Bye-bye BBing BS: Journal of my 5x5 a la madcow2

[blut wump]

You have it exactly right. After two or three weeks of the 2x per week 3x3 you'll be fully deloaded and ready to dive straight back into week1 and a fresh run.

I've now done 3 weeks of the 2x deload and was just considering whether to run another 3 weeks intensity phase at 3x per week, as though I were continuing from the start of week7, rather than starting a fresh run again from a new week1. This would be a deviation from the normal program and might not work well.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 6

FRIDAY

Squat1x3: 385
Bench 3x3: 295
Row 3x3: 275
Needsize' ab routine

Comments:

-This weight for squats was pretty easy. I remember back when 355 was brutal (that was abour 3 weeks ago hehe). I'm thinking 405 for 3 is very doable by week nine, maybe even for 3x3.

-Bench was tough. 2.5''s next week.

-I love heavy rows. I still get DOMS from these. I know that doesn't matter but it's the only thing besides abs that causes it.

-Needsize' ab routine is ROUGH. You use a decline bench, go down 'til your torso is near parallel and hold that position for a long 5-count (you know, one one-thousand, two one-thousand...) and do 5x5. Hits 'em top to bottom.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 6

FRIDAY

Squat1x3: 385
Bench 3x3: 295
Row3x3: 275
abs

Comments:

-Squats are coming along nicely

-I've been fiddling with my bench form, transitioning into more of a PL style. It is beginning to click.

-I used Needsize's ab workout and loved it. Highly recommended.

 

[Guinness5.0]

whoops. No i didn't lift twice on friday. I didn't think the first response went through.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 7

MONDAY

Squat 3x3: 375
Bench 1x3: 310
Row 1x3: 285
bb curls: 100 x9, x7
needsize' ab routine

Comments:

-I had a coworker take a video of my squats w/ his cell phone and I don't go as deep as i thought. Definitely below parallel but not ATG. I dunno... my calves touch my hams so I'm not sure if that's all that bad or not. What do you all think?

 

[Jim Ouini]

Comments:

-I had a coworker take a video of my squats w/ his cell phone and I don't go as deep as i thought. Definitely below parallel but not ATG. I dunno... my calves touch my hams so I'm not sure if that's all that bad or not. What do you all think?

Same thing happened to me: had my wife check my depth and I thought for sure I was ATG and she said I was barely past parallel Talk about wanting to shoot the messenger...I was like 'you must have a bad angle '

Anyway, I just continued on as-is til the end of the 1st run through; then 2nd run through I backed way off on the weights so I could get ATG. Unfortunately - whether due to bad form or whatever - due to knee pain I've had to kind of had to back off so I'm about where I was in cycle #1 in terms of depth/weight.

On the flip side, my dead, bench and push press have definitely gotten better.

 

[Madcow2]

If your hams are on your calves there's just not much else you can do. Some people have the right leverages and proportions to have their ass almost on the floor. Others don't, myself included. You go as low as you can, keep everything tight and back straight. That's all one can do and that's the full range of motion for your body.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Good to hear b/c if I go lower my back rounds. That would seem to be an absolute no-no. I just showed the video to my Oly weightlifter buddy and she said my depth was great and that I need to work on keeping my back tighter and keep the weight shifted on my heels more.

I'll see if I can post the video, but I'm using basically all of my computer savvy just to post on Elite

 

[blut wump]

If I do a Hindu squat, which is just squatting down with my arms over my knees, my glutes are still about 6-8 inches off the ground. At that point I'm fully settled in and can't possibly get lower without deciding to fall over. That, to me, is a full ATF deepsquat.

If I don't get that brief settling-in feeling at the bottom then I know that I stopped short.

 

[Guinness5.0]

If I do a Hindu squat, which is just squatting down with my arms over my knees, my glutes are still about 6-8 inches off the ground. At that point I'm fully settled in and can't possibly get lower without deciding to fall over. That, to me, is a full ATF deepsquat.

If I don't get that brief settling-in feeling at the bottom then I know that I stopped short.

I just tried that in front of the mirror (the hindu squat) and it's official- I'm going deep enough on squats

Good idea blut