AB's 2007 log

[anotherbutters]

AB's 5x5: Week 8, Fri (light day)

Bodyweight: 181lb (finally up a little)

Summary spreadsheet. All weights in kg; previous weeks in orange.

1. Squat (1x3)
Week 1: 100 x 3 - was that it? (220lb)
Week 2: 105 x 3 - heavy, but no probs (231lb)
Week 3: 107.5 x 3 - ok (237lb)
Week 4: 110 x 3 - ok (242lb) mini PR
Week 5: 112.5 x 3 - pretty hard (248lb) mini PR
Week 6: 115 x 3 - pretty hard (253lb) mini PR
Week 7: 117.5 x 3 - pretty hard (259lb) mini PR
Today: 120 x 3 - pretty hard (264lb) mini PR

2. Bench (1x3)
Week 1: 67.5 x 3 - easy (149lb)
Week 2: 70 x 3 - heavy, but ok. 3x5 might be hard (154lb)
Week 3: 72.5 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (160lb)
Week 4: 72.5 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (160lb)
Week 5: 73.5 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (162lb)
Week 6: 75 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (165lb)
Week 7: 76 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (167lb) matches 3RM
Today: 77.5 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (171lb) mini PR

3. Rows (1x3)
Week 1: 55 x 3 - ok (121lb)
Week 2: 57.5 x 3 - fairly hard (127lb)
Week 3: 60 x 3 - fairly hard (132lb)
Week 4: 60 x 3 - ok (132lb)
Week 5: 61 x 3 - ok (134lb)
Week 6: 62.5 x 3 - just ok (138lb) mini PR
Week 7: 63.5 x 3 - hard (140lb) mini PR
Today: 65 x 3 - just ok (143lb) mini PR


Comments

Not a bad workout. When I walked out the squats, they felt heavy for the first time, but I managed three reps. A nice round 2.5 plates today (in metric money)!

Bench was pretty hard, but not in doubt for the triple. I'll go for 4x4 or 5x3 next Monday, since I missed the reps this Monday.

Rows were ok.

I had a fair amount of lower back soreness after squats. I think it's caused by my back rounding on deads on Weds. I'm still inclinded to press on with the deads next week though. I want to get clear of 140kg. This week's been pretty tough because of lack of sleep. Things ought to have settled down now, so I'm hoping to not stall here. Fingers crossed!

 

[Czar87]

Fingers crossed =)

I like the setup of this log. Good job

 

[anotherbutters]

AB's 5x5: Week 9, Mon (heavy day)

Bodyweight: 180lb (sigh)

Summary Spreadsheet. All weights in kg; previous weeks in orange.

1. Squat (3x5)
Week 1: 96 x 3 x 5 - hard, just about ok (211lb)
Week 2: 102.5 x 3 x 5 - hard, just about ok (226lb)
Week 3: 105 x 3 x 5 - hard, just about ok (231lb) PR! - a YEAR in the making
Week 4: 107.5 x 5/4/5/5 - a little harder than last week (237lb) PR!
Week 5: 110 x 3 x 5 - c'mon, is that all you've got? (242lb) PR!
Week 6: 112.5 x 3 x 5 - hard, but ok (248lb) PR!
Week 7: 115 x 3 x 5 - a tad easier than last week (253lb) PR!
Week 8: 117.5 x 3 x 5 - hard (259lb) PR!
Today: 120 x 3 x 5 - hard, but not in doubt (264lb) PR!

2. Bench (3x5)
Week 1: 63 x 3 x 5 - ok (139lb)
Week 2: 67.5 x 3 x 5 - hard, but ok (149lb)
Week 3: 70 x 3 x 5 - hard, but just ok (154lb)
Week 4: 71 x 3 x 5 - hard, ok (156lb)
Week 5: 72.5 x 3 x 5 - very hard, almost failed (160lb)
Week 6: 73.5 x 3 x 5 - heavy, just about ok (162lb) PR!
Week 7: 75 x 3 x 5 - barely locked out final set, final rep (165lb) PR!
Week 8: 76 x 5, 5, 4 - failed on final rep, but still a PR (167lb) PR!
Today: 77.5 x 4, 3, 4, 4 - was attempting 4x4, hit bars on 2nd set (171lb)

3. Rows (3x5)
Week 1: 52 x 3 x 5 - ok (114lb)
Week 2: 55 x 3 x 5 - hard, but ok (121lb)
Week 3: 57.5 x 3 x 5 - hard, but ok (127lb)
Week 4: 58.5 x 3 x 5 - hard, but ok (129lb)
Week 5: 60 x 3 x 5 - ok (132lb)
Week 6: 61 x 3 x 5 - ok (134lb) PR!
Week 7: 62.5 x 3 x 5 - hard (138lb) PR!
Week 8: 63.5 x 3 x 5 - hard (140lb) PR!
Today: 65 x 3 x 5 - hard, not great form (143lb) PR!

Comments

You know, I kinda like squatting. I leaned forward and had to step forward to get my balance in the middle of one of the sets, but the final two reps were ok. Just a small mistake, nothing to worry about. This is 2.5 metric plates, which is a nice milestone. I don't feel like I'm slowing down yet, even though I'm still not eating enough to put on weight and don't really get enough sleep. I'm really going to try to eat more this week.

I went for 4x4 on bench, since I didn't think I'd get 3x5 and missed a rep last week. The first set was the hardest and last set the easiest. I probably could have grunted out 5 reps on the final set. I ought to get 3x5 at this weight next week.

My form was crap on rows, with quite a bit of humping going on. I'll still try to increase it next week and play it by ear.

 

[anotherbutters]

AB's 5x5: Week 9, Wed (heavy day)

Bodyweight: 182lb (yay!)

Summary spreadsheet. All weights in kg; previous weeks in orange.

1. Front squat (3x5)
Week 1: 80 x 3 x 5 - hard, but easier than last time I tried 3 weeks ago (176lb)
Week 2: 82.5 x 3 x 5 - not as hard as last week (182lb) PR!
Week 3: 85 x 3 x 5 - ha! no harder than last week (187lb) PR!
Week 4: 87.5 x 3 x 5 - getting hard (193lb) PR!
Week 5: 90 x 3 x 5 - hard, but ok (198lb) PR!
Week 6: 92.5 x 3 x 5 - hard, but ok (204lb) PR!
Week 7: 95 x 3 x 5 - harder than last week (209lb) PR!
Week 8: 97.5 x 3 x 5 - nearly failure, lots of leaning forward (215lb) PR!
Today: 100 x 3 x 5 - incredibly hard, but less leaning forward (220lb) PR!

2. Overhead Press (3x5)
Week 1: 41 x 3 x 5 - v hard (90lb)
Week 2: 42.5 x 5/5/4 - failed on last rep (94lb)
Week 3: 42.5 x 3 x 5 - success, without leg drive (94lb)
Week 4: 43.5 x 3 x 5 - hard, but a tiny leg drive and rhythm helped a lot (96lb)
Week 5: 45 x 3 x 5 - easier than last week, lol (99lb)
Week 6: 46 x 3 x 5 - hard, a little leg drive (101lb) PR!
Week 7: 47.5 x 3 x 5 - hard, more leg drive on final reps (105lb) PR!
Week 8: 48.5 x 3 x 5 - as per last week (107lb) PR!
Today: 50 x 3 x 5 - definitely a push press now (110lb) PR!

3. Deads (1x5)
Week 1: 125 x 5 - hard, but slightly easier than 2 weeks ago (275lb)
Week 2: 127.5 x 5 - hard, but better than last week (281lb)
Week 3: 130 x 5 - wow, better than last week (286lb)
Week 4: 132.5 x 5 - hard, but ok (292lb)
Week 5: 135 x 5 - not a doubt (297lb) PR! - a year in the making
Week 6: 137.5 x 5 - hard, but ok (303lb) PR!
Week 7: 140 x 5 - lightweight baby (308lb) PR! - (3 plates in metric weights)
Week 8: 142.5 x 5 - back definitely rounding, not fun (314lb) PR!
Today: 145 x 3 - stopped after 3 reps, back rounding (319lb) FAILED


Comments

Phew! Failure at last. I can finally take a breather with deads.

Front squats were brutally hard, although I didn't lean forward as much today. Again, each set was more like 5 singles. I'm going to press on, but I'm going to halve the rate at which I add weight to the bar, so I'll do 101kg next week, then 102.5 the following, etc. Today was two metric plates, which is a nice milestone. I was totally drained after fronts and wasn't looking forward to the pressing or deads.

Overhead press turned into a push press. I was still breathing hard after front squats, even though I'd waited a few minutes. It's a bit cheeky calling this a PR, but I think I'll carry on and keep adding weight to the bar.

For deads, I tried to keep my lats tight and squeeze the weight off the floor to use my legs, but my old form is too ingrained. I felt my back rounding again on the top set and it was getting worse with each rep, so I stopped after 3 reps. There's no point injuring myself when I really need to correct my form. I think I'll drop the weight by around 10%, or whatever it takes so that I can work on my form, and ramp up again. I think I'll stick with the 1x5 ramped sets and reps for now too.

Wednesdays are definitely killer days.

 

[TomoUK]

just another thought on the deads, i think if you took a little more time between each rep to set your back and take a big breath you might find it easier to hold the position, it looks a like your doing them in quite a rush. Just an idea.

 

[anotherbutters]

AB's 5x5: Week 9, Fri (light day)

Bodyweight: 181lb

Summary spreadsheet. All weights in kg; previous weeks in orange.

1. Squat (1x3)
Week 1: 100 x 3 - was that it? (220lb)
Week 2: 105 x 3 - heavy, but no probs (231lb)
Week 3: 107.5 x 3 - ok (237lb)
Week 4: 110 x 3 - ok (242lb) mini PR
Week 5: 112.5 x 3 - pretty hard (248lb) mini PR
Week 6: 115 x 3 - pretty hard (253lb) mini PR
Week 7: 117.5 x 3 - pretty hard (259lb) mini PR
Week 8: 120 x 3 - pretty hard (264lb) mini PR
Today: 122.5 x 3 - very hard (270lb) mini PR

2. Bench (1x3)
Week 1: 67.5 x 3 - easy (149lb)
Week 2: 70 x 3 - heavy, but ok. 3x5 might be hard (154lb)
Week 3: 72.5 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (160lb)
Week 4: 72.5 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (160lb)
Week 5: 73.5 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (162lb)
Week 6: 75 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (165lb)
Week 7: 76 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (167lb) matches 3RM
Week 8: 77.5 x 3 - heavy. 3x5 would definitely be hard (171lb) mini PR
Today: 77.5 x 3 - very hard (171lb)

3. Rows (1x3)
Week 1: 55 x 3 - ok (121lb)
Week 2: 57.5 x 3 - fairly hard (127lb)
Week 3: 60 x 3 - fairly hard (132lb)
Week 4: 60 x 3 - ok (132lb)
Week 5: 61 x 3 - ok (134lb)
Week 6: 62.5 x 3 - just ok (138lb) mini PR
Week 7: 63.5 x 3 - hard (140lb) mini PR
Week 8: 65 x 3 - just ok (143lb) mini PR
Today: 66 x 3 - just ok (145lb) mini PR


Comments

Didn't get much sleep last night (new girlfriend, hehe!). Squats and bench were both hard. I think bench was harder than last week. Rows weren't too bad. I really need to eat and rest for Monday.

 

[anotherbutters]

just another thought on the deads, i think if you took a little more time between each rep to set your back and take a big breath you might find it easier to hold the position, it looks a like your doing them in quite a rush. Just an idea.

Thanks. I was surprised when I looked at the vid at how fast the set was. I don't normally pull at that speed.

 

[blut wump]

You've seen Rocky. Women weaken legs.

 

[anotherbutters]

One day, I'll be big and cut up and it'll be "legs weaken women".

 

[blut wump]

Ideally for more than one day.