Felt good to get back to the gym. But I cannot lie that the week off was good for my body.

I’m now taking a different approach to my training. Still working towards my 3/4/5 goal, but I need to take a side-step and shed some fat. Yeah, after the big effort and 66 lb. dropped, I let myself get too big again. Some of it was expected and allowed, but for sure the past couple months I let the holidays get the best of me. I was already planning on doing a cut at this time, just that now I’ve got further to go. Sigh. Oh well, my own fault.

I’m working back with Renaissance Periodization, but instead of 1-on-1 doing the auto-templates to see how they will go. I’ll stay on this for about 12-14 weeks.

My gym work will be primarily hypertrophy-oriented work, since that’s best when cutting. I’m going to roughly follow the “5/3/1 for Powerlifting, off-season for mass” template, with minor adjustments for me. Keeps the main strength movement in, but everything else is geared towards hypertrophy. And I’m trying to really focus on that.

So for instance, when picking weights for today I really dropped things down because it’s not so much about the weight and the movement as it will be about the muscle and trying to chase that pump. One BIG thing I’m going to try is on all assistance work to move at roughly a 3-0-1-0 tempo — really work that eccentric. Really work to feel and make the muscle work.

Boy, I felt it today. 🙂

The main movement was fine. It’s programmed to have a drop set at the end, with the only guidance being to get 10-15 reps. So I went for 60% and figured to keep that straight for all the weeks to see how things go. Easily hit 15 reps today, so I’ll bump the weight up. I may keep it at a straight weight, or I may do things first-set-last style.

I forgot that during the main pressing movement I’m to superset lat pulldowns — I had avoided the superset because of the arm pains. So after a couple pressing sets I remembered and started doing the pulldowns. I have opted on at least 1 pressing day to do behind-the-neck pulldowns. Why? Because I expect it’ll be good for my shoulders to explore that range of motion. 🙂 I’m thinking Press day I may do behind-the-neck for straight, higher-rep sets (up to 15 reps). Then on bench day to do to the chest and pyramid up to sets of 8. Anyways, I kept it light today just to get the feel and make sure my shoulders would be happy — and at first it was a little awkward, but things loosened up and felt good by the end.

DB Presses were a little on the light and easy side, but again I was aiming for that 3-0-1-0 tempo and ensuring that the pressing was coming from shoulders contracting, not arms pressing. I’ll bump the weight up next session.

BB Curls were loads of fun. Really dropped the weight and worked on being super strict with 3-0-1-0 tempo — Only 50 reps, but that eccentric really became tough towards the end. Very nice pump for what it was.

Then the lat raises were a superset, again dropping the weight down so I could focus on the eccentric. Also really light on the bent-overs so I could ensure I was contracting the posterior delts: no swing, not using back muscles.

My intention is to stick fairly much with the template for at least 3 weeks, then in the 2nd 3 weeks I might up the intensities a bit with say making the main movement back-off set into a couple rest-pauses or maybe a 50% — just add a little something more. But still, try to keep things conservative. Because I expect in the 2nd 6-week cycle I’ll generally keep the same program so to up the intensity I’d do something like say on the curls and raises, end with partials or just something else to help jack things up a bit. Don’t do this all at once, work up to it, give myself somewhere to go over these 12-14 weeks.

Finished with about 15 minutes of fast elliptical work (130-150 strides/minute). My off days will be heavier on the cardio, but I do want to end every gym day with 10-20 minutes of cardio. I mean, if that burns say 100 more calories, then 4 gym days, 4 more sessions, maybe 400 more calories each week burned — over time, that will add up.

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

• Press (superset with high-rep behind-the-neck lat pulldowns)
  • bar x whatever
  • 65 x 5
  • 80 x 5
  • 100 x 3
  • 105 x 5
  • 125 x 5
  • 140 x 5
  • 100 x 15
• DB Shoulder Press
  • 40e x 10
  • 40e x 10
  • 40e x 10
  • 40e x 10
  • 40e x 10
• BB Curls
  • 45 x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 45 x 10
• DB Rear Raises (superset with lat raises)
  • 8e x 10
  • 8e x 10
  • 8e x 10
• DB Lateral Raises
  • 15e x 10
  • 15e x 10
  • 15e x 10

This is going to be all about my fitness, lifting, and fat-gain/loss… reader beware. 🙂

I’m not really a “yearly-basis” person, I don’t do “New Years Resolutions”. I’m more that if I need to resolve to improve something, start at the appropriate time (often “now”). But it just so happens that it works out to look at things based upon the changing of the calendar, so here we are.

Looking back on 2016

December 2015 and I ended The Defattening Project (phase 1) – dropping 66 lb. down to 199 lb. It was a good thing.

After that, I wanted to start rebuilding, but it was too much for my body to handle at the time. I got around March, realized I was getting a little too big, and tried doing another cut cycle. The reality? After almost 2 years of cutting, my body, mind, and soul had enough. I was tired of not making gains, of being hungry, of being weak, of all that. So around June I switched back to a known: Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program.

I wanted to get my strength back. I lost a lot of strength during the intense cutting. I lost a lot of things in general. I was unhappy. I wanted things back. So I opted to go on 5/3/1, put in the work, and just focus on the work. 5/3/1 works, if you do the work. Yeah it’s not perfect, but the results are undeniable. My intent was to do the work, follow templates, work to get stronger. No testing, despite my endless curiosity if I was getting my strength back or not. Told myself that at the end of the year I could test (and not before). Not so much because it was the end of the year, but that’d be “enough cycles” (if you do the 5/3/1 math) to perhaps have gotten things back.

The goal?

My current “big goal” is “3/4/5”. That is, to bench press “3”, squat “4”, and deadlift “5”. What “3” means is really 3 wheels: 3, 45# plates for 315#. But it could also be simply 300# — but it’s fine because you have to hit 300 to get to 315. And “4” is 405 (4 45# plates), and “5” is 495 (5 45# plates).

Have I hit that goal? Nope, but I’ve made great progress.

Again, I was not going to test until the end of the year, but when I got here I sure did.

My results:

• Squat: 345 lb
• Bench: 275 lb
• Deadlift: 460 lb
• Press: 185 lb

Every single one is a (gym) PR, and a lifetime best. My previous bests were generally well below those points, and set quite some time ago. So I didn’t just rebuild my strength, I took it to new levels.  What’s also cool is that I know some of my past PR setting may have been questionable (was the squat truly to depth? was my butt stapled to the bench?) But all of these were solid. In fact, I loved my Press PR because I just kept the bar overhead for a good 5 seconds or so and savored the moment. 🙂

Plus, I PR’d in ALL 4 lifts. Awesome.

Sure, in the grand scheme of strength sports, I’m still a wuss. But for me? It’s the strongest I’ve ever been in my life, and the best I’ve ever done. I’m fucking stoked. 🙂

As I look back, I think the Press PR was the coolest to me. Press has been the hardest lift for me to get working, in terms of technique, but also general progress. So to slam that “1.5 plates” overhead and hold it and savor the moment? It was great.

And I’m still not going to say I love squatting, but damn if life doesn’t feel right if I don’t squat.

Weirdly? Bench Press — the perennial bro favorite? I think it’s becoming my least favorite lift. Not because I don’t like it but my love of other lifts has grown.

What has this also taught me? Sub-maximal work works. For example, during my normal work cycles, the most I had deadlifted was 360×8 about a month ago. Then I PR 100# more than it. Yeah, submax. Solid.  It also harkens greatly to Paul Carter’s notion of Basebuilding.

That said, as awesome as things seem, there was one place I was not happy.

My weight.

I had dropped to 199 a year ago.

Today? I’m 240.

I’m not happy.

Looking Ahead to 2017

I expected some gain — including fat gain — as I progressed.

But somehow in the past few months I screwed myself.

If it was solid mass gains that’d be one thing, but it’s most evident that this is not.

Now to be fair, the last week or so I let myself go because I wanted to ensure I had all the stuff behind me to smash through PRs. But overall, I gained more than I should. have.

Really, it’s the holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. It’s so easy to eat, and I just let myself go. Same old shit. Stress in life, and food is a comfort. I allowed myself to dance in the 230’s, but the past PR week and hitting 240? I’m upset with myself.

But whatever.

My plan now?

Cut.

I’m going to pony up for some Renaissance Periodization cut templates and spend the next 3-months-ishs to cut. This has been my plan for some time now; not like it came on here at the end. I’ve known for some time I’ve been getting too fluffy, and I’ve been working to keep it under control. I just didn’t want to derail the progress towards my goals.

My intent is to spend around 12-ish weeks cutting. I know from past experience that that’s about the extent of what I can deal with.

The bigger plan? This is something I’m curious about.

5/3/1 can generally run about 5-8 cycles before needing a reset. When you reset, of course things are light(er). So my wonder? Spend about 4 cycles (or if you do the 6-week cycles, 2 6-week cycles for 14 total weeks) on a cut. This would be with a full reset, so all weights across the board are light. Cut as much as possible. Then about the time the cut comes to a close, I expect weights should also start to feel not so sexy. Then I can start a mid/light-massing diet, and that boost of carbs and such should be able to help keep progressing in the gym. And then, eventually another reset.

If all goes well, it’s my hope that the gym work and the kitchen work can ebb and flow together. That I can keep progressing on both. Probably not a very long term, but at least through 2017 so I can keep my weight in check, yet keep progressing towards my 3/4/5 goal.

But there has to be some modification of course.

The gym work is going to generally follow the “5/3/1 for Powerlifting – Offseason for Mass” template. Best thing when cutting is to lift with a hypertrophy focus, so one can minimize the muscle loss. This template is obviously geared towards that, but keeps a strength element in there. Looking at how the numbers will go, it should keep me on a good track.

I will be making some minor changes, like I don’t have access to a glute-ham-raise so I have to do hyperextensions instead. I’m going to do lunges instead of leg presses because I hate them and unilateral work is good for my knees. Just minor changes to suit my needs.

I also expect as I go along to increase the work towards hypertrophy. For example, I’m thinking in the 2nd 6-week cycle to add some Beyond 5/3/1 work like pyramids to get a little more volume, a little more strength work as I gear back up towards that end. I’ll also probably add in drop sets, rest-pause, and other things to again help with the hypertrophy focus. Basically instead of chasing weights I need to chase the pump.

That should take up the first part of 2017.

After that, the main goal is to continue progressing towards the 3/4/5 goal. I expect I’ll just continue working with 5/3/1, adjusting it as I need to to help me get there.

I’ve also started thinking about what to do after I hit that goal. But I’ll keep that to myself for now.

I’m  happy with how I’ve improved, but I also see how I have a lot of work to go – especially in terms of dietary discipline. I first heard it from Paul Howe: “Selection is a never-ending process.”

Onwards.

Nothing like going 4 for 4, with a great Press PR of 185 lb. In fact, set 2 PRs today.

I broke my all-time best Press a few weeks ago with 170 for 3 reps, and frankly I was content if that’s how this training progression ended. The Press has always been my toughest lift to progress, so getting 170 for 3 was great. But then, this week I’ve set good PRs on the other 3 lifts, so I figured wouldn’t it be great to go 4-for-4 and finish out the week, the year, the progression with another PR?

In fact, I set 2 PRs because I hit 175 then 185.

Warmup went fine. Started singles at 135 and that went up like it was nothing, which told me 185 was in the bag. 155 started to feel a little bit heavy, but still easy to put up. So I knew 175 would be fine, a PR, and a good time. I actually stuttered a bit towards lockout, but still knew 185 was do-able.

Put on Amon Amarth, psyched up, and the 185 flew up. In fact, I kept it above my head for a little bit to just savor the moment. It was a solid lift — and all my PR lifts this week were solid lifts. I actually wondered if I could have lifted a little more today, because the 185 went up so solid and easy.

Really tho, this is good stuff. “1.5 plates” is a really awesome milestone for me.

Couldn’t be happier with how this week went.

Going to take all next week off completely from the gym. Just rest up, relax, take naps, stretch, and enjoy some downtime and let my body heal up. When I come back in January, it’s going to be all new.

5/3/1-based program

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 75 x 5
  • 95 x 5
  • 115 x 3
  • 135 x 1
  • 155 x 1
  • 175 x 1 (1RM PR)
  • 185 x 1 (1RM PR)

AAAAND another PR set: 460 lb. deadlift.

Today exceeded my expectations. I’ve changed up my deadlift technique, working to get more legs/hips and less back into it — really trying to get form happier. So far I’ve progressed well on that front and I’m happy with my progress. As a result, I expected to not break my previous PR (455 lb., Dec. 2014!), but as long as I hit 405 I was going to be happy.

Furthermore? On Monday (squat day) I did something to my back. While warming up I was doing hip circles and felt something odd in my lower back. Can’t place what it is, it just happened quick. Nothing major, but something. Squatting went well, PR’d there. I felt the issue in my lower back and figured sleep on it and I’ll see how it is in the morning. Tuesday morning, it was still there; maybe a hint better, but generally unchanged. And here now Thursday, it’s still present. It’s just a small thing, but it’s there. Interesting tho that if I bent with a slight round to my back, I feel it; keep my back flat, no issues. So I figured I would deadlift today regardless and see what happened. I do NOT want a lower back injury for sure, but at least then doing some reps, getting some blood pumped through the area, always helps.

So get this.

1. Warm-ups. Lightest weight. Third rep? I feel this twinge in the lower back. Ho-lee-shit. Really? Ugh. I opted to keep going tho, because I knew 1. I let my back round a little, 2. if it’s going to be a problem then it will be a problem — I can stop, I can just keep it very light and get some reps in, whatever. Just see how it goes.

185 went fine.

225 went fine.

Put on my belt. 275 for a single was light.

315 went up really fast, almost like I was lifting nothing.

365 and it finally felt like there was a little weight in my hands.

405 and I was slowing down a bit, form hinting at breaking down. I hit my target and felt OK about stopping, but man… I felt like there was still a lot left in me. So why not go for it? The worst thing that can happen is I miss, and so what?

So I put a 10 on each side of the bar and rested. When I came back to do the lift, I figured why not and threw a 5 on each side for 435 lb.. My thinking? If I’m going for it, might as well go for it. That puts me very close to my all-time best, positions me well for the reset in the upcoming training cycle, and again if I miss I miss, so what?

435 went up fine. A little loss of form, but still acceptable. And I knew, I still had something.

I put 455 on the bar to at least tie my PR, again because why not. Well, I was using the 2.5# plates to roll the 45’s up on to help with loading. The 2.5 was sitting there, and I said fuck it and put them on for 460. Again, if I’m going to go for it, might as well go for it. If I miss I miss. If I hit, I set a PR — 5# PR is still a PR.

A little slow going up, form breaking down, but nothing horrendous. Locked it out. And just stood there holding it for a bit, savoring the moment.

I did NOT expect this, but I’m really happy about it. 🙂

And my lower back feels fine (no worse than it has been feeling).

I’m really happy with how the week has gone so far. PR’s in squat and bench press that really exceeded my past PR’s and were strong showings (no sloppy grinding through it). The deadlift PR was a small on, but a good one.

So tomorrow, Press. I’ve already set a new lifetime PR there with 170×3 the other week, so I don’t feel a need to PR. But I figure might as well see about ending with a bang. 🙂

5/3/1-based program

• Deadlift
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 5
  • 225 x 3
  • 275 x 1
  • 315 x 1
  • 365 x 1
  • 405 x 1
  • 435 x 1
  • 460 x 1 (1RM PR)

275 lb. bench press. Lifetime PR set. Goal met. Huzzah!

My previous best bench was 255 set back in July 2015. I don’t remember for sure, but I bet it wasn’t even a solid 255. But today? Solid.

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to work up, given all my arm and shoulder pain issues. My planning went conservative and I was going to do singles of: 195, 225, 245, 265. I figured 265 was still a PR, kept things conservative, and wouldn’t kill me. But I allowed myself to call an audible depending how things felt.

Warm-ups went fine. 195 went up solid. 225 went up solid. I kept telling myself that the descent will be slow — it’s how things have evolved for me. But then touch and explode! Drive the heels in, press up and back hard. With the 225 going up so well and easy, I had no qualms about taking 255. It was somewhat also the mental approach of yesterday: match the PR, then blow it away. 255 went up well, actually surprising me a bit as to how well it went up, so I knew 275 was in the bag.

Trouble is, with the 255 set my pain started to flare up. My arms (biceps, forearms, elbow “pocket”) were starting to ache hard. I put it out of my head. Just get psyched up, shut out the pain, and drive. I knew I had the strength, I was not feeling any instability or weakness from the pain — just the pain itself. So well, the pain will fade. I’ve been working for months for this, so I was willing to accept a little pain for a lot of gain.

275 went up well and clean, which I was really happy about. Only thing I didn’t like? It was over so quickly! I didn’t have time to just relish the moment. But it had to be. As I descended, it was properly slow and controlled, but I could start to feel the pain eeking through. Touch. Press! Lock-out. Rack. Quickly. Because I knew I was going to be in a world of hurt, and as soon as I let the adrenaline die down, oh yeah… suck. I stayed in the gym for a bit, just letting my arms hang and ache, then massaging, rolling, doing what I could to bring down the pain.

Some will say it was stupid, and maybe so. But I’ve been working for this, I knew it wasn’t going to be anything more than “superficial” pain (i.e. I wasn’t feeling the instability or really risking problems). And I also knew this would be the last heavy bench I did for some time — because I’ll be resetting and starting a new program/cycle, so I’m taking the moment. 🙂

Very happy. I mean, it’s “2.5 wheels”, and with my next (major) goal being 315 well…. it doesn’t seem so far away now. Should be do-able in 2017.

Another thing?

Submaximal work works. The 275 felt strong and who knows — I very well could have ground out something more. Most of my bench work tho? Lower weight and reps. I mean, last week was 240 for 7, the week prior 225 for 10. Yeah, part of me would like to have had a cycle of working up to some heavier singles to get used to it because it is a different groove. But yeah man — submax work works. Basically, don’t worry about testing your 1RM. If you’re progressing, you’re getting stronger.

5/3/1-based program

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 95 x 5
  • 135 x 4
  • 165 x 3
  • 195 x 1
  • 225 x 1
  • 255 x 1
  • 275 x 1 (1RM PR)

345 lb. squat – lifetime PR. Goal met.

I’ve been feeling really good, and ensuring I do all I can to support a good week of 1RM testing. Sleeping well, eating well, stretching, rolling, whatever. I want to make for some good numbers this week.

My previous best ever was 325, set all the way back in August 2014!! Then a little bit of injury, plus the almost 2 years of dropping 65 lb. of fat then trying to lose a little more — and I lost a LOT of strength, especially in my squat and deadlift. So back in June I recalibrated and decided it was time to pursue new goals. The current long-term goal is “3/4/5”, meaning benching “3” (300#, or preferably 3 45# wheels for 315), squatting “4” (400#, or really 4 wheels for 405), and deadlifting “5” (500#, but with 5 wheels is actually 495). I went back to following 5/3/1 because it’s a solid program for building strength. I also told myself to just stay focused on the program, no testing 1RM’s until the end of the year. I figured about that time I’d be ready for a reset, plus it’d be enough time in-program to have made measurable and worthwhile progress.

So here we are.

A little bit of warm-up, then singles up to my goal weight. Last week I hit 300 for 6 reps, and if I was following the proper 5/3/1 schedule I’d be doing 320 for 1+ — so I knew I’d have little problem working up.

265 felt a little off to me, which shook my confidence a bit — the lightest of the singles and not feeling good. BUT I had put on wrist wraps to try to help with my pain issues, and it actually made things worse because I lost some flexiblity! I didn’t use wraps the rest of the time.

295 felt good.

Then 325 was chosen not just because it kept me at 30# jumps, but for the mental boost. It was the old PR, it was a good jump, and it was just 5# over what I was scheduled to hit. I knew when I hit this, it would give me a good read on what to do for the last set. I’d know if I should go 335, 345, or even 355 (or more). It went up solid, and I knew 345 was in the bag.

And so 345 came and went. A little shakey on the unrack and walk-out because new weight, excitement, etc. But I settled in. It’s simple — if I’m going down with the weight, I AM coming back up. Period.

It went well.

So well in fact I felt I could have done more. Like I could have gotten 2 reps if I wanted it. Or that I maybe could have actually done 350 or maybe even 355.

But coming into the session I told myself: if I hit 345, I’ll be happy. It’s a solid PR. It sets me up well for the upcoming training cycle. Be happy. Trying to do more would have just been ego lifting.

So hey, 345. New PR. No, it’s not a huge number, but it’s a good number and solid progress for me. I’m getting my strength back and making good progress towards my goal of 405. I expect I should be able to get there in 2017, barring any issues.

Happy day.

Tomorrow, bench.

I have to say, I’m a little unsure. My arm pain flared up a bit today, so I’m not sure how tomorrow will go. It will be what it will be. Meantime, the rest of today works to set myself up for that — shoulder and arm massage, stretching, etc..

And Amon Amarth is the best band to listen to, when you want to set PR’s. 🙂

5/3/1-based program

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 4
  • 205 x 3
  • 265 x 1
  • 295 x 1
  • 325 x 1
  • 345 x 1 (1RM PR)

Fine day.

Pressing went really well. 6 reps @ 165 is a nice rep-PR, and really makes me wonder if 185 is do-able next week. 🙂

Gave me some other thoughts towards the future, but really, the focus of today was pressing well and thinking about next week. I’m very excited. Feeling good. Need to continue to put emphasis on rest and recovery.

5/3/1-based program

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 75 x 5
  • 90 x 5
  • 110 x 3
  • 130 x 5 (should have been 3, but I just kept going…)
  • 150 x 3
  • 165 x 6 (6RM PR)
• Arnold Press
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
• Chest-supported DB Row
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 12
• Straight-arm Lat Pulldowns
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
• Cable Lateral Raises
  • 20 x 12e
  • 20 x 12e
  • 20 x 9e
• Machine Triceps Extensions
  • 85 x 15
  • 85 x 15
  • 85 x 15
• DB Curls (alternate, neutral-to-supinated hand while curling)
  • 35e x 12
  • 35e x 10
  • 35e x 8 (then ran the rack, for kicks)

Pretty solid day.

The weights felt a little heavy today, but still moved well. When I work up next week, I don’t expect to set a new PR, but I do expect to break 400. If I’m to believe the 1RM calculators I actually COULD set a new PR, but those calculations are really just good for comparisons and not for actually determining 1RM. Still, it will be interesting to see what happens.

I’m getting excited. 🙂

And yes, I’m solidifying what my next training cycle will be. I keep thinking about it, and I’m no longer making grand changes, just sharpening the edges. That’s a good sign that I feel I’m on the right track and have a solid plan. Getting excited for it as well.

5/3/1-based program

• Deadlift
  • 155 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 235 x 3
  • 275 x 3
  • 310 x 3
  • 350 x 8
• Walking Lunges
  • 40 x 10e
  • 40 x 10e
  • 40 x 10e
  • 40 x 10e
• Leg Curls
  • 45 x 12
  • 45 x 12
  • 45 x 11
• Twisting Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 16
  • BW x 12
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 9

I’ll chalk up today as a 78% day — what it should be, with only a dash of pain.

Yes, my shoulder/arm pain was minimal today, which is great news! A little bit of ache happened, but it’s no where like it has been. I’ve been working on massage, stretching, posture, and I’d like to think it’s been helping.

And so today I was able to crank out 7 reps at 240 lb. which was great! That’s where progress should be. I’m still taking the 5/4/3/2/1 rep approach (tho I clicked into habits and did 3 with 185). But really, I’m happy.

Assistance work continues to be oriented towards me thinking more about the muscle, moving via muscular contraction not the body working in concert to get the weight moved through space. It’s such a different approach.

But anyways, I’m happy. Looking forward to my testing next week. I’m going to strive to be conservative and get what I get. Even if I don’t PR, so long as I can perform well and not have the pain get in the way, I’ll be happy.

5/3/1-based program

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 105 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 160 x 3
  • 185 x 3 (whoops, should have been 2 but whatever)
  • 210 x 1
  • 240 x 7 (7RM PR)
• Incline DB Press
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
• Cable Rows
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 9
• Shrugs
  • 215 x 13
  • 215 x 13
  • 215 x 12
• Pressdowns
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 9
• BB Curls
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 10
  • 65 x 7

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