Power Clean: 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 155x5, 135x5
Double KB Lunges (Rack Position): 40# KBs: 5x6 (each leg)
DB Bench Press: 55x10, 55x10, 60x10, 65x10, 70x10
1 Arm Cable Row: 35x10, 35x10, 35x10, 45x10, 50x10
Side Bends: 45 - 5x10
Back Extensions: 5x10
Figured I would try the Full Body Deload from the Beyond 5/3/1 book today. Overall a pretty fun workout keeping everything light and doing a few different movements I wouldn’t normally do. DB Bench Press was a little bothersome since I did KB Clean & Jerks yesterday. The 1 Arm Cable Rows were a lot tougher than I had anticipated. I wish the cable station wasn’t so far away from the free weight area or I would superset these with Bench Press every week for a while.
Thought I’d move the conversation over here if that’s ok? Fantastic, I’m looking forward to this :). I’m hovering around 96kg (212lbs) at 6’2", although I’m hoping to drop below 95kg soon. In terms of a date I really don’t mind! When do you think would suit you best?
I will start my next cycle of 531 next week and I was planning on Monday hitting Bench Press. If you are comfortable to do this next week I’m game for it. Do you want to go for 1 set of max reps or max reps in 5 minutes?
Sounds perfect! I don’t mind, which would you prefer?
EDIT: By coincidence my bench press 5/3/1 for next week has my top set as 5+ at 96kg, so if we stuck with a max reps set it would mean I wouldn’t deviate from my routine. But I don’t mind if you’d rather do max in 5 min!
Haha!! Funny how that works out for you just because I was going to use 235 as sort of a First Set Last. Let’s go 1 set for max reps. That way we won’t have to deviate from our programs. Looking forward to it my friend!!
5/3/1 Full Body (Squat Deload)
Squats: Worked up to 365x1 (PR) (Training Max)
Paused Bench Press: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5
Hammer Strength Lat Pulldowns: 90 (each side) 4x12
Ab Wheel: 3x10
Decided to work up to my Training Max with Squats today since my groin is feeling better. Happy to hit 365 for a single and set a new PR. Certainly not going to say this would have been for good for an easy triple but I felt like I could’ve gotten one more with that weight, especially if I would’ve taken pre-workout and had a snack beforehand! With Bench Press, still working on not losing tightness after each rep. Good day overall even though it was a deload workout!
@furo it’s going to be a close match in my opinion. I haven’t Benched Press hardly anything over 5 reps in a long time I may be good for 5 reps and then forget how to count from there! Now that you are doing 5/3/1 and getting back to your kettlebell work as your leg continues to improve, I’m sure this will be the first of many little challenges to come!
Kettlebell Ladder Workout
(1,2,3,4,5) x 5 Ladders
80# KB - 1 Arm KB Clean & Jerk / Pull Ups
Very happy with this kettlebell session even though the 4th and 5th Ladder was quite tough. Jerk technique felt spot on through every rep and ladder. The Cleans on the other hand just got a little loose towards the end but didn’t really care at that point. Pull Ups felt very strong. According to Pavel if you’ve completed 5 Ladders with 5 reps you move up to a heavier bell. Don’t have a heavier bell but will find another way to progress from here. Fun but for me, a very brutal workout.
Finally hit 5 reps with 275 on Bench Press to beat my previous rep PR of 4 reps with that weight. I didn’t post my warm up sets just because I didn’t think they were very relevant and didn’t really follow any progression or percentage. For volume work I did the Bodyweight Bench Press Challenge @furo for 1 max rep set. Set a PR with 235 for 10 reps but still lost the challenge by 3 reps! Cable Rows superset with Pressdowns to finish up since the dumbbell area was packed!
@furo… Congratulations on winning our first Bodyweight Bench Press Challenge. When I saw you hit 13 reps I knew that was going to be tough to beat. I was thinking if you got 10 I could potentially beat or tie you but I knew 13 was going to be tough. Somewhere down the line I either want a rematch with this same challenge or we try something different. Great job my friend! 2-0 against the Americans!!!
Great work man! Haha I’m not sure this was a fair competition - you hit a heavy PR set before your bodyweight set! But this was really fun, looking forward to the next one (and making that 3-0 ;)).
I was thinking hitting the heavy PR would make 235 feel like a feather (don’t want to use terms like Nervous System Activation cuz I’m not CT). The weight felt pretty good but ran out of steam. Winner gets to call the next challenge. Can’t let you go 3-0!
I was thinking get @ActivitiesGuy involved as well with something. I think some form of Deadlift Challenge (2 x Bodyweight for reps) could be in the works but may give that time so @furo you can let your leg heal a little more. Something with kettlebells could be cool but I only I have 1x80# KB and 2x55# KB’s and I know you each have an 88. Max rep Pull Up Challenge (Time or 1 Set Max Reps). I’m up for anything!
I really like those ideas. The deadlift one would be awesome, but to be honest I’m probably at least 6 months from a 2x bodyweight deadlift. It would be really cool for further down the line though. I think a pull-up challenge might be best, as we all routinely train them, and I really like the idea of doing max reps in a certain time (say 15 min?). This time we could give ourselves some time to train for it, say 4 weeks? Let me know what you think :).
I’m down for the Pull Up Challenge especially since I can do this at home. Do you want to allow varied grips (chin grip, neutral, etc…) or make it straight Pull Up? I don’t know how to kip so don’t worry about any Crossfit cheating on my end! As far as time, I can handle 4 weeks. We will have to remind one another when the time comes. Time seems to REALLY slip up on me as of late. 15 minutes works for me as well. That way a little strategy can be involved.
Yeah I reckon it would be best if we allowed any grip, and you can switch up during the event. And yeah, no kipping, but none of us are kippers lol. An alternative challenge could be the same but with barbell presses, although that might be too similar to the bench press one. I don’t mind, looking forward to it regardless!
Haven’t said this in a while but Deadlifts felt atrocious today!!! Didn’t really have my mind in the game when it came to deadlifts and the 475x2 shows it. Setup felt off and felt like I was fidgety on the 475 set. Went 3x3 beltless but only took about 30-45 seconds rest between each set. So far that is one thing I like about this Beyond Template. Wasn’t feeling it today and hit my TM for a couple of reps and moved on. The Walking KB Lunges were pretty fun in a mean way. I could really feel my core, legs and upper back working throughout each rep. Hopefully this will also help with holding the rack position longer when I get back to Long Cycle. Figured I would do some Double Swings during my rest periods of Ab Wheel just to keep me moving. A very mediocre main lift day but assistance felt decent at least!
Beyond 5/3/1 (Training Maximally)
Overhead Press Day
Overhead Press: 185x4
Overhead Press: 135 - 5x8
Pull Ups: 53 total
Didn’t set a PR with 185 but the 4 reps felt decent enough. Woke up pretty sore from the past 2 days of workouts so that may have played a role for the day. Pretty happy with the volume work afterwards. I’m hoping hitting some higher reps for my Press will start shooting it upward. Overhead Press gains seem to come in big spurts and then they will sort of stall for a bit. Staying patient. Pull Ups felt pretty decent even though my first couple of sets didn’t feel great. After a couple of sets between pressing my body woke up and the reps came a lot easier and better. Decent session overall!
Beyond 5/3/1 (Training Maximally)
Squat Day
Squats: 335x4
Squats: 235 - 5x8
3 Rounds of Ab Circuit: Leg Raise x 15, Back Extensions x 15, Side Bends (45# Plate) x 15
Pretty happy with Friday’s workout especially since I pretty much felt like crap. A lot of life was going on last week. I was able to keep my back tight through each rep of 335. The first rep felt so fast I lost my balance a bit and was dilly dallying around with the bar on my back to get re-situated. The volume work with 235 was getting brutal on the last set. The weight wasn’t feeling heavy it’s just I was breathing pretty hard by that point. Not used to doing multiple sets of 8 reps on Squats. I wanted to do some Lying Hamstring Curls after but I had a sore on the back of my foot and the pad was aggravating it a lot. Plus it being a commercial gym, I didn’t want to risk any type of infection. Zero opportunity to hit any type of Kettlebell work over the weekend! Hoping this week won’t be anywhere near as hectic as last week so I can get some decent rest and enough food!!