AB's Happy Smiley Thoughts journal

[anotherbutters]

"Tearing feeling" is the best way I can describe it. I probably shouldn't have cleaned on Friday as it felt like something was on the brink of letting go, but I was ok. Stupid, but ok.

Interesting comment on the bench sets. That was part of the reason for increasing the warmups last week - to get a bit more volume in - although I suppose the change was pretty insignificant compared to something like doing a flat 5x5. You're right on the disproportionate emphasis on the bench too, although I feel that my upper body strength is particularly bad.

 

[anotherbutters]

SF 5x5 Week 8, Wednesday

Bodyweight: 179.4lb

Previous weeks in colour, warmups not included.

1. Core work
One-legged back bridges, curlups, side bridges and birddogs: 7x10 secs each

2. Front Squats (kg)
30x5 ... 40x5 ... 50x5 ... 60x5 ... 67x5 ... PR
30x5 ... 40x5 ... 50x5 ... 60x5 ... 70x5 ... PR
35x5 ... 45x5 ... 55x5 ... 62x5 ... 72x5 ... PR
35x5 ... 45x5 ... 55x5 ... 65x5 ... 75x5 ... PR
35x5 ... 45x5 ... 55x5 ... 65x5 ... 77x5 ... PR (169lb)

My rack always felt good, but it's been even better for the past couple of weeks or so. If I really push my elbows as high as possible, the groove on my shoulders seems to get deeper, holding the bar even better. I hit the safety bars on every rep again today as I forgot to put down an extra sheet of wood under my feet. These were hard, but I still felt comfortable with them, so I'll go up another 2kg next week.

3. Deads (kg)
60x5 ... 75x5 ... 90x5 ... 100x5 ... 115x5
60x5 ... 75x5 ... 90x5 ... 105x5 ... 120x5
60x5 ... 75x5 ... 90x5 ... 107x5 ... 125x5
60x5 ... 80x5 ... 95x5 ... 110x5 ... 130x5
60x5 ... 80x5 ... 95x5 ... 112x5 ... 133x3 (FAIL)
60x5 ... 80x5 ... 95x5 ... 112x5 ... 133x3, grip failed then 133x2 with straps ... (293lb) ... 5RM is 292lb

After hurting my back last week, I wasn't sure about doing these today, but they felt alright. I've been looking forward to trying these again all week, but when it gets down to it, they scare the hell out of me! I didn't even notice the first 3 sets, but then the 4th felt heavier than expected. The final set was a killer again. It might have been better than last week, but only just. I had to dig out the straps to finish off the set after a couple of minute's gap. And I had to hitch a little to complete the final rep.

I think in getting back to my old strength level, I've progressed too quickly on these and I've reached my max prematurely. I can't see how they can be any better next week. I could repeat this again next week, but it's still the same weight, even if I get the 5 reps. I feel like re-ramping these, maybe switching to 3/8 reps.


4. Incline press (kg) - instead of military press
35x5 ... 40x5 ... 45x5 ... 50x5 ... 55x5 ... (121lb)

I was going to keep my form strict on the military press rather than allow my back to arch to get the final reps in, but after a quick warmup decided to take a break from them. I think I'd only injure myself again.

I'm doing 45' incline press instead, which is new for me at this angle. I've done steeper before, but it was really awkward in the rack. This angle was ok.

5. Chins
BWx6 ... x6 ... x6 ... x6 ... x6 (total 30)
BWx7 ... x7 ... x6 ... x6 ....... (total 26)
BWx7 ... x7 ... x7 ... x5 ... x6 (total 32)
BWx8 ... x8 ... x6 ... x6 ... x4 (total 32)
None
BWx8 ... x7 ... x6 ... x4 ... x3 (total 28)

I just completely lost it on these, swinging around like a loon.


Comments

So, I'm glad that last week's injury seems to have gone and to have gotten through this workout. I'm disappointed to have missed the deadlift PR again though. I'll probably re-ramp them, but my weights are all over the place - squats are below my old max, but hard and I've already re-ramped them twice. Bench is right at my max and feeling hard. Cleans and front squats are going up nicely.

I'm also thinking of switching to rows instead of chins on Wednesdays. I feel like I'm not progressing on chins and miss rowing. They seem like a good sub.

 

[blut wump]

Congrats on the fronts PR. They're progressing nicely.

Regarding the deadlifts, I have to reckon that going from a front PR straight into deads is more work than you were doing on your last run when you were hitting this weight in deads. If you really want this PR you might need to make a sacrifice. The Wednesday squat work is intended to be light, almost assistance-like in intensity. I had the same problem doing heavy fronts and then going straight into deads.

Since you have a home setup, you could split this workout rather than lose the fronts, the alternative being to try a week where you start with deads. I'm confident you'd get the new PR.

 

[anotherbutters]

Thanks. It'd be nice to get the PR, but I'd also like to make continued progress afterwards too. I feel like I've ramped up so quickly that I haven't gotten enough out of the ~130kg weights yet, if that makes any sense, as though I need to spend more time around 130. Maybe if I drop down to 124kg and increase by 3kg per week, that would put me back on 133kg in 4 weeks and I'll have had 3 weeks of relatively difficult work around these weights.

I don't know where I'd move the front squats to. Squatting MWF is a nice distribution. I don't want to do them first thing in the morning after lying on my back for 8 hours, because that's when I feel all the kinks. Nor do I want to do them after taxing my back with deads.

I could do deads and incline bench on Tues, and front squats and rows on Thurs, but I'd be very tempted to do more volume as I never really feel knackered now that I'm conditioned to the workouts. Hmm, I could throw in some GPP work like sprints after them, or even on Weds.

 

[Dongzilla]

What does GPP stand for ?

 

[blut wump]

General Physical Preparedness. For most intents and porpoises, you can think of it as "general conditioning".

 

[anotherbutters]

SF 5x5 Week 8, Friday

Bodyweight: 180.6lb

Previous weeks in colour, warmups not included.

1. Core work
One-legged back bridges, curlups, side bridges and birddogs: 7x10 secs each

2. Cleans (kg)
35x5 ... 40x3 ... 45x3 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 55x3 ... 55x3
35x3 ... 40x5 ... 45x5 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 60x3 ... 62x3 ... PR
35x5 ... 40x5 ... 45x3 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 60x3 ... 64x3 ... PR
35x5 ... 40x5 ... 45x3 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 60x3 ... 65x3 ... PR
35x5 ... 40x5 ... 45x3 ... 50x3 ... 55x3 ... 60x3 ... 67x3 ... PR

I only just got the top set today. Whipping my elbows under as quick as I could saved the day. Returning the bar to the floor is becoming difficult now, but I haven't dropped the bar yet.

3. Squats (kg)
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 65x5 ... 70x5 ... 84x3 ... 70x12
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 70x5 ... 82x5 ... 94x3 ... 80x8
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 75x5 ... 83x5 ... 95x4 (FAIL) ... 80x8
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 70x5 ... 80x5 ... 90x3 ... 80x7
50x5 ... 60x5 ... 70x5 ... 80x5 ... 93x3 ... 80x10

93 was ok, but not easy. I feel like I'm doing just one set that counts for anything as all the warmups feel easy. I threw in more reps on the backoff set for fun.

4. Bench (kg)
40x5 ... 45x5 ... 52x5 ... 60x5 ... 67x3 ... 60x10
45x5 ... 50x5 ... 55x5 ... 62x5 ... 70x3 ... 62x10
50x5 ... 55x5 ... 60x5 ... 65x5 ... 71x3 ... 65x8 ... 8 rep PR!
45x5 ... 50x5 ... 55x0 ... 63x5 ... 72x3 ... 65x8
45x5 ... 50x5 ... 55x0 ... 63x5 ... 73x4 ... 65x8

I toyed with beating my 5RM tonight but the 4th rep went up with a bit of a grind, so rather than struggle, I'll save it for Monday. It shouldn't be a problem, which I'm really happy about - progress at last! I could have done another rep on the backoff set, but I seem to push myself up the bench with my legs and I ended up with the bar below the hooks on the 8th rep.


Comments

Some days I've been discouraged by my progress because it seems like I'm just putting on fat and not doing well in the lifts. But other days like today, I realise that I am making progress, even if my squats are still low and the deads are kind of stalled. I had the biggest pump I've ever had after tonight's workout and I could see a massive difference in the mirror from just a few weeks ago.

I think all the food I'm eating makes me bloated at times, but at other times I realise things aren't going too bad. I've put on around 1lb per week for about 3-4 weeks now, which is a bit more than I intended, but I'm ok with it. Onwards and upwards!

 

[Gymgurl]

Looks awesome!! Just thought I would say HI!!

 

[anotherbutters]

Hi, thanks for dropping in. Nice bra!

 

[Dongzilla]

do you do the excersises in that order 1234 ? If so does the core work take away any gas you could be using on the main lifts ? Cleans are looking like your best lift so far