Squat day (3s)
Squats:
135 x 5
185 x 3
215 x 3
240 x 4
Assistance work: Squats @ 170 lbs.
4 x 10
Assistance work: Standing calf raises
185 x 10
225 x 10
245 x 10
255 x 10
260 x 7
Assistance work: Blast strap fall outs (ab work)
1 x 10
1 x 9
1 x 9
Switching gears for a bit this month. Although my main strength goals are still the same, I’m putting those on the back burner for a while. I’ve hit a point where I feel like I have a little more blubber on me than I would like. I am also going to be spending a week on the beach for vacation at the end of the month, and I want to look at least half-way decent for that event. So, without further ado… here are my short-term goals for April (highest priority closer to the top):
Maintain strength – eat at least 1+ grams of protein per pound of body weight every day while continuing 5/3/1.
Lose some excess fat off midsection, chest and legs:
I. 5/3/1
II. Cardio
a. at least 2 days per week of fasted morning cardio
b. at least 1 day per week of sprint work (HIIT)
c. at least 1 day per week of circuits/complexes/strongman type workout (still haven’t decided exactly what this will consist of)
III. Nutrition
a. No carbs except 1-2 hours prior to or after workouts. Vegetables are ok anytime though. Avoid foods that are completely sugar or other simple carbs (candy, cake, pie, ice cream and cookies are the biggest culprits)
b. Two fish oil caps with every meal
c. 1+ gram of protein per pound of body weight every day to maintain strength
d. other possible helpful things: natural cranberry juice? lemon peel? green/black tea? we’ll see what happens with this category
This will be my first REAL attempt at losing fat while maintaining muscle – before I actually started researching I figured the best way to lose fat was to jog for long amounts of time… DOH!
Well, I think I have a decent plan of action for fat loss now. I’ll keep the log up to date on how it works out. Comments, suggestions and criticism are all welcome.
4/3 - Sprint session
8 bouts, 40 yards each, 100% intensity
4/4 - Bench press day (3s)
Bench press:
Bar x 12
100 x 5
145 x 3
165 x 3
185 x 6
Assistance work: Incline bench
95 x 10
135 x 7
145 x 6
155 x 3
145 x 5
Assistance work: Dips
1 x 10
1 x 4
1 x 6
1 x 5
1 x 5
Assistance work: Skull crusher
40 x 10
40 x 10
42.5 x 8
45 x 5
45 x 5
Assistance work: Jack knives (ab work)
1 x 10
1 x 5
1 x 8
1 x 9
1 x 10
Deadlift day (3s)
Deadlifts:
135 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 3
235 x 3
265 x 5
Assistance work: Glute ham raises
1 x 10 (BW)
1 x 10 (+10 lbs.)
1 x 8 (+10 lbs.)
1 x 7 (+10 lbs.)
1 x 8 (+10 lbs.)
Assistance work: Pull ups
BW x 6
5 x 5
BW x 5
BW x 4
10 x 4
25 x 3
Assistance work: Face pulls
60 x 10
75 x 10
90 x 10
105 x 10
120 x 8
Assistance work: Palof press (ab work)
45 x 10
60 x 10
75 x 10
75 x 10 (standing)
90 x 8 (standing)
AM: Fasted morning cardio - 60 minutes
PM: Body weight complexes - 4 rounds
15 x lunges
20 x pushups
30 x jumping jacks
5 x vertical jumps
Military press day (3s)
Military press:
Bar x 10
65 x 5
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 3
110 x 6
Assistance work: Front raise
15 x 10
20 x 10
22.5 x 10
25 x 8
27.5 x 6
Assistance work: Lateral raise
15 x 10
20 x 10
22.5 x 7
25 x 5
25 x 5
Assistance work: Preacher curls
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 10
40 x 8
45 x 2
Assistance work: Hammer curl w/ pause
22.5 x 10
25 x 9
27.5 x 6
30 x 7
32.5 x 5
Assistance work: Overhead farmer’s DB carries (ab work)
45 x 5
This is not in anyway meant to put you down or anything. You’re meeting your goals (ok not the DL, but you probably set the bar to high, still great progress). You DL & BP more than me. I just have an observation & a question.
It’s funny/weird how people have different strengths for diff. lifts. At one point in my life I was squatting 345x20 but could only bench 215 once. Even now (after ~4 years off due to shoulder labrum and low back injuries) I only DL 225x1 as my low back really stiffens up even after a light DL session, floor press 225x1, but can front squat 230x10 (I don’t back squat anymore). Won’t even try a press except push presses. I’m 5’7" 180# and 57yrs old.
Again, no offense, I wish I could DL anything near 300, but your assistance work poundage seems light to me based on your maxes. Care to comment? Maybe I’d progress more if I didn’t go as heavy on assistance work. Again, strength curves can be weird. At 345x20 I could only get 465 for 3 and they were probably all above parallel as I never went heavy on squats aside from that one time (heavy being relative- 20 reps is supposed to be light). the charts said a pwr lifter should have been able to get 600+. Anyway good luck
Which particular exercises are you referring to? All of my “oldest” assistance exercises (ones that I have had in the program for a long time) seem pretty heavy to me. I thought I was just weak.
4 sets of 10 squats @ 170 lbs. had me gasping for air by the end of each set. I try to do 5 x 10 each squat session, and move the pounds up by 5 each time. If I can’t accomplish 5 x 10, I keep the weight the same and try to do one more set each time until I hit 5 x 10 at the particular weight. Once I hit 5 x 10, I increase it by 5 more pounds. For what it’s worth, squatting is probably my favorite exercises, but also my weakest.
I’m still tinkering with various exercises and their placement within my program. The experience I gain along with the knowledge I learn from the forums help me structure my program. It’s constantly changing, so some of the exercises I am just trying to get the feel for before I try any impressive weights. Glute ham raises is one example, as well as tricep skull crushers. Once I figure out the form of the movement and get it down well enough so I know I won’t hurt myself, I’ll start adding on the weight.
As far as exercises like dips… ok, I’ll give you that one. I’ve been thinking about trying to add more weight instead of more reps.
I do feel like my bench press far outpaces all my other lifts, and my chest has always been pretty compared to the rest of me for some reason. Honestly, I’d rather have a better squat or DL. It’s all most people do these days and I’ve seen plenty of guys at my gym pressing 315 lbs. for reps, but I’ve only seen one single guy doing 405 lbs. squats or DL.
Thanks for reading, and no offense taken. 
Like I said, it’s those individual strenght curves. Seems to me you should be stronger in the squat but thats just me. also I’m built fot it & you probably have longer leverages at 6’. Frank Zane used to squat w/ Arnold & use 100 # more… also if I remember correctly, you’re doing twice the recommended amount of assistance work. Wait, look at your post dtd 04/01:
Squat day (3s)
Squats:
135 x 5
185 x 3
215 x 3
240 x 4
Assistance work: Squats @ 170 lbs.
4 x 10
you shouldn’t be doing any assistance squats. no wonder your weak at that point. I didn’t catch that b4. I need to close but check your other days for the same scenario. I think Jim Wendler (sp?) said if you don’t have a damn good reason (like strengthening your glutes or abductors) for doing something, don’t do it. If you’re following 5/3/1 as intended you do not need more squats. And go for multiple rep maxes (ex: 3s, 8s, 10s, 20s) not 1rm. you won’t be messed up when your 57 like me. if I only knew then what I know now…
I actually have Wendler’s 5/3/1 E-book and he actually has a template called “Boring But Big” that specifically says to do more of the same lifts. The difference is you drop the weight down to something like 60% of your 1RM and do sets of 10 reps. Supposedly, the 5/3/1 work that you do is for training your strength, while the 5 sets of 10 are for muscle hypertrophy.
I think that the leverages like you mentioned before have more to do with it than anything. I also don’t count any reps that aren’t AT LEAST right below parallel. I notice a lot of the dudes at my gym will load the bar up with 4 plates only to do a 3" squat.
Personally, I think Wendler’s original templates for 5/3/1 are pretty good for the average trainee, but I definately want more overall growth than what his plan has laid out, and I also have far better recovery capacity for some of the templates suggest for assistance work. As long as I don’t exceed my capacity to recover from workouts, I don’t see what the problem is with doing more assistance work. It’s definately hasn’t been hurting any strength gains, since I’m breaking PRs on a regular basis.
I mostly just adopted his percentages system because it is logical and practical. All the assistance work is just me figuring out what exercises work well for my body.
Wow, OK, you got me. I have not read his book, just the article on this site. I’ll have to read it as it’s something I’d like to try. I’ve done the online version till I had to stop 'cos of the deadlift/back issue, which by the way I think I found a way around by taking the eccentric out of it as much as possible. Learned that here on T-Nation. Are you making any progress gaining size?
Either way, your right of course, keep doing what works till it doesn’t. Like I said, it’s those strength curves. With all the weight I can squat you would think I could jump higher than about 2 feet. No fast twitch fibers.
5/3/1 was fun when I did it so I bet you like it. I’ll keep reading your posts. You’re doing great, good luck!
Thanks a lot man. I appreciate you reading and posting in my log.
Yes, I am progressing in size. I started 5/3/1 around September last year… if you take a look at my hub, you can see my progress pics from November '10, February '11, and April '11. I definitely have gained a little bit of lean mass all around, although it’s nothing ground-breaking. I’d say my legs and arms have grown the most (and sadly I just started training arms directly a little while ago), with my back making the least amount of progress.
Squat day (5/3/1)
Squats:
135 x 5
185 x 5
200 x 5
225 x 3
250 x 1
Assistance work: Squats @ 170
3 x 10
Assistance work: Blast strap fall outs (ab work)
2 x 10
1 x 8
1 x 7
1 x 4
just thought I’d let you know I realized I was doing german volume training and 10x3’s (hang clean/push-press complex) after 5/3/1. but the muscle groups exercised were done on diff. days. I downloaded Wendler’s book. I’ll have to ask/research about that but I think it’s ok. I started 5/3/1 again and will do it your way as long as my recovery holds up and see what happens. I think I do better w/ more frequency.
you should experiment w/ camers angles and lighting to look better in your photos. for example your leg shot would be much better as I think you show some decent mass there.
@steveffcft, I agree… my digital camera is not that good and the lighting in my room just plain sucks. I’m not really into photography, and these pics are more or less to judge progress than for aesthetic purposes. My woman is the judge of that, and she’s pretty happy with how I look
My recommendation would be to do 5/3/1 exactly as it is laid out in the eBook for a few weeks and see what works for you and what doesn’t. Then make modifications accordingly. I am constantly changing and tweaking my program from workout to workout.
Today, this guy at the gym who is retardedly-fucking ripped at my gym was making fun of me because I started out one of my sets of weighted dips with only 5 pounds. It seemed to me like any additional weight would be beneficial, as long as you increase it (reps or weight) with each subsequent workout. He suggested that I start using quarters or plates when doing dips instead, and when a guy like that offers me advice, I try to listen. It definitely hurt my pride–dude said he wanted a pic of me doing the 5 pound dips for his facebook page as a joke-- but I’m in this for results… not an ego boost.
Anyway, my point of the story is I’m still a noob to the iron game… always finding more things to tweak or change for the better.
Bench press day (5/3/1)
Bench press:
Bar x 10
100 x 5
155 x 4
175 x 3
195 x 6
Assistance work: Incline bench
95 x 10
135 x 9
145 x 5
145 x 5
145 x 5
Assistance work: Dips
BW x 10
+5 x 9
+10 x 5
+20 x 4
+25 x 4
Assistance work: Skull crusher
40 x 10
42.5 x 10
45 x 10
47.5 x 8
50 x 5
Assistance work: Jack knives
4 x 10
1 x 9