Yet another Fierce 5 Novice Program Journal

[nolimits97]

What the title says, basically.

About me:
Lifted for about 1 and a half years in high school, but most of that time was spent wasting my time trying to get arm pumps. Had to stop lifting for a year because I didn't have enough time with university and work.


1RMS
Bench: 85kg/185lb
Squat: 120kg/265lb
Deadlift: 140kg/310lb
OHP: 40kg/90lb
That was about 6 months ago. I have been doing as much as I can to maintain strength but I feel that I have lost a lot, especially in the legs, as I only did bodyweight exercises as I had no access to a gym.


Starting Weights
Squat: 75kg
Bench: 57.5kg
Pendlay Row: 40kg
Reverse Flies: 2.5kg
Calf raises: 50kg
Tricep pressdown: 40kg
Front Squat: 60kg
Incline Bench: 45kg
RDL: 60kg (I have never done RDLs before, so I am choosing to start pretty light)
Pull ups: BW+5kg
Abs: I am still not sure on exercise selection for abs.
Curls: 25kg

I'm not changing the routine at all.


First Workout
Squat: 75kg 3x5 - no problem at all, was pretty easy

Bench: 57.5kg 3x5 - I found this difficult as I decided to paused bench. I will probably not continue this as I feel touch and go will allow for more consistent progression

Pendlay Rows: 40kg 3x8 - Not hard, but my form was pretty average

Reverse flies: 2.5kg 3x10 - Pretty easy. I did these using an incline bench to support my chest (as shown here http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercise.../reverse-flyes)

Calves/Triceps: No problems at all. Very easy.


I'm hoping to gain a bit of size from this routine as well as hopefully get to 2/3/4 for 3x5. I won't be OHPing so I'll aim to get 1.5 plate on incline since it's angled halfway between OHP and Bench in my gym and isn't adjustable.

Next workout tomorrow. I am looking forward to incline bench as I do feel my chest lacks compared to my back and shoulders, so I feel like the extra frequency and doing incline bench instead of OHP will help to fix this.

[nolimits97]

2nd Workout - 31/01/2016

Front Squat: 3x5@60kg - Pretty easy, but I need to work out a comfortable place to put the bar

Incline Bench: 3x5@45kg

Romanian Deadlift 3x8@60kg - Grip strength will be a limiting factor here. I don't lower the bar to the floor so it's a lot harder to keep my grip on the bar than conventional deadlifts.

Pull ups: 3x8@Bodyweight - Someone else was using the dip belt and I didn't feel like waiting.

Abs: Bicycle crunches 2x15 - I feel like this works abs pretty well but the movement just feels weird. I will probably do vacuums and plank variations instead of crunching exercises, as I already have a little anterior pelvic tilt.

Curls: Straight bar curls 2x10@20kg

[nolimits97]

BEFORE PICTURES

Front:

Back:

Legs:


Lighting is ****. I'm basically between skinnyfat and skinny at this point.

[nolimits97]

UPDATE:

I have decided to swap front squats and RDLs for deadlifts and leg curls. Mostly because I enjoy deadlifting more than front squatting.

My program will be:

Workout A
Squat 3x5
Bench 3x5
Pendlay Rows 3x8
Reverse Flies 3x10
Calves 2x15/Triceps 2x10

Workout B
Deadlift 3x5
Incline Bench 3x5
Leg Curl 3x8
Pull Ups 3x8
Abs 2x15/Curls 2x10

[nolimits97]

3rd Workout - 02/02/2016

Back Squat 3x5@75kg
Bench Press 3x5@57.5kg
Pendlay Row 3x8@40kg
Reverse Flies 3x10@2.5kg
Calves 2x15@50kg
Tricep Pressdown 2x10@40kg


At the end of each exercise I tested my 1rms.
Squat - 127.5kg
Bench - 87.5kg

This was after 3 sets of 5, so I was somewhat fatigued already. I think if I went into the gym with the goal of 1rm testing I could do better. With this in mind I have decided not to continue on this program. I don't particularly care a whole lot about my 1rms compared to what I look like, and I feel like I won't be able to go very far on Fierce 5 anyway. I'll probably move to upper/lower, PPL or a body part split. A hypertrophy oriented routine is more aligned with my goals, and I have the work capacity/adaptation to do these without burning out. Increasing strength will still be a goal, so I might do a high volume 5/3/1 type program, but gaining mass is more important to me.

[darkiler123456]

Did you keep doing fierce 5 bro? Keep updating brah