just finished up Brian Alsruhes Mass Builder template with some new PRs and noticeably bigger traps and upper back . . took a week off and am gonna take my new found strength and try to expand on it with his Conjugate template
Stats are 31 y/o, 5’9” 210lbs
1 rm
DL: 475
Front squat: 315
Bench: 325
Press: 225
Week 1 Day 1 ME Front squats
Giant set:
Hang cleans 135x3, 185x3, 205x2x4
Front squats 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 250x3, 275x3, 295x3
1:00 min plank x6
Volume:
Front squats 5x3 @235
Assistance:
3x10 (ea. side) single-leg RDL w/24kg KB
50ft arm-over-arm sled pulls: 2x115lbs, 2x165lbs, 2x215lbs
crazy good quad pump; bought a new pwo from MuscleFeast, seemed to give good focus and energy
ME split jerks on Monday . . .
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Will be following along on the conjugate train!!
Sounds good.
I’m gonna try and figure how to upload videos this time around.
How’d you like the Mass Builder template? The recovery requirements look pretty high on paper.
I liked it, solid strength and size (mainly upper back/traps) gains but yeah, definitely requires on-point recovery. I ate a ton while doing this program. I rarely did the conditioning portion of the program but the giant sets are conditioning in and of themselves. I started to burn out around week 10, beginning of week 11 so with Brian’s blessing I stopped there and deloaded.
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Week 1 Day 2 ME Log press
decided to go with log press as opposed to split jerks as my wrists were still feeling beat-up from the heavy front squats on Saturday
Giant sets:
Neutral-grip pull-ups:
x3 + 25lbs
x3 + 45lbs
x3 + 70lbs
x3 + 80lbs
x3 + 90lbs x2
Log press:
x3 @105lbs
x3 @135lbs
x3 @155lbs
x3 @175lbs
x3 @195lbs
x1 @205lbs (on the 2nd rep the rubberband I had on the weight sleeve snapped and I dropped the bar and something cracked me on the skull; after I was done seeing stars I decided to call the ME work and move onto volume sets . . the weight sleeves on my log are too small for my clips but yeah, in hindsight rubber bands weren’t the best answer)
Overhead Side Bends
x4 each side w/empty bar after each set
Volume
Superset:
5x3 NG pull-ups + 35lbs
5x3 Log press @160lbs
Assistance
Giant set:
12x BTN press w/125lbs
35ft One-arm plank side row w/sled + 70lbs (ea. side)
20x banded face pulls
Don’t know if I would’ve got all 3 reps @205 which is a little disappointing but then again I have very little experience with that log (12” version) so I’ll just build from here.
Probably gonna go to bed with quite the headache tonight . . can only blame myself though
Lower DE on Wednesday
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Week 1 Day 3 Lower DE
SSB Box squat (low box):
10x3 EMOM @145 + doubled over mini purple bands
Deadlift:
10x3 EMOM @205 + average blue band & 22lb chain
Farmers carry:
6x60ft runs w/200lb each hand
probably going to add more chains to the DL next session as they moved super fast
grip felt really strong on farmers carries, happy about that
Upper DE tomorrow
Week 1 Day 4 Upper DE
Close-grip Bench Press:
10x3 EMOM @135 + average blue band (80lbs @top?)
Strict press:
10x3 EMOM @85 + 44lbs of chains @top
4x 75ft Overhead yoke walk @205lbs
Assistance Giant set:
3 rounds -
10x one-arm rows (ea. side) @75lbs
10x 30 degree incline lateral raises @20lb
12x rear delt flyes @20lb
Everything moved good. Yoke walk was slow but stable and I can definitely add more weight next time around; gonna have them as a staple every Upper DE day to improve overhead stability.
ME paused deadlifts on Saturday
Week 2 Day 1 ME paused deadlifts
Giant set:
KB swings x10x6
Paused DLs (mid-shin) 3x135, 3x225, 3x315, 3x365, 3x405, 3x435
Dragon flags x5x6
Volume:
Paused DLs 5x3 @355 (a little nauseous after last set)
Assistance:
Superset:
SSB Good mornings x8 @135
Close-stance SSB box squat (low box) x8 @155
3 total sets
Week 2 Day 2 ME Upper
Giant set:
Barbell row: 3x135, 3x185, 3x205, 3x225, 3x255, 3x275
Floor press: 3x135, 3x185, 3x225, 3x250, 3x275, 3x300 (butt came up slightly on 3rd rep)
Side plank crunch: 6x6 each side
Volume:
Barbell row: 3x5 @225
Floor press: 3x5 @240
Side plank crunch: 3x6 each side
Assistance:
Arnold press x8 @55lb
One-arm row x8 each side @75lb
Feet-elevated push-ups x20
3 total sets
can tell my upper back really benefitted from the last Brian Alsruhe program I ran as these rows felt really strong
DE Lower on Wednesday
was supposed to have Lower DE day yesterday but I’m dealing with a slight cold so I pushed it off until today . . skipped assistance work today as I’m still not 100%
Week 2 Day 3 Lower DE
Deadlifts: 10x3 EMOM @225 + average blue band & purple mini band
SSB Box squat (14” box): 10x3 EMOM @155 + average blue bands (2) & mini purple bands (2)
still not 100% today but a slight improvement from yesterday regarding how I feel
Week 2 Day 4 Upper DE
10x3 EMOM Close-grip bench press @155 + average blue band
supersetted w/5 band pull-aparts each round
10x3 EMOM Strict press @95 + (2) 22lb chains
Assistance Giant set:
50 ft overhead yoke walk @226lbs
10 NG pull-ups + 45lbs
50 ft zercher yoke carry @226lbs
3 total rounds
the overhead walk was challenging and required focus but the zercher carry didn’t take much effort at all; I’m good for a lot more weight on that the next time around
ME SSB squats on Sunday
got a massage yesterday and the lady said I was like a rock, especially my hamstrings and calves . . probably should schedule these more often
Week 3 Day 1 ME Lower
Giant set:
Snatch-grip high-pull: 3x95, 3x135, 3x185, 3x205x4
SSB squat: 3xbar, 3x155, 3x205, 3x255, 3x305, 3x335, 2x355 (got a little spotter help on the 2nd rep)
:30 sec one-arm plank, alternating sides each round
Volume:
SGHP: 3x205x3
SSB Squat: 5x265x3
:30 one-arm plank x3
Assistance:
8x 2” deficit RDL @225
8x bent-over row @225
3 tota sets
1st time ever squatting ‘heavy’ with the SSB; learned you really have to shove your upper back into the bar coming out of the hole . . I want 400+ on the back half of this program when you work up to a 1RM
Week 3 Day 2 ME Upper
Giant set:
Wide-grip pull-ups: 3x + 25lbs, 3x 35lbs, 3x 45lbs, 3x 55lbs, 3x 70lbs x2
Seated BB press: 3x95lbs, 3x135lbs, 3x160lbs, 3x185lbs, 3x200lbs, 3x215lbs
Landmine twist: x10x6
Volume:
Wide-grip pull-ups: 3x5 + 35lbs
Seated BB press: 3x5 @170lbs
Landmine twist: x10x3
Assistance Giant set:
BTN press: x10 @135lbs
One-arm row: x12 @80lb DB (ea. side)
Face pull: x20 @50lbs
3 total sets
75ft one-arm farmers carry @195lbs
3 sets each side
have off work today so I went to the gym as opposed to training at home; had a friend spot me on the last set of presses but I didn’t need him as they moved good . . I thought about going for 225 for 3 but Brian recommends not going to failure so I decided to call it at 215
45g of whey and 20g of HBCD post-workout and then a tall glass of chocolate milk about 1/2 hour after that . . responding well to conjugate thus far
Week 3 Day 3/4
morphed DE days into 1 day in order to get my schedule straight again and be able to lift on 2 of my days off throughout the week
10x3 SSB Box squat (14” box) EMOM @170 + average blue bands(2) & mini purple bands (2)
10x3 Axle strict press (my axle bar finally came) EMOM @105 + chains
4x8 NG pull-ups + 50lbs; 60 sec rest between sets
ME Lower on Saturday
Week 4 Day 1 ME Lower
Giant set:
KB swings x8x6
DL from bumper plates (just shy of 13”): 135x3, 225x3, 315x3, 385x3, 435x3, 465x2 so slow off the floor here!
Dragon flags x5x6
Volume:
KB swings x8x3
DL from bumper plates @365: x5x3 sets
Dragon flags x5x3
Assistance Giant set:
SSB Good mornings x8 @155lbs
Close-stance SSB box squat x8 @205
Reverse hyper x10 @90 (real slow eccentric)
3 total sets
I was so slow off the floor on that top set of deads; anyone have any helpful assistance or cues to increase speed off the floor? That’s really gonna hold me back until I can improve it
Week 4 Day 2 ME Upper
Giant set:
BB bent-over row: 135x3, 185x3, 210x3, 235x3, 255x3, 275x3x2
2 sec pause bench press: 135x3, 185x3, 210x3, 235x3, 260x3, 280x3, 295x3
GHR sit-ups: 10x7 sets w/25lb plate
Volume:
BB bent-over row: 3x5 @225
2 sec pause bench: 3x5 @235
GHR sit-ups: 3x10 w/25lb plate
Assistance:
8x DB incline bench @95lb db
10x one-arm DB row @85lb db (ea. side)
3 rounds
75ft One-arm farmers carry w/210lbs
3 rounds each side
Week 4 Day 3 DE Lower
SSB box squat 10x3 EMOM @165lbs + bands
Deadlift 10x3 EMOM @245 + bands
Assistance:
RFESS x10 each leg @115lbs
Reverse hyper x10 @160lbs
3 rounds
Is a huge lower back pump normal after reverse hypers?
Week 4 Day 4 DE Upper
CGBP 10x3 EMOM @165lbs + bands
Axle Strict press 10x3 EMOM @115lbs + chains
Assistance:
x10 NG pull-ups + 45lbs
x12 Seated BTN press @125lbs
x12 Overhead Tricep DB extensions w/60lb dB
3 rounds
Week 5 Day 1 ME Lower
had a big breakfast of 4 beer battered wild-caught cod fillets, half a carton of egg whites with cheese (ran out of regular eggs), bowl of oat cereal, and a pint of blueberries then about 2 hours later I met my friend at the gym . . he squats over 500 so he was able to give me some pointers since I haven’t had a straight bar on my back for awhile
Giant set:
5x box jumps (36”)
Low-bar squat: 135x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 355x3, 385x3, 400x3
8x BB rollouts
Volume:
3x box jumps
3x5 low-bar squats @325lbs
8x BB rollouts
Assistance:
10x Glute-ham raises + 25lb plate
10x ea. side step-ups on a 20” box w/75lbs
3 rounds
75ft single-arm farmers carry w/225lbs
3 rounds each side
main take-aways from squatting were that I don’t set my hips back far enough and I need to keep a more upright torso . . might use an ‘off-day’ here to really hammer my form with light weight on low-bar squats