Blut Wump - Korte 3x3

[blut wump]

Week 4 Day 2

A good workout. I bumped the Squat and Deadlift by another 2.5Kg. After Monday's fiasco on Bench I considered lowering the weight but I thought maybe the Monday session would have acted as a minor deload so kept the same weight. One of the Narrow grip reps was a struggle to lock out but otherwise great.

The workouts are now very gruelling. I just think of them one set at a time and try not to look ahead to what's still to be done. There's no getting fired up over anything: I just do the sets until they're done. I think I might be gettng psychologically dependent on my PWO drink during deads. Those sips really make a difference.

Not much else to say. I'm in uncharted territory with the ATF squats and they feel solid. I noticed that during bench I was again bringing the bar quite high. I guess the only question for my last workout in the Volume phase is whether I bump everything again or just Squats and Deadlift.

All weights in Kilos
Bench: N - Narrow, S - Shoulder width, W - Wide

ATF Squat: 20x10, 30x10, 50x8, 60x5, 80x3, 100x2, 112.5 x 5 for 7 sets
Bench: 20x10NS, 40x8W, 60x5N, 80x3S, 90x1W, 97.5 x 6 for 7 sets WSNWNSW
Deadlift: 60x8, 80x5, 100x3, 120x2, 130x1, 137.5 x 5 for 7 sets

Edit:
I forgot to mention that I finished off with the usual and mandatory hamstring stretches and also 5 sets of the abs 5x5.

 

[blut wump]

Week 4 Day 3

Well, I feel that I've survived the Korte. I had a monster sleep last night but I was a little anxious before the workout today and, as usual, the workout was done against an ocean of fatigue which you just learn to ignore. It went well. I bumped all three exercises by another 2.5Kg.

The Squats felt heavy. It's hard to be sure how much is just fatigue but they all went up and down well enough. I recall grunting a couple of times but never felt that any rep was likely to fail. It was a joy to finish the last set.

Bench up again. It makes the Monday workout even more of an oddity and I actually felt more in control of today's weight than Wednesday's. I received my copy of 'Starting Strength' this week and I made an effort today to try to rotate my chest up. Maybe it helped. After I reached six sets I had to choose whether to do one last one at Wide but I reckoned that I had one more in me at Shoulder Width so ended up doing 8 sets at 100Kg. When I started the Bench today I had that feeling that I could have taken a PR for weight if I'd wanted to. I've no idea how successful I'd have been but it felt very solid. The last three sets took grunts to finish.

Deads went fine. I was trying to concentrate on extending my knees before anything else. My lower back was bleating again. I had considered going for 8 sets but after the 7th I'd had enough. The Volume phase was over.

I'll offer reflections on the Volume phase and thoughts on the Intensity phase over the weekend when I'm feeling more alert. One thing I did notice between Squat sets today is that I'm scheduled to add 5Kg for a couple of singles next week. Hmm.


All weights in Kilos
Bench: N - Narrow, S - Shoulder width, W - Wide

ATF Squat: 20x10, 30x10, 50x8, 60x5, 80x3, 100x2, 110x1, 115 x 5 for 7 sets
Bench: 20x10SN, 40x8W, 60x5N, 80x3S, 90x1W, 100 x 6 for 8 sets SNWSWNSW - last three took a grunt to close but solid
Deadlift: 60x8, 80x5, 100x3, 120x2, 130x1, 140 x 5 for 7 sets

 

[view]

it might have been posted here, but do you mind throwing up a sample day of what your diet looks like blut wump?

Kudos to you for keeping such a detailed journal. I am very interested in hearing realworld experience of a program as demanding as Korte's 3x3.

Do you feel this program neglects cosmetics a bit much? or are you even concerend abotu that?

 

[blut wump]

it might have been posted here, but do you mind throwing up a sample day of what your diet looks like blut wump?

Kudos to you for keeping such a detailed journal. I am very interested in hearing realworld experience of a program as demanding as Korte's 3x3.

Do you feel this program neglects cosmetics a bit much? or are you even concerend abotu that?

Diet doesn't get a lot of attention but most days are pretty much the same:
Milk and oats within an hour or so of waking with all my morning supps
Noodles and chicken breast a couple of hours later. Sometimes tuna instead. Sweet potato instead of noodles if I've recently been to the supermarket.
A milk and protein shake about an hour before the gym - this often gets missed
Noodles and chicken again when I get home from the gym or just a sandwich of some sort on off days. Pate and salami, peanut butter and jelly, cheese and ham, whatever, really. Often three or four eggs with a couple of slices of toast, instead.
A solid evening meal with plenty of protein (chicken/bacon/eggs) and lots of veggies. I've been trying lately to cut out evening carbs but sometimes I cook a decent pasta since my SO loves my tomato sauces. If I feel I've earned it from the gym I might treat myself with the super-everything kebab from the kebab shop but that's rare.
3 hours or so gap before bed so that I can take my bedtime supps
30 minutes later... Cheese with a milk and protein drink
Sleep.

If anyone cares to take a stab at guessing what my caloric intake is likely to be from that, I'd be glad to hear it. I weigh around 265, low 20s BF, probably. Maybe sub 20% but unlikely.

I've not felt any lack of cosmetics from doing the program. I was concerned about my lats but I had doms in them over the first couple of weeks. Go figure. I reckoned it must have been from the benching. I think my anterior delts might be showing a bit more benefit than the other heads. Triceps, obviously are doing fine. I could care less about biceps but I think they've grown too. Before I started the Korte, though, I spent a month touching up the cosmetics like traps and biceps so I could just be getting carry-through from that work.

At the end of the day, if I feel that I look big and strong I don't care too much that I might end up looking like a Neanderthal. I'm only half-way through the program so far, though. There's another month of neglect still to come as I do the Intensity phase.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Congrats on finishing the tough part (that was the tough part, right?).

Nice reference for me, not just the weight progression but mental/physical state as well. Awesome work.

So - how do you feel about hitting your new projected maxes now in 4 weeks? Pretty doable? I haven't gone over the #'s but it seems like you got stronger during the prep phase?

 

[blut wump]

Thanks for the congrats. Just like with the 5x5 I feel that I've done the hard part on completing the Volume phase and can now sit back while the royalties pour in for a couple of weeks.

I've little doubt that I would be able to finish the Intensity phase on the original projections. That, however, is one of the aspects on which I need to reflect. How far do I try to take the next phase? The basic Korte increments are done and dusted I reckon and I need to decide what numbers I'll be aiming for. My first thoughts are 200Kg deadlift and 160Kg squat. I'm hesitant to plot out the bench since I seem to have a mental blockage at 3 plates. I need a target, though, and it might as well be to press 3 plates in week 8 rather than have it as my new max.

Similarly with the dead and squat. I think I'll plan to be deading 200Kg (450) in week 8 and ATF squatting 160Kg (360).

I tried to note my mental and fatigue states as I went along since they're, in a way, more useful to look back on if I do the run again. Super Rice stepping in and telling me to work harder was a huge kick in the pants. A lot seemed to kick in over the last couple of weeks. I even found myself toying with the idea of a fifth week of Volume earlier this evening. I've decided to put that down to fatigue-induced delerium.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm rambling and it's way past my bedtime so I'll get back to this after some sleep.

 

[blut wump]

Volume Phase Summary

All weights in Kilos
Bench: N - Narrow, S - Shoulder width, W - Wide

Week 1
Day 1
ATF Squat: 60x10, 80x4, 87.5 x 5 for six sets - nothing much to report
Bench: 60x5W, 60x5N, 82.5 x 6 x 6 SWSNSW - last two sets were starting to feel tiring and I was looking forward to deadlifts
Dead: 60x10, 80x5, 100x3, 112.5 x 5 for 7 sets - no strain but tiring

Day 2
ATF Squats: Barx10, 40x8, 60x5, 87.5 x 5 x 5 - knee hurt on set 4
Bench: Barx10S, 40x8N, 60x5W, 82.5 x 6 for 8 sets NSNWNSNW - locking out on last rep of last two Narrow sets and final Wide set was neither hard nor trivial
Deadlift: 60x10, 80x5, 100x3, 112.5 x 5 for six sets - nothing much to report. Didn't feel as much of a chore today but I recall thinking a couple of times that I'd just done a rep with less than good form.

Day 3
ATF Squat: 20x10, 40x8, 60x5, 87.5 x 5 for 8 sets - two penguin sets + 6 very classical stance, lower back ache + bad right knee
Bench: 40x10N, 60x6S, 82.5 x 6 for 8 sets WSNSWSWN - triceps would have let me down had I continued with more sets
Deadlift: 60x10, 80x6, 100x3, 112.5 x 5 for 8 sets - nothing to report except a lack of lower back ache

Week 2
Day 1
ATF Squat: 20x10, 40x8, 60x5, 80x3, 95 x 5 x 5 - knees better but not good
Bench: 20x10S, 40x8N, 60x5W, 80x2S, 87.5 x 6 x 6 NSNWNS - triceps starting to fade again
Deadlift: 60x10, 80x5, 100x3, 120 x 5 for 7 sets - lower back aching a lot again

Day 2
ATF Squat: 20x10, 40x8, 60x5, 80x3, 95 x 5 for 6 sets
Bench: 20x10N, 40x8S, 60x5W, 80x2S, 87.5 x 6 for 7 sets WSNSNSW
Dealift: 60x10, 80x8, 100x5, 120 x 5 for 6 sets

Day 3
ATF Squat: 20x15, 40x8, 60x5, 80x3, 95 x 5 for 7 sets
Bench: 20x10NS, 40x8NW, 60x5SW, 80x2SN, 87.5 x 6 for 7 sets WNSNSNW
Deadlift: 60x10, 80x8, 100x5, 120 x 5 for 7 sets

Week 3
Day 1
ATF Squat: 20x10 for 2 sets, 40x8, 60x5, 80x3, 100 x 5 for 6 sets
Bench: 20x10NW, 40x8SN, 60x5SW, 80x2NS, 92.5 x 6 for 6 sets WSNSWN - last rep of last set was a struggle to lock out
Deadlift: 60x10, 80x8, 100x5, 120x2, 125 x 5 for 7 sets

Day 2
ATF Squat: 30x10 for 2 sets, 50x8, 60x5, 80x3, 100x2, 102.5 x 5 for 7 sets
Bench: 20x10SW, 40x8NW, 60x5S, 80x3N, 92.5 x 6 for 7 sets WNSNWSW
Deadlift: 60x8, 80x5, 100x3, 120x2, 127.5 x 5 for 7 sets - short-shifted the warmups

Day 3
ATF Squat: 20x10, 30x10, 50x8, 60x5, 80x3, 100x2, 105 x 5 for 4 sets, 107.5 x 5 for 3 sets
Bench: 20x10NW, 40x8SW, 60x5W, 80x3S, 90x2N, 95 x 6 for 7 sets WNSNWSW
Deadlift: 60x8, 80x5, 100x3, 120x2, 130 x 5 for 7 sets

Week 4
Day 1
ATF Squat: 20x10, 30x10, 50x8, 60x5, 80x3, 100x2, 110 x 5 for 7 sets - failed on fourth set
Bench: 20x10NW, 40x8SW, 60x5W, 80x3S, 90x2N, 97.5x6W, x5N, x6S, x5W, 95x3N, 90x3SW
Deadlift: 60x8, 80x5, 100x3, 120x2, 130x1, 135 x 5 for 7 sets
Bench Part2: 80x6W, 95x6S, x4N - might have gotten more but I had a wobble and my enthusiasm and focus ran out.

Day 2
ATF Squat: 20x10, 30x10, 50x8, 60x5, 80x3, 100x2, 112.5 x 5 for 7 sets
Bench: 20x10NS, 40x8W, 60x5N, 80x3S, 90x1W, 97.5 x 6 for 7 sets WSNWNSW
Deadlift: 60x8, 80x5, 100x3, 120x2, 130x1, 137.5 x 5 for 7 sets

Day 3
ATF Squat: 20x10, 30x10, 50x8, 60x5, 80x3, 100x2, 110x1, 115 x 5 for 7 sets
Bench: 20x10SN, 40x8W, 60x5N, 80x3S, 90x1W, 100 x 6 for 8 sets SNWSWNSW - last three took a grunt to close but solid
Deadlift: 60x8, 80x5, 100x3, 120x2, 130x1, 140 x 5 for 7 sets

It'll be easier to do a printout with all the lifts in one place and easier to look over them in the future.

Firstly, it's a relief to think that the Volume phase is over and that in itself is a telling sign of loading. The workouts began in week 1 at a fairly brisk pace taking around 45 minutes and ended up much more sedate and taking 90 minutes or more.

I was spending a lot more time on warmups in the last couple of weeks, though, and these were time-consuming. The knee trouble from the first week never went away and I think that the warmups helped with that along with being very careful about foot-stance. I'm sure that the extra warmups were needed on bench, too, since it was taking me two or three worksets to get going in the earlier weeks. I ended up reducing warmups for deadlift, at least in number of reps. I was typically shattered by the time deads came around in the last couple of weeks and those few reps saved were more for peace of mind than saving the muscles.

The Squats have exceeded all expectations. I only began doing ATF squats a few months ago and many muscles probably needed time to catch up along with my needing to improve technique. During the last run of the madcow 5x5 in week7 I was doing 110Kg for 3x3 with a belt needed. I finished this Volume phase with 115x7x5 without a belt. Simply no comparison and I have no idea where my squat max is likely to be going over the next four weeks. I've gone almost 20Kg over the projected 64%. If I were to take my 115 as being 64% then that would indicate 180Kg (405). I know I can do that in belt and wraps to parallel. I need to be flexible with this as the Intensity phase gets under way. Careful not to short-change myself and careful not to overdo the weight through over-enthusiasm.

Bench was a bit of a mixed bag. I had felt that I'd been losing bench strength over the three or four weeks between ending the last 5x5 and starting this. I'd been cutting bodyweight and my bench had been slipping down. The starting weights didn't feel particularly heavy but it was hard work getting the sets in. As with the other exercises, I acclimatized to the volume and ended up going over the projected 64%, by 10Kg. I can't accept that I'd have any hope of pressing 156Kg so the idea of extrapolating the 64% back out to a new max isn't valid so I should ignore the 180Kg idea on the squat too. The last week on Bench was odd with Day1 imploding on itself and then bumping the weight two sessions later for 8 sets. My last 5x5 volume phase had ended on 112.5Kg for 5x5 but all with my best grip. Overall, Bench was fairly unremarkable with some slow, steady progression.

Deadlift is hard to think about mostly because I could hardly think when I came to do them. During the first week, they kind of felt like a chore. I started to enjoy them more during the second week and then just did them over the last couple of weeks. Lower back ache coming and going. Without a shadow of doubt my back is stronger than it was a month ago. We have a big water-overflow butt I need to tip out from time to time and that has become a much easier task. I've gone almost 20Kg over the projected 64% the same as with Squats. I was doing about the same at the end of the last 5x5 Volume phase but not for seven sets and the 3x per week nature of the Korte is more pertinent to deadlifts in comparison with the 5x5 than for Squat and Bench since the 5x5 only had me deading once per week. I'll have to see where it takes me.

I think overall I have to agree with Jim that I have gotten stronger over the past four weeks. Hey, I'm not Elite yet so I can still pick up Volume-phase gains. My capacity for working through fatigue has certainly increased. If I can do the same again over the next four weeks, I'll be one very happy mammal.

 

[blut wump]

I agree that the 5x5 is a great way to get people on the road to understanding how to make progress.....it isn't the be all and end all.....but the theory behind it is.....add weight to the bar, get strong, get big. Drop sets and down sets and triple bomb blast sets will be the last thing on your mind once you focus on progressively increasing weight on selected main movements. The program teaches you to think for yourself and to evaluate a program for yourself. If you don't like 5x5, do 3x8 or 4x12 or 3x10 or 3x3, whatever, just be consistent and gradually up the weight, focus on big lifts and realize what a "foo foo" exercise is and why, although you get a 'pump' from them, they are an utter waste of time.

About gear, I ran 5x5 programs with gear in the past. You can push that much harder, gain that much faster, and recover that much quicker. You can ram up the workload more, you can add extras, and excessive soreness to the point of screwing up the routine is a non-issue. It is an enhancement, nothing more, nothing less. Instead of mon-wed-fri.....I'd train mon-tues-wed-fri-sat.....sat was for rowing, tricep and bicep work and calves.....tues was for snathes.....I'd flat bp on mon, ohp on tues, incline on wed, and do close grips and flat bp to 90% on fri.....if i did that now i'd over reach in week 1, lol....but with a little test and deca, my shoulder girdle thrived.....I'd back squat heavy mon, do oh squat tues, front sq and gms on wed, and back sq to 90% on fri.....again, I modified it, since my recovery abilities were that much greater, I could do more work in a week and thrive, thus progress faster......gear is gear, it certainly won't hurt your training, lol.

This was in college and I'd typically run 10 weeks of Testosterone Cypionate or Enanthate (400mg/week) and Deca-Durabolin (400mg/week).......The long lasting esters of test and the nandrolone allowed me to still 'feel it' for several weeks after my last shots, so I had flexibility with my deloading, I usually loaded 5 weeks, deloaded 1, loaded 4 weeks, deloaded 1, then came in after the last deload to try to PR on either singles or reps to failure.....then just trained light and low-workload for a good 5 or 6 weeks until my body was back to 'normal'.

I am not advising anyone to do this, lol....it is just a tale of my own experiences.....I did 4 of these cycles in my life, it was in the late-90's and the gear was human-grade, potent, and did what it was supposed to.....not like the crap guys use now, underground and under-dosed.....a gram a week of vet or mexican test for 4 weeks and still waiting for it to 'kick in', lol, I'd day you got ripped off....anyway, I am rambling and I'll stop now.

I am glad it was somewhat helpful. I never thought of gear as a means to 'get big' or 'get strong'. I think this way of thinking is responsible for so much of its misuse and abuse. I never thought in terms of taking something for 8 weeks, blowing up, stopping, then shrinking.

I always used it as a means to recover faster, much, much faster, and allow myself to do A LOT more work during my training cycle, to extend the training cycle. You can really ram up the poundages on the medium day and not worry about it effecting you on your next heavy day, on the 'light' day, sometimes I'd hit a few heavy doubles or singles on the front squat because I felt good and I didn't have to sweat it on Friday.

But to sum it up, I more or less "rode the gear" to keep gaining and gaining and gaining in the weight room, when normally I would have peaked, deloaded, and eventually hit a plateau.

Knowing more now than I did then, I'd probably run a 12-16 week cycle of a low dose of test, a low dose of deca, and a little equipoise if it was available. I feel the 12-16 weeks allows more time to just ride the recovery abilities and keep gaining steadily. You could , say, load 3/deload1 and do this 3 or 4 times one after the other. With say 200-400mg of test, 200-400mg of deca, and 100-200mg of eq, you won't 'explode' per say, but you will be able to train hard and long for a long period of time and recover and make gains, and your body will recomposition.....you are still depending on your sound training program, you are just enhancing its effectiveness and kind of prolonging the life of your gains, making them greater. I'd definitely recommend proper use of ancillaries and regular bloodwork with a 3-4 month cycle though.

I would NEVER do this, but just for conversation's sake, I have talked with people and learned that a lot of top, world-class level strength athletes stay on year round. It is not uncommon for guys to run 500-600mg of test a week all year, cycling different esters, and then upping it to 1-2 grams before a competition. That is not something I would do, then again, if it were my livlihood, I guess you'd have to ask me the same question then.

Apologies to BiggT for copying his posts out of context from Here but I wanted to keep them for future reference. My view of supplements has always been that I lift to lift weights and become stronger not to get bigger and bulge a lot. Supps are an aid not a crutch. He articulated well the idea of using gear to help one to help the body to do what it does progressively and steadily.

 

[blut wump]

Intensity Phase

Well, this is where I could end up breaking the whole program by pushing too hard and failing to deload properly. Still, if that were my biggest worry then I could stop now and take whatever I already have. To maximize gains, I need to make fresh projections and try to account for any gains I've already acquired through the Volume phase since only by pushing hard in the Intensity phase can I make those gains carry through to further gains in neuromuscular efficiency.

In an earlier post I suggested that fresh targets of 160Kg for Squat, 140Kg for Bench and 200Kg for Deadlift seemed plausible. Looking at them, they now seem scary, especially the Squat. I'm going to project for them and if I seem to be out of my depth then I'll try to adjust.

           60%       W5       W6      W7        W8
           ---       --       --      --        --
Squat:     100      130      140     150       160
Bench:      90      117.5    125     132.5     140
Deadlift:  125      167.5    180     190       200

If I hit these numbers I'll be most pleased. It does mean aiming for Deadlift and Squat PRs in week 7 and new PRs all around in week 8.

 

[anotherbutters]

Awesome progress on the volume phase Blut Wump. The new projections seem plausible based on the progress so far (from where I'm sitting anyway). Shame about the bench being so stubborn. It'd be nice if you could get to 142.5, just so you know you're definitely past the 3 plates mental-block you mentioned at the start. The thought of adding on 1.25kg to each side once you've loaded 3 plates just seems silly though

These next four weeks should be fun. Good luck!

... sits back with popcorn.