My new years journal-Single factor 5x5

[asdfzxcv]

8/1/06 Bodyweight 192lb

Been thinking about a few things today in regards to my training in general.Due to the large amount of bodyfat I carry (18-20%) I will try to run this at maintainence calories for the next few months and see if I tighten up a little bit.This will slow down my gains,but I think it will leave my in a better position then all out bulking up.

In regards to training I think my squat is starting to slow down while my other lifts seem to be increasing still.I have reset my squat once before when I hit the 225-230lb mark 8weeks ago,now I have hit the 250-255lb region and I think I am running out of steam once again.If 255 feels too much for me this Friday I will reset the squat down to 235 or 240 to give myself another run at a PR while letting the other lifts catch up.I have being doing the 5x5 style format for squats for about the last 4 1/2 months now,maybe it is time to try something a little different,whether it is a different program like westside or just a tweak of the 5x5 template for a little while to get the squats moving again.I am very cautious when it comes to squatting as I dont have a rack or spotters,I dont want to fall over with 250lb+ on my back as it would be the end of me.

Hopefully if I do reset this coming week I can get my squat up another 15-20lb while increasing the other lifts at a steady pace before losing steam.

If anyone has any feedback please feel free to respond .

 

[mphowells]

Hopefully if I do reset this coming week I can get my squat up another 15-20lb while increasing the other lifts at a steady pace before losing steam.

If anyone has any feedback please feel free to respond .

Just a thought mate, but if you're now changing your calorie intake so as to not take on too much bodyfat won't that harm your strength gains? Could you not continue with caolrie intake and but throw in quite a bit of cardio into the mix at about 60% max heart rate?

 

[asdfzxcv]

Just a thought mate, but if you're now changing your calorie intake so as to not take on too much bodyfat won't that harm your strength gains? Could you not continue with caolrie intake and but throw in quite a bit of cardio into the mix at about 60% max heart rate?[/QUOTE

I plan on doing some cardio on the off days anyway.The calories needed to come down regardless as they were too high.My maintainence level is about 2800 calories so if I take in 3000 that should fit nicely and allow for a little bit of excess.I am not looking to shred the fat off quickly,If I could get down to 15% bodyfat in 5-6months I would be thrilled whilst continuing to gain strength slowly.I am roughly 193lb at 18-20%bf and at a height of 6'4.If I were to drop to anymore weight I would look like an anorexic person,which is why I an opting to slowly recomposition myself slowly over a extended period of time.

Thanks for the feedback it is much appreciated and I will take it into account.

 

[anotherbutters]

It's interesting that your squat is slowing down whilst the other lifts are still rising. Your body as a whole is still getting stronger, so maybe you're just increasing squats at a slightly faster rate than you're getting stronger at them. Common advise is to cut back on the warmup sets to help the top set, but if there is that much disparity between squats and the other lifts, maybe you should just go ahead and reset. Do you have the equipment to make a 4lb increase instead of 5lb per week? That might help you have a longer run next time.

Is there no way you can work out somewhere with a power rack for squats? You're just not going to be able to really push yourself without one and there's always the risk of the freak failed rep that you didn't see coming.

Could I ask a favour? I know you put the date in your workouts, but we can see that from the post. Could you start adding the week number instead? It makes it a lot easier when looking back through your posts, comparing week to week. Cheers.

And yes, your bodyfat issue and approach sounds the same as mine

 

[mphowells]

Well your diet and your program looks good, so I'll look forward to seeing how you progress.

 

[asdfzxcv]

It's interesting that your squat is slowing down whilst the other lifts are still rising. Your body as a whole is still getting stronger, so maybe you're just increasing squats at a slightly faster rate than you're getting stronger at them. Common advise is to cut back on the warmup sets to help the top set, but if there is that much disparity between squats and the other lifts, maybe you should just go ahead and reset. Do you have the equipment to make a 4lb increase instead of 5lb per week? That might help you have a longer run next time.

Is there no way you can work out somewhere with a power rack for squats? You're just not going to be able to really push yourself without one and there's always the risk of the freak failed rep that you didn't see coming.

Could I ask a favour? I know you put the date in your workouts, but we can see that from the post. Could you start adding the week number instead? It makes it a lot easier when looking back through your posts, comparing week to week. Cheers.

And yes, your bodyfat issue and approach sounds the same as mine

Thanks for the feedback Anotherbutters.I probably could make a few more 5lb jumps but I prefer to be safe then sorry.I do have 2.5lb of home made ''microweights'' which I could use,if needed I could make up another 1.5lb for 4lb jumps.In regards to using a power rack you know that commercial gyms blow when out of a town of 70,000 people,not one gym is equipped with any means of freeweight squatting.While my freeweight squatting options are not optimal they are the best I have and I cant really afford a proper rack for a few months so I just have to make do with what I have.Thats what I am afraid of more then anything,the freak failure rep that squashes me .If anything at least reramping the squats might give me some time to bring the other lifts up to speed as I have been neglecting them a bit lately.

 

[asdfzxcv]

Wednesday 11/1/06 bodyweight 192lb

Felt a bit sluggish today,woke up with a dull pain on my left side just above my hip.Hopefully it will dissapate within the next few days.

Squats
135x5
165x5
190x5
190x5
190x5
Pretty easy as always,no complaints here

Deadlifts
135x5
165x5
195x5
225x5
260x5PR
Again pretty good deadlifts here,today was my first day trying the hook style grip and I must say I am impressed.Usually after 225 I would feel my grip slipping,but using a hook grip I felt I could hold my top set all day.Only setback is that it leaves the thumbs a bit tender,but thats ok with me.

Push press
70X5
82.5X5
95X5
107.5X5
120X5PR
Last set was a little tough,but I got al the reps.I was going to do a 2.5lb jump but I decided to just go for 5lb and I got it.Next week I will most likely switch to 2.5lb increases.

Chins
bwx5
bwx5
bwx4
bwx3
bwx3
Did these last today so my energy and motivation was somewhat depleted upon reaching these.Next time I think I will do these first.

Overall not bad,hopefully the deads+push presses will keep increasing like this for while.

 

[Phaded]

aren't you supposed to be hitting pr's by like week 4.. i'm also doing single factor .. i like this thread pretty nice.. you're pretty much doing the exact same thing as me..

 

[asdfzxcv]

This journal is a continuation of an old one,I have been running the program for about 9weeks since I had to reset the squats.

 

[Protobuilder]

Nice weights on squats! Especially for being 6'4! I guess I can't complain about having a tough time at 5'11". I'm struggling w/ 185 right now. LoL Funny thing -- I can row 175 strict 90 degrees. Oh well.

Just curious -- why make yourself reramp every 3-4 weeks? I thought you basically went until you HAD to reramp. I'm wondering myself whether I'm struggling to hard at the top and should just reramp. It's taking me 3-4 sessions to get the 1x5 PR sometimes. Ugh.