Just checking in...

It's been a while, so I thought I'd check in. I've just finished another cycle and tested my true 1-rep maxes on the big three. My new grand total: 950! (270 bench, 315 squat, 365 deadlift)

Granted, still nothing to brag about when compared to the big boys, but I'm extremely happy with my progress over the last year. I should hit my 1000-pound total goal in a few short months.

Also, I thought I'd comment on my assistance work a bit. For the last three or four weeks, I've been incorporating Crossfit-style work into my assistance exercises. Sometimes I'll do the WOD, if it happens to line up with what I'm doing that day; other days, I just make it up as I go. The general goal here being conditioning work, as well as speed work. This seems to be going really well, and it gives me a bit of variety, which is a plus. Also, the work on the olympic lifts seems to be doing good things to my squats and deadlifts.

One thing worth mentioning here is that the metcon-based workouts have exposed a serious deficiency in my previous training. Working hard for 20-30 seconds at a time on a relatively heavy set is one thing; working hard for 3+ minutes is a completely different beast. I feel like this type of assistance work, in addition to the powerlifting-style template, is really working out well and will serve to make me more well-rounded.

Break time

So, I'm going to take a bit of a break from the blog. I'm still going to work out with the same frequency and intensity, and I'll still keep track of my exercises, I'm just going to stop posting for a bit. The blog served it's initial purpose, and that was to keep me honest and on track. I wanted to be accountable if I slipped. So far, I've surpassed some goals, and changed others. I'll probably check in from time to time, just to keep a record of where I'm at, but I'm not going to post every single workout.

My experiment with 5/3/1 was a huge success. I've been bulking since just before February, and I've put on right at 10 pounds. However, my max in the four lifts have gone up over 150 pounds. Not a bad trade! I'm going to take some time now and cut back down slowly while trying to maintain strength. I'm going to stick with 5/3/1 to do it, but I'll be messing around some with my assistance work. I'll probably test my 1RM every other cycle, and check in here when I do so. Until then...

6/18/12

C5W3

Deadlift
240 * 5
275 * 3
315 * 1 (!)
335 * 1 (!)
355 * 1 (!)

6/16/12

C5W3

Bench
200 * 5
225 * 3
250 * 1
265 * 1 (!)

6/15/12

C5W3

Squats
220 * 5
245 * 3
275 * 1
295 * 1 (!)
305 * 1 (!)

Just going for maxes this week. Very stoked about getting over 300 pounds!

6/13/12

C5W2

OHP
125 * 3
130 * 3
140 * 3 + 1

Bench @ 55%
145 * 10/10/10/10/10

Row
115 * 10/10/10/10/10

Preacher curls
70 * 10/10/10

Incline bench
115 * 10/10/10

Reverse fly
15s * 10/10/10

6/11/12

C5W2

Deadlift
255 * 3
270 * 3
290 * 3

Squat @ 55%
155 * 10/10/10/10/10

Crunch machine
125 * 15/15/15/15/15