Today was… odd.

“Week 1” – 5 reps

• 5/3/1 – Bench Press (working max: 195#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x80
  • 1x5x100
  • 1x3x120
  • 1x5x130 (work)
  • 1x5x150
  • 1x11x170
• Asst. #1 – bench press
  • 5 x 10 x 95
• Asst. #2 – 1 arm dumbbell rows
  • 5 x 10 x 40
• Metcon – jump rope
  • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

Today was a little odd for me. I’m not sure exactly where it came from but my head was there but not there today. I felt like I could move mountains, yet when the weight was in my hand it was like I forgot how to move it. That last work set on the bench press felt like the sloppiest damn thing in the world and I could only crank out 11 reps and even that felt like I was going to drop the bar and kill myself. I have some theories, which I’ll discuss at another time.

Nevertheless, the workout was what it was. Not too bad really. I do think the assistance weight on bench can go up to 100# to ensure progressive stress. 40# was good on the rows, as I had to do a little cheat on the last reps of the last sets to ensure I got the sets and reps in.

I’ll discuss the other stuff later.

“Week 1” – 5 reps

• 5/3/1 – Deadlift (working max: 275#)
  • 1x5x110 (warmup)
  • 1x5x140
  • 1x3x165
  • 1x5x180 (work)
  • 1x5x210
  • 1x6x235
• Asst. #1 – Hyperextensions
  • 5 x 10 x BW
• Asst. #2 – Hanging Knee Raises
  • 5 x 7 x BW
• Metcon – jump rope
  • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

First deadlift of the new 5/3/1 cycle. Bumped my working max up the prescribed 10#.

My main focus was really working to keep my back straight, and not just straight, but rigid. Keeping proper “flatness” to the spine, keeping the torso very firm and rigid by better use of Valsalva Manuver. It worked well, I feel better, tho a lot more worked. I certainly had to squat deeper too, which makes sense since lacking the rounding in my lower back well… gotta get down there. It was more noticeable when I would lower the weight. It just changes the whole track of the movement, where the bar goes. It’s all good, and likely why I only got 6 reps with 235# because it’s just stricter. All good tho.

Then I moved to hyperextensions. This is my first break from the “boring but big” approach. I wanted to do this specifically to help address my back issues and “posterior chain” stuff. I opted to start with just bodyweight, and that was good because certainly my chain was worked from the deadlifts and bw was certainly a good start. I would let myself go from a total hang (and feel the stretch in my hamstrings) to as high up as I could get and squeeze myself, feeling that in my hamstrings and butt and back. All good. I’ll probably slowly work to add some weight, like 10# at a time. But no rush.

I really missed doing the hanging leg raises. My shoulder felt better, but really what I love? How it works my grip and forearms — they get a nice pump. 🙂

On the jump rope, I certainly think it’s time to consider a second set. My coordination is good and I can make it through without stumbling. My rate is a bit faster, maybe 30-35 skips per rep tho I don’t know for sure — I tried to count on one set and thinking about it caused me to stumble. It’s better when I just skip and don’t think about it, but the point is I’m picking up the pace, able to stay at that pace through all 8 reps, and while feeling worked not feeling so beat dead at the end of it, especially in the muscles of my feet. Going to let this firm up a bit before I go to the second set, but yeah, a second set is in my near future.

Really felt good today. Really worked my back so I may be feeling it come Sunday. Just eat more!

Today was a good day.

“Week 1” – 5 reps

• 5/3/1 – Press (working max: 120#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x50
  • 1x5x60
  • 1x3x75
  • 1x5x80 (work)
  • 1x5x90
  • 1x10x105 (PR)
• Asst. #1 – Press
  • 5 x 10 x 55
• Asst. #2 – Lat pulldowns
  • 3x10x100 – supinated grip, slightly wider than shoulder width
  • 1x10x100 – close, neutral grip
  • 1x8x100 – close, neutral grip
• Metcon – jump rope
  • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

Today I begin my second round on the Wendler 5/3/1 program. Being a new cycle, it’s time to up the working max weights. The general recommendation is to go up 5# on the press, but I opted to go 10#. I figured that my press working max was under what I’m actually capable of. When I was on PPNP Novice I never felt like I got to my limit, and Wendler recommends starting light and underestimating. PPNP also never pushes you to the limit, like the last set of a Wendler 5/3/1 set. So when I did my “week 3, 1 or more reps” set, I ended doing 1x8x105, setting a new PR. When you do the math on that, it blew out of the water what I figured my 1RM would be… well out of the water. I’m stronger than I think I am. So I decided to ensure I better workout, let’s bump up the weight 10# on this cycle. Still conservative, but a little more work.

So far, I think that was the right move. We’ll see how it pans out in coming, heavier weeks tho. 😉

Thing is, 2 weeks ago I set that PR doing 1x8x105. Today I broke it doing 1x10x105. Furthermore, I had bumped my assistance weight from 45# to 55#, and that too was a good move. Interestingly, Jim Wendler just posted an article on “5 Ways to Increase Your Press” and I had taken some of that advice, like looking at the 5/3/1 sets as a movement and the assistance work as a muscle, but still having to lift heavy and hard. Without question the last couple reps on the 1x10x105 were just trying to get the weight overhead, and on the assistance work I strove to be stricter but even the last couple reps of the last couple sets was tough. I think it was all a good move. No, it’s not huge weights and big numbers, but it’s still pushing my limits, so that’s fine with me.

On the pulldowns, as mentioned previously the close, supinated grip was causing me some shoulder discomfort that lingered for a few days. I don’t need to screw up my shoulders. So today I started out by experimenting with different grips, both width and direction of the hands. I really want to stick with a supinated grip if I can, but a neutral grip was much nicer to my shoulders. I did 3 sets with a supinated grip that was just wider than shoulder-width; the closer the hands were together, the more they bothered my shoulders in the extended/top position. That wasn’t too bad but still had some shoulder annoyance at the top of the movement. I switched bars for the last 2 sets to a neutral, close grip (palms facing, a few inches apart). That was much nicer on my shoulders, but really limited the range of motion; furthermore, it’s not as mechanically strong as a supinated grip (biceps not as activated) so I didn’t get the full set of 10 reps. There’s another bar at the gym that allows for a neutral wide grip; I’ll likely try that next time and see how it goes. I want to do a motion that’s as close to chin-ups as possible, but that doesn’t irritate my shoulder and lead to shoulder problems — the last thing I want.

On jump rope, I think I may be at a point where I want to bump it to 2 Tabata sets. Not quite yet, but close.

All in all, it was a good workout. I’m really stoked about my press performance.

Today I finished my first cycle on the Jim Wendler 5/3/1 program.

I think it’s a great program. It’s simple, it provides a lot of flexibility for you to meet your needs. Training for football? 5/3/1 can work. Training for powerlifting? 5/3/1 can work. Bodybuilding? 5/3/1 can work. At its heart it’s about building strength, which also will build muscle mass. What you want to do from there, be it develop power, speed, dynamic explosiveness, sculpt your body, whatever, it can be done. But… you have to think. A key factor is recovery.

Growth doesn’t happen while you work out, it happens when you rest. You have to expose your body to progressively increasing loads, then your body realizes that load isn’t going away so it has to change and adapt. This can only happen when you 1. don’t overtrain yourself, 2. rest. Wendler’s program facilitates this because there’s always your core lift (press, deadlift, bench press, squat) that you work hard but in a submaximal way (working max is 90% of your 1RM, and it’s from that working max that you calculate your workout), then you really only do a couple more exercises to address any specific needs you have (tho there’s nothing that say you only have to or can do or are restricted to just 2 more exercises). What those assistance exercises are depends on you and your needs. Me? I’m wanting to build mass and strength. Yes, I ultimately want to eliminate the flab around my middle, but I’ve come to terms with that (more on that shortly).

The one (arguable) downside to the program? It’s slow. The basic progression is a 4-week cycle and you only up your weights 10# on squat and deadlift and 5# on press and bench press per cycle. So in theory you’ll only go up 120# on your dead and squat in a year, and only 60# on your bench and press. Of course, that sort of increase is fantastic, especially for people who have been training a long time, because gains are much slower and smaller the longer you’ve been at this and the closer you get to the limits of human potential. For a novice like me, I could gain a lot faster if I stayed on something like one of Rippetoe’s programs or moved to something like the Texas Method. The trouble there is those programs are very intense. If I was someone who could dedicate more of my life and time to lifting (and resting) sure, I’d probably be on the Texas Method right now. But that’s not my life. Wendler’s program looks like it could be a good long-term program for me because it’s not pushing me too hard too fast, and allows a lot of time for recovery. There’s a lot about the program that’s smart… subtle details in terms of how it’s done, it’s really well-thought out and constructed, so you get the work you need, when you need it, but it doesn’t kill you. I like that. Ultimately I’m in this for my health, not competition or sports, so hey… if I can jack up my dead and squat 100# in a year? That’s great. Just means I have to keep at it.

As for diet… that’s always been my tough spot. I have made changes, like I don’t eat grains that much (sometimes I do, e.g. I’ll still eat the buns on a burger), and I try to consume a lot more fresh veggies, which has been made easier with our CSA veggie box that we get once a week. I tried cutting carbs out almost entirely, but my body called me a fool. See, I do want to shed my gut, but I realized something. My weight has been a fairly steady 235-240# (depending on time of day, etc.). There’s no question I’m putting on muscle, so if I’m gaining muscle but weight remains the same, I must also be losing fat. Very slow fat loss, but still loss. Then I noticed something the past couple weeks: I was eating more useless carbs, especially in the afternoon/evening… like after a crappy day at work, I was happy to shove a few (more) cookies down gullet. I’m now hovering 240-245#. Just so happens I’ve been reading articles about insulin response and some other things and I see a pattern. Carbs? Fine, but if there’s going to be any cookies, have them in the morning. After lunch and especially after 3 PM or so, I need to have carb intake be pretty minimal. I do need some carbs (still need a crapload of protein), just focus it more during the day/morning.

The thing is, on this Wendler program, if I’m going to build mass and strength, I have to eat like a horse. That means there’s going to be some gut. That’s just how it is. I’ve come to terms with that. I do think I can eat a little smarter: if I can get back to where I have a steady weight number, muscle being built, that means fat being lost… that’ll work for me, and eventually I’ll get there and shed my gut.

All in all, I’m pleased with the program. I’ve lifted weights on and off since I was a teenager, but never did I enjoy it so much as I am right now. Finding programs like these? Geez… if I could have only had them 20+ years ago. Oh well, better late than never.

The plan now is to keep going with the Wendler program. Slow and steady. Going to change up a bit on my assistance work… more “Boring But Big” strict adherence, but trying to be I guess more “triumvirate” in picking what 2 assistance exercises work for me. The journey is good.

Had to lift a day early since the gym is closed tomorrow for Labor Day.

“Week 4” – Deload

• 5/3/1 – Squat (working max: 220#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 2x5x90
  • 2x5x110
  • 2x5x135
• Asst. #1 – Squat
  • 5 x 10 x 85
• Asst. #2 – Leg curls
  • 5 x 10 x 35
• Metcon – jump rope
  • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

Today marks the last workout of my first cycle of the Wendler 5/3/1 program. I’ll have some thoughts on that in another post.

Again, since it’s deload “week”, I just doubled up on the warmup weight/sets. I did go up on my assistant squat weight and my curl weight, and while they didn’t really kill me today, they did work ok and I will keep them as-is for the next cycle because it’s hard to know if the “non-work” today was due to being a deload week and so the work squats didn’t exhaust me enough, or if in fact the assistance weights are too light. But if I do go up, I’ll only increase 5# and see from there.

One cool thing? Since the weights are light it’s very easy to let form go out the door. But on the same token, it’s a great opportunity to ensure form is tight and strict. I focused on keeping my chest high (tho still drive with the hips) and my torso tight; in fact, everything tight (arms too). That made a huge difference and I was really feeling it in my hamstrings during the assistance squats. That was cool, haven’t felt them like that while I squat… because I know I can tend to tip forward and involve the quads too much.

The workout felt good. Really pleased. But I’m so looking forward to the next workout, starting cycle 2. 🙂

Today was about taking it easy.

“Week 4” – Deload

• Deload – Bench Press (working max: 180#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 2x5x75
  • 2x5x90
  • 2x5x110
• Asst. #1 – Bench Press
  • 5 x 10 x 95
• Asst. #2 – 1 Ar Dumbbell rows
  • 5 x 10 x 35

First, normally I lift on Friday but I lifted today (Thursday) because I hope to be doing something else tomorrow morning. Plus with the long holiday weekend, I figured to beat myself up now so I could have a good restful weekend.

My right shoulder is feeling funny so I certainly wanted to watch things today. It actually felt better as I went along, which didn’t surprise me… increase blood flow to that area, that should help. Still, I kept it light and didn’t push myself on the assistance work like I have been doing. I think 95# will be a sufficient assistance weight when I start the next cycle, or maybe 100# but really no more; it felt good but not really heavy, I could have done 110# and worked myself harder but I learned something from yesterday’s deadlifts.

On the rows, yeah, let’s bump to 40# next cycle.

Didn’t jump rope today. Just feeling beat up, left knee arguing with me. I just make sure my walks to/from the gym were brisk.

I need some rest.

This first cycle is a little rough because I’m finding my way, finding my weights, my limits, and just how everything goes. I’ve learned a lot and what I need to do next cycle. One thing for sure? Deload week has to be truly and totally deload: don’t bump the assistance work up. In fact, on my walk to the gym this morning I thought that every so often it might be good to make it a “no-load” week instead and just take the week off and rest.

I do hope to squat over the weekend, just have to adjust that since the gym is closed Monday for Labor Day. Then Wednesday I’ll start cycle #2 of the 5/3/1 plan. I’ve already got some adjustments to the program, and looking forward to how that will go.

Today could have been better.

“Week 4” – Deload

• Deload – Deadlift (working max: 265#)
  • 2x5x105
  • 2x5x135
  • 2x5x160
• Asst. #1 – Deadlift
  • 5 x 10 x 135
• Asst. #2 – ab work…
  • 1x7xbw – hanging leg raises
  • 4x10xbw – crunches
• Metcon – jump rope
  • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

Again, since this is deload week and the warmup and “work” weights are the same, I just lumped them into 2×5 groups. Worked out easier that way. When I hit the assistance deadlifts tho… I wanted to go up in weight because I know 95 wasn’t cutting it, and while originally I thought 110 well… it’s deload, I wouldn’t be as exhausted from work sets, so why not? While it wasn’t strictly about 135 as a weight, it was about getting that plate diameter so the bar was at a proper height off the ground. Frankly, it was too much. 5x10x135 with a minute rest in between was too much for me. Oh sure I was able to pound out the reps, but last reps might take a second or two more rest before I did the rep, I could feel my lower back rounding and form slipping, and so on. I’ll certainly drop back to 110 next workout.

On rounding, gym owner mentioned it to me. I know I’ve been rounding, but I haven’t been able to tell just why. It it just having poor form? Not totally, because I try to reset before each pull and flatten my back out; but I have noticed that sometimes when lowering the weight I’m not keeping flat and kicking in my legs/knees at the right time so touching the weight to the ground sometimes has my back rounded. So there is some form involvement. As well, could it be flexibility in that bottom position? That may be part of it. Could be something else. Nevertheless, it’s something for me to think about, and part of me is thinking next cycle instead of assistance #1 being deadlifts to do Good Mornings to help that area, plus some stretching of those muscles.

On the leg raises well… remember how after the lat pulldowns on Monday my shoulders felt a little wonky? They’ve been feeling that way since then, and when I started the leg raises they were unhappy. That concerns me. So I opted to stop after 1 set and just do some crunches instead. Yeah, I laid over a swiss ball to do them… best thing in the gym for the motion since I can get an increased range of motion.

So… .today was a mixed bag. I’m happy for the long weekend coming up so I can get a little more rest. I’ll see how my shoulder feels on Friday, when I do bench press.

This week starts my “deload” week. It’s all about recovery.

“Week 4” – Deload

• Deload – Press (working max: 110#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 2x5x45
  • 2x5x55
  • 2x5x65
• Asst. #1 – Press
  • 5 x 10 x 55
• Asst. #2 – Close-grip lat pulldowns
  • 5 x 10 x 110
• Metcon – jump rope
  • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

The deload weeks are going to work out a little different for me. See, deload weeks have you do your warmup sets, then the “work sets” are 1×5@40%, 1×5@50%, and 1×5@60% (percent of working max). Strict 5 reps, no “push for the limit” on the last set or anything. It’s meant to keep you in the groove but not strain your system, to allow for recovery. It’s arguable that at my level I don’t really need the deload week, but I’m going to take it because it’s part of the system and I want to see how it all goes for me.

The thing that made it interesting is the warmup weights and the work weights are exactly the same! So I didn’t see much reason to lift 40%, 50%, 60%, then go back and lift 40, 50, 60 again. I just did 2 40’s, 2 50’s, and 2 60’s. Easier, and fine with me.

On my assistance pressing, that I kept the same… well, almost. I still kept it at 5×10 but opted to bump the weight to 55# (from 45). That was a good move. Will I keep it at 55# when the work weeks come back in? I will try, and we’ll see how it goes.

I remain happy with my decision to move to close-grip lat pulldowns instead of “chins”. Since my strength isn’t high enough and my bodyweight isn’t low enough, I just can’t get that level of volume and full range of motion with chins… yet. The pulldowns are allowing me to do that. 110# proved to be a good working weight to allow a full range of motion and really ensure I get my back into it. I did notice my shoulders felt a little odd today, so I may play around with my grip width to find what works better to keep my shoulders happy.

Honestly, while I know I need to go through the deload week, I’m itching to get back into the work cycle. The Wendler 5/3/1 program is turning out to be nice. Sure gains are slower than if I went on something like the Texas Method, but it’s all meshing with my life and goals just fine.

Today was mostly good.

“Week 3” 5-3-1

• 5/3/1 – Squat (working max: 220#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x90
  • 1x5x119
  • 1x3x135
  • 1x5x165 (work)
  • 1x3x190
  • 1x5x210
• Asst. #1 – Squat
  • 5 x 10 x 75
• Asst. #2 – Leg curls
  • 3 x 10 x 25
  • 2 x 10 x 30
• Metcon – jump rope
  • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

As I said, today was mostly good.

The squats went well. I’ve been reading more about things to improve squat technique, like this article from EliteFTS about “Set Up to Squat Huge“. While I’m not squatting huge, it’s still good for me and technique. Tightening up my whole body, keeping elbows down instead of back (like Rippetoe advocates, tho I see why he advocates it), which then allows me to bring my hands closer in and really tighten up the upper back… tho my elbows still feel a little sore even now at home. It’s all good. No I didn’t set a PR today, but that I’m squatting close to my PR but with MUCH better form is good in my book.

Jump rope? Had to stop. As I started my second iteration some of my leg joints gave me some pain in the bad way, so I figured it was better to err on the side of caution and stop.

Since WordPress.com decided to suck and logged me out while in the middle of writing this post, instead rewriting my original post I’ll skip to the key point: the assistance weight.

I bumped my squat assistance up by 10# and you can see I bumped my leg curl weight in the middle of the run. Even then both weights felt like they were pretty light and not pushing me hard enough. Of course, Wendler said to start very light, but that very light felt right at the time. Interesting that as my work weights are getting heavier I’d expect my muscles to get more exhausted and thus that same weight would feel “heavier” but that’s not the case. Maybe I’m just adapting to the program and workload, maybe I’m getting stronger, maybe it’s all in my head. Maybe something else, maybe a combination. I can’t say for sure. Nevertheless, I’m going to take a less dogmatic approach to my assistance work. I have specific reasons for the assistance work and if the weight isn’t getting me there, up it… don’t just stick to the number because that’s what the workout is to be. If that means I pyramid up and down because I work hard and can’t settle on just one weight, then so be it. Ideally yes I’d like to have 5x10xX weight across, but if that doesn’t happen then it doesn’t… more important is to get the sets, reps, and the right workout.

I may not totally start on that next week… next week is the “deload” week so while I want to work myself, I can’t kill myself. Still, I can start to experiment with greater weight on the assistance work, but I just may be a little conservative about it.

Personal record blown out of the water!

“Week 3 – 5/3/1”

• 5/3/1 – Bench Press (180# working max)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x75
  • 1x5x90
  • 1x3x110
  • 1x5x135 (work)
  • 1x3x155
  • 1x10x175 (PR)
• Asst. #1 – bench press
  • 5x10x85
• Asst. #1 – Dumbbell row
  • 5x10x35
• Metcon – jumping rope
  • 1 Tabata set – single hops

Wow. This was great! I set a great personal record today of 175 for 10 reps. I was floored. Last big weight I moved was on my last PPNP workout where I did 3x5x170. I felt strong there, but also only 5 reps and around 5 minutes of rest in between sets. Here, I’m just zooming along… all warmups only resting as much time as I need to change plates, and only taking maybe 2 minutes at most between work sets. I said to myself that because I was able to do 3x5x170 that there’s no reason for me to do less than 5 with 175, aim for 6. Well, I just felt like I could do more, so I kept doing more until I truly felt like there was only 1-2 left in the tank. And I just kept crankin’ and got 10 reps.

I was floored. 🙂

But it actually just reinforces to me that yes, I never got my bench press to the level it should be during my PPNP cycle, thus I started here very underpowered. Wendler says when you start a new cycle to bump your deadlift and squat by 10# and bench press and press by 5#. I figure for someone working at their max loads that’s right to do, and of course there’d be no harm in me doing that at this point either. However, I am going to bump my bench by at least 10# and maybe even 15# during my next cycle. I mean, according to 1RM formulas, using 180# as my work max put me at 203# for a 1RM. Using the same formula with today’s performance puts me at 233# for a 1RM and 210# as my Wendler working max. That’s a significant difference. I don’t feel the need to correct my squat nor my deadlift (they’ll just go up by 10#), but I do think the bench needs a bigger bump for this cycle.

Assistance bench… as you’ve seen on my progressions the calculations were really under any weight that allowed me to feel work, so I bumped it even higher today to 85#. That didn’t feel good either, but was better than before. I think 95# may get me there.

Rows was alright. I was tempted to go to 40# today because I was feeling so good, but glad I didn’t as I’m not quite ready for that. But I do think that’ll come in the next workout or two (maybe not next working merely because that’ll be deload week).

Rope jumping tho was ugly… well, not bowling-shoe-ugly, but I was tripping up more than I have been lately. Still a reasonable set tho, because I was working hard on keeping my feet and toes relaxed instead of tight the whole time. I know that may not seem like much, but it’s a quest to have my body as relaxed as possible, only recruiting the muscles that truly need to be involved. I noticed I kept my feet and toes stiff while jumping, and that’s not what I want.

Anyways, I feel good!