Week 3 Trap Bar Day
Date: 6/21
Trap Bar 5+ and 5x5
135x10
195x5 225x5 255x10
195x 5 5 5 5 5
Giant Set
Pushups 100 reps
x 20 20 20 20 20
Seated Cable Rows 50 reps
85x 10 10 10 10 10
Hanging Knee Raises 50 reps
Bw x 10 10 10 10 10
Standing Calf Raise 100 reps
30x 40
10x 25
Bw x 35
Week 3 Btn Press Day
Date: 6/22
Btn Press 5 and 10x5 SS Pullups 50 reps
45x10
75x5 85x5 95x5
75x5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Pullups x 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Was in a hurry so had to skip the rest of the assistance today but this definitely was enough work for the day.
This finished up my first cycle of 531 for Hardgainers. Definitely enjoyed it. The 20 rep squats have been great to remind myself how hard I can push myself. I also love the 10 sets of press as assistance. My pressing has never felt as smooth as it does now.
I have a week vacation coming up the first of July so when I get back after the 8th I’ll start this back up again.
Decided to get out into this wonderful summer weather and run some sprints on a nearby high school track.
Date: 6/23
6 100m sprints
Wanted to get to 10 sprints but started to feel like I was getting a little too tired and as a person who has had horrible luck with his right hamstring didn’t want to risk anything over a few random sprints. Will have to do this again though forgot how good it feels to sprint.
Just want to see where I’m at so going to test a few maxes over the next couple days.
Date: 6/28
Btn Press 1RM
45x10 65x5 95x3 115x1 (PR) 135x0 125x0
Oh man I was feeling really strong then missed both of these presses right at forehead to top of head height. Thought I was gonna hit a huge PR. But the 115 is still a PR for behind the neck pressing so I’ll take it.
Front Squat 1RM
45x10 95x5 135x5 155x3 185x1 225x1 235x1 (PR)
10 pound PR on this. Woooooo!!! Hadn’t been doing front squats so this was quite the surprise.
Trap Bar Deadlift High Handles 1RM
135x10 185x5 225x3 275x3 315x1 365x1 (PR)?
I’m not entirely sure if I ever got this with incredibly ugly form before or not. So for sure a form PR if not a weight one.
Curl 1RM
40x10 50x5 60x5 70x3 80x1 90x1 (PR) 100x0
I guess this is a PR as I’ve never really maxed on a curl. Also this was far more fun than it should have been.
Lying Leg Curl 100 reps
50x25 25 25 25
Reverse Flies 50 reps
55x25 25
4 Way Neck 50 reps each way
25x25 25
Still just testing some lifts I want to keep track of long term
Date: 6/29
Back Squat 1RM
45x10 95x5 135x3 185x3 225x1 245x1 285x1 (PR)
This felt great. I really want to just shoot for 3 plates already but patience is a virtue and all that nonsense. It will come with time
Weighted Pullup 1RM
Bw x5 10x5 25x3 35x1 45x1
Switched grip to Chin ups
55x1 (PR)
I’m not sure with the weighted pull up as idk what I’ve done with that grip but the chin up is for sure a PR as I’ve never done a pull up with more than a plate before. Wooooo
Weighted Dips 1RM
Bw x10 25x5 45x5 70x3 90x1 100x1 (PR)
This was a surprise hadn’t done these in a long time. But also will not max on this again just felt terribly unsafe on my shoulders.
Reverse Flies 65 reps
55x25 25 15
A collection of my future training thoughts/plan
Over this week off I spent some time thinking about what I want to do training wise for the rest of the year. My goals are really just to be mobile and well conditioned for jiu jitsu, and then to get my general strength and mainly my squat up as high as possible. I figure working hard on programs that don’t suck will always get me at least a little bit closer to those goals so I made the decision I want to go through a bunch of them over the next year or so. I think a big benefit of this could also be learning which training methods are most effective for me. So even if the year isn’t one of huge gains I’ll learn some stuff to accelerate the years afterwards.
Currently I’m doing 531 for Hardgainers and am gonna run at least 2 more cycles of that since if feels like 3 cycles is the bare minimum for giving 531 a fair shake.
Then gonna do Paul Carter’s 6 week 20 rep squat program Simple But Brutal. I have always heard great things about these types of programs in terms of mass gains and more interesting to me in mental fortitude gains. I am particularly interested in how this could affect my conditioning. Side note really hope to hit 225 for 20 at the end of this.
Then after that gonna run one of the Westside for Skinny Bastards programs (probably the 3rd one) as I’ve always liked the look of these programs and hope to up my max strength a good bit through the ME days. I’ll do this till December since I’m sure I’ll take another little break around holiday time.
I’ll start up the new year with something interesting I found called Meltdown Training, it consists of circuit training 4 times a week. Mostly want to do this because the workouts were short and I hate the resolutioners that crowd gyms in January. But it also suggested some solid fat loss could be had with these workouts and never hurts to lose some extra flab. The circuits will at the very least increase my conditioning which is always a decent bonus. Plus it is only suggested to run it for around 3 weeks, 6 max, so if I hate it I will be done with it relatively quickly.
After outlasting most of the new year gym rushers gonna go through CT’s 10 week The Complete Power Look Program. This program has a bunch of different lifts for assistance that I’ve never done like half rom lifts or deficit deads so should get a lot of feedback on how I respond to those types of assistance exercises. Also this has a peaking element to it which will be cool to go through since I’ve never really tried that before.
Not sure where I’ll go after that, there are a bunch of programs on the list that I want to try like the 8 week Quad and Hamstring Assault, Tried and True Bodybuilding, Get Strong, Get Fast, Get Vertical, 5/3/1 Beach Body Challenge, and Hungarian Oak Leg Blast. But I’ll eventually make it through all of them.
Tldr Spending 12 hours traveling back from Alaska gives you time to overthink training.
Back to lifting weights
Cycle 2 531 Hardgainer
New Training Maxes
Squat 240
Bench 175
Trap Bar Deadlift 280
Btn Press 110
Week 1 Squat Day
Date: 7/10
Squat 5+ and 20 rep Superset with Dips 50-100 reps
45x10 95x5 135x5
155x5 175x5 195x10
155x 20
Dips bodyweight x20 15 15 10
Holy shit 20 reps are hard. The amount of hair these are putting on my chest are gonna turn me into a bear.
DB Curl 50-100 reps Superset with Glute Ham Raise 50-100 reps
DB Curl 20x 15 12
Ghr bodyweight x 11 12
Got a call from my mom to take her to work which probably saved my hamstrings untold amounts of suffering.
Week 1 Bench Day
Date: 7/12
Standing Calf Raise 100 reps
55x 25
35x 25
15x 25
Bodyweight x 25
Bench 5x5 Superset with 1 DB Rows 50 reps each arm
45x10 95x5
105x5 125x5
145x5 5 5 5 5
1 DB Row 40x10
65x10 10 10 10 10
Happy with this after more than a week off my bench form felt better than ever. Think I just figured out how to use my lats a little bit
1 DB Bench 50 reps each arm
45x10 10 10 10 10
I forgot how much fun these are. Never know when I’m just gonna fall off the side of the bench.
Hip Thrust 50-100 reps
Bodyweight x10
65x15 15 20
Hadn’t done these weighted in a while added a like half second squeeze at the top of every rep and just torched the glutes. Also stuff like this is so therapeutic for the knees it is unbelievable.
Week 1 Trap Bar Day
Date: 7/13
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets
Bodyweight x 10 10 10
Trap Bar Dead 5+ and 5x5 Superset with Dips 50-100 reps
135x10
185x5 205x5 235x11
185x5 5 5 5 5
Dips bodyweight x 10 10 10 10 10 10 12
Reverse Flyes 50-100 reps
40x 20 15 15 12 10
45 degree Hyperextension 50-100 reps
Bodyweight x 20 20 11
Week 1 Btn Press Day
Date: 7/19
4 way Neck 2 sets
45x10 10
Btn Press 5 and 10x5 Superset with Pullups 50 reps
45x10
65x5 75x5 85x5
65x 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Pullups x 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 2 3 5
Near the end of my pullups I just lost my grip strength hard for two sets. It was pretty weird but I guess vacation will cause stuff like that. Waited a bit and came back strong(ish) for the last set
Machine Triceps Extensions 50-100 reps
50x 20
60x 20
70x 15
80x 6
This is a relatively newish machine in the gym and felt like trying it out. Can tell in the coming days my triceps will hate me.
Lying Leg Curls 50-100 reps
70x20 20 13
Week 2 Squat Day
Date: 7/21
Squat 5+ and 20 rep
45x10 95x5 135x5
165x5 185x5 215x10 (PR)
165x20
That 10 rep top set was real rough but then I realized I don’t think I’ve ever hit 10 reps on anything over 185 lbs before this cycle. So I’m calling it a 10 rep PR wooo.
Dips 50-100 reps
bodyweight x 10 10 10 1
On the fourth set felt a kinda sharp pain in my left elbow just called the set there. I’m pretty sure it’s just due to the triceps work I did on my press day.
DB Curl 50-100 reps
20x 10 10 10 10 10 10
Step ups 50-100 reps
18 inch box
Bodyweight x 20 20 10
These were fun will have to include more often. Lit my quads up surprisingly hard
Week 2 Bench Day
Date: 7/22
Hanging Leg Raises 1 set
Bodyweight x10
Bench 5x5 Superset with 1 DB Rows 50 reps each arm
45x10 95x5
115x5 135x5
155x5 5 5 5 6
1 DB Row 40x10
65x10 10 10 10 10
1 DB Bench 50 reps each arm
50x 10 10 10 10 10
Hip Thrust 50-100 reps
65x20 20 20 20 20
This was a great day felt very strong on everything
Week 2 Trap Bar Day
Date: 7/26
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets
Bodyweight x8 8 8
Decided to really focus on getting my feet up high
Trap Bar Dead 5+ and 5x5
135x10
195x5 215x5 245x12
195x5 5 5 5 5
Dips 50-100 reps
bodyweight x 15 15 12 10
Reverse Flyes 50-100 reps
45x20
I got up to get water and two very chatty individuals took my spot and I was uninterested in waiting. Will add a few sets to my next warmup or something
Hip Thrusts 50-100 reps
95x15 15 10 10
These feel easier everytime I do them. I feel like I’ll be able to load these up kinda heavy so will definitely be keeping these in my rotation as much as possible.
The day before this workout I was playing tennis for two hours, which my sore lower back, calves, and right elbow let me know very clearly. So I was pleasantly surprised to see how great my trap bar deadlifts felt today. The rest of the workout was a good bit harder than usual to get through but I’ll accept that trade-off any day
Week 2 Btn Press Day
Date: 7/27
Btn Press 5 and 10x5 Superset with Pullups 50 reps
45x10
75x5 85x5 95x5
75x5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Pullups bodyweight x5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
This top set of 95 is damn close to my 5 rep max on the press. Also really hate the 10 sets of 5 for the press. Seems nice for the pullups though.
Machine Triceps Extension 50-100 reps
70x15 15 10 10
Step ups 50 reps each leg
18 inch box
Bodyweight x20 15 15
Week 3 Squat Day
Date: 7/29
Hanging Leg Raises 2 sets
Bodyweight x 10 10
Squat 5+ and 20 rep
45x10 95x5 135x5
175x5 195x5 225x7
175x 12
Wanted 10 reps at 2 plates but it’s gonna have to wait till next cycle. Especially since I then ended up missing this set of 20. I blame most of this on rushing this workout but still this was a bad miss on a set of 20.
Dips 30-50 reps
bodyweight x 15 15
Curl 30-50 reps
40x 12 12 12
Step ups 30 reps each leg
18 inch box
Bodyweight x 15 15
This whole workout was rushed as I needed to meet up with some friends to watch DC v Jones 2. Feel like I never really found my focus. Almost tempted to redo this workout because I’m so disappointed. But happy I got some work in all the same.
Week 3 Bench Day
Date: 8/2
Hanging Leg Raises 2 sets
Bodyweight x10 10
Bench 5x5
45x10 95x5
125x5 145x5
165x5 5 5 5 5
1 DB Bench 50 reps each arm Superset with 1 DB Rows 75 reps each arm
Bench 40x10
50x10 10 10 10 10
Rows 40x10
50x15 15 15 15 15
Step ups 50-100 reps each leg
18 inch box
Held a 45lb plate for these x15
My legs were kinda dead so I just did one all out set with some weight and called it a day
Week 3 Trap Bar Day
Date: 8/4
Hanging Leg Raises 2 sets
Bodyweight x8 10
Trap Bar Dead 5+ and 5x5
135x10
205x5 235x5 275x10
205x5 5 5 5 5
Decline Bench 50-100 reps
45x10
95x10 20 15 15 15
Got a sweet chest pump here. Forgot how much I love the decline bench
Seated Cable Rows 50-100 reps
70x20 15 20 15 20
Hip Thrust 50-100 reps
135x10 10 10 10 10
Week 3 Btn Press Day
Date: 8/5
Hanging Leg Raises 2 sets
Bodyweight x 10 10
4 way Neck Machine 1 set
25x20 reps each way
Btn Press 5 and 10x5
45x10
75x5 85x5 105x3
75x 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Definitely over this press day. If I was to do another cycle of this I would drop the training max down like 20 pounds.
Machine Pullovers 50-100 reps
90x 20 20 15 15
Decided to move away from pullups as my pulling work for this day. Never done these before felt them super deep in my lats will be doing more of.
Machine Triceps Extension 50-100 reps
70x 15 15 13 12
Step ups 50-100 reps each leg
18 inch box
Bodyweight x 25 25
Definitely over this 531 for Hardgainers thing. Which works out perfect since I have a new schedule that is gonna allow me far more time for the gym. Looking to move towards a bodybuilding split since I’ve never done that for too long.
Switching over too a body part split inspired by an article by Clay Hyght here on t-nation A Tried and True Bodybuilding Program Template.
I’m gonna post it here so I can see what I started with as I inevitably change things after using it since I have never really used a body part split before.
Quads & Abs
Front Squat 5x6-10
Trap Bar Squat Deadlifts 4x8-12
Bulgarian Split Squat 3x8-12 reps each leg
Leg Extensions 3x10-20
Kneeling Ab Wheel Rollouts 3x6-12
Crunches 3x12-20
Chest & Calves
Bench 5x5
Decline Bench 3x6-10
Low Incline DB Bench 3x8-12
Machine Chest Fly 3x10-15
Single Leg Calf Raise 3x10-15
Standing Calf Raise 4x5-10
Back & Abs
Pullups 3-4x6-10
Underhand Row 3-4x4-8
Lat Pulldown 3x8-12
1 DB Row 3x8-12
Pullover Machine 4x10-15
Kneeling Ab Wheel Rollouts 3x6-12
Crunches 3x12-20
Glutes & Hams
Adductor Machine 3x8-12
Abductor Machine 3x8-12
Hip Thrusts 4x10-15
Leg Curls 4x6-10
Glute Ham Raises 3x6-10
DB Rdls 4x10-15
Shoulders & Calves
Btn Push Press 4x4-8
DB Press 4x6-10
DB Lateral Raise 3x8-12
Rear Delt Machine 3x12-15
Single Leg Calf Raise 3x10-15
Seated Calf Raise 3x12-20
Biceps & Triceps & Forearms
Weighted Dips 4x4-8
Thick Bar / Curls 4x4-8
Machine Skullcrushers 3x8-12
Reverse Grip Cable Pushdowns 3x12-20
Cable Curls 3x8-12
Machine Curls 3x12-20
Reverse Curls 3x8-15
Added a 6th day so I could fit working glutes in since doing this seems to keep my knees injury proof. Also this gave me an extra day to hit calves and who can’t use more calf work.
