Squat (ATG)
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
255 x 5
270 x 5
285 x 9
225 x 10
Hack Squat (ATG)
160 x 15
210 x 15
250 x 10
280 x 11
Leg Extension
120 x 15
160 x 10
185 x 10
195 x 8
SLDL off platform
135 x 15
185 x 10
205 x 10
225 x 10
Seated Calf
4 sets
Alt. DB Curls
3 sets
Thoughts
Hit it pretty hard tonight. My legs were shot during leg extensions. I think next time out I’ll probably drop the weight and concentrate more on strict form with higher reps.
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
11 cycles in and you’re still hitting 9 reps on 5 week. That’s awesome.[/quote]
Thanks man. I dunno, I mean sometimes it’s not so much strength but just random crazy pumps where I’m real focused and intense. Some days I just have “it” and others I do not.
Bench Press
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
217.50 x 5
232.50 x 5
247.50 x 7
225 x 7
DB Incline
65 x 12
75 x 10
85 x 9
80 x 7
Dips
BW x 13
+25 x 10
+60 x 6
+60 x 6
Pec Deck Fly
120 x 15
160 x 10
180 x 10
200 x 8
Couple sets of light v-bar pressdown
4 sets leg raises
Thoughts
Weight was heavy tonight. It’s funny because I know right away. On the second or third warm-up set I can tell if it’s gonna be a great night or a crappy one. I just lacked all intensity, focus and drive tonight; had no pump at all. I’ve been lifting on my own again so maybe that’s one of the reasons. Also, now that I’m training alone the workouts are going much faster so maybe my body is just adjusting to resting a little less. Thursday is deads so I hope it goes well.
Deadlift
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
325 x 5
345 x 5
365 x 6
405 x 1
455 FAILED
Wide Grip Pull-up each rep full extension
BW x 10
BW x 9
BW x 8
BW x 7
Hang: BW x 71 seconds
DB Row
75 x 15
85 x 13
110 x 10
100 x 15
Pendlay Row
135 x 7
155 x 7
185 x 5
135 x 10
GHR off lat pulldown seat
3x5xBW
Thoughts
Different day, same result. I apologize in advance if this turns into a whiny rant but I’m trying to identify whatever is causing this. So here’s what keeps happening. Last week I had tons of intensity, focus and great pumps. The weight just looked light and I knew I’d kill it. Then on Friday things went down hill had no good pump and everything felt heavy. Friday was also the first time I started lifting alone again. This seems to be a pattern now so I’m trying to put a stop to it by figuring out what the heck is going on. I haven’t made that many changes as of late. I used to lift about 60 minutes after finishing dinner but now have been doing 90-100. Since a lot of people lift on an empty stomach I didn’t think this would matter. I’m also wondering if it could be the cold. All day I’m pumped up and excited to lift. Then I leave for the gym and it’s freezing out and also rather cold inside the gym too. Last week I was feeling so good after lifting that when I’d come home I’d still have that drive and focus and now I come home and I’m just kind of dragging. I know we all get into ruts but I always like to cut em off before they get any worse. Maybe this is absolutely nothing and just a bad couple of days or maybe something is going on here. I hope to get it figured out and definitely would appreciate input from you guys. Saturday the gym is closed and tomorrow they close early so I’m probably gonna have to get a shoulder workout in the morning.
Cycle 11
Week 1
Day 5 (136)
Standing Military Press
Standing Military Press
Bar x 10
75 x 5
95 x 5
110 x 5
130 x 5
145 x 7
165 x 1
115 x 8
BB Upright Row
65 x 12
85 x 10
100 x 10
115 x 8
HS Shoulder Press had no spotter so this sucked
90 x 15
140 x 10
180 x 10
200 x 4
90 x 20 --Drop set
3 Sets: Standing DB Front Raise SS w/ Seated Bent-over rear lat raise
5 Sets: CGBP SS w/ BB Curls
Thoughts
An improvement from the last few days; not major but a definite improvement. I’m toying with some different things for MP and right now it’s gonna be closer to a 5x5 approach. Also, there will be no more cheat reps no matter what (meaning turning it into a push press). Every rep was strict form coming all the way down and then extending all the way back up. Since I’m not gonna be hitting the gym tomorrow I figured I’d throw some arm work in at the end. I still had pretty good energy while finishing up. I did this entire workout in about 80 minutes.
To those who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas!
Looks like due to the snow the gym is closed all day. That’s BS because the roads have been fine since 12pm and the gym could have just opened late like the other ones did. The next closest gym is about 35 minutes so just debating if it’s worth making the trip.
Squat (ATG)
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
270 x 5
285 x 3
205 x 5
225 x 10
Hack Squat (ATG) machine weight not included
90 x 15
140 x 12
180 x 8
200 x 8
Leg Extension
110 x 12
150 x 10
170 x 10
190 x 8
SLDL off platform
135 x 12
185 x 8
205 x 8
225 x 8
135 x 10
Seated Calf
5 sets
Alt. DB Curls
3 sets
Thoughts
I ended up getting to the gym. Overall I’d say an average session but maybe considering everything it was pretty good. It’s never easy coming back strong after a long holiday weekend. Plus I shoveled for almost an hour today. I also had to drive 45 minutes to the only open gym. I really hate this time of year. It’s hard to train consistently. My gym closes for just for a few flurries and every holiday and every holiday eve. I wanted to just push everything up a day due to it being closed today but the gym is closing early this Friday and closed all day Saturday. It sucked driving 45 minutes in so-so road conditions but whatever…
Bench Press
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
235 x 5
245 x 3
260 x 6
225 x 9
DB Incline
65 x 10
80 x 9
85 x 5 stupid spotter
85 x 10
Dips
BW x 14
+25 x 10
+60 x 6
+60 x 7
Pec Deck Fly
120 x 15
150 x 12
170 x 10
190 x 10
4 sets of light v-bar pressdown
4 sets leg raises
Thoughts
Chest & shoulder nights I really miss having my workout partner. It’s funny because for leg and back days I prefer being alone because I can blitz through everything. Tonight I had two bad instances with a spotter. The first was the 260 set of bench. I have no idea if all 6 were on my own; pretty sure they weren’t. First I told the kid on 3 we lift and of course he lifts before three. I also made it clear to NOT touch the bar after he lifts and the first rep he’s assisting. I yell out get your hands off the bar and he says no I’m just guiding and continues to keep his hands under the bar so as I’m going down for the second rep I just yell get your damn hands off the bar! So, whatever maybe I did 6 maybe I didn’t. Later I found someone else to spot me on 85s for dumbbells. I’m terrible at kicking up heavy dbs.
So my last spotter was great and he used to blast up the weights for me right when I’d kick them back. I told this guy that 85 is real heavy for me so right when I kick them back just get under my elbows and blast em up with a lot of force. I repeated it just to make sure he got it. Of course when I kicked em back he was barely moving them so it was like dead friggin weight and it was really difficult to kick em up. I dunno how I even managed 5 out of that. All in all still a pretty solid session.
All the trainers at my club use Lange skin fold calipers. I have taken readings and then gone through hydrostatic weighing tests and have found its pretty damn close. Www.driveclubs.com. Good luck.
Man, you get screwed by the spotter every time. I’d be pissed.
WRT not getting the pump and focus, sometimes it just happens. Not every day is going to be a big PR blasting awesomeness session. Just stick to your progression and you’ll be fine with steady progress, even if there’s a setback here and there. I haven’t run your numbers through the spreadsheet in a long time, but the results keep looking good. You’re hitting 6 on your 1 day, so you’re definitely stronger than your training max would indicate.
Haha, first off thanks for the encouraging words. You’re right that not every session can be crazy where you’re setting PRs all over the place and I’m fine with that. The weird thing as of late is just I can’t get focused nor can I get a good pump. Oddly enough it’s not like I’m dragging to the gym. I’m excited about going and in the car I usually have a good pump and I can’t wait to lift but then something happens when I get started where I’m just not pumped or into it as much. I dunno…it’s a new week so hopefully that’s all behind me now.
As for the workouts, of course I’m still training! My notebook was in the car and just kept forgetting to grab it.
Deadlift
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
345 x 5
365 x 3
385 x 5
405 x 1
Wide Grip Pull-up each rep full extension
BW x 10
BW x 9
BW x 8
BW x 9
DB Row
70 x 15
85 x 15
95 x 20
105 x 8
BB Row
135 x 13
175 x 8
185 x 10
185 x 10
45-Degree back extension
4x15xBW
Thoughts
Real crappy session. I had a few open calluses on my hand that just made things real difficult.
Friday, 12/30
Standing Military Press
Bar x 10
75 x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
150 x 6
115 x 9
BB Upright Row
65 x 12
85 x 12
105 x 7
95 x 10
HS Shoulder Press
90 x 15
150 x 10
180 x 8
200 x 8
90 x 25 --Drop set
3 Sets: Standing DB Front Raise SS w/ Seated Bent-over rear lat raise
5 Sets: CGBP SS w/ BB Curls
Thoughts
Did back Thursday night and then did this early Friday morning so was a little low on energy. I hope everyone had a great New Years weekend. I’ve been putting a ton of treatment on my calluses so hopefully they’re finally better where they won’t get in the way.
Glad you’re back. Not sure what to tell you about the focus. What if you pick some completely different assistance challenge? I usually look forward to those. You could try some B12, too. It sounds like you might need a CNS recharge. Check out CT’s stuff on neural charge training and see if it could help you.
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
Glad you’re back. Not sure what to tell you about the focus. What if you pick some completely different assistance challenge? I usually look forward to those. You could try some B12, too. It sounds like you might need a CNS recharge. Check out CT’s stuff on neural charge training and see if it could help you.[/quote]
Well oddly enough I had pretty good focus and mentally stayed in it tonight. I’m telling you man, homemade burrito prewo never fails! Normally when it’s CNS I feel down all the time and am not looking forward to the gym. But in the last few weeks that was never the case. I was always pumped and super stoked until I actually got started lol. I also think I’m someone who needs a heavy meal prewo and then needs to start lifting 60-90 mins after, Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll definitely give it a read.
Squat (ATG)
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
255 x 5
285 x 3
320 x 5
345 x 1
235 x 8
Hack Squat (ATG)
160 x 15
210 x 15
250 x 10
300 x 9
Leg Extension
115 x 15
145 x 15
165 x 10
185 x 10
SLDL off platform
135 x 13
185 x 10
205 x 8
225 x 8
Seated Calf
4 sets
Alt. DB Curls
3 sets
Thoughts
320 every rep was legit ass-to-ground. I wasn’t expecting to hit 5 reps considering I was going ALL the way down. I gotta be honest though, the last two reps were a bit shaky coming up but I managed to get 'em.
Bench Press
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
225 x 5
250 x 3
280 x 5 did 3 completely on my own and then spotter began helping
225 x 6
DB Incline
65 x 10
75 x 10
85 x 10
80 x 10
Dips
BW x 14
+25 x 10
+60 x 5
+60 x 5
Pec Deck Fly
120 x 15
150 x 12
170 x 10
190 x 12
4 sets of light v-bar pressdown
4 sets leg raises
Thoughts
Overall pretty good session. My arms were definitely fatigued by the time it came to dips. 280 x 5 on bench may look impressive at first glance but keep in mind that only 3 reps were mine. I think the spotter must have been helping a lot because after 5 I easily could have kept going but just felt like I wasn’t doing enough even though he said he was making me work hard.
Hey man, I skimmed through your log and it looks like an intricate workout.
I was wondering if you’d mind sharing your overall idea about the program?
I have been on SS for about a year now and I believe it’s time to move on, my gains are stalling slowly.
5/3/1 got my attention but I’m kinda scared about moving towards it.
I got used to SS because of the quick weight increases and such, I really liked it.
I achieved a 325squat for 5 rep this week and my ultimate goal is to be able to squat 405 for 3 sets of 5 by the end of june this year, however, I don’t feel like I’ll be able to do this on 5/3/1.
It looks like this 5/3/1 program is more of a 2 steps back and 1 step foward. How do you feel about it? Thanks.
5-3-1 is a great program to switch to once you have stalled out your gains on SS. If you read the book, you will find that the progression is month to month rather than each workout. It is a slower progression, but steady progression that is more sustainable over a longer period of time than SS.