Caesium32's Log - Cycling With a Side of Lifting

13/03/17

First of all I’m going to change how I log weights from now on. For some reason when I started it seemed most logical to put weight x reps x sets but most seem to put sets x reps x weight so I’ll with that. It’s also how I’d say it out loud anyway.

Squat:
2x10x20, 5x40, 5x60, 3x80, 5x90 (PR), 5x95 (PR), 10x60

Very happy with this. Going in I knew I’d get 5x90 and wanted to get 5x95 which is what I did. It didn’t feel too bad at all considering it’s the heaviest I’ve ever had on my back and my warm ups didn’t feel any easier than usual. I was tempted to try 100x5 and I may have got it but I’d rather end on a high and save some for next week.

Facepulls (50 reps): 15x10, 15x12.5, 2x10x15
Pec deck (50 reps): 2x25x20
Hammer curls: 30x4s

Couldn’t find any dumbbells between 4kg and 12kg so went with the 4s which was a big underestimation of my curl strength and I soon got very bored.

I’m excited to see what happens with bench tomorrow, I’d like 5x70kg.

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15/03/17

Bench press:
10x20, 6x40, 5x50, 5x60, 5x70 (PR), 5x75 (PR), 10x37.5

Two more PRs, I wasn’t sure whether to go to 72.5kg or 75kg after 70kg and in the moment went with the higher weight. 5x75 felt like quite a grind and I was tempted to stop after two reps but my friend said only the last two looked particularly slow. I wish I’d filmed it but there’s nowhere to rest my phone and I’d rather my friend was there spotting me.
I think it might be time I try wrist wraps, I noticed my hands were really bent back as I racked the 75kg and it was a bit scary.

Cable rows (100 reps): 5x20x20
Dumbell overhead press: 18x8s, 12x8s
Crunch machine: 3x10x20

Happy to be getting stronger, I think just after I started this log I failed the fourth rep of 65kg so I’ve definitely made progress. I seem to be pretty good at reps with bench so I would imagine I’m very close to my 1RM with 75kg.

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Learn to position the bar on the meaty part (heel) of your hand, and then wrap your fingers around the bar keeping it in that position. Do the same for military press, even if you use a thumbless grip. Wrist wraps won’t do too much if you’re already bending the wrist back by misplacing the bar in your hand.

Okay thanks a lot, I’ve only noticed it with very heavy weight.

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16/03/17

Deadlift:
lotsx20, 2x5x60, 5x80, 2x100, 5x110 (PR)

Top set was quite slow compared to usual but all five reps felt a similar difficulty. I thought it would have been easier than it was so I’m kind of disappointed.

I think grip may be my limiting factor because my hands just seem to get destroyed, however I never really feel it in my forearms it’s just where my hands callus. I pulled the 2x100 double overhand and it was fine so it seems odd that 10kg more with a mixed grip would be much harder. I’ll try chalk next time and see if it helps.

Split squats superset with dumbbell rows:
2x10xBW/ 10x18, 20x18

I didn’t feel like doing much at all today so I left early. Split squats are really hard for me so they’re definitely something I want to work on in future, if I can do them with say 20kg I’m sure I’d get some carry over to other lifts.

BW: 86.3kg

So I’ve decided what I want to do about training until around the end of June. From 3rd March to 24th April I’m going to do Texas method according to this article:

I’m going to make some small changes/additions. On the recovery day instead of the squats I’m going to try 3x10 split squats instead, I think they still fit the desired purpose. On the volume day I’ll do 3 sets of dumbbell rows and on the intensity day do a max effort set or vice versa. I’ll start out with a 5RM of 80kg.
This will allow me to get some decent squatting in and some programmed training for the three weeks.

The week before I’m going on holiday to Amsterdam with my girlfriend for a couple of days so I’ll probably just do 5x5 squats twice with a lighter weight to get into it and see how the rest goes.

After that I’m going to do this for at least three cycles:

I’m going to go in a slight calorie deficit for a while I think or at least just stay at maintenance. I’ll see what happens nothing’s set in stone.

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If you start the Texas method I woud avoid the deficit for sure, especially because the rate at which you put on weight on the bar is much faster than 531, so you want to make sure your diet and your recovery/sleep is on point.

Your bench will probably go up from more frequency, and squatting too. Which weights will you start with ?

I’m curious to see your progress so keep at it!

That’s a great point I hadn’t considered. I think I’ll most likely just try and eat clean and see how it goes but a deficit probably is a bad idea.

Starting with 80kg and only doing it for three weeks will keep me within weights I can handle but I’m hoping it’ll make them easier. I’ll also keep the other three lifts fairly conservative. Probably 65kg bench, 90kg deadlift and 35-40kg press, power clean will probably just be the bar. Squatting three times a week was fun when I did it in the past so I’m looking forward to it just for a change if anything.

Thanks for following along and offering your advice, it’s always welcome.

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I definitely had to start eating more as the weights went up.

Just see how it feels, maybe you’ll like it and stick to it longer than 3 weeks and make good progress. I know that squatting 3 times a week is too much for me cause I’m doing other things too so 531 is a good alternative

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Why the caloric deficit to start with? Just shredding for the summer or are there other reasons?
How tall and heavy are you btw.?

I am as far from an expert on diet as it gets but I think it would probably be best to concentrate on one goal at a time. You want to get stronger? Eat accordingly.
I have made strength gains while losing weight but my guess is that I was (and am) a lot fatter than you.
I always try to eat clean but that doesn’t mean that I am getting much lighter it only means thst I am eating more :stuck_out_tongue: .

But those are justmy two cents and things I would think about first if I was in your shoes. Your goals are only defined by you and you don’t need to justify them to anyone if you don’t want to.

Best of luck with the new program, mate!

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I basically just want to lose a bit of body fat, I wouldn’t say I’m fat but I could look better. I’m 5’10’’ and 86kg first thing in the morning. The more I think about it recently the more inclined I am to just eat clean most of the time and eat when I’m hungry. Counting calories and macros is an extra effort I think I could get away with not doing.

Thank you for your input, I always appreciate it.

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Thinking of swapping to Texas Method as well, 5/3/1 is just so obnoxiously slow and boring. Also my squat is trash compared to my other lifts. [quote=“caesium32, post:293, topic:221425”]
Counting calories and macros is an extra effort I think I could get away with not doing.
[/quote]

Couldn’t agree with this more. It seems way to over the top tracking everything and stressful.

Any luck with finding a Powerlifting group you could join?

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I enjoy 5/3/1 and I’ll definitely go back to it later but I just fancy trying different things too. You could argue that you can progress just as fast on 5/3/1 because you’re adding reps instead of weight.

I had a quick look at the powerlifting website but didn’t look too much into it. I’ll probably give it a bit more time first before I go for it.

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18/03/17

Overhead press superset with chins:
10x20, 5x30, 5x35, 3x40, 5x42.5 (PR)
Total of 10 chin ups.

I felt very explosive with the lighter weight today which I also noticed with my deadlift on Thursday. PR was fairly easy, 45kg might have been there but no rush to hit it yet. I’ve moved my grip in a little bit more so my forearms are more vertical. It’s now as narrow as it can possibly be on the knurling, I didn’t realise how long my forearms were.

Lat pull-down (100 reps): 5x20x30, 1x60

Varied grip widths and went slow. My friend for some reason wanted to see if he could do 60kg and for some reason I did it after so today I basically maxed out on a lat pull-down.

Assisted dips: 10x40, 8x30, 5x20
Ab wheel roll-outs: 3x10xBW

The dips were really hard. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a new movement or just weakness but I thought my chest was going to rip. On the other hand the ab wheel has gotten a lot easier. My back is really pumped writing this half an hour later.

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I never thought that the ceiling at the gym I’m using next month is too low to overhead press. I’ll either swap it for Z press or do seated overhead press using a different rack for higher reps because I don’t trust the rack or bar with heavier weight, plus it’s awkward to unrack.

I had a flick through my copy of beyond 5/3/1 earlier tonight while I was waiting for dinner to cook and noticed the full body template. I hadn’t realised it had you squatting three times a week and now I don’t know whether to do that or the program I linked a few posts ago.

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I’m thinking of waiting for krypteia to be released to us peasants who aren’t on the private forum and then running that. In the mean time FSL is fun with custom assistance.

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I’ll have to have a good think about it. I don’t know whether or not to buy the new book yet or wait until it’s released as an e-book.

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20/03/17

Squat:
2x10x20, 5x40, 5x60, 3x80, 3x100 (PR), 5x100 (PR)

Probably my favourite PR so far, it’s very satisfying to load up another plate and squat it. After 3x100 I was considering going heavier but I don’t think trying for weights I may potentially fail with is sensible when I’ve no reason to. Instead I went for five reps and I think I had another couple in me. Before Christmas I was aiming for one rep with 100kg now I’ve got five and the same will happen in a few months with 110kg or 120kg.

The best thing about this though was how my technique didn’t break down what so ever even near max weights. I put this down to not failing reps and lots of submaximal work, exactly what 5/3/1 wants you to do. This reason alone is gonna keep me coming back to 5/3/1 I think.

Facepulls superset with triceps pull-down:
10x20, 15, 15/10x20, 15, 15

Hammer curls superset with lateral raises:
Both 2x10x4s

I’m having a bit of pain in my left forearm which I usually only get after lots of chins so I tried to work it out a little bit. This is the first time I’ve had it during a workout and it was there from pretty much the first squat rep. I think it’s all the pulling I’ve been doing lately so I may swap it for some light hammer curls tomorrow instead.

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If you think you can TRY!!! At the very least. A much healthier (happier) approach is what you mentioned and that is eat clean as hungry.

This is ideal IMO, so like Palpatine DO IT!!! Ok every body is different but there isn’t a better exercise than Squatting for general health so do it and often is my motto.

Try neutral grip anything that you can for a bit and see if that clears it up.

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