Press
38 kg x 3
44 kg x 3
50 kg x 12
38 kg x 16
Front plate raises 2 sets
Y raises 2 sets
Seated Lateral raises 2 sets
Rope pushdown 3 sets
Overhead Cable Extension 2 sets
Squat
92 kg x 3
104 kg x 3
118 kg x 11
125 kg x 3
132 kg x 3
137 kg x 3 (300 lb!)
Pull ups 1 set
So, this week’s training sucked so far. Getting to the gym and under the iron has been a chore more than ever. Probably due to tiredness due to having had exams this week, compounded with low mood due to having failed both (I might write more on this later).
Today I knew that getting to the gym would be harder than ever as my motivation to squat was below zero. Still, I got there.
After my pr set, I knew there was no talking myself into doing my Windowmaker set, but I also didn’t want to leave. I figured doing something would be better than nothing, so I decided to load up some more plates and do jokers.
I gathered all the focus left in me and did those three extra sets. Well, I turned out squatting 300 for the first time, so that was better than nothing!
Don’t get me wrong, I totally feel like a pussy for skipping that Windowmaker set, but at least I didn’t walk away from the bar. I thought loading it up heavier than I had before would be a decent motivator to do some more work.
6 Likes
AWESOME job dude. It’s crazy how far you’ve come, and that shit looked EASY.
1 Like
Bench
64 kg x 3
72 kg x 3
82 kg x 8
64 kg x 17
Chest Press double dropset
Low to high cable fly 1 set
Hammer curl double dropset
Incline curl 2 sets
Deadlift
122 kg x 5
138 kg x 3
154 kg x 11
167 kg x 3
172 kg x 3
182 kg x 1 (400 lb pr)
Neutral grip lat pulldown 3 sets
Low row machine 2 sets
3 Likes
Press
42 kg x 5
47 kg x 3
52 kg x 10
42 kg x 14
Cable Y raises 3 sets
Lateral raises 3 sets
Front plate raises 2 sets
Cross body cable extensions 3 sets
Overhead Cable Extension 2 sets
2019 is coming to an end and it’s been an eventful and important year for me. I think I’ll do a write up later this week about what I learned this year, both regarding training and life in general. I don’t know if anyone’s interested, but there’s lots of things I feel is worth talking about.
One thing I want to put out right now, is I found an old picture of me from when I was 14, five years ago. I’m a perfectionist and my nature makes it hard for me to ever be satisfied with something I do. Still, I couldn’t help but feel proud after I saw that pic, and I compared it with some more recent pictures.
I realized mine looks like one of those “epic transformations” you often see on social media. Here it is me at 14
Versus me at 19
Guys, anything can be achieved provided enough discipline, motivation, and hard work.
I wish all of the t nation crew and their loved ones a merry Christmas, and lots of gains.
Edit: and happy stuffing yourselves with food 
7 Likes
Squat
98 kg x 5
112 kg x 3
122 kg x 11
98 kg x 11
Leg curl 1 set
Bench
68 kg x 5
77 kg x 3
89 kg x 5
68 kg x 15
High Incline db press 3x10
Chest Press double dropset
Cross body Hammer curl 3x12
Spider curl 2x12
Incline curl 2x10
And this was my last workout of the year!
This also means that I managed to achieve the goal I set last January, that is doing a full year of 5/3/1 and no other program.
I’ll post a write-up later, as there’s some stuff I want to cover.
1 Like
How productive was 2019 in terms of training?
This was a hell of a year, and was the best training year up to now in terms of consistency and applied effort to my regime. This means that the quality of my work is trending upwards, which is good.
Here are the pr sets at the end of my first cycle of 5/3/1, as of January 2019, compared to the pr sets at the end of December, about 12 cycles later.
Press
42 kg / 92 lb x 13 → 52 kg / 114 lb x 10
Deadlift
112 kg / 246 lb x 12 → 154 kg / 338 lb x 11
(also deadlifted 182 kg / 400 lb x 1)
Bench
74 kg / 162 lb x 12 → 89 kg / 195 lb x 5
(also benched 92 kg / 202 lb x 3)
Squat
104 kg / 228 lb x 10 → 122 kg / 268 lb x 11
(also squatted 142 kg / 300 lb x 3)
I am not entirely satisfied with my progress on the upper body lifts. I’m getting closer and closer to my goals, but I had imagined a faster rate of progress. I’m very happy with how my Deadlift progressed.
My main goal is muscle growth—did I grow as much as I wanted? I don’t know. I’m at a pretty high bf% right now so it’s hard to tell.
My plan moving on begins on January 1st. I’ll do a 3-4 week mini cut to get rid of around 12 lb of fat. I won’t end up shredded but I’ll drop some of the extra fat and I’ll resume gaining weight, this time with a more controlled approach to keep fat gain at bay.
I can probably keep doing this until May and then I’ll finally go through an extended cut, lasting 8-12 weeks. Summer will then be over and the whole thing will start over, hopefully with me getting better each year.
I am unsure what I should do training wise right now. Later I’ll post some of the ideas I’ve had, but here’s some of the things that have been floating in my mind about what I need to change:
-
Pushing the Deadlift as hard as I’ve been doing might not be the best thing given that muscle growth is my goal. After a pr set and a Windowmaker set, or the BBB sets, I can’t really push much else. Recently I’ve been training back after I do deadlifts and back training suffered. Should I not push the Deadlift as much and focus on stuff that’s more conducive to building muscle?
-
My grip needs work. Apparently, doing back work and my min Deadlift sets (minus the pr) without straps isn’t cutting it. I have Deadlifted 400 with straps, but I can barely hold 290 for a couple of reps with a double overhand grip. Should I do direct grip work?
-
I went from loving squats to hating them and back a few times this year, and I’m currently hating them. Doing high- and very high rep sets lately took away my motivation to train. Given that I’m okay with possibly slowing down the rate of growth of my legs (as I’m happy with their size and they’re overpowering my upper body), I want to move away for a bit from super high rep squats and focus on doing more “enjoyable,” heavier work.
-
I kept trying to tweak things around for the barbell press but it’s making my wrists worse and worse, and progress is slow. Given that my goal is delt growth, I’m thinking I could sub it for something like a dumbbell press or even a behind the neck barbell press. Time for a change?
Thank you to all of the people who will read this post and/or give advice, and thank you for following along my log!
2 Likes
This session confuses me because I can do this:
But there is no way, gun to my head, I could do this:
Shit, there’s a lot to catch up on here. Your progress is awesome and you should be proud. I can’t even catch you on bench anymore, just the press left.
If you’d like the advice of someone weaker than you (and who wouldn’t?), maybe consider switching the lifts you’re happiest with to “park bench” training so you can make progress on them without draining all your energy and motivation. Then you can focus more on your weaknesses.
2 Likes
great recap! looks like you have a great plan moving forward! I’m looking forward to your amazing transformation!
2 Likes
So, I’ve worked out a training plan I can use for the next months and I would like to hear your opinion on it. The idea behind it is ditching the “basics only” kinda focus I had lately and get to the end of my workouts feeling I’ve been productive towards working the muscles I wanted to work rather than just working towards increasing my numbers in the one and only main lift.
I’m not focused on leg size as they’re proportional to my physique and maybe even overpowering my upper body a bit. My goal is to really bring up my arms and delts, and to improve my grip. For the main lifts, I’m going to establish an everyday max (EDM), that in this context means a weight I can do a set of 8 reps at without going to failure. I’ll use double progression on the lifts and increase the weight once I can hit 12 reps (I’ll stay a little lower with the reps on squats and Deadlift because I’m sick of high rep sets after a year of only that).
Day 1 - Back and chest
Bench press - 3x8-12
Incline db press - 2x8-12
Low to high cable fly 2x12-15
Bent-over row 3x8-12
Weighed chins 3x6-10
Seated Cable lat row 2x6-10
Day 3 - Legs and grip work
Squat - 3x5-8
Deadlift - 3x5-8
Leg extension superset with leg curl - 2x8-12
Dumbbell hold 2 sets
Wrist curl 2 sets
Rest
Day 4 - Delts
Seated DB OHP - 3x8-12
Cable lateral raises - 3x8-12
Plate front raises - 2x12-15
Rear delt raises - 2x12-15
Face pull - 2x12-15
Day 5 - Arms
Barbell curls 3x8-12
Spider curls 2x12-15
Incline curls 2x12-15
Rope pushdown 3x8-12
Cross body extension 2x12-15
Db skullcrusher 2x8-12
How’s it look?
@T3hPwnisher I’m tagging you as I always appreciate your input. Everyone else is welcome to chime in as well of course.
Oh man, that is so outside my wheelhouse. About the only thing I would do for me is put the rest day on day 2 and move legs after the arm day. Squatting after chest or shoulder work always sucks for me, and this way I could absolutely blow my brains out on leg day and spend 2 days recovering.
Do you say this because the routine is more “muscle group oriented,” and less focused on progress on the basics, or due to any specific feature outlined in the program?
I guess what I’m trying to say is, is this just very different from the way you train or do you mean to say it sucks too much to even be quantifiable? Haha
The former. I haven’t trained in this manner before. I don’t know how to make a good split.
1 Like
I’m gonna post the diet I’ll be following for my mini cut, in case anyone’s curious
Meal 1
1 whole egg
200 g / 7 oz egg whites
20 g cheese
Meal 2
80 g white rice
300 g / 10 oz chicken breast
1 serving veggies
Meal 3
1 banana
30 g cream of rice
200 g cottage cheese
Meal 4
400 g / 14 oz sweet potatoes
200 g / 7 oz lean beef
1 serving veggies
2,000 kcal - 185 g pro 215 g carb 40 g fat
2 Likes
I would give back and chest their own days before I gave shoulders and arms their own days. Chest, Back, rest, Legs, Shoulders and Arms, rest rest. You can do it the way you have laid out, of course, but you’ll already be working your shoulders on the chest and the back day, and your arms will be getting worked then as well.
I don’t think this is much of a concern unless you have an actual reason to have a strong grip.
For context- I pulled 455lb with a mixed-grip + chalk but had a hard time doing anything more than 275lb with a double overhand grip + chalk. I don’t really care since I don’t think I’d find myself ever carrying hundreds of pounds with just my grip in real life and I don’t compete in anything.
1 Like
Good point. My thought process with this split was that I want to give a little more love to my biceps, triceps, and delts as working them after the bigger muscle groups implies that I always get to them super tired and likely can’t put in as much effort as I would be able to otherwise.
But working chest and then back the same day is probably gonna tire the hell out of me even more. However, I think that only doing three exercises on a chest-only day might be a little too little work for a training day, but I don’t want to add more chest work as my chest isn’t lagging compared to other muscle group.
So this is my idea: I take half the arm work away from the arm day and redistribute it between chest and back day. So my arms get worked after chest and back, and then again on their own day with shoulders.
The split hence ends up like this:
Chest Triceps
Back biceps
Rest
Legs
Shoulders arms
Rest
Rest
That way, back and chest get their own day, after which I do some arm work, and then arms get worked again after I worked my delts (after which I should be fresher as there isn’t as much heavy work).
3 Likes