Slicin' and Dicin'

[Dustin07]

I think you’re going to have an absolute blast. Remember that although those other couples won’t all have the same backgrounds, hobbies or political views, consider they all agreed to come try this trip - just like you! They want to have fun, relax, be by the water & make the most of their vacation.

I was thinking exactly what Jim said. Perfect time to enter a heavier training focus while keeping things at slight deficit.

Forced down time will be really good I think. I'm going to probably pack two books and just kinda go with the flow and see what happens. I am excited to finally see that south eastern portion of the country (and water). Closest I've ever been to that area is like Asheville, I haven't even made it to Georgia yet!

The 22-9 Braves are coming to Seattle Monday to take on your Mariners.

MLB Power Rankings: Braves take over the top spot, Cubs surge after 10-game win streak

We have a new No. 1 in this week's rankings while the Red Sox, Phillies, and Mets continue to look for answers.

sports.yahoo.com

I really hope we can take the Royals this weekend, if we sweep them and solidify the 1st place in our division then the Braves won't seem quite so scary, lol. the Braves are tearing it up right now though...

 

[Hyde]

Forced down time will be really good I think. I'm going to probably pack two books and just kinda go with the flow and see what happens. I am excited to finally see that south eastern portion of the country (and water). Closest I've ever been to that area is like Asheville, I haven't even made it to Georgia yet!

Just don’t judge the entire state by Miami, which is basically the Chicago of Florida (that is to say, heavily Democrat, immigrant & high crime). FL is so big, every area I’ve been to so far has been unique. It’s more like a small country in size & diversity of feel/culture. IMO, it has both the best and worst of America depending on where you go. Sometimes in the same place even

 

[gphagan1]

Just don’t judge the entire state by Miami, which is basically the Chicago of Florida (that is to say, heavily Democrat, immigrant & high crime). FL is so big, every area I’ve been to so far has been unique. It’s more like a small country in size & diversity of feel/culture. IMO, it has both the best and worst of America depending on where you go. Sometimes in the same place even

Exactly, my sister lives in Sebring, and we’ve been all over Florida and love it. But to your point, in West Palm beach you can be in an area that has some of the most beautiful mansions you could imagine, turn the corner and it looks like inner city Chicago all within a couple of miles of the mansions. But it’s awesome, Scuba Dive off the keys, amusement parks around Orlando for the kiddos or paradise and beautiful beaches on the Gulf side like Destin or Anna Maria Island. And Daytona is a blast too. Miami and Daytona beaches are loaded with thongs.

 

[Dustin07]

Warm up
Bike - 10 min

Deads
10 x 135

Deficit deads -2"
5 x 135, 185, 225, 275

Lat pull downs - NG
3 x 10 x 115

H/S high rows
3 x 10 x 180

Lat pullovers
3 x 15

Notes
Just some lightweight rom for last session for a while. Everything beltless and doh.

 

[MrKleen73]

I hope you have a blast on your trip!

 

[Dustin07]

Exactly, my sister lives in Sebring, and we’ve been all over Florida and love it. But to your point, in West Palm beach you can be in an area that has some of the most beautiful mansions you could imagine, turn the corner and it looks like inner city Chicago all within a couple of miles of the mansions. But it’s awesome, Scuba Dive off the keys, amusement parks around Orlando for the kiddos or paradise and beautiful beaches on the Gulf side like Destin or Anna Maria Island. And Daytona is a blast too. Miami and Daytona beaches are loaded with thongs.

We had a nearly 5 hour layover in Miami and since we had to exit and reenter security anyways we went to the front desk checked our bags, grabbed an uber and ran down to Little Havana for 2 hours to explore. We ate a Cubano at Versailles, went to Domino Park, then had a drink at the Ball and Chain while a small band played latin music with guitar and bongos. I can't believe we fit all that in on a layover lol

I hope you have a blast on your trip!

I'm still processing it all to be honest, lol. We arrived in Seattle around midnight Sunday night, got home a little after 1am. Our garden absolutely exploded while we were gone. Tomatoes doubled in size, plants growing nuts everywhere. we were wired so we did a 1am yard walk, went to bed, then woke up at 6am I think because we were still on east coast time, then almost immediately sank into our normal Saturday routine of coffee > yard work all day.

I crunched some numbers and told my wife that for the cost of mooring a boat (monthly slip), insurance, fuel, maintenance, etc, it cost us the same to have one trip up to the San Juan Islands every summer as this trip cost us. But on this trip, we got to hang out on a much larger, nicer/newer boat, someone else does all the maintenance, and when we are done we simply go home and don't have to stress over anything else lol.

This was our first night. we had a flotilla of 3 boats, 4 couples per boat. Our starboard motor overheated so we anchored out in Treasure Cay, dinghied to shore for beaches and dinner. the Charter company sent someone out and had the boat fixed up by morning (bad impeller) and we kept on keeping on. we basically pulled anchor or left a dock every day off to a different island each time.

It was a super surreal trip. I could never remember what day it was. I had to look at my phone "is it weds?" The vacation was somehow the longest and shortest I've been on, although by the last couple days I definitely missed my dogs and was ready to be home.

we caught a sunset every night, and sunrise most mornings:

the red dots here are all places we stopped to either dock for the night, anchor for some snorkelling, or grabbed a mooring buoy. the lower arrow is marsh harbor where we started and ended our trip, and the arrow to the top is Treasure Cay where we anchored the first night with our motor issues.

I thought I was going to be bored so I packed 3 books and only ever read a few chapters of one (Anthony Bourdain's Kichen Confidential). I thought I was getting on a boat and being hauled around the Bahamas. What I didn't realize is that we were the crew. we had a designated captain, but all of us (the men) had a hand at the helm, we all helped with docking, anchoring, pushing away from shore, etc. The ladies tended to do 100% of the cooking so I'd jump into the sink and start washing dishes as fast as I could or I knew they'd do it and I didn't want the women doing all the work on their vacations.

Its a catamaran, so two hulls with a cabin forward and aft on each cabin. You honestly could NOT hear anyone else on the boat when you were in your cabin so you had complete privacy. Its a large-ish boat, A leopard 46 so about a 50ft overall length, the cabins were not walk around beds, you had to climb on from the foot of the bed but thats no problem. each cabin had its own private head too which is nice since boating all toilet paper goes into a trash can.

My buddy had stomach issues from day 1 so whenever we were close to shore he'd disappear for an hour on what I called his "Bahamian Bathroom Tour"

I truly was wrong and surprised by how much we loved it. we spent 8 days aboard with 4 strangers and another couple we only kinda knew and by the time it was over we felt like dear friends and we would 100% do a cruise with them again.


On the gym front, I snorkeled like crazy but chose not to join the crossfit dbags doing burpees and lunges on the beach at one of our anchorages
This was the first time with a group of couples that I felt like the small guy, the other guys weren't jacked though. just had more burritos and french fries in their life than me. By the last day of the trip my lower back was starting to freeze up a bit and I realized I hadn't done any deadlifts in probably 2 weeks, so that's a must-do this week.

I mean I'm not dumb, I know we float better in salt, but I was shocked at how easily I swam in the salt with zero work after killing myself at the gym swimming. I did dive down to the floor a few times to harvest sand dollars and conche. I told everyone our boat looked like an adult summer camp picnic table

funny thing is we had a fresh water pool at once place (that was gross tbh, but refreshing) and I sank to the bottom without trying haha.

you see pictures like this and assume its just some imaginary pinterest thing, turns out its a real place, lol.

 

[Dustin07]

Warmup
Bike - 10 min

Squats
5 x 115, 140
3 x 170

5 x 185, 215
8 x 240(AMRAP)

Leg ext
2 x 12

Leg curls
3 x 12

Leg press - star trac
12 x 180, 270, 360, 410, 450

Holy my glutes!

Standing calf raises
12 x 180, 195, 210

Notes
Weight 191 post vacation, not bad. A few days in I felt I like was wasting away rapidly but made up for it in the end +3lbs for ten days. Honestly not bad. I can bloat ten lbs in a bad weekend.

Programming:
My least favorite, I fired up the 531 app. I need to reacquaint myself with Wendlers ebook to be sure I'm hitting it with intention.

My goal is to lose about ten lbs, this year. No longer with a deadline I want to establish routine that makes balance easier without soul crushing deficits and constant fasts.

That started yesterday with a full week of meal prep done. The lifting portion I also want to have semi on auto pilot but with intention. That's why for now, I picked 531 since I can easily follow the programming from an app, get in, get my work done but not be spinning wheels. I went very conservative with my 1RM calculations using numbers I've recently achieved rather than all time bests.

Squat 315 rather than 365
Deads 425 rather than 485
Bench 295 rather than 305
OHP 185 rather than 205

My immediate goal is balanced longevity with hopefully a leaner presentation over the next 3-8 months.

This at least gives me an achievable and intentional pattern while farm life and work kicks into high gear.

Basically goal is a more efficient use of time and energy without sacrificing physique or strength and hopefully progressing a little on both along the way.

 

[Hyde]

Sounds like a really awesome trip; going to have to remember this in a decade or so because it seems like my cup of tea!

Glad you enjoyed it all so much & had a safe rewarding vacation.

 

[akboom87]

Sounds like a great vacation and a blast!

 

[Segansational]

Wow! Those photos are great. That's a really cool sounding trip tbh. Being part of the "crew" probably made each stop that much more satisfying when you could just rest and relax. But that's probably also what helped bond you to the rest of the group. Very cool man.

 

[gphagan1]

That sounds like it was a great trip, and actually looked like it was like a little adventure for you guys. That’s probably the vacations that my wife and I enjoy the most, the adventurous ones. And the pictures are great.
I like your training plan for the year. That should fit in with your business and homestead schedule.

 

[MrKleen73]

Programming:
My least favorite, I fired up the 531 app. I need to reacquaint myself with Wendlers ebook to be sure I'm hitting it with intention.

My goal is to lose about ten lbs, this year. No longer with a deadline I want to establish routine that makes balance easier without soul crushing deficits and constant fasts.

That started yesterday with a full week of meal prep done. The lifting portion I also want to have semi on auto pilot but with intention. That's why for now, I picked 531 since I can easily follow the programming from an app, get in, get my work done but not be spinning wheels. I went very conservative with my 1RM calculations using numbers I've recently achieved rather than all time bests.

Squat 315 rather than 365
Deads 425 rather than 485
Bench 295 rather than 305
OHP 185 rather than 205

I see where you were being conservative on the lower body movements, but your upper body is not getting the same love. While your shoulder press is 90% of your recent max, your bench is almost 97% of recent max. You are likely going to hit a brick wall on your chest, and perhaps your shoulder press. I believe 90% of max being the training max is the standard that 5-3-1 prescribes, but it often overwhelms people. If you look at your squat you went down about 14%, and deadlift about 13% which seems conservative but only going down 3% on bench would be very aggressive. I know you care a little more about your bench numbers, but I think you might be sabotaging your set up by having your bench so close to your actual max. Of course I am not a seasoned power lifter, but I have hit the brick wall a couple times doing 5-3-1 from starting too close to my max.

 

[MrKleen73]

Oh yeah gorgeous photos, and it sounds like a great experience!

 

[Dustin07]

Sounds like a really awesome trip; going to have to remember this in a decade or so because it seems like my cup of tea!

Glad you enjoyed it all so much & had a safe rewarding vacation.

I think you'd really like it. I thought a lot about how much you like swimming and how much I say I don't, then I find myself out there in the salt effortlessly once I got comfortable with the snorkel, diving and grabbing shells and sand dollars like a kid lol. I tried like hell to stay as natural as possible and to ease my way into the sun to avoid burns and build a natural tolerance but there were 2 days when I coudl tell the UV rays were very strong and I knew the water would cool me off so I did use sunscreen those days. made it the whole trip with no burns though!

I only saw one other boat the whole time with kids, it was a sailing cat rather than a motor cat, that had a big net on the bow instead of a solid bow, and the kids were having a blast. Not sure I'd want to have 10 kids on my boat like they did, but they were a bunch of monkies jumping off the boat, swimming back to the swim step, and doing it again in about 6ft of crystal clear bahamian water. you can sorta see how this one has the netting up front where the kids were playing around and having a blast wherea as the motor cats have a solid bow with a couple recliners for sun bathing.

Sounds like a great vacation and a blast!

Wow! Those photos are great. That's a really cool sounding trip tbh. Being part of the "crew" probably made each stop that much more satisfying when you could just rest and relax. But that's probably also what helped bond you to the rest of the group. Very cool man.

That sounds like it was a great trip, and actually looked like it was like a little adventure for you guys. That’s probably the vacations that my wife and I enjoy the most, the adventurous ones. And the pictures are great.
I like your training plan for the year. That should fit in with your business and homestead schedule.

I see where you were being conservative on the lower body movements, but your upper body is not getting the same love. While your shoulder press is 90% of your recent max, your bench is almost 97% of recent max. You are likely going to hit a brick wall on your chest, and perhaps your shoulder press. I believe 90% of max being the training max is the standard that 5-3-1 prescribes, but it often overwhelms people. If you look at your squat you went down about 14%, and deadlift about 13% which seems conservative but only going down 3% on bench would be very aggressive. I know you care a little more about your bench numbers, but I think you might be sabotaging your set up by having your bench so close to your actual max. Of course I am not a seasoned power lifter, but I have hit the brick wall a couple times doing 5-3-1 from starting too close to my max.

I downloaded the 531 app which auto calculates to run off 90% of your max. So I tried to give it more accurate maxes to start from. with 305 and 205 having been my PR's on bench and OHP, my actual recent bests were 295 and 185 so I let the app punch those in as true maxes to calculate my 90% of. The numbers I posted above (315, 425, 295, 185) have been my acheivable maxes in 2026, I do not know if I could do much if any more on any of those lifts, but I have peaked at those the past few months while cutting so thats why I used them. I'm nowhere near my 485lb deadlift for instance, or my 365 squat. but my bench and OHP have stayed fairly strong.

For instance, I just peaked at week 1 of 531 bench and it caps out at 5+ AMRAP set of 225, and BBB if I choose to do it at 5 x 10 x 135. Which are pretty low numbers for me since I recently put up 11 or 12 reps at 225 and 30 reps+ at 135. Unless I'm misunderstanding you...? My thinking here was to set up the maxes as realistic as possible to ensure I'm not spinning my wheels, not too low to slow things down excessively, but not overreach and be crushed by peak week. Does that make sense?

of course my squats have sucked since I spent the first few months rehabbing my knee so my 315 should be the easiest thing to crush with a little training but I'm ok with retaking some newbie gains on that one lift. I'd rather hit 365 nice and clean again down the road than destroy my CNS overreaching like I'm prone to doing.

Oh yeah gorgeous photos, and it sounds like a great experience!

Such a crazy mix of adventure and rest/relax. My expectations were way off! I usually don't want to be run ragged on a vacation where I'm supposed to be resting/rehabbing and somehow this trip had that perfect mix. felt very very rested when I got back to work!

 

[MrKleen73]

Yeah, I can see what you did there, but I don't know that the thing you have been pushing hard enough to keep near your max is going to be the one you want still closest to your max at the beginning. If you are already starting so close to your estimated max it seems you might hit a wall much more quickly than all of the other things that are left with more room to grow so to speak. When I have done it, and only did the training max as 10% lower than my actual max I hit a wall each time. You also have a much better gas tank than a lot of people so who knows, it might just be perfect for you.

 

[Dustin07]

Bench
2 x 10 x 95
5 x 105, 135, 165

5 x 175, 205
11 x 225 AMRAP

Incline bench
5 x 10 x 135

Weighted dips
3 x 10 x +25lbs
10 x BW

Flat DB bench
3 x 10 x 60


Notes
Woke up at 190 this morning.
The bench progression was a little weird on this formula but seemed to work.

Had to make a couple small adjustments up since this gym didn't have 2.5lb plates but no worries.

 

[Dustin07]

Yeah, I can see what you did there, but I don't know that the thing you have been pushing hard enough to keep near your max is going to be the one you want still closest to your max at the beginning. If you are already starting so close to your estimated max it seems you might hit a wall much more quickly than all of the other things that are left with more room to grow so to speak. When I have done it, and only did the training max as 10% lower than my actual max I hit a wall each time. You also have a much better gas tank than a lot of people so who knows, it might just be perfect for you.

That's a really good point and could also be why 531 has historically crushed me when I'm down to that 2nd or third 4 week cycle.

I do have a bizarre gas tank. My ten rep is always stupid close to my 1 rep. Bench is the one movement where calculators seem pretty accurate on me lol.

Squats though? If I can 1 rep it I can usually ten rep pretty close

 

[Dustin07]

Calculator example on today's AMRAP

 

[Dustin07]

Yeah, I can see what you did there, but I don't know that the thing you have been pushing hard enough to keep near your max is going to be the one you want still closest to your max at the beginning.

OK I kept going back and forth to make sure I understood you, I think originally I misunderstood you. with my "max" bench going into the calculator at 295, and that being about 97% of my PR, my "training max" should be 265.5lbs (90% of 295) if the calculator/formula/app is working correctly, right?

So your thought is that maybe I should adjust my "true max" in the app to 274.5klbs (90% of my PR) and let the app recalculate to a training max of 247.05lbs?

I don't know that I have strong opinions one way or the other. Its been I bet 7 years or more since I ran 531 so I'm not sure at what point in this programming I'd touch 245+ or how many reps would be expected on the formula. generally speaking, I wanted to let "someone else" handle the programming momentarily so that I could be effective in the gym and not lose too much of my time economy to over thinking

a 247 training max feels really low to me but I'll definitely give it consideration if you think thats best.

I can say this: While I was surprised and happy to hit 11 x 225 today on my AMRAP set, it smoked me. the 5 x 10 on incline, while only 135, was very pumpy and a legit workout. I would have preferred 5x10 on the weighted dips but I was getting spent and running short on time. same with the finisher db press. should have been 5 x 10, and maybe 70lbs but fatigue and time got in the way so I tried to be effective.

 

[Hyde]

OK I kept going back and forth to make sure I understood you, I think originally I misunderstood you. with my "max" bench going into the calculator at 295, and that being about 97% of my PR, my "training max" should be 265.5lbs (90% of 295) if the calculator/formula/app is working correctly, right?

So your thought is that maybe I should adjust my "true max" in the app to 274.5klbs (90% of my PR) and let the app recalculate to a training max of 247.05lbs?

I don't know that I have strong opinions one way or the other. Its been I bet 7 years or more since I ran 531 so I'm not sure at what point in this programming I'd touch 245+ or how many reps would be expected on the formula. generally speaking, I wanted to let "someone else" handle the programming momentarily so that I could be effective in the gym and not lose too much of my time economy to over thinking

a 247 training max feels really low to me but I'll definitely give it consideration if you think thats best.

I can say this: While I was surprised and happy to hit 11 x 225 today on my AMRAP set, it smoked me. the 5 x 10 on incline, while only 135, was very pumpy and a legit workout. I would have preferred 5x10 on the weighted dips but I was getting spent and running short on time. same with the finisher db press. should have been 5 x 10, and maybe 70lbs but fatigue and time got in the way so I tried to be effective.

You want 90% of what you can max right now. If you are good for 295 any normal proper training day you’re well-prepared, set your training max to 265. Which it sounds like is what the app did for you. 245 is going to be too low.

Bench also responds a bit better to handling heavier weights for you relative to the squat and deadlift, probably because it’s smaller muscles & less absolute weight.

 

[Dustin07]

You want 90% of what you can max right now. If you are good for 295 any normal proper training day you’re well-prepared, set your training max to 265. Which it sounds like is what the app did for you. 245 is going to be too low.

perfect, that's what I was aiming for. I have before, set maxes to "PR" rather than legit "I can do this today" maxes and it was definitely overshooting. I used numbers I had recently hit for this current cycle.

Bench also responds a bit better to handling heavier weights for you relative to the squat and deadlift, probably because it’s smaller muscles & less absolute weight.

Yeah squats definitely are felt for a few days whereas bench, no matter what I do, feels recovered the next day. (it might not be, just doesn't carry the doms for me that squats do)

 

[Dustin07]

Warm up
Bike 10 min
DB RDL
10 x 50s, 70s

Deads
5 x 155, 195
3 x 230

5 x 255, 285
10 x 325 (AMRAP)

BBB - deads
5 x 10 x 190

T bar rows
10 x 45, 70, 95, 120, 70

Notes
Totally forgot to each lunch yesterday but easily made up for it as it was our anniversary last night. Every year (6th) we go to this little cafe because we had an early date there before we got married and when our wedding was cancelled due to COVID, the owner catered our small 12 person elopement on the beach near our house.

Plus it's an easy anniversary pat on the back to me since all I gotta do is make sure I have reservations to the same place Everytime

I had the duck, again, which was awesome. A little gamey, so some people might not go for it. But basically unless I shoot a duck I only get duck once a year, at Over The Moon, lol.

Plus date nights are gonna get a lot cheaper cause my wife finally did it and turned in her resignation Weds. She gave six weeks notice so we are in savings and coupons mode as we learn how to live the single income lifestyle.

Over The Moon Cafe'

www.overthemooncafe.net

Today, Saturday will be a farm day. I gotta build a new brooder for 30-40chicks so I can start another flock of meat birds early June.

 

[Hyde]

Happy Anniversary! Ours will be Monday. Sounds like a great meal.

Congratulations to you guys on the big change!

 

[Dustin07]

Happy Anniversary! Ours will be Monday. Sounds like a great meal.

Congratulations to you guys on the big change!

Funny how closely our marriages align


I must be presenting well today cause I'm at the home Depot getting materials to build a new chicken brooder and the guy starts asking me what my go to lat exercises are lol.

 

[gphagan1]

Happy Anniversary, and that’s great that you guys are in a position that she was able to resign, and be able to enjoy your homestead more. It’s a big adjustment when you go to one income, but when you’re able to do it takes stress off of your wife. We made that decision back when our boys were young, so my wife could be with them more, and even though you have to adjust, we have never regretted it. And with you guys and all you have at your homestead to take care of it really does make sense. Happy Wife happy Life.

 

[Dustin07]

OHP
10 x bar
5 x 65, 85
3 x 100

5 x 110, 125
10 x 140

BBB - EMOTM
5 X 10 X 85

Standing DB press
10 x 35s
4 x 10 x 40s

DB laterals
5 x 10 x 30s
(Some sets standing, some seated)

DB forward raises
5 x 10 x 30s


Notes
As much as I talk **** about 531, it's so nice to be in a program again with intention, and as light as every day looks right now on paper, that AMRAP set always leaves me smoked so I gotta say, week 1 feels great so far.

Plus it brings OHP back into the mix with intention, not just an afterthought.

The DB press after 5x10 seemed redundant but that's fine. Def a helluva shoulder day.

Weighed in at 194lbs of beefcake this morning so I'll watch that this week and see if I get back to 190 after anniversary dinner sodium levels kinda get back to normal lol. Definitely some bloat as the lifting belt has gone backwards to hole 2, barely hole 3. I think I should maintain hole 3 or better but we will see.


Current stack
TD epiandro shoulders
TD xpg Carnitine to stomach
About 1 week left of anabolic effect
Phosphatidic acid XT
Just started Alpha One

I have enough epiandro to never come off for the year at small doses lol. And enough var for 2+ runs if I wanted to. It's tempting but not over 190.

 

[Dustin07]

Man that whole session was like 45 minutes and felt awesome.

I don't see 417 bench at the end of this but who am I to argue

 

[gphagan1]

That’s definitely a huge shoulder day. Working on those boulders.

 

[Dustin07]

That’s definitely a huge shoulder day. Working on those boulders.

It was honestly really fun, it felt good, intentional, and was shockingly short for how successful it felt in terms of hitting goals. Been thinking a lot about how the one thing that isn't addressed in 531 is arms, which generally is probably fine cause I have two pressing days (triceps) and one pulling day, but I was toying around with the idea of maybe throwing in come barbell or ezbar curls every session. haven't fully decided yet. I'd have to be smart about deadlift days cause I don't like the idea of smoking my biceps the day before a big pulling day. I do have pull-ups as an accessory for deads, I could change that to chin-ups to get more bicep engagement. maybe suppinated bb rowing as well?

 

[Hyde]

It was honestly really fun, it felt good, intentional, and was shockingly short for how successful it felt in terms of hitting goals. Been thinking a lot about how the one thing that isn't addressed in 531 is arms, which generally is probably fine cause I have two pressing days (triceps) and one pulling day, but I was toying around with the idea of maybe throwing in come barbell or ezbar curls every session. haven't fully decided yet. I'd have to be smart about deadlift days cause I don't like the idea of smoking my biceps the day before a big pulling day. I do have pull-ups as an accessory for deads, I could change that to chin-ups to get more bicep engagement. maybe suppinated bb rowing as well?

Or maybe you do the curls every day except before deadlifts?

But overall then you would have 3 curl exposures a week at least, which is more than now so perfect step up.

 

[Dustin07]

Or maybe you do the curls every day except before deadlifts?

But overall then you would have 3 curl exposures a week at least, which is more than now so perfect step up.

The way this week is going will be:

Sun - OHP
Mon - squats
Weds - rest
Thurs - bench
Fri - deadlifts
Sat - rest
Sun - OHP

So my thinking was that probably Thursday then would be the "off" day for curls so biceps are fatigued/sore before Friday pulls...

My ongoing scheduling will probably be something of this nature with 2 on, 1 off to keep consistency... I hadn't really intended for Sunday to be an OHP day every week but it looks like thats how the cookies gonna crumble.

 

[Dustin07]

Warmup
Bike 10 min

Squats
5 x 95, 115, 145
3 x 175

3 x 205, 225
8 x 255

BBB - high bar
5 x 10 x 135


Abbreviated but got the biggies.

Notes
Spoke too soon. Got caught up with helping move stuff yesterday to our new facility and had to run a chicken coop I had built this winter over to a lady a few towns over who bought it from me. Ended up having a nice evening in the garden with my wife though. After spending all winter killing ourselves it was great to be able to just chill and watch stuff grow on a warm evening.

Weight belt back down to hole 3 at 193lbs today

This gym has gone ghetto AF though. Probably will prioritize more evening sessions in Tacoma.

I forgot this weekend I was cooking up some corn to ferment for shine and was walking down the stairs of our back deck carrying about 50lbs in a fermenting bucket when my shoe slips on the wet step, I come crashing down on my right glute and slide down 8 stairs. Bubububuibubububump lol. I standup with a "F U C K!!"

Grab my ass wondering how serious this is gonna be, but no corn done spilt

So been riding with a knot in my ass past few days lol. Which my wife keeps slapping. I think squats helped stretch it out big time. Zero pain there or in the knee today during my lift.

 

[MrKleen73]

Man the simplicity of 5-3-1 calls to you sometimes.

Also, basically what @Hyde said on the 10% training max, I just tend to hit a wall so I told myself to start a little lighter than the 10% from my true max. Of course, if I tried that now, I would not even have an idea of what my maxes would be.

 

[Dustin07]

Man the simplicity of 5-3-1 calls to you sometimes.

Also, basically what @Hyde said on the 10% training max, I just tend to hit a wall so I told myself to start a little lighter than the 10% from my true max. Of course, if I tried that now, I would not even have an idea of what my maxes would be.

on paper it doesn't look like I did much, but relative to my current status on squats my legs are WORKED. 255 should probably be a capable set of 15+ but since I basically spent Dec 20th - March babying that dumb knee I think I'm probably at the appropriate spot here. I know when I AMRAP'd 385 x 13 on deads that was towards the end of my 531 carreer. I think that smoked me enough that I never wanted to recover again lol.

so I'd guess even though I'd like to be doing 10+ on my AMRAP sets, that if my legit AMRAP is 8-10 I'm probably training the correct weight that day.

the only other two notes is that since I knew I needed squat practice and would not have time for a ton of accessories I stuck to the 5x10 BBB programming but went to high bar to change stimulus (which was awesome) and I did take almost all of todays squats with a wider than usual stance. I've never had the flexibility to go into a sumo squat under weight but getting a half step or so wider today did give me more adductor engagement and better hinging on the knee that was sore before so I think it was the right move.

 

[Dustin07]

also I'm drenched in sweat. might be the humidity but that 5 x 10 got me lol

 

[Hyde]

Really glad to hear the fall down the stairs ended alright for you man, that’s no joke of a scenario. College you would be proud you didn’t spill anything either

 

[Dustin07]

College you would be proud you didn’t spill anything either

dude, was thinking the same

 

[gphagan1]

Warmup
Bike 10 min

Squats
5 x 95, 115, 145
3 x 175

3 x 205, 225
8 x 255

BBB - high bar
5 x 10 x 135


Abbreviated but got the biggies.

Notes
Spoke too soon. Got caught up with helping move stuff yesterday to our new facility and had to run a chicken coop I had built this winter over to a lady a few towns over who bought it from me. Ended up having a nice evening in the garden with my wife though. After spending all winter killing ourselves it was great to be able to just chill and watch stuff grow on a warm evening.

Weight belt back down to hole 3 at 193lbs today

This gym has gone ghetto AF though. Probably will prioritize more evening sessions in Tacoma.

I forgot this weekend I was cooking up some corn to ferment for shine and was walking down the stairs of our back deck carrying about 50lbs in a fermenting bucket when my shoe slips on the wet step, I come crashing down on my right glute and slide down 8 stairs. Bubububuibubububump lol. I standup with a "F U C K!!"

Grab my ass wondering how serious this is gonna be, but no corn done spilt

So been riding with a knot in my ass past few days lol. Which my wife keeps slapping. I think squats helped stretch it out big time. Zero pain there or in the knee today during my lift. View attachment 260653View attachment 260654View attachment 260655

Glad to see your knee is continuing to do better so you are able to do squats. And you’re right, the BBB 5 x 10 sets will put it on you. Glad you’re playing it smart and starting a little lighter for you, because even though it’s hard to hold back and do lighter weight, 5/3/1 will always catch up. And you definitely don’t want to aggravate that knee. Glad you didn’t injure yourself too bad in the fall. I was gonna say had you been testing an old batch of your ‘shine?
That’s a great picture of your Australian Blue Healer or Cattle Dog looking over your garden.

 

[Dustin07]

Glad to see your knee is continuing to do better so you are able to do squats.

Funny thing is I typically don't think much about it, Monday it was really sore at the lower hamstring / behind the knee, and with having to do a lot of moving for the office/new facility and everything else I had going on, the 1 extra day of rest seemed to be pretty appropriate.

because even though it’s hard to hold back and do lighter weight, 5/3/1 will always catch up.

Sometimes I'll peak forward in the app to see whats coming. I think today I'm supposed to hit 9 reps at 240 on bench, I'm carb'd up but.... for a basic training protocol in week 2, that would force a PR lol. This could be where Kleen is right that maybe a slightly lower bench starting point would have made sense, but I'll give it the ol' college try and see what we get!

I was gonna say had you been testing an old batch of your ‘shine?

ahaha no, it was like 9am lol. Funny thing is when I make my own I genuinely drink less. Its more satiating for one thing but also its more about the craft. This here is a red white and blue blend I made using Jimmy Red corn, Truckers White, and Ohio Blue. Cooking it takes about 2 days. Ferment takes about a week or so, then a 6-8hr day running it, then into the new american white oak barrel for aging. Came out amazing at 120 proof. bottled it up last night to as not risk any more angels share (its phenomenal) and it will rest in bottle until the 250th where I'll bust it out with friends at the BBQ.

That’s a great picture of your Australian Blue Healer or Cattle Dog looking over your garden

Man Lzzy is such a blast. 3/4 blue healler, 1/4 border collie. She's over a year old now, really hitting that sweet spot.

 

[MrKleen73]

How long are you supposed to age it?

 

[Dustin07]

Bench
20 x bar
5 x 105, 135
3 x 165

3 x 185, 215
8 x 245 (reps PR?)

BBB - EMOTM - wide grip
2 x 10 x 145
3 x 10 x 155

Weighted dips -
4 x 10 x +25lbs
1 x 10 x bw

H/S Decline
3 x 10 x +180


Notes
Still 193lbs
RX was 3+ at 240. 9 reps to beat cycle PR.
No 2.5lb weights here so I had to either go down to 235 or up to 245.

App said target was 8 x 245 or 10 x 235.
I honestly might have gone for 9 if I had a spotter today. I'm happy with the quality of those 8 reps. I'm pretty sure it's a PR cause I never in my recollection aimed for more than 5 at 245+

Wanted to run BBB on incline but the ghetto gym was packed so rather than play that game I did the work here, added ten lbs and gave it hell.

 

[MrKleen73]

If you had run BBB with incline how would you have selected the weight since half of your flat bench would still be heavier than half your incline weight? Do like 40% of the flat bench working weight maybe?

 

[gphagan1]

Bench
20 x bar
5 x 105, 135
3 x 165

3 x 185, 215
8 x 245 (reps PR?)

BBB - EMOTM - wide grip
2 x 10 x 145
3 x 10 x 155

Weighted dips -
4 x 10 x +25lbs
1 x 10 x bw

H/S Decline
3 x 10 x +180


Notes
Still 193lbs
RX was 3+ at 240. 9 reps to beat cycle PR.
No 2.5lb weights here so I had to either go down to 235 or up to 245.

App said target was 8 x 245 or 10 x 235.
I honestly might have gone for 9 if I had a spotter today. I'm happy with the quality of those 8 reps. I'm pretty sure it's a PR cause I never in my recollection aimed for more than 5 at 245+

Wanted to run BBB on incline but the ghetto gym was packed so rather than play that game I did the work here, added ten lbs and gave it hell.

Congrats on the PR.

 

[Dustin07]

How long are you supposed to age it?

It varies, this is a 2L barrel from Redheadoak barrels

Shop Whiskey Barrels for Sale - Red Head Oak Barrels

It is time for you to age your spirits to perfection with our Whiskey Barrels for Sale, where quality and craftsmanship meet at Red Head Barrels.

redheadoakbarrels.com

and the small ones can lose to the angels share pretty rapidly. they have a huge surface area compared to liquid so you get a pretty good pull from the oak (vanilla, sweetness, etc) at a much shorter period of time. A lot of guys will throw oak staves in a mason jar to infuse it with the oak, but keep it sealed so they don't lose any to the angels, but when you legit barrel age I think the evaporation helps soften the flavor a lot because even the congenors you don't necessarily want in your whiskey will evaporate, as well as water, hopefully leaving a higher proof, oaked, finished product.

I really want to get a 5 gallon barrel to try filling but man that would take a big effor to fill. that would be like a minimum of a 50-60 gallon mash (x's 3lbs of grain per gallon of water, so 150-180lbs of corn lol... not too bad if I use cracked corn from wilco for $17/bag).

this guy is kinda close to me and his setup is that your whiskey is in a stainless barrel with a oak top so the liquid still gets oaked but can last a much longer period of time since the evaporation is going to be far lower. I just have a hard time putting so much work into such an organic process like my ancestors and then intentionally resting my heard earned spirits on stainless steel.

You can by the way, take any of these barrels I just posted and pour a cheap whiskey from the store into them to age it yourself as well. I saw a guy on reddit take one of these: https://badmotivatorbarrels.com/collections/1-8-gallon-6-4l-barrel and fill it with a $20 whiskey I'm forgetting the name of, and he said after like 6 months he was shocked at how much better it was.

If you had run BBB with incline how would you have selected the weight since half of your flat bench would still be heavier than half your incline weight? Do like 40% of the flat bench working weight maybe?

Last week I ran it at 135 since the formula didn't have a calculation in place for me yet and i figured at 50 reps that would be a decent BBB challenge. Thats why i went a bit heavier for flat bench today. the RX'd BBB was flat bench at 135, which felt boring, so I added a few lbs and went wide grip to make it spicier.

Congrats on the PR.

thank you! sorta funny to hit a clean 8 at 245 when 10 at 225 is never a guarantee lol.

 

[gphagan1]

It varies, this is a 2L barrel from Redheadoak barrels

Shop Whiskey Barrels for Sale - Red Head Oak Barrels

It is time for you to age your spirits to perfection with our Whiskey Barrels for Sale, where quality and craftsmanship meet at Red Head Barrels.

redheadoakbarrels.com

and the small ones can lose to the angels share pretty rapidly. they have a huge surface area compared to liquid so you get a pretty good pull from the oak (vanilla, sweetness, etc) at a much shorter period of time. A lot of guys will throw oak staves in a mason jar to infuse it with the oak, but keep it sealed so they don't lose any to the angels, but when you legit barrel age I think the evaporation helps soften the flavor a lot because even the congenors you don't necessarily want in your whiskey will evaporate, as well as water, hopefully leaving a higher proof, oaked, finished product.




View attachment 260685

I really want to get a 5 gallon barrel to try filling but man that would take a big effor to fill. that would be like a minimum of a 50-60 gallon mash (x's 3lbs of grain per gallon of water, so 150-180lbs of corn lol... not too bad if I use cracked corn from wilco for $17/bag).

this guy is kinda close to me and his setup is that your whiskey is in a stainless barrel with a oak top so the liquid still gets oaked but can last a much longer period of time since the evaporation is going to be far lower. I just have a hard time putting so much work into such an organic process like my ancestors and then intentionally resting my heard earned spirits on stainless steel.

You can by the way, take any of these barrels I just posted and pour a cheap whiskey from the store into them to age it yourself as well. I saw a guy on reddit take one of these: https://badmotivatorbarrels.com/collections/1-8-gallon-6-4l-barrel and fill it with a $20 whiskey I'm forgetting the name of, and he said after like 6 months he was shocked at how much better it was.



Last week I ran it at 135 since the formula didn't have a calculation in place for me yet and i figured at 50 reps that would be a decent BBB challenge. Thats why i went a bit heavier for flat bench today. the RX'd BBB was flat bench at 135, which felt boring, so I added a few lbs and went wide grip to make it spicier.


thank you! sorta funny to hit a clean 8 at 245 when 10 at 225 is never a guarantee lol.

Oh yeah 245 x 8 is impressive.

 

[Segansational]

Couple of cool things going on in here!

1. That whiskey/shine you're working on sounds both tasty and like a lot of fun in the process. I used to homebrew beer and always enjoyed what went into it. Aging in the charred oak barrels too is a cool aspect to whiskey, so hear you on not wanting to use stainless steel.

But that is definitely all about the sharing experience.

2. Congrats on the PR! Getting back to the basics with 5/3/1 might not sound exciting, but it gets the job done. Simple is sometimes better!

3. Dogs can be such great companions. We're probably getting closer to the idea of getting a dog too. We'll be watching my sister-in-law's dog for the month of August. Kids are excited.

 

[MrKleen73]

Yeah, I imagine you would could probably bench 135 forever with your strength endurance.

 

[Dustin07]

Yeah, I imagine you would could probably bench 135 forever with your strength endurance.

I think I hit 50 one time in a set, I know 30-35 is usually a pretty achievable drop set burnout as long as there is an AED machine there to get me past the heart attack lol.

So I have 3 toys I enjoy, the slingshot, the bands, and the benchblok. I'm curious if you guys have any thoughts on whether or not I can slide any of those into any accessory movements while running 531?

Other thought I have is that Sunday is OHP day, but will likely be a bro sesh with my son who just turned 17 today!!!

Likely he will want to bench. I could let him bench while I OHP. I might have to do that, I can't see hitting the next AMRAP so quickly and I'm not sure how to flip OHP/Bench back and forth mid cycle.

 

[Dustin07]

Also, I'm 192 today. Which feels sorta awesome cause I've been maintaining nutritional consistency with meal prep but more cruise control. zero fasting, eating for performance, but trying to eek just under maintenance. I'd be happy as a clam if I finished next week at 191. With no deadlines, my only goal is to trend the right directly, not to hit a specific dated finishline.

Quads are still sore from squat session this week, and we have a lot of chaos today with moving the business, but hoping to get my deadlift session in if I can, the Fri/Sat will both be active rest days. Otherwise, I'll deadlift tomorrow and have thursday rest, friday pull, saturday farm work.

 

[akboom87]

Sounds like a great time to spend with the boy and 17 !!! Time flies!!