That went better than expected.

I was away over the weekend for my grandmother’s funeral, so it was airplanes, less than ideal food choices and consumption, lots of running around, little sleep. But tho a sad reason for gathering, overall it was a good time to see family, reminisce, laugh, and make more memories. So don’t get me wrong, it was overall a good weekend, but little sleep and too many carbs (hey… Korean food is going to have rice, y’know?).

So going into the session today I wasn’t sure what to expect. The crazy part is seeing the work-up going to 300 just messed with my head. There’s no reason it should because 300 isn’t a problem weight, but it’s still this number and did mess with me some. Given all the things going into the session, I told myself I have to get 3 since that’s prescribed reps, but I ought to be able to get 5. Well, I wound up getting 6. Everything felt good, so I just kept going. After 6 I could have gotten another but not sure what would have been sacrificed to get there because I was just starting to have a little form breakdown during 5 and 6. So, rack it. Really, 6 at 300 is good for the trajectory I’m on.

I do need to continue working at keeping my elbows back, because as the set wears on I do lose some tightness up there. But for sure this is helping my situation because there was zero shoulder and arm pain today. Huzzah!

On RDLs, I’m continuing to work on technique. I’m trying to get it so the movement is from the hip thrusting, not the back raising. That it’s my hams and glutes contracting, not my erectors, that raise things up. I think I had a bit of a breakthrough today because more reps than not felt like they were coming form there. And that I was feeling the tired/sore hitting my glutes more than my lower back I think is a fair sign too.

What hit me is 1RM testing is next week! Gah…it’s upon me. So I started thinking about my attempts. I’ll probably do something like:

• 135×5
• 165×5
• 205×3

to warm up

then singles like:

• 245
• 275
• 305
• 325

And 325 will tie my PR, and I’ll judge from there where to go. 325 may tap me out. Maybe all I can do is 330. If I could get 345 I’d be totally cool with that. But who knows: I may be feeling awesome and go for 350 or 355. We shall see. I don’t need to set the world on fire, I just want to progress and set things up well for the next 6 months.

What this also tells me is I need to put a premium this week on preparing. That’s sleep, eating, massage, anything I can do to help with recovery. Be strong and ready to kick ass next week.

5/3/1-based program

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 200 x 3
  • 235 x 3
  • 270 x 3
  • 300 x 6
• Romanian Deadlift
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
• Hyperextensions
  • BW x 13
  • BW x 13
  • BW x 12
• Crunches
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 13
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 85 x 12
  • 85 x 12
  • 85 x 10