Squats and Deads are going fine, OHP is being addressed with some success from extra volume, cardio and BW stuff is fine. My real sticking point continues to be the BP, at around 145kgs. I’ve stalled twice at the same point on 5/3/1 cycles (yes, I started with 90% of my max), and a full cycle of Juggernaut did nothing. I’m going to try the Add 50 routine from joeskopec and track just that in this forum. All weights in kgs, starting max of 140.
Week 1, workout 1 - Mon 1 Apr 13
Bar x 10, 60x5,5, 80x5, 105x6, 110x5,5,4,4
Relatively easy. Next w/out will see me do my first negative since I was a Yates / Mentzer fan in the late 90s.
Week 1, workout 2 - Fri 5 Apr 13
Bar x 10, 10, 70x5, 90x3, 110x1, 120x3,3, 125x2,2, 140xNegative.
Relatively easy. Negative was interesting: managed to keep the pace very slow all the way down.
Week 2, workout 1 - Mon 8 Apr 13
Bar x 10, 70x5, 90x3, 105x6, 110x5,5, 120x4,4.
First 120 was hard (harder than the second).
Week 2, Workout 2 - Fri 12 Apr 13
Bar x 10, 10, 60 x 5, 80 x 5, 100 x 3, 110 x 1, 125 x 3, 3, 135 x 2, 1, 1 (should have been 2, 2), 145 x Negative.
Played rugby last night and banged my shoulder so was expecting to struggle with some of today’s workout. Should be all good to go again by Monday though.
Week 3, workout 1 - Mon 15 Apr 13
Bar x 10,10, 60 x 5, 100 x 3, 110 x 5, 120 x 5,4 (should have been 5,5), 125 x 3 (max).
Guideline says to keep the max the same (140) if doing no more than 4 reps on 125. I couldn’t quite make the 5 for the second set of 120 - annoying.
Week 3, workout 2 - Sat 20 Apr 13
Bar x 10, 10, 60 x 5, 5, 90 x 3, 110 x 5, 125 x 3, 3, 140 x 1, 1 (this should have been 2, 2), 150 x Negative.
Struggling to keep up with this. Was unable to double the 140s (might have made the first one, but would rather avoid failing). The second single was a real grind. Caveat with a big rugby game on Thu from which I was still sore, but I think that the rate of progress on this program is too high. I will probably repeat this week and see if I can get all the reps while a little fresher.
Repeat of Week 3, workout 1 - Tue 23 Apr 13
Bar x 10, 10, 60 x 5, 5, 90 x 5, 110 x 6, 120 x 5, 5, 125 x 4
More like it. Hit all the reps for this one. Hopefully going to repeat the success on Friday.
Repeat of Week 3, workout 1 - Fri 26 Apr 13
Bar x 10, 10
70 x 5
90 x 5
110 x 2
125 x 3, 3
140 x 1 (failed during the second rep)
140 x 1, 1
155 x Negative
Really felt like I could double the first 140, so gutted to miss it. Also annoyed that I failed a rep - I don’t like that at all. But pleased that I managed some more singles with relative ease. Also the 155 negative didn’t absolutely crush me like I thought it would.
Week 4, Workout 1 - Mon 29 Apr 13
Bar x 10, 5, 5
70 x 5, 5
100 x 3
120 x 5, 5
135 x 2, 2, 1, 1 - Should have been 2 triples and a set to failure between 2 and 4 reps.
That’s two workouts that I’ve not been able to meet the target weight and reps, despite clearly being there on the failure reps test last week.
Think that I might be abandoning this experiment…
Week 4, Workout 2 - Fri 3 May 13
Bar x 10, 5, 5
70 x 5, 5
100 x 3
120 x 1
135 x 1
145 x FAIL
130 x 2, 2
110 x 5, 5, 4 (1 min rest)
I realised as I pressed up the 135 that there was no way that I’d be able to do two triples and then max out with 145 so I just decided to go for it. The wheels have definitely come off this one, and I think that the percentages demanded are far too high for what is actually achievable.