It's a Good Day to... restart 5/3/1

Training Logs
1

So I started training almost 10 years ago and the sad thing is I probably look the same as I did then (just with some grey starting to show in the temples, chin and even the chest a couple of weeks ago!)

So I am starting a new log because back 10 years ago I made some ok progress due mostly to the wisdom and support of the fine folks on forums like this. I could do with some of that again as I make one final attempt to get the physique I’ve been after since 2009. I say “final” because I’m 34 now and if I don’t hit the goals this time, I won’t be starting a new log in 2029!

Why do I think this time will be different? To start with I’m not a massive fat lump like I was in 2009, I’m a skinny fat lump. Stats are 145lbs, 5 foot 8 inches, some visibility to the top 4 abs and some veins in the arms. Also I’ve learnt how I like to train - previously I hopped around programs too much and didn’t give enough time to progress in a meaningful way. I don’t like the bro-splits and prefer to train upper/lower or fullbody which is ok because my lifts are pathetically light so I should be able to recover.

I will be lifting 4x per week using this split The Hybrid Split. It is 2x fullbody workouts and then 1x upper body and 1x lower body. You get to hit everything 3 times per week and the upper day allows a bit more volume for the curls!!

The week will look like this:
Monday: Upper (AM)
Tuesday: Lower (AM)
Wednesday: Football (PM)
Thursday: Fullbody 1 (PM)
Friday: Off
Saturday: Fullbody 2 (AM)
Sunday: Off

In terms of exercises I have selected them as below (focus on developing legs and shoulders)
FULLBODY 1:
Military press
Cable upright row + Cable rear delt row
Chin ups
Decline chest press machine
Leg press
BB RDL
Split squat
Calf raise

FULLBODY 2:
Front squat
Hip thrust
Hip belt squat
Hamstring curl
Machine row
Incline chest press machine
Behind the neck overhead press
Rear delt flyes + Lat raise

UPPER:
Decline bench
Machine flyes
Face pull + cable lat raise + cable press
EZ curls
Tricep rope extension

LOWER:
Hack squat
Reverse lunge
Hamstring curl
Hip thrust
Quad extension
Calf raise

Everything will be in 10-12 rep range. And progression is following this Train Size, Then Strength: A 10-Week Program. Essentially add a set per exercise per week and increase weight each week BUT the extra reps/sets take priority over the weight (I want to add size - in case I didn’t mention it before). That means in the final week of the cycle I’ll be doing 45 work sets on the fullbody days but that is then followed by a week of doing only 18 sets. That should keep cumulative fatigue / overtraining at bay…right? Right??! If its too much I will cut some fluff out.

Diet-wise I will start at 2400 cals and increase from there as required. Macros at 2400 cals will be 170g protein, 60g fat, 295g carbs

So that’s it. I’ll try to post after each workout.

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2

Here we go - first workout post. I’m in the middle of a “deload” week, although really its a “preload” as I’m testing the above routine, exercise selection, weights, etc. so I’m ready to hit it next week. Only did 2 work sets for each exercise. Done and dusted in about 40 minutes. All in all it was ok, I was a bit drained as I only slept for 4 hours as I was helping my cousin last night with some online tests for jobs he’s applying for. Ironically the company said “integrity is an important characteristic to have”…guess my cousin missed that!

The numbers below are in kg. Still ridiculously low numbers but it would be worse if they were lbs! Numbers are written weight x reps (if there is a “+” in there that’ll mean there was a rest pause or drop set or something).

Overhead press:
40 x 11
40 x 10

Cable upright row:
15 x 12+4
15 x 10+4
+
Cable rear delt row:
15 x 12
15 x10

Narrow chins:
BW x 10
BW x 9

Decline chest machine:
35 x 12
35 x 12+4+2

Leg press:
100 x 10
100 x 10

BB RDL:
65 x 10
65 x 10

There were some split squats, calf raises and hyperextensions there too but I won’t bore you with that.

I should have mentioned that I am actually coming back from a lay off since October really as I ran a half marathon and suffered some weird upper groin / lower abdomen injury which stopped any meaningful (relatively speaking) weights on the lower body. I had physio throughout Oct / Nov, started doing some light rehab training in Dec / Jan, started feeling better towards the end of Jan and played football then it all went to sh!t again and Feb was wasted rehab-ing again. I had an MRI as the doctor said it could be a hernia. It was - just localised inflammation so now hopefully I’m over it and can lift again properly (relatively speaking).

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3

You’ve just given me more excuses not to run. I already think running should be banned :+1:
Best of luck with the new lifting regime mate, stick at it.

4

Excessive running should definitely be banned. Useless pursuit.

Cheers mate, lets see what happens in the next few months!

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5

Today’s workout was the 2nd full body session.

Front squat:
60 x 3
47.5 x 10

Glute thrust:
60 x 12
60 x 10+2

Hip belt squat:
30 x 12
30 x 12

Machine row:
40 x 12
40 x 9+2

Incline machine press:
17.5 x 12
17.5 x 11

Behind neck press:
27.5 x 12
27.5 x 9+3+2

Cuban press:
2.5 x 12
2.5 x 12
+
Lat raise:
8 x 10
7 x 12

EZ skullcrushers:
EZ+15 x 14
EZ+15 x 12

It was an ok workout. 6/10 kinda score - but this week has been a “deload” week. From Monday the proper training starts.

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6

Today I went out to test how the groin / abdomen is holding up with a little jogging and sprinting. I did 1 mile run out from the house, slow 9-minute pace - nothing special, followed by sprints home. I did 10 sprints in the mile and walked in between to recover (I didn’t go from walking straight to sprinting - that’s just asking for a hamstring tear so I went walk-jog-sprint-walk).

I’m typing this an hour after finishing and so far so good, although it was only straight line sprinting. Wednesday I’m going to give football a go - just 10 minutes to see how it is (I’ll have to go in goal the rest of the time…how boring!)

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7

This is my favourite method for running.

8

Today’s workout: LOWER body

Lower body complex as warm up:
RDL - Front squat - Good morning - Reverse lunge - Squat - Deadlift
3 rounds

Hack squat:
55kg x 13
55kg x 11
55kg x 10

Reverse lunge:
40kg x 12 (each leg)
40kg x 10
40kg x 10

Seated ham curl:
45x12
45x11
45x10 + 30x10 (dropset)
+
Leg press calf raise:
50x11
50x10
50x12+5 (rest pause)

Glute thrust machine:
60x12
60x10
60x8+2+1 (rest pause)

Pull through:
20x12
20x12
20x12

  • some ab stuff

It was ok - felt quite focussed to start but after the calf raises I was suddenly out of puff. Perhaps the increase in calories this week will set me right. I spent last week gradually increasing them from about 1700 per day to about 2100 but this week I need to consume around 2400 calories I reckon. Hopefully that’ll give me the extra push to get through the workout.

Today was a total of 18 working sets plus the 3 complexes. For the complexes I was intrigued by this article: Rebuild Yourself with Complexes so I thought I’d give it a try.

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9

Today’s diet:
Pre-workout:
2 x weetabix in almond milk + 10g nuts

Intraworkout:
Endure from bulkpowders

Post workout:
30g whey + 25g maltodextrin + 5g creative
2 x slices granary toast

Lunch:
250g rice + 120g chicken + spinach
Bagel with half teaspoon jam
30g whey + almond milk
15g peanuts

Dinner:
Tuna steak + lettuce + peppers + cucumber + shallot + 60g avocado
1 tortilla wrap seasoned with salt and pepper toasted in the oven
100g papaya

Totals around 2200 cals so a bit short of the target 2400 cals - maybe I’ll sneak something else in this evening

Macros are:
241g carbs
181g protein
50g fat

Any suggestions on the food choices? This will be a fairly standard meal plan for me for the next few months so if it’s dogshite then please feel free to let me know.

I think I may increase the peri workout carbs tomorrow by 20g or so.

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10

5 March 2019

UPPER BODY:

Upper body complex: High pull / Hang clean / Push press / BB row / Shrug

Decline bench:

60kg x12

60kg x10

55kg x10

Low to high cable flyes:

7.5kg x12

7.5kg x12

7.5kg x10 + 5kg x5 (dropset)

Rear delt cable pull:

7.5kg x10

5kg x12

5kg x11

Cable lat raise:

5kg x6+6+6

5kg x6+6+6

5kg x6+6+5

Cable shoulder press:

12.5kg x11

12.5kg x11

12.5kg x10

EZ curl:

EZ+20kg x13

EZ+20kg x12

EZ+20kg x8+3

Rope overhead extension:

20kg x12

20kg x11

20kg x10 + 15kg x7 + 10kg x7 (dropset)

Got a decent pump on! This was a manageable amount of work - didn’t have the crash I had yesterday which is probably a combination of the extra food and that leg day was more intense.

According to the apple watch on leg day my average heart rate was 143bpm and I burned 616cals vs upper today was 133bpm and I burned 451cals. I know the calories burned figure is unimportant but the comparison between the upper and lower days was surprising - both sessions took a little over an hour.

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11

Also I’ve been thinking about my goals for the remainder of the year (from a training perspective - I won’t bore anyone with my life goals!). We have 10 months remaining. The program / principles I am following (Train Size, Then Strength: A 10-Week Program) has hypertrophy and strength cycles broken into 5 week cycles. I am modifying it slightly by doing 4 week cycles because it allows planning to be a bit simpler and I’ve learnt that perhaps I need to back off slightly more frequently than once every 5 weeks (the last injury made me realise that!)

So essentially I can run 10 cycles of the program. Given I need to focus on building both strength and muscle it makes sense that I split the cycles evenly and do 5 of each. I am currently in the first hypertrophy one. On that basis then may 5 main goals for the remainder of the year are:

1) add 15 lbs (minimal fat, obviously)

  • The plan here would be to modify the diet as required. Currently I’m eating 16x bodyweight (in lbs) which I will adjust every 2 weeks depending on what the scale and mirror say, increasing or decreasing by a factor of 1x as appropriate.
  • I will weigh myself every 3-4 days first thing in the morning but also I will use the mirror to judge whether any gains are fat or what. The fit of my clothes will also be a good indicator
  • The hypertrophy routine I’m following this time has some additional volume on legs and shoulders as I’d like to bring these up more. Over the next cycles I’ll add more squatting in as the injury is getting better.
  • 15 lbs may sound like a lot but I am only 147lbs at the moment so I’ve got a lot of scope to increase weight

2) add 25kg to the big upper body lifts

  • This is the goal for the strength cycles. I’m not sure what my current 5 rep numbers would be but whatever they are for the first strength cycle I will aim to add 25kg by the end of the 5th strength cycle to: military press, chin up and flat bench

3) add 30-40kg to the lower body lifts

  • Again for the strength cycles. I want to add 30-40kg by the end of the 5th strength cycle to: deadlift, front squat and back squat

4) maintain current fitness levels

  • I want to keep my current level of fitness because I feel this helps with my performance in the gym and also I have been unfit before and its just not pleasant. While I want to get bigger and I know the cardio is a trade off its important for general health to maintain a decent level of fitness in my opinion
  • cardio is limited to football once a week and either 10 mins complexes twice a week or prowler pushes or farmers carries
  • no more long distance running

5) stay injury-free

  • self explanatory really!

And that’s it. Now I’ve just got to go and do it!

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12

Today’s workout:
LOWER BODY:

Complex to warm up

Hack squat:
60kg x11
60kg x10
60kg x10
55kg x11

Reverse lunge:
40kg x10
40kg x10
40kg x10
40kg x10

Seated hamstring curl:
47.5kg x12
47.5kg x12
47.5kg x10
47.5kg x10
+
Leg press calf raise:
55kg x12
55kg x12

55kg x10
55kg x10

Glute thrust:
60kg x13
60kg x11
60kg x10+3+1

Pull through:
20kg x13
20kg x12
20kg x12

I increased some exercises to 4 sets but kept others at 3 sets. It was a lot of volume and I was pretty drained at the end. That was probably due to a little excessive single malt whisky yesterday - I stopped drinking at 7pm but still…oh well!

There is another week left on this program when I will increase some exercises to 5 sets.

There are 2 things I’ve learnt on this cycle:

  1. I’ve got probably 2 exercises too many on each day. Next cycle I will reduce volume a little.
  2. I’m doing legs too frequently, especially now I have restarted football. Next cycle will follow the same progression principles (extra sets, etc.) but I won’t do the 2x fullbody, 1x upper, 1x lower again. The upper body is recovering fine but legs are feeling battered all week.
13

I have bought the Wendler 5/3/1 books (2nd edition and Beyond 5/3/1) and been reading them over the weekend. Definitely going to get on that program soon. At the moment the high volume routine seems to be getting me more pumped up - tshirts are a bit tighter, shorts are a bit tighter, shoulders are a bit rounder.

But oddly my weight this morning was 146.6lbs compared to 147.2lbs last week. I’ll give it until the end of this week then adjust calories if there’s no upward change. Today’s drop could be due to the whisky yesterday and not a lot of water being drank.

14

Whats your ultimate goal mate?
531 is an excellent program to keep you focussed and not go crazy with upping % to quick as it’s very gradual, as long as you stick with it and don’t fuck with it.
Any reason why you only do hack squat and not regular BB squat?

15

Like most guys on here its to get jacked and strong! And scary enough to intimidate any boys that may be interested in my daughters when they get older!

But in seriousness, I am 147lbs now. I have been 190lbs fat, I have been 190lbs fat + some muscle. I want to get to a lean 175lbs. I don’t have specific strength targets I want to hit. 1.5x bodyweight overhead press is probably the only one I have in mind.

As for hack squat, I was using it as part of my rehabbing the groin rather than back squat. Back squat will be brought back in when I swap exercises around in a few weeks. I am doing front squats on one of the full body days.

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16

UPPER WORKOUT:

Complexes to warm up

Decline bench:
62.5kg x12
62.5kg x11
60kg x10
60kg x9

Cable flyes (low to high):
7.5kg x14
7.5kg x12
7.5kg x10
7.5kg + 5kg x10+5

Rear cable flyes:
7.5kg x10
7.5kg x10
5kg x12
5kg x12
+
Cable lat raise:
5kg x6+6+6
5kg x6+6+6
5kg x6+6+6
5kg x6+6+6
+
Cable overhead press:
12.5kg x12
12.5kg x11
12.5kg x10
12.5kg x10

EZ curl:
EZ+22.5kg x12
EZ+22.5kg x10
EZ+20kg x10
EZ+20kg x8+3+2

Overhead rope extension:
22.5kg x11
20kg x10
20kg x10
20kg + 15kg + 10kg x 10+7+7

The volume is really racking up now and I’m feeling it. Was ready to sleep at 9pm yesterday. Actually I fell asleep putting my daughters to sleep around 7.30pm!

Next week is going to be hellish when the big exercises step up to 5 sets. But I think it is definitely working - I just need to eat a little more. Another week and a half and then I’ll have a deload week and go again.

Weight this morning was back up at 147.4lbs so I think yesterday’s drop was probably under-hydrated / over-whisky’d on sunday. But even so 147.4lbs is more or less where I started 2 weeks ago so some extra calories may be in order.

It seems as though my training has worked out such that all cardio is front loaded in the week; on lower day yesterday I did some complexes, same again this morning, then I have football on Wednesday evening. After that Thurs-Sun I have no scheduled cardio other than some walking.

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17

FULL BODY 1:
Military press:
42.5kg x11
42.5kg x8
40kg x9
40kg x8

Cable upright row:
17.5kg x11+3
15kg x12+5
15kg x11+4
12.5kg x12+4
+
Cable rear delt row:
17.5kg x12
17.5kg x11
15kg x12
15kg x12

Chin ups:
BW x11
BW x10
BW x10
BW x8

Decline machine press:
22.5kg x13
22.5kg x12
22.5kg x10
22.5kg x9+4+2

Leg press:
110kg x12
110kg x11
110kg x10
110kg x10+4

SLDL:
65kg x13
65kg x12
65kg x12
65kg x10

Split squat:
12kg x12
12kg x12
12kg x10

It was a long workout! And this is just the 4-set week…got a 5-set week next week…!

I’m planning my 5/3/1 workout at the moment, just re-reading the books to make sure I have it down.

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18

I’ve just realised we (me, wife and kiddies) are going to Hastings on May 25 for a week with friends and their families. That means that if I start the 5/3/1 as I planned to in the week commencing 1 April, I’d be in the middle of a cycle when we go away which wouldn’t be ideal. So that means I will probably bring the 5/3/1 start date forward to this coming Monday…that way I can do 6 weeks + deload and 3 weeks + deload and be on holiday in that 2nd deload week. I think that makes sense…just means cutting the current routine a week short and just having a couple of days now to recharge before starting 5/3/1…

19

Or if it doesn’t fit in, enjoy the time with your family and pick up where you left off when ya get back :+1:

20

Not sure my OCD will allow that!..

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