Exodus Strength

Hi.. Joey here..

I'd say I've been "serious" about lifting since early 2016. I screwed around a bit before that running 5/3/1 for waaaay too long with very slow progress. In 2016, I jumped to Texas Method and then Garrett Blevins DUP Early Intermediate and had much better progress. I've also just ran the BBM 12 week strength cycle & played around with Brian Alsruhe's liner progression with giant sets.

My biggest problem is being patient & persistent with a program (see above /\.. ha). I have a hard time running a long-ish program (like 12 weeks), without getting bored and losing motivation, especially once that initial progress slows. I also enjoy Oly stuff, but can't seem to fit them into a program. Also, I've been struggling lately just getting in a consistent morning or evening routine with two young boys KILLING our sleep. They are awesome though. I normally do a 4 day program, but may have to try 3 day soon, if sleep doesn't improve soon..

My stats:
Male
Age: 35
Weight: ~152 lbs.
Height: 5'7"

Current gym PRs at 152 lbs. bw:
Squat: 315 lbs.
Bench Press: 245 lbs.
Deadlift: 320 lbs.
Press: 152.5 lbs.
-All these came in Q2 of 2017 while running Garrett Blevins Early Intermediate DUP program.
-We've had some major life challenges in past 2 years (house flooded in August 2016.. had to move out for 10 months, then in August 2017 had a baby boy!), but my lifts are approaching PR territory again, finally.

Here's my previous log on bodybuilding.com (Q1 2016- Q1 2018):
http://goo.gl/WQrVxl

I've never done a meet, but I'm open to it.. Main goals are to just be as strong as possible around 150-160 lbs bw.. and feel healthy/athletic so I can run around with my boys and play any sport they want. My wife also likes to run, so I like to be able to run with her and the kiddos..

Sorry for the long intro! Let's get to the lifting!!

Here's to a good year for you, the family and the lifting.

Thanks for adding your log, @thejosef

Wilhelm wrote: ↑Tue Mar 20, 2018 1:28 am Here's to a good year for you, the family and the lifting.

Thanks for adding your log, @thejosef

Thanks @Wilhelm!

I'll be trying out Garrett Blevin's new AI Powerlifting Program (DUP) (https://www.blestcoaching.com/). I've had nice results with his templates in the past, so thought I'd give his new "AI" program a try. You start by answering a questionnaire about your lifts and where you miss them, input a meet date, and it builds a program for you. You can choose 3 day, 4 day, or 5 day. I went with 4 day, for now. You also input your fatigue on the 3 main lifts on a scale of 1-10 (1 super fresh, 10 feel terrible) each day before lifting and it adjusts your workout (weight and/or # of sets) to help manage your fatigue levels.

Alright, let's do this.

Garrett Blevins AI Powerlifting Coaching
Bw: 152.3 lbs

Movement	Sets	Reps	%1RM	RPE	LOAD
Conventional DL	9	2	77.5%	~7.5	250
Wide Grip BP	5	5	65.0%	~6.0	160
Front Squat	4	8	-	@8.5	135

Notes
-That's a bunch of DL work sets.. More than I've ever done on DL before. Low back is a little mad this morning..
-First time doing "wider than normal" bench press. Felt pretty good. Nice variation.
-Haven't done Front Squats in maybe 9 months.. program said to work up to an set of 8 at RPE 8.5. These were a little rough on the fingers & wrists after not doing them in forever.

*All weights are in Lbs.

Garrett Blevins AI Powerlifting Coaching
Bw: 153.6 lbs

Movement	Sets	Reps	%1RM	RPE	LOAD
Facepull	3	30	-	-	yellow band
Comp Grip Bench	9	2	77.5%	~8.0	190
Low Bar Pause on the Halfway Down	4	4	62.5%	~7.0	195
Comp Grip Bench	3	8	60.0%	~8.0	145
DB Shoulder Press	3	10	-	@8	20s, 25s, 30s (~7.0)

Notes
-Man. TONS of sets on bench. Hope I can move my arms on Wednesday.
-Low back pretty fatigued from all the deadlift sets Monday, so the "AI" program automatically adjusted my squat set load and sets down a bit, so that's neat.
-Been sticking to ~2 minutes rests, at most, so have done both sessions in one hour flat, which is awesome. I want to start incorporating some core work between my working sets. Will try that next session.

*All weights are in Lbs.

Garrett Blevins AI Powerlifting Coaching
Bw: 153.2 lbs

Movement	Sets	Reps	%1RM	RPE	LOAD
Low Bar Squat	11	2	77.5%	-	245
Comp Grip Bench	5	5	65.0%	-	160
Stiff Leg Deadlift	4	8	-	@8	95, 115, 135 @ ~5.0
Close Grip Pulldown	3	10	-	@8	Black Band @ ~6.0
Planks	3	30 sec	-	-	-

Notes
-Blevins is a sick, sick man. 11 worksets on squats?!? Just so different than my normal programming.
-Ran out of time on SLDL.
-Pretty good day overall.. low back was little sore yesterday, but felt 100% this morning..

*All weights are in Lbs.

Ugh.. missed day 4 last week.. I'm seriously considering moving to a 3-day routine after running 4-day routines consistently for ~1.5 years straight now. The two kiddos are just refusing to let us sleep lately. I've been delaying this move for a while, but it might be time. I'm just feeling tired OFTEN in these past few months. I'm hoping that cutting out one lifting day per week will help a bit, and I can also spend more time with my awesome wife (I only lift when the kids are sleeping).

My ideal program has Squat 3x/week, BP (or some variation) 3-4x/week, DL 2x/week, and has one day with DL as 1st lift of the day. I can take or leave Press, but I hear it's good for shoulder health, so 1x/week is fine on that. I also like to hit a heavy-ish single on the main lifts occasionally, or often. Shorter cycles (3-8 week) are probably best for me too at this point. It looks like the BBM's Bridge 2.0 may hit all those "needs" so I think I'll be moving on to that. It's a 7 week program, so hopefully it'll keep my attention. Ha. Kinda bummed I can't adjust Garrett Blevins 4-day to 3-day and keep going with it, but once you submit your initial questionnaire form, it spits you out a program, so I can't really use it at this point.

3.26.18 - W1D1
BBM Bridge 2.0
Bw: 153.6

Squat w/ belt
45 x 5
115 x 5
155 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5 @ 6
240 x 5 @ 7 (vid)
255 x 5 @ 8
255 x 2 @ 6
Tired on last set and rested too long for last set (should've been 5 reps ~@8.0)


(video screwed up on 255 sets.. boo)

Bench Press w/ belt
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5 @ 6
180 x 5 @ 7
190 x 5 @ 8.5
185 x 5 @ 8
Did BP in between squat sets

Middle Pin Deadlift (conv)
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5 (vid)
215 x 5 @ 7
Rack Pulls.. took it easy as I hurt my lower back last time doing these (~2 months ago). Just a confidence thing.. but these felt great/easy today


just video'd to check form..

Pull Up
BW 8
BW 8

*all weights in Lbs

3.28.18 - Bridge 2.0 - W1D2
Bw: 153.2 lbs.

2ct Pause Squat
45 x 5
115 x 5
155 x 5
205 x 5 @ 7
225 x 5 @ 8
240 x 5 @ 8.5 (vid)
Slight low back tenderness.. otherwise, felt solid.



Touch & Go Close Grip Bench Press
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5 @ 6
180 x 5 @ 8
180 x 5 @ 9
Sub'd out Press for CGBP so I can work BP 3x per week. I'm not super interested in developing my press at this time... maybe I'll rotate Press & CGBP each week.. not sure yet.

Pendlay Row
95 x 10 @ 5
115 x 10 @ 6
135 x 10 @ 8.5
My upper back needs work. These felt nice. Hope to move up weight every week.

Ab Wheel
15
15

3.21.2018 - Bridge 2.0 - W1D3
Bw: 152.2

Deadlift (conv) with Belt
115 x 5
155 x 5
205 x 5 @ 5
245 x 5 @ 7
255 x 5 @ 8
255 x 5 @ 8
New form with lats engaged is taking some work to get back to crappy form numbers.. lol.

Floor Press with Feet Up
45 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5 @ 6
175 x 5 @ 6.5
190 x 5 @ 7
205 x 3 @ 9
Eaaaasy peezy.. then 205 didn't wanna move.. I rested only like 60 seconds as I was getting over confident. Ha.

Squat
135 x 10
165 x 10 @ 5
185 x 2
Just too tired from working in the yard two days straight. Blah. Yard looks legit though. Excited to move on to some singles @ 8.0 next week.. the real week 1.

Bridge 2.0 - W2D1
BW: 153.1

Squat with Belt
45 x 5
135 x 5
195 x 3
245 x 2 @ 5
285 x 1 @ 7.5
240 x 5 @ 6.5
250 x 5 @ 8
250 x 5 @ 8
Worked on keeping tightness throughout squat (not letting breath out). Felt great.

Bench Press with Belt
45 x 10
115 x 5
155 x 3
190 x 2 @ 7
205 x 1 @ 8
170 x 5 @ 5
180 x 5 @ 6
190 x 5 @ 7
Last 3 sets were TnG.. and were flying up. Supposed to all be @ 8.0 but I undershot these badly. Weird.

Middle Pin Deadlift (conv)
n/a
Skipped due to time.. will try to get in on another session..

The Bridge - W2D2
Bw: 152.8

2ct Pause Squat
45 x 8
135 x 5
185 x 5 @ 7
205 x 5 @ 8
225 x 5 @ 9
225 x 5 @ 9
Nothing too exciting here. No belt, no knee sleeves.. working on good core bracing.

Close Grip Bench Press
45 x 8
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 2 @ 6
210 x 1 @ 8 [0.3 m/s] *video
175 x 5 @ 6.5 [0.46 m/s]
185 x 5 @ 8.5 [0.35 m/s]
180 x 5 @ 8 [0.37 m/s]
Almost as strong on close grip as competition grip...


*this looked a bit quicker/easier than @8.0, but felt like 8.0

Pendlay Row
95 x 10
115 x 10 @ 5
135 x 10 @ 8
10 rep sets suck (and it's late). I'm out.

Bridge 2.0 - W2D3
Bw: 151.8

Deadlift (conv)
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3 @ 5
275 x 1 @ 7
295 x 0 @ grip fail (double overhand)
295 x 1 @ 8 (mixed grip) *video
240 x 5 @ 6.5
250 x 5 @ 7.5
250 x 5 @ 7.5
Starting to see some deadlift progress..



Floor Press with Feet Up
95 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 5 @ 7.5
190 x 5 @ 7.5
205 x 5 @ 9
Easy stuff..

Squat
135 x 10
185 x 5 @ 4
Ugh. Was supposed to be a few sets of 10. Work capacity just sucks right now. Gotta push through these next week.

BBM Strength - W1D1
Bw: 151.1

Squat
45 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
260 x 1 @ 6
295 x 1 @ 7.5 *video
240 x 5 @ 5
240 x 5 @ 7
240 x 5 @ 6
240 x 5 @ 6.5
240 x 5 @ 6
Felt solid. Some R Elbow pain (1/10)..



Bench Press
95 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 3
195 x 1 @ 6.5
215 x 1 @ 8 *video
172 x 5 @ 6
172 x 5 @ 7
172 x 5 @ 5
172 x 5 @ 7
172 x 5 @ 7
5x5 rest times were pretty varied, which is why the RPEs jumped around a bit..



Pendlay Row
105 x 10
135 x 10 @ 7
145 x 10 @ 8
I love/hate Pendlays.. getting stronger..

Ab Wheel
12
12
12
Little tightness in abs on 3rd set.. might've done that 1st & 2nd set too quick..

Notes:
Transitioned over to BBM's Strength template to prep for the Exodus online meet. It's normally 12 weeks, but I'll have to cut a couple weeks out to make it work. It's normally a 4 day program, but I noticed it also has a recommended way to make it 3 days, if needed. I'll run it 3 days, and do a "bonus" 4th day when possible.

Without laying out the program verbatim, what's the main difference(s) between the strength template and The Bridge?

AaronM wrote: ↑Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:53 pm Without laying out the program verbatim, what's the main difference(s) between the strength template and The Bridge?

Good question @AaronM.. it's not drastically different, but here's a few things:

Strength Template:
-4 day (has a sub to do 3 days) / 12 week program / 3 main lifts per day
-work up to single @ 8.0 then back off using % of that single (ie. -20%.. -17%..). I like this setup a lot as I don't have to focus on RPE too much on the volume sets.
-better for meet prep.. slowly increasing intensity each week (with one low stress week in middle) and lot of practice with singles. Last four weeks start moving to mostly triples and singles
-more exercise variations than the Bridge (overload bench press, deficit deadlifts, pin bench, etc.)

Bridge 2.0:
-3 day / 7 week program / 3 main lifts per day
-work up to single @ 8.0, then sets of 5 or 4 reps @ 8.0
-program stays pretty steady throughout (not really set up to peak or prepare for a meet)

Oh man, I love the use of pegboard for holding weights! Is that a metal pegboard? Are you using normal pegboard inserts?

augeleven wrote: ↑Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:52 am Oh man, I love the use of pegboard for holding weights! Is that a metal pegboard? Are you using normal pegboard inserts?

Thanks @augeleven!

Yeah that's a metal pegboard. We had an extra one from work, so I'm not sure of the brand.. we use them to hold HEAVY chain and hooks for pulling frames on cars/trucks. I'm using metal hooks that came with the board. I would imagine Amazon would have something very similar. The metal boards are much, much stronger than the standard pegboard material, so they should be great for weight stuff, as long as you hit a couple studs when mounting them.

I have a small, 126 sq ft (7'x18') home gym so space is at a premium.. the more stuff I can get off the floors, the better.

thejosef wrote: ↑Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:58 am

AaronM wrote: ↑Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:53 pm Without laying out the program verbatim, what's the main difference(s) between the strength template and The Bridge?

Good question @AaronM.. it's not drastically different, but here's a few things:

Strength Template:
-4 day (has a sub to do 3 days) / 12 week program / 3 main lifts per day
-work up to single @ 8.0 then back off using % of that single (ie. -20%.. -17%..). I like this setup a lot as I don't have to focus on RPE too much on the volume sets.
-better for meet prep.. slowly increasing intensity each week (with one low stress week in middle) and lot of practice with singles. Last four weeks start moving to mostly triples and singles
-more exercise variations than the Bridge (overload bench press, deficit deadlifts, pin bench, etc.)

Bridge 2.0:
-3 day / 7 week program / 3 main lifts per day
-work up to single @ 8.0, then sets of 5 or 4 reps @ 8.0
-program stays pretty steady throughout (not really set up to peak or prepare for a meet)

More exercise variation, really? I thought The Bridge switched most lifts around every 4 weeks? Seems like a strength focused program would have less variety, interesting.