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Anyways…

Today was good! Made up for yesterday’s crap. I set 2 rep PRs today!

The work up on the bench press went well. The 200 set was fast, very fast. I had to tell myself to slow down because I went too fast and got out of position.

When I did the 250, I just didn’t care: get as many reps as I can, leaving something in the tank. Getting 6 reps felt good, something still in the tank, racked it. Looked at my stats in RepCount — all-time rep PR there. Nice! While I was looking at stats I noticed I could set a rep PR on the 260 Joker set too if I hit it for 2 reps. So I did. Was not a struggle.

I’m really pleased with this. Looking at the trends, I can tell that I’m progressing, getting stronger. Slowly but steadily. I mean, back when I did the 1RM testing about 3 months ago, I benched 265 for a single and stopped – I knew I could do more but didn’t bother as that was good enough for my purposes. It’s paying off, because hitting 260 for 2 today AFTER so much work? Yeah, that’s getting stronger.

Downside? Irritated my arms/shoulders a bit. I also felt pretty beat up after yesterday’s squat session. I’m thinking next week’s deload may not be 7th week protocol but will really scale it back so I can rest and recoup a bit more.

Everything else was what it was. Things progressing nicely. Feeling good.

I do need to figure out exactly what the next 3 mesocycles will look like. I have an idea, just need to finalize it.

5/3/1 (3rd cycle, anchor, 3/5/1, PR, Jokers, FSL; modified for knee rehab)

• Bench Press
  • bar x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 160 x 3
  • 200 x 5
  • 225 x 3
  • 250 x 6 (all time rep PR)
  • 260 x 2 (Joker, and all time rep PR)
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 20e x 15
  • 20e x 15
  • 20e x 15
  • 20e x 15
• Neutral-Grip Pulldowns (superset with bench work sets)
  • 145 x 12
  • 145 x 12
  • 145 x 12
  • 145 x 12
• Kroc Rows (superset with bench FSL sets)
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 28e
• Pushdowns
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 15
• Cross-body alternating hammer curls (superset with Pushdowns)
  • 35e x 12
  • 35e x 11
  • 35e x 8

Today was not the day I wanted.

This week is the culimination of the past 9 weeks. I was aiming to get 5 reps on the top set, at least.

I only got 4.

Every set didn’t feel right. Things were off, out of groove. I found myself on the 285 set cutting depth short. I also found I had to fight that dizzy feeling more than usual. Every single rep of the 320 set was bad, and while I felt I had the strength for a 5th rep (and that would have still left 1 in the tank), everything was so off, the dizzy was real, and I felt it wouldn’t be prudent to take the rep.

sigh.

It’s my fault tho.

This past Saturday was a very long day teaching at KR Training. Up at 3 AM, not in bed until 10 PM. Out in the 100º heat all day teaching two sold out classes. It was draining. Sunday then I should have napped more, and I did nap some but not as dedicatedly as I should have. and then that threw off my eating and I didn’t eat as well as I should have. So this explains part of it: still worn out, poorly fueled. All my fault.

The other part of it? I psyched myself out. I’m finally emerging from my strength loss and getting into new weights I’ve not done before. It’s a little intimidating. But the thing is? I can DO these weights no problem. I just got myself all psyched out, found myself changing my approach to the bar all day today. Being worried about making the reps so I cut that depth short and was like “why the fuck did I do that?” because I’d rather hit depth and get good but fewer reps than get any amount of shitty reps. I just blew the mental game.

So, some good learning got reinforced – because most of what happened I know already, I just need to consistently do it. For example, if this is how I need to approach the heaviest weights, then I need to approach EVERY weight this way. So if there is something technique wise I feel I need to adjust, I should do it.

But I think part of it is that I need to go BACK to what I was doing. That is, instead of adopting the shit I did today, today I should have done what I’ve done all along. For example, keeping tight and allowing the descent to be slightly slow but tight. I found myself allowing for a little more acceleration on the descent and trying to reverse that speed didn’t fly well.

However to be fair — one consideration in that specific thing? Could I actually change my technique now that my knees are so much better? In part my technique to date has been considering my knee pain. But that’s well under control. So might I be able to adopt different technique now? Something to consider.

To that — next week is deload week. Wendler’s 7th Week Protocol has a specific approach to a “post-anchor, pre-leader” deload, which is basically some sort of testing week to ensure your training max is correct. I am not sure I’ll follow it. I might actually use the week to still play it deload, but play with technique some. TBD. I’ll think about it this week.

Anyways, the day is what it was, and that I learned something is good.

As for other stuff.

1-leg press is getting better. I’m not worrying about weight but getting good reps here. After my changes to belt squats last week, here I opted to allow my toes to point slightly out. That made a positive difference! I found my quads getting hit better, because I got a slightly deeper ROM. But what surprised me was the amount of gluteus minimus (side of your butt) burn I felt! That bodes well for the whole reason I’m doing these: the knee rehab work. I shall continue to explore this.

1-leg extensions I want to continue to play with, because I don’t have that 100% mind-muscle connection here, but it’s getting better.

Front plate raises continue to be a ton of fun. I like these.

The reverse curls are good. I am also enjoying the daily biceps work. Things are feeling better.

Skipped calves. Because yes, I didn’t feel like it.

10 minutes bike.

5/3/1 (3rd cycle, anchor, 3/5/1, PR, Jokers, FSL; modified for knee rehab)

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 200 x 3
  • 250 x 5
  • 285 x 3
  • 320 x 4 (PR set)
  • 335 x 1 (Joker)
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked
• 1-Leg Leg Press
  • 45 x 14e
  • 45 x 14e
  • 45 x 12e
• 1-Leg Leg Extensions
  • 40 x 15e
  • 40 x 15e
  • 40 x 13e
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 45 x 20
  • 45 x 15
  • 45 x 12
• Reverse Curls
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 10
  • 70 x 8

Today’s Press session brings “light 5’s week” to a close.

Overall a solid session with not much to report. Things moved well, felt good.

Next week: 1+ week. I must admit, the thoughts and numbers intimidate me a bit given it’s 1’s + PR, and then Joker sets. But I’m smiling about it. A little bit of fear here is good. It mean I’m pushing myself into discomfort, and that’s how I’ll get better. I have to remember that it wasn’t too long ago the weights I threw around today while yawning once intimidated me — and now, it was boring. 🙂

5/3/1 (3rd cycle, anchor, 3/5/1, PR, Jokers, FSL; modified for knee rehab)

• Press
  • bar x 5
  • 75 x 5
  • 95 x 5
  • 110 x 3
  • 120 x 5
  • 140 x 5
  • 155 x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 120 x 5
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with press warm-up sets)
  • 20e x 15
  • 20e x 15
  • 20e x 15
  • 20e x 15
• Normal-grip Pulldowns (superset with press work sets)
  • 145 x 12
  • 145 x 12
  • 145 x 10
• Barbell Rows (superset with press FSL sets)
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 8
• Lying Triceps Extensions
  • 75 x 12
  • 75 x 12
  • 75 x 12
• BB Curls (100 rep protocol)
  • 45 x 100

Today was fun. Experiments are fun.

Again, light day, but a few things got figured out.

Deadlifts, nothing to report really. Light work, went well.

Belt squats are still an experiment, but I think I’m finding something that works. Before I was trying to replicate (somewhat) a hack squat approach or say squats on a smith machine were you put your feet out in front and push back into things — thus in the bottom position you’re a bunch of right angles and your butt is NOT atop your feet. That’s been… questionable. I found myself today instead having feet shoulder width, toes angled slightly out, and positioned in a way where the belt went straight down (instead of this other stuff, where I moved back and the belt got horizontal). So it was more akin to a normal squat position and a little more comfortable too because feet were a little wider than they have been, and just a slight angling of the feet.

That wasn’t bad. It still felt like it hit the right things too. I think I’m going to continue with it, up the weight, and see how it continues to go. It’s a slow and steady experiment.

Then – biceps. Other than “I want to do a few sets of biceps work every gym session”, I really had no idea what to do today, other than something different than my other days. So I thought: cables, because that’s a different strength curve. Then I thought, 1-handed, because I’ve been doing more unilateral work lately and really enjoying the different take (you can really focus more on the muscle). Then when I gripped the handle I found myself in a neutral hand position so why not? I supinated. So I opted for 1-handed supinating cable curls. 🙂 I just picked a weight, and it was good. It wasn’t a tremendous amount of work, and it’s not intended to be — just some fair work every session that adds overall work but recoverable work. It is helping my biceps and tendons feel better, and yeah I am curious how over the weeks this helps my biceps grow, because that’s important. 😉

Calf raises have felt stagnant, so I opted to up the weight and drop the reps to see what difference that might make.

And then 10 minutes on the bike, which continues to be useful.

So yeah, decent light day.

5/3/1 (3rd cycle, anchor, 3/5/1, PR, Jokers, FSL; modified for knee rehab)

• Deadlift
  • 185 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 265 x 3
  • 290 x 5
  • 335 x 5
  • 380 x 5
• Band Pullaparts (superset with deadlift warmups and work)
  • Not tracked
• Belt Squats
  • 115 x 12
  • 115 x 12
  • 115 x 12
• Seated Leg Curls
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 8
• Upright rows
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 9
• 1-arm supinating cable curls
  • 30 x 12e
  • 30 x 12e
  • 30 x 12e
• Stair Calves
  • 80 x 12
  • 80 x 12
  • 80 x 10

Carb restriction is working well. I’ve shed 3-4 pounds of scale weight, I can physically see and feel the difference (in the belly area, especially). This is all working according to plan. I’ll stick with it today and tomorrow, then back to normal.

So as for today’s performance, as expected. Again, it’s just a light 5’s week, tho a few things were increased such as the bent-over lat raises, pulldowns, etc.. All in all performance was up, so all good.

One aside that I’m focusing on? My posture. Work has me stressed heavily and I’ve noticed I’m emotionally down, and it’s been reflecting in my posture. I know this is bad not only for all the reasons, but also that it contributes to my shoulder/arm pain. So, really working on my posture, trying to work it in everywhere I can. For example, during the banded side-steps during warmup (and as part of my knee PT), I’m putting my arms behind me and really pushing out my chest, exaggerating good posture. It provides a good stretch too.

Speaking of – I did snap a band today. 🙂 I’ve been trying to find bands that will stand-up, but so far any bands I find, reviews are mixed in terms of durability. I’ll keep searching.

Anyways, all seems good.

5/3/1 (3rd cycle, anchor, 3/5/1, PR, Jokers, FSL; modified for knee rehab)

• Bench Press
  • bar x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 160 x 3
  • 170 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 20e x 15
  • 20e x 15
  • 20e x 15
  • 20e x 10
• Neutral-Grip Pulldowns (superset with bench work sets)
  • 145 x 12
  • 145 x 12
  • 145 x 12
• Kroc Rows (superset with bench FSL sets)
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 25e
• Pushdowns
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 20
• Alternating Cross-Body Hammer Curls (superset with Pushdowns)
  • 35e x 10e
  • 35e x 10e
  • 35e x 10e
• Bike
  • 10 minutes

Carbs make a huge difference in performance.

I’ve been feeling a little bloated, so I’m opting to trim back the carb intake. Started Friday, did it over the weekend, and will probably continue for a few more days. I’m not going no-carb, just reduction. I’ll have some in the morning around my workouts and in the evening, but mid-day aiming to be as carb-less as I can get. Nothing scientific here other than simple reduction in caloric intake, and doing it “mid-day” just works well for me, life, family, etc.

But boy, I felt it today.

Now it was strategic: this is a simple 5’s week. No PR set, no Jokers, just intended to be a light week. But man, when I got that 285 on my back, it felt heavy and 5 reps felt impossible. But again, expected and calculated. I can take it this week — I won’t be able to take it next week. Plus I have to teach this weekend and with the weather as grueling as it is now, I have to be in good form. So I’ll probably keep this up through Wednesday at most, then get back on carbs.

Anyways.

Apart from that, things went ok.

Squats were fine. Felt a little out of groove the whole time, but nothing too bad.

On the 1-leg Leg Press a few things. 1. I’ve always put 45# in extra for the sled. Skipping that. Just straight weight now — I’ve mis-loaded the sled a few times because of that, so it’s just easier to put the weights in. 2. I’m going AMRAP now because I want to see if that will be more fruitful for me.

Calf raises. I’m not sure what gives here. I feel I’m at a plateau, so I’m going to find a way to bust it. Not sure what I want to do just yet.

And I’m going ahead with my plan to add some sort of biceps curl to every workout. I was originally going to wait until next cycle, but might as well start now — it’s been helpful. It won’t be much, just 3-ish sets of like 6-20 reps (depending, I’ll mix it up). Today I opted to do reverse curls. Tommorrow will be Hammer curls. Deadlift day, not sure, might do one-hand cable curls or something. Then I really like saving the 100’s for Press day. Just something so there’s a little biceps work every day. I want to see how much benefit I get from it.

5/3/1 (3rd cycle, anchor, 3/5/1, PR, Jokers, FSL; modified for knee rehab)

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 200 x 3
  • 220 x 5
  • 250 x 5
  • 285 x 5
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked
• 1-Leg Leg Press
  • 45 x 15e
  • 45 x 15e
  • 45 x 13e
• 1-Leg Leg Extensions
  • 40 x 12e
  • 40 x 12e
  • 40 x 12e
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 45 x 15
  • 45 x 15
  • 45 x 13
• Reverse Curls
  • 65 x 10
  • 65 x 10
  • 65 x 10
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12
• Bike
  • 10 minutes

The horror of getting to the gym and discovering you left your phone at home. 🙂

I did my best to remember what my plan and weights were. When I got home and looked at what I did vs. actual, it was close enough.

And while I didn’t have my music, at least the gym music was OK today. I think the Pandora station seed must have been Eminem, so things were passable today. I still wore my earbuds tho — universal sign for “don’t bother me”. LOL

Press itself was good. I was hoping 165×7 would have been a rep PR but it was just a tie for the same weight from some time ago. Still, it was good.

Biggest thing I remembered was that I was to work up to 185 today, so I based my weight guesses on that. My plan was 175 for 2 then 185 for 1 — that’s been my pattern with Jokers all week. But man, the 175 went up easy and I knew 185 would be cake. The 185 went up well, I felt good, so I went for 2. That went well. Very happy with that! My all time best Press was 195×1 set some weeks ago, so 185 for 2 after all that work? I’ll take it.

Mis-figured the weight on the pulldowns. No big.

FSL work I changed a bit. It should have been 130, but if there’s one thing I don’t like it’s weight values just shy of the next wheel: 130, 220, 310, 400, etc. I figured 135 would be no harm today so I did that and it was enjoyable.

Thing is, I’ve been feeling beat — this week has taken a bunch out of me, mostly due to the day job. I felt like jack-shitting today, but after the 185×2 I figured at least do the FSL. The I was going to scrap the arm work, but I’ve been wanting at least some biceps work to help with the irritation there. My original plan was to do the lying triceps extensions superset with empty bar curls — just AMRAP each set. Then as I got into this I thought “just do 1 set of AMRAP and call it”. But as soon as I started curling I thought “Nah, let’s do that 100 rep-inverse-time protocol” (where it’s 100 reps total; do as many as you can, then rest for the # of seconds equal to the reps remaining; then continue, and keep doing this until you total 100 reps). That actually wound up not just with a great pump, but my biceps felt really good — no doubt because of all that increased blood flow to the area. I may keep these.

Anyways, good day. Next week is “5’s” week, no PRs, no Jokers — intended to be a “light” week for some recovery. Looking forward to it.

5/3/1 (3rd cycle, anchor, 3/5/1, PR, Jokers, FSL; modified for knee rehab)

• Press
  • bar x 5
  • 70 x 5
  • 95 x 5
  • 115 x 3
  • 130 x 3
  • 145 x 3
  • 165 x 7 (PR set)
  • 175 x 2 (Joker)
  • 185 x 2 (Joker)
  • 135 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 135 x 5
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with press warm-up sets)
  • 17.5e x 15
  • 17.5e x 15
  • 17.5e x 15
  • 17.5e x 15
• Normal-grip Pulldowns (superset with press work sets)
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
• Barbell Rows (superset with press FSL sets)
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 8
• BB Curls
  • 45 x 100 (100 rep protocol)

Bench Press day. 3+ day, PR, Jokers, FSL.

And man, that was a lot of work.

Jokers are pretty cool. It’s not about killing yourself, just pushing a little harder, a little further, and challenging yourself. I’m liking it. I won’t use them often, but they do have their place at times.

But it was a LOT of work. By the time I got to my FSL sets, I was dead. It was bad tho, because I slacked off on tightness and crush-gripping the bar — not good for technique, nor my shoulders. I doubled-down on my mental cues and focus, but it’s something I just have to be mindful of — it’s exhausting.

All in all tho, a lot of work, and a good day. Benching went well. Back work was welcome. I did add in some hammer curls because I do think I need some direct biceps work for health of the tendons there — they felt better afterwards.

5/3/1 (3rd cycle, anchor, 3/5/1, PR, Jokers, FSL; modified for knee rehab)

• Bench Press
  • bar x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 160 x 3
  • 185 x 3
  • 210 x 3
  • 240 x 7 (PR set)
  • 250 x 2 (Joker set)
  • 260 x 1 (Joker set)
  • 185 x 5
  • 185 x 5
  • 185 x 5
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 17.5e x 15
  • 17.5e x 15
  • 17.5e x 15
  • 17.5e x 15
• Neutral-Grip Pulldowns (superset with bench work & Joker sets)
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
• Kroc Rows (superset with FSL sets)
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 25e
• Pushdowns
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 20
  • 100 x 12
• Cross-body alternating hammer-curls (superset with pushdowns)
  • 35e x 10
  • 35e x 10
  • 35e x 10

New cycle. Time to squat.

While I’m trying to migrate my programming to “my needs”, I’m still willing to explore new things to see how well they address my needs. One of them is taking a bit of a periodized approach, and so Wendler’s new approach of “leader & anchor” somewhat lends to that.

The next 3 weeks will be based around: 3/5/1, FSL, and Jokers. I’ve never done 3/5/1 nor Jokers before. And to be honest, Jokers give me a bit of reserve because yeah — on paper it seems crazy. 🙂 But I want the challenge. And really when you get down to it, it’s not that bad a thing. If you’ve programmed things right, if you proceed smart, it should be all good.

And it was.

Today then was “3’s week”, with a PR set. I haven’t done PR sets in a long time, and I really was happy to get back. I set a goal of 7 reps and achieved it. Then did a couple Joker sets. I did take longer rest periods to get up there, but really the sets went fine. Plus, I didn’t take the Jokers as something to kill me, just to challenge me. So the 315 for 2 felt like I could have done at least 1 more, but why? And the 330, I was just happy to have a clean single with it and left it at that. Sure I COULD have done more, but for what reason?

And frankly, to me this was more of a mental win. As I worked up I could tell the 300 would be fine and 7 reps should happen (tho it was work, but that’s expected). Then after that, I knew the 2 Joker sets would be no trouble at all. And that was part of the plan too: just 2 Jokers, slight increase, a double and a single. I executed my plan, and things are good.

Very happy today.

As for the rest.

Band pullaparts. I was doubling the band for increased resistence, but I think that’s been stressing my elbows too much. Dropped down to single band and really focused on just contracting the upper back muscles to open the arms — much harder! Much less joint stress.

Instead of FSL’ing the squats, I’m continuing with my knee-rehab approach doing 1-leg leg press. I mis-calculated weight and had to adjust on the fly (thus the decreasing weights). Where I wound up was still a challenge and I expect to be here for a while — but it’s good. This is not about weight but quality reps to help strengthen my quads and VMO towards my knees.

BTW — my knees are feeling awesome. Haven’t felt this good in YEARS. I’m very happy.

1-Leg extensions I wasn’t sure about, but I want to continue working them again for the knee and quad help. It’s getting better, so we’ll see how it goes.

Everything else is everything else. No big comments.

Finished with about 15 minutes on the bike.

Nothing big, but certainly a good day.

5/3/1 (3rd cycle, anchor, 3/5/1, PR, Jokers, FSL; modified for knee rehab)

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 200 x 3
  • 235 x 3
  • 270 x 3
  • 300 x 7 (PR set)
  • 315 x 2 (Joker set)
  • 330 x 1 (Joker set)
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked
• 1-Leg Leg Press
  • 135 x 10e (didn’t get full ROM)
  • 115 x 8e
  • 115 x 8e
• 1-Leg Leg Extensions
  • 35 x 12e
  • 35 x 12e
  • 35 x 12e
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 35 x 20
  • 35 x 20
  • 35 x 20
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 12