carlsuen's SF 5x5 journal

[carlsuen]

week 8 day 1 (tuesday) 5/9/06

squats
5x60
5x60
5x80
5x100
5x122.5 PR 5th rep was a strugle, was stuck at mid point but pushed thru it..

bench(high rep stuff)
8x40
8x50
8x60
8x60

rows
10x40
5x50
5x60
5x77.5 PR? seperated the 5s.. did 3 singles.. then rested like less than 10 secs and proceeded to do another 3.. does this count?

left early as i had dinner with friends before going in to the gym.. so was kinda full and didn't feel like doing pullups and abwork..

squats are getting hard but not a problem..

wonder if this round of my rows counted.. they're getting hard.. at this weight i have trouble getting the bar to touch my chest..

ok workout overall..

 

[silver_shadow]

i just took a quick look at the first page of your journal - squats were 5x90, they are now at 122.5, bench was 3x62.5, now you can do that for 8 reps and that's not even a PR i'm guessing. didn't look at the cleans, rows, DLs... but that's some nice progress for barely 1 and a half months... keep up the good work.

i personally wouldn't count the rows as a PR - not until i can do it with less than around 3-5 secs between reps, mainly because you're deweighting them (i think?)

 

[Jim Ouini]

Yeah great progress carl. I assume you're a lot bigger too?

 

[carlsuen]

thx guys.. sorry to dissapoint u but if u noticed.. the first page of my journal is dated back earlier this year in febuary.. and i started this round of 5x5 in page 2..

anyway this is what i started off..

squat - 117.5
bench - 77.5
deadlift - 122.5
rows - not very sure as i haven't done them for long.. (yes i deweight the load)
power clean - 77.5
push presses - 75
military press - not sure too as i was doing push presses prior to this

so my squat and DL's are the only numbers improving.. rows are new to me and getting hard.. i will maintain this weight next week.. bench and military are stuck and will only work on them when i finally get my mini plates..

SS, overall i put on 5kg on my squats and 7.5kg on my deads.. i'm only on week 8 so it's ok i guess.. most important is that i've advanced in my lifts and have not gotten stuck.. i'm only 21 so there's years ahead for me..

jim, i don't actually look bigger.. i haven't put on weight nor have i lost any weight since joining EF last year.. but body composition wise has defenitely changed compared to febuary 06.. i feel stronger and look slightly leaner now..

after this run i will "try" to run a cutting cycle for 12 weeks with diet in check and doing cardio too.. we'll see by then..

 

[silver_shadow]

i'm not sure why you'd want to do a cutting cycle... the last time i saw your pics, you seemed alright. what's your waist size... that's usually the best measure (outside of BF tests). also, there've been a few posts that BiggT has made lately (i think in PBs journal) about recomping vs cutting... just something you may want to look into.

 

[carlsuen]

well thx for the compliment.. i think.. hehe.. well my waist size is about 34 and belly about 37.. would like to lose the gut and fat ass i have.. as BW exercises are really suffering.. i'm not strong enough to easily handle chins and pullups..

current measurements..
6feet
90kg
chest 42
belly 37
waist 34
arms 15 1/4
legs 25
claves 16 1/4
shoulders 22
BF around 20%

hmm.. interesting, i guess i might be using the wrong "word" here.. cutting shouldn't be the right word.. recomping more like it.. yeap.. i don't wanna look smaller or lose mass.. just shed off the access baggage..

thx SS!!

You must spread some Karma around before giving it to silver_shadow again.

 

[carlsuen]

week 8 day 2 (thursday) 7/9/06

front squats
5x60
5x70
5x80
5x90kg

snatch grip BTN press
10xbar
10x30

standing DB press
10x25lbs

deadlift
5x60
5x80
5x110
3x130kg

chinups
6xBW
5xBW
3xBW
3xBW

abwork on swiss ball..

stretching..

really felt fatigued today.. guess my 9 week cycle is almost coming to an end.. as my lower back is feeling it.. i'm so weak at deads!! i quit after the 3rd rep and didn't want to go any further.. was stretching like mad in between sets.. i'm beat..

left rotator cuff is really weak.. and i felt some pain when i pressed with the barbell.. so i switched to DBs and tried to press it.. it was the same, i still felt some pain.. not extreme but it tells me not to mess with it and i'll get it checked soon..

will see a chiro soon, as i'd like to get my whole body "loosened" up..

 

[oso0690]

wow i just dropped by and you seem to be doing real good. that sucks about your rotator cuff, have you had the problem for a while? Just throwing this out there but do you have good posture? Do your shoulders kind of pull forward or backward or just inbetween? a check could be to stand relaxed, then look at your hands. do your palms face toward your body or more toward behind you? They should be toward your body if they aren't. Also warming up the rotator cuff before hand with some RC stretches and light exercises could help out....

another throw out there could be look into deep tissue massaging for your shoulder, might possibly help? lol anyway good job with your progress, I'm hoping I will make it up to week 8 or 9

 

[carlsuen]

lol dude.. i didn't quite get your post on hand posture man!??!! i'm confused.. hehe.. regarding the massages? what did u have in mind? also, i only know of a few RC stretches.. but i'd like to know more of cuz.. and The Shadow posted a good article in another thread about RC's and overhead lifting too.. but i'd like to find something to help me strengthen it and get rid of the pain..

i've had it for like 2 months max.. could be from my push pressing.. i was push pressing 70++kg while i can only OHP 50kg.. i have a very weak upper body strength.. my bench sucks too.. i could have gotten it from my bench too.. my form would sometimes break on the last rep or 2 and i'd have to really grind the weight up which sometimes puts me in weird position..

which is why i'm backing out from OHPs and bench till i get micro plates.. really bumbed about this..

 

[Jim Ouini]

Sorry about the injury. Hope it's not serious.

On a positive note, really nice front squatting. You must feel confident with the rack