bigger stronger faster with the help of 5/3/1

[capo180]

Thanks man, if you check out my vids of my deload lift after that. I took my feet out a bit more, felt a lot better.

 

[capo180]

I usually hold my breath, especially with heavier weights.

 

[Sean1332]

I usually hold my breath, especially with heavier weights.

You should always hold air in your stomach during the lift. That's going to help keep your core engaged to maintain a braced, neutral spine. Unrack, suck in air, complete squat, exhale.

 

[capo180]

Yeah I mean I always do with weights above like 185 or so. Usually on lighter weights I pause in the hole and let my air out and take a second breath then come back up.

 

[herderdude]

Hell, on big weights, I get my air before I get under the bar. It's much easier than getting it with a few hundred pounds resting on your back, you know? Like Sean said, you're going to want to keep your air the whole time. Sometimes I keep my air for two or three reps. If you wanted to do breathing pauses, I'd do them as a second exercise or back-off set. Learn to hit the bottom and pop up, rather than be slow in the hole.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 3 week 4 OH press deload

Warm-up
Cleans/snatches with bar
Broomsticks
Band pull-a-parts

OH press
Barx8 95x5x3

Floor press
95x8 135x8 185x5 135x10

DB row
75x3x10

Incline bench press
50x20

Band pull-a-parts
90 reps

Notes
Good workout today. Did a little bit of weight on floor press, been a while since I've done those, did em with a little pause on the floor. Speed work on OH press used a false grip for a couple of sets, felt like I got more acceleration with it.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 4 week 1 day A

Warm-up
Stretching
Foam rolling

Squats
Warm-up - barx8 135x5 185x3
Work sets - 210x5 225x5 240x8 (pr)
http://youtu.be/wcJHYAsyfU4

Front squats
135x2x8 155x2x6 175x4

Sldl
135x2x10 155x3x8

Notes
First day on x-gels 1g pre workout. Almost couldn't walk after this workout, front squats where ATG. Questionable depth on my video, think I might be a bit too wide. Rep pr on 240 from 7 to 8 reps.

 

[atanocc]

Cycle 4 week 1 day A Warm-up Stretching Foam rolling Squats Warm-up - barx8 135x5 185x3 Work sets - 210x5 225x5 240x8 (pr) http://youtu.be/wcJHYAsyfU4 Front squats 135x2x8 155x2x6 175x4 Sldl 135x2x10 155x3x8 Notes First day on x-gels 1g pre workout. Almost couldn't walk after this workout, front squats where ATG. Questionable depth on my video, think I might be a bit too wide. Rep pr on 240 from 7 to 8 reps.

Nice pr dude. The vid was in a bad angle to judge but from what I saw it looked like the hips were just above parallel on a few reps. But other then that it went up pretty good.. U prob had a few left . good job brother

 

[Sean1332]

Yup just open your knees a but more and sit back a bit and you'll hit depth easily. Lookin good

 

[capo180]

thanks guys. the squats were pretty easy, i just gotta get those knees out a little more.

cycle 4 week 1 day B

warm-up
stretching
band pull-a-parts
rotator cuff warm up

bench press
warm-ups - barx8 95x5 135x3
work sets - 160x5 175x5 185x10 (rep pr)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmDJLUP7PMM

DB bench
65x10 75x8 85x4,4 45x15

DB row
70x3x10 50x2x15

face pulls
100x15,12

band pull-a-parts
50 reps

EZ bar curls
50x8 40x2x10

notes
First day on the full stack of ArA (1g) ALCAR (1g) and GMS (3.3 g). I also took some c4 (3/4 scoop). good work out, 185 felt real light. probably had 2-3 more reps in me. old rep max was 8.. back pumps were outrageous after rows, had to cut back a bit on face pulls and pull-a-parts. starting night turn tonight, so tomorrow will be an off day. ill be back in the gym saturday for deads though. todays weight was 189.6.

 

[atanocc]

Definitely had 2-3 more reps.. Good job homie. But are u getting any leg drive on ur bench?? I know u bench with not a lot of arch (I'm the same way) but you Should def try to get that working for u

 

[capo180]

Yeah I keep my feet really stapled to the floor. My legs were quite dead this morning, luckly it was a light day, my leg drive during this set was pretty bad. I kept tightness throughout my whole body, but I didn't really give any big pop from my legs. I gave it a little rock to get it going from the chest. Kinda hard to explain.. On heavier sets ill drive a lot harder with the legs, my weight shifts up the bench a good amount then.

 

[capo180]

Off day today.

Chest is a little sore, quads are still pretty pissy. going to foam roll and stretch real good before work tonight.

starting to track my food intake a bit more. want to stick my calories in the 2900-3100 range, with 190 P, 100 F, remaining carbs (350 or so). Hopefully this will allow me to gain some lean mass while on ArA.

 

[bolt10]

Off day today.

Chest is a little sore, quads are still pretty pissy. going to foam roll and stretch real good before work tonight.

starting to track my food intake a bit more. want to stick my calories in the 2900-3100 range, with 190 P, 100 F, remaining carbs (350 or so). Hopefully this will allow me to gain some lean mass while on ArA.

Sounds good on the food intake. I like the breakdown.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 4 week 1 day C

warm-up
stretching
foam rolling

deads
warm-up - 135x8 225x3
work sets - 265x5 285x5 305x10 (rep pr)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B5EDqXkYM8

good mornings
135x2x10 155x2x8 175x5

decline sit ups
15,15,20

notes
good quick work out today. deads felt light. 175 is probably as heavy as I've ever went on good mornings. everything is starting to come together nicely. gotta keep the momentum up though. I want to hit some heavier singles/doubles at some point maybe around 355-365, nothing crazy.. I think i can pull over 400 at this point.

 

[Duramaxhd]

Getting up there, you should take a day and see if u can get 400+ never know unless u try at least try to work up to a heavier single I do it so I can know where I stand and gives me a confidence boost maybe someone else can chime in as to whether this is sound advice or not

Ive been keeping a close eye on your log seeing how our weights are pretty close

 

[capo180]

yeah I'll see how things feel this week. don't know if I'll go all the way up to 400, but I'll hit something for a single or double if things feel good.

cycle 4 week 1 day D

Warm-up
pull ups
band pull-a-parts
5 lb laterals
cleans with bar weight.

OH press
warm-ups - barx8 95x5
work sets - 120x5 130x5 135x9 (rep pr)

CGBP
115x2x10 135x2x8 155x5

chins
4x8 4x6

rope pushdown
110x20

cable curl
100x20

face pulls
100x3x15

band pull-a-parts
60 reps

notes
good workout today. couldnt get in the power rack to do OH press so I had to clean the bar into position.. that kinda sucked haha. got 135x9 today, rep pr. previous two attempts on 135 were both for 8 reps. kept things a little heavier on close grips, nice slow negatives.. great pump throughout the upper body after this workout. fasted body weight at 12:30 was 190.2.

 

[bolt10]

I actually clean from the floor all my overhead presses just to get it in position. That is because I am pretty weak so it isn't hard (lol) and I like to pretend it makes me cool.

 

[capo180]

haha jeez, i i just like being able to start from the top. get a big breath of air and get everything tighter. cleaning it up just makes it a bit more difficult.. I'm the weak guy around here man.. don't try to take my crown lol.

 

[CountryLiftin]

Starting from the top lets me get my back and glutes tight and core braced which is important for a proper OHP IMO.

 

[capo180]

Agreed Country!

Cycle 4 week 2 day A

warm-up
stretching hips
various plyometrics

squats
warm-ups - barx8 135x5 185x3
work sets - 225x3 240x3 255x6 185x3 (pause set)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIvtjwRdrE4

front squats
135x2x10 115x2x12 95x10 (pause set)

SLDL
135x2x12 155x2x10 175x8

leg ext
80x25

leg curl
60x25

notes
pretty good workout today. barely got 6 reps out on squats. depth looked better.. a little out of position on the last 2 reps, came forward a bit. gotta push the head back when the reps get hard. a little blood flow work on exts and curls.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 4 week 2 day B

warm-ups
foam rolling upper back
band pull-a-parts
shoulder rotations
lateral raises

bench press
warm-ups - barx8, 95x5, 135x3
work sets - 175x3 185x3 195x9 (PR) 175x3 (paused)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwU0ujlHah4

DB bench press
60x2x10 50x2x12 35x12 (slow negative, 3 sec pause)

DB row
75x2x10 60x2x12 50x15

band pull-a-parts 120-140 reps

band tricep push downs 50 reps (guessing its an average band)

EZ bar curl 40x25


notes
Good workout today. Bench felt pretty damn light. previous rep max was 8 today i hit 9. next week I am prescribed to do 205, might go to 225 after that. hit a single or double there. got my legs popping a lot more today then last week. So far the ArA/ALCAR/GMS stack is treating me well, nothing crazy strength wise yet, but muscles feel a lot more full throughout the day and always have a good focus in the gym.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 4 week 2 day C

warm-up
stretching
cleans with bar
air squats

deadlifts
warm-ups - 135x5 225x3
work sets - 285x3 300x3 320x8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0rjaiNYRWg
joker - 365x1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKD4228Fhog
joker - 375x1 !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRX7IIb1FbA

good mornings
115x2x12 135x2x10 95x10 (pause)

ab work with band (standing crunches, oblique work)
100 reps or so

notes
Good workout today. Didn't know if I wanted to keep going after that 320 set, but just told myself to stop being a damn sissy and pick some f@cking weight up! Very happy with getting 375, its a PR for me since my back injury. I don't think weights like this will become a weekly occurrence, but every few weeks I might do this type of thing. Deff a happy camper after this workout.

 

[rob112]

Congrats on the PR. Solid workout brother. Nice pulling!

 

[Duramaxhd]

Nice work made it look easy

 

[Sean1332]

good job man

 

[CountryLiftin]

Congrats on the PR brochacho

 

[capo180]

Thanks guys! That was a great lift yesterday.. It was pretty easy. Upper back is a little sore today, gonna do my OH press workout tonight after work. Feels good to get stronger lol.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 4 week 2 day D

warm-up
stretching
rotator warm-up
band pull-a-parts

OH press
warm-ups - 65x8 95x5
work sets - 130x3 135x3 145x6

Close grip bench press
115x2x12 135x2x10 95x10 (pause reps)

pull ups
10,10,8

chins
8

cable curls 70x3x12
L lateral raises 5x3x12
V bar push downs 110x3x12
(all done as a circuit with no rest)

band pull-a-parts
60 reps

face pulls
80x25

notes
decent workout today. dry weight at 3:50 am was 192.4. didn't set a rep record on OH press.. back was pretty fried after a couple sets of pull ups so called it quits on chins. did a little circuit work for the hell of it, just had a lot of extra time.. now just hope this storm doesn't put a tree on top of my car or something haha.

 

[Duramaxhd]

Doing good
Did u get bored with big and boring routine i dont think ive read anything on it in a while could be wrong following too many logs I loses track lol

Where u at we just had the storms roll over us

 

[capo180]

Live in Cleveland Ohio. they just began rolling in a little bit ago.

Yeah boring but big is truely boring lol, but it does work. It did help me get stronger and bigger.. hated doing 5 sets of 10 on squats and deads though.

What I'm doing now is basically just one additional assistance exercise. i do a little bit of pump work after, but most of my work is just main lift and 2 accessories.

 

[Duramaxhd]

Ahh I did live toledo now we are in blissfield Michigan

I was just asking to see what your thinking was is all. if it works for u (which it apparently is based on progress in this log) then stick with it

 

[capo180]

Thanks man, yeah i plan to keep training this way just tossing in new things every once in a while. Try to keep things interesting lol.

Cycle 4 week 3 day A

warm-up
lax ball
foamroll
stretching

squats
warm-ups - barx8 135x5 185x3
work sets - 215x5 240x3 270x4 185x3 (pause)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OEitGp2hOk

front squats
115x3x12 95x2x15

SLDL
115x2x15 135x8 185x2x3

Jump sqauts
BWx8 barx8
super set with
lunges
BWx2x10

notes
Decent lift today. I need to push my knees out a bit harder on squats, 270 didn't feel that great today. Reps were okay. 12-15 rep front squats are horrible. tried to do the same volume on SLDL but just couldn't fathom doing that again. did jump squats and lunges today, haven't done either in a while. Benching tomorrow, my 1 weight is 205, probably stop at 6-7 reps and go for 225-235.. see how it goes.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 4 week 3 day B

Warm-up
foamroll
lax ball
raises with 5 lb plates
stretching

bench press
warm-ups - barx8 95x5 135x3
work sets - 160x5 185x3 205x6 185x2x3 (paused)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYnvsOfAass

incline db bench
55x3x12 45x12

db row
60x3x12

kroc rows
110x10 85x15

v bar push down
110x20 130x20
superset with
cable curl
80x2x20

face pull
80x3x20

band pull-a-parts
60 reps

notes
decent workout.. fasted weight this morning 191.2. not too happy with my bench press today. Unracked 225 and just put it right back, got a little kink in my neck which threw me off. decent work on everything else.. really need to strengthen my upper back, heavy kroc rows are now on the agenda for every bench day.

 

[atanocc]

Nice work man. Definitely build that upper back . Try some pendlays .. Great for the upperback! Would be doing them more often if my lower back wasn't an issue.

 

[capo180]

Good idea man thanks. Ill Toss some in on my next bench day.

 

[Sean1332]

Good idea man thanks. Ill Toss some in on my next bench day.

"Some" as in 5 sets worth!

 

[capo180]

of course 5 sets. 5 heavy sets.

cycle 4 week 3 day C

warm-up
lax ball
foam roll
stretch

deads
warm-ups - 135x6 225x5
work sets - 265x5 305x3 335x6
sumo - 225x3x3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SlH_70DIYQ

good mornings
115x5x12

a bunch of core and face pulls with a avg. band

notes
decent workout today. i took 225 to lightly, didn't have my tris flexed and i really felt it in my bicep. beyond that and ron colemans cousin yelling light weight in the back round every 30 seconds it was a pretty good lift lol.

Is there any good substitute for good mornings outside of GHRs (dont have the equipment) and SLDL (already doing them)?? feel like i should switch that up at somepoint.

 

[rob112]

Nice session. Deads are moving on up.


You could RDL. They are basically a GM holding the weight.

 

[capo180]

Thank you sir good idea!

Cycle 4 week 3 day D

Warm-up
Banded shoulder work
Stretching
Cleans with bar

OH press
Warm-ups - barx8 95x5
Work sets - 120x5 135x3 155x3 115x6 95x10

CGBP
115x2x12 135x8 155x6 175x6

Chins
4x10 1x12

Avg band face pulls
4x12 1x15

L raises
10x2x10

Notes
Pretty good workout today. OH press days are starting to get a bit heavy, gonna start to do some extra sets like today to try to strengthen the shoulder some more. Close grips felt light today. Shoulder felt really loose from the band work.

 

[Duramaxhd]

Nice job
Shoulders have been my weak point ive reset them twice cutting my calories probably doesnt help that should end soon thou

I see on another site jim said a lot of guys are having good luck with 5 forward 3 back in the cycles I may try that if my progress seems to slow on any lift

 

[capo180]

Yeah I've just never really pounded OH press before at all hah. Ill keep the 5 forward and 3 back in mind for if/when I don't hit my reps.

I'm gonna get my self some oly shoes, a belt, and maybe some bands for Christmas.. Hopefully somewhere has some Black Friday specials hahah.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 5 week 1 day A

warm-up
stretching
lax ball

squats
warm-ups - barx8 135x5 185x3
work sets - 220x5 235x5 250x6 (pr) 225x6 185x8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfvnXisJ7zk

RDLs
135x2x8 185x3x6

leg press
2ppsx3x12 3ppsx2x8

DB walking lunges

30x2x8

notes
Decent workout today. would of liked to hit 7 on 250, didn't have my usual aggression in the gym.. Everything moved a bit slow. work is kinda messing with my sleep i work swings and I get maybe 5-6 hours max sleep a night. kinda hard to make progress with that, but Im gonna keep at it. prev rep record on 250 was 5 reps. RDLs were fun, nice slow negatives, really burning those hams up. forearms had fun with those as well. leg press nice and wide, working the hips mostly instead of the quads, felt good. 250 felt a lot worse then it looks in that video, maybe i was just being a sissy, should of hit 7..

 

[capo180]

Cycle 5 week 1 day B

warm-up
foam roll
lax ball
stretch
banded shoulder warm-up

bench press
warm-ups - barx10 95x8 135x5
work sets - 165x5 175x5 190x10 (PR) 175x6 155x8

db bench
50x3x12 (60x8,6 paused)

pendlay row
135x2x8 165x2x8 185x5

band face pull 3x15
super set with
band pushdown 3x15

band pull-a-parts 50 reps

notes
Great workout today. Bench felt real good, found a video on elitefts about bench grip. I sometimes have the problem of my wrist rolling backwards when i press, the different set up seemed to help. http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/friday-technique-video-bench-press-grip/ .. also they got a good sale going on, i ordered some bands and wrist wraps.. bands are 50% off and wraps are 40% off i think the sale ends tomorrow. pendlays were good, got pretty good explosion off the ground, might get some video of them next week to check out my form. prev 190 rep record was 9 reps, today got 10!

 

[atanocc]

Nice PRs dude!

 

[Sean1332]

Your squats are starting to look much better than before dude. Youre breaking parallel and you're staying tight. You might benefit with some Olympic shoes with that width of stance. Everyone is different though. If that's good for you and you have good ankle mobility and your knees aren't hurting, then you'd be fine without them.

Try keeping your elbows more underneath the bar. They flare back when your butt comes up a bit too fast. In return, your chest falls a tad, which is why it's difficult getting your hips back underneath you. Elbows down, drive back into the bar, big chest, and that should help your torso out. You'll figure out your own cues with more time.

 

[rob112]

Sean gave you awesome advice. Just something else to add that helps me personally is really focussing on breaking at the hips first. This helps me sit back better and have the chest in a more advantageous position to finish the lift.

 

[capo180]

Thanks guys.

Thanks for the advise Sean, that makes a lot of sense. gives me things to work on for my next squat day. Gotta really force those elbows forward to keep more upright. should stop me from turning a squat to a good morning. Im gonna be getting some adidas oly shoes here soon to give me some footwear to squat in sometimes my knees give me a fit, possibly try to deadlift in em too, if its uncomfortable ill get some chucks.

 

[Sean1332]

Thanks guys. Thanks for the advise Sean, that makes a lot of sense. gives me things to work on for my next squat day. Gotta really force those elbows forward to keep more upright. should stop me from turning a squat to a good morning. Im gonna be getting some adidas oly shoes here soon to give me some footwear to squat in sometimes my knees give me a fit, possibly try to deadlift in em too, if its uncomfortable ill get some chucks.

I'm gonna grab the Addidas from EFS as well. Wei Rui, VS, Pendlay Dowin and Again Faster make decent Oly shoes too.

I wouldn't deadlift in them. I'd rather go barefoot with conventional than a heal. Olympic lifters wear them obviously, but setting up for a cleaning portion of a lift is different than setting up a deadlift. Although, Torobestia pulls a crap load of weight in an Oly shoe, so maybe he can elaborate more.

 

[CountryLiftin]

I want a grab some too I think. Which Adidas are you getting?

I pull in a heeled shoe also, and hate everyone I try w my chucks....