AdamWathan's Log

[AdamW]

Hey guys, new here, thought I'd start a log...

Age: 23
Weight: 185lb
Height: 5'10"

PRs:
Squat: 300lb x 2
Deadlift: 300lb x 5
Bench: 270lb x 1
Press: 170lb x 1

Goals: 200/300/400/500

A little bit of background... I have been going to the gym on and off and doing half assed random workouts with no results for a long time, but started to a get a bit more serious about it about 2 years ago. Started with a lot of bodyweight routines because I had no access to any equipment and eventually bought some adjustable dumbbells and did some work with those. Eventually I got a barbell that fit those dinky 1" plates and started doing a 2 day routine that was Squat/Bench/Row, Deadlift/Press/Chins, adding weight every workout. Hadn't heard of Starting Strength unfortunately so I was sort of learning how to program my workouts as I went along...

I got my half rack and Olympic barbell set around February, continued on the same sort of routine as before and got my bench up to around 235, squat 250 and deadlift 280. I started doing 5/3/1 in April after being recommended it by a friend and have been doing that ever since. The gains are slow though, and since I never did a real novice program I feel like I still have some faster gains in me so I've decided to try something else. I also only ever get in 2 to 3 workouts a week so it feels like a long time between squat sessions, and that's my weak point so I'd like to train them more often. I did a short run on Madcow but the volume was brutal and I hated trying to set PRs on 3 lifts in one workout.

I wanted a program that allowed me weekly progression and had me only concentrating on one main focus lift per workout but was still full body each session. So I sort of combined what I liked about a few different programs into what I'm going to start today.

It's 3 days a week and laid out as follows:

Day 1:
Squat 3 x 5, ramping up to a top set at 85% of 5RM, AMRAP on the last set if I want, 5 rep minimum though
Bench 3 x 10, ~60% of 5RM, sets across
Rows or Chins as assistance, no real scheme here just 3 sets and make it tough

Day 2:
Deadlift 3 x 5, ramping to 85% of 5RM, AMRAP
Press 3 x 5, ramping to 85% of 5RM, AMRAP
Rows or Chins

Day 3:
Bench 3 x 5, ramping to 85% of 5RM, AMRAP
Squat 3 x 10, ~60% of 5RM, sets across
Rows or Chins

Here's a screen cap of my spreadsheet for more detail, everything is a specific percentage and it calculates my estimated 1RM after each AMRAP set. As you can see, the sets of 10 are always using the first weight that you would use in the ramping sets, just to make it easy to remember.



So Day 1 is Squat day, Day 2 is Deadlift/Press day and Day 3 is bench day. Adding 10lb each week to my squat and deadlift and 5lb to my bench and press. It is a bit intimidating for me and an aggressive progression after doing 5/3/1 for so long, but I'm going to run with it and see what happens. I'm also a bit chunkier than I want to be (put on about 20lb since February, and it's not all muscle) so I'm going to be putting a lot of effort into eating clean. I'm hoping eating quality foods around maintenance level and lifting hard will help me shed BF while still not dropping below 180, fingers crossed.

Anyways, thanks for checking out the log, feel free to give me hell for not following a proven program!

[AdamW]

Sept 28/2010 - Week 1/Day 1
Squat Day

Squat
5 x 170
5 x 195
12 x 225

Assistance:
Bench
10 x 150
10 x 150
10 x 150

DB Row
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75

Really enjoyed this workout, definitely missed full body workouts after 5/3/1. I supersetted the bench and rows to get a little more conditioning out of it and keep the workout short, still out of breath now.

Looking forward to making some progress on this program.

[AdamW]

Off day but felt like doing something...

Tabata Clean + Push Press
8 work intervals at 65lb

Killer conditioning wise but relatively easy on the muscles and CNS so I imagine something like this won't really affect my performance on my actual workout days. Might drop the push press next time and just go a little heavier on the clean, the triceps and shoulders might suffer a little bit as it stands.

If anyone is reading this, any suggestions for barbell/bodyweight/basement metcon that can be done on off days? Something I can do in my home gym when I have the time, not anything I need to drive out to a hill for for example...

[AdamW]

Sept 30/2010 - Week 1/Day 2
Deadlift/Press Day

Deadlift
5 x 190
5 x 225
8 x 255

Press
5 x 95
5 x 115
10 x 125

Pullups
7 x BW
7 x BW
7 x BW

I think I hurt my back (yet again) deadlifting today... Maybe the AMRAP sets are a bad idea for that lift. Aiming for 10 means getting a little carried away and not putting as much effort into form it seems :/ It doesn't feel too bad, but usually it's not til I've cooled down a few hours after a work out that it starts to get rough. Fingers crossed that it will heal up fine by next work out though and not hold me back.

Presses felt good, I could feel them straining my already hurt lower back a bit though but nothing too bad. Pullups sucked, I really want to be able to bang out sets of 10 on those, but I can't really complain, I've been doing about the same number for a few months and I've put on 10-15lbs so I'm getting stronger.

[Grmble]

If anyone is reading this, any suggestions for barbell/bodyweight/basement metcon that can be done on off days? Something I can do in my home gym when I have the time, not anything I need to drive out to a hill for for example...

Personally I am doing very light Turkish Get-Ups and Dumbbell Snatches.

Have you considered complexes as explained by Dan John?
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...with_complexes

[AdamW]

Personally I am doing very light Turkish Get-Ups and Dumbbell Snatches.

Have you considered complexes as explained by Dan John?
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...with_complexes

Hey Grmble, yeah barbell complexes are great actually and are something I have used in the past! I think I'll try throwing them in again and see how it works out, I enjoyed them when I did them!

[AdamW]

Oct 2/2010 - Week 1/Day 3
Bench Day

Bench
5 x 150
5 x 175
10 x 200

Squat
10 x 170
10 x 170
10 x 170

DB Row
8 x 80
8 x 80
10 x 80

Back is feeling basically 100% again thankfully. Bench didn't feel very strong today, not sure why but I still had a good bench session and lifted as much as ever so it's all good. Squats were a bit too easy but starting light, was still winded pretty hard by the end of the last set. Rows felt good too, all in all good workout.