I am making this log in order to track my progress and provide some accountability in my journey.
Here’s a bit about me. I am 27, male, 6’1, and played D1 baseball as a pitcher. I currently weigh 248 and I would guess my body fat is somewhere between 20 - 25%.
My long term goals are as follows and are listed in order of importance.
- Gain strength in the 4 major lifts, raw.
- Lift for competitive softball carryover.
- Maintain flexibility and joint health.
- Improve overall health.
- Look good naked.
I lifted in high school for football but shortchanged it as much as I could because my baseball coach told me weights were bad for pitchers. LOL. College was mainly calesthenic crap and excessive amounts of running. I got to where I could run the mile in 5:45.
After college, I didn’t workout or exercise for several years due to working plus getting an MBA. However, my wife and I recently celebrated the birth of our youngest and I’ve taken this as my call to get back in shape.
My plan is to do 5/3/1 plus sprints a few times per week. I have been lifting for a few months so I know my maxes.
8/23
248 pounds
Bench press
10 x Bar WU
10 x 135 WU
5 x 170
5 x 195
9 x 220
Boring But Big
5 x ( 10 x 165 )
Pendlay Rows
3 x ( 10 x 115 )
2 x ( 10 x 135 )
8/24
BW 247
Squats
10 x BW WU
10 x 135 WU
5 x 235
5 x 270
7 x 305
I was mad at myself after the last set because I should have knocked out a few more. I leaned too far forward on the 7th rep and ground it out and decided to stop there since I beat 5.
Boring But Big
5 x ( 10 x 175 )
Dips
??? X 25 x BW. I wanted to do 50 or so total but had to go to work.
I did shoulders today.
Overhead Press
10 x Bar WU
5 x 90
5 x 105
10 x 120
Boring But Big
5 x ( 10 x 75 )
Abs
I did the exercise where you lay on a bench and stretch out to touch the floor with your toes and then crunch your feet up to your head. I don’t know what that is called but we did a crapload of them.
I may take tomorrow off except for some sprints which would be good for muscle soreness anyway.
I have deadlifts on Saturday and then I’ll start week 2 of my first cycle of 5/3/1. I am really enjoying it so far.
For nutrition I am not doing anything special. I am drinking 100+ grams of protein per day and trying to eat high protein foods. I am not eating sweets, fast foods, or sodas except on very special occasions like a holiday or birthday party. Other than that, I am eating whatever and however much I want.
I really don’t want to lose a ton of weight. I would be fine with actually gaining weight overall in the long term if I could get my body fat percentage below 12 or so. I don’t need hawt abz but I would like to see some definition every now and again.
Other than creatine, protein, and vitamins, I am not taking any supplements. I should probably add in some Superfood or Green Miracle because I am not very good at getting enough vegetables.
Today we did deadlifts. I usually pull conventional but will try to mix it up every now and again. I also don’t use straps as a general rule because grip strength is important to me.
8/29/2011
BW 246
Deadlifts
10 x Bar WU
10 x 135 WU
5 x 205
5 x 245
10 x 270
Boring But Big
5 x ( 10 x 165 )
I really like boring BBG. I enjoy working in some higher volume plus these sets give me the chance to cut the rest time and jack up the cardio. Also, I feel that my technique is easier to focus on during these sets and I can work on ingraining the muscle memory.
So far, I am loving 531. I would like to continue to run it out as long as I can or at least until I have to constantly reset my maxes due to stalls.
I have been thinking about my main goals a bit more and have decided that I want to compete in raw powerlifting in the next few years. My eventual goal is to total Elite in the 242s by the time I am 32. That gives me 5 years of training time.
After that, I will see if there is something else that interests me, such as strongman training or even body building.
8/30/2011
BW 245
I did bench today for the start of my 3 x 3 week for 531. It was a pretty good workout and I walked out satisfied with my performance.
Bench
10 x Bar WU
10 x 95 WU
3 x 185
3 x 205
8 x 230
The last set felt good and I was definitely glad to get 8 on a 3 x 3 week. This was the first day I have ever benched and really felt it in my lats. The bar path felt good and I thought I kept better tightness in my shoulders / upper back than previously. However, that could be because my back is fried from yesterday’s deadlift workout.
After the main exercise, I did Boring But Big which sucked.
Boring But Big
3 x ( 10 x 170 )
1 x ( 7 x 170 )
1 x ( 8 x 155 )
There isn’t much to say except that I tried to keep the sets close together and ended up getting stupid tired by the end of the exercise. I am going to keep this up each week and try to get my body adapted to the higher requirements on shorter rests, within reason. Today I would estimate that we did the main exercise with about two or three minutes of rest and the BBGs with about half of that.
I didn’t have time for my usual antagonist lift due to a client meeting.
I also have sucked at actually doing my sprints. So far, I haven’t done any. However, my weight seems to be dropping slightly even with 100+ grams of protein per day from shakes plus 10g of creatine on most days. I guess I am ok with that as long as I retain muscle. It would be nice not to be a fatty and actually have some hawt abzzzz.
I will probably do some sprints after the next time I play softball and realize that being an outfielder in a competitive men’s league means you can’t be a sloth or porko. 
I did skwatz today and they were (as usual) hard.
8/31
BW 245
10 x Bar WU
10 x 95 WU
5 x 135 WU
3 x 255
3 x 285
6 x 320
I wasn’t too happy with the last set as I was aiming for 8 or so. However, I felt much stronger on these than I did last week and felt like I was keeping better tightness. Plus, I left a few reps in the tank as JW suggests in the book. I think that as I continue to do these, I will get a better feel for how many I can do.
I recently switched my style to a wider foot stance with the bar lower on my shoulders / back. Also, I am trying to clearly break parallel every rep. This is different for me and I feel it in the hips and glutes more than ever before.
Boring But Big
4 x ( 10 x 175 )
These felt great. I only did 4 sets due to time concerns but I really enjoy BBG. It helps so much with the form and drilling the technique down to muscle memory. Plus, given the pump and DOMS I get from these, they will probably help with hypertrophy and weight gain also.
My buddy got a few of the lighter sets on the iPhone so if I can figure out how to load those, I will and will be open to any advice / critiques on form.
Yesterday I did OHP, biceps, and abs.
9/1
BW 248
SOHP
10 x Bar WU
95 x 5 WU
3 x 105
3 x 125
9 x 135
BBG
5 x ( 10 x 75 )
Abs
Laying leg swings - 3 x 24
Biceps
Seated Paused Isolation Curls
4 x 15 x 20lbs
I went super light on the curls just to feel the contraction and the form. They burned while I was doing them but I got zero DOMS or pump from them. I will up the weight next time.
9/4
248 BW
We did bench press today instead of deadlifts like we were supposed to.
Bench Press
10 x Bar WU
10 x 95 WU
5 x 195
3 x 225
5 x 245
The weights felt good until the last set which felt heavy. I am happy that I exceed the set reps for the last set but wasn’t pleased with how few reps I got. Part of it is that I didn’t have the normal week’s rest in between workouts and part of it may be that I worked out in the afternoon instead of morning like normal. I don’t know. If I don’t see decent gains in the next few cycles, I may switch to the 351 for powerlifters per Jim’s advice.
Boring But Big
5 x ( 10 x 165 )
Pull ups
35 Total at 72lbs assistance - many sets.
9/6
249 BW
We did deadlifts today and I was pleased with how they felt.
Deadlifts 333
10 x Bar WU
10 x 95 WU
5 x 135 WU
3 x 225
3 x 255
10 x 285
Boring But Big
5 x ( 10 x 165 )
After that, we got out of there due to time issues.
I still haven’t done any sprints. Fail. I am going to hate life here in a few weeks when I play outfield in softball again.
9/7/2011
BW 245
Overhead Press Day
10 x Bar WU
5 x 115
3 x 125
5 x 145
The last set felt ok. I wasn’t as focused as I should have been but I am ok with getting 5 reps on the AMRAP set.
Boring But Big
5 x ( 10 x 95 )
Pendlay Rows
5 x ( 10 x 135 )
Seated Isolation Curls
4 x ( 8 x 35 )
9/14
247 BW
Squats
10 x Bar WU
5 x 95 WU
5 x 135 WU
5 x 225 WU
5 x 275
3 x 305
7 x 345
I was pleased with my last set. I haven’t checked but I think that is a PR for me. The only downside is that I didn’t have a spotter so I am not 100% sure of my depth.
BBG
5 x ( 10 x 175 )
I haven’t been as consistent as I should have been over the past few weeks. I have a lot going on but then so does everyone. Plus, with 4 kids 5 and under, I don’t see a time in the near future that won’t be busy.
I just need to man up and not take the weak way out.
9/16
BW 250
Bench Day
10 x Bar WU
5 x 95 WU
5 x 135 WU
5 x 175
5 x 195
10 x 225 PR!!!
BBG
2 x ( 10 x 175 )
3 x ( 10 x 165 )
Really stoked about the PR. I don’t know why but 10 x 2 plates has just seemed like an important goal or benchmark for me for a while. Now it’s time to knock down 10 x 250!
9/20
243 BW
I think the drop in bodywieght is due to playing football a few hours on Sunday and then playing two games in softball last night. I was pretty active in both. Plus, I haven’t been consistent at all with my protein or creatine and have been eating relatively clean.
Deadlifts
10 x Bar WU
5 x 135 WU
5 x 245
3 x 275
10 x 305 PR!!
Pretty stoked about the PR. That makes 3 workouts in a row with PRs. It helps that I have been calculating how many reps I need on the last set to PR.
BBG
10 x ( 5 x 165 )
I left after that because I was rushed on time. I am skipping the deload and going into Cycle 2 because I feel great.
9/21
BW 245
OHP 5/5/-
10 x Bar WU
5 x 55 WU
5 x 105
5 x 115
10 x 135 PR!!!
Yet another PR. That makes 4 in a row. Loving it!
BBG
5 x ( 10 x 95 )
Preacher Curls
50 reps at 60lbs (??? on # of sets)
My wife told me last night that my chest, tris, and delts were big enough that they made my biceps look extra small. I cried a bit inside and felt kinda beta for a while. Time to do the gunzzzz.
9/26
BW 244
Squats 555
10 x Bar WU
5 x 95 WU
5 x 135 WU
3 x 185 WU
5 x 245
5 x 275
5 x 315
I stopped after that. I had more reps in me but the weight felt wrong. Plus I got very little sleep last night and felt like crap.
In a way, this workout was a sign of improvement as I typically would not have gone to the gym anyway. Time to move past that and go forward.
10/1
I did a bench day today and didn’t have my notebook so I wasn’t able to follow 531. I kind of made it up as I went along and ended up doing some heavy singles after a bunch of underlying sets. 275 flew up. 300 stapled me. Fail. I think I would have had it if I had actually set out to ‘max’ that day.
10/4
BW 246
I switched today to a modified version of 531 TBT. Basically, I do cleans at the beginning of every workout to improve my explosiveness. I started light today and will take them heavier as time goes on.
Cleans
5 x Bar
5 x 135
5 x 135
Squats
3 x 5 x 225
333S Deadlifts
3 x 230
3 x 260
3 x 295
1 x 335
1 x 365
Miss x 405
Miss x 385
I think I would have gotten the 385 had I tried it before the 405. It came off the ground easily but then I couldn’t do anything more with it.
Pull Ups
40 reps in 6 sets at -60 lbs resistance
Standing Preacher Curls
4 x 6-8 x 65lbs
I really liked this workout, specifically incuding the warmup with the cleans and squats. Can’t wait to get back to it!