Staying fit (531)

[tommy4life]

Lifting history
December 2012:
Watched Warrior with the lads whilst deployed in Afghanistan. A few of us thought Tom Hardy was awesome so we ran to the gym to train our chests and upper traps. That was my fitst gym experience.

2012-2016
Went full bro. Only trained chest, arms and upper traps (deadlifts/shrusg) with some occasional leg presses. Consumed every supplement under the sun, woke up at night to eat pasta, etc. Got my bodyweight from 77kg (Im 188cm tall) to high 90s. Eventually hit a 150kg bench and 225kg deadlift.

2017
Due to visually obvious body imbalances and ego benching, I ****ed up my right shoulder. Took over a year to heal. However, it got me thinking about my programming. Eventually I found Fiece 5 and was IN.

2018
Followed Fierce 5, starting focusing more on back work, full squats, profer form, etc
October 2018 I hit a 250kg deadlift which got me interested in chasing PRs on the big lifts. Unfortunately I began eating too much/too quicky to chase those PRs and eventually reached a 116kg bodyweight, with slight gut. So had to go on my first caloric deficit.

2019
Got down to 98kg bodyweight, could see some abs so that was sweet.
Best lifts were 185/142/212

2020
Fierce 5 progression got too hard so switched to 531





Start logging my 531 progress
Current e1rm
Bench 140
Front squat 140
Press 85
Deadlift 210

Agile 8 and jumps every workout
Deadlift and squat supersetted with leg raises
Press with chinups
Bench with BB Row

C2W1

■Bench (125)
5×85%_105 (10)
Bench (FSL)
Curl/Rear fly (3×12-15)

■Front squat (122.5)
5×85%_102.5 (11)
Front squat (FSL)
RDL (3×12-15)

■Press (77.5)
5×85%_65 (11)
Press (FSL)
Dip/Facepull (3×12-15)_60

[tommy4life]

C2W1

■Deadlift (185)
5×85%_155 (10)
Deadlift 5×5 (FSL)
Lunge (3×12-15)_20

My conditioning blows. Deadlift/leg raises wipe me out, might have to drop the raises on week 3

[tommy4life]

C2W2

■Bench (125)
3×90%_112.5 (8) PR
Joker 3×120
Bench 5×5 (FSL)_87.5
Curl/Rear delts (3×12-15)

PR=new e1rm of 144, earned a joker

[tommy4life]

C2W2

■Front squat (122.5)
3×90%_110 (9) PR!
Joker 3×120
Front squat 5×5 (FSL)_85
RDL (3×12-15)

PR=new e1rm of 144, earned a joker

[ECGordyn]

C2W2

■Front squat (122.5)
3×90%_110 (9) PR!
Joker 3×120
Front squat 5×5 (FSL)_85
RDL (3×12-15)

PR=new e1rm of 144, earned a joker

144 front squat? That's serious weight man, congrats.

[tommy4life]

Cheers
I got by HB back squat to 190kg last year yet could barely front squat 125 so thought id switch it up and let my front squat catch up.

[tommy4life]

C2W2

■Press (77.5)
3×90%_67.5 (10) pr!
Joker set 3×80
Press 5×5 (FSL)_52.5
Facepull/Dip (3×12-15)

Had a few beers, felt sleepy walking into the gym but the bar felt easy so
PR=new e1rm of 91, earned a joker. Greedy on the joker though.
All these pr's are probably my body getting used to amraps. Will probably stop next cycle. On another note: got some samd bags from 15-55kg that im going to start playing with

[tommy4life]

C2W2

■Deadlift (185)
3×90%_165 (10) pr
Deadlift 5×5 (FSL)_127.5

Thats a huge pr, new e1rm 222kg. Got same amount of reps as last week
Didnt go for joker or assitance as i have a sand bag session afterwards

...holy hell. Running with sandbags is a nightmare. Now I remember why I used to hate battle PT in the army

[tommy4life]

C2W3

■Bench (125)
1×95%_117.5 (7)
Bench 5×5 (FSL)_92.5
Curl/Rear delt (3×12-15)

[tommy4life]

C2W3

■Front squat (122.5)
1×95%_115 (7)
Front squat 5×5 (FSL)_90
RDL (3×12-15)

Meh
Been at uni 7 days/week so exhausted

[tommy4life]

Press day was aweful, got 4 on my 1+ set

C2W3

Deadlift (185)
1×95%_180 (6)
Joker 2×200
5×5 (FSL)_137.5
SS. Rear delt (5×15)
Abs (3×15)

Could of got 8 reps on amrap so saved energy for joker. Also felt sicl as i ate an hour ago


E1rm after 2 cycles
531 FSL strength level-83.3
Bench 117.5×7 (146)
Front squat 110×9 (144)
Press 67.5×10 (91)
Deadlift 165×10 (222)

[tommy4life]

C3W1

Bench (127.5)
5×85%_107.5 (11)
5×5 (FSL)_82.5
DB Row (5×10)_22.5
Assistance-
Windscreen wipers 3×7
Facepull 3×15_60
BB curl 3×10_30
Hang clean 3×10_40


Had to wait for Julie so did some random assitance

[tommy4life]

C3W1

Squat (165)
5×85%_140 (10)
5×5 (FSL)_102.5
Facepull (3×15)


E1rm=189, good to see i havent lost any back squat strength whilst focysing on my front squat.
Forgot how much back squat amraps wipe me out

[ECGordyn]

C3W1

Squat (165)
5×85%_140 (10)
5×5 (FSL)_102.5
Facepull (3×15)


E1rm=189, good to see i havent lost any back squat strength whilst focysing on my front squat.
Forgot how much back squat amraps wipe me out

Yeah man I hate amrap squats & deads. Too fatiguing and too much risk of form breakdown. Do you low bar or high bar this time around?

[tommy4life]

Yeah man I hate amrap squats & deads. Too fatiguing and too much risk of form breakdown. Do you low bar or high bar this time around?

I somehow find low bar squat amrap even more exhausting then deadlift.
On that note, low bar. I tried all 3 the other day: LB, HB amd front and must say that LB feels like it works soo much more...front squats are a breeze.

[tommy4life]

C3W1

Press (80)
5×85%_67.5 (9)
5×5 (FSL)_50
HS Pulldown (5×10)_75
Facepull/Dip (3×8-15)_50/bw
Hammer curl (3×12)_12.5

[JohnButz]

Nice work in here! 5 3 1 is an awesome protocol. I love the flexibility of the programming.

[tommy4life]

C3W1

Deadlift (190)
5×85%_162.5 (11)
5×5 (FSL)_122.5
DB row (1×20)_35
Ab wheal (3)

Pretty happy with that

Nice work in here! 5 3 1 is an awesome protocol. I love the flexibility of the programming.

Cheers
531 is great for busy people but those who still need some plan on paper

[JohnButz]

Nice work! I'm planning on returning to 5 3 1 after I run my current plan.

[tommy4life]

C3W2

Bench (127.5)
3×90%_112.5 (10) pr 152
Joker 2×130
5×5 (FSL)_87.5
Strict Row (5×10)_60
Rear delt/Curl (3×8-15)

Huge pr, new e1rm of 152. Last time i hit 150 bench i was 12kg heavier

Nice work! I'm planning on returning to 5 3 1 after I run my current plan.

Which template u looking at?

[JohnButz]

C3W2

Bench (127.5)
3×90%_112.5 (10) pr 152
Joker 2×130
5×5 (FSL)_87.5
Strict Row (5×10)_60
Rear delt/Curl (3×8-15)

Huge pr, new e1rm of 152. Last time i hit 150 bench i was 12kg heavier






Which template u looking at?

Congrats on the PR! Years ago, I ran The Triumvirate, and honestly this was probably when I was at my best in terms of body composition and strength overall. My accessories were basically dips, pull-ups, & farmers walks. On the off days, I generally would go for a 2 mile run.

[tommy4life]

C3W2

Front Squat (125)
3×90%_112.5 (9) 148 life time pr!
Joker set 1×140
5×5 (FSL)_87.5
RDL (3×10)_87.5
Suitcase walk (3-5)

Front squat felt great, had another 1- 2 reps left in me on amrap so half way through the set decided to save some energy and do a joker. Pleasantly surprised how smooth 140kg was. Might be too early to tell but noticing that I feel bettwr on 3s week.
On another note: i said i would switch to LB back squat but decided not to. When i did them last week i felt discomfort in my right shoulder a day after. Ill stick to healthy old front squats


13 November 2020
https://youtu.be/SrV8y2QL-ZM

Congrats on the PR! Years ago, I ran The Triumvirate, and honestly this was probably when I was at my best in terms of body composition and strength overall. My accessories were basically dips, pull-ups, & farmers walks. On the off days, I generally would go for a 2 mile run.

Ive always liked the look of Triumvirate but never tried it.

[tommy4life]

C3W2

Press (80)
3×90%_70 (7)
5×5 (FSL)_55
DB row (5×10)_22.5
Facepull/Dip (4×8-15)_50/bw

[tommy4life]

C3W2

Deadlift (190)
3×90%_170 (8)
5×5 (FSL)_132.5
Kroc row (15+)_35
Suitcase walk (3×50m)_40

[JohnButz]

C3W2

Deadlift (190)
3×90%_170 (8)
5×5 (FSL)_132.5
Kroc row (15+)_35
Suitcase walk (3×50m)_40

Good work! Love the suitcase walk (loaded carry.) I do a variation with the trap bar.

[tommy4life]

Gyms are shut again, new covid cluster in my state.

Did a sandbag workout this morning.
Sand bag, from ground to overhead (3×1min)_35
Lunges (3×1min)
Dips (3×1min)
Inverted rows (3×1min)
Leg raises (3×1min)
Uphill sand bag run and then run with Julie over my shoulders

Kinda nice, felt like i was back in the army doing unit PT. Might make the next one more strength focused.

Good work! Love the suitcase walk (loaded carry.) I do a variation with the trap bar.

Trap bar would be cool to have

[JohnButz]

Gyms are shut again, new covid cluster in my state.

Did a sandbag workout this morning.
Sand bag, from ground to overhead (3×1min)_35
Lunges (3×1min)
Dips (3×1min)
Inverted rows (3×1min)
Leg raises (3×1min)
Uphill sand bag run and then run with Julie over my shoulders

Kinda nice, felt like i was back in the army doing unit PT. Might make the next one more strength focused.





Trap bar would be cool to have

Great work! Thank you for your service as well. I got my trap bar on Amazon for $65. It's not a Rogue, but it does the job.

[tommy4life]

C3W3

■Bench (127.5)
1×95%_120 (2) bad
5×5 (FSL)_95
Pendlay row (5×10)_60
Dip/Curl/Facepull (3-5)
Suitcase walk (×3)_40

Crappy

[tommy4life]

C3W3

Front squat (125)
1×95%_117.5 (8)
1×140
1×150 life time PR
3×5 (FSL)_92.5
SG-RDL (3×10)_100
Sled push (4×25m)_60

Got compliment from random gym bro....I live for these

[JohnButz]

Awesome work Bro! Always good to get a tip of the hat from a fellow traveler.