It just keeps rolling!

Much deadlifting today. 10RM set.

One thing I’m trying to do with my deadlifting is get “back” more. When I set up, my hips tend to be a little high, because I am stronger at pulling with my back than my legs. I notice when I do this, my weight is forward — I’ll feel the pull more towards the front/ball of my foot than the mid-foot. So I’ve really been working on trying to get my hips lower, start lower, push “through my heels” (which may actually get me mid-foot), and to “pull backwards” like I’m trying to fall backwards. It’s all mental cues, but the goal is to get the weight moving up the mid-foot and to be using my legs more. Yeah, I could probably pull more if I leveraged my back more, but I’m trying to build my legs up so….

And today I did something I hadn’t in ages: used a mixed grip. I’ve been double-overhanding it and been quite happy. But I figure as the weights get heavier, as the gym keeps being so humid and sweaty, I better start to mix-grip it. I only did it on the last set and it threw me a little bit because it was an unfamiliar feeling and I didn’t have my hand placement just right so the bar was a little unbalanced (not much, but just a wee). But no big deal; just tells me to mix-grip it on my work sets from here out, need it or not, to get back to it.

Front squats went well.

But all the assistance work — yeah, this is what I need to reexamine to figure what I’m really going to get benefit from or not. Much thinking.

Anyways, damn good day. And with sleep being better (been napping a lot the past few days, and had a very good night sleep last night), I’m feeling good towards going another 3 weeks before I deload.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Deadlift
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 195 x 3
  • 245 x 5
  • 280 x 3
  • 310 x 10 (10RM PR)
• Front Squat
  • 150 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 195 x 5
• Elevated Glute Bridges (superset with crunches)
  • BW x 10 (each leg)
  • BW x 10 (each leg)
  • BW x 20 (both legs together)
• Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 10 (the isometric from the one-leg bridges takes something)
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 15

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The progress continues. Again, the weight goes up, the reps go up, gee if I can’t help but be pleased by progress. And it’s going up across the board — you name it. I’m happy.

So with that, it’s back to two “next cycle” thoughts.

First, to deload or do another 3 weeks. The plan was to just go another 3 weeks. I’ve been feeling good, progress is solid, weights are relatively light (if I’m hitting the 10-rep threshold on my 1+ sets, it’s relatively light), why not? Well, why not is because my sleep has been poor lately, some additional stress in life, so that affects recovery. A little time off may be good for me. Unsure tho. I may still just be feeling beat up from this past weekend’s work. So, I’ll let it ride, continue to focus on my recovery (e.g. naps), and see how I feel come next week and just make the call as I ride along. The plan will be to do another 3 weeks, unless my body tells me otherwise.

Second, to add in “first set last”. Why do it? Because I’d like a little more volume. Why? Because I respond to that. BUT I have to remind myself that my overall weekly volume is up, if not per-session. And let’s face it — I’m making solid progress right now. So really — why change anything? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I’m making solid progress, so just keep going and milk this for all I can. Eventually progress will stop and that becomes a time to consider changes like this. So, it’s just a change in thinking for me, that I’m still getting used to.

If anything should change, I should certainly reflect on my assistance work. I think the upper body work is alright, but the lower body work I want to continue to look at. We’ll see.

Anyways, just good times, good times.

Music: Crowbar. Because heavy.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 95 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 115 x 5
  • 140 x 3
  • 175 x 5 (work sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 200 x 3
  • 220 x 10 (10RM PR)
• Incline Press
  • 135 x 5 (sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 160 x 5
  • 180 x 5
• Cable Rows
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 16
• Shrugs
  • 205 x 20
  • 205 x 15
  • 205 x 12
• Overhead Triceps Extensions (superset with curls)
  • 60 x 20
  • 60 x 18
  • 60 x 12
• Hammer Curls
  • 25e x 20
  • 25e x 18
  • 25e x 10

Good day, but short day.

I spent all weekend teaching at KR Training. Two days, three classes, 100º heat, 110% humidity — yeah, I’m beat. If it had been any other time, I might have wanted to take Monday (today) off to recover, but I actually don’t feel as beat up as I normally would after an intensive weekend like that. Still, I know I’m down so I opted to make today a “jack shit” day: just get in, do the work, set a PR, leave. It’s all about recovery, and my hole’s dug a little deeper due to the weekend so no need to dig it further.

While I am trying to avoid reminding myself of how I did “last time” and thus set expectations for how to perform today, I did know how I had done and did set expectations for myself. I’m finding if I just go in and crank without preconceived notions, I tend to do not just well but better because I don’t have a mental frame that might actually hold me back. Just keep doing “continuous 1 rep sets” and when it’s time to stop, I’ll know and THEN I can assess how it compares out. But I knew going into it that I wanted to hit at least 8 reps today because that would keep the forward progress going. It’s 5/3/1 week after all and of all weeks, this is the week to kick it.

And sure enough that’s what I did. I actually felt like I could have done a 9th just fine (and still left the 1-2 in the tank), but again, I knew what to hit, I hit it, I don’t want to dig the hole deeper, so that was that. And really, hitting 8 is great because it’s continued progress compared to all prior squat sessions. I am happy.

I did a set of hypers, a set of crunches, then spent about 25 minutes on the elliptical.

And now… to go take a nap.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 110 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 3
  • 205 x 5
  • 235 x 3
  • 260 x 8 (8RM PR)
• Hyperextensions
  • BW x 15
• Crunches
  • BW x 15

Progress continues.

Didn’t hit the 10-rep threshold like I’ve been doing everywhere else, but I attribute that to the Press being the 1 movement I had a true 1RM of before I started (instead of fair calculations). But still, hitting 8 is solid for the 3+ week.

And it continues to be a track record of progressing. Comparing against the past few Press sessions, either weight and/or reps have gone up. So it’s still solid progress; slow progress, but solid. Press has always been a slow one for me.

I also found a couple important tweaks to my setup. The past few Press sessions had a little shoulder pain when I got overhead. I have found my index points on the bar when I set up, but I was being a little too strict about them. Basically the point where my thumbnail ends I line up with the edge of the bar knurling. But I was kinda stretching this. When instead I did it relaxed (brought my grip closer together, just a tad), that made all the improvement. I’ll have to see how it goes next week tho — could be that I just got sufficiently warmed up by the time I made this change.

Another thing that’s constantly frustrated me is my breathing — I always debate where to take a breath. You typically take it at the start of the movement, but here you’re at the bottom. I found myself today unracking, getting settled, then exhaling a bit so I could have a fresh breath to press with. Well, taking that breath blew my setup — my chest collapsed (of course) and I lost a lot. So yeah, I have to take my breath, hold it, unrack, settle, press, then at the top finally take my first breath. I kinda hate that because I get a little light-headed from the oxygen deprivation. So I’m trying to do a bunch of stuff to breathe deep a good 6-10 times or so before I unrack the bar. That prolongs my setup, but seems to be leading to better results.

It’s all still something I have to keep working with, but Press setup and technique is something that’s long frustrated and elluded me, and these two things seem to be progress in the right direction. I’ll see how they fare next week.

Also with my chin-ups. The joint stress comes at the bottom, when I’m hanging and it causes the arms to rotate/torque/twist — elbows don’t bend that way. So today I just didn’t go all the way down. I’m not sure I liked that. I mean, it was certainly less stress, but that full extension and starting the pull from there really provides good work. As well, I am really missing out on the shoulder retraction. So…. I dunno. I may stick with it next week, and then next cycle try something else like close-grip v-bar pullups and doing underhand-grip pulldowns. That may work out. I’ll just keep playing until I find what’s going to give me good results and not damage me in the process.

Otherwise, just a good day.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 60 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 75 x 5
  • 90 x 3
  • 105 x 3 (work sets superset with chin-ups)
  • 120 x 3
  • 140 x 8
• Close-Grip Bench Press
  • 125 x 8 (sets superset with chin-ups)
  • 145 x 8
  • 170 x 6
• V-Bar Pulldowns
  • 110 x 20
  • 110 x 15
  • 110 x 12
• Face Pulls
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 15
  • 100 x 15
• Skullcrushers (superset with curls)
  • 60 x 20
  • 60 x 20
  • 60 x 15
• Close-grip EZ-bar Curls
  • 50 x 20
  • 50 x 20
  • 50 x 15

The trend of progress continues.

For sure, things are starting to feel a little heavier, but still there’s progress. Again, the final work set went right up to the 10-rep threshold. Weight goes up, reps go up, life’s good. It won’t last forever, so I’ll just keep taking it as I get it.

That said, front squats were a bit tough today. I’m trying to keep myself leaned back — really, upright, but the mental thought is leaning back so that I do stay upright. That makes it harder, targets more what it should, and keeps the bar from rolling off! That was a tough thing today — it’s very hot and humid in Texas right now, I’m at the gym at a time when there’s no A/C and it’s hotter in the gym than outside, so I’m just drenched in sweat and everything is slippery. I almost lost the bar a couple times just because things were slipping around. I would use chalk, because that would be safer, but stupid gym policies….

I did the glute bridges one-legged today. For sure they are hitting my hamstrings more than anything else. Interesting stuff.

Anyways, good day. Excited for tomorrow, and for next week’s 5/3/1 work.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Deadlift
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 195 x 3
  • 230 x 3
  • 265 x 3
  • 295 x 10
• Front Squat
  • 140 x 8
  • 160 x 8
  • 186 x 6
• Elevated Glute Bridges (one-legged)
  • BW x 10e
  • BW x 10e
  • BW x 10e
• Twisting Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 14
  • BW x 8
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 13

Sooner or later this run of excellent sessions will run out, but until that happens I’m going to enjoy them. 🙂

Today went quite well. Again, the final work set got pinned at the 10 rep threshold — weight goes up, reps continue high and/or increase, and I’m just happy with the constant progress. And while I’m not really tracking my pullups, those continue to increase as well.

On that 3+ set, it went really really well. Today I focused on crush-gripping the bar. Not just because that helps the whole body get tight, but it helps to lock the wrist. With the wrist pain I’ve been feeling, no question it’s in part because I haven’t been keeping that locked wrist and the pressure has gotten to all those little bones. Thing is, I often start with a locked wrist but then I lose it as the reps progress because I’m focusing on other things. Well, today I focused on keeping the wrist locked, and damn if everything didn’t just move. I mean, I often think about leg drive and just don’t feel like the leg drive is really helping — but today, every rep had great drive and I felt it actually working! Amazing what happens when you stop (over) thinking and just do. 😉 That 3+ set really was awesome.

The change I made in terms of the back work seems to be working ok. I’m not unhappy or feeling as unbalanced as before, so I’ll just go with this emotion.

The trade-off of course is having to do cardio at the end of the session. 😉 But I need to get my weight reigned back in, so between tightening up the diet and adding in a little more work, it’s just what I have to do.

Part of me wants to skip deload… I’m just not feeling like I NEED it, but I know it’s something where you should take it before you need it. That said, often good lifting cycles will go 9 to 12 weeks before deloading so who knows… maybe I’ll go one more cycle. I don’t want to push it, but given I’m feeling very good and not beat up, I’m at least considering it.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 95 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 115 x 5
  • 140 x 3
  • 165 x 3 (work sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 185 x 3
  • 210 x 10
• Incline Press
  • 125 x 8 (sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 145 x 8
  • 170 x 6
• Cable Rows
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 18
  • 100 x 14
• Shrugs
  • 185 x 20
  • 185 x 20
  • 185 x 20
• Overhead Triceps Extensions (superset with curls)
  • 55 x 20
  • 55 x 20
  • 55 x 18
• Hammer Curls
  • 25e x 20
  • 25e x 15
  • 25e x 12

Who can argue with progress?

It’s really awesome when everything goes up. Today’s 3+ set, went rather well. I’ve been sleeping like crap over the past week, and yesterday it all caught up with me and I napped hard throughout the day. I was drag-ass out of bed this morning and even the gym started of slowly. But you know the work to do, and you just do it. I expected I might not crank out the reps, but it just kept going and next thing I know I’m shutting it down at the 10-rep threshold. Nice.

I mean, the weight went up — both from last week, and last cycle’s 3+ week. Reps went up too. I am very happy with that.

Assistance “went down”, but again I’m really striving for no more than 60 seconds between sets and exercises, so cranking like that and yeah, reps go down. But whatever. The work is good and still generally progressing there as well.

Really, this is all very good, and I’m very happy. I’ll admit, it makes me wonder if I do want to add in the “first set last” or not. Only because if I’m progressing well like this, it tells me I’ve hit a good balance of work and recovery that’s enabling forward progression. Why disrupt that, y’know? But, I still think it’d be good for at least 1 6-week cycle to try it out. I’d probably do the AMRAP version where you go back to the “first set” weight and just do 1 set for AMRAP. I think so long as the weights are light, one AMRAP set will be a good FSL approach (whereas the 3-5 sets x 5-8 reps approach will be better when the weights are heavier, towards getting in the volume).

Anyways.

All in all, things were quite good.

Remembering to do 20-30 minutes on the elliptical after the session. Hate it, but at least it gets me back into listening to podcasts (quite a backlog).

Music today: Megadeth, mix from the first 3 albums.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 110 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 3
  • 190 x 3
  • 220 x 3
  • 245 x 10
• Straight-leg Deadlift
  • 175 x 8
  • 205 x 8
  • 235 x 6
• Leg Curls
  • 30 x 20
  • 30 x 14
  • 30 x 11
• Hyperextensions
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 12
  • BW x 12
• Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 12
  • BW x 10
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 14
  • 50 x 11

Learned a few things.

First, Pressing overall is going well. I do look forward to more pressing with the 45’s because it does certainly affect the movement. Pressing 130 vs 135 isn’t much difference in terms of weight, but it is in terms of feel. That said, again I hit the threshold of 10 reps and shut it down. But whereas in other lifts I keep hitting 10 and have more in me, with Pressing I feel I’m right where I should be; that 10 felt like I only had 1-2 in the tank.

Second, chin-ups. I continue to experiment with grips to find what will be least stressful on my joints. So today I tried that really wide set of pull-up grips that every gym has. Took about half a rep to say “hell no”. I was surprised at just how much stress that put on my shoulders, in a bad way. So I just reverted to close-grip chin-ups. Second set I tried throwing a towel over the bar. That was ok, but no question my grip is my weak point. So I may not make these the staple, but maybe after a few sets of normal chin-ups I might throw these in. But for now, back to normal chins.

Third, just for the record, the face pulls were done on the cable crossover apparatus, thus pulling through 2 pulleys and so the weight value is deceptive vs. the mechanical advantage 2 pulleys give you.

Everything else went generally fine. Nothing exciting to report. 🙂

That said, there’s a bit of unexcited. Since I stopped The Defattening Project, I’ve been enjoying the freedom to eat — a little too much. I’m gaining weight faster than I should, and I can see it around my gut. I’m very unhappy with myself. So, I need to dig in about it. It’s been a combinaton of a few factors:

1. I upped my carbs
2. I didn’t up my fats
3. I dropped my workload

Upping carbs was a natural and necessary thing. Trouble is, I upped it too much. Just enjoying a few too many things.

I didn’t up my fats either. I mean, after almost 2 years of almost no fat in my diet, I’m just not in the habit of seeking out and consuming fat! To eat an avocado, to eat whole eggs, etc.. Not only would this help with my calorie levels, but it would add that level of satiation that I need — that’s also causing me to graze. Sometimes instead of getting an Oreo or two, a spoonful of peanut butter would work better. Gotta change some habits.

Finally, I dropped my workload. No more cardio? Yea! But really, even that light amount of cardio burned enough calories over the course of the week to add up and be beneficial. Plus, my lifting style is different and it’s not the same volume of work. So I need to bring my workload back up. I’m going to start doing this by adding 20-30 minutes of brisk elliptical work on my gym days after I’m done lifting, before I leave.

We’ll see how this goes.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 60 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 75 x 5
  • 90 x 3
  • 100 x 5 (work sets superset with chin-ups)
  • 115 x 5
  • 130 x 10
• Close-Grip Bench Press
  • 105 x REP (sets superset with chin-ups)
  • 125 x REP
  • 145 x REP
• V-Bar Pulldowns
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 14
• Face Pulls
  • 100 x 15
  • 100 x 15
  • 100 x 15
• Skullcrushers (superset with curls)
  • 55 x 20
  • 55 x 20
  • 55 x 15
• Close-grip EZ-bar Curls
  • 50 x 20
  • 50 x 18
  • 50 x 13

Oh yeah… I started really light. 🙂

I just keep hitting the 10-rep threshold, which isn’t a bad thing really. I’ll just keep taking the reps. Plus, I find that it’s been good for me to really get my technique and groove back to something, since I’ve been away from conventional deadlifts for so long.

That said, front squats are where they need to be. I’m finding that I really don’t like them that much, but I do find the new approach more workable (the wider stance). And again, when I get down in the hole, it really seems to do a number on my glutes. I’ll keep doing them tho, because it’s good for me.

The other “don’t really like, but is good for me” are the bodyweight unilateral stuff. I’m not going to change up with that yet (to work them back in), but I will say the glute bridges are curious to me. I found myself today focusing a little different as I did the movement, and I actually got more work on the hamstrings than the glutes. I’m going to keep playing with them, and eventually I will go to one leg. I hate this stuff, but I cannot deny it’s good for my aging frame.

No music today. Had bunch of stuff on my mind.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Deadlift
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 195 x 3
  • 215 x 5
  • 245 x 5
  • 280 x 10
• Front Squat
  • 115 x 10
  • 140 x 10
  • 160 x 10
• Elevated Glute Bridges (triset with crunches and calf raises)
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 10
• Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 10
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 35 x 13
  • 35 x 13
  • 35 x 13

Good stuff.

Keeping the wrist wraps on until my wrists feel better; they help.

On the 5+ set, I had a lot left in me (could have gotten 2-3 more easily, and still had some in the tank), but trying to stick to the rule of 10-max and shutting it down. It’s in part for the discipline of the program: stimulate, don’t annihilate; work light; that I don’t need to kill it every session because it’s a week of recovery, rather get the volume over the course of the week given I’ll hit the general same areas twice a week; etc.. So far so good, but I just have to keep reinforcing the paradigm shift.

That said, overall felt very strong today. While I’m not tracking my pull-ups here, I am making progress on them too.

I feel good about the change-up on the assistance work, but it’s the first session so hard to really say. But keeping it to 1 minute of rest between sets is certainly helping on bringing things up and keeping my session times from getting stupid long.

I do think I’m going to bring a “first set last” approach in on the next cycle. I think a little more volume will be good.

Music: bunch of 80’s hair bands.

5/3/1 Simplest Strength Template

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 95 x 5 (warmup sets superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 115 x 5
  • 140 x 3
  • 150 x 5 (work sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 175 x 5
  • 200 x 10 (shut it down early)
• Incline Press
  • 105 x 10 (sets superset with neutral-grip pull-ups)
  • 125 x 10
  • 145 x 10
• Cable Rows
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 14
  • 100 x 12
• Shrugs
  • 185 x 20
  • 185 x 20
  • 185 x 15
• Overhead Triceps Extensions
  • 55 x 20
  • 55 x 14
  • 55 x 10
• Hammer Curls
  • 25e x 20
  • 25e x 12
  • 25x x 10