Tobe's Training Log: The Hunt for a 560kg Total

[Voxel]

@tobe

Have to integrate Jumps and Throws in the Bench days. Perhaps I can do mobility work afterwards since I train with a coworker.

Why does the presence of your coworker inhibit your warmup?

@tobe

Some of them were a bit grindy at the end. Should I probably lower to 60 to get 10 solid reps at each set?

Depends, why do you do them? Why do you do them strict? I barbell row solely for my deadlift and then I’ll use body english to overload my lats on the eccentric. If my motivation for their inclusion is anything else, I personally am doing another row variation.

@tobe

Low Bar intermission

Do unilateral work, man. This is your stimulus addiction having you chase the experience of heavy, I’m sure of it.

@tobe

Not sure what to do here since the third cycle will be messed up.

You might want to read this

Disruption Rule of Thumb

Wow, that’s pretty exact calculations of strength loss. In reality, unless you have a prolonged stretch of inactivity, it’s most likely just your body and mind adapting to lifting heavy barbell weights again and not real muscle loss. If it were me, I wouldn’t retest the TMs but might start back on the 5’s week of whatever template I was running if I felt the need to build back up my mental and physical readiness for the weeks ahead. If I’m coming back from vacation, it’s just mentally easier…

[tobe]

@Voxel

Why does the presence of your coworker inhibit your warmup?

Throws, jumps and band pull aparts should be ok. But if we are going to synchronize sets I see problems in doing Limber 11 unless I go 10-15 minutes earlier.

@Voxel

Depends, why do you do them? Why do you do them strict? I barbell row solely for my deadlift and then I’ll use body english to overload my lats on the eccentric. If my motivation for their inclusion is anything else, I personally am doing another row variation.

For the deadlift, primary.

@Voxel

Do unilateral work, man. This is your stimulus addiction having you chase the experience of heavy, I’m sure of it.

Sure, I could do unilaterals instead. I will think about it.

@Voxel

You might want to read this

Cool! Probably just start third week of the cycle next week if everything goes will with the sickness.

[tobe]

2020-09-30 ( Sick )

Week 3/3 first cycle of 5PROs BBB Beefcake. Deadlift day ( 2/ 4 of the week )
Lump in the chest/throat still here. Continuing to rest…

[Voxel]

@tobe

Throws, jumps and band pull aparts should be ok. But if we are going to synchronize sets I see problems in doing Limber 11 unless I go 10-15 minutes earlier.

Do it in between warmup sets. It doesn’t have to be done as a cohesive unit. Doing something will be better than doing nothing.

@tobe

For the deadlift, primary

Then I’d do bent-over rows and not emphasise the form as much but actively contract with your lats during the eccentric (don’t pull & release, pull and fight)

[Voxel]

@Voxel

@tobe

Throws, jumps and band pull aparts should be ok. But if we are going to synchronize sets I see problems in doing Limber 11 unless I go 10-15 minutes earlier.

Do it in between warmup sets. It doesn’t have to be done as a cohesive unit. Doing something will be better than doing nothing.

@tobe

Throws, jumps and band pull aparts should be ok. But if we are going to synchronize sets I see problems in doing Limber 11 unless I go 10-15 minutes earlier.

Or get your coworker to join you in Limber 11. It doesn’t really take 15 minutes. Try it in the morning sometime so you know how long it takes you

[tobe]

DId try it out previous week. Took about 15 minutes but I was a slowpoke. I am sure it can go alot faster.

[tobe]

2020-10-12

So got back to the program after about 2 weeks absence due to some sickness. Got in a couple of training sessions way to early before I was completely recovered, which made the sickness relapse. Basically I repeated the loads of the first week of the cycle when I could. Back on track now.

Week 3/3 first cycle of 5PROs BBB Beefcake. Bench day ( 1 / 4 of the week )

Mobility/Jump

Did some jumps. No Mobility this time.

Bench Press

Now, this was a special occasion since I got the opportunity to try some bench variation where you tie some weights with a band and stick them to the bar as warmup. Very shaky but fun Guess it helps with stability.

5 x 70, 5x80kg, 4x90kg, 5x10x67.5kg

I failed the last rep of the 90kg sets, all other were fine. This was a bit surprising considering I could easily rep this for 5x5 before I started the program. There could be some reasons for this:

• Strength took a hit during the sickness. Was much worse at the dips during leg day before.
• Last day I did a leg session where I performed 50 dips.
• I did some new warmup exercises that were somewhat taxing.

Seal Row

7x65kg, 10x55kg, 10x55lg, 10x55kg, 10x55lg

Had to lower the weights. Probably due to sickness and doing alot of chins the day before.

Core: Hanging Leg Raise

5x10x89kg

Barbell Curl

3x10x30kg

Lateral Dumbell Raise

3x10x10kg

Closing Remarks

• The sickness seems to have made me a bit weak
• Was a bit disappointed in missing the last rep at 90kg…

[Voxel]

I don’t think you’ve become weaker. It’ll come back soon. Your body just needs to remember how to be strong and that take me two or three sessions. Tis the reason I prefer a volume deload over an intensity deload.

[tobe]

2020-10-14 - 2020-10-18

Week 3/3 first cycle of 5PROs BBB Beefcake. Deadlift, Press and Squat day.

Got behind on the logs to just doing some quick recaps here to get up to date.

Did all sets to completion without much hassle. Except for the 10 sets of deadlifts, those were a bit hard : )
Lacked a bit on the mobility side due to laziness. Still did jumps. I don’t do throws due to a arm/shoulder injury from disc golf around 1-2 weeks back. When I lift the arm about shoulder height I get some pain in the rear delt and shoulder and in the triceps. It’s getting better now so I will probably pick it up again.

Deads: 122.5x5, 137x5, 155x5, 5x10x112kg
Press: 5x45kg,5x50kg,5x57kg,5x10x42.5kg
Squat: 5x82.5kg,5x92.5kg,5x105kg

Feeling a bit unused to the heavier weights, but other than that its fine.
The only lift I failed this week was 1 rep at the last set of bench.

First cycle done! Time to get to the next one and up the training max by 5kg.

[tobe]

2020-10-19

Week 1/3 second cycle of 5PROs BBB Beefcake. Bench day ( 1 / 4 )

So I kinda messed up this one. I increase the 1RM on bench by 5 but then took 85% training max of that so that means an increase of 4.25kg on the TM when it should have been 2.5. Oh well : P

Mobility/Jump

Did some jumps. No Mobility this time.

Bench Press

5x67.5kg, 5x77.5kg, 4x87.5kg, 5x10x57.5kg

I failed the last rep of the 87.5kg sets. Or rather, I got scared during the last set and bailed out on the last rep; I am certain I would have had it. As with the previous week, this surprised me a bit. I think there a multiple reasons for this:

• I am simply not used to heavy weights. Body and mind are not positioning themselves for these lifts. Mentally I am off ( a bit lazy and anxious ) and the body is not positioning itself properly for the lifts.
• I think overall my lift form has improved. I did some form checks last week and during these times with low weights I think I have nailed a more symmetric and better form ( my shoulders and core were a bit off before ). I don’t think I am used to lifting heavy like this, so now it is simply a matter of doing the work to get back up. I feel like lift health has increased alot here, so I am happy regardless.
• 50 dips the day before : )

Seal Row

10x50kg, 10x50kg, 10x50lg, 10x50kg, 10x50kg

Core: Hanging Leg Raise

5x10x89kg

Barbell Curl

3x10x30kg

Lateral Dumbell Raise

3x10x10kg

Rotator Cuff Exercises
3 x 20 reps a low weight

One legged RDL
3 x 12 x ( 12kg dumbells on each side )

Closing Remarks

• Really liked the workout despite failing the last rep at an, according to me, weight that I should have easily handled.

[Voxel]

@tobe

I failed the last rep of the 87.5kg sets

I would say

@tobe

So I kinda messed up this one. I increase the 1RM on bench by 5 but then took 85% training max of that so that means an increase of 4.25kg on the TM when it should have been 2.5. Oh well : P

This had more of an impact. Have you fixed your TM for the next session?

[hugh_gilly]

Would recommend fiddling with TMs until you find a weight set that works for bench and the plates you have. Could possibly run a repeat with this weight next cycle for bench or just readjust to something more comfortable

[tobe]

Yes, the TM was fixed for the next session.

[tobe]

Yeah, going up on the heavy week now and it will be interesting to see if I get the last set tomorrow…

[tobe]

2020-10-19 - 2020-10-25

Been a bit lazy with the logging. Compiling the first week into one post while only reporting the major lifts:

Week ( 1 / 3 ) 5PROS BBB

Beanch: Already reported to first session
Deads: 5x115kg, 5x132.5kg, 5x150kg, 5x10x100kg
Press: 5x42kg, 5x50kg, 5x55kg, 5x10x37kg
Squat: 5x80kg,5x90kg,5x102.5kg, 5x10x67.5kg

Overall Points

• As I mentioned earlier, the lifts are getting better and better form wise. Will be interesting to transfer this into a “heavy” block later and see how it goes.
• Beginning to fit in Limber 11 in most sessions. Getting it to around 10 minutes.
• Cannot do throws yet due to my previous shoulder injury while playing disc golf. I also have limited space since there are alot of people around. Might have to think of something else.
• I have started to incorporate 1 legged RDLs for balance and glute activation in most sessions. Works fine so far.

[tobe]

2020-10-26 - 2020-11-01

Compiling the second week with the major lifts.

Week ( 2 / 3 ) 5PROS BBB

Bench: 5x72.5kg, 5x72.5kg, 5x82.5kg, 5x10x50kg
Deads: 5x110kg, 5x125kg, 5x142kgx5, 5x10x90kg
Press: 5x40kg, 5x47.5kg, 5x52.5kg, 5x10x32.5kg
Squat: 5x75kg, 5x87.5kg, 5x10x60kg

Overall Points:

• I looked over my weight curve and I notices that during September and October I have a slight downtrend in weight. From about 90kg to 88kg. This might have affected my gains a bit. I need to increase calorie intake a bit.
• Increased the 10 set weights for the deads to 90kg as I felt doing 80kg was wasted time.
• Missing out on the glycine before sleep on training days. Need to get that in more.
• Limber 11 getting faster and better.
• Feeling a bit weak when doing the heavy set of the lifts.

[tobe]

2020-11-02

Week ( 3 / 3 ) 5PROS BBB

Bench

5x72.5kg, 5x82.5kg, (3)5x92.5kg, 5x10x67.5kg

Only got 3 solid reps on the 92.5kg set. I think this was due to the form change that I did coupled with the fact that I rarely lifts weights over 90kg that much anymore.

Assistance

Seal Row: 5x5x50kg

Biceps Curls: 4x10x30kg

Lateral Raise: 2x10x9kg

Leg Raises: 4x10xBW(89kg)

Shrugs: 4x12x48kg

Rotator cuffs: 3x12 reps

• Heavy weights on bench still not going so well. I could easily do 5x5x90kg before going on BBB. Same problem as last week. Might be resolved in the anchor phase later.
• Otherwise the session went fine.

[tobe]

2020-11-04

Week ( 3 / 3 ) 5PROS BBB - Deadlift

Mobility/Stretching

Did Limber 11. Foam rolling is starting to hurt less : P Using my massage ball to target the glutes which works well.

Jumps/Throws

Only did jumps. Still not well enough in the shoulder to do throws.

Deadlift

5x125.5kg, 5x142.5kg, 5x157.5kg, 5x10x115kg

• I have realized that I have trouble getting proper activation in the left side of the core and back. I recently got a back massage with a comment that my right back was much more stiff than the left side. I think the reason for this is that I probably don’t activate it too much during the lifts. After properly trying to focus on activation I believe my form is improving. Unfortunately I have not filmed my lifts recently due to the gym being crowded and not getting the proper spot for it. Looking forward to film it when I get the chance.

Assistance

Dips: 11x88kg, 15x88kg, 16x88kg, 15x88kg,

Cable Face Pull: 5x15x17.5kg

Cable Crunch: 12x45kg, 10x42.5kg, 10x42.5kg, 10x42.5kg

• Deadlifts went surprisingly good. The 3d heavy set was a bit grindy though. The 10s were going very well.
• Dips are still heavy for some reason. I cap out at around 15-16 reps.

[tobe]

2020-11-06

Cycle 2/2 Week ( 3 / 3 ) 5PROS BBB - Press

Mobility/Stretching

Did Limber 11.

Jumps/Throws

Only did jumps. Still not well enough in the shoulder to do throws.

Press

5x47.5kg, 5x52.5kg, 5x60kg, 5x10x42.5kg

• Failed the last rep at the 60kg set. Not really that bummed out by it since I have never tried 5 reps at 60kg before. Doing 4 is good enough for me.
• I feel like my form press has improved overall throughout the cycles. Getting more tension and activation on the left side of the body and thus the load across my arms feels alot better now.

Assistance

Barbell Row : 5x10x70kg

Strict Barbell Biceps Curls : 4x10x30kg

Lateral Raises : 3x10x9kg

Hanging Leg Raises: 4x10x89kg

Paused Dumbbell Shrug: 4x10x46kg

One Legged RDL: 3x12x14kg

• Very good session overall! Even though one rep was failed.
• I realized earlier in the week that have had trouble with left core activation. After I started working on that with bracing and activation exercises the form has improved greatly on all lifts.

[tobe]

2020-11-08

Cycle 2/2 Week ( 3 / 3 ) 5PROS BBB - Squats

Went in a bit drowsy and sluggish but the session ended up going really well : )

Last session on the two blocks of 5PROS BBB!

Mobility/Stretching

Did Limber 11.

Jumps/Throws

Skimped a bit on the jumps today.

High Bar Squat

5x87.5kg, 5x97.5kg, 5x110kg, 5x10x80kg

• Failed the last rep at the 60kg set. Not really that bummed out by it since I have never tried 5 reps at 60kg before. Doing 4 is good enough for me.
• I feel like my form press has improved overall throughout the cycles. Getting more tension and activation on the left side of the body and thus the load across my arms feels alot better now.

Assistance

Chins : 5x10x89kg

Dips : 12x89kg, 10x89kg, 10x89kg, 10x89kg, 10x89kg

Lateral Raises : 3x10x9kg

Hanging Leg Raises : 4x10x89kg

Paused Dumbbell Shrug : 4x10x46kg

One Legged RDL : 3x12x14kg

• Really good session. Nailed all the squats reps well.
• Managed to get good activation on the left side of the core which prevented the back to shift back. This was magic for the rep quality. Did not film the reps so I do not know for sure but it sure felt great. Really miss doing heavy squats even though I suck at it : P

So! Two cycles of 5PROS BBB. Like the program so far. Going on seventh week now, so prob some type of deload. Then we will start the anchor phase.