Maple Syrup Strength (littlesleeper)

Training Logs
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@Koestrizer - thanks man, ya it has been a good week. Now for an new OHP max on Friday!

@dchris - lol I think I’d have a much better chance of hitting a 525lb squat.

@MarkKO - I finally feel like I’m playing with the big boys now. That would be very nice to hit 1550+ by years end.

@oldbeancam - That is a good idea about posting in the 5/3/1 forum. I’ll likely do that tonight. I’m glad it looked like I had more in the tank, but I don’t think I did. I’m one of those dead lifters that the bar either moves pretty quick or doesn’t move at all.

@ChickenLittle - ok, next PR that falls I’ll throw a little celebration into the video for you! I think it will be a while before pulling 600lbs again. But squatting 525 just to hit that 1500lbs might be in the near future.

Thanks to everyone for stopping in!

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I think your next goal should be a 2000 “Jim Wendler” total (squat, dead, bench, ohp).

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1/06/2016

5/3/1 Young Jim Wendler Template

Week 3 Day 3

Front Squat
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5

My back and legs were still feeling beat up coming into this workout from all my max attempts this week so I just hit 225lbs for a little volume and called it there. I sort of agitated my wrist attempting to hold the bar in a front rack position, so most sets were completed cross arm grip.

Strict OHP
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 3
225 x 1
245 x 1 ← I have done 225 x 3 before, but this is actually the most weight put overhead. +20lb PR
255 x 1 ← RPE 10, +30lb PR - I battled with this rep, thought about quitting twice during the rep when I didn’t think it was going to go. Bracing/pushing so hard my ears popped, but I managed the rep! Wrist still not feeling great, I used wrist wraps on the heavier sets.
135 x 20reps ← decided I wanted a bit more volume in this workout, surprised I was able to hit 20reps.

Superset
A. DB Lat Raise
40 x 12
40 x 10
40 x 10

B. Dragon Flags
8, 8, 8

Superset
50lb Weighted Vest Inverted Rows
10
12
12
50lb Weighted Vest 2% Incline Walk
2.5mins
2.5mins

The weighted vest work at the end had the sweat pouring down me. This was a nice finisher. I may do some other weighted vest work at the ends of my workouts if I haven’t broken a sweat yet just to help a tad with my fat loss.

Well after 5mins on the treadmill I think I tied the amount of cardio I performed in all of 2016! I haven’t weighed myself at all yet this week, but I’m definitely feeling like I’m heading in the right direction.

So far I have just been cleaning the crap out of my diet and not overeating. I wake up feeling much tighter, likely just from eliminating the processed foods.

My typical day has been looking like:
Morning Pills:
Vit D3
Fish Oil
CLA
Vit C
Daily Vit
Curcumin with Piperine
Vit B Complex

6am:
2 eggs
0.5cup egg whites
2tsp olive oil
1 piece of fruit (banana or apple typcally)
Drink a glass of water with 1tsp sodium bicarbonate and 1 heaping tsp of Metamucil

7:30am:
Drink a mouthful of apple cider vinegar out of the container.

11am:
Chicken/Beef/Fish (whatever I pre-made)
Spinach/Steamed Veggies

2pm:
2 scoops protein powder

4pm (pre-workout):
1.5scoops protein
1 cup of oatmeal
1 scoop greens supplement
Caffeine Pill

4:45pm (intra-workout):
1 scoop protein
50g Dextrose
Creatine

6:30pm (1/2hr post workout)
Chicken/Beef/Fish
Rice/Pasta/Wraps/WW homemade local bread
Veggies (cucumber, lettuce, spinach, steamed veggies)

10pm:
1cup cottage cheese or 2 greek yogurt containers

Night Pills:
Magnesium + Zinc
Fish Oil
Curcumin + Piperine

This has been getting me around the 3000cal mark with 250g+ of protein and 250g+ of carbs.
I eliminate the intra-workout drink on non workout days, but typically keep my oatmeal/protein/greens (pre-workout meal) in each day. Holds me off until dinner, and still keeps my cals high enough as that is still my plan.

That will be an easy 400cals to cut when I start to decrease my calories as time goes on. When we get down into the low calorie weeks I’ll likely start subbing out my intra-workout nutrition for simply BCAA’s + Creatine to further the fat loss efforts.

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You are just smashing the PRs. Congrats…again :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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You really are on fire aren’t you? It’s great :slight_smile:

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Just wait until you see the video, I might have done a little victory dance as per your request.

Well to be fair, it has been a long time since I have went for true 1RM. Always dealing with TM’s using 5/3/1 it is tough to know where you really stand. It was nice to push myself this week, but I’m feeling pretty worn down right now. I’m going to take the prescribed deload week next week.

Also, I’ve been battling the beginning of a cold all week and this morning woke up and it is in full force. Sore throat, congestion, the works. And, since I’m a male, this is basically the worst thing ever…yes I’m a big baby when I get a cold…my wife can confirm.

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Maxes take a toll on the immune system in my experience. Sometimes even just a heavy or particularly taxing session leaves me feeling like I’m coming down with something for a few hours.

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Savage strict press man. Grats on the PR’s in general too.

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Way to go with the happy dance :sunglasses: Hope you get to feeling better.

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I too have noticed this. Unfortunately the cold has been going around at work and my wife also has a cold. The max effort training definitely isn’t helping me get over this. But a relaxing weekend and a deload week ought to clear it up.

Thanks man, I appreciate it! Only about 100lbs to go before I can be in the same ballpark as you…

Haha, dancing isn’t my strong suit, clearly. Thanks!

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Hey now, I’m not strict pressing 355lbs at 220 wtf?! My best is 300, and we’re about the same bodyweight anyway. You’ve got a beastly overhead dude, use some fucking legs sometime, eh?! You got the strength for a 315 push press I’d say, but what is your PR on that, forgive my negligence in not knowing.

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Haha, well every time I see you post an ohp it scares me a little.

I should try to mix in some push presses. I think my next wave of 5/3/1 I’m going to use some conjugate lifts.

Sumo/push press/close grip or incline bench/SSB Squats just to mix it up a bit.

To be honest I don’t have the slightest clue what my push press would be. I rarely train it, but I don’t think it would be a ton over my strict press. Might be able to pop 285lb up I’d assume.

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Just picked this up for $45:

3264×1836 1.08 MB

Hopefully this will help me in my quest for fat loss!

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01/09/2016
AM: Woke up at 212.2lb this morning. This puts me down 0.4lbs after a week. This is good, as this week I intended on hitting maintenance calories while simply cleaning up my food choices. The 0.4lbs is likely just a little less water retention. This week I will be dropping 200cals per day to hit around the 2800cal mark. Same food, slightly smaller portions. I anticipate dropping another 0.5-1lb this week.

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01/09/2016
PM:

5/3/1 Young Jim Wendler’s Template

Week 4 Day 1

Squat
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 5

Leg Extensions
90 x 10 x 3

Lying Hamstring Curls
90 x 10 x 4

Bench
135 x 5 x 5
165 x 5
205 x 5

Dips
BW x 15
+45 x 10
+90 x 5
+90 x 5
+45 x 10
BW x 15

Chinups
+45lbs x 7reps x 5sets

4-Way Neck
15lbs x 25(back) and 20 (side to side and front)
15lbs x 25(back) and 20 (side to side and front)

Hanging Leg Raises
12, 10, 10

Easy workout, deload week. Added a few bonus light movements just because.

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01/11/2016

5/3/1 Young Jim Wendler
Week 4 Day 2 (Deload)

Power Clean
45 x 5
45 x 5
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5

Deadlift
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5 <-threw on fat gripz just to make these at least require a little bit of effort (kept on for rest of sets)
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5

Incline DB Press
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10 RPE 2

Preacher Curls
90 x 10
135 x 8
135 x 8

Back Extensions (BW)
12, 12, 12

Treadmill Walk 3.0MPH with 50lb Vest
10mins = sweating

Came in, went through the motions. Overall easy workout, but not useless. Last week I was beat up set all new PR’s so I know this week is necessary for me to take it easy and come back next week fresh and ready to go.

I’ve been pondering my setup for my next 5/3/1 cycle. I do enjoy this current template, but I’m just going to make a few adjustments (gasp) to cater it a bit more towards Strongman and getting some use out of my homemade axle. If I go through this cycle and really enjoy using the axle I may purchase the Ironmind Apollon Axle. I’m in need of a new bar at the moment as mine is pretty warped making deadlift difficult as it wants to roll to its flat spot as you lift.

Current Routine:
Mon = Squat/Bench
Wed = Power Clean/Dead
Fri = Front Squat/Press

Thoughts for next cycle:
Mon = Squat/ Axle Bench
Wed = Continental Clean / Axle Dead
Fri = _Zercher Squat(?)/Log Clean (once) and Press

Any comments or thoughts on this altered setup would be appreciated!

Edit: I forgot my original plan was to use continental clean instead of power clean.

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I think that setup looks fine. I don’t know enough about Zercher to comment, although I can see how it may transfer to strongman.

BTW, 315 with Fat Gripz? Jeez. Not sure how I’d go with that.

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Not too sure about zercher squats either. I have never done one though but I would imagine that front squats are the better option. You don’t actually see too many strongmen doing zercher squats.

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@MarkKO - I really don’t know much about them either to be honest. I think I did 2 singles OH with the Fat Gripz than switched to switch grip for the remaining 3 reps…so I suppose my post was slightly misleading I may have been able to get 5 reps with it with fresh grip, but my rest periods were nearly non-existent at these weights (just enough to change the weight) just to get the work in so my forearms were feeling it by the end of these sets.

@Koestrizer - Thanks man, appreciate the comments. So currently, I HATE front squats. My shoulder and wrist mobility is absolutely terrible. If I try and hold a proper front rack position with any appreciable amount of weight my wrist flares up for the week and is quite uncomfortable doing much of anything. If I do a cross arm style I am severely limited with the weight I can pile on because the “shelf” isn’t as stable. This leaves me using sub-maximal weights that I feel have very little carry over to much else. Maybe it is a matter of toughing it out to see the benefits, or maybe I’m one of the few people who aren’t meant to front squat. I attempted an overhead squat the other day for fun, with an empty bar and could not do it. I could not overhead squat a broomstick, so that will give you a sense of my flexibility. I can’t physically get my hands back far enough to be over my centre of gravity.

I’m hoping the zercher hold (although uncomfortable) won’t cause any actual strains as the front squat does. This still forces the weight out in front and works the biceps and upper back by holding the bar. I figure decent carry over for events like conan’s wheel or even carry events that require uncomfortable holds in front of the body.

I had thought about doing SSB squats this cycle, but I think regular squats and SSB squats would be too much for my recovery as I can go quite heavy with both. The other option would be to do SSB squats INSTEAD of regular back squats for a cycle which would add emphasis on the quads, and use zercher squats later in the week as there is less spinal compression and less CNS fatigue with the lower weights being used.

Just some ramblings of thoughts bouncing around in my head at the moment.

Thanks for the comments gents!

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