Slow day at work and just sort of going to recap this year of training and my plans (fitness wise) for 2017. I still have a Deadlift and Bench Press session left before a deload week that will let me have a fresh start after the new year. This will be a long read but again, SLOW DAY!
Looking back through my spreadsheet and my log here I would say 2016 has been a great year of lifting for me. I feel like I’ve been able to significantly improve my lower body strength as well as make some slight improvements to my upper body lifts. Hitting a 550 Deadlift, 225 Power Clean & Strict Press and a 325 Front Squat were goals I had set out to hit this year. A 315 Front Squat was a goal from long ago and was happy to hit that for 5 singles as well as beat that by 5 pounds. Bench Press hasn’t moved at all but I’m okay with that. 275x5 is my most recent PR this year but I put most of my effort into increasing my Strict Overhead Press. My Back Squat numbers aren’t the best on paper but switching to High Bar Squats and going deep (Olympic Style) has made great improvements. Right now my best single is 365 that felt easy from earlier this year but the 320x8 I hit this week lets me know that I’m trending in the right direction and have made improvements in my leg strength. Adding weighted pull ups has been a bit of a surprise as well. Right now I’m sitting at 70 pounds on weighted pull ups. Nothing special but I feel like these helped me reach a “tiny” goal of being able to do 5 sets of 10 rep bodyweight pull ups. That’s nothing special but considering I didn’t do my first pull up until 2012 I am very pleased with this.
In terms of kettlebells, there isn’t a ton to write about. Snatching my 80 pound kettlebell for 100 total reps earlier this year was about the only real PR in terms of KB lifting. I did manage to get a little more creative with complexes and different circuit stuff to increase conditioning.
As far as goals for 2017, this is where things get a little complicated. As I stated earlier in my log, my wife and I are expecting our 2nd son towards the end of March 2017. That gives me 3 months of lifting to get some consistent barbell training done. Hopefully in that time I can maybe set a new Squat PR of 400 and just kind of see where the other lifts go during that time. Once my son is born, my gym time will cut down for a little while until we settle in and get used to having 2 children. During that time I plan on making sure to do a little mobility work everyday and doing kettlebell work around the house. Once things settle down a bit, I may try to get to the gym twice a week and once August hits I will get back to 4 day a week barbell lfiting. While I don’t think 2017 will be the most entertaining training year, it will certainly be one of the best years as far as life is concerned.
Going to continue with “My Version” of the Advanced 5/3/1 Template moving forward but will probably reset some Training Maxes and make some adjustments that I think will benefit me. Here’s what I’ve sort of been doing and will continue to do…
Back Squat (Advanced 5/3/1) (Possible AMRAP on 5th set)
Assistance (KB Swings, Lunges, Ab work, etc.)
Oh Press (Advanced 5/3/1) (Possible AMRAP on 5th set)
Bench Press (3x5)
Assistance (Pull Ups, Ab Work)
Deadlift (Advanced 5/3/1 but using Triples, Doubles, Singles)
Back Squat (3x5-8)
Assistance (Ab Work)
Bench Press (Advanced 5/3/1) (Possible AMRAP on 5th set)
Assistance (Rows, Tricep Work etc.)
Wendler would probably rip me a new one for this setup but it works and has worked for me but at some point you have to learn what works for you and take responsibility for your own training.
If you made it this far… God Bless You!!!
