5/3/1: Picking your battles

I've been reading and re-reading the 5/3/1 manual, as well as devouring the main series of 5/3/1 threads at T-Nation, and I think I've come to an important conclusion:  I need to make at least the first cycle, and possibly the second, about the Squat.

Jim talks about picking your battles in regards to when to go hard for max reps on the last work-set of the day's main lift.  I've been reading a lot in the threads about people having difficulty recovering enough from going all out on DL day to go all out again on Squat day.  This all has finally sunk in, and I realize I should probably target one movement, or one upper and one lower to really get after each week, or per cycle. 

I went back to a spreadsheet I keep to track my current strength levels on the What Constitutes Strong lifts.  There's a slim chance of me ever attaining any of these lifts as described, but one of the things I did in my sheet was calculate the 1RM on each of those lifts and derive a ratio from there.  Since the Press is the only lift on the list that is measured by it's 1RM, I based the ratio on that.  Here's what it looks like:
Press:     1
Bench:   1.5
Dip:         0.75
Chin:       0.5
Squat:     2.5
DL:           2.5
BB Curl:  0.75

Then I compare the ratio of my current, projected 1RM on those lifts to these master ratios, and I can see what lifts are falling behind.

Now obviously, this isn't perfect.  It's a list made by two really strong and experienced guys, but it's still just two guys' opinion.  Also,  Body-weight specific movements like Dips and Chins are problematic.  Whatever.  It gives me a rough guide to the balance between my different lifts.

The short story is that I went back and looked at this, and it reminded me of what I already knew.  Right now, it seems that my Squat is lagging way behind my Pull.  That could be because I've tested my DL max, and I haven't done a strict test of my Squat, but it's a starting point.  Also, it shows me that my Bench and Press are roughly right in balance.  Ergo, I will focus on going all out on my last sets on Squat day, and only do so on other lifts if I'm really feeling it.  Based on Wendler's writings, he would probably consider this a good idea regardless.  Big lifters love the Squat.

Slow and steady, slow and steady.