5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 2. Pressing

Defranco's Simple-6

DB Shoulder Press - 20'sX10

BB Press-
BarX5
65X3
85X3
95X3
105X7
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX6X5

Chin-Ups - BWX6X4 (54 total chins on the day)
super-set with
BB Overhead Extensions - 55X10, 45X10X3, 50X10

DB Cleans - 15sX15, 12sX10, 10sX8

Hammer & Tire - 4 rounds of 20 swings "per arm"

Decided to add a set up DB Presses as my warm-up on Press day to get the joints good and warm with lighter weight and through a wider ROM.

Press was fine.  I didn't try to go for a projected 1RM increase, however 105 is a 7RM PR.  This is one of those things Wendler and other guys talk about, but I only realized the importance of this week.  I will talk more about this in my Deadlift post.


First day doing 9X6 chins and no problems.  I will do this again on bench day to confirm the strength is there, and then will move on to 8X7 next week.  Feeling really happy about this.  I've said it before, but my plan is to add one rep and drop one set per work-out "week" until I hit 5X10.  Then I will work up to 5X12, and when I can do that for consecutive sessions, I will start adding weight to the lift.  Weighted chins have been a goal of mine for months, and if this progression remains weekly then I could hit 5X10 as early as the beginning of December and strapping on weight by the week after Christmas.  Ho ho ho!

I tried loading 5s onto the bar for the extensions, but I had to grit and spit to get those last couple of sets.  I stripped the weight off for the next three sets, and then got over myself and put 2.5s on the bar.  This was definitely the weight I should have been using, and I won't be such a coward about it next time.

My right shoulder was still bothering me from the dips I did on Bench day, so rather than do push-ups, I decided to do some seated DB cleans instead to try and rehab a little more.  I started off too heavy (I always do on DB pre-hab stuff), but three days later and  my shoulder feels great!

Great session with the hammer and tire.  The underside of my forearms and the thumb side of my palm were burning and cramping like crazy.  I still wish we had bigger tires so that I wouldn't have to use my lower-back as much.