Sunday - Squats BBB, with Military as an accessory
Tuesday - Bench, sometimes BBB using CGB instead of regular bench
Thursday - Deadlift, staying the hell away from BBB…so I can walk upright.
10/4 - Sunday
10 minutes on treadmill
YTWL
Dislocatesx10
Windmillsx10
Static Stretching
Squat
warm-ups
barx10
135x5
225x5
working sets
255x5
275x5
290x10 - PR reps - My lungs gave out, not my legs. I was sucking wind HARD.
Military Press
barx15
95x10
115x10x3
115# is as high as I could go without shoulder pain…and, then, only if I kept my elbows forward through most of the movement. Surprise! MP with elbows “tucked” pounds the triceps just like CGB.
Squats - BBB
135x10x3
155x10x2
Holy sheet! After the 10 @ 290, these just wasted me. Thought breakfast was going to come back up. Obviously I really need the BBB for squats. Zero endurance…
Shrugs
225x15
275x10
275x12
225x15
Grip has really improved, but still has a long way to go. Was going to do 315, but didn’t have the umph left to do it.
First 5/3/1 felt good. It was extremely fatiguing and really exposed my lack of endurance in the lower body. I am really looking forward to, and firmly believe I will see, vast improvement in Squats and DLs, from the volume and awakening effect that the BBB will provide.
Good work! Those squats were solid and deep. And your reaction to the BBB set was the same as mine. You blow it out on the money set, then you get the pleasure of doing 50 more reps. I just laugh when I hear people say that 5-3-1 does not have enough volume.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
I get to comment first on the new log!
Good work! Those squats were solid and deep. And your reaction to the BBB set was the same as mine. You blow it out on the money set, then you get the pleasure of doing 50 more reps. I just laugh when I hear people say that 5-3-1 does not have enough volume.[/quote]
Will be following for sure. Would be nice to document your starting maxes like soldog said. Save us the trauma of dividing by .85, then by .9 for your 5s.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
I get to comment first on the new log!
Good work! Those squats were solid and deep. And your reaction to the BBB set was the same as mine. You blow it out on the money set, then you get the pleasure of doing 50 more reps. I just laugh when I hear people say that 5-3-1 does not have enough volume.[/quote]
jjack, the squats felt good. I got a bit forward on a few of them. I realized it while it was happening, but decided to let it ride and get to 10 reps. I feel like my legs could have handled 2-3 more reps on that set, but I was struggling for air…lol. The disparity between my upper to lower body endurance is amazing.
Also, I wasn’t sure about the depth, when watching the video. So, I paused the video at the bottom of each rep. They looked good to me.
I agree. I was skeptical about the volume. The pain of BBB, though, makes that a thing of the past. My quads are still shaky.
[quote]soldog wrote:
Hey great start LS! Just wait until you get to do high reps on the deadlift…
What are you using for your max/training max’s for all the lifts?[/quote]
Thanks, soldog. Yeah…I am dreading the money set on DLs. It will take the full week for my lower back to recover.
As to my maxes/training maxes…
Format: Exercise - actual max/training max
Squats - 375/340
Bench - 330/300 (actually should have rounded down to 295…so I fudged)
Deadlift - 500/450
Elaikases - that felt like a whole lot of volume. I never do sets beyond 5 reps for Squats and DLs, except for the very lightest of weights. The volume is something I have known that I needed, but was too lazy and hardheaded to employ.
Thanks for checking in FF. Are the above maxes what you were talking about? I need to go find Wendler’s formula for converting rep sets to maxes.
Oh yeah… I can feel it today. Pleasantly, though, it is not the sharp soreness that I have been getting, from overuse. It is that dull, achy, worked it good feeling. If I can maintain that after DL day, life will be good.
[quote]j_willy3 wrote:
Got my eye on you LS. I’m thinking i need to worship at the altar of 531 myself[/quote]
We will see. So many others have been successful at it, I can’t imagine that there won’t be progress. It does seem to me that the money set is the most critical. If you don’t push that set to the limit, I think the programs potential is greatly diminished. Taking that set to the utmost makes up for the generally low volume.
The interesting thing I see in the program is the potential for hypertrophy, what with sets of 10 on the assistance work.
Military Press
barx15
95x10
115x10x3
115# is as high as I could go without shoulder pain…and, then, only if I kept my elbows forward through most of the movement. Surprise! MP with elbows “tucked” pounds the triceps just like CGB.
[/quote]
Heh. That’s the only way I can do them – keeping my elbows as high, forward, and in as I can for the whole movement. Now I don’t feel nearly so bad about only pushing 120# on those!
Like you, I’m also triceps-dominant. They’re my workhorse on my upper-body motions. Which is why I’ve been throwing in lat, shoulder, and chest-specific accessories here and there, to try to get them to the point where they can pick up some of the slack when my tris get fatigued.
I’ve got my max bench day today, and I’m going to pop one of my new anti-imflammatories today to see if they help any.
Welcome to 5-3-1! It’s slow, and occasionally frustrating, but when you realize you’re hitting at least one PR a week (rep, weight, or both), you realize it’s pushing you hard.
And the BBB will definitely add the volume. But you’ll burn out on it quick, too. Try to mix up the accessories every cycle, to keep them fresh.
[quote]mcl wrote:
Heh. That’s the only way I can do them – keeping my elbows as high, forward, and in as I can for the whole movement. Now I don’t feel nearly so bad about only pushing 120# on those!
Like you, I’m also triceps-dominant. They’re my workhorse on my upper-body motions. Which is why I’ve been throwing in lat, shoulder, and chest-specific accessories here and there, to try to get them to the point where they can pick up some of the slack when my tris get fatigued.
I’ve got my max bench day today, and I’m going to pop one of my new anti-imflammatories today to see if they help any.
Welcome to 5-3-1! It’s slow, and occasionally frustrating, but when you realize you’re hitting at least one PR a week (rep, weight, or both), you realize it’s pushing you hard.
And the BBB will definitely add the volume. But you’ll burn out on it quick, too. Try to mix up the accessories every cycle, to keep them fresh.[/quote]
I am definitely going to go easy on the BBB. I really want to keep it as long as i can with squats. They need the volume the most.
