Bench Press - Week 1 2nd cycle

I had to to do "boring but big" option today, didn't have much time to train. Just stuck to the main lift with the new numbers for the 2nd cycle.

BB Bench Press - 250X5, 270X5, 280X6.
Incline DB Press - 75X10, X9, X8.
BB Bench - 135X15

Also went a little lighter with the DB's and stuck to about 60 seconds between sets. I didn't even do any tricep work, I'll have to do it on my "bonus" day. I know the volume sucks but at least I made it to the gym and didn't make any excuses. My strength on the main lift wont suffer because of it. I also didn't rest after deads yesterday and definately feeling those. Right into squats tomorrow and then a rest for at least 2 days.

Just so the few (but loyal lol) that have been reading this blog understand, the first week is 3 sets of 5. So, even though I could have done more reps with the first two sets, I stick to only 5 reps and save for the final set of 5+ any more I can grind out. Also keep in mind I'm doing the lifts very strictly, for the most part lifting like I would in a meet with referees present, not just bouncing the bar off my chest.

For those of you that dont know some of the rules of the bench press are; butt come off the bench, you cant move your feet once the bar is in your hands, you cant move your head, you must pause at the chest without resting the bar on you chest and you have to lock out the weight at the top of the elift before the ref gives you the command to "rack it". Doing all of these things makes a difference in the weight you can handle. I can lift more weight if I just grip it and go for it without concentrating on these things.

Deadlift Tuesday - Week1 (2nd cycle)

I'm starting to like deadlifting more and more. Upped the weight 10 lbs for the deadlifts - getting into some heavy weights. If my deadlift doesnt go up after this kind of weight, then nothing works. Just hard work and heavy weight.

Deadlift - 330X5, 350X5, 375X6 (PR).

BW Chinups - X10X3
Trap bar shrugs  - 135X12X3
Upright cable row - 80X12X3

375X6 is a PR for me. Feeling strong and really enjoying deadlifting. I put a belt on for the 2nd and third set, but otherwise just chalk, no straps or anything, and in bare feet. Changing up my assistance work a little. I'm only going to do traps (shrugs and rows) on deadlift day. My lower back is toast after deads, and dont want to waste any energy doing it before deads either. Going to add a 5th day to my routine and do lat work, lower back (good mornings, etc...) and biceps on this day so I can just focus on deadlifting.
Training right through to Thursday this week because I'm going away for the weekend for the boy's hockey provincials and wont be training for three days.

New Cycle - Week 1 - Monday Military Press

Start to a new cycle of the 5/3/1. I upped the weight 5 lbs on upper body main lifts and 10 lbs on lower body lifts. Body weight - 214 lbs.

Standing BB OHP - 140X5, 150X5, 160X7.
Seated DB press - 60X9, X11, X10.
Standing DB front raise - 30X10X3
Seated DB bent laterals - 25X12, X10, X10.
Hanging knee raises - 20X3
BB OHP - 135X10 (finisher)

Having shoulder pain again so trying to be careful. Shoulder joints are still sore from benching 4 days ago - not good. Going to make sure I warm up really good before any shoulder movements this week and on.
I used to do traps (shrugs, etc...) on shoulder day but I'm going to move them to deadlift/back day so I'm not doing them before dead day. Still trying to decide when to do biceps, I dont want to do them on squat day anymore...any suggestions?

Squat Saturday - week 3. End of first cycle.

Trained solo this evening. Couldn't get to the gym yesterday as I was too busy with the boy's hockey.

Squats - 135X15, 225X5, (Warmup). 275X5, 315X3, 345X7, 315X5.

No assistance work, just squats. The 345X7 set felt really good. I feel I could have grinded out 2 or maybe even 3 more reps but again was squatting solo. According to Wendler, not supposed to go to failure anyway. It felt strong though, and I think 345X7 is a PR for me.
I did a half assed bicep workout in between squats.

EZ bar curls - 95X10, X12, X12, X12.
Seated DB Curl - 45X8X3.

For this next cycle I'm thinking of changing my bicep workouts to another day, or just maybe do some bodybuilding type training on Wednesdays or another day off. I just dont feel like doing anything else on squat day, so I havent really been hitting the biceps hard.

Anyways, thats the end of week three, and my first cycle of the 5/3/1 program. Starting next Monday I will up the weights 5 lbs on upper body lifts and 10 lbs on lower body. I am going to test maxes either on the last week of the next cycle or maybe the week after in a mock meet if I can get a couple of other guys that want to do this as well.

Thursday Bench Week 3

Trained at about 7:30 this evening after shoveling snow for an hour. Shovel outdoor ice rink for 1 hour = boy skates for 5 minutes = fun.

Week 3 for the bench press for the 5 3 1 program.

BB Bench Press - 245X5, 265X3, 315X2, 305X4.
The third set was supposed to be 305 but I put 315 on without paying attention. I doubled it, but wasnt supposed to go that heavy. Went back to 305 next set and got 4 reps. Probably would have got 5-6 if I didnt double 315 previously. All sets were done with a pause at (not on) the chest.

Instead of going to the dumbells for assistance work like I usually do, I stuck with the barbell and kept going.

BB Bench - 225X12, X9, X7. Each set was supersetted with Cable Crossovers - 60X12, 55X10, X10.
Close Grip Bench - 135X12, X12, X12. Supersets with Straight bar pressdowns - 140X15, X14, X14.

Felt good to do some higher rep work and get some hypertrophy and a pump instead of strictly low rep power stuff.
Squats tomorrow for the last week of this cycle and then I start over next week without a deload.

Wednesday Rest Day/Hockey watching day

Didn't do anything today, too much hockey on and had to work at 3. (I put some laundry away and washed the dishes, I know you're reading Tanice). I stretched while I watched Canada barely get by Latvia....It's a step in the right direction, I've never stretched in my life unless you count reaching for that last beer at the back of the fridge....
Back tomorrow with week 3 of Bench press....looking forward to it.

Deadlifts Week 3

Trained solo today at about 9:30 am after fueling up (eggs, toast and protein shake) and caffeinating.

Close grip underhand chinups - BWX9, X7, X7.
Bent BB Rows - 205X10, X8, X10
Bent DB Rows - 85X10, X10.
Hanging Knee raises - 3 sets of 20.

Deadlifts - 320X5, 340X3, 405X5! (PR)

405X5 is a PR for me. I wore a belt for this set but nt the others. For those of you that are wondering or care I train for the "raw" division under IPF (international powerlifting federation).There are two divisions - "classic" or "raw" (same thing) or "equipped". Equipped allows assistive gear such as squat suits, bench shirts, etc... whereas the Raw division allows only a belt. I have competed in a bench shirt before, but it is a pain in the ass. It's difficult to get on and it changes the way you lift because it changes your "groove" (the bar path) so it's not natural. It does increase the amount of weight though ( I have benched 402 lbs in a meet with a shirt). I may try it again someday but for now sticking to raw lifting because it's easier and I think it's a more "real" test of strength.

Rest day tomorrow but might do something.

OHP Monday Week 3

The 5/3/1 program allows for days where you don't have time or the desire to have a full workout. Today was one of those days. I only had a 20 minute window to train so I went and did my main lift for the OHP.

BB Military press - 135X5, 155X3, 175X7, 135X13.

That was it.

It is week 3 and it's 5/3/1 week, so the last set is 1+ as many as you can grind out. The OHP press was fairly easy with 7 reps at 90% of my estimated 1RM.
The other lifts will probably not be that easy.
After this week I am going to start over without deloading and add 5 lbs to my upper body lifts and 10 lbs to the lower body lifts.
I have been talking about having a "mock meet" after these two cycles to test my 1RM's again and gauge any progress after the 5/3/1 program.
Looking forward to deadlifting tomorrow and plan on a good strong full workout.

Friday Squats week 2

Trained solo today. Did biceps before squats, my lower back has been bothering me and I knew it would be a struggle to do biceps after squatting so did them first.

BB Curl - 95X12, X10, X12.
Seated DB curl - 45X7, 40X10, 40X9.
DB Hammer curl - 40X10, X12, X12.

Squats - 295X3, 315X3, 335X7.

Dont like going so close to failure when squatting alone, probably could grinded out one or two more reps on the last set but dont want to hurt myself. I squat in a power rack with the safeties set, but it still wouldn't feel great to dump 335 lbs...

Felt pretty good, but not good enough to do any assistance work for the squat. Time to rest for a couple days, maybe some condtioning and stretching if I'm feeling ambitious?
Week 3 starts Monday, looking forward to that and some heavy weights as well. 5/3/1 week.

Thursday Bench

Finally a day off work. Played hockey Tuesday night again, only 7 players showed up for our team so needless to say I got a lots of ice time. I guess you could call that conditioning. I even replaced my electrolytes and carbs after with a few pops...
Anyways, didn't do anything Wednesday except have a few well deserved drinks after a long work stretch. Slept til 11 today and watched the hockey game then went to the gym.
Week  2 of bench press and assistance work;

BB bench press -  265X3, 275X3, 295X7.
Incline DB Press - 85X10,X10, X8.
Cablecrossovers - 50X12X2
Skullcrushers - 95X10,X11,X9.
Close grip Bench - 135X10,X8, X8
Cambered bar pressdowns - 140X30

Felt pretty good. Probably should have warmed up better, my right shoulder didnt feel right. I have separated my right shoulder twice before so I have to warm it up good and be careful with it.
Going to fuel up and get ready to squat tomorrow.

Deadlift Tuesday week 2

Once again went straight to the gym after work for back/deadlift day. As expected got about 4.5 hours of sleep after playing hockey and getting home about midnight.

Just like last week I do my assistance work before deadlifting because I dont think I would be able to do a back workout after deadlifting heavy.

BW chinups (neutral grip) - X7, 8, 10.
BB bent row - 205X9X3.
Hanging knee raises - X20X3.
Deadlifts after warmup - 340X3, 365X3, 385X5.

Not the best workout, my lack of sleep is probably catching up on me. Deadlifts felt ok, made sure to lockout at the top of the lift and hold. Once more day of work and then four days off to catch up on my sleep. Rest day tomorrow from weights, maybe do some stretching and/or airdyne bike if feeling good. Also playing hockey again tonight but a little earlier so hopefully get at least a little more sleep.

Military Monday - start of week 2

Went straight to the gym after work at 3 pm after spending the afternoon getting caffeinated on gut rot coffee. Pretty tired after work and only about 4.5 hours of sleep.

OHP - 145X3, 155X3, 165X7
Seated DB Press - 60X9,X9,X8.
Front DB Raise - 30X10X3
Reverse Cable Flye - 40X10X3
Trap Bar shrugs - 135X15,X12.
DB Shrugs - 75X11X2

Hanging Knee Raise - X20X3
Ab Roller - X10X2.

Not a bad workout considering lack of sleep and garbage food all day. This is the X3 rep week and again found the weight pretty light for the first two sets, but thats the idea I guess. Last set just went for it and grinded out 7 reps pretty much to failure. Supposed to play hockey tonight in pretty much the coldest hockey rink known to man. That is if I stay awake long enough to make it there, and if I do I'm looking at only about 6 hours of sleep before returning to work.
Tomorrow deadlifts after work if I can keep my eyes open.

Sunday Rest Day

It was a rest day for me today, although I didn’t really have a choice as I didn’t have the time to make it to the gym anyway. Legs are pretty sore from squatting and probably only going to get worse as the day goes, but I like the feeling...

I’ve decided to start doing more (ex: any) conditioning on my rest days or after training depending how I feel. I am going to start doing some core work, stretching and conditioning on at least one of my three “rest” days during the week.  I do play hockey about once a week which is good exercise, but is usually followed by a few? barley sandwiches and that may or may not outweigh the benefits of the exercise....

Start week two of the cycle tomorrow with a little heavier weights and sets of 3 with the Military Press Monday.

I also picked up the newer version of Wendler’s 5/3/1 (5/3/1 and beyond) program which allows you to skip the deload week if you feel you don’t need it which is cool because I’m not looking forward to having a half assed week if I don’t need it. I do know what it feels life being over trained which usually results in me being sick so I’ll listen to my body and take it really easy for a week if I need it. I will be getting less sleep for the first half of this week as a result of my work shift changing over, but look forward to 4 days off at the end of the week for some rest (and play).

Saturday Squats

I managed to find some time before work in the afternoon to get to the gym. I planned on going after work last night at 11pm but my motivation was non-existent when I got off so I went home and stuffed my face.

I was happy I waited until today because I ended up having a good squat session, and my training partner around to spot.

Squats – 135X12, 225X5 (warmup), then 275X5, 295X5, 315X9, 225X 10, 135X 18

315X9 is a PR for me. I wasn’t trying to go for a PR by any means especially considering this is only the first week of the cycle. I may have underestimated my 1RM for the squat (405). It just went to show me how much more confidence having a good spotter gives you. I thought maybe 5-6 reps max but it just kept going. This was the first time trying squat shoes, but I’m not sure I can attribute the PR to those. I wore a belt after I got to 295, but no knee wraps the whole session.

This just makes me look forward to the rest of this cycle and the next, considering I haven’t even used knee wraps yet. I don’t have a huge amount of experience with them, but any time I have used them in the past they definitely helped. I usually do biceps on squat day, but was going to quit after squatting because I was spent. Then my training partner called me a pussy so I went ahead and did them.

Seated DB curl – 45X10, 10, 9.

Standing DB hammer curls – 45X 12, 10.

Ran the rack starting at 40’s to 20’s 5 lbs at a time.

Not a huge amount of volume for biceps, but I’m not going to be stepping on a stage in a banana hammock and a tan anytime soon (ever) so whatever.

Looking forward to week two of the cycle starting Monday with Military press. Not looking forward to trying to find time to train and the lack of sleep over the next few days....

 

Thursday Bench day

Most of the soreness from deadlifts on Tuesday is gone...
Met up with my training partner Ryan Espey in his gym and had a really good bench session.

After a warm up;

BB Bench Press - 245X5, 265X5, 275X7.
Incline DB PRess - 85X8,10,8
Low Cable Crossover - 50X12, 12.
Skullcrushers (EZ bar) - 95X12,11
Close Grip Bench Press - 135X10,12
Straight bar pressdowns - 140X26 (finisher)

Again, the starting weights with the BB bench felt light but focused on pausing at the bottom and being explosive. I failed at the 8th rep attempt on the last set. I can see how in the third week of the cycle the weights will get challenging.
Bench pressing is my favorite and stronger lifts of the four, through two cycles of this I would be really happy with a 10-20 lb 1RM increase...I dont want to set my self up for disappointment though.

I may have to delay my squat session until Saturday as it looks like I wont have a chance to train tomorrow with kids having no school...then go to work after a day of barbies and minecraft. I wish I had every second Friday off from work...
In the meantime I will try and singlehandedly be responsible for the demise of at least 2 chickens....

Wednesday rest day

Rested today. Was going to run some stairs or play some rec hockey but lower back was too sore and decided to take the day to rest up for benching tomorrow.  I ate fairly well until I got to work which is where the wheels usually fall off diet wise. Free ready made hot meals are hard to turn down even if they taste like cardboard and are loaded with simple carbs.
I did do a full body stretch routine for about 20 mins. Flexibility is definately not my forte, my wife gets entertained by watching me try to cut my toenails. As much as I hate stretching, I do want to focus on hip flexor mobility so I am getting proper depth on my squats. I will stay with reasonable weight on my squats to perfect form and depth before going all out.
Bench tomorrow will update tomorrow evening.

Deadlift day

Tuesday Feb 4 2015
Trained at about 830 pm...not my usual but was the only time of the day I had to get to the gym.

Chinups - BW(body weight)X 10, X 9, X8, X8.
Dumbell (DB) rows - 85X10, X8. 75X8, X8.

Deadlifts - 325X5, 345X5, 365X5.

I did not use straps or a belt, just chalk. The last set calls for 5+ reps but 5 was all I could muster. My form broke down on the last rep also. I decided to do the deadlifts last because there was no way I would finish the rest of my workout after deadlifting. No soreness in the shoulders from yesterdays workout.

Cycle 1 Week 1 OHP

Today I start the program I described previously. I will be weight training 4 days a week, planning to do OHP+ assistance on Mondays, Deadlifts+assistance on Tuesdays, rest or conditioning on Wednesday, Bench press+ assistance on Thursdays and Squats+ assistance on Fridays. I will aim to rest on Saturdays and Sundays and if anything I will run stairs or go for a walk.

Todays workout, weight in pounds;

OHP - 135X5, X5, X9.
Front DB raises - 30X10, X10, X10
Seated DB press - 60X10, 55X10, 55X10
Trap Bar shrugs - 175X 10, X10, X10.

I find the starting weight for the OHP light, but this is what was recommended so I'll stick with it. I maintain strict form and try to be explosive with the weight.

I'm not going to document my diet closely. I am pretty aware of how to eat to reach my calorie and macro goals for the day. Basically I eat eggs, meat, protein shakes, etc... I aim for about 3000 calories a day, an shoot for at least 200 grams of protein, usually more. I dont have the cleanest diet but I will try not to stray too far. There will be bad days.....

5/3/1 start

Feb 4 2014

I have been weight training on and off since I was about 16, more recently (last 5 years) geared towards powerlifting. I recently have gotten back into the gym much more seriously and decided to stop screwing around in there. After a few months of getting back into it I decided to start a program and document my progress. I will be training for powerlifting, specifically the bench press, deadlift, squat and overhead press. I have competed in two powerlifting meets before, but only in the bench press lift and both were with a bench shirt. I will enter a full meet (bench, squat, dead) without any gear in the next year, most likely later this year in the fall.
I have started the Jim Wendler 5/3/1 program. For those of you who don't know who he is, Google him and you get the idea, bascially he is an accomplished powerlifter and an icon in the powerlifting world.
I'm not going to get into details about the program, but will explain it briefly. It is a 4 week program focusing on the main lifts I mentioned before, with assistance work. The idea is to add weight (even very small amounts) to your 1 rep max (1RM) after every 4 week wave. You start by figuring out your 1RM on each lift and basically use 90% of it as your "working max". Here are my numbers in pounds;

Bench Press - 355
Squat - 405
Deadlift - 475
OHP - 205

My body weight is 215 pounds.

The bench and deadlift I actually tested in the gym, the squat and ohp I estimated using a formula based on my working sets in the gym.