Introspective's SF 5X5 Training Journal

[Introspective]

A bit about me!!!
This is my first ever journal, I have been strength training for about 4 months.
Started off doing random lifts monday to friday 1 hour a day for the first 3-4 weeks, before discovering Madcows 5x5 thread. After a few days reading MC's thread and his site http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/table_of_contents_thread.htm and learning more about this style of lifting, i decided that this was for me, so i began my first ever run at it. I was pretty slim before starting this routine i weighed 12 stone 8, thats 179 lbs, I first weighed myself about 2 weeks after i first started lifting, about 10 weeks after my first weigh in i weighed 16 stone 1, thats 224 lbs. I havn't measured my bodyfat but have been told im probably about 20- 25% at my current weight of 15 stone 1, 209 lbs, i think i would of been a couple percent lower bodyfat at 12 stone 8 but not sure.

When i first started lifting i was eating crap and was pretty weak. I could Bench about 30 kg 70 lbs thats the only real lift i did before starting SF 5x5 all the rest was pretty much lifting 10 kg dumbells above head on upright bench, Then did some curls and a bunch of outher stuff.
When i first started 5x5 i was squating about 90 kg benching about 65 kg deadlifting about 95kg Bent over rows about 55 kg , allthough i didn't start using rows until about 5 weeks into the routine. I was doing powercleans with real bad form, until i was advised against it then subed for rows.
After finishing a 12 week run of the SF and taking 2-3 weeks out (I planned only 2 weeks but had a cold in the 3rd) I am starting this journal. My current maxes for rows and deads are... bent over rows = 65 kg x 5 Deadlift = 115 kg x 5.

My goals for this program are basically to get as strong as possible whilst Cutting down to about 12-15 % bodyfat

age 22.. height 5"11..
1x5 rep maxes are. Squat = 115kg Bench = 90kg Incline Bench = 70 kg Hypers, Sit ups, Pull ups and Dips are all currently at bodyweight.
Powercleans and high pulls are new lifts so i will be starting with the bar and then a couple of light weights until im happy with my technique.
Note: by light weight i mean a couple of 10's or something not the Ronnie Coleman light weights



This routine (Wich i got from Madcow's Thread) is pretty much the same as my first, apart from i did bent over rows instead of powercleans and deadlift instead of high pulls. It's basically the same as the routine Madcow posted only with a couple of minor changes, like the original version had weighted sit ups but i find it tough enough at bodyweight at present. And his version didn't have pull ups, but i really wanted to do these and was told it would be ok as long as i didn't over do it. So im just doing bodyweight pull ups instead of weighted.


The Routine

Monday
Squat - 5 sets of 5
Bench - 5 sets of 5
Powercleans - 5 sets of 5
Hypers - 3 sets of 15
Roman Chair Sit Ups - 3 sets of 15

Wednesday
Front Squat - 4 sets of 5
Incline Bench - 4 sets of 5
High Pulls - 4 sets of 5
Pull Ups - 4 sets of 5
Roman Chair Sit Ups - 3 sets of 15

Friday
Squat - 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, back-off
Bench - 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, back-off
Powercleans - 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, back off
Dips - 5 sets of 6
Barbell curls - 3 Sets of 8
Tricep Extensions - 3 Sets of 8

Crits and comments welcome

 

[Introspective]

Day 1 Monday 20th of feb

All weight in kg
Squat
1.) 65 x 5
2.) 75 x 5
3.) 85 x 5
4.) 95 x 5
5.) 105 x 5 - all 5 sets went pretty smoothly, i learned about the bounce out of the bottom over the weekend and did it properly today with every set.

Bench Press
1.) 40 x 5
2.) 50x 5
3.) 60 x 5
4.) 70 x 5
5.) 80 x 5 Felt like i expected 80 would feel, i'm pleased with my bench technique, can't think of anything else to add.

Powercleans
1.) Bar x 8
2.) Bar x 5
3.) 35 x 5
4.) 40 x 6 Stopped here didn't like how my form was going, i'm gunna read over the PowerC chapter of my book again tomorrow and work on my form.

Hypers
I tried these the anotherbutters way for the first time today and they was tough.
I did 1x10 bodyweight then 1x8 bodyweight plus 15kg then 1x5 bodyweight plus 15kg
These K.O'd me, K to you butters

Roman Chair Sit Ups
2x15 1x20 both at bodyweight
These are basically Needsize Crunches, i use decline bench and go to parallel
and hold for 2 seconds then come back up.

 

[DZLS]

congrats on starting your new routine...

when you say you learned about "the bounce" out of the squat, what exactly are you referring to...?

 

[anotherbutters]

Heh, no wonder you found them hard, adding 15kg to them! There's nothing special about my way of doing them, I just improvised with the equipment I have.

Happy journalling.

 

[Introspective]

congrats on starting your new routine...

when you say you learned about "the bounce" out of the squat, what exactly are you referring to...?

Thanks!!!
About the bounce, what i mean by this is don't rest at the bottom of the squat just go down and immediatley come back up, driving your butt out of the bottom.

 

[Introspective]

Heh, no wonder you found them hard, adding 15kg to them! There's nothing special about my way of doing them, I just improvised with the equipment I have.

Happy journalling.

Thanks ab I don't have the propper equipment either so i have to improvise the same way. Do you have the barbell at the same height as the top of the inclined bench or lower ? I have it resting on the spotter bars 3 holes up from the bottom of the rack, so my legs are at like a 45 degree angle. Almost like a jay cutler style, only he does them standing on the floor.

 

[Introspective]

Is it ok to sub out High Pull's for Push Press ?

 

[nelmsjer]

I'm not sure I understand the order of your question...

Are you asking if you can replace High Pulls with Push Press? No. If you don't want to do high pulls, then you should choose deadlift.

Let me know if that's not what you meant.

 

[Introspective]

Yes nem that is what i meant, i think i probably will go with deadlifts
cheers

 

[blut wump]

Good luck with your new program.

I usually only bounce out of the bottom of my squat when I'm feeling uncertain of the rep or want to conserve some energy for the set. It does help in getting you back up.

If you do settle in at the bottom for a pause rather than bouncing out, ensure that you keep yourself tight. If you relax in the hole, the stress moves back to your knees and that's bad. It's probably worth getting the hang of keeping tight at the bottom in case you find a rep where you need to stay tight while working out how to shrug the bar off your back.