whats up everyone?

Just wanted to introduce myself. I am terrible at poker first of all. Been a long time lurker to this site and found it trying to get good at poker a few years ago, but of course i spend all my time here reading NVG and H&F lol.

I just rededicated myself to weightlifting and I am ending my first cycle/month of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program and plan to keep a log here.

I am 5'6 187lbs right now.. fat

Here are my "stats"

military- 195lbs... recently hit 155 for 10. est max at 205
bench- 315lbs... recently hit 275 for 8. est max at 335
deadlift- 315lbs ... recently hit 255 for 10. est max at 335
squat- 185lbs ... im just terrible at these
kroc rows- 85lbs for 21 reps.. just started doing this when i started 5/3/1

sadly, I used to be one of those upper body only lifters. I threw in the occasional (2 sessions a month, max) deadlift day and pretty much never squatted because I was terrible at them and mostly because I was an idiot. I hope to get my squat and deadlift up to par with my military and bench.

I also hope to be more focused by keeping a log and just thought why not in H&F since I am always reading here?

I am doing the 4 day split and kind of did my own thing accessory lifts, so it will be different week to week for the most park.

It is almost 2:30am here and need to be up early, so I will post what I did in my first cycle soon.

Thanks for reading!


and for the too long didnt read crowd,

Newbie here. I was an idiot and didnt work on my deadlift and squat and I am rededicating myself to those two lifts

Make sure to post videos of your squats. You probably have form issues. Everyone has, especially beginners.

5/3/1 is decent. But I only did one cycle once. Then I felt like my was making steps backwards, strength-wise. It's cool that one can keep the sessions very short though. I don't know. Maybe I just messed up when I tried it. I might try it again in the future. So I'm looking forward to reading your log.

I'm a few cycles into 531 but the first was after a layoff and the second was a bit of a general bust.

Gl with it I'll defs be following along.

I'm an advocate of 5/3/1 is no good. Definitely lost strength.

Genz- this is my upcoming deload week but I'll get video anyway. And I'm a busto college student so my phone is all I have for a camera but I have a lifting partner.

KRS- I actually decided to post my log here because I saw you were doing 531 lol. I beeeeen following yours, you beast.

Cruzer- I'm happy through the first cycle although I lost a few reps off of my PR in the bench on 275.. I had hit 8 end of last month and hit 5 this week. I will change that number up there

I also lost 4lbs so far this year and I am trying to get into the 160s. Other important note is I dropped my maxes more than 10% in hopes that I don't stall soon.

Vids of my bench and OHP will be up in a few along with my log after that

I figured my squat will go up as form and strenght increases and being that I am trying to drop fat,

how do I edit my posts? lol

continuing that last sentence. being that I am trying to drop fat, I would be happy to sort of maintain my bench and OHP while just getting stronger in squats and deadlifts, especially squats

here is video of my bench press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3twaO5wiyxk

and here is video of my military

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iR_c...eature=channel

I used one rep maxes lower than what I could have used in an attempt to not stall anytime soon and also because I have been trying to drop some fat.

used 285 for bench, 170 for squat, 275 for deadlift and 175 for military press

with that being said, I usually used a higher weigh that I am supposed to on the all out set because I guess I felt better at the time. My upcoming second cycle I will try my harder to stick to the program. I also do too much when it comes to accessory work because I'm a donk.
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Week 1 workout 1

bench press

5 x 175
5 x 205
8 x 225 (was following weekday after new years. just a terrible day for me)

Military press.. shoulders were really dead this day

3x10x85
2x10x65

Dips- 5x6
inverted rows- 3x8
------------------------------------------------

week 1 workout 2

Deadlift

5 x 165
5 x 185
9 x 215

squats - very terrible form and didnt want to hurt my hips from prior injury

5x3x95

Kroc Rows (first time doing them)
5 x 45
5 x 55
21 x 65

Chinups
55 total- hit 9 sets of 5 then hit 10 on final.. pretty sure I just hung on the bar til I could do the final last few reps

Leg raises
3x10

------------------------------------------------

week 1 workout 3

Military Press
5 x 95
5 x 115
15 x 125

bench - used to warm up
10 x bar
5 x 95
10 x 135

dumbell floor press
8x80
6x80

Tate Press
3 x 8 x 30lbs

hammer curls - i hate doing curls and only do hammer/reverse when i do. switched to only chins after this day, also.

3 x 6 x 30
-----------------------------------------------------------

week 1 workout 4

squats (if I can even call them that)

5 x 95
5 x 115
7 x 125 (disgustingly bad form all throughout the day and left hip was acting up. not pushing knees out enough)

GHR (first time trying.)

3 sets of 5 ugly looking reps

kroc rows

5 x 45
5 x 55
25 x 65 (was a 4 rep PR from earlier that week)

chinups
3x5 (called it a day because I was hurting)

week 2 workout 1

military press

3 x 105
3 x 115
11 x 135

narrow grip bench (just hit triples)
135...155...185...205...225

Dips
one all out set for 25

Kroc rows
5 x 50
3 x 55
3 x 60
30 x 65

chinups - 20 total
2....2...8...5...3

-------------------------------------------

week 2 workout 2

deadlift
3 x 185
3 x 205
10 x 225

front squat (got better at pushing knees out)
3 x 8 x 65
2 x 3 x 95

neutral grip pullups
5 sets of 2
5 sets of 2 +10lbs
set of 5 ..3 second dead hang +10lbs


-----------------------------------------------
week 2 workout 3

bench
3 x 185
3 x 205
13 x 235 (PR.. but then again, never tried this weight before)

military (just hit triples)
95....105...105...135...145

tricep tri-set (used incline tate press / crush press / rolling exts) 20lb
3 sets.
hit all exercises for 10.. and never again lol

Kroc Rows (I love these)
5x50
5x55
3x60
30 x 70 (was very happy with this)

pushups
one rep out set.. hit 45

Chins - 10 sets of 2


-----------------------------------------

week 2 workout 4

squats

3 x 105
3 x 115
11 x 135 (form still bad but a lot better than first week)

front squats supersetted with GHR
5 x 3 x 95 ..... GHR i hit 4 reps on all

standing abs pulldown thing lol

15 x 45lb
2 x 15 x 60

week 3 workout 1

military press

5 x 115
3 x 135
10 x 155 (pretty much what I can squat right now LOL )

incline bench (all singles)
95..135...155..185..205..225

Dips 40 reps- 20lb
15...15...10

Kroc Rows
3 x 55
3 x 60
3 x 65
21 x 85 (used chalk)

Chins 50 reps
8 sets of 5... then last set I hit 10

----------------------------------

week 3 workout 2

deadlifts

5 x 185
3 x 205
10 x 255

front squats

5 x 95
5 x 105
5 x 115
2 x 1 x 135

standing ab pulldown
60lbs x 15
75 x 15


-----------------------------------

week 3 workout 3

bench

5 x 185
3 x 225
1 x 255 (supposed to rep this out but im an idiot)
5 x 275

narrow bench.. paused all reps

3 x 5 x 225

kroc rows
5 x 55
5 x 65
75 x 21 (i hurt my ring finger and had to drop the dumbell)

--------------------------------------------

week 3 workout 4

squats

5 x 115
3 x 135
12 x 155 (still working on it.. hope to get vids soon)

front squat

5 x 1 x 115

then ran a few slight uphill sprints.. im very outta shape

deload week coming up and I hope my finger heals in time. I will stick to the program and lift the weights I'm supposed to and I also plan on cutting down on the accessory lifts on upper body days. I am def doing too much work. Plan will be to follow one of Jim's templates.

Thoughts on my first 5/3/1 cycle

- I like it because I get an oppurtunity to to hit PRs multiple times a week
- Kinda sucks that there arent many heavy sets, but hitting rep PRs make up for it
- Have feelings or testing out new maxes, but I will give it 4 total cycles first
- I'm happy that I am finally doing squats even if I am terrible at them

Goals before summer

- get into the 160s for bodyweight
- maintain bench/military strength
- learn to to squat properly
- get decent at squatting
- deadlift at least 365 when I max out in 3 months

deload week.. pretty quiet here. ring finger on right hand is sore when I try to squeeze, so I am keeping it to the deload exercises

monday i did really light squats (so nothing new if u look at my squat numbers)

wednesday- planning to do this in about an hour or so

military press

65 x 5
85 x 5
100 x 5

100 pushups if my ring finger doesnt act up. also feeling a bit sick, but im an idiot and refuse to take a day off for now

Just saw this log. Both pressing videos are super impressive.

I don't know if 5/3/1 is optimal per your goals. Since your squat and DL numbers are so (relatively) low it seems like you would benefit from more frequent squatting and DLing.

Agree. You can still get novice gains out of your squat and DL even though you are advanced in pressing. With your build you could be squatting mid-300s in no time.

Your grip on military is a little wide IMO. I think this is a mistake that a lot of people make because they never know differently.

You should grip slightly outside of shoulder length. Like where you would do cleans from.

This initially felt goofy to me but I get a lot more power out of the movement.

Edited to add:

Also, you must have some ridiculously strong triceps. After watching your 275 x 8 video I think you are deriving too much strength from your Tris.

I think you could add another 10 to 15lbs to this lift pretty quick if you kept your elbows wider during the lift (not so close to your body). It's almost like you are doing a modified close grip.

What do you guys suggest I do? SS? I can definitely get novice gains out of the squats for sure and maybe DL. I just want to squat 315 by the end of the year. Any sooner would be great and any more weight would be awesome. I love doing 5/3/1 but I am willing to do something more squat friendly for sure.

I've just started using a slightly closer grip on the military, but its quite far from slightly wider than shoulder width. Jim Wendler suggests a narrower grip too, but I feel I have the most power the way I am doing it now. I will try to do all of my sets except for my repout with a closer grip for now and see how it goes/

And re: triceps. I really dont do anything to target it directly. must be the dumbell floor presses i used to do? I used to have my pinkie on the rings, but just out of the blue decided to get about an inch narrower and hit a PR and have kept that grip ever since. I am about 45 degrees when I touch my chest.

Anyone have more thoughts about my elbow and hand placement?

You could do SS for squats and DL while going relatively easy on your pressing movements. You could keep doing 5/3/1 for them, but don't burn yourself out with too much assistance. Get those newbie gains and then reevaluate.

I think I may do this or possibly switch to a 3 day routine with bench, OHP, DL using 5/3/1 and squatting everyday. I just need to make sure the DL day doesnt kill me too much. I am always sore after high rep DLs

in a few hours

bench

95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5

maybe hit the same as yesterday with military press and call it day. still cant squeeze too much with ring finger being sore, so no DL or upper back movements for me

Continuing from the beginner thread, you can certainly just program your squats and lower pulls (DL's and cleans, if you're doing those) with SS and leave the upper body programming how you like. Or you could just do squats SS style and do your DL's like in 5/3/1 but try to keep the weekly volume similar to SS. just my imo.

thanks. I will work on what my program is going to look like and post it. planning on going with 5/3/1 for bench, ohp, DL and squatting on those 3 days SS style.

Im going to have a problem choosing assistance lifts since Im so used to high volume

I guess I wont be able to call it either 5/3/1 or SS after that lol

worked up to 5x165 on squat today.. did 3 sets total then back down to 155 and two sets at 135, all for 5 reps. most work i've done squatting ever lol.. not bad considering a few weeks ago i could barely do 135.

going back to gym to hit some bench press. actually, im just gonna floor press. maybe work up to the 100s and see if I can get 5-7 reps. PR is 14 with those.

hope all of you reading have a great weekend

edit- before new year, had terrible form and was too scared to try 135 although i could do it

squatted again tonight. worked up to 225x6 on the squat. thats a 60lb increase from friday, so probably just a good night or I went too easy on friday or a combo of both.

I realllllly need to get a video but was lifting alone again.

I also reaggravated my ring finger injury by hitting a 185 OHP. What a dummy. Have to rest that a week now.

squatting again tomorrow. that John Broz link has me thinking SQUAT all the time

yeah definitely sounds like a fun experiment if you have loads of time on your hands.

yea i have school 4 days a week, no job and played under 5hrs of poker all january LOL. i have a lot of time considering the low amount of effort i put into school and poker. gonna try to be better this month while still getting to the gym 4-6 times a week. had a winning session last night playing micro 45mans on FT

im gonna squat at least 4 times a week tho...

squatted again.. did doubles up to 225 then back down to 135

bar...65...95...115...135...155..185...205...225.. . back down

if I find a way to get out of class early, then I will get another squat session on tomorrow. if not then I cant because I have to watch LOST, obv. This was my 3rd squat session in 4 days btw

edit..

I am doing mostly high bar for no particular reason other than thats what I did last friday and I had a decent squat session for myself. I really should get videos of both and see what you all say I have to work on and also if one is better than the other.

Should also say that I will probably be only deadlifting once every 2 or 3 weeks because I am squatting 4-5 times a week it looks like (provided my back, knees, hips allow me to)