Mercere's 3x5...The quest for a decent Squat

[carlsuen]

nice lifting. i see you've been getting all your PRs.

about the sticking point on squats - (or for that matter any lift). try to gain as much momentum while lifting as early during the movement as possible. this should help you blast through the sticking point. incorporating this into your lifting early on will really help your progress in the long run.

silver shadow.. how do u gain momentum when the weight is heavy for the individual and to squat down with some speed and blast upwards? i think it'll bury me if i don't control my speed..

mercere, CONGRATS on your PRs!!

 

[silver_shadow]

i'm not sure if you understood: i'm talking about attempting to blast the weight up (not on the negatives). do this even when the weight is sub maximal (with good form) too. basically you will attempt to power even sub max wts with the same force that you would your max weights. this teaches you to recruit max muscle fibers for any lift. when you attempt to max, then you'd be using your muscle more efficiently enabling you to lift more - the wt will obviously not go up super fast and that's obviously ok. WSB actually has a separate day for speed training but IMO, even on 3x5 or any other routine, an attempt should be made to lift this way within the boundaries of that routine.

 

[carlsuen]

so meaning that i should use the same force with any weights as i would my max right?

right then.. thx..

 

[silver_shadow]

so meaning that i should use the same force with any weights as i would my max right?

right then.. thx..

that is correct - at least you should attempt to.

 

[Mercere]

26.07.06

Squat:
bar 1x8
62kg 3x5 PR

Bench:
bar 1x8
52kg 3x5 PR

Deadlift:
bar 1x8
70kg 1x5 PR

This felt like a workout. It's amazing how devastating 7 sets of work can be . Bench is starting to get hard. The last couple of reps were slow to lockout, 1 kg increments seems to be the logical approach to bench right now. Squats were hard (and nauseating) but I still feel they have room for improvement. I hope to add 5-8 kg before tweaking anything.
Deads are no longer "easy", but I'm confident I'll hit 80 without any problems.

Thanks to AB, carlsuen and silver shadow for their support! I'll hit couple of more PRs with that extra motivation.

P.S: Is "nauseating" even a word?

 

[carlsuen]

no prob dude.. just happy to see more ppl squating the 3x5..

congrats despite being "nauseating"!!

 

[Mercere]

28.07.06

Squat:
bar 1x8
63kg 3x5 PR

Military Press:
bar 1x8
34kg 3x5 PR

Rows:
bar 1x8
43kg 3x5 PR

I'll be damned. Two days ago I was wrecked after doing 62 on squats. Today, 63 felt good and I handled it no problem. Except for the second set, where I lost concentration for a brief while. I tilted the bar about 30 degrees to my right but recovered and finished the set. Valuable lesson learned today: When doing squats, keep your head on squats.
MPs continue to climb up steadily, no problems there. My row technique was far better than the last workout, I was parallel the whole time and got the groove of the lift.

I've gained 1.5 kg (3.3lbs) since I started this program, I weigh in at 73.5 right now (161.5lbs).

 

[Protobuilder]

Sounds like things are going great! Nice job on 3 PRs. Keep at it and keep making small, consistent jumps and you'll ride this for a long time.

 

[Mercere]

01.08.06

Squat:
bar 1x8
64kg 3x5 PR

Bench:
bar 1x8
53kg 3x5 PR

Deadlift:
bar 1x8
75kg 1x5 PR

----


04.08.06

Squat:
bar 1x8
65kg 3x5 PR

Military Press:
bar 1x8
35kg 3x5 PR

Rows:
bar 1x8
45kg 3x5 PR

Due to a very busy week and very little sleep, I worked out twice this week. Things are back to normal now so I'll resume doing M W F. Squats and bench are hardest of my lifts now. Last reps are slow and hard (though they're still progressing). Other lifts are not that hard yet, but I expect rows to get harder very soon. Deads still have much room for improvement and 5kg increments are still feasible. I'll sleep and eat better next week and see if I can add another 3kg to squats without problem.

 

[GSP]

Looking good bro! Just do everything you can to keep this run going.

On a side note, you may be getting to a point where more than 1 warm-up set will be beneficial to you.