12 Week Strength Round 3

Hey to the 10s of people who might randomly click on this as they wander through the forums. I’m a huge fan of the barbell medicine guys, have run the 12 week strength 2 times, and just recently finished the 3 day hypertrophy program.

This time on the 12 week program, I am going to try very hard to be honest with the RPE and not overreach and try to turn the program into LP.

I’m 37 years old, 5’9’’, 177 pounds. I lift in my garage in the morning before work, and my 7 year old usually joins me about halfway through.

Estimated 1RM:
Squat: 300
Deadlift: 395
Bench: 250
Press: 155

Hypertrophy template seemed to help the bench numbers go up, but Deadlift has been stalled since the end of the first round of the 12 week strength program. I was doing intermittent fasting religiously for like 2.5 years, with an eating window between 8 and noon each day. IF may have hindered my gains, so I’ve started to eat a bit more.

Going to make some real gains this time through though. Wish me luck.

Week 2

Felt pretty good today, overshot on press for first working set, but otherwise did ok.

Day 1

Squat w/belt
230x5 @7
245x5 @8
255x5 @9

e1RM - 305

Press w/belt
145x1 @9.5
135x1 @8
110x5x5 @8

e1RM - 145

Pendlay Row
125x10 @7
135x10 @8
145x10 @9
140x10 @9

e1RM - 205

Week 2 Day 2 - Weight 178

Underslept a bit because of the Pats game last night, but still got it done this morning.

Deadlift w/belt
365x1 @8
290x5 @7
290x5 @7
290x5 @8
290x5 @8

Comp Bench
230x1 @9
180x5 @7
180x5 @7
180x5 @7
180x5 @7
180x5 @7

3-0-3 Tempo Squat
140x10 @7
150x10 @8
160x10 @9
155x10 @9

Week 2 Day 3

Woke up at 4:40am to make sure I got the session in before heading to the train station for a couple days in NYC for work. Got it done, but rest periods might have been a bit squeezed here.

Squat no Belt
215x4 @7
235x4 @8
255x4 @9
240x4 @8.5
240x4 @9

e1RM - 295 lbs

Slingshot
215x4 @7
230x4 @8
245x4 @9
235x4 @9
235x4 @8
235x4 @9

e1RM - 283 lbs

CG Incline
140x10 @7
140x10 @8
140x10 @9
135x10 @10

Overshot on this, or maybe it was the rest periods.

Week 3, Day 1 - Sunday

Weight - 176.5, height - still 5’9’’

My lifting week starts every Sunday, which means I am usually joined in the garage by at least 2 out of my 3 kids. Today, it was all 3 kids. We had the 1949 Disney film Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad on in the background and the kids were shooting baskets and swinging around on the rings. Good times.

Squat w/Belt
275x1 @8
225x5 @7
225x5 @8
225x5 @8
225x5 @8
225x5 @8

Comp Press w/belt
140x1 @8.5
112.5x5 @7
112.5x5 @7
112.5x5 @7
112.5x5 @8
112.5x5 @8

Pendlay Rows
135x10 @7
140x10 @8
145x10 @9
140x10 @9

Straight Bar Curls
50x12 @8
45x12 @8
45x12 @8

Dips
12 @6
12 @7
12 @7

Week 3, Day 2 - Monday

Weight - 178

Back to the grind. Got a bit of a late start, had to rush in to make the wife coffee mid-session, but overall good session. It was cold in the garage this morning, my son joined me about 15 minutes into the session and basically sat huddled by the space heater for the first 20 minutes he was in there.

Deadlift w/belt
345x1 @7
375x1 @8.5
295x5 @7
295x5 @7
295x5 @7
295x5 @7
295x5 @7

Hands were still torn up from last Thursday, so after the first set of 5, I went with hooks, which is probably why RPE was 7. Warmups were feeling really good (225x5, 275x3) while I was increasing the weights, so I felt like 375 try was a good idea, but it felt pretty heavy.

Comp Bench
225x1 @8
180x5 @8
180x5 @8
180x5 @8
180x5 @8
180x5 @8

3-0-3 Tempo Squat
145x10 @7
155x10 @8
165x10 @9
155x10 @9

Week 3, Day 3 - Wednesday AM

Been trying to eat more lately, and last night had my first all out binge in a while, just plowing through leftovers in the fridge and cleaning off kids plates after they’d finished. I weighed in at 179.6 pounds this morning. Having kept a steady waist line this entire year, but adding around 10 pounds of bodyweight, I guess its mostly lean mass coming on, but seeing those numbers tick higher is hard psychologically to get over as someone who has always been focused on losing body fat.

As far as the session, felt pretty good, and I definitely was looking to push a few extra sets because of the overfeed last night.

Squat no Belt
4x210 @7
4x235 @8
4x255 @9
4x240 @8
4x240 @8.5
4x240 @9

Slingshot Bench
4x215 @7
4x230 @8
4x245 @9
4x235 @8
4x235 @8
4x235 @9

CG Incline Bench
10x115 @7
10x125 @8
10x135 @9
10x130 @9

Curls
45x14 x 3 sets

Weighted Dips
15lbs x 12 x 3 sets

Week 3, Day 4 - Thursday AM

Time flies, already done with 3 weeks on this round. I put in the work this morning. Got to the garage at 5:40am, still struggled to finish everything in time to make the wife coffee and the kids breakfast starting around 7:15, but I am trying to stick with the program as written and do that 3-4 minute rest times vs. shorter times I’ve done on previous runs through the template.

Rack Pulls mid Shin
4x275 @7
4x310 @8
4x320 @9
4x305 @8
4x305 @8
4x305 @9

CG Bench
4x185 @7
4x205 @8
4x215 @9, felt heavy
4x200 @8
4x200 @8
4x200 @8.5, last set felt really good

RDL
10x205 @7
10x225 @8
10x245 @9
10x235 @9

Earlier this week, I knocked out the GPP day, steps up to 2x per week next week.

Hi DadLifts, those calluses look really painful, is it just the hex bar that causes them? My calluses used to look like this when i was holding the bar incorrectly, too deep in the palm of the hand. Since i changed my grip, they became much better. You might already know this, but if not it will certainly help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OK-S3ZJZxQ

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Patchy, thanks! It does happen only on Hex bar, but I do develop really thick calluses over time on conventional DL, so thanks for the tip, I will take a look.

Week 4, Day 1

Can’t believe I’m already on week 4. I’m getting old. Today’s garage session to start the week was a family affair. We had the Eagles game on (game was on early because it was in England), and my 11 year old read the last 14 pages of Harry Potter 4 to my 7 year old, while my 9 year old listened. We paused for each round of Pendlay rows, but otherwise, it was all good!

Squat, w/belt
1x280 @8
4x230 @7
4x230 @7
4x230 @8
4x230 @8
4x230 @8

Squats felt good after I got going today, I’m feeling confident I’ll hit 3 plates by the end of the year.

Press w/belt
1x140 @8.5
4x115 @7
4x115 @7
4x115 @8
4x115 @8
4x115 @8

The single felt heavy and the back offs felt light, which is typical for the OHP for me.

Pendlay Rows
10x135 @7
10x145 @8
10x155 @9
10x150 @9

Curls x 4 sets for 13-15 reps
Dips x 4 sets, last one for 12 reps with 25 lbs

Good work dude!

I’ll be keeping an eye on your log, we have similar size, age and strength levels and I’m also running the 12 Week template. This is my first time working through it, but so far I like it, just started week 2.

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Week 4, Day 2

Was maybe a bit under-slept today, but got after it anyway this morning. It might make sense to push my Day 2 workout to later in the day if possible, because the Sunday workout I did yesterday finished around 10:30am, and I started this morning at 6am, didn’t get a full 24 hours of recovery between sessions, which I think is a flaw with starting the week with a Sunday workout.

Deadlift w/Belt
345x1 @7
380x1 @9
310x4 @7
310x4 @8
310x4 @8
310x4 @8
310x4 @8

e1RM - 397lbs

Went for 380 today after the warm-ups felt pretty good, but the grip just wasn’t there, I need to go back and review hook grip mechanics or switch to mixed. That 400 lbs e1RM remains elusive.

Comp Bench - self lift off, like always
230x1 @8 - I went for a higher number today and in contrast to DL, it felt good at 8 RPE
190x4 @7
190x4 @7
190x4 @8
190x4 @8
190x4 @8

e1RM - 249lbs

3-0-3 tempo squat, no belt
145x10 @7
155x10 @8
165x10 @9
160x10 @9

Week 4, Day 3

Happy Halloween! Kids were up super early bouncing around the garage gym super excited about Halloween. We crushed Trick or Treating this evening and I way over ate, which is good, because I’m chronically under fed. So, maybe by tomorrow I’ll those sugar gains.

Squat, no belt
215x4 @7
240x4 @8
260x4 @9
245x4 @8
245x4 @8
245x4 @9

e1RM - 301

Slingshot
215x4 @7
235x4 @8
252.5x4 @9, this was actually an accident. On one side I had a 5 pound weight and had a 2.5 pound weight on the other side! I was trying to do 250, but it was early in the morning and I spaced.
235x4 @8
235x4 @8
235x4 @9

e1RM - 291

CG Incline
115x10 @7
125x10 @8
135x10 @8
135x10 @9

Curls
45x14
45x14
45x14
45x14

Probably need to go heavier on this next time, but its arms, so who cares.

Week 4, Day 4

Weighed in at just above 180 lbs, up 2 lbs from yesterday, not yet a trend, probable reflective of the extra carbs consumed for Halloween, this is up from around 174 in July, but waist hasn’t changed.

Rack Pull Mid Shin (with straps)
275x4 @7
315x4 @8
325x4 @9
310x4 @8
310x4 @8.5
310x4 @9

e1RM - 376, not an overload relative to my comp deadlift for me, should it be? I wonder…

CG Flat Bench
185x4 @7
210x4 @8
220x4 @9
205x4 @8
205x4 @8.5
205x4 @9

e1RM - 254 lbs, higher than my comp bench, which is interesting…

RDL
10x205 @7
10x235 @8
10x255 @9
10x235 @9

Curls
50x13
50x13
50x12
50x12

Weighted Dips
12 reps with 15 lbs attached
12 reps with 15 lbs attached
12 reps with 15 lbs attached
12 reps with 20 lbs attached

Week 5, Day 1

Weight 180.6 today, I had popped up to 182.5 for a single day, but better adherence the next day got me back closer to 180. Always hard to let myself put on weight after growing up a fat kid. Anyway, to the session this morning. I had the bright idea of staying up late because of the extra hour, but I ended up waking up earlier than I wanted to. Despite the lack of sleep, squats were moving well on the way up, so I went for 5 extra pounds than I was shooting for on the first single, and it felt like a legit 8RPE, not an overreach, which I was pretty happy about. That led to heavier work sets to that likewise felt good.

Squat w/Belt
285x1 @8
235x4 @8
235x4 @8
235x4 @8
235x4 @8
235x4 @8

Press w/Belt
140x1 @8, but it was a light 8
142.5x1 @8
115x4 @7
115x4 @7
117.5x4 @8
117.5x4 @8
117.5x4 @8

e1RM - 308 lbs

Micro-loading is only something I do on OHP. I’m not at a commercial gym, so the weights are consistent at least.

3-Ct. Pause Bench
135x10 @7
145x10 @8
155x10 @9
145x10 @9

Curls
50lbs x15, x13, x14, x12

Week 5, Day 2
Monday grind, 6 sets of DL and Bench made it an extra long session, hard to see how I could actually get it finished if I went with 4-5min of rest as mandated.

Deadlift w/Belt
345x1 @7 - This final warm up set felt heavy, was going to go with 380 for single, but decided after this to back it down to 365
365x1 @8
305x4 @7
305x4 @8
305x4 @8
305x4 @8
305x4 @8
305x4 @8

e1RM - 394 lbs :frowning:

Comp Bench
235x1 @8.5, bit of an overshoot here, but warmups felt good and 230 last week felt good
195x4 @8
195x4 @8
195x4 @8
195x4 @8
195x4 @8
195x4 @8

e1RM - 250 lbs :slight_smile:

Tempo Squat 5-3-0
135x10 @8
135x10 @8
145x10 @9
140x10 @9

Felt hard after a long time between last time I did 5-3-0 tempo, but by the second and third set, I got into the groove.

Week 5, Day 3

Tempo Squat 5-3-0
4x165 @7
4x185 @8
4x205 @9
4x195 @8
4x195 @8
4x195 @9

e1RM - 237 lbs. These were hard!

Floor Press
4x165 @7
4x185 @8
4x215 @9
4x205 @8
4x205 @8
4x205 @9

e1RM - 249 lbs

First time doing floor press. I was pretty surprised to see e1RM at around the same level as my comp bench. Clearly I need to work on leg drive, engaging my chest and using an arch in my comp bench to get those numbers up…

Incline CG Bench Press
10x115 @7
10x135 @8
10x145 @9
10x135 @9

Week 5, Day 4

Pause Deadlift, 1" off Floor
4x245 @6.5
4x275 @7
4x295 @8
4x315 @9
4x300 @8
4x300 @9

e1RM - 365

Touch n Go Bench
185x4 @7
205x4 @8
215x4 @9
205x4 @8
205x4 @8
205x4 @9

SLDL
205x10 @7
225x10 @8
250x10 @9
235x10 @9

Getting it done again this week. Going to play pickup hoops tomorrow at 5:30am, going to count that as the HIIT portion of GPP, hope I don’t get injured. Basketball much more likely to hurt myself than lifting heavy weights!

Week 6, Day 1

Transition Week. Good timing because I’m traveling a couple days this week and will lift at a commercial gym in Dallas this week. This morning’s session felt great, no pressure from the wife, kids were in and out of the garage and not fighting. I think everyone was cutting me some slack because tomorrow is the wife and my 14th wedding anniversary.

Squat w/Belt
285x1 @8
245x4 @8
245x4 @8

Press w/Belt
145x1 @8
122.5x4 @8
122.5x4 @8

3 Ct Pause Bench
145x8 @7
155x8 @8
165x8 @9

Curls
45x15
50x15
50x13
50x13

Dips
15
12x15 lbs
12x15 lbs
12