BBB: Day One

I decided to try something a little different this week, so I switched to Wendler's Boring but Big (BBB) program. It's the same split as the Triumvirate, the only real difference being that the focus is more on the primary movements. There's little in the way of assistance work.

I deliberately set my sights high for this cycle. I want to push the envelope hard in week three this time around.

Today is OHP day, and I wanted to go as high as I could while still being able to get in some good rep work. Yes, that's counter to the plan, but I just feel it's time I tested the boundaries a bit more. The 5/3/1 program always goes below maxes anyway, so I always know I can lift more. I intended to go up to 125 today, but I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and lifted 135 instead. I made up for it by dropping back down to 115 for five reps before continuing with the plan.

The "assistance" work consisted of five more sets of OHP at 75 lbs. supersetted with hanging leg raise. I hate hanging leg raises, but I did them anyway.

After completing three reps at 135, I know I can go up to 120 or 125 in next week's Monday workout, so I'm on track with what I intend to accomplish.

I like doing the extra sets of the primary movements. I believe this will help me progress better.

As always, it's logged on Fitocracy.

Yes, I'm still here

I had a lot going on this weekend, so I ended up skipping the Friday squat workout, intending to make it up on Saturday, but then all of the Saturday activities prevented from getting to it. And Sunday, well, Sunday I just wasn't up to it.

Now I'm starting day one of the deload week a workout behind. To make up for lost ground, I'm combining what would have been the Friday/Saturday squat workout with the Monday deload overhead press workout. And, yes, I still plan to do the deload squat workout on Friday as scheduled. If I were going to make the mistake of missing a workout, I picked the right time to do it. It will be easy to make it up as part of the deload plan.

As had been scheduled for last Friday, I worked up to 225 on the squat for three reps (since this is week 3, the plan called for one+ reps). Since I'm working this into the OHP workout, I skipped the leg presses and leg curls and instead threw in a couple of warm-down sets on the squats at 175 and 155. I think it's a fair compromise.

The OHP workout called for a max of 80, but I'm doing 95, since it's pretty light. I supersetted OHP with chins and dips across three sets. A good workout without overdoing it, which is exactly the intent of the deload week. This is recovery time for the muscles after having gone heavy last week.

I've decided to switch to Wendler's Big But Boring (BBB) plan starting next week. There's no particular reason for it other than it will give me additional work in the big movements themselves rather than splitting the emphasis with the assistance movements. The assistance exercises are great, and I'm sure I'll go back to the Triumvirate at some point; I just feel what I really need is more work on the really big stuff. So, starting next week, boring it is.

Today's log is, of course, on Fitocracy.

Okay, I wimped out

It was a Monday like any other Monday. I dragged myself out of bed and prepared myself for the ordeal that is work, knowing that ugly surprises awaited me. But Monday is also OHP day in my current routine, and that's fine. The only problem is, between work distractions that followed me home and the behavior of two ornery kids, I just wasn't into it.

That means I cut things a bit short. I had expanded the OHP workout to include Pendlay rows in addition to chin-ups and dips, but yesterday I did only three sets of chins and dips and skipped the Pendlays altogether.

Yes, I wimped out.

On a positive note, however, I was able to complete a full five reps at 125 on the press, 10 lbs. more than the most I've done recently, and I could've done more. I'm in the peak week of my second Wendler cycle, so this week I will be doing the heaviest lifts on the big movements. If I had completed only one rep or two at 125, it would've been considered a successful workout, but I did five, so that's a real accomplishment.

Next week is supposed to be the deload week, but I'm seriously tempted to see what I can do at 135. But maybe not.

The plan hatching in my head right now is to deload next week and focus on reps and volume for the assistance work, which means doing all of the extra movements I decided to add for this cycle, but have, ahem, occasionally skipped.

It looks like I'm well on track to hit some recent personal bests on the main lifts. I say recent personal bests because I'm still not close to my all-time bests on any of the main lifts. But I'm still making progress. This should give me some good momentum going into the deload week to be able come out on the other side rested and ready to take some big strides forward.

Wendler 5/3/1 Cycle 2, Week 2

Week two of this cycle kind of sneaked up on me, in part because of the holiday. I've grown accustomed to working out in the evening after work, so it felt a little weird to be doing it so early in the afternoon.

Today I did 8 reps at 115 on the shoulder press, which is clearly a big step forward after hitting the wall at 115 earlier. I've done 5 reps across 5 sets before, but then as other exercises—particularly the squat—ramped up, I found I just couldn't move past 115 and even dropped down in weight for a while. Being able to complete 8 reps is a minor achievement, and I'm confident I will continue to move forward if I stick to the 5/3/1 plan.

In spite of achieving something of a personal record on the press, I felt like I was really just going through the motions during this workout. I didn't feel energized at all; I was just trying to get through it.

I guess in that sense I should consider it something of a success. Even though I was just getting by, I still managed a good lift on the OHP and pushed out 8 reps on weighted dips at 65 lbs. I've done as much as 75 lbs. on weighted dips before, but 8 reps at 65 is pretty good right now—especially considering that I weigh considerably more now than I ever have before. I'm actually lifting an additional 15 lbs. more than when I was dipping with 65 lbs. a few years back.

I continued with the plan to mix in Pendlay rows. Instead of cutting short on the chin-ups, however, I supersetted them with the OHP and completed five full sets. I did the Pendlays in supersets with the dips for four sets.

All in all, not a bad workout. I have wonder, though, how much better it would have been had I been more rested and invigorated. See Fitocracy for the gory details.

Tomorrow is supposed to be deadlift day, but it's going to have to be postponed until Wednesday because I'll be attending my son's 5th grade graduation ceremony.