Hey Guys,
I’m Kyle and I’m going to start a training log on the program Krypteia, which uses a 5/3/1 progression scheme. In this post, I’ll lay down some background information about me and the training program in this post, and start the training log on my next post. Out of respect for Jim, I won’t give out all the details of his program, but something general so you understand what I’m doing on a day to day basis. I’m also going to try to include some lifting footage each session, or every few sessions, to keep this log interesting.
Program
Depending on the phase of the program, it’s either a 4 or 3-day lifting split + 2-3 days of easy conditioning. There is always jumps/throws before the lifting + mobility work. This is how it works:
You have one main movement for the day, and two assistance exercises. You alternate each assistance exercise in between each of the sets of your main lifts, plus band pull aparts, including between warm up sets. This results in a minimum of 50 repetitions of each assistance movement everyday + 100 repetitions of band pull aparts everyday. Assistance seems to be a large focus of the program (Jim emphasizes that the assistance work NEEDS to be pushed for this program to work effectively).
The goal of the program is to finish all of the lifting within 45 minutes. Time starts on your first warm up set, and ends on your last assistance exercise. I’m assuming the goal isn’t exactly conditioning, but good conditioning will be the result of completing the program within 45 minutes. This means I’m not pushing to finish the workout as quick as I can, just to beat a time. I’m aiming for perfect technique and control with every rep. Still, the program will most likely be difficult. Including mobility and jumps/throws, Jim estimates the whole session to be about 90 minutes long. Considering I’m trying to ease up on the tennis (see About Me), this seems doable.
About me
I’ve lifted for about 6 years. I would say I’ve been pretty serious about it, but I also have other priorities, so while I love lifting and being the best at it that I could be, I definitely do not implement everything correctly; I still do the best that I can everyday. I’ve lost 20 lbs in the past few months while keeping my lifts the same (except bench, which dropped from 260lbs to 245lbs without ever getting that back), maybe even slightly increased because I started using a belt.
Stats
Age: 27 years old
Weight: 200lbs
Height: 6’ 0"
Squat: 300 lbs with belt, was actually pretty easy. I input 310 lbs as a max for this program, but realistically it’s probably 320-330 lbs; 320 lbs was a consistent estimated max based on many, many AMRAPs from the Juggernaut method.
Swiss Bar Bench: 215 lbs (Straight bar bench is 245 lbs)
Trap Bar Deadlift: An ugly 415 lbs with belt: 415lb Trap Bar Deadlift - YouTube (Straight bar conventional DL Estimated 1RM is 360 lbs beltless)
Overhead Press: Estimated 1RM is 140 lbs based off 3RM 125 lbs. I haven’t done OHP in about a year, but from past experience, my estimated max have been spot on to actual maxes.
Chin Ups: 10 reps max at bodyweight
Dips: Tested 15 reps at BW around 6 months ago. I was a little heavier back then though.
I will say I’ve always done rep work (7-25 range, yes thats juggernaut method for you). I never really went for weight below 5 reps. It’s very possible if I practiced heavier weight, I’d be stronger. But there are a lot of IFs and I’m not going to spend time peaking for something I don’t really find necessary.
Tennis
I definitely consider myself a tennis player first. During the warmer months, I try to play 4-5 days a week (every day if I could). I’d lift for about an hour, and play tennis for another two hours (two to three hours on days I didn’t lift). Because of my partners’ schedule, weather, work, and other commitments, workout programs that I’ve run (5/3/1, Candito LP, inverted Juggernaut Method twice) often turned into 2 or 3 workouts/week with the assistance pretty much cut out, and only did a progression of the main lifts.
I say all these things because for this program, I’m going to try to do everything as right as I can. I’m deliberately going to skip out on tennis as much as I can this winter, even though it’s a hobby I completely love and indulge in. In this log, I’m going to try to remember to state whether I played tennis the night before, or the night of, to see if there is any correlation with how I feel lifting after playing tennis; in the past, I was definitely noticing the effect of my lower body movement days, but I didn’t really care. I don’t lift specifically to get better at tennis, I would argue that you really don’t need to lift all that much to get better at tennis anyway, but I’ll leave that spiel out, unless someone is interested in hearing about this.
Other Changes
I’m going to try to take a more protein heavy diet. Calories were never a problem. I always assumed I ate right, but after trying to mildly track, I found that I was extremely lacking in protein. Probably 50g initially > diet and tracked > 100g > now, I’ll be taking in ~150+; Note: I may not be great at estimating protein. I know a fast food burger is typically 25-30g protein. I know my protein scoop is 25 g (I will be taking 4 scoops/day). This is all I really know. If someone wants to chime in on other foods, I would greatly appreciate it. I will also be taking creatine.
My sleep has never been great, always ~6 hours. Not sure if my lifting was ever really affected, but I’m going to try to get 6.5-7 hours of sleep going forward.
Goals
Initially, this winter, I just wanted to get stronger, but the more I thought about it, I’m a pretty heavyset tennis player. With that being said, I’m still the fastest among players my level. Anyway, I still want to get strong, but I also want to lose bodyfat and hopefully lose another 10lbs. I realize these goals are contradictory and I’m ok with that. I’m not a competitive strength athlete, nor am I a competitive tennis player (but I am thinking about joining a league Spring 2017, maximizing strength gains will have the least carry over to tennis compared to actual sport practice).
Injuries
I’ve had a bulging disc from deadllifting for the past two to three years. I also have plantar fasciitis. Because of these injuries, I spend a decent amount of time on mobility/rehab work.