Lifting Post Lockdown

Bigger Stronger Leaner Jim Wendler 5/3/1 Coaching
1

Hi all

First post. Some background - been training about 2 years seriously and doing 5/3/1. 43 years old and 5’ 8 and weigh about 167 lbs. My goals were simple. Squat 3 plates. DL 4 plates. Bench 2 plates and Press 1 plate and see how it goes from there. All the while being healthy, mobile and being in decent shape. Before the lockdown and closure of gyms I had hit these goals on DL, Squats and Press- bench has always been a weakness but I was close.

Well lock down came and gyms were shut for over 3 months. During the lockdown I lost about 10-12 lbs because I experimented with intermittent fasting- just couldn’t eat much being stuck at home. I also did several body weight workouts posted on T- nation- such as the One Band workout, CT’s body weight workouts and BW conditioning stuff like Burpees, Ground work etc. My conditioning actually got a lot better and I felt healthier.

Now I am back at the gym - and while I actually didn’t expect things to be easy I was surprised at how much tougher barbell work has become. This is what I did for 1 cycle.

Jumps and Throws
5’s pro -with one main lift per day 3 times a week. So a 9 day training week. FSL 3 X 5… Assistance 50 reps push, pull, core.
Light conditioning (walking 2-3 times a week)
Mobility (Limber 11, Basic Yoga etc 2-3 times a week)

I set my training maxes low- I would say around 80% but my barbell lifts are now as slow as hell. Shoulder actually hurts while pressing which never happened before. More than anything the the lifts just feel off. I just finished one cycle so its still early days but somehow I don’t feel “in the groove” at all.

Should I just suck it up and keep going or perhaps change my template?

2

Did you hit your 5 reps for the +1 set.

If you did hit your 5 reps your lifts being slow could just be rustyness? I wouldn’t worry.
If you didn’t hit your 5 reps then lower the TM.

With regards to the pain in the shoulder - no idea.

My plan would be take on an easier template. Get back in the groove again before doing too much. It will only take a while before you’re back to full strength.

3

Thanks for your response. Yes hit the 5 reps on all 4 lifts quite easily on all weeks but it was a super low training max. Just didn’t feel fluent at all. These are reps I usually would have blasted past.
Agreed with you probably just rust. Thaught 5’s Pro and FSL 3X5 was the base template. Will try for another cycle and evaluate.

4

If you’re making the lifts with out it being a grind then yeah, I’d just stick to the current programme. You will improve rapidly. Strength tmreturns quiet quickly. Although you lost a lot of weight.

When I say core lifts I’m talking about it from 531: how to build pure strength 1.01. It’s an article from Tnation. It’s the first time I was exposed to 531 so it’s the base off of which I consider everything else.