TwinDeltaTandem's Training Log

I"m a little surprised how hard the 5s are. I've done various strength programs involving sets of 5, and I know how hard linear progression can get prior to stalling. But I based all my 5RMs off my proven 10RMs. Usually the models are within a few pounds, but man! I'm dropping my estimated 5RMs for DLs and squats down by several increments going forward. Hopefully this isn't just overtraining--I don't think it is. It's not sleep-related, I've been having great sleep. If anything, it's diet-related. I am pretty happy with squatting 245 for 5.

Third day of 5s this afternoon. We'll see how it goes.

If I've got a criticism of the HST vanilla program, it is that the 5s are largely unmanageable from a volume perspective. In my opinion, a heavy working set of 5 reps should be preceeded by at least 3 progressively heavy warm-up sets. Not necessary for accessory lifts, perhaps, but if you're doing full-body lifts you'll end up with at least six total sets on DLs, squats, BP and Press. That's going to put you pretty close to running up against the clock if you do it right, and if you're really going heavy. Also, as I did on the squats last time, I'd really like to do a drop set after the final working set for max (but not to failure) reps.

Last workout I skipped curls for this reason. I think that makes sense, and going forward as the weights get heavier I'll consider anything past the press to be contingent upon keeping the whole workout under an hour. Don't know if I can bring myself to skip dips, but curls and crunches can definitely take a vacation for the next few weeks.
 
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BW: 176.7 (PR--probably a lot of water weight...)
Energy/mood: B

DL: 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5x3, 135x12
BP: Bar x 10, 135x5, 145x5, 155x3, 160x5x3, 115x15
Press: Bar x 5, 55x5, 65x5, 85x3, 90x5x3, 65x9
Pull-ups BWx5x5

So basically I cut out all the accessory work except for pull-ups. The whole workout took about an hour (after a 5-minute treadmill warmup). Next workout will be squats instead of DLs, and I'll pick another accessory exercise--the plan I'm working is to spend adequate time on the main compound full-body lifts and then work in the accessory lifts on a time-permitting basis. My pace in the gym might be a little slower than some people's, but I'm training with a partner and probably need the time between sets anyway.

I'm pretty stoked about the weight gain. Regardless of how much water weight I'm carrying, I've come a long way in two cycles. About 10 pounds so far. I definitely look different, particularly the upper body. Legs and glutes feel very solid also, and my waist is about the same. I notice my BDUs are getting very tight in the chest, to the point one of the buttons is tugging a little.
 
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alot of the guys drop isos in the 5s,no need really,your going to engage all fibres in the bis/tris doing heavy chins/dips etc.
good proggress keep it up.
 
Completely agree with faz - there are few who would be able to navigate through the 5's (and after) if they kept the iso work going throughout. I think this is primarily the reason for the Simplify and Win thread; if you hit your compounds correctly, there will be little need for iso work during the cycle, except to provide extra stress to targeted muscle groups for assistance work. You've done very well thus far, TDT - I think you'll be very pleased once you finish the cycle despite the snag you encountered with the isos recently.

I hope things overseas are going well. Stay safe man! Thank you very much for the work you're doing over there.
 
I'd still do some metabolic work for bis and tris if you want to keep your arms feeling full during the 5s and onwards. Just a single high rep set for each would do. No need for rest, just bang them out at the end of your w/o.
 
Last two workouts, warmup sets plus:

Squats 235x5x3
BP 165x5x3
Press 95x5x3
Pullups, BW 15x3
Dips BW+40x5x3

Deadlift 260x5 then deloaded to 235
BP 170x5x3
Press 100x5

Felt very sluggish on the second day (stressful day prior to going to the gym) and cut the workout short after the three main lifts. Weight is still going up--now at 178. I haven't pulled out the BF calipers lately, but I'm pretty sure the gains are almost all LMM/water.
 
BW: 176, Mood/energy: B+

Last day of the official cycle...all for 3X5:

Squat: 245
Bench: 185
Press: 100
Pull-ups: BW+20
Dips: BW+45

All felt very good. I actually went for a single rep squat at 300. No trouble going down, just didn't get it back up. Close, though.

Overall results after two cycles:
Weight +10 lbs
Chest + 1.5"
Biceps +.5"
Neck +.5"

I'll round out the next week with four 5/3/1 sessions and then take a few weeks off (vacation).
 
Very nice stuff, TDT. Congrats on finishing your first cycle!

I'll be interested to see how you program your 5/3/1 sessions load-wise.... You'll have fun regardless.
 
Thanks, _tim!

Today I started in on the first week of 5/3/1. It was the Press day and, since I'm doing the "boring but big" version for accessory work, I ended up doing deloaded Press sets at the end of the working set and then finished it off with chins. I worked very fast on this--not sure how long I was in the gym but it was much quicker than HST. I can also say that although my shoulders and arms definitely got a great workout, overall I felt much better leaving the gym than I normally would have following and HST workout. But we'll see if that holds true on squat/DL days.

BW: 177.9
Mood/energy: B+

Press:
5x45
5x60
5x65
5x75
11x85 (this was the working set--basically you do as many reps as you can without going to failure)
5 sets of 10x45 (harder towards the end than I thought it would be, but still very easy)

10 sets of 5 BW pullups.

BTW, the pullups were pretty easy. I've seen huge improvement in my pullups over the past couple of HST cycles. I was holding back on the initial sets in order to save enough gas to stay with 5 rep sets.
 
Day 2 of 5/3/1. Peaked out at 225 DL with similar progression to the above. 10 reps at 225--should have been able to get at least 13. Then deloaded to 95 for 5 sets of 10. Finally, 5 sets of 15 nearly vertical crunches.
 
Just checking in. Finishing up my first cycle of 5/3/1. Over the month, BW is up about 5 pounds. I'm doing the "boring but big" variation, but adding body weight exercises as accessory work. This decision is largely job-related, since I have to qualify in pushups and situps. Plus, I can't think of a reason not to emphasize pullups and dips.

1RM increases:

Press: +4 to 120
DL: +30 to 330 (!)
BP: +20 to 225 (!)
Squat: even at 295

Plan to stick with this for at least another 6 months to build a better base level of strength before kicking back into a hypertrophy program.
 
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