Jazz's Journal

Light Day

3x3 squats (102.5 kg)

I tried box-squating on one set as well. The weight seemed too heavy though so I went back to ordinary squats. Definately worth trying again though.

3x3 Deadlifts (132.5 kg)

3x3 Military Press (62.5 kg)

3x3 Close Grip Chins (Bodyweight + 7 kg)

Heavy Day

3x3 squats (147.5 kg)

felt real heavy. Had a spotter but didn't manage to squat real low. A couple of the reps were not great.

3x3 bench (100 kg)

Just failed on the last set (last rep)

3x3 Row

Again tough making progress. really need to work on this lift.

Light Day

Front Squats 3x5 (70, 80, 80 kg)

Thought I'd throw in some fromt squats for a change

Deadlifts 3x3 (135 kg)

Military Press 3x3 (65 kg)

Close Grip Chins 3x3 (9 kg)

Really tough only managed two on the last set.

Westside For Skinny Bastards


Max Effort Lower Body

Front Squats 45x5, 55x5, 65x5, 75x3, 85x5

weight about right

Reverse Lunges 3x8 (60, 60, 65 kg)

Quite tricky weight a bit light (felt real tired though) Knees felt sore

Good Mornings 3x10 (70 kg)

Weight a bit heavy (really struggling on last set, form began to suffer)

Dumbell Holds 3x30 sec (40 kg)

Repetition Upper Body

Set of bench dips to warm up

Body Weight Dips 15, 10, 8

Dumbell Floor press 3x8 (25 kg)

only managed six on last set

Assisted Wide-Grip Pull-Ups (10x25kg, 8x30kg, 6x30kg, 8x35 kg)

Didn't quite get the weight right was aiming for 4x12

Dumbell Shoulder Press ( 8x17.5kg, 8x17.5kg, 6x17.5kg)

Seemed a real low weight.

Barbell Curls 3x10 (30kg)

Only managed 8 reps on the last set.

Ab circuit (Lower Ab Crunch machine, Hanging Knee Ups, Swiss Ball Crunches, Upper Ab machine) 12 reps each exercise.

Found changing to higher reps quite a shock. Very difficult to get the right weight for the exercises.

Max Effort Upper


Bench Press (Max 95 kg)

About right.

Incline Dumbell Press 3x8 (30 kg)

Weight about right but only just got last rep.

Barbell Row 4x12 (50 kg, 12, 12, 12, 9)

Last set I struggled with.

Rope Pulls to Throat 3x15 (40 kg)

Swiss Ball Sit-ups 3x12 (15 kg)

Don't really feel it in the abs much

Repetition Upper Body

Dips 15, 8, 6

Dumbell Floor Press 3x8 (25 kg) 8, 8, 9

Pull-Ups 4x12 (35 kg) 12, 12, 8, 8

Dumbell Shoulder Press 3x10 (17.5 kg) 10, 8, 6

Barbell Curls 3x10 (30 kg) 10, 8, 6

Felt a bit tired + still not quite got the weight right.

No lower body max effort this week.

Max Effort Lower

Front Squats (top weight 85 kg x 5 reps)

Rear Lunges 3x10 (70 kg)

Good Mornings 3x10 (65 kg)

Dumbell Holds x3 (40 kg)


The lunges really wiped me out. The weight seemed alright but I felt quite light headed afterwards

Max Effort Upper

Bench (max 100 kg x3)

Incline Dumbell Press 3x10 (30 kg) 10, 9, 8

Barbell Row 4x12 (50 kg) 12, 12, 10, 7

Face Pulls 3x15 (45kg) 15, 12, 12

Ab work (tried swiss ball Crunches but wasn't too happy with them)

Good stuff Jazz, keep it up

Cheers Rambo

Repetition Upper Body

Dips 15, 8, 7

Dumbell Floor Press 3x10 (25kg) 10, 10, 8

Wide Grip Chins 4x12 (35kg assist) 12, 8, 8, 8

Tried a different grip on the first two sets. The lower handles allowed for greater range of movement but I wasn't so strong.

Dumbell Press 3x10 (17.5 kg) 10, 10, 6

Barbell Curl 3x10 (30 kg) 10, 10, 8

Leg Raise 1x12
Side Bend 1x12 (12.5kg) each side
Ab Machine 1x12 (80kg)

Max Effort Lower

Power Cleans (max weight 75 kg x 3, then another couple after a rest)

Hard to get the technique right

Rear Lunges 3x10 (75 kg)

1 set of Good Mornings (70 kg x 10) and two sets of leg curls 2x10 (60 + 80 kg)

Someone wanted to use the bar so I cut down my worksets. But when I finished the guy didn't use the equipment...

Max Effort Upper

Dips ( working up to BW + 30kg for 5 reps)

Incline Dumbell Press 3x6 (32.5 kg)

Barbell Row 4x12 (50 kg) 12, 12, 10 ,8

Face-Pulls 3x15 (45 kg) 15, 15, 15, 15

Hanging Leg Raises 3x12 (BW)

Grip failing before abs

Repetition Upper


Bench (60 kg) 15, 10, 10

Dumbell Floor Press 3x6 (27.5 kg)

Wide Pull-Ups 4x12 (35 kg assist)

Dumbell Shoulder Press 3x10 (17.5 kg) 10, 10 ,7

Barbell Curls 3x10 (30 kg)

Ab circuit

Hanging Leg Raises 1x12

Russian Twists (med ball) 1x10

Ab Pulldowns (45 kg( 1x10

Max Effort Lower


Power Cleans (75 kg, still struggled on this so dropped back to 70 kg)

Rear Lunges 3x10 (80 kg)

Was exhausted after every set and took up to five minutes to get my heart rate back to normal.

Hamstring Curls 3x10 (90 kg) 10, 10, 7

Did these instead of Good Mornings (back sore from last week). No grip training this week either. Was really exhausted after this workout.

Max Effort Upper

Weighted Dips (BW + 32.5 kg) Managed four reps on last set. Felt a twinge in my shoulder.

Incline Dumbell Press 3x7 (32.5 kg) 7, 7, 6

Barbell Row 4x12 (50 kg) 12, 12, 10, 10

Face-Pulls 3x15 (5o kg) 15, 12, 12

Ab Pulldowns 3x10 (various weights 75 kg approx.) Difficult to 'feel' anything in the abs

Upper Body Repetition

Bench Press (60 kg) 20, 10, 10

Dumbell Floor Press 3x7 (27.5 kg) 7, 7, 6

Pull-Ups 4x12 (30 kg) 12, 8, 8, 6

Dumbell Press 3x10 (17.5 kg)

Barbell Curl 3x10 (35 kg) 11, 8, 6

Ab Circuit

Mate i really like your routine but im a little unsure of something. please explain to me why to reduce the weight on other days. For instance "light" and "medium" days? im not contesting it, im just not familiar as to how they can be beneficial if your not going all out. do you up the reps or something?


PS......(im refering to loading phase at begining)

Its basicially a full body routine. So you would find it hard to exercise with high intensity every workout. I can't imagine squating fifteen sets a week all heavy.

You're hitting the muscles affectively three times each week so more oportunity for muscle growth. The variation in intensity keeps the CNS from getting overtrained so you won't burn out so quickly

You don't up the reps at all. You stick to 5x5 for all exercises. I found the routine quite managable. However you do feel relieved when the loading phase has finished. I also seemed to gain more muscle in the deload/intensity phases.

There are many variations on this routine. The 'original' routine can be found at....

http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/m_867263/mpage_1/key_bill%252Cstar/tm.htm#869591

The following links are worth reading....

http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/manrodt4.htm

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=375215

http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/5x5_Program/Periodized_5x5.htm

There are many variations with this routine but I found this one worked quite well. My knees were really sore during the loading phase but the soreness faded after the deload.

What's your routine at the moment ?

Jazz