5/3/1: Cycle 2 Military Press Deload

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Lots of people on the Internet who discuss workout programs to death, or dwell a little long on forums to find out shit. Or jump from program to program to program until something works. I'll stick with a program or whatever it is I try, tweak it, write it down, take my chances. Sometimes, in that quest, I don't know when to back off. Or I need to see it coming sooner.

My program was working. I was hitting my numbers on time. I was getting stronger. I was even losing weight slow and steady. I was also sore a lot, my back was not recovering as quick, I was getting tight in the hips, my squat was starting to get slow, my left elbow was banged up. I was skipping aerobics workouts to get through the weight workouts, forgetting that my other career (military) requires me to be lean.

Warrior ethos would dictate that, since I was gaining, that I should soldier on, eat more, pop more supplements, get on pain pills, etc. Or to not mess with something that was working. And I wanted to keep going to see my grand experiment through. I decided to change, while the choice was mine to make. Lesson here is to not screw around too much with well designed programs, and that I should balance my stresses. I'm not a snowflake, the rules of overtraining will eventually apply.

So I dropped the leg presses and the deadlifts: do the math, that's a lot of extra tonnage gone. Adjusted the rowing more for reps than 5/3/1: throw in the bench presses, and that was a lot for my elbows to bear. I am sticking with the good mornings for a DL movement: I want to build a base for my first 400 squat and bigger DLs. I went through the Westside for Skinny Bastards III template and used it to make my template leaner and more effective.

I downloaded a really cool 5/3/1 spreadsheet at T-Nation: https://docs.google.com/...hNDA5&hl=en for the .xlsx version or https://docs.google.com/...2YzYw&hl=en for the .xls version. Looking at the 12 cycles, I could have my goals by year's end if I stick to it and stay healthy. So I started to look at the long haul a little closer.

I hate to abandon a cycle before it is finished but I thought a deload made the most sense, and I'll just restart Cycle 3. Today's workout was refreshingly easy.


Nautilus Nitro Laterals (115)(Adjusted Max: 135): 80x12x4

Hoist Roc-It Military Pressss (139)(Adjusted Max: 140): 45x5, 60x5, 70x5, 85x5

Assisted Chinup (Light/Mini Bands): 1 set of 5, 3 sets of 4

Hoist Seated Shrug: Worked up to a 110 pound single.

Nautilus Nitro Bicep Curl: Worked up to a 60 pound 5RM and a 70 pound single.

Warmup and Cooldown: Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical, Hill Interval Program, Level 5, 20 minutes.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 2 Bench Press

Evening (All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets ):

Dead Benches (195) (clustered, 25 seconds between reps): 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x2, 175x2x5. Done at 90% 1RM. On the last 2 sets of the last 5, the second rep was lower and tougher at the top. So, either I have to adjust the volume or I might be close to hitting the wall on this movement.

1-Board Press (235.5 Projected Max)(Adjusted Max 225): 185x3, 195x3, 205x3 (Rep Out Set). Got the required 3 reps on the last set, not the desired 5.

Superset:
Rack Pulls 2" Below The Knees (365): 275x6x3. Done at 75% 1RM.
DB Rows (Elbows Out): 45x7x4. Form was good on the rack pulls, but 6-rep sets sucked me dry. Didn't make the rows easier.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 2 Deadlift

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Hoist Roc-It Seated Leg Curls (214): 120x12x4

Arched Back GM (Straight Bar)(215 max)(215 adjusted max): 65x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x3, 155x2, 175x3, 185x3, 195x5 (Rep Out Set).

Hoist Leg Press (741 max)(687 adjusted max): 345x15x3. With 1 heavy squat day and deadlifting each upper body day, I was starting to feel that running 5/3/1 on leg presses as well was starting to wear on me. That, and I want to lose weight. So I thought of just using it as a repetition movement, instead. Today was a sobering reminder that reps are no walk in the park, either: more like a crawl in the park afterwards.

Seated Calf Raises (70): 65x4x7

Planks: The goal was 4 holds of 45 seconds each, as best I could.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 2 Military Press

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Nautilus Nitro Laterals (115)(Adjusted Max: 135): 125x4x6

Hoist Military Press (139)(Adjusted Max: 140): 45x5, 60x5, 70x5, 85x3, 100x2, 115x3, 120x3, 130x5 (Rep Out Set).

Assisted Wide Neutral-Grip Chinup (Light/Mini Bands): 6 sets of 4

Deadlifts w/35s (325): 230x5x4. This represented 70% of my 1RM.

Warmup: Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical, Interval Program, Level 5, 20 minutes. After this, I felt sleepy. So every exercise just made it worse. As soon as I got home, I ate dinner and napped for 2 hours. On the plus side, my left elbow didn't do too badly but I dropped the curls just in case. May just replace it with ab work.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 1 Squat

12" SSB Close Stance Squat (295)(Adjusted Max 290): 90x5, 120x5, 145x5, 175x3, 205x2, 220x5, 235x5, 250x7 (Rep Out Set). I felt strong today, the reps were smooth, and even hours later my back felt fine. I played my cards right the last time.

Single Calf Raises: Supersetted with squats

Assisted GHR (Average Band): 5 sets of 6. Sad, I used to do more than this without bands. Neglect will do that.

GHR Reverse Hyper: BWT x 6 x 5. I wanted to get used to a more controlled motion first with a hold before bringing the bands back. Without the band setup, I gave up the tractioning effect at the bottom.

Side Planks: 4 holds per side, longest hold was 25 seconds and the shortest was 11 seconds.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 1 Bench Press

Lunchtime:
T-Bar Row: tested 1-rep with 155, cold, and it was a shitty rep. Last week, my 145 triple seemed kind of slow and with my calculated max to start this wave being 160 (I've been experimenting with 10-pound increases for this lift each wave), I've been wondering if this was foolhardy. So I drew up a proper test for this evening's workout.

Evening (All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets ):

Dead Benches (195) (clustered, 20 seconds between reps): 85x3, 105x3, 125x3, 145x3, 165x3x4. Done at 85% 1RM.

1-Board Press (235.5 Projected Max)(Adjusted Max 225): 170x5, 180x5, 195x7 (Rep Out Set)

T-Bar Row: 50x5, 65x5, 80x5, 95x5, 110x5, 125x5, 140x4 (4RM). This calculates to about a 152 max, rounded down to 150. Funny how I thought that the shitty 155 rep done earlier would have been perfect at 150. Funnier still, with 5 pound increases, 150 is what it would have been for an adjusted max. I could reset but I don't want to slide back. So I will continue on using 150, and repeat what I did last wave.

Rack Pulls 2" Below The Knees (365): 265x5x4. Done at 72% of 1RM. This starts 6 weeks of the Prilepin Cycle (Development). Less sets than Activation, but more reps up to a maximum of 6 reps per set, 24-18 reps total.

Superset:
DB Biceps Curls (42): Failure at 10, 8, 6, 4, 3 reps
Steep Decline Situps: Failure at 10, 8, 6, 4, 3 reps

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 1 Deadlift

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Hoist Roc-It Seated Leg Curls (214): 90x25x2

Arched Back GM (Straight Bar)(215 max)(215 adjusted max): 65x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x3, 155x2, 165x5, 175x5, 185x7 (Rep Out Set). I was going to just do the recommended reps today. But after warmups, I felt pretty strong so I repped out on the last set.

Hoist Leg Press (741 max)(687 adjusted max): 210x5, 280x5, 345x5, 415x3, 485x2, 520x5, 555x5, 590x7.

Seated Calf Raises (70): 60x6x5

Planks: The goal was 4 holds of 45 seconds each. The longest I could hold it was 38 seconds, the least was 18 seconds.

No aerobics today. My wife had a ride in to work, but I had to get her at 5:30.

PRT/PFT Stuff

Pushups: I attempted 4 sets of 30 seconds, the last two sets I could only go 20 seconds.

Decline Situps: I attempted 4 sets of 30 seconds, 3rd set was 20 seconds, 4th set was 15 seconds.

Played basketball for aerobics. My lower half feels beat up from Saturday's workout. And yesterday's workout was tough, especially the deficit deads. Took it easy, since I have Arched Back GMs and Leg Presses to do tomorrow.

I ate pretty smart today, I think. I had the last slice of thin-crust veggie pizza and a chicken breast for breakfast, soup and yogurt for lunch and a 12" Subway Ultimate Turkey, Bacon, Avocado sub with a cup of chocolate milk. May have a glass of whey before bed to help me recover.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 1 Military Press

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Nautilus Nitro Laterals (115)(Adjusted Max: 125): 105x6x5

Hoist Military Press (139)(Adjusted Max: 140): 45x5, 60x5, 70x5, 85x3, 100x2, 105x5, 115x5, 120x7 (Rep Out Set).

Assisted Wide Neutral-Grip Chinup (Light/Mini Bands): 1 set of 5, 4 sets of 4

Deadlifts w/35s (325): 255x6x3. This represented 79% of my 1RM.

DB Preacher Curls (37): 20x10, 8, and 6 reps

Warmup and Cooldown: Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical, Hill Interval Program, Level 4, 20 minutes.

5/3/1: Wave 2 Week 3 (Not So Slight Return)

This drill weekend for PT, our Command Fitness Leader (CFL) had something fiendish cooked up for us. I knew it the moment he had us grab a few sets of kettlebells, some jump boxes and an aerobics step, and some medicine balls. Once we got to the upstairs rooms with the padded floors, we set up the stations medley-style and jumped from station to station in teams of 2 with no rest until the last exercise was done (60 seconds rest). Each station was 45 seconds of work:

Side Shuttles using a step (I sometimes used the 12" box)
Medicine Ball Pass (Back to Back w/Partner)
Kettlebell Jump Lunges
Medicine Ball Overhead Slams (Sometimes I did them diagonally)

After this, I was beat. And after the kettlebell jump lunges, I just didn't have it in me to do a heavy squat workout - - - my ass and quads were on fire. So I just did the support work:

Reverse Hyper: No weight for 5 sets of 5. This gym at Ft Lewis had an actual reverse hyper with the Westside Barbell bulldog logo. Sweet, but I kind of prefer the GHR in my house for this, the rounded pad being easier on my gut.

LifeFitness Seated Calf Press: Worked up to 190x2, then dropped to 110 and went down to 50 pounds in 20 pound increments. All sets were rep-outs.

GHR: 5 sets of 5

My squat workout would have been 210x5, 240x3, 270x3 (Rep Out Set) for the last 3 sets. Did I miss anything by not doing it? Nah. One look at the last 3 sets for workouts going as far back as October 31, and you'll see that I covered it. Possibly too many times. Maybe, this workout would have pushed me over the edge:

October 31: 225x3, 255x2, 275x2
November 17: 215x5, 245x5, 275x3
November 29: 210x3, 240x3, 285x3
December 13: 235x5, 265x3, 295x1, 315x0

5/3/1: Wave 2 Week 3 Bench Press

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Dead Benches (195) (clustered, 20 seconds between reps): 75x3, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3x5. Done at 80% 1RM.

3-Board Press (264.5 Projected Max)(Adjusted Max 247.5): 185x5, 215x3 (was supposed to do 210x3 but could not find 2.5 pound plates), 235x3 (Rep Out Set). The first attempt at 235, I felt a twinge in my right wrist as I was trying to rack it so I stopped, reset myself up and tightened my grip and setup. Then the 235 went well and under control. I hit my goal there and not a moment too soon: the top of my left forearm is kind of tight, and the weight felt really heavy so maybe I was at my limit there. Next time starts the switch back to the 1-Board Press as the assistance movement to the Dead Benches.

T-Bar Row (155)(Adjusted Max 150): 45x5, 60x5, 75x5, 90x3, 105x2, 115x5, 130x3, 145x3(Rep Out Set)

Rack Pulls 2" Below The Knees (345): 185x5x5, Done at 53% of 1RM.

Biceps Curls (100)(Adjusted Max 105): 60x12x3.

Warmup and Cooldown: Jacobs Ladder, 15 minutes (30 seconds on, 30 seconds off).

5/3/1: Wave 2 Week 3 Deadlifts

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Hoist Roc-It Seated Leg Curls (193): Worked up to 199x3, then 214x1. No pats on my own back, this is one of the reason I do a rep test and calculate a max the first time I use any machine. All the leverages and resistance curves are different. If this were the lying leg curl it would be 160-170 max, and not 214 for the Nautilus Nitro Leg Curl.

Arched Back GM (Straight Bar)(215 max)(205 adjusted max): 65x5, 85x5, 105x5, 125x3, 145x2, 155x5, 175x3, 195x1. After a couple of workouts in this wave where I maxed out, I decided to just do the required reps today.

Hoist Leg Press (741 max)(677 adjusted max): 205x5, 275x5, 340x5, 410x3, 480x2, 510x5, 575x3, 645x1. Just did the required reps today.

Seated Calf Raises (70): 55x8x4

Nautilus Ab Crunch Machine: 5 sets to failure with 70 pounds.

Warmup & Cooldown: Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical, Interval Program, Level 5, 15 minutes.

Something Something Aerobics

My son wanted to go play basketball, and I needed some motivation to workout so I went. While he played some pickup games with his friends, I shot all round the court on different spots, and every other spot did some complexes using bodyweight exercises and a 10-pound medicine ball. Some of the ones I did:

1.) Medicine ball Corkscrew (6 reps each side) + 30 seconds of pushups

2.) Medicine ball Squat to Push/Throw (10 reps) + 30 seconds of Spread Eagle Situps

3.) Medicine Ball Swings + Inchworms

4.) Variations of the above, and I ran some also.