Burien Top Team | Training Log

Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 - Monday - Session 4 of 12

BW: 148-151
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

Deadlift
bar x 10
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 3
200 x 3
225 x 3
250 x 3
275 x 2

Vertical Pull
30 x 10
60 x 10
90 x 10 x 5

OHP
bar x 10
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 5
90 x 5 x 7

Rope pressdown
(SS w/ DB hammer curls 20 x 10 x 5)
20 x 10
40 x 10 x 5

Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 - Wednesday - Session 5 of 12

BW: 146.8
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

Squat
(SS w/ DB rows 30 x 10 x 6)
bar x 10
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 3
165 x 5
190 x 5
210 x 5
245 x 3 (felt better than last week’s double)

Horizontal Pull
30 x 10
60 x 10
90 x 10 x 5

Bench
bar x 10
60 x 5
75 x 5
90 x 5
115 x 5
130 x 5 x 7

Preacher curls
bar x 10
+5 x 10
+10 x 10
+15 x 10
+20 x 10 x 5

Notes: I’ve extended rest periods on the 5/3/1 work sets by about a minute (starting the 2 min clock after I’ve changed the weights and done any SS assistance). I think it’s helped a bit. I’ve also started doing one of the bigger assistance pulls before the TM PR set, which is giving me a little more time. Today’s training took 80 minutes.

I’m also liking my new three day split. I think hitting the big four 1.5x a week is a good change of pace from 1x, especially since I’m still in a “skill-development phase”. I was afraid I’d be too worn out from jiu-jitsu to train weights 3x/week. But the fact of the matter is that I tutor the first hour and only really train hard during the Live Training session in the second hour. So I’ve got more in the tank for the following day’s weight training session than I thought.

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Logging tonight’s jiu-jitsu training into my calendar, I realize that half of the time I’ve attended class this month, it’s been as the instructor. I felt like I’d been doing more teaching than usual lately. But it wasn’t until I looked it up in my calendar that I saw just how much. For most of 2018, it’s been just teaching once or twice in every 8-10 times I was at the academy. For June, July, and August, it’s been 4 of 10, 3 of 8, and 5 of 10.

This is why 3x/week weight training - or even 4x with the one-lift-per-day 5/3/1 protocols - is making more sense than 2x/week. And why I’m not feeling much worse for the wear.

OHP for TM PRs and deadlifts for volume tomorrow.

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Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 - Friday - Session 6 of 12

BW: 147
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

OHP
(SS w/ DB hammer curls 20 x 10 x 6)
bar x 10
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 3
80 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 5
115 x 3

Vertical Pull
30 x 10
60 x 10
90 x 10 x 5

Deadlift
(SS w/rope pressdown 20 x 10; 40 x 10* x 5) *10 reps/10 sec hold/10 more reps
bar x 10
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 6
185 x 5
210 x 5 x 7

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Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 - Monday - Session 7 of 12

BW: 149.2
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

*Usually train at 2pm. Took advantage of Labor Day holiday to come in a few hours early. Plenty of folks with the same idea, so no supersetting today and a 90 minute workout.

Horizontal Pul
30 x 10
60 x 10
90 x 10 x 5

Bench
bar x 10
60 x 5
75 x 5
90 x 3
115 x 5
130 x 5
145 x 5
170 x 6

DB rows
30 x 10 x 6

Squat
bar x 10
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
190 x 5 x 7

Preacher curl
bar x 10
+5 x 10
+10 x 10
+15 x 10
+20 x 10 x 5

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Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 - Friday - Session 8 of 12

BW: 146.8
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

Empty Gym Fridays - Love 'em!

Deadlift (SS w/DB hammer curls 20 x 10 x 6)
bar x 10
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 3
185 x 5
210 x 5
235 x 5

Vertical Pull
60 x 10
90 x 10 x 5

Deadlift PR set
275 x 3 (hitched fourth rep; no good)

OHP (SS w/rope pressdowns 20 x 10; 40 x 10 x 5)
bar x 10
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 5
90 x 5 x 7*

*Struggled on the final two sets more than I would have liked. I think it’s the relatively shorter rest periods on the secondary lift that are challenging with a weight that’s 75% of TM. Felt a little DOMS after doing the 75% x 5 x 7 squats w/60 second rest on Monday, also.

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Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 - Monday - Session 9 of 12

BW: 149.0
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

Squat (SS w/DB rows 30 x 10 x 6)
bar x 10
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
190 x 5
210 x 3
235 x 1
245 x 5*

*Very happy to hit the “triple-double” on my squat TM. I still remember eeking out a double at 245 back in August and thinking there was no way I was doing to get five reps in less than a month.

Horizontal Pull
40 x 10
60 x 10
90 x 10 x 5

Bench (SS with Preacher curls 10 x 10; 20 x 10 x 5)
bar x 10
60 x 5
75 x 5
90 x 5
130 x 5 x 7

Awesome man well done.

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Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 - Wednesday - Session 10 of 12

BW: 145.8
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

OHP (SS w/ DB hammer curls 30 x 10 x 6)
bar x 10
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 3
90 x 5
100 x 3
110 x 1

Vertical Pull
60 x 10
90 x 10 x 5

OHP PR set
115 x 4 (last two reps were a little grindy; may keep this OHP TM for the next cycle)

Deadlift
bar x 10
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 5 x 7*

Rope press downs
20 x 10
40 x 10 x 5**

*Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 actually calls for 75% x 3 x 7 for deadlifts. I’ve been doing sets of five instead by accident.

**10 reps, 10 second isometric hold, 10 reps

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Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 - Friday - Session 11 of 12

BW: 146.0
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

Bench
SS w/ DBRs 30 x 10 x 6
bar x 10
60 x 5
75 x 5
90 x 3
110 x 3
130 x 5
145 x 3
160 x 1

Horizontal Pull
30 x 10
60 x 10
90 x 10 x 5

Bench TM PR Set
170 x 6

Squats
SS w/Preacher curl: bar x 10, 5 x 10, 10 x 10, 15 x 10, 20 x 10 x 5
bar x 10
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
190 x 5 x 7

Same performance as last bench 5/3/1 with six reps at my TM. So far, squat and bench TMs will be increased for the next cycle. OHP will stay the same. We’ll find out about the deadlifts on Monday.

Business travel schedule will put a little turbulence in the workout plan over the next 6-8 weeks. I’ll finish 5/3/1 1.2 on Monday. The rest of the week will have zero lifting opportunities. The following week will be hotel lifting, so I’m hoping to do some things I never do (leg extensions, leg curls), as well as a lot of shoulder and upper body stuff (face pulls, Shoulder Shocker, incline DB bench).

After that my current plan is to run my next 5/3/1 Cycle (Cycle 8) as 4x/week over the course of four weeks like this:

10/1 - 10/5: train MTRF
10/8 - 10/12: off (vacation)
10/15 - 10/19: train MTRF
10/22 - 10/26: train MTRF
10/29 - 11/2: off (business trip)

November and December should be straightforward with three weeks of training and a week long trip at the end of each month. I’ll probably do the same thing here (4x MTRF training) only without the weeklong break between weeks 1 and 2, and take that fourth week as a deload.

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Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 - Monday - Session 12 of 12

BW: 149.6
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

Deadlift
SS w/DB hammer curls 20 x 10 x 6
bar x 10
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 3
185 x 3
210 x 5
235 x 3
260 x 1

Vertical Pull
30 x 10
60 x 10
90 x 10 x 5

Deadlift TM PR Set
275 x 3*

Press
SS with Rope Pressdowns 20 x 10, 40 x 10 x 5
bar x 10
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5
90 x 5 x 7

*First three reps were better than my last effort ten days ago. But same issue with grip on the fourth rep, which I hitched a bit to get up. So just three good reps here.

Going forward, I’ll move my bench TM up by five pounds to 175 and my squat TM up to 250. Since I wasn’t able to get five reps on my press and deadlift TMs, I’m going to keep them at 115 and 275 for the next cycle.

That said, numbers are up across the board since I started Beyond 5/3/1 at the beginning of July. Still on the nooby side, to be sure. But they’re my gains and I’m cool with all of 'em!

Squat: From 215 x 5 to 245 x 5.
Bench: From 150 x 5 to 170 x 6
Press: From 100 x 5 to 115 x 4
Deadlift: From 240 x 5 to 275 x 3

Really enjoyed this past 12 weeks of Beyond 5/3/1 1.1 and 1.2. Looking forward to trying the Beach Body challenge 5/3/1 Beach Body Challenge in January. Will probably spend the balance of 2018 doing basic 5/3/1 (4x/week; one main lift per session, Joker sets, FSL) with horizontal and vertical pulls as a secondary lifts.

Beyond 5/3/1 1.2 Wednesday & Saturday - “Week Five”

BW: ?
TMs: 115 / 170 / 245 / 275

Didn’t think I’d be able to properly finish 5/3/1 1.2 with the final week of 5x5@75% work. But managed to get in a Wednesday session before catching my flight to the East Coast and, a few hours ago, managed to get in a Saturday session at the hotel here in NYC.

Nothing special. But I am little proud of myself for making the effort when it would have been easy to punk out and just blame it travails of travel days.

Wednesday
Squat
bar x 10
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
190 x 5 x 5

Deadlift
bar x 10
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 3 x 5

Saturday
Bench (DBs)
15 x 10
30 x 5
40 x 2
45 x 3

Press (DBs)
5 x 10
15 x 10
25 x 5 x 5

Face pulls
12.5 x 20
17.5 x 20
22.5 x 20
27.5 x 20
32.5 x 20

Technically speaking, I think I owe myself another session of 5x5@75% for the squat & the bench press if I’m going to truly follow the protocol. The challenge is deciding whether or not to do that on Monday or take advantage of the fact that my hotel gym has a Smith machine (!) and start my next cycle (BBB or Hardgainers).

Right now, I’m thinking I should just get that final session in on Monday, work on weak areas on Wednesday here at the hotel gym and on Friday when I get back to my own gym, and then start the new cycle on the first of October as originally planned.

P.S. I’ve been reading CT’s Four Seasons of Lifting. With the autumn officially starting today, I’m thinking it might be fun to do a little “seasonality” training. This would mean focusing on hypertrophy now through late December, powerlifting-style training at the start of the new year into late March, then turning to the metcon style conditioning over the late spring and summer months.

Still working on it, but thinking about scheduling this way for the next six-seven months:
Sept - Dec: BBB or Hardgainers
Dec - Mar: Beach Body

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Well done with the programs.
You’ve done a great job and the gains have been very good.
Keep up the good work.

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Thinking and reading more on four seasons of lifting while on the train to New York, and then watching The Redeemed and the Dominant on the flight back home inspired me to program my training for the next 12 months.

Autumn: Size: Boring But Big -starts tomorrow!
Winter: Power: Beach Body Challenge
Spring: Performance: Thibaudeau’s Strength Skill Circuits
Summer: Speed: “3B” Strength Circuits*

*Basically Built for Bad’s simpler set/rep scheme using Built for Battle Group 1 exercises. No assistance circuit. No Wednesday training.

My main focus for the coming year is to gain strength in the big four and add upper back size. I’m going to be doing a lot more pulling this year compared to last.

I’m also going to be less focused on my weight. I’d like to keep it in this neighborhood. But I know I’m risking self-sabotage if I don’t keep my calories at maintenance at a minimum and my carbs up. I’m guessing that cleaning up my diet will go a long way toward some of the stubborn body comp goals I tend to think are inaccessible unless I drop down to 140.

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Starting off the 2018-2019 season with Autumn/Hypertrophy, today through December 21st. Goals by this time next year are:

(1) TMs of 135/225/315/405
(2) upper back size/yoke development/“power look”

Treadmill Walking - Sunday/Saturday am
Jiu-jitsu Training - Tuesday/Thursday pm

Cycle 8: Boring But Big: Monday 1 of 12

BW: 149.6
TMs: 115/175/255/275

Dips
BW x 3 x 5

Press (SS w/DB rows 35 x 10 x 5)
bar x 10
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 3
80 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 7

Vertical Pull
60 x 10
80 x 10
100 x 10 x 5

Press Joker Sets
110 x 4

Bench
bar x 10
65 x 10
85 x 10 x 5

Cycle 8: Boring But Big: Tuesday 2 of 12

BW: 150-ish
TMs: 115/175/255/275

Squat (ss w/ DB hammer curls 25 x 10 x 5)
bar x 10
95 x 5
105 x 5
125 x 5
145 x 3
175 x 5
200 x 5
220 x 7

Squat Joker Sets
240 x 3

Deadlift (ss w/ Hanging Leg Raises BW x 10 x 5)
bar x 10
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 10 x 5

A pair of current pictures: I’m about 150 lbs or so in these, taken earlier today. 66".tall. Should probably drop them in the physique forum for suggestions and advice.

Front

Back

Training Jiu-Jitsu tonight after a two-week break. Three eight-minute rounds. Cardio was fair - understandably, but technique was off more than I would have liked. No issue having done heavy lifting a few hours earlier.

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Starting off hypertrophy season, I was fooling around with the Golden Ratio stuff and got some interesting metrics. They are more or less in line with what I suspected - and with what I am hoping to accomplish. But nice to see the numbers all the same.

Projections (based on wrist size):
Arms: 15”
Chest: 39”
Upper leg: 24 1/2”

Current:
Arms: 13”
Chest: 36 1/4”
Upper leg: 21 3/4”

I also could use to lose about 2” around the midsection to get at or under 32”.

Cycle 8: Boring But Big: Thursday 3 of 12

BW: 150-ish
TMs: 115/175/255/275

Warm up
Face pulls 30 x 10 x 5
Low2High Cable Flyes 30 x 10 x 5*

*loving these for clavicle pec hypertrophy, but went a little too heavy; lowering to 20 next week, then 25 the following week

5/3/1 Work
Bench (ss w/DB rows 35 x 10 x 5)
bar x 10
65 x 5
80 x 5
95 x 3
110 x 5
130 x 5
145 x 9

Horizontal Pull
60 x 10
80 x 10
100 x 10 x 5

Bench Joker Sets
165 x 5
185 x 1**

**hit a second rep, but too grindy to count

Volume Work
Press
bar x 10
55 x 10 x 5

Resistance training in the afternoon (1:15pm to 2:30pm). Jiu-jitsu training tonight. 3 rounds of 8 minutes each. Cardio better than Tuesday night. But soreness from Tuesday’s weight training has slowly crept in. Deadlift 5/3/1 and Squat Volume tomorrow.

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Cycle 8: Boring But Big: Friday 4 of 12

BW: 149.6
TMs: 115/175/255/275

5/3/1
Deadlift (ss w/long jumps BW x 3 x 5 + DB hammer curls 25 x 10 x 5)
bar x 10
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 3
180 x 5
205 x 5
235 x 7

Deadlift Joker Sets
260 x 3

Volume
Squat (ss w/ab wheel rollouts 5 x 10)
bar x 10
95 x 10
125 x 10 x 5

Taking next week off for annual vacation. No weight training or cardio, but lots of wine, walking, and seafood. Will try to keep the calories up but the carbs in check. Will return for another two weeks to finish Cycle 8, then back out of town again for a working week which will also serve as a deload week (maybe a little hotel lifting on weak areas and some cardio).

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Cycle 8: Boring But Big: Monday 5 of 12

BW: 154.2
TMs: 115/175/255/275

Back at it after a week’s vacation on Whidbey Island, Washington.

5/3/1
PRESS (ss w/ dips BW x 5 x 5 & DB rows 35 x 10 x 5)
bar x 10
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 3
85 x 3
95 x 3
105 x 6

Jokers
115 x 3
120 x 3
130 x 1 (tied PRESS PR)

Assistance
VERTICAL PULL
60 x10
80 x 10
100 x 10 x 5

Secondary/Volume
BENCH
bar x 10
65 x 10
85 x 10 x 5

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