Arian's Rise to Power

[arian11]

11/12/10 - Squat & Bench

Squat
155x3 for 3 sets

Pin Bench Press
185x3
175x3 for 2 sets

Pullups
BWx10 for 1 set

Another deload today. Squats still felt tight in the hip flexor area. I'm sure they'll be good to go next week though when I start going heavy again. All the benches were taken, of course, so I stayed in the rack and had some fun with pin bench presses with letting it drop on the negative. Set the pin about mid way, 1st set was a bit hard so I dropped the weight some for the other 2 sets. Have work tomorrow but I'm going to try to have a relaxing weekend and call up Mike for some advice on where to go from here.

[arian11]

11/21/10 - Squat & Bench

Squat
150x5
175x5
195x5

Bench
150x5 (Supposed to be 130 but I made a mistake)
150x5
170x5

So I've been gone from the gym for awhile. I've been working everyday and it has been both time consuming and tiring. Finally when I got time to evaluate my situation I decided to do this routine. Basically I'm doing Jim Wendler's 5 3 1 workout but only 1 day a week with an optional 2nd day. So basically I'm going to switch between squat & bench and deadlift & military workouts each Sunday. And if I happen to have free time on Saturday, I will do a workout then too. Honestly, this is all I have time for these days and so I'm going to try to stick with it till the end of the year. Hopefully I will maintain or increase strength and improve my form at the very least. Then come January I will be in grad school and will hopefully have more time to get back to a more frequent workout routine. That is all, see you guys next weekend.

[arian11]

Forgot to add in pullups from my last session
BWx10
BWx8
BWx6

[arian11]

11/28/10 - Deadlift & Military Press

Deadlift
240x5
275x5
310x5

Military Press
95x5
105x5
120x5

Pullups
BWx10
BWx10
BWx8

[WorkoutMchne]

Are you not doing the last set until failure on the 5/3/1? Or is 5 all you could manage?

[arian11]

5 was all I could manage. 1st two sets of deadlift felt easy but the final set I could feel my form degrading on each next rep. I might have been able to struggle up a 6th rep but didn't want to injure myself. Since our competition, every time I squat or deadlift, my hip, hamstring, or glute has felt weird the next day. Nothing serious, I have never injured myself in my life, but it just feels alittle different than normal. So I don't want to go too far and hurt myself.

I've read articles talking about going to complete failure is not the most efficient way to gain strength. What are your thoughts?

[WorkoutMchne]

I agree with you that you should not always train to failure...Venom actually just published a good paper on failure training. I wasn't saying to train to failure, but rather to about a 9 or 9.5 RPE.

The point is that during the first wave of 5/3/1 and on the first week of the first wave you really should be getting somewhere around 8-10 reps on the final set. Are you using 90% of your actually max like the program recommends? I assume you are and if not make sure that you do. If you are using 90% of your actually max and still only getting 5 reps to start with then I suggest you use 90% of your 90% (if that makes sense). My point is that you should be getting more reps at this point in the 5/3/1 for it to really work effectively. The weights and reps recommended are quite light at the beginning.

[arian11]

Yea, I understand what you are saying and I was expecting to beat the 5 prescribed reps as well. The bench press was the only exercise where I might have been able to do more than 5 but decided not to. I already did my squat and bench 3x3 workout today and that was difficult as well. So I guess I should have done the 90% of 90% from the start.

12/5/10 - Squat & Bench

Squat
165x3
185x3
210x3

Bench Press
140x3
155x3
175x3

Squat felt difficult, I may have not even gone as far down on my last rep of the last set. Didn't have my camera so I have no way of knowing. Bench felt easier than squat and I may have gotten another rep but didn't. I'm really struggling these days. I use to feel like I was getting stronger with every day that passed by. These days, I feel like I am getting weaker. I've squatted 225 and 230 for 2 before, but now 210 for 3 is very difficult.

[arian11]

12/12/10 - Deadlift & Military Press

Deadlift
240x3
295x3
330x4

Military Press
100x3
115x3
130x3

Incline Press supersetted w/ DB Shrugs
Incline-
135x3x4

Shrugs-
80x10x4

Everything felt good. Last set of deadlift was quite difficult, especially that last rep. I could tell my form broke down some and my back rounded, but I finished it off anyways.

[arian11]

12/19/10 - Squat & Bench Press

Squat
175x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wic21yLzH0
195x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YQ9mAZ06hY
225x2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04OypiGhVlk

Bench Press
145x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8AEK23ZP7g
165x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOAq6qhGyHE
185x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVfHiNiHmU8

The final set of squat was actually supposed to be 215 or 220 but since I've done it before, I decided to jump up to 225. I was planning to do 225x3 because I've done 225x2 before, but you can see from the video that didn't happen. Balance felt off and I just didn't have the strength, no excuses. Bench press felt easy except for maybe the last rep of the last set where you can see my elbows flare out because it was difficult. Didn't want to attempt a 4th rep because I didn't have a spotter. Check out the videos and tell me what you think. Since I've been doing 5-3-1, I've been squatting and deadlifting looking away from the mirrors in the gym. And the squat has felt weird all this time. But now that I video taped it, I can see my form is actually quite good and my depth is at or below parallel on all reps. Deadlift & Military next week!