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[elmstreetvictim]

Bodyweight Bench Press!

Last time I had a proper rep max test was September 16, 2017. On that day I weighed 158 lbs and decided to see if I could bench press 150. That day, I got 3 reps, putting my estimated 1RM at 164.

I’ve been following 5/3/1 vanilla with BBB for the past few months, and today I was feeling pretty good after my 5s pro at 70/80/90. I decided to add 2 jokers, and went 145x1, then 150x1. I was still feeling pretty good so I decided to go for broke. Today, I weigh 158 lbs (after getting down to 154 at Christmas 2017 and coming back up). 

I successfully lifted 160x3 today! New estimated 1RM at 175!

I will not test again until my proper Training Max test on my 11th week.

[elmstreetvictim]

Via (www.artofronin.com)

[elmstreetvictim]

5/3/1 Forever Philosophy

The vanilla 5/3/1 philosophy is pretty easy to find out about online. The author of the books about 5/3/1 has a blog post on his own site outlining the program, and there are hundreds of templates and calculators out there for it.

The same is not true for the most recent book, 5/3/1 Forever. So, I set out to figure out what the deal is. I went on a mission and exercised my Google-Fu skills to divine the training philosophy behind 5/3/1 Forever.

Some of this stuff isn't too hard to find. The core is based around Jim's original goal: be conservative with the training max, and progress slowly. This goal is facilitated by the use of three different protocols within an overarching mesocycle.

Leaders

Generally, these are increased volume, at an overall lower intensity. The typical AMRAP sets have been changed to 5s Pro(gression), something that was floated in previous iterations of 5/3/1. All Leader main sets are 5 reps. The weekly percentage loadings remain the same. Along with the main sets is a direction to increase volume with something like BBB. Here's what an example leader looks like

Conditioning precedes each workout, including box jumps, medicine ball throws, along with various assistance work after the main sets

Week 1: 65/75/85 x 5 (no AMRAP), BBB 5x10 @ 50%

Week 2: 70/80/90 x 5 (no AMRAP), BBB 5x10 @ 50%

Week 3: 75/85/95 x 5 (no AMRAP), BBB 5x10 @ 50%

7th Week Protocol

The 7th Week Protocol comes in two flavors: the deload, and the Training Max Test. They are laid out similarly but serve two different purposes. First, the deload.

Low volume. Zero or half the usual assistance work. No added volume. It is designed to give your body a rest period somewhere in your mesocycle.

70% x 5

80% x 3

90% x 1

100% x 1

You work up to a single rep of your training max during this week

Next, the TM Test.

Again, zero or half the usual assistance work. Has more volume than the deload. This time, the goal is to confirm that the TM that is set is correct.

70% x 5

80% x 5

90% x 5

100% x 3-5

If you are using a TM that is supposedly 85% of your 1RM, try to get 5 solid reps at your chosen TM. If you are using a 90% TM, try to get 3 solid reps.

If the reps are achieved, honestly, without grinding, you are at the right TM. If the reps aren't achieved, re-evaluate and lower the TM by a couple cycles (10-20 lbs), and continue with the program.

Anchors

Anchors are typical, vanilla 5/3/1 programmed sets and rep schemes that we are all familiar with. No 5s Pro, and AMRAP sets are back. Generally, these are slightly lower volume than a Leader, but higher intensity.

Box jumps, medicine ball throws, conditioning precedes all workouts

Week 1: 65/75/85 x 5, Last Set AMRAP+, FSL/SSL 5x5

Week 2: 70/80/90 x 3, Last Set AMRAP+, FSL/SSL 5x5

Week 3: 75/85/95 5-3-1, Last Set AMRAP+, FSL/SSL 5x5

Various assistance concludes all workouts

Putting It All Together

The info above wasn't too hard to put together from random forum posts and other questions on message boards like Reddit and T-Nation. The practical info was harder to figure out. I had to do a bit of puzzle building to figure out the recipe for how all this works together. Admittedly, there is probably a lot that I am missing here, but overall, here's a big picture view...

Set a conservative training max, probably 85% of 1RM

Do a Leader cycle, (Weeks 1-3)

Increase the training max

Do a Leader cycle again (Weeks 4-6)

Do the 7th Week Protocol, usually a deload.

Increase the training max

Do an Anchor cycle (Weeks 8-10)

Increase the training max

Do a 7th Week Protocol, usually a training max test, to verify that you're configured right. At this point your mesocycle is finished.

Start a new mesocycle with the first Leader again etc.

Final Thoughts

In general it looks like the most simple 5/3/1 Forever layout is this "2/1" Leader/Anchor:

2x Leader (Week 1-6)

1x Deload/Test (Usually Deload) (Week 7)

1x Anchor (Week 8-10)

1x Test/Deload (Usually Test) (Week 11)

I've also seen some indications of other permutations like "3/2", or

3x Leader (Weeks 1-9)

1x Deload (Week 10)

2x Anchor (Weeks 11-13)

1x Deload/Test (Week 14)

By increasing the training maxes at the specific intervals, every 11 weeks a lifter who is progressing nicely will have increased his or her training max 3 times. This isn't really that much different than vanilla 5/3/1. The increases happen after each block of Leader/Anchor, there is a built in recovery period between the high volume and the high intensity, and there is a built in "max out" week to realize all the gains. I've already set myself up a pretty nifty little Google Sheet to help me try some of this out. I'm recalculating my training maxes based as 85% of my last known 1RM. At the beginning, it seems like I will be in easy-mode, autopilot. But, it's only going to take about 1 complete mesocycle to be back where I was last week and I am gulp at the thought of 5 reps at my old training max.

It's funny, because I think my last training max is higher than any 1RM I could do for things like my OHP and Bench. I probably couldn't get 1, much less 5, at 100%. So, I will see how it goes by slowly working up.

I hope they release a cheap ebook and maybe I'll educate myself :-)

[elmstreetvictim]

How I Rate Movies

In my opinion, movies only need 1 of 4 possible ratings

(💩) This is a waste of my, and probably, your time. Skip!

(⭐️) This is fine, don't hate it, is just OK. Most movies probably live here.

(⭐️⭐️️) I truly like this movie, and would recommend it

(⭐️⭐️⭐️) This is one of the best examples of the genre, highly recommended

I don't see the need to have 1/2 stars or somehow drag it out to 10 possible points. And honestly, isn't 2.5/5 the same as 5/10? If that's just the middle of the road, it's analogous to my single star rating. No need to overcomplicate things!

[elmstreetvictim]

Introducing SabnzbdPushbullet.py

SabnzbdPushbullet: Python Script for Pushbullet Notifications

The integrated Pushbullet support in Sabnzbd is currently lacking. The built in options leave a little to be desired. When using the default config, job completion notifications don’t display what triggered the notification on the iOS lockscreen. So, I cooked up this small Python program. It will notify your Pushbullet account when Sabnzbd events occur, along with the name of the item in the queue.

First, sign up for Pushbullet and obtain your API key.

Next, open SabnzbdPushbullet.py file in your text editor and change the API key inside the single quotes

appToken = 'YOUR_APP_TOKEN_HERE' - leave the single quote marks but replace YOUR_APP_TOKEN_HERE with the long string of characters that Pushbullet provides you.

Save the python file wherever Sabnzbd looks for scripts. You will be able to select the notification script by turning on the custom notification script option in the Sabnzbd settings.

Voila, now you will get notified the name of the job instead of a plain “Sabnzbd: Job complete".

Download here: SabnzbdPushbullet