Monday (6-18-2012)
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 205 4, 3, 3
dumbbell row 95 2x8

Tuesday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 265x2, 295 2x5
press 65x5, 95x3, 105x2, 115 2x5
chinups+45 3x5

Thursday
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 205 2x5
dumbbell row 100 3x5

Friday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 295 2x5
presspress 65x5, 95x3, 105x2, 115 2x5
chinups+45 3x5

Weight (Friday): 176 lb

Notes:  I need a break from 5/3/1 while I finish cutting, so I'm taking it.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (6-11-2012)
press warmup 55x5, 70x5, 85x3
press working 105x5, 120x3, 135x1
press accessory 70 5x10
chinups +25 8x5

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 155x5, 185x5, 225x3
deadlift working 280x5, 315x3, 355x2, 1
deadlift accessory 185 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x15

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 145x3
bench working 175x5, 200x3, 225x3, 1
bench accessory 120 5x10
dumbbell row 90 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 190x3
squat working 235x5, 265x3, 300x1
squat accessory 160 lb 5x10
leg curl 110 lb 3x10, 100 lb 2x10

Weight (Friday): 177 lb

Notes:  Final working week of cycle 3.  I feel like my 1RM is going up, but my 5RM is declining.  Gaining intensity while losing work capacity.  I don't think I like it.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 11:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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24 oz of thick cut bacon
16 oz of mild italian sausage
All the cloves in one small garlic bulb
1 green pepper
4-6 oz extra sharp cheddar
BBQ sauce (spicy or sweet, your choice, I used spicy)
BBQ rub (something you’d use on pork ribs)

Make a bacon lattice square about 6-7 slices wide. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just sturdy. Cook the rest of the bacon in the usual fashion until crispy, set aside to cool.

Using a freezer bag, mush the sausage out to fill the same area as the weave. You can do this without the bag, but it sucks.

Cut away the bag from the sausage square, carefully align and press the sausage square on top of the bacon weave.

Dice the garlic cloves and green pepper, crumble the cooked bacon into bits, and spread all evenly onto sausage. Drizzle BBQ sauce on top of veggies evenly. Just enough sauce for flavor, we don’t need extra moisture here.

Grate cheddar and spread that over top, pizza style. Sprinkle some BBQ rub over top.

Roll up the whole beast so that the bottom side of the bacon weave is now the outside of the roll, then liberally apply rub to clean bacon surface. Place in foil lined pan on rack (it’s going to render like a fat man at Cedar Point in August, the foil helps cleanup).

Bake at 250F for 1.5 hours, 275F for 0.5 hours, then 300F for another 0.5 hours.

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Monday (6-4-2012)
press warmup 60x5, 75x5, 85x3
press working 100x3, 115x3, 125x5, 2, ... 2
press accessory 70 5x10
chinups +25 8x5

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 155x5, 185x5, 225x3
deadlift working 260x3, 300x3, 335x6
deadlift accessory 185 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x15

Wednesday
power-clean 95 lb 3x3, 135 lb 8x3
box jumps 30" 10x5
elliptical 12 min

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 145x3
bench working 165x3, 190x3, 210x5, 2, 2
bench accessory 120 5x10
dumbbell row 85 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 190x3
squat working 220x3, 250x3, 280x3, 1
squat accessory 160 lb 5x10
leg curl 110 lb 3x10, 100 lb 2x10

Weight (Friday): 180 lb

Notes:  Monday was disappointing, but not awful.  Tuesday was okay.  Thursday suggested a regression, possibly due to calorie deficit.  Friday was terrible, probably for the same reason.  The was the first week I've tried to do a real food intake cut, as well as strong carbohydrate restriction.  I didn't feel "weak" per se, but things that should have been light felt very heavy.  It might be a programmatic issue.  The volume and intensity on 5/3/1 seem fine at first, but I'm starting to feel really burnt out.  I think I may have broken the rule and pushed to actual failure too often, rather than going just shy of failure.  I'm starting to think I'm better adapted to -- or at least get better results from -- higher frequency with lower intensity and volume.  There are a lot of variables at play, and I don't want to abandon the program if I'm still making progress.  We'll see how this week goes.  Today's presses weren't awful, but I only got a single on a "1+" set.  If that's the best I can manage at all of this week's targets, changing programs might be my best bet.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 02:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (5-28-2012)
press warmup 60x5, 75x5, 85x3
press working 95x5, 105x5, 120x7, 2
press accessory 95 3x8, 85 2x8
weighted chinups 25 8x5
hammer curl 30 2x8

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 155x5, 185x5, 225x3
deadlift working 240x5, 280x5, 315x7, 2
deadlift accessory 185 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x15

Wednesday
power-clean 95 2x3, 135 2x3, 155 5x3
box jumps 30" 8x5

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 145x3
bench working 165x5, 185x5, 200x8, 2
bench accessory 120 5x10
kroc row 55 lb 3x20, 3x15
rope pressdowns 50 3x8
hammer curl 30 3x8

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 190x3
squat working 205x5, 235x5, 265x6, 4
squat accessory 160 5x10
leg curl 100 5x10
donkey calf raise 400 5x15

Weight (Friday): 184 lb

Notes: First week of cycle 3. So far, so good.  Little iffy on squat day.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 07:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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