JF --

Pretty much that. Add reps and/or sets as you improve, and that's all there is to it.

My strategy so far on GTG pushups is apparently to forget to do them, .

Today is bench day so I'm not going to start now. Gonna start tomorrow.

I dno, right now when I do pullups I do sets of 3 or 4 and go up to 50 during my lifting for that day. It seems to work well and by the end it's super tough. My max for pullups is maybe 6-10 or something depending on the grip I use. But that's fairly taxing.

So I dno, maybe 10 sets of 50% throughout the day? I was kind of thinking of just doing a bunch of sets of 5 pushups to start with....I'd guess that is well below 50% of my max but I could then do more sets and grease my groove even more!

6/21 log

Bench week 3, cycle 2 (175)

117.5x5
132.5x3
150x7 (180)
77.5x10x5
DB rows 50x10x5

Apparently on my last workset my form seemed the best of all sets. I barely got the 7th rep but I did get it fully. On the assistance I worked on trying to get both of my arms to go down to the same depth at the bottom of my bench and also keeping my right elbow in, which is still not happening very rep. I swear my kinesthetic skill level is complete garbage - so hard to correct things since I think I'm keeping my elbow in but apparently am not.

Then I did 10 hill sprints. The hill is somewhat gradual and takes me 20 seconds to run the portion I run. I dno how long it takes to walk back but I do that slowly and then go again. I did 10 intervals which seemed like more than enough (4 seemed more than enough lol) given I did DL yesterday.

g/f did (82)
55x5
62.5x3
70x6 (81)
34x10x5
DB rows 15x10x5

My g/f has steadily regressed on bench in terms of estimated 1rm since we started 5/3/1. I'm hoping it mainly is due to variance and now changing her form (letting the bar sit lower on her chest, like what I switched to) although it may be entirely possible having the bar hit lower may not be better for her even though it seems like it may help me. So, hmmmm, I guess we'll see.

Nice progress on the bench -- at some point you may want to consider microloading with some 1.25 lb plates, but 5 lb jumps should keep working for a few more cycles.

That is awesome!

6/23 log

LBBS week 3, cycle 2 (287 target)
195x5
220x3
245x6 (284) - Wow, so on the 7th I was about 2/3 done with the rep (past all sticking points) and then had too much weight on my heels and was swaying back a bit (I almost always pitch forward on squats so wasn't prepared for this)....I decided to take a small step backwards, probably b/c that's what I do sometimes on OHP to finish a tough rep. But, well, it's very different on LBBS and I started falling backwards but then my g/f ran behind me to help so I didn't drop the bar right away as I was worried and not used to the situation. Anyway, I did drop the bar after wrenching my ankle and the weight glanced off of my pinky since I fell first. Wow...I was really lucky my pinky didn't get crushed and my ankle didn't get completely busted. Naturally though, I finished the rest of the session:
130x10x5
RDL 115x8x5

I iced my ankle twice last night and it is stiff today but it seems better than when I roll my ankles playing basketball so it seems I got lucky there too. I'll be doing some dribbling/shooting drills today and see how it responds. Next time I guess I plan to drop the weight much sooner and never take a step backwards - I know that's not a good idea but in the moment it felt right for some reason b/c I really didn't want to fail the rep b/c I knew I had at least 8 reps in me.

My g/f did (164 target):
110x5
125x3
140x8 (174) - great work set from her although the bar is crooked on her shoulders, she seems to have it higher on her left shoulder/arm but I don't know why and trying to have her do a bunch of diff things didn't really help. Hopefully we can figure it out during deload week.
72.5x10x5
RDL 60x8x5

She of course has never even failed a squat rep, let alone run into falling backwards.

6/24 log

My ankle was stiff as hell but I did dribbling and shooting at the gym for ~an hour. At first jumping off of my L ankle hurt and I was a bit worried but by the end it had loosened up and while I wasn't doing much hard planting on it, it seemed a lot better.

My dribbling seems to be a lot better although my L wrist still isn't 100%, seems like it will be stuck at 95% forever or something. I can dribble with my L hand now without looking and without losing the ball....but not at full speed or doing tricky things. One thing I found is that if I listen to rap music stuff with a bangin' beat then I am much more likely to dribble hard and concentrate on it...so I'll make sure to have my iPod Shuffle in the future.

The only thing I kept track of was some FTs and one session of shots around the perimeter 15-18 feet:

1st 10 FTs: 6/10
2nd 10 FTs: 9/10
25/45 jumpers from 15-18 feet from baseline, top of key, and the two spots in between

6/18-6/24 diet log

Tbh I'm not really sure what my breakeven point is for caloric intake but my guess would be 2700. I tried to be pretty intentional about how many calories I was eating last week but had more than I wanted/planned. Although, this still may allow me to cut slowly. Here is a summary I guess. I may start logging it in some program but I just took this out of excel and cleaned it up a bit. Obv I ate a lot of pizza, ice cream, and cookies at the end there. Not much Mayo though...although I guess I have it as part of a tuna sandwich most days...

6/18/2012 - 2837cals - 204g protein (core workout day)

8:00 AM - yogurt, fruit, granola - 367 - 25
10:00 AM - donut + milk - 585 - 17
1:00 PM - tuna sandwich + fruit + veggies 570 54 37.9%
4:30 PM - cottage cheese + fruit + crackers 360 29 32.2%
7:30 PM - dinner - 600 - 22
9:30 PM - protein x2 - 320 - 57
10:30 PM - fish oil - 35 - 0



6/19/2012 - 2312cals - 206g protein (recovery day)

8:00 AM - yogurt, fruit, granola - 367 - 25
10:00 AM - cottage cheese + fruit + crackers - 360 - 29
1:00 PM - tuna sandwich + fruit + veggies - 570 - 54
4:30 PM - cliff bar - 240 - 10
8:00 PM - dinner - 420 - 31
9:30 PM - protein x2 - 320 - 57
10:30 PM - fish oil - 35 - 0


6/20/2012 - 2907cals - 259g protein (lift day)

8:00 AM - yogurt, fruit, granola - 367 - 25
10:00 AM - cottage cheese + fruit + crackers - 360 - 29
1:00 PM - tuna sandwich + fruit + veggies - 570 - 54
4:30 PM - cliff bar + beef jerky + peanuts - 680 - 42
8:00 PM - dinner - 420 - 28
9:30 PM - protein x3 - 440 - 81
10:30 PM - fish oil - 70 - 0


6/21/2012 - 2997cals - 183g protein (LIFT + hill sprints)

8:00 AM - yogurt, fruit, granola - 367 - 25
10:00 AM - veggies, banana - 120 - 2
1:00 PM - Kramarcuk's Corned beef sandwich- 1200 - 50
4:30 PM - apple + reese's pieces - 200 - 3
8:00 PM - dinner - 600 - 22
9:30 PM - protein x3 - 440 - 81
10:30 PM - fish oil - 70 - 0


6/22/2012 - 2552cals - 191g protein (RECOVERY)

8:00 AM - yogurt, fruit, granola - 367 - 25
10:00 AM - cottage cheese + fruit + crackers - 360 - 29
1:00 PM - tuna sandwich + fruit + veggies - 570 - 54
8:00 PM - dinner - 900 - 26
9:30 PM - protein x2 - 320 - 57
10:30 PM - fish oil - 35 - 0


6/23/2012 - 3342cals - 185g protein (LIFT + hill sprints)

9:30 AM - yogurt, fruit, granola - 367 - 25
12:30 PM - lunch - 500 - 20
9:30 PM - protein x3 - 440 - 81
6:60 PM - 3 pieces pizza + salad + fruit salad - 1000 - 39
8:00 PM - two scoops ice cream + cookie - 750 - 10
10:00 PM - milk and 1 cookie - 250 - 10
11:30 PM - fish oil - 35 - 0


6/24/2012 - 2027cals - 174g protein (med cardio)

8:00 AM - yogurt, fruit, granola - 367 - 25
12:00 PM - bbq chicken lunch - 500 - 30
4:30 PM - protein x3 - 440 - 81
8:00 PM - dinner - 400 - 28
9;30 pm - milk and 1 cookie - 250 - 10
10:30 PM - fish oil - 70 - 0

Weekly Average 2711 cals/day - 200g protein/day

6/25 log

OHP - week 4, cycle 2, deload
40x5
50x5
60x5
50x7x3
pullup x4x2
chin x4x2
neutral x4x2

DL - week 4, cycle 2, deload
135x5x2
165x5
135x6x3
Box squats - 115x6x3

G/f - did deload on her lifts too

Took us about an hour to get through this. I was not resting much in between sets until some of my DL assistance near the end I was v winded for so decided since it's deload week I shouldn't care about amping up the cardio since the lifts are so easy, lol.

6/26 log

Went to the gym and dribbled/shot hoops for an hour. Man, I can really tell the difference in my left hand dribbling so far, it's very exciting! I was so excited I probably didn't do quite as much dribbling specific stuff as I should have but instead I practiced some high post moves from the elbow facing up towards the basket: faking a pass then shooting or faking the shot and dribbling hard and then sometimes reversing to the other hand. It's not seamless atm, but I think maybe that's where I can generate my own offense since I can also transition to the low block from there if I have a good matchup for post moves.

Anyway, I shot FTs and they were ridiculously awful - I stopped keeping track but it was below 50%, for some reason I was shooting them with different technique so I stopped. I did shoot 25/37 from 15-18 feet at the 5 "stations" which I believe is the best I've ever done on that. So it's not like my shooting was off in general.

I also found I was able to dribble hard to the left without looking at my dribble some of the time. Which is encouraging b/c it used to be all of the time when practicing unless I looked down at some point. Oh, and I ate:

6/27 log

Went to Casa del Cha and his GHR was already installed. I F'd around on that a bit. Between him, his training partner Brian, and myself, I am proud to say I was the only one whose calves didn't seize up while using it. Cha has the excuse of 'being old' and having adhesion trouble but I asked Brian why he doesn't SMR his calves more and he's like "I do sometimes...you know....after they start seizing up" lol. Anyway....

Did bench deload. I guess I can mention the #s but meh. Much more interesting is that I was using Cha's ab roller and found I could do several reps properly without it killing me (he was impressed) even though I still can't do a blast strap fallout.

I bought his ab roller for $5 and intend to ab roll at the gym starting in cycle 3.

Also, he went over my RDL form and decided putting more weight on the bar would make it look more normal, lol. We decided I shouldn't add dips to my program due to potential shoulder issues but instead I will do close grip bench press. And split squats, and ab rolling, and something else I can't remember atm?

I did some rumble rolling there - think maybe I should get one.

Oh and I did 10 intervals on his treadmill. I've never had that much trouble repeatedly catching my breath. I think it took ~22 minutes and I had to watch WNBA during it. Hill sprints I've been doing on real hills takes more out of me but JFC I could barely breath after doing short intervals of level 10 at incline 12. Also, Brian just laughed at me whenever I complained, lol.

Diet for the day looked like this: I had a couple homemade cookies so I dno what but I added some calories, w/e. I think I actually need to go back and change things to be 100% accurate but I also had a different salad without cheese or pinenuts when I got home so it evens out imo..

6/28 log

Did some SMR and then mobility then LBBS deload. I did do RDLs with more weight as Cha suggested and definitely felt like that's the way to go. I didn't go too hard on them but it was good to try it out at I think 50lbs more and know that it wasn't too hard and my hammies are a bit sore today so I think it was hitting them. This is what I ate:




For Cycle 3 I'm thinking of actually switching assistance up and doing this programming, any thoughts? (not sure anyone reads my log anymore tbh anyway ):

OHP 5/3/1
Close grip bench press with ~40-50% of my targeted bench 1rm for the cycle
pullup/chin/neutral (alternating sets) at BW x 4x13
BB Bicep Curls 45lbs x 10 x 5
Hill sprints

DL 5/3/1
Box squats x 2-3 x 8-12 for power - 50-60% of my targeted 1rm
Pull-throughs at stack weight x 10 x 5
Ab wheel x ? x 3

Bench 5/3/1
DB bench at ~35 x 10 x 5
Face pulls at ? x 10 x 5
Ripplebro tricep curl ? x ~8 x5
Hill sprints

LBBS 5/3/1
RDL at ~50% at my target DL 1rm x 6-8 x 5
Split squats at BW x 5-10 x 5
Ab wheel x ? x 3

6/29 log

Went to the gym to do dribbling and shooting drills but ended up playing 2v2 and 3v3 for about a solid hour. I still either can't seem to pace myself well or am not in elite cardio shape for bball. The first 2v2 game my team won and I was able to play with a lot of energy. Then we went to 3v3 and admittedly we got the worse of the 2 new players, but we lost I think 3 additional pickup games. It turned out I need to try and carry more offensive load but I just kind of was too tired. Doing offensive stuff takes so much out of me since it usually involves pounding the ball down low or dribbling around looking for a way to drive. I probably should have shot more mid-range shots but I wasn't shooting well and was out of rhythm. Meh, still though I played pretty well and for sure I seem a lot bigger and stronger in general. I can't just get pushed around by guys who are normal "big man" size for pickup. On the other hand, I can't fly around forever grabbing all loose balls and doing tons of stuff all over the place without getting tired.

7/1 log

DL week 1, cycle 3 (target 315)

185x5
215x5
240x11 (1rm est: 332) - previous rep max at this weight was 9 during cycle 1

My big work set was pretty slow as the belt wasn't comfortable and so I ditched it after about 4 reps. Plus a cleaning woman passed right in front of me, too close to the bar imo for me to continue lifting without waiting a few extra seconds. But still, I did get the 11 reps I wanted.

Pull-throughs
57.5lbs x 10
87.5lbs x 10
97.5lbs x 10
105lbs x 10 x 2 (high as the stack goes)

Box Squats
120x3x2
135x3x7
135x2x3

I definitely was slower on the last few sets, mainly on the 3rd rep so I just did 2 reps for them. 135lbs is more than the 50-60% Cha recommended I think but it seems it needs to be a bit heavier or when I explode up the bar ends up jumping off my shoulders too much and/or my feet leave the ground. Maybe I'm not supposed to continue to power up and just power up at the bottom? Any tips?

Ab wheel
x8
x6x4

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

My g/f did (174 target):
102.5x5
117.5x5
135x10 (180)

Box squats: 65x3x11
pullthrough - 27.5 (I think) x 10 x 5
Front planks with 10 lbs on her back x 15sec x 5

The more I use my rumble roller, the more I like it. I seem to get more done in way less time as compared to the PVC pipe.

RDL weight - certain exercises are better for certain rep ranges imo. I think RDLs should almost always fall into the 5 - 8 range, and I really like doing 5 rep sets a lot.

One thing that appears to be lacking as I look over your program - I dont see any rowing at all. You could add some type of rows to any/all of the DL, bench & OHP days. fwiw, if you want to do an exercise with higher reps & lower weight, its fine to do that with most types of rows (not barbell, but cable or DB are good at higher reps) imo.

The pulling for each session, Face-pulls, pullups, pullthroughs, and RDLs, isn't enough pulling? I guess I'll replace facepulls with DB rowing then. Neither of us want to add any more stuff overall.