AB's Happy Smiley Thoughts journal

I always forget to push my knees out wide. Thanks for the reminder.

SF 5x5 Week 9, Monday

Bodyweight: 181.2lb - up a lot from yesterday. I had a shower and for some reason weighed myself again and came in at 180.0 . Was I really that dirty?!

Previous weeks in colour, warmups not included.

1. Core work
Back bridges, curlups, side bridges and birddogs: 7x10 secs each

I did full back bridges this time rather than the single leg version as I don't think my glutes are strong enough to do the single leg version properly. I think I'm using too much hamstrings and not enough glutes. For the regular back bridge, McGill's book says to think "as though you have a coin between your ass cheeks and you're trying not to drop it" (some paraphrasing there ).

I also tried breathing deeply on the curlups, which made them damned hard!

I had sweat pouring off me at this stage and almost considered stopping. Us Brits just aren't used to 27'C (heatwave).

2. Cleans (kg)
35x5 ... 40x5 ... 45x5 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 60x3 ... 55x3
35x5 ... 40x5 ... 45x3 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 60x3 ... 63x3 ... PR!
35x5 ... 40x5 ... 45x3 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 60x3 ... 65x1 ... 65x2
35x5 ... 40x5 ... 45x5 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 60x3 ... 66x3 ... PR!
35x5 ... 40x5 ... 45x5 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 61x3 ... 68x3 ... PR!

These were hard today. I'm at the point where I really need to start pulling harder on the 2nd pull in order to get the bar high enough to get under it. I feel like I'm moving under it quickly and catching it well. I guess this is where these start to get fun

3. Squats (kg)
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 70x5 ... 80x5 ... 90x5
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 70x5 ... 80x5 ... 95x2 (FAIL)
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 70x5 ... 80x5 ... 87x5 ... reset
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 70x5 ... 80x5 ... 90x5
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 70x5 ... 80x5 ... 93x4 ... 93x5

I failed on the top set, but I was so annoyed that I tried again. On the first attempt, I was being careful trying not to hit the bar on the safety rails and I was just squatting too slowly. I shoved another piece of wood under my feet for the retry and squatted at a more natural pace and got it without too much trouble.

I'll increase these by 2kg next. A little conservative perhaps, but I need to get them moving and keep them moving.

4. Bench (kg)
45x5 ... 50x5 ... 55x5 ... 60x5 ... 68x5
45x5 ... 50x5 ... 55x5 ... 63x5 ... 70x5
50x5 ... 55x5 ... 60x5 ... 65x5 ... 71x5
45x5 ... 50x5 ... 55x5 ... 63x5 ... 72x5
45x5 ... 50x5 ... 55x5 ... 63x5 ... 73x5 (PR!) ... 65x10

About damned time, a PR on a big lift! For the first time since November. It's still only 161lb, but so long as it keeps going up, I'm happy.

Comments

Good workout. It was around 7pm, but the heat was still stifling.

Congrats on the bench PR!

Awesome, AB. Finally some payback for your months of grit an perseverance. How did it feel? More still in the tank to help fuel next week's PR?

Two PRs and a successful top squat set...I thought I wandered into GSP's journal for a second. Congrats.

Thanks guys.

I didn't have any more in me on the bench and only just got it, but from past experience, that doesn't necessarily mean I won't better it next week.

I forgot to add, I followed it with a back-off set for fun and did 65x10. 65x8 was a new 8RM three weeks ago. Not a big improvement, but better than none.

When I missed the squats, I was so annoyed that I thought about stopping the 5x5 for a month and doing nothing but squatting 5 times per week with varying intensities, just to get better at them. The progress has been painfully slow. It's still on my mind.

PB's post about Glenn training Becky (that sounds like a soap opera) got me thinking.

Maybe I ought to try a load/deload. I know, blasphemous coming from me - SF should be enough, etc, etc. I'm always yearning for more volume though. I feel fresh as a daisy an hour after my workouts, even when I push to my max to get a PR or I've push hard and failed a set.

I feel like I'll get more out of my workouts if I push a lot harder and manage the fatigue, even though we always say that SF ought to be quicker than DF for an intermediate. A DF run doesn't have to be 8-9 weeks with 1 PR at the end of it, right? Look at the workouts Becky did above: she set a PR almost immediately by hitting her 5RM for 5x5, then used that weight to load with.

I feel like a plan coming on. I'm excited

If you are feeling that the volume of the SF is not enough for you then switch. I ran SF for a month at the start of the year and felt exactly the same. You can still make gains during the volume phase. Just remember my run of the Korte. I clearly got stronger during the volume phase.

So Becky's squat went from 81kg to 100kg in 10 weeks. I'm currently stuck around 93kg, which is 12kg below my old max. I was already thinking of trying to add 2kg per week SF style, which would be the same 20kg increase in 10 weeks that she achieved using a periodised approach. I should be able to do that as I'm working back up to my old max, but it's been a lot harder than I expected.

I know I can't compare myself directly to someone else and expect the same gains (especially a girl, argh!), but I've been trying to figure out whether I'd get stronger, quicker, carrying on SF style or trying to load and deload. But, regardless, I'm keen to get stuck into more volume anyway, so I think I'll just go for the DF plan.

So now it's a question of how to set it up. I was wondering whether I should just push the squats to load, or push everything. I'd like my squats to be a lot higher, but my bench is also crap and I'd really like to get my deadlift over 3 plates. Korte springs to mind

I'm also keen on trying to run a custom load/deload rather than following the DF5x5 cookie cutter - we've all seen that one before. I like the progression that Becky followed, although she didn't manage to add much during the loading phase. I like the idea of trying to do 5x5 with my current 5RM (93kg) and using that as a starting point, rather than starting light like the DF5x5.

Hmm, what to do...?

Do you really think you don't have any linear progress left in your squat or other lifts? I completely understand the desire for higher volume, but, especially with a caloric surplus, you might want to try switching to straight sets, starting low (i.e. ramp up to PRs in week 4), then running that until you stall. At that point, you'll have more options at your disposal for fatigue management than the "uh, reramp or something" that qualifies as such in the SF 5x5.

In the sprit of "AB as a guinea pig", I'd love to see a Korte run.