Squat 3s Week
Squat 165lbs x 3, 190lbs x 3, 210lbs x 8
Squat 4 x 5 @ 185 lbs
Chins and Dips x 34
Band pull-apart x 50
Gradually inching up the volume on squats and chins/dips. Whatever was going on last week with stopping Prednisone seems to have passed. Felt much stronger today.
Bench 5/3/1 Week
Bench 170 x 5, 190 x 3, 215 x 5
Bench 5x5 @ 185 supersetted with DB Rows 5x5 @ 96
Bulgarian split squats x 25
Everything felt good, moved well enough. Feels like I should be eating more.
Deadlift 5/3/1 Week
Deadlift 220lbs x 5, 250 lbs x 3, *280lbs x 3
DL 3 x 5 @ 235
Chins and Dips x 36
Poundstone Curls x 50
*plus set
I hate deadlifts. I am terrible at them. They moved well enough, though. Today I may have had another at 280, but thought it was better to save it for another day.
I suppose the play for me is to keep adding volume to Chins, dips, and squats.
OHP on New Year’s Day. Leeeet’s gooooo!
OHP 5/3/1 Week
OHP 105lbs x 5, 120lbs x 3, 132lbs x 7
OHP 115 lbs 5x5, supersetted with DB Rows 96 lbs 5x5
Bulgarian Split Squats 25/leg
Felt strong today on the press. Felt a bit fried after the workout. Not enough sleep last night, a couple beers, bad food.
Onward and upward.
Managed to sneak in some walking today. I feel much better when I turn my phone off, stick it in a drawer, and go outside.
Phones are like laziness crack.
Squats 5/3/1
Squat 175lbs x 5, 200lbs x 3, 225 lbs x 5
Squat 4x5 @ 185lbs
Chins, Dips x 38
Facepulls x 50
Today’s workout reminded me that squats have a weird groove, too. It’s pretty common for me to struggle on the warmup sets and fear to God I’m going to get stapled on the top set.
The heavier top set usually seems easier than I expect and the back off sets get easier as I go. No idea if that’s normal.
Happy squatting 225 for 5. Hoping for 10lbs more next month
Phone off, jammed in a drawer is absolutely the way to go. Time to get outside for a bit.
Bench Deload Week
Bench Press 95lbs x 5, 115kbs x 5, 135lbs x 5
Bench Press 5x5 @ 195lbs, Supersetted with DB Rows 5x5 @ 96lbs
Bulgarian Split Squats 25/leg
The deload sets seemed preposterously easy. I guess that’s the point. I could probably bump rows to 100lb bells.
Been continuing to put the phone away and go walk, even in today’s cold rain. This may be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Shooting for beginning fat loss phase about 10 weeks from now, Mid-March. Hoping to slowly get to 190-192ish before then.
Deadlift Deload Week
Deadlift 135lbs x 5, 145lbs x 5, 175lbs x 5
Deadlift 245lbs 3 x 5
Chins and Dips 40
Poundstone Curls x 50
And…deload deadlifts also seem preposterously easy, making the back off (supplemental?) sets feel incredibly hard.
Getting stronger with chins, dips, and curls.
Looking at another thread got me thinking: time under the iron often sucks. I think Wendler said our ancestors struggled daily for survival, fighting one another for scraps of food. By comparison, our struggling a bit under the iron is a welcome privilege.
Press Deload Week
Press 55lbs x 5, 70lbs x 5, 85lbs x 5
Press 5x5 @ 120lbs superset w/
One arm DB Row 5x5 @ 96lbs
Split Squats x 25
Nothing much to report other than looking forward to working closer to max weights again next week.
Started adding creatine to my Surge a little over a week ago. Up 4lbs-- to188ish–almost immediately. If I do one thing well, it’s carry water weight. It’s my gift.
Squats Deload Week
Squats 90lbs x 5, 120lbs x 5, 140lbs x 5
Squats 5x5 @ 195lbs
Chins x 45
Dips x 45
Facepulls x 100
Really looking forward to moving heavier weights next week.
Everything felt good. Squats are getting easier, finding my groove again, I think. And no back pain, a giant plus.
Forty-five chins and dips, then 100 facepulls fried my upper body.
I can see why Wendler’s programming is so popular.
Bench 5s week
Bench Press 150lbs x 5, 172lbs x 5, 195lbs x 9 or 10
Bench 5x5 @ 195lbs supersetted with DB Row 5x5 @ 100lbs
Split Squats x 25
Just putting in the work. I keep seeing experienced lifters here repeating some variation of this: keep putting in the work. It’s true: I can’t control the destination, but I can enjoy the ride.
DB Rows seem to be doing wonders for my forearms, which are looking pretty diesel for old Barley.
Not looking forward to deadlifts in a couple days, but will get them done. There really isn’t any another choice.
Deadlift 5s Week
Deadlift 195lbsx5, 225lbsx5, 255lbsx12*
Deadlift 3x5 @245lbs
Chinsx50
Dipsx50
PS Curlsx51 (34 unbroken)
I only bumped my deadlift training max five pounds over last cycle. I wasn’t happy with my performance on the top sets during the 3s and 5/3/1 weeks. The small bump seemed like a happy compromise between adding 10lbs and resetting my training max.
Deadlifts have always been a problem for me. In the past, every time I crept up near 300lbs, sometimes less, I got hurt. This time around, I’ve been focusing on technical precision. Today, I really focused on tightening my lats before bending down to the bar. I ended up more upright, in a better starting position, and the weights flew off the floor.
This top set may or may not be a rep PR–I think it is–but it was certainly the single best set of pulls in my lifting career.
More importantly, my low back feels stronger than it ever has and I feel like I’m moving with the agility of a god-damned panther.
On that note, ripping the first back off set from the floor wasn’t a good idea. It’ll be a while before I try that again, definitely with less weight.
Press 5s Week
Press 97.5lbs x 5, 112.5lbs x 5, 127.5lbs x 12
Press 5x5 @ 120 supersetted with
DB Rows 5x5 @ 100lbs
Split Squat x 25
Putting in the work.
Weight still slowly creeping up, weighed 188lbs over the weekend. Don’t want to get much over 190 before leaning out over the second half of this challenge.
Squats 5s Week
Squats 165lbs x 5, 185lbs x 5, 210lbs x 9 or 10
Squats 5 x 5 @ 195lbs
Chins x 50
Dips x 50
Facepulls x 100
Some days the weights fly and everything goes smoothly. Today was not it. I swallowed a bug gulping air between sets of chins.
I get stronger with each set of squats.
No idea how you guys can do sets of 8+ and know how many reps you’ve done. I lose count at…two.
Bench 3s Week
Bench 160lbs x 3, 185lbs x 3, 207.5lbs x 8
Bench 5 x 5 @ 195lbs supersetted with
DB Rows 5 x 5 @ 100 lbs
Split Squats x 25/leg
Still putting in the work. Bench felt strong, up five pounds and one rep from a month ago.
Again, I get stronger as the sets go on. The last set of supplemental bench flew; the first was a bit of a grind.
Fishing tomorrow, deadlifts Sunday. I hate deadlifts. But I love fishing. Guess it all works out in the end.
Deadlift 3s Week
Deadlift 220lbs x 3, 240lbs x 3, 270 lbs x 7 or 8
Deadlift 2 x 5 @ 245lbs
Chins x 50
Dips x 50
Poundstone Curls x 50 (38 unbroken)
Skipped third set of deadlifts. Tweaked my back in the second set at 245. It’s always the last rep in the way back up after setting the weight down. Pain is always on the left side.
Going to keep pulling, but go slow and easy. May add in some suitcase deads as re/prehab, too.
Very pleased with top set @ 270kbs for 7 or 8. It moved well and I may, may have had one in the tank.
Press 3s Week
Press 105lbs x 3, 120lbs x 3, 135lbs x 9 or 10
Press 5x5 @ 120 supersetted with
DB Rows 5x5 @ 100
Split Squat x 25
Putting in the work. Feel like I’m the leanest I’ve ever been at this weight.
Enjoying the programming so far.
Squats 3s Week
Squats 170lbs x 3, 195lbs x 3, 220lbs x 9
Squats 5x5 @ 195lbs
Chins x 50
Dips x 50
Facepulls x 100
Today, the best squatting I’ve ever done–can’t wait to see what another five weeks brings. I hate the supplemental squats and face the thought of quitting after every set, but they moved so smoothly today. Gonna keep doing this program my own way and bump the 5x5 to 200lbs.
Chins and dips are getting easier, knocked out 12 for the first set with 2-3 in the tank. I fatigue pretty fast though, my arms don’t work right after getting to about rep 30.
Next week is 5/3/1 week. Looking forward to the challenge.
Bench 5/3/1 Week
Bench Press 172.5lbs x 5, 195lbs x 3, 220lbs x 6
Bench Press 5x5 @ 195 lbs supersetted with
DB Rows 5x5 # 100lbs
Split Squat x 25/leg
These are my best bench press numbers…ever. Previous best was 225 for 4 sloppy reps.
I still enjoy the programming. Looking forward to my next bench press top set in a month.
Afterwards, I’m going to run some sort of 3x/week circuit, though I haven’t yet decided on the particulars.
Deadlifts 5/3/1 Week
Deadlifts 225lbs x 5, 255lbs x 3, 290lbs x 5
Deadlift 3x5 @ 245lbs
Chins x 50
Dips x 50
Poundstone Curls x 50 (40 unbroken)
Solid deadlift session for me. Planning on max reps with 300lbs in a month.
Deadlifts make everything else harder though. I’ve been working on contracting my lats. This helps. It also fatigues them a bit before chinups, making them more of a grind than usual.
