Shanker Lower 1 Cycle 5

Squat
295x4x5

Hack Squat
2 plates (each side) x5x3

Leg Press
6 platesx5x3

Ab Roller BWx16x2
HWW BWx12x2

In uncharted territory here, have never made this much progress this fast and have never been this healthy/slim...

End of last block (Early Jan.)
Squat 275x3x5
BP 225x3x5
DL 395x4x5
DB Row 120x16 Raw
BW @ 176 lbs

Presently:
Squat 295x4x5
BP 225x4x3; 225x3x2
DL 425x4x5
DB Row 120x30 raw
BW @ 175

...I don't get it. Body fat is down, weight is down, even diet is down to roughly 3200 calories/day from 3400/day. Do not feel particularly worn down or beaten up and have no lingering injuries. Of course I realize its times like this that lead to injury, but my warmups are more thorough than anyone else's around here and I don't think I'm getting too greedy. The plan for now is basically to keep this block going on a week by week basis following the same 5 sets of 5, then 4 then 3 then 5, etc... cycle until my body starts to tell me to stop.

Goal for next week:
Squat 315x3x5
DL 445x3x5
BP 240x3x5

I feel pretty confident about the first two...we'll see about BP.

Things I've Learned this cycle:

- Warm up THOROUGHLY (yea....you know who you are...) there's no other explanation for my health after basically seeing a 30 lb increase (conservatively) in my DL in about a month and a half. The last time this happened, I snapped myself in half DLing 425 (ask Danny...)

- Assistance work seems to be most valuable as complimentary compound exercises. Also never push yourself too far or hard with these...they aren't competition lifts.

- Core work should never be underestimated. There's a reason my belt has helped me so much this block, its the fact that I have a core that is not a limiting factor in my lifting. It's also good protection from injury.

- Cardio is for pussies. Haven't done any real cardio over the past 3 months and body fat % has plummeted from 11% to around 8%. Watch diet (i.e. not drinking heavy cream for instance) and lift hard to get lean.

- Danny consistently gives good advice in a very humble and helpful manner and he is usually right(roughly translated, since these qualities are somewhat rare Danny = some form of lesser deity). I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Literally everything this man has told me about weightlifting/diet etc... has been spot on. I got my belt specifications from him and he hasn't seen me in 5 months...and it's been perfect.

-Dave will DL 600 pounds before next Fall. I'm calling it now.