From Boxer to Beefcake

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 1 Session 3

Missed yesterday, we had two wildcat strikes in a row at work and things were absolutely mental. I haven't slept properly in days but forced myself in today. Felt weak and drained but got the business done. Due to the strikes I had to cancel my shoulder appointment with the consultant which is a balls but needs must.

Press
20kg x 5
25kg x 5
30kg x 3
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5 (+5)

Had one more in the tank I think, was wrecked. Shoulder felt slightly unstable today.

Bench Press BBB
42.5kg 5x10

Handy out this was, will increase by a kilo next week.

Pull-ups 2x8 1x5
Chin-ups 2x8 1x5

Lat pulldown
66kg 1x6

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 1 Session 4

Total bastard of a session lads. Didn't I forget my chalk yesterday (gone) and leave my belt at home while I was busy hunting for the chalk?? On deadlift day of all days? Bastard. The gas thing is I'd a right row with her yesterday who said I only ever forget her stuff. Ha, well who was right after all love??? Vindicated.

Deadlift
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
85kg x 3
105kg x 5
115kg x 5
120kg x 5 (+0)

Grip let me down. I mean at the end of the day a few months back I couldn't pull 105 without chalk so here we are flying it. I had one or two more but if I'd my chalk I'd have torn the arse out of it rest assured. (Just in case that chancer DTP thinks I'm slipping)

Squat
50kg 5x10

Gun Show

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 2 Session 1

Shoulder felt stiff and a bit sore today, I regret missing my consultant appointment now. Aside from that the bench felt ok but I'm conscious of the fact that a few weeks ago I was doing 75 3x5 and today I had a hard whack of 72.5 1x7, think of that what you may. I'm hoping the step back will lead to a few steps forward.

Bench Press
32.5kg x 5
40kg x 5
47.5kg x 3
55kg x 3
62.5kg x 3
72.5kg x 3 (+4)

Had one or maybe two left in the tank.

BBB Press
27.5kg 5x10

Chins 3 x 8

I need my chalk.

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 2 Session 2

Yurt, got my new chalk today. My piriformis was hard as a rock going in today, even during the warm ups I was worried but managed to get through it. Both the tennis ball and foam roller had little effect to be honest I think I need something harder although sliotars are difficult to come by here!

Squats
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
67.5kg x 3
77.5kg x 3
90kg x 3
100kg x 3 (+7)

This felt easy and had another one in the tank definitely. Very happy with the form here and the intensity. All high bar.

BBB deadlift
62.5kg 5x10

I'll up this next week

Hamstring Curl
39kg 5x10

This is getting much easier once the initial shock wears off.

Pull ups
3x8

Alf Veedersane

FTA69 wrote: »

Both the tennis ball and foam roller had little effect to be honest I think I need something harder although sliotars are difficult to come by here!

Two options:

1) Lacrosse ball in a sports shop. Solid rubber ball.

2) Pet shop. They'll have solid rubber balls the size of a tennis ball that are sold as toys for dogs.

Dtp1979

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Two options:

1) Lacrosse ball in a sports shop. Solid rubber ball.

2) Pet shop. They'll have solid rubber balls the size of a tennis ball that are sold as toys for dogs.

Option 3, pull your fingernails off with a pliers. This is the least painful option

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 2 Session 4

Shoulder felt steady today but also realised knocking out loads of weights when you've had no breakfast is the worst thing ever. Press is flying it I must say, proportionally it's probably my best lift now I'd say. Loving this program and hope to run it for as long as possible.

Press
20kg x 5
25kg x 5
32.5kg x 3
37.5kg x 3
42.5kg x 3
47.5kg x 3 (+7)

Last one was a bit hairy but happy out with this I must say. I find leaning into the press as the bar clears my head allows me to lock it out much easier. Very happy with the technique adjustments I've made on this.

Bench Press BBB
42.5kg 5x10

Mother of all triceps pumps.

Various chins and pull ups x 42

Had to cut it short as late for work.

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 2 Session 4

Had no belt again today but managed to cadge some chalk off some angry looking Polish monster which was a touch. Deadlifts felt ok but felt nervous without my belt so capped the reps a bit early. Aside from that handy number.

Deadlift
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
85kg x 3
95kg x 3
107.5kg x 3
122.5kg x 3 (+4)

Definitely had another pair in the tank.

Squats
52.5kg 5x10

Gunzzz

All in all not too bad. Off to the football now (mon the Tons), after that I'll never drink ever again I promise.

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 3 Session 1

Stupid Clapton FC and its culture of having the extreme craic, still half rattled today. Bench was ok, probably had a few more reps in the tank. Had some TOWIE type spotting me and he rightly declared "you lazy cant, you fackin' bailed out way too fackin' soon". True I suppose.

Bench Press
32kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 3
60kg x 5
67.5kg x 3
75kg x 1 (+5)

Probably had another one or two left in the hole. Feel a bit annoyed with myself now for capping it on the rare occasion I actually had a spot who wasn't a dope.

Press BBB
27.5kg 5 x 10

Kroc Row
26kg 5 x 10

Wide-grip pull ups with fat gripz
3 x 6

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 3 Session 2

A little disappointed today to be honest; was aiming for 8 reps on the last set of squats but had to bail out in the hole as I tried the eighth. Increased weight for the volume deadlifts and hamstring curls were grand however.

Squat
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
67.5kg x 3
85kg x 5
95kg x 3
107.5kg x 1 (+6)

I had eight in mind but had to sit down in the safeties, what a balls. That having been said, the form was very good (much better than when I was doing 112 and had to deload) and I'm confident I'll progress further without much of a hitch.

Deadlift BBB
65kg 5x10

Grand hurling.

Hamstring Curl
43.5 5x10

Neutral grip Chins
3x10

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 3 Session 3

Buzzing. Great session today. Massive PR on the Press, was banging out sets of ten chins and eight pull-ups and bench felt stupidly light. Great stuff. My shoulder feels a little bit rough but is settling down already.

Press
20kg x 5
25kg x 5
32.5kg x 3
40kg x 5
45kg x 3
50kg x 1 (+8)

Boom! Still the Prince of Press. What a laugh, flew past five reps, she slowed down for six and seven, eight was a hoor and during nine I started to shut my eyes and do a kind of high-pitched "eeeeep" noise til I locked it out. Massive PR.

Bench Press
42.5kg 5x10

Stupid easy, definitely ramping up next cycle.

Pulls and Chins x 58

These felt great today for some reason.

Dtp1979

FTA69 wrote: »

Cycle 2 Week 3 Session 3

Buzzing. Great session today. Massive PR on the Press, was banging out sets of ten chins and eight pull-ups and bench felt stupidly light. Great stuff. My shoulder feels a little bit rough but is settling down already.

Press
20kg x 5
25kg x 5
32.5kg x 3
40kg x 5
45kg x 3
50kg x 1 (+8)

Boom! Still the Prince of Press. What a laugh, flew past five reps, she slowed down for six and seven, eight was a hoor and during nine I started to shut my eyes and do a kind of high-pitched "eeeeep" noise til I locked it out. Massive PR.

Bench Press
42.5kg 5x10

Stupid easy, definitely ramping up next cycle.

Pulls and Chins x 58

These felt great today for some reason.

Jaysus 9@ 50kg. Good work.

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 3 Session 4

I'm telling ye, I'll welcome a deload after this week I feel wrecked. My shoulder is paining me today (such is the price of being a legend) and I feel aches and sore. That having been said, I got the work done today after a hard day of it so happy days.

Deadlift
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
85kg x 3
100kg x 5
120kg x 3
127.5kg x 1 (+6)

I'm happy with this, easily had another one or two left in the tank and form felt good bar the first one. I've a tendency to raise the hips too early and that sort of thing can cause damage aplenty. Aside from that I'm content and confident I'll progress nicely.

Squats
55kg 5x10

Upped the weight for this and felt good; I find doing volume squats at light weights is great for mobility as well.

Gun Show

Dtp1979

Feeling tired myself. Good thing I skipped the first deload though, cause I've exactly the right amount of days left before holidays to complete week 3.

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 4 Session 1 Deload

Shoulder impingement is hurting a small bit so I'm glad of a deload, to be honest I think I definitely needed one.

Bench Press
40kg x 5
50kg 3x5

Dumbell Overhead Press
3x10 12kg bells

Bent over Dumbell Row
26kg 3x10

Chins 2x10

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 4 Session 2 Deload

Jesus I'm coming down with a cold, slight sniffles and sore throats but felt sooo weak today in the gym. Hopefully I'll have it shook off by next Monday. Pain in the arse today to be honest I was blowing after my sets.

Squat
40kg x 5
65kg 3x5

Deadlift
65kg 2x10

Hamstring Curl
42kg 2x10

Pull ups
2x10

Loads of mobility.

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 4 Session 3 Deload

Deloads are great yokes I wish I could do them every week! All nice and handy and feeling strong again, rearing to go.

Press
30kg 3x5

Bench Press
40kg 3x10

Neutral grip chins
3x8

FTA69

Cycle 2 Week 4 Session 4 Deload

Deadlift
60kg x 5
80kg 3x5

Squat
50kg 2x10

Bicep curls

Mobility.

There we have it, two cycles done and dusted, happy days. Rearing to go again.

FTA69

Back with a bang now, spending much more time working on my impingement as it is starting to trouble me a bit more these days. Also I've put on 3kg odd, most of which is bloat I think. My diet has been poor enough, not huge amounts of calories or anything but definitely too much sugar and booze. I've been having alcohol every weekend since I started this program and I was never a big drinker to begin with, I just need to get out of that rut and stop using it to destress from work I'm in the Basque Country this weekend and after that I'm changing up. Felt much stronger after the deload.

Current training maxes:
Bench - 82kg
Press - 55kg
Squat - 117kg
Deadlift - 140kg

Cycle 3 Week 1 Session 1

Bench Press
32.5kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 3
52.5kg x 5
62.5kg x 5
70kg x 5 (+5)

Smashed this, definitely a rep record at that weight for me anyway. I felt a bit shaky in the other sets but was delighted to hammer this out. Definitely strength improvements occurring anyway, no doubt.

BBB Press
27.5kg 5x10

This was really hard and I felt my shoulder burning up, really had to grind through it.

Kroc Row
26kg 5x10

This felt much easier and I think it's definitely time to up the weight here as well.

Chin-ups
3x9

Time to start pushing myself out of the comfort zone with these, if I can start getting 3x10 I'll begin to add weight.

All in all, great session back and feeling strong. Improvement really creeps up on you with this program.

FTA69

Cycle 3 Week 1 Session 2

Hard old graft now today, my upper body was screaming with DOMS from yesterday, niggle in my wrist and before I did loads of mobility today - the shoulder was giving me gip. My legs are like f*cking jelly at the moment.

Squat
47.5kg x 5
57.5kg x 5
70kg x 3
75kg x 5
87.5kg x 5
100kg x 5 (+6)

Seriously had to dig deep for that last set. A few weeks back I hit ten reps for that weight so was determined to beat it. I felt like packing it in after 5 but managed to horse through, the last couple were agony. I could maybe have got one more but it'd be touch and go. Depth was bang on and all done high bar which makes me happy.

BBB Deadlift
65kg 5x10

Bit knackered after the squats but all good.

Hamstring Curl
45kg 5x10

This gets easier even though I'm upping the weight every week. I think it just took me a while to acclimatise to the exercise.

Neutral grip chins
3x9

Easy.

Alf Veedersane

FTA69 wrote: »

Hamstring Curl
45kg 5x10

This gets easier even though I'm upping the weight every week. I think it just took me a while to acclimatise to the exercise.

Good way to make it a touch harder is slow down the eccentric and concentric. 2s up, 2s down...feel that burn the hammies off ya!

Dtp1979

Do you usually squat high or low bar?

FTA69

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Do you usually squat high or low bar?

I used to do low bar for heavier weights but I'm trying to keep it as high as possible as I find it easier to stabilise and keep on a vertical path. My mobility is crap, it always has been so if I get parallel with heavier weights (100+) just about I'm doing well.

FTA69

Cycle 3 Week 1 Session 3

Jesus, I don't know why I'm so bad with DOMS, posterior chain aching to death this morning. Still, put down everything I needed too. Away this weekend so doing four sessions in a row which is always a bit taxing but needs must.

Press
20kg x 5
27.5kg x 5
32.5kg x 3
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
47.5kg x 5 (+5)

Maybe had another one here in the tank but form was breaking down.

BBB Bench Press
42.5kg 5x10

Handy out, forgot my microplates so will increase next week.

Pulls and Chins x 56

FTA69

Cycle 3 Week 1 Session 4

Another week down; twinges all over my piriformi and lower back but nothing serious. I just feel generally battered from four days on the trot.

Deadlift
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
85kg x 3
90kg x 5
105kg x 5
120kg x 5 (+2)

This was a mixed bag; I was using double overhand until the last set and pulling everything lovely; remembering the times I couldn't do 5 reps at 105 with mixed grip. Grip has improved massively from the volume deadlifting.

The last set felt light and easy until the seventh rep and then maybe I skipped form or what but felt a little twinge in the lower back. Due to my back issues I'm mad conscious so capped it at that, failing that I could have hit ten I'd say.

BBB Squats
55kg 5x10

Upped the weight here again and really concentrated on pushing the depth limits with every rep. I'd say I'm going to have a sore arse for the whole of my weekend away!

No gun show as pushing time for work.

FTA69

Cycle 3 Week 2 Session 1

Jesus, feel like crap after a weekend in Euskal Herria, absolutely wrecked from it and definitely packing in the booze for a bit. Shoulder felt good today and felt ok on the bench.

Bench Press
32.5kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 3
57.5kg x 3
65kg x 3
72.5kg x 3 (+5)

I was happy enough to get 8 here after the weekend I've had but the proper test will be how I get on next week at 77.5.

BBB Press
27.5kg 5x10

Kroc Row
26kg 5x10

Increasing this next week.

Chins 1x10 2x9

Once I get past eight reps these are hard, I get a serious pump and it's like my arms lock in place. Confident I can get 3x10 in the next few weeks then on to weighted ones.

FTA69

Cycle 3 Week 2 Session 2

Still feeling really weak today, had to take more rest than usual between sets and everything was a hassle. Was horsing sweat as well which is unusual for me when lifting.

Squat
47.5kg x 5
57.5kg x 5
70kg x 3
82.5kg x 3
95kg x 3
105kg x 3 (+5)

This was a hassle like. All the work sets felt heavy and even deracking the bar was tough. I got the eight reps on the last set by the skin of my teeth and while the form was good it was a real effort.

BBB Deadlift
65kg 5x10

Not too bad here.

Hamstring Curls
47.3kg 5x10

First time it felt a bit tough and the last set was an effort.

Neutral grip chins
3x10

Very happy here, going adding 5kg next week.

All in all it seems that whenever I increase the weight I lose a proportional amount of reps; it seems I've stagnated a bit? As in if I manage 75 for 6 one week I'm only hitting 77.5 for 5 the next.

FTA69

Cycle 3 Week 2 Session 3

Buzzing today, set a new record on the press (albeit a bit sketchy) and managed to get to 60 pull-ups for the first time, absolutely delighted and a big achievement for me today.

Press
20kg x 5
27.5kg x 5
32.5kg x 3
37.5kg x 3
45kg x 3
50kg x 3 (+7)

Boom. Ten reps at 50, what a bang. The last two reps were a horror form wise but I don't care! (Although will be more sensible in future). Shoulder held up well but found myself leaning back too much on the last two reps which isn't the best for the old back.

BBB Bench Press
43.5kg 5x10

Increased the weight here and no real problems.

Pulls and Chins x 60

Very happy here. A while back I literally couldn't get this amount even in ones and twos due to total failure but I was laughing here and could have got to 70 if I dragged the arse out of it.

FTA69

Cycle 3 Week 2 Session 4

Lovely stuff here, form was on point, felt strong and hit more reps on a higher weight. My grip has improved massively and I'm only needing to use mixed grip on the last set for deadlifts.

Deadlift
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
85kg x 3
97.5kg x 3
112.5kg x 3
125kg x 3 (+4)

This was quality, no back issues. I find pausing in between in each rep allows much better form. I don't know if this is correct but I also find keeping my chin elevated high is a good cue to keep the back straight and shoulder over the bar? Had another one or possibly two in the tank I'd say.

Squat BBB
55kg 5x10

Raced through this handily.

Gunzz

FTA69

Cycle 3 Week 3 Session 1

Great stuff today, set two new PRs and am flying it. I was going to abandon the BBB format of 531 after three cycles but if it's not broke don't fix it! Did well in the bench and chin-ups and increased weight on assistance.

Bench Press
32.5kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 3
62.5kg x 5
70kg x 3
77.5kg x 1 (+5) PR

Very happy here now, managed to hit six reps without much difficulty and maybe had another in the tank. Shoulder felt good and stable. Rough calculations now out my 1RM at 90 which is bodyweight x 1.2 which was a goal of mine, also went in today with little sleep and an empty stomach. Great stuff.

BBB Press
27.5kg 5x10

Forgot my micro plates again (along with my lunch!) but found it really manageable which is an improvement on the last couple of weeks.

Kroc Rows
28kg 5x10

Felt the increase over the latter sets but upped the rest period a tad and feel ok.

Chin-ups
3x10 PR

Finally! The last couple might have had a semi kip but what harm, it's time I started weighting these and I need to get some chain now tomorrow for my belt.

531 is the nads.