This I am also learning.
I’m OK with the next cycle, and actually looking forward to the end of year break.
I also have a suspicion (probably unfounded) that it may even help my fat loss, although my logic isn’t clear as to why.
Uhuh. Lucky I didn’t mess myself up.
Oh, and yes: I need to train abs. I always had the attitude that I wouldn’t train them until I needed to.
Hey, pop quiz: what’s a common cause for a tired lower back? You guessed it, weak abs!
I think I’m going to be a heretic and save time per session and add a BB day on Wednesday to do traps, biceps and calves. My 5/3/1 days will run:
Upper
Push
Pull
Abs
Lower
Squat or single leg
Hinge
That is all.
I’m tired of trying to cram everything into four days. I need to do all this crap, but doing it all in those days makes the sessions too long.
Or maybe not and just do
Upper
Push
Pull
Abs supersetted with calves
Lower
Squat or single leg
Hinge
Traps supersetted with curls
That looks better actually. Scratch Wednesdays.
The amount of hissyfits I have…
Anyway, that’s what I’ll do for my days from hereon in. It isn’t really too different to what I had planned anyway.
Today’s training
Agile 8 plus shoulders
Press
3 pull-ups between first three sets, then 25 pull aparts with rotation between the remaining three sets
5x93 lbs, under 6 RPE
5x110 lbs, under 6 RPE
5x126 lbs, under 6 RPE
20x93 lbs, 8 RPE - this was fun
DB bench at 75 lbs, 25 total reps: 13, 12
Supersetted 110 lbs T-bar rows/ab wheel rollouts 50 total reps: 15/15, 13/13, 12/12, 10/10
Supersetted 121 lbs calf raises/132 lbs Fat Gripz BB shrugs 100 total reps: 25/25, 25/25, 25/25, 25/25
10 minutes of 40 second rest/20 second sprint on the stationary bike, first five at level 15, last five at level 9
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Starting to feel better, in that I’m looking forward to training and kind of excited to start next cycle, not because it’s easier but because it’s a slight change.
Started plugging my updated assistance into next year’s training too, and it not only fits well but looks better than it did before. I’ll finish the amendments today and tomorrow.
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Just finished my sort of end of cycle ritual review of all my training videos before I delete them off my phone. I didn’t see too much, although I could see my bench getting more grooved each week which is encouraging.
What it did help me was remember: in particular, a trend that started at the end of cycle eight but REALLY became apparent this last cycle. The trend was this: more and more I had days where I just couldn’t get tight in my abs. This was most noticeable during press and squat, but also front squat and SGDL.
This doesn’t serve any other purpose really than reinforcing my opinion that I need to train my fucking abs now.
Beltless squat, bench and upper assistance on Friday and that’s deload don’t. I was initially not going to squat but I want to. No lower assistance, just squat then bench day as usual.
I don’t know if it’s just me who does this, but I only just today finished next year’s first seven cycles planning to my satisfaction. I’ve been tweaking it for how long now, four weeks?
The overall structure was laid out a month ago, but getting it to a point where I can look at it feel like it hits everything I need it to hit took that month.
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Damn, I wish I could keep to programming that rigidly. I get stale very quickly. Though I do keep general plans. Conjugate training spoiled me on this.
Also do weighted abs literally everytime you squat and deadlift, they really cannot be overtrained.
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Let me get accustomed to ANY abs first. Mine are still stiff AF from the rolls on Tuesday. Although, what are some weighted ab variations? I picked the ab wheel and hanging leg raises because they’re simple, I feel the hell out of them and Jim Wendler recommends them.
I feel kind of lost without a pretty specific plan, and it takes me a long, long time to get stale.
I was like that when I did my latest programming, must of taken me 2-3 weeks to get to the point I was happy with it!
I had a general layout that it would be a 6 week block but the percentages, rep/set layout and assisstances took a lot of thought to get right.
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I know that feeling, I get it when I do stuff my abs aren’t used to. Like deciding I want to sprint for the first time in ever. Anyway here are my favorites by no particular order: suitcase deadlifts, feet to bar, dragon flag, side bends, suitcase holds, shovel deadlifts, leg raises, roman chair sit ups (GHR sit ups work too) with plate behind the head (not in front/chest).
Feet to bars are literally leg raises, except touching your feet to the chin up bar. Shovel deadlifts are deadlifts with only one side of the bar loaded. Suitcase deadlifts are deadlifts with the bar to the side. Suitcase holds are holds for time, it’s easier to take them off of pins for this. Dragon flags are that one ab exercise from rocky, you probably know the one. Roman chair sit ups is literally anything with your legs anchored, with your abs acting as stabilizers and not as primary movers (I.e you move through the hips, not through the back).
All of those exercises aside from dragon flags can be weighted. Dragon flags you will literally never have to weight, if you are a monster then you can do them with your hips off of the bench. The ones that actually require the barbell you probably want to keep to low to moderate reps.
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@Destrength cool, thanks. I’ve done a fair few of those, and to be honest I never really found anything to hit my abs like ab wheel or leg raises (shins to bar is how I’ll try them this time).
Some of them are more obliques/QL exercises than anything. Still, it’d probably be a good idea to work on those too, I’ve seen plenty of people with strained QL including myself. Probably also helps if you lean a certain way when squatting or if the bar is off center, or perhaps for overall stability.
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Absolutely good points. I’ll probably end up adding the oblique/QL work in after a cycle or so. I’d just swap out either the raises or rollouts to make room.
Oh, and so much for ‘no further tweaks needed’ because your comment about abs on squat and DL day made enough sense for me to decode to implement that. Cue cutting and pasting to swap the traps/curls and calves/abs around
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And I just shook hands with Jean Claude Van Damme.
Walked right past me at work. Decided against a photo (he offered) because I’m in uniform in a no-photography area.
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When ever I add in goals I start tinkering too much and adding in stuff trying to fit extra stuff in until the breaking point. At this point I realize I can hit all these goals and fit them in perfectly I just have to simplify how I attack the goals. Like instead of 4 different assistance exercises for deads I just do more deads.
Keep It Simple
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I like long term planning too.It allows me to just get in and train,without wasting any more time worrying about programming
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I have 20 weeks of programming planned out currently that I am waiting to start probably in February, because I know the more I look over it, the more I will want to change or move stuff around. It took me a few weeks to get it set up.
If I post it in my log would you mind looking at it?
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