Thanks Aidan.

Deload week makes me lazy. It takes me longer to walk to the gym than it does to finish my workout and I don't have much drive to get there. I skipped press day yesterday so did press and deadlift together today. I supersetted these and the entire workout took me 15 minutes. I think my goal on deload days will be to get through the workout as fast as possible.

Press Day + Deadlift Day - C2W4. 04-02-2013

Warmup
None


Press
5x59
5x76
5x93

Deadlift
5x152
5x186
5x220

Bench Day - C2W4. 04-04-2013

Warmup
None


Bench
5x85
5x105
5x125


Kroc Rows
1x80

Don't normally do assistance on deload week, but I wanted to see how one max out set felt for Krocs. Gonna start with 85 next month. Also, deload week is boring as hell

Squat Day - C2W4. 04-04-2013

Warmup
None


Squat
5x152
5x181
5x220

Yawn.

On to Cycle 3!

New Training Maxes:
Squat - 370 (+5)
Deadlift - 375 (+10)
Bench - 210 (+5)
Press - 150 (+5)
BBB sets - 70%

The BBB sets are gonna be brutal, especially for squats and to a lesser extent press.

Press Day - C3W1. 04-08-2013


Warmup
None


Press
5x100
5x115
5x130
5x10x105 (70%)

Felt so ****ing awesome to bang out those BBB sets! I averaged 7.5 minutes rest between sets, which is high. However, I'd rather rest and succeed than rush and fail. I wasn't confident that I could hit the required reps, so I'm quite happy


Chinups
I hit 28 reps today, with a few cheats towards the end. I'm not improving that much on chins, but I'm not really putting in a ton of volume either.

Deadlift Day - C3W1. 04-09-2013 (This was yesterday)

Warmup
None


Deadlift
5x245
5x285
5x320
5x10x262.5 (70%)

My legs were getting nice and wobbly during the BBB sets. Overall a damn solid workout and tougher than I expected. My back is exhausted today, got DOMs in the erector spinae. I'm going to spend tonight doing some foam rolling.


Hanging Leg Raises
No idea how many I did but I'm finally getting the hang of these.


Here are my first 2 sets of deadlifts. Any critiques are welcome:

Bench Day - C3W1. 04-11-2013

Warmup
Full foam roll and lax ball routine from Cressey's video. Haven't done a warmup in awhile but I didn't really feel any trigger points. It's nice to be young


Bench
5x140
5x160
5x181
5x10x147 (70%)

During my 3rd BBB set I felt a pinch in my lower shoulder on my left arm. I'm pretty sure this is related to a reoccurring injury that I've had for 3 years now that was caused by falling on my shoulder during a flag football game. I've self diagnosed it as upper biceps tendonitis. I'm not too worried about it but I'll ice it tonight.

I barely got my final rep up on my final BBB set. The shoulder issue didn't help, and I also only waited 3-5 minutes between sets, which is much lower than my other exercises.

Kroc Rows
22x85 for each arm.

Going to try 90 next week. I dropped an 85 on my pinkie as I was re-racking. Luckily I didn't lose a finger but it hurt like hell.


Here's my 5/3/1 bench sets for today. I think bench is my least technically sound lift, so any advice would be much appreciated!

Squat Day - C3W1. 04-12-2013


Warmup
None


Squats
5x245
5x280
5x320
5x10x259 (70%)

Had some knee cave on my 5x320 - I need to try harder when shoving my knees out.

The BBB sets were tough as hell. My form started breaking down towards the end, and I barely got my last rep up. My abs actually started collapsing before my final rep and I could barely stand with the bar at lockout. That was a new and interesting feeling... However, I prevailed!

My low back was sore after all of this, but its fine now. I think most of it can be attributed to my form breaking down at the end. I'll need to monitor this going forward.

I didn't do any extra assistance because I simply didn't feel like it. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it or antyhing, I squatted over 15,000 pounds today! woohoo


Well, that's the end of the first week of 70% BBB sets. I also find the 5/5/5 week of 5/3/1 to be the hardest week (followed by 3/3/3 then 5/3/1). Hopefully, it will get easier from here on out. I honestly didn't think I could get 5x10x70% for the press and the squat, so I'm pumped about these results. Meeting some friends tonight and going to the sox game tomorrow, hopefully all the booze won't hurt my recovery too much

Press Day - C3W2. 04-15-2013


Warmup
Foam roll and lax ball the legs and upper back


Press
3x105
3x120
3x135
5x10x105 (70%)

These went well. The BBB sets felt stronger than last week. Took some vids today as well which are pasted below.


Chinups
50 reps (PR!). I have no idea where this chinup strength came from as my old PR was something like 27. I spent a good 10-15 minutes after my BBB sets hanging around doing chinup singles in order to hit 50. My next step will be to hit 50 reps using less sets. It took me 25 sets today.

Press videos (3x120 and 3x135). Critiques welcome:

I'm starting to get really sore .

My legs are still sore from squats 4 days ago, and my right hamstring is very tight and uncomfortable. I haven't had much luck fixing this with SMR either. In addition, the elbow pain in my left elbow is starting to make a return, and my forearm is particularly tight right where it meets the elbow. My low back is also getting exhausted much quicker than normal.

I think I'm probably just not eating enough at this point of the BBB challenge. I've basically been eating at maintenance or slightly over for the past 3 months (+3lb bw during that time frame). I don't want to put on weight so I'm planning on just gutting it out and reevaluating my program after the next 2 weeks. As fun as BBB is, it might be time to take a step back. Could be a good time for a cut.

Walked 5 miles yesterday. It was tough. Walked over to the Boston Marathon finish to meet my dad and I heard the explosions when I was about 10 minutes away. I scoped out the area and walked back home. I'm thankful that my dad didn't happen to be 10 minutes earlier or I may have been in the blast area.


Deadlift Day - C3W2. 04-16-2013


Warmup
None


Deadlift
3x265
3x301
3x340
5x10x262.5 (70%)

The BBB sets on deadlift have quickly become very tough. A definite #2 in difficulty behind squats. I think I was unnecessarily focusing on a bunch of little form tweaks here, and it ****ed with my head. My form was still good, but on a few reps I lifted with my back instead of my legs. My back was never rounded, at least.


Hanging Leg Raises
Finally have the form locked down on these and they're feeling good. No idea how many I did, maybe 25 reps. I kinda just go until failure, which doesn't take too long.


My right hamstring is still really tight. It's low on the hamstring, right above the knee. It's not painful or too bothersome, but I'd like to loosen it up before Bench day in two days.

Bench Day - C3W2. 04-18-2013

Warmup
None


Bench
3x150
3x170
3x190
5x10x147 (70%)


These went extremely well. The BBB sets were a piece of cake, and I had to keep recounting the weights to make sure it was really 70%. These were my easiest BBB sets I've ever done. I focused on engaging my lats more on the liftoff, and also was able to hold my breath for 8-10 reps without exhaling. Both of these things probably helped. Feeling real strong today.


Kroc Rows
24x90 (right hand)
22x90 (left hand)

95 comes next week.


Not all was well and good this week. For the second week in a row, the dumbbell pinched my pinkie as I tried re-racking it. It's so ****ing difficult to safely rack a heavy dumbbell since I need to squat down, get my hand under the upper level of dumbbells, and then fit the dumbbell into a space it barely fits in.

This week, I wasn't so lucky. I thought I was fine, re-racked the dumbbell correctly and safely on my 2nd attempt, then realized I was bleeding everywhere. Thankfully my gym has a paper towel dispenser so I was able to grab some towels and cut off the bleeding. Then I spent a good 5 minutes wiping my own blood off the floor and off the dumbbell.

Here is the injury. I don't think this will affect me for squats tomorrow since I don't really use my fingers, but I'm very concerned about deadlifts next week. I need to be able to squeeze the **** out of the bar.
(Warning: NSFW):

Squat Day - C3W2. 04-20-2013


Warmup
None


Squats
3x260
3x301
3x340 (This should have been 335. Oops)
5x10x259 (70%)

I got pretty drunk last night in honor of Boston catching the bombing suspect. Turns out the city wasn't as lively as I would have thought. I also only got 6 hours of sleep. Despite this, my lifts felt strong and the BBB sets weren't as grueling as last week. It's funny, I always think the gym will suck after a long night of drinking, but I pretty much always perform better. This goes against all logic, but it is what it is.

I decided to cut my BBB reps at parallel as opposed to going ~3 inches below. I've kinda been squatting too deep lately. Going below parallel is fine for my low-rep sets, but it causes complications when doing 10 reps - such as losing extension in the lower back on the later reps.

I was in a rush. No extra assistance today.


Finger is healing up nicely, although it still hurts to bend it. The tightness in my hamstring went away a few days ago.

I was out of town this weekend and my diet pretty much sucked. I also ran out of protein powder so I didn't hit my protein targets either. The bright side is that this is basically my only dietary slip-up in 5-6 months.

Press Day - C3W3. 04-22-2013

Warmup
Extensive foam roll and lax ball session (Cressey's). Still sore from Squats on Saturday.


Press
5x115
3x130
1x145
5x10x105 (70%)

Feeling good. The 145 went up slow, but steady. BBB sets were pretty easy.


Chinups
50 reps across 18 sets.

I hit 50 in 7 fewer sets than last week. Nice progress.



In addition to lifting I walked 3 miles after this workout. My pinkie finger still hurts to bend and doesn't have much mobility, so deads may be tough tomorrow.

Deadlift Day - C3W3. 04-23-2013

Warmup
None


Deadlift
5x286
3x320
1x360
5x10x262.5 (70%)

These were exhausting, but not too difficult. I tweaked my form a little today and I think it helped. I kinda rolled my wrists over the bar once I took my grip as opposed to just keeping them straight. It was between 'neutral' and 'flexed' in the picture below. Is this acceptable/preferable?




Hanging Leg Raises
I'm pretty good at these now. I basically did 5x5 (give or take a few reps).

Bench Day - C3W3. 04-25-2013

Warmup
None (Although I did walk about 2 miles before getting to the gym)


Bench
5x160
3x180
1x200
5x10x147 (70%)

200 is a pretty nice milestone to hit! These were all pretty easy. I rested 3 minutes between BBB sets, which is very low compared to my other lifts.


Kroc Rows
24x95 (right hand)
23x95 (left hand)

Probably could have got 1-2 more reps on my right hand, but this exercise was putting a ton of stress on my busted finger. 100 is next, which also happens to be my gyms heaviest dumbbell =\

Squat Day - C3W3. 04-26-2013


Warmup
Started cramping in my left quad on the walk to the gym. I quickly rolled out both quads and IT band.


Squats
5x280
3x315
1x355
5x10x259 (70%)

I felt so strong today. Great workout. The 1x355 flew up with ease. I was expecting to struggle since 1x350 was a real grind a few weeks ago. Progress! The BBB sets were grueling as usual, but nothing too bad.


Lunges
3x10x50 (per leg)

I decided to treat myself to some lunges since I was having such a great day.

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

That's it! I've completed Wendler's Boring But Big Challenge. Although, to make it official, I'll need to finish deload week next week. I'm feeling very accomplished right now. So far, I've put on 4lbs of weight, and have seen amazing gains in both strength and hypertrophy. My waist is getting a little slimmer, too.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do from here. I may continue doing BBB and up the sets to 75% of my training max, but I'll give it a week to mull it over and see how much I want to torture myself. I'm hoping to start cutting within the next few months, but I'll switch off BBB when that starts.

Congrats! Will you be doing some 1rm testing after your deload?

Thanks. The deload week is just the standard 4th week of 5/3/1, nothing special. I'm going to just bump squat/press/bench up by 5lbs and deadlift up by 10lbs. I currently have no plans to do any 1rm testing in the near future. Maybe before I begin my cut, but that's (most likely) a few months away.

I've had that same thing happen while re-racking heavy dumbbells.

Deload Week.


Press Day - C3W4. 04-29-2013
5x59
5x76
5x93

Some chins


Deadlift Day - C3W4. 04-30-2013
5x152
5x191
5x225

Some hanging leg raises


Bench Day - C3W4. 05-03-2013
5x88
5x110
5x132

Some chins


Squat Day - C3W4. 05-03-2013
5x152
5x185
5x225


End of Cycle 3.

So I decided that I will be switching off of my BBB routine and going on a cut. I've detailed my plan below:


Current weight: 220
Current BF%: 20-22%
Goal weight: 205
Goal BF%: 15%


I won't be counting calories or anything. That's too much work and not really needed. My diet has been very consistent for the past 6 months and I've only gained at most 4 pounds during that span. All of this weight gain occurred during the final 2 months of my BBB challenge, and is likely all muscle. I'll consider my diet to be pretty much at maintenance.

In order to cut, I'm going to change my diet by switching out heavy shakes in the morning (2.5 scoops whey, whole milk, banana, spoonfull of peanut butter) with a simple shake of 2.5 scoops whey and some water. That should save me a few hundred calories. I like the idea of only changing 1 thing in my diet. It's almost like an on/off switch for dieting.

In addition, I bought a weighted vest and my goal is to walk 5-10 miles a week with an extra 60 pounds. This should help me burn calories and also get me into good shape.

Finally, I will be cutting down on my alcohol intake. No more beer. I'll stick with my go-to drink of jack and diet coke, but I'd like to make the switch to vodka+diet tonic water if I can.

I'm going to monitor my weight and strength and adjust my diet if needed. Above all, I don't want to lose strength.



I still need to do some more research on the best 5/3/1 assistance template to use, but at the very least I will start going AMRAP on my last 5/3/1 sets of the day. I'm probably going to stick to a simple assistance template that won't burn me out. I'm hoping to hit my goal after 3 cycles (12 weeks).


I'm going to bump my training maxes up for the next cycle since I feel like I've already "banked" that strength, but I probably won't be increasing my maxes once my cut begins.


In short
• Remove a few hundred calories from morning shake
• Hit > 200g protein per day
• Walk a few miles per week in a +60 pound vest
• Make healthier alcohol choices.
• Don't push the progression on 5/3/1


New Training Maxes:
Squat - 375 (+5)
Deadlift - 385 (+10)
Bench - 215 (+5)
Press - 155 (+5)

Think about working in the walking slowly over the first week or two. When I started, my calves got pretty tight at first and I had to do a lot of mobbing in the area.

I decided on the Triumvirate assistance template. Here's what my workouts are going to look like:

Monday:
5/3/1: Press
Assistance: Chin-ups, Dips (Never done these before, may need to change if my shoulders don't like it)

Tuesday:
5/3/1: Deadlift
Assistance: Hanging Leg Raises, Good Mornings

Thursday:
5/3/1: Bench
Assistance: Kroc Rows, DB Military Press

Friday:
5/3/1: Squat
Assistance: Lunges, Leg Curls (I'll do GHRs instead of leg curls if my gym has a GHR station, but I don't think they do)

Press Day - C4W1. 05-06-2013

Warmup
Extensive foam roll and lax ball session (Cressey's)


Press
5x105
5x120
6x135
Estimated 1RM: 162, Last Week: NULL, Difference: 0


Chinups
50 reps spread across 16 sets. This beats my previous PR by 2 sets.

Dips
6, 5, 6, 4, 4

My goal was 5x10 but that didn't happen. I got burnt out after these sets. I didn't experience any pain in my shoulder, so I may be built for dips. I'm gonna give it a few more tries to see what happens.