And the next cycle starts off pretty well.

Today was pretty cool. A little stiff to start out. I had a lot of weird chest pain over the weekend — it’s from posture problems (been slouching too much). Spent a bunch of the weekend stretching, foam rolling, and other things to help out. So I was a little stiff this morning but everything settled in really well by the time the work sets came up. And again, don’t think of it as 1 set of reps, but rather multiple sets of 1 rep. When I do that it makes such a positive difference — just keep going until you can’t, and every rep is focused instead of blending into the next.

Again, hit the 10-rep threshold and shut it down. Progress is good. Frankly, I find myself getting a little nervous about every session. I’ve been nailing the threshold almost every session, almost every everything, and I know it can’t last forever to be like this. I’m just waiting for it to end, and it plays with my head a bit. Gotta let it go and just let be what will be. I’m not getting weaker, I’m just settling in.

But even better was feeling really dialed in on the squats. Things just felt in the right groove and moved well. Technique is improving, which is always good.

I did really do a number on my lower back, glutes, and hams today. The straight-legs I did with less rest between sets. On leg curls, instead of propping up on my elbows I laid my chest flat on the bench — so no chance of hip extension or anything. It really brought up the stress on things back there, tho in a good way.

All in all, a good day. Happy to be back to the cycle, tho the deload was certainly good for me.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 115 x 5
  • 140 x 5
  • 170 x 3
  • 185 x 5
  • 215 x 5
  • 240 x 10
• Straight-leg Deadlift
  • 155 x 10
  • 185 x 10
  • 215 x 10
• Leg Curls
  • 30 x 20
  • 30 x 12
  • 30 x 10
• Hyperextensions (superset with crunches)
  • BW x 12
  • BW x 12
  • BW x 12
• Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • bw x 13
  • BW x 10
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 50 x 17
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 12