Thurs, April 16th
Wendler's 5/3/1
Cycle 1: Week 1 - Upper Body - O/H Press Day Weight: 200
I had to work late last night and ended up eating only about 2500 cals. I've let my calories drop a little lower than intended the past few days and I'm guessing I'm not holding as much water weight.
Base Load = 171 (90% of 1RM)
Percentage of Base Load 85%
I haven't done an O/H Press anywhere near my 1RM in a long long time, so I just guesstimated it at 190.
A- Standing O/H Press
125 x 5
135 x 5
145 x 9
Very pleased with this, I have never really done O/H press first in a workout, so that helped. My previous best with this weight was 6 reps.
Alternating Sets B1- Dips (sets x reps x weight)
5 x 15 x (BW+35)
B2- Chinups (shoulder width grip) (sets x reps x weight)
5 x 12,11,10,9,9 x (BW+20)
C- Decline Dragon Flag
1 set of 12
D- Side Wall Plank Leg Raise
1 set of 12 on each side
I had to go, but just threw in a couple core exercises at the end.
For example, ill take bench press. You take 90% of your 1RM (my 1RM is about 295), so 90% of that is 265, thats my "base" for the entire 1st month.
For week 1, you are doing 3 work sets:
set 1: 75% of your base x 5 reps
set 2: 80% of your base x 5 reps
set 3: 85% of your base x 5 reps (or as many as you can get)
so mine ended up looking like:
190x5
210x5
225x10
(or something like that)
So for week 2, your work sets are based on 3 rep sets with different percentages:
set 1: 80% of your base x 3 reps
set 2: 85% of your base x 3 reps
set 3: 90% of your base x 3 reps (or as many as you can get)
So for week 3, your work sets are based on 5/3/1 rep sets with different percentages:
set 1: 75% of your base x 5 reps
set 2: 85% of your base x 3 reps
set 3: 95% of your base x 1 rep (or as many as you can get)
Then week 4 is a deload week. You also do accessory work. Then for the 2nd month, you add 5lb (for upper body, 10lb for lower body) to your "base" and repeat the whole process.
Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to get into the gym this weekend because of work, and I didn't really want to do 3 days of Wendler in a row so I made tonight a metabolic conditioning / torture day.
I did the following complex for 4 total sets tonight. I did all seven exercises back to back, and then rested after each big "set". I originally intended to take 90 sec between each of the 4 sets, but it took longer than that to scrape myself up off the floor. My conditioning should get better as I do this more often.
Weight: 115lb
Sets: 4 Reps: 6,8,6,6
Exercises
1. Bent Over Row
2. Hang Clean
3. Front Squat
4. Military Press
5. Jump Squat
6. Good Morning
7. Explosive Pushup
This was pretty humbling. The second set I did 8 reps for each, but just decided to do 6 reps for the final two. I followed this with 10 minutes of intervals on the bike.
I may join a 2nd gym that is right next to work that has more flexible hours and will allow me to workout before/after work if I want, plus its only like $15 per month. I love the YMCA because its right next to my house but for some reason their hours get shorter during the summer.
Exercises
1. Bent Over Row
2. Hang Clean
3. Front Squat
4. Military Press
5. Jump Squat
6. Good Morning
7. Explosive Pushup
I was able to make it to the gym 15 min before closing, so I had time for a few sets of the complex to burn a few calories. Hopefully I can get back into the gym tomorrow to get back into 5/3/1.
Yeah seriously, for a metabolic workout i love it compared to cardio. By the end of the 3rd set it felt pretty good to just lay on the floor for a minute. The toughest part is the clean/front squat/military press part, wipes me out pretty good.
Tues, April 21st
Wendler's 5/3/1
Cycle 1: Week 2 - Lower Body - Deadlift Day Weight: 198.8
My calories have been too low for the past week, not on purpose though...The most I've eaten in the past 4 or 5 days is probably 2500 cals, while the lowest day was probably around 2100...just too much work and too much stress lately. I've probably just dropped a bunch of water weight, I definitely feel thinner. I'm going to have a bit of a "refeed" day tomorrow on bench day to make sure my weekly calories arent dipping too low.
Base Load = 470 (90% of 1RM)
Percentage of Base Load 90%
A- Deadlift
375 x 3
405 x 3
425 x 8
It's funny how on the DL I can feel so crappy one week, then so good the next. 365 felt like 450 last week, but 375 felt like I was doing speed work today. I really focused on getting my ass lower on my setup, and I think that helped. Very happy with 425 for 8, Im pretty sure thats a PR for that many reps.
B- Good Mornings (sets x reps x weight)
5 x 12 x 185 (got 15 reps on the last set)
The last set felt really really good, I probably could have squeezed out a few more.
It's funny how on the DL I can feel so crappy one week, then so good the next. 365 felt like 450 last week, but 375 felt like I was doing speed work today. I really focused on getting my ass lower on my setup, and I think that helped. Very happy with 425 for 8, Im pretty sure thats a PR for that many reps.
B- Good Mornings (sets x reps x weight)
5 x 12 x 185 (got 15 reps on the last set)
The last set felt really really good, I probably could have squeezed out a few more.
Cardio
12 minutes of intervals on the bike.
Nice workout and congrats on a PR! I love DL's -I need to add them back to my heavy lower body day.
TomK
Thanks guys...I should also note that I do my good mornings on a cambered bar, not sure if that makes a differences or not. I just feel like I have an easier time keeping my form and keeping the emphasis on the hamstrings.
Fri, April 24th
Wendler's 5/3/1
Cycle 1: Week 2 - Lower Body - Squat Day Weight: 198.6
Base Load = 328 (90% of 1RM)
Percentage of Base Load 90%
A- Squat
260 x 3
280 x 3
295 x 1
295 x 9
Very happy with this, I may have even left one in the tank. I did one single with my work set weight to "prime" myself for the final set. It seems to help with that last set without tiring myself out. I don't do this on deadlifts or O/H presses, but it seems to help me sometimes on bench/squat.
My set of 3 at 280 felt kinda heavy, as did my single at 295, but once I took a break for a couple minutes the 295 was going up pretty fast (at least for the first 5 reps or so).
Alternating Sets B1- Leg Press Machine (sets x reps x weight)
1 x 15 x 310
3 x 12 x 370
B2- Glute Ham Raise (sets x reps x weight)
4 x 8 x BW
*on the first two sets, I actually got the first 4 reps completely unassisted, hands across the chest, no push off the floor.
Superset C1- Decline Drag Flag (2-3 second hold at the top of each rep)
2 x 12 x BW
C2- Cable Woodchop
2 x 10 x 120
Tomorrow night is a co-workers birthday and we are going out after work, I'm most likely going to drink a fair amount of alcohol (which is very rare for me), I guess tomorrow will be my cheat day.
Sat, April 25th
Wendler's 5/3/1
Cycle 1: Week 2 - Upper Body - O/H Press Day Weight: 198.4
Base Load = 171 (90% of 1RM)
Percentage of Base Load 90%
A- Standing O/H Press
130 x 3
145 x 3
155 x 6
Alternating Sets B1- Standing O/H Press (sets x reps x weight)
1 x 10 x 135
3 x 10 x 125
B2- Wide Grip Pull-up (pronated) (sets x reps x weight)
4 x 14,12,10,10 x BW
I didn't feel like doing dips today, and I couldn't find the dip belt so I couldnt do weighted chins. I'm pretty happy with 14 wide-grip pullups though.
Sat, April 25th B2- Wide Grip Pull-up (pronated) (sets x reps x weight)
4 x 14,12,10,10 x BW
I didn't feel like doing dips today, and I couldn't find the dip belt so I couldnt do weighted chins. I'm pretty happy with 14 wide-grip pullups though.
Well you should be! Did it finish with a shirt change for your adoring public?
Thanks....but hah, no unfortunately my fans were not there so there was no shirt changing/ripping off/flexing.
Monday, April 27th
Wendler's 5/3/1
Cycle 1: Week 3 - Lower Body - Deadlift Day Weight: 198.6
Base Load = 470 (90% of 1RM)
Percentage of Base Load 95%
A- Deadlift
warmup then...
365 x 5
400 x 3
450 x 4
My max at 450 is 5 reps, but I couldnt get 5 today. I just wasn't getting the leg drive that I felt so good about last week.
B- Deadlift
385 x 12
385 x 10
I was planning on doing "boring but big" for my accessory work, but my hands were hurting after that last set of deads, so I just threw in some other stuff to finish off the workout.
C- Power Clean
175 x 5
195 x 3
D- Good Morning
195 x 12
225 x 8
Today ended up being a cheat day because after working out me and a buddy ended up getting some huge steaks and a couple drinks and dessert, im pretty sure I ate a ton of calories. Oh well...it was delicious though.
Wed, April 29th
Wendler's 5/3/1 Cycle 1: Week 3 - Upper Body - Bench Day
Weight: 198.8
Base Load = 265 (90% of 1RM)
Percentage of Base Load 95%
A- Bench Press
200 x 5
225 x 3
250 x 4 (1+3)
Not bad, the last rep was a real struggle though...I haven't gotten 260x4 about a month ago but I think that was one of those really good weeks.
I was getting a little bored with my accessory work so I switched it up a little. Since next week is a deload, and since I had some good energy today, I bumped up the volume a little and added a little isolation work just because. Alternating Sets B1- BB Floor Press (grip slightly narrower than standard) (sets x reps x weight)
1 x 9 x 215
4 x 10,9,9,8 x 205
1 x 12 x 185
B2- Seated Cable Row (close grip) (sets x reps x weight)
5 x 14 x 140
Alternating Sets C1- BB Curl (sets x reps x weight)
1 x 7 x 115
1 x 10 x 100
C2- Tricep Rope Pushdown (sets x reps x weight)
2 x 10 x 150
Linear Mode
