5/3/1: Justified or not, this is my intermediate log.

[KAG]

Like the title says, justified or not it's time to move on from SS to 5/3/1. My schedule is changing around again to rotating 12 hour shifts. The next 2 weeks I will be lifting Monday/Wednesday/Friday. After that it will be Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday. And then we'll see after that. I will have about 1 hour a day to lift for a while, so I decided to do this rather than trying to cram SS into 60 minutes.

My lifts are:
Squat- 330x5 & 350x1 (not a true max, but it's being used that way)
Press -160x5 & 185x1
Deadlift -355x1 (this is a big deload due to a back issue. I can pull more, but my back rounds more than I like)
Bench -240x1

So my training maxes are:
Squat -315
Press -167.5
Deadlift -320
Bench -215

My program will look like this:
Monday - Squat 5/3/1 & Press 5/3/1
Wednesday - Power Cleans & Bench 5/3/1
Friday -Deadlift 5/3/1 & deadlift accessories such as RDLs and heavy rows

Accessory lifts will be limited. On work days I won't do any. On my days off I will add in some 10x5s at 50% of a lift when I can.

[KAG]

Monday 12-17-2012

Today was not the best day to lift. I was so busy I didn't get to eat today. Not a single bite. I hadn't eaten in 24 hours when I lifted. I was weak and shaky, which prevented me from accomplishing all of my goals. But it was decent considering how tired I was

Squat:
45- 5x2
135 x5
160 x5
190 x5
205 x5
237.5 x5
267.5 x7

Squats were okay. I felt exhausted doing them. On the last set I wanted 10 reps but by the time I hit 7 I was exhausted and breathing hard. Every rep felt horrible. I felt like I was struggling to get them up, each rep was taking a long time, and my form was breaking down. Afterward when I watched the video the reps looked textbook quality and fast. But you could hear me breathing like a freight train on video. I was tired.


Press:
45 x10
65 x5
85 x5
100 x3
107.5 x5
125 x5
140 x10

I was still shaky and feeling pretty bad when I started warmups for these. I figured I didn't have a chance. But once I got into them they went alright. I got all 10 reps and probably could've gotten 11 or 12, but was happy I hit my goal and I called it a day.

No accessory lifts today. I had the time, just not the energy. And now it's food time........

[KAG]

Wednesday

I realized that I didn't have a max for my power cleans or the bench to find a starting point, so I tried to find them today.

Power Cleans:
45 x10
65 x6
95 x5
115 x3
135 x1
155 x1
175 x1
185 -FAIL
107.5 x5
120 x5
135 x5

175 looked and felt pretty good, but 185 wasn't even close. The sets afterward were ridiculously easy. I could've done 135 a lot more but I needed to move on.


Bench:
45 x20
95 x5
135 x5
185 x2
225 x1
250 -FAIL
140 x5
162.5 x5
182.5 x11

I recently got a 240 bench but I decided to try for a new PR. I barely missed 250. I really think that if I hadn't done the power cleans before hand I would've gotten 250. Oh well, 240 is my max for the program. All the sets were easy and felt light after the 250 attempt. I was aiming for 10 reps at 182.5 and easily got 11 before stopping.

[KAG]

Friday

Deadlifts:
135 x5
160 x5
190 x3
207.5 x5
240 x5
270 x10

These went alright. A couple of reps were sloppy, but all of them were acceptable.


Romanian Deadlifts:
155 -5x5

These fried my lower back, but I was able to get slightly lower than I thought I would.


Dumbbell Rows(each hand):
65 x10
85 x10
95 x10

These are always fun. I need bigger dumbbells. 95 is as high as they go. Time for some custom ones.

[KAG]

Christmas Eve!!!!

Squats:
45 -5x2
135 x5
160 x5
195 x3
220 x3
252.5 x3
282.5 x6

These were a lot tougher than they should've been. I should've been able to crank out quite a few more reps. That's two weeks in a row I've been off on my squats.



Press:
45 x10
65 x5
85 x5
100 x3
115 x3
132.5 x3
150 x7

These were decent. I got 7 clean reps and decided to call it a day. 8 would've been more of a struggle than I wanted.

Now to finish wrapping gifts with the kids and watch a Christmas movie!!!

[PaulBeech]

Ive taken a huge drop with my maxes to start 5/3/1. For the squat and dead at least. Perhaps think about that but your rep ranges looks pretty good right now.

[KAG]

Monday

Week 2 do over. Not great, but not a bad way to wrap up 2012.

I got sick Christmas morning and didn't lift the rest of the week, so today I started over.

Today also began my new lifting schedule, which is detailed here:
http://startingstrength.com/resource...ad.php?t=36344

Squat:
45 -5x2
135 x5
165 x5
205 x3
220 x3
252.5 x3
282.5 x7

After being sick, and while also trying to lose some weight, these were not as easy as I had hoped they would be. I was sucking wind the whole time. On set 3 I had 4 really good reps, rep 5 was terrible, and I was able to pull it together to get 2 more acceptable, but not great reps. I had planned some heavier singles after that, but it wasn't going to happen. I was barely able to squat light weight after that. But I got 1 more rep than last week, so I'm happy.

Squat Boring but Big:
160 x 10, 8, 6, 6

And I thought I was going to puke, pass out, and die during these. 30 reps was all I had in me. I couldn't feel my legs by the end, unfortunately I could feel my lungs. Hopefully this will improve as I lose some weight and get into better condition.

Ive taken a huge drop with my maxes to start 5/3/1. For the squat and dead at least. Perhaps think about that but your rep ranges looks pretty good right now.

I'm usually happy with +2 for every set on 5/3/1, but starting off I really should've been able to get more.

[KAG]

Tuesday


Press:
45 x10
65 x5
85 x5
100 x3
115 x3
132.5 x3
150 x8

These went really well. I was able to get 8 solid reps, which is 1 more than last week, despite my legs being fried from squatting yesterday. I am pleased.


Dumbbell Press w/ Fat Gripz:
40s - x12, 12, 10, 10, 10

These were killer. The FGs really made those 40s feel like 60s. I could've done sets of 20s without the FGs, but with them I could barely get the last set of 10. My shoulders, arms, and hands are killing me. I may not be able to lift my arms at work tomorrow, but sacrifices must be made to get strong.

[KAG]

Friday

I haven't gotten much sleep the last two days, I woke up at noon with a splitting headache, and I've got 2 cold huge sores. I think it's my body's way of telling me to skip lifting today, but I'm stubborn.


Power Cleans:
45 x10
65 x5
95 x5
115 x5
125 -2x2
132.5 -2x2
142.5 x10

I worked on form a lot. Keeping the bar close, making sure it drags up the shin and thighs, and touches my shirt during the jump. I also doubled the first 2 sets. Most of the 10 reps were pretty good. I had a couple that got ugly, but I'm satisfied for the most part.

Hang Cleans w/ straps:
142.5 -5x2
135 x3

This was my first time trying hang cleans as assistance. I need to figure out the weights, sets, and reps. I pretty much just played around today. I think from now on I'll use something like 70% of my training max and do multiple sets.

[KAG]

Friday

I haven't gotten much sleep the last two days, I woke up at noon with a splitting headache, and I've got 2 cold huge sores. I think it's my body's way of telling me to skip lifting today, but I'm stubborn.


Power Cleans:
45 x10
65 x5
95 x5
115 x5
125 -2x2
132.5 -2x2
142.5 x10

I worked on form a lot. Keeping the bar close, making sure it drags up the shin and thighs, and touches my shirt during the jump. I also doubled the first 2 sets. Most of the 10 reps were pretty good. I had a couple that got ugly, but I'm satisfied for the most part.

Hang Cleans w/ straps:
142.5 -5x2
135 x3

This was my first time trying hang cleans as assistance. I need to figure out the weights, sets, and reps. I pretty much just played around today. I think from now on I'll use something like 70% of my training max and do multiple sets.