentally checked out a bit. Good day overall!!
10/20/15
Squat Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Squat: 260 - 5x5
RDL: 135x10, 185x10, 205x10, 225x10, 245x10
Leg Extensions: 120x15,15,10,10
Haven’t been able to say this in a while but squats felt really good yesterday. All sets felt pretty crisp for the most part. Decided to hit some RDL’s and Extensions in place of walking lunges. Nothing too eventful happened but was a pretty productive day yesterday.
10/21/15
Overhead Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
OH Press: 165 - 5x5
Bench Press: 240 - 3x5
Pull-Ups: 40 total
Overhead Presses felt a lot better yesterday than the 3x5 I did on Monday. Once I finished up the overhead work I started my sets of 5 pull-ups as super-sets with bench press. Was happy with the way bench press felt after my sets of pull-ups. Hopefully as the weight starts to increase on bench press I can keep hitting the super-sets like this. Good day overall!!
10/22/15
Power Clean Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Power Clean: 175 - 5x5
Front Squat: 235 - 5x3
Squats: 135x10, 185x10, 205x10
Good workout yesterday. All Power Cleans felt pretty efficient. Front Squats felt pretty good. The first set was pretty rough but I think my hips just had to loosen up a little bit. After that the remaining 4 sets felt really good. Felt like doing some higher rep back squats after my front squats for a change of pace. Wanted to work up to 225 for a set of 10 but had to leave the gym and head out to a job site. I like the idea of pairing front squats and power cleans together and hitting some higher reps with light weight on back squats to finish. It was my 4th day in a row of lifting and felt surprisingly decent.
10/26/15
Bench Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Bench Press: 270 - 5x3
OH Press: 165 - 3x5
Wide Grip Cable Row: 125 - 5x10
Wasn’t feeling very well today but got all of my sets and reps completed. My son has had a bit of a stomach bug over the weekend and think my body is trying to fight it off. Bench Press felt okay considering. Seemed like the 3rd rep of each set was a little on the slow side. Pretty much the same with the 5th rep on OH Press. Good day overall and hoping I’m not catching a bug!
10/27/15
Squat Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Squat: 295 - 3,1,1 (supposed to be 5x3)
Walking DB Lunges: 50 - 5x10 (each leg)
Ab Wheel: 4x10
Just did not have “it” today on squats (mental and physical). 295 felt really heavy on my back and just never felt like I could get in any type of groove. On the 3rd rep of the 1st set I thought I was actually going to dump the bar forward. After some rest I tried again and pretty much felt the same. Even on the 3rd attempt I tried staying tight all the way through but still didn’t get anywhere. Debated on just cutting the workout short and trying again another day but figured I would just move on and go with the lunges. All sets and reps of lunges felt great which put my mind in a better state after a case of the “yips” with squats. Not that it really matters but it is a volume and weight PR on those which is a good takeaway for the day. Terrible start to the workout today but ended on a good note!
10/28/15
Overhead Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
OH Press: 185 - 5x3
Bench Press: 240 - 3x5
Pull-Ups: 40 total
Felt really good about my OH Presses today. Had a pretty decent groove on each set and the weight felt like it was flying up. I could really feel the soreness in my legs from the lunges yesterday just from keeping my whole body tight and squeezing everything. Did the usual Bench Press / Pull-Up superset. I was going to shoot for 50 pull-ups but my left elbow was starting to feel a little achey so I stopped at 40 again. Good day overall and hoping to strict press 225 next week!!
10/29/15
Squat “REDEMPTION” Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Squat: 295 - 5x3
Squat: 225 - 2x5
Hamstring Curls: 4x12
Was not planning on squatting again yesterday other than a few sets after what was supposed to be a Power Clean day. Got to the gym and was feeling pretty good and figured I would give squats a try again. I also figured it couldn’t be any worse than last time. Warm ups felt great and first set of 3 was really flying. I really took my time between sets to make sure I wasn’t rushing my sets and reps. Got a little tired on the last set and got pitched forward on the last rep but I was pretty happy with how everything felt. Definitely think next week and from here on I will put my squat day on Friday or the last workout of the week. I seem to have my mind “more right” on Fridays since I get off work early and don’t have to rush through my workouts.
Was planning out my template after this cycle. I have my heavy week next week, deload and then will try the following setup:
Bench Press: (5/3/1 Advanced Template)
OH Press: 3x5
Some sort of Row: 5x10
Deadlift: (Original 5/3/1 Setup)
Walking DB Lunges: 4-5x10 (Seeing the value in these for mobility and leg strength purposes)
AB Wheel: 3-5x10
OH Press: (5/3/1 Advanced Template)
Bench Press: 3x5
Pull-Ups: At least 25 even on a crappy day
Squats: (Original 5/3/1 Setup) maybe a First Set Last here and there
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 5x10
Some sort of AB work: 3-5x10
Conditioning: Sprints or my got to 100 KB Snatches and high rep KB Swings on Saturdays depending on how I feel and time.
I know I am mixing templates but it seems my upper body lifts have responded really well to the Advanced Template to where I think squats and deadlifts would benefit from a lower Training Max and try to set some rep PRs. Since switching to high bar squats I haven’t really gone for rep records. Looking forward to getting back to some Deadlifts since I haven’t done them in a while. Power Cleans have been fun and have served as a nice break from Deadlifts but my mind and body are ready to get back to pulling some heavy weights. I moved Deads to the 2nd workout in hopes that doing Squats on Friday I will be in a better mindset and not have to rush through the workout and constantly checking the clock to make sure I get to a job site at a certain time. Looking forward to starting this in a few weeks and seeing how it goes.
11/2/15
Bench Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Bench Press: 300 - 5x1
OH Press: 165 - 3x5
DB Row: 80 - 5x10
300 for 5 singles is somewhat surreal to me since early on I never thought I be able to bench press 300. The last 2 sets were a little scary since I did not have a spotter but did not have any issues just a little slower than I would have liked. Went with DB Rows for something quick and easy so I could get out of the gym. Very happy with this workout yesterday!
11/3/15
Squat Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Squat: 330 - 2x1
Deadlift: 355 - 3x5
Ab Wheel: 3x10
Back Extensions: 3x12
Tough Squat day which was to expected. The first rep with 330 felt really good but the 2nd was a total grind. I had my belt on and ready to go for a 3rd set but had too many doubts in my mind that I might not stand back up with the weight. Not too bummed about this just because I knew a reset was coming and I at least got 2 decent reps.
My brother from another mother who moved to Texas several years ago is coming into town on Wednesday. He is going to join me on Thursday for OH Press and he wanted to hit some Deadlifts on Friday instead of Squats. I was planning on doing some heavy Deads today but did not mind hitting Squats today since we haven’t worked out together in several years. Figured I would get some Deadlift work in today since I haven’t pulled in a while. Setup was a little off on the first set but got it fixed the rest of the way. Happy to get back to my old friend the deadlift!!!
11/5/15
Overhead Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
OH Press: 205 - 4x1
Clean & Push Press: 225x1
Bench Press: 240x5, 240x5, 240x8, 225x9
Pull-Ups: 45
Tried to strict press 225 again today and missed it again. The Push Press however was really fast which I guess is a little encouraging. My friend from Houston joined me today and he is into Olympic Lifting so he was doing Power Clean & Jerks with the weights I was using. After some overhead work we started the Bench Press and Pull-Up super-sets. Figured since I had a partner I would push the 3rd set of bench for an AMRAP. Pretty pleased with 8 reps at 240. Did another set of 5 pull-ups and then figured again while I had a partner let’s go for another AMRAP with 225. Happy with 9 but really wanted 10. Couldn’t quite lock it out at the top. Fun to have him here to workout with especially since we grew up together and were always pretty competitive. Fun workout!!
11/6/15
Deadlift:
355x5
405x3
445x3
445x3
445x2
405x3
355x5
Decline Sit Ups -superset- Back Extensions: 3x15
Decided to hit some deadlifts up on Friday with my friend from Houston. 445 felt really good on all sets. I started losing the bar a bit forward on the 3rd set with 445 so I just capped the set at 2 reps and worked my way back down from there. Good workout!!
Going bypass my deload and head into my next cycle since Thanksgiving is lurking around the corner. That should put my 1’s week on Thanksgiving week and hopefully use some of that food to potentially push some PR’s.
11/9/15
Bench Press Day (Advanced 5/3/1 Template)
Bench Press: 240 - 5x5
OH Press: 165 - 3x5
DB Row: 85 - 5x10
Bench Press felt alright today but shoulders and back were pretty tight during overhead work but managed to hit all reps and sets. Weird hitting the exact same weights on this day as the previous cycle but that’s the way it goes when dealing with percentages and rounding. Good day overall and plan on hitting some deadlifts tomorrow.