Djeclipse's Intermediate 5x5 take 2.

[mm107]

Nice 375x5!!! GREAT WORK BRO!!!

Very good, i love seeing improvements on the 5x5 plan, it reasures me that my plan IS working =]

Very nice bro!!

What i did for abs the other day was greatt!!!! I did it strapped to a decline bench with a big ass blue band. Basically needed help getting off the becnh. DID NEGATIVES, and my partner HAD TO PULL me back up literally. Did 1 set of 5 negatives, Did 1 set of 10 negatives. Then did decline with purple band wrapped around me.

This really burned my abs, decline wise, Same as needsize idea.

Also did stabilization work, where u hold your knees to your chest. and lean back and lift your hands off your knees to above your head. This kills my abs.

Just an idea =]

 

[djeclipse]

Nice 375x5!!! GREAT WORK BRO!!!

Very good, i love seeing improvements on the 5x5 plan, it reasures me that my plan IS working =]

Very nice bro!!

What i did for abs the other day was greatt!!!! I did it strapped to a decline bench with a big ass blue band. Basically needed help getting off the becnh. DID NEGATIVES, and my partner HAD TO PULL me back up literally. Did 1 set of 5 negatives, Did 1 set of 10 negatives. Then did decline with purple band wrapped around me.

This really burned my abs, decline wise, Same as needsize idea.

Also did stabilization work, where u hold your knees to your chest. and lean back and lift your hands off your knees to above your head. This kills my abs.

Just an idea =]

Have faith in the program, come week 5 you'll be making some nice PR's...

Thanks for the ab ideas.

 

[djeclipse]

Week 6 Day 3 (friday)

I guess it's not really week 6 any more as I'm on a injury recovery/ deload.

BW this morning (monday) 178.0lbs. It' coming off slow and steady so hopefully I haven't lost to much muscle.

I finally got a benchmark on my 1 rep max bench. My 5 rep max is down about 5lbs so I wonder what it was back when I was at my strongest (and fattest, lol)

I tried squatting and got back into it. I think i did too much to soon as when I was finished my back started to hurt again. I wonder if it's a form issue. I worked in with this guy doing squats (doing 1/4 squats with 225lbs) and he made a comment like

"you do all your workouts right in this little area right?"

I siad "yup, a squat rack, a bar and a flat bench is all you need".

Squat
115 x 5
145 x 5
205 x 2
225 x 1
245 x 1
155 x 8

Bench
110 x 5
145 x 5
190 x 2
225 x 1
245 x 1
255 x 0... the 245 went up pretty steady and I got greedy I guess. I think today I will go for 250 and see if I can have a nice round number. 200 x 1 was my max in mid Jan before starting the 5x5. +45lbs in 6 month's isn't bad, I'd be really happy if I could add even 30lbs to that in the next 6 month's.

Chins
BW x 11

Dips
BW x 18

Seated Dumbell tri Extension
70 x 9
70 x 9

Barbell curl (strict form)
75 x 9
75 x 9

Needsize abs
5 x 5
5 x 5
5 x 5
5 x 5
5 x 5

Hypers
BW x 12
bw x 12

I had the best spot ever for bench, he is the only one in the gym that dose full squats and he uses a decent weight 315 x 5 x 3. He let me get to my sticking point and fight it until I said it ain't happening. Then he helped just enough to keep the weight moving but still making me do it.

I think this week I will save squats for wed. and I'll take friday off (I can't make it anyway), then hopefully next monday I'll be back to the 5x5 100%.

 

[blut wump]

Looking good. That's great progress on the bench.

 

[xblitz44x]

Awesome bench. And is that right?? 255x8 for squats?

 

[djeclipse]

Awesome bench. And is that right?? 255x8 for squats?

Good catch, I wish 255 x x8, it was a back off set of 155 x 8.

Looking good. That's great progress on the bench.

I am happy with the bench press, thre is still a mental block thing for me as even before I made the attempt I already assumed I wouldn't make it.

 

[xblitz44x]

Still some great progress brother! 250 is certainly a respectable bench.

 

[djeclipse]

Still some great progress brother! 250 is certainly a respectable bench.

245, I haven't done 250 yet and every time I assume I'll make an easy PR for bench I usually fail, lol.

 

[Mercere]

6 weeks on taking pounds off of yourself and putting them on to the lifts
Great progress man! I'm sure you'll gain muscle very quickly when bulking after the strength gains on your cutting process.

 

[djeclipse]

Week 7 Day 1, monday... deload

BW this morning was 179.4lbs

My lower right back is still hurting, it's not a bad pain but I still feel it even sitting. I am beginning to worry it may be something more serious. I am wondering if I need to take a complete week off from the gym? I am kind of lost as to what to do.

I am happy that I now have a 1rm max bench mark, I repeated fridays bench work out and got up 250 x 1. At the sticking point the spotter started to reach for it and I had to tell him not to touch it. It's weird, I knew on the way down that I would make the lift.

This is 50lbs over my 1rm before starting the 5x5, I’m getting anxious to get back to the program. I remembr telling madcow that I'd be so happy if I could just get 200 for a set of 5, lol

bench
115 x 5
145 x 5
190 x 2
230 x 1
250 x 1.... kind of a PR I guess


seated cable back pos machine
55 x 5
100 x 5
145 x 5
165 x 5
190 x 5

Chins
BW x 11
BW x 5

Hypers
BW x 15
BW x 15

Needsize crunches
7.5 x 5
7.5 x 5
7.5 x 5
7.5 x 5

At the end of my workout I ended up talking to a guy that I see every once in a while doing the typical one body part per week type workout. We’ve had conversations about training in the past and he keeps saying he’s been in a rut for a few month’s now, no gians etc. I’ve mentioned to him that he needs to change things up in the past but he wasn’t interested. Today (yesterday) he seemed like he was finally ready for a change so I told him that he should loose all that isolation stuff, pick a few core lifts and focus on adding weight to the bar every week. I told him about EF, the 5x5 and the gains I’ve made so far. Hopefully he’ll join as he has some dedication, to still be at the gym after staying stagnant for over 3 month’s is dedication.