Cycle 4, Week 1
DL
135
135
225
225
315
385x5
Back is tight, didn’t like it.
Box squat for bar speed
bar
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 2
Real Set starts here
315 x 2 x 6 - Start every set on the minute, maintain explosiveness and bar speed.
This kicked my butt and it was awesome.
Back raise / Reverse crunch no rest superset
10 w/ 25 plate / 15 3x
Done. Good workout.
Nice session and good weight. I’m about the same weight. I just noticed on the first page that you’ve only been lifting for a year and half. Wow man you’ve made some insane progress!
Thanks. It’s been good. I lifted in HS and college, though, so it’s not like I never touched a weight before. I never got any good instruction on form or programming until I started Strong Lifts 5x5. I basically wasted the best anabolic years of my life (20-27) pigging out and partying. Would be nice to see where I’d be if I had started SL5x5 my first year of college. Though, I’d probably have injured myself severely because I was not nearly as cautious back then.
New scale at the Y today…again. 195. Solid, I guess.
Bench felt really heavy today. Still doing prescribed reps, so whatever…
Cycle 4, Week 1
Bench
bar
bar
95
95
135
135
190
215*
230*
245x5 (stars mean they’re part of the 5-3-1, this week 5)
Bench for speed
205 x 3 x 6 on the minute with pause and press command.
This was pretty good. I find that firing out of the hole hurts my elbow/lower bicep. I’m going to switch my max effort bench to board press to see if that will relieve it because the pain seems to originate from the heavy pin press from 1" off the chest.
Dip / Pullup superset
15/10
15/9
15/8
15/8
Felt good today, except my “5” set felt really heavy on bench. I blame deload week. I think I’m going to take a new approach to deload week next time around WRT bench, but I’m not sure what. This time I have a competition the day after my bench deload day, so I’ve got a while to figure it out.
The deload week can be tricky. I don’t like to deload unless my body is telling me it needs one. For me, I find I get the best results deloading every 9 weeks.
Cycle 4, Week 2
Squat
bar
bar
135
135
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3
355 x 3
Easy
Walking Lunges
3 x 20 w/ 45’s
Ab wheel / Prone Bridge
Got out early. I took it easy and didn’t do max effort squat because my back has been really tight. Basically, my Rottweiler has a skin infection and I have to give her a bath every other day. This kills my back. Couple that with my stupid idea to do high bar good mornings a couple of weeks ago and I’m a worthless pile of crap. I’m foam rolling, icing, stretching, and it’s getting better slowly.
OK, I’m a big puss.
Cycle 4, Week 2
OHP
bar
bar
95
95
135
135
155x3
170x3
180x3 easy
Bench max effort
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x1 (all 1’s are paused at the bottom)
295x1 easy
315 fail, spotter touched it
315 2-board x 3 w/ pause
335 2-board w/ pause x1 (hard)
355 2-board w/ pause - fail
300x1 fail (spotter left me at the bottom without a press command forever, almost got it)
Bench was OK. I’m getting off the bottom OK with the pause, so the pin presses must have helped.
Inverted Row
3x15 BW
Back is feeling OK today. Tomorrow’s rest should provide enough for me to DL on Thursday.
355 is some heavy stuff man…nice work
Cycle 4, Week 2
DL
135
135
225
225
315 x 3
365 x 1
I stopped because my back was giving me the same feedback as last week. I think it’s best I not push it until I feel more confident that I can complete the reps without pain.
Speed Box Squat
bar
bar
135
225
275
315
335 x 2 for my 6 sets on the minute
Very taxing.
Farmer Carries w/ 100’s 3xfailure
Reverse crunch / back extension x 3
definitely smart move on the deads…that’s one movement you never wanna risk injury
Cycle 4, Week 2
Bench
bar
bar
95
135
185
200
215
225
245
265x3
Easy. Had my partner give me the press command on the last set to make it a little harder.
Speed bench
215 x 3 x 6 on the minute.
Last rep of the last set was a little slow, but good set.
Inverted Row
20, 16, 15 - Trying to up the reps on this. Next time I’ll go for 20, 20, 15.
Pullups, various grips
8, 7, 7, 7
Straight arm push downs w/ rope
10 x 80, 100, 120
Good workout. I feel energized and exhausted at the same time. These speed sets are awesome. Thanks Wendler and Tate.
nice session…good way to finish off the week
I skipped squat day because my back hurts like hell. If I do squats or deads this week, it’ll be just a warmup, probably.
I’m dreading legs tonight. My body feels fine but for whatever reason I just don’t have the energy necessary for a heavy leg session.
Cycle 4, Week 3
OHP
bar
bar
bar
115
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 3
190 x 1
Easy, wanted to do more, but sticking to prescribed reps as Wendler advised.
135 x 6 x 3
Tall skinny guy asked me to show him how to squat, so I did some with the bar and 95. Back felt OK.
Foam rolled a lot. Seems to be helping with the back. Hamstrings especially.
IDK how many sets of pullups. I did 6 at a time, various grips, rope, etc. 10-15 dips in between.
15 reverse crunches, didn’t like how it felt.
done.
OK workout. I like that I can press (almost) my body weight pretty easily over my head. I’m sure another 5 lbs wouldn’t have been much different. Just feels cool.
wow man that is a heavy press, that’s real impressive
Cycle 4, Week 3
Today felt so good, I couldn’t contain myself to the prescribed reps.
Squat
bar
bar
135
135
225
275
295 x 5
335 x 3
375 x 5…and it was cake
Squats are feeling so good right now. If only I could get my back feeling right to pull something significant on the DL. 9 days to competition…we’ll see.
DL, just warmed up
135
135
225
225
315
Had to get to work early, so that’s all I did.
glad to see you’re feeling better…you know you have a sick squat when 375 is cake
Cycle 4, Week 3
Bench
bar
bar
95
95
135
185
225
235 x 5
255 x 3
275 x 1 (all singles are with pause and press command)
295 x 1
305 x 1
315 x 1
Felt good. All of these went up easy with no hitches at all.
Rows: DB Row w/100’s / Inverted Row
10 each arm x 3 / 15, 10
That’s it. Volume has been lower as I approach competition (8 days). Next week will be very light except maybe some board press.
glad to see benching went up with no problem
enjoy the holiday weekend man - don’t cheat too much!
Just went in and stretched today, worked up to 315 for a single on bench, then did 2 reps 315 with the manpon.