Tying a PR isn’t as good as setting a PR, but at least I’m stopping the regression.

“Week 3”

• 5/3/1 – Press (working max: 160#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x65
  • 1x5x80
  • 1x3x95
  • 1x5x120 (work)
  • 1x3x140
  • 1x3x155 (PR-tie)
• Asst. #1 – Press
  • 5 x 10/10/10/8/10 x 80/80/80/80/65
• Asst. #1 – Wide, pronated grip lat pulldowns
  • 5 x 10/10/10/10/12 x 110/110/110/110/90
• Upright rows superset with tricep pressdowns superset with barbell curls
• • 3 sets, 12-15 reps per set, then on the last set drop down weight and keep cranking to failure

I was hoping to get 4 reps and set a true PR, but it just didn’t happen. On rep 2 I started to lose my balance… and recovery from that kinda sucked things out of me. I went for 4… it just wouldn’t go up. Racked, rested for 15 seconds, tried again, no go. Oh well. At least I feel like I’ve stopped regressing. 🙂

One thing that was different — I was squeezing the hell out of the bar. I know I’m supposed to do this, but I just forget things… so many things to remember to do. But boy, that sure does make everything else tighten up, and the weight felt different… better, more like my musculature was supporting the weight and not my skeletal structure. Felt cool. That might have sapped a bit out of me too, and I’m fine with that. Any time I can improve my technique I’m happier.

I also started to blend into my workout changes… really focusing on the eccentric, being sure to get high reps and being exhausted by the time I got to the end… working to “rep out” but still relatively heavy weights. Then I did a superset of stuff at the end, not exactly counting reps… I did to ensure I got into the range but didn’t bother recording as long as I hit the range I was happy. Just work it, pump it…. felt good.

Looking forward to starting the next cycle and seeing where these changes take me.

Also happy to be walking again as a part of my program. Feels good.