Push, Pull, Squat

Inspector Coptoor · 09-08-2010 04:54PM

Last night I reread the 5/3/1 manual.
then I went on T nation and read 17 pages of questions and answers on it and then I re read the Q&A section on Elite FTS website and have decided to change things up a little bit on my bench day as a result.
I dont think I'm getting enough benching volume so I'm gonna do this anymore

Week 1: 65%, 75%, 85%+, 75%, 65%+
Week 2: 70%, 80%, 90%+, 80%, 75% +
Week 3: 75%, 85%, 95%, 85%, 75%+

For assistance work I'll be doing a set of pull ups or chin ups in between ALL bench sets including warm ups except my BBB sets.
Main assistance work will come from BBB - 3 sets of 10 @ 55% of max and Alternating Inc DB Press as I really need to work on bringing my left side up to match my right side.

I'll also be putting in more pulling movements like inverted rows.

With all that in mind, here was todays workout.

5/3/1 Cycle 13 Week 2 Bench day

IP warm up
Foam rolling
YTWs
Face pulls
scap pull ups

Foam rolling - 8 positions

Benching
20kg - 10
40kg - 10
60kg - 5

work sets
76kg - 3
87kg - 3
98kg - 2 + 1 assisted (pure dung performance here)
87kg - 3
76kg - 7

After each of these 8 sets I did:
a set of band assisted super wide grip pull ups x 8
Scap retracted YTWs with 2.5kg DBs - 5 reps

Assistance Work:
BBB - 60kg - 3 x 10

Alternating Single Arm Inc DB Press
15kg DBs - 5 x 8

Inverted rows using rings
5 x 10

Extra Stuff:
Flat DB Flies
7.5kg DBs - 3 x 15

hammer curls
7.5kg DBs - 3 x 15

DB curls
7.5kg DBs - 3 x 15

Ab work:
Plank - 3 x 30 secs on/30 secs off
Flutter kicks - 4 x 15s on/15s off
Side planks - 3 x 20s on/20s off per side
Lying leg raises - 3 x 20s on/20s off
Hanging knee raises - 2 x 8

Warm down:
stretching
foam rolling - 8 positions
bought a cricket ball for rolling my feet.

Good session

itsallaboutheL · 09-08-2010 07:22PM

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

98kg - 2 + 1 assisted (pure dung performance here)

After each of these 8 sets I did:
a set of band assisted super wide grip pull ups x 8

Would you not do the pull ups between BBB sets??

It's not surprising your top set sucked if you had done a rake of pull-ups before hand.

Inspector Coptoor · 09-08-2010 07:25PM

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

Would you not do the pull ups between BBB sets??

It's not surprising your top set sucked if you had done a rake of pull-ups before hand.

All of my top sets have sucked for the last two months.

Wendler says to do the pull ups in between sets.
Im gonna run with it for a while and see how it goes.

Thanks for the input L

the drifter · 09-08-2010 07:30PM

is there a specific reason outside of training that this might have sucked i.e lack of sleep or diet....IMO if your failing 90% reps.....tis time to recalcuate the 100% estinmate...

Inspector Coptoor · 09-08-2010 07:37PM

Sleep and Diet are fine.

and Yeah, I agree with you on re-calculating max.
Im going to finish out this cycle.
Next week Ill have to go for 102.5 x 1 which i should get 1 if not 2 reps with.

Ill take the deload then and test my max but my bench hasnt gone up since the single lifts and I really dont know where I'm going wrong with it.
Its fine on any weights in the 70kg - 90kg bracket but anything around the 100kg mark is tough going for me since I got 100kg x 7 back in December,
big difference there is that Im 10kg lighter now than I was then.

the drifter · 09-08-2010 07:41PM

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

Sleep and Diet are fine.

and Yeah, I agree with you on re-calculating max.
Im going to finish out this cycle.
Next week Ill have to go for 102.5 x 1 which i should get 1 if not 2 reps with.

Ill take the deload then and test my max but my bench hasnt gone up since the single lifts and I really dont know where I'm going wrong with it.
Its fine on any weights in the 70kg - 90kg bracket but anything around the 100kg mark is tough going for me since I got 100kg x 7 back in December,
big difference there is that Im 10kg lighter now than I was then.

thats nearly a year ago lad...cutting 10kg over a year should not have hit you that much...maybe its time for something other than 5/3/1

Inspector Coptoor · 09-08-2010 07:46PM

The single lifts were just over 6 months ago now
I'm committed to doing the 5/3/1 for a total of 3 years and then assessing it.
Im in no rush as the programme im following at the moment is manageable and is for the long term.

Although I did see great gains doing the Smolov Junior for bench programme, this appeared to just be a short term fix as it dropped back down when the bench volume went down.

I might put in another bench day per week at some stage but Im just gonna keep doing the programme with the modifications I put in today for a while and look at it again in October.

Thanks for the reply.

Inspector Coptoor · 10-08-2010 06:16PM

5/3/1 Cycle 13 Week 2 (3 day)

IP warm up
foam rolling
Hip flexor stretches - 3 x 30 secs per side

Squats
20kg - 10
40kg - 10
60kg - 5

Work sets
93kg - 3
106kg - 3
120kg - 5
106kg - 3
93kg - 8

Assistance Exercises
BBB
60kg - 3 x 10
60kg - 1 x 20

BB lunges - 3 x 10 per leg

Conditioning block
15 min block
rounds for time:
A: prowler + 60kg push - 20m up and back
B: KB carries - 2 x 24kg KBs - 10m up and back

19 rounds.

Purple band (50lb) good mornings - 3 x 12
Stretching
Foam rolling
rolling of feet with cricket ball.

Comments:
Delighted to get 120kg for 5 as i felt i had 2 more in the tank.
ompare this to last week when 113kg x 5 was tough

the last set of squats 60kg x 20 was great but the last few were a grunt fest

the conditioning block was done slow and steady but was still outrageously taxing.

No lifting tomorrow, just foam rolling, jitz and more foam rolling

Inspector Coptoor · 11-08-2010 05:59PM

Wednesday - conditioning - jitz

Foam rolling
stretching

11 x 3 min rounds
1 x 5 min round.

All against a jitz blue belt but low BW (65kg or so)

Got a triangle, few kimuras, shoulder locks, an anaconda choke and drilled armbar a few times.
was RNC'd a couple of times but overall was happy with my defence and my offense, while still very limited is improving

Foam rolling
stretching
feet rolling

Inspector Coptoor · 13-08-2010 08:01PM

Training back in the west today
5/3/1 cycle 13 week 2

5 mins on recombinant bike
IP Warm Up
bird dogs
fire hydrants

Deadlifts
60kg - 2 x 5
100kg - 2 x 5

127.5kg - 3
145kg - 3
165kg - 4
145kg - 3
127.5kg - 8

RB Good Mornings - 20kg - 5 x 10
hanging leg raises - 5 x 10

some tricep and bicep work.

Inspector Coptoor · 16-08-2010 10:52PM

90 minutes Bikram Yoga.

very sweaty

Inspector Coptoor · 17-08-2010 03:10PM

5/3/1 Cycle 13 Week 3 (1 Day)

Training at 11am

IP Warm Up
Face pulls
YTWs
shoulder dislocates

benching
warm up sets
20kg - 2 x 10
40kg - 10
60kg - 8

work sets
81kg - 5
92kg - 3
103kg - FAIL
92kg - 3
81kg - 8

60kg - 3 x 10 (one set normal grip, one close, one wide)

DB Rows
27.5kg - 3 x 10
s/s with
Trap Bar Shrugs
60kg - 3 x 12

Comments:
Total suckfest of a session. I dunno was it the early training or what.
To say Im not happy with failing to get 103kg x 1 is an understatement.
I unracked it, brought it down with control, slight pause and pressed, got it 3 inches off my chest and there it stayed.

Benching is becoming the bane of my life.

Ive been looking back through my training diary, and apart from being heavier back in December, I was really hammering the DB rows so Im gonna start back with them now in earnest to try and sort it out.

Im also jsut gonna set my max at 100kg and use 90% of that as my training max so Im basically dropping down from a training max of 108kg to 90kg for the next cycle.

Ill run that for two cycles and see how I am.
If the bench is still toxic, Ill run smolov junior for bench again.

Off home to Roscommon now to pick up weightlifting shoes and ill prob go squatting this evening

the drifter · 17-08-2010 11:26PM

the drifter wrote: »

is there a specific reason outside of training that this might have sucked i.e lack of sleep or diet....IMO if your failing 90% reps.....tis time to recalcuate the 100% estinmate...

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

Im also jsut gonna set my max at 100kg and use 90% of that as my training max so Im basically dropping down from a training max of 108kg to 90kg for the next cycle.

oh hai

Inspector Coptoor · 18-08-2010 12:30AM

workout number 2 for tuesday

got my weighlifting shoes

http://www.bournesports.com/scripts/prodview.asp?idProduct=4099

5/3/1 Cycle 13 Week 3

Squats

20kg - 2 x 10
40kg - 2 x 10
60kg - 2 x 10
80kg - 10

work sets
100kg - 5
112.5kg - 3
127.5kg - 3
112.5kg - 3
100kg - 9

60kg - 3 x 10
1 x 20

was good squatting in the weightlifting shoes.

Inspector Coptoor · 18-08-2010 06:07PM

Conditioning and Technique training

IP warm up
Foam Rolling
Shoulder Dislocates

Cleans
20kg - 3
40kg - 3
50kg - 3
55kg - 5 x 3

Snatches
20kg - 3 x 3

OH squats
20kg - 3 x 3

BJJ no gi rolling
3 x 5 min rounds

Plank
5 x 20s on/20s off

Weighted back extensions
BW + 20kg - 5 x 10
s/s with
Russian Twists with 10kg med ball
5 x 25

Foam rolling
feet rolling with cricket ball

Inspector Coptoor · 19-08-2010 03:06PM

5/3/1 cycle 13 week 3

ip warm up
ytws
foam rolling
scap push ups
shoulder dislocates
scarecrows

press
20kg - 2 x 10
30kg - 10
40kg - 5
50kg - 5

work sets - belt and wrist wraps on
60kg - 5
65kg - 3
72kg - 2
65kg - 3
60kg - 5

BBB
35kg - 5 x 10 (90s rest between sets)

Assistance exercises
assisted dips - 5x5
s/s with
assisted chins - 5x5

iron woody blue bands used for assistance.

Happy to get 2 reps at 72kg.
I'll probably run thus cycle again for the press as I was just about getting the 5 and 3 sets.

Decent session.

Interview tomorrow, will probably decide whether I stay in Dublin past next Friday.
Here's hoping

Inspector Coptoor · 20-08-2010 03:58PM

trainin with the sickeningly strong COH today in Raw.

5/3/1 C13 Week 3

warm up
foam rolling

deadlifts
60kg - 10
100kg - 5

work sets
145kg - 5
157kg - 3
175kg - 4
157kg - 3
145kg - 10

Assistance work
Round backed good mornings
20kg - 5 x 10

hanging knee raises (on the rings in a 1/2 chin up position)
5 x 8

Comments:
some of the deads were fugly
esp rep 4 at 175 and rep 10 at 145.
dont give a fook though.

COH wouldnt let me wuss out!

deload starts tonight at a friends wedding back home.
going to see Andy Bolton in Tullamore on Sunday

Inspector Coptoor · 23-08-2010 05:15PM

cycle 13 deload

ip warm up

foma rolling

benching
20kg - 3 x 10
40kg - 10
50kg - 10
60kg - 5 x 5

CGBP
40kg - 3 x 12

conditioning
no gi jitz - 6 x 3 min rounds

Inspector Coptoor · 24-08-2010 04:45PM

5/3/1 Cycle 13 Deload

LOVE DELOAD

IP Warm Up
Foam Rolling

Squats
20kg - 2 x 10
30kg - 10
40kg - 10
50kg - 10
60kg - 10
50kg - 10
40kg - 10
30kg - 10
20kg - 2 x 10

20 seconds between sets, just enough to change the weights.
legs were fried after this.
was messing around with form, stance width, hand placement etc and was concentrating on 2-3 second on the downard phase and then really exploding out of the hole.
I LOVE squatting in my Oly shoes

Practicing Olympic Lifts
Hang Power Cleans
20kg - 3
40kg - 3 x 3
50kg - 3 x 3

Power Cleans
50kg - 5 x 3

OHS
20kg - 5 x 3

Conditioning Block
Prowler + 80kg (20m up and back)
10 pushes in 10 mins

Biceps to finish off
20kg hammer curls 3 x 10
s/s with
DB curls @ 10kg - 3 x 10

Nice little session
sweated loads doing it but didnt feel taxing at all.
just what the deload doctor ordered.

Inspector Coptoor · 26-08-2010 06:48PM

5/3/1 Cycle 13 Week 4

Deload

IP Warm up
Foam Rolling
Stretching
Bird Dogs
Hip flexor stretches

Deadlifts
70kg - 2 x 5
90kg - 2 x 5
110kg - 5 x 5

Assistance Exercises
Good mornings (round back), 20kg - 3 x 12

BB Rows
40kg - 2 x 10
45kg - 10
50kg - 10
55kg - 10
60kg - 10

Trap Bar Shrugs
40kg - 2 x 10
45kg - 10
50kg - 10
55kg - 10
60kg - 10

DB Rows
32.5kg - 3 x 10 per side

Foam rolling, stretching, general chat.
taking my first IP test with WIll on Monday morning as he;s doing his

nice session.
bit of volume, nothing difficult.

Inspector Coptoor · 27-08-2010 08:48PM

10 mins in the bottom of a squat - just trying that hip mobility stuff. 10 mins seems excessive as I already have good mobility and flexibility in the hips.
IP warm up
foam rolling
stretching
feet rolling

no gi bjj
~ 20 mins of rolling with lads i hadnt rolled with before.
got one or two subs from side control.
was happy enough with my defence.

couldnt be arsed doing deload shoulder work.
gonna take the weekend off and chill out, fully recover and do my IP test on monday at 11.

Inspector Coptoor · 27-08-2010 09:03PM

10 mins in the bottom of a squat - just trying that hip mobility stuff. 10 mins seems excessive as I already have good mobility and flexibility in the hips.
IP warm up
foam rolling
stretching
feet rolling

no gi bjj
~ 20 mins of rolling with lads i hadnt rolled with before.
got one or two subs from side control.
was happy enough with my defence.

couldnt be arsed doing deload shoulder work.
gonna take the weekend off and chill out, fully recover and do my IP test on monday at 11.

Inspector Coptoor · 30-08-2010 02:07PM

Results of 1st IP test.

IP warm up
Foam rolling
stretching

Max Bench
20kg - 2 x 10
40kg - 10
60kg - 5
80kg - 3
90kg - 1
100kg - 1
105kg - F

Bench is so demoralising at the moment but at least its still in triple figures, barely.

Strict BW pull ups - 7
Happy with this

Max push ups in a minutes - 41
happy with this, previous best is 37

Max inverted rows in a minutes - 20
never really did these with feet on a box before so the only way is up from here i guess

Trap Bar Deadlift
70kg - 5
120kg - 5
170kg - 1
190kg - 1
200kg - 1
210kg - 1
220kg - 1

220 was tough but got it up and said id call it a day there
2x BW TBDL. ill take it.

spider speed and agility test - 480m
running between cones for 30s on, 30s off 6 times and add up the 6 totals.
Lungs were on fire.

Retest in 6 weeks. Bench needs serious work but i knew that anyway

itsallaboutheL · 30-08-2010 04:44PM

20 inverted rows in a minute is pretty sweet at 110.

unlucky with the bench, tis a hoor.

G86 · 30-08-2010 08:40PM

How many days a week are you training in IP? Just reading over your log and getting confused with your 5-3-1 and your IP stuff? I should prob read back further but I've a short attention span and I'm genuinely interested

Inspector Coptoor · 30-08-2010 10:02PM

G86 wrote: »

How many days a week are you training in IP? Just reading over your log and getting confused with your 5-3-1 and your IP stuff? I should prob read back further but I've a short attention span and I'm genuinely interested

Im doing 5/3/1 all the time.
I moved up to dublin for the summer and have been training in IP all summer.
I'd been trying to do at least 4 days per week, one day per lift for bench, press, squat and deads and all the assistance stuff that goes with them as well as some conditioning (prowler work, carries etc.)
some weeks it'd be 5 days with one pure conditoning or prehab/rehab day or some weeks i could be at home for a day or two in Roscommon and train there but this summer id say i was training 10 hours per week most weeks.

Ive recently started doing bjj as well and find it great for conditioning

Almost everyone in IP does the IP programme for that month as its set out.

I, of course, would have to be different!

Ive just been taking the bits I like, the warm up (mobility & flexibility stuff), foam rolling etc and adding it to the 5/3/1

after lifting, on leg days, id do some of the IP conditioning blocks.

It was easy to train consistently all summer as i was on my 3 month teacher holidays and i was living quite close to IP

I start back to work on wednesday and will have to move more southside (ranelagh/dundrum/milltown area so will be harder to get as much training in but Ill continue to train in IP.

Im gonna keep doing 5/3/1 until the end of this year, by then ill have done 18 cycles. if i feel im not happy with where its brought me after giving it a very reasonable amount of time, Im just gonna start following the IP programme or jump back on the smolov bandwagon.

any other questions, fire away

Kev M · 30-08-2010 11:26PM

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

Im gonna keep doing 5/3/1 until the end of this year, by then ill have done 18 cycles. if i feel im not happy with where its brought me after giving it a very reasonable amount of time, Im just gonna start following the IP programme or jump back on the smolov bandwagon.

Are you happy with where it's brought you so far?

Inspector Coptoor · 30-08-2010 11:40PM

Kev M wrote: »

Are you happy with where it's brought you so far?

if you asked me in january, i would have said yes, definitely.

but after cutting down on the food im eating and upping the conditioning, im not as strong as i was in january.

I think I look better and am in better shape but am definitely not as strong as I was.

5/3/1 got me stronger than ive ever been, here's hoping it can get me back there.
if not,ill change it up

the drifter · 30-08-2010 11:45PM

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

if you asked me in january, i would have said yes, definitely.

but after cutting down on the food im eating and upping the conditioning, im not as strong as i was in january.

I think I look better and am in better shape but am definitely not as strong as I was.

5/3/1 got me stronger than ive ever been, here's hoping it can get me back there.
if not,ill change it up

it wont...have you dedicated the time youve given to 5/3/1 to any other program?

I really do think its time for a change from 5/3/1 for you lad...and i say that with your best interest in mind...

I found 5/3/1 good for maintaining respectale strenght when cutting but thats it... as an out and out strenght gainer in my opinion its not playing with the big boys at all...

Inspector Coptoor · 30-08-2010 11:48PM

I know what you're saying.
lots of people have been saying this to me lately so instead of doing 5/3/1 for 2-3 years as i had planned, im just gonna finish out this year with it and see how I am then and take xmas to decide what to do in 2011.