Even Keel notes... (and why I can't entirely forsake AYCE...)

[Below I have struck out some of my falsely projected figures from yesterday.] 

Even Keel 1A
70 min. (incl. warm-up), 225 lbs. 

MOOD: felt excited and pretty focused; I'd like to get done closer to an hour next time around, though, since today I was feeling out the new regimen; plus I met a fairly cool, knowledgeable guy #bromance

FSQ: 5x5 @ 265 225, 215 lbs
 
db BP: 5, 5, 5, 5, 8 @ 90, 85 lbs 

SDL: 6, 4, 2 3 @ 215, 225, 235 lbs
 
PU: reps x 3 12, 9, 6
 
db MP: 12, 9, 6 @ 60, 65, 70 55, 50, 50 lbs
 
spider curl: 12, 9, 6 @ 50, 60, 70 lbs   

+ + +

Okay, yeah: dumbbells are harder. When I asked for a spot on my last set of bench presses today, I started to explain that I'm used to a barbell and dumbbells... "are way more work," the guy finished for me. I chuckled. "Kuh-RAY-zee!" I used to incorporate dumbbells more in the past, I guess, but over the past few months I got transfixed by the barbell. Don't get me wrong, the barbell is still awesome, and irreplaceable for some key lifts, but I can tell that this shift to dumbbells will be good for me. 

As for my projections on the FSQ, I had forgotten that my previous performances around 265 lbs were done in triples or doubles. Anything over a triple is virtually a different lift. My AYCE triples had me doing a total of maybe 18 reps, whereas a 5x5 requires 25 reps, so I quickly realized that I'm going to need some time to bounce back from going stale last week and taking some days off. Indeed, I couldn't help but feeling that I'm going to want to maintain daily squats--once you go AYCE, you never go back!--, even if that's all I do at the gym, even for only ten minutes, on off days. 

As for the barbell, I am choosing to use the thicker, powerlifting bar on everything but cleans and snatches, since there is only one (Olympic) bar at my gym with properly rolling sleeves. Gotta Get Grip. I used chalk on some SDL and PU, but over time I'm hoping to compensate with sheer grip strength. 

Speaking of grip, I'm curious to see if, due to today's exertion, my grip session tomorrow is not spectacular. Stay tuned. 

Possibly --> 

FSQ: 6, 4, 3, 3, 3 
Grip warmup
CoC #1.5 
CoC #2 
CoC #2 
CoC #1.5 
plate pinch
farmer carry