caveman goes for 5/3/1 for 300/400/500

[MattimusMaximus]

Welcome back man! There's quite a few guys on here cutting weight right now so you're in good company. I might even join y'all in the weight loss race. It's always insanely tough to accept strength loss during weight loss but I think it's most difficult at first, until the goal becomes more about weight loss itself instead of strength GainzZz.

[RandallEW]

...if I weigh 175 pounds and can squat 365, bench 275, and deadlift 405...

That would give you about 1.6 x BW Bench, a 2.1 x BW Squat, and a 2.3 x BW Deadlift, all very respectable numbers, even by Rip's standards. Make sure you feel proud of yourself after you pull it off, because it will be quite an achievement, with a solid 5K time for good measure. Good luck, man, and welcome back.

Also, your "I'M BACK" post is post 500 in this log, which I think is kind of cool.

[caveman]

Thanks guys! It made my day to have a few people notice!

Body weight 194.7 this morning, down a pound in 2 days. Fully expecting that to reverse the first week or two of lifting again, but the waist size measurement should provide some clarity.
Waist size 37.75", down from 38", probably only measure this on Fridays, but will weigh in daily.

First trip to Boom! fitness. They have 2 Rogue R3 cages and a squat rack in front of mirrors. Unfortunately, all of the cages were being used so I decided to get started with bench first.

Warmup 5 min on rower 2:30/500m pace.

Bench - 45 for 10, 95 for 5, 135 for 5, and 185 for 5 and 5. The bench was slippy as fawk! Will try a different bench next time and see how that feels. Both sets were an RPE 8. I was only going to do one set but the cages were still being occupied.

Squats - 45 for 5, 95 for 5, 135 for 5, 185 for 5, and 225 for 5. All beltless. This may have been a soft RPE 8. It wasn't effortless, and there were minor struggles to keep the knees pushed out and not lose the bar forward at the bottom of the rep. And traditionally, squats make me exceptionally sore after a hiatus, so I'm trying to be ultra conservative. I also moved the pins around so that I wasn't facing the mirror. It was way more distracting than I was prepared for.

Deads - 135 for 5, 185 for 5, 225 for 5, and 275 for 5. All DOH. Last rep had a static hold of about 5 seconds. These felt relatively decent. Again another soft RPE 8.

Overhead press - 95 for 5, 115 for 5. Last set was more like an RPE 8.5, I tried to do these strict and not try to shoot my hips around to get a bounce to start the rep.

Neutral grip pull ups - 8.

Handstand hold - I didn't time it, 20-30 seconds followed by a negative pushup

Hanging tuck hold (knees to elbow) and then touched each foot to a crossmember one at a time once.D
Decent session. A little weird using strange equipment with strange people around. I have a slight little niggle in my lower back, but I had that before today and it got no worse so I'll get a massage and have the chiro work some magic.

[caveman]

Monday 9/12/16
Body weight 194.5 (pretty happy with that after a birthday weekend). Age PR +1!

Played hookey from work and got a massage and chiro adjustment before hitting the gym. The low back discomfort went away on its own over the weekend.

Warmup - 5min on the rower 2:30/500m

Squats - 235 for 5, 5, and 5. Beltless. My hamstrings were still a little sore from Friday but much better than they were over the weekend. I could have done 8 pretty easily but my left hip wasn't happy with squats and I'm not ready to push on squats just yet. Still getting comfortable with the movement and new equipment/location.

Bench - 185 for 5, 5, and 9. These felt great. I could have got 10 but it would have been a grinder so I stopped at 9.

Neutral grip pullups 8
Then climbed a 3-level pullup ladder with my buddy.

Some handstand holds, with a negative pushup to finish out the hold.

And now that I work out a commercial gym I can comment on the foolishness of strangers.
1) two large kinda fat dudes on the bench. Each attempted 315, and neither made it. But the one guy seemed like he kind of had a chance. Later I saw him get 265 for 5. The other guy seemed more like a 275lb bencher.

2) some douche had a barbell loaded up to 275 in one rack at the lowest pin setting so he could do some sort of rack pull static hold combination. However, he was supersetting this nonsense with another squat rack to do something else that I didn't actually watch because I was trying to figure why someone would use 2 of 3 racks in a relatively busy gym? Luckily my buddy asked him if we could use the first rack and get on with our workout. I would have been more rude about the whole thing which wouldn't have helped.

[caveman]

Tuesday 9/13/16
Body weight 194.3

Warmup - 5min on rower last 45 seconds at 2:00min/500m pace

Overhead press - 115 for 5, 5, and 5. Then immediately 3 more push presses.

Remedial sumo deadlift - 135 for 5, 185 for 5, 235 for 5. I didn't care for the plates or maybe it was the floor where I was pulling from. The bar would either crash into me once it hit the floor or jump away from me. That type of nonsense can cause an injury when the weight is challenging. I didn't have that problem pulling in front of the other rack, which will be where I go to next time.

Power cleans - 135 for 1 and 1. I powercleaned once to get the bar out of the squat rack/stand thingie and once more to put it back on the pins when unloading the weight. I was pleased that this was relatively easy.

Let's see then we tried to do a circuit of the following
10 man makers with 20lb dumbbells
as long as possible handstand hold (or handstand pushups if you could do them)
5 Turkish getups per side with 35lb kettlebell

After 1 and 2/3 round I was done. The caloric deficit combined with deconditioned conditioning and I was spent.

Then I did a waiters walk with a 35lb dumbbell on each side, followed by a bottoms up waiters walk with a 16lb. No problem.

[caveman]

Thursday 9/15/16
Body weight 192.7

Free training session with Gary.

Warmup - filling out various forms about health history and goals.

500m row - I did this in 1:50.6. Not bad. I could have shaved a few seconds off this with a warmup and not leaving anything on the table. My best ever is 1:43 I think so this was fairly respectable in my opinion.

2 min plank - started while still winded from the row. Honestly I would have given up after 30 seconds if on my own. Surprised that I made the full 2 min.

Squats - 185 for a couple of sets of 5. Maybe 3 in total. He remarked that my false grip on the bar was causing my elbows to be farther back than he would like and he was also trying to cue my chin back (aka make a double chin). He also thought my stance was a little on the narrow side. Possibly true, my hips have felt a little tight and narrower seems to make it easier on them. He wanted more tightness in the lats and was trying to avoid losing the bar forward, which in fact is one of my goto form break methods, but wasn't a problem at this weight/today.

Bench - 185 for 6, 205 for 3. At this point the lack of rest times and caloric deficit were starting to catch up with me. I was pretty surprised that I could only get 3 reps for bench. Especially after getting 185 for 9 earlier this week. Weird.

Deadlifts - 225 for 5, 5, and 5. He's the second coach/trainer in a row that didn't really like the way my form looked with the Romaleos on. He also had me raise my hips up a bit before starting the pull. Both felt like solid adjustments. Though 225 usually feels pretty awesome. I think I have been squatting the bar up for a while now, probably after the last time I hurt my back deadlifting, which was a long time ago. I haven't had my deadlift mojo in a long time.

Then it was time for a circuit.
8 reps of OHP with just the bar
walking lunges to the other side of the gym
10 inverted rows
walking lunges back to the squat rack

I did this twice and had a break in between sets. I was dying. It didn't help that I forgot my water bottle, or that I'm out of shape and a bit over weight... All fixable problems.

Then I had a talk with the "salesman" about signing up for personal training. I politely declined but then got to talking with the guy and it turns out he was the dude the pulled 479 at a bodyweight of 132 at the meet I went to last year. Crazy!

[caveman]

Friday 9/16/16
Body weight 192.9 (-1.8 pounds)
Waist 37.25" (-0.5")

I'm pleased with how the weight loss has been going. Well, at least the first week anyways. Just need to stay the course.

Warmup - none. Got to the gym late and just wanted to get started.

Bench - 185 for 5, 195 for 5 and 5. 185 was too light for a volume day and 195 seemed just about right, maybe a tad on the heavy side. Will repeat 195 next week for volume.

CBGP - 165 for 8, 7, 5. Rest was probably a little on the short side, i.e. more like 2 min instead of 3min. But we were trying to move through in a quick pace. My arms definitely toasted at the top of the movement.

Overhead press - 95 for 5, 5, and 8 or 9. Can't remember. Sandbagged a little because I knew I was fatigued going in.

Farmers walk with 65 dumbbells around the machine area. This ended up being a little longer loop than I expected. But I was able to make it. 70's next time!

Then a brief handstand hold, no negative, to round out the session.

[caveman]

So as far as programming, I think I'm going to move forward with a 4 day texas method style of programming.

Thursday - Volume squats (back and front)
Friday - Volume press (bench, CGBP, OHP)
Monday - Intensity squats and deads (thinking about alternating conventional and sumo on a weekly basis)
Tuesday - Intensity pressing

Right now I'm going to give myself the freedom to have volume day in the 5-10 rep range, and intensity day to be in the 1-5 range. I'll change it up based on keeping things fresh, trying for PR's, how I feel, phase of the moon, etc... Accessory work will be a smorgashborg of different things to keep things fresh and burn a few extra calories.

[caveman]

Monday 9/19/16
Body weight 192.7

Warmup - rowing 4min at 2:30/500m pace last minute at 2:00/500m pace.

Intensity squats - 275 for 1, this was the intended workset weight today, but it was far too easy. So add 10's to make an easy 295 for 6. I easily had 2 more in the tank. But the bar was slipping down my back a little on the left side and I'm trying to stay away from grinding any reps at this stage in my comeback.

Deadlifts - 315 for 6. First 4 DOH, then last 2 mixed grip. I also had another 2+ reps in the tank here. I tried starting my hips a little higher and I think it was successful, felt comfortable and strong for the first time in a while.

Powerclean - 135 for 1 just for funsies and to make unloading the plates off the bar that much easier. This flew up pretty well also.

Then burpees 20 in 1 minute, then a 1 minute break and 10 more. I was going to do another set of 20 but that got old fast.

First time lifting heavy'ish in a long time and pleasantly surprised that I didn't turn into a total creampuff with all the time off.

[caveman]

Tuesday 9/20/16
Body weight 191.6

Warmup - some shoulder dislocates and empty bar bench

Intensity Bench - 215 for 6. That was a solid RPE 9. Got one more than I was hoping for. yay!

Intensity Press - 115 for 1, 135 for 3. The last set was RPE 10. About what I was expecting.

Then some shenanigans
10 manmakers with 20lb dumbbells
10 inverted rows
hanging tuck hold with kicks to the monkey bars (5/side)
10 toes to bar
10 manmakers with 20lb dumbbells