Friday - Bench. Week 3 Cycle 5

Last week's bench was a miss as was today's -- I think. Today I needed 7 reps at 240 to match last month's 235x7, but only managed 240x6. To be fair, I've never done reps on bench with this weight, so it's all new territory for me. Also, my assistance work continues to improve quite a bit, which is making the question of whether I've fallen behind on bench these past two weeks not so easy to answer.

I've had a couple hiccups on the bench on this program a few times before (e.g. getting only 2 reps at 220lbs in week 3 cycle 1, and, on two separate occasions, not improving my rep count for a weight I had encountered before), but overall there has been good progress. Even week 1 of this cycle showed improvement. So I'll see how the bench goes next cycle and if it stalls again or drops, I'll recalculate some new training numbers!


Week 3 bench lifts for 5 cycles thus far have been:

• Cycle 1: 220x2
• Cycle 2: 225x5
• Cycle 3: 230x7
• Cycle 4: 235x7
• Cycle 5: 240x6

Goals for today:

190x5
215x3
240x1

Lifted:

190x5
215x3
240x6

Assistance work: 

70lb db's on flat bench for 5 sets of 15, 15, 15, 15, 14. One rep shy of all 75. Last week I did 75 reps with the 65lb db's so this is a pretty good jump.

100lb db's for one arm rows. 5 sets of 10 reps. I didn't increase the weight, but these have become easier; my grip is much better. 

Video of final set below:

Wednesday - Deadlifts. Week 3 Cycle 5

Turns out I am the chosen one.

Kind of a weird workout today.  My warm-ups were slow and weak and on my 1st working set of 340x5 my grip nearly failed. This had me psyched out. By the time I got to my final set of 430lbs all my expectations of coming in and knocking out 10 reps (as I've been doing for the past 4 cycles on week 3) went out the window. Really not wanting to go home disappointed, I took a minute and visualized the lift. I had to visualize it twice though, because my first time through I failed at rep 3 -- whoops, talk about no confidence. Anyway, I finally saw the reps in my head, and started my pull. After I pulled that first rep off the floor, I knew I had it. And when I got to 10, I felt like putting a cherry on top and did one more. Visualization...who knew.... Anyway, looking back at the set I did last month of 425x10, not only was today's heavier with one extra rep, it was much faster as well.

Week 3 deadlifts through the first five cycles have been:

• Cycle 1: 400x7
• Cycle 2: 405x10
• Cycle 3: 415x10
• Cycle 4: 425x10
• Cycle 5: 430x11 (just for comparison: on 5.7.11 I did 375x11 for a week 2 final set).

Assistance work also improved. I added 5 more reps to my weighted, wide-grip pull-ups, doing 5 sets of 6 with +45lbs. Video of set one below. I did 5 sets of the ab-wheel in between the sets of pull-ups. My goal with the weighted pull-ups is to work my way up to 5 sets of 10 with +45lbs, so I'll be trying for 5 sets of  7 next cycle.

Goals for today:

340x5

385x3

430x1

Lifted:

340x5

385x3

430x11

Video of final set below:

Monday - Hill Sprints #32

Sunday - Clean and Jerk. Week 3 Cycle 5

Not actually disappointed. Well, maybe a little. 

Today begins Week 3 of Cycle 5 and today's session had the best kind of progress: more weight and more reps. Last month I lifted 210lbs x 4 and today I got 215 x 5. I nearly had 6 (twice), and this would have beaten even my week 2 numbers from this cycle, but my coordination failed me. Still, can't complain about the progress!

Week 3 progress thus far:

Cycle 1: 195x5
Cycle 2: 200x6
Cycle 3: 205x5
Cycle 4: 210x4
Cycle 5: 215x5 (+20 lbs to the 5 rep max in 5 months)

Assistance work was awesome today. 5 sets of 10 reps of weighted dips (+45lbs) have become too easy so I'll increase their weight next time. For weighted chinups (+25lbs) I thought that last week I did 5 sets of 10 reps, so when I did 10, 10, 10, 10, then 8  I was pretty dissapointed (but confused, because they felt way easier than last time). Turns out I only did 41 reps last time and 48 today. Sweet!

Goals for today:

170x5
190x3
215x1

Lifted:

170x5
190x3
215x5


Video of final set below:

Friday - Squats. Week 2 Cycle 5

Trying something new.

Well, today I was supposed to take the GRE's, but unfortunately the testing center is underwater so it's been postponed 'til the 20th. A little disappointing, but at least I got to rock some squats instead. This time last month I did 350x8, and today called for a ten pound increase of 360lbs. Not much planning to be done here, I wanted 8 reps again.

Goals for today:

280x3
320x3
360x3

Lifted:

280x3
320x3
360x8

The set was pretty difficult, and it was a little slower than last month's (on the final three reps), but I'm happy with how my depth has been improving. I think my form is getting better as well. My upper back/core is definitely what's giving out before anything else; my legs had one or two more reps left, but not my back. This has been the case pretty much every squat week.

Week 2 improvements thus far: 330x4-->335x5-->345x7-->350x8-->360x8

360lb x 8:

A little something extra and special today: For assistance work I usually do a bunch of triples and doubles of fronts squats at 225lbs. I got a little carried away today and kept adding weight and said, 'what the hell' and put on 300lbs. The last time I tried a 300 lb front squat (before beginning 5/3/1) I literally fell over in the hole into some guy's crotch. Today wasn't pretty, and my core weakness really shows, but it was a hell of a lot better than falling on my ass. 

300 lb front squat: