Cliff's Log Discussion

wilburburns · Post by **wilburburns** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:09 pm

That was a pretty good read... To summarize... Progress is increasing something.. Reps or weight.. And predicted PR's won't always be set...

Looking forward to this weeks Deload... I had a long, stressful, tiring, and Fun Weekend.. It involved loading and unloading a 24' box van full of Production equipment (Lighting, sound, stage) for a Convention. Can't forget the setup and teardown of said equipment, and then running the equipment for 3 shows. Long days and short nights... Man am I tired...

On the upside, I worked this same show last year. When loading and unloading the equipment, much of it "Felt" Lighter this year.. To me that says I am getting stronger in a noticeable Real World way...

I am really dragging today at the office...

Cliff

wilburburns · Post by **wilburburns** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:06 pm

I think for the next cycle I will only add 5# to my Working Max.

I am considered adding 10#, but since I have been having so much trouble adding weight to my Bench, I don't want to move to fast. I'd rather go Slow and keep progressing rather than stall out again.

As a Bonus, I will be 3+ repping my previous 1+ weight. This should give me a nice "DIRECT" comparison from cycle 1 to cycle 2.

Below will be my weights for the cycle starting 11/30/2009

RED=Actual BLUE=USE,Rounded
Week 1: 5x(81) 80, 5x(93.57) 95, 5+x(106.25) 105
Week 2: 3x(87.55) 90, 3x(100) 100, 3+x(112.5) 115
Week 3: 1x(93.75) 95, 1x(106.25) 105, 1+x(118.75) 120
Week 4: 5x(50) 50, 5x(62.5) 65, 5x(75) 75

I am questioning whether or not to continue my normal Sunday Routine with the Rep Bench workout at 95#. It hasn't seemed to hurt progress on this cycle, but I'm not sure.

My Biggest issue at this time with my workout and continuing with the WS4SB Template is that my normal Lower Body Day has been neglected for various reasons ranging from Work, Softball, family, and now Holidays. As mentioned before by Peter, I "workout to live", not "Live to Workout". I wonder what would happen if I added some Lower Body work to my routine and turn it into more of a Full body workout. I don't really think that is a good idea though. ARRGGHHH (Just voicing my own frustrations)

Cliff

Post by **Jungledoc** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:42 pm

I also miss quite a few workouts because of schedule conflicts. When this happens, why not just do the next workout in the rotation, rather than having a certain routine for a certain day of the week? Seems to work for me.

pdellorto · Post by **pdellorto** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:44 pm

wilburburns wrote:I think for the next cycle I will only add 5# to my Working Max.

The 5/3/1 book recommends 5# per cycle for bench and military press, so I'm with you there.

wilburburns wrote: Week 3: 1x(93.75) 95, 1x(106.25) 105, 1+x(118.75) 120

Remember that week 3 is 5/3/1+, not 1/1/1+.

wilburburns · Post by **wilburburns** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:58 pm

Well crap...

Since i typed it wrong the first cycle, I did it wrong.. I will fix it for this cycle.

I actually checked my public library the other day for the book to read, but sadly they don't have it.

Cliff

pdellorto · Post by **pdellorto** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:08 pm

wilburburns wrote:I actually checked my public library the other day for the book to read, but sadly they don't have it.

They won't. It's only available as an ebook, as far as I know. It's only $20, and well worth it.

wilburburns · Post by **wilburburns** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:53 pm

Jungledoc wrote:I also miss quite a few workouts because of schedule conflicts. When this happens, why not just do the next workout in the rotation, rather than having a certain routine for a certain day of the week? Seems to work for me.

I should probably do this..

I just keep telling myself that "next" week will get me back on schedule. It just isn't working though.

Cliff

Post by **Jungledoc** » Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:17 pm

I treat missed days as part of my deload. Often when it is the official deload week, I have missed some wo recently, so I don't do the full week as deload, then start into the next cycle.

wilburburns · Post by **wilburburns** » Wed May 26, 2010 9:33 am

If you all get a chance, I'd love comments on what I am planning to do this time around. It might be a bad idea, or it could be a good one, let me know what you think.

Cliff

Post by **stuward** » Wed May 26, 2010 9:44 am

My Plan: And I'd love opinions of whether or not this is a decent plan currently.
Since have been having trouble getting to the gym lately, I don't really want to do a Upper/lower split. Therefore, I intend each workout to be a full body workout revolving around the big complex lifts. Each workout will have a main focus and heavy lift (Bench, Squat, DL, maybe Overhead Press). For the Main lifts, I plan to use the 5/3/1 schema and follow it up with a variation of the same lift with lower weight and more reps (aka BBB) and less rest time.

After the main lift, I will do a minimum of two more lifts to complete the full body. Using last nights workout as an example, main lift DL, then a Upper Body Pull and Push to complete the Full Body workout. These other lifts will vary based on the main lift, time I have left, equipment availability. Mainly, these lifts will be in the 6-12 rep range with short rest periods similar to a WS4SB template. I may even throw some complex routines in as the supplement to the main lift to round out the Full body workout.

Cliff, you don't say how frequently you plan to train but you suggest that it might not be regular. In this case I strongly support full body workouts. A squat and/or a deadlift followed by an UB push and pull Should always be your "go to" workout. I don't think 5/3/1 is a good idea for an infrequent or inconsistant workout schedule. You would be better to just do 3x5 to ensure that you get both sufficient volume and intensity to carry you through to the next workout. I think it will be hard to see progress on a 5/3/1 if it's too long between workouts.

You probably should add a body weight circuit as a daily routine that you can do at home. This will help sustain your conditioning between workouts.

wilburburns · Post by **wilburburns** » Wed May 26, 2010 9:58 am

Well, Crap.. All that rambling this morning and I left out the planned frequency of my workouts.

I see 2 days a week as doable right now, with the occasional 3rd day thrown in. This is in addition to my Softball night and helping my daughter practice her t-ball and such.

So, saying Tuesday and Thursday with the occasional Saturday or Sunday workout thrown in when possible, does my plan to use Wendler's 5/3/1 sound better?

Cliff

Post by **stuward** » Wed May 26, 2010 1:52 pm

wilburburns wrote:Well, Crap.. All that rambling this morning and I left out the planned frequency of my workouts.

I see 2 days a week as doable right now, with the occasional 3rd day thrown in. This is in addition to my Softball night and helping my daughter practice her t-ball and such.

So, saying Tuesday and Thursday with the occasional Saturday or Sunday workout thrown in when possible, does my plan to use Wendler's 5/3/1 sound better?

Cliff

3 days a week sounds fine.

pdellorto · Post by **pdellorto** » Wed May 26, 2010 6:11 pm

I agree, your 5/3/1 plan sounds fine. Great deal on the DL, too!

wilburburns · Post by **wilburburns** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:17 am

I know DOMS are not a good sign of a good workout, BUT.. For Me, they are a sign of working muscles that have been used different than normal.

That being said, My legs are still quite jellowy today after that light Leg/squat work. Truly sad, but it is what it is.

Cliff

Post by **stuward** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:29 am

Anytime you resume training after a layoff you're going to experience that. You body retains most of the strength that it had before but it's deconditioned. This means that it's not used to doing work so you are going to have pain even with loads that seem light. That's why you should always increase loads and volumes gradually. The important thing is to not get discouraged and stop training. Do something on a frequent basis. As a rule of thumb, try to get a squat, push and pull every 3 days at a minimum even if it's a light body weight exercise. That's why I put one of each in my daily warmup.