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[itsssme]

End of Month 1 Recap

Tomorrow marks the end of my first month on the programme which has so far been great fun and deeply satisfying adding weight regularly.

Squat: 60kg -> 115kg (+ 55kg/121lb)
Deadlift: 80kg -> 130kg (+ 50kg/110lb)
Press: 40kg -> 55kg (+ 15kg/33lb)
Bench Press: 50kg -> 65kg (+ 15kg/33lb)

[itsssme]

W5D3

- Light Squat: 3x5@bar, 2x5@40, 1x3@60, 1x2@80, 1x2@87.5, 3x5@100kg (220lb)
- Press: 2x5@bar, 2x5@22.5, 1x3@32.5, 1x2@45, 1x2@50, 3x5@55kg (121lb)
- Deadlift: 2x5@bar, 2x5@60, 1x3@80, 1x2@107.5, 1x2@117.5, 1x5@132.5kg (291lb)

Life craziness meant that I was not feeling 100% coming into the gym today and doesn't look to be improving any time soon. So I have decided to add in a light squat day (maybe a little sooner than ideal) to offset fatigue. Worked out well as squats felt heavy as anything, but press and deadlift went surprisingly well. Very excited to be nearing 3 plates on the deadlift (140 in kilos).

[itsssme]

W6D1

- Squat: 3x5@r, 2x5@45, 1x3@70, 1x2@95, 1x2@107.5, 3x5@117.5kg (258lb)
- Bench Press: 2x5@bar, 2x5@27.5, 1x3@4-, 1x2@55, 1x2@60, 3x5@67.5kg (148lb)
- Power Clean: 2x3@bar, 2x3@40, 1x3@55, 1x2@65, 1x2@70, 5x3@75kg (165lb)
- Chin-Ups: 12, 10, 4

Squats absurdly felt lighter than 100kg on Wednesday. Technique is feeling really crisp right now, though a little trouble catching the bounce on 2 or 3 reps. Bench feels good - looking forward to 70kg next session. Cleans and Chins were just busy work...

[itsssme]

W6D2

- Squat: 3x5@bar, 2x5@47.5, 1x3@72.5, 1x2@95, 1x2@107.5, 3x5@120kg (264lb)
- Press: 2x5@bar, 1x5@22.5, 1x3@35, 1x2@47.5, 1x2@52.5, 5x3@57.5kg (126lb)
- Deadlift 2x5@bar, 2x5@60, 1x3@80, 1x2@107.5, 1x2@120, 1x5@135kg (297lb)

Squats felt great today which was nice. Press all five triples were about 4RM weight at a guess, but it felt like that with 55 so I look forward to seeing how fahves go on Friday. Deadlift felt tough today, but no tougher than it has usually felt since passing about 120...

[itsssme]

W6D3

- Light Squat: 3x5@bar, 1x5@40, 1x3@60, 1x2@80, 1x2@90, 3x5@102.5kg (225lb)
- Bench Press: 2x5@bar, 2x5@27.5, 1x3@42.5, 1x2@57.5, 1x2@62.5, 3x5@70kg (154lb)
- Power Clean: 2x3@bar, 2x3@40, 1x3@55, 1x3@65, 1x1@72.5, 5x3@77.5kg (170lb)
- Chin-Ups: 12, 9, 7

Nice easy session - think bench is nearing the end of LP so might be switching to an intermediate HLM setup in 2 weeks or so... But felt good today and cleans/light squats were a piece of cake

[itsssme]

W7D1

- Squat: 3x5@bar, 2x5@50, 1x3@75, 1x2@97.5, 1x2@110, 3x5@122.5kg (269lb)
- Press: 2x5@bar, 1x5@22.5, 1x3@35, 1x2@47.5, 1x2@52.5, 4,5,4,1,1@57.5kg (126lb)
- Deadlift: 2x5@bar, 2x5@60, 1x3@82.5, 1x2@110, 1x2@120, 1x5@137.5kg (302lb)

Finally missed some reps! Shame... but does confirm my suspicion that LP is nearing an end on my pressing movements. Similarly I'll be considering moving to a more intermediate style deadlift split pretty soon as I'm creeping closer to a bone-on-bone limit attempt. Excited to see what the next stage brings. Squat remains comfortably LP worthy though

[Geoff Bischoff]

Hey, glad to see you're sticking with this!

On press: Before you go straight to intermediate land, the recommendation is usually to switch from sets of 5 to sets of 3 at this point, and keep driving the weight up incrementally. You might have a lot more than you think left in your "novice tank" if you do five triples for your presses. I sure did, back when I was LP-ing!

Same protocol for bench: When you either a) miss reps in a set but still get 15 total reps, or b) are pretty dang certain that NEXT session you're going to miss reps, move to triples for as long as you can sustain them.

Keep getting strong!

[itsssme]

@Geoff - thanks man! It's really nice now that my fencing career is mostly done to have something so different to jump into! I'm currently doing 5x3 one session then 3x5 the next but will consider sticking to threes if i miss the 3x5 again on tuesday.

W7D2

- Squat: 3x5@bar, 2x5@50, 1x3@75, 1x2@100, 1x2@110, 3x5@125kg (275lb)
- Bench Press: 2x5@bar, 1x5@30, 1x3@45, 1x2@57.5, 1x2@65, 3x5@72.5kg (159lb)
- Power Clean: 2x3@bar, 2x3@40, 1x3@55, 1x2@70, 3,3,3,3,2@80kg 176lb)
- Chin-Ups: 10, 10, 8

Not a great day - haven't missed an 80kg power clean since I was 19... Still Squats and Bench continue to head in the right direction and I suppose the very competitive 2 hours of Spikeball with old fencing buddies may have something to do with it. On to the next one!

[itsssme]

W7D3

- Light Squat: 3x5@bar, 1x5@45, 1x3@65, 1x2@85, 1x2@95, 3x5@105kg (231lb)
- Press: 2x5@bar, 1x5@22.5, 1x3@35, 1x2@45, 1x2@52.5, 5,5,4@57.5kg (126lb)
- Deadlift: 2x5@bar, 2x5@60, 1x3@85, 1x2@112.5, 1x2@122.5, 1x5@140kg (308lb)

First light squat day that actually felt light... last two weeks it felt conspicuously like I was not squatting at -20kg. Meanwhile press remains stuck so will be switching to 3s as suggested. But deadlift 3 plates (kilo-style) for yet another big milestone lift!

[itsssme]

W8D1

- Squat: 3x5@bar, 2x5@5, 2x5@52.5, 1x3@77.5, 1x2@102.5, 1x2@112.5, 3x5@127.5kg (280lb)
- Bench Press: 2x5@bar, 1x5@30, 1x3@45, 1x2@60, 1x2@67.5, 3x5@75kg (165lb)
- Deadlift: 2x5@bar, 2x5@60, 1x3@75, 1x2@97.5, 1x2@105, 3x5@120kg (264lb)

Squat and Bench continue to progress. I decided to begin intermediate programming for the deadlift at this point as I have been really struggling emotionally to prepare myself for the weight and physically to hold it together on the final rep for 4-5 workouts. I am sure I had another few in me, but I feel this is right for my compliance in the long term. Going forward deadlift programming will be:

Friday 3x5@85% of Tuesday
Sunday 5x3 Power Clean and Chins
Tuesday 2x3 LP (beginning with 142.5 - end of LP +2.5kg) **My interpretation of a TM-style split for a young man still able to recover well**

Hopefully I can run it out this way and get to 5x1@165-170kg!