Finally, breaking through the squat barrier.

“Week 3”

• 5/3/1 – Squat (working max: 240#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x95
  • 1x5x120
  • 1x3x145
  • 1x5x180 (work)
  • 1x3x205
  • 1x6x230 (PR)
• Asst. #1 – Squat
  • 5 x 10 x 100
• Asst. #2 – Leg Curl
  • 5 x 10 x 65
• GPP – Sprints
  • Tabata style (20 sec. sprint, 10 sec. walk)
  • 2 “laps” walking (warmup)
  • 5 “reps” (8 reps is one Tabata set)
  • 2 “laps” walking (cooldown)
• DeFranco Agile 8

Huzzah. 6 with 230#. That helps me break through my squat barrier. I’ve had so many setbacks around the 230 mark: got up there, was doing really sloppy form on the PPNP program, reset to improve my from but didn’t get back up to it before switching to Wendler 5/3/1 which of course takes a longer time to get up there. Then I got there last cycle but opted to repeat it due to starting sprinting. And so finally I get to break through. I told myself last night that I have to get at least 6 since before I got 5. I could have gotten 7 but I felt unstable.

See, that problem with all the “light-headedness”? I wonder… could that have been the Jack3d? Maybe. I finished the tub a few workouts ago and have no desire to go back on it (I think it’s a waste). I wonder if it’s involved because since I’ve been off it, no issues. Or it could be improving how I deal with breathing and breath-holding. I dunno. Hard to say, but I didn’t really have that problem today. But I did feel kinda wobbly for some reason. Right knee didn’t feel all that hot today, felt worse after sprinting (the impact), and then to make things worse, as I was getting up off the floor after repacking my gym back before leaving, I wobbled and my left ankle feels miserable now. *sigh*

Oh well.

Everything else was about normal. Nothing exciting to report, just did it all.

Looking back on the week, I’m really happy. Set PR’s and significant ones at that. I broke the 45# plate barrier with pressing, I broke the 200# barrier with bench pressing, my deadlifts continue to be strong and get close to the 300# mark. And now my squat feels good enough to continue along and add another 10#. A good week of PR’s.

I’m thinking about how to evolve my training for the next cycle. Nothing firm yet, but it’s almost solidified. It’ll of course stay generally on the 5/3/1 method, but assistance looks to move away from “Boring But Big” and is evolving more into the “Triumvirate” as I’m starting to think more about addressing weak points. I also think I may be moving beyond just 3 exercises, tho not a lot of additional work. We’ll see how it goes.