Lonnie's Training/Diet Thoughts and Log

Training Training Logs
41

Thanks for checking in Pwolves. Everything is going well, just plugging along. The “off season” can be a bit of an unexciting slog some times… Just getting the sessions in, eating the same things, and generally seeing little to no results until months add up. Weight is up to around 185 consistently, or about 27 pounds over my contest weight 18 months ago.

Performance in the gym is going well, I’m sticking to the 5/3/1 plan much better this time around (not adding in a ton of extra shit even when I get the itch… Just letting the program work).

I think I have hit on a good rotation for my arm work if you are interested in what I’ve been doing. On the Squat and Deadlift 5/3/1 days, I do sets of 10 of the following rotation:

Day 1: Palms up curl variation to hit the main head of the bicep (BB bicep curl, dumbbell curl, preacher curl)

Day 2: DB Hammer Curl or Pinwheel Curl (aka Cross Body hammer curl)

Day 3: Reverse Grip BB curl, squeezing the shit out of the bar

So its those three curls rotated through, so every week you are only doing two of them. This was my way of hitting the arm completely, but forcing myself to stick to one arm exercise in a workout, the bicep and forearm get hit to some degree in each exercise, but the emphasis shifts over the course of two weeks. Something like 4-6 sets each workout depending on how I’m feeling that day.

I may start a two 5/3/1 cycle diet in the new year which will make the log a bit more exciting. This might end up being in Feb since I really only have about 12 pounds to lose to be in REALLY good condition. I think I can hit it hard for 8 weeks instead of dragging it out to 16-20 since I’m not competing and the last 4-5 pounds are really what require the most effort. I may do 12 weeks, but we will see how I’m looking and feeling… I stay pretty lean now a days so and I dont feel like bombing out my hormones.

Aside from a 4 week period way back in Nov 2011, this will essentially be the first concentrated cut since my BBing Contest in April 2011, so I’m excited to take the comparison shots. Really excited to see if my ab work has paid off at all and if my lower abs actually exist this time around. Lots of heavy, hard lifting going on between now and then. Indigo Programs, 5/3/1, CT’s Layers…

42

Oh… And I finally figured out that the 5/3/1 PR sets are just that… Try to beat the previous number. Previously I took it as an all out, balls to the wall, failure-or-death set.

Now I just make sure to beat the last number by at least 1, but not blow a blood vessel in my eye. So many successful guys leave a rep in the tank and I just dont know how productive that last rep is anymore versus the toll it takes on your recovery.

43

nice plan
are you hitting high reps on your PR sets? I was hitting 15-20 reps some of the weeks when I started out light.

44

Yeah, easily above 10 reps on all the 5’s days. Hell, I am still hitting 6-8 on my 1’s week at this point. Only 2 cycles in, so tons of room to go up.

45

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Oh… And I finally figured out that the 5/3/1 PR sets are just that… Try to beat the previous number. Previously I took it as an all out, balls to the wall, failure-or-death set.

Now I just make sure to beat the last number by at least 1, but not blow a blood vessel in my eye. So many successful guys leave a rep in the tank and I just dont know how productive that last rep is anymore versus the toll it takes on your recovery.[/quote]

Well said.

46

I just may be learning a thing or two after all these years Tim.

Are you planning on leaning up or competing in the new year? I am. Maybe not to contest levels, but very lean. I’m thinking we make it fun and have a friendly thread on here. Maybe we can bring a few more people in the fold and help some other people lean up.

47

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
I just may be learning a thing or two after all these years Tim.

Are you planning on leaning up or competing in the new year? I am. Maybe not to contest levels, but very lean. I’m thinking we make it fun and have a friendly thread on here. Maybe we can bring a few more people in the fold and help some other people lean up.[/quote]

I was not, but what if we back it up a bit.

Say, lean out starting April? That way, 8 weeks into the diet it’s summer time and the shirt comes off!

Just my two cents, gaining is going fairly well and I’d like to keep putting on some muscle and hitting PR’s for now. (of course, by January 1st I could be singing a different tune).

BTW, I like the extra arms work between legs.

I need to do that to bring up weak areas, like staggered calves work from the recent JM article.

48

That might work, i may start in march just to figure out my calorie levels. Then kick it into high gear in April-June

Had the shittiest start to a workout today. Gym was PACKED, no parking, asshats doing quarter squats making sure everyone knew how jacked they were, people on MY machines (don’t they know I need to use it!?!?)

70% for 5x10 is a bitch, had to take a 5sec break on the last set to get the final two reps

49

Tim… I was thinking about it and I think instead of a start time for the shred we should have a final date just like a competition would. So it could be a “Shredded for Summer” kind of thing with a June first dead line. How say you?

Squats were shit this week. The volume and weight of 5x10@70% after the Deload proved to be a bit much on my recovery and my legs were sore and felt like they were going to tear in the bottom of the squat. I did a TON of stretching and finally got to the point where an injury didn’t feel eminent so I got the required reps in. Hopefully it’s better next week when the weight isn’t so much of a shock to the body.

In addition I think the BBB weight is enough now to actually hamper the amount of reps I would be able to do if I were going for max reps. If I stick with BBB I will not be using 70%, I will likely drop it down to 60 or so. I might even try 5x5 at 70 instead of 5x10 after the challenge.

50

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Tim… I was thinking about it and I think instead of a start time for the shred we should have a final date just like a competition would. So it could be a “Shredded for Summer” kind of thing with a June first dead line. How say you?
[/quote]

I am definitely interested. Now, I just have to get my size gains on for the next few months.

51

Final 5/3/1 week of the Boring but Big 3 month challenge, Ill report back at the end of the week but I think its going well. No details till the end though!

52

Back to repping and the PR’s are going up… so the BBB challenge appears to be working. Going to finish up this 3 week block, deload and then continue on with a new scheme of

Weeks 1-2 5x5@80%

Weeks 3-4 5x3@90%

Weeks 5-6 5x1@Training Max

After that I’ll recalculate some stuff and probably do a movement switch or something. I’m thinking either 5x10 with dumbbells, or 5x5 @ 75-80% focusing on speed.

I think the dead lift is really hitting me hard lately, i get fatigued as hell the following day. As in I feel like if I close my eyes for too long I’ll just nod off kind of feeling. I have been noticing this for a few weeks and I think I finally tracked it down to that… It is always the day after my 2 dead lift days (which are also squat days).

Going to try lowering the volume from 5 sets to 3 sets and see if that helps after I’m done pushing the limits here in the next block.

53

5/3/1 going very well now that I’m not adding in a ton of extra crap. In fact I’m actually experimenting with decreasing the dead lift assistance work to see if that helps that “zapped” feeling the day after.

PR’s are continuing to fall, body fat in check, weight at an all time lean high (been way heavier, but never this heavy and this lean while doing NO cardio)

54

Good stuff Lonnie, I like your analytical approach. I have a hard time finding the right side of the line between grinding out tough reps and digging a little too deep of a hole to recover from, so I hear you on needing to know when to pick your battles and when to leave a rep in the tank!

55

Pwolves… Its taken me 10 years to figure that out and I’m still working on it. I am sure I dont have it down yet, but I’m getting better every month it seems.

My general rule of thumb now is to stop the PR set when I know the next one would be a real grinder. Probably 1-2 shy of failure, while keeping the last rep hard. This has me beating all my numbers so far, and doing some all time rep PR’s with what is more than likely the best form I’ve ever had. Seems to be working on basically every lift.

As you can see I’m even reducing the dead lift work because I think this will increase my recovery a bit more.

One of the things that keeps my passion for training going so high is all these little tweaks and adjustments you can try out.

56

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
PR’s are continuing to fall, body fat in check, weight at an all time lean high (been way heavier, but never this heavy and this lean while doing NO cardio)[/quote]

Great work! Merry Christmas.

57

Thanks Tim

Training is going well, I’m working on my squat form and I think its coming along. Taking a slightly wider stance than I normally do and setting the bar a bit lower, as recommended by Rippetoe to involve the most musculature instead of targeting the quads.

I’m thinking of running every 5/3/1 cycle twice before increasing the training max. This gives me a chance to break rep PR’s twice, and should postpone “the stall” for AT LEAST twice as long. I will report back in a while if it works.

58

5/3/1 seems to be working as my squats are about as good as they have ever been. Now that I’ve gone 5 cycles or so I’m going to take Wendlers advice, and instead of waiting to stall, going to jump back a few cycles and just continue on from there.

Currently sitting at 189-191 depending on the day, and a 36" love handle area. I’d like to get that back down to 33-34 before I continue focusing on gaining. 35" is the limit I set for myself a while back, but I’ve known I was going to cut down for some time, so I’ve been a TAD bit more aggressive with food intake leading up to it. Current schedule looks like this:

  • Next Week Deload

  • Do one last 6 week 5/3/1 cycle at my current calorie levels, then a deload

  • Do an aggressive cut during the next 6 week 5/3/1 cycle and deload, so 7 weeks.

I did something similar about 1.5 years ago and lost about 1.25 inches on my love handle area and approx 10 pounds in 4 weeks, so I think the extra 2-3 weeks will put me where I want to be. I think losing about 13-15 pounds and 2 inches off my love handles will set me up for success in the futures.

Pics and measurements will be posted at that time for those interested.

59

36 inches! Fatty! Just kidding. : )

60

keep at it Lonnie, i’m following along :smiley: