11/23/13
Squats today! Definitely was not the cake walk I was expecting. I don't know if I overestimated on my lifts since I had been box squatting a lot or if I just wasn't hitting my groove this day. I took a video of myself during my work sets and I may as well have been giving birth based on my pained expression at all times. Suuuuuper flattering look, ya know. Anyways, this is the work I did:
Squats Warm up
80 x 5
110 x 5
125 x 5
Work sets
135x 5
155 x 5
175 x 8
Accessory lifts
Back extensions
5 sets of 25lbs x 12
DB Walking Lunges
5 sets of 10 steps per leg with 35 lb dumbbells
Hanging Leg Raises
18
15
12
12
15
Haven't really done much ab or core work so the back extensions and leg raises are pretty lame. Hoping to see these improve.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Introduction and Week One, Day One
Introduction
Hi! I'm Suzy. I'm a 28 year old recreational powerlifter. I've been lifting weights for nearly 3 years, with an interest in powerlifting for the past two. I'm starting this blog to document my progress through Wendler's 5/3/1 program.
Past Competitions
I've only "competed" twice. And that's in quotations because I had no one to compete against in either event and both were only push/pull meets and not full power.
Once was in a university competition in Sept 2011. I weighed in at 142 and I benched 105 and dl'ed 245.
I feel pretty unaccomplished since my only other meet was in June 2013 and I've not added much to my lifts. For that 2nd meet, I competed in the 165 class at 162 lbs. I went 2/3 on bench. The 2nd attempt was an easy peasy 132, went for 154 on my 3rd, and as soon as the bar was handed to me from lift off I could tell that my lats and scapula were in no way tight enough and I got stuck coming up about 3 inches off my chest. The worst part of missing my 3rd bench attempt was that none other than THE Donnie Thompson gave me lift off for it and I bombed. Bummer. Should have got that one, but he was very cool and encouraging.
Deadlift I went 3/3- opened with 260-ish, then 295, then 315! Very happy with that since 315 was a long time goal.
Current goals and status
I've been screwing around without a program since the June meet. Retarded. I thought I could do my own thing and progress. But there was no rhyme or reason and I was having training and diet ADHD. One week I wanted to train bodybuilder splits, then heavy singles, then decided to try bands, then, hey, why not some oly lifts...and I've eaten strict keto, cyclical keto, low carb, intermittent fasting, stuff my face diet, 1700 cals per day....You get it. It's hard to see progress with no consistency. I swear I know better.
I'm tired of not making consistent progress. I started this little blog to document my (hopeful) success because I'm going to make a minimum three cycle commitment to 5/3/1. That's 12 weeks.
My short term goals during the next 12 weeks are to bench 170, squat 275, and deadlift 365. I have no specific goal for overhead press, but since it is one I'd the main lifts for this program, I think it'd be great to strict press 125.
Long term goals...I don't think I've ever really stated my true intentions because I'm afraid of failing, but I would like to compete at the national level. That's why I'm really going to get my shit together.
Another part of my goals are aesthetic. I like big muscles on women and I get that it's not everybody's thing. But I want my arms, shoulders, lats, quads, and glutes to be as big and meaty as I can make them and I don't care if anyone else finds it attractive. Becoming and looking strong is something that makes me feel psychologically like everything is going to be ok and I think it looks cool because it requires dedication. I do want to say, however, that I hope my blog inspires other women to lift and if you're a chick reading this, you can lift as heavy as you want and not get huge. I promise, you will not get accidentally jacked. It's something that you have to really do on purpose.
Where I'm Starting and Where I Want to Go
5/3/1 consists of four week cycles during which the lifter focuses on four main lifts: bench press, standing overhead press, squat and deadlift. Anyone who's interested in learning more, just Google it, but I think from what I'll explain here, it's not difficult to understand.
After calculating a 1 rep max for each lift, you take 90% of your calculated max and base the calculations for your next four weeks of programmed sets off of the 90% figure.
I didn't want to overestimate my abilities by using contest maxes or anything that was not recent. So I chose rep maxes that I feel like I could make on any "good day" and that I actually have hit in the last 2 months.
The website I used to generate my program was www.strstd.com. The site calculates a one rep max based on your lifts and then spits out your first 4 week cycle based on those numbers. The following shows what I entered:
Bench: 3 reps at 128 = 1rm 145#, 90% = 130.5
OHP: 4 reps at 93 = 1rm 108#, 90% = 97.2
DL: 3 reps at 285 = 1 rm 318#, 90% = 286.2
Squats: 5 reps at 190 = 1rm 229#, 90% = 206
So each weeks lifts are based on a percentage of the 90% of 1rm calculated.
Week One is 5 reps at 65, 75, and 85%.
Week Two is 3 reps at 70, 80, and 90%
Week Three is 5 reps at 75%, reps at 85%, and 1+ reps at 95%
Week Four is deload 5 reps at 40, 50, 60%
Week One, Day One 5/3/1. 11/22/13
I don't usually lift in the a.m., but I knew that today I wouldn't have time otherwise so I hit the Sumter YMCA at about 10 a.m. Before going I swung by Baker Sweets for their delicious, perfectly brewed coffee, I also took about 1.5 scoops of 1MR
as a pre workout I started with Bench Press for my first 5/3/1 workout
Warm up:
50 x 5
65 x 5
80 x 3
Work sets:
85 x 5
100 x 5
110 x 10
So the final set of each day's main lifts you're really going for max reps with that weight. Today I was supposed to hit a minimum of 5 and the rest are basically bonus for rep PRs.
I'm thinking that since I got 10 (which is def a rep pr for me at that weight) that my calculations may have been slightly conservative for bench. But I progress pretty slowly in bench anyways and I'd rather have somewhere to go than to immediately hit a wall and be failing reps in my first cycle.
Plus, I need to learn to trust this process and not think that working at 90-95% of max is the only way.
Overall very happy today about my main lift.
Accessory work
I'm basing these choices off Dave Tate's periodization bible.
For today, they include-
5 sets of 10-20 reps db presses, flat db, incline
5 sets of 10-20 reps db rows, lat pulldowns, db shrugs
5 sets of 10-20 reps tri extensions our try push
My sets of accessory work:
DB Presses
35's x 10
35's x 11
35's x 11
30's x 12
30's x 12
DB Rows
50's x 12 (done unilaterally)
50's x 12
45's x 15
45's x 20
45's x 12
Triceps Pushdowns
80 x 15
80 x 15
90 x 15
90 x 20
100 x 15
Hi! I'm Suzy. I'm a 28 year old recreational powerlifter. I've been lifting weights for nearly 3 years, with an interest in powerlifting for the past two. I'm starting this blog to document my progress through Wendler's 5/3/1 program.
Past Competitions
I've only "competed" twice. And that's in quotations because I had no one to compete against in either event and both were only push/pull meets and not full power.
Once was in a university competition in Sept 2011. I weighed in at 142 and I benched 105 and dl'ed 245.
I feel pretty unaccomplished since my only other meet was in June 2013 and I've not added much to my lifts. For that 2nd meet, I competed in the 165 class at 162 lbs. I went 2/3 on bench. The 2nd attempt was an easy peasy 132, went for 154 on my 3rd, and as soon as the bar was handed to me from lift off I could tell that my lats and scapula were in no way tight enough and I got stuck coming up about 3 inches off my chest. The worst part of missing my 3rd bench attempt was that none other than THE Donnie Thompson gave me lift off for it and I bombed. Bummer. Should have got that one, but he was very cool and encouraging.
Deadlift I went 3/3- opened with 260-ish, then 295, then 315! Very happy with that since 315 was a long time goal.
Current goals and status
I've been screwing around without a program since the June meet. Retarded. I thought I could do my own thing and progress. But there was no rhyme or reason and I was having training and diet ADHD. One week I wanted to train bodybuilder splits, then heavy singles, then decided to try bands, then, hey, why not some oly lifts...and I've eaten strict keto, cyclical keto, low carb, intermittent fasting, stuff my face diet, 1700 cals per day....You get it. It's hard to see progress with no consistency. I swear I know better.
I'm tired of not making consistent progress. I started this little blog to document my (hopeful) success because I'm going to make a minimum three cycle commitment to 5/3/1. That's 12 weeks.
My short term goals during the next 12 weeks are to bench 170, squat 275, and deadlift 365. I have no specific goal for overhead press, but since it is one I'd the main lifts for this program, I think it'd be great to strict press 125.
Long term goals...I don't think I've ever really stated my true intentions because I'm afraid of failing, but I would like to compete at the national level. That's why I'm really going to get my shit together.
Another part of my goals are aesthetic. I like big muscles on women and I get that it's not everybody's thing. But I want my arms, shoulders, lats, quads, and glutes to be as big and meaty as I can make them and I don't care if anyone else finds it attractive. Becoming and looking strong is something that makes me feel psychologically like everything is going to be ok and I think it looks cool because it requires dedication. I do want to say, however, that I hope my blog inspires other women to lift and if you're a chick reading this, you can lift as heavy as you want and not get huge. I promise, you will not get accidentally jacked. It's something that you have to really do on purpose.
Where I'm Starting and Where I Want to Go
5/3/1 consists of four week cycles during which the lifter focuses on four main lifts: bench press, standing overhead press, squat and deadlift. Anyone who's interested in learning more, just Google it, but I think from what I'll explain here, it's not difficult to understand.
After calculating a 1 rep max for each lift, you take 90% of your calculated max and base the calculations for your next four weeks of programmed sets off of the 90% figure.
I didn't want to overestimate my abilities by using contest maxes or anything that was not recent. So I chose rep maxes that I feel like I could make on any "good day" and that I actually have hit in the last 2 months.
The website I used to generate my program was www.strstd.com. The site calculates a one rep max based on your lifts and then spits out your first 4 week cycle based on those numbers. The following shows what I entered:
Bench: 3 reps at 128 = 1rm 145#, 90% = 130.5
OHP: 4 reps at 93 = 1rm 108#, 90% = 97.2
DL: 3 reps at 285 = 1 rm 318#, 90% = 286.2
Squats: 5 reps at 190 = 1rm 229#, 90% = 206
So each weeks lifts are based on a percentage of the 90% of 1rm calculated.
Week One is 5 reps at 65, 75, and 85%.
Week Two is 3 reps at 70, 80, and 90%
Week Three is 5 reps at 75%, reps at 85%, and 1+ reps at 95%
Week Four is deload 5 reps at 40, 50, 60%
Week One, Day One 5/3/1. 11/22/13
I don't usually lift in the a.m., but I knew that today I wouldn't have time otherwise so I hit the Sumter YMCA at about 10 a.m. Before going I swung by Baker Sweets for their delicious, perfectly brewed coffee, I also took about 1.5 scoops of 1MR
as a pre workout I started with Bench Press for my first 5/3/1 workout
Warm up:
50 x 5
65 x 5
80 x 3
Work sets:
85 x 5
100 x 5
110 x 10
So the final set of each day's main lifts you're really going for max reps with that weight. Today I was supposed to hit a minimum of 5 and the rest are basically bonus for rep PRs.
I'm thinking that since I got 10 (which is def a rep pr for me at that weight) that my calculations may have been slightly conservative for bench. But I progress pretty slowly in bench anyways and I'd rather have somewhere to go than to immediately hit a wall and be failing reps in my first cycle.
Plus, I need to learn to trust this process and not think that working at 90-95% of max is the only way.
Overall very happy today about my main lift.
Accessory work
I'm basing these choices off Dave Tate's periodization bible.
For today, they include-
5 sets of 10-20 reps db presses, flat db, incline
5 sets of 10-20 reps db rows, lat pulldowns, db shrugs
5 sets of 10-20 reps tri extensions our try push
My sets of accessory work:
DB Presses
35's x 10
35's x 11
35's x 11
30's x 12
30's x 12
DB Rows
50's x 12 (done unilaterally)
50's x 12
45's x 15
45's x 20
45's x 12
Triceps Pushdowns
80 x 15
80 x 15
90 x 15
90 x 20
100 x 15
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