Doo's Intermediate Log III

[Doo]

Ok. Finished reading about 5/3/1 and plan on starting on Monday. The fact that you start with lighter weights will act as a deload from the Texas Method which should be helpful given that I am at a calorie deficit now to lose fat. I may actually be able to try some circuit training as atypical1 suggested for the assistance exercises of this program. I should be able to set my home gym up to at least alternate between a couple of exercises with little rest between.

[bigwhat62]

5/3/1 is good, i think you will like it. i'm on cycle 4 right now, been nice slow steady gains. plus, if its a rough week there are time you can just do your main lift and call it a day.

[Doo]

5/3/1 is good, i think you will like it. i'm on cycle 4 right now, been nice slow steady gains. plus, if its a rough week there are time you can just do your main lift and call it a day.

I'll do 4 days with three assistance exercises each day and so I will not feel to bad if I just do one main lift on a given day.

[Doo]

5/3/1 is good, i think you will like it. i'm on cycle 4 right now, been nice slow steady gains. plus, if its a rough week there are time you can just do your main lift and call it a day.

I'll do 4 days with three assistance exercises each day and so I will not feel to bad if I just do one main lift on a given day.

[bigwhat62]

it is nice to have extra assistance work, i try to follow his rule on reps. if you dont know how many do 5X10. i forgot what it felt like to do high reps and have such a burn. last squat day, i did my 3X3 and then did 4X10 with lower weight. i think that was saturday and i was still sore yesterday.

[Doo]

I think the higher rep work will provide enough change to stimulate new strength gains. I like the concept where you should change your programs around using different set/rep philosophies rather than advocating only 5x5.

[Doo]

Was going to start 5/3/1 on M but wanted to do squats so I did what would be next week's Squat Day with 5lb less for each set.

• Squat - 5x210lb/5x225lb/7x240lb/2x10x175lb
• Janda Sit-ups - 4x10

I like doing the last set to near failure. Going to be interesting to do high reps with the compound lifts.

[bigwhat62]

i dread the squat day, i know its the best day of all the sessions but i fear it all the time. last set is all about beating your mind before it stops you on your tracks.

[Doo]

M/Day 1

• Overhead Press - 5x95lb/5x100lb/9x105lb
• Triceps Pushdowns - 5x10x70lb
• Face Pulls - 3x10x50lb
• Barbell Curls - 5x10x80lb

Tu/Day 2

• Deadlift - 5x255lb/5x270lb/9x285lb
• Ab Wheel - 10x180lb (90%BW)

Got a late start so didn't do any assistance exercises other than the one set of ab wheel rollouts.

Th/Day 3

• Bench Press - 5x170lb/5x180lb/9x195lb
• Dips - 5x10x180lb (90%BW)
• Lat Pulldowns - 10x90lb/9x110lb/10x90lb/11x90lb/10x90lb
• One Arm Triceps Extensions - 2x10x20lb ea

F/Day 4

• Squat - 5x215lb/5x230lb/6x245lb
• Back Extensions - 4x10x65lb (35%BW)
• Dragon Flags - 5x10x180lb (90% BW)

Didn't feel strong for squats. I am currently eating a larger calorie deficit to lose fat but I probably need to up it on squats and deadlift days.

[atypical1]

Oooooh, I'm looking forward to this log as I'm very interested in the 5/3/1 program.

james

[Doo]

I am going to like it as well. I like how it is similar to SL5x5 by having you start out light and progress slowly. Tortoise beats the heare kind of thing.

In retrospect, I probably would recommend StrongLifts 5x5 for 1st 6 months (or actually when you can no longer routinely add weight each workout) and 5/3/1 for next 6 months or more. I don't know that I would do it continuously as some people do because I would want to at least throw in a different program now and then for 4-6 weeks.

I log all exercises same day at DailyBurn but will maintain a log here that I update weekly. Unless I break some PR that I want to log immediately.

[Faraz]

Hey Doo,

I will be interested in how you progress with 531, I just started it last week too.... Looks like a good program and gives some freedom in terms exercise selection.

[Doo]

I recently reread an Eric Cressey article about improving bench press and he found that he improved the bench press and deadlift by doing upper back work (mostly rows) which he was doing for some rehab. Then I see atypical1's row performance and figure I need to work on mine. So, I will substitute rows for dips as an assistance exercise. I like dips but they can be problematic for me especiallyt as I start adding lots of extra weight.

[atypical1]

Do you have a link for that article? I never really got the connection until just recently thanks to this forum and t-nation. Amazing how much I didn't know really and still don't know.

james

[Doo]

james,

Cressey article for bench is here. A recent article on 5/3/1 is here with Discuss link at the bottom of the page where the forums discuss the article.