Cycle 8 Week 3 Squats - End of Cycle 8

Definitely fueled up today for an epic squat session (aka stuffed my face).

Warmed up with;
135x15, 225X12, 315X8
Work sets;
365X5, 405X5, 445X3 - rep PR for me
475X1
405X7 - rep PR with 405. Had another in the tank but felt a little lightheaded and racked the bar lol.
315X8, 225X8 paused explosive.

Lots of volume today, and if I didn't have to be somewhere I would have kept going too. Squats feeling really strong lately, nice to hit some rep PR's closing in on Westerns. That is the end of the eighth cycle of 5/3/1. Here is a recap of the progress after 8 cycles of the program;

Squat went from 405 to 505, +100lbs
Bench went from 355 to 385, +30lbs
Deadlift went from 475 to 546, +76lbs

Those are gym lifts, hopefully will add some in competition.

Not bad for eight months. Gains are definitely tapering off, thus the different assistance exercises I have started to add. I don't want to change too much before going to Westerns, but I am going to have a look at my split and probably make some changes to train with over the winter. I know the bench gains are going to be slow, but I really want to smash my squats and deadlift.

I am going to repeat this last week instead of starting a new cycle, because I only have one more week of training before I leave for Calgary and rest for the week.