TheMilkMan's Quest for 1750

[TheMilkMan]

As the title suggests, I'm switching my ideology from bodybuilding with a focus on strength to strictly strength. Here's my thinking... I've never met anyone who benches 400+ who was a small guy. They may not have been lean/ripped/etc but they didn't lack muscle mass. Given the right diet, cardio, and drugs they would look incredible, so why not train as they do.

I'm going to stick to Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 Training System for Raw Strength in hopes to be able to get myself as strong as possible. I'll lay out the foundation here:

There are 4 week cycles in which you blast for 3 weeks and deload for the 4th week. Wendler recommends that you train either 3 or 4 times a week and if you choose to train 3 days a week you will extend the training cycle to 5 weeks (4 blasting, 1 deload). For now I'm going to train 4 days a week, but something tells me I'll end up opting for 3 days a week. Time will tell.

There are 4 main lifts in this routine: Standing Military Press, Deadlift, Bench Press, Squat. Everything is based on percentages of a 1RM. In order to prevent stalling and overtraining, there is a real max and a training max. The training max is 90% of a real max and you base all of the percentages off of the training max. He also calls for Assistance Work, but I'm not going to go into detail with that as there is too much information and too many variables to consider.

Current Maxes
Standing Military Press: 195
Deadlift: 500
Bench Press: 335
Squat: 400

Training Maxes
Standing Military Press: 175
Deadlift: 450
Bench Press: 300
Squat: 360

All of the current maxes were found using this formula:
weight used x # of reps x .0333 + weight used = 1RM


All of the training maxes were found using:
current maxes x .9(90%) = training max

My new quote to live by: "I'm not in the weight room to jerk off to a bunch of different exercises and go nowhere. For more than 20 years, I've been walking into weight rooms, but I've never entered to train, exercise, work out or get a pump. I go into the weight room to get strong." - Jim Wendler

Goals: Strength
I'd like to be able to combine 1750lbs in the 4 major lifts, and 1500lbs in the Squat/Bench/Dead...
Standing Military Press: 250
Deadlift: 600
Bench Press: 375
Squat: 500

So here goes... Let me know if you have any questions along the way and please chime in if you'd like to know any specifics about my training. I'm not going to lay out the whole program here because I think Wendler deserves to get some praise for his knowledge... aka buy the ebook if you really want to know everything.

[TheMilkMan]

I'm going to be finishing up PCT in the next couple days although I feel completely recovered because I'd like to finish up the open bottles of stuff that I have and stay with the 30 day PCT I planned. I guess I'll log what I used just for shits:

20mg Nolva
1 scoop EndoAmp
1 scoop Toco8
6 pumps Sustain Alpha
2 pumps DermaTherm Target

Day 1: Standing Military Press
130lbs(75%)/5
140lbs(80%)/5
150lbs(85%)/14

Assistance Work:
Incline DB Press 85's/12, 85's/10, 85's/7, 70's/10
T-Bar Rows 3plates/15, 3plates/15, 3.5plates/12, 3.5plates/12
Rope Pushdowns 100/20, 110/18, 120/15, 130/15

*felt pretty strong today
*weighed 246lbs at the gym today

[Dlove]

Looks great dude. Im stoked to follow your log now, not that I wasn't before lol.

My quess is with your age and knowledge etc.. the 5/3/1 is gonna rock your world.

Before the knees got bad on me my quest was 1500 as well, might still be obtainable time will tell.

? for ya. So your last set was 14 reps 85%? Thought it was a straight 5 5 5.

? How many warm-ups before the 3 working sets?

What does the 4th day look like? Kinda curius the 4 day split I thught Wendler called for 3.

Nice to see your assistance work went up in reps as you closed out the session. Im seeing nice results keeping assistance wrk in the 15-20 rep range.

Great shit man keep up the dedication you got and your gonna be a 265lb machine in 2 yrs

[Biggin]

Milk, if possible will u point me in the right direction to purchase his book. My training is very similiar to what ur going to be starting, although Im seeing different variables that will help me progress even more in my training. If ur able to, just pm me or post it on here, Im sure others on here will be interested as well.

[TheMilkMan]

Originally Posted by Dlove

? for ya. So your last set was 14 reps 85%? Thought it was a straight 5 5 5.

? How many warm-ups before the 3 working sets?

What does the 4th day look like? Kinda curius the 4 day split I thught Wendler called for 3.

Nice to see your assistance work went up in reps as you closed out the session. Im seeing nice results keeping assistance wrk in the 15-20 rep range.

Great shit man keep up the dedication you got and your gonna be a 265lb machine in 2 yrs

The third set of the main lift is as many clean reps as you can do with the weight. He doesn't want you to go to failure, but he does recommend pushing yourself as hard as possible.

I warmed up with 3 sets before I hit the 3 working sets. I have to assume that the heavier you get with the weight, the more warm-ups you'll use.

The 4 days are headlined with the 4 main lifts, but Wendler says that he only trains 3 days a week. The way you would do that would be MWFM, WFMW, FMWF if that makes sense. The assistance work would keep your strength in the lift you didn't do that week.

I'm using the Dave Tate's Periodization concepts for my assistance work right now. He calls for 10-20 reps for everything and all the other assistance work Wendler lays out calls for higher reps as well.

265lbs at 6'4 would be pretty cool. We'll see.

[TheMilkMan]

Originally Posted by Biggin

Milk, if possible will u point me in the right direction to purchase his book. My training is very similiar to what ur going to be starting, although Im seeing different variables that will help me progress even more in my training. If ur able to, just pm me or post it on here, Im sure others on here will be interested as well.

Elite Fitness Systems

[Rougen123]

hmm thats a pretty cool style. Did you come up with the assisted work or was that in the ebook also? And just to clarify when you says "assistance work" you just me auxilary lifts for that follow that major lift's style? Subscribed.

[TheMilkMan]

Originally Posted by Rougen123

hmm thats a pretty cool style. Did you come up with the assisted work or was that in the ebook also? And just to clarify when you says "assistance work" you just me auxilary lifts for that follow that major lift's style? Subscribed.

Assistance work came in the Ebook, it's actually very similiar to Dave Tate's Periodization Bible. Wendler says he sees nothing wrong with doing assistance work like this, whereas with other assistance work he points out pros and cons.

You are correct with the use of assistance work.

[Dlove]

Damn that is strong for shoulders milk. I can tell from your pic your shoulders are your strong point. That is going to help a lot to bring up power and size in your chest the better you get with PL style bench.

I am still a little confused why Wendler calls out for high reps on the last set of the compound exercise? I thought the name of the game was to go heavy. 14 reps is like burning out on the last set. I do that for chest and it is helping bigtime. %'s really seem to be the name of the game with this program otherwise it might not work out to well. I really am stoked to follow this man thanx/ Sorry to post whore your log here I have a feeling im gonna learn a ton and this might really help me. However I don't know how to judge a real 5 rep max if your burning out on the last set? Quess base it off the second to last set.

So really 5/3/1 is really watching and progressing on that second to last set? Sorry dude this program is a little confusing. I have been looking over at IM at different dudes logs and it seems theres a lot of Variations. Being the perfectionest that you are, lol I like reading yours cause Im sure your following his E-book to the tee. Still wondering if the last set burning out in a high rep range will be beneficial for me?

[HUNG4RY4N]

I'm really looking forward to this new log! I hope you do great with this program, good luck, and keep the updates coming

[TheMilkMan]

Originally Posted by Dlove

Damn that is strong for shoulders milk. I can tell from your pic your shoulders are your strong point. That is going to help a lot to bring up power and size in your chest the better you get with PL style bench.

I am still a little confused why Wendler calls out for high reps on the last set of the compound exercise? I thought the name of the game was to go heavy. 14 reps is like burning out on the last set. I do that for chest and it is helping bigtime. %'s really seem to be the name of the game with this program otherwise it might not work out to well. I really am stoked to follow this man thanx/ Sorry to post whore your log here I have a feeling im gonna learn a ton and this might really help me. However I don't know how to judge a real 5 rep max if your burning out on the last set? Quess base it off the second to last set.

So really 5/3/1 is really watching and progressing on that second to last set? Sorry dude this program is a little confusing. I have been looking over at IM at different dudes logs and it seems theres a lot of Variations. Being the perfectionest that you are, lol I like reading yours cause Im sure your following his E-book to the tee. Still wondering if the last set burning out in a high rep range will be beneficial for me?

I wouldn't really call it a burn out set. Here's how I understand it. Wendler goes on a little rant about how he used to be fat and unable to do normal daily tasks, but he was a strong as a fucking ox. He seemed to say that wasn't the way you want to be and rather you should train for strength in all aspects of lifting/life. I think that is why the 1RM estimate is so important, because according to the formula, I improved a great deal today. I calculated my 1RM to be 195lbs, but 150 x 14 x .0333 + 150 = 220lbs... a huge improvement!!! Granted I think that my 1RM for the Standing Military Press was underestimated because I did them after Squats, but even so, whatever.

The real test of strength is in the 3rd week of training in which you do 95% of your training max as many times as possible. I don't know the exact quote, but he says something like completing the # of reps prescribed is doing what is asked of you and completing more reps is improvement... or something like that.

I supposed that because he says you should take conservative 1RM's to begin with and use 90% of that, you're going to be pumping out some higher reps in the beginning. Once you get into weeks 2 and 3, where you're shooting for sets of 3 and even 1 (working with 90 and 95 percent of 1RM) you're going to see the largest improvements with the heaviest weights.

And believe me, you're not a thread whore. I really appreciate you asking questions and giving your take on things. If people didn't ask questions, I'd be talking to myself.

[barnzy7]

I think this is awesome milk. Sorry for not reading back, My internet goes in and out and barely get a chance to get on.

But I was wondering what exactly your stats are? And what was the main reason that you decided to switch to power lifting instead of body building?

By the way, Ive learned a TON from your logs, appreciate your hardwork and discipline

[1badmofo]

I like the way you think. This should really build up your strength and muscle density.

[TheMilkMan]

20mg Nolva
1 scoop EndoAmp
1 scoop Toco8
NO Sustain Alpha
2 pumps DermaTherm Target

Day 2: Deadlift
340lbs(75%)/5
360lbs(80%)/5
385lbs(85%)/10

Assistance Work:
Lying Leg Curls 110/15, 110/15, 80/15, 80/10
Leg Press 5plates/15 x 2, 6plates/12 x 2
Hanging Leg Raises bw/15 x 4*

*last set of hanging leg raises I could only do them as knee raises because my abs we smoked
*felt pretty strong but my grip failed a little bit at rep #10 on deads... need to get some chalk

[TheMilkMan]

20mg Nolva
1 scoop EndoAmp
1 scoop Toco8
6 pumps Sustain Alpha
2 pumps DermaTherm Target

25 minutes on treadmill on an empty stomach in the morning... ~135bpm

*was in Maryland for a wedding and the 4th of July

[TheMilkMan]

20mg Nolva
1 scoop EndoAmp
1 scoop Toco8
6 pumps Sustain Alpha
2 pumps DermaTherm Target

*Wanted, needed, and scheduled a day off. EXCITED to get back in the gym tomorrow and bench heavy.

[TheMilkMan]

Originally Posted by 1badmofo

I like the way you think. This should really build up your strength and muscle density.

Yeah man, I'm really hoping be able to get some good strength gains out of this program. I'm really hoping that I can stay healthy for a while and see some great gains. In the past, as soon as I started to gain a lot of strength I would get hurt and I would have to work around the injury.

I'm hoping that I can just keep progressing and get bigger and stronger.

[Dlove]

Originally Posted by TheMilkMan

Day 2: Deadlift
340lbs(75%)/5
360lbs(80%)/5
385lbs(85%)/10

Assistance Work:
Lying Leg Curls 110/15, 110/15, 80/15, 80/10
Leg Press 5plates/15 x 2, 6plates/12 x 2
Hanging Leg Raises bw/15 x 4*

*last set of hanging leg raises I could only do them as knee raises because my abs we smoked
*felt pretty strong but my grip failed a little bit at rep #10 on deads... need to get some chalk

Nice session, I like that a lot. Especially like how you throwed leg press in the mix after deads. It was recommended to me over at IM to hit leg press to help increse deadlift strength, quess since you break the pull with the quads.

What rep range for your warm-up's?

Intensity around 50% for warm-ups?

What part of MD did you visit?

[TheMilkMan]

Originally Posted by Dlove

Nice session, I like that a lot. Especially like how you throwed leg press in the mix after deads. It was recommended to me over at IM to hit leg press to help increse deadlift strength, quess since you break the pull with the quads.

What rep range for your warm-up's?

Intensity around 50% for warm-ups?

I think that Dave Tate's periodization is going to work like a charm. It seems to make sense and hopefully I'll be nice and strong soon lol. I figure once your lower back and hammy's are smoked and you head over to leg press you have nothing to push with except your quads which will only help make everything stronger.

Intensity for warm-ups is right around 50%, maybe a little more. Rep range stays between 5 and 10... Just enough to get warm but not enough to be fatigued in the slightest.

You got a PM.

[TheMilkMan]

20mg Nolva
1 scoop EndoAmp
1 scoop Toco8
6 pumps Sustain Alpha
2 pumps DermaTherm Target

Day 5: Bench Press
225lbs(75%)/5
240lbs(80%)/5
255lbs(85%)/10

Assistance Work:
Smith Machine Incline 185/15, 12, 10, 10
One Arm DB Rows 100/15 x 3, 115/10
DB Floor Extensions 30's/13, 10, 10
One Arm HS Preacher Curls 55/8, 45/10

*didn't feel all that great today... might not have taken in enough calories today
*grip strength is WAY up, holding onto the DB's felt super easy
*there is no bicep work at all in the program, but in the Q & A Wendler says you can throw in a couple sets wherever you see fit... today was the day

[leanbody]

Damn, Bro - you keep pushing the limits! LOL - Good for you - that's an awsome approach to lifting among other aspects of life... Will def be an interesting log to follow. Good luck most brolic brothah!

Originally Posted by TheMilkMan

I figure once your lower back and hammy's are smoked and you head over to leg press you have nothing to push with except your quads which will only help make everything stronger.

I loved reading this - got to try it - seems bass acwards but makes sense - seems like your legs will grow big time on that!

[TheMilkMan]

20mg Nolva
4 pumps Sustain Alpha
2 pumps DermaTherm Target
*done with EndoAmp, Toco8, and the Sustain Alpha is all finished up

20 minutes cardio on the Elliptical... ~130bpm

*feeling kinda flat today, hope with some good sleep and good nutrition I can get back to feeling good everyday

[TheMilkMan]

20mg Nolva
2 pumps DermaTherm Target

Day 7: Squat
270lbs(75%)/5
290lbs(80%)/5
305lbs(85%)/9

Assistance Work:
Hyper Extensions bw/12, 12, 10
Hack Squats 2plates/10, 12, 12
Roman Chair Leg Raises 4 x 15
Donkey Calf Raises 200/20 x 3

*was at the beach today and the sun sucked the strength right out of me...
*added some calves in because like biceps, Wendler doesn't call for anything particular... today seemed like a good day to add a few sets in

[dtone]

this is a great looking program milk, ill have to try and incorporate some of its theories once i start gaining again and taking in adequate cals. but i have to ask, and correct me if i missed something, coming out of your pct, dont you think you are going to be at a pretty low weak point with fluctuations in strength, mood, and energy? maybe this type of program would be more valid and consistent in the middle of an on or off cycle season. but i can also see benefit in starting this program at your lowest point, just want to know your thoughts.

[TheMilkMan]

Originally Posted by dtone

this is a great looking program milk, ill have to try and incorporate some of its theories once i start gaining again and taking in adequate cals. but i have to ask, and correct me if i missed something, coming out of your pct, dont you think you are going to be at a pretty low weak point with fluctuations in strength, mood, and energy? maybe this type of program would be more valid and consistent in the middle of an on or off cycle season. but i can also see benefit in starting this program at your lowest point, just want to know your thoughts.

I felt that I was pretty much completely recovered when I started this program. I started Day 22 of PCT, at which I felt 100% recovered and ready to hit the weights really hard again. I'm thinking that I probably could have used a cruise week in there prior to starting this routine, but I said fuck it because I was a little bit anxious to get it started. I've really be trying to limit how hard I push myself and keep my caloric intake high enough to stave off any over training. I do see where you're coming from though, it's hard to keep motivated and determined when you're finally settling back into your normal hormone range. I may have jumped the gun, and if I did, I'll be cruising sooner than I had planned lol.

I'll be getting blood work back shortly, so I'll know for sure if I'm completely recovered. I'm just finishing up the 3 extra Nolva caps I have right now for the hell of it.