Minimal squat day: 335 x 3

So it was a very long weekend with very little rest. I felt like death when I got home yesterday. Went to bed nice and early though (as well as took a nap), and felt a lot better this morning. However, one good nights sleep still doesn't make up for the weekend. Plus, on top of the less rest, I have decided to stop eating in the mornings. My stomach just feels downright awful after breakfast, and therefore I am going to at least play around with just having a cup of coffee, and not eating until like a half hour before my workout when I start sipping on my protein shake. ANYWAYS, point is a lot of stuff was off today, so I decided to just go in, do the bare minimum, and get out. Basically, I didn't want to get discouraged, or push myself early in the week and burn out by the end of the week. And it really went quite well.

Started with 5/3/1 squats. I actually felt pretty good, all things considered. Warmed up and hit the bar for a set of 10. Then hit 125 for 10, 6, and 205 for 8. Then I started on my work sets. 260 x 3 felt pretty light, but my back was feeling kind of tweaky and bad. Then, loaded up 295 and hit it for a triple. It didn't feel great, but the reps were pretty fast and easy, so I loaded up 335. Took my time with it, focused, and hit it for a very nice triple. My form was good, the first two reps were easy, and the third (although harder) was still very solid. It just slowed down more than the others. However, I definitely had a rep, maybe two in the tank, and it was certainly NOT the best day so I am very happy with that.

Next, threw 225 on the ground and pulled it for a couple warm-up reps from a 1-plate deficit, which did NOT feel good. loaded up 315 and went after it for my 10 sets of 1, on the minute, from a 1-plate deficit. These were definitely a little off today - I was having some trouble getting into the best position. On a couple reps, the bar was a little too far out in front, on others it was close but my hips weren't as low as they should have been. However, there were also a lot of very nice reps, and overall the weight moved fast and easy. Not the best day, but certainly not bad.

Finally, snatch grip deadlifts went really well. I kept it light at the start, hitting 2 sets of 5 with 125. Then, hit 205 x 5 and 265 x 5 no problem. Finally, loaded up 305 (the heaviest set of 5 I did my last 9 week cycle) and hit it for a greta set of 5. Easy isn't the right word, but I DEFINITELY had a rep or 2 in the tank, without a doubt. Which was definitely not the case last time. Pretty cool.

Ended with a set of 30 situps.

Situps: best done without skin on. 

So, overall, a pretty great day. I am happy with myself for doing just the needed triple at 335. Honestly, I think I should do more workouts like this. It felt good, kept me from getting angry at not breaking a PR, kept me a little fresher for the rest of the workout, and I left the gym feeling really good, not exhausted and like death. I feel like, if I am careful to do a little less on monday and tuesday, it will allow me to have better workouts at the end of the week, which might be better overall. For example, right now my week goes like this

Very good - good - rest - good - okay - rest - rest

And perhaps I would make better progress overall if I were to game my earlier workouts, so my week looked like this

good - good - rest - good - good - rest - rest.

That way, I would be CHOOSING to leave my workout as a "good day," knowing that if I wanted to I could have pushed for an extra rep or two, etc. Instead of pushing in the beginning of the week, then at the end of the week my workouts aren't as good not because I choose to leave some in the tank, but because I am not fully recovered so I miss reps, feel exhausted, blah blah blah. I'm not saying I should never push beyond the prescribed reps on 5/3/1 days, but maybe I should be content to stick a little closer to them, especially on 3 and 5 week. Either way, it was DEFINITELY a good decision today, and I think I will do the same tomorrow, just to ensure that I take it a little easier on myself after that long weekend. Then, in the coming weeks I will just have to decide when the time comes how hard I want to push. But no matter what, lets just keep it fun, and be excited! The time to hit my BIG goals is fast approaching. Lets keep at it.