GSP's Better late than never 3X5...

[Mercere]

I'll be making a final push on squats and deads over the next couple of weeks and then resetting for a 5X5 run. I have to say I'm a bit apprehensive about the volume, but I'll give it a go as written. I just don't feel like I have a very high capacity for workload yet, but the first several sets of 5X5 are pretty light so I may be worried about nothing.

I think you'll do just fine in the transition. Coming from a 5x5 program, you know your exact 5RMs so you can set up the first four weeks optimally. Hope it is as successful as your 3x5, I really wonder what your gains will mount up to before going into periodization!

 

[carlsuen]

GSP.. the place u workout.. do they have 1lb plate? or do u bring in your own stuff? cuz i just can't be adding 2.5 kg to my bench all the time.. i might need to reduce the increments as i really feel it heavy..

 

[GSP]

GSP.. the place u workout.. do they have 1lb plate? or do u bring in your own stuff? cuz i just can't be adding 2.5 kg to my bench all the time.. i might need to reduce the increments as i really feel it heavy..

I picked up a pair of 2.5 lb. ankle weights last year for about 10 bucks that I carry in my gym bag wherever I go (I travel quite a bit at work, so I'm often jumping from gym to gym). They have 1/2 lb. increments, so I can load fractionally as low as 0.5 lbs. per side. Doing this has made a huge difference on my Rows and OHP, as it didn't take long for me to hit a wall with 5 lb. jumps on those.

 

[GSP]

Hope it is as successful as your 3x5, I really wonder what your gains will mount up to before going into periodization!

Thanks, me too (though I don't think I'll be adding another 115 lbs. to my squat anytime soon )

I really don't have very aggressive goals in the scheme of things. Right now, I'm setting a long range goal (1-2 years) of repping out squats at 315 and pulling 4 plates on deads for reps. I think I will be able to get there in linear fashion, with a good number of resets/deloads along the way.

 

[GSP]

7/21 - Workout B

Squats (3X5) 135

Deadlifts (1X5) 295 PR

Comments: I think my form slipped a bit on my last 2 reps, I was pretty sure my back rounded a bit there, though I'm not 100% sure. Grip did surprisingly well today, but my back was feeling very inflexible through the warmups and worksets for some reason. Got all 5 though!

Hip and shoulder are doing pretty poorly right now. I'm going to have a make a call soon to wrap things up and take some step to heal a bit more thoroughly over the course of several weeks. Right now I seem to get myself better enough to hit a new PR, then hurt myself again - that just won't do long-term.


**EDIT** Man, I'm a dumbass. I forgot I took that deload week last week so I thought I didn't log last weeks Dead PR on my log sheet. So I jumped 10 lbs. today instead of 5. No wonder it was so damn hard!

 

[Cynical Simian]

I've somehow managed to be really busy the past few days (I think yesterday was the first day in who knows how many months that I didn't make a post on EF), and all I have time for now is one of my trademark "congrats" posts.

Nice deadlift. Even if you were a dumbass with the weight selection, you were a strong enough dumbass to get the reps anyway.

Your gains are incredible as it is, so don't push too much and risk an injury that'd put you out of action for a while. Maybe go another week and get a nice number for deads (you'll definitely have 300, and maybe 315 if you want to go another week or so after that), then enjoy a well-deserved week off or deload (probably the former if joints are the main issue).

 

[GSP]

8/4 - Update

Tough few weeks for working out. Been on the road and working very long hours. Got in 1 workout last week and 1 this week, both light. Good news is that everything feels recovered except for my hip, which only hurts a little bit after squats. I'm going to press on with an fairly generic 2X per week workout, Heavy squats, Bench (Hammer strength - works well with my shoulder right now), Rows Day 1 & Light squats, OHP, and Deadlifts Day 2. I'll be doing 4 sets of 5 ramped, just sort of a transition strategy into 5X5 workload. I'll continue this until I drop about 10 lbs. (been sitting at 190 for the last 2 weeks - lot's of eating out).

 

[oso0690]

That time out of the gym and eating out probably helped tremendously with recovery. Though..those long hour roadtrips may not have done too good. lol

Do you stretch? I haven't seen your whole journal and haven't seen much about your hip and thought to ask since my hips hurt on squatting down in the hole, and stretching them really helped that. also do you warm up your rotator cuff if that's possible?

 

[GSP]

Hey folks. Been quite a while since I made it on here to post - coming up on a year. After August 2006, my work travel schedule picked up to a near 100% level. I was able to maintain my strength levels from my starting strength run through about October, but never could get in enough of a rhythm with my workouts to progress anymore. I completely fell off the wagon Nov-Jan and got nice and weak/fat.

Around Mid-Feb, I setup a 2X per week 4X6 program that I have been able to work well around my travel & work schedule, as it gives me more flexibility with days of the week than a 3X model:

Day 1:
Heavy squats - 4X6 ramped sets Current 6RM = 250
Hammer strength bench - 4X6 ramped sets (gave up on free weight variations of this exercise because of my shoulder Current 6RM = 297
Power Cleans - 3X5 straight sets (switched to these from rows 5 weeks ago) Current 5RM = 115

Day 2:
Light squats 3X5 ramped @75% of Day 1 weight
OHP - 4X6 ramped sets Current 6RM = 139.5
Deadlift - 3X6 ramped sets Current 6RM = 300

I've also been in the process of shedding some fat since early may (got up to almost 200 by Feb - not a good 200 either!) I'm at about 186 right now, and should be in the high 170's by early July. At this point, continuing progression is getting very difficult, as the caloric deficit is starting to take a toll on my energy levels. I don't think it's smart to continue to push myself so hard for this next month, so I'll have to figure out a way to maintain most of my current strength gains during that time.