Cycle 2 – 5s Week: Squat & Bench Press: 11/25/13

Solid 7 hours sleep before work.
Unfortunately I do not think I back-loaded enough the night before which I think could have improved my performance today.
Felt good as I arrived at the gym after work (6/10).
Felt even better after my squat warm-up sets (7/10).
Energy level switched around from great (7/10) to good (6/10) after that through the session.

Session overall felt decently good but unfortunately my camera was acting up again and I was not able to film my main lifts.
Personally think I improved on my form on both lifts and REALLY wanted to see if it was …

Info:

Body Weight: 178 lbs on 11/17/13

Pre-workout Warm-up Time: 25 minutes

Training Time: 2 hr 0 mins

Fasted Time: ~9-10 hours

Pre-workout Warm-ups:

Foam Rolling
Limber 11
Dynamic Stretching
Mini-band Exercises

Main Lift(s):

Squat:

Warm-up Sets:
45 x 5
45 x 5
125 x 5
155 x 5
190 x 3

Work Sets:
205 x 5
235 x 5
265 x 5 (e1RM = 309)

Rep Max Set:
205 x 10 (e1RM = 273)

Sets felt easy enough.
Really focused on keeping a tight and arched lower back which I think helped.
Felt like I could have done at least 1 more rep aon the 3rd work set if I wanted.
Somehow lost a bit of wind on the Rep Max set and just did 10 reps even though I felt like I could have done at least 2 more if I tried.
At least the Rep Max e1RM is the same as last Cycles 5s day.

Bench Press:

Warm-up Sets:
45 x 10
90 x 5
110 x 5
135 x 3

Work Sets:
145 x 5
165 x 5
190 x 5 (e1RM = 222)

Rest Pause Sets:
145 x 12 (e1RM = 203)
-30 second rest
145 x 6
-30 second rest
145 x 4

Must have got second wind as I felt real good doing the bench press after the squats!
All sets felt easy enough and could have done at least 1 more on the 3rd work set.
Happy that my e1RM for the 1st Rest Pause set was better than the Cycle 1 – 5s day.

Assistance Exercises:

Chin Up:

Warm-up Sets:
BW x 5
BW x 5
Rest Pause Sets:
BW x 16
– 30 second rest
BW x 8
– 30 second rest
BW x 5

1 more rep better than the last cycle and could have done at least 2-3 more reps if I pushed myself.
Don’t know why I keep saving a rep or 2 before failure when I am supposed to attempt for failure on these sets.
Probably due to saving at least 1-2 reps in the set for almost 2 years …

Barbell Tricep Extension w/ Fat Gripz:

Warm-up Sets:
45 x 5
45 x 5

Rest Pause Sets:
55 x 12
– 30 second rest
55 x 7
– 30 second rest
55 x 5

Decided to start using the Fat Gripz again and seems to work fine.

Ab Wheel Roller:

1 x 13
– 30 second rest
1 x 10
– 30 second rest
1 x 10
– 30 second rest
1 x 8
– 30 second rest
1 x 8

Still feeling good (6/10) and decided to go for a few more sets than I did last time.

Good times!