TM to Dan John and back: will Mass Made Simple work?

[Rob Israel]

5/26: Major Change of Plans: Sorry, I've decided NOT to do Dan John MMS Program which has rendered this thread's title is a complete misnomer, my apologies. I'll be sticking with the TM and will start another thread. I'll explain in the other thread and let this one die it's slow, quiet, death.

I decided to do the Dan John's Mass made Simple 6 week program.

As per his suggestion, I am leaning out (for 3 weeks) while doing a modified Texas Method. I have been doing an intermediate program for 4 months. I did 1RM bench marks at the end of April... Here is where I am starting:

Height: 5'8"
Weight" 176
Age: 44

1 Rep maxes as of April 27th and 29th:
Squat: 340
Dead: 365
Bench: 210
Press: 152.5
Clean: 170

I figure if I'm going to get that 400# squat I need to add mass. However, I'm 44 and there's no way I'm going to GOMAD. I put on belly fat like an old man, and I want to be healthy and look decent. Even during the last 3 months when I lifted and just ate like a beast I put on 10 pounds and 1/2 of that was useless fat.

I hope Dan's program will help me add more muscle and less fat than GOMAD.

Diet. I'm pretty strict paleo: no grains, beans and just heavy cream in the coffee: ver little dairy, just some cheese. I eat a lot of grass fed beef, pork, sweet potatoes and veggies.

I'll be posting 3 weeks of my modified TM: it is modified in that I am restarting a linear press and dead lift progression while doing a Volume-Recovery-Intensity schedule for the Squat. I'll then begin Dan's program.

[Rob Israel]

Catching up on last week's workouts:
Tuesday, May 3rd: Volume Day:

Good to be back under the bar tonight... I had just three days off but since I haven't squatted in six it felt like a vacation!

Squat: 270x5x4
I'm betting that the 4 sets are enough of a stimulus. I sure hope so cause 5 sets this heavy would suck! As it was, it was still freaking hard as shit.

Press: 112.5x5x3
First time over 110 since December. Hoping to break my 5x3 PR next week.

Chins ups:
9, 9, 8 thinest band I could find.

All in all felt pretty good. I was glad I was ready to go with volume and not do a recovery day instead. Hope it can continue.

[Rob Israel]

Squat: 245x3x3

Clean: a freaking mess. Worked up to 150, kept pulling early, went back down to 135 and then back up to 145, still sucked.

Bench: 160x5x2 and then a 160x2-3-5 "set"

Dan John recommends what he calls a 2-3-5 set. This is a way of getting an extra set of 5 in without all the rest. I did 2 reps, rested 30sec, did 3 reps rested 1 minute, then I did a set of five.

The idea is that since you take 4-6 minutes between heavyish sets of 5, you can do any extra set with very little rest: two sets for the rest of 1. Hopefully I'll see if this is a good idea or not. The Mass Made Simple program includes this, so I figured I feel it out a bit beforehand...

[Rob Israel]

Came in Sunday morning before cooking for Mothers Day. First intensity day without my coach's watchful eye, encouragement and --- well, coaching-- it's a little intimidating....

Instead of doing reps out up to 10 which is part of my program with him, I'm going with the more traditional Texas Method 5RMx1 scheme on the squat on Intensity days.

Squat: 290x5
Got a bit ugly, but I think it came back together on #5. 5RM PR.

Dead lift: 305x5
This was really heavy. Not sure if I can or should make a 10 pound jump next week. 5RM PR. (been doing rack pulls and deficits)

Had to skip the press due to a new wrist injury. Some kind of strain from typing on a plane (for the Starting Strength Seminar Exam ironically) in a weird position and pressing last Tuesday. I've been icing the hell out of it, but it's taking its sweet time. Not thrilled that my plan has gone off plan already in the first week, but oh well.

Cool moment when I realized I can clean 135 off the floor after the dead lifts without a second thought. It's a lot easier to unload the bar that way. Funny.

[Rob Israel]

Week 2: Volume Day

This did not go as planned. I'm leaning out before doing the Dan John mass-gain and a friend/coach asked: "You are leaning out during a linear progression?" (subtext: "are you crazy?" I said, "yeah, I"m not starving myself." Except today I didn't eat enough and really felt it. Fucking stoopid.

Squat: 275x5x3
That sucked. So much so that I had planned on doing 4 sets and was not having any of it. Not enough rest from Sunday. Not enough sleep. Not enough food. I'll be thankful I made 5x3 at that weight. It wasn't pretty either. I may be getting too heavy on volume day and am thinking of kicking it back to 265x5x5

Bench: 165x5x3
Felt pretty smooth. Going for another 5 pound jump.

Chins: Strict with an extremely light band: 9,8.8

I need to get my chin program going more on off-days. Will try to squeeze more in all week. Will definitely eat more tomorrow. I was crazy hungry after the workout.

[enlightenedsnipe]

Hey, reading the log. I've done the TM twice, and the first time I tried to constantly increase volume day while maintaining a strict paleo diet and I ended up overtraining myself pretty severely in less than a month (I'm 24). I'd keep the volume consistent for a few weeks at a slightly lower weight. You'll be suprised how much better you can feel if your reps are a bit lighter and done with better technique, and you should still be able to PR on Intensity day. Good luck with the Dan John Program.

[Rob Israel]

ES: thanks for the suggestion. I think I need to reduce the weight for sure, so I appreciate the confirmation from experience. I only have one more Volume day until I start Mass Made Simple. Just hope I can PR the 5RM's for the next two weeks. Thanks!

[Rob Israel]

Oh boy. This week is not going well....

After an initial strong start leaning out, the lack of calories apparently has caught up with me fast. Should have known better I guess.

Squat: 245x3x3
This felt way heavier than it should which made it clear I'm not recovering.

Press: 115x5x3
This was fine and I'm confident I'll get 117.5 which I haven't done for 5x3 and succeeded with yet. It's just a number, but still it would be a 5x3 PR.

Clean: 150x2 150x2 with 3 missed lifts.
It was OK, better than last week, but I need to start playing with this on a technical level. I spoke to my coach later (I'm not training with him right now, but he's around and is always available for questions which is awesome) and he said to start playing with weight and rep schemes. Next week I think I'll do 140x5x3 and try to work on the form.

We also talked about my recovery and what to do with the impending Intensity day which I'm surely not ready for. I may take an extra day, I may do another light workout and take 3 days. Not sure yet. See how the gym feels Saturday. I've been eating non-stop since Tuesday's fiasco, but the damage is done.

I shouldn't really sweat this-- the whole point is that I'm leaning out before a Mass Gain, but I hate the idea of trying to get stronger and not making that a priority. I gotta try to look at it as 1 step back, two steps forward 7 weeks from now....

[Patrick Stroup]

Can you explain the program layout of MMS and the progression scheme it follows?

[Rob Israel]

Can you explain the program layout of MMS and the progression scheme it follows?

Good idea! I will post that as soon as I start it. I'm considering starting a week earlier (Monday) since I could use extra rest and have screwed myself up recovery wise... I'll see how I feel the next couple of days, but I'll get an overview of the program up soon.