caveman goes for 5/3/1 for 300/400/500

[caveman]

Thanks MM! I definitely prefer deadlifting barefoot, but in the winter the garage floor is C-O-L-D, and the shoes provide a double benefit of making it a slight deficit deadlift and shifting some more load to the quads which are relatively weak.

I pulled 405x5 ages ago. I'm looking forward to getting back to that level and cruising on by. I want 2015 to be the year I pull 500!

[MattimusMaximus]

Haha 405x5 is my goal right now! I've never even been close but it's going to happen this year. I'll cheer you on for 500!

[caveman]

From last night afterwork. Trying to move relatively quickly as the wife had a holiday party to attend.

Deadlifts 325 for 10. e1RM=433. All DOH, with shoes and belt. Besides the standard struggling for breath at rep 8. These were surprisingly easy. One or two of the reps got out in front of me, but I was able to pull it back and save the rep. I'll keep upping by 10 pounds per week until I can't do 10. Then I'll knock the increase to only 5 pounds per week and start doing the overwarmups to get some intensity work.

Pullups 5, 5, 5, 3. Then I did 3 or 4 more banded.

No time for anything else. Thought about doing pushups, but I rapidly loss interest in that idea. Then spent most of the evening getting my Amazon Fire TV setup with XBMC and other goodies.

[caveman]

From Saturday,

Bench press - 225x1, then 202.5 for 5, 5, and 7. e1RM=243. I thought about going for 8, but it seemed like a less than 50-50 chance of getting it, so I erred on the side of being conservative. I guess that 195x9 a few weeks ago was a fluke, or rather a very good day, because I haven't come close to matching that in the last two weeks. My touchdown point is still a bit erratic. I also decided to start introducing the "over-warmup" again.

Slingshot bench - 225 for 6, 6, and 8. I could have gotten more than that, but horribly misgrooved the last one and I didn't have enough gas left to save it. I was hoping to do the worksets of the slingshot at the overwarmup weight, but that might not quite be heavy enough.

Pull ups 6, 6, and 5. Or something like that. I forget how the last set went. I started helpng the wife do some bench pressing. Her last set was 45x12. then we "argued" for a bit when i told her to increase the weight to 50 next time.

From today (Sunday)
Front squats 190 for 5, 5, 7, and 8. I could have done more but I couldn't keep the barbell in the right spot over so many reps. I've also decided to temporarily make front squats the primary squat movement and have back squats take the secondary priority while my hip is still bothering me. It's probably not ideal, but I'm ready to try and push myself and i can't currently do that with back squats and I think I can with front squats. Besides, I'm sure that if I get my front squat up to 315, my back squat will be pretty decent by my standards.

Back squats 135 for 10, 10, 10. Just some light work to get some blood flowing and keep the movement practiced. Not much discomfort at this weight and that was the plan.

Curls - 85 for 5, 5, and 7. Woohoo. Picked up two more reps!

A good weekend of lifting. I enjoyed these sessions and am happy to start seeing some progress again.

[caveman]

From Wednesday

overhead press - overwarmup with 135. Missed the first attempt because it was too far forward. 2nd attempt was a lot more grindy than I expected. Worksets at 122.5 for 5, 5, and 7 or 8. I apparently suck at counting any number greater than 5. I think the problem is that I start thinking about the target number of reps and after I'm already 5 reps in I'm ability impaired enough to not be able to multitask.

dips 10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 9. I really wanted 12 on the 5th set, but I gave up after the descent. Then I really wanted 10 for a 6th set, but I just couldn't make it back up. Very happy with this progress.

Curls supersetted with dips. 45x10, 65 for 10, 10, 10, 45 for 10, 10. Much improvement here as well.

From today (Friday)
I was warming up with a single at 315 and I felt/heard a loud pop in my lower back on the far left side. I knew something wasn't quite right with my back this morning as I had a couple of odd twinges/pains when cleaning up around the house. In hindsight, I guess I should have passed on this workout, but I was trying to go conservatively and I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary until it popped. I've been taking Advil and icing on and off throughout the day. I'm pretty bummed. This is going to be a significant setback. Which is unfortunate... and really aggravating after finally getting back into a routine and building some momentum.

[caveman]

Back rehab has gone well. I was in pretty rough shape the first 24 hours. A regimen of ice, ibuprofen, and rest proved to be a potent remedy this go around. I started doing light mobility work/stretching as soon as I could tolerate it. After about 4 days, I started the Starr protocol with my aluminum bar and wooden plates (about 30 pounds total). I'm doing much better now and will start normal benching on Wednesday. I'll keep the weight very low for squats and deads for another week and even then I'll be very conservative about the amount of weight I add to the bar.

[Simon Rest]

ouch - I've done the same thing a couple of times, so I feel your pain. just keep going (and yeah - starr rehab is good)

[caveman]

Any idea what the loud pop was? I was pretty freaked out when it happened. It wasn't painful when it happened, but I knew immediately that I was hurt, and within 15 minutes I was in a sorry state. I'm very happy that I'm almost back to healthy.

[Simon Rest]

no, but it could be a number of things ranging from serious to benign. my back still sometimes cracks or pops mid rep at max weights, sort of like you'd hear a crack from your knuckles or a cold knee bending. given you are on the mend it's probably nothing too serious, just something to watch out for.

[caveman]

Lifted again on Saturday.

Bench press 185 for 5, 5, and 10. Wow the first set of 5 felt like a ton. All 5 reps were slow, shaky, and kind of grindy. However, by the last set it felt like a warmup weight and I knocked out 10 rather easily with 1 or 2 left in the tank.

Curls 45 for 10, 65 for 8, 8, and 10. These felt strong from the get go.

That night I came down with the flu, or something resembling it. Feeling much better now, except for a persistent sore throat and that my appetite hasn't returned quite yet. Nothing like a mild illness to jump start the weight loss process. I weighed in a 198.8 this afternoon, a good 3-4 pounds less than I have been.

I'll lift again on Wednesday. And I'll be taking squats and deadlifts very conservatively for the first couple of weeks. Maybe even switching up the routine so that I can 2x /week for everything to build some confidence and get more practice.