McFadden's Log Round 2 - 531 edition

[mcfadden47]

Hey guys,
"Quick" intro. Reading it isn't necessary so if it's too longwinded for you no worries

Some of you guys may remember me. For those that don't I was a 275+ sub junior lifter in the IPF's Ontario branch. At the time when I was posting frequently my life revolved around lifting and getting bigger and stronger. My peak was late 2009, best lifts being 505/330/495. Life's thrown a few curveballs my way in the last year or two. I started seeing a girl steady back in December 2009, and my focus really turned away from lifting. Problems in school continued despite her helping hand and I ended up a drop out. Summer 2010 we had a pregnancy scare and I scrambled to find full time work. Found a job with the local hardware company, delivering drywall. This beat the **** out of me. Plenty of overtime and busy, exhausting workdays ensured that I had little time or energy for training. Unsurprisingly my gym performance went way down, but nevertheless I think this was the best thing to happen to me. Few months into the job I was in great shape, developed A LOT of "functional" strength, and my weight was down quite a bit, to 260 from 330. Once I got accustomed to the heavy workload(and the seasonal work slowed down a bit) I was able to eat like a pig, put some of the lean mass I lost back on, and while my bf% was still relatively high, it had improved greatly from where it was and stayed that way. Once winter came along I had the chance to really hit hard in the gym and get my strength back. My lifts had dropped, but not all that much considering the lack of consistent training. 420/315/445. Plenty of room for improvement but not horrible. From then to now I didn't bother with any real programming, just did what I felt like. As long as I walked into the gym and busted ass I was happy. Got my numbers up a bit, 470/345/475. In January I proposed to my old lady and, luckily, got the answer I was looking for. My priorities shifted again, but I still trained consistently. I was laid off in March, and with my source of cardio gone I started flabbing up again. In light of this, and to help support my girl in her weight loss journey, I decided to start shedding the weight and get back in top shape.
(Not so quick hahaha)

I've been (relatively) strong, I've been functionally fit. Now I want the best of both worlds. I want to be in good enough shape again, and I want to be as strong(and stronger) as I was in my lifting prime. The dieting aspect is irrelevant to you all and I won't post any of it. The strength/conditioning is the subject of this log. I figured Wendler's 5/3/1 would be an appropriate choice for these goals, and the simple, baby-steps approach would help give me direction again.

[ChecksandGiggles]

Good luck, big guy. You ever thought about doing Strongman?

[mcfadden47]

Alright folks, let's get started. I wanted to start with boring but big, but decided I should ease into the work load, gotta get used to the heavy conditioning first. Went with the triumvirate to maximize efficiency. Schedule looks like this:
Monday-Bench
Tuesday-Conditioning(Hill sprints)
Wednesday-Deadlift
Thursday-Conditioning
Friday-OHP
Saturday-Conditioning
Sunday-Squat
I know the idea of heavy cardio before dead/squat training seems like madness, but these are the days I have time for it and are most comfortable doing it. In addition to the hill sprints I also do LOW INTENSITY cardio every morning, in the form of a 1-mile run.

Okay, on to the first day. Bench press, following Wendler's 90% rule of course. "Max" 310.
Warmup with empty bar followed by 40-50-60%.
Set 1-200X5
2-235X5
3-265X5+...Got 10 reps on this one, each rep being surprisingly easy until the 7th or so. Feel as though I could have gotten a couple more and still had a few left in the tank when I finished, but nobody was around to spot me so I played it safe.

For assistance I do a 1-3(all my fat ass can muster) rep set of chins in between my pressing sets in addition to my two triumvirate picks. The added chins are to address a long-overdue muscle imbalance between my pecs/delts/tris and my upperback/lats.

My two excercises are:
Dips, 5X10, with a significant forward lean. Machine assisted(for now) with an 80lb counter balance. Was 60lb but this wasn't doable into the later sets.

DB rows, 2X10(warmup), 1X10+, kroc row style. Sadly the highest dumbell my current gym has is 100lbs so these aren't super effective, may end up switching this excercise for another mid-cycle. Got 20 reps with each hand with lots left in the tank but I wasn't even beginning to strain so I stopped.

Not a bad start at all. Workout was quick, efficient and actually FUN. Out of curiosity I used Wendlers 1rm calculating formula and using the 10 reps I got(and I could have gotten at least another 2 or 3) and it puts my bench at 355! Maybe my listed max is a bit outdated, especially since I'm well known for my terrible "repping ability".

[mcfadden47]

Good luck, big guy. You ever thought about doing Strongman?

Thanks man!

Yes, I started dabbling in it when I was still really lifting-focused but at the time I didn't have the conditioning and didn't care enough to try and get it. Now that I'm working on both I think strongman is definitely in the cards a few months down the road.

[mcfadden47]

Deads 90% 425
Warmup
275X5
320X5
360X12!

Assistance Work
Goodmornings
2X10@185-These didn't feel hard enough.
3X10@205-Good weight. Thought about bumping to 225 but decided against it.

Crunch machine? -decided to give this thing a whirl
1X20@140-machine's whole stack, weirdly easy.
2X20@140+a bunch of those little weights you add to the stack.
2X20@187.5-as many of those weights as would fit without limiting ROM.

Cheated the triumvirate and added in some (much needed) upperback/grip work.
Shrugs
1X10@225
1X10@275
1X15@315


Pretty satisfying night overall. Don't feel too much weaker despite losing ~12lbs so far. Very proud of my all-out set once again. I've ALWAYS been ****ty at doing anything over 5-6 reps with anything but granny weight, especially on deads, so my strength must be doing better than I realized. Must have not pushed myself adequately on my recent 1RM attempts? Gotta learn to grow a pair all over again I guess.

[mcfadden47]

Press 90% 205
Warmup
135X5
155X5
175X10

Assistance
Chins -narrow parallel grip
1X3 between each press set, plus one before warmup/after last set.

Shrugs
1X10@225
4X10@275

Dips -machine assisted
1X10@80 counterweight
1X10@60
1X10@40

Pretty pleased with today, though once again I could have gotten more reps on my last set. For some reason I subconsciously stopped after 10 reps on the bench and press. Guess I stop as soon as I hit my "projected" number of reps?

[mcfadden47]

Squat 90% 425
Warmup
275X5
320X5
360X7

Assistance
Leg press
5X10@630

Goodmornings
5X10@185

Did adequately but wasn't really feeling it so I didn't push myself much. P.s. I suck A$$ at leg pressing, but still somehow managed to impress everyone present in my pathetic gym. Load 330 on the bench and crank out a quick double and no one bats an eye, load granny weight on the legpress and people are gawking and coming over to making comments? Hahaha, people are strange.

[mcfadden47]

Bench 90% 310
Warmup
215X3
250X3
280X8

Assistance
Chins -Machine assisted
1X10@100 w/wide overhand grip
2X10@80
3X10@80 w/medium overhand
3X10@80 w/medium underhand grip

Behind-neck DB Extensions
1X10@80 -too light
4X10@100

Better day today, stopped at 8 reps because form was getting a little bit sloppy. Did some extra chin volume today instead of doing rows. I liked this assistance work setup, think I'll stick to this for at least another cycle or two.

To anybody reading, how much success have you guys had with Boring But Big? Thinking about experimenting with it after a couple cycles. Any opinions?