Weightlifting: Building the Monolith

 

I've been wanting to tackle Building the Monolith for some time; however, my dislike of 5/3/1 as well as the volume crammed into each workout made me rather hesitant. How do I get all that shit done in an hour was my thinking, yet after a week on the program, I don't think it's really that bad. Admittedly, my training maxes are around the 85 percent that Wendler recommends, so the weights aren't that heavy. The most challenging part, I think, will be the diet. I usually eat around a pound of meat a day--twelve eggs is a different story. I've been averaging around eight a day, which isn't Gaston level, but that motherfucker was as big as a barn, which is the point, right? I've been wanting to get back to around the 200 lbs level, as opposed to the 193-194 I'm hovering at now. Anyways, let's get into the nitty-gritty of this thing.

Changes made

This wouldn't be an internet weightlifting program review without fucking the whole thing up with a bunch of needless changes, would it? The biggest change I implemented was box squats instead of free squats. My hips are messed up, but they've been fine since I started doing box squats and pin squats. The lateral shift I do when the weights get heavy can be controlled with box squats, and since I don't give a shit about my powerlifting numbers, box squats it is. I also switched dips for pushups because my right shoulder is a bitch. I don't have a good way to do weighted pull ups, so I'm doing pull downs. Everything else I kept the same.

Training Maxes

Squat-350

Press-150

Bench Press-255

Deadlift-360

So these are all in the 85 percent range with the exception of the deadlift. I've only been doing singles for deadlifts, so I thought I'd build my way back up instead of rushing headlong into madness. You adjust your training max during the fourth week, so I'll probably bump the deadlift up considerably.

Days (click here for percentages and details)

Day one is the heavy squat day, with 7 sets of 5, followed by 3 sets of 5 in the Press, with an additional set done with as many reps as possible. The assistance work is done in between sets of the main work; that's the only way you'll get this done in an hour.

Day two: Deads for 5 sets of 5, followed by 7 sets of 5 Bench press, with rows and curls done as assistance. This day is heavy on the upper back--I don't see how you can't get a Gaston-sized lat spread from this program.

Day three: 3 sets of 5 squats, followed by a set of 20; then 10 sets of 5 Press, with weighted pull ups (pull downs in my case). Not as bad as I thought, but the set of 20 only starts out with 45 percent. It'll be up to 70 by the end of the program.

Conclusion

Yet to be seen. Probably depends on how many eggs I manage to cram down my gullet. Wish me luck, folks.