Panzerfaust vs 2012 - 531 Full Body

Training Logs
1

Welcome to my 5/3/1 Full Body Template Log, beginning on 02.01.12

training age: 3 (not structured powerlifting training - just general gym fucking around and such)
height: 182cm
weight: 89kg
bodyfat: last tested 6 months ago @ 13%
diet: pretty clean and eat around maintenance (3000ish calories)

1RMs at time of beginning program: (I’d come off a run of shoulder injuries so pressing strength had dropped from poor to dismal haha)
squat-140kg
bench-90kg (close grip)
press-65kg
deadlift-185kg (with shit form)
front squat-115kg

goals for 2012:
-squat a moderately manly amount
-narrow grip bench 120kg
-press 80kg
-deadlift 220kg
-drop bodyfat
-fill up my xl shirts
-stop injuring my accursed RC
-sprint many hills

While I have always been well dedicated to my training, I’ve always been a change-it-up junkie. This inconsistent approach, along with ridiculous choices like not using any periodization models, only exercising my upper body for the first 8 months of training, and not back squatting until 2011, has sorely limited my results. Last year I discovered Wendler’s 5/3/1 Triumvirate and managed to stick with it for the final 3 months of 2011; the best and most sensible routine I have ever run.

My back squat is pitiful and I wish to remedy this. So I purchased 5/3/1 Second Edition, which has a template in it entitled 5/3/1 Full Body Training. This is a 3 day system which has you squatting at the start of every workout, and seems to be the perfect match for my goals. I also don’t really know anyone who has run this program long-term so I thought it’d be cool to commit to following it for the entirety of 2012 and see what kind of results I come up with. For conditioning I will run hills. EDIT: Turns out I am dragging a sled instead of running hills.

5/3/1 Full Body Training is presented in 4 different workout templates. The first 3 are identical except the squatting increases intensity while reducing in volume with each phase. Wendler recommends running each phase for a minimum of 2 months/cycles. The fourth phase is titled “Optional Insanity” and adds in power cleans, good mornings and a truly insane amount of chins ups and box jumps.

My plans is to run phases 1 and 2 for three cycles each, phase 3 for four cycles and phase 4 for three cycles. I started phase 1 on 2/01/2012 so by my (somewhat dubious) calculations this will see me finish 13 cycles on 28/12/2012. Hopefully by then I will be a man.

10-03-12 UPDATE: For DEADLIFT ONLY, I have switched (as of Phase 1; Cycle 3; Week 1) to 5/3/1 For Powerlifting sets and reps, as I wanted to use the heavy singles scheme. The rest of the routine remains 100% true to 5/3/1 Full Body Training from the 2nd Edition.

30-03-12 UPDATE: Hit a new deadlift PB of 200kg, with infinitely better form than previous.

11-04-12 UPDATE: Narrow grip benched 105kg quite easily, but failed 110kg at halfway.

27-04-12 UPDATE: Deadlift PB 205kg, conventional, mixed grip.

19-06-12 UPDATE: Back Squat 140kg x 5 (old 1RM for 5 reps).

22-06-12 UPDATE: Overhead Press 67.5kg x 4 (rep PB I’ve been working towards for ages)

03-07-12 UPDATE: Back Squat 150kg x 1 (new +10kg PR, wasn’t really planned just felt like doing a heavy single. I found it very easy and I expect I’m good for 160-170kg in the near future)

13-07-12 UPDATE: Overhead Press 75kg x 1 (big PB for me - 80kg is my year goal and I am well on target for this)

20-07-12 UPDATE: Deadlift PB 215kg (+10kg), conventional, mixed grip. Come on 500lbs!!!

27-08-12 UPDATE: Back Squat 160kg x 1 (did this on my first day back lifting after a nasty flu virus. Was down on bodyweight and energy - pretty sure I am good for 170+ when healthy)

10-09-12 UPDATE: Now doing the Fullbody Training Template combined with the 3/5/1 For Powerlifting sets, reps and singles layout. I will follow this for the final 4 cycles of 2012 and hope for some good 1RMs come December.

27-09-12 UPDATE: Squat 170kg x 1. I recently switched to high bar and it seems to suit me better. Very happy with this lift!

03-10-12 UPDATE: Deadlift PB 227.5kg (500lb) x 1. Shaky as fuck… but awesome! Now to fix my shaking haha.

25-10-12 UPDATE: Bodyweight is now more like 93kgs.

26-10-12 UPDATE: Deadlift rep PR of 6 x 187.5kg plus 200kg and 210kg singles afterwards.

28-11-12 UPDATE: Deadlift 1RM PB of 230kg (507lb), no shaking. YEAH!

31-12-12 UPDATE: Bench Press 112.5kg 1RM PB and Overhead Press 77.5kg 1RM PB

2

Phase 1/Cycle 1/Week 1

Monday 02.01.2012
Squat
5 x 82.5
5 x 95
5 x 107.5

DB bench
10 x 20 / 5 chin ups
10 x 20 / 5 chin ups
10 x 20 / 5 chin ups

DB row
10 x 18
10 x 22.5
10 x 25

Hanging leg raise / Ab wheel roll
5/10
5/10
5/10

Wednesday
Squat
10 x 50
10 x 62.5
10 x 75

NG bench
5 x 55 / 10 DB rows
5 x 60 / 10 DB rows
5 x 70 / 10 DB rows

Chin up
8,6,5,4,4,3

Hanging leg raise / Ab wheel roll
4/10
4/10
3/10

Friday
Squat
10 x 50
10 x 62.5
10 x 75

Press
5 x 37.5
5 x 45
5 x 50

Deadlift
5 x 115
5 x 132.5
5 x 150

Hanging leg raise / Ab wheel roll
6/10
6/10

NOTES:
-bike warm up then shoulder dislocates, legs swings and foam rolling before each workout. Band pullaparts, external rotations and stretching after.
-decided to do only required reps for the first week of this cycle.
-no hill sprints yet; will begin these in week 2.
-first week back after a Christmas season spent gorging myself on alcohol and cake. Felt negative, weak and fat. My diary reads: felt hideous and weak; felt like passing out and vomiting, probably not in that order.
-looking forward to getting back to feeling healthy and strong(ish)!

3

I’ll be following along. I bought 5/3/1 2nd edition just for the full body routines. I’ve been doing full body workouts for the last 3 months and I don’t see myself changing for quite some time, if ever.

Looking good in here, keep it up

4

Will follow along as well!

5

^ Cheers guys!

Phase 1/Cycle 1/Week 2

MONDAY 09.01.2012
Squat
3 x 87.5
3 x 100
7 x 112.5 (had a couple more in the tank but did’t want to gas entirely this week)

DB bench
11 x 20 / 5 chin ups
11 x 20 / 5 chin ups
11 x 20 / 5 chin ups

DB row
10 x 25
10 x 25
10 x 25

Hanging leg raise / Ab wheel roll
5/10
5/10

WEDNESDAY
Squat
10 x 50
10 x 62.5
10 x 75

NG bench
3 x 57.5 / 10 DB rows
3 x 65 / 10 DB rows
11 x 72.5 / 10 DB rows (normally wouldn’t have repped out but had a friend watching haha)

Chin up
8,6,5,3,4,2

Hanging leg raise / Ab wheel roll
6/10
6/10
6/

FRIDAY
Squat
10 x 50
10 x 62.5
10 x 75

Press
3 x 40
3 x 47.5
8 x 52.5 (new rep PR; usually fail this weight around 6 reps; probably had 1 or 2 in the tank)

Deadlift
3 x 122.5
3 x 140
3 x 157.5 (ok this bothered me - see notes)

Hanging leg raise / Ab wheel roll
8/12

NOTES:
-I performed hill sprints two evenings this week; will do another session on Sunday.

-I’m going with the approach of hitting just over required reps in week one, aiming for 5+ in week two and balls to the wall in week three.

-My pressing is improving again, which is awesome as I have been weak in this aspect for a while. I recently adjusted my elbow positioning (ie not flaring hideously…) and this seems to be bringing rewards.

-Feeling healthy again and much more energetic. However:

-DEADLIFT IS WEAK. Like crazy weak. I think my body is really struggling to adapt to doing it after high rep squatting and max effort overhead pressing. This week I only managed required reps; I really couldn’t have done any more. Last time I did that weight (under triumvirate template) I managed a relatively easy 6 reps. DOUBLE what I got this week… Any comments?

So yeah, ego says ignore the program and do deadlifts first on Fridays, but brain says persevere and be patient; hopefully I will adapt by the end of this cycle. Apart from the deadlift issue, I am happy with things so far =)

…and, out.

6

"-DEADLIFT IS WEAK. Like crazy weak. I think my body is really struggling to adapt to doing it after high rep squatting and max effort overhead pressing. This week I only managed required reps; I really couldn’t have done any more. Last time I did that weight (under triumvirate template) I managed a relatively easy 6 reps. DOUBLE what I got this week… Any comments? "

I agree with your assessment. My deadlift suffers just by not being the first exercise of the day, let alone after squats. I don’t think your deadlift will suffer (big picture i mean) as a result though , if anything by using already fatigued muscles it should be extra stimulation.

7

[quote]zenontheterrible wrote:
"-DEADLIFT IS WEAK. Like crazy weak. I think my body is really struggling to adapt to doing it after high rep squatting and max effort overhead pressing. This week I only managed required reps; I really couldn’t have done any more. Last time I did that weight (under triumvirate template) I managed a relatively easy 6 reps. DOUBLE what I got this week… Any comments? "

I agree with your assessment. My deadlift suffers just by not being the first exercise of the day, let alone after squats. I don’t think your deadlift will suffer (big picture i mean) as a result though , if anything by using already fatigued muscles it should be extra stimulation. [/quote]

Well I guess the reason it’s suffering is because the muscles I use to perform the deadlift are already taxed from the squat (legs and lower back) and OHP (upper back / core).
At my level (sub-500lb) the deadlift isn’t overly technical so I guess performing less reps due to pre-exhaustion isn’t going to affect me in any major way - apart from hurting my ego haha. As you’re saying, the muscles used in the deadlift will still be getting worked as much if not more…

I won’t change anything; although I may do sets of 5 squats rather than 10 next week (5,3,1 week) as Wendler states in the manual:
“The squat weights are initially fairly light ((he’s talking Phase 1 here)) to help you get used to the increased squatting. Feel free to push the reps on each of these sets to 10 reps (on the extra squat days).” —the template actually only lays out sets of 5.
Cheers.

8

On the 5/3/1 dead day, i always put the dead first, but I’m stubborn and should probably check my ego. I know i should probably change it up, as that is how an actual meet will go… I did rack pulls this morning after heavy squats and heavyish pin press (bench) and was astonished at how much it took away from my pulling capability. This Jim Wendler fellow probably knows what he is talking about…

Good lifting in here man.

9

[quote]BlueLineCretin wrote:
On the 5/3/1 dead day, i always put the dead first, but I’m stubborn and should probably check my ego. I know i should probably change it up, as that is how an actual meet will go… I did rack pulls this morning after heavy squats and heavyish pin press (bench) and was astonished at how much it took away from my pulling capability. This Jim Wendler fellow probably knows what he is talking about…

Good lifting in here man.[/quote]

Thanks man. Slowly getting back into it. Do you have a log online anywhere?
Similarly I am going to assume Wendler didn’t design this routine with the sole purpose of ruining my deadlift haha.
The whole point of me doing FBT this year is to fix my unmanly squat, so changing things to better accommodate deadlifting this early would be a failure of sorts. If I am still struggling to make set reps after 2 cycles, I will simply reset my deadlift. Maybe wouldn’t be a bad thing; I have the “hips rising first” form issue which ruins my arch a bit.

10

Phase 1/Cycle 1/Week 3/Day 1

MONDAY 16.01.2012
Squat 5/3/X
5 x 95
3 x 107.5
8 x 120 (new PR for reps)

DB bench
12 x 20 / 5 chin ups
12 x 20 / 5 chin ups
12 x 20 / 5 chin ups

DB row
11 x 25
11 x 25
11 x 25

Ab wheel roll
10
10
10

NOTES:
-5/3/1 day for squats went really well, despite starting with a clunky knee and sore lower back. Calculated 1RM of 149 up from actual 1RM of 140. I know calculated maxes mean dick all, but it’s still pleasing for me. I want to be rocking 180kg by the end of the year, so I gotta keep the progress up.

-I’m going with the assistance approach of keeping the same weight every day, but adding 1 rep per week until I eventually hit 15 reps, at which point I will increase the weight on the assistance exercise and reset to 10 reps.

-For core assistance I’m going to do ab wheel rolls Monday, front squat holds Wednesday and hanging leg raises Fridays. I find the HLR’s a really good way to decompress and stretch the back after deadlifting.

-I also added glute bridges into my warm up routine, which currently consists of: 5 minute ex. bike ride; foam rolling back, legs, pecs; 30 shoulder dislocates; bodyweight frog squats.

11

Tuesday 17.01.12 / rest day: Sled sprints.
First time I have tried these. Did a 50m sprint with 30kgs on the sled, for a 12 reps maybe?
-felt slightly unfit
-enjoyed them more than hill sprints and they felt nicer on my knees
-was totally stuffed by the last rep
-saw pretty yellow stars for 10 minutes afterwards =)

12

No online logs for me as of now. My first meet is coming up in April, so I may breakdown and start one. Just lazy i suppose.

Looks like the FBT is already paying off. Great job on the PR. I never thought about using the HLR’s to stretch out the back a bit as well. I will be giving those a go this Friday after deads.

13

[quote]BlueLineCretin wrote:
No online logs for me as of now. My first meet is coming up in April, so I may breakdown and start one. Just lazy i suppose.

Looks like the FBT is already paying off. Great job on the PR. I never thought about using the HLR’s to stretch out the back a bit as well. I will be giving those a go this Friday after deads.[/quote]
Thanks man. Yeah I definitely feel a bit of spinal decompression from the HLRs… plus they are badass.

What weight division are you entering and do you have a target total in mind? Good luck!

14

Phase 1/Cycle 1/Week 3/Day 2

WEDNESDAY 18.01.12
Squat
5 x 50
5 x 62.5
5 x 75

NG bench 5/3/X
5 x 60 / 10 DB rows
3 x 70 / 10 DB rows
9 x 77.5 / 10 DB rows (new PR for reps)

Chin up (these are always going for 30 reps total btw)
10,8,7,3,2

Front squat holds
90 x 30s
100 x 30s
110 x 30s

NOTES:
-5/3/1 day for NG bench; very happy with my performance and probably had a rep left but wasn’t keen to go to fail.

-I did just the required light squat reps for FBT today and man it helped my energy levels a lot. Hopefully my deadlift is better this week… will know in two days!

-I think the approach (idea stolen from other forumers) of hitting just required reps in 5 week, a couple over in 3 week and balls to the wall in 1 week is helping me.

15

I hover between 225-230 lbs, so it would be feasible to get into the 220’s (I’m 6’1"). However, it being my first meet, i will not cut any weight, so I’ll most likely be a light 242’r. As for total, if i could get 1300 i’d be stoked. My bench is pathetic, so i’m hoping my squat/dl will be high enough to allow for a poor showing on the bench.

So, i tried just hanging from a pull-up bar after my WO this morning. Felt awesome! Thanks for the tip man.

Totally agree on keeping the balls to wall rep work on the 1’s week.

16

[quote]BlueLineCretin wrote:
I hover between 225-230 lbs, so it would be feasible to get into the 220’s (I’m 6’1"). However, it being my first meet, i will not cut any weight, so I’ll most likely be a light 242’r. As for total, if i could get 1300 i’d be stoked. My bench is pathetic, so i’m hoping my squat/dl will be high enough to allow for a poor showing on the bench.

So, i tried just hanging from a pull-up bar after my WO this morning. Felt awesome! Thanks for the tip man.

Totally agree on keeping the balls to wall rep work on the 1’s week. [/quote]
I know all about pathetic benches! And it seems my deadlift is heading that way currently too haha.

17

Phase 1/Cycle 1/Week 3/Day 3

FRIDAY 20.01.12
Squat
5 x 50
5 x 65
5 x 75

Press 5/3/1
5 x 42.5 / 5 chins
3 x 50 / 5 chins
9 x 55 / 5 chins (another press rep PR; rapt!)

Deadlift 5/3/1
5 x 130
3 x 147.5
2 x 165 (blah… see notes)

Hanging leg raise
5,5,5

NOTES:
-Really happy with my pressing today. That calculates to a better 1RM than my best ever tested 1RM, for what it’s worth.

-I videoed my deadlifting for the first time and my form is shit. I have no idea how I pulled 195 without blowing a disc out. So today I tried pulling with good form… ie actually using my hamstrings and glutes, and not lifting my hips first… and yeah it was weak as. I will chuck up a video shortly for critique. Plan looks likely to be resetting with a lower max and working on form Bigtime!

-Completed another lot of 30kg sled sprints last night; awesome fun!

18

Here are a couple of sub-maximal deadlifts…
When I did them I was trying to properly activate my hamstrings and glutes for the first time, so ignore the slowness, twitching and fucking around haha. Also in one of them I got confused and walked away two reps early then came straight back!
And yes, I found it really hard using correct form.

Any comments would be really appreciated. Particularly:

Is my back flat enough, and how bad is my set-up?

[video]2251[/video]

[video]2252[/video]

And top set of OHP today.

[video]2250[/video]

19

Dieselcrew has some pretty good videos on youtube for deadlift set up. As does elitefts.

from a total gym rats eye, i’d say your back is fine. no one has perfect form on near maximal loads. there was no excessive rounding.

could maybe get the shoulders back a bit more. i aim for getting the barbell inline with where my arm meets the body (shoulder) or even the shoulders a bit behind the barbell. that seems to make it easier to pull the bar back into you and not just up.

I load up my hamstrings as much as possible (as in they feel tight, like you are sitting back into a box squat). grip the shit out of the bar and squeeze my lats (i don’t squeez my shoulder blades together, just engage the lats. gripping the bar tightly pretty much cues this). huge belly full of air and push my stomach out without exhaling. I don’t exhale until the lift is complete.

like i said though, i’m just a gym rat. so watch those videos and listen to the pros.

oh, one last thing. the music in the first and third video’s may be effecting your performance. Napalm death is a much better choice!

20

Another 5/3/1 full body guy. Looking forward to seeing how you progress. Couple of thoughts.

  1. I would cut your squat volume back on your deadlift day if it’s hurting your deadlift performance. The idea is to do the movement and get better at it but it’s not necessarily your focus for that day.

  2. Deads looked good. I would like to see you a bit more solid at the very top of the lift though. In the second vid it didn’t seem like you had complete control but it might just be the view that I had. Drive your hips through and hold it at the top for a second or so.

james