Trying out the 3*3

[mattster]

Righto,
Well thought it was bout time i kept better track of my training and thought this would do nicely.

Bit about me, well been training with weights for last 4 years, 3 of which were bodybuilding/getting into shape, bulking/dieting rigmaraul - then a good mate of mine (kendrick) persuaded me to try a bit of powerlifting and here i am today.

I had been following a loose west side program, but then a few months back seemed to be suffering injury after injury.
Lifts then were 200kg dead (regular) 157kg squat and 120kg bench - nothing outstanding by mosts standards on here!!

Decided to give sumo pullin a go for good few months due to me having short arms and my hips coming up early when using regular.
Didnt really get on with sumo and was up to 190kg best on that.

The over the summer decided while recovering from injuries i would loose some lard, so went on a cut which saw me loose 20lbs over 10 weeks or so - and a ton of strength loss too.

So here i am, now at a fraction under 80kg, 5ft 6 and wanting to get some strength back, and fancying a change from my usual routine im gonna give the 3*3 routine a go which i saw in the articles section.

Thus i am in the first week of phase 1 working with lifts at 58% of my single rep maxes.
I am aiming to get 25lbs on both my squat and dead (have gone back to regular style and trying to nail my technique, and as much as possible on my bench!
Max lifts which percentages are based on at present are; -
Squat 135kg +25lbs
Dead 175+25lbs
Bench 110*10lbs

Please feel free to add any comments, or suggestions etc as any advice is always appreciated!

last nights session was as follows

Squat 84kg*5 reps * 6 sets
Bench 66kg *5 * 6 sets
Dead 111*5 * 4 sets
Finished with some ab work - 4 sets of crunches with stretching done between sets.

Rest periods between sets were 2mins for squat and deads, with 90 secs on the bench.

Enjoyed the session, the bench and squat feeling easy, the deads not as much due to a max effort attempt on the friday just gone.

Nutrition looks something like this on a typical training day (mon, wed, fri)

6.30am 2 whole eggs, 4 whites, 40g oats, 2 low fat cheese slices

9.30am half pot of bio yoghurt with 1 scoop whey and 1tsp mixed seeds

12.30 Tin tuna, 1tbsp olive oil, 175g mixed bean salad, hot chilli sauce

3pm same as meal at 12.30 or chicken stir fry with 1 cup brown rice.

Pre workout 4g CEE

Workout 6pm

PWO 30g whey, 40g Vitargo

Hour later: -
250g mince beef, 1/2 tin kidney beans, 2 wholemeal pittas with garlic

Bed time 11pm 2tbsp cottage cheese, 1/2 scop whey, 2tbsp bio yoghurt.

Notably im looking to roughly maintain weight as dont want to go above 82kg as at some point in the future i would like to compete.

Supplements include fish oils, Chelated zinc, multi vit, 3g vit c per day, CEE and unflavoured whey, vitargo carbs post workout only.:)

[Ben "tricky" Burgess]

good stuff mate, you are in a very similar position to me...80ish kg, 5'6 and fairly similar lifts too.

Ive also thought about doing s.thing like this Korte program so will be keeping an eye on this...

one thing...

your %'ages...the program says 58% for 1st phase using your current 1RM + 25%. You say your sq 1RM is 135 is that including the additional 25%? cos i belive your working sets would be (135+33) x 0.58 = 97kg :-?

[mattster]

I have calculated it as the listed weight 135 with 25lbs on top of that - which is roughly 11kg thus 146kg * 58% = 84.68kg.

I think thats right? (But does feel easy i admit!)

[Ben "tricky" Burgess]

sorry bud. My mistake i read at as +25% not 25lbs...

[Kendrick]

Maybe when I get my arms sorted and ROM back in my shoudlers I'll have a go at this Matt. At moment the a bar on my back x3 and x3 bench a week won't fly lol!

I reckon you'll warm to this nicely though!

[mattster]

Trained friday, was a bit tired from a crap nights sleep but had a good session once warmed up.

squat 85kg 6 sets*5
Bench 66kg 6 sets*7
Dead 111kg 5 sets 5 reps.

I made a mistake on the deads as should have been 107.

Really enjoyed the session and was completed under the hour.
Have had the weekend off training, and ate lots, drank a bit too last night too, which i need to get under check as im feeling a little more flabby in the mid section that i was a couple of weeks ago!

My job is sat at a desk all day, so am thinking on re jigging my diet a little and having less carbs during the day and centring them more around my workout.

So this week ill mostly be eating tuna salad for lunches!

Tomorrow sees the second week of the program, so all weights will go up 2%, which im looking forward to.

[Joel Di Battista]

Looking forward to this journal. This routine has always tempted me...

[mattster]

Trained last night after a very busy day and didnt start training until 8pm which is much later than i normally train, but fitted in the required work as follows: -

Bench 70kg * 6 reps *6 sets
Squat 87.5kg 5 sets 5 reps
Dead 111kg 5 sets 5 reps.

Completed the work with no problems and enjoyed it - technique in the squat feels good as does the deads too - and focusing on keeping my hips low.
Having a few issues with my left achilles heel - just seems to be aching a little desipte stretching my calves - will give it another week and then maybe take myself to the physio as there is a fair old knot on the outer side of my calf which i cant seem to get rid of.

Next session i shall perform an extra set of each exercise (except deads) and increase this again on friday before the next work load increase on monday next week.

Post workout nutrition was

30g whey straight after.

30mins later 200g lean mince lamb, garlic, onion, mint, rosemary in gravy with added mixed beans and wholemeal pitta. Luverlyyyyyyyyyy!

11pm 20g whey in probiotic drink.

[mattster]

Trained last night, same weights as tuesdays session, but performed an extra set for each of the three exercises - thus 6*6 for bench, 6*5 for squats and 6*5 for deads.

Must admit the session felt a little harder, nutrition intake had been crap during the day - protein on the low side and generally not enough carbs!

Finished the work out tired - also felt quite tight - particularly in the outer glute so gonna throw in some more stretching as was starting to feel a small pull in the groin.

Nutrional intake today will be something like this: -

7am 50g oats, 200ml milk, mixed seeds, 30g whey

10am handfull of almonds and protein shake

12.30 tin spicy mixed beans (175g) 1 chicken breast and 1 tin tuna

3pm Bio yoghurt with 30g whey added and mixed seeds (1tsp)

6pm jacket spud, salad, salmon steak

10pm whey in milk with 3 fish oil caps

Friday is my next workout day - sets will (all being well be increased to seven for each exercise)

[mattster]

Ok things mainly going well,
Fridays session was good despite taking a couple of sets to really get motivated.

Last night, monday, i increased the weights to 62% of max and went as follows:-

Squat 90kg 5 sets 5 reps (deep)
Bench 71.5kg 5 sets 7 reps with good pause at bottom
Deads 115kg 5 sets 5 reps

Very good session, but suffering with some real tightness down my right flank, round the upper hip region, also the ache in the acillies is getting worse so gonna see the physio wednesday to get it sorted as dont want it materialising into something major.

Im really enjoying the routine, and last night the workload was getting harder.
One thing i have got from it so far as improved condition and a fuller feeling, particularly in the legs.

No weight gain but thats fine with me, current weight 79-80kg.

[Kendrick]

Sounds like everything is going well pal! Just have to avoid any more vomit in the garden episodes! Bet Storm found that amusing!

[uk machine]

hi mate, just a quick q, you do realise its 5-8 sets of 5 reps?

[mattster]

Kendrick - yes mate, what was even more amusing and somewhat disgusting was me finding stormy eating it the next morning :icon_gre: before i had chance to was it away! (storm is my dog for those that dont know me - and not my mrs!!!)

Uk - thanks for that mate - i have been keeping the sets as a minimum of 5 but as this is the first time attempting deading more than once a week im keeping on the side of caution as my lower back historically has taken a while to recover. However, for some reason i thought the bench was slightly higher reps - but having just re read i have seen my mistake, so wont be going over 6 reps again on the bench!

As a side note, my NO explode by BSN arrived today - so will be using that for the next 4 weeks pre workout for an added boost - mainly for the nootropic effect as after a long day at the office i often need it!

[cuntos]

After I've had a hard day at the office I find a cup of coffee or a can of Redbull will do the trick, or even just listening to Smells Like Teen Spirit.

I trust the vomiting is not alcohol-related. I found that when I did the 3x3 when I was a student I had to stop drinking or else I couldn't manage it. That was the hardest bit!

[mattster]

Cuntos, I wish i could say the vomiting was from the training - but unfortunately not - it was a particularly heavy night washed down with a particularly dirty burger on the way home!!!:eek:

[The Ringer]

I vomit every time I train I am the greatest powerlifter to ever come out of my street nobody can stop me torn left fibia musculartis coughing blood from the balls doctor is full of shit

[mattster]

Thanks for that Ringer - I thought that might be the case!;)

[Ben "tricky" Burgess]

How are you finding the sessions then mate? How long do they take you? If I was to do the 3*3 Id have to stick a few sets of hypers and abs in at the end as pre-hab (I had a back injury a while ago that needs maintainence)...Do you think you'd be able to do that or are you too screwed?

[mattster]

Im finding the sessions ok mate, and even though not listed i have been doing some ab work too twice per week to balance the posterior chain work

I have been having a couple of niggles though and so went to the physio last night. Seemigly my pelvis was tilted, thus throwing my alighnment out when squating and deading and affecting me walking - the result the early stages of an inflamed achilles tendon and stiff right hand flank stemming from lower back.

So, he stuck some pins in my tight calf and lower back last night, pulled on my leg (litterally!) to re align the hips and some ultrasound on the achillies tendon.

Told not to do any heavy work for a few days and go back on monday for a check over.

Some what gutted as it kinda temporarlily puts a spanner in my 3*3 for a week or so, and all being well i intend to continue benching tonight but throw in some rows and shrugs, same again saturday, physio monday and then hopefully start back proper wednesday/thursday next week.

Will drop back from the 62% weights on the squat and dead to 60% and start over. The bench i shall continue this week at 62% and maybe go up to 66% when my squat and bench will be at 64% before starting the second phase.

[mattster]

well last night i deviated from the general plan of the 3*3 as wanted to see how i was progressing in the bench and went as follows:-

Flat bench, 70*5, 80*5, 90*5, 100*3, 105*1, 110*1, 112.5*1 115 (needed spot to complete)72*5, 72*5
Chins 5 sets of 6
Shrugs 70*10, 90*10, 100*8, 100*8
Abs and curls to finish.

The bench was a pb at 112.5 for a while with me getting back into things and quite pleasing showing the sub maximal high volume stuff seems to be working.

Used the BSN NO exlode for the first time, 3 scoops pre workout and id forgotten how good this product was, didnt want to rest much between sets (had to use a stop watch to stop myself!) and the pump was great, felt very full afterwards and looking forward to trying it squatting.

Been doing more stretching and feeling good, so may try squats tomorrow with my next bench session but leave deads til after the physio session on monday.