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I wanted to put this up because I enjoy hearing about everyone else's progress and what seems to be working for them. I learned about the 5x5 only a few weeks before I actually started it and it has been pretty great for me IMO.
Cliff notes:
No added body weight, but great strength increase
through monday of week 7 i have made great gains in Row, Deadlift and squat
My bench work has been lack luster, but I have diagnosed that as incorrect starting numbers. Since I was doing the typical 1 body part/wk split before, working to failure, spotter blah blah, I believe that I was not bringing the bar all the way to my chest and also i think my spotter was helping more than I believed he was. those kinds of things can have a pretty big impact on your true numbers... If i miscalculated my 5RM bench by 10lbs or so that is a lot and would definitely throw me off. Because of that, even though I havent posted "PRs" I still believe that I have increased my strength similarly to my other lifts.
My monday on week 6 was also a little week... I came really close to hitting my numbers but basically got 4 reps across the board. So what I decided to do was just add a little bit of weight for friday, so I wouldnt go backwards, I could still add some weight, and try for 3 on friday, 5 on monday. That worked pretty well because I got an extra 2.5 lbs on my squat, 1lb on my row and 3.75 (for 4) on bench.
Overall I have def learned a lot about how to program.. Im no expert, but Ive at least learned how to try to work with my body to get increases. Also, I learned a lot about REAL 5rm's vs what I thought were my numbers. It proves one thing... if you are failing at week 3 or week 4, no real excuses, you just calculated wrong.
Also I think its worth noting...in about the 4th week of the program i got my bloodwork done and my total test was 150ng... and from there I have STILL managed to increase my 5RM's!
Initial Calculated 5RM's:
Squat- 270 (computed from 2RM)
Bench- 255 (computred from "5RM" which i believe to be incorrect-see above)
Row- 204 (computed from 8RM)
Dead- 343 (computed from 2RM)
Inc- 217 (computed from ... well i guessed, but i was wrong for the same reason as above)
Current 5RM (monday wk7)
Squat- 287.5
Bench- 253.75 x4 (failed this week but will explain later)
Row- 215
Deadlift- 360
Inc- 220x3 (failed but will explain)
-----------------------------------------
I started the program 11/28
By week 3 I knew my Bench work was WAY off.
Friday of week 3: (no fail to this point)
Squats (done fine)
Bench:
planned actual
124x5 125x5
155x5 155x5
186x5 185x5
218x5 217.5x5
255x5 255x2 --- FAILED miserably!
186x5 185x5
So monday wk 4) I dropped back to 250, but I only got 250x4! WITH a touch spot on teh 4th!
On the wednesday (wk 4), same situation with my Incline. got 212.5 x5 week before, went for 216.5 and only got 3
That friday (wk4) I decided to drop it back another 2lbs and did 247.5x3 for my max bench
------------------
Monday (wk5) I missed 247.5... Only got 3 reps, so NO increase from teh week before, and I was convinced that was a good number for me!
Wed (wk5) I decided to split the difference on my Incline instead of going back to my week 3 number of 212.5, I just dropped a couple lbs from wk4, and got 215x5!
Now, even though I only got 3 reps on monday, I wanted to try to at least add a few lbs to the bar, thats teh name of the game right?? so for my friday set (wk5) i went to 252.5... got all 3 reps! So it worked... by just taking some smaller steps I was able to make a little progress!
----------------------
Monday(wk6)
My squats from week5 were damn heavy (to me lol) at 285 x3 I wasnt sure if I was going to be able to get the 5 I needed today. And I wasnt However I did get 1 more rep, 285x4. I am REALLY happy with my form on squats so I feel good just continuing to make progress... My plan here was to do the same thing I did with my bench, just try to add a couple lbs for friday and see what happens!
Bench... UGH! so frustrating! I was trying for 252.5, and two shitty things happened, first i forgot my chains, so i was only doing 250 anyway (didnt realize till after) second.. i fuckin MISSED IT! i only got 4 !
Row- blah, got 5 but I felt like a cheated a little on the last one so i marked it as a fail!
wed(wk6)
tried to add just a few more lbs to my incline, but i think i overreached a little, i tried for 220 (+5lbs) but only got 3
Friday(wk6)
so i missed squats on monday, but again, instead of just setting myself back.. i added a couple lbs to bring it to 287.5, which i got for all 3. The other thing I have kept doing is increasing my warm up weights, so all of my lower weight sets have been increasing keeping up with the program, ive just altered my top sets a few times.
Bench, i went for 253.75 and got my 3
--------------------------
Monday(wk7) (yesterday as i type this)
My plan with teh squats worked! I got 287.5x5 which was great for me! I have also between week 6 and 7, altered where i hold the bar, I am getting it more across my rear delts, almost under my traps and it seems to be a lot easier to handle the weight as it gets heavier, at first it was harder, but now its getting easier.
BLAH... bench... 253,75x4... failed again! But overall I have made progress here, it has been VERY slow coming, not the big jumps like my deadlift and squat, but it has been getting better.
Row, easily got 215x5 this time... no cheating, so full go.
Cliff notes:
No added body weight, but great strength increase
through monday of week 7 i have made great gains in Row, Deadlift and squat
My bench work has been lack luster, but I have diagnosed that as incorrect starting numbers. Since I was doing the typical 1 body part/wk split before, working to failure, spotter blah blah, I believe that I was not bringing the bar all the way to my chest and also i think my spotter was helping more than I believed he was. those kinds of things can have a pretty big impact on your true numbers... If i miscalculated my 5RM bench by 10lbs or so that is a lot and would definitely throw me off. Because of that, even though I havent posted "PRs" I still believe that I have increased my strength similarly to my other lifts.
My monday on week 6 was also a little week... I came really close to hitting my numbers but basically got 4 reps across the board. So what I decided to do was just add a little bit of weight for friday, so I wouldnt go backwards, I could still add some weight, and try for 3 on friday, 5 on monday. That worked pretty well because I got an extra 2.5 lbs on my squat, 1lb on my row and 3.75 (for 4) on bench.
Overall I have def learned a lot about how to program.. Im no expert, but Ive at least learned how to try to work with my body to get increases. Also, I learned a lot about REAL 5rm's vs what I thought were my numbers. It proves one thing... if you are failing at week 3 or week 4, no real excuses, you just calculated wrong.
Also I think its worth noting...in about the 4th week of the program i got my bloodwork done and my total test was 150ng... and from there I have STILL managed to increase my 5RM's!
Initial Calculated 5RM's:
Squat- 270 (computed from 2RM)
Bench- 255 (computred from "5RM" which i believe to be incorrect-see above)
Row- 204 (computed from 8RM)
Dead- 343 (computed from 2RM)
Inc- 217 (computed from ... well i guessed, but i was wrong for the same reason as above)
Current 5RM (monday wk7)
Squat- 287.5
Bench- 253.75 x4 (failed this week but will explain later)
Row- 215
Deadlift- 360
Inc- 220x3 (failed but will explain)
-----------------------------------------
I started the program 11/28
By week 3 I knew my Bench work was WAY off.
Friday of week 3: (no fail to this point)
Squats (done fine)
Bench:
planned actual
124x5 125x5
155x5 155x5
186x5 185x5
218x5 217.5x5
255x5 255x2 --- FAILED miserably!
186x5 185x5
So monday wk 4) I dropped back to 250, but I only got 250x4! WITH a touch spot on teh 4th!
On the wednesday (wk 4), same situation with my Incline. got 212.5 x5 week before, went for 216.5 and only got 3
That friday (wk4) I decided to drop it back another 2lbs and did 247.5x3 for my max bench
------------------
Monday (wk5) I missed 247.5... Only got 3 reps, so NO increase from teh week before, and I was convinced that was a good number for me!
Wed (wk5) I decided to split the difference on my Incline instead of going back to my week 3 number of 212.5, I just dropped a couple lbs from wk4, and got 215x5!
Now, even though I only got 3 reps on monday, I wanted to try to at least add a few lbs to the bar, thats teh name of the game right?? so for my friday set (wk5) i went to 252.5... got all 3 reps! So it worked... by just taking some smaller steps I was able to make a little progress!
----------------------
Monday(wk6)
My squats from week5 were damn heavy (to me lol) at 285 x3 I wasnt sure if I was going to be able to get the 5 I needed today. And I wasnt
However I did get 1 more rep, 285x4. I am REALLY happy with my form on squats so I feel good just continuing to make progress... My plan here was to do the same thing I did with my bench, just try to add a couple lbs for friday and see what happens!Bench... UGH! so frustrating! I was trying for 252.5, and two shitty things happened, first i forgot my chains, so i was only doing 250 anyway (didnt realize till after) second.. i fuckin MISSED IT! i only got 4 !
Row- blah, got 5 but I felt like a cheated a little on the last one so i marked it as a fail!
wed(wk6)
tried to add just a few more lbs to my incline, but i think i overreached a little, i tried for 220 (+5lbs) but only got 3
Friday(wk6)
so i missed squats on monday, but again, instead of just setting myself back.. i added a couple lbs to bring it to 287.5, which i got for all 3. The other thing I have kept doing is increasing my warm up weights, so all of my lower weight sets have been increasing keeping up with the program, ive just altered my top sets a few times.
Bench, i went for 253.75 and got my 3
--------------------------
Monday(wk7) (yesterday as i type this)
My plan with teh squats worked! I got 287.5x5 which was great for me! I have also between week 6 and 7, altered where i hold the bar, I am getting it more across my rear delts, almost under my traps and it seems to be a lot easier to handle the weight as it gets heavier, at first it was harder, but now its getting easier.
BLAH... bench... 253,75x4... failed again! But overall I have made progress here, it has been VERY slow coming, not the big jumps like my deadlift and squat, but it has been getting better.
Row, easily got 215x5 this time... no cheating, so full go.
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