Nothing like a fantastic workout to start the week off right. Set a fantastic personal record (PR), and everything just went awesome.

“Week 3”

• 5/3/1 – Deadlift (working max: 295#)
  • 1x5x120
  • 1x5x150
  • 1x3x180
  • 1x5x225 (work)
  • 1x3x255
  • 1x8x285 (PR)
• Asst. #1 – Good Mornings
  • 5 x 10 x 65
• Asst. #2 – Hanging Leg Hip Raise
  • 5 x 10 x WT
• GPP – Sprints
  • Tabata style (20 sec. sprint, 10 sec. walk)
  • 2 “laps” walking (warmup)
  • 5 “reps” (8 reps is one Tabata set)
  • 2 “laps” walking (cooldown)
• Grip
  • 2x10xS, 2 sec. hold between reps
  • 3x5xT, 2 sec. hold between reps
  • 1 10 sec hold, No. 1
• DeFranco Agile 8

Today just kicked-ass.

Set a great PR, 1x8x285. I don’t know if it’s because I love deadlifting, or if I love deadlifting because I get to move a lot of weight and there’s something just fundamentally primal about picking a shitload of weight off the ground as a show of strength (same with overhead pressing). Whatever it is, deadlift days are probably my favorite and today demonstrated why. Just strong strong strong. Everything moved well. I stopped at 8 reps because in fact I actually felt my back muscles say “OK, starting to feel exhausting, leave a couple in the tank.” which is different from past times where I’ve stopped for some other reason (e.g. last week’s deadlift stopping because of lightheadedness). Just went really well, and honestly I can’t wait to break the 300# barrier.

Good mornings were a bitch because I actually exhausted my back pretty well during the deadlifts. 🙂

During the leg raises I noticed… well, I’ve noticed the past time or two that I’m starting to curl all the way up, kinda gymnast-like. The way Wendler describes you to do things, you actually do it with straight legs and bring your toes up to the bar. Well, I can’t quite do it with legs extended, but the thighs and body are certainly in the proper position that if legs were straight they would be touching. I’m finding myself getting into the movement a bit more, still minimizing momentum, still trying to be as dead-hang as possible so it’s all me muscling through it, but increasing the full range of motion. This is good.

Sprints continue to feel better each time I do them, body is getting used to it, slow but sure. Same with the Agile 8.

On grip…. well, in and of itself it’s fine. But I picked up the second edition of the Wendler 5/3/1 book and of course I’m having some thoughts on how to tweak my program. Assistance work is supposed to help you work on weak spots, and grip/forearms are in there. So I’m thinking about things to do… many thoughts swirling in my head, no firm idea yet. But one thought is bringing “rest-pause” into the mix and maybe ditching the “light” day of my grip work (on bench press/row day) and instead doing something like pronated-grip/reverse curls to work the brachioradialis in a rest-pause set (1x5x50%, then 1×60% rest-pause style… after rows, and that’s all I add). Not sure, we’ll see. Just thinking a lot, no need to make a decision for a while yet.

Anyways, today felt awesome.

Speaking of the 2nd edition of Wendler 5/3/1, another thing I’m trying to do is change up the diet a bit more. I’ve been doing well on the “carb” thing, minimizing carbs from high-carb sources and worthless carbs, but lots and lots of veggies, green leafies, etc., tho I still have some carbs (e.g. oats in the post-workout shake) and other such things. But the bigger thing is more protein. One of Wendler’s templates has you chug 50g of whey just before a meal, then have about 30-50g of meat during the meal (followed by some other carbs and such) and do this 4-6 times a day. I’m working on about 4x a day because that’ll put me at about 300-400g protein a day, with minimal other stuff (fats are still reasonable, carbs kept minimal tho again lots of low-carb veggies). And we’ll see how it goes. I have been thinking I need to up my protein for various reasons, but I’ll have to watch it because I do not want to just get fat which has happened in the past when I consumed vast quantities of protein, but I think it was also because I didn’t mind my other macronutrient intake.

Just experimenting.

Set an awesome, but strangely anti-climatic, personal record.

“Week 3”

• 5/3/1 – Press (working max: 140#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x55
  • 1x5x70
  • 1x3x85
  • 1x5x105 (work)
  • 1x3x120
  • 1x5x135 (PR)
• Asst. #1 – Press
  • 5 x 10 x 65
• Asst. #2 – Supinated shoulder-width grip lat pulldowns
  • 5 x 10 x 120
• GPP – Sprints
  • Tabata style (20 sec. sprint, 10 sec. walk)
  • 2 “laps” walking (warmup)
  • 5 “reps” (8 reps is one Tabata set)
  • 2 “laps” walking (cooldown)
• DeFranco Agile 8

Today’s PR was a significant one because I broke into the realm of 45# plates on my press. 🙂

But oddly, it was anti-climactic. Of course, I knew for weeks this PR day was coming and I knew I’d set a PR because that’s just how the program progresses. I was really looking forward to it for the fact I’d be using 45’s and while I don’t lift for ego, there’s no question the ego gets satisfied with things like that. Once you start moving 45’s, you start to feel like you’re moving real weight. So I’ve been looking forward to today for weeks. Even last night before I went to bed I was giddy with excitement. When I loaded the plates onto the bar it felt cool. I was smiling a lot. When I pulled the bar out of the rack, it felt a little different because there’s a change in how the weight feels with the larger plates (center of gravity and such), but really not a whole lot. And I just pressed like anything else. When I was done and racked the bar, I thought I might feel some elation and excitement, but it just felt like any old press set.

In a way, I was bummed… but then, I don’t know what I was expecting to feel because it’s just weight. But in a way, I thought it was kinda cool I didn’t feel anything special about it because it’s just weight. The body and muscles don’t care that it’s 45# plates, only my mind and ego.

So still, very cool. I’m happy to have cranked out 5 reps with it. And now, life goes on… next up, 140#. And so on, and so on.

One thing on a form factor, I continue to work with my breathing so I don’t get all light-headed. I am finding that just breathing regularly up to the bar, tighten up and hold breath and unrack, if I feel the need then exhale while I get into position but keep tight, take as many breaths as I need before I start doing the movement to get my head clear and solid (tho not too long, of course), and then get going. On Press it’s slightly different since I want to breathe at the top of the movement so, I breath, press the first rep up, then breath again and THERE I start my rhythm… so it’s a bit of an “off beat” but alright.

Everything else rolled OK. I am thinking that sooner or later I’m going to stop doing lat pulldowns and try going back to chin-ups. Not sure I’m ready for it yet, but I have thought about buying a band to help me if I can’t yet crank out enough reps. The goal is of course to do proper chins, and so who knows… maybe if I’m not there yet I shouldn’t just crank 5×10 across on my lat pulldowns but try to move it more to a 5×5 across to get the strength up. We’ll see.

I’m glad I’m repeating the cycle.

“Week 2”

• 3 reps – Squat (working max: 240#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
• 1x5x120
• 1x3x145
• 1x3x170 (work)
• 1x3x195
• 1x5x220

Asst. #1 – Squats

• 5 x 10 x 100

Asst. #2 – Leg Curls

• 5 x 10 x 65

GPP – Sprints

• Tabata style (20 sec. sprint, 10 sec. walk)
• 2 “laps” walking (warmup)
• 5 “reps” (8 reps is one Tabata set)
• 2 “laps” walking (cooldown)

DeFranco Agile 8

I am glad I opted to fall back on squats and repeat my weights/numbers from the previous cycle. What with the sprinting, I think I need it. I repeated my performance from last cycle, doing 5 reps with 220. This actually felt better tho. I’m working on the “light headed” feeling by getting under the bar without much fanfare and extra breathing. Big breath in, tighten up, lift the bar, and keep myself tight as I back out BUT allow myself to exhale while I back out. The struggle here is letting the air out while maintaining tightness. Get into position, allow myself a couple breaths, then go. And that seems to be helping. Good deal.

Sprints actually felt good this morning. Note that it’s below freezing outside. I still walked to the gym and then ran (all hail good warm Under Armour sweats!). Even after all the leg work, I managed to do alright with sprints. I think that I’m finding a good groove where I don’t need to kill myself but I’m still pushing myself. I may stick with 5 “reps” during next week, we’ll just see how I feel. No need to kill myself, this is a marathon (to mix metaphors).

I’m also feeling better with the DeFranco Agile 8. Seems to be helping… at least my adductors don’t feel as tight.

Looking forward to the week ahead. PR time!

Today was alright.

“Week 2”

• 3 Reps – Bench Press (working max: 210#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x85
  • 1x5x105
  • 1x3x130
  • 1x3x150 (work)
  • 1x3x170
  • 1x7x190
• Asst. #1 – Bench Press
  • 5 x 10 x 120
• Asst. #2 – 1 Arm DB Rows
  • 5 x 10 x 50
• Grip
  • 3x10xS, 2 sec. hold between reps
• DeFranco Agile 8

Nothing really to report. A good workout in general. I tried wearing my belt during benching but it’s the same thing with presses: I tighten my midsection instead of pressing out. I just have to take the time to adjust and get used to it… to make the mental shift. Tho I’m probably not going to focus on it too much more since “week 3” heavy week is almost upon me. Just do what I do and during deload and into the next cycle I can continue to work on it.

I didn’t sprint today due to lack of time, heavy rain, and icy cold wind. Plus I drove to/from the gym. Wuss, I know. I also find the DeFranco Agile 8 can wind me some…. is that right? Or is my aerobic capacity just that crappy? *sigh* It makes me think that I might want to change up my cycle a bit and see about focusing on weight loss for a time… but, the reality is if I stay steady on the sprints and keep my diet in check, that should help me shed the flab. So, I just need to give it more time before I change things up too much.

Nothing much to report. Just another day at the gym.

Today was a good, but abbreviated, day.

“Week 2”

• 3 reps – Deadlift (working max: 295#)
  • 1x5x120 (warmup)
  • 1x5x150
  • 1x3x180
  • 1x5x210 – oops (work)
  • 1x3x240
  • 1x10x270 (PR-ish)
• Asst. #1 – Good Mornings
  • 5 x 10 x 65
• Asst. #2 – Hanging Knee Curl/Raises
  • 5 x 6 x BW
• DeFranco Agile 8
• Grip
  • 2x10xS, 2 sec. hold between reps
  • 3x5xT, 2 sec. hold between reps
  • 1 10 sec hold, No. 1

I had to cut today short. I had an early appointment to tend to, so time was critical this morning. I drove to/from the gym, I supersetted the assistance work, I didn’t sprint. Not what I wanted to do, but it shaved off 30 minutes and that was important time. Just how it goes sometimes.

But I think it may have played well into mental outlook on the workout. First, I wasn’t distracted with the workout. The mindset wasn’t wondering about the workout, it was “just get in there, lift, leave”. As well, I figure since I didn’t feel a need to worry about having energy for other things, I put everything into it. Hitting 10 reps @ 270# isn’t a pure PR, but the last true PR was 1x8x275; 10 reps with 270 isn’t something I’ve done before, and when you “mathematically compare” those two amounts of work (for whatever equations are worth), today was more than the true PR. I don’t really care about being a true PR or not, just that I know I’m getting stronger and better. I attribute this to better mindset, improvements on my sleep issues which contributes to better recovery, and just a desire to break that 300# work weight barrier. 🙂

Frankly the only reason I stopped at 10 reps is because well… that’s still a LOT for what should be a “>3 rep” set, and I just got to a point where my head said “enough” because all that breath holding was getting me a little light headed. Needed a break. 🙂

Supersetting the GM’s and curls is probably something I should stop doing. It seems my right shoulder isn’t happy with that, because it goes from this extreme position of flexion in the “squat” position to being at an extreme extension/hang/stretch with the curls. It’s just a lot of extreme stress on the shoulder and it told me so. Before the 5th set I took about 30 seconds of rest between the two and my shoulder was much happier. So, that’s how it goes. Still, I feel good about the curls, really getting my full body into it and getting my knees way up there and really curling my body into a fetal position… not just raising my legs up and stopping with thighs parallel. Feels good! In fact, today was so good that for a moment I thought “gee, so that’s how the gymnasts do it”. Not that I feel I’m anywhere near things, but for a fleeting moment I didn’t feel like such a wuss.

Alas, no sprints or anything else today. I did manage to do the grip work since that’s not too difficult to do while I do some other things around the house (instead of on my walk home, since I didn’t have one today). Just how it goes sometimes. I’ll resume on Monday.

Something new has been added!

“Week “

• 3 reps – Press (working max: 140#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x55
  • 1x5x70
  • 1x3x85
  • 1x3x100 (work)
  • 1x3x115
  • 1x6x130 (PR)
• Asst. #1 – Press
  • 5 x 10 x 65
• Asst. #2 – Supine shoulder-width grip lat pulldowns
  • 5 x 10 x 120
• GPP – Sprints
  • Tabata style (20 sec. sprint, 10 sec. walk)
  • 5 “reps” (8 reps is one Tabata set)
  • walked 2 “laps” to warm up, then 2 at the end for a cooldown
• DeFranco Agile 8

Today was good. I set a PR on Press. I’ve done 130 before but got 3 reps. Today I got 6. Stronger. I should have no problem hitting 135. Confidence is high, repeat, confidence is high.

One change. Because weights are getting heavier, I’m going to wear the belt more. I’ve been wearing the belt only for my work sets on squats and deadlifts, but I’m going to start wearing it for my work sets on presses and bench press too. Why? All the torso stability from the Valsalva Maneuver. Funny thing tho… because I’m not used to wearing it during pressing, today when I wore it it did me no good: I tighten my torso, I don’t press out like Valsalva requires. Of course, the pressing out lends to much better stability, so I’m just going to have to train myself to do it. I’m going to start wearing the belt for all sets of pressing and benching (warmup, work, and BBB assistance) until I retrain myself.

On the assistance work, it was a breeze because I got a lot of rest between sets. The gym was a little chattier than usual this morning, so I was chatting a little more between sets. All good, but a little more rest than I wanted. No worries tho, it happens. Rest is good.

On sprints, I opted to not start out at 100 MPH. My problem the past few times is I start running and try to just sprint right out of the block — it’s caused me some pain in my right hamstring and even today is still a little sore. So instead, start at 0 and just accelerate quickly, ease into it. That was a lot better, I found a better groove. Did 5 reps today and will continue at 5 for the next “week” of the program. My feeling is hit 6 during the work week and stay at 6 during deload week since it’s deload week.

I also started doing the DeFranco Agile 8. The hamstring pulling motivated me — I need to improve that hip area flexibility, and this is recommended to help. Good thing. I will say, I had no idea a foam roller would hurt so much. 🙂 Not sure what that indicates but wow, my muscles went “OW!”… guess they’re that sore and in need.

Blah. This sucked. 😦

“Week 1”

• 5 reps – Squat (working max: 250#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x100
  • 1x5x125
  • 1x53x150
  • 1x5x165 (work)
  • 1x5x190
  • 1x5x215
• Asst. #1 – Squat
  • 5 x 10 x 100
• Asst. #2 – Leg Curls
  • 5 x 10 x 65
• GPP – Sprints
  • Tabata style (20 sec. sprint, 10 sec. walk)
  • 4 “reps” (8 reps is one Tabata set)

Well, today sucked.

You can see on my work set that what should have been >5 reps was only 5 reps. I know why tho. You know how I’ve been having “light headed” issues when I pick up heavy weights? That happened. I’ve been trying to experiment to find ways to mitigate it, such as not doing any deep breaths before I get under the bar, deep breath, tighten up, lift bar, assume position, then breathe a couple of times to get my head back, then start reps. Well, I did that and thought things were well enough, but as each rep progressed I could feel my head hating it and things getting worse. I don’t know why. By the 5th rep I knew there was no way I’d make the 6th, so I racked it.

I’m annoyed, but I’ll live with it because it happened. Plus I have been debating backing off due to the addition of sprints. Given what happened today I am going to back off the rest of this cycle to the previous cycle’s numbers. I don’t need to exceed the numbers, at least work to meet them. Because again, I’m trying to ensure my body can adapt to the sprint workload. That’s a bit more important.

Or, I could make an excuse that I was lifting heavier today because I know I put on 5# from eating over the long Thanksgiving weekend. 😉 Yeah, I slacked on eating because I took the long week as a mental health break. It worked well, not only napping, but a bit of improvement in my sleep schedule (getting more sleep at night). The only reason I feel bummed today is 1. it’s back to the day job, 2. I didn’t get enough reps on that last set. But oh well.

And sprints today…. I’ll be sticking with 4 for a bit longer, tho oddly I felt like I could have gone 5. I only didn’t because I already had quite a leg workout and don’t want to push it too hard and affect recovery. I’ll try going for 5 on Wednesday.

Realized some things today….

“Week 1”

• 5 reps – Bench Press (working max: 210#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x85
  • 1x5x105
  • 1x3x130
  • 1x5x140 (work)
  • 1x5x160
  • 1x10x180
• Asst. #1 – Bench Press
  • 5 x 10 x 120
• Asst. #2 – Dumbbell rows
  • 5 x 10 x 50
• GPP – Sprints
  • 2 “reps” of walking the course (90-ish yards each way)
  • Tabata style (20 sec. sprint, 10 sec. walk)
  • 4 “reps” (8 reps is one Tabata set)
  • 2 “reps” of walking for a cooldown
• Grip
  • 3x10xS, 2 sec. hold between reps

Today a few things hit home.

First, I’ve found myself saying “gosh, the weights felt heavy today” a lot. I think I have to come to accept something: the weights are always going to feel heavy now. I read about guys squatting 1000# and they say that it feels like you’re being crushed by all the weight. Sure I only squat a fraction of that, but the point remains: it’s just going to be heavy because it is heavy. You are going to feel all that weight upon you. So, I have to stop thinking “gosh it’s heavy” as if in some way expecting it to maybe feel light… because it won’t ever again (except maybe on deload weeks, relative to the week prior).

On that same token, I need to increase my rest periods. On the 5/3/1 exercise, warmups can rest enough to change the plates and move on. On the work sets, no more “2 min max” rest, instead go for a 3 minute minimum and more if I need it. On assistance work, at least 1 minute but no more than 2.

Both of these things come from a simple place: inexperience. Never in my life have I moved weights this heavy. I’ve never been here before. I just don’t know what to expect. Plus, all lifting I’ve ever done has always been “bodybuilder style” lifting, where you want to keep rest periods short. Now I’m about strength building (with muscle mass a secondary consideration), and that just means I will need more rest, especially as the weights get heavier. So it’s a bunch of changing my habits, changing my perceptions. The timer during my work sets isn’t to say “start lifting when the timer gets to zero or just prior”, but instead “you can’t even think about starting to lift until the timer hits zero, and take more if you need it”. Assistance work is to build some mass, so a little less rest is going to happen there, but I still want to allow myself to rest if I need it…. just not too much.

So on that….

The work sets of benching went well. Pushed out 10 reps with the 180 and felt good there.

On assistance benching, I’m going to start pausing at the bottom of the rep to give myself a little more work. Due to that, I almost didn’t make it through the sets today. 🙂

Rows felt good. Keeping my arm at about a 45º angle (instead of upper arm “pinned” to my side) and that feels like it’s hitting my back more in the way I need it. I think about moving the elbow up, not pulling the weight up. That gets more back involved, less concern about my arms.

Sprints… felt a little more comfortable with it all today, but I am still going to need time to catch my stride and feel comfortable with it. As I type this, my calves/shins are hurting… I really don’t want shin splints to happen, thus the new running shoes. But my body still needs to adapt to it all, so I’ll stick with only 4 “reps” for now until my body adjusts and adapts. On that note, I had been thinking about keeping my squat work this cycle at last cycle’s work levels because of this extra leg work. I’m not sure now, due to my change in attitude about the rest periods. I’m going to go ahead and let the next workout progress as normal (i.e. 10# jump over last cycle) and we’ll just see how it goes. If it slays me and I have recovery problems, I’ll back off. Else, press on!

I also opted to change my grip workout a bit. I’m going to do the “heavy” grip work on deadlift day since that puts a lot of grip work in with the deadlifts and the hanging leg/knee raises. But then, I’ll do the “light” grip day on bench day. I get some grip work on this day, so I think light day can happen here. This also allows more recovery time then between grip workouts instead of spreading things across every workout and risking impacting recovery in a negative way. We’ll see how it goes.

Tried something else for sprints today…. ouch. 🙂

“Week 1”

• 5 reps – Deadlifts (working max: 295#)
  • 1x5x120 (warmup)
  • 1x5x150
  • 1x3x180
  • 1x5x195 (work)
  • 1x5x225
  • 1x8x255
• Asst. #1 – Good Mornings
  • 5 x 10 x 65
• Asst. #2 – Hanging Knee Raises
  • 5 x 6 x BW
• Metcon – Sprints
  • 1/2 a Tabata set, 20 seconds sprint, 10 seconds walk
• Grip
  • 2x10xS, 2 sec hold between each rep
  • 3x5xT, 2 sec hold between each rep
  • 1 10 sec hold, No. 1

Today was OK. Weight felt kinda heavy and looking back well, my deadlift PR was 1x8x275 so why I only cranked out 8 with 255 today I’m not sure. I did feel like I could do more but said “leave some in the tank”. So maybe it was just being conservative. I’m also a bit concerned about my rest levels… sleep has been an issue for me (some problems) and I just may not be recovering like I need to. Hrm. Still, they felt like strong reps, just like I didn’t want to do a whole lot.

I supersetted the good mornings and the knee raises. My knee raises are doing well, working to touch my knees to my shoulders on every rep, so I’m getting a good curl with my body, working more than just hip flexors. I did notice my left hand grip starting to slip on the last couple reps of the last couple sets, but I just hung on and kept going. The superset works things a little harder, but I’m good with that due to time and a little more intensity.

Sprints. First thing…. I bought myself a good pair of running shoes because Chucks just won’t cut it with all the impact involved, so that means more gear to haul to the gym: lift in Chucks, run in the New Balances. I then paced off 90 yards. The plan is to use the Tabata method: sprint 20 seconds, walk 10 seconds, that’s “1 rep”. If I can pull 1 good set of those (8 “reps”) that should be a good start. But of course, there’s no way I’m doing 8 right now. I only did 4 (so “half” a set). I want to get my body used to things: the running, the impact, the whole motion. 4 didn’t quite tax me today, I was sucking wind but didn’t feel exhausted or like I was going to throw up, but it was good enough. My lower legs are a bit tight and achy from the past couple sprint trials, just because it’s a new motion. Plus today’s deadlifting put a lot of work into my hamstrings and on the first sprint I guess I had a little too much stride and my right hamstring isn’t too happy with me right now. I don’t want to have this long gazelle stride where my heel lands way out in front of me and then my hams “pull” my body forward, rather I want to just keep having my body being “pushed forward” by my stride; so it won’t be this long stride, but knees high, arms pumping, and going as hard as I can. Again, kinda like tire running or well, what you’d do if you were pushing a Prowler. Of course, by round 3 I felt like I was sprinting for my life but I’m sure I looked like I was barely jogging. 🙂 All good. I’ll work my way up. At least this felt like a lot more work and intensity than rope jumping.

And grip, I bumped up to a 3×5 for the “work”. Left hand is of course a little weaker and I’ll keep things at a level until my left catches up with my right. My always think to involve the pinky: that’s so key

Speaking of grip stuff… I tried that “Liquid Chalk” stuff today. Seemed alright. Not sure how much it actually helped, but I don’t think it hurt.

I think I may take a nap today.