To paraphrase Dory: just keep lifting, just keep lifting….

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

• Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 375#)
  • 1x5x150 (warmup)
  • 1x5x190
  • 1x3x230
  • 1x5x285 (work)
  • 1x3x325
  • 1x4x365 (PR)

I was technically supposed to do 360#… but I kept staring at those 25# plates, and they were staring back at me. I also felt really damn good. So I went for the additional 5#.

I also tried going for a fifth rep, but it wasn’t going to happen — bar didn’t even leave the floor.

That’s fine. I’m happy with this. 4×365 is a nice PR.

Years ago I could never have envisioned this. Heck, just 2 years ago when I started lifting again, I didn’t think I’d get to this point. I didn’t think that deadlifting 400 would be within reach. But it is.

Didn’t bother with assistance work. I’ve got a short deload next week, plus I think I might want to “reset” my CBL and go low/no-carb for the next week. So, no need to kill myself — I need to recoup, and lots more deadlifting is very taxing on the CNS.

Back on the higher road with bench press.

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

• Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 235#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x95
  • 1x5x120
  • 1x3x145
  • 1x5x180 (work)
  • 1x3x200
  • 1x4x225 (rep-PR)
• Assistance – Bench Press
  • 5 x 10/10/10/10/6 x 140
• Assistance – Pendlay Rows
  • 5 x 10 x 120

Strictly speaking, it’s only a rep PR because I’ve done 225 before, but it’s still a “true” PR because I’ve never done this much weight for this many reps period — it’s my new max/ceiling “most I’ve ever done before in my life period”. 🙂

So cool on that. Back to 2 wheels!

I had to drop back my weight because I changed my form — arms tucked more, so less chest, more triceps. It’s been a slow climb back up, but you just keep moving forward and eventually you get there. And with happier shoulders!

I am a little upset I didn’t get at least 5 reps, but I’m not surprised. It finally dawned on me with my feet: I’m pressing through with my toes, not my heels. It’s either because my feet are curled in, so I press down on my toes, or because they’re out in front and so the angle of attack is different… and either way, I’m not pushing through with my heels! It seems so obvious now, but it obviously wasn’t until now. 🙂 So of course, instead of saying “set it aside, deal with it next week”, I started to dink with it. I also had settled before this session that my cue was “tight”. And well… things were all over the place:

– Fiddling with my feet
– Trying to be “tight” but not, or at least not overall tight
– For whatever reason when I press I “suck in” instead of pressing my gut out into the belt — old habits die VERY hard?

And so with these and other little things, my brain was thinking about too many things.

The thing was, that first rep with 225? Felt soooo easy! I felt I could have done 10 reps. But my brain started to overload with cues and feedback, I thought about too many things, my bar path lost the groove, strong but “wiggly/wobbly”.. .and that’s not going to get me far. So after 4 reps I just racked it and that was that.

Anyways, it felt good to be back here and able to just fully progress forward now, instead of trying to regain ground.

Truly, your mind is the strongest part of you.

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

• Work Set – Squat (working max: 295#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x120
  • 1x5x150
  • 1x3x180
  • 1x5x225 (work)
  • 1x3x255
  • 1x4x285 (PR)
  • hold 315
• Assistance – Squat
  • 2 x 20/10 x 150
• Assistance – Leg Curls
  • 2 x 25/20 x 40
• Foam Rolling

So I busted through. Last cycle I struggled to get 2 reps with 285 and dumped the bar going for 3.

Today I got 4 pretty strong reps. Oh sure, they weren’t a technique clinic, but I went all the way down and told myself if I don’t come up, then I don’t. At least I’m not going to half-ass it, so to speak.

Am I truly stronger than I was last cycle? On paper, sure. In reality? not so sure. Probably so, but I think the difference between last cycle and today is my mental state.

I’ve had so many things on my mind lately. My brain has NOT been into my training sessions. I’ve been thinking about this, that, and the other; what I need to do, what I’ve done, what I have yet to do, what’s still on my to-do list, what design problem I’m dealing with, what drama I don’t need in my life…. whatever. So many things on my brain.

But finally I’m over some humps, various things are coming together or winding up, and my brain is less cluttered. I took the weekend to relax. I napped a lot. I did break CBL discipline and ate fairly decently — I even think that was needed for my head because CBL is still something I have to intentionally do, it’s not just a natural part of me; thus it draws from finite energy stores. And so today? All I did was be “in the moment”. Oh sure, it wasn’t perfect… I might dance around here and there. But I told myself if I wasn’t thinking about the lift, then I could only think about lifting-related stuff. No work, no play, no friends, no family, no nothing other than the weight at hand.

It paid off.

I felt the weights like I hadn’t in a long time.

I felt my muscles moving.

I could feel and “see” what my body was doing, or failing to do.

“Tight” was the cue for today, and I used it because I could immediately notice what my body was doing — no distractions.

Oh sure… I put that 285 on my back. I walked it out. Stood there for a moment to get a new breath…. and suddenly my brain flashed. One of those “life flashing before your eyes” types of moments. But it wasn’t that I was going to die, per se. It was my brain trying to come up with a way to handle the failure — that if I was going to fail again, how to handle the fail. I was a little annoyed, but it happened, I didn’t intend for it, but the subconscious did it… and I let it go and pressed on. In a way, it was comforting because I knew there was a plan, but it also drove me because there was no way I was going to enact that plan. Not today!

So I felt good.

I’m 15# away from 300, and 30 from 3 wheels. Damn that’s so close I can taste it. No, I don’t want to let my ego drive me, because that will just get me hurt. I am debating if I should take my working-max up by 5# or 10#. If my mental state and life-stress works out right, I think I can jump 10# and be fine, so that’s presently what I’m leaning towards. Hell, I spent all this past weekend thinking about today’s squat. I geared so much towards it: rest, eating, whatever. I was going to make this lift. And frankly, if I have the mental “time” to spend thinking about my squat so much then yeah… life’s freeing up a bit. 🙂

In other news… I’m continuing my exploration into high-reps… like beyond 15+ reps… 20 rep squats, 25 reps, 50 reps, maybe 100 rep curls… who knows. Lots of stuff here. I’ll write on this some other time. But I will say… I almost couldn’t walk home from the gym this morning after those higher-rep squats and leg curls. 🙂

I haven’t been this mentally “into the session” in a long time.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 18, week 2

• Work Set – Press (working max: 155#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x65
  • 1x5x80
  • 1x3x95
  • 1x3x110 (work)
  • 1x3x125
  • 1x7x140
• Assistance – Press
  • 5 x 10 x 80
• Assistance – Pull-ups (band assisted)
  • 5 x 10/10/5/5/5 x BW

I’ve had a lot on my mind in recent weeks, and alas it’s crept into my gym sessions. I try to just focus on lifting, but life wedges its way in and I know doesn’t have me 100% into the lift. But I’ve been working this past week at getting a lot off my chest, and my mind is clearing and calming. Thus all I thought about today was the lift itself, and CBL. 🙂

Cranking out 7 reps with 140? I can take that. In cycle 16, 140 was my 5/3/1-week weight and I got 5 reps with it there. I got 5 with 145 last cycle. So hey, next session I do 150…. I’m going to crank it hard. My PR is 3×155, and it would appear I’m on track to blow that out of the water. So long as I keep eating, sleeping, and having my head in the lift!

Speaking of eating….

Carb Back-loading is going ok. I do think I’ve gotten a little lax on the protocol. Not so much cheating, like eating carb mid-day or some such thing. Just that I’m not counting cals and macros and such, and I probably should monitor it more closely. I will say I’ve gotten over the initial hump, and this just feels normal to me now. Sometimes it makes lunch choices a little tricky, but I can get by. And frankly if occasionally life requires me to eat what I shouldn’t, I just roll with it. Like a few weeks ago the family went to another family’s house for a birthday party, and I just ate the food that was given to me (including a bunch of fruit, mid-day). Life goes on.

That said, I have noticed that protein intake is critical. If I don’t get at least 1g per pound of bodyweight, I can run into trouble. I strive for 200g a day. I’m presently at 225#, and by visual indicators only I guestimate my bodyfat is maybe 20%, so yeah, 200g is probably about right as a minimum. If I get a little more, upwards to 250g, that seems alright. And I’ve scaled back my carbs too. I used to feel a need to gorge, but I think I’m settling into a groove. But yes, diet is important, and I’m doing better than I have in the past.

*grunt*

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 18, week 2

• Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 375#)
  • 1x5x150 (warmup)
  • 1x5x190
  • 1x3x230
  • 1x3x265 (work)
  • 1x3x305
  • 1x6x340 (rep PR)
• Assistance – Deadlifts (speed)
  • 5 x 5 x 225
• Assistance – Pulldown Abs (kneeling)
  • 2 x 25 x 110

All I know is, I’m treading in PR territory, so I wanted to really kick things. Last time I did 340 was 5 reps during cycle 16 and that was a true PR. Last cycle was 335 for 6 and 350 for 5. So next deadlift session, on paper, 360 should be pullable for 4 reps, tho yes I’m going to go for 5. 🙂 That’ll be a good PR. Tho oddly I want to do 365 just to have the nice round number as well as 3 wheels + a quarter, y’know? Stupid things….

Anyways, the assistance work was good. Kinda surprised that with little rest between sets, that 225 felt so light. But the goal was to move with strict form, quickly and explosively, and with a VERY solid grip (squeezing the bar in the hands to really work grip).

Onwards to a nice PR.

Felt good to be back in the gym today.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 18, week 2

• Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 235#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x95
  • 1x5x120
  • 1x3x145
  • 1x3x165 (work)
  • 1x3x190
  • 1x5x215
• Assistance – Bench Press
  • 5 x 10/10/10/10/9 x 140
• Assistance – Pendlay Rows
  • 5 x 10 x 120

I was out all weekend involved in continually educating myself, and I have to admit… part of my planning for how I handled that weekend was motivated by my lifting. Usually those long weekends drain me, but I wasn’t going to let that happen. I planned well so I could get adequate rest. I packed food appropriately (and found some handy foods at the grocery store that I wouldn’t want to make a staple, but were quite useful to get me through). I had to rearrange the Friday workout because of logistics, but I planned on getting right back to it today… didn’t want to have a further bump to Tuesday.

And so… here I am.

The workout went well. I actually got a good case of “what leg drive does”. I’m still working on finding the right position and the right groove for my legs, and I think I’m getting closer. On the last work set, 5th rep… the bar speed slowed down about 2/3rd of the way up… I realized “dummy! where are your legs?!?” and I pressed into my heels and the bar shot up.

Yeah… leg drive. 🙂

Next session will be for a PR. I haven’t really PR’d in bench in a while because it’s a slow-progressing lift for me, I had some major resets. My PR in bench is 3×225. Next session is 225… and yeah, I’m going for 5 reps. I’m going to PR this fucker. 🙂

We interrupt our regularly scheduled gym trips for… other things.

Got some stuff going on this weekend that will drain me bigtime. Due to time and finite energy, I figure it’s best to just dedicate to that task and pick back up on Monday… or Tuesday.

And if I know what’s good for me, I’ll re-read the Carb Back-Loading book and refresh my memory on those things. I mysteriously lost 5# the other week (that deload week). It hasn’t come back so I figure it is true loss (i.e. not water or other things). Doesn’t feel like fat tho, and that may explain some strength loss? I don’t know for sure.

Just hope this diversion doesn’t compound things.

But such is life.

 

Hmmmm….

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

• Work Set – Squat (working max: 285#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x120
  • 1x5x150
  • 1x3x180
  • 1x3x210 (work)
  • 1x3x240
  • 1x4x270
• Assistance – Squat
  • 2 x 20/10 x 135
• Assistance – Leg Curls
  • 3 x 12 x 65

Hrm.

I’m not sure what to make of today.

No progress vs. this same place last cycle. I opted to stay at the same weight, go up in reps. If I got 5 reps I would have been happy, but #4 almost didn’t make it up.

But I can say a few things.

1. I know I’m not fully engaging my upper body. I am losing tightness and arm drive.

2. Given how I “hinge” when I go up and down, I’ve started to lean a little forward always to keep a straight path. Well, instead today, I opted to start with the bar a little lower on my back/shoulders. That felt more like where it should be, but of course, threw everything off. I think if nothing else, I was so mentally focused on that positioning that I forgot all else.

3. To that same end, I kept fiddling with my foot positioning to get the most natural movement for myself.

So I probably threw something out of whack… but this is how it goes. I have to find my right groove, and whenever I think I have it, I realize I don’t. Just a long process.

Alas, due to time constraints, I didn’t do a full workout, but came close. I’ve always wanted to try a 20-rep program. Granted today was nothing like that, but I thought why not… just throw 135 on the bar and go for 20 reps and see what happens. Dang… that’s tough. The 135 didn’t kill me, but it was taxing, especially to my lower back muscles. I went for a second set, striving for 20, but 10 was as far as my body would go (I didn’t rest very long between sets, just enough to catch my breath, maybe 90 seconds).

Sometimes I wonder if doing higher reps like this, at least for a while, might help me again on technique work. Because instead of finding the groove then you hit your rep max and so you stop, find the groove and now you have to stay in it for a long while… able to focus more on that groove than anything else.

Yeah, sometimes I think I fiddle too much as well. But hey… it’s how I am. My brain’s always thinking, tho perhaps sometimes too much. 🙂