I decided to give 5-3-1 with assistance work for bodybuilding a try. (4 exercises, 4 sets, 8-15 rep range).
My estimated 1 RM were:
Military press: ~ 69,5 kg
Deadlift: ~ 164 kg
Bench press: ~ 110 kg
Squat: ~ 150 kg
My bodyweight at start was 78 kg.
After 4 cycles an ear infection, deload week and flu I am at ~83 kg which makes 5kg gain. My goal was not to go beyond 82 kg, but a broken scale messed with me. It showed me at 80-81 kg for about 1 month and a half before I noticed something was off. Mirror is kind to me though so it's not such a bad thing.
Back to 5-3-1.
As already mentioned I had a few set backs. First was a 14 day OFF due to ear infection and the second a flu only a month later. It sucked big time. I lost so much strength and energy.
Here's my 5-3-1 progress in pictures.
As you can see, my strength is going up steadily. There are some ups and downs but it not a big deal as long as linear line is rising. Some drops are also due to the fact that my schedule at work is very irregular and I sometimes do not get enough sleep. Were it not for the illnesses I'm certain my gains would've been even greater.
I like the program A LOT. At first it was a challenge dropping the volume. It still is sometimes.
My best 1RM during these four cycles:
Military press: ~ 88 kg = ~ 18,5 kg gain
Deadlift: ~ 199 kg = ~ 35 kg gain
Bench press: ~ 135 kg = ~ 25 kg gain
Squat: ~ 186 kg = ~ 36 kg gain
I set many personal bests in these couple of months.
I actually deadlifted 180 kg and squated 180 kg. Wasn't low enough but I'll slowly get there.
 |
| left - 148 kg | right - 180 kg |
Next Sunday is a test your maxes day ;). Hopefully I enter 200 kg club at deadift.
That's it from me. Stay tuned for updates and thanks for following my blog.
