Mahogany's TM-inspired program post 5/1 and learning to power clean

[Adam Skillin]

Okay, I've been reading through the old Q&A with Rip, the SS Coaches' Board, the Programming Forum, etc. and have decided to put an end to my 5/1 variant program after 9 or 10 weeks and begin something with more sets of 5. Obviously this is informed by the Texas Method. Intensity means 1 x 5, volume means 5x5 for now. If it seems to be too much, Andy suggested I cut down on the assistance before considering decreasing the volume to 3x5.

The new program may need adjustments as I go, but will look something like this:

Thursday A: Volume Squats, Volume Press, Power Cleans 5 x 3, Chin-ups

Monday A: Intensity Squats, Deadlifts 1 x 5, Volume Bench Press, Glute-Ham Bridges, Dips

Thursday B: Volume Squats, Intensity Press, Power Cleans 5 x 1, Chin-ups

Monday B: Intensity Squats, Deadlifts 1 x 5, Intensity Bench Press, Glute-Ham Bridges, Dips

The first workout under the new paradigm will be a week from tomorrow. in the meantime, I'm trying to clean up my power cleans. Have received a lot of good feedback, which I was in great need of. The first log entry will be my video series of re-learning the power clean, following the steps outlined in SS:BBT3 for the 3rd time. It went like this:


http://youtu.be/wDXZ_O0Hz4A
http://youtu.be/CaEgK5jBUn8
http://youtu.be/bPQC0kQaGmE
http://youtu.be/KVf_AEaLwlc
http://youtu.be/Cw96IojI__0
http://youtu.be/SfA85WSCdEU
http://youtu.be/G7XRPTGVBS8
http://youtu.be/pOo2PWgbDow - 95 lbs., had to shim with a set of plates for the 3 actual pulls to achieve the correct starting bar height. I think these were ok (not perfect by a long shot, but far better than before I went through the steps again)
Then I tried a few with 135, which I don't think looked as good:
http://youtu.be/IS4iM8kN_HA

Tomorrow's my 5/3/1 day of Deadlifts and Presses. Monday will be sort of a de-load day, I'll work on form, and stick to lifts below 65% of my 1RM estimates.

Then, next Thursday, I'll do Thursday A workout in accordance with the above, working around 90% of my intensity day lifts, which I'm going to start around 85% of my 1RM estimates. So something approximating 76.5% of estimated 1RM's.

This is all with the purpose of getting strong for BJJ/MMA. I'm a brown belt in the former and a 4-0 amateur in the latter. Currently training hard 4 days/week, helping teach the kids' class 1-2 days/week.

Current BW ~155 lbs, recent best sets of lifts: Squat: 275 x 5, Deadlift: 357.5 x 6, Press: 142.5 x 3, Bench Press: 225 x 1 Power clean: Needs too much form correction to work at/near my limits, but I've cleaned as much as 155 for some ugly singles.

Thanks for checking it out. I'll try to keep it up to date.

[Adam Skillin]

4/25. Not listing warm-up sets. This is Press/Deadlift 5/3/1+ day

Press: 115 x 5/130 x 3/145 x 2 (P.R. - have pressed this weight for a single before)
Deadlift: 295 x 5/330 x 3/370 x 5 (P.R. - 365 was my previous best SINGLE)
Dips - BW + 60# 8/5/5

[Adam Skillin]

Today was the workout day in-between the old programming and the new, so I decided instead of doing a true deload to hit some PR's, since I don't get a chance to play with singles often.


All singles:
Press: 155 (Bodyweight + 2 according to this morning's weigh-in. First BW press ever, plus 10 lb PR)
Squat: 315 (Heaviest previous set was 5 reps @ 275)
Deadlift: 405 (Heaviest previous set was 5 reps @ 370)

[Adam Skillin]

Whew. Volume Day is tough. And takes forever. Gonna stick to not logging warm-ups here, but they're in my notebook.

First day in weightlifting shoes (the borderline acceptable Adidas PowerLifts, silver/red/black with the 0.6" EVA soles)

Power Cleans: 5 x 3 x 140 lbs
Squats: 5 x 5 x 250
Press: 5 x 5 x 120
Chin-ups 6, 5, 5 (BW + 35 lbs)

Was smoked by the time I got to the chin-ups. Having a hard time refraining from going way below parallel with the new shoes. I'll figure it out. Squats, steak, repeat.

[Adam Skillin]

Squat Intensity/Deadlifts/Bench Volume Day

Power Cleans: 3 x 1 x 160
Squats: 1 x 5 x 280
Bench: 5 x 5 x 180
Deadlift: 1 x 5 x 380
Fat Grip Deadlift: 185 x 2/165 x 2/135 x 8
Dips: BW + 50 x 8/ BW + 25 x 5/ BW + 0 x 4 (No rest between, just took off a 25 lb plate)
Glute-Ham Bridges 3 x 10 x 185

[Adam Skillin]

Power Cleans/Squat volume/Press Intensity/Chin-ups

Power cleans: 5 x 3 x 145
Squats: 5 x 5 x 255
Press: 1 x 5 x 135
Chin-ups: Bodyweight + 60: 5/3/3 (all to failure)
Ab wheel rollouts (from knees): 3 x 10
(last 2 exercises alternated in the interest of time)

[Adam Skillin]

Power cleans/squat intensity/bench press intensity/deadlift/dips

Power Cleans: 5 x 1 x 165 (new P.R.)
Squats: 5 x 1 x 285
Bench Press: 5 x 1 x 205
Deadlift: 5 x 1 x 385
Fat Gripz Deficit Deadlifts: 5 x 1 x 155
Good mornings: 3 x 12 x 95
Kettlebell unilateral press: 3 x 12 x 25 left & right
Dips: BW + 60 x 8/5/6
Inverted rows: 3 x 10 x BW

[Adam Skillin]

Squat volume/Press volume/Chin-ups/Teaching a lady stuff

Did my presses while I was home from work for lunch:
5 x 5 x 125
Squats: 5 x 5 x 260
Power Cleans: 5 x 3 x 150 (I really jumped on almost every rep, and racked many of these cleanly. Making progress on form)

Got sidetracked because my lady friend arrived who's learning to squat. Let's just say we worked on it with the empty bar and didn't accomplish any legitimate sets, but made significant progress.

Taught her to deadlift off the cinder blocks. Worked up to a not too challenging weight, which she did for 3 x 5.

I was cold by the time chin-ups came around.

Chin-ups: + 65 3/5/5 Chin-ups + 0: 12

Threw in the bodyweight only set because I was so heartbroken about posting the set of 3. Going to add 5 lbs and try to hit 3 x 5 next week.

F that. Going to add 5 lbs and do 3 x 5 next week. Chin-ups will not be treated as an accessory exercise going forward. They're a main lift.

My weight is up a few pounds. Don't know how many. Trying to not care.

[Adam Skillin]

Tough workout tonight. Started out trying to power clean 170 for some singles. It just wouldn't rack. I dropped down to 160. No luck. Ended up with 5 singles at 155. Frustrating.

Then, probably partly because I was cooked from the failure cleans, I missed the 5th rep of squats @ 290.

So here's how it ended up:

Power Cleans: 5 x 1 x 155
Squats: 4 x 290, 1 x 290 (Had to get the 5th rep, even if it meant unloading and re-loading the bar)
Bench Press: 5 x 5 x 185
Deadlift: 1 x 5 x 390
Fat Grip Deficit Deadlift: 1 x 5 x 160
Dips: 3 x 10 x 45+me

Cut off the rest of the assistance work because somehow that took me 2 and a half hours.

Going to deload on the power cleans, get the form nailed down, and do them AFTER squats.

Going back after that 290 x 5 on squats next week. I will command it to happen.

[Adam Skillin]

Better workout tonight.
Squat volume: 5 x 5 x 265. These felt good. All 5 sets videotaped and posted in the technique forum.
Press intensity: 1 x 5 x 140. 4th rep was slow. 5th was a grind. Jumps will stay at 5 lbs for now.
Chin-ups: 3 x 5 x BW + 70. All sets were grinders.
Power cleans: 135 x 2, 145 x 3, 145 x 2, miss, 1 more, 145 x 2, 135 x 2, 135 x 5. Dropped the weight because they weren't racking right.
Upright rows with a 60 lb kettlebell, 10, 10, 12
Close-grip bench press: 135 x 12, 135 x 12, 135 x 10.

Ate an entire pound of ground beef, some cheese, and 1.5 med/large baked potatoes.

Legs were wobbly as hell. They're still fighting me 2 hours later. An epsom salt bath and 9 hours of sleep are on the agenda.