Advanced 5/3/1
Deadlift Day (5x5)
Deadlift: 390 - 5x5 (beltless)
High Bar Back Squats (SST): 160x10, 190x10, 225x10
Had to hit Deadlifts today since I won’t be able to make it to the gym at any point tomorrow. Surprisingly the gym was very crowded today. Racks were taken and felt like people were everywhere. Found a little spot to get my Deadlifts done. The weight for Deads moved well on each set and rep. No real reason for not using the belt today. Just didn’t feel like taking it on and off. Once I finished Deadlifts and cleaned up my little area, the racks were still taken, leg press taken as well and was about to settle for some DB Lunges but finally a spot came open. The Squats moved very well and happy with how the set of 10 at 225 went. Went slow and controlled on every rep and set just to make sure I didn’t pitch forward or do anything too stupid. Doing these in this manner made it feel like the bar was on my back forever. Didn’t have much time for anything else so had to call it a day. Solid session!!
I have 2 “Go To” Kettlebell circuits that have worked very well for me. I have done these on my off days on 5/3/1 and did not hinder my lifting at all. Here ya go…
For Quick and Easy Conditioning
5-10 rounds with zero rest between movements and rounds (just keep moving)
20 x Kettlebell Swings
10 x Push Ups
Medium to Hard Conditiong (Depends on the size bell and how many rounds)
5 Rounds try not to put the bell down between KB movements (My modified Deep Six Routine)
This can be done with double kettlebells. Hell of a lot harder doing these movements as doubles
5 x Single Arm Swing (Left/Right)
5 x Snatch (L/R)
5 x Clean & Press (L/R) (Clean each rep)
5 x Lunge (Front Rack Position) L/R
10 x Ab Wheel
At one point in my kettlebell life when I was thinking about competing I would just simply roll a dice (app on my phone) and set a timer to the number of whatever I rolled and either do Swings, Snatches, Long Cycle or Jerks for the given amount of time. On the days I rolled snake eyes I was VERY happy. Rolling a 12 and having to do Snatches or Long Cycle (Clean & Jerk) made me seriously think about life choices. The great thing about kettlebells is that once you get familiar with all of the movements it’s very easy to make up your own thing and see how it works. I’ve done some (like the ones above) that kick my butt and I love it. Others I’ve walked away and just scraped them because they didn’t make any sense. Hope this helps you out a little and gives you some ideas of how to incorporate these into your training.
I think I’ll start with the quick and easy conditioning. My conditioning sucks right now, so I’ll start with that and see how it goes. I figured I would get one for the house as well in case I ever get stuck in the snow I have something to use, thanks!
Got a lot done in a short amount of time. On the Pull Ups I used a few different grips as a change of pace. 2 sets of rock grip, 2 sets of neutral grip and 1 set with a chin up grip. Everything moved well with no issues. Need to set something up like this for my deadlift and front squat days but those are tiring on their own!!
Track Day
5 rounds of the following…
80# KB Swing x 10
50 yard goblet position carry with 80# KB
Burpees x 10
50 yard goblet position carry with 80# KB
rest for 90 seconds and repeat
Finally some “fall-ish” weather which was nice. Happy to get through 5 rounds of this today. Starting to realize I just suck at burpees. Those, for me, are the hardest part when I do this type of workout. Felt my abs working pretty hard during the goblet carries. This session brought out the soreness from the lifting sessions done during the week.
Advanced 5/3/1
Front Squat Day (5x3)
Front Squat: 260 - 5x3
Stiff Leg Deadlift (SST): 225x8, 265x8, 300x8
Standing Cable Crunch: 3x15
Wasn’t what I would call a bad day but it also wasn’t a very good one either. Never felt like I could get in a groove with Front Squats. Got through them okay even though on the 4th and 5th set I kept getting pulled forward a bit. SLDL went well even though I tend to forget that the reps are supposed to go 8,8,6 and not 3x8 on week 2 with the SST programming. Don’t think that will make or break me at any point though.
Advanced 5/3/1
Oh Press Day (5x3)
Band Pull Aparts - 3x15 (during warm ups)
1A) Oh Press: 180 - 5x3
1B) Weighted Pull Ups: 30 - 6x5
2A) Close Grip Bench Press (SST): 160x8, 185x8, 210x8
2B) Leg Raise: 5x10
Amazing how a great dinner and a great’s night sleep can affect your training the next day. Woke up this morning feeling fresh and energized for work and even the gym. This is a training log so who cares about work!! Overhead Press moved very well today. Bar speed was smooth and crisp without any hang ups during any of the sets and reps. Added 5 pounds to my weighted pull ups and happy with how these moved as well. Used a 30# kettlebell so I wouldn’t have to load a 25 and 5 pound plate each time. Lost track of my sets for pull ups and ended up doing 6 sets instead of 5. I typically put a little “X” in my notepad on my phone to count my pull ups and ended up having six ticks for the pull ups. Sold day today!
Advanced 5/3/1
Deadlift Day (5x3)
Deadlift: 445 - 5x3
High Bar Back Squat (SST): 195x8, 225x8, 255x8
Was pretty short on time today and rushed through my first 3 sets of Deadlift. I was taking between 30 seconds to 1 minute rests during the 1st three sets to move along quicker which made the weight feel a little heavier than normal. Once I saw I had plenty of time and didn’t have to rush the last 2, I took my time and the last 2 sets moved a lot smoother. Back Squats are starting to feel more natural again and like having them set up as supplemental work for the moment.
Happy with how this session went yesterday. Bench Press moved without any issues. Decided to work up in weight using 3 rep sets on weighted pull ups. The goal for the day was to get 3 reps with 50 pounds and got it pretty easy. It’s a 5 pound PR but weighted pull ups are still so new that I should be setting either a volume or weight PR each time. Surprisingly my elbows like the weighted pull ups much more than body weight. I guess because I can keep the volume low and use better form when adding weight.
.25 mile walk with 80# vest
6 x ~200 yard hill sprints (very steep hill)
.25 mile walk with 80# vest back home
What started as a 2 mile vest walk turned out to be a hill sprint workout in a church parking lot up the road from my house. Wasn’t really feeling the vest walk once I got started. Took the vest off and figured I would run some hills. The hill was pretty steep the whole way up and I paced it off to be about 200 yards give or take. Quick and easy but pretty affective
Advanced 5/3/1
Front Squat Day
Front Squat: 295 - 5x1
Stiff Leg Deadlift (SST): 245x5, 285x5, 315x5
Leg Raise: 3x15
Back Extension: 3x15
Front Squats felt great today. All sets went pretty smooth with 295. The last one felt a little tough but wasn’t what I would call a grind. Just a little slower than the previous sets. After the 1st set I debated on trying 325 for a single but settled on sticking with the plan today. Solid session today!
Never got around to posting this good but frustrating session from yesterday…
10/11/16
Advanced 5/3/1
Oh Press Day (5x1)
Band Pull Aparts: 3x15 (during warm ups)
1A) Oh Press: 200x1, 220xMiss (inches from lockout, very frustrating), 200 - 4x1
1B) Weighted Pull Ups: 40x3, 45x3, 50x3, 55x3, 60x3, 65x3 (PR)
Paused Close Grip Bench Press (SST): 175x5, 195x5, 225x5
Was feeling pretty good when I got to the gym yesterday. The first Press at 200 pounds felt great and very smooth as well as the set of 3 with 40 pounds on the weighted pull up so I was feeling very confident that I could Press 220 pounds yesterday. The Power Clean before the Press felt very solid and once I started to Press it flew off my shoulders and over my head but a few inches away from locking out it’s like God put his pinky finger nail on it and said “not today sir.” I fought and fought and resisted the urge to lean back and turn it into a standing incline press but no matter what I couldn’t get my elbows to lock out. Now I normally don’t get mad at myself for missing a lift but this one was pretty frustrating considering how close this was. Debated on trying it again after my 3 reps at 50 pounds on the Pull Ups since I was so pissed but I dropped back down to 200 pounds and it flew up fast like the first set did. As I continued the next few sets of Press with 200 pounds they were all very smooth and fast which made missing 220 even more maddening. On the plus side though, I did set a new 3 rep PR on Pull Ups with 65 pounds so not all was lost!! As a whole the day was a very good one but missing that 220 pound Press like that was NOT what I had in mind for the day!
Advanced 5/3/1
Deadlift Day (5x1)
Deadlift: 495x3, 495x2
H.B. Squat (SST): 205x5, 245x5, 275x5 (Paused last rep on each set)
Some light KB work of Snatches and Long Cycle showing a friend some movements
Needed to sort of move this workout along a bit so decided on a different approach to Deadlifts for the day so I figured I would just go for 5 total reps. On the first set of 3 with 495 everything was moving great. On the 3rd rep I felt the bar start to drift forward a bit so I stopped, reset and got 2 more reps. The last 2 were very crisp without any issues at all. 495 could be a weight I know I could do multiple sets of doubles or even triples with at this point. Squats felt pretty good as well. Not moving anything special at the moment with H.B. Squats but glad I can do these without anything hurting. Of course I’m back to paying more attention to stretching and mobility work 2-3 times a week as well. Good session and was in and out of the gym pretty quick today!
Good session yesterday. Bench Press didn’t feel the best in the world but got the work done without any trouble. 285 for 5 paused singles may be a volume PR since I started pausing all my bench reps. Pleased to hit 70 pounds on Pull Ups for 3 reps for a new PR. Just kind of riding the newb gains on weighted pull ups right now. Decided on doing a bit of a FSL with pull ups during my overhead work. Wasn’t the best idea since my hands were starting to take a beating at this point. On the final set of 5 I had to go 3 reps, and then 2 singles since my hands were wanting to slip off of the bar. Probably need to sneak some chalk in!
Kettlebell Conditioning
EMOM for 10 minutes wearing 80# vest
5 x 80# KB Swings
5 x Push Ups
Took a 5 minute break, took the vest off
EMOM for 5 minutes
5 x 55# KB Snatch (each arm)
Felt awkward doing Swings while wearingthe 80# vest. Around the 7 minute mark I was hating life and hating get up and down off of the floor. Thought I had some gas left in the tank so I did Snatches EMOM for 5 minutes and that’s all I could muster up. May make the EMOM Snatches a workout all on its own.
Even though I haven’t been doing weighted pull ups that long, I feel as if I have gotten way more out of them than I expected. Also I feel like with the added weight it keeps me a little more honest and keeps my form super strict more so than bodyweight pull ups. Plus me being 6’4" ~240 pounds with very long arms (and legs), my elbows did not like a high volume of Pull Ups which is why I would do a trillion sets of 5 throughout a workout. I figured let’s up the intensity by adding weight and not adding more sets and/or reps. Also it’s been fun to enjoy some “newb” gains from weighted pull ups as well by being able to add weight each week. So far, no elbow pain whatsoever and feel my back working twice as hard when doing pull ups. As far as direct carry over to barbell lifts, I’m not sure at this point. At this stage, I’m treating Pull Ups as a main lift more so than assistance even though I do them as a superset with any type of pressing movement.
When to add weight I think will be entirely up to you. I’ve read and been told a variety of different things when it comes time to add load. For me, even though I love 5/3/1 programming I also like to try and sprinkle in some things Dan John and Pavel write about. I looked at the Russian Fighter Pull Up program on this site and it said that if you can do more than 5 strict bodyweight pull ups then it’s time to add load. While I’m not following that programming (might eventually), I’m just trying to add weight each workout either for sets of 5 or work up to a heavy set of 3.
I hope this helps you out in some form or fashion.
Advanced 5/3/1
Front Squat Day (5x5)
Front Squat: 240 - 5x5
Stiff Leg Deadlift (SST): 195x10, 235x10, 275x10
Happy with how Front Squats moved today especially for 5x5. I dread the weeks when it is 5x5 on Front Squats mainly due to holding the rack position. I was able to hold the position for 4 sets and 4 reps. On the 5th set of the 5th rep the bar was really wanting to slide off my body but was able to hang on to it long enough to complete the rep. I certainly did not get a lot of work in for the day, but felt this was more of a good quality session. At least that’s how I’m justifying it anyways!
Advanced 5/3/1
Overhead Press Day (5x5)
Band Pull Aparts: 3x15 (during warm ups)
1A) Overhead Press: 165 - 5x5
1B) Weighted Pull Ups: 45 - 5x5
2A) Paused Close Grip Bench Press: 230 - 3x5
2B) Rock Grip Pull Ups: bodyweight - 5x5
2C) Ab Wheel: 5x10
Overhead Press was moving well today. Bar speed was very smooth and crisp with no issues at all. The Weighted Pull Ups were feeling pretty tough, especially on the last couple of sets. Looking at my spreadsheet, I think the last time I did 5x5 with Pull Ups I used 35 pounds. Should’ve used 40 to make things a little easier. Three reps seem to be my magic number with those at the moment. Reps 4 and 5 feel way harder than reps 1-3. The giant set towards the end moved very well. Decided on some heavier Close Grip work and Bodyweight on Rock Grip Pull Ups. Can tell doing weighted pull ups has really helped my bodyweight work. These felt like a breeze. Solid session!