2.5 Years Dual Factor Journal

[2.5 Years]

Hi - nice to meet everyone - been on the boards for awhile but this is only my second post (1st was intro on sticky).

Body Stats
Age 32
HT 5' 10.5"
WT 227 lbs.
BF No idea - probably somewhere between 18 - 25%

Lifting History
Been lifting for about 2.5 years (free weights, minute amount of machines) and have made the progression from a bodybuilding routine (which I didn't even realize I was doing - thought everyone did 1 to 2 body parts a day) to a strength building routine - I have gained the experience and put the time in to give the Dual Theory a shot. I have been doing it for about 8 weeks (10/17 to present) and the results so far will be listed on my next post. At first I did not keep great stats as I was trying to get a feel for the program.

Lift Stats
Squat 405 (for 1)
Deadlift 405 (for 5)
Bench 285 (for 1)

Goals
In the next 6 months (all for 3 reps):
Squat 450
Deadlift 475 - 500
Bench 315

Thanks for reading.

 

[2.5 Years]

Stats on the DF 5x5 Volume Stage - I don't know if this will display correctly

I had some injuries while doing the volume stage - pulled bicep, high ankle sprain, and tendonitis - the injuries had nothing to do with the workouts and were from playing football and basketball excessively - I got most of the injuries in the 3rd week of the volume stage and decided to keep the volume stage going to make up for any lost time after healing - actually ended up with 8 total weeks of volume. I only have the last 6 listed below.

Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume
Mon Squats 295 / 275 / 300 / 300 / 315 / 325
Wed Squats 245 / 245 / 255 / 255 / 270 / 280
Fri Squats 295 / 315 / Injured / 325 / 335 / 345

Mon Bench 235 / 225 / 255 / 255 / 260 / 245
Fri Bench 175 / 235 / Injured / 240 / 225 / 225

Mon Row's 195 / 140 / 225 / 185 / 165 / 185
Fri Row's 195 / 185 / Injured / 205 / 150 / 155

Wed Deadlift 325 / 315 / 315 / 315 / 365 / 315

Wed Mil Press 110 / 135 / 115 / 135 / 145 / 145

Wed Pull-up BW / 25 lbs / BW / BW / BW / 25 lbs

You'll see some repeated numbers especially on the bench - this is from lingering effects from the injuries - my bicep and tendonitis we're causing major issues so I had to keep things light on certain exercises which sucked. also spent some time figuring out what JS Rows were and finally saw MC2 post on ideal rows (trying to be at 90 degrees instead of 45 - started about the 4th week) This also affected my deload and now intensity sessions too.

After starting and screwing this process up so many times I've already chalked this run-through as a test and get a better idea as to where things stand and hit it hard on the next go-round. I've already seen some strength improvements (especially in squats) so it's left me pretty excited about the 2nd time through.

 

[2.5 Years]

Deload stats are the same as the last week of the volume although I did take Monday off due to the injuries.

Mon Squats - off
Wed squats - 280
Fri Squats - 345

Mon Bench - off
Fri Bench - 225

Mon Row - off
Fri Row - 185

Wed Deadlift - 365

Wed Mil Press - 145

Wed Pull Ups - 25 lbs

 

[Numani]

welcome.

so if i understand correctly. you have just finished week one of the deload/intensity phase?

 

[2.5 Years]

Thanks numani,

Yes - last week was the deload and this week I'm supposed to start intensity although I don't think it's going to happen due a leg problem with basketball. I may start the intensity phase next week or because I'm getting so pissed I may start volume over in a couple of weeks so I can completely heal. I'm really not sure what to do in this case - take another week and hit the intensity or start over.

 

[2.5 Years]

MadCow or anyone else - what do you recommend in this situation:
1) completed volume stage
2) completed 2 of 3 days of deload (skipped Monday due to injury)
3) unable to begin 1st week of intensity stage

The choices are to pick up where I left off next week or start over with the volume phase next week - if anyone has any thoughts on this please let me know.

Thank you

 

[Guinness5.0]

Well it's a judgment call on your part- IMHO if you think a couple weeks of submaximal squatting/deading won't hurt, then you oughtta step back into volume and run it again. If you're hurtin' bad then you gotta heal up.

G/L either way - injuries sauck! That's why the only physically demanding thing I do is lift weights

 

[2.5 Years]

Thanks guiness - I'm still pretty pissed right now because I screwed this up playing ball and was really making some nice increases - starting next week I'll continue with the intensity and see if anything can be salvaged.

I was really hoping to make it through this 1st run and see some solid gains but I already chalked this run to a test drive so maybe in the next cycle.

So far what I have seen is that my endurance (especially for squats) has increased dramatically and while the lifts did not get close to my previous max (but this was the volume stage) I was definitely wiped out by the last week while squatting 345 so things went about as far as they could be taken.

The major disappointment to this point is the fact that my bench did not really improve as much as squats and deadlifts but I think that's more due to the fact of not hitting tri's especially hard - for the most part, the Accessories have not been something I trained extensively and this is what probably hurt increases the most - lesson learned.

 

[2.5 Years]

Worked out once last Monday - tried just doing chest and it's not worth describing.

Decided to move forward with the Intensity phase after essentially taking 1.5 weeks off after the Deload week. Turns out my hip flexor is not healed all the way which I found out on the first set of squats but was pissed and decided to push it through ("pushing it" is obviously not always the smart decision).

Mon 12/19
Squats 3x3: 315 / 325 / 335 - did it as a 1x3 to work into it slowly
Bench 1x3: 225 / 245 / 265
Rows 1x3: 205 / 215 / 225
Accessory: Weight dips - BW + 45 lbs

 

[2.5 Years]

Because it's the week before/of Christmas there are too many things on the plate and had to do tomorrow's workout today - at least it's a 2 day rest by Friday (still have to do accessories). I've screwed this cycle up enough that at this point I don't think it's too big a deal - just need to be careful and not get seriously injured. Went through this pretty quickly with very short rest periods between - the longest was probably 90 seconds.

Tue 12/20
Deadlifts 3x3: 405 (belt and straps)
Military 3x3: 155 x 2 / 165 x 1 (need try 175 next week)
Pull ups 3x3: BW 5 x 3 because of time issues - I should have added weight but I was pretty wiped out so it was somewhat difficult

 

[Madcow2]

Bummer about the injury. I'd caution you not to push it too hard. Keep active and do what you can do but for the most part, get healed up and then start again. Now if you are already healed and close to 100% (meaning right now, not in another week) just ramp slowly to make sure you are okay and continue with the 3x per week training and see if you can hit PRs in weeks 8/9 or somewhere about there give or take a week. But like I said, if you aren't likely to be good enough for another week, just heal and start over when you are ready. Bummer about the injury. I've had tons and most weren't WL related, it sucks to see a training cycle get screwed up

 

[2.5 Years]

Thanks MC

I'm at about 90% right now and am actually looking forward to hitting squats tomorrow although I haven't decided how heavy yet - it's funny, my hip flexor actually feels a little better since squatting the other day so keeping it active must be helping. The injury came from playing b-ball so by removing the quick turns/rotations that come from playing has also really helped.

 

[2.5 Years]

Feeling a bit better today - still some hips flexor soreness but not too bad

Tue 12/20
Squats 3x3: 335 (belt) - not too bad - got all reps
Bench 3x3: 260 - not too bad - got all reps
Rows 3x3: 225 - tough, barely got them
Accessory:
Tri's -
straight bar cable push
"A" bar cable push
weight dips bw + 45lbs

 

[2.5 Years]

Schedule is messed uop with Christmas vacation but here's what happened Tuesday:

Tue 12/27
Squats 3x3: 345 / 355 / 365 - did a 1x3 due to hip flexor - 365 was a struggle
Bench 3x3: 245 / 255 / 265 - not too bad - got all reps - did a 1x3
Rows 3x3: 235 - tough, barely got them
Accessory: none

Was supposed to go to day to do Wed's workout but ran out of time - hitting it tomorrow.

I cannot understand why my deadlifts are feeling easier and easier as 405 is basically no sweat at all, but my squats are not improving that dramatically - I feel like getting 425 on a deadlift would be tough but plausible but 405 on a squat would be nearly impossible and I've already done it last year. The last rep on the squat for 365 was the first time this whole cycle (including volume and deload) that I actually had a pause on the way up and barely got the weight to a standing position.

And to add to the confusion, my chest is barely moving. It feels like 265 was hard and if I tried 275x3 or 285x3 I would not get the weight up - I hope my chest will go up once my tri's get stronger but it's really frustrating - really wanted to hit 300 by the end of Jan.

 

[Madcow2]

Try to understand where your weak points are in the lifts. For the squat...an injury kind of makes it murky. Subconsciously you can be doing all sorts of things to not stress that area so that can weaken the lift - and mentally it's tough to push at 100% when you aren't healthy and there is nothing on the line just routine training.