First session of the year. Did the beep test, and I got 10’7 which isn’t too bad as I have done no running in the offseason. We finished the session with small sided games.
Wednesday, 21st January 2015.
TRAINING
Bench, Cycle three, Week three
Agile 8 etc, bike ride to the gym, explosive push-ups (3x3).
Bench 531:
75 kg x 5
85 kg x 3
95 kg x 1 (+6) (calculated 1 rep max: 117 kg)
Supersetted my accessory work:
bodyweight dips: 5 sets of 10
dB rows: 5 sets of 10 with 27.5 kg.
Curls for the girls: 4 sets of 10 x 0 kg.
Bike ride home.
notes:
Was hoping to get 1-2 more reps on the last set. Next week I will add weight to the dips and increase my dB rows to 30 kg.
Agile 8 etc, bike ride to the gym, explosive jumps.
Deadlift
75 kg x 5
85 kg x 3
95 kg x 1
Supersetted my accessory work
Front squats: 5 sets of 10 with 55 kg.
Ham curls: 5 sets of 10 with 40 kg.
Bike ride home.
notes:
Good session. Form still could be better. Feeling a few aches and pains. It had been a busy week with work etc. Will need to do a few extra mobility sessions in the next week to so.
[quote]JR249 wrote:
How are you liking 5/3/1 so far? Are you planning to stick with it for the long haul?[/quote]
Hi JR,
Im liking 531 so far. Its good to go onto the gym knowing exactly what your going to lift. And I like the idea of having a set system of progression.
I am contemplating playing soccer for another season, and so that will make it difficult to continue with my current program. I am thinking about sticking with 531, but maybe just do 3 sessions a week, alternating deadlifts and squats, and obviously backing off my accessory work.
Agile 8 etc, bike ride to the gym, 4 x explosive vertical jumps.
Squat 531
55 kg x 5
65 kg x 5
75 kg x 5 (+3) (calculated 1 reps max: 94 kg)
(6 rep pull-ups in b/w sets)
Supersetted my accessory work:
BSS: 5 sets of 10 with a 17.5 kg dB
RDLs: 5 sets of 10 with 55 kg.
Bike ride home.
Notes:
Had the whole gym to myself which was good as it was a tough session and I needed to verbally express my struggle through the workout. I feel my squats are getting better, although there is still some hesitation with my first rep of each set as I descend. Will have to get out of that bad habit. Next week I will increase my BSS to 20 kgs and aim for 8 reps, and increase the RDLs to 60 kg’s.
[quote]theBird wrote:
I am thinking about sticking with 531, but maybe just do 3 sessions a week, alternating deadlifts and squats, and obviously backing off my accessory work.
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
In any case, there are plenty of ways to run 531 on a tighter schedule.
[/quote]
Thanks for the help NightHawkz. I think I might take on your first suggestion. I will probably start this once the season kicks off in April.
What do you think I should do for my accessory work once the season starts, taking into account I will be training with the team twice a week, playing a game once a week, and probably doing my own individual skill session once a week. Keep it the same? Cut it down to 3 sets of 10, instead of the 5 sets?
Just looked back through my log, and looks like my bench is getting worse. A few weeks ago I managed 92.5 kg for 11 reps. The only difference I can think of is that I have stopped with the creatine supplementation.
Maybe I should start up on creatine again and see what effect it has?
[quote]theBird wrote:
Just looked back through my log, and looks like my bench is getting worse. A few weeks ago I managed 92.5 kg for 11 reps. The only difference I can think of is that I have stopped with the creatine supplementation.
Maybe I should start up on creatine again and see what effect it has?
tweet[/quote]
How’s your diet? Are you on a mass gaining diet with a consistent surplus or no?
I was waffling around last year between deficit and surplus and making no progress - the old psychological torture of cutting and bulking every 3-4 weeks. I started sticking with 2500 calories/day with the recommended Wendler conditioning and my bench has consistently gone up on 5/3/1 since that time (I can add strength and see TM increases with caloric intake as a former ‘fat as f**k dude’).
[quote]JR249 wrote:
How’s your diet? Are you on a mass gaining diet with a consistent surplus or no?
I was waffling around last year between deficit and surplus and making no progress - the old psychological torture of cutting and bulking every 3-4 weeks. I started sticking with 2500 calories/day with the recommended Wendler conditioning and my bench has consistently gone up on 5/3/1 since that time (I can add strength and see TM increases with caloric intake as a former ‘fat as f**k dude’).
[/quote]
Hey JR,
I pretty much eat the same each day, although in the past few weeks I have dropped my intake by about 150-200 calories in the attempt to drop a few kg’s, just in-case I decide to play soccer this year. I haven’t weighed myself for a week, but I think I am on target and losing some weight at a rate less than 1 kg a week. Im at about 98 kg, but I would like to be get down to 94-95 kg’s.
Maybe the slight decree in calories has made this difference in my bench, as the bench is “bodyweight sensitive”??
This is what I eat most days:
Mornings: black coffee only
10:30am: 3 sticks of celery with about 3-4 big teaspoons of PB
12:30pm: 4 large boiled eggs and some vegetables.
2:30pm: Quest protein bar.
4:40pm: 1 cup of rice with a can of tuna (pre-workout)
5:30pm: BCAAs and 2 bananas (intra-workout)
7:00pm: Large apple scroll and 1 .5 scoops of whey shake (post-workout).
8:00pm: Dinner. Usually a massive piece of meat such as an extra large t-bone steak or 2 chicken breasts, vegetables and either 1 cup of rice or 2 large sweet potatoes.
And sometimes I snack on pickled octopus and a slice of cheese if I get hungry b/w meals. On rest days, I reduce the carbs and increase fat via fattier pieces of meat or an extra serving of PB on celery.
[quote]theBird wrote:
What do you think I should do … Keep it the same? Cut it down to 3 sets of 10, instead of the 5 sets?
[/quote]
Comes down to how you feel imo. Wendler mentions no assistance work if deemed necessary on the day. Assistance is there to purely help you move more weight/reps on the main lifts.
If you are banged up and sore maybe some active recovery in lieu of a gym session, etc…
Or spit the dummy on team sports and do your own thing!
Nice to see another person that plays football on here, keeping an eye on this log from now on!!
just really had a flick through so far, and I apologise If you have stated something recently, but can I ask how your weight management has been going?
[quote]Seaniebravo wrote:
Nice to see another person that plays football on here, keeping an eye on this log from now on!!
just really had a flick through so far, and I apologise If you have stated something recently, but can I ask how your weight management has been going?[/quote]
Welcome to the Cage SeanieBird.
My weight at the moment is at about 98 kg’s. For the past 2 weeks I have cut down on my eating by approximately 200 calories in the hope to slowly lose some weight, but still maintain/increase my strength. Im hoping to lose 1 kg a week for the next 4 weeks and get down to 94-95 kg’s. I haven’t been weighing myself as often as I intended to, so Ill start that tomorrow. Thanks for reminding me!
quote]raven78 wrote:
Comes down to how you feel imo. Wendler mentions no assistance work if deemed necessary on the day. Assistance is there to purely help you move more weight/reps on the main lifts.
If you are banged up and sore maybe some active recovery in lieu of a gym session, etc…
Or spit the dummy on team sports and do your own thing! ;)[/quote]
I think I will need to cut down on the accessory work, and the number of days I am in the gym. Will see how things go in the next few weeks.
Not ready to leave the game yet ravenBird, its hard to explain, but gliding past your opponent and putting the ball into the back of the net gives you a similar feeling to a perfect 300 kg deadlift rep.
First up was 2 km timed run, 3 minutes rest, timed 800 m run, 3 minutes rest, 6 laps of the pitch sprinting down the side lines and walking the touch lines. We then finished off with some possession games, which was pointless as we all could hardly lift our legs.
I was going to deadlift tomorrow, but I will see how I wake up. If I am too sore and tight I will postpone the deads for the next day.
notes:
Happy with todays work. I was a little worried my legs would be too sore after last nights running, but once I got warmed up I was fine. Lady at the gym watched me do my deadlifts, and she said my form was good, although I should lower the bar lower a bit more before I start to bend my knees to put the bar down. Next week I will increase the front squats to 60 kg and the ham curls to 42.5 kg. Although I am thinking about dropping the ham curls, as I don’t think they really give me much besides a nice hamstring pump?
In other news, I was impressed by todays article by Max Shank. Although Im not about to drop my current program to follow his, but the “athleticism” he shows is what I am after, with maybe a little less gymnastic work and with more football skills, if that makes sense.
If you haven’t seen this already, check out this short clip:
