Soda's 5/3/1 Journal - Detrmined to Kick Ass!

Training Training Logs
421

Yeah man same gym. I really don’t have a choice in terms of gyms. This is at most a ten minute ride and the next closest gym is about 30 mins. It kind of sucks dealing with such a stupid owner but the best way to handle it is just ignore him for the most part.

In HS and college I was a big fan of NCAA basketball but for some reason I just grew out of it and now mainly just follow baseball and football and I guess a casual Knick fan (watch all the games but not really a die-hard). I used to love this time of year because it meant spring is near and March Madness. Maybe this year I’ll do a pool again. Good luck to your team

422

DONE FRIDAY NIGHT
Cycle 14
Week 1
Day 5 (176)
Standing Military Press

12 minute walk on treadmill

Standing Military Press super strict form
Bar x 10
Bar x 5
75 x 5
105 x 5
120 x 5
145 x 5
160 x 6
125 x 9

BB Upright Row
95 x 12
105 x 10

Seated DB Shoulder Press
50 x 10
65 x 11
70 x 10
50 x 9

Face Pulls
110 x 20
110 x 20

DB Shrug
85 x 15
85 x 15
85 x 15

Barbell Curl
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8

CGBP
135 x 15
185 x 10
185 x 10

Leg Raises
3 sets

Thoughts
70 minutes and was getting kind of gassed toward the end. For shrugs I held it after each rep at the top for a sic burn! I probably overtrained a little bit tonight but I still think that’s better than doing 5 days a week. Now I have two full days in a row of rest. Hopefully I’m right and that continues to work.

So I’m down 5.8lbs (weighed in Sat AM) and it doesn’t look like I’ve lost any strength. If I have it’s been very little. I’m thinking about tweaking the diet slightly.

Sunday (off day) - Around (maybe more if I can) 350c, 180-200p and zero fats other than incidentals
Mon-Tues (lifting days) 130-160c
Wednesday (off) - around 150c
Thurs-Fri (lifting days) same as Mon-Tues
Saturday (off) 20c w/ breakfast and then nothing else other than my cheat meal, cheat meal will have no restrictions

*carb numbers include fruits, veggies and Gatorade that I drink during my workout

refeed went pretty good today (Sunday)

P- 180-200
F- none other than incidentals
C- 315-330

If I’m feeling up to it this week I may reduce carbs just a tad from what I did last week.

423

Cycle 14
Week 2
Day 1 (177)
Squat

12 minute walk on treadmill
2 sets of leg extensions @55lbs
jump squats
BW stationary lunges

Squat (ATG)
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
270 x 5
285 x 3
305 x 6
235 x 8

Hack Squat (ATG)
180 x 12
250 x 9
270 x 9

Leg Extension
145 x 15
145 x 15

Lying Leg Curl
130 x 15
130 x 15
130 x 10

Seated Calf
5 sets

Alt. DB curls
3 sets

Thoughts
60 minutes. Squats 305 got tough after 4 reps and probably should’ve stopped there but like an idiot I went for 2 more.

424

Can I ask why you choose standing Military press vs seated, I always feel more control and less cheating in seated. However you do always need a spot as its hard to get any weight over 205 off the rack by yourself in that position. Im going to be lifting shoulders tomorrow so will give standing a try. Do you do it strictly as in legs pretty locked and only pressing, or do you do it like Lou Ferrigno (Spell check anyone?)and do use your body to pump it up.

Any ways, log is looking good, keep up the work, im still learning about this 5/3/1 program and might try it next bulk. Is the book only sold online or can I get it at say Barnes and Noble?

425

He does it standing because he’s a MAN, BABY! I don’t want to speak for him, so I won’t give a serious comment as to why he does it standing. Speaking for myself, I find that performing the lift standing is superior for full body development because you have to stabilize yourself rather than relying on a bench. As for the cheating, that’s up to the person performing the lift. I only do these with strict form all the way down to the chest without any contribution from the legs.

Soda, you’re dieting down and still pushing good weight. Pushing out those extra two reps will accelerate your fat loss. Remember not too long ago you were talking about mustering up the courage to attempt a 325 squat. Now you’re knocking out close to that weight for six while dieting down. Your strength is improving steadily and that is awesome.

426

[quote]Achilles of war wrote:
Can I ask why you choose standing Military press vs seated, I always feel more control and less cheating in seated. However you do always need a spot as its hard to get any weight over 205 off the rack by yourself in that position. Im going to be lifting shoulders tomorrow so will give standing a try. Do you do it strictly as in legs pretty locked and only pressing, or do you do it like Lou Ferrigno (Spell check anyone?)and do use your body to pump it up.

Any ways, log is looking good, keep up the work, im still learning about this 5/3/1 program and might try it next bulk. Is the book only sold online or can I get it at say Barnes and Noble?[/quote]

Thanks man for the kind words. As for MP I have to agree with JLD. I do the movement super strict; no movement other than arms. It’s not easy so don’t get frustrated. The hard work will definitely be worth it the long run and it will also improve your other big lifts.

JLD, I think you’re right about banging out those extra two reps. However, like I said I just make sure that while cutting I don’t push anything else close to failure or then I’ll quickly get burnt out.

427

Cycle 14
Week 2
Day 2 (178)
Bench

12 minute walk on treadmill
jumping jacks
clapping pushups

Bench Press
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
235 x 3
250 x 3
265 x 5
225 x 5

BB Incline
155 x 8
185 x 8
195 x 8
135 x 12

Dips
BW x 13
+55 x 9
+55 x 9

Flat DB Press
70 x 10
70 x 12

V-Bar pushdown
2 light sets

4 sets leg raises

Thoughts
60 minutes. 265 for 5 got a bit sloppy, first 3 good, 4th a little tough and the 5th I got but it wasn’t as pretty and easy as the last time I did 265. Oh well, not too concerned about it but the funny thing was I stripped it down to 225 and 60-90 seconds later 225 was like a feather and I easily could have kept going. I also went a tad below my normal carb levels; just testing out how low I can go.

Tomorrow is an off day. Last week I upped the carbs to 150 on my off day so still debating as to what I should do. I’ll sleep on it, lol.

428

Cycle 14
Week 2
Day 4 (179)
Deadlift

12 minute walk on treadmill

Deadlift hurt my lower back pretty bad
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
350 x 3 think i hurt it here
370 x 3
400 x FAIL - didn’t even budge
315 x 3
135 x 25

Hammer Grip Chins
BW x 15
BW x 12
BW x 12
BW x 15

DB Row
85 x 10
85 x 10
85 x 10

Hammer Strength Pulldown
3 sets 2 plates each side 10-12 reps

Thoughts
Hurt my lower back pretty bad to the point I couldn’t even do a bent over row of just the bar and currently cannot touch my toes unless I bend my knees a lot. I’ve had this exact injury twice before back in 06 and 07 and sadly it kept me out for over two months. Basically if I’m standing or walking around I feel fine but when I go from sitting to standing it’s major pain. Also it’s just too painful to do anything bent over like a row or a squat. The DB rows weren’t bad b/c my back was flat. The reason why I went and continued the deads is cause I wanted to test things out to see if this was in fact the same injury. The set of 135 felt fine and I could have kept going. So it’s anything heavy that really aggravates it. I don’t want to sound too dramatic b/c I know a lot worse things can happen in life but in terms of lifting I’m pretty damn depressed. I know this injury and it just takes forever to completely go away and the worst part is you never really know when it’s gone. The last time I had it I thought it was gone and all the light weight felt great but then right when I went to squat 225 I felt that tweak and I was done. So this time I’m just not sure what to do. I’m thinking maybe just try and figure out substitutes for squats and deads rather than just completely giving up. I’ve worked really hard to get to this point and the last thing I wanna do is sit on the shelf for a few months. I’m trying to be optimistic and hoping it’s better by Monday but based on past experience that’s pretty unrealistic to think that. Sorry for the long post…

Cliffs
-hurt my lower back, it’s a tweak lowest part of my back
-feels really bad when I go from sitting to standing or when i’m bent over like something as simple as putting on my shows is really painful
-hoping, with all of your help maybe, to figure out an alternative or substitute for lower back movements like squats and deads
-suffered this injury before and was on the shelf for over 2 months so this time i wanna continue to lift but maybe find other movements to replace deads, squats and rows

429

Man, that sucks. I tweaked my back last cycle on DL, too. Yours sounds much more serious, but to accelerate the healing, get a value sized bottle of Advil Liqui-caps, a foam roller (black one from EFS that’s made for fatties), an 18" section of 2" PVC pipe, and at least two of those light blue ice bags from CVS.

Foam roll the crap out of it. Make it hurt. Do it for a few minutes until the pain starts to get easier to tolerate. Then ice for at least 20 minutes. You might want to get one of those neoprene back supports to strap the ice down. Actually, add that to the list to get from CVS. After icing keep that neoprene thing on to warm it back up. Fill the blue ice bag with hot water if you want and stick it in the neoprene (though I prefer to let it warm back up slowly).

Rinse and repeat. Once the foam rolling gets more tolerable, bring in the big gun. The PVC will bring the pain, but it will help you heal up faster. All the while, take 3-4 of the Advil every 4-6 hours.

This will hurt. It will be uncomfortable, and you will curse my name if you do it, but it will help you recover faster. I’ve used this many times and given this advice many times and it has yet to fail.

Good luck, man. What’s your work-around strategy for this injury?

430

Are you laid up from your injury?

431

Hey JD. First off thanks for all that helpful info in your earlier post. I haven’t had a chance to do all of it but I did ice it up a lot and take some pills. I feel it’s the sitting that’s killing it. If I get up and walk around it’s not nearly as bad as it is when I sit and then first get up. I still gotta get a foam roller. I was gonna get the ice pack you suggested from CVS but I think it would have cost 20 bucks so instead I just took a big flat ice pack that I had, put it on my back and then strapped a towel around it. As of now I can come a little closer to touching my toes but still not there yet and definitely cannot squat or dead so I’m trying to work around it.

DONE FRIDAY NIGHT
Cycle 14
Week 2
Day 5 (180)
Standing Military Press

12 minute walk on treadmill

Standing Military Press super strict form
Bar x 10
Bar x 5
75 x 5
105 x 5
120 x 5
145 x 5
155 x 5
125 x 8

BB Upright Row
95 x 12
95 x 10

Seated DB Shoulder Press
50 x 10
65 x 10
70 x 9
50 x 10

Reverse Pec Deck
2 sets

DB Shrug
85 x 15
85 x 15
85 x 15

Barbell Curl
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8

CGBP
135 x 15
185 x 10
185 x 10

Thoughts
Strength was down and back killed all day; pretty bad actually. However, when I lift I felt no back pain. I made sure to stay away from anything that would involve being bent over or using my lower back. Surprisingly my back was better when I left the gym compared to when I walked in.

DONE MONDAY
Since the lower back is still bad I figured I’d lift smart. I still wanted to get a leg session in but kept it light and stayed away from anything that could tweak my back.

Leg Press - did a few sets of 6 plates on each side but could only go down about 3/4
Hack Squat - did a few sets of just one plate on each side, felt light and no pain
Stationary DB lunge - grabbed 40s and did a few sets; again no pain
Seated Calf and then some DB curls

Left the gym feeling pretty good. Nothing taxed my lower back so it definitely didn’t get any worse. There was no way I could have squatted. At this point I still couldn’t even come close to touching my toes.

Cycle 14
Week 3
Day 2 (182)
Bench

12 minute walk on treadmill

Bench Press
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
225 x 5
245 x 3
275 x 3
225 x 7

BB Incline
155 x 8
185 x 7
205 x 5
155 x 10

Dips
BW x 13
BW x 15
BW x 15
BW x 10

Flat DB Press
70 x 10
70 x 12

V-Bar pushdown
2 light sets

Thoughts
Strength may be declining, I’m not sure. 275 felt like 315 so I stopped after 3, Did BW dips cause didn’t wanna take any chances with my back. As of today back feels slightly better but still no way I could squat or deadlift. Thankfully I can still work around it with no pain and no aggravation. I just gotta avoid certain movements.

432

Dude, you’re injured. Your strength is going to come down a bit while you’re recovering. Take good care of your back and you’ll be stronger than you were before the injury in no time.

Here’s the ice bag I was talking about for $10: http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-ice-bag-for-cold-therapy/ID=prod4160992-product

Your ice pack will be fine as long as it stays cold for 20 minutes.