That sounds like a desirable option.

Sunday December 17 – 140.9 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W2D4 – Bench Rehab

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

Bench – 10x45lbs, 2x5x65, 2x8x85, 3x5x95, 2x5x105
DB Rows – 3x10x25lbs

OHP – 5x10x45lbs
DB Hammer Curls – 2x15x20lbs
DB Curls – 2x15x20lbs

2050 cal/191 carb/75 fat/178 protein/35 fibre

Dec 11 – Dec 17 Daily Averages: 141.0 lbs/15.3% bf/2261 cal/190 carb/85 fat/196 protein/7:21 sleep

Still pussy footing around with bench but slowly starting to add a little weight back on. Might switch it to 5/3/1 on the next cycle but will probably scale back TM. Elbow has been not so bad lately for the most part. My butt and hips were pretty sore yesterday and today following DL and bbb squats.

Monday December 18 – 141.4 lbs

Rest day
90min massage

1934 cal/169 carb/82 fat/158 protein/44 fibre

Massage was well timed. Everything is super tight, especially my lower back, though she did comment that my left arm was noticeably better compared to the last appointment.

Tuesday December 19 – 141.5 lbs

Rest day

1904 cal/178 carb/62 fat/171 protein/29 fibre

Generally tired and still surprisingly sore everywhere. Feels like it has been a while since I managed to line up two back-to-back rest days and these ones came at a good time.

Wednesday December 20 – 141.8 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W3D1 – OHP TM 90

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

OHP – 2x5x45lbs, 5x70, 3x75, 5x85, 8x70
Facepulls – 5x15x20lbs

Bench – 10x45lbs, 5x10x67.5
Pullups – 5x6

1985 cal/191 carb/60 fat/199 protein/41 fibre

I got up at 6am to get my training done before work and managed to get everything done in under an hour and fifteen minutes, including the stretching and core work. I dropped weighted chins and added facepulls and bw pullups. I might move weighted chins to bench day and superset them with the bbb OHP. I can add a bit more weight to the facepulls and I might add weight to the pullups as well. I should have taken a vid of my last OHP set as it felt pretty sketchy on form. I’m not sure I will be consistent throughout but for most lifts I seem to be doing back-off sets of 3x8 in week1, 3x5 in week 2 and 1 amrap set in week 3. From what I can tell I am not supposed to do any back-off sets on bbb but who actually does any program exactly as written?

Had to get into the office early today and have a kids Christmas concert after work tonight so I will likely push Thursdays workout to Friday and forego a back-to-back rest day week again.

Thursday December 21 – 141.4 lbs

Rest day

2017 cal/214 carb/75 fat/145 protein/40 fibre

Friday December 22 – 140.8 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W3D2 – Squat TM 230

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

Squats – 10xbw, 2x10x45lbs, 2x6x95, 5x135, 3x155, 5x175, 3x195, 2x215, 6x220, 10x175

RDL – 2x8x45lbs, 2x8x95
Block Pulls – 5x95lbs, 5x10x120
Hanging Knee Raises – 5x15

Supermans – 3x10
Situps – 3x10

2658 cal/259 carb/93 fat/219 protein/49 fibre

I intended to get up and workout first thing in the morning and then go into the office for a few hours. Instead I stayed in bed until 9am then lazed around for a few hours while enjoying a couple coffees, procrastinated some more and then eventually got around to working out sometime in the afternoon and took a pass on venturing into the office at all. I had what must be one of my worst squat sets ever with a real mental block going heavier than 215 pounds. I did a couple reps at 215 ahead of the last set as I didn't want to jump from 195 all the way to 220. 215 felt very heavy. 220 felt pretty brutal and I almost got stuck on the 4th rep but wobbled out a couple more ugly reps after. I tweaked my back a bit in the process and left a couple in the tank on the back-off set.

Nice grind.

If 10% jumps in weight are too concerning mentally, maybe consider the high volume 5/3/1 template (as delineated by CWS):

Those percentages are of your actual max, not your training max, but other than that it's the same idea. You could get the same effect by adding 5x70% and 5x80% of your TM into d1, and so on and so forth. Extra squatting practice can't really hurt.

Seems like 5/3/1 would be better for nearly everyone if it was 75/80/85, 80/85/90, 85/90/95 or similar. Only the 3rd week would be a little weird, and only when the weight got heavy enough that you only expected to get 1-2 reps at 95%.

If you're wobbling out a coupe reps and tweaking your back...you're doing it wrong.

Regardless of the programing you're doing, you want to maintain decent form during all your work sets. Far better to stop at the 3rd or 4th rep then to push for more reps that have form breakdown resulting in injury. If you're worried about shorting the work load, do another set of 3 or 4 good reps.

Thanks Monte. I do like the idea of slipping an extra set between the 2nd and 3rd sets for squats. I find jumping from 3 reps on set 2 to amrap on set 3 in weeks 2 and 3 tough as well so might consider using 5's progression. Only concern there is too much volume as I have already found bbb to be pretty exhausting.

I can see how that tweak would be helpful, especially for weeks 1 and 2 as weights get heavier.

I definitely did it wrong yesterday but did not feel any major tweak during the lift so kept going despite knowing my form was crap. I did 8x210 just a few weeks ago with no problem other than scraping some depth off. I think the issue was largely mental. My back is pretty tight this morning but I think it is okay. I will stop earlier the next time my form feels that terrible though.


I should go work out right now but I suspect I am going to enjoy some procrastination again today. This session will be my last planned bench rehab day and it will slot back into 5/3/1 for the next cycle. Probably at a scaled back TM.

Saturday December 23 – 141.7 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W3D3 – Bench Rehab

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

Bench – 10x45lbs, 2x5x65, 2x8x85, 2x5x95, 2x5x105, 2x3x115
DB Rows – 5x10x25lbs
DB Hammer Curls – 5x12x25lbs

OHP – 5x10x45lbs
NG Chins – 5x5 +25lbs

38:26 walk, 1.95 miles, +25lbs

2396 cal/208 carb/83 fat/216 protein/41 fibre

My left elbow was just starting to get a bit sore as I started OHP and chins. When doing weighted chins fresh I was doing 5 sets of 6 but I dropped a rep to help with my elbow today. I could have done a 6th on the first couple sets but I doubt I could have eeked out another on the last couple sets. I think I am safe to do stop the rehab stuff on bench and pick it up again. I’ll just have to take care on top sets and not push reps depending on how things are feeling. Hamstrings and glutes are super sore today, as tends to be the case on the day following my 5x10 DL/block pulls. I finally got out for a walk with my backpack on for the first time in over a week. Temperatures have been nasty cold. The first half of the walk felt good to stretch my hamstrings a bit but with the amount of snow I was walking through my legs didn’t enjoy the second half so much.

Sunday December 24 – 142.3 lbs

Rest day
34:49 walk, 1.93 miles, +25lbs

2528 cal/209 carb/114 fat/185 protein/36 fibre

Dec 18 – Dec 24 Daily Averages: 141.6 lbs/15.7% bf/2203 cal/204 carb/81 fat/185 protein/7:32 sleep

+/-/+500 cals for a couple minor Christmas Eve pig out sessions. Weight has been ticking up over the past couple weeks while recorded cals are barely above maintenance. There is a decent chance I have been under recording some Christmas season nomzies.

Monday December 25 – xxx lbs
5/3/1 C2W3D4 BBB – DL TM 240

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

RDL – 2x8x45lbs, 8x95
DL – 5x95lbs, 5x125, 5x180, 3x205, 2x215 4x230, 3x230, 5x195, 8x165
Planks – 5 x 50secs
Supermans – 3x10
Situps – 3x10
Squats – 10xbw, 2x10x45lbs, 5x95, 5x10x115

35:51 walk, 1.71 miles, +25lbs

2483 cal/257 carb/85 fat/184 protein/44 fibre

Was hoping for a couple more reps on the top DL set but bailed while setting up for rep 5. Did a few more reps after a short rest. Grip and hands were an issue. Things felt generally okay pulling from the floor. Went for another backpack walk later in the day in a pile of fresh snow which was far more challenging than it should be.

Tuesday December 26 – xxx lbs

Rest day
35:07 walk, 2.0 miles, +25lbs

2509 cal/175 carb/139 fat/151 protein/29 fibre

Wednesday December 27 – 143.9 lbs
5/3/1 C3W1D1, High Volume 3/5/1 BBB – OHP TM 95

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

OHP – 2x5x45lbs, 3x55, 3x65, 3x70, 3x75, 3x80, 4x85, 3x5x65
NG Chins – 5x8xbw
Facepulls – 3x15x25lbs

Bench – 10x45lbs, 5x55, 5x10x70
DB Curls – 3x12x25lbs
Pullups – 3x5

2562 cal/212 carb/106 fat/206 protein/38 fibre

For this cycle I am switching to a 3/5/1 protocol and adding in some extra volume by adding a couple extra work sets with a 5% jump between the regular work sets a la Monte’s CWS suggestion. I plan to do PR sets in weeks 1 and 3 only and plan on 3x5 back off sets in weeks 1 and 2 and just one AMRAP back-off set in week 3. I will tinker with this on a lift by lift or day by day basis as needed. I set Bench TM at 125lbs but am using 55% for the BBB supplemental work and sticking to 50% for all the other supplemental lifts.

For my next cycle I plan to set it up as a strength block with only 1 extra work set and will use SST for the supplemental work. I plan to run two cycles of BBB as a hypertrophy block and one cycle of SST as a strength block, then rinse and repeat.

I wasn’t able to get a 5th rep on OHP today which I figured would be there with all my extra Christmas cals. Apparently poor technique and weakness cannot always be overcome by eating like a pig. My estimated 1RM for OHP was actually up in cycle 2 while both DL and Squat dropped slightly.

Thursday December 28 – 142.4 lbs
5/3/1 C3W1D2, High Volume 3/5/1 BBB – DL TM 260

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

KB Swings – 3x12x16kg
RDL – 8x45lbs, 8x95
DL – 5x95lbs, 5x125, 3x155, 3x175, 3x190, 3x200, 3x215 6x225, 5x195, 5x175, 5x165
Hanging Knee Raises – 5x15

Squats – 10xbw, 2x10x45lbs, 5x95, 5x10x120
Supermans – 3x10
Situps – 3x10

2606 cal/229 carb/101 fat/210 protein/44 fibre

I may have to rethink this level of volume. That workout took a lot longer than I will typically have time for. I did a lot of the core and stretching work ahead of the session to give the bar some time to warm up inside as I was a bit concerned that my hands would freeze to it, so I could have shaved some time by fitting all that into rest periods. I added a few sets of light swings as a warm up for the deadlifts as my coach trainer dude wanted me to add some speed work for pulls. I managed to tweak my back a little while unloading weights from the bar after DLs. That is how we olds roll. I was happier with the reps on the top set of DL today but did have some lower back rounding going on which probably did not help my back at all.

Friday December 29 – 143.5 lbs

Rest day
25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff
KB Swings – 3x20x16kg

2631 cal/245 carb/98 fat/213 protein/44 fibre

I wanted to get out for another weighted walk but it has been below -20C and pushing -30C with wind chill which is a bit much for me. Thought about hopping on the elliptical or rower for a bit but found an excuse other than extreme cold to not do that either. I started the restocking process on my wardrobe today seeing as though not a single one of my suits fits anymore and all my belts were starting to resemble Renton’s lifting belt. Suits, belts, shirts, ties, boots, broke. I also need to round up a pile of stuff that isn’t quite so huge on me that it can still be altered and bring that in when today’s stuff is ready for pick up. Another session with the trainer coach dude tomorrow morning and I think we are going to work on squats.

Saturday December 30 – 142.6 lbs
5/3/1 C3W1D3, High Volume 3/5/1 BBB – Squat TM 240

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

With coach trainer dude:
Squats – 10xbw, 10x45lbs, 8x45, 8x115, 5x135, 5x3x170, 6x170
Leg extensions – 3x8x70lbs, 8x80
Pistol Squat to box – 4x6xbw

At home 20mins later:
Squats – 3x190, 3x205, 4x215

RDL – 2x8x45lbs, 8x95
Block Pulls – 5x95lbs, 5x10x125
Supermans – 3x10
Situps – 3x10

2737 cal/203 carb/91 fat/251 protein/28 fibre

Worked on squat depth as I tend to cut it short on later reps and higher weights. The coach is trying to get my eyes up quite a bit from where I tend to naturally gaze which is pretty close in front of me. He thinks my stance is wider than it needs to be but he left it alone for today. I did a few heavier sets of squats when I got back home and sacrificed some reps for some depth. I was pretty bagged after everything, grabbed a bite and a nap followed by more food and another nap.

Sunday December 31 – 142.0 lbs
5/3/1 C3W1D4, High Volume 3/5/1 BBB – Bench TM 125

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

Bench – 10x45lbs, 5x65, 5x75, 3x90, 3x95, 3x100, 3x105, 10x115, 3x5x95
KB Rows – 5x10x16kg
DB Hammer Curls – 3x12x25lbs

OHP – 5x10x47.5lbs
Fat Grip Pullups – 4x6

And that does it for 2017. First non-rehab bench session in two or three months. Left arm is feeling okayish for the most part.

For whatever it's worth, I was having left arm issues for part of last year (mostly at the proximal portion of my bicep tendon); more barbell pressing and less bro-y assistance lifts and arm work seems to have helped me a fair bit. Lol sample size caveats and all that obviously apply.

My issue has been at the distal end and I never figured out whether it was the bicep or tricep despite seeing a physio therapist. Switching to upper/lower and only doing upper stuff twice a week seems to be helping and i have to keep the upper accessories down a bit and just be generally smart about not doing too much stuff, which tends to be difficult. I do snitch curls every now and then just in case they are magic and I do some dumbell curls to help push some blood through the area. Otherwise I have to be a bit of a pussy with my benching which comes pretty naturally fortunately.

Sunday Macros - 2541 cal/176 carb/98 fat/181 protein/39 fibre

Dec 19 – Dec 31 Daily Averages: 142.9 lbs/15.7% bf/2581 cal/214 carb/103 fat/199 protein/7:33 sleep

I enjoyed eating this week so maybe it is time for a slow bulk. Or maybe recomp maintenance is best. I will definitely do one of those. Maybe.

I do not have any lofty H&F goals for 2018. My main goal is to keep working out consistently which I find challenging enough between kidlets and work.



I would just like to keep improving my general health and fitness level, aesthetics and strength while avoiding any major injuries.

On a lift by lift basis my next milestones for each are as follows:
Bench - get back to 135lbs, then hit a bw bench and 150. 175 seems like a bit of a pipe dream at this point but I haven't crossed 200 off my lifetime goals yet.
OHP - get back to 85lbs, then work my way to triple digits
Squat - Don't break my back, 250 for reps, then 275. 300 seems like a stretch but I haven't crossed 3 plates off my lifetime goals yet.
DL - Don't break my back, 250, 275, 300 or 2xbw whichever comes first

Week	avgWght	avgBF%	avgCals	avgCarb	avgFat	avgPro	AvSleep	Bench	Squat	DL	OHP	Push	Chins
1. Jan30-Feb5	155.5	21.6	2209	209	64	208	-	12x65	10x50	6x75	10x47.5	360	251
2. Feb 6-12	155.3	21.7	2321	248	92	226	6:54	12x70	10x75	6x75	10x50	450	266
3. Feb 13-19	155.6	21.8	2002	172	70	180	7:29	10x85	10x95	7x75	10x55	450	284
4. Feb 20-26	154.8	21.5	2099	194	71	174	7:49	10x95	11x105	8x75	10x60	525	317
5. Feb27-Mar5	154.9	21.6	2106	173	75	186	7:12	10x105	10x120	7x95	10x65	525	338
6. Mar 6-12	154.2	21.3	2185	169	86	160	7:24	9x115	10x135	5x135	10x67.5	450	328
7. Mar 13-19	155.2	21.3	2114	187	78	173	7:19	10x120	10x140	5x145	8x72.5	525	334
8. Mar 20-26	155.1	21.4	2055	179	72	182	7:40	7x127.5	8x150	6x155	7x75	600	340
9. Mar 27-Apr2	153.3	20.8	1887	166	64	170	7:24	7x130	6x160	5x165	5x80	600	355
10. Apr 3-9	153.0	20.4	1857	148	63	180	7:24	5x135	5x170	5x170	F 82.5	600	339
11. Apr 10-16	154.0	20.7	1879	153	65	179	7:06	F 137.5	F 175	5x175	9x72.5	675	378
12. Apr 17-23	153.0	20.6	1829	146	64	174	6:31	9x122.5	8x165	5x180	7x75	675	363
13. Apr 24-30	152.6	20.4	1769	151	59	169	6:29	8x125	6x175	5x185	6x80	675	375
14. May 1-7	152.2	20.0	2350	174	86	177	6:33	6x130	5x180	4x190	5x82.5	675	362
15. May 8-14	151.8	20.1	1878	158	60	180	7:39	6x132.5	7x170	5x190	5x85	675	376
16. May 15-21	151.5	19.9	1918	146	65	174	6:51	5x135	6x180	4x195	9x75	675	387
17. May 22-28	149.4	19.2	1951	157	69	172	5:41	7x125	5x190	4x195	6x80	750	386
18. May29-Jun4	149.6	19.1	1883	136	67	174	7:12	6x130	6x175	5x195	5x82.5	750	386
19. June 5-11	149.2	18.9	1877	145	66	169	6:50	5x133	10x170	5x200	5x84	750	425
20. June 12-18	148.0	18.6	1865	134	74	180	-	5x135	9x180	5x205	5x85	750	418
21. June 19-25	147.2	18.2	1745	126	66	160	-	5x135	8x185	5x215	F 86	750	449
22. Jun26-Jul2	145.9	17.9	1647	115	57	168	5:57	5x135	8x185	5x215	5x85	582	353
23. July 3-9	147.4	18.1	2181	141	83	188	6:15	F 135	9x185	5x205	5x85
24. July 10-16	146.9	17.4	2108	125	93	177	6:20	-	-	3x205	-	-	-
25. July 17-23	145.3	17.6	1625	133	65	140	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
26. July 24-30	145.1	17.1	2071	142	81	148	-	8x115	9x175	5x175	5x75	-	-
27. Jul31- Aug6	145.0	16.8	2177	163	86	178	6:06	9x115	9x175	5x175	6x75	120	36
28. Aug 7-13	144.3	16.8	2164	168	83	185	6:53	7x120	8x180	5x195	7x77.5	-	24
29. Aug 14-20	143.8	16.7	1969	155	75	178	7:20	7x122.5	9x185	5x195	6x80	-	25
30. Aug 21-27	144.1	16.8	2008	156	78	172	6:40	7x125	8x192.5	6x195	6x80	-	14
31. Aug28-Sep3	144.0	16.7	1933	143	79	175	7:26	5x127.5	7x195	5x200	5x83.25	-	14
32. Sept 4-10	144.2	16.8	1831	154	69	160	7:37	7x125	5x200	3x200	5x83	-	30
33. Sept 11-17	143.3	16.7	2063	131	90	181	7:02	7x126	5x200	5x200	5x83.5	-	30
34. Sept 18-24	143.4	16.4	1964	161	74	181	6:32	7x127	5x200	4x205	5x82.5	-	15
35. Sep24-Oct 1	143.2	16.1	1907	138	81	172	6:45	5x128	5x205	5x195	8x77.5	-	27
36. Oct 2-8	142.5	15.9	1997	165	79	179	7:51	9x117.5	5x210	6x195	5x80	-	13
37. Oct 9-15	143.2	15.8	2022	169	76	183	7:39	8x120	5x212.5	6x205	5x82	-	134
38. Oct 16-22	142.5	15.8	1789	121	72	183	7:40	-	5x215	6x205	5x83	155	23
39. Oct 23-29	142.1	15.8	1924	154	72	183	7:58	-	9x195	6x205	5x84	85	99
40. Oct30-Nov5	140.8	15.5	1761	142	63	168	7:37	-	7x195	5x215	F 85	120	14
41. Nov 6-12	140.4	15.3	1795	132	67	180	7:45	-	7x210	5x225	6x77.5	60	111
5/3/1
42. Nov 13-19	140.2	15.0	2145	184	75	195	6:52	12x107.5	9x195	8x195	6x77.5	-	99
43. Nov 20-26	139.5	15.0	2157	177	78	204	7:30	12x85	8x200	6x205	7x75	-	40
44. Nov27-Dec3	140.6	15.3	2179	159	86	203	7:32	5x8x85	8x210	6x210	5x80	-	18
45. Dec 4-10	140.3	15.2	2167	175	79	206	6:50	5x10x65	9x195	6x220	8x75	-	30
46. Dec 11-17	141.0	15.3	2261	190	85	196	7:21	2x5x105	8x205	7x215	4x85	-	30
47. Dec 18-24	141.6	15.7	2203	204	81	185	7:32	2x3x115	6x220	4x230	5x85	-	43
48. Dec 25-31	142.9	15.7	2581	214	103	199	7:33	10x115	4x215	6x225	4x85	-	79

There is the 2017 data bomb.

After taking the last four months of 2016 off babying some sort of back injury I got off my arse towards the end of the first week of January and started back up with body weight work. I ran GSLP for most of the year and switched to 5/3/1 in early November.

I struggled a bit with problems with my left elbow/arm from the end of June through to the end of the year but seem to be getting that under control. I tweaked my back and neck a few times during the year but nothing worse than having to rejig some rest and workout days - no missed workouts overall due to any injury. I did take one week off just being lazy following a week long out of town trip in July and have not yet gotten back to my press numbers since.

DL switched to block pulls in week 39 and back to DL again in week 46. I was generally happy with the squat progress though I would like to tighten things up and need to work on depth on later reps. I was generally unhappy with the big stall and steps back on upper lifts and am curious to see if I can push those forward in 2018.

Monday January 1 – 142.7 lbs

Rest day

1915 cal/196 carb/57 fat/170 protein/32 fibre