I have decided to start a public training log to document the progress that I make over the next year.
Some background on me:
I am 37 years old, 6 ft, 234 pounds. I would guess that I am currently in the mid-teens in BF%.
About 7 years ago, my weight got up to almost 280 pounds and I was hideously out of shape and my doctor told me that all my levels were high… blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. I don’t even want to guess body fat level… probably 30-40%.
That was a wake up call for me and I went nuts with cardio and a Bowflex and shaved down to a skinny fat 190. After getting through that phase, I started to read a lot more about weight training and I wanted to get stronger and actually train… not be a cardio queen. I found Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto and actually started to train.
Fast forward to present. My father passed away last March and I ditched the gym and decided to hit the bottle a little too hard for a few months and got back out of shape. But in September, I decided to get back and really commit to it. I wanted to not only get leaner, but I wanted to get STRONG. I ran a few programs (the Arnold Blueprint from bodybuidling.com for one) and made significant progress, but I dont feel like that volume is sustainable in the long run. With that said, I am currently the strongest I have ever been.
I was looking for a program that I could run constantly that I would see progress with and I had obviously read quite a bit about 5/3/1. I read Beyond 5/3/1 and decided that this could and should be my go forward plan. I actually posted in the 5/3/1 forum and Jim pointed out that apparently I suck at reading comprehension, so he was kind enough to write out a Leader/Anchor program for me.
Right now my goals are this - Squat 405x3, Bench 315x3, Deadlift 550x2, and OHP 225x3
Current 1RM on each is Squat 375x1, Bench 275x1, Deadlift 500x2, and OHP 205x1
Assuming I can hit these goals by the middle of this year, I would like to continue busting my ass to get these numbers even higher and possibly compete in a local powerlifting meet in 2018.
I will be running 2 cycles (6 weeks) of the Leader program, which will look like this:
Main Lifts - 5s progression using 5/3/1 percentages.
Supplemental Work - Second Set Last for Bench and OHP (5x5) - First Set Last (5x5) for Deadlift - Boring But Strong (10x5@70%) for Squats
Assistance Work - 25-50 reps from the 3 categories
Using Defranco Agile 8 for warmup/mobility and jumps/throws (15) before the main lift.
This will be followed by 2 cycles of the Anchor Program which will look like this:
Main Lifts - 3/5/1 - PR sets & Jokers (weeks 1 and 3)
Supplemental - FSL (5x5) - (5x3 on Deadlifts)
Assistance - 50-100 reps from the 3 categories
Agile 8 and Jumps/Throws (20 reps)
After 2 cycles of each, then a deload. Rinse and Repeat.