The Danish Viking: back to 531: Road to 2-3-4 Plates

Hi Duke
Welcome to, I guess you where the one, that pushed me over the edge.
Thanks young man

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Hi Luc
Welcome to, hope youā€™ll follow along.
Iā€™ll try not to stress to much about it :slight_smile:
For now DL is the main concern followed close by the Squat. And both moves nicely.

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No worries @mortdk! Having a log on here was the best thing i ever did for my training etc. Hopefully its helpful to you too.

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Cycle 5 week 3 day 3 bench

SGHP warmup

30x8
40x8
50x8

Goblet squat between warm-ups on bench

3 x 24 kg (53 lbs) x 16

Bench
Worksets

73,5 x 5
81,5 x 3
88,5 (195 lbs) x 1

88,5 x 4 Rep PR meh (kind of, first time the last 13 month with that weight) no spotter so didnā€™t go for 5

Training max amrap
93,5 x 2 (206 lbs) tied Rep PR same as last week but stronger again no spotter.

After the lift I told myself, yeah there where one more, but I doubt it.
Strong off chest, strong finish. Sticking point a little tougher I think.

A little circle to finish of

Push ups 5 x 13
Pull ups 5, 6, 8, 7, 6 reps
One arm DB press 3 sets 12 kg x 10
Barbell curl Bar x 18, 17, 10

Cardio: bike 2 x 10 km transport to work and back. Itā€™s a nice little ride.

As said beginning to hate bench, totally stuck.
Estimated 1 RM the last year around 101 kg/222 lbs give or take 3 kg / 6 lbs. Grrrrrr

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woke at 78 kg / 172 lbs
Yesterdays nutrition 2600 cal
Upped, weight drop, should not happen, should be around 79 kg / 174 lbs
Back is ok. Bit of an opset last weekend.

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woke at 78,7 kg / 173,2 lbs
Yesterdays nutrition 2500 cal.
DL in a couple of hours, hoping the back will hold up.
Iā€™ll do the 142 kg for reps if they are strongā€¦ damnit iā€™ll go for 150 again. OHHH Iā€™m stupid.

Todays training

28 week of training 5/3/1 from Beyond

Cycle 5 week 3 day 4 Deadlift

Powerclean + push press warmup
40x3
45x3
50x3
55x1 (121 lbs)

Deadlift
Worksets

117,5 x 5 felt heavy, kind of grinded it
130 x 3 belt on, even more heavy
142,5 (195 lbs) x 314 lbs Hook grip, Grind
142,5 x 4 Mixed grib Rep PR
Technically it is, I have hit a single about a month ago. First two where okay, 3 slow, 4 grinded all the way up.

Training max amrap
150 x 0 did NOT go for that

Instead
FSL 117,5 x 5 straps slow and grindy, called it a day for DL.

Front squat

37,5 x 7, 47,5 x 7, 52,5 x 7, 57,5 x 8 PR (127 lbs) just started recently and taking it easy, so Many PRā€™s to come here i suspect.

Between my PC+PP and DL warmup sets I supersettet:

DB incl bench press and DB incl lying bech row
Both were
22,5 kg x 3 x 15 (50 lbs)

No ab or core work. (Yoga class + Badminton tomorrow)

Holy Crab that was proberly the worst and most grindy DL day for the last year. F**K.
A month ago I did 140 kg x 7 strong and fast exept the last two, but even those where as grindy as today.

This cycle I made two alternations .
1: That was what the program called for AMRAP at TM (150 kg)

2: started doing SUMO instead of RDL as assistance on Squat day. Not heavy or anything, just taking it easy.
So either increase TM and drop sumo, keep sumo and drop TM to 142,5.
I have two days to make a decision. By the way back was sort of fine. Just made some small grunts now and then.

Now of to my Aussie and Kiwi friends for steaks and beer.

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I used to do snatch grip deadlift on my non-deadlift days. I pushed it too. The wide grip prohibited me from using too much weight but it sure worked my middle and upper back well. My deadlift also progressed nicely.

Deadlifts couldā€™ve benefited from the snatch grip deads or maybe I was just doing a good job with them on their own. I canā€™t say for certain, but the snatch deads definitely didnā€™t hurt anything.

If youā€™re doing sumo to improve sumo then keep doing them. If you want them to help your conventional deadlift then Iā€™d scrap them for a bit. They donā€™t seem to be helping you. Try a different variation like snatch grip or deficit deads.

And good job at self-regulating!!! Injuries make you go backwards so thereā€™s no point in being stubborn.

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This is sound advice, especially the part about snatch grip.

Iā€™ll add that sumo is very, very technical and also hugely reliant on your ability to get that bar through the first third of the lift. As the weights get heavier, small technical errors early on will make it hard or impossible to break the floor, and so will weakness in your hips.

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Thankā€™s for the input @Frank_C @MarkKO
A good year ago, i did SG DL, because I couldnā€™t do conventional.
This autumn I did it again as assistance on Squat day. Highā€™ish reps 10, with a slight shrug or High pull at the end. It was Markā€™s idea, so I might try them again.
I think Iā€™ll ditch the last set with TM on my DL. That seem to be very taxing to me. From january 2017 where i did 105 kg x 5 til now I have been increasing weights every cycle ending yesterday with 142,5 x 4 and the week before christmas did 140 x 7. Thats estimated 1RM from 122 - 172 kg. With every DL session being a blast, every rep was strong and fast exept the last one being bit of a grind and RPE of 10 or 9,5.
I havenā€™t pulled sumo before so with weights at 60 - 80 kg x 8 reps, RPE 6 they shouldnā€™t tax me that much. BUT then again.
I am a bit stubborn. Next cycle just to see:
Keep sumo, low weights, ditch the TM set.
And I might even put up a video showing really bad form.

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Btw woke at 79,2 kg / 174,3 lbs
Had a great 300 gram steak, potatoes, whiskey sauce, a lot of salty snacks, chokolate, some very good beers, Irish coffee, damn good Malt and rye whiskey. Proberly to much of everything but it was a good night with the friends.
Todays training.
90 min yoga class
60 min badminton
not bad with a little hangover :slight_smile:

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Woke at same weight as yester day 79,2 kg / 174,6 (actually according to kg-lbs converterapp)
yesterdays nutrition 2400 cal.
Feeling good today.

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Todays training

28 week of training 5/3/1 from Beyond

Cycle 6 week 1 day 1 OHP

SG High pull

35 x 8
42,5 x 8
50 kg x 8 (110 lbs)

OHP

Worksets
36 x 5 good bar speed
41 x 5 still good
46 x 3 not as strong
46 kg x 11 Rep PR. The first 8 where good, the last a bit of a struggle. (101 lbs)

Training max amrap
56 x 1 Well a PR is a PR and a 1 RM for the last couple of years. BUT that was UGLY :slight_smile:

DIP
BW 5 sets of 9

SS

Pull up with 2,5 kg (yeah I know a lot of weight)
6, 7, 6, 6, 6

EZ BB curl
27,5 kg x 3 x 10

SS

AB wheel
4 x 12

Had a good workout today.
In about 18 hours I have to decide: sumo or SG DL for assistance after Squat tomorrow.

Iā€™m kind of stubborn so I bet I will be doing sumo, itā€™s practice. It should not tax my DL Saturday.

Cardio: bike 2 x 10 km to work.

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@TriednTrue your advice in the other log was awesome.
Hope you donā€™t mind Iā€™m tagging you here.

background for question: My DL has steadily been going up for the last year. Iā€™m doing 531, a 28 week program from Wendlers beyond book.
It call for rep prā€™s on the main lift the first cycles it calls for rep prā€™s FSL and SSL. That was great did pr every week on DL and Squat. Did SG DL with a shrug first couple of cycles, then RDL for 2 cycles.
Then the program called for amrap with TM.
I changed the assistance from RDL to sumo, never did them before so the weight has been light.
BUT i did 140 kg x 7 reps on the last week before doing the new cycle. The first week i could not pull 150 kg for 1, the damn thing was pinned to the floor.
second week 150 was grinded up. Last week I did 142,5 kg x 4 and they where all slow and grindy.
Question: do you think it is sumo that is causing my suddenly heavy feeling in the DL OR the sets at TM is to taxing to recover from?
A long post, sorry. I hope youā€™re still with me :slight_smile:

Woke at 79,3 kg - 174,8 lbs.
Yesterdays nutrition 2400 cal

Well here goes

Todays training

28 week of training 5/3/1 from Beyond

Cycle 6 week 1 day 2 squat

Warm-ups agile 8, lazy lifter, jump rope, yoga stuff.

Front squat

30 x 5
40 x 5
50 x 5

Back squat
work sets

77,5 x 5
87,5 x 5
97,5 x 4 belt on loose heavyish
97,5 x 10 215 lbs Hell yeah PR might even be one rep more I was shooting for 9 belt tighter.

105 x 1

TM AMRAP

112,5 x 2 248 lbs PR (first time ever with that weigt on the back :slight_smile: Belt last hole.

Sumo

60 x 5 nah im the wise guy
SG DL

60 x 5 nah no more of that, didnā€™t feel good.

KROC rows

22,5 x 10, 27,5 x 8, 32,5 x 5 warm up
32,5 x 23 72 lbs rep PR by 2 reps :slight_smile:

Shoulder stuff

3 x 12 DB press 8 kg and 3 x 8 lat raise

Hanging leg raise

4 x 10

Yup great day, feeling kind of a ā€œhey youā€™re smartā€ ditching the pulls. For this cycle on, Iā€™ll do that:
No pulling on squat day. Iā€™ve grown older and wiser over night.

Still managing at least 1 rep Pr for over 6 cycles every workout. Damn.

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@mortdk Thanks for the compliment and tag, Iā€™m happy to help - and it looks like Iā€™m late to the game! Lol. I see youā€™ve decided to ditch the SG DL on squat day, which I think is a good choice. The only suggestion I have is perhaps doing one or two low-weight, high reps assistance exercise/s on squat day or doing one of the exercises after squats and the other on DL day after deadlifting.

The two I have in mind are kettlebell or dumbbell swings and/or reverse lunges. If you opt to do swings, aim for 3 x 15-20. For reverse lunges, 3 x 10-12. If you superset them, rest 30 seconds between the swings and lunges then 60 seconds between rounds.

I read through your log, and what youā€™re doing is working well! The only major gap I noticed is lack of high volume, posterior chain exercises. You were doing RDL for a couple cycles, and I think that balanced the squatting. Sumo DLs have a different effect though, and it appears they werenā€™t adequately covering the RDL. With swings, you can target the hips, glutes, hamstrings, and lower back without excessively taxing your recovery. The reverse lunges would augment your quad training while also building posterior chain strength.

Perhaps try just the swings next squat day and see how you feel. On DL day, Iā€™ve found light, higher rep lunges or step-ups complement the DLs. Feel free to stay the course though, because youā€™re doing great. Iā€™ll keep reading your log and watching your progress.

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@TriednTrue thanks a lot for reading and taking time to analyse and answer.
About the volume, this particular Wendler program had me doing FSL rep pr first two cycles, rep pr on SSL and FSL the next two, that was after the rep pr on main lift.
I think with rep pr on main lift followed by rep pr on TM, it would tax me a lot doing more volume on the main lifts.
I will try 3 sets of swings next week, sounds like a good advise.
Thanks again.

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Thereā€™s nothing wrong with going in phases. If this cycle is taxing you with the high intensity stuff then add more volume down the road when things ease up.

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woke at 79,5 kg - 175,3 lbs
Calories yesterday 2500 :slight_smile:

EDIT: Todays training.
New goals : Runningā€¦ :slight_smile:
Did a 2,5 km 1,55 mile run in 13.30 minutes
That would be my ā€œlong runā€ Slow tempo or jog if you like.
I will have to remind me every time I do this, that it is a jog not a chase for a record.

Then I did a 400 m run in 1 min 47 sec. NOT all out.

I hope I can ad in a 2,5 km run each week and a session with 2 - 4 400 m run.
The 400ā€™s target time is to be under 1 min 45 sec.

For the time being there will be no goal to chase.
Main goal stil 2-3-4 plates :slight_smile:

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Woke at 79,6 kg ā€“ 175,5 lbs
EDIT: forgot those Calories: spot on 2400.
Gaining at 0,1 kg pr day hmm and I am not eating more and no junk.
Muscles? Perhaps :slight_smile:
If I really really squeeze my belly in, Iā€™m not gaining fat. :slight_smile:

Todays traning
28 week of training 5/3/1 from Beyond

Cycle 6 week 1 day 3 bench

Warm-ups, jump rope, yoga stuff, shoulder stuff

SGHP these are for warmup and activation.
35 x 8
42,5 x 8
50 x 8

Bench work sets

65 x 5
72,5 x 5
80 x 4
80 x 10 176,4 lbs PR by 2 reps Estim RM 106,6 kg ā€“ 235 lbs YEAH happy 10 reps with BW. Estim 1RM the highest in a couple of years. So Hell yeah.
87,5 x 1

AMRAP TM
95 x 1 ā€“ 209,5 lbs went up kind of okay there where not a second rep I think. Closing in on that 2 plates :slight_smile:

Supersetting Goblet squats with bench wamup
24 kg x 17, 17, 17 reps

Pushups
5 x 14 reps
SS
Chin ups
6, 7 , 8, 7, 6 reps

One arm standing DB press
15 kg x 9, 9, 9 reps
SS

Chin ups
3 x 2 reps (to get to 40 reps of chins)

BB curl
Bar x 19, 19

Paced myself a bit through this one, thanks to @MarkKO.
Little longer rest before PR sets.
Felt okay, pulse a bit higher, but everything was fine.
And bench is moving a bit; now letā€™s see if it continues next week.

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