Captain's Log, Stardate... Bring on the Hate

I’m Barry, I’m 25 years old, I weigh 160lbs and am 5’6.
A good friend of mine recommended I get into the 5/3/1 program, so here I am.

In the last 2 years I trained in boxing and cardio so my lifts are estrogenically weak at this point. Anyways, I’m on my 4th week of the program and it has been pretty basic so far, I hope to mix it up with more assistance exercises in the second month.

Week 1: Warmup: Running 30 mins and big lift warmup (40, 50, 60%)

Benchpress: 5x125 5x140, 5x155

Deadlift: 5x170, 5x195, 8x220

Military: 5x60, 5x65, 7x70

Squat: 5x135, 5x145, 5x160

Assistance: Flys, Dips, Pullups.

Week 2: Warmup(Same as week 1)

Benchpress: 3x135, 3x145,5x160

Deadlift: 3x185, 3x210, 6x230

Military: 3x65, 3x70, 9x75

Squat: 3x140, 3x155, 5x165

Assistance: Same as week 1

Week 3: Warmup (Same)

Benchpress: 5x140, 3x145, 3x160

Deadlift: 5x195, 3x220, 3x240

Military: 5x70, 3x75, 9x80

Squat: 5x145, 3x160, 4x 175

Assistance: (Same)

Week 4: Warmup Running 20 mins. (Deload week)

Benchpress: 5x95, 5x110, 5x120

Assistance: (Same so far, day two coming up!)

Good to see you on here man. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

January 19th

Day 2 of deload week…

Warmup: 20 min running,

Deadlift warmup 5X 115, 140, 160

Deadlift: 5X 115, 140, 160

Squat: 10X5 @115lbs

Back Raises: 5X10

January 20

Warmup: 20 mins running

Military press warmup: 5X60,65,70

Military Press: 5X60,65,70

Squat: 10X5 @115lbs

Pullups:5,5,3,3,2

January 21

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Warmup: 20 mins running

Squat warmup: 5X115,120,125

Squat: 5X115,120,125

Dips: 10,10,8,8,5

Pullups:6,4,3,3,2

January 24th

Warmup: 20 mins running

Benchpress warmup: 5x100,110,125

Benchpress: 5x135,145,160

Flys: 10x4@ 15-30 lbs

Squat: 10x5@ 125lbs

January 26th

Warmup: 20 mins running

Deadlift warmup: 5x 120,145,170

Deadlift: 5x 185, 210, and 6x 235 form was pretty bad during the last reps, the local trainer pointed out i shouldn’t let the bar hit the ground before bringing it back up…is this the best method to correct my form?

Any suggestions/ recommendations to improve deadlift form?

Back raises: 10x5

Squat: 10X5@ 125lbs

January 28th

Warmup: 20 mins running

Today had to combine Military Press and Squat into one day…felt weak on the last set of my squatting…maybe I should have done that first and skipped the cardio…?

Military Press warmup: 5x50,55,65

Military Press: 5x65,75,and 10x80

Squat warmup: 5x105,120, 135

Squat: 5x145,160,175 weak!!!

Decline situps:60

Deadlift: 10x3 @ 110…I did these today to try to correct my form…Hope it will help!

[quote]barrygetsbuff wrote:
January 24th

Warmup: 20 mins running

Benchpress warmup: 5x100,110,125

Benchpress: 5x135,145,160

Flys: 10x4@ 15-30 lbs

Squat: 10x5@ 125lbs

January 26th

Warmup: 20 mins running

Deadlift warmup: 5x 120,145,170

Deadlift: 5x 185, 210, and 6x 235 form was pretty bad during the last reps, the local trainer pointed out i shouldn’t let the bar hit the ground before bringing it back up…is this the best method to correct my form?

Any suggestions/ recommendations to improve deadlift form?

Back raises: 10x5

Squat: 10X5@ 125lbs

[/quote]

for Romanian deadlifts the bar shouldn’t touch the ground, but for regular deadlifts ideally the bar should touch the ground and come to a “dead” stop (hence the term "dead"lift) before pulling again.

the Romanian is more suited for hypertrophy, hence the constant tension. The deadlift is more suited for brute strength. romanians are usually done with a lighter weight and are often done, lowered from the top and exploding back up. the deadlift is from the ground up, and then a “controlled drop” down.

So for the deadlift you want to controlled drop it back down, then take a second or three to reset your form before doing another rep. This will help your back, and prohibit you from getting as much benefit from the stretch reflex.

Awesome, thanks Zenon, I was unsure about that. I think the trainer was telling me to do it that way so I wouldn’t arch my back but I didn’t think I was arching anyways…(there are mirrors, so I was checking). Anyways, good luck with your cardio test.

Week of January 30th (week 2)

Day 1 Bench: Warmup-5x100,110,125
3x140,155, and 5x165

Flys: 10x4@15-30 lbs

Dips: 10,10,10,10,7,5

Day 2 Deadlift: Warmup-10x110
3x195,220, and 5x245

Squat 10x4@145 lbs

Pullups: 5,5,3,2

Day 3 Military and Squat:

Military: 3x70,75, and 10x85…then…10x90 and 6x100! heheh I couldn’t stop, it was too easy :slight_smile:

Squat: 3x150,165, and 5x180

Decline sit ups: 60

Lat pulls: 10x70,80,90,100lbs

Slow but steady progress. Looking forward to week 4.

hows feb going.

Oops, thought I posted week 3…

Week of February 6th

Bench- warmup running 20 mins
10x4@ 125lbs

   5x145,3x160,5x175

Flys- 10x4@20-35lbs
Squat- 10x4@145lbs

Deadlift-warmup running 20 mins
10x4@110lbs
5x210,3x225,5x245

Back raises- 10x3
Decline sit ups-20x3

Lat pulls-3x10@70-100lbs…wanted to do more but some guy took the machine and i didn’t want to wait.

Squat-10x3@135lbs

Military-warmup running 20 mins
10x4@70lbs
5x75,3x80,6x90…and 100x3

Decline sit ups-20,20,20,10
Lat pulls-10x4 @70-115lbs
Back raises-10x4

Squat-10x3@135
5x155,3x165,6x180

Week of Feb. 13th (week 4)

That week was pretty boring as I was sick and it was deload, so I took it pretty easy.

Benchpress-10x4@125

Deadlift-10x4@110

Military-10x4@70

Squat-10x4@135

Each day was pretty much running for 20 minutes and then the big lifts at 50% or so.

I am bummed today…

Week of Feb. 20th

Benchpress- warmup 20 minutes running

        10x2@115
        5x140,155...4x165, then 3x165...I couldn't do it!! :(
        The weight kicked my ass and I don't know why. Two weeks ago I did the 
        prescribed reps just fine at the same weight...this bummed me out.

Flys- 10x4@20-35lbs

Db press- 10x45lbs
8x50lbs
3x60lbs
2x60lbs

Lat pulls- 10x4@70-115lbs

Squat- 10x4@115-125lbs

[quote]barrygetsbuff wrote:
I am bummed today…

Week of Feb. 20th

Benchpress- warmup 20 minutes running

        10x2@115
        5x140,155...4x165, then 3x165...I couldn't do it!! :(
        The weight kicked my ass and I don't know why. Two weeks ago I did the 
        prescribed reps just fine at the same weight...this bummed me out.

Flys- 10x4@20-35lbs

Db press- 10x45lbs
8x50lbs
3x60lbs
2x60lbs

Lat pulls- 10x4@70-115lbs

Squat- 10x4@115-125lbs
[/quote]

as for the bench press we all have bad days. 2 weeks ago you did 10 lbs more for more reps, but thats how the body works sometimes. I don’t think the running before hand helps. i’ve been running alot lately and i struggled to do 185x3 on the bench, in dec i did 225x3, so it fluctuates quite a bit depending on what your working on. You should try running after your workout, or on a different day.

Cool, Ill try doing cardio after…sniff sniff…sorry, I think I have some estrogen in my eye. :stuck_out_tongue:

Deadlift

warmup- 10x3@110lbs

    5x195,220, and 6x250

Back Raises- 40

Sit Ups- 60

Squats- 10x4@145

20 Minutes Cardio

Military

Warmup- 10x3@70lbs

    5x80,90, and 7x95

Lat Pulls- 10x4@ 80-115lbs

Squat- 10x4@145

Dips- 40

Squat

Warmup- 10x2@110lbs

    5x155,175,and 7x 190

Situps- 60

Lat Pulls/Pullups- 40@80-110/20

Cardio 20 mins

Week 2,
Feb 27th

Benchpress

Warmup- 10x3@95lbs

    5x145,160,175 woot, better than last week!

Flys- 10@25,10@30,10@35,5@40

Db Press- 10@40,10@45,8@50,2@60

No squat or cardio today…