Last Joker Set at 275. Could have kept going but knowing the volume of BBB decided not to push it to far.
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Wendler Week 2 Day 3
Bench
45X5
65X5
75X5
85X5
95X3
115X3
AMRAP at 130
18 reps
Joker Sets
3X135
3X145
3X150
3X160
3X170
Pull/Chin-ups between Joker sets and BBB 12 sets of 4
These were mentally exhausting after Monday’s volume but I’m sore in all the right places…so I’ve got that going for me.
BBB Bench
5X10 at 75
BB Rows superset with Tricep Rope Extensions
4X10 at 95
4X29 at 20
Little body English on the rows bc of maneuvering around my workout partner. Usually do these around 70#
New tricep rope is going to be a much more valuable addition to my home gym then I realized. So many pulls/an work to be done.
BB Military Press superset with Hanging Leg Raises
4X10 at 60
4X20.16.12.8
Trying to finish my Wendler week on Thursday, recover Friday, then strongman at my gym Saturday.
@flipcollar know any strongmen at Metroflex Ft Worth?
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What exactly is a joker set?
You’re at Metroflex Ft Worth? That’s awesome. I know a guy named Garrett Denham who lifts there. Huge dude. He’s a powerlifter though. I’m trying to think of what strongmen lift there, nobody is coming to mind but I’m sure I can think of someone. They have plenty of equipment, I’ve been there a few times, had a weigh in there for Texas Strongest Man last fall.
If you’re that close to me, come check out Metroflex Plano sometime. I’m there every weekend that I’m not traveling, and most Mondays, some Tuesdays.
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Basically just working up to the heaviest set you know you can finish with the weeks prescribed reps. It’s intended for when you finish your 5/3/1 sets and feel fantastic and want to move some heavier weights.
For me, I lowered my training max so my main sets do very little to push me for a cycle or two. So with the lower weights, I’ve been pushing Joker sets nearly every session.
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@flipcollar absolutely have to check out the Plano location some weekend. Ft Worth does have a ton of equipment and I have pushed prowlers, carried their sand bags, but the log and stones have sort of intimidated me at 6 am on a weekday as the only one using them, lol. Going to talk to a couple of the trainers up there and see if there is a general time some of the strongmen train.
weekends. I know they have a group, but I don’t remember what time. Probably middle of the day saturday or sunday.
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Wendler Week 2 Day 4
Squat
5X65
5X95
5X140
5X155 (not paying attention and did 5)
3X175
10X195
Wanted to grind out another high rep AMRAP set, but I woke up still sore from Tuesday’s DL. Could not get warm for the life of me and because of lifting before work I don’t have extra time for getting there.
No joker sets
BBB Squat
5X10 at 110
One of those days where I just did the best I could and walk away from it. I absolutely hate doing this on squat days. The squat used to be my absolute favorite day of the week, not anymore. I never really cared where my bench, OHP, DL were but damn losing my squat has mentally crushed me. I know going in I’m not lifting what I want so I am frustrated before I ever put the bar on my back. Not sure how to fix this going forward, but I may increase my squat frequency, hoping that will put me back in the groove.
Need to do some more accessory work this evening. We’ll see how I feel and give it a go.
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Wendler Week 3 Day 1
OHP
5X45
5X55
5X65
5X75
3X85
AMRAP at 95
14 reps (PR)
BBB Press
5X10 at 55
Superset every set of press from the warmup to the end with 4 Pull/chin-ups and 5 front squats with whatever was on the bar. Going to try and increase my frequency of squatting to 3 days per week as follows.
BBB Squat on DL day at 50%
Squat Day as prescribed
Press Day de facto dynamic day
Standing DB Arnold Press
3X10 at 25
Superset with DB Lunges
3X10 at 25
Dips/Hanging Leg Raises
6.5.4.3.2.1
10.10.10.10.10.10
Nutrition has been good recovery sufficient and mindset is back where I need to be. With that said, I’m going to push my training to 5-6 days per week taking a day off when my body says to. 3 years ago when I hit this kind of groove, frequency was my best friend. I was at my strongest then and has terrible (read crossfit) programming while a coach had me running westside conjugate. Not all crossfitters are fucktards, but there’s more than not.
Diet has been steady at 4000 calories every day, minimum 225 G protein less than 100 g fat and fill the rest with the best carb sources I can, frozen vegetables, sweet potatoes, rice, etc. also been happy that I’ve only been taking in 40-50 grams of my protein through shakes.
Morning weight was 183 almost 190 last night, lots of water before I weighed. If I haven’t mentioned it my goal is 198 at 15 ish percent bf. That’s a long way away, but slow and steady I’ll get it.
Didn’t mention it earlier, but this was my first time in the “gym” in 2 weeks. Went up there to talk about Strongman Saturday and found out they do DL and Donuts at 9 ish then a bunch of strongman stuff around noon. Tomorrow is my DL day so that works out pretty good, but maybe doing OHP today was a bad idea. Oh well, go up there meet some folks and have some fun.
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Don’t sweat it. I’ve noticed as a rule of thumb that out of all of your lifts, one will be moving well, one or two plod along and one lags like a bastard. The lifts take turns in each position. For ages my squat was moving well, then it plodded along and now it’s starting to lag; but my bench is moving well instead of lagging. Try and enjoy the lifts that move forward and keep giving lots of love to the lagger.
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That is a load of protein. Especially since you don’t drink much of it. Making me feel beta af
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Thank you @MarkKO in theory I understand this, in practice I hate it, lol
@lil.greggy alpha af, lol, I run my smoker every weekend so there’s plenty of beef, chicken, and pork for the entire week.
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Wendler Week 3 Day 2
Meets DL and Donuts
So this was forever long bc I got there early. Workout was run by the owner and was intended for ending with a heavy double or triple and a backoff set from a 2" deficit. This week was 5/3/1 reps so despite not the exact same weight reps, it is in the same spirit of the program.
Warmup
Camber Bar Squats
2X10 at 165
2X5 at 255
1X5 Pause at 165
DL
10X140
5X230
5X320 rep PR
3X375 rep PR
1X410 Lifetime PR
Deficit DL 2"
1XAMRAP at 320
7 Reps PR
Hips needed to be lower, but I’ll be damned it moved easy enough. No straps (got lost in the moment and forgot). Holy hell my 9 fingered grip has improved dramatically. I used to stall out at about 325 with my right hand.
Then came the ego overriding the brain. The group took a 15 minute break then moved on to a full body workout. I know better than that, and even told them no once. Then I thought "what the hell, rest day the rest of today, Sunday, and Monday if needed, let’s do this.
First circuit
3 rounds 20/10/10
Hammer incline
Pec Deck
Seated rows
Chin up grip pulldowns
bc my deadlift was decent, the trainer put me at weights that were out of my range. Also as my log shows, I don’t do many machines and rarely enter this rep range much less mega set these exercises.
Definite pump, feeling shaky, on to second circuit.
Some kind of delt raise
Military Press on same machine
Laying face down reverse fly thing
Rope triceps extensions
Rope Curls
3 rounds 20/10/10
Wanted to die right here. They moved on to lower body, I moved to flat of my back looking for oxygen. I’ll gut out reps, push past the suck when needed, but this ain’t my shit.
Lessons learned. I’m stronger in the DL than I thought. Stay the course and keep training often, testing occasionally.
My conditioning sucks, like real bad, gonna have to address this. Will spend the rest of the holiday weekend in front of my smoker contemplating different methods of conditioning along with my current program, goals, and recovery.
All in all, fantastic feeling leaving the gym. PR, serious pump, and despite the nausea, I like pushing myself to the edge from time to time just so I remember it’s there.
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I’ve found the easiest way to add in conditioning is stationary bike sprints once a week and incline treadmill walking once a week. It takes very little time and is super easy to program.
I run it like this:
Monday (bench day) bike sprints at the end of session, 10 rounds of 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off. Add a level of resistance every four weeks
Thursday (CGBP day) incline treadmill walk, 15 minutes
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Wendler Week 3 Day 3
Bench
5X65
5X75
5X85
5X110
3X125
AMRAP at 135
19 reps
Joker seta
3X145
3X150
3X160
3X165
3X170
3X180
BBB Bench
5X10 at 75
Did 13 sets of 5 Pull/chin-ups between bench sets for 65 total pull/chin-ups.
BB Row superset with Military Press
5X10 at 60
Rope Tricep Extensions superset with Hanging Leg Raises
4X20
4X20.16.12.8
BB Curls
3X10 empty bar
Woke a tad sore in my low back and rear delts from Saturday. Took a little longer warming up and everything felt better. My son went with me and did his second day of 5X5 and is having a good time just being in the gym. Trying to keep him interested and progress him slowly. He does so much better at the gym. I guess watching all the behemoths lift helps, lol.
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Missed today’s workout due to some kind of stomach bug. Training partner is supposed to be here in the morning for squat session, so I will play it by ear as I’m still not 100% and I really want to get a 20 rep set on the AMRAP. No real reason for wanting it other than a mental feat to help with grinding in the squat. I think it carries over when the weights get heavier. Tomorrow should end week 3 and I am going off the 7 week protocol so 3 more weeks until a deload. Also going to be kicking the diet up a notch as I’m gaining weight too fast for it to be lean muscle mass. Still want 3200 calories, just need to get them a little cleaner than I have been. Also, I haven’t broken 15% bf in a couple of years and I see plenty of people doing it on here and still getting strong af. My ideals have always swayed towards just eat more food when gaining strength, but being 18% bf or so with a high maintenance number, I thInk I can still burn some fat while putting on weight. In the past it has worked well for me so time to give it another go. 2 weeks at 3200 calories then start adjusting from there.
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I honestly haven’t found this to be true. Heavy sets of 10, yes, they help. Twenties don’t seem to, at least for me, because the weight is simply too light.
Thanks, I don’t know what it is, I just mentally hate everything over 10. As I have lowered my TM part of me thinks just cutting it off at 10 every AMRAP is a weakness. It’s more mental than a direct strength correlation in my head. But I will gladly take advice that lets me shut off squats and deads at 10 reps, lol. Im sure I set my TM too low, but I’m a firm believer that with Joker sets and the right assistance work it will allow me to progress for a longer period of time. For once I’m going to stubbornly adhere to training versus testing until after my meet in August and hopefully set all of my weight PRs there.
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Hey, push beyond 10 reps as much as you can. That’ll help strength, simply because you’re pushing rep PRs. My squat was strongest when I was hitting 10-15 on my plus sets (15x402 lbs in week one, 12x424 lbs in week two and 9x451 lbs in week three, then the next cycle I think 10x407 lbs in week one and 10x440 lbs in week two which was a big deal for me because I’d been wanting 10 at that weight for a while) - but they were gut wrenching sets, generally stopped being able to breathe around two reps before the end and pushed as close to blacking out as I could.
There is no way, with the best will in the world, that I could have taken any of those sets close to 20, or for that matter anything over 220 lbs. I’m not as strong now (much lighter is my excuse) but I’ll pretty happily knock out a set of 20 up to the 300 lbs mark now on any given day, although I’d be pushed to hit 400 lbs for 10-12 and 440 lbs I’d top out around three or four.
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