TisDrew's Log

Some quick stats:
6’
210-215lbs
BF is too high
16" ish arms
Bench 275x1//225x8
Front Squat 210x8
Deadlift 345x5 (all time best was 405, can no longer perform)
MP 135x8

Goals:
Lean out a bit
Fix Back Squat
Get big and strong

My squat day is going to change radically because I’m trying to fix my hip mobility so that I can do back squats deeply again. Previous record was 340 but I couldn’t do that now. My lower strength work will come from front squats, reverse bb lunges, deadlifts, and good mornings. I will be doing lumberjack squats and overhead squats in addition to many stretches and of course, back squats themselves to find my groove again.

The split will be a bastardized version of Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1. It’s been working for my bench and overhead press, so I’ll be keeping those workouts pretty much the same. The only real change here will be the inclusion of gymnastic ring work instead of normal pull-ups and dips. Due to the unstable nature of rings, I won’t be doing dips weighted. To make up for the lack of heavy tricep work my overhead press day will feature closegrip bench press.

5/3/1 has not been working for my deadlift but there may be other factors at play like the exclusion of the back squat and degradation of technique (I’ve gotten sloppy). I don’t think pushing the reps high on deadlifts is the way to go because I just get sloppier so I’ll be nixing the 5/3/1 way of doing deadlifts. I’ll instead be doing 3x3 and when I get all reps with good form I’ll add weight and work back up to 3x3. I’m not sure if this will work, but I’m hopeful that it will. I don’t like that my deadlift max has lost about 15 lbs. if Wendler’s calculator is to be believed. As advocated by the Bodybuilding Bible here on T-Nation, all assistance work will be ramped to a single blast set, the exception will be DB Rows. But there will only be 2 blast sets.

Weekends: cardio, stretching, foam rolling

M DL
315x3x3 Deadlift
Good Mornings
295x11 Smith Machine Calves
105x6 Preacher Curls
Rings

T Cardio

W Bench 5/3/1.
Flat Bench 531
110x12 DB Rows
85x5 DB Bench
45x7 DB Curls
Rings

R lower–squat
Hip circles
knee circles
ankle circles
leg swings front/back, side/side
wall walks
barbell complex

295x11 Smith Machine Calf Raises w/ Block
Overhead Squats for mobility
Lumberjack Squat for technique
Olympic Squats for mobility and technique
Front Squats for strength
Reverse Lunges for strength

Relax into stretch applied to the following:
Good Morning stretch
double leg hamstring stretch
single leg hamstring stretch
hurdle stretch front and back
all fours, side to side (squatRX)
glute stretches
groin stretches

F OHP 5/3/1
Overhead press 531
Close Grip Bench Press
40x8 Lateral Raises
Rings
105x6 Preacher Curls
80x6 Reverse Curls

Forums - T Nation - The World's Trusted Community for Elite Fitness (previous log)

Today’s cardio workout was the Men’s Health circuit

3 rounds of
60 seconds of 10 exercises with 15 seconds of rest inbetween sets
2-4 minutes of rest after a round.

  1. Goblet Squat w/ 30lb DB
  2. Mountain Climbers
  3. Single Arm DB Swing w/ 15lb DB (I should increase this next time)
  4. T Push Up w/ 15lb DBs
  5. Split jump
  6. Standing DB Rows w/ 30s
  7. Lateral Lunge to touch w/ 15s
  8. Renegade Row 30s
  9. Goblet Lunge because rotation is stupid, done w/ 30
  10. DB Push Press 30s

The drop in weight helped a ton. I kept the rest periods to like 15-30 sec depending but I’m probably only doing 45 seconds of work or so. It’s a tough cardio workout. A significant improvement. I do not have the technique/mobility to do lateral lunges to a touch without getting into a kind of deadlift position or coming up off my heel on the extended leg.

Picture/workout can be found here:
http://health.msn.com/fitness/mens-fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100252647

I welcome constructive criticism. Challenge me on why I’m doing things and my approach. I do not have an ego about this stuff. I want to succeed.

Diet has changed slightly due to time restrictions because of my fulltime job:
Breakfast 7:10am
Glass of each: OJ + Milk
3 fish oil capsules
3 egg omelete w/ ham
2 servings of instant oatmeal (can’t stand regular oatmeal texture)

Snack 10am
2 pure protein bars (40g of protein, ~30g of carbs, and ~9g of fat)

Lunch Noon
Varies but my options at the cafeteria are relatively healthy. Always a meat, vegetables, and either a source of carbohydrates (baked potato, rice, other things) or another vegetable depending on how hungry I’m feeling. Lots of water throughout the day. Macro is probably like ~30g protein, ~50g carbs, and 5g fat.

Pre Workout 5-5:15pm
Banana and green tea
Workout 5:15 to 6:30
PWO Drink at 6:35
2 scoops of syntha-6, with milk and blended with a banana

Dinner 7:45 to 8:45…varies.
Varies. Similar to lunch in terms of macros.

Talking with a friend and noticed some things:

  1. I have extra chicken breasts
  2. I have a gap from noon to five
  3. I need a meal before the gym beside just a banana
  4. I’m only taking in ~200g of protein a day

Eating a chicken breast at 3:30 or so fixes all these problems. I will cook the chicken breasts when I have some time tomorrow night and implement this.

I had a chicken breast and milk at 5pm in addition to the diet previously posted.

Today’s workout
Barbell Bench
190x5
215x3
240x4 est 1rm of 278 //I remember when this was my max

DB Rows
85x7
100x5
110x12
110x6 (rep PR, meh)

DB Bench
70x8
80x5
90x5 PR

DB Curls
25x10 squeeze and slow eccentric for mind-muscle
35x8
45x7 last 2 were cheat

There was no set plan to my ring usage so I’ll throw out the highlights:
-they’re a bitch to set up
-squat racks aren’t tall enough for muscle-ups

  • it doesn’t matter, rings are hard
    -10 pull-ups like cake
    -0 dips. I was stunned by this. I couldn’t even hold lockout position for 30 seconds. It was like [Earthquake/Michael J. Fox].
    -Ring push-ups are hard. I only got sets of like 10-15 tops. I’ll be focusing on these until I can do some dips.
    -The motion you do with the ab wheel, but on rings. Too easy when done on knees. Too hard from feet. Need to bridge this gap.
    -Squat racks not tall enough to do hanging leg raises from rings. Will just do them from the bar.
    -Looking for a tall tree limb that I can hang these from so that I can get a shot at muscle-ups and hanging leg raises and front levers.

EDIT:Muscle-ups from butt on floor

dynamic squat warm-up
overhead squat
barx10ish
65x8
75x8
95x5

Lumberjack squat //Didnt like this movement. Will probably scratch it.
bar for warm-up
35x10
45x10
55x8

Back Squat
barx15ish
135x10 (high to safety bars)
175x8 (high to safety bars)
225x6
135x8 (deep)

double hamstring static stretch
single hamstring stretch
good morning stretch
lunge stretch
hip flexor stretch
glute stretch
back stretch
ab strech

Was in a rush today, skipped calves/lunges/front squats

OHP
barx15
95x5
120x5
135x3
150x4

CGBP
135x10
175x8
185x5
210x1 (no spotter)

Rings
Dips: 5, 2, 1 (surprise PR)
then a couple holds at lockouts for ~25 seconds
Pull Ups: like 5 sets of 10-5 reps, don’t remember details
push-ups: 12,10

Lateral Raises
30x10
35x10
40x10
45x7
30x8(drop set)
20x5(drop set)

Preacher Curls
85x8
95x6
115x3,2 more cheated

Reverse Grip Curls
75x10
85x5 (lost focus–was proud for reg curls)

Thoughts: I’m so surprised pretty much every exercise today. I think I PRd on everything except reverse grip curls. The CGBP and then ring dips gave my chest a HUGE pump. And then I did those ring push-ups, oh man. Shoulders were sore from overhead squats yesterday, so I feel I could’ve done more on my OHP but I’m happy with 4 honestly. CGBP, I wish I had a spotter, the lift-off was killing me. The 210 went up easy enough. If I’d had a spotter, would’ve hit 225 no problem. Once it was over my chest, it basically felt like regular bench and I didn’t really feel much weaker. And putting 45’s on preacher curls felt awesome. Can’t wait until I can do a set of 5 without cheating.

Delts and traps felt so sore today. Went kayaking for like 2 hours plus a bit of frisbee and walking around and swimming. Bad thing, diet.

breakfast was normal 9am
yogurt @ like 11am
lunch 1pm was a grecian wrap from Athenos, it was pretty filling and some chocolate milk
BBQ all afternoon, soda + tea + 1 cheeseburger 4pm
peanuts + protein shake + pizza when i got home (had to scavenge) @ ~7:30

Fail day.
went to bed at 4am
10am breakfast
went back to sleep til 2.
3pm 2 protein bars + green tea (40g protein, 40 g carbs, 10 fat)
gym at 4.
I wanted to do the MH workout again but failed. I went through the first round pretty much okay.
Took a break. Started the second round and felt instantly out of breath and unable to finish. I stopped altogether at DB rows.
Went outside and ran for 15 minutes in this damned florida heat. ~mile
drank some milk. 2 tall glasses…30g protein, 50 g carbs, 25g fats.
BBQ w/ friends at 6:30. 4 chicken breasts + lemonade + soda.
drinking a glass of milk now at time of posting. 9.35pm.

Diet was within the guidelines today.

Be relentless and patient.

Overhead Squat
barxwhatever
75x5
95x5
100x5

Deadlift supersetted with Smith Machine Calf Raises on a 45
135x10…135x15
225x8…225x15
275x6…275x12
315x3…315x15
315x3…315x10
315x3

Good Mornings
barxwhatever
95x15
135x12 (honestly, i wasn’t counting but it was up there)

Ring Dips: 8 + eccentric,5+eccentric,2
Ring Push Ups: 20,15,15
Preacher EZ Curls
75x8
95x5
115x4, 4 more cheated
Ring Pull Ups: 8, 5
Ring Inverted Rows: 10,5
Bar Pull Ups: 10
///////////////////////////
I felt since shoulder day is after squat day, i could do overhead squats here. Smith Calves I did with the 45 and then on my last set did off the ground. My ROM was too short but I just couldn’t get a stretch in them today. No mind-muscle connection. Deadlifts I was trying to focus on form. My first set of 315 felt perfect. Arched, tight, flexed back, and just a hip-hinge movement. Second set was okay but lacking. Third set felt like normal and not in great form. The weight is easy to move, but I’m definitely not using great form. I’ll be going down to 295 next week so I can perfect this issue. Just getting into good mornings, I’ll be uppng the weight slowly but surely. I was stoked for the PR on Dips! Also for the Preacher Curls. I also realized that I did 115 last workout, not 105. By the end of it, I’ve got no energy for pull-ups. Muscularly I can do them, but it’s a mental thing. I’ve lost focus and mental energy.

Attempted to go running. Legs were entirely too sore. Left hamstring and calves specifically. I knew yesterday my left hamstring was going to be sore, could feel it struggling with the good mornings after DLs

Fuck deloading, I was feeling like a champ today.

warm-up bar dislocates

BB Flat Bench
135x15
165x5
190x5
215x8

DB Rows
90x6
100x6
110x14!!!
110x7

DB Bench
75x8
85x5
95x5! //just barely

DB Curls
25x10
30x10?
35x10? great mind-muscle connection and good pump

Rings
Felt so weak on ring dips after the DB bench, just did 2 and moved on
Ring Push-Ups: 22,16,17
Ring Pull Ups: 10
Bar pull-ups: 10
Ring Pull Ups: 8,5
Ring Inverted Rows: 12

On everything except the push-ups, I’m guessing b/c I didn’t count. I need to start keeping track of it. I did well with pull-ups today. Great biceps pump.

Running schedule so I’ll be consistent and actually improve:
tuesday long (2.5 mi) goal of 25min
thursday middle/easy (1.5 mi/1mi) goal of 15min
saturday easy/sprint (1mi/10 sets of 30 sprint 30 rest) goal of 8/9 min
sunday long (2.5 mi) goal of 25min

When I feel my conditioning is usable, I’ll drop the middle distance on thursday and replace the easy mile on saturday with sprint work.

warm-up
Smith Machine Calf Raises with my wooden block
185x15
225x15
275x12
315x12
225x15

Back Squats
135x12
185x5
225x5
255x5
275x2

Front Squats
135x10
185x5
225x0

Reverse Lunges
135x4
blah

some stretching

8:32 1mile run.

BW 216

OHP
skipped 105 b/c i’m retarded
125x5
135x5 (realized it felt too heavy and figured out i messed up)
140x7 (still hit a frickin PR)

CGBP
95x10
135x8
185x4
205x7! (i was aiming for 3 or 4…but this works too)

Rings
Dips 10,5,4
Pull Ups, 10, 10, 9, 1
Push Ups 24,18,16 (was aiming for 25 that first set)

EZ Curls
75x10
95x5
115x4, 1 cheat…I wanted 5 so bad. I’ll probably drop down on the weight next time and just focus on getting some more reps in.

Lateral Raises
25x10
35x8
45x8!
30x10 (drop set)
20x6 (drop set)

shit, forgot reverse curls.

Saturday: Got vibram fivefingers.
Ran 0.75 miles on the treadmill with them (raining).

Sunday:
Ran 1.45mi, bathroom break, 1.05mi with regular shoes on. total of like 25 minutes or something. wasn’t paying attention.

Monday: (wore my vibrams)

Warm-up
Overhead Press
45x10
75x7
95x5
105x5 (last two were shaky and I sacrificed good form) Will keep weight the same next time and finish them with good form.

Deadlift
185x10
225x5
255x5
275x1
295x3 (good form)
305x3 (good form)
315x3 (good form)
335x2 (second rep form sucked, cut the set)

Goodmornings
135x12ish
145x7
155x6

EZ Preacher Curls
85x8
105x4
110x1
rest
115x5! byah

Ring Dips 10,5 (second set my rom was small)
Ring push-ups 12 (laughed at myself)

Bar pull-ups
12,8,7
chins 7
NG chins 5
pullups 3
total of 42…i just kept plugging away
//
Deadlift form is better. The reps feel more grindy, but I suppose that’s to be expected. So I decided that 135 will be my working weight for good-mornings and I’ll just do like 4x10. Couldn’t press for shit today. Don’t know why. I promise I’ll actually start structuring my vertical pulling. I just felt weak on the rings today so I cut everything short.

//It’s not about how fast you run. It’s not about how far you run. It’s about how far you run fast.//
2.5 miles. 25:04 time. Improvement of 3 seconds. Calves and left hamstring were tight.

breakfast 7am normal
apple 8:30am
1 protein bar instead of two10am
4 pizza slices and a soda 12pm
(I’d intended to eat the other protein bar at 3pm, but forgot)
5pm green tea and banana
Gym 5:30
warm-up on bench
barx15-20
95x12
135x8
165x5
180x3
205x3
230x4 //subpar I know, felt like technique wasn’t 100%. Still above prescribed reps, so I don’t care. I definitely rushed my warm-up sets and didn’t find the groove so my bar path was wacky and I wasn’t 100%.

DB Rows supersetted with DB Bench
80’s 8…5
90’s 5…5
100’s 5…5,2 (two different sets)
110’s 15!
//PRs so felt pretty sweet. I might have half-repped that last rep of the first set of 100’s on bench but whatever. I’ll be doing 100’s next week anyway

DB Curls
30x10
35x8
40x11

Bar pull-ups 10
Ring dips 8,5//Rings were a mess today. Didn’t lock out a single dip.
Ring Push Ups 2x20ish
Ring Pull Ups 10,8,6
Bar Pull Ups 5,2
Ring Inverted Rows 2x10ish (completely out of energy here)

//Needless to say, I attribute all my failing today to lack of proper warm-up and lack of proper nutrition. But still. Next week on bench is 245. Just ridiculous. 5/3/1 has been great for my bench. My pull-up strength has gone to shit because I always put it at the end of workouts and have stopped the volume and weighted stuff. However, my form and arm involvement is a much bigger component on the rings. Next cycle, I’m definitely going to switch up my assistance on bench. BBB worked so well when done with seated rows. I’ll figure it out when I get there but I suspect bench day will have a lot more volume on the big movements.

Nice job on bench. I switched up my assistance and the results are improving. You’re making me want to buy some rings (or blast straps, at least).

I feel like rings are their own form of exercise and don’t fit into weight lifting schedules. The push-ups are awesome. Dips and pull-ups are cool but I don’t think they build that powerlifter type of strength.

Pull-ups on rings is kinda awkward b/c I have to hang them from the squat rack and so there’s maybe a foot of strap (which makes stabilization kinda easy compared to the dips) and my knees are like an inch off the floor in this position. Honestly, I’ll be using regular bar weighted pull-ups to build strength in the future. I’m going to go back to my one day has weighted pull-ups and the other day is for rep/endurance.

Dips will probably be similar in future programming. I mean, $60 to do a few exercises is kind of a huge fee. I’ll be looking into different ring exercises once I’ve mastered the push-ups, dips, and pull-ups, but I wouldn’t really recommend them to be entirely honest. They don’t fit my goals very well. I saw on your log, how’re you liking those fatgripz? Haha, maybe we can trade.

Fat Gripz are definitely worth the $40 on Tate’s site. They’re a game changer on a lot of different exercises.

^^ X2 Love 'em

Nice work. Keep making progress man!