No Quarter's Journal

Week 3 Summary:
Another week done, my squats and deadlifts don't seem to want to fail

                                         Squat                              Bench                              Deadlift              
Week 1:                     5x5@245lbs                5x5@165lbs                 5x5@225lbs           
Calculated Max:             282lbs                       190lbs                        259lbs
Bodyweight: 200lbs
Week 2:                     5x5@265lbs                4x5@175lbs                 5x5@245lbs
Calculated Max:             305lbs                       201lbs                         282lbs
Bodyweight: 198lbs
Week 3:                          5x5@285lbs                 5x5@65lbs db's            5x5@265lbs
Calculated Max:              328lbs                            N/A                                 305lbs    
Bodyweight: 199lbs 

Damn dumbell benching has screwed up my chart. Oh well.

It’s not a good idea to squats and dead lifts on two consecutive days. That’s a lot of stress on your lower back and you dead lifts will suffer from the leg soreness.

[img]http://img10.echo.cx/img10/5676/goldenfrog5th.gif[/img]

Marc himself reccomends them on the same day, but I guess I see where you're coming from. This is my only alternative then:

monday - arms
tuesday - squat
wednesday - bench
thursday - deadlift

If your main goal is just improving your max on the big tree then how about this:
 
Day1 Bench/shoulders (nice and rested, shouldnt effect day2)
DAY2 Deads/back/traps(no soreness from day1 shouldnt keep you from getting a good bicep workout on day3)
Day3 arms(bi's maybe a little sore from day3 but not much, will have no impact on day4)
Day4 Squats/calves(shouldnt have any soreness, maybe a little from deads on Day2)
 
This should keep everything far enough apart.
 
 

[img]http://img10.echo.cx/img10/5676/goldenfrog5th.gif[/img]

The whole point was to move the arm day further away from the deadlift day, besides my biceps everything feels rested in time.

Monday- Squat
(Warm Up)                  Squats                     1x5@135 1x5@225lbs
(Primary Lift)               Squats                               5x5 @ 305lbs
(Assistance Quads)       Leg Press                           2x8 @ 400lbs
(Assistance Hams)        Lying Leg Curls                    3x8 @ 120lbs
(Assistance Calves)      Standing Calf Raises             3x8 @ 225lbs


Whoops forgot that I was suppossed to start this week with arms instead of squats. Oh well.

Squatted 305 and finished all reps again.

I've gotten pretty sick over the weekend. We had meningitis shots at school which seems to have weakened my immune system, making me more susceptible to colds and stuff. So far it hasn't slowed me down much though.

Tuesday- Bench
(Warm Up)                  Dumbell Bench Press            1x8 @ 40lbs
(Primary Lift)               Dumbell Bench Press              5x5 @ 70lbs
(Assistance Chest)       Dumbell Chest Flys                2x8 @ 45lbs
(Assistance Delts)        Dumbell Arnold Press              3x8 @ 40lbs
(Assistance Abs)          Weighted Hanging Leg Raises  3x8 @ 10lbs

Wednesday- Deadlift
(Warm Up)                     Deadlifts                             1x5 @ 135lbs 1x5 @ 225lbs
(Primary Lift)                  Deadlifts                             5x5 @ 285lbs
(Assistance Upper Back)  Dumbell Rows                       3x8 @ 100lbs
(Assistance Traps)          Upright Rows                       3x8 @ 75lbs

Another 20lb another 5 sets.

Saturday - Arms
(Assistance Biceps 1)       EZ Bar Curls                   1x8 @ 95lbs 2x6 @ 115lbs
(Assistance Biceps 2)       Weighted Chin Ups          3x8 @bodyweight
(Assistance Triceps 1)      Close Grip Bench Press     3x8 @ 135lbs
(Assistance Triceps 2)      Overhead Extensions       3x8 @ 85lbs

Average day.

Week 4 Summary:
Week 4 complete. I think this coming week is when I'll start failing and drop some sets. We'll just have to see. So far my goals are looking very attainable. The bench goal will be the toughest.

                                         Squat                              Bench                              Deadlift              
Week 1:                     5x5@245lbs                5x5@165lbs                 5x5@225lbs           
Calculated Max:             282lbs                       190lbs                        259lbs
Bodyweight: 200lbs
Week 2:                     5x5@265lbs                4x5@175lbs                 5x5@245lbs
Calculated Max:             305lbs                        201lbs                         282lbs
Bodyweight: 198lbs
Week 3:                      5x5@285lbs                5x5@65lbs db's            5x5@265lbs
Calculated Max:              328lbs                        N/A                            305lbs    
Bodyweight: 199lbs 
Week 4:                           5x5@305lbs                 5x5@70lbs db's            5x5@285lbs
Calculated Max:               351lbs                            N/A                                  328lbs
Bodyweight:196lbs

Monday- Squat
(Warm Up)                  Squats                     1x5@135 1x5@225lbs
(Primary Lift)               Squats                               5x5 @ 325lbs
(Assistance Quads)       Leg Press                           2x8 @ 450lbs
(Assistance Hams)        Lying Leg Curls                    3x8 @ 120lbs
(Assistance Calves)      Standing Calf Raises             3x8 @ 225lbs

Goooo squats.

Tuesday- Bench
(Warm Up)                  Dumbell Bench Press              1x8 @ 25lbs 1x8 @ 40lbs
(Primary Lift)               Dumbell Bench Press              1x5 @ 75lbs 1x4 @ 75lbs
(Assistance Chest)       Dumbell Chest Flys                2x8 @ 45lbs
(Assistance Delts)        Dumbell Arnold Press              3x8 @ 40lbs
(Assistance Abs)          Weighted Hanging Leg Raises  2x8 @ 10lbs
(Assistance Abs)          Machine Cruncehs                 2x8 @ full rack
(Assistance Abs)          Cable Rope Crunches             2x8 @ 180lbs

Ouch failed on the second set. Guess its a bigger jump when you're moving up on dumbells, or maybe I just had a weak day. Oh well.

Thursday - Deadlift
(Warm Up)                     Deadlifts                             1x5 @ 135lbs 1x5 @ 225lbs
(Primary Lift)                  Deadlifts                             1x5 @ 305lbs  1x3 @ 305
(Assistance Upper Back)  Dumbell Rows                       3x8 @ 100lbs
(Assistance Traps)          Upright Rows                       3x8 @ 75lbs

Yikes failed on the second set again. This program seems very unpredictable, for a few weeks you're gaining steadily until you're pushed to absolute failure. It's interesting how a 14% diffence in weights drops completing 5 sets of 5 reps to only completing 1 full set. I'm interested to see how the squats will do.

Friday - Home Abs
Twisting Crunches 2x12
Leg Raises 2x20
Reverse Crunches 2x15
Seated Leg Tucks 2x20
Weighted Crunches 2x12 @ 15lbs

Had some extra time today so I did my old ab workout

Haven't looked at my progress over time in awhile so here it is:

Late April 2005 I was doing these reps/sets/weights:
Squats                            2x6 @ 155 lbs                    
Flat Barbell Bench              2x6 @ 150 lbs       
Standing Barbell Press        3x6 @ 90 lbs  
Barbell Curls                     2x8 @ 85 lbs   
Deadlifts                          2x6 @ 185 lbs

Early June 2005 I was doing these weights/sets/reps:
Squat                             4x6 @ 195 lbs
Flat Barbell Bench             3x6 @ 165lbs  
Standing Barbell Press       3x6 @ 115bs
Barbell Curls                    3x8 @ 95lbs
Deadlifts                         3x6 @ 225lbs

Early July 2005 I'm doing these reps/sets/weights
Squat                             3x6  @ 235 lbs
Flat Barbell Bench             3x6  @ 155lbs
Seated Barbell Press          4x6 @ 120lbs
Barbell Curls                    3x8 @ 95lbs
Deadlifts                         3x6 @ 235lbs

Early October 2005 I'm doing these reps/sets/weights
Squat                             5x5  @ 325 lbs
Flat Barbell Bench             4x5  @ 175lbs
Seated Barbell Press         (dropped this exercise)
Barbell Curls                    (dropped this exercise)
Deadlifts                         1x5 @ 305lbs

Pretty good progress, DOUBLED my squat in 6 months.