#john broz

[barbellsandfortitude]

"Set your goals high. You reach for the moon and you’ll fall short and hit the top of the mountain, you aim for the ground and you don’t have relief.”

John Broz

[ayliffe531-blog]

Finally a session to write up.

Got back into the gym today after a week off due to my back. Twas a good session. Stretched, foam rolled, and started jumping rope, albeit sloppily. Just did light squats and some body weight work, then went to run a new hill.

Squats

Bar x 5

Bar x 10

95x5

115x5

135x5

Dips - 3 sets body weight

Pull ups - 3 sets body weight 

Big hill - 3 sprints

This new hill kicked my ass. It's much bigger, and much steeper than my old one. I think in light of recent events, when I begin my first cycle of this experiment I will lower my max for both my squat and dead even more than they are already. I also think ill take out heavy powercleans for some other pulling movement; maybe light RDL's to help get my lower back healthy and strong.

Tunage: ETID - Ex Lives

[ayliffe531-blog]

Live for yourself -- there's no one else More worth living for Begging hands and bleeding hearts will Only cry out for more

RUSH

[ayliffe531-blog]

Back at it.

My back is finally feeling better, almost a week later. Assuming it still feels good in the morning ill be back into the gym to do a light squat work out with some dips and chins, lots of stretching, foam rolling and mobility work, followed by some hill sprints. Excited as fuck to get the bar on my back again. It's been hard for me to be patient and let myself heal, but a fucked up back is not something I want to deal with for the rest of my life.

Lifting belt came today but I wasn't here to accept it, will get it tomorrow.

[ayliffe531-blog]

Ego Check

Had a wild hair up my ass tonight and decided to jump the gun and train before I had originally decided. Bad idea.

Warmed up as usual and spent more time on the IT bands. Went on to start squatting. This was my 5/3/1 week, with my already lowered training max. 

185x5

200x3

225x0

Yep. Couldn't get my last set. My current rep max with 225 is 8 reps, so this is a weight I should be getting rather easily for a single. I also hurt my lower back during warm up sets but thought little of it. We'll see how it is in the morning.

Just goes to show how important adequate nutrition and patience can be. I think this is all due to my lack of appetite and my eagerness to come back. It sucks, but I'm glad it happened. Next time I won't make this mistake.

After the gym I paid McDonalds a visit. At this point, calories are calories.

GOMAD starts tomorrow.

[ayliffe531-blog]

Overview

Next cycle I begin my 'More Squatting, More Running, More Awesome' attempt at 5/3/1. After re-reading the tnation article about John Broz, his methods, and his mantras, I've decided I'd like to try lifting and running five days a week. I want to increase my work capacity, as well as see what my body is capable of. I've yet to experiment and learn for myself really, as a new lifter I've read everything I can and learnt that way, and would like to gain some experience.

Each day I will; stretch and foam roll. After I warm up: squat, push, and pull, and then I will run. It will be very close to the 'more squatting' template, with lower squat percentages (40/50/60 for 5 reps each). Also all my accessory work will be bodyweight to begin with (in other words; dips and pull ups). I do this because of the running as well as the increased volume, as my body is not used to that yet. For my running, I will hill sprint on heavy days (days with a 531 lift) and do short jogs on light days. I may swap hill sprints for sled pulls on occasion to break any monotony.  I'll be sure to get adequate nutrition by drinking a gallon of whole milk each day, as well as eating a he'll of a lot of meat, potatoes and protein shakes. 

Before I begin this, I will need to test my Push Press max, as I've decided to exchange my military press for it while doing this. Just to change things up and move a bit more weight overhead. I will be using military presses as assistance work, following the simplest strength percentages, and will re-test my max for that as well.

The weekly routine will look like this:

Sunday

Squat 5/3/1, Military Press SST, Power Cleans, Hill sprints.

Monday

Light Squats, Dips, Pull ups, Run

Tuesday

Light squats, Push Press 5/3/1, Deadlift 5/3/1, Hill Sprints or Sleds

Wednesday 

Light Squats, Dips, Pull ups, Run

Thursday

Light Squats, Bench Press 5/3/1, Barbell Rows SST, Hill sprints

Friday/Saturday

OFF

I've just come back from a short bout with the flu and still have to finish my 5/3/1 week of this cycle. But since I'm taking this whole week off before doing that, I don't think I will deload before I begin the new one.