Lelouch's T-ransformation 2018Training Log

I’m really pleased that this challenge exists, I think it’s a great way to put that little bit of extra pressure on yourself to hold yourself accountable. Hoping this will be that wake-up call to really hone in on my diet for the next 6 months and beyond. So thanks t-nation and it’s users for providing this sort of outlet, much appreciated.

A bit of background, I’m 25 years old, and 180cm/5’11". As of now I’ve been training about 5 and a half months. I started off with starting strength for the first 2 months, then decided to swap to something more sustainable in the long run, as I felt I wasn’t able to focus as much on form whilst simultaneously chasing the ever growing numbers workout to workout on SS. So I’ve since made the switch to 5/3/1 and am currently finishing up my 4th cycle of triumvirate. I’ve really enjoyed it so far and am looking forward to seeing where that will take me in the next couple of years at least. I have been training consistently for this time period, and have only taken time off during a planned holiday in September.

Starting stats:

93kg/205lbs

Deadlifts: 102.5kg/225lbs x 10

Bench: 65kg/145lbs x 12

Press: 52.5kg/115lbs x 7

Squats 102.5kg/225lbs x 12

I’m a bit unsure on how to estimate my 1-rep maxes, as I don’t want to incorporate that into a workout somehow, so I hope the above provides some idea of my starting point, though I appreciate they don’t mean that much without the context of my progress throughout 5/3/1 thus far.

Goals:

I plan on running triumvirate and lean bulking for another 3 months, and then re-evaluating from there as to what template would be best to run for the final half of the challenge. All I do know is that I most certainly want to try and cut for the last 3 months, and as of now I don’t have much beyond a basic idea on how to accomplish that. But alas, that’s a problem for future me. As for goal stats, I’ll shoot for these 1-rep maxes:

Deadlifts: 150kg/330lbs

Bench: 85kg/185lbs

Press: 65kg/145lbs

Squats: 140kg/310lbs

Don’t care about weight, just want to be happier with the way I look by the end of it.

Diet:

I want to preface this by saying I really love cooking. So almost everything I eat will be from the butchers/farmers’ market and prepared at home. I recently made a food plan with my girlfriend listing what foods (read: meat/veg/grains) we plan to get in the upcoming month, so there are quite a few kilos of chicken breasts to be had in the foreseeable future. I’m still not quite sure how I want to track my calories as of this point, and as to whether it is necessary or not to be super meticulous at my level anyway, as I am still very much a beginner. But I do want to make the effort of logging what I eat here, to at least have a reference point of what I am eating and get a better idea of my BMR. I did recently get a scan done that put my BMR at almost exactly 2000 kcal, so I guess that will be my starting point, with a 250-400 surplus on training days. If anybody ever wants to talk anything cooking related YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND ME.

As you can see from my before pics, there is a lot of work to be done. Looking forward to learning from all of you and seeing how everybody performs!

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Got back from holiday yesterday, and seeing as my regular workout schedule is Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri I decided to do both main lifts for Mon/Tue today and move the other workouts to Fri/Sat, as I should be able to recover during the upcoming de-load week with no issues.

4th cycle of 5/3/1 triumvirate/week 3/day 1 (all weights in kg)

Press

Warm-up

20x5

30x5

40x3

Work Sets

42.5x5

50x3

55x5

Deadlifts

Warm-up

40x5

60x5

70x5

Work Sets

85x5

97.5x3

110xx5

Assistance

Tri cable pulldowns 5x10 @ 43kg

Notes

Very pleased with today’s results on press. Before starting 5/3/1 I had already stalled 3 times on the press during Starting Strength, but more importantly I think my form was atrocious. The highest I got to during SS was 3x5@50kg, but each and every rep was a grind, and towards the last few reps my arms were shaking like a leaf. So upon starting 5/3/1 I was skeptical at my ability to improve in the press, but today was just one of those eye-openers in the sense that if you just trust the program, you will get results. Going into the last set I was aiming for 1 rep, as the previous set at 50 seemed heavy, but 55 went up like butter. I know a 55kg press isn’t exactly something to write home about, but I’m pleased nonetheless.

Deadlifts went up with no issues, though I feel that my forearms are limiting the total number of reps I can get, as they fatigue much sooner than my hams/quads/lowerback. I’ve been doing kroc rows and using the row cable machine, but I think I might need to find something else to help bring them up.

Nutrition:

4 sunny side up eggs with 100g chicken ham

2 wraps with 75g each cured turkey ham/pecorino romano/homemade BBQ sauce

Chicken soup with 250g chicken thighs and Polish dumplings

Slice of toast with 100g chicken ham and parmesan

Nutrition:

4 egg French omelette with chicken ham and parmesan

Wrap with 100g chicken ham and side of broccoli

Chicken soup with 250g chicken thighs with Polish dumplings

Slice of toast with 100g chicken ham, mustard and onions

4th cycle of 5/3/1 triumvirate/week 3/day 2 (all weights in kg)

Squat

Warm-up

20x5

40x5

60x5

75x3

Work Sets

85x5

97.5x3

110x7

Bench

Warm-up

20x5

30x5

40x5

50x3

Work Sets

55x5

62.5x3

70x7

Assistance

Cable row machine 5x10 @ 43kg

Notes

Wasn’t able to do a lot of assistance work this week as I had to try and fit two main lifts into the same day for both work days this week to accommodate for my past holiday’s schedule. Decided it would be better to focus my efforts on the main lifts for these two days without over-exerting. I’m really enjoying squats. I feel that after reading a lot of threads and logs here on the forums, and each cycle I can try and focus on implementing some of the cues/tips I’ve been seeing. I think so far the most beneficial thing to focus on (for all of my lifts) has been to learn proper bracing. Still a work in progress, but can feel it really help on the squat.

Nutrition

4-egg scramble with cured turkey breast and shallots

Quesadillas with about 300g chicken wing meat and side of roasted brussel sprouts

Chicken soup

Slice of toast with 100g chicken ham and parmesan

Nutrition

4-egg scramble with cured turkey breast and shallots

Quesadillas with about 300g chicken wing meat and side of steamed brocolli

Slice of toast with 200g chicken ham and parmesan

Nutrition

3 crispy-fried eggs

300g Pan-fried flounder with rice noodles and lemongrass/coconut milk sauce

Slice of toast with mustard,onions and 150g grilled chicken ham

Been pressed for time for the past few workouts since getting settled back in after the holidays, so I’ve admittedly been going super laid back on the assistance work, planning to get dialed in on that starting Monday.

4th cycle of 5/3/1 triumvirate/deload week (all weights in kg)

Press

Warm-up

20x5

20x5

Work Sets

20x5

25x5

30x5

Deadlifts

Warm-up

40x5

40x5

Work Sets

50x5

60x5

70x5

Assistance

3x10 kroc rows @22.5kg

Nutrition

4 crispy-fried eggs with chicken ham, sauteed onions and garlic

100g granola

400g roast chicken (breast and wings), roast potatoes, brocolli with chicken jus

Slice of toast with 100g chicken ham

Nutrition

100g granola

4 crispy-fried eggs with chicken ham

Protein shake

Pulled chicken burgers, 300g roast leg meat, brocolli

Slice of toast with 150g chicken ham

Nutrition

100g granola

4 crispy-fried eggs with chicken ham

Protein shake

Oven-baked, herb crusted chicken wings, about 400g meat

Flame grilled tortilla with homemade BBQ sauce, parmesan and 100g chicken ham

4th cycle of 5/3/1 triumvirate/deload week (all weights in kg)

Squats

Warm-up

20x5

20x5

Work Sets

40x5

50x5

60x5

Assistance

Tri cable pulldowns 5x10 @ 43kg

Nutrition

4 crispy-fried eggs with chicken ham, sauteed onions and garlic

100g granola

Protein shake

Hamburger, Chicken burger

Wrap with 100g chicken ham

Nutrition

4 crispy-fried eggs with chicken ham

100g granola

300g Pan-fried duck breast with sauteed spinach and steamed rice

Wrap with 100g chicken ham

Nutrition

4 crispy-fried eggs with chicken ham

100g granola

Chicken soup with 100g thigh meat

2 Wraps with 250g chicken ham

5th cycle of 5/3/1 triumvirate/1st week (all weights in kg)

Press

Warm-up

20x5

30x5

35x5

Work Sets

40x5

45x5

50x8

Assistance

Tri cable pulldowns 5x10@50kg

Cable row machine 5x10@52kg

Nutrition

4 crispy-fried eggs with chicken ham

100g granola

Chicken soup with 100g thigh meat

2 Wraps with 250g chicken ham

5th cycle of 5/3/1 triumvirate/1st week (all weights in kg)

Deadlift

Warm-up

50x5

60x5

70x5

Work Sets

80x5

90x5

102.5x6

Assistance

5x10 Hanging leg raises

Nutrition

100g Granola

2 hamburgers, chicken nuggets

Protein shake

300g chicken wing meat with white basmati

Notes

The last work set felt really heavy today, but not so much for my back. I think my forearm strength is really limiting my ability to pull more reps, as they fatigue to the point of failure way sooner than any of the other muscle groups involved. As of now the work they get is from deads, kroc rows and the cable row machine. I need to program some form of direct forearm work to bring them up a bit quicker.

Hey man, good to see you’re being consistent. Quick question about your 5/3/1 programming: Are you doing any conditioning?

Even when “bulking”, Wendler’s big about keeping some basic conditioning work somewhere in there. Just wondering. I see a lot of people kinda leave it out.

Hey Chris, thanks for stopping by. Conditioning has definitely been something I have been neglecting, and I’ve especially felt its absence on the last set of squats. I think I will incorporate some form of HIIT twice a week, but I am still unsure as to what it is exactly that I want to do. Should I be doing conditioning work on off days?

Yep, that’ll be fine. Just go for whatever you’ll actually do consistently. Like I said, a lot of guys tend to skip over it because lifting is the fun stuff. But the cardio work is the difference-maker that brings dudes North of Vag. Plus, when you’re trying to bulk, it’s good “damage control” against excess fat gain when bumping up calories.

Aweome, thanks. I’ll give that a re-read. Mobility/flexibility is something else that I have completely overlooked, so I’ll definitely look into adding that in also.

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Nutrition

100g Granola

4 crispy-fried eggs with 100g chicken ham

Protein shake

2 wraps with 200g chicken ham

5th cycle of 5/3/1 triumvirate/1st week (all weights in kg)

Bench

Warm-up

20x5

30x5

40x5

45x3

Work Sets

50x5

55x5

62.5x12

Assistance

Incline Bench 3x10@ 37.5,42.5,47.5

Cable tri pull aparts 5x10@ 43

Nutrition

4 crispy-fried eggs with chicken ham

100g granola

Protein Shake

300g chicken wing meat with white basmati