Lifting Log

[Robert Callahan]

Starting a log for people to keep up with. Switching to 531 to shorten workout length and keep progress going while in school. Had the last 3 weeks of pretty much nothing while moving so had to guesstimate my maxes. All my weights are in lbs.

PR 1RMs (set approx. 2 months ago):
BS: 295
DL: 325
Bench: 230
Press: 147.5

Estimates at current 1RMs:
BS: 265
DL: 300
Bench: 215
Press: 140

-I just ended my first week so I will grab my log book and input the workouts later today.

My structure for my workouts will be a main lift followed by assistance stuff to work the same muscles as that lift. If I am running short on time, assistance stuff gets dropped since the main lift is primary.

[Robert Callahan]

From Monday 7/19

Warm-Up
500m Row (concept 2)

BS
95x5x2
135x3
155x2
Work-sets
175x5
200x5
225x5

-These were much tougher than I was expecting. Barely got the 5 on the last set. First days back are always a bitch, especially on squats.

Hill Sprints

I live at the top of a hill now, here in nevada. So I walked down and sprinted up a few times. It was pretty pathetic but my legs were dying after squats and it was 100 degrees outside so I crapped out after like 5 min... hoping to ramp it up over the next few weeks :)

[Robert Callahan]

Tuesday 7/20

Warm-up
500m Row

Press
45x5x2
65x4
80x3
Worksets:
90x5
105x5
120x6

-Right arm was a little tweaky, had an injury last year that I had to drop to like 85lb worksets on to rehab back up. Felt similar but not nearly as bad as last year so hopefully it was just getting the creaks out first day back.

Ring supports(hands turned out)
4 sets to failure

Z-Press(now that i know what to call them, thanks Skibicki)
65x8x3

-took it easy on the weight on these first day out

Legs were deathly soar on this day!

[Robert Callahan]

Thursday 7/22

Warm-up
500m Row

PC
95x3x2
135x3
155x3

-had more of these planned, but was weaker than I expected. Just meant as warm-up for DL anyways

DL
175x3
Worksets
195x5
225x5
255x6

-Felt decent

Strict Chins:
3 sets to fail
-5
-5
-5

Pendlay Rows
135x8x3

-Not really sure about programming assistance stuff, never really done it before. I guess I will learn by trial and error, and any input the readers have :)

[Robert Callahan]

Friday 7/23

Warm-up
500m Row

Bench
95x5x2
125x4
Work-sets
140x5
162.5x5
182.5x7

-Felt pretty good on these. Hopefully I can have more of that on the other lifts as the weeks go on

Handstands(against wall)
3 sets to fail

Tabata Push-ups (chest to ground)
1: 10
2: 8
3: 6
4: 5
5: 4
6: 4
7: 3
8: 3

- I died on these, was failing at 2 reps on some.... was very frustrated with myself, but hey first weeks are a bitch :) Lots of room to improve.

[Matt Cherry]

Awesome! Hope to see progress... otherwise I will soon have to find someone else's PRs to beat.

[Robert Callahan]

I hope to oblige you mat :) I seem to be falling into the pattern of entering these in at the end of the week... we will see if I can be more prompt or not

7/26 - Mon

Warm-up
600m Row

BS
95x5x2
135x3
155x2
175x1
Worksets
185x3
212.5x3
238.5x5

-These went surprisingly well after last week. they were hard, but good.

pull-ups(strict)
-5
-5
-5

-decided to add in pull-ups for shits and giggles on mondays

Hill sprints
-did 3 sprints up the hill by my house... death, I hate running.

[Robert Callahan]

7/27 - Tues

Warm-up
600m Row

Press
45x5x2
65x5
85x3
Worksets
98.5x3
112.5x3
126x4

-these were tough!! i may not be getting enough warm-up...

Ring Supports
4 x to fail

Z-press
70x8x3

[Robert Callahan]

7/29 - Thurs

Warm-up
600m Row

PC
95x3x2
135x3
155x3
165x3

-felt better than last week

DL
185x3
Worksets
210x3
240x3
270x4

-Tough

Chins(strict)
-6
-6
-5

Pendlay Rows
145x8x3

[Robert Callahan]

7/30 - Fri

Warm-up
600m Row

Bench
95x5x2
125x3
140x2
Worksets
150x3
172.5x3
192.5x5

-Tough, but these seem to be doing well :)

Handstands(against wall)
4 x to fail

Tabata Push-ups
1: 10
2: 9
3: 6
4: 6
5: 6
6: 3
7: 3
8: 4

-Better showing than last week, but still shitty

Half way through my first cycle, seems to be going well but I start school next week so we will see how that effects me.

-For anyone that wants to comment I am considering switching handstands and ring supports, that way I get more shoulder work on press days and when i get decent at ring supports i want to start doing ring dips and that will be more suited to bench days i think. Any thoughts?

[Robert Callahan]

Another weeks worth of workouts coming up! I started school this week so had to cut back on assistance stuff a few days.

8/2 - Mon

Warm-up
700m Row

BS
95x5x2
135x3
165x2
185x1
Worksets
200x5
225x3
250x2

-Got only 1 extra rep, these were tough.

Pull-ups
-these got axed

Hill Sprints
-got 2 full hill sprints in, but then had to grab food and get to class.

[Robert Callahan]

8/3 - Tues

Warm-up
700m Row

Press
45x5x2
65x5
85x3
95x1
Worksets
105x5
120x3
132.5x2

-The jumps on the worksets on these were very large for me. Made them feel very heavy

Handstands
-4 sets to fail against the wall. Switched these with ring supports on bench day

Z-Press
75x8x3

-these are going very well, still move pretty easy.

[Robert Callahan]

8/5 - Thur

WU
700m Row

PC
95x3x2
135x3
155x3
165x3
175x1

DL
205x3
Worksets
225x5
255x3
285x2

-Very heavy pulls, but still got the extra rep

Chins
-6
-5
-4

-had to rush these to get to class so fatigue was high

Pendlay Row
150x6x1

-again was fatiguing bad and had to get to class so cut it short

[Robert Callahan]

8/6 - Fri

WU
700m Row

Bench
95x5x2
125x3
145x2
162.5x5
185x3
205x2

-First time these really felt heavy. Was a good feeling though :)

Ring Supports
-wrists turned out, started each one with a dip then held support to fail. Did 4 sets

Tabata Push-ups
1: 11
2: 9
3: 7
4: 5
5: 4
6: 4
7: 4
8: 4

-improved by 2 or so total from last week. Still suck though

[OITW]

Robert, I finally found this. You might find it easier if you put the date of the workout in the title, it stands out more clearly that way. I don't think you're looking too bad, not bad at all. You do need to master pushups, though, so keep working those. For any given semester, given your workload, you might want to focus on one lift, and cut the volume on the others. This is something I read in Starr, but damned if I know where. But otherwise, these are respectable numbers across the board.

[Robert Callahan]

Thanks :)

Yeah, only thing i don't like about 531 so far is that increases are slow and i could have easily done 4-6 weeks of linear gains first and been up to where i was a few months ago. but instead i have to do 531 and make the same progress in 4 months that I would have made in one. Oh well, not much i can do about it since i flat out don't have the time for a linear program.

Ok I am goign to post this last weeks workouts and stuff :)

[Robert Callahan]

This is the light week, so the numbers are really low and I am not going to mark work sets cause it is kind of silly :)

warm-up
800m Row

BS
45x10
85x5
105x5
135x5
160x5

Pull-ups
-ran out of time :(

Hill Sprints
x2 running short on time, plus i am a pussy when it comes to these. I need to do more running than once a week.

[Robert Callahan]

warm-up
800m Row

Press
45x5x2
55x5
70x5
85x5

Handstands
4xfail against wall

Z-press
75x8x3

[Robert Callahan]

Warm-up
800m Row

PC
65x3x2
95x3x2

DL
120x5
150x5
180x5

Chins
-7
-5
-4

Pendlay Row
150x8x3

[Robert Callahan]

Warm-up
600m Row

Bench
45x10x2
85x5
110x5
130x5

Ring Supports
3xfail (a couple dips with hands turned out thrown in there)

Tabata Push-ups
1: 10
2: 8
3: 6
4: 5
5: 5
6: 5
7: 3
8: 3

-suck

[Robert Callahan]

So thoughts on this first cycle of 5-3-1

I like the structure of the main lifts. Consistent, but with a little variety. I should be able to chug along just fine and get up to and then past my old PRs with these hopefully :)

My main problem is with the assistance stuff. I am not sure how to tell if it is working. Should I expect immediate improvements? will they come in the assistance lift, or the main lift or both?

For example, pendlay rows are getting very tough for me, i feel very little improvement. Also once a week is not enough for push-ups. But I feel like handstands are improving nicely.

so tweaking it for next cycle:

Mon
BS
pull-ups
hill sprints

Tues
Press
Handstands
push-ups/z-press superset/metcon thingy? (3 rounds, 10/5)?

Thurs
PC
DL
Chins
GMs

Friday
Bench
Ring dips/supports
tabata push-ups

whatcha all think?

[OITW]

PC/DL/GM all on the same day? I feel sorry for your spinal erectors.

Yes, push-ups at least twice a week, but not tabatas, and you can't neglect basic sit-ups as well. Go take a look at what Ryan Long posted in his article on his own Army conditioning. That might make a better baseline for your training.

[Robert Callahan]

I am still alive :)

I had to drop 5/3/1, it was to little volume so and the 5 rep week crushed me. I was devastatingly sore, as well as failing reps. I think the frequency was just not enough for me, at least at that level of advancement. So I switched back to a similar program to what i did over the summer.

Mon:
BS
Press

Wed:
FS
Push Press

Fri:
DL
Bench

If i have time I will throw in chins, or ab work on random days. I have gotten 2-3 weeks out of this, though i do not do mon-wed-fri, more like whenever i get a chance with sometimes 4-5 days in between workouts. But I am progressing and feeling better than before, so hopefully I can do this till i get some of my strength back then maybe try 5/3/1 out again when i am more advanced. I may try to post some of these workouts, but time is just so limited that i can promise nothing...

[OITW]

Robert, you have to do enough to keep you balanced, that's all. Studies come first, and sleep above all. Keep up the good work.

[Robert Callahan]

Ok I am going to try to post again, we will see how that goes though... :) Here is my new program, did a slight tweak to keep it interesting.

Day 1
BS 3x5
Press 3x5

Day 2
DL 1x5
Bench 3x5

Day 3
Snatch - build to heavy single, drop 5-10lbs and do 4-6 singles there
Clean+Jerk (if the jerk fails but clean feels good, i will keep going just clean) - same as snatch

So I am dropping FS, Push Press day, but am doing the full version of the olympic lifts. I enjoy FS but am hoping I will be able to get my Clean up to the point where it will be enough to be a similar stress to my FS's. Plus i think the explosive lifting will benefit me. I figure I will do linear progression on this with 1-2 days rest between lift days for as long as possible. Hopefully I can orient this around school enough to stay consistent enough to get back to where i was, and maybe even improve my oly lifts a bit.

[ColoWayno]

I had to drop 5/3/1, it was to little volume so and the 5 rep week crushed me.

I had trouble adapting to the drop off in volume too. I noticed it the most when it came time to squat. I think it comes down to advancement level and getting the accessory exercises right (which I also had trouble with).

Keep up the good work.