famendoza's 5/3/1 training log

[famendoza]

40 mins
snatch
65 lbs x 1 x 10
75 lbs x 1 x 7
85 lbs x 1 x 7
95 lbs x 1 x 5
105 lbs x 1 x 3

cj
135x1
155x1
165x1
175x1x2

Rowing for 20 mins.

The snatch and clean and jerk are too addictive - I've got to lay off these things. I'll see how my pressing goes tomorrow. It'll probably be fucked up. I will try to see if I can manage a triple with 137 - sounds ghey I know.

[famendoza]

Warmup
3 min rowing

Press
65x3
95x3

108x5
125x3
137x1

Push Press
135x4x2

Incline
45x5x2
65x5x2
85x5x2
95x5x2

Overhead Squat
45x3x2
65x3x3
85x3x2
95x3x2
115x3x2
125x2x2 (HARD)

So today was a meh press day. I fulfilled my quota as per 5/3/1 but it's not looking good going forward without major changes. I tried light versions of the push press and the incline bench (haven't done that in years) for additional volume. I'm thinking the OHS might be good, in that on my hard sets - I actually felt my abs working hard on that one. I could never get that feeling in the press. This press needs to go up, and perhaps adding the incline on press days, and push presses on Bench days could help it out (and top it off with OHS after the incline).

[famendoza]

Warmup

3min row
foam roll on upper back (stiff)
P.Clean
95x3
135x2
155x1
185x1

Deadlift
225x3

274x3 (oops)
311x3
347x1 (REALLY TIRED)
275x5 (makeup from first set)

Situps
10 BW

More foam rolling on upper back afterwards.

Damn. Today the top set was more difficult than anticipated. I believe this is directly correlated with the soreness in my traps for the OHS yesterday. I guess I'll have to live with this for a bit of time, then acclimatize. The good thing is no reps were missed, although today's showing was only adequate. The traps sore surprisingly made the situps harder as well.

[Paul Sousa]

On the press, I would suggest trying dips or maybe the bradford press for an accessory. Both have served me well in improving my press. Also, do you breath at the top or bottom of the press? If it is the bottom, you should try and change that so you exhale/inhale at lockout and use the stretch reflex at the bottom.

[famendoza]

On the press, I would suggest trying dips or maybe the bradford press for an accessory. Both have served me well in improving my press. Also, do you breath at the top or bottom of the press? If it is the bottom, you should try and change that so you exhale/inhale at lockout and use the stretch reflex at the bottom.

Thsnks for the suggestions. I press from the shoulders usually, but for heavier sets I utilize the stretch reflex. This is obviously me trying to get the weight up however I can. I'm changing my press method as I believe I have not done the following things which may help in technique:
- kept the chest high enough
- squeezed the upper arm right beside the lats (I remember hearing this from Bob Hoffman's press routine in the Deszo Ban blog - don't have the link handy).

[famendoza]

Warmup
rowing 3 mins

Bench
45x5
95x5
135x3

146x5
165x3
185x3
185x2
185x1
185x2
185x1
185x2 (iffy on last rep - racked fast)
185x1

Push Press
135x3 (..testing)
135x4
135x2 (rep missed)
135x2
135x1
135x4
135x3
135x2
135x1
135x1 (rep missed)
135x1

'Kroc' Row (no deloading of dumbbell both hands)
70x15
70x9
70x6
70x5
70x5

Today's workout was my first chance to try out laddering. I didn't get too far with the bench, but the push press (PP) looked promising. The bench just seemed hard overall on all the reps, and did not attempt to push any reps on the ladders beyond the first ladder.

I'm gonna reduce the PP ladder to 3-2-1, to avail myself the opportunity for more ladders per workout. The PP form I practiced today was a little different than what I've been doing so far for any previous press or PP attempts. I think I actually IMPROVED my form (as I actually move my head as opposed to layback) - so I'll stick with getting as acquainted with the new form. Basically it's
- chest HIGH (like i'm showing my boobies)
- abs taught and out (kinda like I'm tensing a beer belly)
- upper arm (humerus) as tightly packed towards the lats as possible without allowing elbow to go under or behind the bar.

I do note that I cleaned all my PPs, and that holding the chest high, and not being careful about where the bar lands (carotid), can have you unconscious. I actually felt dizzy on the way up of a PP, and it went behind. I couldn't save it so I stepped back and put the bar down in front of me (that was my very last miss).

Also this time it looks like I actually did dumbbell rows correctly, by not deloading on the floor. This was much harder (duh!) and my reps reflect that. If I get to 20 reps on first set, I'm increasing to 75lbs.

[famendoza]

Warmup
row for 3 mins
snatch 45,65,85

Squat
135x5
185x3

227x5
257x3
287x2
287x1
287x1

Front Squat (testing)
45x3
65x3
95x3
115x3
135x3
155x3
175x3

Chinups
3,2,1 BW
3,2,1 BW
3,2,x,1 BW

Squatting felt too heavy, have decided to immediately cease my dietting (lost 20 lbs) and resume the diet I was going on before. I'll ease my way into it again. OTOH - Chinups were cool, except for that miss.

so far in the day...
2L milk (went down quick considering I haven't drunk anything like that in a while - about 2 months)
2 veal sandwiches (trying to find caloric/protein intake online - it's Pizza Nova)

planning on more sandwiches (surprisingly a lot of protein in turkey hams). Also allows me to eat more (carbs - appetizing).

[famendoza]

hill runs
- dunno but it was greater than 12 reps

walk 40 mins

Ate late breakfast consisting of
- 1/4 of 1.3 L milk
- yogurt (forgot size - small)
- 2 waffles
- 3/4 pound of meat, along with rice
- 2L choco milk

[famendoza]

Press
70x5
85x5
100x5

Squat
150x5
180x5
215x5

Deadlift
185x5
220x5
255x5

Bench
95x5
115x5
135x5

No orthotics today - will remove them for next cycle..,.

[famendoza]

Press
100x5
115x5
130x1
130x1
130x1
(fudge...)
115x3,2,1
115x3,2,1
115x3,2,1

Good morning (waiting for incline bench)
65x3
95x3
115x3

Incline bench
105x3,2,1
105x3,2,1
105x3,2,1



Ok, my first failure at 5/3/1 and no surprise its the press. And no surprise that I have yet to understand all of the technique required. I've always wondered why occasionally I'd get super easy reps, and then sometimes super hard ones on the same weight. I think I've stumbled upon proper forward torso movement going under the bar, alas too late in the 115lb ladder setup I did after I missed my set of 5. I tested a single rep at 115lb after I finished my ladder reps, and found it to be accurate to what I felt (as opposed to a random "easy" rep). Needless to say - there's still a lot more discovery for me.

Incline was similar, a certain angle (not looking at the bar), got the groove right and made 105 easier than the 95 I did 2 weeks ago. Also ladder repped.

Good mornings as I did not even see a 45 degree back extension.

BTW I did this all in a gym with bumper plates. I like them although I didn't get a chance to drop them in conquest to a higher clean, but it made cleaning the press from the floor WAAAY less annoying. The plates are lb incremented not in kgs.