Justified or not here I am

[John Tony]

I felt that I milked LP for all it was worth on the squat so I decided it was time for a change.

I still think that I can still make linear gains on upperbody lifts so I decided to start TM with lower body and keep SS for upper body lifts for the time being.

Lower body lifts when I switched:
Squat failed at 300
Deadlifts were at 335
I had just started PC and was at 115

I decided to start with the template from Mark's T-Nation article on TM:
Volume Day
Squats 5x5 (adjusted to 85% of 5rm)
Press/Bench 3x5 (upperbody is continuing on SS for now)
Deadlift 1x5 (90% of 5rm)

Recovery Day
Squats 2x5 (80% of Vol worksets)
Bench/Press 3x5

Intensity Day
Squat 1x5
Bench/Press 3x5
PC 5x3

I also currently rotate Chin ups and BB curls on days when I bench and Pull ups and LTEs on days when I press.

I know some people switch DLs to ID but I want to continue to work on Power Cleans and adding them to Volume Day seems like a nightmare since it is already a marathon of a workout.

I am going to try this set up for a few weeks and see how it goes. I may end up tweaking the assistance exercises, but we'll see.

[John Tony]

2/24- First Volume Day
Squat 255 5x5 (85% of 300)
Press 127.5 3x5
DL 300 1x5 (90% of 335)

Assistance
Pull Ups 10,6
LTE 72.5 2x12

Everything felt good during the workout. About 2hrs after finishing everything hit me and I felt like I wanted to just lay down and sleep for two days. Woke up tired and starving, welcome to volume days... haha.

Definitely glad I took the advice in the Tnation article about dropping DLs to 90% of 5rm. I don't think I could have done 340 (5lbs pver my previous work set).

[John Tony]

2/26 Recovery Day
Squat 205 2x5
Bench 190 3x5
Back Ext. 3x10

Assistance
Chin ups 11, 6
BB Curls 72.5 2x12

205 never felt so heavy. I didn't realize how sore I still was from Sunday's workout until I started today's squats. I thought today was going to be a nice easy 2 sets of 5. Wrong.

Finally got 190 on the bench after failing two or three times. I am going to microload from now on.

I don't have a Roman Chair or GHD so I rigged up a way to do back extensions using my bench and power rack. I figured I will start with 3x10 and work my way up to 5x10.

[John Tony]

2/28
Squat 300 1x5
Press 130 4,3,3
PC 125 5x3

Assistance
Pull ups 11, 6
LTE 80 12, 8

Squats felt good. Tough, but good.

Presses sucked. My form was really jacked up today.

[John Tony]

3/3
Volume Day
Squat 260 5x5
Bench 192.5 3x5
Deadlift 305 1x5

Assistance
Chin up 10, 6
Standing DB Curls 25lb DBs 2x12

[John Tony]

3/5
Recovery Day
Squat 210 2x5
Press 130 5,4,3
Back ext 4x10

Assistance
Pull ups 11,5

Going to get some coaching on my presses and power cleans. Hopefully I can get more out of my presses.

[John Tony]

3/7
Intensity Day
Squat 305 1x5
Bench 195 3x5
PC 135 3x3, 1x2

Assistance
Chin Ups 12, 6
DB Curls 30 2x12

Squats felt really heavy today. Volume Day seemed kind of light so I might up the % on volume day. I'll give it another few weeks before I make any changes.

The problem I am running into now is that my press is stalling but my bench keeps moving up. So I'm not sure if I should just switch to full TM or not. I'll see how the press goes next week.

I am having a coach help me out next week with Power Cleans. I got greedy with the weight and can't stop catching the weight in my hands and setting it on my shoulders. Hopefully I can get that resolved next week.

[John Tony]

3/10
Volume Day
Squat 265 5x5
Press N/A
Deadlift 310x5

[John Tony]

3/12
Recovery Day
Squat 215 2x5
Bench 197.5 3x5
Chin ups 12, 10

[Haggit]

I'm jealous of your squat. Haha good work. Hopefully you get your programming woes sorted out quickly.