I’m trying to find some good amongst all this frustration.

It’s frustrating when you’re doing shit you don’t like, that is no fun, but you know is for a purpose and reason, yet that isn’t panning out. My bodyweight is not dropping but just keeps sitting in the low 240’s. I KNOW there’s water retention going on (I suspect the Tyson chicken breasts I’ve been eating were brined and thus loaded with salt) because I struggle to get my wedding ring on and off. So I have to believe progress is happening, it’s just hard to see. So I stick with it.

But what’s something I realized today?

For sure, my work capacity has increased.

This week is basically a repeat of week 1, and it’s not really kicking my ass. Furthermore, it’s more work now. Then it was 90 seconds interset rest, now it’s 75 — that 15 seconds adds up. I’ve also added 2 more sets of assistance work (in this case 2×25 KB swings). The cardio work has been upped to 30 minutes from 20. What’s interesting there? The elliptical take take heart rate and I’ll watch it go from the high 140’s to the low 120’s during the course of that 30 minutes – while my pace and workload increases.

So I think it’s pretty safe to say my work capacity has increased, which is one purpose of the programming.

I can be happy about that.

Still, it’s not my primary goal. But I’ll keep at it.

That said, I do continue to have evolving thoughts on “what next”. For example, I didn’t squat this past Tuesday because whatever it was I did to my neck/shoulder on Monday’s press session? It was painful and very limiting Tuesday morning. I’ve had this happen before, and it’s just a matter of massage, stretching, and time. So I took the day off, kept up with the recovery work, and today it’s not totally gone but it’s workable. But I also noticed my legs/knees are feeling very good. No stiffness when I try to sit or stand. To give them that rest was good.

It’s just manifesting what I’ve known over the years of doing 5/3/1 — that it eventually beats me up and I need to step away from it. It’s one of the most productive programs, but for middle-aged me, the wear-and-tear builds up. I do know that I will finish this prep program, do the 7th week protocol, then a single 3-4 week cycle for an “anchor”, then done with 5/3/1 for a while. But what to do I continue to rethink.

3 days/week to give me a little more rest? Basebuilding? Mass building? Pure bodybuilding? Something basically to give me a change of pace and my body a break. But then I started to think about keeping on some track with my greater goal (the 3/4/5 bench/squat/dead) and with my squat being so weak compared to the other two lifts, I thought maybe about squat focus, like squatting 2x week (one heavy, one light), with a 3rd day for other stuff (upper body), and MAYBE a 4th day too, no deadlifting at all, but I don’t know. It’s a combination of a change, a body break, yet wanting to not stray too far from my core goal.

5/3/1 Prep & Fat Loss Program

Bodyweight: 243
Rest Period (seconds): 75

• Incline Bench Press – bar x whatever
• Incline Bench Press – 90 x 5
• Face Pull – 65 x 25
• Incline Bench Press – 110 x 5
• Face Pull – 65 x 25
• Incline Bench Press – 135 x 5
• Split Squat – BW x 15e
• Incline Bench Press – 155 x 5
• Split Squat – BW x 15e
• Incline Bench Press – 175 x 5
• Pull-up – BW x 5
• Incline Bench Press – 200 x 5
• Pull-up BW x 5
• Incline Bench Press – 155 x 5
• Pull-up BW x r
• Incline Bench Press – 155 x 5
• DB Row – 65 x 20e
• Incline Bench Press – 155 x 5
• DB Row – 65 x 20e
• Incline Bench Press – 155 x 5
• KB Swing – 40 x 25
• Incline Bench Press – 155 x 5
• KB Swing – 40 x 25
• KB Swing – 40 x 25
• KB Swing – 40 x 25