MJLD's Greyskull LP Meets 5/3/1

[MLJD]

Age - 40
Height - 6'4"
Weight - 207

Did SS from March - October 2010, and TM in Nov and Dec. Ended the year with the following 1 rep maxes:

Press - 160
Power Clean - 215
Bench - 260
Squat - 325
Dead - 360

Over that time period, ate whatever I wanted, did 1/2 - 3/4 GOMAD, and weight went from 200 to 235. The last 10 lbs seemed to be all back fat, love handles, man boobs, and gut. I had stopped all conditioning by the end, and my athletic performance was suffering - I did an NFL style combine with some friends in December and only managed a 5.7 40, a 1'20" 1/4 mile, 7'11" broad jump, and 23" vertical.

I needed to cut, so I pulled the plug on the TM. I was barely making it through the volume days even with heavy eating and no conditioning, so I knew TM on a cut would be a non-starter for me. Plus, while I couldn't wait to get to the gym during SS, TM was a mental beating for me. The only day I looked forward to was intensity day - volume days were a grind with no psychological payoff, and light days were boring.

So I took the Jim Wendler "north of vag" approach - I bought a prowler, cleaned up the diet (intermittent fasting with an eating window from noon to 8), and started 5/3/1. I thought the cut would only last a couple of months and that I'd stop at 220 or so, but I was still at it 6 months later at 208. What kept it going the last 3 months was getting a bodyfat test (water displacement and skin caliper) at 220 and finding that I was still 20% bf (meaning that at 235 I was probably 25%+). And I really liked 5/3/1 - splitting the big lifts into separate days, the AMRAP last set, the assistance work. Plus, 5/3/1 is very conditioning-friendly - just add a prowler session to the end of the squat and deadlift workouts. The lifting addiction returned. And the prowler has been an unqualified success. Brutal workouts, but over in 10-12 minutes with no recovery problems. And I don't have to run anymore - I ran a 5K in May using nothing but the prowler to train and did it over a minute faster than I ever did a 5K where I trained by running. I did the combine events again in June and did a 5.3 40, 1'09" 1/4 mile, 8'10" broad jump, and a 26" vertical.

5/3/1 did a decent job of keeping my strength on the cut, until right at the end when my presses and cleans took a dive. My one rep maxes at the end of June were as follows:

Press - 150
Power Clean - 205
Bench - 240
Squat - 330
Dead - 365

I couldn't live with that much strength loss, so I ended the cut and looked for something to rebuild my presses faster than 5/3/1 could. I wanted to keep some of the things I liked best about 5/3/1 - the split routine, the AMRAP set, squatting once a week and the assistance work - so I decided on a Greyskull LP-5/3/1 blend. This is the new program:

Mon - Bench 2x5, 1x5+ (AMRAP), Dips, Inverted Rows
Wed - Power Cleans (at least 3 sets of up to 3 reps), Dead 1x5+, Prowler
Fri - Press 2x5, 1x5+, Chins, Curls
Sat - Squat 2x5, 1x5+, Bulgarian Split Squats, Prowler
Sets of 20 push ups and 6 chins at least 3 times daily during non-press days. Front and side planks during non-workout days.

Weekly jumps of 2.5 lbs on press, PC, and bench, and 5 lbs on squat and dead. If reps are missed, add extra set(s) to get at least 15 reps total, and try 3 times before resetting. I'm curious to see how long I can keep this going before having to switch programs again. Also, I'm going to try to keep the weight gain under control until I get close to stalling.

[MLJD]

Here are the first few workouts:

7/8/11 -

BW - 206

Press - 120 5,5,9
Chins - 14,7,7,7,5
Curls - 65x10x2 (EZ bar)

7/9/11

BW - 208

Squat - 235 5,5,10
Split Squat - BX 10x3
Prowler

7/11/11

BW - 207

Bench - 205 5,5,9
Dips - 15,13
Inverted Rows - 7,7,6,6,5

Pressing strength seems to be coming back - this is one more rep than I did at 205 on 5/3/1, and that was at a BW of 226

7/13/11

BW - 206

Power Clean - 135x3, 155x3, 185x3x3
Dead - 285x11
Prowler

7/14/11

BW - 204

Press - 122.5 5,5,8
Chins - 16,7,6,5,5
Curls - 30 lb DBs 10x2

7/16/11

BW - 205

Squat - 240 5,5,10
Bench - 207.5 5,5,9
Inverted Rows - 8,8,7,6
Prowler

Doubled up with squat/bench because going on vacation Mon-Wed

7/21/11

BW - 209

Power Clean - 135x3, 165x3, 187.5x3x3
Dead - 290x11
Prowler

A little vacation weight gain - more carbs than usual

7/22/11

BW - 207

Press - 125 5,5,8
Chins - 16,8,7,8
Curls - 30 lb DBs 10x2

Same reps as did at 125 in February - feeling good about strength recovery

[MLJD]

BW - 206

Squat 245 5,5,9
Split Squat 10x3
1 mile run 7:05

Pretty happy with the squats considering a cousin visiting for the morning convinced me to do a mile run and sprints with him beforehand. Soreness was setting in when I started the workout, but ground out 9 reps on the last set anyway. Bodyweight is holding fairly steady.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Welcome MJLD, another geezling at 40. Good beginning.

[FKYT]

It's pretty cool that you managed to keep most of your strength despite being on a 6 month cut. I'm nearing the end of my LP and I've been looking around for a good program to try while I shed some fat. I've been thinking about doing Madcow 5x5, but it looks like 5/3/1 + conditioning works really well.

[MLJD]

Thanks, Mark. Hoping to still be at this when I've reached true geezer status.

[MLJD]

FYKT - yep, all in all I think 5/3/1 with conditioning worked out OK for me. I might have lost a little less strength at the end on a more aggressive program, but psychologically it was nice to run the program for 6 months and not have to keep resetting.

[Avl]

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you regain the strength you lost at the end of the cut now you upped your cals again. I always find it bounces right back within a week or so

[MLJD]

Yep, strength seems to have come back fast in the presses. We'll see how bench goes today.

[MLJD]

BW - 208

Bench - 210 5,5,9
Dips - 17,15
Inverted Rows - 8,7,8,7

9 reps at 210 is a PR. So far really liking the Greyskull LP reset. Will be interesting to see how it holds up when I get back to my 3x5 sticking points of 135 on press and 225 on bench.