Another Single Factor 5x5 Journal

[anotherbutters]

Week 10, Monday

Bodyweight: 78kg (target: 78.3)

1. Freeweight back squats (kg)
bar x 18 (warmup)
40 x 9 (warmup)
60 x 5
70 x 5
75 x 5
80 x 5
92.5 x 5 (up 2.5) -------------- PR

2. Bench (kg)
bar x 9 (warmup)
30 x 9 (warmup)
47.5 x 5 (up 2.5)
52.5 x 5 (up 2.5)
57.5 x 5 (up 2.2)
62.5 x 5 (up 2.5)
68.5 x 5 (up 1) -------- PR

3. Row (kg)
30 x 9 (warmup)
40 x 5
45 x 5
50 x 5
55 x 5 (up 2.5)
60 x 5 (up 1.5) --------- PR


Comments

My bodyweight fluctuations seem to have stabilized and put me on my target weight for this week. Magic!

Squats were ok. I nearly stopped half way up on the last rep, but I think it was because I lost concentration and lost my balance slightly. I've been trying to make sure I sit back and not let my knees go forward any more than the initial movement. I fell backwards slightly when I was warming up with the bar, so I think I'm back as far as I can go. I don't think it's a problem, but I still think about it. I might have been able to do 95kg if I stopped thinking about my knees. Ah well, I'll have it next week.

If you set a PR on bench today, your word of exclamation must be 'wicked'.

"Wicked!" I can't wait to hit 70kg next week. Back in week two, I benched 60kg for 5 reps and posted this:

I told my mate about getting the microweights and trying to increase the weight each week. He said I'd never add 10kg to my bench in 10 weeks, which kinda gave me something to aim for!

I had the same concern for rows as I do every week - was my form good enough? I noticed the bar wasn't to my gut on the 4th rep, tried to get it to the top on the 5th and almost got it there. I think I'll still count it as I wasn't standing up too much. All the other sets had good form.

I've just noticed, my bench hit 150lbs today. Lightweight, baby

 

[BiggT]

You damn Europeans and your kilos, lol, I need to bust out my calculator and multiply everything by 2.2 to follow your journal. Actually....could it be us damn Americans and our stubborness not to convert to the metric system??? Nahhh, it is the rest of the world, they're crazy lol.

Just kidding with you, man.....journal is looking good. It is a good sign when you freak out about form and not counting a rep. if you're that concerned, I am sure it was fine. Keep it up.

 

[blut wump]

Not only hit 150 but broke it and, what's more, broke it for 5 reps. In American weight, it'd be 135 for the 60Kgs and another 11 for the two 2.5Kgs plus 7.7 for the extra 3.5Kgs. I reckon they'd call that 155 lbs.

Congrats on another solid set of PRs. Your transition from Smith to free is now complete and looks to have been completely painless. Congrats on that, too.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Lightweight, baby

Speaking of Colemanisms, there's this PT who idolizes Ronnie at the gym and is always quoting him or talking about him. Like I was working in with him once and he told me he ate like 10 BBQ chicken breasts/day 'just like Ronnie Coleman'.

Anyway, I saw him doing those side raises where you belly up to an incline bench with 30 or 50lb db's and some guy says to him 'damn that's a lot of weight' or somesuch. So he replies with how 'everybody wants to be a bodybuilder but nobody wants to lift heavy ass weight.'

 

[blut wump]

I first heard of Ronnie Coleman just under a year ago. I'd just set a PR and was feeling happy with myself and the guy I was effusing my glee over asked what I reckoned Ronnie Coleman would be able to bench. I knew Gene Rychlak had just done 1005lbs but had no idea who RC was. I had to look him up on the 'Net when I got home.

It's good to see that irony and sarcasm have been allowed to thrive in the colonies.

 

[anotherbutters]

In American weight, it'd be 135 for the 60Kgs and another 11 for the two 2.5Kgs plus 7.7 for the extra 3.5Kgs. I reckon they'd call that 155 lbs.

So american plates are 1lb heavier at 45lbs? That would make it less impressive if someone in the UK just said they'd benched three plates wouldn't it?

Your transition from Smith to free is now complete and looks to have been completely painless.

I won't mention that I hit my knee with a 10kg plate when I unloaded the bar then.

Speaking of Colemanisms

I didn't realise it was! I like the other quote though.

 

[blut wump]

You're in a fine position to lay this to rest.

My current gym doesn't have a weight scale but many of the 20Kg plates have 20Kg and 45 lbs embossed on them. If you have a weight scale at home, along with your home plates, perhaps you could weigh yourself with and without a 20Kg plate in your arms. Are they 20Kgs or are they 45lbs?

 

[anotherbutters]

Or add to the confusion...

My plates have 20kg/44lb stamped on them, not 45. I put both of them on the bathroom scales sans myself and they came in at 38.25kg. I've been short-changed! I expected them to be out by a little bit, but not that much.

The scales are probably out by a bit too. They're just cheap bathroom scales.

I hope my new bumper plates don't weigh more than these plates!

 

[blut wump]

Or add to the confusion...

My plates have 20kg/44lb stamped on them, not 45. I put both of them on the bathroom scales sans myself and they came in at 38.25kg. I've been short-changed! I expected them to be out by a little bit, but not that much.

The scales are probably out by a bit too. They're just cheap bathroom scales.

I hope my new bumper plates don't weigh more than these plates!

I usually prefer to take two weighted measurements and use the difference since I rarely trust the zero-point. Almost a Kilo short on each seems a pretty drastic shortfall. A lot of bathroom scales only work properly for someone standing on them too since they're sensitive to where the pressure is. You'd better find out whether they are equally light or whether you have an imbalance.

 

[anotherbutters]

I tried again as you said. The surface that I put the scales on alters the weight it records. On carpet, I weigh 80kg exactly. With the scales on the hard rubber matting, I weigh 78kg!

On carpet, myself with one plate is 100kg+ (just over). With the other plate, we're 99kg, so I have a light plate. These scales aren't that accurate for measuring absolute values, so I still can't say whether they're 44lb or 45lb.

Edited...

I just did some looking around on the net and Oly standard plates are measured in kg, i.e. 20kg, or 44lb. It also appears that you can buy plates measured in kg or lbs, i.e. 20kg or 45lb (the accurate Ivanko plates). So does this mean a 'plate' doesn't always mean the same thing?