MD State Prep

[BLK00TJ]

57 days 'til competition

I did a little more playing around with the 5/3/1 program.  Today, I added in First Set Last as well as Joker sets.  I misunderstood how to do Jokers when I did them yesterday, but got it right today.  They are definitely tough to do after a max rep attempt.  My shoulders were pumped and numb at the end.  Since I did the extra work, I dropped the BBB sets to 50% of 1RM.

I'm going to redo my spreadsheet to have all days like this over the weekend.

Cycle 2, Week 1 (PRESS DAY)
Today's weight: 170.4

PRESS (pounds):
   Warmups:
   55 x 5
   66 x 5
   80 x 3

   Worksets:
   85 x 5
   95 x 5
   110 x 1 +8
   120 x 4 (Joker)
   95 x 5 (FSL)
   85 x 5 +3 (FSL)

BBB PRESS:
   65 x 10
   65 x 10
   65 x 10
   65 x 10
   65 x 10

Reverse Pulldowns
   130 x 10
   135 x 8
   125 x 8
   120 x 8
   115 x 9

I ordered a pullup bar that I can mount in my basement.  It should be here today I hope.  I suck at chins/pullups so I'm going to work them daily according to an article I read on T-Nation.  It says I'll put an inch on my arms in 4 weeks.  We'll see about that, but at least I'll get good at chinups and do them as I'm supposed to after presses.

[sakustoms]

57 days 'til competition

I did a little more playing around with the 5/3/1 program.  Today, I added in First Set Last as well as Joker sets.  I misunderstood how to do Jokers when I did them yesterday, but got it right today.  They are definitely tough to do after a max rep attempt.  My shoulders were pumped and numb at the end.  Since I did the extra work, I dropped the BBB sets to 50% of 1RM.

I'm going to redo my spreadsheet to have all days like this over the weekend.

Cycle 2, Week 1 (PRESS DAY)
Today's weight: 170.4

PRESS (pounds):
   Warmups:
   55 x 5
   66 x 5
   80 x 3

   Worksets:
   85 x 5
   95 x 5
   110 x 1 +8
   120 x 4 (Joker)
   95 x 5 (FSL)
   85 x 5 +3 (FSL)

BBB PRESS:
   65 x 10
   65 x 10
   65 x 10
   65 x 10
   65 x 10

Reverse Pulldowns
   130 x 10
   135 x 8
   125 x 8
   120 x 8
   115 x 9

I ordered a pullup bar that I can mount in my basement.  It should be here today I hope.  I suck at chins/pullups so I'm going to work them daily according to an article I read on T-Nation.  It says I'll put an inch on my arms in 4 weeks.  We'll see about that, but at least I'll get good at chinups and do them as I'm supposed to after presses.

I have one of those pullup bars you hook on the door frame when you use it. I was doing 10 pullups every time I went upstairs, which is where I keep it. I really need to start again. lol

[BLK00TJ]

I have one of those pullup bars you hook on the door frame when you use it. I was doing 10 pullups every time I went upstairs, which is where I keep it. I really need to start again. lol

I looked at those and thought of all the youtube videos where the bar fell and decided to go with one that bolts to my floor supports.  Plus my house has all crap molding that isn't even real wood and would likely crack when my fat ass pulls on it.  My wife won't care how big my arms have gotten if I wreck her precious doorways.

I just got my bar in the mail and it's made alright I guess.  It's a little thicker than a barbell so I might get some much needed grip work.  I have some cleaning to do in my basement before I get it mounted up.  I'm going to try to get that done over the weekend so I can put that T-nation program to the test.  I'm at 14" relaxed now so we'll see how close I get to 15" in a month.

I was hoping my comp gear would be on the same delivery but no luck.  Inzer has a bad rep for not communicating shipment info but I was aware of that when ordering.  I'm in no big hurry, but it'd be nice to have a ballpark idea when I'm going to get my belt and wraps. I'll only be using the belt for the comp since I signed up for RAW classic but I wanted to get some heavy sets in with the wraps.  I might order some sleeves from another site to keep my knees warm during the comp.  FLEX seems to love his for keeping his knees warm.

[Daniel0636]

Interested to see how your home gym goes mate!

[FLEX]

57 days 'til competition

That's fantastic.

Will be following your progress.

[BLK00TJ]

Pitiful workout today.  Downright awful.  Event the warmup weights felt heavy.  I'm not sure if it is my cut that's doing or what.  I didn't bother with any Joker sets today.   I might email RPS and find out what'll happen if I don't make it to 165.  Maybe I should just stick with an easy 181 and get stronger.  Anyway, on with the suck.

Cycle 2, Week 2  (3/3/3 - SQUAT DAY)
today's weight 169.4
Lowbar squats (pounds):
   Warmups:
   bar x 15 x 15
   115 x 5
   140 x 5
   170 x 3

   Worksets:
   225 x 3
   245 x 3
   260 x 3 +2 (I banged out 8 of these just  2 weeks ago)
   245 x3 (FSL)
   225 x 6 (FSL)

BBB Squats:
   140 x 10
   140 x 10
   140 x 10
   140 x 10
   140 x 10

Lying Leg Curls
   65 x 12
   70 x 10
   70 x 10
   70 x 10
   70 x 10

My Daily Chins
   5 x 8 @ BW

[sakustoms]

These types of days we just do what we can and move on to the next. Can't let it screw with your mind. I'd be really happy to do the squats you do.

[Daniel0636]

A shame to hear about the bad workout, but they happen. Your squat numbers still look good to me though....

[BLK00TJ]

Thanks guys.  I think I figured out where I am going wrong and I feel stupid for not thinking my training through enough.  I added intensity at the same time I decided to cut down to 165.  Probably not the best idea.  I'm going to scale things back a bit for the remainder of my cut by dropping the FSL, Jokers, and reverse pyramid BBB sets.  I didn't get a chance to make it to the gym today and probably not tomorrow since I'll be stuck in meetings all day long, but I'll catch up before the end of the week.  I might double up the deadz and presses on Friday since I can now do them at home.

I picked up my sheet of horse stall mat today.  It's amazing how heavy a 4'x6' sheet of 3/4" rubber is.  It is heavy enough to do my deadlifts as I did in my commercial gym, but I still won't be able to drop them until I have the plywood.  That'll be this weekends project.

[sakustoms]

Thanks guys.  I think I figured out where I am going wrong and I feel stupid for not thinking my training through enough.  I added intensity at the same time I decided to cut down to 165.  Probably not the best idea.  I'm going to scale things back a bit for the remainder of my cut by dropping the FSL, Jokers, and reverse pyramid BBB sets.  I didn't get a chance to make it to the gym today and probably not tomorrow since I'll be stuck in meetings all day long, but I'll catch up before the end of the week.  I might double up the deadz and presses on Friday since I can now do them at home.

I picked up my sheet of horse stall mat today.  It's amazing how heavy a 4'x6' sheet of 3/4" rubber is.  It is heavy enough to do my deadlifts as I did in my commercial gym, but I still won't be able to drop them until I have the plywood.  That'll be this weekends project.

I am right there with you. I was barely able to grind out 2 reps on my + set of squats on Monday. I am also cutting and down to 155 as of today, but the numbers in the program keep climbing. We'll get it done one way or the other. 

Good deal on getting your mat and being able to do deads at home now. I used to have a bunch of olympic equipment plus about 700lbs of plates plus a bunch of DBs at home. It took up my whole garage so I sold everything on the cheap. 

[BLK00TJ]

51 Days 'til competition

Mind wasn't in it due to stuff going on at work, but I made it in, did my sets, and GTFO.

Cycle 2, Week 2 (3/3/3 BENCH DAY)
Today's weight: 168.8 (loss has slowed, so I'll be dropping calories down to 1650 from 1700 )

Bench (pounds):
   Warmups:
   bar x 15 x 15
   90 x 5
   115 x 5
   135 x 3

   Worksets (paused reps):
   180 x 3
   190 x 3
   200 x 6 - No record, but I'm happy considering how my last few workouts have gone.

BBB Bench (1 minute rest between sets):
   115 x 10
   115 x 10
   115 x 10
   115 x 10
   115 x 10

DB Rows
   60 x 10
   60 x 10
   60 x 10

Tomorrow:  Deadlift day @ home!

[BLK00TJ]

I emailed the event coordinator for the meet I enter to ask if I can move to 181.  I think I should compete at a comfortable weight for my first meet instead of trying to be competitive at this point.  If I hear back before 9 tonight, there's a six-pack of beer up the street with my name on it.

[doughnutgut]

Nice session there.

Like the BBB 1min rest a lot.

The burn.

[BLK00TJ]

Nice session there.

Like the BBB 1min rest a lot.

The burn.

The burn and the pump.  It's amazing how much harder the last set of those are compared to the first set.  On squats it is really grueling.

[doughnutgut]

I swapped the cycle this time for less boring and I hate it.

Going back to BBB as of cycle 4. Today the bench was a killer. Wrecks me big time.