I started training last August, on Stronglifts 5x5, but ran out of steam round about Christmas. Couldn’t work out what to do when the weekly 2.5kg increase slowed down. So I kind of flapped around in the gym for a few weeks, until I found 5/3/1 mentioned in an article here on the Nation and went out and bought it. Thanks to 5x5, I knew what my 1RMs were (not that impressive, but starting proper training at 46 does that for you), so I plugged them in to the program, stuffed the result into the calendar on Gym Buddy on my iPhone and went to work.
So far, I’m getting new PRs pretty much every week, if not every workout. I realise this will slow down, as I can’t keep pulling 14-16 reps on the final push in each primary exercise when the weight gets more serious, but progress is definitely being made: at 6’5 and 242 lbs at 14pointsomething% BF, I finally did a set of 10 reps in the dip this week. Bodyweight exercises kill me, but I will get there.
I’ll get around to putting up the 5/3/1 logs in the next coupl’a days, and any criticisms/comments are most welcome.
[quote]Anbraxas wrote:
but seriously, thanks for making me welcome.[/quote]
Best group ever. This is the most motivating and encouraging group I have ever run across…on the interwebz or in real life. In fact, so encouraging that I sometimes wonder if they aren’t on the payroll
Welcome aboard!
Oh…and thank you, OG, for confiming that 5-3-1 is a cult.
Feeling guilty, now, about the delay in uploading stats. Not enough time during the week, y’see. I’m just finishing off Cycle 2, Week 2, so I guess I’ll have seven weeks to put up this weekend. Looking forward to Week 3 and pushing it again.
Is it just me, or is deload week not as much fun? Probably because I’m only starting on the journey, but the weights in Cycle 1 Week 4 were so light it was almost embarrassing in the gym. Few months down the line, I might start looking forward to Week 4 in each cycle, I suppose.
Ok, I tried and previewed various layouts, and I could not find a way of entering seven weeks in one go that didn’t bore me rigid, so God only knows how you guys would have taken it!
Instead, I’m going to start with the week I just completed - Cycle 2, Week 2. If the poundages look a little odd in places, it’s because my gym uses kilograms, so I’ve had to convert. Just too damn close to Europe.
Military Press 77 x 3
Military Press 88 x 3
Military Press 99 x 12 (PR)
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 165 x 5 (PR)
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 165 x 5
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 165 x 5
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 165 x 5
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 165 x 5
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 165 x 5
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 165 x 5
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 165 x 5
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 165 x 5
Narrow-Grip Pulldowns 110 x 15 (pump set)
Dips 10 (PR)
Dips 9
Dips 10 All negs
Dips 10 All negs
Dips 10 All negs
Deadlift 220 x 3
Deadlift 231 x 3
Deadlift 264 x 13 (PR)
Weighted Hanging Leg Raises 13.2 x 10
Weighted Hanging Leg Raises 13.2 x 10
Weighted Hanging Leg Raises 13.2 x 10
Weighted Hanging Leg Raises 13.2 x 10
Weighted Hanging Leg Raises 13.2 x 10
Bench Press 132 x 3
Bench Press 154 x 3
Bench Press 176 x 13 (PR)
Bent Over Low Cable Row 93.5 x 12
Bent Over Low Cable Row 93.5 x 12
Bent Over Low Cable Row 93.5 x 12
Bent Over Low Cable Row 93.5 x 12
Bent Over Low Cable Row 93.5 x 10
Dumbbell Press 52.8 x 12 (PR)
Dumbbell Press 52.8 x 12
Dumbbell Press 52.8 x 11
Dumbbell Press 52.8 x 8
Dumbbell Press 44 x 12
Squat 209 x 3
Squat 231 x 3
Squat 264 x 14 (PR)
Leg Curl 115.5 x 10
Leg Curl 115.5 x 10
Leg Curl 115.5 x 10
Leg Curl 115.5 x 10
Leg Curl 115.5 x 20 (PR)
Leg Press 418 x 10
Leg Press 418 x 10
Leg Press 418 x 10
Leg Press 418 x 10
Leg Press 418 x 15 (PR)
I used narrow-grip pulldowns after a few weeks of Fail at bodyweight chins. The machine goes up to 220 lbs, not much behind my bodyweight, so I figure that if I can get up to ten sets of five, I can then have a decent crack at chins. The thinking behind ten sets of five rather than five sets of ten is that I do the same overall number of reps, but more volume. If you all think I’m on the wrong track, please let me know.
Looks like some good lifting happening. Your money sets not only show a lot of PR’s (congratulations!), but also some really high reps associated.
Either your 1RM calcs might be set a little low for this cycle or you need to share some secrets with the brothers here.
[quote]Oldman Powers wrote:
Either your 1RM calcs might be set a little low for this cycle or you need to share some secrets with the brothers here. :-)[/quote]
The former, I think… Been wondering about that, myself. I’m thinking the protocol is self-regulating and it’ll catch up with me.
After another PR workout this morning, I’ve been thinking about my 1RMs. If I take 90% of the projected 1RMs from this cycle and plug them into 5/3/1 for my next cycle, am I likely to be pushing too hard? Anyone else started too light and found a way to catch up appropriately?
I decided that if I was going to do the 5/3/1 and try to make gains, then I needed to actually max. So that is what I did when I started out. The first week I maxed out, to tell you the truth it is fun to do. So I actually to not use the 90% method from the book. I use my actual max. As cycles go I raise that max according to how many of the + I get. So this week on the 1+, if I rep out 3 then I add 5-10 lbs to the max. Again welcome aboard and keep working.
Later
