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silver_shadow
New member
haha, you have to workout without the wifeyGSP said:
GSP's Better late than never 3X5...
- Thread starter GSP
- Start date
6/16 - Workout B
Squats - Did not attempt
Standing Press (3X5) 135 PR
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 172 PR
Comments: Finally got the 45's onto the bar for Press! Tough last set on this one but got'em up.
Are the rows supposed to hurt my lats at all? My lats are very tight in all my shirts now, but I never ever feel stimulated there or experience any soreness after a workout, is this normal??
Back to squats on Monday, hopefully I'll be able to jump in right where I left off with no problems.
Squats - Did not attempt
Standing Press (3X5) 135 PR
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 172 PR
Comments: Finally got the 45's onto the bar for Press! Tough last set on this one but got'em up.
Are the rows supposed to hurt my lats at all? My lats are very tight in all my shirts now, but I never ever feel stimulated there or experience any soreness after a workout, is this normal??
Back to squats on Monday, hopefully I'll be able to jump in right where I left off with no problems.
Cynical Simian
New member
Nice pressing.
If I may ask, why did you decide to drop squats/deads completely rather than just doing a mini-deload and decreasing the weight? Did you want to give your joints a break?
Rows are exactly the same way for me.
If I may ask, why did you decide to drop squats/deads completely rather than just doing a mini-deload and decreasing the weight? Did you want to give your joints a break?
Rows are exactly the same way for me.
6/19 Workout A
Squat (3X5) 215 Rep range PR
Bench (3X5) 135
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 174 PR
Comments: Made a considerable error in judgement today by attempting a rep range PR on squats after a full 9 days between sessions. Made all the reps, but as I unloaded the plates from the second side of the bar, my hamstring tightened up and I realized something was pulled. I lightly stretched post workout and am icing right now. I got impatient and paid the price today. Fingers crossed for this being a minor tweak, but won't know until tomorrow.
I'm experimenting on Bench right now. I did these on the lowest incline in the power rack. This allowed me to get a ROM that stops the bar about 1.5 inches above my chest, which keeps the tension off my shoulder joint. I will continue to try this variation a bit further, as it's my last 'best' chance at keeping this a free weight exercise, which I really want to do.
Squat (3X5) 215 Rep range PR
Bench (3X5) 135
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 174 PR
Comments: Made a considerable error in judgement today by attempting a rep range PR on squats after a full 9 days between sessions. Made all the reps, but as I unloaded the plates from the second side of the bar, my hamstring tightened up and I realized something was pulled. I lightly stretched post workout and am icing right now. I got impatient and paid the price today. Fingers crossed for this being a minor tweak, but won't know until tomorrow.
I'm experimenting on Bench right now. I did these on the lowest incline in the power rack. This allowed me to get a ROM that stops the bar about 1.5 inches above my chest, which keeps the tension off my shoulder joint. I will continue to try this variation a bit further, as it's my last 'best' chance at keeping this a free weight exercise, which I really want to do.
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ChinkNasty
New member
so if im not mistaken, u're doing a standing military press with 135 and benching 135 as well?
Jim Ouini said:Hopefully it's just a minor tweak. Congrats on the PR's nonetheless. What'd you squat BTW?
I know what you mean about sometimes being impatient. I remember the old days when I was spinning my wheels, nothing but plates 'n quarters
LOL, yeah, the actual weight would help, this being a journal and all
I did 3X5 at 215 yesterday. This morning it seems the pull is only minor, though I have a hard time telling through all the DOMS.
carlsuen said:
Correct. It's been years since I've really done any flat benching, I was probably using 190-195 for reps at that time.
One thing I noticed by using the power rack and pins was that my right arm lowers unevenly with my left arm, and hit the pins with the left side still and inch or 2 higher. I never picked up on this before. Not unrelated IMO, it's my right shoulder that gives me problems.
I'm cautiously optimistic this variation will work for me. The ROM is just 1 to 1.5 inches less than touching my chest, but the pins will keep my shoulder from getting into a real bad position even during a bad rep or failed attempt.
6/21 - Workout B
Squats (3X5) 145
Standing Press (3X5) 137 PR
Deadlift
1X5 - 135 lbs
1X5 - 185 lbs
1X5 - 275 PR
Comments: I got lucky with the hammy, no pain at all today, it must have just been cramping up. OHP's tough again but got all of them up.
I backed off the deadlift ramped sets a bit as I was concerned they might interfere with my top set. So I did 1X5 at lower weights and then some heavy doubles to work up to the top set. Worked very well, as I felt had a rep or two left in me after the set.
Squats (3X5) 145
Standing Press (3X5) 137 PR
Deadlift
1X5 - 135 lbs
1X5 - 185 lbs
1X5 - 275 PR
Comments: I got lucky with the hammy, no pain at all today, it must have just been cramping up. OHP's tough again but got all of them up.
I backed off the deadlift ramped sets a bit as I was concerned they might interfere with my top set. So I did 1X5 at lower weights and then some heavy doubles to work up to the top set. Worked very well, as I felt had a rep or two left in me after the set.
6/23 - Workout A
Squats
1X5 - 140
1X5 - 190
1X3 - 220 PR
Bench (3X5) 145
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 175 PR
Comments: So-So workout. I really didn't feel much like getting under the bar for squats. The 190 for 5 felt really heavy and I questioned whether I should even try 3 at 30# heavier. As usual, common sense lost out and up it went, though it was a tough 3!
I'm starting to develop some forearm pain from/during the rows. Don't know if it's mild tendonitis or what. It's just a mild annoyance at this point.
Squats
1X5 - 140
1X5 - 190
1X3 - 220 PR
Bench (3X5) 145
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 175 PR
Comments: So-So workout. I really didn't feel much like getting under the bar for squats. The 190 for 5 felt really heavy and I questioned whether I should even try 3 at 30# heavier. As usual, common sense lost out and up it went, though it was a tough 3!
I'm starting to develop some forearm pain from/during the rows. Don't know if it's mild tendonitis or what. It's just a mild annoyance at this point.
Cynical Simian
New member
Nice work as always. (I'm trying to limit my "congrats" posts to one per week if I don't have anything else to say, lest anyone looking back at this journal have to wade through dozens of them.)
Good to see "bench" on there without any comments about shoulder pain; I assume this was the same incline/rack setup as the previous bench workout. Do you plan to try moving the bench angle or pins down any more if you don't have shoulder problems with this?
Good to see "bench" on there without any comments about shoulder pain; I assume this was the same incline/rack setup as the previous bench workout. Do you plan to try moving the bench angle or pins down any more if you don't have shoulder problems with this?
Cynical Simian said:
Thanks bro. yeah, it's the same incline/pin setup. It's definitely refreshing to get on the Bench without hurting. If I can continue to progress like this, I will eventually try and transition into a traditional setup. But truth be told, if I had to continue training longer term with a 1.5 inch reduction on my BP ROM, I'm not going to lose much sleep over it.
6/27 - Workout B
Squats (3X5) 220 rep range PR
Standing Press - 138 lbs. Failed on 5th rep of all 3 sets
Pendlay Rows - 177 lbs. 1X4 + failed on 5th rep.
Comments:
Pleasure and pain for this one. Nailed the 3 sets across on squats, but it literally took everything I had. I had no chance on the rest of the lifts, I was spent.
Protobuilder: If you're browsing this, the 'How I learned to Squat' thread you posted earlier got me these sets. Corny as it sounds, I used the mental image of that old guy cranking out his reps to finish out my last 2 sets!
I feel as if the first phase of my journey into strength training is beginning to wind down now. I don't think I'll hit another PR on other lifts on days when I squat PR (except with Bench), but we'll see. I may wrap up those days with some 3X8 or something else with slightly less weight then hit my 3X5 PR's on the upper body lifts on Wed. or Friday. I'll definitely put on 2 plates real soon for squats.which is a very big deal for me. I'll hopefully squeeze out another PR or two after that, but I'm also starting to accumulate some minor injuries that I need to let heal in my legs and forearm.
Squats (3X5) 220 rep range PR
Standing Press - 138 lbs. Failed on 5th rep of all 3 sets
Pendlay Rows - 177 lbs. 1X4 + failed on 5th rep.
Comments:
Pleasure and pain for this one. Nailed the 3 sets across on squats, but it literally took everything I had. I had no chance on the rest of the lifts, I was spent.
Protobuilder: If you're browsing this, the 'How I learned to Squat' thread you posted earlier got me these sets. Corny as it sounds, I used the mental image of that old guy cranking out his reps to finish out my last 2 sets!
I feel as if the first phase of my journey into strength training is beginning to wind down now. I don't think I'll hit another PR on other lifts on days when I squat PR (except with Bench), but we'll see. I may wrap up those days with some 3X8 or something else with slightly less weight then hit my 3X5 PR's on the upper body lifts on Wed. or Friday. I'll definitely put on 2 plates real soon for squats.which is a very big deal for me. I'll hopefully squeeze out another PR or two after that, but I'm also starting to accumulate some minor injuries that I need to let heal in my legs and forearm.
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anotherbutters
New member
If you were in the UK, 220lbs would be 2 plates, since we use 20kg (44lb) plates
Congrats again on the progress so far. Squats up from 175lbs (1x5) to 220lbs (3x5)! Not sure how many weeks you've been on this. Not sure about what your deadlift max was when you started either. Could you draw up a quick summary of your progress for the record?
Congrats again on the progress so far. Squats up from 175lbs (1x5) to 220lbs (3x5)! Not sure how many weeks you've been on this. Not sure about what your deadlift max was when you started either. Could you draw up a quick summary of your progress for the record?
anotherbutters said:
It's difficult for me to chart my progress against a previous max because I've never actually done any of these exercises so I have no baseline. Not the free weight version anyway, I've done some machine work, LOL (except for squat which I've done reps at 175 to parallel or just above- though ATG has proven to be an entirely different animal as 175 would have crushed me at that depth).
So Starting from the beginning, I began progression on Standing Press, Deadlift, and Pendlay Rows on 3/1 (17 weeks) @
Standing Press: 90 lbs
Deadlift: 150 lbs
Pendlay Rows: 95 lbs
And added progression on Squats and DB Bench on 4/12 (11 weeks) @
Squat: 115 lbs
DB Bench: 120 lbs (total)
Current top weight:
Standing Press: 137 (+47 lbs)
Deadlift: 275 (+125 lbs)
Pendlay Rows: 175 (+80 lbs)
Squat: 220 (+105 lbs)
DB Bench 155 (+35 lbs)
Holy Shit, I've made just shy of 400 lbs. of progression on my core lifts! How much of that had some carryover from previous machine exercises? I really can't say. Though I can say with certainty that a year on machines had far less of an impact on my body than a few months of this type of programming.
Body weight: from 175/177 to 192/194
Note: this is not an official summary as I'm expecting another PR or two in the very near future
Cynical Simian
New member
Agreed. Great work, and like you said, you're not done yet.GSP said:
Be sure to make a really nicely formatted "Summary of Progress" post when you finish this run. That should make the decision of the guys who're thinking "Should I do Rippetoe's routine or the Jay Cutler one I saw in Flex?" a bit easier.
6/30 - Workout A
Squats (3X5) 135
Bench: Did not attempt
Deadlift (1X5) 280 PR
Comments: Feels like I'm falling apart. Today it was my left shoulder on Bench, just with the bar. Perhaps I hurt it a bit failing on OHP? Who knows. Turns out my hip is pretty painful right now too from my first squat workout after my week of legs. I think I got off balance and strained something pretty good. As I think about it, I've now gone 17 straight weeks setting PR's on my upper body lifts, I may need a little bit of a deload soon.
Did the squats nice and slow with a 3-4 second pause at the bottom to get a nice stretch and some blood flowing into the area.
Deads went well as they have every workout so far.
I'm going to spend the next few weeks shedding a little bit of fat, maybe 8-10 lbs. or so over 4-6 weeks. I'll hopefully be able to continue to set some PR's, even if only a few pounds each week.
Squats (3X5) 135
Bench: Did not attempt
Deadlift (1X5) 280 PR
Comments: Feels like I'm falling apart. Today it was my left shoulder on Bench, just with the bar. Perhaps I hurt it a bit failing on OHP? Who knows. Turns out my hip is pretty painful right now too from my first squat workout after my week of legs. I think I got off balance and strained something pretty good. As I think about it, I've now gone 17 straight weeks setting PR's on my upper body lifts, I may need a little bit of a deload soon.
Did the squats nice and slow with a 3-4 second pause at the bottom to get a nice stretch and some blood flowing into the area.
Deads went well as they have every workout so far.
I'm going to spend the next few weeks shedding a little bit of fat, maybe 8-10 lbs. or so over 4-6 weeks. I'll hopefully be able to continue to set some PR's, even if only a few pounds each week.
Protobuilder
New member
I am reading! You've made awesome progress. This really is a cool journal to read. You're doing it exactly right and it seems to be working. This isn't rocket science -- follow a smart program, don't do anything stupid, and your lifts go up (for most people). Nicely done.
That's awesome. When you're in PR territory, you gut it out however you can. Over the past week, from reading your posts, it's clear that you're getting kind of beat up. I'm at that exact spot myself. I've taken an "easy" week this week. Tried to catch up on sleep, dropped some lifts (which means dropped volume) and just did a handful of heavy sets on the big lifts that count. I'm having similar aches and pains too after 8 weeks of pushing.
No worries here, man. At some point, I just don't know how realistic it is (and MC2 said the same thing) to expect to set weekly PRs in each and every lift. This whole cycle for me has been a learning experience. I pushed everything the best I could but know that I sacrificed some in the "lesser" lifts (bench, pullups, OHP) in order to keep succeeding at squats & deads. Some weeks I'd get 'em all . . . some weeks I"d only get squats & Deads. And I was OK w/ that b/c I wanted the string of PRs to keep going. So, just as an example that might be helpful to you, when I started getting stuck in bench and things were getting hard all around, I went from 5x5 to 3x5 on bench and started pushing that PR rather than all 5 sets. That gave me some more gas for other things. I did the same thing on pullups (worked pullups rather than rows this time around). And there was a week or two where my shoulders were toast so I'd just do a 1x5 on bench or keep 3x5 from last week and not worry about the PR. Additionally, depending how I felt, I'd add/drop backoff sets, which can cut into recovery pretty signficantly if you're pushing 'em hard. Just some examples of how to handle not hitting PRs in everything each and every time. I feel like adapting on the fly is helpful so long as you don't lose control/get stupid.
Anyway, don't sweat making this week an easy one. Many Oly guys train 3 hard weeks/1 easy week, regardless of how they "feel."
7/4 - Workout B
Squats
1X5 - 145 lbs
1X5 - 195 lbs
1X5 - 225 lbs PR
Standing Press - Warmup only
Pendlay Row - Warmup only
Comments: Wow, what an anti-climatic workout! I've spent the last month or so obsessing over getting to 225 on squats, and today it goes up with little fanfare in a mostly empty gym.
I've made the call to make the move to ramped poundages on squats in place of the 3 straight sets. It made a big difference today, as I don't feel as completely exhausted post workout as I have been on squat PR day. I think this change-up will allow me to drive my 5RM up a bit higher as I'm dropping some weight.
Speaking of weight, a few cases of beer and lot's of BBQ really got me off to a great start to my fat loss this weekend - LOL
Just did some light warm-up level lifting for upper body today, and will do the same on my next workout.
Squats
1X5 - 145 lbs
1X5 - 195 lbs
1X5 - 225 lbs PR
Standing Press - Warmup only
Pendlay Row - Warmup only
Comments: Wow, what an anti-climatic workout! I've spent the last month or so obsessing over getting to 225 on squats, and today it goes up with little fanfare in a mostly empty gym.
I've made the call to make the move to ramped poundages on squats in place of the 3 straight sets. It made a big difference today, as I don't feel as completely exhausted post workout as I have been on squat PR day. I think this change-up will allow me to drive my 5RM up a bit higher as I'm dropping some weight.
Speaking of weight, a few cases of beer and lot's of BBQ really got me off to a great start to my fat loss this weekend - LOL
Just did some light warm-up level lifting for upper body today, and will do the same on my next workout.
Protobuilder said:
Thanks for all the feedback bro, you guys have been great at nudging me along in the right direction to keep this thing going! I'd say 90% of what I'm feeling is simply built up fatigue, but I'll need to be careful with my hip, something like that has potential to cause problems if I don't handle it well. The reduced intensity from the ramped set squats seemed to really help, so hopefully that one change will take care of things.
6/7 - Workout A
Squats (3X5) 155
Deadlift (1X5) 285 PR
Comments: Fairly uneventful workout. Hell, I only got 1 PR today, wheeee! I keep expecting to stall out on Deads but they keep going up ok. Had someone watch my form today, with the heavier weights I've been having difficulty with my sense of body positioning. I was worried my back was rounding some, but it seems that it remained perfectly flat, which was great news.
Another light week for me next week. No squat PR, maybe at 70% of my current 5RM, we'll see on Deads. I need to get this hip thing straightened out here before I push much further.
Squats (3X5) 155
Deadlift (1X5) 285 PR
Comments: Fairly uneventful workout. Hell, I only got 1 PR today, wheeee!
I keep expecting to stall out on Deads but they keep going up ok. Had someone watch my form today, with the heavier weights I've been having difficulty with my sense of body positioning. I was worried my back was rounding some, but it seems that it remained perfectly flat, which was great news.Another light week for me next week. No squat PR, maybe at 70% of my current 5RM, we'll see on Deads. I need to get this hip thing straightened out here before I push much further.
Nice dead PR!! I hope your hip doesn't screw you up in your lifting career and cause problems. I always feel like my back is somewhat rounding on deads too..I need someone to check my form that actually knows how to deadlift lol (i'm the only person that deadlifts in my entire gym...pretty damn sad)
By the way, you call getting a PR in the most demanding lift a light workout??
By the way, you call getting a PR in the most demanding lift a light workout??
oso0690 said:Nice dead PR!! I hope your hip doesn't screw you up in your lifting career and cause problems. I always feel like my back is somewhat rounding on deads too..I need someone to check my form that actually knows how to deadlift lol (i'm the only person that deadlifts in my entire gym...pretty damn sad)
By the way, you call getting a PR in the most demanding lift a light workout??
Thanks!
I don't think the hip thing is serious, just a strained hip flexor, though it could certainly worsen if I push too hard. But Setting weekly PR's on squats and deads isn't exactly conducive to recovery. I think a short period of reduced workload will let me heal up.
I know what you mean about deads in a commercial gym. I've become somewhat of a sideshow lately, everyone stops what they're doing to peer over at me as I do my top sets. Kind of a wierd feeling if for no other reason than I simply am not pulling that much. I could understand it if I was loading up 4-5 plates or something.
Cynical Simian
New member
Just dropping in since it's been a while since my last congratulatory post. Nice work on 225 and the deads PR.
Enjoy the deload! Have you started reducing calories for the cut you mentioned a week or so ago?
Nice work on 225 and the deads PR.Enjoy the deload! Have you started reducing calories for the cut you mentioned a week or so ago?
Cynical Simian said:Just dropping in since it's been a while since my last congratulatory post.
Enjoy the deload! Have you started reducing calories for the cut you mentioned a week or so ago?
Thanks!
Yeah, I've sort of started some caloric restriction, slacked off a bit (a lot!) over the 4th, but am back on the wagon. I'm sitting at about 190 even right now and will probably drop down to the low 180's, maybe to 180 even.
7/10 - Workout B
Squats:
1X5 - 100
1X5 - 140
1X5 - 165
Standing Press (3X5) 115
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 155
Comments: Nice break on the squats today, felt really good.
Some shoulder tenderness on the OHP, not severe but I didn't try and push the weight up any higher. I was a bit disappointed at how heavy 115 felt today, but given my lack of focus on pressing the last week or two it's to be expected.
I tried the rows underhanded to ease my forearm pain, it felt very awkward. I may just try and use straps with the overhand grip to take a little pressure off my forearm.
Squats:
1X5 - 100
1X5 - 140
1X5 - 165
Standing Press (3X5) 115
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 155
Comments: Nice break on the squats today, felt really good.
Some shoulder tenderness on the OHP, not severe but I didn't try and push the weight up any higher. I was a bit disappointed at how heavy 115 felt today, but given my lack of focus on pressing the last week or two it's to be expected.
I tried the rows underhanded to ease my forearm pain, it felt very awkward. I may just try and use straps with the overhand grip to take a little pressure off my forearm.
I completely forgot the most important point from today! Though it's not me.
My wife has been doing this at the same time, not quite as consistently, but at least 2X per week just the same.
Today she pulled the 45's off the floor for her 1X5 Deads! Awesome stuff!
She doesn't journal here, but in 14 weeks:
Squat: 50 lbs up to 104 + 54 lbs
Bench Press: 45 lbs up to 80 +35 lbs
T-Bar Rows: bar +5 up to bar + 45 +40 lbs
OHP: 35 lbs up to 75 lbs +40 lbs
Deadlifts: 80 lbs up to 135 +55 lbs
Total progression: 224 lbs!
My wife has been doing this at the same time, not quite as consistently, but at least 2X per week just the same.
Today she pulled the 45's off the floor for her 1X5 Deads! Awesome stuff!
She doesn't journal here, but in 14 weeks:
Squat: 50 lbs up to 104 + 54 lbs
Bench Press: 45 lbs up to 80 +35 lbs
T-Bar Rows: bar +5 up to bar + 45 +40 lbs
OHP: 35 lbs up to 75 lbs +40 lbs
Deadlifts: 80 lbs up to 135 +55 lbs
Total progression: 224 lbs!
anotherbutters
New member
Wow, she almost doubled everything. Congrats to Mrs GSP
7/17 - Workout A
Squats
1x5 - 185
1X5 - 205
1X4.8 - 230 PR!?
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 155
Comments: Alright, no semantics on the squats. I enlisted the help of a spotter at the gym where I'm travelling this week. Got 4 tough reps, and I'm certain I would have gotten the 5th up, but I was stuck about 3/4 of the way up and my spotter jumped on after about 5-6 seconds of blood & guts pushing (He didn't do anything wrong, I just wasn't clear enough with my expectations for the lift with him). I just know I would have pushed through it, but in the end it won't count as a rep for me. Legs felt great after the deload week though.
Taking 1 more week off of pressing movements before deciding how to proceed with my shoulder.
Didn't push the rows and stayed lighter. I tried straps thinking that might help my forearm, but it really didn't. It doesn't affect my lifting, but hurts like hell later on.
I'll be making a final push on squats and deads over the next couple of weeks and then resetting for a 5X5 run. I have to say I'm a bit apprehensive about the volume, but I'll give it a go as written. I just don't feel like I have a very high capacity for workload yet, but the first several sets of 5X5 are pretty light so I may be worried about nothing.
Squats
1x5 - 185
1X5 - 205
1X4.8 - 230 PR!?
Pendlay Rows (3X5) 155
Comments: Alright, no semantics on the squats. I enlisted the help of a spotter at the gym where I'm travelling this week. Got 4 tough reps, and I'm certain I would have gotten the 5th up, but I was stuck about 3/4 of the way up and my spotter jumped on after about 5-6 seconds of blood & guts pushing (He didn't do anything wrong, I just wasn't clear enough with my expectations for the lift with him). I just know I would have pushed through it, but in the end it won't count as a rep for me. Legs felt great after the deload week though.
Taking 1 more week off of pressing movements before deciding how to proceed with my shoulder.
Didn't push the rows and stayed lighter. I tried straps thinking that might help my forearm, but it really didn't. It doesn't affect my lifting, but hurts like hell later on.
I'll be making a final push on squats and deads over the next couple of weeks and then resetting for a 5X5 run. I have to say I'm a bit apprehensive about the volume, but I'll give it a go as written. I just don't feel like I have a very high capacity for workload yet, but the first several sets of 5X5 are pretty light so I may be worried about nothing.
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GSP said:
I think you'll do just fine in the transition. Coming from a 5x5 program, you know your exact 5RMs so you can set up the first four weeks optimally. Hope it is as successful as your 3x5, I really wonder what your gains will mount up to before going into periodization!
carlsuen said:
I picked up a pair of 2.5 lb. ankle weights last year for about 10 bucks that I carry in my gym bag wherever I go (I travel quite a bit at work, so I'm often jumping from gym to gym). They have 1/2 lb. increments, so I can load fractionally as low as 0.5 lbs. per side. Doing this has made a huge difference on my Rows and OHP, as it didn't take long for me to hit a wall with 5 lb. jumps on those.
Mercere said:
Thanks, me too (though I don't think I'll be adding another 115 lbs. to my squat anytime soon
)I really don't have very aggressive goals in the scheme of things. Right now, I'm setting a long range goal (1-2 years) of repping out squats at 315 and pulling 4 plates on deads for reps. I think I will be able to get there in linear fashion, with a good number of resets/deloads along the way.
7/21 - Workout B
Squats (3X5) 135
Deadlifts (1X5) 295 PR
Comments: I think my form slipped a bit on my last 2 reps, I was pretty sure my back rounded a bit there, though I'm not 100% sure. Grip did surprisingly well today, but my back was feeling very inflexible through the warmups and worksets for some reason. Got all 5 though!
Hip and shoulder are doing pretty poorly right now. I'm going to have a make a call soon to wrap things up and take some step to heal a bit more thoroughly over the course of several weeks. Right now I seem to get myself better enough to hit a new PR, then hurt myself again - that just won't do long-term.
**EDIT** Man, I'm a dumbass. I forgot I took that deload week last week so I thought I didn't log last weeks Dead PR on my log sheet. So I jumped 10 lbs. today instead of 5. No wonder it was so damn hard!
Squats (3X5) 135
Deadlifts (1X5) 295 PR
Comments: I think my form slipped a bit on my last 2 reps, I was pretty sure my back rounded a bit there, though I'm not 100% sure. Grip did surprisingly well today, but my back was feeling very inflexible through the warmups and worksets for some reason. Got all 5 though!
Hip and shoulder are doing pretty poorly right now. I'm going to have a make a call soon to wrap things up and take some step to heal a bit more thoroughly over the course of several weeks. Right now I seem to get myself better enough to hit a new PR, then hurt myself again - that just won't do long-term.
**EDIT** Man, I'm a dumbass. I forgot I took that deload week last week so I thought I didn't log last weeks Dead PR on my log sheet. So I jumped 10 lbs. today instead of 5. No wonder it was so damn hard!
Cynical Simian
New member
I've somehow managed to be really busy the past few days (I think yesterday was the first day in who knows how many months that I didn't make a post on EF), and all I have time for now is one of my trademark "congrats" posts.
Nice deadlift. Even if you were a dumbass with the weight selection, you were a strong enough dumbass to get the reps anyway.
Your gains are incredible as it is, so don't push too much and risk an injury that'd put you out of action for a while. Maybe go another week and get a nice number for deads (you'll definitely have 300, and maybe 315 if you want to go another week or so after that), then enjoy a well-deserved week off or deload (probably the former if joints are the main issue).
Nice deadlift. Even if you were a dumbass with the weight selection, you were a strong enough dumbass to get the reps anyway.
Your gains are incredible as it is, so don't push too much and risk an injury that'd put you out of action for a while. Maybe go another week and get a nice number for deads (you'll definitely have 300, and maybe 315 if you want to go another week or so after that), then enjoy a well-deserved week off or deload (probably the former if joints are the main issue).
8/4 - Update
Tough few weeks for working out. Been on the road and working very long hours. Got in 1 workout last week and 1 this week, both light. Good news is that everything feels recovered except for my hip, which only hurts a little bit after squats. I'm going to press on with an fairly generic 2X per week workout, Heavy squats, Bench (Hammer strength - works well with my shoulder right now), Rows Day 1 & Light squats, OHP, and Deadlifts Day 2. I'll be doing 4 sets of 5 ramped, just sort of a transition strategy into 5X5 workload. I'll continue this until I drop about 10 lbs. (been sitting at 190 for the last 2 weeks - lot's of eating out).
Tough few weeks for working out. Been on the road and working very long hours. Got in 1 workout last week and 1 this week, both light. Good news is that everything feels recovered except for my hip, which only hurts a little bit after squats. I'm going to press on with an fairly generic 2X per week workout, Heavy squats, Bench (Hammer strength - works well with my shoulder right now), Rows Day 1 & Light squats, OHP, and Deadlifts Day 2. I'll be doing 4 sets of 5 ramped, just sort of a transition strategy into 5X5 workload. I'll continue this until I drop about 10 lbs. (been sitting at 190 for the last 2 weeks - lot's of eating out).
That time out of the gym and eating out probably helped tremendously with recovery. Though..those long hour roadtrips may not have done too good. lol
Do you stretch? I haven't seen your whole journal and haven't seen much about your hip and thought to ask since my hips hurt on squatting down in the hole, and stretching them really helped that. also do you warm up your rotator cuff if that's possible?
Do you stretch? I haven't seen your whole journal and haven't seen much about your hip and thought to ask since my hips hurt on squatting down in the hole, and stretching them really helped that. also do you warm up your rotator cuff if that's possible?
Hey folks. Been quite a while since I made it on here to post - coming up on a year. After August 2006, my work travel schedule picked up to a near 100% level. I was able to maintain my strength levels from my starting strength run through about October, but never could get in enough of a rhythm with my workouts to progress anymore. I completely fell off the wagon Nov-Jan and got nice and weak/fat.
Around Mid-Feb, I setup a 2X per week 4X6 program that I have been able to work well around my travel & work schedule, as it gives me more flexibility with days of the week than a 3X model:
Day 1:
Heavy squats - 4X6 ramped sets Current 6RM = 250
Hammer strength bench - 4X6 ramped sets (gave up on free weight variations of this exercise because of my shoulder Current 6RM = 297
Power Cleans - 3X5 straight sets (switched to these from rows 5 weeks ago) Current 5RM = 115
Day 2:
Light squats 3X5 ramped @75% of Day 1 weight
OHP - 4X6 ramped sets Current 6RM = 139.5
Deadlift - 3X6 ramped sets Current 6RM = 300
I've also been in the process of shedding some fat since early may (got up to almost 200 by Feb - not a good 200 either!) I'm at about 186 right now, and should be in the high 170's by early July. At this point, continuing progression is getting very difficult, as the caloric deficit is starting to take a toll on my energy levels. I don't think it's smart to continue to push myself so hard for this next month, so I'll have to figure out a way to maintain most of my current strength gains during that time.
Around Mid-Feb, I setup a 2X per week 4X6 program that I have been able to work well around my travel & work schedule, as it gives me more flexibility with days of the week than a 3X model:
Day 1:
Heavy squats - 4X6 ramped sets Current 6RM = 250
Hammer strength bench - 4X6 ramped sets (gave up on free weight variations of this exercise because of my shoulder Current 6RM = 297
Power Cleans - 3X5 straight sets (switched to these from rows 5 weeks ago) Current 5RM = 115
Day 2:
Light squats 3X5 ramped @75% of Day 1 weight
OHP - 4X6 ramped sets Current 6RM = 139.5
Deadlift - 3X6 ramped sets Current 6RM = 300
I've also been in the process of shedding some fat since early may (got up to almost 200 by Feb - not a good 200 either!) I'm at about 186 right now, and should be in the high 170's by early July. At this point, continuing progression is getting very difficult, as the caloric deficit is starting to take a toll on my energy levels. I don't think it's smart to continue to push myself so hard for this next month, so I'll have to figure out a way to maintain most of my current strength gains during that time.
