[quote]TisDrew wrote:
You are stronger than me so take this with that grain of salt, but I noticed for sure that upper-back work had a direct result on my bench. I didn’t do shrugs, but I did do dumbell rows and pull-ups. A fuckton of pullups. I was doing 5x10 on pull ups and I got to 110x15 on DB rows. I stuck with 5 reps on the DB rows until I maxed the weights out at my gym and then I just started adding reps. I envy your deadlift, although our benching and squatting is about the same (you beat me a little on each). Keep up the great stuff man![/quote]
No problem man any advice is beneficial in one way or another. I figured upper back work did have a direct effect on benching but I wasn’t sure just how much. My problem is that I’m sure I couldn’t do 5x10 with bw on pullups as you mentioned you could do.
So right now I’ve been doing 3 sets of failure with bw. Maybe if I up the volume to 5 sets that help a lot more?I think I might try your method with the db rows instead of what I’ve been doing with the 70 lb dumbbells
Sunday
Missed the gym again today, I think I’ll just scrap the Sunday workouts and keep the program to a 3 day a week program until I get back to school next week.
Week 4
Monday
De-Load Week
Pre-workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water, multivitamin
Workout Music: Arch Enemy
Squat
115 x 5
145 x 5
170 x 5
Been working on my form and thought this deload week was a perfect time for it. I have depth and bar placement down but I guess my only problem is bringing my hips forward? I don’t know what that exactly means but I’ll just try to squat as strict as possible.
1 Legged Leg Press
130 x 15
130 x 15
130 x 15
Was reading more of Wendler’s 5/3/1 book right before my workout and browsed the accessory lifts page. He suggest doing 3-4 sets with high reps (20-40) reps so I’m going to work my accessory lifts with a higher volume from now on.
Smith Machine Calf Raises
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
Nothing different then last week, calves are still looking non-existent
Abs - Cable Crunches
72 x 12
72 x 12
72 x 12
72 x 12
72 x 12
I’m starting to workout my abs again, I’d really like to get them cutup and shredded like they used to be but I’m just too lazy to come around to them.
Post Workout Drink: 30g protein w/ BCAAS, Multivitamin, and Creatine Monohydrate
Wednesday
Pre-workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water
Workout Music: Arch Enemy
Benchpress
105 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
Wow, I think that was the first time I benched a bar with less than 135 since sophomore year of high school. Even the 155 didn’t feel like a workout as my chest was “loosened” up with the previous lighter sets. It’s been really weird doing such light weight this deload week and not going all out when I workout.
Barbell Military Press
115 x 5
135 x 5
145 x 3
Had to make up for my missed Sunday workout. I really don’t know what my thoguhts are on the 3 reps with 145. I guess since I haven’t really military pressed that much before 5/3/1 it’s a good benchmark to see where my overhead press strength is but I feel like it doesn’t correlate with my upper body strength.
Widegrip Bodyweight Pullups
BW x 15
BW x 6
BW x 6
Getting 15 was a new PR for me this week which should make sense seeing how it’s a deload week. Honestly after doing the 15, the last 2 sets of 6 I didn’t put 100% effort. Once I started to feel the strain in my muscles, I didn’t feel like exerting that much energy so I cut them short. I guess all my focus is on how many reps I can get on the first set.
Kroc Rows w/ Dumbbell
70 x 17
70 x 12
I kind of lost my interest to lift when I was doing these. I think a lot of it is due to the fact that I haven’t really been doing anything to stimulate growth/gains when doing the Kroc Rows. I keep telling myself I’m going to increase the intensity on this exercise but I never come around to doing it. Next week I’ll beat myself up if I don;t go all out on this exercise.
EZ Bar Curl
50 x 12
50 x 10
50 x 8
Don’t know how much the bar weighs at the gym I workout at so I just put a 25 pound plate on each side. I don’t think I worked out the biceps for a week or week 1/2 so I decided to perform these before I ended my session.
Post Workout Drink: 30g protein w/ BCAAS, Multivitamin, and Creatine Monohydrate
Friday
Pre-workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water
Workout Music: In Flames
Deadlift
165 x 5 w/ Pro Short Average Bands
205 x 5 w/ Pro Short Average Bands
245 x 5 w/ Pro Short Average Bands
I just want to say I really love these bands. I took this session to work on my form from the part of the ascension after the bar passes my knees. I really tried to “fuck” the bar you could say haha. Anyways I was trying to pump out my chest and all that jawnks; felt like a nice technique perfecting session with light weight.
Neck Bridges
BW x 20
Bw x 20
Bw x 20
BW x 20
BW x 20
I wanted to see how my neck would respond after increasing the volume and intensity on this exercise; I pretty much haven’t felt anything from it the past 3 weeks. Anyways, my neck is definitely sore as I’m typing this. I think I’ll start performing these neck bridges with a volume of 3 sets of failure.
Barbell Shrugs
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
I think 205 is a good weight to get a full range of motion; well I guess you can;t do anything more than up and down lol. But anyways, as my grip started to fail on the end of each set, the area around the base of my thumb and palm started to burn. I think squeezing some hand grips might solve this problem. Any suggestions?
Week 5
Monday
Ok moved into my new loft today getting ready for junior year of college. Didn’t get a chance to squat today but got a chance to drink alcohol tonight lol. Had some Jameson’s 12 year Reserve, Glenlivet 10 years Reserve and Chiva’s Regal and some Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier (honestly some of the best beer I’ve eve tasted). I’ll make up the training extra hard tomorrow but honestly couldn’t pass up a chance to try some really good alcohol
Tuesday
Pre-workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water, multivitamin
Workout Music: In Flames
Squat
205 x 5
235 x 5
265 x 6
I definitely had 1 or 2 more in my legs but my form turned to complete shit on the 6th rep. I don’t know what happened but I’m going to have to hit the squat harder next week. I’ve been working on getting deeper and trying to explode out of the hole.
1 Legged Leg Press
110 x 8
110 x 8
Since I’m back at school, this is done on a regular leg press with plates, not the machine with pulleys. It’s definitely a lot harder with the plates than the machine. I’m going to have to figure out what my depth should be when doing these.
Barbell Calf Raises
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
Boxes were taken so I couldn’t do these on top of them, had to do these on a flat floor which I really dislike because I use more of my quads when I do these standing on the floor.
Post Workout Drink: 30g protein w/ BCAAS, Multivitamin, and Creatine Monohydrate
Wednesday
Pre-workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water, multivitamin
Workout Music: Gojira
Benchpress
185 x 5
200 x 5
230 x 5
Very very disappointed with today’s bench workout. 2 weeks ago I got 245 x 5 and got 230 x 7 the week before that so this should’ve been a new PR. But instead, failed attempting a 6th rep. I don;t know what happened. My shoulder was very sore this morning; I think I slept on it wrong because it was painful benching today. I don’t think anything is torn but as I’m typing this it hurts to move up and down. I really hope I can pull it together, so far this week has been a very disappointing week of lifting.
Wide Grip Pullups
BW x 10
BW x 6
BW x 6
My desire to lift was gone after only hitting 5 reps on 230. I really didn’t feel like pushing myself after benching.
Kroc Rows w/ Dumbbell
70 x 15
70 x 10
I got a more reps on these but was aiming for 20. I had the 20 in me but I didn’t feel like pushing that hard today
EZ Bar Curls
70 x 8
80 x 6
Thought I’d hit the biceps today after working out my upper body
Post Workout Drink: 30g protein w/ BCAAS, Multivitamin, and Creatine Monohydrate
Don’t get too worked up over bench. Mine has always been strong so it’s easy for me to say, but my best gains in the bench have come this year when I didn’t give two shits about it. It could have been that you dropped a few pounds or something minor like that. In fact, I’d say that’s probably a safe bet.
Keep up the hard work, and great music choices( got me listening to a few I hadn’t before).
[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
Don’t get too worked up over bench. Mine has always been strong so it’s easy for me to say, but my best gains in the bench have come this year when I didn’t give two shits about it. It could have been that you dropped a few pounds or something minor like that. In fact, I’d say that’s probably a safe bet.[/quote]
Yeah but it seems that it was a lock for a new PR this week with a lighter weight. I’ve started to shift my focus to squat and deadlifting with 5/3/1 so we’ll see how it improves with little focus
[quote]Adam Bomb wrote:
Keep up the hard work, and great music choices( got me listening to a few I hadn’t before).[/quote]
Thanks man. I usually listen to metal when I work out and older rap/underground hip hop when I “chill”
Friday
Pre-workout drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water and a multivitamin
Workout Music: Stretched listening to Blu & Exile, worked out to Opeth
Deadlift
300 x 5 w/ Pro Short Average Bands
330 x 5 w/ Pro Short Average Bands
380 x 8, no bands + 2 w/ Pro Short Average Bands
I think the trick to training with bands is to just go all out like each set is your max otherwise the tension of the bands really pulls the bar down. Before, I would just focus on getting the weight up but when I increased my intensity today, the bar just seemed to fly up as if I were lifting without bands. I felt like I had more in me than just 8 without bands but I just couldn’t grip the bar any longer. I wanted to see if I could crank out any reps on 380 with the bands and was pretty happy I pulled 2 extra ones. Overall it was a good end to the week for an overall shitty week of lifting I think.
Smith Machine Shrugs
225 x 12
225 x 12
225 x 12
225 x 12
225 x 12
I was honestly so tired from deadlifting today I just decided to call it quits after shrugs. I feel like the shrugs are building up size but don’t really seem to have any benefit on my deadlift. I think it’s because I’m shrugging with such light weight in comparison to my deadlift but if I go up in weight, I sacrifice my range of motion. I don’t know what to do about this.
Post Workout Drink: EAS 100% Whey Protein 46g Protein (2 servings; got this stuff really cheap at Sam’s Club so I bought 2 5lb bags; it has a BCAA blend in it) w/ Creatine Monohydrate
Week 6
Monday
Pre-Workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water
Workout Music: In Flames & Arch Enemy
Squat
220 x 3
250 x 3
285 x 8
Alright unbelievable squat day today for me. Set a PR with 8 reps on 285 and was so happy of it. I definitely needed it after the shitty squat performance I had last Tuesday. Man when the bar was sitting on my lower traps, it just felt so light and once I hit 5 reps, I felt like i could hit 10! But alas, my quads didn’t give out but the bar started to slip down my back. I guess I still haven’t really found exactly how you place the bar on the lower part of your traps. Any pointers?
1 Legged Leg Press
90 x 10
90 x 10
90 x 10
I really love the Angle leg press machine we have here at school. Especially since it uses plates instead of the machine plates like I used during the summer. A 45 lb. plate on each side seems really light compared to what everyone puts on but I’d rather not sacrifice depth just so I can push more and this is an accessory lift, not my main lift so I could give a shit.
Barbell Calf Raises
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
205 x 12
Some days I use 225, some days I use 205, I guess it depends on how tired my calves are from the aforementioned workouts
Post Workout Drink: EAS 100% Whey Protein 46g w/ Creatine Monohydrate
Wednesday
Pre-Workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water
Workout Music: Opeth
Bench
185 x 3
215 x 3
240 x 4
Ok so I think my upper body strength is starting to regress. I’m not getting anywhere even close to what my PR’s were for this day on the first 4 week cycle and it’s kind of pissing me off. I really think it is due to the fact that I only work my upper body every Wednesday; so to fix this I need to get my ass in the gym on Sundays, no excuses and have a designated shoulder/tricep day. Hopefully this’ll be the fix my upper body needs because right now, I really dislike training it because my numbers are going down.
Widegrip Pullups
bw x 14
bw x 7
bw x 6
First time I got past 12 reps without it being a deload week, pretty happy with that. Hopefully I can make it 15+ next week.
Incline Dumbbell Press
85 x 8
85 x 8
Haven’t done these since week 1 and I’m really regretting that. I feel my upper chest is lacking since it’s getting no direct work at all and it’s going to change. I’m going to add these every week and keep them going along with whatever 5/2/1 designated reppage is for the day.
Kroc Dumbbell Rows
80 x 5
80 x 5
80 x 5
I probably could’ve gotten 10 reps on all of these but decided to take it a bit easy. I’m going to keep these at 5 reps and increase the weight. Guess these really aren’t going to be called Kroc Rows anymore then. I really need to get my shit together on upper body days.
Post Workout Drink: EAS 100% Whey Protein 46g w/ Creatine Monohydrate
Shit I haven’t posted in my log in a while. 1st week of classes, been trying to tell myself I will post here but never do yet I always find myself on this site in my free time?
Friday
Pre-Workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water
Workout Music: Opeth
Deadlift
315 x 3 w/ Pro Short Average Bands
360 x 3 w/ Pro Short Average Bands
405 x 8, no bands
Well I definitely felt like I had more than 8 but since I’ve been working out at school,the only chalk I have accessibility to is Rock Climbing chalk which slips. I felt like if I had the proper chalk I could’ve gotten maybe 10 reps. Regardless, this is a new PR
Post Workout Drink: EAS 100% Whey Protein 46g w/ Creatine Monohydrate
I honestly for the life of me cannot remember if I did any assistance exercises last Friday after deadlifting or not, I think I called it a day after that to be honest. Guess this is what happens when I don’t post during my training days
Sunday
Pre-Workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water
Workout Music: Meshuggah and Black Milk
Barbell Military Press
115 x 3
135 x 3
145 x 4
Haven’t done a Sunday workout at all during my 5/3/1 training and after seeing the drop in strength in my upper body last week, I got scared shitless and put my ass in gear. As usual, I expected more form military press but it was a reality check in seeing how much I haven’t focussed on my upper body.
Dumbbell Incline Press
90 x 5
95 x 5
95 x 7
Don’t know what I was thinking rep range here bit tried to see how many i could get with 95. I haven’t done these in a while so my form was shaky when I initially started with the 90’s. It straightened out and got more fluid by the third set, man do I miss these
Dumbbell Lateral Raises
25 x 6
30 x 6
30 x 6
Read an article here on the main page of T-Nation that said don’t be afraid to go heavy on these. I’ve always done these with light weight in the 10-12 rep range keeping my arms perfectly straight and raising. I’ll try heavy on these and see how that works out.
Weighted Dips
45 x 10
90 x 8
90 x 6
I used to love doing these and used to get 10+ reps on 2 45lb plates (90). So I wanted to see where I was on these as well. I miss these even more than the db incline presses.
Post Workout Drink: EAS 100% Whey Protein 46g w/ Creatine Monohydrate
Week 7
Tuesday
Pre-Workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water
Workout Music: Meshuggah
Squat
235 x 5
265 x 3
300 x 6
Oh man another PR on squat! These weekly PR’s are really making me fall in love with my least favorite exercise. I honestly cannot wait for squat days to come now. However this was supposed to be a Monday workout, for some reason I had almost no energy yesterday so decided to just nap during my workout time. But man oh man I’m loving the results on my squat.
Tire Flips
Alright got a call from a group of guys that do tire flips on campus so I headed there to see what the fuss is all about. Never done these in my life and honestly don’t know how my squat or deadlift will react to these. Maybe I’ll keep my workouts to the main exercise, 2 assistance exercises and hit up the tires every leg day (Mondays and Fridays). I felt like a pussy though today, I think the tire I was flipping was only 200 lbs. but it was tiring as shit. My definite lack of cardio definitely was highlighted here.
Now I’m just worried if I’ll be able to recover by Friday for deadlifts seeing how I pushed squat back 1 day. We’ll find out Friday…
Post Workout Drink: EAS 100% Whey Protein 46g w/ Creatine Monohydrate
Wednesday
Pre-Workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ water
Workout Music: Elzhi
Bench
200 x 5
230 x 3
255 x 2
Honestly, I’m at the point right now where I don’t really give a shit about my bench anymore. My once beloved lift has slowly been chipping away at my love for my upper body. Hopefully as I said last week, the working out my upper body 2x a week instead of 1 will be a quick fix for my problem. Until then, I don’t see any new PR’s being set on my benchpress happening anytime in the future.
Widegrip Pullups
bw x 12
bw x 8
bw x 6
Definitely felt these a lot more in my lats this week than I usually do. i think this may be a result of the tire flips from yesterday
Dumbbell Kroc Rows
60 x 25
Starting to up my reps with lighter weight, my goal is to find a weight I can do 40 reps on. I’m just really disappointed in how quickly my muscles tire out, I definitely believe I could hit 40 reps on a 60lb dumbbell but my muscles just poop out.
Post Workout Drink: EAS 100% Whey Protein 23g w/ Creatine Monohydrate
Friday
Pre-Workout Drink: Creatine Monohydrate w/ Water
Workout Music: Meshuggah
Deadlift
340 x 5
385 x 3
430 x 8
What can I say, the deadlift was nothing but glorious today. I really loved the fact that I got 8 reps on 430 but in all honesty, I feel like I could’ve gotten more if my grip from the chalk didn’t give out. I really need to invest in some real lifting chalk instead of the rock climbing chalk I use right now.
Didn’t do any assistance lifts; 1st weekend of the official school year so I celebrated my 8 rep PR on 430 with a Rogue Chocolate Stout and a 6 pack of Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier
Usually if I post right after the video containing the post it shows up