Lifting for 1-5-11

Squat:
5 @ 45 lbs, 5 @ 95 lbs, 4 @ 135 lbs, 3 @ 155 lbs
3×5 @ 175 lbs (+10 lbs)

Bench Press:
5 @ 45 lbs, 4 @ 95 lbs, 3 @ 115 lbs
3×5 @ 135 lbs (+5 lbs)

Deadlift
5 @ 135 lbs, 4 @ 185 lbs, 3 @ 225 lbs, 2 @ 245 lbs
5 @ 265 lbs (+20 lbs)

Barbell Row
3×5 @ 135 lbs (+5 lbs)

difficulty: medium

As usual, I have less get up and go motivation on days I don’t have work or something fixed to do in the morning. No matter, I was still at the gym before noon.

I noticed my focus during my squat sets was mostly on my breath and how it was effecting how my head felt. My actual repetitions breezed by, banged them out. No problem whatsoever. It’ll be a judgement call Friday as for whether I add another 10 lbs, or whether I start making conservative 5 lb jumps. Part of me says that since I nailed this weight so easily, I should make another 10 lb jump.

Breezed through bench sets without any problems. I don’t recall grinding or pushing for any repetitions.

Should mention that I did all my deadlift sets with a double-overhand grip. I like doing it for as heavy as I can. Next workout, however, will have to be a mixed grip. Really glad I’ve started adding an extra warm-up closer to my work set weight. I used to just jump from 225 lbs to a work set of 275 lbs without anything in between. Yeah, I suck. Ha ha.

Breathing was good. Took a deep breath at the bottom of each repetition. Kind of like treating every repetition as a first pull.

Admittedly a little tired by the time I did my rows. Total workout time was still under an hour. I wasn’t looking at the clock in between sets, I was just waiting until I felt first physically ready, and then mentally ready. As for rows, they were MUCH easier with 45’s on them. As I said, I ‘felt’ tired, so I was really psyched up for my last set of rows. So much so that the first rep of the last set FLEW off the floor like there weren’t any plates on the bar. That felt nice.