Not that you asked me but here’s my 2 cents on the ‘issue’. It doesn’t matter, so long as you stick to a good program (in this case, you’re sticking to 5/3/1, just that the variation is different), you’re going to make progress. Just don’t get a case of fuckaroundtitus.
Since it doesn’t matter, at least in my opinion, just do what you think you’ll enjoy more but make sure you stick to it.
Thank you, you’re opinion is always welcome. I think I’ll give hardgainers a try first.
Monday 12/12/16 C3W3D1
Deadlift 20x5, 30x8, 60x5, 75x5, 85x3, 95x8 (PR)
Front squat 20x5, 20x8, 40x3, 45x3 with 2 chins between sets
Something just didn’t feel right doing front squats so ended early. I felt weak and my back felt a bit funny. I think I it was just pumped from the deadlifts.
Hack squat 100x10x3
Back extensions BWx10x3
Overall a decent workout, got in and out pretty quick.
I think that picking a couple lifts per movement pattern (i.e. flat and incline bench for horizontal pressing, cleans and deadlifts for hip hinge, etc.) and getting very proficient at them will serve you well. Lots of volume with basic movements will build you uplease quick.
Yeah that’s the sort of thing I was thinking. Thanks a lot.
Tuesday 13/12/16 C3W3D2
Bench press 20x12, 20x20, 40x5, 50x5, 57.5x3 (PR), 65x10 (PR), 72.5x3 (PR)
More PRs again, bench is going great. Looking at my log, I’ve never benched 57.5kg before so technically anything is a PR. My right pec was a bit tight so I did a lot of shoulder dislocations and stretches. I felt much better afterwards.
Incline press 40x5, 50x5x2
Face pulls 10x10, 12.5x12, 15x20, 20, 15, 15, 10
Dumbbell rows 12x10, rest pause: 20x 10, 7, 5
Another good session.
I’ve been making sure I drink at least a litre of milk for the last week or so as well as eating at least one extra meal, usually cereal, every day. I haven’t felt as lethargic and seem to be recovering well.
Wednesday 14/12/16 C3W3D3
Squat 20x10, 30x5, 40x3, 50x3, 65x5, 75x3, 85x3
I came into the gym wanting to hit 100kg today. I was a bit stiff until I’d warmed up properly but by my first working set everything felt pretty normal and I was happy to go ahead with 100kg attempt. Then on my second rep of 75kg the 20kg plate hit the left pin and tipped me sideways. I managed to grind it out and finish the set but I think I pulled something a little bit just under my bottom left rib. After that 85kg just felt horrible and I decided to stop early.
I’m disappointed but things just didn’t feel good. There’s a chance I may have time to go to the gym on Sunday so I’m going to try and work up to a max squat. A 100kg squat was a big goal of mine to hit by the end of this week so it’d be nice if I could.
I finished off with just a few sets of curls.
Thursday 15/12/16 C3W3D4
Press 20x10x2, 32.5x5, 35x3, 40x7 (PR) with 2 chins between sets and some hanging from the bar.
These all felt pretty easy and fast until the last couple of reps.
Barbell shrugs 20x10, 40x12x4 and a 40kg hang clean to see how it felt.
Close grip bench 20x10, 45x5, 50x5, 55x5
Cable curls/triceps pushdown 15x10x5/20x10x5
Lat pull down 30x15x3
Finished up with lots of static stretching for the lower body, lots of shoulder dislocations and some overhead squats with a wooden pole. I need to do this more often.
That’s the end of my 3rd cycle and any planned training for 2016, I’ll make another post reviewing my goals later.
Review of training September 2016- December 2016
Things I’m happy with:
My bench press goal was 70kg, I just did 72.5kg for 3 reps.
Consistently got 8 hours of sleep and drank 4-6L of water.
Things to improve on:
Deadlift goal was 120kg, I did this last week but I am unsatisfied.
Squat goal was 100kg, I did 80kgx8 which puts my 1RM at 99kg but I didn’t actually squat 100kg. I’d definitely get it on a good day but I’m not happy with how hard it would be.
Press goal was initially 40kg but I got this for 4 reps in September so changed it to 50kg. My best press set is 40kgx7 which puts my 1RM at 48kg. Like my squat I think I could grind 50kg on a good day but it would be very difficult.
Things I’m unhappy with:
Conditioning was very hit and miss, including martial arts classes.
Mobility work/ stretching was done once a week at most.
Nutrition was also very inconsistent and not enough to get the results I want to.
Aside from martial arts classes I did zero jumping or throwing.
Particularly the first couple of months I did very little direct ab work.
I’ve done very little direct neck work.
Future training:
So from the three sections above it looks like I have a lot to improve on, luckily a lot are very easy to do.
I’m going to start 5/3/1 for hard gainers when I return to university in mid January. The only change I’ll be making is I don’t have access to a prowler or sled so I’ll need to replace that with something on upper body days. I’m not sure what I’ll do instead yet, maybe just some hard conditioning, so I’d appreciate if anyone had any suggestions, I would imagine it’s been asked on this forum before.
At least once a week I want to go to a kickboxing class which will include conditioning and stretching. On top of this I want to do 20-30 mins of easy cardio a week and some sort of thorough mobility work twice a week, I think those are realistic goals for now.
On upper body days I’m going to add a few sets of extra ab work each week. Also I’m going to do at least 100 reps of direct neck work twice a week along with 100 light band pull aparts each day and 20 band shoulder dislocations.
I think nutrition is the main thing I need to improve on these coming cycles. I’m going to roughly count my calories and protein until I am in the routine of eating enough; aiming for 3000 calories minimum and 180g of protein. I’ll adjust my intake based on results after this. To help do this every day I’m going to drink at least 1L of semi skimmed milk which I may end up changing to 2L.
That should cover all the points to work on and I’m excited to see what I can do once they’re sorted out.
My next ‘block’ of training will be from mid January to mid March when I come back home.
Goals for March 2017:
Squat- 120kg
Deadlift- 140kg
Bench press- 90kg
Press- 60kg
10 chin ups
30 press ups
10 dips
It’s worth noting that I don’t want these to just be something I can grind out, the goal is to hit a good, fast rep with each. Ideally if I could hit them for a triple on a good day I’m fairly confident I could get them any day so that is what I’ll aim for.
Sounds like a plan. For conditioning I’m currently playing with stationary bike sprints. They’re quite unpleasant.
I was thinking of those too, I’ve tried 30/30 with them a couple of times and they really hit my quads so could be an alternative. Don’t know if you saw my post about shuttle runs a while ago, I’m thinking of those too, they also killed my quads. Best thing about the bike is it’s really quick and convenient.
For conditioning and mobility work, try doing it in between working sets. Do mobility/activation during your heavy stuff to stay limber and keep fresh, then conditioning/high rep smaller movements in between your accessories. This can keep your heart rate up throughout your session and condense a lot more work into each training day. Just a thought.
Also, I think that your chin up goal and your dip goal should be the same number. I bet getting stronger dips will help drive up all your upper body presses.
Sounds solid! All of your goals sound realistic and attainable. I would also say that you are under shooting with your dip-goal. You would have to be pretty heavy to bench 90 kg and not be able to knock out 5 dips. Or a little banged up. (Irony game is strong here: I am very bad at dips myself)
Yo dude when i first started with chinups i could do 3. Now that number has gone up to at least 15-20 in a set.
What i did was do chinups every few days and just keep training. Pushups 30-40 in a set at once.
I know im a noob at this but id recommend ifyou have something to do chinups at home then every few days do a pushups,dips and chinups workout.
With chinups try doing the most you can in a set then do negatives.
And after that set when you cant do anymore wait a few minutes. And continue.
Hope this helps😊
Thanks guys, I think you’re right about the dip goal actually. My thinking was that last time I tried them they were really hard but so was benching 60kg so 10 seems a better goal.
Had an upper body massage today. I knew I’d be really tight in my upper back and traps, I always am, but I was tight in a lot of other places too. My right spinal erector was really tight compared to my left and so were both arms, especially my forearms. I had a bit of lower back and pec tightness too so it was really nice to get it all worked out.
I think I’ll try and get one every three months or so just for maintenance. I’m going to be sore tomorrow.
After 6 days of not going to the gym I’m really itching to get back in, especially before Christmas. I went today but it turns out it’s only staffed at opening and closing time for about an hour and the rest of the time you get in with a key fob so looks like I’ll have to try again tomorrow.
I can’t do hill sprints in the local woods either because it’s like a giant mud slip and slide and I can’t use my garage gym because my parents have filled it with random junk. My only other option is to spend £10 to use one of the big commercial gyms ONCE which I’m definitely not going to do or body weight stuff in my bedroom.
I’m hoping I can catch the gym owners tonight or tomorrow and get a good workout in before Christmas.
I finally got in the gym today. I’ll start by saying it’s basically one of those old run down garage gyms full of equipment older than me. I’m gonna have to be a bit more creative but it’s a nice place and it’ll get the job done.
Squat 20x10, 40x5, 60x3x4 (2 ct pause), 60x5
Just wanted to focus on being explosive and controlled at the bottom. I think I usually bounce back up a bit so I feel like if I get better at pause squats it’ll carry over well to full squats.
Seated overhead press/ Swiss bar rows (weight on bar only for both) 20x10x3, 20x8x2/ 20x10x5
This is where I have to be a bit more creative. The ceilings are only just over 6 feet high so I had to sit down. Luckily there is a bench with a rack built on top which works well providing I have the shoulder mobility to unrack the bar from behind me. The barbell I used was probably about 5 feet long and must only weigh about 5kg too so I’m just going to go with the weight I put on it, same for the Swiss bar.
At this point I made myself look an idiot, I loaded a 10kg plate on one side like it was a 20kg bar and the whole thing flipped making a lot of noise and getting the attention of everyone there. On a positive note though it was a good exercise and most likely one I’ll be using as a staple for the next few weeks.
Leg press 3x12
Leg curls 4x10
Merry Christmas to all from England, I hope it’s a great day.