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@Knob, yup, this advice matches up well with what I've learned by asking about my "Squat Mornings" problem. It is probably not how often I do them, but that I've got weak legs compared to my back and I need to bring those legs up.

Thanks.

This is my 5/3/1 Cycle 2 program.

I will also be doing this during deload week of cycle 1.

Training 1RM History is here: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=34

Note 1: Ken's "private" basement gym is getting crowded. So instead of doubling bench onto Press day and vice-versa, I'll do pushups on press day and tri pushups on bench day, to reduce contention for the equipment.

Note 2: Emphasis here is on boosting leg strength.[/color]

EDIT: Emphasis is on boosting arm and leg strength, my limbs are weak compared to my core.

Day 1:
Press (5/3/1)

Chins, neutral grip, 30 reps:
- In as few sets as possible
- minimum 5 per set

Pushups, no set/rep target yet, first week will tell the tale

Pause Press. 5x5
Push bar to about bridge of nose, hold for 4-5 seconds, finish rep.

Day 2:
Deadlift (5/3/1)

Curls, and why not he says?

Bulgarian Split Squats - for leg strength w/o letting the back help

Day 3:
Bench (5/3/1)

Rows (5/3/1)
- I have had enormous success treating rows as a main lift and using the 5/3/1 scheme, so will keep using it as long as it keeps working

Triceps Pushups, most likely 10/10/10+, looking to add reps over time

Pause Bench Press. 5x5.
Put bar on pins about 4" above chest. Raise 1" and hold for count of 4, complete rep. Return bar to pins at end of rep, take breath, repeat.

Day 4:
Squat (5/3/1)

Planks - actually doing this to improve Press by improving core

Bulgarian Split Squats

Pause Squats, 5x5
- will set pins just below sticking point. Will lower till I feel the pins but will not rest weight or go loose, once I feel the pins will rise an inch or so and hold for 4 seconds before completing rep. Never tried this, have no idea if I can hold 50% for 4 seconds over 3x8.

Random notes on deload week.

1) Needing less and less sleep each night. Keep waking up earlier and earlier. Last night maybe 6.5 - 7. Usually I need 8-8.5, where "usually" means last 8 months or so.

2) Craving for sweets is rising. I've always had a sweet tooth, but the neurotic-like involuntary craving largely vanished when I started lifting and changed my diet. No theories here, just making note.

3) I hate deload week. Doc made a suggestion yesterday that lightened my spirits -- for about 1/2 hour.

4) My basic disposition towards 5/3/1 correlates 1:1 to intensity. Week 1, not so sure, Week 2, feeling better, Week 3, loving it, Deload week, hating it. So I went from a confirmed believer last week to having it all in doubt again this week.

No conclusions today, just making notes.

For Future Reference, this was my first (and so far only) attempt at an intermediate program using 5/3/1 intensity system. I did one cycle of this program, which I call cycle 0 in my history.

The program followed roughly the Texas Method, using 5/5/5+ for heavy day, 40/50/60 for deload day, and 5/3/1+ for PR day.

I believe this failed because:

1) I had come back from vacation and not set the numbers low enough

2) I set up 3 days/week instead of 4, which piled 3 lifts into every day, which was exactly what I was trying to get away from at the end of Stronglifts and madcow.

Week 1 Day 1:
Squat 5/5/5+
Bench 5/5/5+
Row 5/5/5+

Week 1 Day 2:
Deadlift 5/5/5+
Press 5/5/5+
Chins

Week 1 Day 3:
Squat deload
Bench deload
Row deload

Week 2 Day 1:
Deadlift deload
Press deload
Chins deload (lots of bands to make 'em light)

Week 2 Day 2:
Squat 5/3/1+
Bench 5/3/1+
Row 5/3/1+

Week 2 Day 3:
Deadlift 5/3/1+
Press 5/3/1+
Chins

The numbers after the weight in form x/y/z are the reps on 5+, 3+ and 1+ days when I was doing 5/3/1

Deadlift
21-Apr-2012: 2" deficit 315# (wore myself out on box squat)
14-Apr-2012: 2" deficit 345#
Cycle 9: 3/31/12 390
Cycle 8: 2/25/12 380 3/4/3
Cycle 7: 2/4/12 370 5/3/2
Cycle 6: 1/7/12 360 5/3/1 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 5: 12/17/11 350 3/4/2 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 4: 11/26/11 340 7/5/2 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=47
Cycle 3: 10/29/11 330 7/6/3 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=44
Cycle 2: 10/1/11, 320 8/3/3 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=31
Cycle 1: 9/3/11, 310 7/7/6 (See Note 1)
Cycle 0: 8/21/11, 300, viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=33

Squat
21-Apr-2012: box squat 270
14-Apr-2012: box squat 255
Cycle 9: 3/31/12 280
Cycle 8: 2/25/12 270 6/4/2
Cycle 7: 2/4/12, 260 4/5/3
Cycle 6: 1/7/12, 260 5/3/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 5: 12/17/11, 250 4/3/3 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 4: 11/26/11, 260 4/3/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=47
Cycle 2: 10/29/11, 250 6/6/2 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=44
Cycle 2: 10/1/11, 240 5/4/4 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=31
Cycle 1: 9/3/11, 230 7/6/6 (See Note 1)
Cycle 0: 8/21/11, 250, viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=33

Bench

19-Apr-2012: 160 x 5 x 5  
12-Apr-2012: 145 x 5 x 5 (nearing end of rehab)
05-Apr-2012: 125 x 5 x 5  (rehab weight)
29-Mar-2012: 105 x 5 x 5 (rehab weight)
15-Mar-2012:  85 x 5 x 5 (rehab weight)

Cycle 8: 2/25/12 - -/-/-
Cycle 7: 2/4/12, 190 -/-/-
Cycle 6: 1/7/12, 205 -/-/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 5: 12/17/11, 205 5/-/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 4: 11/26/11, 210 6/3/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=47
Cycle 3: 10/29/11, 202.5 9/7/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=44
Cycle 2: 10/1/11, 195 8/7/5 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=31
Cycle 1: 9/3/11, 190 8/5/4
Cycle 0: 8/21/11, 210, viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=33

Press

22-Apr-2012: 107.5 x 5 x 5
15-Apr-2012: 105 x 5 x 5

Cycle 8: 2/25/12 - -/-/-
Cycle 7: 2/4/12, 120 -/-/-
Cycle 6: 1/7/12, 140 -/-/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 5: 12/17/11, 140 5/-/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 4: 11/26/11, 145 6/4/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=47
Cycle 3: 10/29/11, 140 6/5/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=44
Cycle 2: 10/1/11, 135 7/5/4 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=31
Cycle 1: 9/3/11, 130 7/4/4
Cycle 0: 8/21/11, 140, viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=33

Row
Cycle 9: 3/31/12 150 FINAL CYCLE OF 5/3/1 for ROW
Cycle 8: 2/25/12 145 8/7/8 (volume up to 80x4x12)
Cycle 7: 2/4/12, 140 5/6/5 (volume up to 75 5x10)
Cycle 6: 1/7/12, 155 -/-/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 5: 12/17/11, 155 7/4/2 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=51
Cycle 4: 11/26/11, 160 6/-/- viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=47
Cycle 3: 10/29/11, 155 6/5/1 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=44
Cycle 2: 10/1/11, 145 11/8/6 viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=31
Cycle 1: 9/3/11, 142.5 7/6/4
Cycle 0: 8/21/11, 140, viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=33

Cycle 8: Changed sequence to Dead -> Press -> Squat -> Bench, which works better for scheduling. Doing shoulder rehab on recovery days, it's not in the journal.

Cycle 7: Emphasis is on doing LOTS of pulling, volume rows, face pulls etc. Resumed upper body press and bench with lowered weight to reduce emphasis on those lifts to put more attention to pulls.

Cycle 5, 6: Issues with left shoulder/arm continued, decided to suspend ALL upper body activity pending trip to doctor.

Note 2: Cycle 4 was a disaster, cold, injury, work emergencies, etc, messed up diet and sleep and so on and so on

Note 1: For deads and squat on Cycle 2 I was still unaware of how badly I was breaking form. For both exercises I would raise my hips and drop my torso closer to horizontal, then straighten out. The change to correct form shows up as lower numbers in the all out sets from cycle 1 to cycle 2.

_________________
The Angels have the phone box.

Ken's Intermediate 5-3 Program

First Notes
I have never done this program. I have no specific plan to do this program (at very least not before I've completed 2 cycles of 5/3/1). I just wrote this up for fun because I find the exercise useful.

This is not a general use program, its for me. Choice of accessories, 4 days/week, intensity, all come from general principles but are specific to me.

If I ever try a non-5/3/1 intermediate, this would probably be it. Reasons are below.

The Program

1) "5" means 5/5/5+
2) "3" means 3/3/3+
3) "1" means 5/3/1+ (which is only on there for rows)




The Ideas

In no particular order, this was formed from these ideas:

1) This intermediate lifter should not exceed 90% intensity because it requires additional recovery time that is hard to fit into a one or two week plan. This is the guiding principle behind this program and what separates it from earlier doodles I made.

2) All lifts are not created equal in terms of stress w/in a session. The major lifts are squat, dead and bench. The minor lifts are Press and Row. One or two major and one or two minor in a day trains well w/o overwhelming, especially if rule #1 is kept in mind. By this reasoning, Week 2 Day 4 is the most stressful, Deadlift and Bench in the same day. That is also why both are 5+ (low intensity) instead of 3+ (high intensity) that day.

3) As a beginner I could do Deads 3x/2weeks. As intermediate once/week is fine.

4) As a beginner I did squats 6x/2weeks. As an intermediate I should not radically depart from that, so 4x/2weeks is "half-way" to advanced programs where you squat once/week.

5) As a beginner I could do bench, press, and row 3x/2week. As an intermediate I can probably continue that.

6) This program has 3 accessory slots, but I specifically worked them up for leg exercises for me. Therefore this is the "rubbery legs" variation, except there are no other variations.

7) I still don't have perfect form. Add in point #1 above and it is a good idea again to stick to higher reps and lower intensity.

8) Choosing 5/5/5+ or 3/3/3+ on a particular day is easy. If the days of complete rest until the next session for that exercise are low, you do 5+. If not, do 3+. So Friday Squats must be 5+ because I'll be squatting again after only two days rest. But Week 2 Day 6 Press can be 3+ because it's 4 full days of rest before I Press again.

The Pin/Pause Bench wasn't too hard to get oriented on, but it took a few sets.

Matt told me I was pausing lower and lower on each rep. I thought I was finding the spot where it was hardest to hold, but he pointed out that if the perceived difficult spot kept get lower then I didn't have a reliable repeatable exercise.

That seemed pretty persuasive so on sets 4,5 I went with lowering it to the pins, and lifting it just barely off the pins, pausing, then completing the rep.

This is my notepad entry to track leg and arm assistance exercises I'm trying or might try.

Legs
1) Pause squats - in progress

2) Bulgarian Split Squats - in progress 10/7/11. Trying to beat heavy cheating when hitting right leg. Got to 130# at end of cycle 2, squat improved tremendously. Swapping out on cycle 3 just for variety.

2a) Lunges - Cycle 3 short lunges for quads.

2b) Step-Ups - Cycle 3 high step-ups for glute/ham.

3) Pistol Squats - learning. Not counting as sets yet, just trying to do a few here and there

4) Hip Belt Squats. Under consideration for future cycle. Saw this cool article: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... t_squats_1


Arms (Tris)
1) Pause Press and Pause Bench - in program now.

2) Chains. Tried on deload on cycle 2. Will not do until benefits of pause are exhausted.

I see you are getting better at "pause" moves and also ou sem to be making nice RM progressions on press and squat. Do you think that the pause moves are helping the main lifts, or just helping you get beter at pausing. In other words, correlation only or causation? Best guess, or too early to know?

The pause variations definitely make me better at pause variations. Simplest explanation is that since I've never done them I'm getting beginner gains on them.

I can't prove it, but I think the pause variations have improved the presses, because they feel different. Any slowdown, including a missed rep, occurs higher up and is much more sudden. This suggests that after I've gotten everything I can from the pause variations, chains might be the next step.

For squats the improvement is harder to see. Now that I'm purged of that awful form issue, I could only get 5 reps on 5+ day, but managed 4 on 3+ day, so that's an improvement, but only over 2 sessions. I think two complete cycles will make it more black and white. There's also two days/week of Bulgarians to confuse the matter, but next cycle I'll probably divide that into lunges and some glute/ham exercise.

thanks!
I'm always interested in your progress and chance to pick your brain/experience, as we are somewhere in the same ball park, with me trailing, and a bit stuck on pressing.

On the higher sticking for your presses, maybe tricep isolatio work liker CGBP, makes sense. Although I get the idea of chains giving you increased resistance as you go higher therby overloading the triceps, and they're cool

I think that because I discuss publicly ideas for programs people may think I do some program hopping, but that's not really true -- once I'm on a program it takes a lot to shake me off it. It took a few weeks but I'm sold on 5/3/1 and recommend it highly.

Good job on Squat progress Ken!

Makes me think about using pause squats when I get to focucing on increasing past plateaus

Thanks!

Here's how I'm feeling about it right now:

This is my 5/3/1 Cycle 3 program.

Training 1RM History is here: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8047&start=34

Emphasis is pause variations and extra leg work

Day 1:
Press (5/3/1)

Chins, neutral grip, 30 reps:
- In as few even sets as possible
- minimum 5 per set

Pause Press. 5x5 (Week 1)
Push bar to eye level, hold for 4-5 seconds, finish rep.

Press w/Chains. 3-5x5 (Week 2+)
Add 28 lbs chains. At least 3 sets of 5, but going for 5x5.

Day 2:
Deadlift (5/3/1)

Curls / Planks superset

High Step Ups (ham/glute emphasis)

Day 3:
Bench (5/3/1)

Rows (5/3/1)
- Still making gains treating row as main lift

Pause Bench Press. 5x5.
Put bar on pins about 4" above chest. Raise 1" and hold for count of 4, complete rep. Return bar to pins at end of rep, take breath, repeat.

Day 4:
Squat (5/3/1)

Short Lunges / Planks superset (short lunges emphasizes quads)

Pin Pause Squats, 5x5
- Pins set at parallel. Lower to pins (but don't loosen up), raise slightly, hold for count of 4, complete rep

_________________
The Angels have the phone box.