Crossroads/Dilemma
As I sit here typing I can’t help but feel at a crossroads in my training.
I’ve been doing monthly physical challenges, and with the weekend left to decide for May’s challenge I feel at a loss.
I’ve been toying with Lunging a 1/4 mile on Sunday the 30th to cap off the month of lunges. Doing so would be the second gut check this week after Monday’s modified Iron Marathon.
Well I’d programmed pressing this month as part of the challenge, and I think that the next few month’s challenges will be to actually program. To run Wendler’s 531 as written or very near it.
Gut Check Work Outs + Training With Intensity
Now this is exactly the problem: I like doing psycho stuff in the gym. It’s given me a hell of a work capacity, and ability to recover, even allows me to hit roughly my 1rm cold. But there is a problem to my non-method method non-method method of madness.
I can hit my ~1rms cold, but not much further. In the 9 months at the new gym( can I call it new at this point?) I’ve gone from a 310 to 325 bench(consistent at 315), down from 455×2 to 405×2 squat(last I tried), and am consistent but not progressing past a ~500 deadlift (515 PR) All the best #s were reached ~7 months ago, and have since semi regressed. However my madness has gained me size, vastly improved my grip strength and endurance, and my Power Clean has gotten far better.
(50lbs in the 9 months isn’t bad for sporadic training)
Powerlifting Total
I do care about my total. I need it to go up, and I figure the simplest way is to do 5/3/1 as written.
Mentally for me to do 5/3/1 I’d have do something crazy like do Boring But Big at ballpark 70%, plus a fuck ton of calisthenics, assistance work, and sled/prowler work.
Personally I really like going to the gym and just training. I also like hitting lifts more than once weekly.
Is the above described Psycho 5/3/1 even 5/3/1?
I need to progress on the big lifts. The problem, I love frequency.
I’d been thinking do the 4 main lifts, and treat it somewhat like a bodybuilder on the corresponding assistance, do some chins/dips/lunges daily or near it, skip rope, and do sled/prowler work. Just allow myself once a week for each of the main 4(the hard part, if I squat I prefer doing it daily or not at all), and slip in power cleans or box jumps at the beginning ~2x weekly.
The idea to sneak in lots of extra sessions ala Westside Barbell in the form of PT + calisthenics at home and prowler/sled work at the gym struck, but would it be a bad thing to only really train 4x weekly, to only go to the gym 4x instead of my habitual 6-7x weekly?
I hate driving, particularly when I have to deal with traffic. 4x weekly? Tue/Wed/Sat/Sun would work. The weekend traffic is light, and the gym crowd is different. Maybe this isn’t a bad thing after all.
5/3/1 as written would guarantee a 405 bench Training Max in 2 years, and i know from the bastardized use of the program that the ability would happen far faster, 6 -12, most likely under 9 months being not only possible, but very probable.
Bodybuilding assistance, Chin/Lunge/Dip, and Prowler/Sled, only hitting each lift once a week. This may be a trade off I’ll have to accept. Plenty have gotten strong on bodybuilder splits, which is essentially what 531 is to me, plus when’s the last time I trained in that manner? It will be a new frequency of stimulus.
However I won’t deload every 4th weak. My recovery is higher than necessitates that, I’m not that strong (1rm wise), and I am not that soft. 4 cycles in 12 weeks, followed by a fun reps week is more me.
The gym acquaintances will shit themselves seeing me actually following a program, written by someone else, and not made up on the spot on the gym floor.
How hard could this be?
The Program
Press Day:
- Chins
- 531 Press
- BBB Press 5×10
- Power Clean -Easy Singles
- Lat Pull and/or Seated Row
Deadlift Day:
-
-
- Chins
- 531 Dead
- A Week:Good Morning 2-5×10-15
- A Week: Seated Row- Fat Bar High Rep
- B Week:Shrug/Rack Pull/Hand And Thigh (Strapped)
- B Week: Deadlift – Overhand Fat Bar BBB or Singles or Timed Hold
-
Bench Day
- Chins
- 531 Bench
- BBB Bench or Dips (Probably Alternated A/B weeks)
- Bent Rows Fat Bar
- 1-2 sets Kroc Row Strapless
- Power Clean -Easy Singles
Squat Day
- Leg Curl- For Pump
- Front Squat Warm Up To Decent Single
- 531 Squat Sets
- Squat 350 Method (Paul Carter)
- Leg Curl More
- Prowler/Sled
End every session with either lunges or sled/prowler work to get some more volume. I’ll probably use the fat bar or alternate between it and regular for the press/bench/deadlift 531 sets as well.
Conclusion
Really the only issue I have is hitting everything once a week. I’m gonna just have to suck it up, enjoy the new schedule and rest days, and allow myself to grow (not just only as a gym rat).
Time to build my strength (top end) again. This will also allow more mental effort to be in other places. However with this programming, what will I be filming for YouTube? I’ll come up with something.
Do What You Must.
-J