I’m more excited about what’s coming.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 26, week 2

• Work Set – Press (working max: 170#)
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 70 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 3
  • 120 x 3
  • 140 x 3
  • 155 x 4
• Close-grip pulldowns (neutral grip, superset with warm-up pressing sets)
  • 75 x 15 x 5
• Press
  • 105 x 10
  • 105 x 10
  • 105 x 7
  • 105 x 6
  • 105 x 6
• Wide, pronated grip pulldowns (superset with additional pressing sets)
  • 105 x 12 x 5
• Rope pressdowns (pin the elbows to the side)
  • ?? x 15 x 3
• Hammer Curls (superset with pressdowns)
  • 30 x 10/8/8 x 3
• Standing cable curls
  • don’t remember
• Foam Rolling

Pressing itself went alright. Clench. Tight. It makes a huge difference. Air matters too. But I was happy with the 4th rep on my work-up because on rep 3 I felt like that was enough, but something told me I could get a 4th if I really put everything together and pushed to lock-out. I did, and it did. Happy with that.

Everything else was what it was.

In an effort to bring up my biceps, I read about an exercise where you use a high-cable attachment and well, the movement is like doing a double-biceps pose. Supposed to hit the short head better. Well, I can’t do the exercise because my arms are too long. I did a set with one arm at a time, but even then… I dunno. I think I’d be better off doing something like scott/preacher/spider curls instead. I’m trying to fight the right biceps exercises to hit things well enough. Good old barbell curls and db hammer curls are working nicely, and I think if I really want something more, hitting the preacher bench Larry Scott style (over the back, vertical arms instead of angled; spider curl) with a wide grip to get maximum pronation… that’s probably going to do what I want. but whatever. I’ll just keep experimenting until I find what I’m after.

But really… I was more thinking about what’s coming up: the 5/3/1 week. Starting Friday with squat. I’m going for 315, which will be an all-time PR for me, and it’ll be 3 wheels — quite a milestone, and 15# more than my last PR. I know I can do it, and that will be awesome. I’m really gunning that during this upcoming “week” to work up to true 1RM’s on squat, deadlift, and bench press (press, not really a concern), and let that total hit 1000#. I know it’s not a real total because it’s not a true meet, or even a mock meet. But it’s still a milestone to finally achieve, and I will have met a goal I set for myself. Of course, that means the next goal is 1100# right? or 1000# at an actual powerlifting meet. But no… my goals will shift in other directions once I hit the 1000. I’ll write about that some other time.

Strangely good.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 26, week 2

• Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 235#)
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 95 x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 145 x 3
  • 165 x 3
  • 190 x 3
  • 215 x 6
• Face Pulls (superset with the bench press warm-up sets)
  • 35 x 15 x 5
• Close-grip Bench Press
  • 125 x 10 x 5
• T-Bar Rows (superset with the close-grip bench press)
  • 95 X 12 X 5
• Seated cable rows
  • 95 x 10 x 3
• A bunch of light rope-handle pressdowns, and bb curls
• Foam Rolling

Today was oddly good.

Working up and everything felt solid and light. I’m still working on foot placement, tucking my feet behind me. I’m working to fine-tune the placement: a lot of tuck and while very tight I don’t feel much heel drive, less tuck and I get better heel drive but also the butt comes up. So I’m sure there’s a middle ground that I just have to find THEN find a way to index it so it’s repeatable every time. But I can tell it makes me tighter, better path, and with the “clench” queue for my grip yeah… everything’s tight and tight == strong.

So when I did 215, 3 felt… like nothing. On the 5th I felt strange, in a good way. It was like everything was so light that I could have done a million reps, at least, something felt that way. But yet, something also was saying “no, don’t do it, because you do have fatiguing muscles… either you’ll miss or you’ll hurt yourself”. So I put up a 6th rep and still had the same feeling that I could have done a million, but I could at least tell for sure yeah, the triceps are wearing out, rack it. So I did. I can’t really explain the feeling, but it was quite powerful. Maybe that means technique is starting to gel?

Everything else went alright. I do think I need to make t-bar rows for about 10 reps… go heavier, 6-10 reps but still full range of motion and ensure the upper back and lats are engaged (i.e. it’s about the muscles, not the movement; it’s not a max-effort movement). Then let the cable rows go a bit lighter and higher reps because the cable puts different tension on.

I really do need some biceps-specific work and will be focusing on that because they are lagging, in size and strength. I’m going to take a cue from Larry Scott too and work to remember to put a forearm curl in there too. So at the bottom, let the wrists extend, then as you start curling, curl/flex the wrists too to get some extra forearm work. If anyone knows how to build forearms and biceps, it’s Larry Scott. This should help my grip… and of course, we all love biceps.

Some days you just have to press on, and at the end, you’re thankful for having done so.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 26, week 2

• Work Set – Squat (working max: 320#)
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 195 x 3
  • 225 x 3
  • 260 x 3
  • 290 x 3
• Leg Press
  • 135 x 10
  • 225 x 10
  • 315 x 10
  • 365 x 10
  • 135 x 15
• Leg Curls
  • 50 x 12 x 4
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 25 x 12 x 3
• Foam Rolling

Past couple nights I didn’t sleep enough (just woke up too early and my brain refused to shut up and let me go back to sleep). So I guess my body decided to make up for it last night. Either being tired, or my body knew it was squat day and I better be ready for it. But I fell asleep early, woke up with the alarm, and just didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t want to go in, but you do it. The whole time I worked up I kept trying to find ways to stop: oh was that a pain in my knee? damn this is getting heavy… maybe I’ll just “jack shit” it today. Whatever I could think of.

And I admit… the thought of 290 intimidated me.

It wasn’t very long ago I did 290 for a single and PR’d. Then just a bit ago I managed to get 2 reps. So I’m telling myself “come on, Daub… you’ve done this for 2, this isn’t impossible, you can hit 3 maybe 4 today”.

Tight. Clench. In fact, the clench wasn’t just my hands on the bar (tho there was that), but also my glutes. Make sure I break first at the hips (not the knees), tight tight tight, really ensure breath is tight and making as rigid a torso as I can get, get down in the hole, press my neck back, tight tight tight, and be sure to activate the glutes through at the end. And I swear, the 290 didn’t feel all that bad. One thing I’ve found is if you just get under the bar, it’s heavy… but if you are tight as you can be, head to toe, every part of your body, the weight doesn’t feel as heavy. And just down, all the way down, ensure to get that stretch reflex, and power back up.

And 3 wasn’t much problem, tho the 3rd slowed down a bit with some falling forward. I probably could have muscled through a 4th rep, but I’d rather leave it in the tank. The fact I did 3 easier and with better form than I did 2 just a few weeks ago tells me I’m getting stronger. That’s all that matters.

After that, I just finished the session. No big deal. I just had to get over the hump.

I did forget to do crunches.

But I am trying to work calf raises into my routine: standing and seated, one on squat day the other on deadlift day. I’m doing them VERY light for slightly higher reps right now. I can have calf cramping problems and I’d rather work right now on getting a deep stretch at the bottom, a good squeeze at the top, full range of motion, and find what works because the amount of weight doesn’t really matter so long as I’m getting worked. I’d rather start light and get my calves used to things than risk problems.

I’m feeling good about attempting 3 wheels next squat session.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 26, week 1

• Work Set – Press (working max: 170#)
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 70 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 3
  • 110 x 5
  • 130 x 5
  • 145 x 6
• Close-grip pulldowns (neutral grip, superset with warm-up pressing sets)
  • 75 x 15 x 5
• Press
  • 105 x 10
  • 105 x 8
  • 105 x 6
  • 105 x 6
  • 105 x 6
• Wide, pronated grip pulldowns (superset with additional pressing sets)
  • 105 x 12 x 5
• Cable EZ-Bar pressdowns (pin the elbows to the side)
  • 45 x 12 x 3
• Hammer Curls (superset with pressdowns)
  • 30 x 10 x 3
• Foam Rolling

I guess after a long Thanksgiving weekend, my body wasn’t ready to get back to the gym. I didn’t gorge myself, but certainly more carbs ingested than I should have. I feel massive bloat, and not liking it. Tho I’m not going to start my fat-loss stuff in earnest until after I hit 1000#, I am going to start paring back on my carbs a bit to try to help manage my bloat. My own fault… been consuming too much, not sure why. Could be stress and the comfort of food is always there for me. *sigh*

Anyways.

Overall the session was fine. Things did feel a little heavy, but probably from my drag-ass this morning. Only thing of note is ditching the rotating curls and going back to good old hammer curls. If “clench” is my cue — and I worked on that throughout the session — hammers are going to take me further, especially since I can lift relatively heavier on them than other curl types.

Another thing I noticed was I was holding my breath a lot today. Unrack the bar, step back, ensure tightness, then start pressing… didn’t take a breath until maybe rep 3? Then subsequent sets might work the same, with multiple reps per breath. I didn’t feel bad, and in fact it was kinda nice because it helped me keep tightness. But the lack of oxygen may have come into play for the lower rep output. I dunno. I didn’t plan on doing this, it just happened. Curious.

Glute activation for the win!

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 26, week 1

• Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 410#)
  • 165 x 5
  • 210 x 5
  • 250 x 3
  • 270 x 5
  • 310 x 6
  • 355 x 6
  • 270 x 8
  • 270 x 6
  • 270 x 4
• Standing Calf Raises
  • Don’t remember x 10 x 3
• Foam Rolling

Have family obligations today, so it was in the gym and back out. Just work up, then do some “first-set-last-set”, and that was that. Well, I threw in some standing calf raises too… I’m going to start doing them because it’s evident the ratio of upper leg to lower leg is widening, and I need to bring up my calves before I start looking too funny. Might help with some foot issues I’ve been having too. I haven’t figured out exactly what I’ll do, but there’s both standing and seated machines at the gym, so I will probably do one on squat day and the other on deadlift day. Right now, just doing them light for not much, so I can get stretched and get my calves used to things so they won’t cramp up.

Anyways, the deadlifting went fine. Really working on glute activation. One thing that’s helping? I fixed my stance. I realized I had slowly widened my stance (I pull conventional). Nothing near sumo of course, but certainly wide enough that if you looked at me straight on you’d say my legs were at an angle. This then forced my arms to hang at an angle instead of straight down. This affected my pull. Narrow the stance, and my arms now go straight down. Makes a difference. It feels weird to me because I usually stand with a wider stance, so going this narrow feels unbalanced and like I’ll fall over at any moment, but it works better for pulling I can tell.

Grip is failing me… that’s why I started losing reps on the f-s-l-s at the end… grip was the weak point. I was working hard on “clenching” the bar (my latest cue to focus on), but of course, it’s just going to take time to bring things up. But I wasn’t going to go mixed grip; I want to stick with double-over as much as possible to bring the grip back up.

Grip and stance… hrm, I’ve heard that before in another context.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 26, week 1

• Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 235#)
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 95 x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 145 x 3
  • 155 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 200 x 8
• Face Pulls (superset with the bench press warm-up sets)
  • 35 x 15 x 5
• Close-grip Bench Press
  • 125 x 10 x 4
  • 125 x 8
• T-Bar Rows (superset with the close-grip bench press)
  • 95 X 12 X 4
  • 95 x 10
• Seated cable rows
  • 95 x 10 x 3
• A bunch of light rope-handle pressdowns, and bb curls
• Foam Rolling

EliteFTS has been running a series of Friday Technique Videos. Recently they covered bench press grip and foot placement on bench press. Those have been rolling around in my head since I watched them, and they came into play today.

I’ve been struggling to find the right foot placement. While “out in front” feels comfortable and logical for me, and seems to give me some drive, it also becomes a fight to keep my butt on the bench. The “feet tucked” never felt right, but after watching the video well… just learn to live with uncomfortable. So I tried tucking like JL Holdsworth describes in his video, doing my setup that way. I did find “heel drive” wasn’t there… could be inexperience, but it also felt like the angle just didn’t allow for it. But, I could get drive. I also found I got more arch in my back, or at least it felt that way. Trouble was, I couldn’t keep it. I think that’s just inexperience — setup would be good, then I’d start pressing and eventually lose the arch, drive, and tightness. But I’m sure that will come with practice.

Really, while this felt odd, I do think it’s the route I should pursue. I certainly kept my butt on the bench, tho I did have to get a really good tuck to do so. But if I can do that, if I can keep tight and driving throughout, I should be really good to go.

I do know part of why I didn’t keep solid throughout was simply the novelty of the technique. But I also know it was because I was splitting my focus: 1. moving the weight, 2. the new foot position, 3. grip. I have noticed in my pressing that my hands are getting cocked back instead of straight wrists. JL had a good suggestion for setup, and I’ll keep playing with that approach. But regardless, I found myself still losing straightness. I think it was simply a matter of too many things to focus on and so I couldn’t focus on any.

But I am going to work on my grip — “clench” is the new cue. I have been slacking on my grip in all gripping activities. I’m not dangling by my fingertips, but think the difference between a closed-fist and a clenched-fist. I am closed, but I need to be clenched. This is on everything where gripping the bar matters… so squat, somewhat, but yes on bench, press, deadlift, rows, etc.. Two things. First, of course it should help my deadlift grip, which I think is becoming an issue. Second, this should help keep the wrists straight(er). What was interesting today was how clenching and forcing the straighter wrist during close-grips? Whoa… suddenly everything felt different. It was just a small change in angle, in muscle tension, whatever… but suddenly the close-grips felt tougher to do, and like my triceps were getting a lot more work. It was kinda cool.

Back to the stance. I did wonder how much my stroke was shortened by the improved arch. I mean, I worked up to 200 this time last cycle and ground out 6. Today it was 8 with some in the tank. Am I that much stronger? or was it due to a shorter stroke? I dunno, but there we go.

The t-bar rows continue to wow me. I just feel a pump in my back, I feel the back muscles tire before the arm muscles do. Really, I think t-bar rows are going to be quite useful for me for a while.

I am continuing to enjoy doing all my assistance work bodybuilder style: supersets, about 60 seconds between sets, stricter form, the eccentric takes at least as much time as the concentric did, etc.. I think it’s paying off, given some tape-measurements.

Anyways, pretty good day overall.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 26, week 1

• Work Set – Squat (working max: 320#)
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 195 x 3
  • 210 x 5
  • 245 x 5
  • 275 x 5
• Leg Press
  • 135 x 10
  • 225 x 10
  • 315 x 10
  • 365 x 10
  • 125 x 15
• Leg Curls
  • 50 x 12 x 4
• Crunches (superset with leg curls)
  • BW x 8 x 4
• Foam Rolling

Not too bad a day. Nothing great, but nothing too bad. I did want to go for 6 reps, but by rep 4 my hamstrings were screaming. Rep 5 went OK, but I had sown the seed in my head and I just racked it… would rather have the 5 than miss a 6th. I probably could have pushed my way through a bowling-shoe-ugly 6th rep, but meh.

I am pushing what I can tho. I feel good about attempting 3 wheels at the end of this cycle. I’m supposed to work up to 310, but it’s the end of the year so why not add the 5# and see if I can meet a goal, y’know?

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 25, week 3

• Work Set – Press (working max: 165#)
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 65 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 100 x 3
  • 125 x 5
  • 140 x 3
  • 160 x 2
• Close-grip pulldowns (neutral grip, superset with warm-up pressing sets)
  • 70 x 16 x 5
• Press
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 8
  • 100 x 7
  • 100 x 6
• Wide, pronated grip pulldowns (superset with additional pressing sets)
  • 100 x 12 x 5
• Cable EZ-Bar pressdowns (pin the elbows to the side)
  • 40 x 12 x 3
• Rotating DB curls (superset with pressdowns)
  • 25 x 10 x 3
• Foam Rolling

Today was OK. Not awesome, not crappy, just OK. I have pressed 165×1 before, so I told myself you’re doing 160 for 2 today. No sweat. 3 didn’t quite happen, but I know I wasn’t fully committed to the lift. Like I said, today was OK.

I hoofed it on assistance work. 1 minute of rest between sets, supersetting everything. I think between that and eating like it’s going out of style, it’s building some muscle. My challenge will be to keep it when I change my diet up.

Not much else to say.

Start part 2 of the “6 week cycle” on Monday. Same basic structure. I don’t know what numbers will be, but as long as at the end I creep closer to that 1000# total, I’m happy.