5X5 Journal: A HIT'er Experiment

[go2failure]

Well, keep plugging away. I missed my week4 squats after feeling a bad twinge in my quads. I was still very happy with the results. Good luck.

Yeah, it REALLY pissed me off to not be able to work out... In fact, because I was so pissed off about it, I had a great Week 4 Day 1 workout.


DAY 1:

Squats 5X5 --> 255 (Getting stronger every workout on Squats, but since I'm new to ATF squats, I'm scared to add more than 10 lbs per workout)
Incline 1X5 --> 235 (Really pushed me to my max, last rep was my last)
Rows 1X5 --> 165 (the last rep on set 5 was definitely my last rep, I barely made it a complete rep)
ABS --> 3X25 Seated Knee-Ins

 

[blut wump]

One of the reasons you felt so good was that you'd missed the previous workout and so had grabbed some extra recovery.

Putting that together with what you're saying about not pushing to the max with your squats, give some thought to adding a whole extra week to your loading phase, making it a 5-week loading rather than the usual four. You could keep the Incline and Rows the same if you're hitting the max on those but try for more in everything. Just something to consider, see how this week's deadlifts go.

 

[go2failure]

One of the reasons you felt so good was that you'd missed the previous workout and so had grabbed some extra recovery.

Putting that together with what you're saying about not pushing to the max with your squats, give some thought to adding a whole extra week to your loading phase, making it a 5-week loading rather than the usual four. You could keep the Incline and Rows the same if you're hitting the max on those but try for more in everything. Just something to consider, see how this week's deadlifts go.

Lately my back aches all the time and I feel like I've been hit by a big truck in the morning.

My problem with piling on weight for squats is that I'm not use to doing them ATF. While I could easily throw on 20 lbs a workout and get to where I want to be in a hurry, I want to establish a strong base and take my time with them. After week 9 I will have a better idea of what weight to start with on my next cycle, which will help me find a PR weight next DF cycle.

I can only wonder right now what my numbers would have been had I been doing ATF squats for the past 3 years.

 

[blut wump]

I know just what you mean with ATF squats. It's definitely better to maintain your form than pile on too much weight and go back to partial squats.

Glad to hear you're feeling shattered in the mornings. Sounds like you are loading just fine, then. Week5 will be a relief.

 

[Guinness5.0]

I really think that the weight reduction you take on squat going ATF is temporary, then your weights improve more rapidly than they would otherwise. When i started going ATF I probably would have failed at 6 reps with 315 (didn't go to failure per se but there wasn't much left after 5) and now I'm certain I could crank out 7 or 8 with 365 ATF. That's over the course of 9 weeks (started ATF before running 5x5) and represents a marked improvement IMO. Not to mention the fact that 365 for 8 reps was my best while on juice in february, and that was only going to parallel. Also, I was ten pounds heavier thanks to the sauce.

 

[go2failure]

Week 4 DAY 2:

Squats 5X5 --> 235
Deadlifts --> 245
Military Press: 155X2 , 145X3
CU/PU 5X5: BW, Palms Out

--Squats were not so fresh today, I felt off/weaker
--Deadlifts are still going up (20lbs per week), I'm liking my new stance.
--I went as heavy as I could go today on Military Press, I had to back up 10 lbs on set 3-5.
--My 5 sets at BW on PU/CU were awesome. Today was the strongest I've ever felt doing them before, I'm afraid I'm addicted to them!

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 4 DAY 2:

Squats 5X5 --> 235
Deadlifts --> 245
Military Press: 155X2 , 145X3
CU/PU 5X5: BW, Palms Out

--Squats were not so fresh today, I felt off/weaker
--Deadlifts are still going up (20lbs per week), I'm liking my new stance.
--I went as heavy as I could go today on Military Press, I had to back up 10 lbs on set 3-5.
--My 5 sets at BW on PU/CU were awesome. Today was the strongest I've ever felt doing them before, I'm afraid I'm addicted to them!

Seems to me that you're going a tad heavy for the light squat workout. It's week 4 and you're going less than 10% lighter than your 1x5 weight. Still, you'll be deloading soon so no biggie.

 

[Madcow2]

Absolutely. Wed squat is 10-20% or some range lower and you needn't hold this fixed as many people will let it drift from 10% in week 1 further down towards 15-20% in week 4. You are 10lbs less. This is a bad thing but be glad you are done.

Also, you might want to use Flat bench on M/F next time and save incline/overhead for the Wed workout. Providing you don't have some kind of mitigating injury, the flat bench is a supperior stimulator for upper body mass. Another alternative is slight to low incline benches.

 

[go2failure]

Absolutely. Wed squat is 10-20% or some range lower and you needn't hold this fixed as many people will let it drift from 10% in week 1 further down towards 15-20% in week 4. You are 10lbs less. This is a bad thing but be glad you are done.

Also, you might want to use Flat bench on M/F next time and save incline/overhead for the Wed workout. Providing you don't have some kind of mitigating injury, the flat bench is a supperior stimulator for upper body mass. Another alternative is slight to low incline benches.

Yeah, but the ghetto gov't gym I'm a automatic member of does not have a variable bench press set up. LOL

 

[go2failure]

WEEK 4:


DAY 1:

Squats 5X5 --> 255 (Getting stronger every workout on Squats, but since I'm new to ATF squats, I'm scared to add more than 10 lbs per workout)
Incline 1X5 --> 235 (Really pushed me to my max, last rep was my last)
Rows 1X5 --> 165 (the last rep on set 5 was definitely my last rep, I barely made it a complete rep)
ABS --> 3X25 Seated Knee-Ins


DAY 2:

Squats 5X5 --> 235
Deadlifts --> 245
Military Press: 155X2 , 145X3
CU/PU 5X5: BW, Palms Out

--Squats were not so fresh today, I felt off/weaker
--Deadlifts are still going up (20lbs per week), I'm liking my new stance.
--I went as heavy as I could go today on Military Press, I had to back up 10 lbs on set 3-5.
--My 5 sets at BW on PU/CU were awesome. Today was the strongest I've ever felt doing them before, I'm afraid I'm addicted to them!


DAY 3:

Squats 1X5 --> 265 (definitely tougher, I was way out of breath come sets 4 and 5)
Incline Bench Press 5X5 --> 225 (I cant friggin believe I made all sets and reps, I thought it was a shot in the dark based on the past 3 weeks with this exercise)
Rows 5X5 --> 155 (definitely got out of breath and even had to rest pause a few reps towards the end. Definitely took me to the max...)


SUMMARY Week 1-4:

Overall, I am very satisfied with my first loading phase. The increases in weight are very nice, I've gone up at least 20-50 lbs on every lift. I feel very achy at this point in the game, I'm mentally and physically looking forward to the deload/intensity phase. I know the gains are still gonna come and that motivates me even more. Hell, 20-50 lbs lift increase already and I haven't even started the second phase yet?

Looking forward to Thursday...