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

[capo180]

That sounds good to me herder.. I really gotta figure this out. It's gonna take some experimenting though. If I could start where I am now and just drop a bit to load the hams while initiating the pull I think I'd be okay.

 

[capo180]

Benching tomorrow. Ill probably also hit some light deads. I always wondered why I was so weak off the floor and anything that gets off the floor flies.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 7 week 3 day B

Warm-up
Foam roll
Shoulder mobility
Lax ball
Stretching

Bench press
Warm-ups - barx10 95x5 135x5
Work sets - 175x5 195x3 220x4
Pause press - 225x3x1

http://youtu.be/QUMxM3WjG2w

DB bench
50x12 60x2x10 70x2x8
Pendlays
135x10 155x2x8 185x2x6

Deadlift
135x1 185x1 225x2 295x1

http://youtu.be/yCvHfGY6dZs

EZ bar skullcrushers
60x10 70x2x8

Band vogelphol rows 3x15
Super set with
Band face pulls 3x15
Super set with
EZ bar curl 50x3x15

Notes
Pretty good day.. Bench was alright, pauses weren't great but I feel pretty comfortable with 225. Deads felt better than the other day, couldn't really see much with the light weight so I hit 295.. Got some video editting app on my phone now so I just tossed all the clips together. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[atanocc]

Nice work man. N OHP getting strong!

 

[capo180]

Thanks man! I got some things to work on with my deadlift, which I'm actually excited about.

Btw I ordered a longhorn 10 mm lever belt from Anderson powerlifting today! Can't wait to get it!

 

[atanocc]

Thanks man! I got some things to work on with my deadlift, which I'm actually excited about. Btw I ordered a longhorn 10 mm lever belt from Anderson powerlifting today! Can't wait to get it!

How much u get it for? Been needing a new belt as well. But yea once that deadlift clicks . It's all uphill from there!

 

[capo180]

95$ + shipping. For a 10 mm lever with a lifetime warranty its not too bad. Plus a medium goes from 29-39 inches so it should always fit me.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 7 week 3 day A

warm-up
hip mobilty
lax ball
foam roll
banded ankle work

squats
warm-up - 135x5 185x4 225x3
work sets - 235x5 265x3 295x3 315x1 275x2x1 (paused) 225x2 (speed)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VII3NhzW_ME

RDLs
135x10 185x2x8

Sumo
185x3 185x2x1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQIaLPisZq8

band pull through 3x10
super set with
barbell lunge barx3x10

air dyne 6 minutes

notes
pretty good workout. kinda wanted to go heavier then 315 on squats just didn't have it today. bottomed out on rep 1 of 295 really took a lot of gas out of me. I gotta get better at finding depth and exploding when i hit it.. might just get back to speed doubles-triples at 185-225, to work on that. attempted to sumo dead today, first time in probably about 6-7 months. the first rep there i saw my hip position was more of a conventional type dead. second rep i pointed my feet way out, almost parallel to the bar, got my hips a bit lower, albeit my hips have to get closer to the bar. Most importantly I felt real tight on these reps, tightened up the shoulders, then dropped the hips to tighten up the hams, and pulled. todays weight was 196.

belt will be here tomorrow, so I'll use it deadlift day.

 

[Sean1332]

Good squatting man. I agree that the second deadlift was better. Sumo is a ****ed up lift. Don't worry about keeping your hips low. Just worry about them being close. You'll hafta figure out your stance width and height. Gettin those hips opened enough sucks.

See: Chris Duffin Misunderstood Sumo Cue

 

[capo180]

Thanks Sean. My hips have better range now than they used too that's for sure.. Yeah I know hips have to get closer to the bar. I was lifting in the rack so my width was kinda limited, I'd probably get the feet a bit wider. But it will take some practice to find the right positioning.

 

[herderdude]

Squats looked good, form was right there. Keep working the sumos, they'll build your hips, but do what Sean said, hips high and close. Watch Sean, Rodja, NomZ, or any bigtime sumo puller and watch how far forward their hips go. It's like smack between their knees and their knees are behind the bar. Here's my favorite vid to watch for sumo, I've linked it several times before. Shoulders slam back, he spreads the floor to get the thing moving, locks his knees violently, and then leans back SLIGHTLY to finish the lift.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knOisK7qU4s

 

[capo180]

Yeah I'm gonna continue to practice em.. Thanks for the cues herder. I gotta start watching more vids of big lifters lifting. The more I watch the more I learn.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 7 week 3 day D

Warm-up
Shoulder mobility
Lax ball
Foam roll
Stretching

Over head press
Warm-ups - barx10 95x5 115x3
Work sets - 130x5 150x5 165x4 (PR) 135x2x5

Close grip bench press
135x10 185x8 205x5,2,2

Pull ups - 5x8
Super set with
Rope push down - 120x5x12

Face pull - 90x5x15

Notes
Great workout today.. Repeat of over head work from cycle 6 week 3 but got 4 reps instead of 3! Bench felt good, I got tighter today, which I'm gonna carry over into bench work next week, cause I feel like I'm still loose in bench which is costing me pounds/reps. My back is able to arch more now as well. Yesterday was my last day of ArA so I'm gonna look at the past couple cycles and see what type of progress I made on the stack and give a review.

 

[herderdude]

Nice work. Interested to hear the review as well.

 

[rob112]

You are kicking ass in here man. That's all I got haha

 

[capo180]

My 10 mm longhorn belt came today! Thing is nice about to adjust it now, can't wait to put it to use in a few days.

 

[rob112]

That's the one I have. I think you are gonna love it man!

 

[herderdude]

Break that sucker in good! Just roll it up tight both ways a bunch of times, and the rest of the breaking in can come from sweat. I rolled my car on my 13mm, that helped a lot, too.

 

[capo180]

Yeah I've been rolling it up. It doesn't seem that rough, probably will be worse when lifting though.

Anyways heres my recap of my ArA run, copied and pasted from the review section here.

Just finished 50 days of x-gels. taken on workout days only (4 workouts a week). 5/3/1 programming. I dosed 1 g x-gels with 3 g GMS and 1 g ALCAR 45 min preworkout.. Put on about 5 lbs during the cycle. Ate about 3000 cals a day (200 protein, 100 fat, 325 carb).

Some decent strength gains.
Bench went from 205x6 to 205x8 hit 235x1
Squat from 260x5 to 280x5 hit 315x1
Over head press from 155x3 to 165x4

chest flexed from 40.5-42in
bicep flexed from 15.75 to 16.25in
waist from 34.5-35in
total weight from 191-196 lbs

only side effect i noticed was a little joint pain towards the end of the cycle. which could have also resulted from the increase in strength, a little fish oil 8 hours after ArA dosage helped though.
I would love to use the product again in the near future. Might run again in the summer with similar lean bulking goals in mind. Might try 1.5 grams.
Would recommend to anyone looking to put on size and strength in a short amount of time and without turning to PH/DS type products.

 

[Sean1332]

Very cool results, man. I really was I could handle ArA. I'm glad it was that positive for you!

 

[capo180]

Today was just a little refresh day.. Did a lot of stretching and foamrolling. Short stints on the air dyne and the treadmill. Tomorrow I'm gonna do some hip mobility then Thursday deads!

 

[LizKing531]

Subbed - good stuff man!

Catching up and learning - good info in here... besides herder sean and all these other beasts I'm keep finding rob112 dropping little tidbits of knowledge that seem to click - squeezing oranges in armpits.... makes sense... I last had my mind blown about bench setup amd tightening the **** out of glutes/legs to kill buttlift- by golly that made a world of difference in my bench...

 

[capo180]

Thanks!! Yep there's some great advice scattered throughout the pages.

 

[herderdude]

Catching up and learning - good info in here.I keep finding rob112 dropping little tidbits of knowledge that seem to click

Don't be fooled, Da BigShot is a beast in the making. He'd already be there, but the human body makes you pay your dues.

 

[Sean1332]

Rob is smart peoples

 

[LizKing531]

Rob is smart peoples

Definitely

 

[napalm]

I still laugh every time I watch one of his vids and see his YouTube name...

 

[capo180]

Cycle 7 week 3 day C

Warm-up
Foam roll
Lax ball
Stretching
Hip mobility

Deads
Warm-ups - 135x5 185x5 225x3
Work sets - 285x5 325x3 365x2,1
Deficit deads - 315x3x2

Good mornings
135x8 155x8 175x6 185x6

Front squats
135x8 185x6 205x4 235x2 (PR)

Notes
Decent deadlift day today. I forgot my chalk which I usually use above 300 so 365 was rough to handle. Felt like I was engaging my hams more, but I still feel off. Didn't get any vids.. I gotta get some arch in my lower back and get my chest up, I already know that. The belt was great though, had to loosen it up a notch cause I couldn't get a full belly of air. Feels like it's gonna help with squats more than anything. Buried the 235 on fronts.

 

[Sean1332]

Good deal on the PR, man. Strong deficits too

 

[Duramaxhd]

U use the belt on the front squats?

Nice work

 

[capo180]

Thanks Sean, my front squats are getting strong, just hope that the strength I build there will eventually carry over to my squat/dead.

 

[napalm]

nice pullin bro, w/o all the warmups and work sets, you're right around 4 plates.

good work...

 

[capo180]

Yeah I belted up for my 235 set. Man, the difference is night and day on fronts with a belt on.

 

[capo180]

nice pullin bro, w/o all the warmups and work sets, you're right around 4 plates.

good work...

Thanks!

That's the goal man.. I just need to work on form, the strength is there. I just get stuck on the floor with anything heavy. Hams gotta get more involved and I gotta get the chest up.

 

[napalm]

there's your cues:

lock in hams, chest up (those two things go together by the way)

two things, simple

i got like 4

 

[rob112]

Deads are weird...I think when I first got 405 I could only do 315 for like 5...and 350ish for around 2. I concur with sir napalm.

Nice fronts btw!

 

[Duramaxhd]

Deads are weird...I think when I first got 405 I could only do 315 for like 5...and 350ish for around 2. I concur with sir napalm.

Nice fronts btw!

Agree with u, today's deadlifts just felt heavy and grip wasn't there for me but when I did 405 it wasn't easy but seemed better then the 385's i just did very odd

 

[capo180]

Yeah I've hit 315x10 but couldn't get 405 to leave the ground..
But yeah I just gotta get my chest up, deads are a work in progress, since it seems like they have begun to kinda regress.. But I'm gaining in my squat. It seems like it's always one or the other with me.

 

[Duramaxhd]

U know now that u have the belt u may get it easy just a thought. I notice when I use the belt everything seems lighter to me to a point

 

[napalm]

Yeah I've hit 315x10 but couldn't get 405 to leave the ground.

i bet you can, it's the little things like set up, hips, warmup...

try this:

135x3
225x3
275x3
315
365
4 plates

it's a lock...

 

[herderdude]

If you're fast and repping hard with a weight close to your max, it usually means you need to get tighter. What's the assistance exercise and form cues for getting tighter, you ask? There are none. You just squeeze everything in your body until you feel like you're gonna pass out, then do the damn weight!

But don't worry bud, it takes a little while to load the hams properly and still get a nice powerful pull. Just remember to sit back to get the slack out of the bar. Sit BACK, NOT DOWN.

 

[capo180]

Yeah. It'll take some time and practice to get everything down pat.. Hopefully sooner than later though.

 

[capo180]

A little sore today. Gonna get in the gym and start my new cycle with bench day!

 

[capo180]

Cycle 8 week 1 day B

Warm up
Foam roll
Lax ball
Stretching
Banded shoulder routine

Bench press
Warm-ups - barx10 95x5 135x5
Work sets - 175x5 185x5 200x10 (PR)
Explosive pauses - 185x3x3

http://youtu.be/9uB0Gzr4QHw (200x10)

DB bench
60x10,12 70x3x10
Super set with
Pendlay row
135x8,10 155x3x10

Band face pull - 3x15
S.S with
Vogelphol row - 3x15
S.S with
EZ bar curl - 50x3x12

Notes
Great workout today.. Everything on bench felt the same, bar speed was consistent throughout all sets. Bringing the feet back behind the knees helped a lot. Felt much more explosive. Gunning for 245-250 at the end of this cycle.

 

[rob112]

Good work buddy. Your goal is very realistic bc that set looked easy for you.

 

[CountryLiftin]

Heck yeah man! You have 250 no problem prob more. How often have you been working with heavier weight and joker sets?

 

[capo180]

Thanks rob and country not too often.. Ill usually implement extra Bench work in the form of pause pressing though. Today I wanted to go a bit lighter on em and work on speed. Ill hit something heavy every week 3 in bench, some type of PR so far it's been 235x1 then 225x2 and last cycle I did 225 pause press singles.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 8 week 1 day A

Warm-up
Foamroll
Lax ball
Ankle band work
Hip mobility
Stretching

Squats
Warm-ups - barx5 135x5 185x5 225x3
Work sets - 240x5 255x5 270x7 (PR)
Speed work - 225x3x2

http://youtu.be/2hILLgfB7mw (270x7)

Sumo deads
135x2x4 225x3x2

RDLs
135x8,10,12

Decline sit ups -3x15
S.S with
DB lunge - 25x3x10
S.S with
Band pull through - 3x12

Great workout today. Felt good on squats the belt helped me keep tighter than usual. Depth wasn't great but looked acceptable. Got the feet almost parallel to the bar on sumos, helped get the hips a bit closer, still a work in progress. PR on 270 up to 7 reps from previous 5 reps.

 

[rob112]

You definitely hit depth(was pausing it while watching). Nice work Capo!

 

[capo180]

Thanks rob! Squats have been going good for me these past couple cycles. Just riding the wave at this point and keeping up with mobility.