5/3/1 Log: Cycle 3. Week 1. Bench and Squat

Bench -
BarX10
95X8
115X5
135X5
155X7

Squat -
BarX10
135X5
165X5
190X5
215X8

Pull-downs, Wide-grip, slow eccentric - 80X10, 12, 10
super-set with
GHR - BWX8, 8, 10

Push-Ups - BWX10X3
super-set with
Face-Pulls - 15, 15, 20

Defranco Core Circuit X2 (V-Ups, Hip-Ups, X-Body Toe Touches)

155X7 in the bench is a Rep PR.

215X8 in the Squat is a Rep PR and projects to an increased 1RM.  This was a weird session.  I felt out of it on this day until the last two work-sets.  All of a sudden the fog cleared and I felt focused, and kind of kicked ass on the set.  6 Reps would have been a Rep PR at this weight, however I want to show a much increased Squat this cycle.  Specifically I want to project 285-290.  That would let me know that my Squat is in better proportion to my other lifts than it looks right now.   To do that, I need to hit 230 for 8 next week so I wanted to get 8 reps this week as "practice."  If I get 230 for 8 next week, and then 240 for 6 after that, I will know I'm closer to the balance I want to strike.  This is balance is based partially on the idea of a Big-4 ratio of 1/1.5/2/2.5 for Press/Bench/Squat/Dead, and partly on the idea of having my Squat be VERY close to my Dead.  I know that sounds contradictory, but there is a way for it to work by striking a balance between those two ideals.  One of the reason to do this is that I'm a much better Puller than Squatter, so that is the reason to chase my Dead with my Squat.  Also, I only Squatted for 3 months while on Defranco's BLAB, and my Deadlift went up.  All of this adds up to plenty of reasons to focus on Squatting more than Deads.

Pull-downs were fine, I guess.  Lighter weight than I've done on them in a while, but I was really fouced on the muscle contractions, and that plus the slow-ups makes sense.

First time doing GHR's and I can do way more than I expected!  Possibly a good sign, but I recorded the settings on the bench, and I will try to set them up for more difficulty next time.  I feel like I should get them to a point where 5 reps is tough, and build on that setting.

I did push-ups and face-pulls.

First time doing a core circuit in a while.  Started off okay, but got rough.  HAVE to remember to keep doing these.