Haven’t posted on here in like a year, but still have been training. Used the westside method for awhile got my lifts back up a little bit, got me to a 265 paused bench 315 touch and go off of a one board, 355 squat(wtih belt/knee wraps), and 455 deadlift. I received an email from Jim W. about this high frequency 531 template they’ve messed around with where you do 24 sessions in one month(two whole training cycles). T
This appealed to me because I like training often, and like having the option of choosing off days based on how i feel. so i’ll stay true to posting for at least 2 months of this program.also starting this program quite light by using paused bench and by using 20lbs less than my actual squat and 30 lbs less than my actual deadlift. and a little less than my actual mil. press.
bench:(paused real max 265) training max-240
squat: (with belt, real max 335) training max-300
mil. press:(real max 165) training max-150
deadlift: (real max 425) training max-385
12/22/12 Saturday-day 1-session 1
Military press-105x3, 120x3, 135x3, 155x1, 160x1
assistance: Lats, upperback, side/rear delts
12/23/12 sunday- day 2, session 2
squat- 200x3, 230x3, 260x3, singles: 285x1, 305x1
deadlift: 270x3, 310x3, 345x3
assistance: hams, lower back
12/24/12 monday- day 3-session 3
(paused) bench: 170x3, 195x3, 215x3, singles: 235x1, 245x1
assistance: mil. pressing, rowing, dumbbell raises
12/25/12-tuesday-day 4
merry christmas today’s an off day!
in even though you stole my thunder
why do you go so far under your training maxes? I’ve found doing minimum reps with 90% of my real maxes to be almost warmups, at least for military press and bench
edit: nevermind, I’m stupid, just realized you’re doing 90% or so of your “easy” maxes
haha its ok man. also I plan on doing heavy singles on certain days too. especially for bench and squat. The bench weights would be higher if I wasn’t pausing all my benches but I want to do my first powerlifting meet this spring so I have to get ready to be able to pause bc right now i suck at pausing for benching.
awesome, I’ll follow along. I’m trying to learn to not pause my benches lol, my bar path isn’t that consistent unless I slow it down a lot. Do you think you’ll be fine with the added assistance? I’m trying to not alter the program as I have a tendency to overdo it on the assistance.
Well I wont have too many assistance lifts. At this point in the game, I know how much my body can recover from day to day so I will go by how i feel most days. but I wont try to do assistance, its the big lifts that matter most to me, i just like being able to hit a big lift every day on this program. Will really be working the hell out of my technique on bench press, bar path is something i have had a problem with but doing these paused benches has helped with that. I used to overdo it on the assistance too, but now everytime i go to do an assistance lift i ask myself will this help me bring up this main lift, and ask myself would jim wendler add an this extra lift? those two simple questions will help ya decide not to do stupid extra work and other times you will do the extra work that you might need to bring up a certain lift.
12/26/12-day 5 session #4
Squat-215x3,245x3,275x3,300x1x2sets,300x3x1set
assistance:
back raise-5 sets of 20 reps
sit ups-3 sets of 20
12/27/12 day 6 session #5
Military press- 105x5, 115x5, 130x5. extra sets: 155x3, 165x1x5(one set done rest pause style)
chinups- 12,9,7,8,6= 42total reps
hammer row-45x50(reps)x4sets
yea, it was nothing compared to the sets of 50 reps on rows, those were nuts, the lats, biceps, and forearms are feeling it from those. and on to today’s lift.
12/28/12- day 7, session #6
squat-200x3, 230x3, 260x3, extra sets: 315x3, 350x1
deadlift- 250x3, 290x3, 330x3, extra sets: 365x1, 405x1, 425x1
deficit deadlift(about 4in high)-225x3x6sets(very short rest periods like about 30/40sec)
some light Leg curls-200ish reps
squat felt pretty good, didn’t go for any more extra sets than that bc i had to deadlift still and new i’d do some extra sets there.
12/29/12 day 8 session #7
paused bench-160x5, 180x5, 205x5, 225x1, 245x1, added sling shot 265x3
facepulls-150reps superset with Fat bar incline press-95x12x5
t-bar row- 25,25,6,6,6,6,6,15reps
bench was just ehh today. was expecting to work up to 285 with the sling shot but stopped at 265 bc i didn’t have any of my training partners with me today that i trust to spot me.
how long do you pause the bench? I am pausing mine less and less now that I’m getting somewhat comfortable with my bar path
Most meets around me are APA so I will just youtube bench attempts when I start meet prep and go from there
I try to pause for 1 Mississippi in my head on like every rep. I hate doing it but if I am going to do a meet i have to, i still haven’t done a meet, mostly bc of my bench press, i fucking hate it man wish i could do a squat and dead only meet.
[quote]goodfellow90 wrote:
I try to pause for 1 Mississippi in my head on like every rep. I hate doing it but if I am going to do a meet i have to, i still haven’t done a meet, mostly bc of my bench press, i fucking hate it man wish i could do a squat and dead only meet. [/quote]
I hear you on that! However, if you want to be a good overall lifter, you’ve got to work on those areas where you’re not so strong. I’m putting a focus on bench for my current cycle. Its actually kind of fun so far as I’m getting to do some bodybuilder work for the pressing muscles.
yea you’re right man, i’m trying to get my bench better, and i thought about doing like sheiko for it but I love 531 and want to keep working everything hard. but i do have to start doing some extra technique work which i will when i have my normal training partners at school in like a week
12/31/12-Monday, session #8
squat 200x5, 230x5, 260x5
assistance:
back raises/abs-5x10
preacher curls-2x10
1/2/13 Wednesday session #9
Military press- 115x5, 130x3, 145x3(was supposed to 1, but was feeling strong), 155x1, 175x1
assistance:
dumbbell rows- 3 sets of 30reps
Neutral grip pulldowns- 10,8,8,6,6,6,4,4reps
1/3/13 Thursday session #10
Squat- 200x3, 230x3, 260x3
Deadlift- 290x3, 330x3, 365x1, 385x1, 405x1, 425x1, 455 missed it twice
assistance-
back raises,goodmornings, and abs-all light for a few sets
do you use straps for deadlifts? I might need them, or at least chalk, after the next DB row session
The only time I ever use straps is for really heavy rack pulls or some kind of heavy row or a really high rep row like 30 or more reps. I used chalk on my last 4sets in the last deadlifting session. I always use chalk on Deadlifts just not on anything i consider to be light still usually i would start using chalk around 315 so for you i would say anyset over 225 use chalk on, but not straps. You can use chalk on the rows too
1/4/13, Friday, Session#11
Shoulder warmup-about 5-10minutes
Bench- bar x5 x2sets,95 x5 x2, 135 x3 x2, 155x3, 180x5, 205x3, 230x1, 255x1
Assistance:
Biceps,side/rear deltoids: preacher curl- a lot of reps, side and rear delt raises-light weight x50reps
Today felt pretty good, I paused obnoxiously long on all my bench sets, was kind of surprised I even got 255 with how long I paused, lol. I will try to get someone to video it for me next week maybe. Assistance just consisted of a lot of reps in a short amount of time. I also did 20 min of cardio everyday for the past 3 days, I still want to compete in powerlifting eventually, but have pushed it back and it wont be this spring. Right now my goal is to keep my numbers the same for the 3 main lifts, but to get down to 165 pounds. I currently weight 193 lbs. I just started not eating like a fat ass of a couple days ago. No this is not a new years resolution, however the holidays did make me gain some weight and made me realize how fat I am. Being a personal trainer, and wanting to be a strength and conditioning coach I felt that I should actually start doing some conditioning so now I am doing that and eating boring chicken and bodybuilder type foods everyday. But thank god for salsa, it has like 10 calories per serving and barely any sugar and makes anything taste good.
1/5/13, Saturday, Session#12
Leg dynamic warmup
Squat- 230x5, 260x3, 290x1, 315x1, 325x1
assistance:
good mornings-worked up to 145x8 (wide stance, real strict form)
leg curls-25x12x4sets(short rest)
Abs- planks and ab wheel for a few sets
Cardio- 20 minutes steady state on incline treadmill