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

[caveman]

Thursday 9/22/16
Bodyweight 191-192'ish (nonstandard morning)

Warmup - rower, same as usual

Volume Squats - 250 for 5, 5, and 5. Originally I was going to do 275 for sets across but my left hip was bothering me a little bit and I couldn't get it to feel better. So instead, I just lifted what my buddy was lifting without the belt to make it a little harder.

Front squats - 135 for 3, 185 for 5, 5, and 5. I could have done more of these as they felt fine, but I kept getting light headed and didn't see the need to push my luck today.

Sumo deadlifts - 275 for 6. These were harder than they should have been, but that was partly because the knurl on this bar was crazy. It gripped my socks like Velcro, got caught on my Rehbands not the lip but the actual material, or burned a line into my shins. I tried everything on the fly, the correct answer was to get a different bar. Damn.

Farmers walk with 70's around the gym.

This session only felt so-so. I felt winded for the majority of it, then with the hip and the bar, it felt like I was too far away from where I should have been.

[caveman]

from Friday and memory 9/23/16
Bodyweight 192.2

Bench - 200 for 5, 5, and 5. Heavy.

CGBP - 185 for 5, 5, and 5. Easier?

An assortment of chins and pull ups. Not very many because my elbow seemed hesitant and I was unwilling to force the issue.

Then went inside and did 30 pushups.

All of this was done at home because I had a work commitment that nerfed the lunch session.

[caveman]

Monday 9/26/16

Warmups - 3min on the rower at 2:15 pace.

Squats - 315 for 5 at a soft RPE 9. Serious? I think my all time best is 315 for 8 and I am almost positive I could have got this for 7. I did make an effort to try and keep my elbows a little more under the bar and my chin a little more tucked.

Front squats - 245 for 5, soft RPE 10. These also went surprisingly well.

Deads - 365 for 3. Mixed grip. Soft RPE 9. I could have done 1 maybe 2more with good form but the bar was slipping out of my left hand. The knurling on this bar was pretty smooth and there was no chalk to be found. Still very pleased with this effort. Made an effort to keep my hips a little higher at the start and engage my lats by trying to bend the bar. Seemed like it worked as I felt pretty tight at the start and had good speed from the floor.

Power clean - 135. This is getting easier might have to start adding weight just for funsies.

Inverted rows - 10

Hanging tuck (knees to elbow) for as long as possible.

Wow! This session was so much better than the last one. I only had a hint of hip discomfort and all of the weights moved extremely well. I was only a little light headed in between sets, not during the set which was a big help in terms of finishing strong.

[caveman]

Tuesday 9/27/16
Bodyweight 191.2

Warmup - some shoulder dislocates and band pull aparts with my red band

Bench - 225 for 5 at RPE9.5 I was hoping to get 3 so to knock out 5 makes me pretty happy.

Slingshot bench - 245 for 5. Solid.

Overhead press - 135 for 4. RPE 10.

1 handstand pushup. Yes! Though it was probably the slowest handstand pushup you ever did see.

2 handstand holds for as long as I felt in control.

10 toes to bar

8 neutral grip pull ups

Another very good session. I have to wonder if the weights at the commercial gym are on the light side? I did not expect to be getting this much stronger while losing weight.

[caveman]

Thursday 9/29/16
Body weight 191.0 (gonna reward myself with a killer burger and some fries when this is under 190!).

Warmup - 3min on rower at 2:15 pace

Squats - 300 for 5, 5, and 5. Oddly, these felt slightly harder than the 315 for 5 I did last week. I know I could have got one more on each set, but I'm not sure about 2.

Front squats - 205 for 5, 225 for 5, and 5. 205 was too light, 225 was just about right. Solid RPE 9 on the last set.

Sumo deads - 275 for 1, 295 for 6. Switched out to the slippery bar for these. Much better. My sumo grip is on the smooth anyways. Who needs knurling. Soft RPE 9.

Farmer walk - 75 dumbbells around the circuit. Then with higher quality 105's (better grip and knurl) for a much shorter circuit.

[caveman]

Forgot to log Friday's effort
Forgot bodyweight, but waist was 37".

Bench - 200 for 5 and 205 for 5 and 5

CGBP - 185 for 6, 6, and 6

Overhead press - 115 for 5, 5, and 5.

Pushups - 30.75.

Maybe 8 neutral grip pullups.

[caveman]

Monday 10/3/16
Bodyweight 193.0, waist was still 37" so hopefully just some water weight or even a little bit of muscle. Need to refocus on weight loss and not prioritize strength gains. It's getting more difficult...

Warmup - 2:25 pace on the rower for 5 min

Intensity squats - 335 for 5. Wow! I thought for sure this would have been a triple.

Front squats - 250 for 5.

Deads - 335 for 1 doh, then 370 for 5 mixed grip, and then 355 for a single doh. Another wow! I'll take it.

Inverted rows - 10 and 10.

Honestly, I'm shocked with how well these weights moved.

[caveman]

Tuesday 10/4/16
Bodyweight 192.3

warmups - 500m on rowers waiting for bench to free up

Bench - 230 for 5. That was close to an RPE 10.

Slingshot - 250 for 5. That was more like a 9.5.

Overhead press - 135 for 6. While I'm ecstatic to add 2 reps to this in a week. I've got to think that I picked a couple of light 45's or something. This is also the first time I've used the big boy plates to make 135 instead of change. So who knows. Definitely an RPE 10.

1 handstand press - slow but not as bad as last week.

1 handstand hold - as long as possible while feeling in control.

hanging tuck knees to elbows

Things are going better than expected (minus the small bodyweight setback this weekend). I am now in the same ballpark as some all time PR's even though I'm at least 10 pounds lighter. Maybe I'll do a mini-mock meet at the end of this month to put some lines in the sand. Might do that at home so I can be assured that the poundages are accurate.

[caveman]

Thursday 10/6/16
Bodyweight 193.0 (beats me? no indulgences yesterday except for a reduced sugar starbucks latte).

Feel like I'm getting a cold... Gym buddy, wasn't at work today. Went to the gym anyways. Almost went home to lift instead, but it's farther.

Warmups - rowing 4min at 2:30 pace, 1min at 2:00 pace

Squats - 300 for 5, 5 and 5. Last reps of each set felt slow.

Front squats - 225 for 5, 5, and 5. Definitely not easy, but probably a solid RPE 8.

Sumo deadlift - 300 for 6. Another soft RPE 9 for this one.

Well, I finally watched something in the gym and thought to myself (hopefully in my inner voice) WTF? As I'm rowing, some woman in her mid 40's hops up on to the bench station and proceeds to unrack the bar while still standing on the bench. Then she knocks out 10 Romanian deadlifts, still while standing on the bench! Then she did 2 or 3 more sets of that nonsense. The next set she added 2.5's to each side. Yikes.

[caveman]

Forgot to log the farmers walk with 80lb dumbbells. Almost to 0.5x bodyweight per hand.