My squat went up, but not at the high end… essentially my 5x5 numbers went up by 10 pounds just about every week. By the end of the cycle, I was hitting 315 for 5x5 on squat. I did about 5 weeks on a safety squat bar, squatting to a box, and it seemed to have very little carry-over for me. When I tried to single-rep that lift, I only hit 335. It was really more likely due to the severe pain in my elbows than anything else. I got stuck in the hole on 335, because I wanted to let go of the bar!
My deadlift went up to 425. I was pretty happy about this, seeing as the last time I tested it was before I jacked up my knees and took off 4 months. I was working up to a single set of 5 every week, and adding 10 pounds each time. Off cycle I generally only make 5-pound jumps, and I have to add in speed work on another day to train that lift.
My bench press DEFINITELY went up and as far as I can tell is staying up. I can 5x5 around 195 right now. I know… I know… it’s a shitty bench press, but I have horrific genetics for anything upper body. If you lined up all of my uncles and cousins side-by-side, you would think we were all pre-pubescent from the waist up.
My press went up to 155. This was also a huge jump for me, and I seem to be keeping most of it. I’m working out with 135.
Curls and anything tricep-related went up too. At about week 8, I was curling with 55-pound DBs, and now I’m using 45s… another big one for me.
I seriously prioritized upper body, and this is where I saw the best gains.
I suspect that with the focus on cutting, I still have some strength to loose, but muscles do remember.