Using Paul Carter’s scale, today was an 80% day.

It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible. It was just what it was supposed to be. But, that’s better than how things have been.

I knew if I wanted to keep on the same progress train I’d need to hit at least 8 reps on the top work set today. I did that. I could have gone for a 9th, but knew that wouldn’t be wise. For sure, things are getting heavier, so all really does feel on track. Technically this is the middle of my 4th 5/3/1 cycle, and generally a reset ought to come somewhere in the 5-8 cycle range, so yeah, hitting 8 today seems about right. Looking back at my first cycle, on the 5/3/1 week I hit 250 for 8, so being here on 4th cycle on 3-week and hitting 265 for 8, strength is improving slow but sure.

Everything else chugged along as expected.

I was reading a bunch of Jim’s writings over the weekend. I’m going to keep on SST for the foreseeable future because it’s working well and I’m enjoying it. I like hitting the main movement, then a big assistance for strong but restricted sets/reps. Then just hitting some additional stuff that you put work into but not a lot of thought, just to round things out. The flow of the gym session feels… good. I don’t feel beat up, I am getting worked. I am making progress. But that said, I am thinking that when it comes time to reset my weights, adding in some sort of “first set last” variation. Why? Just to see if it helps or hinders. I’d like a little more volume because I had generally done well with a little more volume. By the time I have to reset, I’ll feel pretty well-adjusted to the routine, and will have had enough cycles to see what benefits and what doesn’t. Who knows. I may not do it. Or I may do different things, e.g. maybe bench press gets the 3-5 sets approach, maybe squats gets the 1xAMRAP approach. TBD. The bigger take-home here is 1. wanting to add a little more volume, 2. waiting until reset time before I make larger changes to the program.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 120 x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 175 x 3
  • 205 x 3
  • 235 x 3
  • 265 x 8
• Straight-leg Deadlift
  • 190 x 8
  • 220 x 8
  • 265 x 6
• Leg Curls
  • 30 x 20
  • 30 x 20
  • 30 x 15
• Hyperextensions
  • BW x 18
  • BW x 18
  • BW x 15
• Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 18
  • BW x 12
• Standing Calf Raises (superset with crunches)
  • 50 x 20
  • 50 x 16
  • 50 x 14