He just is strong in spite of the 'ludes. Eventually these weights get heavy enough that some level of psychological arousal is necessary to demonstrate max effort. I think some very advanced lifters can be calmly in the zone, mind-like-water, whatever you want to call it. But at our stage, we probably can't recruit all of the motor units without getting at least a little psyched.

You are no doubt correct. I find that even on my most amped lifts I am generally ready to go again not all that long afterwards which means that I left a lot of gas in the tank. I do have a pretty strong top speed limiter installed in my old man body to try and keep me out of trouble that I need to fight.

Friday December 1 – 140.1 lbs
5/3/1 BBB W3D2 – Bench Rehab

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

Bench – 10x45lbs, 2x5x65, 5x8x85
OHP – 5x10x45lbs
DB Hammer Curls – 2x15x20lbs
DB Curls – 2x15x20lbs

2491 cal/142 carb/125 fat/204 protein/29 fibre

Still sick and slugging through some longer hours at work the last couple nights. I was scheduled to squat tonight but I am planning to do a session tomorrow morning as well and figured I’d be better off with the lighter baby bench rehab session tonight and flip the squat session to tomorrow morning. I’m sure that is going to feel like a stupid decision tomorrow morning but it made sense tonight. My elbow/arm has been pretty good this week. Paring down the accessories and having only 2 days of upper body stuff seems to be helping. My lower back is still feeling off but not terrible.

Saturday December 2 – 141.0 lbs
5/3/1 BBB W3D3 – Squat TM 220

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

Squats – 10xbw, 2x10x45lbs, 2x5x95, 5x125, 4x145, 5x165, 3x185, 8x210, 3x5x165
RDL – 2x8x45lbs, 2x8x95
Block Pulls – 5x95lbs, 5x10x115
Hanging Knee Raises – 5x13

Depth was getting cut off of my main work set. I took a vid of one of the back off sets and depth was much better. My back held together for DL’s. Still getting a fatigued lower back towards the end of each set but there may have been some improvement over last week.

Saturday macros - 2617 cal/161 carb/102 fat/265 protein/45 fibre

Sunday December 3 – 141.4 lbs

15 mins mobility and dynamic stretching stuff
27:18 walk, 1.35 miles, +25lbs

1955 cal/173 carb/71 fat/163 protein/41 fibre

Nov 27 – Dec 3 Daily Averages: 140.6 lbs/15.3% bf/2179 cal/159 carb/86 fat/203 protein/7:32 sleep

Monday December 4 – 140.2 lbs
5/3/1 BBB W3D4 – DL TM 230

RDL – 2x8x45lbs, 8x95
Block Pulls – 5x95lbs, 5x125, 3x145, 5x175, 3x195, 6x220, 3x220, 7x175
Squats – 10xbw, 2x10x45lbs, 5x95, 5x10x110
Ab Wheel – 5x10

2236 cal/126 carb/86 fat/259 protein/38 fibre

Weird forward lurch on the pulls tonight. Sloppy back on the last few reps. Not great.

It's just not being tight enough before the pull. You're starting with shoulders too far back, hips too low. You also may be craning your neck. When you do your cat/camels, do them with a tucked chin, and the sensation you feel when doing the "cat" part should feel very similar to setting your back for a deadlift rep.(*)

You're trying to keep a too-upright torso when you're not built to pull that way.

(*) Speaking of cat/camels, I've been doing them starting on my hands and knees, then dropping down to my elbows and doing them from that position, then bringing my elbows closer to my knees and doing them again. It's easier to flatten my back when the hip angle is open, but as I close it more and more, the movement becomes more challenging. May be worth trying.

I'll have to give the cat/camel variations a try.

Tuesday December 5 – 140.9 lbs

Rest day

1820 cal/151 carb/68 fat/175 protein/37 fibre

Feels nearly impossible to flatten my back when doing them on my elbows close to knees. Definitely more challenging.

Wednesday December 6 – 140.7 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W1D1 – OHP TM 90

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

OHP – 2x5x45lbs, 5x60, 5x70, 8x75, 3x7x60
NG Chins – 5x6 +25lbs
Bench – 10x45lbs, 5x55, 5x10x67.5

2128 cal/178 carb/75 fat/217 protein/50 fibre

I got my session out of the way before work today which turned out to be a great day to do so as I got stuck at work until almost 9 tonight. I will eventually make morning workouts a habit but that has been a slow one to take hold. I managed to strain my neck somehow but it is pretty minor I think.

Thursday December 7 – 140.3 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W1D2 – Squat TM 230

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

Squats – 10xbw, 2x10x45lbs, 2x5x95, 5x115, 3x135, 5x150, 5x175, 9x195, 3x8x150
RDL – 2x8x45lbs, 2x8x95
Block Pulls – 5x95lbs, 5x10x120
Hanging Knee Raises – 5x14

2034 cal/178 carb/76 fat/182 protein/37 fibre

Another morning session in the books. I am still dorking around with my grip on squats and still having issues losing the bar down my back on heavier sets. Wanted 1 more rep on the top set. Depth was better than the last session. Neck is still sore, lower back hasn’t been too bad. Elbows have been okay for the most part, though the ab wheel rollouts the other day bugged them a bit.

Are you exceeding your former GSLP amraps with these first 531 sessions? You should be. It's objectively harder to do 5, 5, 9 across than to do 5, 5, 9 at ramping percentages. Usually people expect to immediately PR every week for a while on 531 but that might not be so for your case since you were cutting and losing strength everywhere.

I have only set a couple rep PR's since switching to 5/3/1, more often I have only been matching rep pr's. And I am really only thinking of squats as I haven't really been benching and OHP hasn't caught up to where it once was yet. Have been fighting minor tweaks and injuries on top of illness for a good chunk of 5/3/1 too so still hoping to see some upticks soon.

Friday December 8 – 139.7 lbs

20 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff
23:03 walk, 1.3 miles, +25lbs

2586 cal/257 carb/80 fat/200 protein/47 fibre

Third day in a row of getting any exercise for the day out of the way first thing in the morning. Even though going for a little walk hardly counts it was still nice to not have to even think about trying to squeeze in anything after work. I was out for a Christmas party tonight so the cal count is +/- a whole bunch.

Saturday December 9 – 140.3 lbs

Unscheduled rest day

2250 cal/186 carb/86 fat/195 protein/41 fibre

Sunday December 10 – 140.3 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W1D3 – DL TM 240

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

RDL – 2x8x45lbs, 8x95
Block Pulls – 5x95lbs, 5x125, 5x150, 5x180, 8x205, 2x9x175
Squats – 10xbw, 2x10x45lbs, 5x95, 5x10x115
Planks – 5 x 45secs

2113 cal/149 carb/84 fat/212 protein/41 fibre

Dec 4 – Dec 10 Daily Averages: 140.3 lbs/15.2% bf/2167 cal/175 carb/79 fat/206 protein/6:50 sleep

Worked yesterday morning instead of getting straight to a workout and then had another Christmas party in the afternoon. By the time we got home I just wanted to eat and call it a night so took a pass on lifting yesterday. Flipped days 3 and 4 this week as I wanted to do DL today as I had a lot more flexibility with my time. I will save my baby bench rehab stuff for tomorrow which can much more easily be squeezed into the morning or after work. Pulls felt a lot better this week compared to last but that doesn’t say much as they were particularly horrible last week. Lower back rounding continues to be an issue but lower back fatigue felt better this week.

Monday December 11 – 140.3 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W1D4 – Bench Rehab

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

Bench – 10x45lbs, 2x5x65, 5x8x85
OHP – 5x10x45lbs
DB Hammer Curls – 2x15x20lbs
DB Curls – 2x15x20lbs

2450 cal/230 carb/86 fat/205 protein/39 fibre

Hamstrings are pretty sore from yesterday and I was feeling pretty wiped all day. Got the workout done tonight fairly quickly and am getting to bed earlyish.

Tuesday December 12 – 140.9 lbs

Rest day

2052 cal/157 carb/78 fat/195 protein/33 fibre

Wednesday December 13 – 140.6 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W2D1 – Squat TM 230

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

Squats – 10xbw, 2x10x45lbs, 2x5x95, 5x125, 3x145, 3x160, 3x185, 8x205, 3x5x165
RDL – 2x8x45lbs, 2x8x95
Block Pulls – 5x95lbs, 5x10x120
Hanging Knee Raises – 5x14

2232 cal/177 carb/78 fat/212 protein/22 fibre

I got home early and snagged myself a nice nap before the kidlets got home. I was supposed to do OHP tonight but swapped with Squats to take advantage of the extra free time. It will be easier to squeeze OHP in after work tomorrow compared to lower although I’ll be a bit more fatigued from Squat/DL tonight. Came up a rep short of what I wanted on my last set of squats…again. Last rep was pretty ugly too. Elbows have been feeling better but I continue to struggle with losing the bar down my back on heavier sets and higher reps without my thumbs around the bar.

Thursday December 14 – 141.4 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W2D2 – OHP TM 90

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

OHP – 2x5x45lbs, 3x65, 3x70, 4x85, 3x5x65
NG Chins – 5x6 +25lbs
Bench – 10x45lbs, 5x55, 5x10x67.5

2128 cal/178 carb/75 fat/217 protein/50 fibre
Paused for a breath at the bottom of each press on the final work set when I should have just pounded them out to have a chance at 5 or more. Left elbow was acting up a bit on chins done between OHP sets but overall it has been pretty good lately.

My totally feel-based perspective on pausing ohp is that you should do it if you particularly have trouble with that part of the ROM. I don't do it because my reps get stuck in the upper middle or near lockout and touch and go allows me to push that part of the ROM with heavier weight.

Am I mistaken or have you lost a lot of ground on ohp? I feel like you did 85 across at some point. Sorry if that's wrong.

I'm really not a fan of heavy 6s of chins between your primary sets. IMO don't begin doing those sets until your 85 set is done. Super set them with the 3x5x65 and/or the bench sets.

Your memory is good. I did knock off 3 sets of 5x85 back in June/July and came close to that a few times in between but always capped out at 3x5x84. So I have definitely lost some ground.

I am not a fan of the heavy chins between OHP either but the bench and bar are in the way during bench. Last night more than in previous sessions it felt like the chins got in the way but that was due to left arm grief. I did save 3 of the 5 sets for after the 85 set but it would have helped a bit to move them all.

Friday December 15 – 141.9 lbs

Rest day

2052 cal/157 carb/78 fat/195 protein/33 fibre

Saturday December 16 – 141.2 lbs
5/3/1 BBB C2W2D3 – DL TM 240

25 mins core, mobility and dynamic stretching stuff

With Trainer:
DL – 2x5x90lbs, 3x5x135,2x3x170, 3x190, 7x215, 5x185, 2x5x155
Facepulls – 3x12x30lbs
DB Rows – 3x8x25lbs
Supermans – 3x10
Situps – 3x10

At home:
Squats – 10xbw, 2x10x45lbs, 5x95, 5x10x115

2227 cal/155 carb/82 fat/224 protein/20 fibre

Worked on DL with coach this morning. Getting tight and getting a consistent set up at different weights needs work. Pulling from the floor seemed to go okay so I may try to do away with the blocks but will wait to see how I feel in the next couple days. Last time I pulled from the floor my back was feeling super wrecked the following day. Upper back strength also needs work thus some of the suggested accessories. I did my bbb squats at home after the gym session.

You row 25lb dumbbells?

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Just prior to the rows he had me doing chest supported shrugs with 12's but I couldn't activate whatever I was supposed to be activating. The 25's were lol light on the first couple sets and sadly not so light on the last set while super setting with facepulls. Unsubscribe is reasonable.

I actually got one of your lifting videos on the screen of my smartwatch. I was so tilted. The watch is not user friendly so it's really wasting my time. Seeing you on that little screen almost had me shattering the thing with a hammer.

No Google, I don't want to see facking floppy videos on my watch.

FJ if you set your videos to unlisted, random ppl wouldn't get notifications when you post. Just sayin.