Becoming a Bull with Betancourt Bullnox and Test-HP

[jshaw5]

i mean how do you decide where to start.. say my 1rm is 405.. if i was gonna do this type of workout where would you start?

How much can you hit for 5? If you're 1RM is 405, I'd guess your 5RM is somewhere around 345-350. It's good to lowball your starting point to ease into it, so I would probably start intensity day somewhere around 330-335x5. For your first volume day, it's good to ramp up instead of jumping right into 5x5, so I'd probably do 275/280/285/290/295x5 for the first volume day, then 285x5x5 on your second volume day. If you shoot me your email, I'll send you some more info on the program.

[browguy808]

Thanks bro. Bench has always been the toughest lift for me to progress on. I only really started to make progress when I was gaining a ton of weight (getting fat af) last bulk. Surprisingly, it was probably the lift I retained the most on throughout my 10+ month cut, but now it's the only lift that doesn't seem to be building back up now that I'm eating at a (small) surplus. I'm mirin the hell out of that 385 bench, how long did it take you to go from say like 275 to 385 and what kind of programming were you running?

My first milestone was 350 and it was easy.....but at that time I was sitting at 235lbs and strong as hell. Getting my bench up with injuries has taken me a long time, but Ive noticed that my bench shoots up if Im focusing on a bigger bench. My training now is really different ranging from crossfit, Olympic lifting and strength. Now that Im sitting inside of 205lbs, I still retain a little strength, but like you said....the more weight you have on, I feel it makes your strength go up. Ive been cutting for a contest for the past 11 weeks or so, so my strength has definitely dropped. Once this competition is over, Im looking to put back on 5-10 quality lbs and hover in the 195-205lb weight range. If I can keep my bad shoulder healthy enough to go for 400, I will in the next year or so. As far as programming goes, I just ran some wave loading percentages with 6 weeks on and a deload week on week 7. Ive never really followed any programs out there, I just modify different types of training to tailor my needs.

[jshaw5]

Ive noticed that my bench shoots up if Im focusing on a bigger bench.

This is actually something that has crossed my mind and is probably at least part of the problem. I'm still relatively new to lifting, so I still have a bit of a novice mindset, especially when it comes to progressing all the lifts. When I first started, all of my lifts were progressing quite well, though bench was a bit slower. I think as I get more advanced, it will become more difficult to progress on everything at once. At this point, even though I'm trying to progress everything, my programming focuses mainly on squats, which are progressing quite well, but maybe that's using up all of my resources and not leaving anything for bench.

I've been dealing with some kind of muscle strain or something in my ribs, so I had to skip my oly session this weekend, which really sucks because the weather was amazing. On the bright side, I finally got around to working on my platform. It's still not completely finished, but it actually looks like an actual platform and not just a stack of plywood and stall mats. The center piece is an off cut piece I had picked up cheap when I was just planning to make it 4x8 instead of 6x8. It will work for now, but I'll eventually replace it with a full piece.



Fortunately the muscle strain is feeling better now, so it didn't interrupt my volume day this morning.

Texas Method – Volume Day – Week 13

Squat
45 lbs x 5 reps
105 lbs x 5 reps
165 lbs x 3 reps
225 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 1 rep
295 lbs x 5 reps x 3
300 lbs x 5 reps x 2
Wasn't sure if I was gonna bump the weight or not, decided to do one set of 295 and see how it felt. The first one was a bit rough, but each set got better, so I decided to bump the weight for the last 2 sets.

Bench
45 lbs x 10 reps
95 lbs x 5 reps
135 lbs x 3 reps
165 lbs x 2 reps
190 lbs x 5 reps x 5
Giving TM one more shot on bench before I start exploring other options, this time doing a bigger reset. I dropped the volume 15 lbs, and I'm going to drop ID back to 215x5.

Halting Clean Deadlifts
135 lbs x 2 reps
185 lbs x 2 reps x 2
205 lbs x 2 reps x 3
Same as the clean segment deadlifts, except the only pause is at mid-thigh. These looked better in the mirror, though I wish I remembered my camera so I could see how they looked from the side.

[browguy808]

Hope that strain goes away brah!

[MattRage]

How much can you hit for 5? If you're 1RM is 405, I'd guess your 5RM is somewhere around 345-350. It's good to lowball your starting point to ease into it, so I would probably start intensity day somewhere around 330-335x5. For your first volume day, it's good to ramp up instead of jumping right into 5x5, so I'd probably do 275/280/285/290/295x5 for the first volume day, then 285x5x5 on your second volume day. If you shoot me your email, I'll send you some more info on the program.

check cp... hope the strain gets better bro

[extremenergy3]

As everyone else said, get well soon.

That deadlift platform looks sick!

[jshaw5]

Hope that strain goes away brah!

Thanks man. It's getting better, though it was a little tender this morning after lifting and playing softball yesterday.

check cp... hope the strain gets better bro

Thanks. I'll shoot you an email later today.

As everyone else said, get well soon.

That deadlift platform looks sick!

Thanks bro. I've bought most of the materials quite a while ago, but then I changed my plans for how big it would be, so everything sat for a while (I still did cleans on top of the stack lol). I'm still planning to put another layer of plywood under the top layer, and a proper piece for the center, but it's at least functional now

[jshaw5]

I keep forgetting to log my recovery day workout lol. This was yesterday.

Texas Method – Recovery Day – Week 9

Squat
45 lbs x 5 reps
105 lbs x 5 reps
165 lbs x 5 reps
215 lbs x 5 reps x 2
Quick and easy. In and out of the gym in ~15 minutes. Went home and did some bodyweight stuff and some mobility work.

[LiftToLive19]

I keep forgetting to log my recovery day workout lol. This was yesterday.

Texas Method – Recovery Day – Week 9

Squat
45 lbs x 5 reps
105 lbs x 5 reps
165 lbs x 5 reps
215 lbs x 5 reps x 2
Quick and easy. In and out of the gym in ~15 minutes. Went home and did some bodyweight stuff and some mobility work.

Quick, but effective! Bet this helps the legs feel healthy and fluid. I work in quick leg days once a week as well. Gets the body right for my heavy work later on in the week!

Also digging that DL platform! Hope that strain of yours gets better. No need to push through excessive pain...the biggest thing to lifting is staying healthy!

[browguy808]

I keep forgetting to log my recovery day workout lol. This was yesterday.

Texas Method – Recovery Day – Week 9

Squat
45 lbs x 5 reps
105 lbs x 5 reps
165 lbs x 5 reps
215 lbs x 5 reps x 2
Quick and easy. In and out of the gym in ~15 minutes. Went home and did some bodyweight stuff and some mobility work.

Short and sweet is the way to go sometimes!

[jshaw5]

Texas Method – Intensity Day – Week 13

Squat
45 lbs x 5 reps
105 lbs x 5 reps
165 lbs x 3 reps
225 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 1 rep
315 lbs x 1 rep
355 lbs x 5 reps
Absolutely brutal, thought about racking it after 4, but said screw it. Sunk them deep too.

Bench
45 lbs x 10 reps
95 lbs x 5 reps
135 lbs x 3 reps
165 lbs x 2 reps
185 lbs x 1 rep
215 lbs x 5 reps
Reset back to a weight I knew I could hit for 5. I misgrooved a couple, especially on the decent of the last rep, so it was tougher than I expected, but I still had no problem. Felt good to hit all the reps I was shooting for for the first time in a while.

Deadlift
135 lbs x 5 reps
185 lbs x 3 reps
225 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 1 reps
325 lbs x 1 rep
385 lbs x 5 rep
These felt better than last week, and ties my all time 5RM (conventional) at like 20 lbs lighter.

Press
75 lbs x 5 reps
95 lbs x 3 reps
115 lbs x 2 reps
135 lbs x 5 reps
Decided to reset back along with bench. The weight itself wasn't too much of a challenge, but I struggled keeping everything tight, was shaking like a leaf lol.

[jshaw5]

Oly Day

Snatch
45 lbs x 2 reps
65 lbs x 2 reps
85 lbs x 2 reps
95 lbs x 2 reps
105 lbs x 2 reps
115 lbs x 2 reps
125 lbs x 2 reps
135 lbs x 1 reps x 5
Worked up to 125x2 no problem, then I put the big plates on and had a mental block for a bit. I just couldn't pull myself under the bar for like the first four attempts. I finally hit one where I just pulled it high enough so I barely had to pull myself under. After that, I got into a better groove, and only missed one (bailed off the back of my platform lol) of the next 5 attempts. I'm still relying on pulling it high rather than pulling myself under though.

Clean & Jerk
135 lbs x 1 rep
145 lbs x 1 rep
First attempt at a split jerk. Pretty ugly, didn't split very much, and just like my snatches, relied on pushing the weight up high instead of pushing myself under. I called it quits after a couple reps because my forearm was getting quite sore.

[jshaw5]

Texas Method – Volume Day – Week 14

Squat
45 lbs x 5 reps
105 lbs x 5 reps
165 lbs x 3 reps
225 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 1 rep
300 lbs x 5 reps x 5
Wasn't too bad, especially considering I wasn't feeling great after eating way too damn much over the weekend. It's just a guess since I didn't weigh anything like I normally do, but I probably hit over 5,000 cals on Saturday and over 6,000 cals yesterday. Yesterday I weighed 188.2, which was my highest weigh-in of the bulk by 1.6 lbs, then I topped that with 192.6 this morning lol. A day or two at my normal bulking cals should get rid of the bloat and bring me back in to the high 180's. I had to let the Inzer out a notch to make room for my bloated gut, but I've been approaching the point where the last hole is getting too tight anyway.

Bench
45 lbs x 10 reps
95 lbs x 5 reps
135 lbs x 3 reps
165 lbs x 2 reps
195 lbs x 5 reps x 5
My setup felt as tight and solid as it has in a long time. This was significantly easier than last week, even with the 5 lb bump. Now let's hope this carries over to ID.

[browguy808]

Nice video...for the snatch, the first pull off the ground should be slow. The second pull from above knee to hip crease is where all of the power is generated. When you start your first pull, where is the pressure located in your feet(front, back, ect....)?

[jshaw5]

Nice video...for the snatch, the first pull off the ground should be slow. The second pull from above knee to hip crease is where all of the power is generated. When you start your first pull, where is the pressure located in your feet(front, back, ect....)?

Thanks man. I know it should be control on the first pull and explode on the second pull, but it's hard to shake the mindset of just trying to rip it off the floor haha. I have a tendency to let my hips rise too quick and shift the weight onto my toes on the first pull. It's not as bad on snatch as it is on cleans, and it's getting better, but I still have room for improvement.

[browguy808]

Thanks man. I know it should be control on the first pull and explode on the second pull, but it's hard to shake the mindset of just trying to rip it off the floor haha. I have a tendency to let my hips rise too quick and shift the weight onto my toes on the first pull. It's not as bad on snatch as it is on cleans, and it's getting better, but I still have room for improvement.

Yeah its tough to keep in mind.....for me, it is hard to get used to because I always pulled from my heels for heavy deads. I did a massive amount of 135lb cleans last night and my first 10 was muscled up...then I slowed the speed down and focused on using the technique I was taught and it really made a difference. I give you lots of props for doing the Olympic lifts.....they are not easy by any means.

[jshaw5]

Texas Method – Intensity Day – Week 14

Squat
45 lbs x 5 reps
105 lbs x 5 reps
165 lbs x 3 reps
225 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 1 rep
315 lbs x 1 rep
360 lbs x 3 reps
Warmups felt solid, but everything felt off on the top set. They really don't look too bad on the video, but they felt awful under the bar. I'm pretty confident that I could smash 360x5 next week, but I'm just gonna stick to the plan, drop to triples and keep adding weight.

Bench
45 lbs x 10 reps
95 lbs x 5 reps
135 lbs x 3 reps
165 lbs x 2 reps
190 lbs x 1 rep
220 lbs x 5 reps
These felt nice and solid, about the same difficulty as 215 last week. I'd have to go back and look, but I think this is the highest I've hit for 5 reps since I started TM again. I've been back to ring finger on rings, plus I'm not tucking my elbows quite as much, definitely noticing the difference.

Deadlift
135 lbs x 5 reps
185 lbs x 3 reps
225 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 1 reps
315 lbs x 1 rep
355 lbs x 1 rep
395 lbs x 5 rep
All time 5 rep PR. Possibly felt a little easier than last week too.

Press
75 lbs x 5 reps
95 lbs x 3 reps
115 lbs x 1 reps
140 lbs x 5 reps
Felt solid, again possibly a little easier than last week.

[LiftToLive19]

Great stuff bro! You're putting together a really solid workout program. Keep it up!

[jshaw5]

Great stuff bro! You're putting together a really solid workout program. Keep it up!

Thanks man, things have really been going quite well for me lately, especially if this is a sign that my bench is finally on the move too.

[jshaw5]

I had a crazy 4 day weekend, doing chit around the house, fixed chit, doing yard work, refinishing a deck, dad's birthday, etc. Skipped my oly day on Saturday, and I didn't even have time to squeeze in Volume Day yesterday, so I ended up doing that this morning instead.

Texas Method – Volume Day – Week 15

Squats
I skipped these today, like 2-3" above my left knee is swollen and sore. I had a softball game last night, made a pretty sweet diving catch, but I might've slammed my leg on the ground. I didn't notice any swelling or pain until a couple hours later, but I can't think of anything else that could've caused it. I'm sure it's nothing serious, but bending my knee didn't feel too good last night or this morning.

Bench
45 lbs x 10 reps
95 lbs x 5 reps
135 lbs x 3 reps
175 lbs x 2 reps
200 lbs x 5 reps x 5
Not starting my workout with squats kills my motivation, I had no desire to be at the gym. To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that the past couple weeks have made it feel like my bench is finally responding to the programming, I probably would've skipped this and called it a deload week, especially after all the manual labor over the weekend. Despite the lack of motivation, and the fact that I didn't even bring my bag (no wrist wraps, no oly shoes), I still bumped the volume up 5 lbs and knocked it out with no problems.

With no squat volume, I'm probably going to just work up to some heavy singles rather than go for a typical intensity day. Bench, deadlifts, and press intensity will progress as usual.

[LiftToLive19]

I do not mean to scare you, as this probably isn't the case anyway...but, a sign of a torn meniscus is swelling the day after you think you may have done it and problems with range of motion. It's good that the swelling is a bit above your knee though. Could just be a bruise.

Keep on pushing my man. We all lose motivation to get into the gym sometimes. If you can push through those times and get your work in, you will be happy after the fact, as you benefitted your body and overall health.

[MattRage]

digging the videos.. you better look after those injuries and be careful

[jshaw5]

I do not mean to scare you, as this probably isn't the case anyway...but, a sign of a torn meniscus is swelling the day after you think you may have done it and problems with range of motion. It's good that the swelling is a bit above your knee though. Could just be a bruise.

Keep on pushing my man. We all lose motivation to get into the gym sometimes. If you can push through those times and get your work in, you will be happy after the fact, as you benefitted your body and overall health.

Thanks man. I'm definitely keeping an eye on it, but I think it's too high to be the meniscus, plus it's definitely improved from last night. Also, the pain seems to be more consistent with smashing into something rather than pulling/straining/tearing something.

digging the videos.. you better look after those injuries and be careful

Thanks bro. Yeah I'm definitely keeping an eye on it, but I'm pretty confident that by the end of the week at the latest, the pain will be long gone.

[browguy808]

Keep an eye on that knee brah!

[jshaw5]

Texas Method – Intensity Day – Week 15

Squat
45 lbs x 5 reps
105 lbs x 5 reps
165 lbs x 3 reps
225 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 1 rep
325 lbs x 1 rep
365 lbs x 3 reps
Since I didn't squat on volume day, I was only planning on working up to a single at 365, see how it felt, and possibly doing another heavier single. 365 felt pretty good, so I said fukc it and went for a triple. It was tough, but I never doubted it.

Bench
45 lbs x 10 reps
95 lbs x 5 reps
135 lbs x 3 reps
165 lbs x 2 reps
195 lbs x 1 rep
225 lbs x 5 reps
Finally bench is moving. Last rep was a bit of a grind, but I got it. I was trying to look back through my history, I think the last time I hit at least 225x5 was last June when I was about 20 lbs heavier, still losing weight and still losing strength. I'm going to start doing 2.5 lb jumps now.

Deadlift
135 lbs x 5 reps
185 lbs x 3 reps
225 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 1 reps
315 lbs x 1 rep
365 lbs x 1 rep
405 lbs x 4 reps
These were tough as hell. My hands kept catching on my shorts on the way up, that didn't help, though I honestly don't know if I had another rep in me anyway. Still a 4RM PR though.

Press
75 lbs x 5 reps
95 lbs x 3 reps
120 lbs x 1 rep
142.5 lbs x 5 reps
A little tougher than last week, but still hit all my reps without any big grinders.

[LiftToLive19]

I still don't know how you do all those exhausting lifts in one day! I would roll over after the first two exercises.

Great stuff man! You push some good weight as well!

[jshaw5]

I still don't know how you do all those exhausting lifts in one day! I would roll over after the first two exercises.

Great stuff man! You push some good weight as well!

Thanks man. It's a brutal day no doubt, but when you make progress on all 4 lifts in one session, that's an awesome feeling

I'm finished with the Test-HP, and getting low on Bullnox I'll probably finish up this log next week.

[browguy808]

Nice to see your bench moving in the right direction!

[jshaw5]

Absolutely gorgeous day out today, so my workout doubled as a tanning session haha.

Oly Day

Snatch
45 lbs x 2 reps
65 lbs x 2 reps
85 lbs x 2 reps
95 lbs x 2 reps
105 lbs x 2 reps
115 lbs x 1 rep
125 lbs x 1 rep x 2
135 lbs x 1 rep x 2
145 lbs x fail
I realized halfway through that I had my camera on a chitty angle and couldn't see anything in my snatch videos, so I deleted them. My technique sucks, I think I need to put the full lift on hold and focus more on drills to get the feel for how things should go, especially on the third pull.

Clean & Jerk
135 lbs x 1 rep
145 lbs x 1 rep
155 lbs x 1 rep
165 lbs x 1 rep
175 lbs x 1 rep PR
185 lbs x fail
I feel the same way about my cleans in regards to getting the feel for a proper third pull. The jerk is the same way, I'm trying to press the bar up, rather than push myself under, and I don't think I'm splitting my feet near enough.



This has been the longest project ever, but my platform is almost complete. I finally picked up the remainder of the materials and put everything together. Structurally, all I have to do is fasten the mats on the side. I still need to decide what kind of finish I'm gonna put on the center section though.

[LiftToLive19]

Workout + bronzing session. Solid combo.

And holy crap, that platform is SWEET. How much will it cost you once it's completely finished?