Didn’t want to, but you do the work anyways.

I did not want to go to the gym this morning. Just drag-ass all the way. But you still drag your ass there and put in the work, because it’s consistency over time that gets you there. Why not? Got to bed late. Plus I wasn’t feeling it. I’m not sure if it is the lowered carbs, or heck, it could simply be that finally the weights are getting heavy and hitting the 10-rep threshold all the time is finally coming to a close. Probably a combination of factors. I do expect that the 10-rep stuff is going to be ending here soon, maybe even during this cycle. Of course I’m still going to strive for as much as I can neatly do, but things had to get heavy sooner or later. 🙂

That said, overall the session went well. Deadlifts almost felt deload-ish. 10-rep front squats… oof.

In other news, I’ve been cutting back on the carbs a few days now. My weight is down a bit, but I know that’s just depletion and not tissue loss. But you need to deplete before tissue loss will happen. For sure I don’t feel bloated any more, which is good. Thing is, some months ago I stopped the 1-on-1 with Renaissance Periodization and went with their templates. I picked massing, because that’s my current plan. But because of what? 16-18 months of strict dieting took a toll, I needed a break. I just happily ate carbs, with some regard for the plan, but not much. And so I have put on a little more than I should have. So in this “return to form” what I’m doing is going back to the templates, lowest level of things to (re)establish a base. I expect I’ll lose a little bit of weight, and the goal is to just stay on this set of “base” templates, shed whatever sheds, and get to a point of stabilization. It may be that I drop just like 5-7 lb. or something, and that’s fine. Just get things back into a realm. Then I can go from there.

I don’t really want to do a straight up cutting cycle, but I’ve contemplated it. I don’t want to derail my main goal of the “3/4/5”, but there may be a way to work it in. For example, do the above, get things back in bounds, and just keep working until it’s time to reset my lifts. Once I reset, do a 6-week (or maybe 12-week) cut cycle. The weights should still manage OK, I might change the lifting program a bit to support it (e.g. Jim often recommends just going for prescribed reps, then upping the assistance work to get a little more volume and stave off muscle loss). I just refuse to get fat again.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Deadlift
  • 140 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 210 x 3
  • 230 x 5
  • 265 x 5
  • 300 x 10
• Front Squat
  • 125 x 10
  • 150 x 10
  • 175 x 10 (10RM PR)
• Elevated Glute Bridges (superset with crunches)
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
• Twisting Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 35 x 20
  • 35 x 17
  • 35 x 14

Not hot, but alright.

Yesterday wasn’t the best of days. Today was OK. I mean, I hit everything I expected to hit, but I just didn’t feel like setting the world on fire. Could it still be the sleep? The reduced carbs? Or… the kids seem to have come down with something, so could I be starting to get something? Hard to say. Public school systems start up this week, so I do expect the petri-dish-of-fun to be starting. You know… kids all go back to school, germs, no one washes hands, all the kids get sick, bring it home, parents get sick, they take it to the office, and for about the next month everyone is or gets sick to some degree. Hooray for the start of the school year!

But whatever…. just plow through it.

Biggest thing of note was pull-ups. Because of the aforementioned irritation of my teres major (or something in that area), I’m laying off the pull-ups this week. I need to do something, so I actually threw the band over the bar and did band pulldowns. Nothing intensive, but it’s something to give everything a rest and get a little pump in that area to help with recoup. Next week I’m going to try graduating things a bit, doing warm-up-level pulldowns during the main movement, then doing pull-ups during the big assistance movement. We’ll see how that goes for me.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 110 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 120 x 5
  • 145 x 3
  • 160 x 5 (work sets superset with band pull-downs)
  • 185 x 5
  • 210 x 10
• Incline Press
  • 110 x 10 (sets superset with band pull-downs)
  • 130 x 10
  • 155 x 10
• Cable Rows
  • 110 x 20
  • 110 x 20
  • 110 x 12
• Shrugs
  • 215 x 20
  • 215 x 18
  • 215 x 14
• V-bar pressdowns (superset with curls)
  • 60 x 20
  • 60 x 18
  • 60 x 14
• Hammer Curls (alternate, across body)
  • 30e x 20
  • 30e x 15
  • 30e x 10

They can’t all be good days.

Today wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the greatest either.

Squatting started out OK, but when I put the 250 on my back, it felt like a ton. Coming out of rep 5, I truly lost balance and took a step forward to regain it. When I got to 8 I just racked it. I probably could have ground out 2 more reps, but why? Things just weren’t going well, it felt so heavy. I was over the required reps so… meh.

Why exactly? Hard to say. I did go see Alice Cooper last night, so I only got a few hours of sleep, and that may be part of it. I also didn’t eat many carbs over the weekend (apart from a couple Miller Lite’s at the show), because I have been bulking too fast and frankly I want to see if I can regress a little in weight.

Whatever tho… it’s what it is. I plan on resting as much as I can today and seeing how the rest of the week goes.

Apart from that tho, the session went fine. I was kinda expecting the deadlifts to peed out as well, but they went pretty strong. So, it was what it was.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 120 x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 175 x 3
  • 190 x 5
  • 220 x 5
  • 250 x 8
• Straight-leg Deadlift
  • 160 x 10
  • 190 x 10
  • 220 x 10
• Leg Curls
  • 30 x 20
  • 30 x 20
  • 30 x 14
• Hyperextensions
  • BW x 17
  • BW x 17
  • BW x 15
• Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 17
  • BW x 13
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 50 x 20
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 13

Another day, another PR. But the good wasn’t without some bad.

Press has been the hardest movement for me to progress on, but I am making progress. I hit 150 for 8 reps today, which is a 8RM PR. And with a lifetime 1RM of 165, I feel pretty confident I could exceed that right now. So I’m getting stronger, which makes me happy (positive progress towards my goals). It’s also interesting for me to reflect on how during my big defatting project, I lost a lot of strength in my squat and deadlift, but only a little in my pressing (bench or overhead). And my pressing strength has come back faster. Not entirely sure what to attribute it to, but here we are.

I think that I may be finding a better setup approach. So that whole dizzy/light-headed thing while pressing, I tried it again today that just before I unrack the bar I take a mostly-full breath and go from there. I also found if I exhale on the press (after about halfway up), that helped a lot too. Breathe at the top, and kinda just let my body do what it needs to do — instead of pure Valsalva, allow myself to breathe as I press. For sure this is helping. I still think I can refine it, e.g. maybe I take a full breath but let it out as I press. Because for certain, the less-than-full-breath doesn’t allow me to start off as strong as I need to. But I’ll take a little less strong over passing out. 🙂 Anyways, this is a good sign so far, but I’ll have to keep playing with it.

As for the bad….

Something in my back is hurting. I can’t say exactly what, but it seems my Teres Major or thereabouts. It happens when I do pull-ups (or chin-ups, whatever). That first set, that first rep, it just hurts. After I do a few, after I get warm, no real issues. But it remains pretty sore. It was pretty bad today, so much that I only did like 3 reps per set and even dropped the last set entirely. I also cut my back work in half, just something to get a little work, a little pump/blood in the area, but not to stress anything.

I am pretty sure the problem is because I hit it with the pull-ups pretty cold. That’s 200+ lb. to suddenly pull, and it just has grown to hate it. I say this because it’s always on the first rep, first set, and over the sets things feel better.

What to do about it? I’m not sure.

My current thinking is next week no pull-ups at all — just do more band pull-aparts (to keep with a pulling movement between each set of pressing; and that doesn’t really stress the teres major much). Just give things a rest. See how I feel at the end of next week. If I need it, do this rest/deload on it another week. Just take it as it comes.

But then when I get back to it, my thinking is that I want to try a way of warming-up to it. It’s hard to do warm-ups with bodyweight like that. So my thinkinng is to do the same movement in pulldown form. So like if I’m doing pull-ups, take that same overhand grip, hands same distance apart. During my main movement sets, warm up, maybe pyramiding up — like first set is 100×10, then second is 120×10, third is 140×10 or something. Start light, ease into it, but work up to a little heavier to get used to that. Then during my big-assistance pressing, do actual pull-ups. I’d be curious to see if that might help me — a warm-up into it.

If that doesn’t do it then well, I’ll assess with that new information and go from there. Who knows. I may just have to drop “ups” for a while until things feel better, and do other back work instead.

Anyways, happy for the PR, and will be seeing how things go for my back.

Oh — and the music choice today was spinning the new Metallica track, “Hardwired”, like 10 times in a row. I’m digging it.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 65 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 80 x 5
  • 95 x 3
  • 120 x 5 (work sets superset with pull-ups)
  • 135 x 3
  • 150 x 8 (8RM PR)
• Close-Grip Bench Press
  • 140 x 5 (sets superset with pull-ups)
  • 160 x 5
  • 185 x 5
• V-Bar Pulldowns
  • 110 x 10
  • 110 x 10
  • 110 x 10
• Face Pulls
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
• Lying Triceps Extensions (superset with curls)
  • 60 x 20
  • 60 x 18
  • 60 x 14
• Close-grip EZ-bar Curls
  • 55 x 20
  • 55 x 18
  • 55 x 12

A PR a day is just… fun. 🙂

I think that’s one reason I’ve enjoyed switching back to 5/3/1 – there’s no question setting PR’s (rep PR’s whatever) is motivating and just fun. I haven’t had this much fun lifting in some time.

So deadlifting went well. Main thing I had to focus on for myself was mixed grip. I’ve been forgetting to go mixed grip, which has actually been cool because I’ve been doing well with double-overhand. But I knew it’d be a bit of a stretch today, so I made sure on my first work set to go mixed to get myself used to it again. The only problem I had was about 2/3 of the way through the top set I had to take a moment to reset the grip because of how skin was getting folded up in my palms/fingers. Otherwise, things went well.

And so setting a 10RM PR was quite nice.

Front squats also went well. I continue to work on their technique too, trying to “lean backwards” — not really, but it’s a cue towards helping me keep my torso as vertical as possible, that on the descent I drop down instead of back, etc. Really get what you’re supposed to get out of front squats.

All in all, a good day.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Deadlift
  • 135 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 205 x 3
  • 255 x 5
  • 285 x 3
  • 320 x 10 (10RM PR)
• Front Squat
  • 155 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 205 x 5
• Elevated Glute Bridges
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
• Twisting Crunches (superset with bridges)
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 35 x 20
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 14

Today just felt good, on many levels. 🙂

First, 10 good reps with 225. Well, 9 good reps and on 10 form started to break down, so I racked it. Racked it anyways because the 10-rep threshold. But whatever. That’s a great PR for me on bench press. After logging it in RepCount I checked stats and it said my 1RM calculates to 300#. I know that’s not true, but it was kinda cool to see “300”. As well, for comparison against prior bench sessions for sure it’s progress — hell, that’s obvious just hitting 10 reps at 225 (a 10RM PR)! What I do believe tho is that my lifetime 1RM PR of 255? That I’m pretty sure right now I could exceed that number.

I was also really happy because technique was pretty darn solid today. Heck, unracking the bar a few times and the bar felt lighter than the prior set. Leg drive was good, chest positioning, everything was just “on” today. That felt good.

Everything else just chugged along well. No complaints.

One thought I have had is that next cycle I might swap out shrugs. I’m making good progress with this particular program, so I really see no reason to change it much. If anything, changes are minor things like trying to not create or aggravate problems (e.g. elbow pain, so I ditched chin-ups and do pull-ups instead), or trying to ensure “well-roundedness” (e.g. added in a bit of calf work, despite calves not being addressed in the original SST). In this case, I’d like to get my shoulders a little more work, so I’m thinking about swapping shrugs out and upright rows in (I get good anterior and posterior work, so this is to add a little medial; again, well-roundedness). But a particular flavor of upright rows. Some time ago I read something from Mike Israetel about dumbbell upright rows. I’ve always done upright rows with a barbell, and I’ve wanted to try out a DB-variation. As well, I’d like to try really light weights and have the form be very shoulder-only. Usually with the BB the row is truly a row, getting all the arm into the mix (I’ll get a good biceps pump). Well, I want to try just moving the shoulder and upper arm, with the arm muscles only involved to hold onto the dumbbell. And I think DB will be better here than BB because it should give a freer range of motion. In the past this exercise has hit my traps and medial delts (and biceps) pretty well, so I’d like to try this variation and see what it does for me.

Anyways, great way to start the day!

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 95 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 120 x 5
  • 145 x 3
  • 180 x 5 (work sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 205 x 3
  • 225 x 10 (10RM PR)
• Incline Press
  • 140 x 5 (sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 160 x 5
  • 185 x 5
• Cable Rows
  • 110 x 20
  • 110 x 16
  • 110 x 12
• Shrugs
  • 215 x 20
  • 215 x 18
  • 215 x 14
• V-bar pressdowns (superset with curls)
  • 55 x 20
  • 55 x 20
  • 55 x 14
• Hammer Curls (alternate, across body)
  • 25e x 20
  • 25e x 20
  • 25e x 12

Well, running “10s” had to end at some point. 🙂

I didn’t hit the 10-rep threshold on my top-set of squats today — only got 8. Still, I’m good with this.

First, running 10’s had to end sooner or later.

Second, 8 is still quite good. I mean, it’s programmed for 1+, so anything after 1 is gravy.

Third, comparing things out, I’m still making progress, still moving forward. So really, this is what matters most.

Fourth, I may have actually been able to hit 10, but I wouldn’t have been happy with the 10. After rep 6 I started to feel technique slipping. I would have a lean forward out of the hole — not getting my chest up, not “driving my head back”. And it wasn’t just once because it happens, but I could tell on rep 8 that it was happening because I was starting to tire. I know I could have cranked out a 9 and maybe a 10, but it would have been sloppy. What’s the point? So I racked it. Leave a little in the tank, especially when form is definitively breaking down.

I’m good with it all.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 115 x 5
  • 140 x 5
  • 170 x 3
  • 215 x 5
  • 240 x 3
  • 270 x 8 (8RM PR)
• Straight-leg Deadlift
  • 200 x 5
  • 230 x 5
  • 260 x 5
• Leg Curls
  • 30 x 20
  • 30 x 18
  • 30 x 12
• Hyperextensions (superset with crunches)
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 15
• Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 12
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 50 x 18
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 13

Progress is good. Press is always a tough one for me — especially after last night seeing footage of Andranik Karapetyan at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Horrific, and I hope he’ll be OK. But boy… trying to keep that image out of your mind while you’re Pressing is tough.

The biggest thing for me is continuing to find a way to make my setup work so I don’t pass out. It’s just a weird thing with breath for me. I tried full breath, unrack, exhale a little bit, and in a way it worked but it really didn’t because it was too much loss of tension in the “rack” position thus starting off less than optimally. Today I tried the opposite, about a 90% inhale before unracking, which is enough to get tight, chest upwards, lats out, etc., but still a little room for some from oxygen. Well, while in the rack position, I just couldn’t get that last little inhale. I kept going and it actually seemed to work — I didn’t feel the dizzy. However, my body didn’t like it. It’s natural for the body to want to take a “big breath” before such exertion, and I’m cutting that short. So it felt odd, my body wanted to fight me. But it actually does seem like it could be promising. So I’m just going to have to keep playing with it.

Only other thing of note is on face-pulls, lowering the weight. When I start off with face pulls, I pick a weight that seems about right, but after a couple sessions I adjust. Face pulls aren’t some max-effort movement, but rather I want it to really be about just contracting the muscles of the upper back and shoulder — minimizing involvement of my arms, and that it’s really just my back muscles “reverse flying” my upper arms out. So usually I end up lowering the weight some to help me really get into feeling it and doing that. Always works out for the better.

Next week — 5/3/1 week. Huzzah! And yes, planning on doing 6-week cycle so it’ll be right into the next one.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 65 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 80 x 5
  • 95 x 3
  • 110 x 3 (work sets superset with pull-ups)
  • 125 x 3
  • 140 x 10 (10RM PR)
• Close-Grip Bench Press
  • 130 x 8 (sets superset with pull-ups)
  • 150 x 8
  • 170 x 6
• V-Bar Pulldowns
  • 110 x 20
  • 110 x 16
  • 110 x 11
• Face Pulls
  • 90 x 20
  • 90 x 15
  • 90 x 13
• Lying Triceps Extensions (superset with curls)
  • 60 x 20
  • 60 x 17
  • 60 x 12
• Close-grip EZ-bar Curls
  • 55 x 20
  • 55 x 15
  • 55 x 12

Another short day because of other commitments for the day. But at least this time I got up a little earlier and was able to ensure I got in my front squats!

I think the main thing of note is that I keep forgetting to go mixed-grip. I guess that’s not a bad thing tho, because grip is getting stronger for sure.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Deadlift
  • 135 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 205 x 3
  • 235 x 3
  • 270 x 3
  • 305 x 10
• Front Squat
  • 145 x 8
  • 170 x 8
  • 190 x 6

A solid day, but had a precarious moment.

I knew I’d have no problem with the top set this morning, as I’ve moved heavier weight and hit the 10-rep threshold, so I knew today would be no problem. That is… until I unracked the bar.

As soon as I unracked on the last set, the bar started to slip. It was simple: sweat.

I thought my hands were pretty dry, all things considered. I say that because it’s like 110% humidity right now, and at the time I’m at the gym there’s no A/C, no ventilation, no air movement, so it’s pretty stifling in there. Plus, it’s warm, humid, and so I just sweat profusely (everything is drenched by the time I leave). Still, I dry my hands as I can, but I guess the layer of sweat built up on my palms pretty quickly. I unrack, the bar moved, YIKES! I should have racked, dried, and continued. But no… I just kept going. It went alright, got the reps, but for sure I was primarily focused on not dropping the bar so I noticed other technique slipped. Which tells me — my technique is improving, but it’s not “part of me” yet, especially in the leg-drive area. So, in the end I learned something. I’ll take that.

Also, I didn’t wrap my wrists until later on. It started intentionally, then I was in the groove of not wrapping so I forgot. And my wrists felt alright! I’ve been working on improving my posture — especially my typing — because for sure that’s been a contributor to my wrist and hand pain. I’m actually not sure I want to fully drop the wraps, but at least I might defer them to just heavier sets.

Otherwise, things went generally well. Upped the weights on some assistance work, fair progression.

I also weighed in at 230 this morning — dropping carbs is a great way to debloat yourself. 😉 Going to stick with this and see how much more I can shed. I’m still eating carbs, just not being as stupid as I have been.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 95 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 120 x 5
  • 145 x 3
  • 165 x 3 (work sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 190 x 3
  • 215 x 10
• Incline Press
  • 130 x 8 (sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 150 x 8
  • 170 x 6
• Cable Rows
  • 110 x 20
  • 110 x 15
  • 110 x 12
• Shrugs
  • 215 x 20
  • 215 x 16
  • 215 x 12
• V-bar pressdowns (superset with curls)
  • 45 x 20
  • 45 x 20
  • 45 x 20
• Hammer Curls (alternate, across body)
  • 25e x 20
  • 25e x 17
  • 25e x 15