The Pursuit of Mythical Gains

Thanks, I agree. While I am a bit narcissistic, I’m more concerned about injury and did use the belt for both DL and squats (yes, at 110 pounds, I used a freaking belt). Knees were fine today so I’m going to hold off on the sleeves, lol.

March 16, 2016
C1W2D2

DL
5x100 WU
5x125 WU
3x145 WU
3x170
3x190
11x220 PR
23x170 FSL

Squat
4x10x110

Hanging Leg Raises
4x15

Felt good today. Beginning to understand the emphasis on the PR set. In the past, I’ve tried to keep a little in the tank to finish my workout but am getting into focusing on setting the PR and not worrying about finishing a bunch of other lifts. Kind of dread the FSL after the PR set though.

Very pleased with the PR set which puts my estimated 1RM at 299, a 28 pound increase over my last estimate. Think the belt may have helped.

Like most who start 531, wondering if my maxes were set too low but am going to be patient and trust in the process. The PR set was limited by weakness in my forearms and grip, and my lats were getting tired as well. Understand better the importance of assistance work to improve the main lifts. I feel like I’m actually learning how to lift after goofing around in the gym for 30+ years. What a waste.

Off tomorrow, looking forward to a PR set in Bench on Friday!

If I may pick your brain a bit? You are doing 531 BBB along with FSL and doing PR on last set?

I am, as I understand it, which may be wrong. I have the book, along with Beyond, and have gotten confused with all of the information. But, I think I am following it as written, for the Opposite template, with the addition of FSL to work up on days that I feel good.

I call the final set the PR set because I am shooting for a PR, not because I have achieved a PR, and that set is AMRAP at whatever percentage I am that week. It just so happens that in two weeks they have been PR’s but I will continue to call them that, I think.

If I feel like I can do more volume after my 531 sets, I then do AMRAP of the percentage of my first set, what I understand to be First Set Last.

I am completely new to powerlifting and 531 and am basically clueless so I am open to any suggestions, corrections, clarifications.

I’m just trying to get 1) strong, 2) huge.

Cool thanks for the answer, as long as you are enjoying it and able to recover. Strong and huge, :thumbsup:

I am sore/stiff today, the feel good kind, but I could easily bench if I wanted to. I’m sure I will have to keep an eye on this moving forward. I think the maxes are so low (but appropriate) that I won’t have any burnout or over training issues for a few weeks.

March 18, 2016
C1W2D3

BP
5x80 WU
5x100 WU
3x120 WU
5x140
5x160
12x180 PR
20x140 FSL

OHP
4x10x55

Dips
4x6

Curls
4x10x35

Had a stomachache, think I may have overdosed on fish oil, might have to cut back. Happy with the PR again, wasn’t happy with the FSL until I looked at what I did last week. Shaky on the dips but it was post Bench and OHP - that’s what I’m blaming it on anyway.

Squats tomorrow. Would like to hit 12@180. We’ll see. Progress seems to be fast, not sure why that is - just getting comfortable being uncomfortable or actually getting stronger. I’m not going to worry about it, just hope it keeps up.

March 19, 2016
C1W2D4

Squats
5x80 WU
5x100 WU
3x120 WU
5x140
5x160
16x180 PR
23x140 FSL

DL
4x10x110

Abs
Bicycle crunches 4x15

Tri Pushdowns
4x10x40

Farmer’s Walk
120x330 feet

Pleased with the workout today, good PR set. Ran out of gas on the FSL, could have kept going strength wise but was too out of breath - guess I have to do something other than walking for cardio. I hate HIIT, but I’ll probably have to give in and add some in.

Feel like I could lift tomorrow but will take a day off…I think. I will see how I feel in the morning. Scale doesn’t show it but I believe I am getting leaner - abs seem more pronounced the last couple of days. I go by my weekly average - two weeks ago I was 188 at 14%, this week I was 186 at 13.6%. Not much of a change.

Improvement in lifts has been great, looking forward to next week! Long way to go yet.

March 19,2016
C1W3D1

OHP
5x45, 5x55, 3x65 WU
5x75
3x85
23x95 PR
20x75 FSL

BP
5x10x100

Pull ups
4x10x85,85,90,100

Curls
531x25,27.5,30x12PR
15x25 FSL

Couldn’t stay away. Screwed up and did push downs yesterday - day before pressing - and screwed up again today and did curls - day before dead lifts - so I think I should definitely take tomorrow off so fatigue won’t affect my dead lifts. Note to self - if you’re going to add assistance exercises, make sure they don’t compromise the main lift for tomorrow.

For some reason this program really speaks to me. I like not having to think about how much weight I’m going to lift, how many reps, etc…having it all planned lets me just go to the gym and follow the program. The built in progression is great, I know I am adding weight to the bar and it takes a lot of my shitty guess work out of the equation. I also like planning for my PR set. I always know the day before how many reps I have to get to set a PR. I don’t feel like I’m going to need a deload week next week but I am going to take it anyway, do the program as written. I was looking through some of the old threads the other day and a guy posted about making changes for bodybuilding. Wendler posted, paraphrasing here, Powerlifting is about being awesome. Bodybuilding is about jerking off in front of the mirror.

I know there are many very strong bodybuilders and don’t want to offend them, but I loved the quote - being awesome. Why didn’t I figure this out sooner?

March 23, 2016
C1W3D2

Deadlift
5x100
5x120
3x145
5x180
3x210
10x230
16x180

Squat
4x10@110
Hanging leg raise
4x15

Took two days off, count em, two. Cut carbs and calories - lost weight, lowered body fat, had a shitty workout. Need to feed the machine.

Change of plans also contributed to poor workout. I’ve been reading, kind of knew the Smith machines aren’t the right way to do the program, threw it out in one of the forums and my suspicion was confirmed. Joined a new gym starting Monday that has barbells and asked the question about adjusting maxes for the increased difficulty of barbells and the consensus was to start over, so this week is the end of my BBB experiment.

During my deload next week I am going to get acclimated to the differences and calculate new maxes and then start the Beginner program, which is probably where I belonged in the first place. Just have to remind myself to be patient.

I also bought Starting Strength to improve my form and had to make some changes that affected me differently. Long way to go.

But, looking forward to getting back on track next week. Will finish this cycle at the old gym, do the deload and figure new maxes and start the new program in ten days.

March 25, 2016
C1W3D3

BP
AMRAP 8X190
FSL 15X150

MP 5X10X55
DIPS 5X5
ROWS 5X10X70
TRI EXT 8/6/3/AMRAP (14) X 30/35/40/45
CURLS 5/3/12 X 20/25/27.5

I figured I can skip the warm ups and the working sets since I am doing those based on a max and they are essentially the same every week.

Since I’m starting over next week I am trying to perfect my form and so, no PR in BP today. I also am a little depleted - had to fast yesterday for a blood test.

King of Excuses.

Squats tomorrow, then deload and figure out new training maxes next week.

March 26, 2016
C1W3D4

Squat
AMRAP 14X190
FSL 15X150

DL - 5x10@110

ABS - Bicycle crunches 4x15
Lat Pulldowns - 5x10@70

Writing this the morning after, nice and stiff this morning, looking forward to stretching. I was going to do some hill sprints today but might end up taking the day off, will see how I feel.

The end of my BBB experiment. Planned out my deload/resetting of maxes for barbells starting tomorrow. I took 85% of my estimated 1RM and made that my TM. Am going to warm up at 40/50/60 percent, then go to 85 percent for AMRAP and calculate my estimated max and use that for my new TM. OHP and squat tomorrow, BP and DL on Tuesday, then finish the week light, concentrating on form and getting comfortable. I figure I will have a pretty low 1RM that way and can really work on form for the first cycle of the beginner program.

I gotta say that I am enjoying the program. I feel my core is getting stronger and I feel stronger. I’m losing weight so I guess I need to kick up my calories. Maxes mostly went up until I figured out my technique sucked and I focused on form - figure that’s going to help me in the long run. Having trouble with the whole patience thing.

The journey continues.

March 28
Deload, calculate maxes
Myth Busted!
Humiliating day at the new gym. Started with OHP, warmed up, did my AMRAP and my max calculation was 85% of what it was on the Smith machine. If that wasn’t bad enough, my squat was 55%.

Clearly, barbells make a difference. I’m hoping it’s a lot of the small stabilizing muscles that held me back and that I will make quick progress. I did hill sprints yesterday for conditioning and that may have also held me back a little bit, but overall, what I got out of this experience is that I’m just weak. Clearly, starting over on a beginner program is the right choice.

I was up in the air on what beginner program to use. I have the three day program from the book, but I’ve seen an ABAB program on Jim’s website. I believe I am going to go with the three day template from the book so I can add in more conditioning work on the other days and still work out 5-6 days per week.

I have always wanted to run a marathon and so I’m going to try to start training to see if I can even get close to ten minute miles for an extended period of time. I’ve been a casual smoker for the last thirty years but it crept up on me recently and I quit three days ago. My last AMRAP set on squats was limited by my wind, not my strength and that bothered me, so I quit. I have a lot of goals that are probably unrealistic, but I’m going to chase them for now. A three lift total of 1,000 is another one. I’m not sure if the one precludes the other but I’m going to try and see what happens. I guess I’m going to have to start eating.

Back to the gym tomorrow to reset my maxes on bench and deadlift - I’m sure those will be equally humiliating. Then deload for the rest of the week and hit it hard for the first cycle of the beginner program on Monday.

The hardest part is putting on your shoes. The good news is that Monday will be a new PR.

No log today, just equivocation. Going to the gym to reset my maxes on barbells this afternoon and reflecting on my journey.

I am considering starting over completely and doing Starting Strength. I think it’s important to crawl before you walk and in spite of all my years in the gym, I haven’t used a powerlifting routine at all and I think it would behoove me to go back to the beginning.

Will do the reset today and let it marinate.

March 29, 2016

I thought about it and decided that in the long run I am better off starting over so I punted on deload and resetting TM and picked some low numbers that will allow linear progression and started Starting Strength today.

It probably wasn’t too bright since I did squats and OHP yesterday, but I picked low enough numbers that I figured it wouldn’t matter. And, I wanted to figure out how I would do with a barbell on the bench but didn’t want to start out of order so I did all four lifts today. I will do the Wednesday workout (BP) on Thursday and Friday (OHP) on Saturday and move on.

DAY 1

SQUAT 3X5@140
OHP 3X5@95
DL 3X5@165
BP 3X5@145

I think the change of program might be a good move. As much as everyone seems to love 5/3/1, I would say it shouldn’t be the go to miracle solution as described by everyone. That being said, I could say the same for starting strength. I’m sure you’ll make some decent progress off linear progression but have you ever considered perhaps using 5x5 style progression or whatever as a template and playing around with what you use as the main movements? Just my 2 cents, dont mind me.

You’re sort of right and sort of not. I think it comes down to finding out that often 531 is one of the best options because it is both simple and versatile as well as sustainable - which most other programs are not. That’ll often only happen after trying other things. IMO it’s a hallmark of a beginner that they’re unwilling to buy into and follow a program without doing anything to it. That just seems to be how it goes; I know I did it.

So, 531 kind of isn’t the go to program because it’s so simple and effective which is also why it often is the go to program.

I get what you’re saying Mark, it’s just kinda hard to phrase if you get what I mean.

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I do. The bottom line is there is no ideal go to program. Each person has to find their optimal approach. IMO it just so happens that 531 often ends up fitting the bill.

March 31, 2016

DAY 2

SQUAT 3X5@145
BP 3X5@150
PC 3X5@135

Doesn’t include warm up sets. Thought I would have some gas left over to do some assistance work, but I haven’t power cleaned in 35 years. Fucking meow!