Home Shed Gym 5/3/1 - Focusing on the Iron

Decided to start an online training log really just to articulate what I’m recording in my excel training log really for my own benefit, if anyone else reads it then great. Also guess I kinda miss talking about training now I’ve gone to a home gym setup which I’m thankful for as UK gyms are shut down right now.

My home gym has got a rack, squat stands, barbell, plates, trap bar, bands, bench, KB’s and adjustable DB’s so fairly well equipped, also waiting for a prowler to come which my missus will be thrilled about when I start tearing the grass up. I was running an intensive/extensive split 6 days a week really just because I could and was gearing up for the rugby season to start which due to Covid has been stopped.

Bought Jim Wendlers 531 ebook recently as my lifts have plateaued recently and after a deload this week have started 531 on Monday in earnest. Tried the 531 a couple of years ago but I wasn’t mature enough to go down to a true 90% of 1RM to base my reps on. Going to give the 531 a few cycles and see what happens. If and when we can play rugby in the UK again will use the 531 for athletes during in season.

So my weekly schedule using 531 and Dave Tate’s assistance programme looks like:

Monday
OHP - 531 as per programme
Incline 1 arm DB Incline Bench 5x8-12
Chest Supported Barbell Row 5x8-12
Tricep Banded Pulldown 5x10-15

Tuesday
KB Metcon x3 rounds
Normally think something up the night before involving snatch, clean, high pull, swings and some bodyweight. Use a weight that doesn’t induce any sort of muscle failure

Wednesday
Trap bar Deadlift 531 as per programme
Banded Leg Curls 5x10-15
Front Stance Split Squat 5x8-12
Barbell Calf Raises 5x12-20 (included as I find that if I don’t include any direct calf work it impacts my running as calf’s get tight)
Core circuit including; Pallof Press, Hanging Knee Raises, Suitcase carry

Thursday
Intervals/hill sprints/fartlek

Friday
Bench 531 as per programme
Kneeling Landmine Press 5x8-12
Meadows Row 5x8-12
Banded Press Ups’s 5x8-12
Neck raises and curls if I feel like it

Saturday
Zercher Squat 531 as per programme
Good Mornings 5x10-15
DB Goblet Squats 5x10-15
Bodyweight Unilateral Calf Raises 5xAMRAP
Core Circuit Including: Banded Crunches, Band Row, Side Bends and waiters carry

I’ve gone with Zerchers as my squat as it’s recently become my squat of choice. I used to back squat and have done so for years but in the last 12-18 months since I’ve lost weight it’s giving me no end of lower back pain despite little tweaks to form and a thorough warm up. I also can’t do front squats due to a wrist break years ago which I don’t think ever healed properly.

Note on nutrition - I am trying to lose around 10-15 pounds, I started on a fat loss programme 18 months ago and dropped over 50 pounds since then. It stalled last year and I implemented a diet break at the end of November until January 1st. I’m currently at 205lbs with my lowest being 203lbs last year. Whilst the main aim of my training cycle will be to improve my lifts I also want to get rid of the last bit of fat so will be dieting to a calorie deficit of around 5/600 per day with one refeed per week

My RM stats are as follows:

OHP - 70kg x7 reps
Trap Bar Deadlift 197kg x5 reps
Bench Press 120kg x4 reps
Zercher Squat - 147.5kg x5 reps

Any feedback or comments welcome throughout, might also post a physique picture at some point.

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Strong work, welcome to the logs

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Monday
As my gym is in my shed have to OHP outside as my shed height not high enough, training at 05:30 so was nice and cold!

Chins/Press ups/Pull aparts to warm up

OHP
47.5kg x5
55kg x5
Last set 62.5kg x9
Felt pretty good despite the cold

DB Incline 1 arm Press 32.5kg 4x12
Chest Supported Row 4x8

Cut it at 4 sets and no tricep work due to kids waking up and it being my youngest’s birthday came straight in when the mrs called

Tuesday
Metcon done x3 rounds did some snatches, swings and high pulls with inverted rows and press ups

Wednesday
Trap Bar Deadlift
127kg x5
147kg x5
Last set 167kg x10
Again felt pretty good, must admit I love trap bar deadlifts

Banded Leg Curls
5x15 - will go to 5x15-20 next week before I go on a stronger band

Front Split Squats 60kg
All sets between 8-9 reps
Wanted to punch myself in the dick after 3 sets for programming them

Calf Raises 60kg
All sets between 12 and 15 reps

Core circuit done

Friday
Bench Press
75kg x5
85kg x5
Last Set 97.5kg x10

Got to admit I don’t really have a great deal of love for benching, never been my favourite exercise and my numbers for my size and experience suck. Determined however to improve it.

Tri-set
Kneeling Landmine press 20kg 5x12
Meadows row 20kg 4x12 last set 16 reps - to keep weight same on the bar save messing around will up weight for both and do 10-15 next week for meadows row
Banded Press Ups 5 sets all reps between 8-10
Ez bar curls 4x15 reps - increase weight next week
Also put in the band pulldowns I missed from Monday as a superset, got 5x15 reps increase resistance next week
Neck Curls 15kg 3x10 last set x8 - decrease weight and hit more reps next week

Also weighed myself this morning (do 3 weigh in’s each week to get an average) weight still on 205, not changed weight for 2 weeks however I look visibly leaner in this time. Have implemented multi-day refeeds to take place Friday and Saturday with rest of the week in a deficit

Saturday
Zercher squat - 95kg x5 110kg x5
Last set 125kg x9
Bust a gut to get that last rep out with no reps left in the tank
Good mornings 60kg 5 sets all reps between 8-11, was planning to go between 10-15 but seemed to be getting the pressure on my neck so need to check my form. Tried to record my last set but didn’t get a good angle
DB goblet squats 5 sets 45kg all reps between 10-12
Unilateral bodweight calf raises 5 sets totalling 87
Did a core tri set with banded crunches, plank row and KB side bends for 3 sets. Had planned 5 but felt quite lethargic. Put this down to no caffeine as I’ve been cold turkey for 3 days to have a break from it. Got to say it’s similar to quitting smoking

Week 2 - Monday
Kids were up in the night so didn’t get up to train at normal time of 05:00, trained instead around 10:00 after I’d eaten my oats and protein. Had a really good session so with working from home and a home gym gonna try doing this routine and getting a decent breakfast in prior to training.
OHP - 52.5kg x3, 60kg x3
Last set - 67.5kg x8

5 sets Incline 1 arm DB Press 35kg all reps between 8-10
5 sets Chest Supported Barbell Row all reps between 8-9
5 sets Band Tricep Pulldown all reps between 12-14
Also chucked in some 1 arm band lat pulldowns for high reps

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Week 2 - Wednesday
Carried on with Monday’s protocol and giving the 16:8 a try, had a good breakfast and coffee prior to training:
Trap Bar Deadlift 137kg x3, 157kg x3
Last Set - 177kg x9

Lying Leg Curls - 5 sets, all reps between 17-20, pushed the last set to get 20
Front Split Squats - 4 sets all reps between 8-9, again felt like punching myself for programming these. Almost feels more like cardio then muscle building sets, not sure if it’s CV exhaustion or muscle exhaustion which is preventing me getting more reps. Going to switch to back split squats using bands to anchor the barbell next week. Also only did 4 sets as I was hanging out my arsehole on the last set
Calves - 5 sets between 12-13 reps, got some Chuck Taylors this week which seemed to give me a bigger ROM for these so got fewer reps but happy with that tradeoff
Did 3 sets of ABS Circuit with Pallof press, hanging knee raises and suitcase carry

Week 2 Friday
Bench Press - 80kg x3, 92.5kg x3
Last Set 102.5kg x9

Kneeling Landmine Press 22.5kg - 5 sets all reps between 10-11
Meadows Row 22.5kg - 5 sets, 4 sets of 15, last set AMRAP hit 17
Banded Pressups - 5 sets total of 50 reps
EZ Bar Curls - 4 sets of 15
Neck Raises 4 sets between 10-12 reps

Week 2 Saturday
Zercher Squat - 102.5kg x3, 117.5kg x3
Last Set - 132.5kg x8

Started off doing Good Mornings (65kg) but stopped after first set. I’m either feeling the bar too much on my neck or when trying to alleviate that on my shoulder which is stopping my sets way before I’m getting fatigue on my posterior chain. Swapped it out for RDL:
130kg 4 sets of 8
Goblet Squat 45kg DB 5 sets between 11-13 reps. Total amount of reps gone up from last week

Stopped there as England were playing and I compromised to watch that instead. Wish I’d stayed in the gym the extra time as it was the worst performance I’ve seen in years, utter dogshit.

Week 3 Monday
OHP - 55kg x5, 62.5kg x3
Last Set - 70kg x8
Pleased with this, last time I put this weight on the bar I got 7 reps so 1 rep extra in first cycle. Felt like I could have got one more but would have made it a push press so left it.

5 sets of 1 arm Incline Press all reps between 9-10, more reps from last week
5 sets of chest supported barbell row, all 9 reps which is more than last week
5 sets of band pulldowns all reps between 12-14

Week 3 Wednesday
Trap Bar Deadlift - 147kg x5, 167kg x3
Last Set - 187kg x8

Did Front Squat as next accessory to work out my RM as looking to go with a different accessory plan that is suggested in 531 which is in line with main lifts. Just want to see what plan works best for me. Got 8 reps from 80kg

Banded Leg Curls - 5x20
Barbell Calf Raises - 5 sets between 12-14 reps
Abs Circuit

Week 3 Friday
Bench Press - 85kg x5, 97.5kg x3
Last Set 110kg x4
Really struggled with benching on this day, setup didn’t feel right and had some other stuff on my mind
Kneeling Landmine Press superset with Meadows row 25kg - 4 sets and hit reps target
Band Pressups - 4 sets of 12
EZ Bar Curls and Neck Raises 4 sets hit reps target

Week 3 Saturday
Zercher - 110kg x5, 125kg x3
Last Set 140kg x8

RDL ramped AMRAP set - 130kg x11 reps
Goblet Squats 45kg- 5 sets all reps between 12-14, hit more total reps from last week
Unilateral Calf Raises - 5 sets 70 reps total
Abs circuit

Week 4 - Not much to mention other than deload done, struggled sticking to the programme this week and not trying to go straight to week 1 with new weights

Second Cycle Week 1
Changed up my accessories for this week and added 2.5kg to upper body lifts and 5kg to lower body as per 5/3/1 book

Day 1:
OHP - 50kg, 57.5kg x5
OHP Last Set - 65kg x10 reps, not bad considering I got 9 with 62.5kg start of last cycle. Also starting to press with a false grip after practising on deload last week for first time

Incline Barbell Bench Press ramped sets as per accessory on 5/3/1 book:
57.5kg x10, 70kg x10, 80kg x12

Kroc Rows 35kg 3x15
Flat 1 arm DB Bench Press - 35kg 3x8
1 Arm Band Pulldown 3x15
Band Face Pull 3x15-20
DB Curls with Gripz 3x8-10 (wanted 10-15 so lower weight for next week)
Decline DB Tri Ext 3x10-12 reps

Enjoyed this more than the accessory work last cycles, took an hour to do including warm up which is similar in time but felt like my sets were more productive and less like conditioning

Second Cycle Week 1
Day 2
Decided to incorporate olympic lift variations on the 531 method on lower body days as hopefully we can play rugby again in April
High Pull from floor - 47.5kg x5, 55kg x5
Last Set 62.5kg x8
Trap Bar Deadlift - 132kg x5, 152kg x5,
Last set 172kg x10
Front Squat ramped as per 531 accessory - 50kg x10, 60kg x10, last set 70kg x12
Walking Lunges with lighter barbell 3 sets of up and down by garden path probably 25 yards per set
Barbell calf raises 3 sets 12-15 reps
Abs Circuit using pallof press and waiters carry

Day 3 -
Bench Press 77.5kg x5, 87.5kg x5
Last Set - 100kg x10 reps
Again struggling with getting the right setup, not planting my feet properly because of where my mats finish in my shed. Am gonna re-jig my flooring a little bit I think

Close Grip Bench ramped sets - 60kg x10, 70kg x10, 82.5kg x10
Felt fatigued after doing regular bench so think I’ll probably do a row first
T Bar Row - 70kg 3x15
Banded Pressups - 3x8
Chest Supported DB Row 25kg - 3x12-15 reps
DB Lateral Raise 15kg 3x12-15 reps

Second Cycle Week 1
Day 4:
Power Clean 45kg x5, 55kg x5
Last set 60kg - x7
Zercher Squat 97.5kg x5, 112.5kg
Last set - 127.5kg x9
RDL Ramped - 122.5kg x14 reps
Banded Leg Extensions 3x20
KB Swings 24kg - 3 sets 15-17 reps

Finished after this as mrs was on my back!

That RDL and a Mrs on the back, that´s solid.

That’s a great idea, might give it a try tomorrow kinda think Jim Wendler would approve of this method. She might even let me put her on her back… Brought her some chocolate today so you never know.

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