5/3/1 for Middle aged Fat Guys!

5/3/1 Cycle 6 Week 2

Military Press

Bar x 5
30 x 5
35 x 5

Work Sets

42.5 x 3
50 x 3
55 x 10 PR

Assistance Stuff

Military Press 40 x 10
Dips 3 sets of 10
Push Ups 2 sets of 20

My Military Press never feels right, so I decided to film it and have a look. Trained with Brutus today so he acted as cameraman and technical advisor. He said I wasn't getting under the bar quick enough, and as you can see from the video he's right!

The whole set felt awful and looks awful - I can barely stand to watch :eek:. This is probably why my right shoulder hurts me every time I do them. Any other advice is most welcome....

5/3/1 Cycle 6 Week 3

Bench Press

Bar x 10
40 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 3

Work Sets

90 x 5
100 x 3
110 x 4 PR
115 x 2 PR

Assistance Stuff

Chest Supported Rows 3 sets of 15 with 100kg
Push Ups 3 sets of 22

Absolutely delighted with the benching today - would have been happy with 110 x 2. I was only going to try 115 for a single, but it went up so easy that I did another rep .

Thanks Damien

That's a good point about the elbows. I do have them behind the bar - I think it's a flexibility issue.

I will try out your tips tomorrow!

5/3/1 Cycle 6 Week 3

Military Press

Bar x 5 x 2
30 x 5
35 x 5
40 x 5

I decided to finish here as I was experiencing a lot of pain at the back of my right shoulder

Assistance Stuff

Dips 3 sets of 12
Lat Pulldowns 3 sets of 20
Tricep Pushdowns 3 sets of 20
Chest Supported Rows 2 sets of 15 (100kg)


This the first time I have started a 5/3/1 workout without finishing it. My right shoulder has been hurting during military presses for some time now. I am going to take this exercise out of the program for the moment.

The funny thing is that most of the stuff I have read says that benching can cause shoulder problems, and that you should do overhead pressing to balance out the shoulder work. It seems to be the opposite for me!

In any event, I think I will replace military press day with another bench day – probably some sort of DB work.

In other news - I still feel fairly drained from the deads yesterday.

5/3/1 Cycle 7 Week 1

Bench Press

Bar x 10
40 x 5
60 x 3

Work Sets

80 x 5
90 x 5
102.5 x 9 PR
90 x 3 x 3

Chest Supported Rows 3 sets of 15 with 100kg
Push Ups 3 sets of 25

Didn't feel too good on the bench. I don't know how I managed to get 9 reps on the top set

Brutus said the bar was moving around a lot - better tighten up the form!

Heavy Bench Day (previously known as 5/3/1 Military Press Day)

Bar x 10
40 x 5
60 x 3

80 x 1
90 x 1
100 x 1
105 x 1
110 x 1
115 x 1
120 x 1 training PR

As I can't do military press due to injury I decided to add a second bench day. I did a little bit of extra volume on Tuesday after my 5/3/1 bench so decided to do some singles today.

From 90 onwards they all felt very heavy - could be the deadlifts from yesterday or maybe I'm just getting old

I didn't pause any of them, but tbh if I had paused the 120 I probably wouldn't have got it. I intended to do some lat pulldowns but ran out of time...

Plan for the next 4 weeks

I intend to do 2 more weeks of hard training, then 1 week deload followed by 1 week of total rest.

I am not going to strictly follow the prescribed sets and reps for the rest of 5/3/1 cycle 7 - I will throw in some heavy singles instead.

Hopefully this will leave me feeling fresh for the nationals on the 27th

My total from the Hercs Club Championships in December was 445 - so the aim is to beat that

5/3/1 Cycle 7 Week 2

Bench Press

Bar x 10
40 x 5
60 x 3

Work Sets

80 x 3
95 x 3
110 x 5 PR

Chest supported rows - 3 sets of 12 with 110kg

The final bench set felt hard from the first rep. I trained with Brutus and he said that he thought each rep was going to be my last :eek:

Even I didn't believe I would get the 5th rep - but I did, and that's all that matters!

Deadlifts on Thursday

Thursday 04 03 2010

Deadlifts

60 x 5 x 2
80 x 3
100 x 2
120 x 1
140 x 1
160 x 1
180 x 1 PR

140 x 3 x 2

I was 6.45 and I was lying awake in bed waiting for the alarm to go off. Next minute two hooligans burst through the door and proceeded to jump all over me. All was well with the world though, as this is how I always start my day. When my 3 and 4 year old boys were finished beating me up I noticed that my stomach was making funny noises and I didn't feel too good

I dashed to the toilet and was stuck there for nearly 10 minutes with a severe bout of diarrhoea. I also felt like vomiting but managed not to. Before going to work I had to pay another visit to the toilet. Somehow I made it into work and had to dash to the toilet again. My stomach felt rotten, but I managed to eat a couple of croissants and a few chocolate biscuits (I had no choice as we had a little tea party for someone leaving the office ).

Anyway, after one more toilet break I decided to go to the gym and deadlift - probably not one of my better ideas. Things felt fine until I got to 140 - this should have felt easy but didn't. Every time I bent down I felt like throwing up, I had to stand up a couple of times and reset. I pulled the 160 and felt some pain in my left trap.

I loaded up the bar to 180 and bent over and grabbed it. I could feel a lump in my chest (gas, vomit, bile, acid - who knows). I was ready to go, and I wasn't going to stand up and reset myself again. I pulled with everything I had and the bar moved slowly off the floor. I actually said to myself at this point 'I'm not going to get this', but I kept pulling and the bar kept rising. I finally locked it out, and put the bar down with a thud. It was the hardest lift I have ever made :eek:

My left trap was very painful and I felt like throwing up. So what did I do - another 2 sets of 3 with 140. On the last rep of the second set I did actually throw up. I managed to keep my mouth shut and swallow it. One of the weightlifters I was sharing the platform with was giving me some very strange looks - probably thinking those wannabe powerlifters shouldn't be allowed on the platform!

I think I'm gonna take a few days off .....

Thanks Rob!

No he didn't mention the sumo for once! He said I wasn't using legs, just all back - you can hear it on the video.

It turns out that I was quite ill

When I got home from work yesterday I went straight to bed at 6pm. my body was like a mini furnace burning all night. Got up about 9am totally dehydrated and as weak as a kitten.

Went back to bed at 1pm until 5. I'm feeling a little better now. Not sure yet about my training plans for next week.

Squats

Bar x 5
40 x 5
60 x 5
80 x 3
100 x 1

120 x 1
130 x 1
140 x 1
150 x 1
160 x 1 PR

130 x 3 x 3

Good session today! Delighted with the 160 - this weight buried me at the IDFPA single lifts in January. I don't think the depth was quite there, but a huge improvement all the same

Sangre wrote: »

Well done on 160kg. Always nice to get to grips with a weight that has kicked your ass before.

Thanks man, there was a bit of a fear factor involved, so it was good to get it

16/03/2010

Deadlifts

60 x 5 x 2
80 x 5
100 x 2

120 x 1
130 x 1
140 x 1
150 x 1
160 x 1
170 x 1

Pull ups - 4 sets of 4

The 170 felt hard but not all out. I will probably open with 160 at the Nationals.