5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 0. Pressing

Defranco's Simple-6

Press - 45X10, 65X5, 75X3, 85X3, 100X9
super-set with
Chin-ups - BWX5X5

Chin-ups - BWX5, 5, 3, 5, 4
super-set with
BB Overhead Extensions - BarX10, 65X6, BarX10

Push-Ups - X20, 15, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3

Hammer and Tire - 3 rounds of 20 "each arm", 60 second rests

So I'm starting 5/3/1!  Very excited.  However, testing my DL 1RM this last week really took it out of me, and I was a little nervous that I wasn't allowing enough downtime between ending one program and starting another, so I added what I'm calling "Week 0" to the program.

Week 0 is basically a deload before the program week.  For my regular 5/3/1 deloads, I'm using the updated %'s that Jim posted on his blog.  The thing I noticed when I started plugging these into my spreadsheet is that these numbers (using the MROUND function in Excel) are the same as those in the 5X week at the beginning of the following cycle. The effect is 5/3/1/3, which makes sense because a lot of people reverse the 5 and 3 weeks as a variation on the program.  This incorporates that into the deload week, you just don't go for reps on the last set.  I decided to give myself a week to ease into the program by doing 3X's at the same weight I'll start my 5X's.  Also gives me a chance to make tweaks to assistance work, and get used to the way this program "feels" in the gym.

With that being said, the presses felt good so I decided to go for reps on my last set!  Ha.  I think I was within the philosophical boundaries of the program to do so.  The 100X9 was probably the most I could have done, and that projects to be around my 9RM so fine.


I super-set chin-ups into my workouts all day until I hit 50 total, and that is my plan for this day going forward.  Once I'm easily getting my 50, I'll jump up to 60, etc.  I'm mixing my grip up from set to set.

The BB overhead extensions were awkward, but some stuff I've been reading suggests that this may be the way to train triceps for press carryover.  Also, it's extremely efficient as I finish my press sets, strip the weight off the bar, and am ready for the extensions.  It's nice to be able to do almost an entire work-out standing in one spot.

The push-ups weren't as strong as I'd hoped, but they were about as strong as I'd expected if that makes sense.  My plan was do do 5 sets of 20 to get a total of 100 reps.  No luck.  I'm going to go back to the ladder that seemed to be working so well on the BB Push-ups in the Defranco program.  I'll start next week laddering down from 13, and add a rep to the starting set every week.  Starting with 13 will give me a total volume of 91.  Over 8 weeks, I will work up to 20 starting reps, which will give me a total volume of 210.  If that all goes as planned, I will reevaluate and attack this movement from a different angle.

Hammer and Tire!  The gym I switched to this summer has a side room that is used for PL meets, but generally it houses strongman and martial arts equipment.  This was my first time using this room, and my first time swinging a hammer at a tire.  They only have car tires, so it took some getting used to the mechanics of this.  I finally realized that hitting the tire on the left or right was better than hitting it on the bottom (it kept scooting closer to me that way).  This was a bit hellish on grip, which is good, and between these and all the chin volume, my whole body has been achy since.
In the log, when I say "each arm" that means I did 20 swings with my natural grip (right hand above left), then switch to the opposite grip.  I believe my progression plan on this will be generally to do sets of 20, then 25, then drop back to 20 but add a set, then THAT many sets of 25, etc.  At some point I need to switch over and start doing it for time rather than reps though.  It's supposed to be conditioning after all.  Maybe when I get to the point where I'm swinging for 5 minutes only breaking to switch grips.  I believe this session was a little over 5 minutes total.  As with the rest of this program, I'm happy to start off light and easy to give myself some headroom to grow.