So be sure to keep a training diary. Write down your entire program; make note of sets, reps, and weights; record your physical measurements, and take periodic photographs of your physique to keep track of your development. This way you will always know what your training program is supposed to be, and can always look back and check to see how you were training in the past and what kind of success that program brought you.

After a month of cutting, the weight dropped a bit too much. Now switching back to a growth phase - aiming to regain strength and rebuild size.

Training frequency also back to normal, targeting chest and legs twice per week.

Stats

October 2025

  • Weight: ~68 kg
  • Body Fat: ~19%? (rough estimate)

Plan

Transitioning from 5/3/1 to a new structure: 4-5 training days per week, possibly adding a few Pilates sessions.

Example Week 1 Split:

D1｜Chest + Back (Heavy / Volume Day)

Warm-up: Face Pull 2×12 (light) + External Rotation 2×12

  1. Barbell Bench Press - 200×1 paused (lower to 195 if too slow)
  2. Bench Press - 185×6-8 @RPE8 (if <6 reps, reduce to 180 next week)
  3. Bench Press (-10%) - 165×6-8 ×2-3 sets
  4. Incline Dumbbell Press - 60×8-10 ×3
  5. Chest-Supported Row - 100×8-10 ×4
  6. Lat Pulldown - 130×8 ×3
  7. Triceps Pushdown - 65×12 ×3

(Optional: Finish with Face Pull 1-2×15-20)

D2｜Lower A (Squat-Focused / Quads)

Explosive Warm-up: CMJ 3×3 (light effort)

  1. High-Bar Squat - 225×4 @RPE8
  2. Back-Off (-10%) - 205×3 ×3
  3. Pause Squat (2s bottom) - 185×4 ×3
  4. Hack Squat / Leg Press - 180×10-12 ×3
  5. Bulgarian Split Squat - 35×10/leg ×3
  6. Pallof Press - 25×12/side ×3

Knee sleeves + belt on main sets. If 225×4 feels heavy, use 215×4 / 195×3×3.

D3｜Chest + Shoulder (Technique / Variation)

Warm-up: Face Pull 2×12 + External Rotation 2×12

  1. Speed Bench (1s pause) - 185×1 ×3 (lower to 180 if slow)
  2. Paused Bench (2s) - 175×4 ×3 @RPE7-8
  3. Dumbbell Bench Press - 55×10 ×3
  4. Lateral Raise - 20×12 ×3
  5. Seated Row - 90×12 ×3
  6. Barbell Curl (EZ) - 60×10 ×3

(Optional: Add Face Pull / Lower Trap 1-2×15-20 to complete 4-6 weekly sets)

D4｜Lower B (Hamstring + Glute Focus)

Explosive Warm-up: Light Box Squat (speed)

  1. Speed Box Squat - 145×2 ×6-8 (60-90s rest, fast bar speed)
  2. Romanian Deadlift - 195×6 ×4
  3. Front Squat - 155×4 ×3
  4. Leg Curl - 100×10 ×3
  5. Hip Thrust - 235×10 ×3 (pause 1-2s at top)
  6. Calf Raise - 100×12 ×3

If fatigued: RDL → 185×6×4; Front Squat → 145×4×3.

Week 1

Day 1: Chest

  1. Face Pull (Cable Cross Machine, warm-up)
    • 12×2
  2. Barbell Bench Press
    • 195 lbs × 2 (too heavy for the first set - need more warm-up)
    • 185 lbs × 6
    • 185 lbs × 5
    • 165 lbs × 6 (bar felt slightly uneven lol)
    • 165 lbs × 6
  3. Incline Barbell Bench Press
    • 115 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  4. Seated Row Machine
    • 3 sets
  5. Triceps Superset
    • Pushdowns + Overhead Cable Extensions × 3 sets × 12 reps
  • Great chest pump with the new program, but definitely need more warm-up - heavy sets felt tough at first.

Day 2: Leg

  1. High-Bar Squat
    • 225 lbs × 5
    • 245 lbs × 3 (not full depth but stable)
    • 205 lbs × 4 × 3 sets (very solid)
  2. Pause Squat
    • 185 lbs × 4 × 3 sets (stable form)
  3. Leg Press
    • 180 lbs × 10, 9, 5 (left quad failed on the last set lol)
  4. Reverse Hyperextension
    • 3 sets (close to Nordic Curl)
  • Rarely felt such strong quad burn on leg press 💪💪💪 - great muscle activation today.

Day 3: Pilates

  • My first Pilates session - the instructor was gentle but it still burned quite a bit. Coming right after leg day, my legs and core were definitely struggling to keep up.

Day 4: Chest

  1. Barbell Bench Press
    • 135 lbs × 3
    • 185 lbs × 1 × 3 sets (1 second pause on chest felt tough but manageable)
  2. Paused Barbell Bench Press
    • 175 lbs × 4 (2 second pause was difficult)
    • 165 lbs × 4
    • 165 lbs × 4
  3. Dumbbell Bench Press
    • 50 lbs × 10 × 3 sets
  4. Dumbbell Lateral Raise
    • 12.5 lbs × 10 × 3 sets
  5. Lat Pulldown
    • 120 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  • First time training chest twice in a week - felt good overall. Skipped arm work since the session ran late.

Day 5: Leg

  1. Clean Pull (from thigh)
    • 135 lbs × 4
    • 185 lbs × 3 × 3 sets (could only pull up to the navel - a bit heavy)
  2. Deadlift
    • 205 lbs × 6 × 3 sets (felt easy and controlled)
  3. Trap Bar Jump
    • 135 lbs × 5 × 3 sets (jumped from quarter squat position - felt a bit unstable)
  4. Hip Thrust
    • 245 lbs × 8 × 2 sets
    • 275 lbs × 8
    • 295 lbs × 8 (felt quite easy, but got a bit of head rush at the top lol)

Week 2

Day 1: Chest

  1. Barbell Bench Press
    • 135 lbs × 4 (warm-up)
    • 175 lbs × 4 (warm-up)
    • 195 lbs × 2 (a bit slow but not hard - could do 3-4 reps)
    • 185 lbs × 6 (couldn’t hit 8 reps)
    • 165 lbs × 8
    • 165 lbs × 6 (to failure, couldn’t reach 8)
  2. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
    • 45 lbs × 8
    • 50 lbs × 10
    • 50 lbs × 8 (right shoulder felt slightly sore but overall light)
  3. Lat Pulldown
    • 120 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  4. Cable Decline Chest Fly
    • 8-10 reps × 3 sets
  5. Triceps Superset
    • Pushdowns + Overhead Cable Extensions × 3 sets × 12 reps
  • Session felt fairly easy overall, though I didn’t finish back and face-pull work.

Day 2: Leg

  1. Depth Box Jump
    • 3 × 3 sets
  2. High-Bar Squat
    • 135 lbs × 4 (warm-up)
    • 205 lbs × 1 (warm-up)
    • 225 lbs × 1 (warm-up)
    • 245 lbs × 4 (full depth, form felt good, 😀)
    • 215 lbs × 4 × 3 sets (very solid)
  3. Pause Squat
    • 195 lbs × 4 (a bit tiring)
    • 185 lbs × 4 × 2 sets (stable form)
  4. Leg Press
    • 180 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  5. Pallof Press
    • 30 lbs × 25 (too many reps, lost count halfway lol)
    • 40 lbs × 15
    • 50 lbs × 15
  • 245 lbs felt strong - ready to use it as a working weight next time. Need to wear knee sleeves.
  • Body weight seems to be back around 73 kg.

Day 3: Chest

  1. Barbell Bench Press
    • 135 lbs × 3
    • 155 lbs × 3 (felt surprisingly heavy lol)
    • 185 lbs × 1 × 3 sets (1-second pause on chest felt solid)
  2. Paused Barbell Bench Press
    • 165 lbs × 4 × 3 sets (2-second pause felt smooth)
  3. Dumbbell Bench Press
    • 50 lbs × 10
    • 55 lbs × 10 × 2 sets (lowering the dumbbells felt heavy)
  4. Cable Lateral Raise
    • 20 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  • Trained only three days this week — after three straight lifting days, early basketball, and hotpot, legs couldn’t handle more. Sleep quality also dipped a bit; plan to deload and recover next week.

Week 3 (Deload)

Day 1: Chest

  1. Paused Barbell Bench Press
    • 155 lbs × 4 × 3 sets (2-second pause)
  2. Cable Decline Chest Fly
    • 3 sets
  3. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
    • 50 lbs × 8 × 2 sets
  4. Dumbbell Lateral Raise
    • 15 lbs × 8 × 2 sets
  5. Triceps Superset
    • Pushdowns + Overhead Cable Extensions × 2 sets × 12 reps
  • Light deload session — kept the chest activation but reduced volume and intensity.

Day 2: Leg

  1. High-Bar Squat
    • 205 lbs × 5 × 3 sets (felt heavy at first but better afterward)
  2. Pause Squat
    • 155 lbs × 3 × 3 sets
  3. Glute Extension
    • 3 sets
  4. Pallof Press
    • 50 lbs × 15 × 3 sets

Day 3: Chest

  1. Paused Barbell Bench Press
    • 135 lbs × 4
    • 155 lbs × 2
    • 175 lbs × 1 (2-second pause, felt light)
    • 185 lbs × 1 (2-second pause, also easy)
    • 195 lbs × 3 (1-second pause, solid)
  2. Barbell Bench Press
    • 175 lbs × 4 × 3 sets
  3. Seated Row Machine
    • 3 sets
  4. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
    • 50 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  5. Dumbbell Lateral Raise
    • 15 lbs × 8 × 2 sets
  • Felt better than earlier sessions. Despite poor sleep from stomach discomfort, benching felt strong — likely thanks to deload and better recovery timing. 😀

Day 4: Leg

  1. Deadlift
    • 135 lbs × 4 (warm-up)
    • 185 lbs × 5 × 3 sets (felt good)
  2. Hip Thrust
    • 225 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  • Felt a bit tired and sleepy today — just a light session after dinner and a movie with friends.
  • Slight discomfort in the left groin during hip thrusts, with a bit of mild bruising.

Week 4

Day 1: Chest

  1. Barbell Bench Press
    • 135 lbs × 3 (warm-up)
    • 175 lbs × 2 (warm-up, felt a bit heavy)
    • 185 lbs × 1 (1-second pause)
    • 205 lbs × 2 (1-second pause)
    • 175 lbs × 4 × 3 sets
  2. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
    • 55 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  3. Triceps Superset
    • Pushdowns + Overhead Cable Extensions × 2 sets × 12 reps
  • Felt great today — solid pressing session.

Day 2: Leg

  1. High-Bar Squat
    • 135 lbs × 4 (warm-up)
    • 185 lbs × 4 (warm-up)
    • 205 lbs × 1 (warm-up)
    • 225 lbs × 1 (warm-up)
    • 245 lbs × 1
    • 265 lbs × 1
    • 275 lbs × 1 (new PR!) — at 72 kg body weight, with belt but no knee sleeves. Slight instability at the bottom, but overall very solid.
    • 225 lbs × 4 × 3 sets
  2. Pause Squat
    • 185 lbs × 3 × 3 sets
  3. Leg Press
    • 180 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  4. Calf Raise Machine
    • 105 lbs × 3 sets
  • Unexpectedly strong day — started feeling normal but ended up hitting 275 lbs, with ~2–3 reps in reserve. Amazing session. 😍

Day 3: Chest

  1. Paused Barbell Bench Press
    • 135 lbs × 3 (warm-up)
    • 155 lbs × 2 (warm-up, felt a bit heavy)
    • 185 lbs × 2 (2-second pause, felt easy)
    • 195 lbs × 1 (2-second pause, solid)
    • 165 lbs × 4 × 3 sets
  2. Dumbbell Bench Press
    • 50 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  • Short session today — only had time for two exercises, but both felt good.

Week 5

Day 1: Chest

  1. Barbell Bench Press
    • 45 lbs × 10 (warm-up)
    • 135 lbs × 4 (warm-up)
    • 165 lbs × 3 (warm-up, felt a bit heavy)
    • 185 lbs × 1
    • 205 lbs × 1
    • 195 lbs × 2 (1-second pause)
    • 185 lbs × 5
    • 175 lbs × 7
    • 165 lbs × 8
  2. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
    • 50 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  3. Seated Row Machine
    • 10 reps × 3 sets
  4. Cable Decline Fly
    • 17.5 lbs × 10–15 × 3 sets
  5. Triceps Superset
    • Pushdowns + Overhead Cable Extensions × 3 sets × AMRAP

Day 2: Leg

  1. High-Bar Squat
    • 135 lbs × 4 (warm-up)
    • 185 lbs × 3 (warm-up)
    • 225 lbs × 3
    • 245 lbs × 3 (stable)
    • 265 lbs × 1 (steady and strong)
    • 225 lbs × 4 × 3 sets
  2. Pause Squat
    • 185 lbs × 3 × 3 sets (2-second pause)
  3. Romanian Deadlift
    • 185 lbs × 6 × 2 sets (raising belt position felt better, less pressure)
    • 185 lbs × 4 (grip gave out)
  4. Leg Press
    • 180 lbs × 8 × 3 sets
  • Last routine week of the year — heading out for vacation. See you in 2026, stronger and sharper. 💪