C7 W3 Strictly 531

Tuesday - MP


row 500 m
shoulder mobility

warm-up:  2xbarx10, 2x55x5, 65x5, 80x3

5/3/1:  95x5, 110x3, 2x125x1 (felt solid both sets!).

Thursday - DL

500m row
hip.shoulder mobility

warm-up: 2x bar x 10,  2 x 135x5, 175x5, 210x3
5/3/1:  260x5, 295x3, 330x1+ (got 1!)

DL was super heavy today but felt awesome throughout.  getting closer to my goal of 340# DL (twice bw).

Friday - BP

500m row
shoulder/hip mobility

warm-up:  2xbarx20, 75x5, 95x5, 115x5

5/3/1:   140x5, 160x3, 180x1+ (got 4!).

Felt solid today with my bench technique.  Left a rep in the bag on the last set but felt good overall with my performance.  Will look toward next week as a chance to bust out my deload week and focus on blasting my body with sets and reps.

C7 W2 - Strictly 531

Tuesday - MP

Shoulder Mobility (lots of this!)

chins between sets of press (x5 reps)
warm-up:  2xbarx10, 50x5, 65x5, 80x3

3/3/3:  90x3, 105x3, 115x3+ (got 3).

Focus is on my presses (military/bench) . . . really focusing on recovery/mobility.  Solid pressing day overall.

Thursday - DL

rower / hip mobility /  shoulder&back mobility

warm-up:  2x135x5, 175x5, 215x3

3/3/3:  245x3, 280x3, 315x3+ (got 4).

Heavy . . . this is the one lift that I am going all out on . . . hammer session!

Friday - BP

rower / shoulder/hip mobility

warm-up:  2x75x5, 2x95x5, 115x3

3/3/3:  135x3, 150x3, 170x3+ (got 5!)

Felt strong throughout.  Good week of lifting.

C7 W1 Strictly 531

After talking with my wife about life, teaching, and working out I realized that I was overtraining . . . leading myself to be less than average in all aspects of my life.  I am gearing things down and focusing my workouts strictly on the 531 lifts and on mobility before/after workouts and at night.

Here goes nothin'!  Truth!

Tuesday - OHP 9.25

warm-up:  2xbarx10, 2x50x5, 2x65x5, 80x3

5/5/5:  85x5, 95x5, 110x6 (goal was to get 5+)

Focused on shoulder mobility and stretching my back.  I did a few sets of chins in the 5/5/5 part of the workout.

Wednesday - DL

warm-up:  2x135x5, 2x175x5, 210x3

5/5/5:  225x5, 260x5, 295x6 (goal 5+)

Felt really strong with DL today.  Solid lifts all around.

Thursday - BP

warm-up:  barx20, 2x75x5, 2x105x5, 115x3

5/5/5:  135x5, 155x5, 180x2 (goal 5+)

Poundages set using 100% of my TM - was too much!!  So, I am revamping my weights for BP using 90% of my TM.  Live & learn.  The presses are easily my weakest areas at the moment.

Going to begin working out just 3x per week flipping DL/Squat - not sure if I'll do that weekly or monthly.  We will see.

Saturday - small workout - 100 curls with 20# on bar + 4 trips with 35# dbs farmer's walk.

C7 BBB Challenge - Month 3 Schedule

		BBB Challenge	BP 5x10 @ 145#	SQ 5x10 @ 170#	OHP 5x10 @ 100#	DL 5x10 @ 245#
		1RM	BP 210#	SQ 240#	OHP 145#	350#

Warm up

Bench Press	Squats	Overhead Press	Deadlift
85 lbs x 5	95 lbs x 5	50 lbs x 5	140 lbs x 5
105 lbs x 5	120 lbs x 5	65 lbs x 5	175 lbs x 5
125 lbs x 3	145 lbs x 3	80 lbs x 3	210 lbs x 3

5/3/1 Weights

		Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Bench Press	Set 1	135 lbs x 5	145 lbs x 3	155 lbs x 5	85 lbs x 5
	Set 2	155 lbs x 5	170 lbs x 3	180 lbs x 3	105 lbs x 5
	Set 3	180 lbs x 5+	190 lbs x 3+	200 lbs x 1+	125 lbs x 5
Squats	Set 1	155 lbs x 5	170 lbs x 3	180 lbs x 5	95 lbs x 5
	Set 2	180 lbs x 5	190 lbs x 3	205 lbs x 3	120 lbs x 5
	Set 3	205 lbs x 5+	215 lbs x 3+	230 lbs x 1+	145 lbs x 5
Deadlifts	Set 1	225 lbs x 5	245 lbs x 3	260 lbs x 5	140 lbs x 5
	Set 2	260 lbs x 5	280 lbs x 3	295 lbs x 3	175 lbs x 5
	Set 3	295 lbs x 5+	315 lbs x 3+	330 lbs x 1+	210 lbs x 5
Overhead Press	Set 1	85 lbs x 5	90 lbs x 3	95 lbs x 5	50 lbs x 5
	Set 2	95 lbs x 5	105 lbs x 3	115 lbs x 3	65 lbs x 5
	Set 3	110 lbs x 5+	115 lbs x 3+	125 lbs x 1+	80 lbs x 5

C6 W4 - Deload Week - 1RM

Monday - MP

shoulder mobility (including lacrosse balls)

warm-up:  2x55x5, 2x65x5, 75x3

5/5/5:  55x5, 65x5, 75x5

1RM:  2x95x2, 135xfail, 125x1, 130xfail

125# 1RM - back in spring 1RM was 110# so 15# in 6 months isn't too bad.  I really want to get 135# up.  Nothing like having the 45# plates on the bar!

Tuesday -rest day (forgot my towel - realized on the way to the gym, so went home took a shower there and headed to school).

*Head cold and school are beating me down.  Going to take the week off from lifting and focus on getting quality sleep, diet, and mobility/stretching.

Will begin month 3 of BBB Challenge next week!  70% of TM!!  OUCH!!

C6 W3 - BBB Challenge

Monday - MP

500m row
shoulder mobility (included lacrosse balls today)

warm-up:  2x55x5, 2x65x5, 75x5

5/3/1:  95x5, 105x5, 120x1 (was tough but kept it moving the whole time).

BBB:  5x10 @ 125# BP - solid all the way through.

Tuesday - DL

500m row
hip mobility

warm-up:  2x135x5 , 2x155x5, 185x3

5/3/1:  230x5, 260x3, 290x1 - this last set felt really strong!

BBB:  5x10 @ 140# SQ - felt really good/solid.

Wednesday - rest/mobility.

Thursday - BP
500m row
shoulder mobility (used lacrosse balls)

warm-up:  2x75x5, 2x95x5, 110x3

5/3/1:  140x5, 155x3, 175x1 (felt really good / strong!)

BBB:  5x10 @ 85# MP - tried to push press on each set and seemed to actually wear me down quicker, sooner overall.  Going to keep surviving this BBB.  Only way to get better is to keep attacking it week in, week out.  Might look at more rest between sets (I'm just so stinking impatient!).

Friday - SQ

500m row
hip mobility

warm-up:  2xbarx10, 2x85x5, 2x105x5, 125x3, 175x1

5/3/1:  155x5, 175x3, 195x1

BBB:  5x10 @ 205# DL - felt strong/solid throughout all 5 sets!

Looking ahead with my programming = going to finish up next month with BBB Challenge using 5x10 @ 70% of my TM (which sounds outrageous but motivating big time!).  Then going to look at doing some more focused work after reading an article on t-nation.com written by the man, Jim Wendler.  Here's his thoughts on programming:

So I'm gonna keep the basic 5/3/1 block going throughout but vary my focus in terms of maintaining vs testing, etc.  I need the variety to keep my locked in, and I think I will continue to make strength gains in the end.