This is my first training log, as well as my first day on the forum as whole. I will be logging weight, RHR, blood pressure, body fat percentage, as well as sleep and nutrition. Going to start the 5/3/1 for hardgainers program, as it was requested to my by @ChickenLittle
I am going to take the next two days off of training al together so I can start fresh. I will also be taking the time to meal prep at least one pound of chicken, 6 eggs, and a half pound of beef daily. The rest of my calories will likely come from rice, milk, oats, and whatever fruits and veggies I can get my hands on.
I do speculate it will be difficult to adhere to the exact schedule that is laid out in the link above. To combat this issue, I will ensure there are 48 hours between days 1 to 3, 2 to 4, and 4 to 1. I will also be keeping track of my sleep, and attempt to get my circadian rhythm down as close as I can with 7 hours being the minimum and 8 1/2 hours being ideal.
I will follow the program exactly, the only lifts I will be substituting is zercher squats for a squat, and I don’t have a prowler or sled so I will push a lawnmower. Other than that I will try my best to adhere to the exact sets, reps, rest times, and everything in between. After this first cycle some modifying can be done. Listed below are the health metrics I will be tracking.
Weight: 202.2 ( I listed in a previous post that I was 195, lapse of attentiveness, I want to make that clear.)
Resting heart rate: 48
Blood pressure: 136/72
Bodyfat percentage: unknown as of today but I will get calipers tomorrow
Sleep: 7 hours 41 minutes, had 38 restless moments, but never fully woke up according to my garmin smart watch
Nutrition: 40/30/30 macro split with a 500 calorie surplus minimum
Two days before the program:
Weight: 202.0 (pre-meal/water, post-morning excretion)
Resting heat rate:47
Blood pressure: 141/74 (Morning at wake), 140/76 (5:30p)
Bodyfat percentage:
Sleep: 7 hours 21 minutes 12a-7:30a
Nutrition: Breakfast: 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites,
Lunch 1: 15.25 oz boneless chicken thigh, cup of rice, broccoli
Lunch 2: grandma’s chicken gumbo, burger king vanilla ice cream cone
Lunch 3: dad took me for loaded hot dogs at the oaks in Mississippi
Supper: mama made chicken pot pie
Started my morning well with 3x10 on an ab roller and foam rolling my back and legs. I got my blood work results in today, the only thing that was off if my potassium and magnesium levels due to my blood pressure medication, and my liver enzymes are high. I will begin supplementation of magnesium and potassium and liver enzymes are high across my whole family, so I am at a loss of what to do. Slowly modifying my diet to include exclusively meat, fruit, veggies, but I slip up a lot living down south.
(edit included second blood pressure)
still trying to figure out how the formatting works on this forum, don’t know if I should reply to the topic itself or the initial post or what the difference is
Today did not go as planned at all. I ended up attending a course with a firearms instructor. I didn’t get to sit down till about 5 pm. With finals coming up, my schedule is all over the place. I will take this as an opportunity for my training to be the consistency that I keep. Slipped up and had a coffee this morning, despite my doctor telling me not to, but the good Lord will just have to understand.
Cleared rooms with my 10.5" ar15 pistol (OD green, she’s my go bag baby) and a Glock 19 gen 5. Got to use the shortie 12 gauge for the first time, and she was real cute too. Went later on that day for night fire with my M14
Good afternoon y’all
Weight: 202.4
Resting heart rate: 49
Blood pressure: didn’t take it today
Sleep: 7 hours 32 minutes
I ended up doing the bench day first, the squat rack at my gym was crowded with half of a high school football team for some kind of get together. I don’t normally work out with music but I threw some headphones on because I could barely focus. Went as follows
Warm up: Agile 8 (completely new to me and the tennis ball hurt like hell, but it felt oddly good after the entire warm up was complete) and 10 total box jumps, (kept them as singles because I’ve been told that high reps are a waste of time) Bench: 125x5, 145x5, 165x5x5 Incline Dumbbell bench: 50x5x20 Barbell row: 135x5x20 Lawn mower pushes: I pushed my riding mower instead of a prowler/sled for about 25 minutes, weirdly hard as I’ve never done conditioning like this
It took forever to do the assistance exercises, but I wasn’t sure about super setting until it was too late to ask. I most likely will next time, just so it doesn’t take as long. Overall it felt really solid, even though the main lift felt like a feather. I hit every rep of every set and made sure not to wear myself out on the incline and rows.
Notes:
Noticed a slight muscle imbalance in my back (one shoulder blade protrudes more than the other oddly ) likely from months of compound only work, but the introduction of dumbbells should clear it up
Have to make tomorrow the squat day, and I might be going to a different gym to do so as mine has become overpopulated
Need to do some kind of vertical pulling, so pullups on OHP day, possibly
I’ve decided that I am going to run two cycles of this program, to see how my lifts progress, and adhere to the fourth week being a deload week. I need to find something to use as and anchor. Did some digging and found this:
I’ll buy the one on jimwendler.com, I saw it on amazon when I was looking into the program. I’m assuming it has everything in depth beyond what I can find online? I am more than happy to put the money to making progress
Yes, I’d recommend buying straight from JW if you can. I think you’ll find it to be a great resource, but you’ll need to read it—really read it—to get the most out of it. I find myself going back to it all the time, and I learn something every time I do.
Weight: 205.6 at the end of the day
Resting heat rate: 50
Blood pressure: 137/72 (5:30p)
Sleep: 7 hours 47 minutes
Nutrition:
Breakfast: four sausage egg cheese McMuffins (had to go to work early and stop somewhere)
Lunch 1: half pound of beef
Pre workout: half pound of chicken and two large sweet potatoes
Post workout: half pound of chicken with a lean body protein shake
Supper: mama made hamburgers and fries
Today was the second day of the program. I was super sore at the start of today but eventually tapered off after I started eating more. The assistance exercises are starting to click.
Zercher Squats: 140x5, 160x5, 180x12^failure, 140x 19 I didn’t get to hit the last rep of the widowmaker set, felt pretty bummed about it but It was exhausting and my first set of zercher squats over 10 reps. Dips: bodyweight 5x20 Curls: 30lbs 5x20
I ended up super setting the dips and the curls and got a nasty pump. When I first got to the gym it was somewhat crowded but I got to the squat rack pretty immediately. Today felts pretty solid in spite of working all morning and getting worn out. I didn’t list the abdominal exercise as I did a 5x10 on an ab wheel this morning
