Solid

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 2

• Work Set – Press (working max: 160#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x65
  • 1x5x80
  • 1x3x95
  • 1x3x115 (work)
  • 1x3x130
  • 1x5x145
• Assistance – Press
  • 5 x 10 x 80
• Assistance – Pull-ups (band assisted)
  • 5 x 10/10/5/5/5 x BW
• 100 reps of front plate lifts, rope-handle triceps pushdowns, hammer curls
• Foam Rolling

Not much to say, really. A solid workout. I strove to leave something in the tank on my last work set, but I did push my assistance work. Everything just felt solid and good.

What gets me?

The next 4 sessions are the 5/3/1 sessions. Every single one will be going for a PR. Bench, Squat, Deadlift will all be for full PR’s, lifting a weight I’ve never lifted before in my life (for any reps). Press will be matching weight, so it’ll be a rep PR.

It’s a bit intimidating, but also very exciting. I think I’m most excited about Friday’s squat session: 295#… almost 300. Next cycle.

Leaving more in the tank

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 2

• Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 385#)
  • 1x5x155 (warmup)
  • 1x5x195
  • 1x3x235
  • 1x3x275 (work)
  • 1x3x310
  • 1x4x350
• Assistance – Deadlifts
  • 5 x 10/10/8/8/8 x 185
• Assistance – Side Bends
  • 3 x 25 x 40

Physically I felt good. Nevertheless, when I finished that 4th rep and set up for #5 my body said “stop”. I’ve been pushing further, where that “leaving 1 in the tank” might actually be a real struggle of a rep, instead of a good 1-2 reps. That’s not the right way to do things. So today I truly left some in the tank and opted to make sure I got some good assistance work in. So I dropped the assistance weight to 185 and made sure I got more reps. My lower back hates me. 🙂 But that’s good. Given more reading, analysis of my form and technique, I’m pretty sure abs and lower back are weak. So I gotta do more assistance deadlifting with strict form, lighter weight, higher reps, build that up. And yeah, abs twice a “week” in some fashion. Stick with it, see what happens.

Leave something in the tank…

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle X, week X

• Work Set – Squat (working max: 305#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x125
  • 1x5x155
  • 1x3x185
  • 1x3x215 (work)
  • 1x3x245
  • 1x4x280
• Assistance – Squat
  • 5 x 20/15/10 x 135
• Assistance – Pulldown abs
  • 3 x 25 x 60
• Foam Rolling

I got under the bar and told myself “4 reps”. I was going to get at least the 3 prescribed, and I figure 1 more is “good enough” because I wanted to leave something in the tank. I’ve been pushing myself and not leaving something in the tank (or a doubtful 1 in the tank) and I didn’t want to do that today. In part for the sake of not beating myself to death, but also I have to report for jury duty today and I didn’t want to walk around the courthouse all cramped up or looking really strange and calling attention to myself — people are too jumpy these days, y’know?

And while “only 4”, I look at last cycle. This time last cycle was 4 reps @ 270 and that was pushing it. I then PR’d 4 @ 285. So hey, today is fine.

The higher rep assistance squatting… ooph. Good stuff.

I hate pulldown abs, but I hate my weak abs even more. Do what you hate until you don’t hate it any more. Squatting is like that…. and I still don’t love squatting, but I certainly don’t hate it any more.

One thought that crossed my mind… not sure when/if I’ll do it, but it’s a fresh thought that hit me during squats. I know getting out of the hole as a whole is weak for me. It’s one reason I’m working on my abs, and my cue for today was “press back” to get me to drive my head/neck back into the bar first thing after reversing in the hole. In addition to the Paul Carter I’ve been reading, I’ve been reading more Brandon Lilly too. Pause squats may find their way into my routine sooner or later. Jury’s still out.

100 reps… I’m liking it.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 1

• Work Set – Press (working max: 160#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x65
  • 1x5x80
  • 1x3x95
  • 1x5x115 (work)
  • 1x5x120
  • 1x7x140
• Assistance – Press
  • 5 x 10 x 90/80/80/80/80
• Assistance – Pull-ups (band assisted)
  • 5 x 10/10/6/5/4 x BW
• 100 rep stuff – front plate raises, rope triceps pushdowns, hammer curls

Today was a fail of plate math 🙂 First work set was to be 105, I put on 115. That actually was because I had “week 2” stuff already entered into my iPhone tracker app and was accidentally looking at it instead of today’s session. But it felt really light, so cool. Just keep cranking. Then on my assistance pressing, should have been 80# but that was plate math fail and I put on 90. Oh well, no harm done.

Overall tho, I’m working on trying to push through barriers more. I think the 100 rep stuff is actually helping me there on the mental level. I mean, it’s not that heavy a weight, but when you move it that many times, oh yeah, your brain and muscles scream to stop. But the thing is, they want you to stop well short of when you can stop, and it’s easier to keep pushing here than with a heavier weight. So I just keep pushing until I physically couldn’t lift any more. I do think you have to work up to the 100 reps because I’ve been using the same weights for the past few workouts and am only just starting to actually hit 100 reps now. You really have to push through it.

It’s carrying over into the other assistance work. I mean, on the chins, I kept going until I truly couldn’t hold myself up any more. Yeah, probably not wise to always go for broke like this, but I’m feeling good. I have wondered if maybe a 3/5/1 split (like in the Powerlifting book) might be more useful for me to try so I can go heavy on the 3 and 1 weeks, but then on the 5 week just take it easy, hit prescribed reps, don’t kill it on assistance work, make sure it’s a work week but somewhat restful. We’ll see.

Meantime tho, jury is still out on the 100 rep stuff, but so far I’m enjoying it.

Wasn’t feeling it today… but in a good way.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 1

• Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 385#)
  • 1x5x155 (warmup)
  • 1x5x195
  • 1x3x235
  • 1x5x255 (work)
  • 1x5x290
  • 1x6x330
• Assistance – Deadlifts (speed)
  • 5 x 5 x 225
• Assistance – Side Bends
  • 3 x 25 x 20/30/40

I wasn’t feeling it today, but in a different way. I was very serene, very peaceful. Not quite the mental state for lifting. 🙂 But it was alright. I told myself to just hit the prescribed reps (well, 1 more) and be done with it. That was fine. I didn’t kill myself, got the reps, felt alright.

5×5 on the assistance was good, but I wonder if I should maybe drop down to 195 (i.e. 50%) and go up to 8 reps. I’m more concerned here with strict form and explosive speed. Want more reps, but not too many more. *shrug*

Side bends… first time doing them, so I started light, which was too light. I’ll start at a 40# dumbbell next time and progress up from there.

So today wasn’t where it should have been, but that it wasn’t was alright. I think my body and mind are thankful.

Not sure what to make of today.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 1

• Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 240#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x95
  • 1x5x120
  • 1x3x145
  • 1x5x160 (work)
  • 1x5x180
  • 1x7x205
• Assistance – Bench Press
  • 5 x 10/10/8/10/18 x 145/145/135/115/95
• Assistance – DB Rows
  • 4 x 15 x 50
• And then 50 JM presses with a 45# bar, and 50 face pulls with 30#

I’m not sure what to make of today. The 6th and 7th reps I had to crank out. When I look at my logs, on paper it doesn’t seem like I’m progressing. I think I am, because last time I did 205 itself was cycle 16 (mark 2) on my 3-week and got 5 reps. So yeah, stronger, but comparing numbers I’ve done lately by that 1RM calculation method and it all seems stagnant. We’ll see how it pans out, I guess.

Also, I was really good with form… until the last set. Tight. Feet planted, and I remembered a squat cue about lifting your toes off the ground and pointing them up, which forces weight back onto your heels, which is what I want for the push here. When I put my belt on, I was having deep breaths, really pressing into the belt. Really good… until that last work set, and everything went to jelly, especially my legs. WTF?? I think it may be mental. I get the weight in my hands, and a seed of doubt or “this is heavy” or something else fucks with my head, sows a negative seed, and blamo. I gotta work on that.

And so, it really drained me for my assistance work. I didn’t care so much about the weight as I did the reps, so I just dropped set the whole way down. Geez.

Opted to switch to DB Rows. Yeah, my lower back doesn’t feel as beat up, and I feel it more in my upper back. Yeah, I’m going to keep on this “heavy, but higher reps” thing for a while. I had no idea what today would be, so I just picked up a 50# and did 15 to see how it would go sets across. 4 sets with 60 seconds rest in between worked me decently enough for today.

Well… we’ll see how it goes.

Ugh. The hole sucks.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 19, week 1

• Work Set – Squat (working max: 305#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x125
  • 1x5x155
  • 1x3x185
  • 1x5x200 (work)
  • 1x5x230
  • 1x6x265
• Assistance – Squat
  • 5 x 15/10/8 x 135
• Assistance – Pulldown abs (standing)
  • 3 x 25/25/25 x 50/60/60
• Foam Rolling

The squats were going well. Were.

I’ve been putting the bar a little lower on my back/shoulders. Really, it’s where it should be. It fits my body leverages a bit better because I find myself moving around less, dealing with bar path shifting less — there’s just a straighter bar path. But of course, you move it down your back an inch, it changes leverages.

I’ve also been focusing on the cue “tight”. I grab the bar, squeeze it with my hands. I get under it, lock everything up in my upper body. Deep breath in, and really inflate my diaphragm and press out into the belt. Bar comes out of the rack and it feels light as a feather (that plays HUGE into the mental game). Walk it out, readjust — this is probably place #1 where I lose the tightness because I need to take another breath. But I’m aware, try to retighten, but I don’t think I get as tight as I was. I go down… then I get into the hole, and I lose it. It was most evident on my final work set. My abs felt like jelly and I fell forward every time. I was just not supporting things well enough with my abs.

I got 6.

Now getting 6×265 felt shitty to me. I wanted at least 7-8 but fell short. I probably could have ground out a 7th, but that’s not the goal so I racked it. But here now at home, I look over my logs and well, 6×265 isn’t too bad. Last cycle’s week 1 did 5×255 and 4×270. When you do some 1RM calculations to try to compare the workload, 6×265 is actually better than both, and statistically about the same as my PR of 4×285 from the same prior cycle. So I shouldn’t be so hard on myself because apparently I’m stronger.

Still, it’s not what I wanted.

So my assistance squats changed. I just put 135 on the bar and worked to be as strict as I could, tight all the way through. Push out with the abs on my belt throughout, and really be tighttighttight. As you can see, I didn’t get far, but that’s fine. It was killer. I was hurting, bad (but in a good way). I could feel it in my abs, I could really feel it in my lower back. The only reason I stopped each set was because my lower back said “no mas” (and I pushed through some pain to get there — I wanted “true failure” not “wussing out early”, if you will). All the breath holding and pressing hard? That winded me too. After set #2 I was looking around, plotting the best course to somewhere I could throw up if it came to that (almost did).

Then no leg curls. Ab work. Now in the past when I’ve done pulldown abs, I did it off the cable crossover machine, kneeling on the ground. This worked differently due to “2 pulleys” so there was mechanical changes and distance traveled of the weight. Well, I’m going back to standing pulldown abs from the lat pulldown machine, using rope handles, and when I face “out” and straddle the bench, squeezing the bench with my legs — seems to activate a lot more. Plus, I want at least 25 reps per set to yes, work on the endurance factor. I think on deadlift days I’m going to do side-bends. I have to stop skimping on ab work.

Anyways, there we go. I thought it sucked, but really the weights didn’t suck as much as my technique and abs did. I’ll work on it.

Man.. 18 cycles on the Wendler 5/3/1 program.

I’ve thought about changing up. I’ve looked at other programs: Cube, Juggernaut, Westside, Sheiko, Smolov, DC, whatever. I see much benefit in it, and I think I might want to try them out. But for now, 5/3/1 is working. I see progress towards my goals. So hey, for now, fine.

But while I stay the basic course, I’m willing to dabble in other things to see how they might do for me. So with that, been reading too much Paul Carter and much of his 100-rep stuff. I mean, I started to poke at high rep stuff, but Paul’s going extreme high rep. And I’m trying it. Why? Because I can. Because I’m curious if it will do anything for me.

I didn’t record any of it during cycle 18, but I did it. For example, after press, I’d try something like a 10# plate and go for 100 front plate raises.

Yeah, if you like the pump, you’ll love this.

Here’s one of Paul’s articles on the topic. Another.

I want to see how it might help my joints, my recovery, and yes, my hypertrophy. While I really like all the strength I’m building, and there’s some muscle mass too, part of me wants to kick up the mass building portion a little more. I keep looking at that 5/3/1 bodybuilding template and the only thing that keeps me away is the gym time required (just can’t pull it off these days).

Because honestly… as much as I’m enjoying 5/3/1, I’m starting to feel some wear. I have thought that it might be good for me to take a break and focus my goals elsewhere. Like instead of just heavy weights in the 1-5 rep range for strength, move to a more bodybuilder style workout, push more blood through the muscles, and see if that helps me reduce some of the beat-up feeling. But I’m on track to meet some strength goals, so I’m not going to give up on them. If something like some 100-rep work can help me work towards my goals, I’ll give ’em a shot.

Cycle 19 will remain essentially a “BBB” template, but some slight mods. I’m going to keep with the 20 rep assistance squats. It’s a hell of a pump, and a lot of mental fortitude. I like the feeling of pushing through. I’m debating if I want to dump the Pendlay Rows and go back to DB rows, in terms of not overworking my lower back (again, more Paul Carter). I’ll also add some 100-rep work. What I’ve done is simple stuff: front plate raises, curls, pressdowns, face pulls; extremely light weight, I might have to take a break on my way to 100 but then just for a few seconds then back on it; it’s about pushing through because truly when I can’t lift it any more I won’t, but until then, keep pushing through the pain. And yes, I had to work up to it… that 10# plate for 100 front raises only got maybe 50 at first, but after a couple more workouts I got it up to 100 but really had to deal with it.

So, onwards.

A fair way to end the cycle

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 18, week 3

• Work Set – Press (working max: 155#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x65
  • 1x5x80
  • 1x3x95
  • 1x5x120 (work)
  • 1x3x135
  • 1x4x150
• Assistance – Press
  • 5 x 10/10/8/6/6 x 80
• Assistance – Pull-ups (band assisted)
  • 5 x 10/8/7/6/5 x BW

Well, it wasn’t the most glorious of 5/3/1 days, but it was acceptable. I know that next cycle will bring me back into Press PR territory (3×155). My shoulders are happier, my technique is better, so all is good.

Assistance work wasn’t as plentiful, but it did push me… so, take it for whatever it’s worth… and move on.

My upcoming deload will be short because my schedule got thrown off. So I’ll take it easy the rest of the week, and start cycle 19 next week.