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.