An Athlete's 5/3/1 Journey

[lift4sport]

Hi, welcome to my first ever log!

I am just beginning my 5/3/1 program, and am really excited to make progress over the coming months. I have read through the e-book and am taking the advice of JW to set my training max at about 90% of my actual attainable maxes right now, and hopefully I can prolong my gains.

A bit of background info - I've been lifting fairly seriously for the past few years. My current (training) maxes are Squat 325 (295), Bench 265 (240), Deadlift 445 (400), Pull up 263 (240). While not on the 5/3/1 progression, I will be trying to also increase my max clean and hang snatch to build explosiveness. Aside from a session in June and once in January, I had not cleaned since last summer. Last week I pulled an easy 225 (big pull, barely landed in a quarter squat) and will be looking to add slow linear progress as I reintroduce this lift in my programming. My hang snatch max is approx 175 (160x4-5). I found the best way to increase my hang snatch was by increasing my high pulls and working on increasing bar speed in my hang snatch (8x3 at 60ish%). As I am not an Oly lifter, I don't train the overhead squat and so I pretty much rely on having a meaty, fast pull in order to have a good snatch :P

I had been battling mild knee injuries (patella tendonitis, tissue buildup around quad tendon at top of knee, etc) and will be making slow progress on squats. I want to be able to get my squat up around 365 by the spring, although not at the cost of my joints.

Also, instead of the typical OHP, I will be doing weighted pullups. I hit a max a couple of weeks ago at BW (188) + 75lbs for a full pull up, and I hope to be able to pull up BW + 90lbs by Christmas. I prefer the idea of having a big upper and lower body push and a big upper and lower body pull. The OHP seemed redundant to me, as a weaker upper body press than the BP, and I tend to work my shoulders a lot anyways with pressing, raises and stability work.

Thanks for checking out my log, and I hope to see some of you back here in the future! Feel free to drop a comment or a PM to discuss thoughts, room for improvement, or anything that inspires you.

[lift4sport]

Week 1

Day 1
Monday, 09/17/12
Bench Press – 5, 5, 5+ at (65%, 75%, 85% of Training Max): 5x165, 5x180, 11x205
Incline DB Press – 5x10 at 60lb DBs
BB Curl, 10x45lbs, 3 sets of 10x85lbs, 10x65, 10x45

Ran out of time for rear delt raises and chinups, will make up on Tuesday or Wednesday when doing assistance/band work. Had to rush to get to yoga on time (great session). Good first day of week 1, cycle 1. My goal was to get 10+ on my AMRAP set, which is good because it means I didn’t set my training max weight too high. I might not do chin ups tomorrow as I will be rock climbing after lifting and might be pretty toast (and am doing my weighted pull up day on Thursday).

Will post after tomorrow's lifts - aiming for a 230lb clean, and to rep out 250 on back squats for 10+ reps.

[lift4sport]

Day 2
Tuesday, 09/18/12
Clean - (Warmup, hang snatch- 5x95, hang clean to press- 10x135, hang snatch 5x135, 5x155), 3x190, 4x230 hang pulls (w straps), 1x230 clean
Back Squat – 5,5,5+ at (65%, 75%, 85% of TMax): 5x190, 5x220, 10x250
BB Shrugs, 3x20 at 275lbs
Stability Ball Triple Threats, 2 rotations of 3x16

Bit of a long warm up on cleans, but I feel that I can definitely hit a better lift (especially when going for singles) if I get a bit of volume with some lighter weight explosive lifts and work on pulling for speed, as well as a few strapped high pulls at my working set weight to get used to moving the weight for my working set around for some reps at speed. I was planning on doing a couple of sets of front squats after my back squats, but my lower back was feeling pretty tight and my knee was tender, so I didn’t want to push it. I will likely work up to a heavy set of 5 or 6 on Friday (Deadlift day). Went rock climbing after and played around on the climbing rope and gymnastic rings, so got a decent full body workout afterwards. Tomorrow is my rest day (no 5/3/1 progression on any lifts) and I will be hitting the gym in the morning to work on mobility and stability exercises.

[lift4sport]

Day 3 (Active Recovery)
Wednesday, 09/19/12
Clamshells/Lateral Leg Raises 3x20e supersetted with One Leg Leg press 3x10e
Glute Band Walks 2x20e supersetted with Bulgarian Split Squats 2x10e (Bodyweight only)
Kettlebell Shoulder press 3x20e supersetted with Inverted Rows 3x10
High Volume band work to target upper back, rear delts, rotator cuff. External rotations for 3x15e, band pull aparts/Blackburns for 2x15e (Ys, Ts, Ws, Ls)
Barbell Curls 3x10 … Just ‘cause, haha!

Body feeling good, had a good foam roll and stretch before and after. Main focus of the lower body lifts is to really activate and recruit the glute med and max more in compound lifts by pre-exhausting/activating those muscles with the isolated exercise before hitting the compounds. Also working on maintaining good alignment in both vertical and horizontal planes (ankles, knees, and hips aligned + hips aligned parallel to the floor). From playing lots of sports as a kid, I’ve always had pretty strong quads, and I had been able to get away with squatting using primarily my quads for the past couple years, and am really focusing on recruiting all the primary movers in my lifts to stay balanced and healthy through my joints.

[lift4sport]

Day 4
Thursday, 09/20/12
Went to a conditioning session right before lifting, which ended up being about 30 minutes of warm up (some running, some yoga positions, and a lot of dynamic work) and 45 minutes of plyo/running work… I had to leave early to make it to the gym to catch my lifting partner, but ended up missing out on the last 25 minutes which was the actual conditioning work….. Will have to sort that out so I can get to the conditioning aspect and the lift next week.
Weighted pullups, 5, 5, 5+ at (65%, 75%, 85% of Training Max): 5xBW, 5xBW, 10x205. Wasn’t certain how to do less than bodyweight (could have used bands for assistance, but it felt unnecessary and the first two sets were easy enough to not tire me out for my working set.
Incline BB Press, 4x4 (10s rest) x170, 4x3 (10s rest) x180, 4x2 (10s rest) x185, 4x1(10s rest) x195.
Hit a 225 max incline press last week, and got 210x5 the week before that. Trying to mix in some volume (hit 40 reps) at decent weight to assist heavy bench work on Mondays. Having a hard time figuring out the jumps in weight – the 4x3 set was moving really slow on the last rep of the last 2 sets, the 4x2 set felt good (likely could have pushed 190) and the 4x1 set was too light, bar was moving fast. Will likely try again next Thursday and try to iron out the crinkles.
Wide Grip Pullup, 1x6
DB Shoulder Press, 1x15 at 55lbs…. Can normally knock out 20 of these, but I guess I was feeling pretty fried from the incline presses, etc.
Wide Grip Pullup, 1x6
Lateral delt superset (db raise + db upright row) 3x10e + Widegrip pullups, 3x6
Overhead Tricep DB press 3x10

[lift4sport]

Day 5
Friday, 09/21/12
Hang Snatch, 5x95, Hang Clean to Push Press 5x135, Hang Snatch 3x135, 2x155, 2x165
Wasn’t too worried about trying to rep out at these, I’m just working on getting used to throwing heavier weights overhead. I hhaven’t snatched over 160lbs before, so it was good to know I still had more reps in the tank at 165. Will likely go for 3x165 next week before bumping it up to 170 the week after.

Clean, 5x185, 1x225, Hang Pull 4x235
Getting used to moving 235 around fast, as I will be going for a 1x235 clean on Tuesday. The bar is moving fast from an above the knee position, but I need to make sure on Tuesday that I am pulling strong and fast from the floor.

Deadlift – was supposed to be 5,5,5+ at (65%, 75%, 85% of TMax): 5x225 (warmup), 5x260, 5x300, 5+x340, but I really wanted to hit 4x405 (after getting 3x405 last week). I went 2x225, 2x275, 2x315, 1x365, and hit the 4x405. I wore a belt and straps, but I usually do at any weight over 380. I think I could’ve hit that 5th rep, but I was getting a big head rush by the end and didn’t want to push it. I was pulling with a decent amount of back on the 4th rep (more than normal) and didn’t want to hit a strain. I also got sneakily drunk the night before by accident (woops) so I figure I’ll make an attempt when I’m more hydrated and in better shape. I think that next week I’m going to hop right into week 2 of 5/3/1 for deads (3,3,3+ at 280, 320, 360). I hit 8x365 two weeks ago (more than confident I could’ve got 10 reps on today’s set of 340, had I done that) so I feel like next week will go well.

Glute Bridge on Stability Ball, 3x10
These were awesome, I did short sets of clamshell / lying leg lateral raises (as on Wednesday) to try and activate the glute med more, and performed the Glute Bridges with small bands on to keep tension on my abductors – felt GREAT and I look forward to keeping these as a part of my routine.

BB curls, 3x10
Concentration Curls, 3x10. Both of these sets just because (have a couple days off this weekend to recover, figured I might as well).

Looking forward to a relaxing weekend, lots of work to do for school, but can’t wait until next week. I’m happy to have hit 10+ reps on all of my 5/3/1 lifts that I did – can’t wait to keep grinding through future waves.

[Nexxus]

strong lifts, gonna follow a fellow 5/3/1er

[lift4sport]

strong lifts, gonna follow a fellow 5/3/1er

Thanks for the post! Checking out your log now.

[lift4sport]

Wave 2

Day 1
Monday, 09/24/12
Bench Press – 3, 3, 3+ at (70%, 80%, 90% of Training Max): 3x170, 3x190, 9x215.
Incline DB Press – 5x10 at 60lb DBs, Super-setted with 5x8 chinups
BB Curl, 1x10 warm up, 5x10 working sets, Super-setted with Rear Delt DB raise 5x10

Had a pretty good night’s sleep and felt well recovered from the weekend. Headed straight to yoga after this session, so had to get out of there pretty quickly. Reps 7 and 8 on Bench were moving quickly and I felt good about hitting 10 reps, but I hit an absolute wall on rep 9 and was giving it everything I had…. Spotter put two fingers on the bar and it shot up, but I didn’t want to push it for any more. I was expecting to do 5x10 chinups, but I actually felt like 5x8 was quite tough – I never do chin-ups (palms in), and I didn’t care about going too hard on those as I will be doing weighted pull ups and also 6x6 of wide grip pull ups on Thursday, so I will be getting more volume in later on in the week.

[lift4sport]

Day 2
Tuesday, 09/25/12
Foam Roll + Dynamic Warmup, Barbell Warmup (various raises/pulls, squats and catches at 45lbs), Hang clean to press- 5x135,
Clean and Jerk 2x185, 1x215
This was my first time ever doing a clean and jerk (I have clean and pressed before, but I was curious to see how this would go). I found them to be pretty fun.

3x235 hang pulls (w straps), 1x235 clean
My first go was a fail. There was no chalk at the gym, and I had a hard time pulling from the ground with speed. The second attempt (I took about 4 minutes break and grabbed some water) I wore straps. I have never done cleans with straps because I was always nervous that catching the pull would be really awkward on my wrists, even though I knew I would have a considerably stronger pull from the ground, but I went for them anyways. 235 came up pretty easily. Went for the jerk, but this was a bit too heavy for me as an inexperienced jerker, and I was short on the lockout.

Back Squat – 3, 3, 3+ at (70%, 80%, 90% of TMax): 3x205, 3x235, 12x265
I was really happy with these, I probably could’ve hit another rep or two but I was starting to get light headed, which might have had something to do with diet/sleep from the past few nights. I’m pretty jacked up about that, as I have never repped out over 8 or 9 reps at this weight and it definitely has me motivated to be more disciplined and get my lifts.

BB Shrugs, 3x20 at 285lbs
Stability Ball Hamstring Triple Threats, 2 rotations of 3x16

Great day, did 4 exercises (barring warmups) and felt awesome. After lifting I went to play on the rock climbing wall and the gymnastic rings for about half an hour, which was aweome. Can’t wait for my active recovery and yoga day tomorrow.

[lift4sport]

Day 3
Wednesday, 09/26/12

Feeling pretty tired today... Work and stress are catching up to me, definitely need to focus on solid recovery/diet/sleep in the coming days/weeks. Had yoga a few hours before lifting, felt pretty decent. Brought my volume down in my recovery session today, still feeling pretty sore and fatigued and am looking for some big lifts over the next few days!

Lateral Leg Raises 2x20e supersetted with One Leg Leg press 2x10e
Glute Band Walks 2x15e supersetted with Bulgarian Split Squats 2x10e (Bodyweight only)
Kettlebell Shoulder press 3x20e supersetted with Inverted Rows 3x10
High Volume band work to target upper back, rear delts, rotator cuff. External rotations for 3x15e, band pull aparts for 2x15e (Ys, Ts, Ws, Ls)
Barbell Curls 5x10

[Nexxus]

Real solid clean and squats there bro.

Even recovery day looks somewhat intense lol

[DeeBee1]

Inspired to make a log now haha

[lift4sport]

Inspired to make a log now haha

Way to go man, just checked out your log. Stick with it, it's so inspiring to be able to look back at your lifts and see your progress.

On an unrelated note - I spent a month in NZ (3 weeks in Methven and a week in Wanaka) and am dying to go back soon... !

[lift4sport]

Real solid clean and squats there bro.

Even recovery day looks somewhat intense lol

Haha thanks! I have been enjoying getting back into cleans, and squats are starting to feel much better. Recovery day isn't too bad, pretty much everything is bodyweight or band work, and the one leg leg press is just 1 plate on and only to work on activating glutes so I get into good habits for squats and am not getting to quad dominant, as I have previously done.

Looking mighty lean in your picture too - way to go!

[lift4sport]

Day 4
Thursday, 09/27/12
Incline BB Press, 4x4 (10s rest) x170, 4x3 (10s rest) x175, 4x2 (10s rest) x185, 4x1(10s rest) x200.
Aiming for same targets as last time (10 lb jumps between each set, ending on 200lbs). I was fairly confident that the 4x2 and 4x1 sets would be okay, was a little unsure about the 4x3 sets. ________
Weighted pullups- 3, 3, 3+ at (70%, 80%, 90% of Training Max): 3xBW, 3xBW, 9x215
Lateral delt superset (db raise + db upright row) 3x12e + Widegrip pullups, 3x6
Overhead Tricep DB press 3x10
Tricep Push down, 3x10

Had conditioning before lift, but wasn’t feeling too tired. Managed to sneak in a “preworkout” before the end of conditioning (some iced coffee, a bit of chocolate milk, a scoop of whey, a half dose of creatine and 3g beta alanine) and was feeling good. Decided to do the incline bench sets before the pullups, as I wanted to have strong and engaged lats when pressing (rather than fried, which tends to happen after repping weighted pulls). Almost hit the 10th rep at 215, but couldn’t get all the way up. Still happy with 9 reps, and shows that my pull and push (bench) are on par.

[lift4sport]

Day 5
Friday, 09/28/12
Foam roll, dynamic warmup, BB warmup, Hang Clean to Push Press 5x135
Clean, 3x185, 1x225, Hang Pull 4x240 (strapped) all supersetted with 3x5e step back lunges
Again (like last week), getting a few strapped reps in to make sure I can keep the bar moving fast and high at the weight I will be going for a clean (single) on Tuesday. Step back lunges intended to maintain hip mobility. I was supposed to do hang snatches today but I wasn’t moving well (bar speed was slower and my 155lb sets were tough, and I didn’t want to push it. Will be going for 3x165 next week!

Deadlift- 3, 3, 3+ at (70%, 80%, 90% of Training Max): 3x275, 3x315, 10x365.
Was supposed to be 3x280, 3x320, 3+x360, but that was a stupid way of rounding it. 10x 365 was a PR for me, so that’s great! Very excited about hitting this lift.

Glute Bridge + Abduction on Stability Ball, 3x10 supersetted with lateral lunge adduction 3x5e

Hammer Curls 5x10

Was going to do some preacher/concentration curls after, but didn’t end up having enough time. Looking forward to resting up over the weekend, and getting after Wave 3 next week – 5/3/1+!

[lift4sport]

Week 3

Day 1
Monday, 10/01/12
Bench Press – 5, 3, 1+ at (75%, 85%, 95% of Training Max): 5x185, 3x205, 1x225, 1x245, 6x225.

Weights were supposed to be 5x180, 3x205, 1+228… I rounded down to 225 because next cycle I think my 95% ends up being 232 and I didn’t want to do the same weight both cycles. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with 6, I was fairly confident I would hit 7 (after 9x215 went up so confidently last week). I failed half way through the 7th rep… Not too sure if the 245 single tired me out … I can do that weight without trouble for singles, although in retrospect it might have been a poor decision as my current Training Max is 240… I wanted to do it so that 225 would feel light (which it did) but maybe it was a bit more taxing on my body and drained me of those last few percent.

Incline DB Press – 5x10 at 60lb DBs, Super-setted with 5x10 parallel grip lat pull down

Happy that I’m mixing in a different variation for back (as I now have weighted pulls, wide grip pulls, inverted rows and parallel lat pull downs… Although perhaps some DB row variation might be better-rounded…. Will consider next week and re-evaluate

BB Curl - 5x10, Super-setted with Rear Delt DB raise 5x10
DB Curl – 3x16, Super-setted with DB Flyes, 3x10
Just wanted to get a bit of extra volume in on the vanity muscles as I was disappointed with not hitting that last rep on bench… If I can’t hit the reps, might as well look good, am I right?!

….Time to go hard on cleans and squats tomorrow.

[lift4sport]

Day 2
Tuesday, 10/02/12
Foam Roll + Dynamic Warmup, Barbell Warmup (various raises/pulls, squats and catches at 45lbs), Hang clean to press- 5x135,

Clean and Jerk 2x185, 1x225

I was really happy that I got the 225 C+J, I haven’t hit this weight before. I opened my grip width a bit after catching the clean, and I think that helped with the lockout…. I have a 6’3 wingspan at 5’10, so sometimes locking out with a narrow grip involves a lot of unnecessary range, so that helped a lot.

3x240 hang pulls (w straps). Power Clean – 1x240 fail, 1x240

Really happy I had this. First rep the bar moved fast and I got under it at the quarter squat, but I kinda bounced the bar a bit off my hips for speed and let the bar get away from me. The second rep was much better, and I’m glad I got the rep.

Back Squat – 5, 3, 1+ at (75%, 85%, 95% of TMax): 5x225, 3x250, 10x280
Was supposed to hit 5x220 for the first set but whatever. Very happy about the 10x280. Using the JW estimated 1RM calculator, that bumps my max I set last week (12x265) by a few pounds, and is a PR. I had my belt on a little bit too tight, so I was taking a lot of breaths after rep 6 to try and recover between reps and avoid getting light headed… Last two reps were slow eccentric contractions with a slight bounce out of the bottom, which I probably couldn’t have got away with if this was over 300lbs. Going to try and clean it up – looking forward to deloading on squats next week.

Facepulls - 3x12
BB Shrugs, 2x20 at 300lbs Supsersetted with 2x16e Stability ball triple threat (hamstring burnout)

Feeling pretty roasted right now, looking forward to yoga and active recovery tomorrow. Definitely going to keep volume down in the gym. Time to foam roll and stretch for like an HOUR! Ahhhh

[lift4sport]

Day 4
Thursday, 10/04/12
Weighted pullups- 5, 3, 1+ at (70%, 80%, 90% of Training Max): 5xBW, 3x205, 1x265*, 8x225

*not part of 5/3/1 progression, just trying to get used to moving some weight!
Happy I got 8 reps. Felt good.

Incline BB Press, 4x4 (10s rest) x165, 4x3 (10s rest) x175, 4x2 (10s rest) x185, 4x1(10s rest) x195.
This was tough, normally I get 4x1 at 200 and am able to get it confidently, but today was a grind. I am normally better if I do this before weighted pullups (lats can stay tighter which probably helps). Also, doing the extra 3x10 DB flyes on Monday (Bench day) was probably overkill, and I will be avoiding that in the future.

Widegrip pullups, 5x6
Lateral delt superset (db raise + db upright row) 3x12e
Overhead Tricep DB press 3x10
Tricep Push down, 3x10

All in all, a good day. Glad I hit the weighted pullups. One more day on my last heavy wave of Cycle 1! Ready to hit some heavy deads. Aiming for 8x380 tomorrow (not a PR based on the 1MR calculator – 4lbs short, but still a PR for me at that weight).

[Nexxus]

You can get dat PR tmr bro! gl, good job with the reps on benching today

[lift4sport]

You can get dat PR tmr bro! gl, good job with the reps on benching today

Thanks homey, I'll be updating right after!

[lift4sport]

Day 5
Friday, 09/28/12
Foam roll, dynamic warmup, BB warmup, Hang Snatch 3x95, 3x135, Hang Clean to Push Press 5x135
Clean and jerk, 3x190
Power clean 1x230, racked the bar, Split Jerk 1x230

I decided to try and train these movements separately on my Deadlift day, because I don’t want the Clean portion of the lift to take away from my jerk, especially as I am just getting into them. On my squat days I will be hitting both lifts together.

Snat-grip Pull, 4x246
Hang High Pull 4x245 (strapped) all supersetted with 3x5e step back lunges

Deadlift- 5, 3, 1+ at (75%, 85%, 95% of Training Max): 5x300, 3x340, 1+x380
Ended up doing 3x315, 1x365, 8x380 because 300 and 340 are awkward weights to load.
This was tough – reps 6 and 7 were definitely grinds, but the 8th was actually probably my best lift of them all, which was really satisfying.

Glute Bridge + Abduction on Stability Ball, 3x10 supersetted with lateral lunge adduction 3x5e

Hammer Curls 5x10

Looking forward to the weekend now! Undecided about whether I will deload or not next week, depends on how my schedule lines up for the next few weeks as I might have to take a week off in November, might as well make it after a cycle

[lift4sport]

Week 4 - Deload

Day 1
Monday, 10/0/12
Goal: Volume

Bench Press – 4x4 (10s rest), 4x3 (10s rest), 4x2 (10s rest), 4x1 (10s rest) at 195, 200, 205, 215

Goal for this was to get some volume (40 reps!) while pushing around some weight but avoiding hitting failure. Would’ve been better if I started at 185, probably could’ve gone 185, 195, 205, 220/5, but now I know.

3x10 DB Flyes, Super-setted with 5x10 parallel grip lat pull down

BB Curl - 5x8, Super-setted with Rear Delt DB raise 5x10
DB Curl – 3x16

Good day, had yoga afterwards which was a good chance to get limber and stretch out. Looking forward to tomorrow for Cleans and Squats!

[Nexxus]

Congrats on the deadlift PR, and enjoy your deload man

[lift4sport]

Congrats on the deadlift PR, and enjoy your deload man

Thanks man. I've been eating and sleeping poorly for the past little while, definitely going to try and take advantage of this deload to get back on the right track.

[lift4sport]

Day 2
Tuesday, 10/09/12
Foam Roll + Dynamic Warmup, Barbell Warmup (various raises/pulls, squats and catches at 45lbs), Hang clean to press- 5x135,

Clean and Jerk 2x190, 1x230

Got the 230 C+J first try, which was great. Bit tricky to lock out (I suppose tris were a bit fatigued from yesterday’s benching) but I was able to close the rep.

4x240 snatch grip pulls, 4x240 hang high pulls

Power Clean – 1x245

Even though this is my deload week, my clean is a bit weaker relative to my other lifts … As I am just getting back into doing cleans (and I am on a slow linear progression rather than a 5/3/1 series) I figured I will continue for another few weeks before deloading on these. Hit the 245 clean first try!

Front Squat – 5x135 w band abduction, 5x185 w band abduction
Back Squat – 3x225, 2x275, 2x315

Goal here is just to keep strength and move some weight, but stay far away from failure and not rep out on any exercises. All squats supersetted with step-back lunges and arm overhead extensions to lengthen/stretch out the hip flexors

Deadlifts 2x275, 2x315, 2x365, 3x405.

Wanted to get a few sets of deadlifts and move some weight around. Going to focus on RDLs and other Deadlift Auxiliary exercises on Friday. While I am moving a fair amount of weight, in both squats and deads I am not going above 85% of my estimated 1RM (based on the Wendler Conversion, my squat 1RM is 380 and my DL 1RM is 485) and only getting a few reps with very very low volume.

Facepulls - 3x12 supersetted with BB Shrugs, 3x20 at 285lbs

2x16e Stability ball triple threat (hamstring burnout)

This was a great workout, definitely felt like I was moving plates but because there was such little volume, I didn’t feel particularly drained afterwards. Looking forward to yoga and climbing tomorrow on my active recovery day!

[lift4sport]

Took Day 3 off (Except yoga which was awesome!).

Day 4
Thursday, 10/11/12
Decline Bench Press, 185x10, x10, x12 Supserset with Widegrip Pullups, 3x6
These were awesome, I never do Decline bench and it felt great. Full ROM, good on the shoulder, and 185 felt light, could’ve hit 5x12 probably. Will likely mix in Decline bench every 2 weeks as an auxiliary lift and on my deload week for some volume that isn’t too strenuous. Probably go up to 195 or 200 and just get reps.

Weighted Pullups, BW+25 x5, BW+45 x3, BW+75 x1

Incline DB Press, 4x10

Lateral Delt Superset, 3x12e

Rope Pushdowns 3x15, Rope Kickbacks 3x10

[Nexxus]

Im a big fan of declines too, feel stronger on them than flat. Not doing them on 5/3/1 but will def go back to them in the distant future lol

[lift4sport]

Im a big fan of declines too, feel stronger on them than flat. Not doing them on 5/3/1 but will def go back to them in the distant future lol

Ya I feel you. I want to stick with flat bench for my 5/3/1 progression, but will probably throw them in on week 2 and 4 (the 3/3/3+ week and the deload week) as my accessory lifts. They were a lot of fun! I should've tossed them in long ago.