531, Month 6, Week 1a

Bodyweight: 218

Hex Bar Deads
Plug in Weight: 480
135/10, 225/5
310/5, 365/5, 410/5

Hammer Strength Incline
90/15, 180/10, 230/7, 250/4, 270/2

Incline DB Press
80's/5, 80's/5, 80's/7

I am dropping the 531 format for chest. It probably didn't make a ton of sense to use that format with dumbbells to begin with, and I figure it makes even less sense to use it with the Hammer Strength machine. So, I will just do both exercises based on feel after the hex bar deads.

Like everyone else, I ate like a fool over Christmas, so I've spent the last 2 days on a huge calorie deficit. (about 1300 per day yesterday and today). That probably got my weight back down to 218. I am sure it was in the mid 220's when I hit the pillow on Monday night. As a result of the calorie deficit, I felt a little weaker tonight, but I can't really complain about the weights I put up.

This is also going to be my last 531 cycle for the foreseeable future. I am moving from Connecticut to Florida in February, so I am going to have to figure out my new gym/bootcamp routine. After this cycle of 531, this workout log will go dormant until I am up and running again in March. During that time, I will workout as best I can so as to not lose everything. I just won't keep track of it in this log.

Hex Bar Deads & Incline Hammer Strength

Bodyweight: 219

Hex Bar Deads
150/10, 240/5, 330/5, 380/3, 420/1, 440/1, 451/4 (531 & all time 4RM)
    That's a 16 pound increase over my previous 4RM of 435. To say I am pumped about this is an understatement. This was done at the gym that has the bigger hex bar, so there were no worries about the weight fitting properly. It's amazing what good equipment can do!

Incline Hammer Strength
90/10, 180/10, 230/7, 250/4, 270/1

531, Month 5, Week 3b

Bodyweight: 217 (somehow lost 3 pounds in 2.5 days)

Overhead Press
Plug in Weight: 180
45/12, 65/10, 95/5
135/5, 155/3, 171/2 (531 PR)
    * Pretty excited about the 2RM. I was wondering if I'd even get that weight for 1.

Jeffersons
Plug in Weight: 405
138/10, 228/5
308/5, 343/3, 388/0
    * Really bummed about missing 388. REALLY BUMMED. 343/3 flew up, so instead of even thinking about missing 388, I wondered if I could get 3 reps. I filmed my attempt, would post it, but I can't seem to figure out how to do that with this phone. In looking at the video, I had zero leg drive and just died about halfway up. I will use the same weight in the next cycle and try again in a month.  

531, Month 5, Week 3a

Bodyweight: 220

DB Incline Press
Plug in Weight: 220
60's/10, 70's/5
80's/5, 95's/3, 105's/0
  * No dice. Got about half way up. Next month, I am going to do Hammer Strength Inclines under the 531 format and supplement with DBs. I realize that this isn't ideal, but I've already bastardized the 531 program enough, so what's one more thing? Plus, the Hammer Strength allows me to make 5 pound jumps in weight instead of 10 pounds with DBs. One other thing I should mention is that I am moving to Florida in a couple of months, so I am going to have to find a new gym, which will have different equipment. That said, I will probably run two more cycles of the current 531 program, then do some sort of maintain/workout when I can situation for most of February, and then find a new gym and bootcamp for March. 

Hex Bar Deads
Plug in Weight: 470
135/10, 225/5, 315/3
355/5, 405/3, 445/2
  * Unfortunately, the hex bar in this gym is small, so in order to do 445, I had to place 10 pound weights on top of the 45's. They fell off after both the first and second reps, so I had to replace them. I felt like I had at least one, if not two more reps in me, if it wasn't for fooling around with those 10's. There is another gym about 25 minutes away that has a bigger hex bar. I might go there next week and try for a higher max. That is TBD, depending on how I feel. 

Hammer Strength Incline
230/8, 250/4, 250/5

T-Bar Row Machine
135/6, 135/6, 155/5

531, Month 5, Week 2b

Overhead Press
Plug in Weight: 180
45/12, 45/12
125/3, 145/3, 160/3

Jeffersons
Plug in Weight: 405
135/10, 225/3
285/3, 325/3, 365/5 

531, Month 5, Week 2a

DB Incline Press
Plug in Weight: 220
50's/12, 60's/5, 70's/3
80's/3, 90's/3, 100's/2 (reached a point where I couldn't do the minimum 3; not sure what my approach is going to be going forward. I am scheduled to try 105's/1 next week. This is where I would love to be able to add only 5 pounds total instead of 10, which is the negative when it comes to dumbbells.)

Hex Bar Deads
Plug in Weight: 470
135/10, 225/3, 275/3
330/3, 375/3, 425/4

Hammer Strength Incline
180/8
230/7, 250/4, 250/4

Neutral Grip Pull Ups
BW/11, BW+25/5

531, Month 5, Week 1b

Overhead Press
Plug in Weight: 180
47/13, 47/13
118/5, 138/5, 153/5 (ties 531 PR) 

Jeffersons
Plug in Weight: 405
138/10, 228/3
268/5, 308/5, 348/7

Neutral Grip Pull Ups
11