5/3/1: First Two Workouts

I’ve done my first two workouts (bench and leg press) of the 5/3/1 program, and wow.

Just… wow.

I included lat pulldowns and rows as the assisting exercises in the bench workout. Mmm, balance. Wonderfully, my shoulder gave me no guff at all, even in the ensuing soreness.

(And oh, the delicious soreness.)

I think this might be a serious way for me to finish rehabilitating my shoulder. I’ve been stalling for weeks with all the light-weight, high-rep rehab exercises, and the pain levels were staying the same. I iced heavily after the bench workout, and suffered no bone spur-specific pain in the following days.

Unfortunately, my posture (a crucial component in a pain-free shoulder) suffered somewhat from the re-damn-diculous soreness in my upper back. Despite that, though, no shoulder pain.

Tonight was the leg workout. I twisted my ankle on Saturday while running at the park, and was feeling fine until I sat still for 4 hours on Sunday. Then a weird tension began on the outside of my leg that built until I was ready for my workout tonight.

Which, of course, included some running. Erm.

Leg press, leg curls, and some abs (straight crunches and elevated-leg Russian twist), plus a few sprints. It’s only been a few hours, so I don’t feel sore. Yet. I did discover an interesting imbalance in my hamstring strength, though–my right hamstring is much weaker than my left.

I’ll do bench again tomorrow (it’s been several days since I did them the first time), and my weights should arrive on Wednesday, meaning that I can continue with week 1 with deadlifts and military press. I’ll then have to reassess my bench numbers when I have free weights, plus switch to squats.

So far, I feel great, and am totally ready for more.