Further planning thoughts. in Exerbabble III

Weighted Chins 5/3/1
DB Shoulder Press 5x15
Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown 5x15
Dips 3x
Face Pull 3x12

Deadlift 5/3/1
Deadlift 5x10
Barbell Bridge 3x12
Plank 3x

BB Bench Press 5/3/1
BB Bench Press 5x15
BB Row 5x15
Ez-Bar Curl 5x15
Cuban Press 2x12

BB Back Squat 5/3/1
Front Squat 5x10
Step-up 2x12
Back Extension 2x12

Alright.

4x8 right off the bat would have had me going too heavy. The trick with 5x10 was how utterly light the weight was. Some triumvarate prescriptions call for shit like db bench for 5x15, so me using it isn’t crazy. Frankly, I need barbell stuff for smaller increments of loading. As well, I realized I could snag an ez-bar for rows, as there are two and I’ve never seen the second one loaded. I don’t want to be a dick and use two full bars.

I want to progress the assistance work. By my seventh and eighth cycle last time, I started deviating. Having planned progression will keep me focused a little more. Perhaps after six months, I’ll change the assistance work or backcycle. Anyway. 5x15; 4x12,15; 3x8,12,15.

One thought I had was to have my pressing day just be heavy chins. I’ll be far more focused if I just have one heavy exercise. As well, I know i’ll hit a wall with db rows anyway. It means I’m not doing much pressing, but it also means I can go a little harder on dips that day. I don’t know. I could proceed with presses and db rows, and then drop them after two cycles if the overall volume is too high.

Consolidating exercises makes more sense given my goals. I completely stagnated on presses last time. I don’t gain much from doing it. But. A couple warm-ups and a top set for presses doesn’t take long, perhaps I have nothing to lose by doing it anyway as prescribed. Heck, it’s the db rows that are more liable to take more out of me.

It’s good to be babbling again. I do hope Maximum Strength does as advertised so I can hit my strength goals by the end of the year.

What about a fifth light Assistance Day that would be done once a week?

Face Pulls: 3x12
Cuban Press: 3x12
Scapula Raise: 3x12
Woodchoppers

Followed by cardio? That would save time on both my upper days, and as completely optional stuff, I could skip it if I’m short on time.

upper/lower/HIIT/upper/lower/cardiostuff/rest. If I start on a tuesday, with monday as a rest day, I think that would be ideal.

Though. It’s important to not overstretch myself. Lift hard, rest hard, with cardio always optional.

Press 5/3/1
Weighted Chins 5/3/1
DB Shoulder Press 5x15
Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown 5x15
Dips 3x

Deadlift 5/3/1
Deadlift 5x10
Barbell Bridge 3x12
Plank 3x

BB Bench Press 5/3/1
DB Row 5/3/1
BB Bench Press 5x15
BB Row 5x15
Ez-Bar Curl 5x15

BB Back Squat 5/3/1
Front Squat 5x10
Step-up 2x12
Back Extension 2x12

Face Pulls 3x12
Cuban Press 3x12
Scapula Raise 3x12
Woodchoppers 3x12
Cable Lateral Raises 3x12
DB Curl 3x12
Tricep Pressdown 3x12
HIIT 15/45
Cardio 30 minutes

What about Starting Strength? That added a bit of stuff to my lifts as well. Let’s compare progress. From my logs.

5/3/1 progress:
Shoulder Press: +5 lbs
Deadlift: +30 lbs
Bench Press: +15 lbs
Front Squat: +20 lbs
Starting weight: ~151 lbs
Ending weight: ~163 lbs

SS progress:
Squat: 1 @ 265 lbs (+30 lbs)
Deadlift: 1 @ 335 lbs (+20 lbs)
Bench: 1 @ 185 lbs (+15 lbs)
Row: 1 @ 195 lbs (+ a lot)
Press: 1 @ 130 lbs (+15 lbs)
Chins: 1 @ +55 lbs (+10 lbs)
Weight: ~171 lbs (+8 lbs)

Squatting three times a week took its toll on me. If I were to do it again:

A:
Squat 3x5
Bench 3x5
Deadlift 1x5
Row 3x5

B:
Squat 3x5
Overhead Press 3x5
Power Clean/Speed Dead 5x3
Weighted Chins 3x5

Last updated November 10, 2014