Djeclipse's Intermediate 5x5 take 2.

djeclipse · Apr 4, 2006

My last journal mysteriously became empty so I figured i’d continue it here.

I am currently in week 6 of my second run though of the intermediate 5x5. My first run only lasted 5 weeks but instead of doing it properly I started in making PR's for all 5 weeks. The gains for those 5 weks were as follows.

Squat 185 x 5, to 230 x 5 = 45lbs

Bench press 185 x 4, to 197.5 x 5 = 12.5lbs(plus a rep)

Bent over rows 150 x 5, to 180 x 5 with bad form underhand grip. = 30lbs

Dead Lift 305 x 5, to 335 x 5 = 30lbs

Military press (standing) 115 x 5, to 127.5 = 12.5lbs

The only thing I added to my diet was a protein shake right after the gym, no extra supplements or anything. I feel if I would have done the program properly I may have had a longer run of Pr’s then the 5 I had... oh well, live and learn.

This run I started properly. Set my weights so I would be hitting my current maxes in week 4, no extra reps or heavier back off sets for bench, all the mistakes I made the first time, lol.

My current maxes are posted above, I took a week off and then started again 6 weeks ago. I changed to overhand grip for rows.

djeclipse · Apr 4, 2006

Week 6 Day 1

I had 3 PR's today, it feels good making PR's again.

The 4th set of squats felt real heavy, passably because I missed it on friday (my mistake), I took a long rest before the 5th set and surprisingly enough it was easier then I expected. Still hard work but it went up good.

Bench felt good, felt like I had a few reps left, and my grip is starting to become an issue for rows. I may start using some chalk with these.

Squat
115 x 5 (should have been 120)
145 x 5
175 x 5
205 x 5
235 x 5.... PR!

Bench
100 x 5
130 x 5
155 x 5
180 x 5
205 x 5..... PR!

Rows
90 x 5
115 x 5
140 x 5
160 x 5
185 x 5..... PR!

Hypers
25 x 14
25 x 14
25 x 14

Situps (decline)
50 x 15
50 x 15
50 x 15
50 x 15

When I was doing some rows there was a kid doing squats in front of me. he was literally on the balls of his feet with his heals completely off the ground, leaning forward, it was painful to watch. I was debating weather to talk to him about it for a while as in the past I've learnt that most people don't want to listen anyway.

I just couldn't take it any more and asked him if he would like some friendly advice. I made it clear that I was by far an expert on the squat and I struggle with it myself, but I sawa few things he was really doing wrong. Surprisingly he was very enthusiastic, actually listened appreciated the advice I gave him. There is hope

nelmsjer · Apr 4, 2006

Wow....cool deal that you had 3 PRs and a very cool story about the squatter. Way to go!

WannaBeBig72 · Apr 4, 2006

djeclipse said:
Week 6 Day 1

I had 3 PR's today, it feels good making PR's again.

The 4th set of squats felt real heavy, passably because I missed it on friday (my mistake), I took a long rest before the 5th set and surprisingly enough it was easier then I expected. Still hard work but it went up good.

Bench felt good, felt like I had a few reps left, and my grip is starting to become an issue for rows. I may start using some chalk with these.

Squat
115 x 5 (should have been 120)
145 x 5
175 x 5
205 x 5
235 x 5.... PR!

Bench
100 x 5
130 x 5
155 x 5
180 x 5
205 x 5..... PR!

Rows
90 x 5
115 x 5
140 x 5
160 x 5
185 x 5..... PR!

Hypers
25 x 14
25 x 14
25 x 14

Situps (decline)
50 x 15
50 x 15
50 x 15
50 x 15

When I was doing some rows there was a kid doing squats in front of me. he was literally on the balls of his feet with his heals completely off the ground, leaning forward, it was painful to watch. I was debating weather to talk to him about it for a while as in the past I've learnt that most people don't want to listen anyway.

I just couldn't take it any more and asked him if he would like some friendly advice. I made it clear that I was by far an expert on the squat and I struggle with it myself, but I sawa few things he was really doing wrong. Surprisingly he was very enthusiastic, actually listened appreciated the advice I gave him. There is hope

Good job on the PRs man! I can't wait to get the weights moving in my routine. Do you still hit the gym on your off days? It's weird for me only going 3 days a week.

djeclipse · Apr 4, 2006

nelmsjer said:
Wow....cool deal that you had 3 PRs and a very cool story about the squatter. Way to go!

Thanks, 4 weeks without a PR seemed like for ever, yet I know that eventually 1pr a month will be a good thing.

Ya, the squatter said he had some liver problems due to recreational drug use and was just getting back on track. It sounds like he's making a lifestyle change so maybe if he starts out training properly it will keep him out of trouble. Though for some people it may be out of the frying pan into the fire.

WannaBeBig72 said:
Good job on the PRs man! I can't wait to get the weights moving in my routine. Do you still hit the gym on your off days? It's weird for me only going 3 days a week.

I lift 3x per week and until last week I was playing soccer once on saturday or sunday. Indoor season is over so I will try do some cardio at least once on saturday or sunday. Right now my main focus is strength and size, fat loss and adding body weight is secondary. Tough I've gained a lot of strength and some size I have only gained 3-4lbs since I started which is good. Eventually I will focus more on actually losing some of the body fat, when I do that I will try and do cardio Tuesday Thursday and Saturday.

One of the reasons I switched to the 5x5 (aside from all the gains I saw other people making) was the fact that it is only 3x per week. I am just too busy to try and get to the gym 4-5 times per week, especially in the summer.

At first it did feel like I should be doing more work, especially since I was used to doing 15-20 sets for chest, back etc. But if you trust in the program you will find that it involves plenty of work and you will come to appreciate your days off to recover.

In al honesty if I were you I would download madcows spread sheet, take your current 5 rep maxes and start your program over and follow it to a T. I know it seems like a long time to wait another 4 weeks before starting to make PR's but I think it will be worth it in th end. Especially since you're already having trouble making your lifts in your second week. just my .02c, take it for what it is, lol.

xblitz44x · Apr 4, 2006

Very impressive progress! You have a great deadlift. Keep working!

WannaBeBig72 · Apr 4, 2006

djeclipse said:
Thanks, 4 weeks without a PR seemed like for ever, yet I know that eventually 1pr a month will be a good thing.

Ya, the squatter said he had some liver problems due to recreational drug use and was just getting back on track. It sounds like he's making a lifestyle change so maybe if he starts out training properly it will keep him out of trouble. Though for some people it may be out of the frying pan into the fire.

I lift 3x per week and until last week I was playing soccer once on saturday or sunday. Indoor season is over so I will try do some cardio at least once on saturday or sunday. Right now my main focus is strength and size, fat loss and adding body weight is secondary. Tough I've gained a lot of strength and some size I have only gained 3-4lbs since I started which is good. Eventually I will focus more on actually losing some of the body fat, when I do that I will try and do cardio Tuesday Thursday and Saturday.

One of the reasons I switched to the 5x5 (aside from all the gains I saw other people making) was the fact that it is only 3x per week. I am just too busy to try and get to the gym 4-5 times per week, especially in the summer.

At first it did feel like I should be doing more work, especially since I was used to doing 15-20 sets for chest, back etc. But if you trust in the program you will find that it involves plenty of work and you will come to appreciate your days off to recover.

In al honesty if I were you I would download madcows spread sheet, take your current 5 rep maxes and start your program over and follow it to a T. I know it seems like a long time to wait another 4 weeks before starting to make PR's but I think it will be worth it in th end. Especially since you're already having trouble making your lifts in your second week. just my .02c, take it for what it is, lol.

I might just do that. I'm going to give it another week I think and see how it goes. I'm re-setting the rows. If I can make PRs next week on Squat/Bench/Military/Dead. I'll keep it going. Any sign of trouble I'm going to set it all bite the bullet and set it all back.

djeclipse · Apr 4, 2006

xblitz44x said:
Very impressive progress! You have a great deadlift. Keep working!

Thanks, for some reason my deadlift is way out of porportion form all my other lifts, not that I'm complaining about it though, lol.

I got 342.5 x 5 for a new PR last week and tomorrow I will be goigng for 352.5 x 5 (raw of course

)

I see you have a very strong dead lift.

WannaBeBig72 said:
I might just do that. I'm going to give it another week I think and see how it goes. I'm re-setting the rows. If I can make PRs next week on Squat/Bench/Military/Dead. I'll keep it going. Any sign of trouble I'm going to set it all bite the bullet and set it all back.

Hopefully you will make some new PR's, but not take comfort in the fact that you can do a proper run and most likley make some good gains from it.

asdfzxcv · Apr 4, 2006

Yoy are doing very well,your deadlift is getting very respectable.I cant wait to start 5x5 again as I hate cutting and am only doing it to facilitate my next bulk.Just out of curiousity how much are you weighing in at these days?

djeclipse · Apr 5, 2006

asdfzxcv said:
Yoy are doing very well,your deadlift is getting very respectable.I cant wait to start 5x5 again as I hate cutting and am only doing it to facilitate my next bulk.Just out of curiousity how much are you weighing in at these days?

It's funny, when my goal was 315 x 5 for deadlift i thought that would be a decent deadlift, and now that i’m past that I don't think anything under 405 x 5 for myself is respectable... it's all relative I guess.

When I started my first run of the 5x5 I was 189-190lbs, now I am 192-194 (mostly 192 on the scale),I weight myself at the beginning of every workout which is around 6:00pm.

My goal was to add size and strength but not so much body wight as the extra weight really hurts me for racing. Eventually I will have a go at cutting but I want to reach a few more goals before I try to cut.

I’ve bene reading your HST journal and was thinking about trying the same, but you don;t seem to like it so far, are you seeing any results with your cutting?

Djeclipse's Intermediate 5x5 take 2.

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