Day 3, Week 3, Cycle 1
Today was a terrible day for training! Started my workout with bench and as I got up to the heavier sets the weight all seemed to be on my right side, like I had an extra 20 kg on that side and even light weights felt heavier than usual. Did my max set and got less reps than I got with the same weight just over a month ago so after that set I felt like I wanted to throw the bench through the window I was so mad. Decided it would be best not to carry on with the workout as I was not in the right frame of mind. So about 5 hours and a few meals later I decided to go to a gym and see if it would go any better to get me out of the bad mood I was in. Not too sure why I thought it would go better but wanted to try it anyway so I go to the gym and start warming up. Technique felt fine this time but the weight still felt heavy as a house, ended up doing the same amount of reps and basically fed up with 531 
Bench- 120kg x 4 (Got 5 reps with 120 about 5 weeks ago)
DB bench- Skipped
Used different machine for triceps so not really anything to gauge it by
Overall it was not a good day and I am seriously considering going back to BigBeyondBelief next week as I have had such good results with that.
Any advice?
Everyone has their bad days, so don’t beat yourself up. I remember having a crappy bench day, where I barely got 6x205, which should’ve been a cake walk.
Don’t let one bad day make you change programs. 5/3/1 is a program that you can use for the long term. Seeing as you’re on your 1st cycle, I wouldn’t say 5/3/1 didn’t do anything for you. You need to stick with it and see how it treats you.
This past cycle, I didn’t get any PRs on my bench or squat and was most certainly not happy with that. I was also considering changing programs. But I figured I should stick with 5/3/1 for a few more cycles and see how things turn out.
It helps to keep in mind that you won’t always be a rock star every session and that muscle/strength gains are hardly a linear process. One month your DL might shoot up and the next it might feel like absolute fecal matter.
Just keep grinding man :). If it were easy everyone would be benching their cars for fun. I hope this helps you out man.
Hmm thanks for the advice. I just never had that happen whilst on BigBeyondBelief and it really annoyed me especially as it puts me down below 140 kg for a 1 rep max which I worked so hard to get.
Still not certain what I am going to do yet but will make a decision over the weekend either way. Although I would like 531 to work because its hard for me to train 6 times a week which is what i have to do on BBB with the way things are going with work and it would be nice to be able to have the flexibility of 4 days a week.
Just thought of something that may of messed up my bench. I finished a cycle of creatine a couple of days before I started this program so maybe it has just gone out of my system and had a bad effect on my bench. Would it take that long to wear off and do you think this could have anything to do with the drop in strength on my bench press?
[quote]Getting Closer wrote:
Just thought of something that may of messed up my bench. I finished a cycle of creatine a couple of days before I started this program so maybe it has just gone out of my system and had a bad effect on my bench. Would it take that long to wear off and do you think this could have anything to do with the drop in strength on my bench press?[/quote]
I haven’t used creatine before and really wouldn’t know if that would have any affect.
Regarding your bench not being what you wanted to be recently, I would suggest lower your training max if you decide to continue 5/3/1. Seeing as it seems that only your bench has been giving you troubles. Wendler does mention that if a certain lift stalls while the others are still progressing that you should just lower the training max of the stalled lift.
Just a thought, hope this helps a little.
[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
[quote]Getting Closer wrote:
Just thought of something that may of messed up my bench. I finished a cycle of creatine a couple of days before I started this program so maybe it has just gone out of my system and had a bad effect on my bench. Would it take that long to wear off and do you think this could have anything to do with the drop in strength on my bench press?[/quote]
I haven’t used creatine before and really wouldn’t know if that would have any affect.
Regarding your bench not being what you wanted to be recently, I would suggest lower your training max if you decide to continue 5/3/1. Seeing as it seems that only your bench has been giving you troubles. Wendler does mention that if a certain lift stalls while the others are still progressing that you should just lower the training max of the stalled lift.
Just a thought, hope this helps a little.[/quote]
Thanks but I think I’ll stick with my current max for now and just hope that it was an off day but maybe I’ll do that further down the line although fingers crossed I won’t have to.
Day 4, Week 3, Cycle 1
Squats- 85kg x 7
Bulgarian squats- 20kg x 12, 12, 12
BW complex- BW x 1
Day 1, Week 4, Cycle 1 (Deload)
Military press- 50kg x 5
DB press- 22.5kg x 12, 12, 9
Chin ups- BW x A bunch
Day 2, Week 4, Cycle 1
Was supposed to be a deload today but my buddy convinced me to train legs with him at the gym and I went all out
Squats- 87.5kg x 5, 95kg x 3, 105kg x 14
Jumping lunges alternating legs- BW x 3 sets of 30 seconds
Superset DB Romanian deadlifts with- 26kg x 10, 10, 10
Shoulder touch plank- BW x 24, 24, 24
Speed skater squats- 6kg x 10, 6 (legs were fried by the time I got to this exercise)
Over all it was a great workout and couldnt believe I got 14 reps on squats but he kept pushing me and said 2 more about 4 times and I kept finding that I had more in the tank so am happy with the result!
Nice! Looks like you had an awesome squat session!
[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
Nice! Looks like you had an awesome squat session![/quote]
Yeah if I keep having squat workouts like that I think they will quickly become my favorite lift!
[quote]Getting Closer wrote:
[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
Nice! Looks like you had an awesome squat session![/quote]
Yeah if I keep having squat workouts like that I think they will quickly become my favorite lift![/quote]
Haha nice! Keep at it man.
Ok so I decided to go back to Big Beyond Belief as I figured I may as well train 6 days a week while I can and maximize my gains. I will go back to 531 in the future but am sticking with BBB for now although I will keep it all on this log.
Day 1, Week 1, Cycle 1
Barbell rows- 70kg x 15
Bench press- 92.5kg x 15
DB preacher curls- 10kg x 15
Decent workout and am excited for this program again
I’m glad that you are excited about 5/3/1. It’s a great feeling when you’ve bought into whatever program you are doing.
[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
I’m glad that you are excited about 5/3/1. It’s a great feeling when you’ve bought into whatever program you are doing. [/quote]
Not sure if you read it wrong or just made a mistake but I am not doing 531 now I am doing Big Beyond Belief but slightly modified. But yeah it is a great feeling when you can really get pumped up for training!
You should take a look into BBB, I have found it to be a great program!
Day 2, Week 1, Cycle 1
Speed skater squats- 8kg x 16, 16, 16 (these are stupidly tough lol)
Seated shoulder press- 60kg x 14
Tricep pushdowns- 30kg x 12
Chin ups- BW x 5, 5, 4
[quote]Getting Closer wrote:
[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
I’m glad that you are excited about 5/3/1. It’s a great feeling when you’ve bought into whatever program you are doing. [/quote]
Not sure if you read it wrong or just made a mistake but I am not doing 531 now I am doing Big Beyond Belief but slightly modified. But yeah it is a great feeling when you can really get pumped up for training!
You should take a look into BBB, I have found it to be a great program![/quote]
Oh crap lol. I most certainly read that wrong. I stupidly missed out on the post where you say that you are switching back to BBB haha. Regardless I look forward to seeing you hit some big numbers!
I’ve heard of BBB, but haven’t actually gotten a chance to see what it’s like. I’ll definitely check it out.
[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
[quote]Getting Closer wrote:
[quote]AquaCruzer wrote:
I’m glad that you are excited about 5/3/1. It’s a great feeling when you’ve bought into whatever program you are doing. [/quote]
Not sure if you read it wrong or just made a mistake but I am not doing 531 now I am doing Big Beyond Belief but slightly modified. But yeah it is a great feeling when you can really get pumped up for training!
You should take a look into BBB, I have found it to be a great program![/quote]
Oh crap lol. I most certainly read that wrong. I stupidly missed out on the post where you say that you are switching back to BBB haha. Regardless I look forward to seeing you hit some big numbers!
I’ve heard of BBB, but haven’t actually gotten a chance to see what it’s like. I’ll definitely check it out.[/quote]
Lol no worries. Its a tough program but I have always enjoyed it.
I’ll carry on logging on here so if you stay following hopefully my numbers will speak for the program. Week 5 is usually where the magic happens!
Sounds good! I’m looking forward to seeing how you progress.