NorthStrong's Training Log

[NorthStrong]

531 C4W2 Bench

Warm up, band work + chins, pushups, lots of stuff.
Plyo Pushups 3x2
Bench 145x3, 170x3, 190x7 PR
Floor Press 4x5 - 135
DB Incline 3x10 - 50s PR
Pullups - 75 total
Face Pulls 5x15 - 50
Band Pushdown 3x12 (purple band)
s/s
DB Curls 3x12 - 20s

Great session today. Was running off of very little sleep compared to normal so I popped a caffeine pill and felt alright. That is an all time PR E1RM for me on the bench! The first set was ****, and slow, if you can believe it lol, at 145. Then the 170 flew up and so did the 190x7! Floor pressing was interesting. Definitely slow off the bottom portion of it. 135 was not heavy enough for me, so I will up it to probably 155 for the next while. I think it'll help me.

Incline DBs were good, got a decent squeeze in the muscles, and they went up with good speed. Doing these palms facing each other, really hits the lower triceps I find, the part that Louie Simmons is always talking about, like the thickness near the elbow thing.

The rest of the assistance was cool, just went through them, and worked the muscles. Did bands on the pushdowns today and I will do these from now on as I get a far better triceps workout out of it, by having the increasing tension with the leverages improving. I also go light on the DB curls for the sake of not being an idiot swinging around DBS. Upped the frequency of direct bicep / tricep work to 2x/week, in hopes of me actually getting a bit of arm development over the next while. They're fairly pathetic as is.

Anyway that's all for today, very happy with how it went. Resting tomorrow and then I will crush some deadlifts on Thursday and get them out of that rut!

Damn bro, 285x7, I wouldn't be able to do that without getting full of lactic acid and passing out from being out of breathe hahaha. 5/3/1 rep out sets are definitely very humbling. I'm quite jealous actually, when I was at my last cycle of 5/3/1 before switching programs I was only at 308x4... you'll be smashing that in a few cycles

Haha the top sets are definitely hard but that's where you make the progress! I've always done sports and kept up with conditioning so the higher reps really don't kill me the way that they do for some other people just because I'm used to that kinda foolishness. Thanks.

[budreiser2]

big arms=big benches
what was your bench max when you started 5/3/1?

[SumPersonGuy]

Subbed!

We're about the same age and weight, and about the same strength levels. There may be battles/races in the future :P

[NorthStrong]

big arms=big benches
what was your bench max when you started 5/3/1?

Yep, that's why I am focusing on them for the next while. Bench max was 210, estimated from a set of 195x3.

Subbed!

We're about the same age and weight, and about the same strength levels. There may be battles/races in the future :P

Thanks man, sounds good, looking forward to it. Should probably avoid racing you on the bench though haha I just subbed to your log and it's way ahead of mine!

[baxtej44]

jealous of the pullups... maybe in a few months i'll be able to crank out more than 1 or 2 if i keep up on back work lol.

[NorthStrong]

jealous of the pullups... maybe in a few months i'll be able to crank out more than 1 or 2 if i keep up on back work lol.

The main thing with pullups and bodyweight things I find is to just do whatever you can, very frequently. Like multiple times throughout each day.

[baxtej44]

i should just start doing a bunch of singles or 1.5's or doubles every time i lift.

[NorthStrong]

i should just start doing a bunch of singles or 1.5's or doubles every time i lift.

For sure, and do them between sets of things, just accumulate a bunch of volume that way!

[SumPersonGuy]

Yep, that's why I am focusing on them for the next while. Bench max was 210, estimated from a set of 195x3.



Thanks man, sounds good, looking forward to it. Should probably avoid racing you on the bench though haha I just subbed to your log and it's way ahead of mine!

My bench is the only thing I've been able to train with even a remote amount of consistency

It's higher than my squat right now...feelsbadman.jpg

[DavoBC]

Nice bench PR! And definitely liking those pull-ups

[NorthStrong]

My bench is the only thing I've been able to train with even a remote amount of consistency

It's higher than my squat right now...feelsbadman.jpg

Oh ****, well, I might have a shot at some races on the total or squat lol. What's your deadlift looking like?

Nice bench PR! And definitely liking those pull-ups

Thanks bro, and yeah for sure chins are great. I've just been doing 5 more per workout each cycle.

[SumPersonGuy]

Oh ****, well, I might have a shot at some races on the total or squat lol. What's your deadlift looking like?

Recently I pulled 345x5, but I'm resetting a bit due to me starting Madcow

I've pulled 370 for a single, but that was a while back

Our total is probably pretty close overall, right now I'm probably in the neighborhood of 250/260/360=870. If I can hit 1000 or even close to it by the end of the year I would be ecstatic about that progress.

[NorthStrong]

Recently I pulled 345x5, but I'm resetting a bit due to me starting Madcow

I've pulled 370 for a single, but that was a while back

Our total is probably pretty close overall, right now I'm probably in the neighborhood of 250/260/360=870. If I can hit 1000 or even close to it by the end of the year I would be ecstatic about that progress.

Right on. My best DLs have been 315x4 (going for 7 tomorrow) and 325x3. My total as of now would probably look like 350/230/350.

By end of the year, you mean the end of 2013, and not 1 year from now, I am assuming?

[SumPersonGuy]

Right on. My best DLs have been 315x4 (going for 7 tomorrow) and 325x3. My total as of now would probably look like 350/230/350.

By end of the year, you mean the end of 2013, and not 1 year from now, I am assuming?

Yeah, by the end of 2013. At the beginning of the year I set some pretty huge goals, and failed at those miserably due to me being stupid and training through injuries and making them worse instead of letting them heal, so I'm setting more conservative goals for the end of the year now.

I'd really be happy with 275/275/385 which is *opens calculator* 935. If I hit anything higher than those numbers I'd be very happy. Hopefully because my squat is so terrible it'll also progress quickly.

[arian11]

You so strong

[NorthStrong]

Yeah, by the end of 2013. At the beginning of the year I set some pretty huge goals, and failed at those miserably due to me being stupid and training through injuries and making them worse instead of letting them heal, so I'm setting more conservative goals for the end of the year now.

I'd really be happy with 275/275/385 which is *opens calculator* 935. If I hit anything higher than those numbers I'd be very happy. Hopefully because my squat is so terrible it'll also progress quickly.

I think it should, madcow works well for a lot of peoples squats I think.

You so strong

Haha really eh, sub-1000 unofficial total LOL.

[trancebreak]

Am i predicting a madcow run in the near distant future or should i not get my hopes up? Hehe

[NorthStrong]

Am i predicting a madcow run in the near distant future or should i not get my hopes up? Hehe

Lol, nah I have committed myself to a year minimum on 5/3/1.

[baxtej44]

Lol, nah I have committed myself to a year minimum on 5/3/1.

should probably put potential end date in your sig so you see it everytime you post so you don't change lol. unless you know you won't. a year with 5/3/1 should get you great gains

[budreiser2]

Lol, nah I have committed myself to a year minimum on 5/3/1.

I really wish I could do this.

[NorthStrong]

should probably put potential end date in your sig so you see it everytime you post so you don't change lol. unless you know you won't. a year with 5/3/1 should get you great gains

Nah I'm confident I won't change from this for at least a year. Probably will stick to it for longer if I am still seeing gains (which I will be). It's a great program to build a base with I think.

I really wish I could do this.

You can haha! I have enough ways to play with the template to keep me satisfied for at least 1 year, if not 2-3.

[budreiser2]

I've been thinking about ways I can play around with it. I just like benching 3-4 times a week too much to give it up.

[NorthStrong]

I've been thinking about ways I can play around with it. I just like benching 3-4 times a week too much to give it up.

I just hate benching too much to do it more. LOL.

[izzygrant]

with Beyond 5/3/1, everything is now 531. everyone on this site is running 531. you could probably set up something that looks exactly like madcows with 531.

i'm mostly kidding, it's a good program. i just find it amusing that you can now run 7-day a week programming based on prilepin's table and it's "531".

[NorthStrong]

with Beyond 5/3/1, everything is now 531. everyone on this site is running 531. you could probably set up something that looks exactly like madcows with 531.

i'm mostly kidding, it's a good program. i just find it amusing that you can now run 7-day a week programming based on prilepin's table and it's "531".

Yeah aha I hear you, I meant moreso with changing the assistance, and maybe even changing the program in a way that I thought of myself that I have never seen anyone do....I am planning on doing it after my meet in June so stay tuned for that! And just like how I did the 5 set version for a while, I can do that, 3 sets, 3 and a backoff, 2x a week frequency, etc. All 5/3/1 programming means to me is to do the 5/3/1 layout, or close to it, on the main lifts.

I want to try the 3 month boring but big at some point, and I have other ideas on how to do that selectively for certain lifts for 3-5 cycles yada yada.

[psychodiver9]

I feel like I'm the only one who didn't like 5/3/1

[NorthStrong]

531 C4W2 Deadlift

Agile 8
Knee - Broad Jump 2x1
Deadlift 245x3, 280x3, 315x4 (PR Tie...)
Rack Pull 3x5 - 225
Front Squat 3x5 - 155
GHR 3x6
s/s
Hanging Leg Raise 3x6

Mehh, today was OK. Better than the last few deadlift days, that's for sure. I improved my form a bit on the pull by pulling the slack out of the bar and getting tensioon on my hamstrings correctly for the first time ever. I think my lack of hamstring flexibility is hurting my deadlift too so I am working on that constantly. I got a little bit rounded over I think, but not too badly. I have decided to reset my deadlift as of next session. Although I have not missed any reps with it, it is feeling uncomfortably heavy and my form is being sacrificed which is not good news. I'm only pulling around 315 anyway so it's not like I'm impressing anyone, and injuring myself on such light weight is pointless, I want to be in this game for 30 years, and if that is to happen, I can't go ahead and **** myself up during my first year. This is the right move for me.

The rack pulls were alright, not quite as brutal as last time, although the first set was since I did a snatch grip on it, wanted to really die. Fronts were easy. GHR gave me cramps as always and the hanging leg raises were nice as usual to decompress my back after compressing it with 3 "heavy" exercises.

Stretched for a while after.

Anyway so that's that. Luckily though, I am still so far away from my meet it I have plenty of time to build my deadlift up, properly, and pull something that I can be proud of at the meet, without getting injured...it's a shame for me to have to reset so early but it is what it is.

I feel like I'm the only one who didn't like 5/3/1

I'm liking it, for everything but my deadlift. I think that's my fault for not being strong enough and good enough at the form.

I will try to get a video of my form up on here so you guys can rip it apart, but I'm not sure if I am allowed to record in the gym.

[budreiser2]

i just set my phone on the ground to record. I have no idea if I'm allowed to lolol

[Filmbuff81]

with Beyond 5/3/1, everything is now 531. everyone on this site is running 531. you could probably set up something that looks exactly like madcows with 531.

i'm mostly kidding, it's a good program. i just find it amusing that you can now run 7-day a week programming based on prilepin's table and it's "531".

you seem angry lol. I kid.

and madcow 5/3/1 setup

Day 1
Squat 65/75/85 5's
Bench Press 65/75/85 5's
BB Row or Power Clean 65/75/85 5s

Situps & Hypers

Day 2
Squat 50/60/70 5's or 3's or front squat 60/70/80 3's
Press 5/3/1
Deadlift 5/3/1
situps

Day 3
Squat 5/3/1 + back off
Bench 5/3/1 + back off
Rows whatever you want 5/3/1 75/85/95 or power cleans 5/3/1 + back off
Dips 3x5-8
Curls 3x5-8
Triceps 3x5-8

you could also do one of the 5/3/1 lifts on day 1. to break up too many heavy movements on 1 day.

But boom simple madcow-esque 5/3/1 setup.

Which is actually what I am doing right now thanks to my damn wrist.

or follow a 5/3/1 full body template. the power clean template in beyond 5/3/1 s pretty awesome.

and even though the "advanced" program is based off prilepins chart the concept behind it is based in advanced programming moving from volume into higher intensity. just within the course of the month vs 2-3.

thread hijack over.

workouts looking solid.

[NorthStrong]

workouts looking solid.

Thanks man, they've been hard work with the new assistance template but I'm still recovering and getting stronger. On everything but the deadlift that is.

4 cycles in, my deadlift is down 1lb. Kinda discouraging and I am not sure why this has happened. Perhaps it is the change in gyms / barbells, but mostly it is because I am not strong. I did start the routine with a true 90% for the training max on all lifts. However, it started off well, on the same pace as my bench and squat, but wasn't able to continue that moderate pace after cycle 1.

I have decided that the priorities on my deadlift are #1 - technique, #2 - back + glute strength.

Not sure if I will try to incorporate hip thrusts in my routine.

Kinda strange that my squat numbers are now higher than my deadlift numbers.

I'm welcoming any suggestions that any of you might have for me. I think it will be as simple as just resetting and getting some momentum going, but I'd like to hear some thoughts on this.