Wednesday, April 28, 2010

No Title

Flat Bench Press: 55x3, 75x3, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 195x3, 215x1, 225x0, 225x0, 225x0.

What can I say, I wanted to see where I was, if this program was working for my bench. All the math for the main work and for my accessory work should have gotten me to 215 by this point, and I was not disappointed. 225 would have been nice, since I haven't touched it since Virtualmeet 2009: I had control of it but could not power it up. At this point, I am confident enough with 5/3/1 to leave it alone.

5/3/1 Round 2: Deadlift Deload

Today I got sidetracked from what my workout normally is. Someone from my job needed a ride home, and my wife needed me to go to Walmart to pick up a few things. So this entire workout was done at home. BUt just as well, because it was a great workout, felt good not to have to max out.

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Conventional Deadlift w/1 pair r of Chains and no 45s: 115x5,135x5, 165x5, 195x5. I did this to get a feel for this type of movement, not much more. It felt really good, I could see turning this being a difference maker. But that's for another time. I spent a lot of my time in Africa experimenting so much with deficit deads that my regular deadlift went to seed, so time to show it some love.

12" Front Box Squat: 170x5x5.

GHR: 5 sets of 4

Single Calf Raises: An explanation of how I do these: Right leg first, then the left, then both, then a long rep with the right leg. That's a set. I don't count reps: I go until I cant, and I make sure to do the same reps for each leg.

GHR Reverse Hyper (Monster Mini Bands): 5 sets of 4.

Monday, April 26, 2010

5/3/1 Round 2: Bench Press Deload

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Flat Bench Press: 65x5, 80x5, 95x5, 115x5

T-Bar Row: 130x6x5. Did these at lunch.
Assisted Chinup (Light/Monster Mini Band): 5 sets of 5

DB Shoulder Press: 60x6x5. I had too many things to do today and the gym was packed solid (Bench Press Monday). So I did these at home instead of the laterals.

Triset:
DB Extensions to the Neck: 30x6x5
DB Hammer Curls: 35x6x5
Grippers: 3 sets of 15

Saturday, April 24, 2010

5/3/1 Round 2: Squat 5/3/1

13" SSB Box Squat: Barx5, 100x5, 120x5, 145x3, 170x2, 180x5, 205x3, 235x4 (Rep Out Set).

SSB Arched Back Good Morning: 120x10x4

16" Lateral Step-Up w/Strength Shoes: 4 sets of 13. While the usual stuff was working to bring my calves up, I felt like I've done this before and needed to do better. And I felt as if I needed more lateral work. And I did not want another exercise. So I did these and REALLY slammed my calves: felt like it got deep into the calf. Think about it: several times my bodyweight on the impact leg each time I step on and off. Nothing but win? We'll see. I'm going to do them each leg day.

GHR: 5 sets of 4. Enough of the assistance with this one. While more reps felt good, I need to bring my strength up. Besides, the leg curls and GMs are all the rep work my hams need.

Friday, April 23, 2010

5/3/1 Round 2: Military Press 5/3/1

Incline Bench Press w/1-pr Chains: 55x5, 70x5, 90x5, 105x3, 125x2, 135x5, 150x5, 170x3 (Rep Out Set), 190x3 (Rep Out Set w/chains removed). I felt frisky and curious, so I removed the chains and added 20 pounds. The weight felt tight when I racked it, went down easy and though I should have been spent from the first max out, the weight went up smooth and steady. The third rep at 190 did was harder, though, ran out of steam halfway up.

Assisted Dips (Light/Monster Mini Bands): Repped Out at 14, 12 reps

Assisted Pullups (Light/Monster Mini Bands): 6 sets of 4

DB Rows (Elbows In): 50x12x3

DB Curls: 25x12x3

DB Shrugs: 45x12x3

Wrist Roller: 10x2x3

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

5/3/1 Round 2: Deadlift 5/3/1

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Conventional Deadlift: 135x5, 165x5, 195x3, 230x2, 245x5, 280x3, 310x3 (Rep Out Set). My was decent, but I didn't have much speed.

12" Front Box Squat: 120x10x4. Did I tell you I hate high rep squats? Especially after deads?

Hoist Roc-It Leg Curls: 97x12x3

Seated Calf Raises: 50x12x3

GHR Reverse Hyper (Monster Mini Bands): 5 sets of 4. 1 more rep per set than last week.

Monday, April 19, 2010

5/3/1 Round 2: Bench Press 5/3/1

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Flat Bench Press: 65x5, 80x5, 95x5, 115x3, 135x2, 145x5, 165x3, 185x3 (Rep Out Set).

T-Bar Row: 90x12x3

Assisted Chinup (Light/Monster Mini Band): 6 sets of 5

Nautilus Nitro Laterals: 65x12x3

Triset:
DB Extensions to the Neck: 25x12x3
DB Hammer Curls: 25x12x3
Grippers: 3 sets of 14

I've been bad with updating this blog but am trying to get better. I have managed to stay consistent as far as the working out goes: Next week I deload off of Round 2 of 5/3/1, and then I begin Round 3.

For the past couple of months, I have been training and experimenting trying to find a setup that would work for what I wanted. And what I wanted was to gain back all the mass I lost while in the hospital and to get back to a slightly better place than I was before. One of the things I did during that time was to not do cardio and just lift. I'm close to where I want to be and have started now to eat cleaner, since I am up to 234 pounds. I start doing cardio again this week: I don't have to do a Navy Physical Fitness Test until the fall so it's time to train now for that. I dropped the single leg work for a while: the way I have set it up now has me squatting/deadlifting twice a week (Squat Main/SSB Arched Back GM follow up and Conventional Deadlift/12" Front Box Squat follow up). I substituted incline bench presses for military press but do dips as a rep-out movement to follow and Nautilus Laterals on bench day to make up for it. I do grip work twice a week and that has really helped: a few weeks ago, I pulled a 345 single with a double overhand grip for the first time ever (damn Finns inspired me). I'm doing more triceps work, and have stuck with dumbbell work for biceps since doing a lot of back work takes care of my compound biceps needs. I have also started doing Reverse Hypers using my GHR and Bands (Setup article forthcoming). After deadlifting, these have really helped me recover faster from the workouts: deadlifting in 5/3/1 is hard work. After August, I'll start incorporating speed work and less rep work into 5/3/1.

To end, these were my tested maxes when I restarted 5/3/1, using tested 1RM:
Flat Bench Press: 205 pounds
Conventional Deadlift: 345 pounds
Incline Bench Press: 185 pounds
13" SSB Box Squat: 255 pounds

In Round 2 was when I started using the front squats and good mornings: Both were tested to a 175 lbs 5RM (about 196 lbs calculated max). Each week I change the rep scheme on those two.