That was painful. 🙂

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how today would go. Scheduled for a top set of 5 reps @ 300 lb, and honestly I wasn’t sure about it. In recent times I did do 295 for reps, and this is more. Of course on paper there was every reason for me to hit it — my actual 1RM, the fact the 295 was “a cycle ago” so the small increment should work out just fine, etc. So there’s no reason for me to have doubted.

But I did — because of my knee.

Today I’ll be seeing an orthopedic doc about it to start to figure out what’s going on.

That said tho, the squats themselves went pretty well. I’m thinking about changing how I squat tho: turning around. I think facing the mirrors is causing me to well… to look at them more than I should. I’m wanting to check form, check depth, etc., when I really need to just squat. I squat facing the mirror because of spacing issues, but maybe who knows — maybe I should just close my eyes. I’ll see.

BBB sets – gah. Slay me. It’s a deceptive amount of work. 🙂 I am happy with my appproach tho (taking a cue from my RP experiences) of incrementing the work over time. It’s 5/3/1-philosophy-consistent tho: start light. Since it’s a 6-week run, first 2 weeks get 3 sets, second 2 get 4, third 2 get 5 sets.

And what really gets me is the supersetting. No the front plate raises aren’t killer, but what it does is adds to the exhaustion. The torso and everything is already tired from the squats, then you need the torso for all this stability. Couple that with breathing heavy and well, it adds up. But I am happy to stick with it, because I do feel my work capacity is increasing here.

Anyways, things are as they are.

We’ll see what the doc says today.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 5
  • 125 x 5
  • 155 x 5
  • 190 x 3
  • 235 x 5
  • 270 x 5
  • 300 x 5
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked
• Squat (superset with front plate raises)
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 13
  • 25 x 12
• Leg Extensions
  • 75 x 12
  • 75 x 12
  • 75 x 12
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12

Yes, I really missed pressing.

It’s a challenge. It’s a lot of fun. It’s tough. It’s probably the lift I need the most technique work on, but I’m getting there.

Yes, today I focused on crush-grip, but it’s also very important for the whole body to be tight and rigid. A big help? Clench the butt. I eventually remember to do that, but I need to do it from the unrack. One thing that I started doing that helped? Clench the butt before I unrack the bar — it worked as a good reminder.

I was unsure about the 5’s PRO, but I’m feeling better about it now. Things are settling in, I’m getting the groove.

next week — technically the “1’s week” should be interesting to see how it goes.

Things of note from today:

Pressing was fine. Just happy to be there again. BBB sets feel very light and easy, but I’m leaving it alone — it’s easy now, it won’t be in the coming weeks.

Bent-over raises. I usually hate these, but I’m kinda liking them. I find myself moving the weight by focusing on contracting the upper back muscles, and while I don’t get exhausted, I do get a bit of work. It’s actually kinda been fun.

Pulldowns. On the last set, someone had taken one of the little 5 weights from the stack. I didn’t notice until I was a few reps into the set and noticed it felt easier; didn’t worry about it. But that’s why the weight went down.

Split squats. Forget it. Tried, but the knees aren’t having it. I did some bodyweight squats instead, just to get ROM and some movement. I do have that appointment with the orthopedic doc on Monday. We’ll see how it goes.

Lying Triceps Extensions I’m really enjoying. The lighter weight feels better on my elbows, but the longer range of motion makes up for it. Plus it is more work; feels like it’s hitting things better.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Press
  • bar x 5
  • 70 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 3
  • 120 x 5
  • 140 x 5
  • 155 x 5
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with press warm-up sets)
  • 12e x 12
  • 12e x 12
  • 12e x 12
  • 12e x 12
• Normal-grip Pulldowns (superset with press work sets)
  • 130 x 12
  • 130 x 12
  • 125 x 12
• Split Squats (superset with press BBB sets)
  • BW x 5e
  • bw x 10 (converted to bodyweight squats
  • bw x 10
• Lying Triceps Extensions
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
• Slant Board Sit-ups
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 10

That went quite well; better than expected.

I’ve been having my doubts if I should have gone 5’s PRO or not. I’m not sure tho if it’s a problem there, or elsewhere. I’ve had horrible sleep lately — that scorpion bout the other night didn’t help. But I got a solid 8 hours last night and feel pretty good this morning. That’s one key thing about 5/3/1 success: recovery matters greatly. It’s something you have to emphasize. It’s not like I’m trying to get less sleep, just shit happens. It’s one reason I’m taking this coming weekend off: I am worn out and need some naps.

Anyways, deadlifting went well. I do think I’m adjusting to the workload because the upright rows didn’t kill me this time. It’s still tougher because of the superset with the deadlifts (out of wind, torso already tired and now must continue to stabilize), but it didn’t feel as death as last week.

All in all, pretty good. Happy with today.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Deadlift
  • 170 x 5
  • 215 x 5
  • 255 x 3
  • 300 x 5
  • 340 x 5
  • 385 x 5
  • 215 x 10
  • 215 x 10
  • 215 x 10
• Band Pullaparts (superset with deadlift warmups and work)
  • Not tracked
• Upright rows (superset with BBB sets)
  • 105 x 12
  • 105 x 12
  • 105 x 10
• Seated Leg Curls
  • 120 x 11
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 8
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 10

Nothing like a scorpion sting to start the day off.

Felt something on my stomach while I was sleeping – brush it, OUCH. Scorpion. Fun! Worst part was it was about 11:45 PM; I had gone to bed early, was looking forward to a big night of sleep, but it wasn’t to be. And while I lay in bed awake waiting for the pain to subside, all I could think was: “How is this going to affect my workout?” 🙂

Answer: not very much. At least, the session itself. I really do need some sleep tho.

Benching went well. Felt strong throughout. I really enjoy the “light” BBB sets because it’s a great opportunity to work on technique, which is part of why I chose to go this route.

Upped the weight on the lat raises and that felt just right. I’m really focusing here on moving by contracting the upper back muscles — the arms don’t feel like they get as much range of motion, but the upper back does feel fully contracted (and tired). This is good. This is what I need to counter a bunch of stuff. That said, I still don’t feel like there’s enough back work in this Forver-based approach; but I will stick with it and strive to make what work there is high-quality. I wanted to try this setup, and now that I’m getting feedback I can adust from there.

Lunges. Plain and simple, I think I need to go talk to a doctor. While some things are getting better, other things are not. I struggled with lunges today, and that’s not good. (Yes, I’ve made an appointment with an orthopedic specialist).

Otherwise, things were fine. Good session.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO)

• Bench Press
  • bar x 5
  • 100 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 155 x 3
  • 180 x 5
  • 205 x 5
  • 230 x 5
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 12e x 12
  • 12e x 12
  • 12e x 12
  • 12e x 12
• Kroc Rows (superset with bench work sets)
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 22e
• Lunges (superset with bench BBB sets)
  • BW x 5e
  • BW x 5e
  • BW x 5e
• Pushdowns
  • 80 x 20
  • 80 x 20
  • 80 x 15
• Slant Board Sit-ups
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 8

Starting week 2 of the new program.

I’m starting to wonder if, because I’m doing 5’s PRO if I should have went with 85% training max. I guess I’ll find out. 🙂

All in all things went ok, a bit smoother than last week because I’m getting the groove down.

Squats were OK. I am hoping that my work will help with knee rehab, but honestly I’m not optimistic at this point. Sometimes things feel like improvement, other times it feels like nothing improves. I’m going to give it just a bit more, but it’s likely going to be time to see a specialist about it.

Technique feels better tho. Sometimes I feel like I’m moving too slow, but for sure it helps me keep track of everything going on so I can remain tight. Of course, I don’t remain perfectly tight, but at least I have more time to correct myself. LOL

On the BBB sets. I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle them. I knew I wanted to start at 3 sets and increase sets over time, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to add one set each week? or since this would be a 6-week cycle to add one every two weeks. I made that call today. I’m going to add another set every 2 weeks. So 3 sets this week, then next week I’ll go to 4. I think that will provide a better ramp-up.

Front plate raises saw more weight today to try to make it more useful. I am taking about 15 deep breaths after squatting before I do the raises, because sets of 10 squats does take some breath out of you, especially with the torso stabilization needed for the raises. I do think about not supersetting, but I also figure I just need to keep doing it to up my work capacity.

Extensions were extensions; and I admit, these I really hope will help the knees. Calf raises then are getting fun for me because I use it as an opportunity to work on my grip! Hold that 32kg KB in my left hand and crush-grip it the whole time — that should pay off in other ways for me.

So, not a bad start to week 2.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 10
  • 125 x 5
  • 155 x 5
  • 190 x 3
  • 220 x 5
  • 250 x 5
  • 285 x 5
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked
• Squat (superset with front plate raises)
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 35 x 13
  • 35 x 13
  • 35 x 13
• Leg Extensions
  • 75 x 12
  • 75 x 12
  • 75 x 12
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 10

And the first day of pressing is in the books.

Man, I really missed pressing. And I’m hoping it’s going to be good for my shoulders too, given the work and what’s involved in doing a proper press.

I do think I need to up the bent-over raises a bit. And man, I feel like I need more back work. I am not ready to adjust the program yet, but it’s on my mind.

Lying triceps extensions — these are the kind where your head is off the bench and the bar goes up over your head towards the floor. It’s not a skullcrusher to your forehead, it’s a larger range of motion. Still finding the right weight for it.

Anyways, not a bad start for a first week on the new program.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Press
  • bar x 5
  • 70 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 3
  • 115 x 5
  • 130 x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with press warm-up sets)
  • 10e x 12
  • 10e x 12
  • 10e x 12
• Normal-grip Pulldowns (superset with press work sets)
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 12
• Split Squats (superset with press BBB sets)
  • BW x 10e
  • BW x 10e
  • BW x 10e
• Lying Triceps Extensions
  • 40 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 65 x 12
• Slant Board Sit-ups
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 10

First deadlift session of the new cycle.

Deadlifts are fine. Sets of 10 are death. 🙂

The warmup and work sets of deadlift were fine. A little knee trouble so I wasn’t quite in the best position — I think I need to bring the little tripod and take some video. I hate doing that (I just feel awkward about it), but I think I should for the sake of technique.

Doing the sets of 10 were of course killer. But what really got me was supersetting in the upright rows — you don’t realize how much torso stability you need for upright rows, and after the death by 10’s you’re out of breath AND the torso is tired. I’ll keep it up for a bit in case this is purely a work capacity issue and I just need to toughen up here. But I also felt like I wasn’t getting the most out of therows because of exhaustion elsewhere. We’ll see.

Everything else was what it was. One big thing is remembering to crush-grip the bar in everything — especially on the stair calves, because that 32kg kettlebell with the fat handle is good for that. Heck, the sets of 10’s deadlifting were good too. My grip will thank me later.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Deadlift
  • 170 x 5
  • 215 x 5
  • 255 x 3
  • 280 x 5
  • 320 x 5
  • 365 x 5
  • 215 x 10
  • 215 x 10
  • 215 x 10
• Band Pullaparts (superset with deadlift warmups and work)
  • Not tracked
• Upright rows (superset with BBB sets)
  • 105 x 10
  • 105 x 10
  • 105 x 10
• Seated Leg Curls
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 8
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 10
  • 70 x 10
  • 70 x 10

First bench day on the new program.

All in all it was fine. I got more sleep last night so I didn’t feel totally drag-ass this morning, which I’m sure helped.

I did underestimate my assistance work. Like the bent-over raises ought to be good for my upper back and shoulder, but too light — I may not up the weight tho, but just do more reps. TBD.

Benching itself was fine. It was actually kinda nice to use the lighter weights to better reinforce technique — especially telling myself with every rep to CRUSH the bar. I find that when I get into the bottom position I will loosen my grip on the bar, which is NOT what I need. So I am hoping that lots of reps at lighter weights (e.g. the BBB sets) will allow me to think less about the weight and everything else and just focus on that “CRUSH” cue throughout the rep.

Lunges were a little painful at first due to the knee issues, but I keep going in hopes this will make life better. I am doing them with a little assistance, so I can manage the pain issues but as I go along it’s less and less – I don’t want to use my hands to help me up, but I will if I need. But at least it seems to only truly be needed on the first few reps.

Everything else is what it is. It feels like not enough volume (a common 5/3/1 complaint), but that’s ok — I’m taking that cue from the RP work of starting with less and incrementally building it over the weeks.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Bench Press
  • bar x 10
  • 100 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 155 x 3
  • 165 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 215 x 5
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 10e x 10
  • 10e x 10
  • 10e x 10
• Kroc Rows (superset with bench work sets)
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 21e
• Lunges (superset with bench BBB sets)
  • BW x 10e
  • BW x 10e
  • BW x 10e
• Pushdowns
  • 75 x 20
  • 75 x 20
  • 75 x 15
• Slant Board Sit-ups
  • 22 x 10
  • 22 x 10
  • 22 x 10

Another day, another lifetime PR set!

Today was Press day, and I pressed 195#. Like my other lifetime PRs, they were all last set back in December 2016, so I’m happy to have recovered from my losses and be back on track. What’s especially happy to me here is I haven’t pressed in ages, so to come in and do this was happy.

Also, I almost failed. I knew 195 would be pushing it, but I had the confidence I could do it — but it’d be a true 1RM if I did. I unracked the bar and things didn’t feel right — didn’t have the air, didn’t have the right setup. I pressed and only got about halfway. Racked it. Took a second, got better air, better tightness, better setup, and went again. Yes there was grind, there was sticking point, but I THINK I let out a yell or a big grunt or something (music in my earbuds was loud so I don’t really know) and up it went. It was quite satisfying.

Anyways, that made for a great cap to the week. I set lifetime PRs in squat, deadlift, and press. I didn’t in bench press because I explicitly stopped short, and now I wish I had pressed forward and tried it. Oh well, no biggie. This was a LOT of fun to do, and I haven’t had this much fun in ages. It was great to just go in, push myself, and that I set some PRs was quite satisfying because it showed me my work to date has been what I needed. Plus it’s just fun to get back to lifting heavy again — it’s what I crave.

So next week I’ll start my new programming in earnest. We’ll see how it goes. What actually makes me excited? Looking at my numbers from this past week and I realize that hitting my goal of 3/4/5 (or maybe now: 2/3/4/5 if I throw Press in there too) is achievable in a year (or less) if I work smart, stay healthy, and have good progress. Motivation to keep it smart.

Oh – the lunges. It sucked. I know starting off the work here on the bodyweight single-leg work is going to be painful as my knees rehab. But I can already say it seems to be paying off — I don’t feel as stiff, as achey. It’s still too early to really know for sure but I’ll just do what I can as I can. So like today, 5 reps was all I could muster due to the discomfort, but that’s ok: break it up into smaller chunks and do more chunks and it worked out quite well.

Finding Maxes

• Press
  • bar x 5
  • 75 x 5
  • 95 x 5
  • 115 x 3
  • 135 x 1
  • 155 x 1
  • 175 x 1
  • 195 x 1 (PR)
  • 105 x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 105 x 5
• Normal Grip Pulldown
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 12
• Lunges
  • bw x 5e
  • bw x 5e
  • bw x 5e
  • bw x 5e
  • bw x 5e
  • bw x 5e

Another lifetime PR set: deadlift 465#

While I don’t consider these numbers to be all that great in the grand scheme of things, the reason they matter to me is because it’s been about 1.5 years since I could lift such weight. Last time I set PRs was in December 2016. Since then I dealt with massive weight loss (and then strength loss), then various injury issues, and so on that really kept me back and down. I was hoping that by the end of 2017 I’d be 3/4/5: bench 3 wheels (315#), squat 4 wheels (405#), deadlift 5 wheels (495#), but various things derailed me. But things are getting back on track. I’ve gotten smarter, wiser, understand my body and needs better, I understand more science and art of lifting and progressing.

I don’t regret a bit of the setbacks because I learned so much from them. But they were still setbacks. And I think it’s fair testimony to Renaissance Periodization’s approaches that I’m now where I am (both the good and bad of that).

So I’m just happy right now.

As for today…

Based on lifts to date, I figured 405-415 would be the EDM. So I did a simple warm-up and work-up. Once I hit 365 I thought to just go 405 but then thought against it: too big a jump because if it did wind up being a problem I wouldn’t know really where things should be. So I opted for 20# jumps as a way to get reasonable jumps but also still know where things might actually lie when the lift slowed down.

385, no problem. 405 went up pretty easily too. So what the heck, keep going because once I detect a slow-down in bar speed or some grinding then I know the prior number will be used for my EDM. I thought about making smaller jumps at this point but then thought why? because that’s just second guessing myself, and if the “last set” is a little lighter for an EDM so what? starting too light is fine. 425 started to feel a bit of strain but really still fine. So I said why not and went 445. Here I certainly felt the slow down and knew I was beyond EDM, but it still went up quite well. I knew my prior best was 460, and while I don’t know for sure, I reckon given where I was at the time technique-wise, it probably “legal but ugly”. So I figured to go for it and did 465: just another 20# jump, would be a PR, and what’s the worst? I fail. Meh.

It went up great. Not without a little strain, but I know I could have done more if I wanted to — there was more in the tank. But I figured this was good enough: I’m not out to establish a true 1RM, I’m not out to destroy myself today, just find an EDM — but along the way I was able to do something fun. 🙂

So I’m happy with it all, and have a nice EDM to work from.

Establishing Maxes

• Deadlift
  • 135 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 315 x 3
  • 365 x 1
  • 385 x 1
  • 405 x 1
  • 425 x 1
  • 445 x 1
  • 465 x 1 (PR)
  • 250 x 5
  • 250 x 5
  • 250 x 5
  • 250 x 5
  • 250 x 5
• Front Plate Raise (all the way above the head)
  • 25 x 20
  • 35 x 12
  • 35 x 10
• Seated Leg Curl
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 6