Loved the ebook. That pic of your son at the end is adorable 
Midway through cycle 1 and surprised by how much boring but big is kicking my ass. Looking forward to putting up some big numbers by next year (23).
I lvoe this program!
Im in the process of my first re-set for OHP and Bench, kinda nervous, bc its going to take me a bit to work up to a higher max, but thats what this program is about, the long haul.
[quote]VikingsAD28 wrote:
I got 10 reps, with one or two in the tank, which seems pretty normal from reading this thread.[/quote]
that’s good - I’m on my fifth cycle of MP and still getting 8-10 reps on my first two waves/weeks
[quote]rcfromdb wrote:
Midway through cycle 1 and surprised by how much boring but big is kicking my ass. .[/quote]
I’ve noticed a lot of people have said the same thing - 5x10 at 50% doesn’t look like much on paper.
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
rcfromdb wrote:
Midway through cycle 1 and surprised by how much boring but big is kicking my ass. .
I’ve noticed a lot of people have said the same thing - 5x10 at 50% doesn’t look like much on paper.[/quote]
BBB for bench was easy, but 5 x 10 @ 50% on the deadlift nearly killed me!
[quote]malonetd wrote:
If you’re really going to do this program for the long haul, only add the 5 and 10. You don’t have to work with your maxes to get stronger.[/quote]
What this guy said.
[quote]rcfromdb wrote:
Loved the ebook. That pic of your son at the end is adorable Midway through cycle 1 and surprised by how much boring but big is kicking my ass. Looking forward to putting up some big numbers by next year (23).[/quote]
Thanks - I am a proud father and trying to do my best.
[quote]Dave_ wrote:
TheDudeAbides wrote:
rcfromdb wrote:
Midway through cycle 1 and surprised by how much boring but big is kicking my ass. .
I’ve noticed a lot of people have said the same thing - 5x10 at 50% doesn’t look like much on paper.
BBB for bench was easy, but 5 x 10 @ 50% on the deadlift nearly killed me![/quote]
ha ha yeah the squat and deadlift always did me in - my hips and lower back were fried
never really got that same feeling with MP or BP
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
rcfromdb wrote:
Midway through cycle 1 and surprised by how much boring but big is kicking my ass. .
I’ve noticed a lot of people have said the same thing - 5x10 at 50% doesn’t look like much on paper.[/quote]
My first Boring But Big experience on the squat, I used 225. SO START LIGHT!
[quote]Jim Wendler wrote:
malonetd wrote:
If you’re really going to do this program for the long haul, only add the 5 and 10. You don’t have to work with your maxes to get stronger.
What this guy said.[/quote]
Thanks for the advice guys, you both are an assload stronger than me so I really appreciate the guidance.
I am the opposite with BBB. The benching and military presses are a pain in the ass but I like the deads and squats.
Are you guys keeping them the same weight (50%-60%) or trying diffrent things? The last wave I started at 70% and worked down to 55%, just something diffrent.
Just started my first week of the second wave in 5/3/1 both weight and reps have increased so it is working, was pretty shit in the first cycle(never hit high reps like some of the posters ie >10) due to my severe lack of work capacity but I’ve made gains in a month so like Big Jim says in the book, leave the ego at the door and it’ll be worth it in the long run.
[quote]rcfromdb wrote:
Loved the ebook. That pic of your son at the end is adorable Midway through cycle 1 and surprised by how much boring but big is kicking my ass. Looking forward to putting up some big numbers by next year (23).[/quote]
If you are close to London, Ohio, you are welcome to stop by and train.
[quote]irishlifting wrote:
Just started my first week of the second wave in 5/3/1 both weight and reps have increased so it is working, was pretty shit in the first cycle(never hit high reps like some of the posters ie >10) due to my severe lack of work capacity but I’ve made gains in a month so like Big Jim says in the book, leave the ego at the door and it’ll be worth it in the long run.[/quote]
I am still awful on some of the rep stuff, especially the squat. Once you get through this, it’s no big deal. But it does suck.
Jim, gonna be a pain again…
What’s going on with my bench??
PR’s of 285 5x5, 300 x5 and 310 x4 all done during March.
2 Wave’s into 5/3/1 with best of 265 x8, 270 x7, and 290 x4. The weirdest part is, the weight feels heavy. Normally on my first couple of reps the bar just pops, but that hasn’t been happening.
Any idea on possible explainations? Maybe the multiple sets of 5 is taking it out of me, or the cumulative effect of high rep squats and deadlifts???
Hanley, I had a similar experience. I wasn’t overestimating my maxes, took 90% of them, I was however doing the (damned stinking) 5% increments … did two cycles of 5-3-1. Man, the weights felt heavy towards the end. My last DELOAD week felt heavy. I was getting pretty annoyed at that. Weights I used at the beginning of cycle 1, were feeling heavier at the end of cycle 2. Warmup weights were feeling heavy - that is when you know something ain’t right.
So, I thought I would test my maxes after my 2nd deload … Military press, not great. No advance, struggling to hit old PR. Grrrr … OK, no progress I think.
Took a day off.
Deadlift. Thought I would just do the 3rd wave, week one … the 5 rep week. ONLY GOT 3 REPS on the last set. And this time, was using 10% jumps between sets (not the 5% jumps previously used).
Grrr…
So later in the day I thought screw this, and went in and did singles and hit a new PR in deadlift.
Now … what does that tell you … it tells me, there was a helluva lot of accumulated fatigue, enough to last right through the deload week and into the following week.
Morale: don’t overdo it. And I like the advice given that if you are not getting 5 reps or more on your 1+ day, then maybe it is time to reset and drop the weights. Because the accumulated fatigue is not fun. It slows progress if it is too much.
It is all a learning curve.
Now I definetely recommend the 10% jumps.
Also, I wonder if, for me, workouts on mon/weds/fri/mon are best for the 4 lifts instead of mon/tue/thurs/fri
for better recovery.
I gather from Jim + other people’s responses earlier, that if the weights are feeling heavy, then you are probably using too much weight in your calculations, and it might be time to ease up. Jim do you agree?
I consider myself experimenting with this approach for the next few months to iron out these issues. I am not in any hurry, not trying to “perfect” it, but I certainly don’t want to run myself down, feel exhausted through deload week, end up after 3-6 months with minimal gains etc… so learning things like DO NOT use the 5% jumps, and perhaps would have been good to start at 85% of max not 90% of max … and man, not so much accessory work too.
Hope this info helps someone somehow.
[quote]Hanley wrote:
Jim, gonna be a pain again…
What’s going on with my bench??
PR’s of 285 5x5, 300 x5 and 310 x4 all done during March.
2 Wave’s into 5/3/1 with best of 265 x8, 270 x7, and 290 x4. The weirdest part is, the weight feels heavy. Normally on my first couple of reps the bar just pops, but that hasn’t been happening.
Any idea on possible explainations? Maybe the multiple sets of 5 is taking it out of me, or the cumulative effect of high rep squats and deadlifts???[/quote]
I know this wasn’t directed at me, but thought I would try and help. What does your assistance look like? Also, are you doing 5% or 10% jumps?
[quote]DF85 wrote:
I am the opposite with BBB. The benching and military presses are a pain in the ass but I like the deads and squats.
Are you guys keeping them the same weight (50%-60%) or trying diffrent things? The last wave I started at 70% and worked down to 55%, just something diffrent.
[/quote]
I have been doing the straight 50% for all 5 sets. I figure it is assistance so I just want to get the work in and not focus on killing it. What I am experimenting with is using a slight variation to the main lift for the BBB. For instance, next wave, I am doing close grip bench rather than bench. I will probably do 135 lbs which is about 40% of my 1rm on bench.
[quote]Magarhe wrote:
Morale: don’t overdo it. And I like the advice given that if you are not getting 5 reps or more on your 1+ day, then maybe it is time to reset and drop the weights. Because the accumulated fatigue is not fun. It slows progress if it is too much.
[/quote]
Just finished 2nd week of 2nd cycle.I have never gotten above 6 reps for DL(even on 3x5 day)Upper body lifts slightly better-8-10 reps is commonplace.
Jim,
I can’t remember if this was mentioned in your logs back in january when you began moving north of the vag, but I was wondering when you began training to maintain phase in january did you take 85 or 90% of your current maxes and were they rep maxes of your actual maxes, or did you just keep the % as they were. I am curious because I plan on pushing the conditioning more and was wondering what the smarter thing to do would be with the %'s, thanks.