Ruckin's low-dose GET LEAN holiday blast

[ruckin]

Training today:
5 mile jog (time 39:50 --- 7:57/mile)

Diet:
-Late breakfast: small bowl of greek yogurt with a handful of mixed nuts and blueberries
-Snacked on veggies and maybe a handful of nuts throughout the day
-dinner: Chinese take-out beef and broccoli with rice
-Dessert: handful of nuts and some berries

 

[ruckin]

THANKSGIVING!!!
training: "heavy" day
ATG Squat 355x7 rpe9 (wtf???)
Press 165x10 rpe9.5
Deadlift 405x10 rpe9.5 (hook grip)
Dumbbell incline 95sx10 rpe10
Pull ups 240x8 rpe 9
Paused decline sit ups (just did a bunch of bodyweight ones, didn't count)
Plate shrugs 45sx30x3
Rear delt flies 40sx12,5 rest-pause

Lower body lifts felt weak as fuck today. Pretty disappointing, but I've been feeling the need for a deload coming on, so that's the last indicator I need. Next week will have to be a light one.

Diet:
-breakfast: greek yogurt with nuts and blueberries
-Thanksgiving dinner: I just feasted lol. Ate everything. And very happy about it. I had a great time with the family. Tomorrow will be back on the usual swing of things.

I hope you all had a great time today. Happy Thanksgiving friends!

 

[ruckin]

Training today:
Rest day, so I went for a 4-5 mile hike.

Diet:
-no breakfast, still full from Thanksgiving lol
-lunch: sliced chicken breast and some carrots
-dinner: more sliced chicken, and ham, with cheddar cheese, and brussel sprouts.
-dessert: watermelon and a few handfuls of mixed nuts (probably 700 calories worth)


Overall decent day. I shouldn't have had as many nuts after dinner, but at least it wasn't too bad and I didn't go crazy like other incidents recently, lol.

Going to go hiking again tomorrow so I'm pretty excited for that.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Maybe try measuring the nuts out. I use old protein powder scoops that are 1/4 cup, which is a serving size of most nuts, and measure out like a week's worth of nuts into small sandwich bags. Then when I'm packing my lunch I just throw a couple bags in and I'm good to go.

 

[ruckin]

Maybe try measuring the nuts out. I use old protein powder scoops that are 1/4 cup, which is a serving size of most nuts, and measure out like a week's worth of nuts into small sandwich bags. Then when I'm packing my lunch I just throw a couple bags in and I'm good to go.

Yeah I'll need to start doing that. I mean at the end of the day, it really just comes down to being a discipline issue, but measuring out servings in advance will at least help me be more conscious of how much I'm eating.

 

[ruckin]

Saturday and Sunday I was still out of town visiting family for Thanksgiving (not that that's an excuse for not sticking to my plan) and probably ate at about maintenance. So diet wasn't perfect (I can't remember each meal exactly but remember my general feeling about how good/bad I was with my eating) but it wasn't a mess either. I ate all clean but probably just a little more than I would have liked. Definitely not a big deal though.

Training on Saturday was my usual Saturday morning conditioning work/sprints, and I also went for a ~4 mile hike and saw some really cool wildlife.

Training on Sunday was just day 1 of my deload, which was my usual workout but with ~2/3 the weight:
deadlift 225x10x3
Press 95x10x3
ATG Squat 205x10x3
Pull ups 246x3x3
Dumbbell incline 55sx10x1
Plate shrugs 45sx30x3
paused decline sit ups bodyweight x20


Today 12/2
Training:
-5 mile jog (time 41:40 --- pace 8:20/mile)
-1 hour at BJJ

Diet:
-breakfast: 3 eggs with steamed broccoli
-lunch: 4 eggs with steamed broccoli
-afternoon snack: 1 handful of mixed nuts
-dinner: 8 eggs with brussel sprouts

Great day today, I think I did pretty much everything right/as planned. I decided yesterday that I'm going to stop screwing around with my eating and start taking seriously the idea that I should treat myself as if I'm my own professional coach (and simultaneously client), so I took a couple minutes to write down a simple but actual, objective diet plan and training schedule:


So going forward I'll stop reporting the same boring daily diet recap, and it can be assumed I stuck to the above plan if I don't say otherwise.

ALSO, I'm thinking about switching to a new strength training program. Anyone reading have any experience with 5/3/1? It sounds very appealing to me based on the little I know about it. I'm going to do some more reading on it and possibly switch to that from the same boring texas method I've been doing for the last.. jeez... It's probably been at least 2 years now I've been doing that exact same thing lol. I'm kind of excited to try something new. Any thoughts?

 

[Perrin Aybara]

I didn't get good results from 5/3/1 when I ran it years ago. Knowing what I know now though and how I've had good results from AMRAPs I think I could probably run it better now. There is a three day template that would probably work well for you.

 

[ruckin]

I didn't get good results from 5/3/1 when I ran it years ago. Knowing what I know now though and how I've had good results from AMRAPs I think I could probably run it better now. There is a three day template that would probably work well for you.

What do you think you would do differently now than last time you ran it?

I'm trying to figure out how I can make the 4 day/week plan work with my current life schedule but I think I could pull it off. I'm not looking to make crazy gains anyway, I mean if I could add just 30 lbs to my deadlift each year over the next 3-5 years, I'd be ecstatic about that.

 

[Btcowboy]

What do you think you would do differently now than last time you ran it?

I'm trying to figure out how I can make the 4 day/week plan work with my current life schedule but I think I could pull it off. I'm not looking to make crazy gains anyway, I mean if I could add just 30 lbs to my deadlift each year over the next 3-5 years, I'd be ecstatic about that.

I thought I had a 4 day 531 template but dont. I am running 531 for PL(3day) now and find it ok. It has the 1st 3 week phase do a single of TM and the the second 3 week phase is TM amraps

 

[Btcowboy]

Reading beyond 531 now and the 4 day looks like this

Mon OHP
Tues Deadlift
Thurs Bench
Fri Squat

Then mix in a secondary lift each day with some assistance movements.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

What do you think you would do differently now than last time you ran it?

I'm trying to figure out how I can make the 4 day/week plan work with my current life schedule but I think I could pull it off. I'm not looking to make crazy gains anyway, I mean if I could add just 30 lbs to my deadlift each year over the next 3-5 years, I'd be ecstatic about that.

Well, it's been a long time since I read Beyond 5/3/1 or did the actual program, but more main lift volume for sure and less accessories. The accessories I did do would be more specific for addressing weak points as well. I just didn't have the knowledge or experience that I do now.

30lbs a year isn't unrealistic at all. I was thinking about my deadlift gains over time the other day. I pulled my first 405lbs almost exactly six years ago in December 2013. 700lbs six years later is about 50lbs per year. Of course in reality it wasn't so linear and instead huge jumps some years and no progress others. Just gotta learn and adapt to keep things going.

With so much cardio and BJJ it's really gonna hold you back on strength gains. Have you considered blocks of strictly strength and other blocks of endurance and other things? At a certain point it's necessary because you're too advanced to progress so many things at once. If you do it right you don't lose so much of one while focusing on another and it comes back really quickly when you do.

 

[ruckin]

I thought I had a 4 day 531 template but dont. I am running 531 for PL(3day) now and find it ok. It has the 1st 3 week phase do a single of TM and the the second 3 week phase is TM amraps

What's "TM"?

30lbs a year isn't unrealistic at all. I was thinking about my deadlift gains over time the other day. I pulled my first 405lbs almost exactly six years ago in December 2013. 700lbs six years later is about 50lbs per year. Of course in reality it wasn't so linear and instead huge jumps some years and no progress others. Just gotta learn and adapt to keep things going.

Yeah I think with strength not being my only focus that 30 lb/year is a solid goal. 50/year average over that long of a stretch is awesome progress.

With so much cardio and BJJ it's really gonna hold you back on strength gains. Have you considered blocks of strictly strength and other blocks of endurance and other things? At a certain point it's necessary because you're too advanced to progress so many things at once. If you do it right you don't lose so much of one while focusing on another and it comes back really quickly when you do.

Eh, I doubt I'll ever do that. My running is really important to me, and I really enjoy it too. I'm definitely aware that it's holding me back from max possible strength but I'm fine with that. I just want to make whatever strength gains I can given the "running handicap" (for lack of a better word).

I should mention though that I'm not really looking to improve my cardio much, if any, more than I already have. If I can just maintain my current level forever where I can jog 5 miles no problem, I'll be very happy with that. So the strength training is really the only area I'm trying to push/progress.

 

[Btcowboy]

What's "TM"?

Training Max it is generally 90% of your 1 rep max. I have seen it 80% as well.

 

[ruckin]

Training Max it is generally 90% of your 1 rep max. I have seen it 80% as well.

Oh are you saying the first 3 weeks of the program you're not supposed to do AMRAPs?

 

[Btcowboy]

Oh are you saying the first 3 weeks of the program you're not supposed to do AMRAPs?

Honestly I think you can set it up however like and in Beyond 531 there are a bunch of variations. You could do phase 1 amraps and phase 2 singles if you like. I would even say do amraps as opposed to the singles too. There are joker sets if you are good at auto regulation. Lots of variations you can work in with it. I tried to attach beyond 531 in a pm to you but the file wouldn't attach.

 

[ruckin]

Yesterday, Tuesday 12/3
Training: Light day (still deload)
Dumbbell press 50sx15x2
Pull ups bodyweight x3x2
RDL 50sx20x1
Shrugs 50sx50x1


Today 12/4
Training:
-5 mile jog (didn't time, probably did a 9 min/mile pace)
-1 hour at BJJ

Honestly I think you can set it up however like and in Beyond 531 there are a bunch of variations. You could do phase 1 amraps and phase 2 singles if you like. I would even say do amraps as opposed to the singles too. There are joker sets if you are good at auto regulation. Lots of variations you can work in with it. I tried to attach beyond 531 in a pm to you but the file wouldn't attach.

Well thanks anyway, it's the thought that counts. What I should really do is quit being cheap and just buy the book. All I know is just what I've read on the internet.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

I can PM you the book if you want.

 

[Btcowboy]

I can PM you the book if you want.

I tried the pm it didnt attach, I was going ask him to pm his encrypted email and I was going to send to him that way. But if you are able to pm it perfect.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

I tried the pm it didnt attach, I was going ask him to pm his encrypted email and I was going to send to him that way. But if you are able to pm it perfect.

It's part of that link with the books. I'm sure I gave him the link years ago, but he might not still have the address.

 

[ruckin]

I can PM you the book if you want.

I tried the pm it didnt attach, I was going ask him to pm his encrypted email and I was going to send to him that way. But if you are able to pm it perfect.

It's part of that link with the books. I'm sure I gave him the link years ago, but he might not still have the address.

Aha, just found the old pm you sent me in 2015. Has the Beyond 531 pdf in it, just opened it. Thanks brother.