City's 5/3/1 Log

[Mr.City]

Intro: I followed SS for almost a year before switching over to the Texas Method for my squatting. It worked well... for a while. I started off doing 310 for 5x5 and my 5RM was 340. Recovery got to be a big issue though. By the time I was hitting 330 for 5x5 and a 360 5RM, I was falling to pieces. Taking a week off worked somewhat well, but the squatting volume was becoming too much to recovery from. Even switching to 330x4x5 didn't help. This is why I switched to 5/3/1.

Lifts: I'm using 5/3/1 for my squat and deadlift. My press and bench are still progressing linearly with 1.lb jumps.

Squat max: 415
Training max: 373.5

Deadlift max: 401
Training max: 360

[Mr.City]

7-19-2010

Squat: (odd numbers due to weighted collars at my gym and a strict policy about always having the bar collared)

247x5
282x5
317x7

Wasn't feeling good this day.I felt tired and shitty, and my hamstrings were feeling pretty beat up after the set of 282. I should of got at least 8 reps, but whatever.

Leg Press
340*x10x3

*=plus whatever the weight of the sled is. Some say it's 50 lbs, others say it is 75 lbs.

GHR

BWx10
Orange bandx8
Orange bandx10

Hamstrings were crying by now. I only got 8 reps on the first working set because I wrapped the resistance band around a calf machine and every time I did a rep, it would closer to me. I had to swing my head around by reps 7 and 8. I used heavy dumbbells for the second working set. Worked much better

Bench:
228x5x3

[Mr.City]

I squat Monday and deadlift Friday. Wednesday become a day to doing my pressing exercise and then get the fuck out.

Press
141x3x5

I decided to use a belt for the last set to see how it felt. It felt different.

Dips
10,8,5

My weakness here really surprised me. I need to work my BW stuff more.

Chins
1x8

My ability to chin has gone down the toilet recently. I don't know why.

[Mr.City]

Deadlift

235x5
270x5
305x5

Felt like shit. My back was rounding like crazy and I was beat by the time I was done. It looked like I was deadlifting with the bar in front of my shoulder, which could account for my shitty performance.

Hands behind the head sit ups

BWx4x5

Once again, this weakness surprises me. I haven't done behind the head situps in a long time and it shows.

Kroc Rows:

Left arm: 45x16
Right arm: 45x17

I didn't realize how much "body English" is allowed with Kroc Rows. I might of got 20 reps with each arm if I had known this.

Bench
229x5x3 (5/5/3)

I had a weird uneven lockout the whole time. I think having doing my OHP press the day before, along with the kroc rows right before this, (yes, I was that foolish) cost me this set. I'll get it next time

[Mr.City]

Squat
262x3
302x3
337x6

I learned that I wasn't taking a deep enough breathe with my Valsalva. This time I took a deep breathe and squeezed hard. Felt much better. Form went to shit on the last set. I didn't bring my hips back enough on the first couple reps, turning it into a weird high bar/low bar squat hybrid. Weight went to my toes on rep 4. I might of been able to squeeze out another rep if I didn't screw those up.

Leg Press
340*x10x3

GHR
BWx10
25lbsx10x3

I tried loading the movement with a plate this time. I didn't like it. I'll stick with resistance bands.

[Mr.City]

DL
255x3
290x3
325x7

Could have possible got 8 reps, but decided to play it safe.

Kroc Row:
Left: 35x32
Right:35x30

35 is the right way for these. I can feel it more in my hand and forearm more than the 40 lb dumbbells.

Hands behind the head situps:
4,5,4,4,3

Still really weak here.

OHP
142 3x5 (2,1,x,x,x)

I learned to press before doing anything else since deadlifting tired me out.

Saturday: Conditioning

It has occurred to me that I haven't been keeping track of my conditioning work in this log. I've been doing hill sprints 2 times a week. I just got a Prowler and decided to try it out Saturday

I tried to the "The Hell that is New Jersey" prowler challenge, which is:

· Number of Sprints – 6

· Rest period of each sprint – 60 seconds

· Distance of each sprint– 40 yards


I put 50 lbs on the prowler and went to town. It was pretty fucking hard. I couldn't even do the low handle stuff. Worse yet, I have to push it back home after I was done.

[Mr.City]

BP:
229x5x3( 5/5/4)

That makes two misses on the bench. One more miss and that's it for linear progression on the bench press.

SQ
280x5
315x3
355x1 (failed second rep)

I hurt something on the right side of my mid-back on a warmup set of 190. I belted up for all my work sets as a result. They felt harder than they should, and 355 felt like a fucking 1RM, even though it was my last 5RM. I fucked myself pretty good this weekend by beating the shit out of myself with the prowler. I should of known better with squat day so close to deadlift day. Tried to leg press, but even that felt too fucking heavy. Called it quits and went home.

Technically, I got all my reps, so I'm not completely screwed. I just hope I didn't fuck up my back with deadlift day on Friday. At least I can look forward to deload week next week.

[Mr.City]

DL: (5/3/1)
270x5
305x3
345x2

Deadlift burn me out really quick. I could tell I wasn't getting a third rep. I think I'm underestimating the stress of the first two sets.

[Mr.City]

SQ: (deload)
150x5
185x5
225x5
315x1 (wanted to try 315 without a belt)

My job stresses me out pretty sometimes. I'm usually a wreck in the gym when this happens. Thank God for the deload day. Weight was easy and the session was relaxing.

Good Morning
65x10 (tried it out)

Leg Press
270+x10

[kittenSmash]

I was wondering where your log went City. Didn't realize you were going to 5/3/1. And damn bro, didn't know you hit a 415 squat, nice job.
I have been running 5/3/1 while on a quick diet. I like the overall lower volume if you cut out assistance, but I absolutely despise the 3 sets of deads. By my last set I am fucking weak. I'm going to TM next week.

[Paul Sousa]

Hey City, just going over your posts and wondering if you may have started a bit too high with your weights. Only getting 1 or 2 reps on the third week of your first cycle could be a problem. Of course there could have been other factors I don't know if like diet, sleep, etc., but you could end up stalling in another cycle or two if the weights started too high.

[LudwigVan]

Kroc Row:
Left: 35x32
Right:35x30

35 is the right way for these. I can feel it more in my hand and forearm more than the 40 lb dumbbells.

You might want to think about going heavier with the rows. John Sheaffer recommended I do some DB rows to assist my bench. I was using 35# DBs, which felt reasonable to me, until John made fun of me and said I needed to use 75s. So I did, and I managed 2 sets of 20 with each arm. It was just really hard. It got a lot easier after a few weeks though.

[Mr.City]

Lud: I'll give it a try

Paul: My recovery's been in the shitter lately. I've been wondering if I'm having hormone problems since I followed Wendler's instructions for setting maxes.

[Paul Sousa]

Hmm, might be worth trying the same cycle again and seeing if you can increase your rep maxes at the same weight. When I was making the best gains and feeling the best I was able to get 10-11 reps week 1, 7-8 reps week 2 and 5-6 reps week 3. Could also be worth lowering your training max as a way to delaod a bit and work back up. Maybe knock another 5-10% off the top.

[LudwigVan]

When I was making the best gains and feeling the best I was able to get 10-11 reps week 1, 7-8 reps week 2 and 5-6 reps week 3.

This sounds right to me -- I just finished my 2nd cycle of 5/3/1 (for my squat only) and got 11, 8, and 6 on both cycles.

[Mr.City]

I might give it a try, Paul. I seem tired all the time now, and the low reps from each have been worrying me.

[Paul Sousa]

Honestly, it sounds like you could use a week off entirely. Take a week, eat and sleep plenty, and try and come back refreshed with a bit lower weight.

[Mr.City]

A week off sounds nice. Perhaps base the weights off of 85% this time. I seem to have a shitty recovery rate. Maybe it's my diet or my sleep habits. I need to take a cold, hard look at how I treat my recovery.