My BBB 3 Month Challenge Log

Bigger Stronger Leaner Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Coaching
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Hi everyone …

I recently posted regarding my starting the 531 BBB 3 month challenge and have just completed the first 3 weeks of cycle 1…

I figured it might be a good idea to create a log on here if that’s allowed - feel free to delete if not.

I am running this program exactly as written on the article and am determined not to mess with it…

My stats currently …

Height - 6’1
Weight - 83 kg

Training maxes ( 90% of tested 1rm)

Bench TM - 105 kg
Squat TM - 120 kg
Deadlift TM - 200 kg
Press TM - 70 kg

Cycle 1 - Week 1 - Monday

Bench - 75kg x 5
- 83kg x 5
- 92kg x 5

BBB - 50 % of TM

Military press - 45 kg - 5 x 10 (easy)

Weighted chin ups - 20kg plate x 5
- 15kg plate x 6
- 10kg plate x 7
- 5kg plate x 8
- Bodyweight x 10

Plate Lat raises - 10kg x 20
- 10kg x 15

Cycle 1 - Week 1 - Tuesday

Squat - 85 kg x 5
- 95 kg x 5
- 105kg x 5

BBB - 50 % of TM

Deadlift - 110 kg - 5x10 (easy)

Cycle 1 - Week 1 - Thursday

Military Press - 52kg x 5
- 57kg x 5
- 62kg x 5

BBB - 50 % of TM

Bench press - 62.5 - 5 x 10 (easy)

Chin ups (bodyweight) x 10
x 10
x 9
x 8
x 6

Cycle 1 - Week 1 - Friday

Deadlift - 137 kg x 5
- 155 kg x 5
- 173 kg x 5

BBB - 50 % of TM

Squat - 70kg - 5 x 10 (easy)

That was my first week … Weeks 2 and 3 all followed the exact same format aside from the obvious percentage and rep changes for the main 531 sets …

I’m not going for rep PRs on the main 531 lifts as you can see … however I did crank out a couple of extra reps on the last set of the 1s week as it felt a bit weird just hitting an easy single ( I will discipline myself not to do this in future)

But all In all it was a nice easy first cycle …

This Sunday just gone I went running with my girlfriend and we did a nice gentle 12k at a very easy pace for me … I’m very fond of my running as I mentioned in my previous thread when starting the challenge … however I have dropped my regular running and only plan on doing infrequent easy runs at a gentle pace during his challenge … if I feel it interfering with recovery I will drop all running completely

I’m now on deload week (cycle 1 week 4)

This was today’s deload workout …

Cycle 1 - Week 4 - Deload - Monday

Bench Press - 55kg x 5
- 62.5 kg x 5
- 72.5 kg x 5

BBB - 50 % of TM - 3 sets

Military Press - 45 kg - 3 x 10

Weighted chins - same as previous weeks

Plate lat raises - 10 kg plate x 20

I’ll update the log on every workout from this point on … feel free to offer any constructive criticism :slight_smile:

Cycle 2 after I finish deload week I will be increasing the TMs as per original 531 guidelines and the BBB will be increasing to 60 % of that new TM …

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Just realised my numbers don’t add up properly lol … apologies.

The reason for this is that i don’t add on the bar weight in my training book where I work out the percentages for each lift…

however here on this log I have added on the 20kg (roughly) bar weight to my numbers and for some reason it isn’t adding up correctly…

For example - my bench TM in my training book is 85 kg without the bar weight and this is the numbers I’ve been basing my percentages on.

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Ok so I finished my first deload week and I’m now on cycle 2…

TMs increasing to …
bench - 87.5 kg (not counting bar weight)
Squat - 105 kg (not counting bar weight)
Deadlift - 185 kg (not counting bar weight)
Press - 52.5 kg (not counting bar weight)

Monday 27th

Bench press - 65% - 57.5 kg x 5
75% - 65kg x 5
85 % - 75kg x 5

BBB - Military Press (60 %)

32.5kg x 10
32.5kg x 10
32.5kg x 10
32.5kg x 10
32.5kg x 10

Weighted chin ups …

20kg plate - x 6
15kg plate - x 6
10kg plate - x 7
5kg plate - x 8
Bodyweight- x 10

Lat raises - 10kg x 20

Wow today felt good … much more challenging with 60 percent on the bbb but form was pretty solid aside from the last couple of reps where I ended up arching my back a bit …

I also hit some great weighted chin ups today with chest touching the bar on every rep …

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Tuesday - 28th

Squat - 65 % - 67.5 kg x 5
75 % - 77.5 kg x 5
85 % - 90 kg x 5

BBB - Deadlift (60 %)

110kg x 10
110kg x 10
110kg x 10
110kg x 10
110kg x 10

Deadlifts felt very comfortable at 60 % and form was very solid and smooth for each set… so far so good …

I have written all my weights for cycle 2 without including the bar weight as this is how I’ve calculated my percentages in my training book… and for some reason it doesn’t add up correctly if I add the extra 20 - 25 kg for the bar

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Thursday 30th august

Military Press - 65% - 35kg x 5
- 75% - 40kg x 5
- 85% - 45kg x 5

BBB - 60 % - Bench Press

52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10

Bodyweight chin ups

x12
x10
x 9
x 7
x 6

Lat raises - 10kg x 20

Another good session … the form still feels great and the reps are all clean and smooth on the bbb … but I’m having to take longer rest between sets with 60%

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Friday 31st august

(Today my back was feeling a bit fried from yesterday … maybe too many chin ups or over arching on the military press)

But had a longer warm up and got on with it …

Deadlift - 65 % - 120 kg x 5
- 75 % - 137.5 kg x 5
- 85 % - 157.5 kg x 5

BBB - 60 % - Squats

62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 10

Today felt tougher than it should have … the deadlift reps were all fine but the last set felt harder than it should have done considering I’ve hit that weight for 10 reps in the past …

The squats also felt pretty tough today … first set was picture perfect and could have easily hit 15 - 20 reps …

But on the later sets my form felt a little bit off …

I still hit the 5 sets of 10 pretty easily with ass to grass depth albeit with quite long rests between sets …

But something just felt a bit off form wise … like something was out of alignment and it didn’t feel as smooth and fluid as usual …

I think my back was just too fatigued from yesterday’s chin ups …,

I may have to to scale back on those chins to keep my back fresh for deadlifts and squats …

But still a successful workout … no difficulty hitting the reps … I just felt a little out of groove form wise … and RPE was higher than it should have been for what are usually pretty easy weights

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Monday 3rd Sept - cycle 2 week 2

Bench press - 70 % - 60 kg x 3
80 % - 70 kg x 3
90 % - 77.5 kg x 3

BBB - 60 % - Military Press

32.5 kg x 10
32.5 kg x 10
32.5 kg x 10
32.5 kg x 10
32.5 kg x 10

Weighted chin ups …

25 kg plate x 4
20 kg plate x 5
15 kg plate x 6
10 kg plate x 7
5 kg plate x 8
Bodyweight x 9

Okay so today i hit all my reps again with no problems but I feel like my reps were not as good quality as last week … and also it took me a little longer between sets…

i did have to train early morning today though and my performance is always slightly under par in the mornings …

The reps were easy enough to hit but the overall form just felt a bit flimsy like I wasn’t engaging my core enough … really gotta watch my form on military presses because my back seems to get easily aggravated by them…

Last week 60 percent on military press bbb felt much more smooth and powerful whereas today I felt like my core was spaghetti lol

I know it’s still early but I’m sensing that this lift is gonna be the toughest when I have to bump up to 70 percent …

Bench press and chin ups were great today though … very clean reps and chest to bar on every chin up

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Tuesday 4th sept - cycle 2 - week 2

Squat - 70% - 72.5 kg x 3
80% - 85kg x 3
90% - 95kg x 4

BBB - 60% - Deadlift

110kg x 10
110kg x 10
110kg x 10
110kg x 10
110kg x 10

Brilliant day … BBB was a breeze today on deadlift … I seem to really enjoy higher rep deadlifts … I am a lanky git though so I have good leverages for it.

Squats were good too but challenging …

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Thursday 6th sept - cycle 2 - week 2

Military Press - 70% - 35kg x 3
80% - 42.5 kg x 3
90% - 47.5 kg x 4

BBB - 60% - Bench Press

52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10

Bodyweight chins
x12
x10
x 9

Upright row - 40kg x 15

Awesome session today nearing the end of 3s week … my 531 military press sets felt powerful and I couldn’t resist pushing out a 4th rep on the last set just for luck…

I then moved on to the BBB 60% and nailed my 5x10 on the bench press with beautiful form on each set … it felt slightly easier this week too.

I also did 3 sets of bodyweight chin ups … I would usually do 5 sets but the last few Friday workouts my back has felt a little fatigued so I’m trying to leave some energy in the tank for tomorrow …

Also threw in a high rep set of upright rows on the end of the workout just because I fancied doing some …

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Friday 7th sept - cycle 2 - week 2

Deadlift - 70% - 130 kg x 3
- 80% - 147.5 kg x 3
- 90% - 167.5 kg x 3

BBB - 60 % - Squats

62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 10

Today I felt quite weak and sluggish … I was very tired and lethargic but I chugged a nice strong coffee pre workout and got on with it …

I hit all my reps on deadlifts and BBB squats without any problems … but once again my RPE seemed higher than usual for these weights…

This seems to keep happening on Fridays session so I might need to look at what’s causing me to feel so fatigued on Fridays…

But overall it wasn’t a bad workout … I still hit all the planned numbers with good form …

Looking forward to week 3 … the dreaded cycle 3 with 70% is looming nearer …

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Why not? So your TM is actually 125kg?

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Yeah it’s stupid I know … for my early training years I only ever tracked my progress by the weight on the bar and it’s just a habit that has always stuck with me over the years…

I did try and add the 25kg bar weight on to this thread at the start … but because all the percentages are based off weight on the bar only it wasn’t adding up right when I tried to add the 25kg for this thread …

So yes there is an extra 25kg on top of everything I’m recording here …

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Sunday 9th sept …

Ok so today I had a 10k race which I signed up to months ago so couldn’t really back out of it …

some evil hills on this course … (the chard 10k chaser)

I didn’t do any training for it as I only really run for fun now and again … and I took it fairly easy.

Came in at 52.5 mins … nowhere near my best but I didn’t want to push myself too hard… especially now that I’m on the last week of month 2 on the BBB challenge …

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Monday 10th sept - cycle 2 - week 3

Bench press - 75% - 65kg x 5
- 85% - 75kg x 3
- 95% - 82.5 kg x 1

BBB - 60 % - military Press

32.5 kg x 10
32.5 kg x 10
32.5 kg x 10
32.5 kg x 10
32.5 kg x 10

Today was pretty average … I felt quite tired and had a bit of a headache but that’s my own damn fault for running a 10k race yesterday…

Bench press felt strangely heavy but still hit the required reps with no problems …

Military Press BBB was pretty good today … all the reps felt much more solid than last week and form was much better … but I was taking a lot of rest between sets …

Sadly I couldn’t do my weighted chin ups today because everyone in the gym seemed to be using the smith rack and chin up bars …

Pissed me off a bit as I was looking forward to my weighted chins but I’ll try and get them in later in the week …

Got the important stuff done though …

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Tuesday 11th sept - cycle 2 - week 3

Squat - 75% - 77.5 kg x 5
85% - 90 kg x 3
95% - 100 kg x 2

BBB - 60% - Deadlift

110kg x 10
110kg x 10
110kg x 10
110kg x 10
110kg x 12

Wow !!! Today I felt like a beast in the gym…

Everything felt rock solid and very powerful …

Squats seemed to fly up with ease and I couldn’t resist hitting an extra rep on the last set …

BBB Deadlifts were insanely easy … on the 5th set i even cranked out an extra 2 reps just to finish strong …

I’m not going to get too cocky though as cycle 3 is fast approaching and 70 % on BBB is probably going to kill me …

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Thursday 13th sept - cycle 2 - week 3

Military press - 75% - 40kg x 5
- 85% - 45kg x 3
- 95% - 50kg x 2

BBB - 60% - Bench Press

52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10
52.5 kg x 10

Weighted chins

25kg plate x 4
20kg plate x 5
15kg plate x 6
Bodyweight x 9
Bodyweight x 8

Another great session today … my 531 military press felt very strong (snuck an extra rep on the last set again)

BBB felt great … excellent form on each set … However I do feel I’m taking a lot of time between sets on all of the BBB exercises… But I’d rather take my time between sets and have solid form as opposed to limiting rest and banging out sloppy reps…

I’m actually looking forward to deload week as my lower back is feeling pretty beat up from this cycle …

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Friday 14th sept - cycle 2 - week 3

Deadlift - 75% - 137.5 kg x 5
- 85% - 158.5 kg x 3
- 95% - 175 kg x 2

BBB - 60% - squat

62.5 x 10
62.5 x 10
62.5 x 10
62.5 x 10
62.5 x 10

And there we have it … a nice strong finish for cycle 2 …

Deadlift had great bar speed today and all of the bbb squat sets were nicely executed with good solid form … no sloppy reps and I feel confident that I’ve destroyed cycle 1 and 2 …

Going into deload week now and I will just be doing the 40% 50% 60% protocol … along with 3 sets instead of 5 for BBB …

I’m also going to get stretching this week and really try to boost my recovery because my back is feeling pretty beat up …

I’m looking forward to cycle 3 with 70% … it’s going to be very interesting to see if I can handle that many sets of 10 without taking hours between sets …

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Monday 24th Sept - Cycle 3 - Week 1

Training maxes increase
Bench - 90kg
Squat - 110 kg
Press - 55kg
Deadlift - 190kg

Bench Press - 65% - 57.5 kg X 5
75% - 67.5 kg X 5
85% - 77.5 kg X 5

BBB - 70% - Military Press

37.5 kg x 10
37.5 kg x 10
37.5 kg x 10
37.5 kg x 10
37.5 kg x 10

Weighted chin ups …
25 kg plate x 4
20 kg plate x 5
15 kg plate x 6
10 kg plate x 7
5 kg plate x 8

Lat raises
10 kg x 15
10 kg x 10

Well that’s my first session at 70 % for BBB military press and it was a struggle but I got through it …

The form wasn’t picture perfect and some of the reps were very grindy and shaky … but somehow I actually got the full 5 sets of 10.

Im hoping my form gets a little more solid on these later in the cycle as I felt like I was leaning back a bit too much on some of them …

But overall I’m very pleased I got the full 5 sets of 10 …

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Tuesday 25tg sept - Cycle 3 - week 1

Squat - 65% - 70kg x 5
75% - 82.5 kg x 5
85% - 92.5 kg x 5

BBB - 70% - Deadlift

135kg x 10
135kg x 10
135kg x 10
135kg x 10
135kg x 10

Great session today … Nailed my 531 squats and my BBB deadlifts at 70 percent was absolutely exhausting but I got the full 5 sets of 10 and i didn’t really struggle with it at all…

I rounded it up to 135kg (160kg if you count the bar weight) The actual percentage calculated was 133kg but seeing as deadlift is a strong point for me I felt confident rounding it up to the nearest 5 …

Form and bar speed was very good … but I had to take at least 5-6 minutes between sets to make sure I was fresh enough to get the best out of each set …

So far things seem to be going well …

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Thursday 27th sept - cycle 3 - week 1

Military Press - 65% - 35kg x 5
75% - 42.5 kg x 5
85 % - 47.5 kg x 6

BBB - 70% - Bench press

62.5 kg x 10
62.5 kg x 8
62.5 kg x 7
62.5 kg x 6
62.5 kg x 5
62.5 kg x 5
62.5 kg x 5
62.5 kg x 4

Bodyweight chin ups

X 10
X 10
X 10

So today was interesting … I scored a beautiful PR on my military Press and got 6 reps on 47.5kg … I’ve never hit that before so I’m pretty happy with that…

But my BBB on bench press was a massive fail…

Im quite shocked as the bench press has always been one of my strongest lifts … and 62.5 kg is usually a light weight for me …

I got 10 on the 1st set but started dropping reps on every subsequent set … so to make up for it I just added more sets until I hit the 50 rep total…

Pretty disappointed with that to be honest because I’ve repped that weight for 15 reps in the past …

But I’m sure I’ll get the 5x10 next time … I probably over taxed myself on the military press and shouldn’t have gone for the 6th rep …

Also my nutrition was pretty poor yesterday as I was on the road all day and didn’t eat very well.

But no point dwelling on it … I’m still very pleased with that military press today so it wasn’t a completely wasted session …