My Training Journal - Bill Starr's Single Factor 5 x 5

[|D_J^B_J|]

Tuesday:

1. Bench:
40kg x 5
42.5kg x 5
50kg x 5
55kg x 5
65kg (up 1.25kg) x 3 (miss)

My bench seemed to be much weaker than usual - I have done 4 reps at that weight before. I wasn't wearing gloves today but surely gloves wouldn't make that much of a difference?

Anyway, next week I think I'll attempt 63.5kg as my final set of five, and then make another attempt of 65kg the following week.

2. Squat:
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
60kg x 5
65kg x 5
73.5kg x 5 (up 1kg) --> PR!!

3. Row:
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
43.5kg x 5
48.5kg x 5 (up 1kg) --> PR!!

4. Weighted Hypers:
two sets of 12

5. Weighted Decline Sit-ups:
3 sets of 12

Apart from the bench, todays workout was fairly good - 2 PRs successful from 3 attempts. I also missed last Tuesday's PR setting workout because I was sick.

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

Thursday:

I played cricket about 3 hours before my workout this afternoon (spontaneous decision, nothing planned) and I wasn't sure how it would my workout would be affected. Those of you who aren't yanks and play cricekt will know that it isn't the most strenous form of exercise, but I don't usually do any other exercise on my training days, so I ate more in my pre-workout meal to compensate --> I had a plateful of pasta and a large salmon fillet.

1. Front Squats (light):
35kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
40kg x 5

I could feel the effects of the earlier cricket game already at this stage. It didn't look like it was going to be a good workout.

2. BB Military Press:
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
38.5kg x 5
41.25kg x 4 (up 0.75kg --> miss

I was so frustratingly close on the final set - next week I'll own it for sure.

3. Deadlifts:
60kg x 5
75kg x 5
90kg x 5
107.5kg x 5 (up 2.5kg) --> PR!!

Just a question on deads: I do them so that the bar is fully deweighted on the floor between each rep which requires me to wait about 1 or 2 seconds before continuing with the next rep.

Another guy was doing them touch-and-go style: the bar wasn't fully deweighted between each rep, and there wasn't really much of a pause between each rep.

Which of the two is the preferred method?

4. Pull-ups:
BW x 8
BW + 2.5kg x 7
BW + 5kg x 6

5. Donkey Calf-raise:
3 sets of 12

Reasonably happy with that workout and the deadlift PR considering I played sport earlier in the day. Let me know about my question on deads.

 

[blut wump]

You should always de-weight on the floor. It gives you chance to collect your breath, reset your grip or back position and makes the lift harder by taking away any stretch reflex. You don't need to do any long count or anything similar just make sure that the floor has taken 100% of the weight away from you.

If someone views the top of the lift as the start of a new rep rather than the bottom of the lift then they are going to attempt any slight resetting of body position at the top while everything is under stress. This is almost impossible to do well and unsafe. They'll end up getting sloppier as the set progresses.

The stretch reflex in a touch-and-go makes the lift easier but a deadlift gets its name from lifting a dead weight. The movement should begin with the concentric phase not with an eccentric leading into a concentric.

Congrats on the PR.

 

[Shepherd4]

You should always de-weight on the floor. It gives you chance to collect your breath, reset your grip or back position and makes the lift harder by taking away any stretch reflex. You don't need to do any long count or anything similar just make sure that the floor has taken 100% of the weight away from you.

If someone views the top of the lift as the start of a new rep rather than the bottom of the lift then they are going to attempt any slight resetting of body position at the top while everything is under stress. This is almost impossible to do well and unsafe. They'll end up getting sloppier as the set progresses.

The stretch reflex in a touch-and-go makes the lift easier but a deadlift gets its name from lifting a dead weight. The movement should begin with the concentric phase not with an eccentric leading into a concentric.

Congrats on the PR.

100% absolutely correct.

 

[Guinness5.0]

just a little pointer- I struggled with deloading on the floor because I like to keep a good pace going. Just relax your grip for an instant at the bottom, then tighten it back up. It's subtle but you'll KNOW that the weight's deloaded and you can keep moving along.

 

[anotherbutters]

Bump to all the above. I set the weight down, fill my belly with air again, re-grip and pull again. It only takes a second, but it's dead on the floor in between reps.

Congrats on the PRs after being off sick.

So, bro, which one of us is going to bench 65kg for 5 reps first? We're both attempting it next week

Edit: sorry, I misread. If you've done 4 reps at 65kg before, maybe it's worth trying 5 reps next week. Just count today as an off day.

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

Saturday:
1. Bench:
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
50kg x 5
57.5kg x 5
65kg (up 0kg) x 3
--> 50kg x 7

I seem to have hit a wall with my bench again - I don't think I could have done another rep with the weight in my final set. I think it was partly due to the jump from 62.5kg --> 65kg being too much in one week, however there was nothing I could do about it at the time because I didn't have my 0.5kg micro-plates then.

Next week I plan to do 63.5kg on the Monday, and assuming I make that, I'll go for 65kg again the following week.

2. Squat:
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
60kg x 5
67.5kg x 5
75kg (up 1.5kg) x 3
--> 50kg x 8

Now if only my bench was going up as quickly as my squat! It seems to be so easy each week. The only problem is that I am reluctant to increase it by such a large amount at once, for fear of failing.

3. Row:
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
50kg (up 1.5kg) x 3
--> 37.5kg x 7

4. Dips: (strictly focusing on keeping elbows in to hit the triceps)
BW x 8
BW + 2.5kg x 8
BW + 5kg x 6
--> cable pushdown x 8

Are there any tricep exercises I can do other then dips on this program?
Would doing close-grip bench be too much of a workload?

5. Barbell Curl:
EZ Bar + 12.5kg x 8
EZ Bar + 15kg x 8
EZ Bar + 16kg x 7

I'm not exactly sure how much the EZ bar weighs.


Was a fairly good workout overall. I just weighed myself, and I am now 67.2kg, so my weight does seem to be going up. I might start eating a bit more in my pre-workout meal though, just to make sure I have more energy for the workouts.

One thing I have learned from this week is not to play sport on a workout day. I won't be doing that again!

 

[anotherbutters]

You might want to try eating a bit more in general, or maybe get a few pints of milk down your neck in addition to what you already eat. You were 65kg when you started, so you've only gone up 2.2kg in 6 weeks.

In contrast, I'm up 3.5kg in the same amount of time (I thought I was up more, but not according to my notes!). Remembering this quote: "Mark Ripptoe is routinely able to get 30-40lbs onto a new lifter in 6 months", that works out at 0.5 - 0.7kg per week as something sensible to aim for, or 3.1 - 4.2kg in 6 weeks.

If squats really are that easy, you might want to try a 2.5kg jump for a few weeks, just to see how you fare, then slow down again before you stall if you can.

I don't know about dips vs close grip bench. I threw in dips once in a while, but don't have anywhere to do them now

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

TUESDAY:

1. Bench:
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
50kg x 5
57.5kg x 5
63.5kg x 5 (up 1) --> New PR!

2. Squat:
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
60kg x 5
67.5kg (up 2.5)
75kg x 5 (up 1.5) --> New PR!

3. Row:
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
50kg x 5 (up 1.5) --> New PR!

4. Weighted Hypers:
2 sets of 12

5. Weighted situps:
3 sets of 12

What an awesome workout! 3 new PRs from 3 attempts!

The irony is that I didn't think the workout would be very good because there is some heavy construction work being done next door to me which has been waking me up at 7am every morning.

I called the shire council and they told me that council rules state that builders are entitled to start using power machinery at 7am (fair dinkum).

I bought some earplugs before my workout, so I'll see if they help to shut out the noise and let me continue to sleep in order to get big and strong.

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

THURSDAY:

1. Front Squats (light):
35kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5

2. Standing BB Military Press:
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
42.5kg x 5 (up 1.5) --> New PR!

3. Deadlifts:
60kg x 5
75kg x 5
90kg x 5
110kg x 5 (up 2.5) --> New PR

Deadlifts were good. I could feel my grip beginning to slip on the last rep, but it was good enough to count as a success.

Would it be wrong of me to use gear such as straps or a belt for my last set next week? At the moment I don't use any gear except for gloves.

4. Pull-ups:
BW x 8
BW + 2.5kg x 7
BW + 5kg x 6

5. Calf-raise:
3 sets of 12

So that's 5 new PRs this week from 5 attempts. Life couldn't get any better.

P.S. As I type this, the Aussies have just taken another wicket in the cricket and are back in the game. Looks like the Ashes may well be staying where they belong (sorry AB).