[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Also finished up Dan John’s book “Never Leg Go” last week. It was a really good book. Some of the workouts he mentions are very interesting but his philosophy on goal setting and overall mind set is what intrigues me most about the book. That was a great book for my mental state in the ol’ iron game![/quote]
That’s what I felt about Never Let Go, as well. Not really much in the way of “content” for training, but there are hundreds of books out there for that. It was more of a philosophical read.[/quote]
Definitely. I enjoy the style of writing that Dan John and Pavel put out there as far as fitness. They bring everything down to Earth and they both have a dry sense of humor that I enjoy. Some books can make you feel like crap if you can’t squat 600 and bench 500 but these guys make you want to be better than you were before as opposed to making you compare yourself to the top powerlifters or olympic weightlifters in the world. I also enjoy Wendler’s no non-sense approach to his philosophy and program setup but the good thing is that you can blend all 3 of their philosophies together and come up with a good program for yourself. At least that’s what I’m trying to do anyway. Kettlbells, Front Squats and trying to stay North of Vag!!! Sounds like a decent log title!!
Wow, great transformation for both of you! Keep at it!
[quote]DrGelbman wrote:
Wow, great transformation for both of you! Keep at it![/quote]
Thanks DrGelbman! Looking forward to seeing what adding double kettlebell work to my routine will add to the story!
1/23/15
5/3/1
Deadlift Day (75%, 85%, 95%)
Hang Clean: 155x5, 175x3, 195x3
Deadlift: 325x5, 375x3, 415x3
RDL: 225 - 5x10
Double KB Practice with 55lb KBs
Double Swings x 10 / 30 sec Plank
Double Swings x 10 / 30 sec Plank
Long Cycle (Clean & Jerk) x 10 / 30 sec Plank
Long Cycle x 10 / 30 sec Plank
Double Snatch x 10 / 30 sec Plank
Hang cleans just weren’t feeling right on Friday. Not sure what it was but they didn’t feel as crisp as they have been lately. Deadlifts were feeling pretty good. I felt like I wasted too much energy and time trying to figure what the world was going on with my hang clean so I feel like my deadlift suffered a little. Should have gotten 5 reps with 415. Had some fun with double kettlebell work. The swings were feeling pretty easy and I wanted to experiment with other movements. I took the advice from DrGelbman about stance and hand placement on the bells and that helped a lot. It took the 2 sets of swings to figure out a decent stance to take. The Long Cycle is definitely a fun movement and something I intend on working on. I kept wanting to push press or strict press the bells at first instead of doing a proper jerk. I finally got it together after a few reps. The double snatches weren’t near as difficult as I thought they would be. The only thing I had to do different was bring the bells down to the shoulder before swinging them back. My first rep I tried to swing it back down from the top like my 1 arm snatches. I see why they tell you not to do that with doubles. I lost my balance big time and had to park the bells and reset myself. Doubles will definitely become a favorite of mine!
1/26/15
5/3/1
Bench Press Day (70%, 80%, 90%)
Bench Press: 185x3, 215x3, 240x6 (PR)
Inc DB Press / T-Bar Row: 5x10 - 55/135, 60/150, 65/160, 70/170, 80/180
BB Curl: 55x10, 75x10, 95x10
Rope Pushdown: 40 - 3x10
Set another bench PR this week. I was expecting 6 reps and nailed it. Pretty happy with the way I’m trending on bench press right now. Everything else felt good as well today. Got a nice upper body pump leaving the gym today!
Good going on the log. I’m finding 5/3/1 type sessions are some of the most rewarding sessions, like the idea about using KB between lifting days. At present I am trying to get out and do some short sprints, because time is of the essence on my off-days. I’ll look into Pavel’s book, thanks!
[quote]Airborne88 wrote:
Good going on the log. I’m finding 5/3/1 type sessions are some of the most rewarding sessions, like the idea about using KB between lifting days. At present I am trying to get out and do some short sprints, because time is of the essence on my off-days. I’ll look into Pavel’s book, thanks![/quote]
Thanks Airborne88! Lately I have been doing my kettlebell sessions as part of my lifting days. When the weather gets back to decent here in the south I will start mixing sprints with KB work again. The book I highly recommend by Pavel is Enter the Kettlebell. It gives you a great breakdown of all of the basic KB movements that is easy to understand and the Russian puns are pretty funny as well. As for 5/3/1, I love this program. Every now and then I will try a little something different but I ALWAYS come back to it!
1/27/15
5/3/1
Front Squat Day (70%, 80%, 90%)
Front Squat: 170x3, 195x3, 220x8
Front Squat: 170 - 5x5 (First Set Last)
Double KB Snatch / Plank: 55/BW - 5x10 / 30 secs
Hit my goal on front squats today which I am pretty proud of. I decided to do First Set Last with front squats instead of doing 5x10 back squats just because I feel like I had a decent groove going with fronts. Double KB Snatches wore me out!! Super-setting these with planks makes sense for me at the moment because it is some active rest I really need. My upper back was really getting really tired on the 5th set. Overall I am pleased with my performance today. I like where my Training Max is at the moment with Front Squats just because it is allowing me to hit some higher reps with a decent amount of weight (for me anyway!)
1/29/15
5/3/1
Overhead Press Day (70% , 80%, 90%)
Overhead Press: 125x3, 145x3, 165x6 (PR)
Double KB Clean & Press / Chins: 55/BW - 5x10/5
Lateral Raises / Bent Over Raises: 25/15 - 3x10
Finally able to get over the 5 rep barrier with 165 which I felt like I was stuck at for a while! The KB C&P’s with chins REALLY wore me out today. Shoulders and back were fried after this super-set. Finished up with some half ass raises. Overall a pretty good day. Just to mention, double kb work is really tiring and a little harder than I was going to give it credit for!
1/30/15
5/3/1
Deadlift Day (70%, 80%, 90%)
Deadlift: 315x3, 355x3, 405x5
RDL: 225 - 5x10
2 Hand KB Swing / AB Wheel: 80/BW - 5x10
2 Hand KB Swing: 80 - 2x25
Did not have too much time to workout on Friday so I had scratched hang cleans so I could get my deadlift work in. My abs were really sore Saturday morning when I made my first attempt to get out of bed. Can tell I haven’t done the ab wheel in a while. I was most proud of my 2 sets of 25 swings with the 80lb kettlebell. Since I haven’t done timed sets in a while I felt like my high reps of swings were wanting to cap at about 15-20. These felt surprisingly good and probably could have gotten 35 on the first set.
2/2/15
5/3/1
Bench Press Day (65%, 75%, 85%)
Bench Press: 185x5, 205x5, 225x5
Inc DB Press / T-Bar Row: 50/135x10, 60/160x10, 70/170x10, 80/180x10, 85/190x4/10 (DB was slipping in my hands!!)
BB Curls: 65x10, 75x10, 85x10
Rope Pushdowns: 35x10, 40x10, 45x10
This was not a tough day but I guess I would call it a “kind of a not easy day!” I caught a pretty tough cold over the weekend and was feeling like crud going to the gym but thinking that if I move around and get a sweat going I would feel better… WRONG!! Because I was so congested and could barely breath it was making my hands very slippery and was sweating waaaaay more than normal. Which is how I nearly dropped the 85lb DB’s. From there on I just kind of coasted through the workout to make sure I at least got some decent work in. Considering going with the “I’m not Doing Jack Sh*t Template” from 5/3/1 if I don’t get any better!!
2/3/15
5/3/1
Front Squat Day (65%, 75%, 85%)
Front Squat: 160x5, 185x5, 210x5
Front Squat: 160 - 5x5 (Last 2 reps of every set paused for 2 secs)
Double KB Snatch / Plank: 55/BW - 5x10/30 secs
Felt a little bit better than yesterday but can tell this cold still has a hold on me. I really hate having to cough during front squats!! Snatches were pretty conservative as far as pace was concerned. Nothing special but a pretty productive day!
2/4/15
5/3/1
Overhead Press Day (65%, 75%, 85%)
Overhead Press: 120x5, 135x5, 155x5
Double KB Clean & Press / Chins: 55/BW - 5x10/5
Lateral Raises: 20 - 3x10
Face Pulls: 45 - 3x10
Pretty straight forward day. Rested a little longer after KB C&P’s and Chins due to my cold still making feel pretty crappy. Someone at the front desk of the gym was eating a burrito that had a REALLY strong smell that you could smell all the way across the gym. Any other time I would be dying to get a burrito afterwards but the way I was feeling today between sets it made me want to puke!
2/6/15
5/3/1
Deadlift Day (65%, 75%, 85%)
Deadlift: 290x5, 335x5, 385x5
Deadlift: 290 - 5x5
1 Arm KB Snatch / Plank: 50/BW - 1x20 (each arm)/30 secs
Double Jerk / Plank: 40/BW - 1x20/30 secs
1 Arm Swing / Plank: 50/BW - 1x20/30 secs
I left my 55’s and 80 Kettlbells at home thinking I wasn’t going to need them because I didn’t feel well at all on Friday. Once I got to the gym I was feeling pretty good and wish I would have at least brought my 80. Had to use what the gym had available. I liked doing the first set last with deadlifts. I was able to fix a few technical flaws I had been having for a while.
2/9/15
5/3/1
Bench Press Day (75%, 85%, 95%)
Bench Press: 205x5, 225x3, 250x1, 275x1(PR), 300xMiss
Inc DB Press / T-Bar Row: 70/135x10, 80/160x10, 85/180x8/10, 70/180x7/10, 50/180x15/10
BB Curls / Pushdowns: 65/65 - 3x10
Set a new PR for bench press today as far as a single. I got 300 about 8 inches off of my chest and the bar seemed to slam on the breaks. A 300 pound bench press is not as far off as I thought it would be. Started to run out of gas during the 85lb dumbbell presses and on the next set I was REALLY out of gas. Finally I just grabbed the closest dumbbell to me (50lb) and just got some decent reps in. Overall I was very pleased today. I haven’t really pushed a max bench press in a while so I was happy to 275. Realistically I would say 285-290 could be my true max right now!
275 is a big milestone! The “2.5 big wheels” mark. Congrats on the PR. I also assume, since you got that close to 300, that your true max now resides somewhere between 275 and 300. Keep grinding and in another cycle perhaps 300 will be yours!
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
275 is a big milestone! The “2.5 big wheels” mark. Congrats on the PR. I also assume, since you got that close to 300, that your true max now resides somewhere between 275 and 300. Keep grinding and in another cycle perhaps 300 will be yours![/quote]
Thanks buddy!! For me that is a HUUUUGE milestone! I will probably give it several months to kind of let my strength build up slowly and try to set some rep PR’s along the way. I’m glad I at least tried 300 just to see how it felt in my hands. I was fighting demons when I un-racked the weight. My mind was saying “Oh crap this heavy” but I was trying to fight and say “You got this!” and I couldn’t push it past the sticking point. Next time I need to be more aggressive and sure of myself beforehand. I wouldn’t call 275 a smoke show but it went up pretty smooth. Probably won’t try to set any other single PR’s this week unless I feel pretty pumped up like I did today.
2/11/15
5/3/1
Front Squat Day (75%, 85%, 95%)
Front Squat: 185x5, 210x3, 235x5
Front Squat: 185 - 5x5
Double KB Snatch / Plank: 55/BW - 5x10/30 secs
Had the bar roll back and hit me right in the adams apple on the last rep. Cut my air off for a second and made me feel kind of light headed coming out of the hole. I’m sure I had a couple of more reps left but still happy with 5 reps with 235. KB Snatches were feeling really good today and could tell I was picking up my pace a little more. By the 5th set of planks after last set of snatches I was basically just propped up on my elbows on the floor for 30 secs. Fatigue had set in and could not squeeze my core hardly at all.
2/12/15
5/3/1
Overhead Press Day (75%, 85%, 95%)
Overhead Press: 135x5, 155x3, 170x4 (PR)
Long Cycle / Chins: 55/BW - 5x10/5
Beat my previous PR of 170 by 1 rep. I tried to squeeze out the 5th rep but could not lock it out. With thoughts of competition down the road I put aside the Double Clean & Presses and will now focus on Long Cycle (Clean & Jerk). This is a whole new experience all together. This was starting to bring out the soreness in my legs from yesterdays front squats and is definitely a full body movement compared to just pressing. I was able to push the pace to my liking today although there is lots of room for improvement as far as Long Cycle is concerned. Skipped the lateral raises because the gas tank was on E! Good day!
2/13/15
5/3/1
Deadlift Day (75%, 85%, 95%)
Deadlift: 335x5, 385x3, 425x3 (PR)
Deadlift: 335 - 5x5
1 Arm KB Snatch: 55 - 5x10
On paper this day didn’t look like much but it was exhausting. Anything over 415 for reps will be a PR from this point on. I am getting more comfortable deadlifting 400+ pounds and it doesn’t seem as daunting as it used to be. After the 2nd or 3rd set of snatches I was toast. I was getting a little uncomfortable because of the sweat on my hands I was worried I was going to lose grip on the kettlebell and it was going to fly out my hand and hit the poor soul doing sit ups on the floor in front of me. Luckily that didn’t happen.
Today starts my de-load week and I have never been happier to see it! I have felt REALLY sore all week and am looking forward to a bi of recovery time. Looking back at my log I think this has been one of my best all around cycles of 5/3/1 in a while in terms of rep PRs and performance. I hate I gave up the Power Snatch and Power Clean but I couldn’t handle that along with double kettlebell work. On overhead presses I always hang clean the first rep so at least I’m not losing the feel for any type of barbell power clean.