60 pull ups throughout the morning (8 reps on the first set, maybe I can actually get back to a double digit set soon)
10 jumps
Deadlift
125x5
145x3
170x2
180x1 (put on belt here)
190x1
205x8 PR
SLDL 155x3x6
BSS holding 25# plates 2x13
Standing ab wheel progression 13,11,8
5 sets :30 on :20 off on assault bike
The belt is clearly making a big difference; I’m not sure I would have achieved more than 3-4 reps beltless and overhand. However, it still makes me feel nauseous. I think I could have taken less rest between reps and pulled 1-2 more if that were not an issue.
For years I never used a belt nor pulled with mixed grip, so compared to the past I’m simply “cheating” now. Apples to oranges comparison. It’s sorta silly calling this a PR because anything with a belt is a PR.
My squat and press are essentially in the same place they were 3 years ago.
Your deadlift is about where mine was before lockdown. Also, it’s not cheating if it’s legal
Same!!! Especially the bench- stuck at 57.5kg. Not even two cycles of Sheiko helped
Squats were just beginning to improve in 2019… then kidney surgery. They started to improve again in 2020… then COVID
I recall Wendler splitting his training cycles into two, one where the main work is the focus and the other where the assistance is the focus, in the 5/3/1 Forever book? Anchor and leader or something.
I think you can put double progression (at least the way I handled it) into the one where the main work is the focus. I felt wiped out after my squat work, so assistance became me doing movements for the sake of doing them.
I think you can easily fit double progression into the 5/3/1 Forever framework. If I restarted, I’d do-
Main work-
warm-up
double progression- Everyone online has different approaches. I aimed to hit a total of 24-6 reps in as few a sets as possible. Something like-
4x6
3x7, 1x4
3x8
2x9, 1x7
2x10, 1x5
1x13. 1x12
Assistance-
5/3/1 Beginner prep school assistance or
push/pull/legsx25, again with the goal of reducing total sets.
I suppose if you have phenomenal recovery then you can do more assistance stuff. Like I said though, the main work sucked. I got my first, and only, exertion headache while doing this and it ruined that entire day.
Hell, I’m pretty sure you find something like this in 5/3/1 Forever if you looked through all the programs…
You should set some clearer goals. I think that would be a lot with how you measure and perceive your progress and also .
I meant to specify this part more for exactly that case but thought, I’m sure one gets my point, haha. The point still stands: You may not compare yourself to other people or in your case even specific numbers but you do compare your progress to a different idea of progress (pace wise).
I regularly go into peoples logs and find a comparable workout from a years previous just to highlight the difference to them. They are almost always surprised at the increase. In many ways progress can be like watching the hour hand on a clock: if you don’t look away sometimes, you won’t see it move.
No need to apologize for the rant. However, I must let you know that in the interest of both your health and mine, I refrain from comparing my progress to that of someone who is voluntarily starving herself.
Setting some arbitrary goal to lift X amount of weight would not make me work any harder at this than I have been. If anything, it would more than likely be discouraging.
Sure, there admittedly is some comparison involved in knowing that I am by no means excellent at this hobby and inferring from that that I should have made more progress by now. But I don’t think that anyone who over a period of 3 years still struggles with pressing 60 pounds and barely questionably squatting a plate (I could literally go find a spreadsheet from this long ago showing this is the case) is plagued by unwarranted disappointment.
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I also don’t care about absolute strength. I don’t compete in anything that demands a heavy single or triple. What bothers me is that there is very little if any progress over years of lifting. Though I’m clearly better at cranking out reps than I am at lifting efficiently at higher intensities, that the weight I lift for reps has barely budged is discouraging. I am of the opinion that hitting a new 10RM is as good an indicator of progress as a 3RM or a 1RM.
Now, you and others might say – well, maybe you’ve been doing volume for so long that you need something higher intensity in order to make strength gains now. Maybe that’s true, and that is a hypothesis I am about to start testing. But the above is my rationale, and I don’t think I’ve been training like a total idiot the entire time.
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Honestly you may not care about absolute strength ,but it maybe exactly what you need for a cycle or two. . . 100kg for reps is gonna feel harder to the person who maxes at 120, than the perosn who maxes at 160 . . plus your body will only adapt when put under new strains! Your body maybe used to high volume now.
Sometimes the best thing for you is the stuff your not doing or not wanting to do! Im sure Wendler has said that himself at some point but dont quote me on that!
Another good little tip for rep max PR’s (as those are what you care about) i find, is to work up to a heavy triple or single, then after a rest preform a rep max at the weight you want to PR. Its all in the mind but the weight feel so much lighter you get an extra few reps
I don’t think anyone has asked this yet either, but what did you weigh 3 years ago? Have you considered adding a little bit of bodyweight, if it fits in with your goals?
@dagill2 asked a few months ago, and these were my responses:
So I haven’t been averse to putting on weight. I’ve been up to 128ish pounds a couple times, and numbers, particularly for squatting and pressing but also for deadlifts a bit too, have been mostly the same.
Sorry, must have either missed or just scrolled past those posts. For me at least, higher BW=more comfortable and better squat. Reason being my gut makes an awesome springboard for my thighs to bounce off of.
Do you maybe mean that you are not familiar with typical bodyweights for women? Because I don’t think that being too lean in pursuit of strength gains could be problematic for women alone. You would reach that point eventually too if you lost “too much” weight. Applicable to anyone regardless of sex.
