GSP's Better late than never 3X5...

[GSP]

4/21 - Workout A

Squats (3X5) 130 lbs
DB Bench (3X5) 65's
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 140 lbs

Friday Weigh in: 179.9 lbs


Comments: Still feeling great on squats. Fingers crossed for another full week of 10 lb. jumps per workout, though if I make that, I think it will be time for smaller increments. Probably no more 10 lb total jumps on the DB Bench left in me either, which is the tricky one. I use ankle weights in .5 lb increments for fractional loading, I'll have to toy around with making these work on DB's. They are rubberized so they won't hold the magnetic plates like all metal DB's.

 

[GSP]

4/24 - Workout B

Squats (3X5) 140
Standing Press (3X5) 110
Deadlift (1X5) 215

Comments. Good workout, squats are finally starting to feel like a little work instead of a slingshot rebound out of the hole, pretty sure I've got at least 2 more 10 lb jumps left in me on that though. Standing press is starting to stick w/5 pound jumps. I finished all 3 sets of 5 but with a lot of effort on the last 2 reps. Deads still climbing easily in 10 lb. increments. I did feel my double overhand grip get a bit fatigued on the last rep today, so that will become a factor sometime in the near future.

Note: Technically, every lift I'm doing is a PR right now, as these are all new exercises to me (I used to do Hammer Strength Deads, BP and Press). My PR on squat was 170, but that was to parallel, I'm true ATG now so there's really no translation. I'll start logging PR's as such from here on out.

 

[Cynical Simian]

I've been following your updates but haven't had much to post since everything's going well so far. I have one comment on "slingshot rebound," although, if you were just referring to the speed/ease of ascent, it's not an issue. Making sure you're staying tight at the bottom while going ATF is easier on your knees than an uncontrolled "bounce" out of the hole.

 

[GSP]

. I have one comment on "slingshot rebound," although, if you were just referring to the speed/ease of ascent, it's not an issue. Making sure you're staying tight at the bottom while going ATF is easier on your knees than an uncontrolled "bounce" out of the hole.

Yeah, I was just referring to the speed/ease of ascent. I've been making a brief pause at the bottom position during each rep, it's just with the lighter weight, it felt like the elastic energy out of the bottom did all the work and I didn't even have to try. Sadly, it appears those days are coming to an end

Going so light initially was one of the best decisions I've ever made regarding workouts. It really gave me a chance to nail my form. It took a few weeks with nothing but 25's on the bar to do that, but it was definitely time well spent.

 

[GSP]

4/26 - Workout A

Squats (3X5) 150
DB Bench (3X5) 67.5's
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 145

Comments: First 2 squat sets sucked - lot's of minor joint pains for some reason plus a ghost of tendonitis past , but the third set was awesome.

The fractional weighting on the dumbells worked surprisingly well. I had to play around with how to strap the weight on and keep them balanced when getting in position, but no major problems with it. That was comforting since small increments will obviously be a big part of my ability to progress with DB's.

Last week I didn't think I would manage another 5 pound jump on rows, but I was feeling pretty good by the time they rolled around today, and actually had a very good 3 sets, better than 140 was for me last friday.

 

[anotherbutters]

Going so light initially was one of the best decisions I've ever made regarding workouts. It really gave me a chance to nail my form. It took a few weeks with nothing but 25's on the bar to do that, but it was definitely time well spent.

That's good to hear!

What's the shoulder issue that's stopping you from bench pressing? You mentioned SS. I assume you have the Starting Strength book and you've read all about bench press form, tucking your elbows in, etc?

If your squats are getting tough, start making smaller increases. It's better to keep the increases going up, even slowly, rather than miss a rep and have to retry on the next workout.

 

[GSP]

What's the shoulder issue that's stopping you from bench pressing? You mentioned SS. I assume you have the Starting Strength book and you've read all about bench press form, tucking your elbows in, etc?

If your squats are getting tough, start making smaller increases. It's better to keep the increases going up, even slowly, rather than miss a rep and have to retry on the next workout.

I don't have a medical diagnosis on my shoulder, I've always thought it was an impingement. It hurts during just about every exercise I do, but bench is the only one that seems to have lingering effects. I haven't ever been able to comfortably perform BB Inclines, the pain during flat bench has just been the last few years though. I do have Rippetoe's book, it's been worth it's weight in gold. I spent several weeks working on the bench form. It did reduce the pain, but it still got intense enough after 3-4 workouts where I had to take 2 weeks off from pressing. I was pretty quick to ditch it for DB's, especially given that Rippetoe seems to be a big advocate of DB Bench (says he prefers it over BB in his book, but that BB is the standard so he teaches that). Even with DB's, I've found that the lowest incline setting seems to be the best fit for me.

That's good advice on the squats. I was planning on dropping to 5 lb. increments next week. I might do it tomorrow depending on how I feel

 

[GSP]

4/28 - Workout B

Squats (3X5) 160 PR
Standing Press (3X5) 113 PR
Deadlift (1X5) 225 PR

Friday Weigh-in: 182.0 lbs.

Comments: Playtime is definitely over. Hit the 160 squats pretty good, but I'm feeling it now. That will be my last 10 lb jump. If I'm fortunate, I'll get another 4-5 workouts with 5 lb increases.

Standing press is going to be a real challenge for me going forward, as all shoulder exercises always have been. I went up 3 pounds from Monday, and it's taking max effort from me to complete the last 2 reps of the 3rd set. I'll be keeping the progression in smaller increments from here on out.

Deads are still feeling real good. The fatigue from squatting is starting to affect me a bit more now, but the 10 lb increase was still a comfortable one, and I didn't feel like I was flirting with failure at any point. Double overhand grip is still holding out for me, we'll see how much longer. I've got a few more 10 lb jumps left in me on this. Deads are definitely my most natural lift. I've felt very comfortable with them from day 1.

 

[anotherbutters]

Congrats on the PRs!

Do you have any plans on what you'll do when the 3x per week increases slow down? Are you going to carry on pushing with smaller increases, or switch to something like the SF 5x5?

Wow, you've put on 7lbs in 2 weeks!

 

[GSP]

Congrats on the PRs!

Do you have any plans on what you'll do when the 3x per week increases slow down? Are you going to carry on pushing with smaller increases, or switch to something like the SF 5x5?

Wow, you've put on 7lbs in 2 weeks!

Thanks! Right now I'm planning on pushing ahead with Rippetoe's program with smaller increments, and less frequent increases in poundages. Ultimately, I think I'll end up transitioning to the SF 5X5, but I'd like to squeeze all the gains I can out of this program. I'll probably stay with it until I can no longer hit 2.5% increases weekly in poundages, at that point, I'll either go 5X5 or reset a few weeks back and make one more 3X5 run.

I'll be honest, the weight gain is tough for me. Not actually gaining it, but I've never purposely ate to gain, and it's psychologically tough at times. I've probably only actually put on 4-5 'real' pounds. I came immediately off a caloric deficit, so the first few pounds were simply water and glycogen reseting to their normal levels. I'll keep pushing it up as long I still fit in my pants. I started a 33" waist, and most of my pants are 34's, when I gain fat, I can do fine in those until I get in the low 190's, then they start getting pretty snug. Since a good chunk of this weight will hopefully be lean mass, I could see myself getting up to 193-195 before needing to strip a few pounds of fat off.