6/24 Week 4, Cycle 9...Deload week

SSQ: 135x5; 170x5; 200x5
TB DL: 3 @ 230x10
EZ curl: 3 @ 75x10

Weight: 204

6/26

Ham BP: 90x5; 110x5; 130x5
Pendlay row: 3 @ 145x10
DB press: 3 @ 45x10

Weight: 202

6/28

TB DL: 190x5; 210x5; 240x5
SSQ: 3 @ 185x10
Tri PD: 3 @ 110x10

Weight: 202. I can't emphasize enough how much these deload weeks have helped. It really helps to keep from getting burned out.

7/1 Week 1, Cycle 10

SSQ: 135x5; 220x5; 255x5; 290x5
TB DL: 5 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 201

7/3

Hammer BP: 90x5; 145x5; 170x5; 190x5
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 50x10, 10, 10, 8, 7

Weight: 202

7/5

TB DL: 190x5; 265x5; 305x5; 345x5
SSQ: 5 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 203. Bumped the assistance exercise weights up a bit. Went OK except for the DB press. If only there were 47'lb DB's.

7/8 Week 2, Cycle 10

SSQ: 135x5; 240x3; 270x3; 305x3
TB DL: 5 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 202

7/10

Hammer BP: 90x5; 160x3; 180x3; 205x3
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 203

7/12

TB DL: 190x5; 285x3; 325x3; 365x3
SSQ: 5 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 204. Surprised myself being able to get all 5 sets on DB presses Wed. Was thinking of dropping the weight back to 45's after last week. Glad I didn't.

7/15 Week 3; Cycle 10

SSQ: 135x5; 205x3; 255x5; 290x3; 325x1
TB DL: 5 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 203

7/17

Hammer BP: 90x5; 140x3; 170x5; 190x3; 215x1
DB press: 5 @ 50x10
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10

Weight: 202

7/19

TB DL: 190x5; 250x3; 305x5; 345x3; 385x1
SSQ: 5 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 204. Good week. My run good on deload weeks continues since I'll be on vacation next week. I'll probably do the deload week when I get back and then figure out what to do after that. Last time I missed a week I had really bad DOMS. The older I get the worse it is to miss a week.

Week 4, Cycle 10 Deload week

7/29

SSQ: 135x5; 170x5; 205x5
TB DL: 3 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 3 @ 80x10

Weight: 202

7/31

Hammer BP: 90x5; 115x5; 135x5
Pendlay row: 3 @ 150x10
DB press: 3 @ 50x10

Weight: 203

8/2

TB DL: 190x5; 230x5; 250x5
SSQ: 3 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 3 @ 120x10

Weight: 201. Nice to have a week completely off and also put another year in the rear view mirror. Hit 63 last week. Good idea to come back with the deload week. No DOMS at all but the weights felt a little heavy. Going to try to add a view pounds to the bar next week.

8/5 Week 1, Cycle 11

SSQ: 135x5; 185x3; 225x5; 260x5; 295x4
TB DL: 4 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 4 @ 80 x10

Weight: 203. The weights kicked my ass today. Couldn't get the 5th rep on squats and then I had to bug out before completing the 5th set on assistance exercises. My body just wasn't up to it so I called it a day.

8/7

Hammer BP: 90x5; 120x3; 150x5; 175x5; 195x5
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 204

8/9

TB DL: 190x5; 230x3; 270x5; 310x5; 350x5
SSQ: 5 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 203. Regrouped after the **** show on Monday. On to next week.

8/12 Week 2, Cycle 11

SSQ: 135x5; 245x3; 275x2; 310x3
TB DL: 5 @ 240x10
EX curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 202

8/14

Hammer BP: 90x5; 160x3; 185x3; 205x3
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 202

8/16

TB DL: 190x5; 285x3; 330x3; 370x3
SSQ: 5 @ 190x10
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 201. Decent week. Making a conscious effort to reduce my calories. Want to get BW back under 200.

8/19 Week 3; Cycle 11

SSQ: 135x5; 205x3; 260x5; 395x3; 330x1
TB DL: 5 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 202

8/21

Hammer BP: 90x5; 140x3; 175x5; 195x3; 220x1
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 202

8/23

TB DL: 190x5; 250x3; 310x5; 350x3; 390x1
SSQ: 5 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 202. Pretty sure the 390 TB DL ties my PR so I'm pretty happy about that. Hopefully I can hit 400 in due time.

8/26 Week 4, Cycle 11, Deload week

SSQ: 135x5; 175x5; 205x5
TB DL: 3 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 3 @ 80x10

Weight: 203

8/28

Hammer BP: 90x5; 120x5; 140x5
Pendlay row: 3 @ 150x10
DB press: 3 @ 50x10

Weight: 203

8/30

TB DL: 190x5; 220x5; 250x5
SSQ: 3 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 3 @ 120 x10

Weight: 203. New cycle next week. Going to keep squats where they were since I missed a rep on those.

9/3 Week 1, Cycle 12

SSQ: 135x5; 225x5; 260x5; 295x5
TB DL: 5 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 202. Had to lift on Tuesday since the gym was closed for Labor Day. Didn't get home from work until 2:30 AM. Sleep at 3 AM. Up at 6 AM with the dog. In the gym by 8 AM. I was dragging ass so I was pleasantly surprised to get all 5 reps on my top set of squats after missing a rep last cycle.

9/4

Hammer BP: 90x5; 155x5; 175x5; 200x4
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 203. Missed a rep on the Hammer bench.

9/6

TB DL: 190x5; 270x5; 310x5; 355x5
SSQ: 5 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 204. Yikes. So much for getting below 200. I'll try harder next week. Actually going to the doctor for the 1st time in 12 years for a check up. Should be interesting.

9/9 Week 2, Cycle 12

SSQ: 135x5; 205x3; 240x3; 275x3; 310x3
TB DL: 5 @ 240x10
EX curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 201

9/11

Hammer BP: 90x5; 140x3; 165x3; 190x3; 210x3
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 201

9/13

TB DL: 190x5; 240x3; 290x3; 330x3; 375x3
SSQ: 5 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 201. Good to see my weight trending in the right direction. Doctor visit was a waste of time. Took me 35 minutes to get there and then it was only an 'introductory' visit. I thought they were going to do a physical. Nope. Scheduled a physical for later this month but when I got home I decided I didn't want to drive that far so I picked a different doctor closer to my house. Now I have to see him for an 'introductory' visit in October before I can get a physical. Arghh.

9/16 Week 3, Cycle 12

SSQ: 135x5; 205x3; 260x5; 295x3; 330x1
TB DL: 5 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 201

9/18

Hammer BP: 90x5; 140x3; 175x5; 200x3; 225x1
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 201

9/20

TB DL: 190x5; 250x3; 310x5; 355x3; 395x1
SSQ: 5 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 201. Every single this week was at my limit. Next cycle is going to be interesting. Deload next week.

Are you doing 531? If so, your training max is way too high. It should generally be between 85-90% of your 1RM and it looks like it is currently at 95%.

Imo not if you're on your 12th cycle

It applies whether you are on your 1st cycle or your 50th cycle. And this isn't an opinion, it's straight from the program.

Without going into too much detail, there is a protocol for where you test your training maxes between cycles. This can be done instead of a deload.

Even without this, it's easy to see where your training max is if you do AMRAP sets every week. It should NEVER be above 90%.

mojo, given that you are 12 cycles in and have dedicated a lot of time to 531, I highly recommend buying the Forever book. It spells everything out clearly. You started off doing 531, but you are straying significantly from it now. PM me if you don't want me to derail and have further questions.

Thanks for the feedback. The sum total of my knowledge on 5-3-1 comes from a couple of articles I read on the web (1 by Wendler) and a spreadsheet I downloaded. I see what I'm doing wrong now. When I finished a cycle and completed all the reps I would force an increase in weight by moving my max up to the point where it now is way over my actual max. Right now the maxes in my spreadsheet are 260 for BP, 460 for DL and 385 for Sq which are WAY over my actual max. I'll recalibrate for my next cycle.

Cycle 12, Week 4 Deload week

9/23

SSQ: 135x5; 175x5; 205x5
TB DL: 3 @ 240x10
EZ curl: 3 @ 80x10

Weight: 201

9/25

Hammer BP: 90x5; 120x5; 140x5
Pendlay row: 3 @150x10
DB press: 3 @ 50x10

Weight: 201

9/27

TB DL: 190x5; 220x5; 250x5
SSQ: 3 @ 195x10
Tri PD: 3 @ 120x10

Weight: 199. Nice! Looking forward to next week with lighter weights.

You are going to smash some rep records now that you have lowered your training max!

TY! We shall see.

9/30 Reset Wk 1 Cycle 1

SSQ: 135x5; 195x5; 225x5; 250x5
TB DL: 3 @ 285x5
EZ curl: 80x5; 90x5; 100x5

Weight: 200

10/2

Hammer BP: 90x5; 130x5; 150x5; 170x5
Pendlay row: 150x5; 160x5; 170x5
DB press: 50x5; 55x5; 60x5

Weight: 200

10/4

TB DL: 190x5; 230x5; 265x5; 300x5
SSQ: 3 @ 240x5
Tri PD: 3 @ 120x10

Weight: 199. I did a little digging and found this review of 5-3-1: https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/beyond-531/. Very interesting observations IMO. I decided to go with a variation of the template that is towards the end of the article: PowerliftingToWin 5/3/1. I'm going with a 7 week cycle and I'll do AMRAP in weeks 2 & 3 and 5 & 6. I cut the assistance volume down in week 1 from 5 sets of 5 to 3 sets of 5. Hopefully I can build it up to 5 sets in short order. I made up a spreadsheet, plugged in my maxes and we'll see how it goes.

10/7

SSQ: 135x5; 210x3; 240x3; 265x6
TB DL: 5 @ 320x3
EZ curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 200

10/9

Hammer BP: 90x5; 140x3; 160x3; 180x7
Pendaly row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 199

10/11

TB DL: 190x5; 250x3; 285x3; 320x8
SSQ: 5 @ 265x3
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 200. Good week. Next week will be off schedule. Can't get to the gym on Monday so it will have to be a Tuesday, Wed, Fri week.

10/15 Week 3, Cycle 1

SSQ: 135x5; 185x3; 225x5; 250x3; 280x6
TB DL: 3 @ 320x3
EZ curl: 3 @ 80x10

Weight: 200

10/16

Hammer BP: 90x5; 120x3; 155x5; 170x3; 190x5
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 200

10/18

TB DL: 190x5; 265x5; 300x3; 340x6
SSQ: 3 @ 265x3
Tri PD: 3 @ 120x10

Weight: 197. Surprised by my weight. Weighed myself twice to make sure it was right...I'm supposed to recalculate maxes to use for the next 3 weeks. Based on the reps I did in weeks 2 and 3 my maxes are: SSQ: 308,325; Hammer BP: 216,214; TB DL: 397,395. Interesting. Should I drop my training max on SSQ and Hammer BP? TB DL is right on so I assume I just keep that training max the same.

Don't drop your training max. Increase it as per usual and re-evaluate after the next cycle. 5 reps on your 1+ week corresponds to roughly a 85% training max, so you're fine. If you start getting below 3 reps, then I would reset my training max.

Thanks. Much appreciated.

10/21 Week 4, Cycle 1

SSQ: 135x5; 195x5; 225x5; 250x5
TB DL: 3 @ 285x5
EZ curl: 3 @ 80x10

Weight: 198

10/23

Hammer BP: 90x5; 130x5; 150x5; 170x5
Pendlay row: 4 @ 150x10
DB press: 4 @ 50x10

Weight: 199

10/25

TB DL: 190x5; 230x5; 265x5; 300x5
SSQ: 3 @ 245x5
Tri PD: 3 @ 120x10

Weight: 200. Decent week.

10/28 Week 5, Cycle 1

SSQ: 135x5; 210x3; 240x3; 265x8
TB DL: 5 @ 320x3
EZ curl: 5 @ 80x10

Weight: 198

10/30

Hammer BP: 90x5; 140x3; 160x3; 180x7
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 198

11/1

TB DL: 190x5; 250x3; 285x3; 320x9
SSQ: 5 @ 265x3
Tri PD: 5 @ 120x10

Weight: 198. AMRAP sets on Mon & Fri kicked my ass but I guess that's the point.

11/4 Week 6, Cycle 1

SSQ: 135x5; 185x3; 225x5; 250x3; 280x6
TB DL: 3 @ 320x3
EZ curl: 3 @ 80x3

Weight: 199

11/6

Hammer BP: 90x5; 120x3; 155x5; 170x3; 190x6
Pendlay row: 5 @ 150x10
DB press: 5 @ 50x10

Weight: 201

11/8

TB DL: 190x5; 265x5; 300x3; 340x7
SSQ: 3 @ 265x3
Tri PD: 3 @ 120x10

Weight: 199. Looking forward to my favorite week...Deload week! Looks like I might bump the training max up a few pounds in the next cycle.