Remember – like a bodybuilder
Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 23, week 2
- Work Set – Press (working max: 155#)
- 45 x 5 x 2 sets (warmup)
- 65 x 5
- 80 x 5
- 95 x 3
- 110 x 3 (work)
- 125 x 3
- 140 x 6
- Assistance – Press
- 95 x 10 x 3 sets
- 95 x 9
- 95 x 7
- Assistance – Seated Rows (superset with all pressing)
- 75 x 10 x 10 sets
- 75 x 15
- Assistance – Wide-grip lat pulldowns
- 100 x 10 x 3 sets
- And I superset the pulldowns with 30x20x3 of some tricep pressdowns with an EZ-bar, so my hands came to my sides
- And then did like 25xbarx3 with an empty EZ-bar for a little biceps pump
- Foam Rolling
Pressing went fine. I was actually of a pretty clear mind today so the lifting went pretty well. I’m getting myself to push a little more, keeping my whole body tight, refining technique here, so things are getting better. It may detract from my numbers a bit as I use some effort to set up better, but that’s fine.
On the assistance work, I have to remember to work this like a bodybuilder — build muscle. Push those reps hard. Don’t just focus on the concentric but also really give work to the eccentric (if the negative helps with building muscle, work it). Full range of motion, squeeze at the peak, and all that good stuff.
For whatever reason I opted to do a little arm pumping at the end. Normally when I do tricep pressdowns I use the rope attachment, and that keeps my hands in front of me. But I was lazy, there was already an EZ-bar attachment on the pulldown/pressdown station, so I went with it. My hands were about shoulder-width apart, so when I got to the bottom of the movement my hands would be, in essence, at my side. Lock out, and boy, that whole movement really changed things. I felt a ton of burn in my rear shoulder area. Not sure of what muscles precisely that was, but think about it… stuff like stiff-arm pullovers? This was essentially that at the peak, so I felt it some in my lats too. Dang… hurt so good. then just some empty bar curls for a wee bit of biceps pump (curls for the girls), and that was that.
Main thing? remember to treat the assistance work like a bodybuilder.
Stuff From Hsoi 
cycle 23?! Outstanding dedication to Wendlers program! I loved 5/3/1 and I kind of wish that I had stuck to it for a few more cycles! Nicely done!
Thank you.
Went back to the gym about 2.5 years ago just doing lame bodybuilder stuff for a couple months… got flu or something… used the downtime to read up on things. Discovered “Starting Strength” and did that for a couple months until I maxxed out on it. Also learned about Wendler 5/3/1 and been using it ever since. I cannot complain with the results.
I have been reading a lot about the Cube Method (googling around on it was how I found your blog) and am considering switching to it eventually. 1. just curious about it, 2. curious to see what it will do, 3. curious if my feeling of non-progress perhaps needs a program changeup, or if it’s just me (probably the latter). I want to learn more about “Cube Extreme” first tho. Waiting for JTS to publish more of the articles about it. It seems like it might be a better fit for my schedule limitations.
And kudos to you too… you’ve made some great progress yourself!
Do you lift by yourself?
I think that switching programs is important. A) There is always more than one way to skin a cat and you never know which way is going to be best for you and your body/muscle type and B) doing something different is good for the mind 🙂
I did three cycles of Wendlers and probably would have done a few more had so many people not suggested The Cube! My thoughts on The Cube is that it gives you more stuff to rotate with so that you can change things every cycle if you want. I think most of us that arent competitors just want to keep making improvement and having more options gives more room for those improvements. Plus I think it lends itself to not getting hung up so much on 1RM and more on rep maxes which ultimately is more awesome anyway. 🙂 deadlifting 315# for 10 reps seems more awesome than just pulling 365# for 1 rep. It is 3150# moved vs 365#
I think you should just go for it! What do you have to loose?! If you dont like it, go back to what you were doing before. 🙂
Yes, I lift by myself.
10 reps may be awesome, but you know… after 5 reps it’s cardio and who wants to do that? 😉
I am reluctant to start Cube for a few reasons. Not that I have anything against it.. it’s mostly logistics.
1. There are still some things in Wendler I am experimenting with. Like right now I’m doing “6 week cycles”… basically 2 cycles back to back without a deload in between. So like week 1 5 reps, 2 3 reps, week 3 5/3/1, week 4 is 5 reps, 5 is 3, 6 is 5/3/1, and finally week 7 is deload. I’m digging that and it fits with my recovery. Jim also introduced this thing he calls Joker Sets, and I am starting to do those on the 6th week as a way to really work up and see where things are. I did that last go ’round and hit 405 for a single on my deadlift – lifetime PR there, and I probably could have pulled 415 but I figured 4 wheels was a milestone and good enough (don’t miss reps, right?).
2. That is one downside to Cube and 1RM stuff… training alone, if you do miss. The gym I’m at is pretty good, but gee I’d be happier with a proper power rack. Cube seems to necessitate testing yourself every 10th week, and I’m still trying to work out ways to safely hit 1RM’s alone with the facilities I have. I think I have something figured out tho.
3. On equipment, the way the original Cube book was laid out, it seemed to rely on a lot more equipment than I had access to. However, as I kept reading Cube stuff and following the Cube group on Facebook, I started to learn the basic essense of what Cube is about (just wasn’t presented well in the original book). And you can do basic barbell stuff and get away with it. Heck, the new “Cube Boss” in the 365 Strong book looks just awesome and right up the alley of what I’d want to do.
4. But, it’s evident the outline of the Cube takes a lot of time. I have only so much time I can put in the gym and then balance with the rest of life — including recovery. Cube is probably not going to fit… I can just do simple math comparing the # of sets I do now and how long I’m in the gym for that, vs. the greater # of sets Cube wants per day… it’ll be another 30-45 minutes (maybe more) and I can’t really afford that right now. 😦 But that’s why Cube Extreme is perking my interest, because Corey designed it specifically around limited time: about an hour per session, 3 times a week — right up my alley! Just need to wait for JTS to post more articles about it or Corey to release his hinted-at eBook.
5. Like you noticed, lack of pressing. 😉
Cube will happen I’m sure. It’s just logistics and waiting at this point. I get the feeling that once I can get more info on Cube Extreme, I’ll probably dive in.