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

Nice Deload man. Yea some people man.. Not sure why they do what they do. Haha.lol just the other day I had a guy take up two HS calve raise machines (same exact ones with the same amount of weight on it) I was about to do some sets on one of them and he goes n tells me, " I'm on these two right here and switching back n forth. I got a few more" I look at him, then I look at the machines to see if they were any different. I look at him again n just said "wow" n walked away.
 
Thanks man! Yeah I've seen some confusing things in some gyms.. Especially while I was at college lol.. That was the peak of gym stupidity.

Today's an off day.. Rough day at work, spent 5 hours on top of the furnace, 150 feet up in the cold wind.. And I wasn't prepared for the cold. The rest of the managers were standing around watching I was getting busy shoveling **** cause I was so damn cold. There was iron ore pellets probably 3 feet deep in spots, I'd estimate about 5 tons of material up there with nothing but buckets and shovels.. Took about 8 hours with 10-15 people.

A Christmas ale or two tonight then it's off to sleep.. Ill hit my last deload day tomorrow.
 
Cycle 5 week 4 day C

Warm-up
Foam rolling
Lax ball
Stretching

Deads
Warm-up - 155x2x5 205x5
Work sets - 215x5 235x5 255x5

Power clean
135x3x3
185x4

Front squats
135x2x8

Finished with over head squat pauses barx8

Notes
I realized today that my hip flexibility is sh!t.. Well in my books that is.. I can ATG front and back squat pretty well.. I try to do Over head work and I get all out of wack. I'm not too overly concerned about over head work but I am concerned about hip flexibility. Probably going to start implementing some of K Starr's stuff probably at least 3-4 times a week, maybe even daily.
 
That about what I'm thinking Sean. Just trying to keep the hips healthy, possibly become more flexible which would hopefully translate to better squat form and therefore increased strength..
 
capo180 said:
That about what I'm thinking Sean. Just trying to keep the hips healthy, possibly become more flexible which would hopefully translate to better squat form and therefore increased strength..
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Exactly. Gotta be able to your body into an optimal position and to prevent injury.
 
Cycle 6 week 1 day B

Warm-up
Lax ball
Foam roll
Kstarr hip mobility work
Banded shoulder routine

Bench press
Warm-ups - barx8 95x5 135x5
Work sets - 165x5 180x5 195x8 175x8,6

DB bench
55x3x10 45x2x15

Pendlays
135x8,10,10,12,12

Super set of:
-face pull - 90x15,100x15
-rope push down - 120x15, 140x15
-DB curl - 20x15, 25x15

Band pull a parts
75 total reps

Notes
Didn't really have my usual bench strength today.. Wanted 10 on 195. Oh well. Hit everything else with short rest and volume. Whole upper body is really pumped up. I'm always weaker after deloading just for a couple days though, which is why I don't deload every cycle. My external rotation is what is really lacking in my hips gonna work on some type of mobility work daily.
 
Off day today.. Hitting the psoas hard.

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Also hit some external rotation work.

Foamrolled the upper body.
 
Yeah that stretch felt great. really helped loosen me up.

continued with mobility work today.

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on the wall I'm able to get in a bit better position then I was a few weeks ago.

about to go squat.
 
Cycle 6 week 1 Day A

warm-up
mobility work posted above
general stretching
foam rolling
lax ball

squats
warm-ups - barx5 135x5 185x3
work sets - 225x5 240x5 255x7 (PR) 225x6 225x2 (4 sec pause)
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RDL
135x2x8 185x8,10,12

leg press
2ppsx2x15 3ppsx2x12 4ppsx8

DB lunges
15x12 20x12

BW split squats
2x10

notes
Pretty good squat workout today.. My left side got real tight during my first working set of 225.. Unsure of what really happened, it didn't really effect my work out very much. Still tight, cracked my back after my workout, helped a little bit. Just hit the lax ball and foamroller now. left glute was pretty tight. still a little pain. but got a PR on 255 today, also a calc 1rm PR up to 313! Best squat day in a while and its right after a deload.. quite surprising. everything felt pretty good during 255 besides that left side, came a little forward on the last few reps. I'll take em though. Hips are feeling better, I got better control in the hole. My buddy should be here soon.. so i kinda want this cycle to move along quick so I can at least get to hit a heavier single on bench with a unrack before he goes back to school. If not I'll make it to my old gym.. Just hate to pay 10$ for a one day pass lol.
 
cycle 6 week 1 day D

warm-up
lax ball
foam roll
stretching
banded shoulder routine
band pull-a-parts
broomsticks

OH press
warm-ups - barx8 95x5 115x5
work sets - 130x5 135x5 145x6

standing DB press
50x8, 45x10

close grip bench press
135x8,8,10,10,12

pull ups
8,8,10,10

avg. band super set
Vogelphol rows - 3x12
face pulls - 3x12

notes
decent workout today.. missed the lockout on my 7th rep of 145, so I didn't hit a PR on that. Next two days will probably be rest days for me.. My legs were pretty burnt out today, it was hard to keep real tight during that last set. Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful Christmas Eve and a merry Christmas!
 
Merry Christmas to everyone!

Left oblique is still pretty tender from squats the other day. Just trying to stretch that out today.. working some hip mobility stretches too. I'll probably deadlift friday and bench saturday.

hope everyone has a good Christmas!
 
Cycle 6 week 1 day C

warm-up
lax ball
stretching
hip mobility

deadlift
warm-ups - barx10 135x5 225x5
work sets - 280x5 300x5 315x10
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deficit deads (standing on a 45lb plate)
275x2x5

front squats
135x8,10,10 185x3 225x2
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notes
pretty good lift today.. heavy day. deficit deads felt great, forced me to bring my hips lower. 315 wasn't bad, could probably hit a few more, but didn't want to break form to bad, calc 1rm PR up to 418, surprisingly my first time hitting 315 on 5/3/1. I've hit 10 reps on all my week 1 deadlift days so I would like to keep that going. Was pretty tired on front squats and didn't have the high rep sets in me, so i hit a 225 double, pretty easy, might be the first time I've went that heavy on fronts not sure though. had a good Christmas with the fam, hope you all did too! bought my self anabeta and erase, 2 bottles of each might use those after I'm off x-gels for a bit. I'll likely start 3's week tomorrow with bench press.
 
Cycle 6 week 2 day B

warm-up
lax ball
hip mobility
banded shoulder routine
stretching

bench press
warm-ups - barx8 95x8 135x5
work sets - 180x3 190x3 205x8 (PR)

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pause press
185x3x3

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DB bench press
55x10,12,12,15,15

pendlay rows
135x10,12,12 185x5,5


avg band Vogelphol rows - 3x15
superset with
band pull-a-parts - 3x24 (12 over hand, 12 under hand)

hammer curls
25x3x12

notes
Good workout today. Very happy with my bench press. Hit 8 reps on 205 for a PR up from a prev rep record of 6! Did some pause bench, felt okay, the set I got on video was my last set. a lot of volume on DB bench. back to work soon for my last night! then off 5 days. I got a business trip in the middle of january for 3 days.. should line up with my deload week, I'm hoping, or might just have to pack some gym clothes and crush weights after bs meetings lol. have a good day guys! thanks for reading.
 
They weren't too heavy Sean. I was surprised by how well I held form, although it is pretty light weight.. It's something that ill continue doing for sure.
 
Rest day today. Gonna work on the hips maybe do some upper body mobility as well. Squating tomorrow. Fasted weight this morning 193 lb. I look pretty lean though.. Usually at 3000 cal a day I'm kinda bloated. ArA might be helping in that respect, also my strength is going up. My upper back is looking noticeably bigger, which will help me with all competition lifts.
 
Thank you sir. Yeah I felt real good that day, got loosened up real good before I hit the bench and got in a nice grove.
 
Cycle 6 week 2 day A

warm-up
hip mobility work
lax ball
stretching

squats
warm-ups - barx8 135x8 185x3 225x3
work sets - 240x3 255x3 270x5 (PR)
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pause squats
245x3x3
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RDLs
135x8,10 185x8 205x8,8

leg press
2pps x5x15

notes
Pretty good squat workout today. new rep record for 270, prev record was 4 reps. One guy came up to me after my 255 set and said my squat form was perfect. just said thanks.. I think its far from perfect though, could probably still sit back a bit more and get a little bit extra hip drive. pause squats murdered my glutes and hams, RDLs just added to the pain lol. couldn't even think about doing lunges after getting off the leg press, quads and hams were screaming. the area just above the knee, on the inside portion of the knee, i think its were the hamstring connects got real tight today. about to hit that with the lax ball, and foam roll everything.
 
Just got done hammering the back and ribs with a lax ball, and doing some shoulder mobility work. see if that helps with my OHP tomorrow.

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Nice and simple.
 
Just got all caught up. Nice work in here, dude! You're running the shyt out of this 5/3/1. I like to see a guy stick to the plan and make gains. I like how you're nabbing small PRs every few weeks and spending most of your time building strength instead of testing it. You've got a lot of good progress ahead of you. You better start thinking of goals after 1000! I think you could go out and hit 1000 today, haven't seen anything in your max videos that says you couldn't.
 
Just watched both videos and squats look good man! Awesome work! Them pauses destroy me DOMS wise so I have a feeling you are gonna feel it tomorrow! Haha
 
herderdude said:
Just got all caught up. Nice work in here, dude! You're running the shyt out of this 5/3/1. I like to see a guy stick to the plan and make gains. I like how you're nabbing small PRs every few weeks and spending most of your time building strength instead of testing it. You've got a lot of good progress ahead of you. You better start thinking of goals after 1000! I think you could go out and hit 1000 today, haven't seen anything in your max videos that says you couldn't.
Click to expand...

This^ You are running 5/3/1 exactly the way you should and that's training strength and power not testing maxes. Keep up the good work man.
 
Yeah guys. I feel the squats today, not as bad as i thought it would be though haha. I really bought into to concept of just consistent progression, and not trying to really rush things.. Just wish I would of bought into that model a couple years ago. 1000 will come, thats my first goal after that I dunno, maybe a 5 plate deadlift, 300 lb bench.
 
Just set steady goals for yourself. Gain 25lbs on bench, 50 lbs on squat and dead every year. You'll probably get more than that at the start, less after a few years, but you make stead progression like that for 4 years and look at where your numbers would be. Insane. And it's likely you'll gain a lot more than that the first few years.
 
^ What Country said. The 5lb PRs as goals are good ones. Rep PRs are good ones. Random ones are good, too. Like, BW OHP like you said, I keep track of pause squat PRs, PRs with no belt, belt, belt and wraps, whatever I can think of. The more goals you set, the more you achieve, the more confidence you build, the better you attack the weight.
 
Great ideas guys. Yeah I just want steady progression really, I don't want to get ahead of myself. This year I was happy to just get on a good program and really learn proper form and technique, as you said country the weight will come over time. I always keep my rep records I got an ever growing excel file with all my amrap sets laid out. I'm gonna use 295/235/385 as my year end numbers and just try to progress from there.

Cycle 6 week 2 day D

Warm-up
Lax ball
Stretching
Banded shoulder work

Over head press
Warm-ups - barx8 95x6 115x3
Work sets - 135x3 145x3 155x5 (PR) 135x3x3

Close grip bench press
135x8,10,12,15,15

Pull ups
8,10,10

Chins
8,8,12

Avg band super set
Push downs - 3x15
Face pulls - 3x15

Super set
DB curls - 25x2x15
Band pull a parts - 2x45 (15 reps 3 diff ways)

Notes
Good workout to end the year on. Over heads felt heavy till I got 155 on the bar, rep pr today up to 5 reps from 3. Calc 1rm up to 180 lb! Felt pretty darn good today. One guy in the gym asked if I was a bodybuilder lol.. I guess I need to eat more haha.
 
Thanks everyone! I've been working on my mobility a lot, I think its beginning to help me with my squats. Will continue working on it though, especially the hips, and probably do a little shoulder mobility the day before benching/ OHP, just to see if that will help me get in better position.

And for front squats, I'm not very wide at all, shoulder width or so, and I try to take em pretty deep therefore, i keep em pretty light most of the time. Everyone is different though.
 
Yeah i walk a lot of stairs at work, so sometimes my knees can get pretty cranky.

cycle 6 week 2 day C

warm-up
lax ball
hip mobility
general stretching

deads
warm-ups - 135x8 225x5 275x3
work sets - 300x3 315x3 335x7 (PR)

front squats
135x8,10,12,12,5

notes
Not a very good lift today, basically got my PR and just about left. Said whatever and hit some light front squats.. deads were pure back, pretty ugly reps to hit my PR. New Years eve festivities probably didn't help my performace at all today, didn't eat much yesterday cause my stomach felt like sh!t. i don't really drink much or drink often (maybe once a month at most) but i sure went all out new years. back felt strange on my last set of fronts so i cut em short. taking tomorrow off for sure, maybe even a second day off before starting week 3 with bench. I'll probably drag this week out doing 1 day on 1 day off, until i leave for my trip. I'll be gone for 3 days, and ill bring some bands and stuff to work on mobility and just to keep active, as i wont have a car to go to a gym or anything. I'll jump right into cycle 7 when i get back.
 
Seven reps on your 3's week is still an awesome day, bud. You're not gonna feel like a million bucks and a pair of titties every time out, that's just the way it goes.
 
yeah i feel it.. the numbers were good, set a PR. i guess thats what matters at the end of the day. the quality of work just wasn't up to par.. I'll get em next time. probably throwing in some more pause work for 5/3/1 week on squat and bench, Probably try to pull something heavy off a plate too.
 
capo180 said:
yeah i feel it.. the numbers were good, set a PR. i guess thats what matters at the end of the day. the quality of work just wasn't up to par.. I'll get em next time. probably throwing in some more pause work for 5/3/1 week on squat and bench, Probably try to pull something heavy off a plate too.
Click to expand...

I'm all for the block pulls! Like The Dude said, there's always gonna be days like that.

You have Beyond 5/3/1 right?
 
Yeah i just recently got beyond 5/3/1 a few days ago.. haven't read through it completely though. I've had the original 5/3/1 for a while.
 
Doing some shoulder mobility work and just getting a nice stretch in tonight.. starting 5/3/1 week with bench press tomorrow.
 
Cycle 6 week 3 day B

warm-up
lax ball (ribs/glutes)
stretching
v sit roll outs
banded shoulder routine

bench press
warm-ups - barx8 95x8 135x5
work sets - 170x5 190x3 215x5
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jokers - 225x2x2
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DB bench press
60x4x12 60x15

pendlays
135x10 185x3x6 225x4

super set of
avg band Vogelphol row- 3x15
avg band push down - 3x15
Lilly shrug - 60x3x15

notes
Great lift today, pretty happy with my bench work. One thing, I wish I could get my shoulders back a bit more.. But when i try to do it with heavy weight i always get out of position when i unrack the bar. I'm getting stronger as-is, but that would help me shorten my range of motion greatly, I can do it in warm-ups but when I start unracking over 200 its pretty difficult. I think with a hand off I'd hit 245 or even better pretty easily, cause my bench stroke would be reduced by a decent amount.
 
Thanks man, everything felt light today. But we are getting rain here. It's supposed to freeze over night though, Tuesday the high is forecasted to be 0.
 
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