I got this pain after my last competition, I think just the sheer amount of volume and weight from that day was just alot for my elbows to handle. Went away after a week and havent felt it since. Before that Ive had it flair up before when I was squatting/benching alot, but it would never last more than a few days.
Thats good to hear. Seems I get over one joint issue just to have another. Thanks for the imput.
Bench Day-Week 2- 5/3/1
Flat Bench
1x10 -45 lbs warm up
1x3- 55 lbs
1x3- 65 lbs
1x8- 70 lbs
*Meh
Pendlay Rows
3x10- 65 lbs
BB Skullcrushers
3x8- 30 lbs
DB Flys (flat)
3x8 (30 lbs)
Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
3x10- 60 lbs
Not a great workout. I had some residual elbow pain and I found my right arm felt quite weak doing skullcrushers and flyās.
I weighed myself at the beginning of this process, and when I saw 124.5 lbs on the scale I almost shit bricks-I was 125 lbs 9 months pregnant with my first kid!!! Even though this is not about my weight, I was pretty shocked!! Butā¦ I weighed myself 2 weeks after and 121.6 lbs!! Woohoo!!! Plus I had a male co-worker say he was intimidated by my arms, so that was great. I look strong which makes me happy!
I am also proud that I made it to the gym given
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Oh, and I had a quick question about week three, if anyone can answer. I am going for a one rep max at the end (hopefully more then on rep,right?) do I stick with one max weight ie: I do 170 lb deadlift one time, as many as I can seperately?? Then I use those maxes from week 3 to calculate percentages for next cycle???
Thanks!
I might try to answer that one.
BUT what do you mean by going for a one rep max and then says more than one rep?
You could do it two ways (or there are a ton of ways to do it)
Iāll try to make some guess weights here:
week one (5ās week) you do 150 for say 12 reps
week two (3ās week) you do 160 for 9 reps
week three (1ās week) you do 170 for 6 reps
Thatās rep PRās for each week.
Your TM would be around 180.
Next cycle you add 10 pounds to the TM: new cycle TM 190
Top weights for each cycle: 161 - 171 - 180
If it was an upper body weight the increase is only 5 pounds so TM 185.
If you do not gain strength as fast you could increase by 5 pounds on lower body too, and less than 5 on upper too.
As Jim says start to light and progress from there. Itās a marathon not a sprint.
You will be stronger, you will eventually stall. The higher your starting weight is the sooner youāll stall.
NOW for the question:
If you want to hit a one rep max on week 3, you do Jokers:
work up to 170 do one rep add 10 - 15 pounds do one rep until you feel you canāt add 10 - 15 pounds then just 5 pounds and see if you can hit that 1 rep max.
DO NOT use that weight to calculate next cycle. If you have a really really good day. I you hit say 220 and use 200 as TM, you do the same next time and you have a bad day and you hit 190 as you 1 rep max you had to dial back to 170 for a TM.
To make things a bit confusing Jim works with what he calls leader and Anchor cycles, Iāll try to make this short.
He works with a TM that equal to your 5RM.
Then he works with 2 cycles of 5ās pro (that is every set is 5 reps)
So to take the examples above:
TM 180
150 x 5 reps after this he does FSL (first set last) 115 5 sets of 5 reps
160 x 5 reps FSL 125 5x5
170 x 5 reps FSL 135 5x5
TM 190
160 x 5 FSL 120 5x5
170 x 5 FSL 130 5x5
180 x 5 FSL 140 5x5
Deload week work up to your TM for one rep, no FSL work
Increase weight
TM 200
One cycle with PR sets:
170 x 10 FSL 3 sets of 5
180 x 9 FSL 3x5
190 x 6 FSL 3x5
One week testing your TM
Work up to TM wich by now is 200 get at least 5 reps.
Start a new cycle with 200 if you just got 5 reps if you got more than 5 reps you could increase weight and start the new cycle with 210.
TL,DR: just increase weight by 5/10 pounds on the TM.
You arent going for a one rep max, the last set on week 3 is still an amrap set.
No, just add 10lbs to your current training maxes for lower body and 5lbs for upperbody.
@mortdk Thank you for your insightful, thoughtful and lengthy response. I did not realize there were so many variations to the program, how do you keep them straight? I think I will keep it basic being a newb and all. Thank you!
@theonecamko All I could picture was ākeep it simple stupidā, thanks for the response!
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Deadlift Day-Week 2-5/3/1
Deads
1x10- 135 lbs warm up
1x3- 145 lbs
1x3- 165 lbs
1x6- 175 lbs
the weights were a bit off, it was busy and I had a hard time finding proper plates, but they went up pretty well
Good Mornings
3x10- 95 lbs Superset with:
3x 1 minute Planks
Sumo Deads
5x5- 135 lbs
**** a bit of pain in hips, and feeling fatigued made these a bit rough today****
Laying Leg Raises w/weight
3x10-12.5 lbs
Not a bad workout. Had to get in and out quick today. Looking like I workout again which is awesome!!! I know its not about appearance, but I like seeing and feeling results.
Been lurking in others journals but I donāt have any good imput so will continue looking for now.
Have a great weekend!
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Itās a very simple and very good program.
The basic is just doing the amrap at the topset.
Do one cycle (3 weeks) then one week deload, increase TM and then do the next cycle.
If you recover good, I would suggest doing 2 cycles before the deload.
I would also suggest doing one set more than the topset, using the first of the 3 worksets and doing a PR set on that too.
Meaning that on your DL day above after the 6 reps with 175 lbs I would follow it up with a pr set with 145 lbs.
have a piece of paper with all your weights and reps. When you go to the gym look at the days scheduled weights, look at last time you did that weight. If you feel good then approach the bar with the intend to beat that rep you did last time.
When you just start it feels like why Iāll never come to that weight again, but after 2 - 3 cycles some of the weights comes again your 175 lbs set will come at a 5ās week.
Itās very rewarding to beat that rep pr.
Argh I get carried away and could go on forever.
Nice workout btw, even if it was a quick one.
Ok, I could give this a try. I feel I would be burnt out after the last set, but it logically makes sense that a final set at a lighter weight would promote strength. Thanks.
Opinion on Bands
A long time ago when I was starting to max out on my lifts, I started talking to a competitive powerlifter at my gym, who ālentā me his bands and showed me how to use them during one of my workouts.
At the time my squat I was hitting 215 lbs regularly. With the use of the bands (which helped alliviate my sticking point out of the hole) I lifted 265 lbs a couple times. However when we took the bands off and I tried 135 lbs, I totally bailedā¦the bands really messed up the feel of the squat!
I also did some deadlift banding, My max was around 250 lbs, and I managed 325 lbs with the bands. Mr.Powerlifter was shocked at my grip strength, and I had less problems re-adjusting to the unbanded weights after.
So opinions on bands? I am not considering this so early in my training, but they interest me when the weight starts getting heavier. Wondering if anyone uses them and what the results were. All are welcome to chime in.
Personally, when I trained using the conjugate method, I would always prefer to use chains over bands. Like you, I felt like they messed up my squat. However, they didnt have any sort of negative impact on my deadlift or bench. I just felt that I got better work out of chains. Thats just my personal opinion tho. All in all, they would be good to use for speedwork training using a conjugate style approach. I wouldnt use them now training 5/3/1.
What is the difference between chains and bands in terms of improvement/challenge for the lifts?
And I have no idea what conjugate training is?
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Press Day-Week 2-5/3/1
Military Press
1x10- 20 lbs warmup
1x3- 30 lbs
1x3- 40 lbs
1x10- 45 lbs
Nothing in the tank for more
Chin upās
3x5 UNASSISTED! Used a little hop to get me up there, and kept it slow on the descent. Thanks @anon71262119 for the suggestion. Felt a bit like cheating though
Dips
3x3- Fuc**** Wrists, but these were unassisted too, hence why there are so few.
DB Rows
3x10- 30 lbs
Face Pulls
5x8- 50 lbs
20 minute dog walk.
Physically this workout was fine. Mentally, not in the best place right now, and while normally being pissed off is a great motivator at the gym, right now I feel distracted and blah. But, I made it to the gym while in the past I would have just put my pjās back on and go back to bed. So, thereās that. Week number 3 soon. I am glad I am being consistent, and like not being in the gym for over an hour to see results. So thanks for the 5/3/1 suggestion.
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Both are great for improving lockout strength, speed, and breaking sticking points through accommodating resistance. Honestly, I donāt know what makes one better than the other, just through my experience I seemed to make more progress using chains rather than bands, but that can be different for everybody. So you can try both and see which works better for yah.
long video but worth the watch.
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Thatās very nice work Lilālee.
pull ups unassisted is not easy, even with a little hop.
The suggestion about fsl set is that for some, they donāt get enough volume.
Just keep the PR set on the top set and move on.
When you feel for a bit more volume, you can add a cycle of fsl.
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Hey @littlelee, just found your log. Impressive stuff between your strength and your history of bodybuilding. 5/3/1 is a great program and I have followed it for much of my fitness journey. Trust the program. I know that is easier said than done, as I continue to change it and alter it myselfā¦and then end up just back to the original after a month or two.
Anyway:
Iām assuming youāre talking about using reverse bands for the squat? (attached to the top of the rack and therefore taking weight out of the bottom of the squat)
I personally donāt see a lot of value in doing this ESPECIALLY if your sticking point is coming out of the hole. You want to make your sticking point MORE difficult if you want to beat it. So paused squats at your sticking point would be how I would tackle this.
Conversation has drifted towards the conjugate method, and while I think it is great, I think you should milk 5/3/1 for awhile and really build that base back up and nail down your form again before trying something more complex.
I donāt think bands are a āmissing pieceā in your training at the moment. Could it help you a bit with explosiveness, helping weak points? Maybe. I am personally only using bands for pullaparts, facepulls and hip abduction right now. The barbell and plates with get you 95% of the way to your goal, whatever that might be!
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Thanks for stopping in!! I will definitly be sticking with the 5/3/1- though I have had to stuff my pride a bit, I can see how it will improve my lifts, and help me move towards my goals. I would like to hit my old prās within a year, and think if I am doung ok physically (ie:no injuries) I might try to compete as I think my old prās are pretty good for a girl my size.
I recently have started messing around with my squat, and think the new form I am trying will improve the lift. I donāt feel as āstuckā in the bottom as I did. I have tried paused squats and box squats in the past to strengthen that weakness, but I am not yet near a fail weight so just gonna keep trying to get a formthat feels more comfortable.
And yes, it was a reverse band set-up. Itās the only type I tried. I donāt use anything (bands,vests etcā¦) so I am always interested in other peoples opinions on using tools to improve their lifts.
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Squat Day- Week 3-5/3/1
Squats
1x10-45 lb warm up
1x5- 95 lbs
1x3- 115 lbs
1x8- 120 lbs
1x10- 95 lbs
*** never thought I would be happy about re-hitting a bodyweight squat***
Straight-Legged Deadlifts
3x10- 65 lbs
*** I knew there was a reason I stopped doing this, it bothers my sciatic nerve, and my lower left back felt like shit afterwards. I am trying to find a good hammie excerciseā¦dont much like the machine or sldl. I used to use the decline bench, I would take off the bar, tuck my ankles UNDER where you would put your knees over (to bench) and then lower myself, engaging the hammies, towards the bench. I would then do a little push up to push my way back into a starting pisition. I got so good at them I could just lever my body up and down with my hamstrings. They look a little weird, and people proberly think āwtf, she is using that machine all wrongā but who cares. Think I might add em in.
Rack Pulls (just above knee)
1x10-135 lbs
1x10-185 lbs
1x5- 205 lbs
1x5 -215 lbs
freaking sldlās, my back was pooched and these were a lot weaker then normal
One Legged Leg Press
3x10- 70 lbs
It was funny, I was right beside another guy who was doing the same workout as me. He was lifting a lot which was awesome!!! I rarely see anyone at my gym doing powerlifting stuff!
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You bet. Iām glad those are working for you. Yeah, I think a hop and then really work the eccentrics is the way to go. @ chins. I moved from chins to neutral grip pullups, and then finally to standard overhand pullups as I got stronger. I donāt know if your gym has a rock climbing grip, but those work really well for me when I canāt get access to the straight bar.
This made me smile. I have a Glute Ham Raise (GHR) machine in my gym now but I used to set up some Ghetto GHRs with my legs hooked under the pad on a pulldown machine, facing away from the weight stack, then put a stool out in front so I could push myself off. I donāt know if you can picture it, but same idea I think. Anyway, your log reminded me. Itās been awhile since I trained GHRs.
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