Rimduglep Gets Better With Age

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

About halfway through, I got honest on deads and backed off on the 1RM estimation. The truth is that before 531, my deadlifts weren't correctly done and were never explosive. I need to focus on that part pf the movement. I did finish the 5 X 10, though, so yea. I also went up to 5 X 12 on ab wheel. Woo.

159.4 today. Woo.


Deadlift:

120 5
140 5
170 3
180 5
200 5
215 5
125 10
125 10
125 10
125 10
125 10

Ab Wheel:

12
12
12
12
12

[rimduglep]

Thinking about food a lot these days. It's a strange feeling, having conquered physical hunger as well as I have at this point. I do have a lot of mouth hunger though, if that makes sense. I generally make a point to fit in things that I want, particularly on the weekends... However, it's been a long time since I've just said screw it and ate everything in sight. I'm thinking about an epic cheat day of some sort as a celebration when I'm finally done shedding body fat... And then right back to my normal diet with a peanut butter sandwich here and there until I'm gaining two pounds a month, all the way back up to 15%... We shall see.

I'm quitting diet soda at some point here. After two months, I'll reward myself with some squat shoes.

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

This was embarassing. Why? Well, I thought I was having a great bench workout. Then I noticed I was looking at my squat weights. My squats are currently catching up to my bench, so as it turns out I wasn't doing enough weight. I noticed that when I went to log things. To punish myself and get my volume to where it needed to be for the workout, I threw in an extra heavy set after my volume sets. Ouch. Still, a pretty good workout in my opinion. 159.6.

Bench:

65 5
85 5
95 3
105 5
125 5
135 8
85 10
85 10
85 10
85 10
85 10

Row

130 9
130 9
130 9
130 9

Oops Bench

155 3
170 fail
160 1

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

With all due respect to the lifting gods... Screw my squat. My current plan is to call the squat a work in progress. I may post form videos of me trying to squat my bar and we'll see if I can make necessary form corrections, but I'm tired of my inability to get the form down holding me back from making progress on the lift that matches the progress I have managed to make on my other lifts. I'm tired of every squat workout introducing a new problem and I'm tired of feeling worthless every time I have a bad squat workout. So, I'm not giving up but I'm not eventhinking in terms of progressing on weights on the lift until form is perfect with just the bar. Then, with another five pounds. And on and on.

In the meantime, I'm going to the commercial gym with my wife once a week on Saturdays to basically do leg day on the machines. Press/extension/curl/calf raises and/or whatever it may take to approximate a squat workout. I have a feeling I'll see a lot more progress in my lower body if I'm actually able to consistently add weight... Which I will be able to do, for quite a while if I don't have to worry about keeping this tight while keeping this up and looking here on the floor and breaking here but not there and keeping wrists flat and breathing deep and exhaling here and pointing toes out this far and pulling the bar across the back and spreading the floor with my feet and staying on my heels and bouncing off the calves and keeping the torso upright and and and...



Squat:

65 5
85 5
95 3
105 5
125 1
125 1
20 5
25 5
30 5

Ab Wheel

12
12
12
12
12

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

Not bad. Getting there on chinups. 163.4.




OHP:

40 5
50 5
60 3
70 3
80 3
90 3
50 10
50 10
50 10
50 10
50 10

Chin Up:

10
8
8
7
6
5

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

Pretty good, pretty good. I'm glad I went down on deadlift. Ab wheel was rough.

Deadlift:

120 5
120 5
145 3
170 3
190 3
215 4
120 10
120 10
120 10
120 10
120 10

Ab Wheel:

12
12
12
12
12

[Flounderbout]

With all due respect to the lifting gods... Screw my squat. My current plan is to call the squat a work in progress. I may post form videos of me trying to squat my bar and we'll see if I can make necessary form corrections, but I'm tired of my inability to get the form down holding me back from making progress on the lift that matches the progress I have managed to make on my other lifts. I'm tired of every squat workout introducing a new problem and I'm tired of feeling worthless every time I have a bad squat workout. So, I'm not giving up but I'm not eventhinking in terms of progressing on weights on the lift until form is perfect with just the bar. Then, with another five pounds. And on and on.
2

This is one approach. But I personally think sometimes you have to just screw the form with squats and start piling on the weight. As long as your form is not absolutely horrible, most of your form issues will sort themselves out as the numbers go up, just becuase you get stronger. By which I mean that a 130 squat may have rotten form, but by the time you have horrible form with a 220 squat your form on the 130 squat will be great. I honestly believe that sometimes perfect can be the enemy of good with squats. Others will disagree, YMMV etc.

Also if your squat is lagging you are not doing yourself any favours by running an intermediate program with squats once a week. It is a way of avoiding your worst lift, and you don't sort out squatting by squatting less.

I know you have struggled with progress, but hell you stick at it. If you really want to see progress though, I would do a simple 5x5 squatting 3x per week, and video every single set. Throw it up in here, and people will help you. You will be pushing 2pps within a year, and the difference you will see in your progress will be startling. Just my $0.02.

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

I'm ready to go back and go heavier.

Leg Press

Wt Reps Sets
90 8 1
130 8 1
170 8 4
170 15 1

Leg Extension

Wt Reps Sets
75 8 1
105 8 2
105 12 1

Calf Raise

Wt Reps Sets
90 12 1
120 12 2
120 12 1

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

This went alright, I suppose. Not great though as my AMRAP set was a disappointment. You'll have that. As for row, I spaced it and put 125 on the bar rather than 130. I caught it on the last set and went AMRAP there as well.

Bench:

70 5
90 5
110 3
125 3
145 3
160 2
90 10
90 10
90 10
90 10
90 10

Row:

125 9
125 9
125 9
130 12

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

First week with the new order of days. This went pretty well - I feel like I'm getting more explosive on the heavier sets now and I feel like my stamina is building up on the 5 X 10s, too. Good stuff. The ab wheel has been feeling good lately and I'm ready to add another rep to the sets in Cycle 4.

Deadlift:

120 5
120 5
145 3
180 5
205 3
230 3
120 10
120 10
120 10
120 10
120 10

Ab Wheel:

12
12
12
12
12

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

This went pretty well except for the weird grinding sound in my neck on the last couple of sets of 5 X 10 OHPs. I think I'm going to stick at this training max for now and maybe raise my 5 X 10s by 5 pounds for next cycle. Chin ups went really well and I added a rep to my total. 158.8. New low for this phase.

OHP:

40 5
50 5
60 3
75 5
85 3
95 2
50 10
50 10
50 10
50 10
50 10

Chin Ups:

10
9
8
8
7
3

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

This went well and yeah, can't wait to get back there and continue to move up. 157.4 this morning.

Leg Press

Wt Reps Sets
110 8 1
170 8 1
210 8 4
210 16 1

Seated Hamstring Curl

75 8 1
105 8 1
135 8 3

Leg Extension

Wt Reps Sets
85 8 1
125 8 2
125 10 1

Calf Raise

Wt Reps Sets
100 12 1
130 12 2
130 14 1

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

This went fairly well. I have to say, I'm surprised that rows are going as well as they are after this weight loss. As far as the bech, it went alright. I'm having trouble with my unracks and I think that may be hurting me a bit on my AMRAP sets. I have probably also lost a bit of strength since I weighed 190 at the start of November. Not too bad though.

Bench:

70 5
90 5
110 3
135 5
155 3
170 1
90 10
90 10
90 10
90 10
90 10

Row:

130 9
130 9
130 9
130 9

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

Deload deadlifts. Felt good. Got rubbery toward the end. Hamstrings nice and pumped. Ab wheel was rough, lemme tell ya.


Deadlift:

120 5
120 5
145 3
120 5
120 5
145 5
120 10
120 10
120 10
120 10
120 10

Ab Wheel:

12
12
12
12
12

[shaneinga]

Nice progress in here. Still trucking along with the 531 and dropping weight along the way. Good job!

I need to try the ab wheel again, last time I did though it popped my back and about crippled me. LoL.

It definitely gave me a new respect for that ab wheel, it is not as easy as it looks. Keep it up man!

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

Well, this went pretty well. No grinding sound on the OHP and I think I got my hips under it correctly for a better base as I didn't tire toward the end like usual. We shall see when the new cycle starts next week and I'm back into the proper 5/3/1 progression. As far as chin ups go, I finally got a second ten rep set in and thus was able to add one rep to my total. Come on 50 reps in five sets, I want it... I want to earn that weighted vest, heh.

OHP:

40 5
50 5
60 3
40 5
50 5
60 5
50 10
50 10
50 10
50 10
50 10

Chin Up:

10
10
8
8
7
3

[rimduglep]

Nice progress in here. Still trucking along with the 531 and dropping weight along the way. Good job!

I need to try the ab wheel again, last time I did though it popped my back and about crippled me. LoL.

It definitely gave me a new respect for that ab wheel, it is not as easy as it looks. Keep it up man!

Thank you.

Yeah, the ab wheel is crazy. So sore, heh. I have heard it's really good for the transverse abs, which have a big role in holding in the distended looking stomach that comes with anterior pelvic tilt... So I chose that as my ab exercise. When I get a weighted vest, I'll begin using that while doing the wheel as well.

Deload weeks do seem to help on 5/3/1, even though I'm a bit weaker than I should be while doing an intermediate program. I really feel like this program is yielding better visual results for me than past programs. We shall see when I take pictures whenever I decide I'm done trying to lose. I'm headed up to my parent's house on Lake Michigan so I'd like to get an obligatory shirtless beach picture. I'll be scrawny but I won't look like a skinny fat mess for once in my life.

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

I went up on everything. I am going to continue doing that until I can't, but I also need to increase the range of motion on the leg presses next time.

Wt Reps Sets
130 8 1
190 8 1
250 8 4
250 18 1

Seated Hamstring Curl

90 8 1
145 8 2
145 9 1

Leg Extension

Wt Reps Sets
90 8 1
135 8 2
135 16 1

Calf Raise

Wt Reps Sets
100 12 1
140 12 3

Ab Wheel:

12
12
12
12
12

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

Done with that deload week. Good. Rows were enjoyable.

I ate a lot of food yesterday. I weighed 165 when I woke up this morning. Ha. Time to finish this cut.


Bench:

70 5
90 5
110 3
70 5
90 5
110 5
90 10
90 10
90 10
90 10
90 10

Row:

130 9
130 9
130 9
130 9

[rimduglep]

Overhead Impression:

These went pretty well. I really do think that my legs are starting to develop quite a bit more between the new leg day at the gym and the deadlifts at home. I think that the shape is coming out a little on my quads, but the true test will be the end of the cut and then beyond into the start of the slow bulk. I still have to do my ab wheel tonight or tomorrow.

Deadlift:

120 5
120 5
145 3
155 5
180 5
205 6
130 10
130 10
130 10
130 10
130 10

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

Ouch.

Ab Wheel

13
13
13
13
13

[rimduglep]

Yesterday, 159.8.

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

I have opted to do my 5 X 10's a bit heavier in order to get more volume in. I'm able to do them just as well. As far as the heavy set on OHP, well... What do you expect on a cut that is well in to the seventh month now? Chin ups felt good and I added one.

In other news, I'm gearing up for company softball for the first time.

Overhead Press:

40 5
50 5
60 3
65 5
75 5
85 4
55 10
55 10
55 10
55 10
55 10

Chin Up:

10
10
8
9
7
3

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

I went up on everything again, but leg press are finally getting harder. This is in part due to the fact that I increased the range of motion.

Leg Press

150 8
210 8
270 8
270 8
270 8
270 8
270 8

Leg Extension

90 8
145 8
145 8
145 12

Seated Hamstring Curl

95 8
150 8
150 8
150 8

Standing Calf Raise

105 12
145 12
145 12
145 12

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

Well, the heavy bench set sucked but hey... I think I'm getting the hang of having my head off the bench and it is helping me keep tightness. I went up in weight on my volume sets. Rows went well, too.

My glutes are deliciously sore from yesterday's leg press. Woo.

Bench

70 5
90 5
110 3
115 5
135 5
155 2
100 10
100 10
100 10
100 10
100 10

Row

135 9
135 9
135 9
135 9

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

Hey, it was an ab wheel session. It didn't hurt as much - maybe I have finally headed. I was able to get lower, so yea. In other news, my wife shaved my chest and back and I am reminded that I'm still more doughy than I would like to be. Onward.

Softball practice was cancelled. Damn it all.

Ab Wheel

13
13
13
13
13

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

This went pretty well. Sweaty. I am definitely building up my stamina, if not my strength.

Deadlift

120 5
120 5
145 3
170 3
190 3
215 4
130 10
130 10
130 10
130 10
130 10

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

There's that good old fashioned ab-tearingly painful ab wheel session that I know and love. Ouch.

Ab Wheel

13
13
13
13
13

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

This went pretty well, all things considered. I am feeling stronger on the 5 X 10s and I think that visual results are bearing this out, in a way. Chin ups also went pretty well - added another rep to the total reps and felt stronger for longer.

Overhead Press:

40 5
50 5
60 3
70 3
80 3
90 3
55 10
55 10
55 10
55 10
55 10

Chin Up:

10
10
9
8
7
4

[rimduglep]

Overall Impression:

Finally getting somewhere, but I should throw quite a bit more weight on the leg extensions... I shouldn't be able to do 16 reps on that final set. Woo.


Leg Press

160 8
230 8
280 8
280 8
280 8
280 8
280 8

Leg Extension

110 8
160 8
160 8
160 16

Seated Hamstring Curl

100 8
155 8
155 8
155 8

Standing Calf Raise

110 12
150 12
150 12
150 12