Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below
Pre-juice 5x5: Darkness on the Horizon
- Thread starter Guinness5.0
- Start date
Guinness5.0 said:
Never turn your back to them. They can tie themselves somewhat insidiously into your positive goals and warp your enjoyment of natural progression. Think about the anabolic board and how many people were only going to do one cycle or how many people were going to run a cycle for 8 weeks and wound up buying more around week 6 so they could run it for 12-16 (or just started taking more and increasing the dosage). I kind of see a lot of people rationalize making a larger long term commitment to drugs with the 'I'm a bodybuilder' thing. It can cloud the mind and decision making. Knowing that and keeping perspective is important. Ensuring your decisions are your own and that they are uninfluencable is key. I have seen this happen to people, use your experience with alcohol to your advantage. Don't turn your back or let your guard down with anything and a non-addictive substance that is so close to and can facilitate your personal goals and desires can be especially insidious and subversive.
anotherbutters
New member
This really is one of the best threads ever. From the slow start and the frustrations whilst waiting for the gear to kick in, to the crazy workouts once it did, all backed by what appears to be a massive turn-around in your personal life.
You must be incredibly relieved that the court case is finally out of the way, no longer clouding your way forward. With 14 months dry, your AA involvement and getting yourself back into schooling, it sounds like you didn't need the lesson of a conviction. Like others have said, just keep the AAS in perspective.
It's a pleasure to share the board with you.
G5.0. Good bro.
You must be incredibly relieved that the court case is finally out of the way, no longer clouding your way forward. With 14 months dry, your AA involvement and getting yourself back into schooling, it sounds like you didn't need the lesson of a conviction. Like others have said, just keep the AAS in perspective.
It's a pleasure to share the board with you.
G5.0. Good bro.
Guinness5.0
New member
yeah, I'm a total drama queenRipStone said:
Guinness5.0
New member
Week 9 -- MONDAY
Good day at the gym
Squat 1x5warmups, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5, 385x1, 405x1, 405x5(PR)
-Thrilled. Buried 'em all. They were all nice 'n purty except for the last one, which wasn't awful but I did lean forward just a bit. I don't think it's anything to worry about. I asked my spotter and he said he didn't notice it - probably more of a shift in emphasis rather than a visually noticeable lean. The really cool thing is that I didn't get stuck in the slightest. It helped that 3-4 people were watching and I could see 'em in the mirror (
). Sittng back more is getting to be natural. Perhaps this means that I'll retain/improve strength post-cycle, esp. when I concentrate on triples and singles (doing WSB after this). Also, I'm finally starting to see why MC2 is always saying that squat improvements carry over to the dead - now I'm using my posterior chain SO much more than previously
Bench warmups, 225x5, 275x3, 315x1, 335x2, 345x2, 355x2(PR), 365x1(PR), 225x23(PR)
-Since this is a quasi-deload day, I decided to slash workload and up intensity on bench. Good times. The 5-rep PR with 225 is the most surprising thing of all IMO (did 225x18 last week).
Rows 225x5, 285x3x3
-Standard deload protocol here. I tweaked form a little - after viewing my vid of these (it's linked in AB's new journal if you want to see it) I saw that these need some work. I was extra careful to arch my back hard and tried to get a little lower.
So I went for the squat PR b/c I really wanted 405x5. I'm pretty content w/ bench 5x5 for now, so I figured a littel stagger in the deload won't really hurt. Besides, I've got two weeks worth of gear left, so I don't have to get radical w/ deloading just yet. I may try 375x5x5 for squats on thurs. - not sure yet. Also, it's time to start putting together my WSB program. My new job starts in a week so I've got some time to bug the hell out of you guys and get it squared away before I become a stranger to the board
Good day at the gym
Squat 1x5warmups, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5, 385x1, 405x1, 405x5(PR)
-Thrilled. Buried 'em all. They were all nice 'n purty except for the last one, which wasn't awful but I did lean forward just a bit. I don't think it's anything to worry about. I asked my spotter and he said he didn't notice it - probably more of a shift in emphasis rather than a visually noticeable lean. The really cool thing is that I didn't get stuck in the slightest. It helped that 3-4 people were watching and I could see 'em in the mirror (
). Sittng back more is getting to be natural. Perhaps this means that I'll retain/improve strength post-cycle, esp. when I concentrate on triples and singles (doing WSB after this). Also, I'm finally starting to see why MC2 is always saying that squat improvements carry over to the dead - now I'm using my posterior chain SO much more than previouslyBench warmups, 225x5, 275x3, 315x1, 335x2, 345x2, 355x2(PR), 365x1(PR), 225x23(PR)
-Since this is a quasi-deload day, I decided to slash workload and up intensity on bench. Good times. The 5-rep PR with 225 is the most surprising thing of all IMO (did 225x18 last week).
Rows 225x5, 285x3x3
-Standard deload protocol here. I tweaked form a little - after viewing my vid of these (it's linked in AB's new journal if you want to see it) I saw that these need some work. I was extra careful to arch my back hard and tried to get a little lower.
So I went for the squat PR b/c I really wanted 405x5. I'm pretty content w/ bench 5x5 for now, so I figured a littel stagger in the deload won't really hurt. Besides, I've got two weeks worth of gear left, so I don't have to get radical w/ deloading just yet. I may try 375x5x5 for squats on thurs. - not sure yet. Also, it's time to start putting together my WSB program. My new job starts in a week so I've got some time to bug the hell out of you guys and get it squared away before I become a stranger to the board
anotherbutters
New member
You're insane. Congrats all round. I hate you! 
Guinness5.0
New member
Week 9 --THURSDAY
Did some singles today. Pretty happy with 'em
Deads warmups (light RDLs), 235x5, 285x3, 325x2, 375x1, 415x1, 435x1, 465x1(PR), 485xfail
-Pretty happy, mostly b/c I had a minor breakthrough in my approach. Instead of my usual neurotic, think-about-every-facet-of-the-lift-before-starting approach, I just sucked a bunch of air into my gut and pulled that bitch as fast as possible. The only thing I treid to be concious of was maintaining my arch. The rest I just kinda let happen. 465 was a grind but it did go up fairly quickly. Maybe I shoulda just tried 475 afterward. So hopefully this new 'technique' will lead to more improvements. Juice or no, there's still room here - I'm sure of it. I think speed work is gonna pay off as I usually seem to 'squeeze' the weight off the floor rather than rip it like my life depended on it.
Push press warmups, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2, 195x2, 225x1, 235x1, 245x1, 265x1, 275xfail EDIT: 235 on on were PR's
-This surprised me quite a bit (in a good way). I may have gotten 275 had I thought it was realistic earlier in the progression. All these were locked out and held for at least a two-count, so no 'pop and drops'
. I got 275 to about my nose and it just wouldn't go any higher. I cramped up my quads pretty hard on 265 and the failed rep.
Pullups BWx6x3
CGBP 225x8, 275x5, 315x6+forced rep
-Just wanted to rep out w/ 315. Definitely coulda done more if I hadn't maxed on push press earlier.
So now it's on to WSB. I'm going to hit my ME and DE movements pretty hard but keep the accessory work low through PCT (I still have gear for the rest of this week and next) which is in keeping with madcow's advice to keep intensity high but lower volume/workload overall. I'm pretty happy with the juicing overall despite the fact that I had to fix my squat and dead mid-cycle. Honestly, I think I'll end up moving both lifts up even while nattty due to technique improvemets and WSB speed work. I'm not counting on bench taking huge jumps natty seeing as it went nuts during this run, and that's fine by me.
Did some singles today. Pretty happy with 'em
Deads warmups (light RDLs), 235x5, 285x3, 325x2, 375x1, 415x1, 435x1, 465x1(PR), 485xfail
-Pretty happy, mostly b/c I had a minor breakthrough in my approach. Instead of my usual neurotic, think-about-every-facet-of-the-lift-before-starting approach, I just sucked a bunch of air into my gut and pulled that bitch as fast as possible. The only thing I treid to be concious of was maintaining my arch. The rest I just kinda let happen. 465 was a grind but it did go up fairly quickly. Maybe I shoulda just tried 475 afterward. So hopefully this new 'technique' will lead to more improvements. Juice or no, there's still room here - I'm sure of it. I think speed work is gonna pay off as I usually seem to 'squeeze' the weight off the floor rather than rip it like my life depended on it.
Push press warmups, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2, 195x2, 225x1, 235x1, 245x1, 265x1, 275xfail EDIT: 235 on on were PR's
-This surprised me quite a bit (in a good way). I may have gotten 275 had I thought it was realistic earlier in the progression. All these were locked out and held for at least a two-count, so no 'pop and drops'
. I got 275 to about my nose and it just wouldn't go any higher. I cramped up my quads pretty hard on 265 and the failed rep.Pullups BWx6x3
CGBP 225x8, 275x5, 315x6+forced rep
-Just wanted to rep out w/ 315. Definitely coulda done more if I hadn't maxed on push press earlier.
So now it's on to WSB. I'm going to hit my ME and DE movements pretty hard but keep the accessory work low through PCT (I still have gear for the rest of this week and next) which is in keeping with madcow's advice to keep intensity high but lower volume/workload overall. I'm pretty happy with the juicing overall despite the fact that I had to fix my squat and dead mid-cycle. Honestly, I think I'll end up moving both lifts up even while nattty due to technique improvemets and WSB speed work. I'm not counting on bench taking huge jumps natty seeing as it went nuts during this run, and that's fine by me.
Last edited:
