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

Defranco's Simple-6

Press -
BarX10
65X5
85X3
95X3
110X7
super-set with
Chin-ups - BWX7, 7, 5, 7, 6

BB Overhead Extensions - 65X8, 8, 6

Hammer and Tire - 5 sets of 40 (switching grip every 20 reps); 10 minutes

110X7 is a Rep PR, and a minor increase to my projected 1RM.  I wasn't even planning on going for that today, but it just kind of happened.  Although, the last rep was a grinder.  I lost some tightness trying to grind through the sticking point (right above my head), and took a step forward.  I didn't stop the press though, and managed to press it out.  I try to play things by ear, but I may just get in the reps, or go for a minor rep PR on Bench this week since I went all out on the Press.

Chin-ups started off feeling stronger than they had, but then were a little up and down.  I actually moved my grip in a little bit and that seemed to help.  I'll try that out again next time.  I'm thinking about pulling chins back to once a week when I Press, and doing some rows on Bench day.

French Presses with the EZ-Curl bar seemed harder at this weight than they did with the full length EZ bar.  Probably the first is heavier, or the second lighter than I'm recording it.  I actually suspect the full length EZ bar is less than 45 lbs.  No big deal, just meant a slightly heavy triceps session, and so I only did 3 sets.

Good sessions with the hammer as well.  My grip is getting stronger on these, and I'm dialing the form in even more.  For the grip, I'm doing a couple of things.  First, I'm squeezing the hammer hard with my left hand.  This seems to be balancing out the load between  my right (dominant) hand and my left, and my right forearm doesn't get as sore.  Second, I'm doing 3-4 "pulse" stretches of the forearms between sets.  This means that instead of a static stretch (which always seemed to make things worse), I do brief pulses of the stretch with no hold.  In other aspects of my form, I'm focusing on keeping my chest up so that the back stays flat, and I discovered that if I pull my toes up, I'm better about pushing from mid-foot into the up-swing.