pwrhngry's 5x5

[anotherbutters]

Something madcow pointed out to me is that lean guys like ourselves get too hung up on staying lean. If you are pretty lean to start with, your body's going to prefer putting on some fat so you can cope with periods of hunger (think evolution). Once you've put on a little fat, your body will become more willing to build muscle. He wasn't suggesting I eat to excess and put on pounds of fat for the sake of it, but not to get too hung up on it.

You will put on some fat, but you'll also put on muscle. And I can tell you, once you start putting on some muscle, you'll come to like the new you and accept the bit of fat that came with it. Just try to gain weight consistently from week to week - not too much, but not too little. Maybe a pound or two a week.

Think of this in the long term - a few months of bulking followed by some cutting at the end to get rid of the fat and reveal the muscle. If you measure your bodyfat week to week with those calipers, you'll never gain.

 

[pwrhngry]

OK yall time for another "episode of the pwrhngry show". Here was todays w/o.
WEE4 DAY2:SQUATSLT DAY)140 5X5
DEADLIFT:210 5X5
STANDING MILITARY:105 5X5
PULL UPS:5,3,3,1,1 (ARG!)
PULLDOWNS:85 5X5, 55 1X10
CRUNCHES:100X2
LEGLIFTS:30X2
Well, guys as you can see the progress continues! Exept for pullups which I suck at! Ive never really done lat specific work and have a lousy mind muscle connection there, so it ends up being bicept work. Im a little surprized that my other lifts are going so well though, Ive switched jobs, and schedules so I have only gotten 4-6 hours sleep for the past 4 days! A month ago 140 was heavy for me on squats and today it was CAKE! The deadlift, as always feels like work, but its steady going up not I got no gripe. Military felt solid today with a weight I couldnt have handled for a single set of 5 three weeks ago! As a plus to this new job, its at a federal prison (instead of a state pen where I was a guard before) and they have a FULL GYM FOR STAFF! So now I have access to much better equipment than at home. Thats why I threw in the pull downs. I know 85 is light but that way I can concentrate on learning to use my lats and not my arms.
well, thats all for now fellas, keep your replies coming, I really appreciate the input. And butter, I am working on upping the calories, bro.

 

[BiggT]

Progress is what it's all about.....great looking workout, the chins will come, you did 13 reps over 4 sets, next week do 14, then 15 the next week, and so on, they will come right along.....before you know it you will be hitting 10 rep sets, then it will be time to add weight.

Also, Anotherbutters made a good point.....you don't need to get fat, just a little fatter, lol.....but you'll still be far from fat, and to the average person, you'll still look 'ripped' lol......upping your bodyfat will make you worlds stronger, and in turn grow you much more muscle, and when the times comes you can always cut calories and trim down, no permanent damage done.

 

[pwrhngry]

Hey yall, Its me again with the latest of this here 5x5. This is the end of week 4, and Ive been asking around, and the concensus is that as long as the gains continue and I dont have sighns of overtraining, I can draw out the volume phase. Then when the gains stop, or it gets too much, to deload before switching over to the single factor. Well so far so good! here was today:
WEEK4 DAY3:SQUATS: 165 5X5 (10 POUND INCREASE FROM LAST WEEK DAY3)
BENCH: 140: 5x5 (standard 5 pound increase, but easy!)
ROWS: 105 5X5 (CAKE STILL)
SKULLCRUSHERS:60: 10X3!(BIG JUMP IN REPS,TIME TO MOVE WEIGHT UP)
CRUNCHES:100X2
LEGLIFTS:35X2
Well as you can see the gains continue, right along schedule. In fact the squats went up 10 pounds this week instead of 5 but I felt real strong on them last week. The bench, I only adde the customary 5 but it was easy! Rows were a piece of cake, as usual. Skullcrushers went really well too, time to bump up the weight on them. Gains on everything this week, and I felt like it went almost too easy! must be because Ive gotten some decent sleep the last couple of nights. I wish I had a workout partner to watch my squats, thats the only one I cant be 100% sure about PERFECT form on. I know Im doing them right , I just want to be sure Im going back, not down right, you know? Anyway, all in all I think Im gonna have to build a shrine to Bill Starr! lol. Who would have thought that by cutting my volume in half, or more it would cause weekly gains all of a sudden after almost a year of being stuck! I guess all this time I really have been overtraining, all to hell! Any way, thats all from me for now bros, hit me back. Dave (pwrhngry)

 

[pwrhngry]

Hey fellas, well today really should have been day 2 of my weekend, but with the job change I had to either skip a w/o or slip an extra in to keep my program coinciding with my new days off. So, being an addict, I of course tried to "sneak" in the xtra w/o. In hindsight, probably not a real productive idea:
WEEK 4 DAY4:SQUATS:170 5X5 (HARD)
BENCH:145 5X3,4X1,3X1 (AS YOU CAN SEE I MISSED REPS ON BOTH OF THE LAST 2 WORK SETS,DAMN!)
ROWS:110 5X5 (STILL CAKE)
SKULLCRUSHERS:65:10X1,6X1,5X1 (BURNED DOWN QUICK!)
CRUNCHES:100X2 (SECOND SET WENT TO@#$% AT ABOUT 60)
LEGLIFTS:35X2 (HARD)
So, upon review I should have either made today a ramping(pyramid) day, or not done it. I only got about 4 hours sleep last night, and that accounts for the low energy all day, including during the w/o. I felt weak overall today though, and I can only assume its from trying to sneak an extra day, heavy day,at that, into my program. Dumb move I guess, I hope I havnt blown my program now. Its benn so great up to now, I just dont know how touchy this 5x5 is if you screw up and hit it again before recovered like this. Well thats all for now guys, from an embarassed ......................PWRHNGRY

 

[pwrhngry]

Hey yall, well after extensively asking all the guys on this 5x5, I decided to make the switch to single factor to avoid the neccesity of a deload phase since my gains are going pretty much along as planned, and hoped for. I did the first day of the single factor today after the weekend off, here goes:
WEEK1 DAY1:SQUAT:135X5,145X5,155X5,165X5,175X5
BENCH:135X5,140X5,145X5,150X5,155X5 (5REP PR!)
ROWS:90X5,95X5,100X5,105X5,110X5
HYPERSFIRST TIME FOR ME ON THESE SO NO WEIGHT)15X2
DECLINE SITUPS+10#)15X4
Well, as yall can see Im back on the beam after friday's mediocre and rather depressing spectacle. All the lifts went really easy. Bench and squats were work at the last set, but I still had 1 or 2 "in the tank". Rows were, as always, a piece of cake. Every week I hit a 5rep PR on these and have never yet been anywhere in the neighboorhood of failure at all. I just havnt found my capacity on them or something. Ive never done hypers before and I think Im in love! The deep muscle ache in the erectors was from my waist clear up to my shoulder blades! I could definitely get used to these! On weighted sit ups the abs were untouched but the hip flexors clearly showed that they havnt been worked. Gonna have to keep some crunches around for the externis abdominus though, they never felt a thing. All in all a pretty satisfying workout. Hit all my sets/reps in great form, had a 5rep PR on bench, and discovered a new way to abuse my back(lol). Thats all for now guys, hit me back.

 

[pwrhngry]

Howdy yall, Im here with the latest w/o on this 5x5. Today was day 2 on the single factor. Today's w/o went real well, felt almost too easy.
WEEK1 DAY2:SQUATS:135X5,145X5,155X5,155X5,155X5
INCLINE BENCH:110X5,120X5,130X5,130X5,130X5
DEADLIFT:210:5X4
BARBELL CURLS:65:8X3
So like I said, today felt almost too easy. Blasted through the squats and incline like cake. Deads were heavy for me but not a strain like. Still real great form, and felt solid. I threw in the barbell curls today so that Im not saving all the "beach work" for day 3. I only gave them 1 min rests instead of the 2 min I give everything else. Got a decent "burn" from them. I did crunches today instead of situps, Ill keep them on days 1,and 3 and hit crunches on "light day" just so the abs dont fall asleep on me, lol. Well thats all from me for today yall, Id love to hear your feedback. God bless,be well.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Glad to see you are doing the SF and keeping a journal. One criticism however...

The format you're using is kinda hard to read.

Try to break it up and not use all caps. But by all means keep journaling.

 

[anotherbutters]

Keep up the good work. You'll soon be out of your comfort zone

Can you do any pullups? You could try those on Wednesdays as they'll hit your bi's and give your upper back a good workout too.

 

[blut wump]

I watched Magnus Samuelsson's DVD over the weekend. The guy was doing BB curls with 315. I guess there are some benefits to 25" arms.

Anyway, lest I digress, one thing he mentions is that he never does direct biceps and triceps work on the same day. He says that, for some reason, it just doesn't work.