Setting a PR is always welcome.

But first, my knee.

Spoke with my doctor about it. She can tell something’s not right, but what exact is difficult to say (initial thought: meniscus). I’m taking a round of steroid anti-inflammatories, coupled with rest, to see what that does. If that solves things? Great. If not, we’ll do an x-ray and see what can be seen. If not, then MRI. Just one step at a time.

So in light of that, I want to minimize leg work. Thus today was just a squat work-up, nothing else. Next week will somewhat off. I’m not sure if I’ll just avoid the gym for the whole week, or maybe just deload upper body and skip lower, or maybe lower days I’ll do something minimal like some bodyweight squats and walking. TBD. I’ll just take each day as it comes, with the guiding principle being rest/recovery, emphasizing the knee.

Thus today, I opted to just do my work-up. I didn’t want to miss today because my knee isn’t too horrible, plus today was 315 — 3 wheels. Weights in the 300’s still mess with my head a bit, but I’m able to put it out of my head because I know I can do them without a problem. Today tho I think it messed with me because it wasn’t 300 or 305, but 315 — 3 wheels. Because you’re not really squatting 300’s until it’s 3+ wheels, right? 🙂

I knew I’d go for a rep PR, and given how things have been going for me, I expected a 3rd would be tough. But I did 3 and no problems. Went for 4, and felt good. I was 95% sure 5 would happen with maybe a hint of grind. No grind, but form was starting to break down so I racked it. I know I could have gotten 6, but it certainly would have grind. So this is a win.

In fact, a bigger win that expected because it’s a legit 5-rep PR for me! Quite nice. I reckon it’s the pizza I gorged on last night. Didn’t bloat up this morning from it, but for sure carbs are fuel for PRs. 🙂

So, all in all happy with this. Good way to end the week.

Based upon 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 200 x 3
  • 250 x 5
  • 280 x 3
  • 315 x 5 (5-rep PR)