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!

Had to modify things slightly.

“Week 3 – 5/3/1”

• 5/3/1 – Deadlift (265# working max)
  • 1x5x105 (warmup)
  • 1x5x135
  • 1x5x155 – should have been 160#, but couldn’t find the 2.5# plates. Also accidentally did 5 reps instead of 3.
  • 1x5x205 (work) – should have been 200# but again, 2.5# plates
  • 1x3x235 – should have been 230#, but again, 2.5# plates
  • 1x5x255 (PR)
• Asst. #1 – Deadlift
  • 5x10x95
• Asst. #2 – Hanging leg raises
  • 5x6xbw
• Metcon – jump rope
  • 1 Tabata set – single hop

A cool workout.

First, deadlift. The calculated/programmed weights couldn’t all happen because I couldn’t find the 2.5# plates at the gym. Well, I could find one but not the other. Meh. I just shifted the weight slightly and moved on.

Hitting 1x5x255 is a personal record. Last “heavy” deadlift I did was 1x5x240 on the PPNP program, so this is well and beyond. I also felt like I had a few more in the tank, so yeah, I’ll take that progress!

On the deadlift assistance work, I think it’s time to move that to 105# at least because I’m not really feeling it any more. But that said, I did measure my heart rate. I had recently read an article on startingstrength.com called “Death by Prowler”. There was a lot of discussion on conditioning, heart rates, and how particular target zones and interval training can lead towards better conditioning. There are many purposes for my assistance work, but one thing is to have it work at such a rate where my heart rate gets and stays up there… at least 150 bpm. It seems with 1 minute rest and a reasonable but not “heavy” weight, I get there. But, the 95# is feeling just too light and not stressing me much any more. Next “week” is the deload week so I’m not going to sweat things, but certainly next cycle I’ll bump up.

On the leg raises, I opted to try 6 this time and that was good. I’ll go for 7 next. As I thought about it today, I wondered if there might be another exercise that might better suit me until I’m stronger (e.g. like how I switched to doing the chin-up-style lat pulldowns instead, to help me build volume and strength). But I realized no, nothing else is going to get me there on this because nothing else involves as much body… like my forearms really felt good after this exercise because I had been using them so much between all the deadlifting and then the leg raises for grip! And yes, increasing grip strength is part of the equation and what else is going to attack it like this will? So, it remains… and if that means I just have to keep swinging and adding a little momentum to get me there, so be it.

On jump rope I remembered to do an important thing all the way through – breathe! But not just any breathing. Making sure to draw in through the nose, out through the mouth, and that each breath was deep and full, from the diaphragm, and took about 2 seconds in and 2 seconds out. So I sound really funny to someone standing nearby, all this fast, deep, heavy breathing. But it helps to better get oxygen into the system which really helps with energy production and lactic acid issues (either delay of creation and/or helping to remove it). I know to do this, in fact it stems back in a lot of ways to Kuk Sool ki breathing and even back to my K-12 schooling days when I played trumpet and french horn. It’s just making sure I do it. 🙂

Anyways, quite a good workout. I feel great physically since it was a good workout. I feel great mentally and emotionally because I set a great personal record. I don’t feel beat up, I don’t feel worn out. Still fine-tuning the program for myself, but that’s alright… that just takes time.

Ah, the first 5/3/1 week, and it’s full of changes.

“Week 3 – 5/3/1”

• 5/3/1 – Press (working max 110#)
  • 2x5xbar (warmup)
  • 1x5x45
  • 1x5x55
  • 1x3x65
  • 1x5x85 (work)
  • 1x3x95
  • 1x8x105 (PR)
• Asst. #1 – Press
  • 5x10x45
• Asst. #2 – Close-grip pulldowns
  • 1x10x100
  • 1x10x110
  • 1x10x120
  • 1x10x110
  • 1x10x100
• Metcon – jump rope
  • 1 Tabata set, single hop

Look closely. Something’s different.

First, this marks entry into “week 3” of the program, which means the work sets are done in a 5/3/1 manner. While in theory you can be setting PR’s every workout, truly it’s the last work set of this week that is the PR setter. While the last heavy Press workout I did was on the PPNP and I did 3x5x107.5, today I did 1x8x105. Which is more? Well… I’m going to call 1x8x105 a PR because I couldn’t get 107.5 up for 8 reps (if I remember correctly), but of course I did more volume overall. So… whatever. No biggie. I’ll just say it felt good pushing out 8 reps. 🙂

But that said, I’m back to wondering if I underestimated my working max weights. Maybe I have the wrong impression but, that last set is supposed to be 95% of your working max (which is 90% of your 1RM), and you are to do at least 1 rep but hopefully more. So given that weight and intention I would have the feeling I should be moving a weight heavy enough to only crank out like 4-5 reps. But I got 8. It’s this stuff that’s making me think my weight bump for the next cycle will be slightly larger than normal.

The big change for today tho? I dropped chin-ups… because I’m not doing chin-ups, at best I was doing just a few sets of a few reps of negatives. The reality is, I’m not getting enough work volume this way. I’m just not strong enough yet (and I’m still too heavy). Part of my goals in this routine is for my assistance work to be “fast and intense”, so it’s 5×10 for the most part with a minute of rest in between sets. I want to work those muscles but also get my heart rate up and keep it up the whole time… from the time I finish my main lift until I’m done with the entire workout, I want my heart rate up. Doing just a few reps of negatives with a long rest? I’m not going to get there. So, I’m going to move to close-grip pulldowns so I can get the volume but also build up the strength I need throughout the range of motion.

When I do the pulldowns I’m working to mimic chin-ups as much as possible. Underhand (supinated) grip, close together, keeping up chest up, eyes looking at the bar/ceiling, when the weight goes down ensuring it pulls my shoulders as “up and out” as possible (as if I’m dead hanging), then when I pull down that I pull all the way down to my chest and pull my shoulders as far “down and back” as possible. I also want to lift as heavy as I can while still getting the reps in, even if it means on the last couple reps of the last couple sets form goes a bit, I have to cheat a bit, rest a couple more seconds between reps, or whatever. Today I just picked a weight and went with it. I think next time I’ll try 5x10x105 or 110 and see how that goes.

I know I wanted to stick with chins, but the reality is I don’t feel like it’s going to help me reach my goals, so why continue down that road merely to be stoic? Is that really the discipline? or is the discipline to identify what’s working and what’s not, what’s holding me back from goals or will get me there, and being willing to change as soon as a better path is known? 🙂

Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program has, at its heart, doing main lifts according to his 5/3/1 progression (to way over-simplify things). Assistance work is a strong part of the program to help you better meet your goals be that addressing strength weaknesses, building mass, or whatever.

But Jim also realizes that sometimes life’s other goals get in the way. So while my primary program template is his “Boring But Big” template, there’s one called “I’m Not Doing Jack Shit”. In short, you walk in, do your main lift, and walk out. There are plus and minuses to this variation, and at my level it’s nothing I really want to do regularly. But if it has to happen now and again, it has to happen.

Today, it had to happen.

Week 2 – “3 reps”

• 5/3/1 – Squat (working max: 220#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x90
  • 1x5x110
  • 1x3x135
  • 1x3x155 (work)
  • 1x3x180
  • 1x6x200

And that’s all she wrote today. I went in, did my main lift, and left. I just don’t have the time today… a bunch of things came up late last night that are going to make today difficult. As well, I should be finalizing the sale of my motorcycle today, and with that taking a few hours out of my work day well… I had to trade-off somewhere. So, I’m not doing jack shit. 🙂  (tho, shouldn’t that be “I’m doing jack shit”?).

I’ll admit tho… a small part of me was not looking forward to today’s workout. Squats. I hate them. But funny thing. Once I finished my work set? I wanted to keep going. The squats felt good; I didn’t hate it. Yes, I think my hate for squats came from the overwork the Rippetoe approach gave me. I’m happy I did that program, but I’m happier to take on a more long-term program that allows me better recovery because hey… I’m not 18.

I wanted to push out at least 1 more rep… I felt I had 2-3 left in the tank, but I noticed on that last rep my form wavered just a bit (bent forward slightly) and I figured not to push it. Upon looking back? I should have pushed it, especially since that would have been the last rep for the day. Oh well, live and learn.

“Week 2 – 3 reps”

• 5/3/1 – Bench Press (working max 180#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x75
  • 1x5x90
  • 1x3x110
  • 1x3x130 (work)
  • 1x3x145
  • 1x7x165
• Asst. #1 – bench press
  • 5x10x75
• Asst. #2 – dumbbell rows
  • 5x10x35
• Metcon – rope jumping
  • 1 tabata set, all single hops

Shot a bunch of skeet yesterday with a couple buddies, so my right shoulder was kinda beat up. I thought it might slow me down today, but after the warmup I didn’t feel it.

As usual, I felt strong on the bench press and could have done more. I’m strongly thinking that while the general recommended weight increase for bench is 5# per cycle, I’m leaning more and more towards a 10# bump on the next cycle.

Even the 75# assistance felt way too light to do much good.

The 35# rows was good, left arm feeling a little weaker than the right. I’ll stick with 35# and get the form tightened up a bit across all sets (form deteriorated on the last reps of the last sets).

Rope jumping hurt! Because I’m getting better at it, there’s less tripping and thus less “micro rests” during the set. Because there’s more jumping and less resting, that adds up to more intensity. My quads, calves, and feet were really feeling it. 🙂

Decent workout, but it just doesn’t feel like the poundages are where they should be. But again, no decisions will be made until the cycle is over.

I like deadlifting!

• 5/3/1 – Deadlift (working max 265#)
  • 1x5x105 (warmup)
  • 1x5x135
  • 1x3x160
  • 1x3x190 (work)
  • 1x3x215
  • 1x6x240
• Asst. #1 – Deadlift
  • 5x10x95
• Asst. #2 – Hanging leg raise
  • 5x5xbw
• Metcon – jumping rope
  • 1 Tabata set, all single hop

I’m starting to wonder… this is “week 2”, meaning “3 reps” on the work sets. On paper I’m not doing as much volume as I did “last week”, and I don’t feel like I’m working myself as hard. I mean, I do feel work, I just don’t feel as “worked out”… as drained, as exhausted. Is that a good thing? Could it be because of the lower volume? Maybe adapting to the routine? I’m not sure. The question is, should I perhaps be bumping up my assistance work a bit? like instead of 95# on the assistance deadlifts do 105# or something? I’m not sure, but I’m not going to. Assistance work is just that: assistance. I don’t need it to interfere with the main lifts and work, and recovery is still paramount. So, I’m going to leave things alone for now. There’s no hard, fast rule here that I’m aware of — do what works for you, do what you need. But, its my first time on the Wendler 5/3/1 so, I’ll just ride things out and see how it all goes. Long term steady progress is more important.

Anyways, deadlift did feel good. On the last set I have to do at least 3, but do as many as I can (tho not to failure). I told myself to do 5… and then I did one more. That felt about right, certainly left 1-2 in the tank. Very good. I like deadlifting.

On the leg raises, I added a small swing to allow me to work through a greater range of motion, and that was good, but it also didn’t feel as difficult — my abs didn’t feel as worked, tho they did get a greater range. What I think I may do, if I keep the swing (and I likely will), is slowly increase the reps here, so like next time instead of 5×5 do 5×6.

Rope jumping is getting smoother. I’ll keep up the single hop and now work to get my body adapted to that, then increase 1. the speed/intensity, 2. eventually add a second Tabata set.

Good stuff! Feeling good. No where near as drained as I was on the Rippetoe program.