Tommy Boy's Fat B@st@rd 5-3-1 Log.

Training Training Logs
1

Yep, All the kuel kids are doing it. I finally got around to jumping on the band wagon.

Here are the results from my meet this past weekend.

[quote]DoveofWar08 wrote:
Meet update:

Here is the video:

How it all went down:

I drove up to Plano on Friday. 3 1/2 hours of boring nothingness on 45 and then 75. Weighed in at 294. I didn’t do anything weight cutting wise, as this was my first meet since high school(about 7-8 years ago, I do not remember exactly).

The meet started at about 9:15 on Sat. morning. I had never used a either a monolift or a squat bar before this, and they both threw me out of my groove so to speak. In retrospect, I should have simply walked my squats out, as nothing during warmups felt even close to normal. Oh well, lesson learned. The bar itself felt weird also. Anyway, 500 was my squat opener. Went up as normal as it could have so I tried 550 for my second. Bad move, missed it twice. Combination of meet jitters, the mono, the squat bar, too large of a weight jump(shoulda gone with 525), and me just sucking.

Bench:

Opened with 400. This rocketed to lockout, however, lesson learned from the squat, so I chose 425 for my second. I did not quite feel right on the bench for some reason. Just got off center somehow. My left side stuck a bit longer than my right, but I managed to grind it up. 3 whites. Went with 450 for my third. Still felt off center for some dumb reason, and this time my right side missed my grove and my right elbow shot back towards my head pretty much right off my chest. No lift.

Deads. I was kinda tired and hungry by this time. Next meet, I am packing a fucking cooler. Anyway, opened with 500, and got it easy. 550 for the second, got it real easy for the first 3/4, then a total grind to lockout. Tried 575 for my 3rd, but could not lock it out. Same spot I always fail at.

Total: 1475. I really wish I would have taken 525 for my second squat. Ah, live and learn.

Other general notes: This meet was long as fuck. Started at 9:15 or so, and the last deadlift attempt was at 4:45 or 5:00 in the afternoon. I read up on the rules before hand, and paid special attention to the time requirements given to attempt each lift once the “bar ready” notification is given. Needless to say these were not enforced that much, if at all. This did lead to a more relaxed atmosphere though. My bag of beef jerky and can of trail mix did not hold me over for the whole meet though.

On the whole, I am happy I got a totall, but kinda pissed with myself for my poor choice in 2nd squat attempt. I also did not adjust well to the monolift and should have just walked out my damn squats.

The drive back was equally boring. Ok, enough rambling.

I’ve got a lot of work to do.[/quote]

Not really happy with sucking this bad. Time to do something about it.

General goals for this log:

I’m a Fat Bastard and am going to do something about it. 294 is just too damn much at the moment. Goal here is to drop down about 20LBs to the mid-low 270s. My general plan to do this is to up the high-ish rep work, ala the 5-3-1, and stop eating total crap fast food. At my worst, I have eaten 3 triples with cheese from Whataburger. I justified this by drinking unsweet tea for fuck sake.

Goal here will be to prep all of my meals myself, or most of them, and if I do eat out, it will be as “clean” as possible. This will be no more than once or twice a week. My general training plan is a 2 days on 1 day off approach. Extra rest days will be taken as needed. For the front squat auxillary lifts I am doing a combination of the boring but big and the bodyweight templates.

First night of 5-3-1, Front Squats:

Best weight max for this is 455LBs. 90% of 450(ease of math) is 405. My %s will be based on this. I want this to be a real kick in the ass. Seams like this should do. Goal here is to get my front squat into the 500s eventually. I have never really trained front squats for anything more than a triple, so this should give me the kick I am looking for.

11/9/10 Front squats.

BarX15
135X8
225X5
65% 265X5
75% 305X5
85% 345X5

225X10 for 3 sets

Video:

DId not stay back on my heals enough on the first rep of the 345 set and it fucked up the rest of it. Still got the 5 reps needed though. Shaking the rust off.

Hanging leg raises:
3X8

45 degree back raise:
3X8

Jump rope:
About 12 minutes.

First day is done. Bench is tomorrow.

I suppose I will keep posting my music selections. METAL: Trans-Siberian Orchestra

2

That’s a deep front squat man. Good luck with leaning up.

3

I feel ya. Had a similar first meet experience. Just remember, the first meet is about learning.

Good luck with leaning out.

4

DoubleDuce and WhiteFlash,

Thanks fellas. Dropping the weight is going to happen over time. I’m really not into drastic fast weight cuts.

5

11/10/10

Bench night and auxillaries.

Video:

Working with a 425 max. 425X.9~385.

Warmed up and bench work sets looked like this:

65% 250X5
75% 285X5
85% 325X12

Gotta work on staying tight for these high(er) rep sets and staying in my groove.

Barbell rows. Wide grip, attempting to mimic my bench stroke:

BarX15
135X10
225X10
315X10

I need to work on eliminating the body english with these. This will be my main auxillary for bench for some time, as I feel like I have neglected this movement.

Blast strap push ups:

BDW someXsome
Gradually added chains until I wore all of them for a set of 11.

Dips:

5X5 with some bodyweight only, and some with 40LBs of chain.

Band rows and band curlzzzz,
lotsXlots.

Jump rope for about 10 minutes.

METAL:

6

11/12/10

Deads night. 550*.9 = 495

135X10
225X8
325X5 65%
370X5 75%
425X11 85%

DB rows. These were done “Yates style”, rowing low to my hip almost, with a hold at the top and a slow-ish negative:

80X10
100X10
120X10
100X10
80X10

Cable rowzzzzz
lotsXlots

Phat grip hammers:
40sX12 for 3 sets

Rev grip(palms facing out) preacher curlzzz:
50X10 for 3 sets.

I did not use straps at all, and holy fuck my forearms are nice and pumped. Ran into one of the bodybuilders at the gym who happened to be doing a back thickness day, so we just combined things once I finnished deads. Good session.

7

11/14/10

Push press night and auxillaries.

I have not done push presses in a long time. I took these over the strict press in an effort to feel more athletic, etc, etc. Anyway, worked up to a “max” then did my 85% set. It went down like this:

Video:

BarX20
95X12
135X8
225X3
275X1
315X1
350X0
Just short. My lockout sucks big time. Looking back, I probably should have done a rep max with 315 and then used the calculator to estimate my 1RM. Eh, JW says starting light isn’t bad.

Any tips on form would be most welcome, as I feel like I suck at this movement. My stance changed from my strict press stance because I can’t get any leg push with my feet that wide. Thoughts?

85% 240X10
185X15

Pull ups:
7 sets of 5, BDW only, varying grips

Close grip floor press:
BarX10
135X10
225X10
315X9 then fail.

Floor JM press:
185X10 for 2 sets

DB alternating curlzzzz
50sX10
60sX10
70sX10

These felt suprisingly good on my wrists. I’ll see where this goes.

Band shoulder work/rowzzz,
lotsXlots.

Done for the night.

METAL: Iced Earth - Stand Alone - YouTube

8

A little food I made up.

Take the following:

1 bag of whole wheat pasta
5.56 LBS ground beef
4 cans diced tomatos
6 scrambled eggs(probably could get away with a full dozen here)
Walnut oil

Cook all of it, throw it in a pot and mix it together = good eats for a few days. The water looks like shit in the first pic because I added garlic salt to it.

Seasonings I used:
Ground cinamon
Ground black pepper
Generic steak seasoning
Garlic salt

EDIT: Make sure you strain the ground beef before you add your seasonings.

9

11/16/10

Video:

Start of the week of 3s.

Front squats:

Warm-up:

Jumps, various band work.

BarX10
135X8
225X5

Work sets:
285X3
325X3
365X5 +2 reps

230X10 for 3 sets.

My form was all the fuck over the place tonight. Several of those decents were sloppy and I think I came up out of the hole 15 different ways. I will work on this.

Haning leg raises:
3X10

45 degree back raise:
3X8

Jump rope for about 10 min.

Overall a good night. My squats just need to get more consistant.

UN-METAL:

Every now and then I do like to branch out.

Getting in the right groove, :]

10

11-17-10

Bench night and auxillaries:

Video: Ok, so I forgot to delete all the dumb shit credits at the end of the video. Ignore those if you would.

Bench:

Warm ups: Stretching, band rows, presses, tri lockouts and pull aparts: lotsXlots

BarX20
135X10
225X5

Work sets:
70% 265X3
80% 305X3
90% 345X10 +7 reps.

Barbell row: focus on a very strict torso and pulling with my elbows whilst mimicking my bench stroke.

BarX20
135X12
225X8 for 4 sets

Dips:
BDW X10
+40LBs chain X5
+80Lbs chain X5
+80LBs chain X8

Blast strap push ups:
BDW 3X10

DB curlzzzz: No rest between sets except to re-apply chalk:

50sX6
55sX6
60sX6
65sX6
70sX6
60sX6
50sX6

Cool down: Band rows, pull aparts, presses, tri lockouts, flies: lotsXlots

Pretty good night overall. I’d pontificate for you, but I need sleep. G’night gents.

METAL:

11

Query: what have you found is best to increase your power in those first couple inches off of your chest? Anytime I have missed a ME bench attempt, I missed it right off the chest, never in lockout.

12

Dove, about your push press question: I generally have my feet no wider than slightly inside of shoulder width. Basically the exact same stance you’d have if you were about to jump. Also, I never dip lower than my catch position in a power clean. Take this advice from someone who hasn’t done pushpresses in at least 6 months and has never used more than 245. Looking strong brother.

13

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:
Query: what have you found is best to increase your power in those first couple inches off of your chest? Anytime I have missed a ME bench attempt, I missed it right off the chest, never in lockout.[/quote]

This is kinda tough for me to answer, as I have always failed at benching once I got the bar off my chest. Weak triceps and all. Anyway…

I’ve always been somewhat strong right off my chest, and I have done a lot of work on the following:

DB pressing:
You really can’t arch your way to a strong DB bench, and the only real way that I know to start them moving is a very big push form your pecs. Start the DB press with the DBs on your chest, This will work very well if you have to kick them in place.

All forms of overhead pressing:
I believe that the front delts are a big part of that innitial push at the bottom of a bench press. As such, the bigger your overhead numbers, are the better. All forms of standing pressing(whether it be with a push, strict, DBs, or BB) and seated DB pressing.

I was never a big fan of the seated barbell press because my fat head always restricted my rang of motion. One thing that I did find is that setting up the overhead press in a power rack, seated and from pins, gave me some good gains. Just set the pin level so that the bar is as low as it can be without hitting you in the nose or chin, and press the bar up from the pins.

Action at about 1:40

The above video is a bit old, but it shows what I am talking about. The bar rests at about nose level for me here.

The long pause: This I got from Maraudermeat.

The movement here is a secondary consideration honestly. I have done this with regular bench, floor press, DB bench, DB floor press, and millitary presses, tricep presses and so on. Just the act of holding a weight on your chest for much longer than normal can make the initial press on a regular bench feal much easier. I guess this is sort of going hand in hand with that seated overhead BB press from pins.

Your bench form itself:
By this I mean, how tight can you possibly get. Then once you find that point, work to get even tighter. Get your ass and traps as close together as possible without your ass leaving the bench. Work your feet as far under you as you can without your ass lifting. Bigger breathes, and squeezing the bar harder. Actively contract your lats, rhomboids and rear delts the entire way down, and try to make your shoulder blades touch each other, er, sort of. Another way to describe it is to try and raise your chest to the bar, similar to that old Dave Tate line of pressing yourself away from the bar.

I have also read that dips are a good key to the initial start of a bench. My dip numbers rather suck, but I have never truly made them a staple of my routines until now.

Rowing in all its forms should not be left out here either. I also think that pull-up strength is a factor here as well.

Ok, way too much typeing on my part. Hope this helps man, and best of luck with it. Last I checked you had some pretty good bench numbers yourself.

14

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Dove, about your push press question: I generally have my feet no wider than slightly inside of shoulder width. Basically the exact same stance you’d have if you were about to jump. Also, I never dip lower than my catch position in a power clean. Take this advice from someone who hasn’t done pushpresses in at least 6 months and has never used more than 245. Looking strong brother.[/quote]

Thanks dude. How low is your catch on the powercleans? Mine was always about mid way down, i.e. never a full front squat like you see the olympic lifters do, but never standing either. I will give this a try next time.

15

[quote]DoveofWar08 wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Dove, about your push press question: I generally have my feet no wider than slightly inside of shoulder width. Basically the exact same stance you’d have if you were about to jump. Also, I never dip lower than my catch position in a power clean. Take this advice from someone who hasn’t done pushpresses in at least 6 months and has never used more than 245. Looking strong brother.[/quote]

Thanks dude. How low is your catch on the powercleans? Mine was always about mid way down, i.e. never a full front squat like you see the olympic lifters do, but never standing either. I will give this a try next time.[/quote]

I catch high, like maybe halfway into a quarter squat, but that’s probably due to my robotically stiff hips. I’ve always thought the full squat cleans looked cool, but never really thought it had a lot of “athletic carryover”. If you watch a basketball player about to recoil into his jump shot, that’s about where I’m at. The wide base just feels really awkward and unnatural.

16

[quote]DoveofWar08 wrote:

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:
Query: what have you found is best to increase your power in those first couple inches off of your chest? Anytime I have missed a ME bench attempt, I missed it right off the chest, never in lockout.[/quote]

This is kinda tough for me to answer, as I have always failed at benching once I got the bar off my chest. Weak triceps and all. Anyway…

I’ve always been somewhat strong right off my chest, and I have done a lot of work on the following:

DB pressing:
You really can’t arch your way to a strong DB bench, and the only real way that I know to start them moving is a very big push form your pecs. Start the DB press with the DBs on your chest, This will work very well if you have to kick them in place.

All forms of overhead pressing:
I believe that the front delts are a big part of that innitial push at the bottom of a bench press. As such, the bigger your overhead numbers, are the better. All forms of standing pressing(whether it be with a push, strict, DBs, or BB) and seated DB pressing.

I was never a big fan of the seated barbell press because my fat head always restricted my rang of motion. One thing that I did find is that setting up the overhead press in a power rack, seated and from pins, gave me some good gains. Just set the pin level so that the bar is as low as it can be without hitting you in the nose or chin, and press the bar up from the pins.

Action at about 1:40

The above video is a bit old, but it shows what I am talking about. The bar rests at about nose level for me here.

The long pause: This I got from Maraudermeat.

The movement here is a secondary consideration honestly. I have done this with regular bench, floor press, DB bench, DB floor press, and millitary presses, tricep presses and so on. Just the act of holding a weight on your chest for much longer than normal can make the initial press on a regular bench feal much easier. I guess this is sort of going hand in hand with that seated overhead BB press from pins.

Your bench form itself:
By this I mean, how tight can you possibly get. Then once you find that point, work to get even tighter. Get your ass and traps as close together as possible without your ass leaving the bench. Work your feet as far under you as you can without your ass lifting. Bigger breathes, and squeezing the bar harder. Actively contract your lats, rhomboids and rear delts the entire way down, and try to make your shoulder blades touch each other, er, sort of. Another way to describe it is to try and raise your chest to the bar, similar to that old Dave Tate line of pressing yourself away from the bar.

I have also read that dips are a good key to the initial start of a bench. My dip numbers rather suck, but I have never truly made them a staple of my routines until now.

Rowing in all its forms should not be left out here either. I also think that pull-up strength is a factor here as well.

Ok, way too much typeing on my part. Hope this helps man, and best of luck with it. Last I checked you had some pretty good bench numbers yourself.[/quote]

You the man, thanks a ton.

17

3648×2736 1.79 MB

The picture is how I set up bands on the hammerzz pulldonwszzz machine.

11/20/10

Deads:

Video:

Deads:

warmups: Band work and some jumps
135X10
225X5
315X3

work sets:
345X3
395X3
445X10 +7 reps. Last one had a bit of a hitch.

T-bars. Worked in with a buddy of mine for this one.
Worked up to 9 35sX10

DB rows
125sX5 for 2 sets
125sX10

HS pull donwzzz + bands
someXsome

V-ups
3X10

METAL:

Ok night on the whole.

18

11/21/10

Push press

Video:

Warm ups: band work, various jumps and a bit of stretching.
barX20
95X10
135X10
185X5

Work sets:
200X3
230X3
255X3
Thought about things for a bit. I will likely only be able to lift 1 more time before I travel to see family for thanksgiving, and training there will be limited to my sled, maybe some tire flips, and pull-ups at a plaground or from various trees. I wish I was as creative as Kakno. Anyway, I decided to go heavy for the fuck of it.

315X3 felt kinda sloppy so I left a rep or two in the tank.
255X10 went back down to the 5-3-1 top set. My conditioning kinda sucks, as I always run out of gass around rep 10 on most lifts. 5 for squat variations usually. Oh well, something to work on.

DB front and laterl raises: No rest.

20sX10 each way for 2 sets

DB curls:

50sX16(8 per arm) for 3 sets

Neutr. grip DB floo press:

75sX15 for 3 sets. These really hit my triceps. I think I found a keeper.

METAL: Went oldschool.

19

Deadlifts looked really smooth man!! Really missing deadlifts right now…rehabbing the ankle, cant wait to get back at em! Keep up the STRONG work dude! =)

20

Beast log, I’ll be watching.

How tall are you?