Great work jjack! I really can’t comprehend doing 17 reps on squats…no matter the weight. Bench, yes…squats and deads, hell no!
Also, you look really smooth on the squats. I wish mine looked half that fluid.
Congrats on the PR as well.
Thanks LS. My first 5 day on the program I got 255 x 13. So I have picked up 25 lbs. and 5 reps. That’s gotta count for something. We are going to test 1 rm at the end of this cycle, I am curious to see where I am at. I feel like my max is moving up, even though I am not working with maximal weights. I’d really like to crack 405 this month, we shall see.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Thanks LS. My first 5 day on the program I got 255 x 13. So I have picked up 25 lbs. and 5 reps. That’s gotta count for something. We are going to test 1 rm at the end of this cycle, I am curious to see where I am at. I feel like my max is moving up, even though I am not working with maximal weights. I’d really like to crack 405 this month, we shall see. [/quote]
25# w/ 5 more reps sounds like great progress. I can’t wait to see the video of 405#!
405# is my short term goal as well. Although, I am thinking closer to the end of the year.
Just starting on 5/3/1, I am skeptical that the weights I will be using on my ME squats will be enough to push me that high by then. Since I am going to do BBB with them, though, I hope that is where it comes from. I REALLY need some rep work on my squats.
Great work on the squat. I am with LS, don’t know how you rep on the squat, anything over 5 and I am dead.
I had always wanted to ask you this, as you probably have the best gains I have seen on the 5/3/1 in the time you started, are your starting maxes your all-time 1RMs on the big 4 or were they the maxes you could do just before starting 5/3/1?
Regardless, amazing gains in the last 3 months.
That’s a lot of squats at that weight. Nice work!
Thanks for the kind words guys.
FF: Short answer: I tested my maxes the week before I started 5-3-1, and they are probably lifetime maxes, but I am not really sure. In any event, I am hoping to keep adding weight as long as my body will let me, and for right now I am really enjoying the 5-3-1.
Long answer: 5-3-1 is the first real power lifting program I have done. I lifted weights in HS and college for conditioning but i don’t recall ever testing maxes on the big lifts, and I don’t recall ever doing deads until this year.
This is the first time I have ever kept a log. I did like to squat back then, but, looking back, my form and depth were poor. I have had like 365 on my back in college, but I am sure it was not to depth. I think I benched like 255 once in college. I spent most of the last 15 years drinking and playing golf.
When I started hitting the gym last december, it was mainly for fat loss. I was 245 lbs. and could barely break 225 the off ground for a deadlift. I got tired tying my shoes. 185 for reps felt really heavy. I could barely get out of the water when I started skiing again last summer, and that was really embarrassing, and really why I started lifting.
I did a bunch of circuit/body weight/sandbag stuff that included deadlifting 135 for reps in the circuit last winter and lost weight and got my endurance up. Then after a few months I started doing a 5x5 deal twice a week on the big lifts, and body weight stuff once or twice a week.
In the spring I started to pull deads for singles on a whim. I was surprised how much I liked just adding weight to the bar on the deads and seeing how heavy I could go. I did this for a while until I pulled 375. I found this site in like March or April and just started reading. Then I decided to start doing 5-3-1 and tested my maxes and went from there.
Probably more info than you wanted, but thanks for reading,
Jack
I’m impressed. You’ve definitely come a long way in under a year. Will be interesting to see what your new maxes are at the end of this cycle.
That’s a huge amount of progress. You’ve sure put in alot of good work!
wow, you are making huge progress here. You are really tackling the weights. It takes a lot of determinations to rep out the squats with respectable weight like that.
Thanks for stopping in, FF, Kimba, and Pete.
Wave 4, week 2, deads. TM 365. 3-3-3, 70, 80, 90%
Time in: 6:10
Time out: 7:20
Warm-up: mobilty work, tread 8 min.
Deads: 45 x10, 90 x10, 135 x5, 185 x3, 225 x5, 255 x3, 290 x3, 330 x12.
BBB deads: 245 x 10,10,10,10,10. (+5 lbs. from last week).
Dips: BW x10, +20 x10, +40 x5, +60 x5, +80 x5 (Rep PR +1 rep), +90 x2 (PR weight).
HSCurls: 110 x5, 130 x5, 150 x5, 170 x1.
Notes: I was still sore from Sat walking into the gym, but soreness went away a few sets into it. My torn callusus felt like the biggest limiting factor on deads. I set my goal at 12 reps because I thought that was a PR, but I actually needed 13. I’m ok with that, my hands were about shot on # 12 and I had one or two in the tank. BBB felt tough but not too tough. All in all, a good day in the gym.
Nice work. Question/thought: why the dips w/deads? I would consider them more appropriate w/bench or OP.
Nice deads! At the reps you put up, you can definitely handle more weight on several of your lifts.
Nice work, jjack. Looking strong, with great endurance to boot. Just seeing all those reps makes me ache.
High rep squats and deads are just not natural. They hurt so bad. Great work and congrats on the huge progress you’ve been making.
Thanks all for stopping in and the kind words.
Pete, I only have three days a week in the gym, and I wanted a little more frequency on triceps to bring up my bench. So I do dips on Tues, bench and incline on Thurs., and OH press on Sat. Also, I like dips and don’t like to do them as much when I am fatigued after bench. My recovery seems ok this way, do you see any problems with this other than it is a bit unconventional? I am all ears and welcome any advice,
Thanks,
Jack
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Thanks all for stopping in and the kind words.
Pete, I only have three days a week in the gym, and I wanted a little more frequency on triceps to bring up my bench. So I do dips on Tues, bench and incline on Thurs., and OH press on Sat. Also, I like dips and don’t like to do them as much when I am fatigued after bench. My recovery seems ok this way, do you see any problems with this other than it is a bit unconventional? I am all ears and welcome any advice,
Thanks,
Jack [/quote]
If it’s working, don’t change it:)
Wave 4, Week 2, Bench, TM 245, 3-3-3, 70, 80, 90%
Time In: 6:20 a.m.
Time Out: 7:20 a.m.
Bench: 45 x20, 90 x10, 135 x5, 155 x1, 170 x3, 195 x3, 220 x 10
Incline DBBench: 45s x10, 65s x10, 100s x 5 (little help on 5)
Chins: 9,6,4,4,3,3,3,3,2 (37 total)
Superset BBB Bench/Kroc Rows 5 sets ten reps: 165 bench, 110 Krock row
No PRs today, Bench was 2 short of PR, 1 short of tie, and it felt heavy. Form on bench is the hardest for me of the big lifts. BBB Bench and Krocks were a killer, I am still feeling it. Also, the 110 dumbbell has a thicker handle than the 100s and below, it was really tough on the grip. I wanted to run stairs, had work commitments. Not a bad day on the gym, but nothing special.
Nice work on the vid. Did I see you are training at a Lifetime? as am I. Nice to see they have universally shitty equipment and horrible pop/RnB to boot. Fortunately the two locations that I train at were ‘bought out’ and the PTs stashed away some of the good stuff, like a DL bar, DL jack, round kilo plates, etc. When corporate did their tour through (and corporate is based 10 minutes away from my weekday club) the trainers snuck some of the good stuff out.
Your bench form is pretty damn good. I would still try and pull my legs back a little further. Actually they can never be too far back. But you have a great arch, and seem to be able to keep it for reps, which is rare. I prefer flat footed because if you ever decide to do a competition flat footed is acceptable in the USAPL, but hey, you are in Texas and there are more feds down there. Anyway, good work.
Nice work, jjack. The bench was smooth and strong.
Supersetting BBB with 110# Krocs sounds like a killer! Your endurance is awesome.
'course, it’s been 20 years since I did any skiing, but as I recall, it was very fatiguing…and a great workout.