I have been faithfully following 5/3/1 since April '13 and have gotten outstanding results. I started with a max squat of about 365. I eventually worked up to a 405 back squat (weighing 198lbs) as a Joker set. I decided to take a few weeks off from the heavy weights as my joints were starting to bother me considerably. I started Dan John’s 10,000 swing workout to get my conditioning up. I didn’t quite finish the program because my body felt better and frankly, I just really missed the iron.
So I picked up where I left off with my TMs and everything and on squat day I was in for a VERY rude awakening. My recalculated squat TM is 330 down from 380. I am hoping that my body just needs to get used to heavy lifting again. I might have lost a little weight, but nothing that should influence my squat workouts this way. What’s odd is that my deadlift seems to be right where it was. Benching and pressing are a little down. I guess it’s a tradeoff between absolute strength and conditioning. Any thoughts on how my squat could’ve tanked like this would be appreciated.
Of course you are going to get weaker taking a few weeks off from heavy lifting. On the bright side, the strength should come back relatively quickly.
[quote]Jameson829 wrote:
I have been faithfully following 5/3/1 since April '13 and have gotten outstanding results. I started with a max squat of about 365. I eventually worked up to a 405 back squat (weighing 198lbs) as a Joker set. I decided to take a few weeks off from the heavy weights as my joints were starting to bother me considerably. I started Dan John’s 10,000 swing workout to get my conditioning up. I didn’t quite finish the program because my body felt better and frankly, I just really missed the iron.
So I picked up where I left off with my TMs and everything and on squat day I was in for a VERY rude awakening. My recalculated squat TM is 330 down from 380. I am hoping that my body just needs to get used to heavy lifting again. I might have lost a little weight, but nothing that should influence my squat workouts this way. What’s odd is that my deadlift seems to be right where it was. Benching and pressing are a little down. I guess it’s a tradeoff between absolute strength and conditioning. Any thoughts on how my squat could’ve tanked like this would be appreciated. [/quote]
Make sure you follow Jim’s recommendations on deloading after every 6 weeks, so you don’t get to that point. He provided some good alternatives for deloading in the new book compared to what was previously recommended.