Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below Don't change your deadlift technique in this program. Ramping to records in 2 weeks requires that you already have a significant amount of experience and are conditioned to perform a given lift. So in reality, if you wanted to pull conventional, you needed to have been doing it for a while before this 4 week block. Although I prefer conventional for functional strength, athletics, and general developement - it's not like there is a big enough gap to stress over here. Sumo will do you fine.
My Training Journal - Bill Starr's Single Factor 5 x 5
- Thread starter |D_J^B_J|
- Start date
Jim Ouini
New member
Yeah I forgot you were already in the throes of the program. I can attest to sticking with a stance/technique in the 5 x 5 - I tried to switch to ATF squats from parallel halfway through and kind of hurt my knee since I wasn't ready for the weight, especially since my technique wasn't down yet.
Anyway, in addition to MC2's comment about conventional, this quote from Matt Reynolds stuck in my mind:
So I think when I try DFHT I'm going to pull conventional. Just food for thought for later
Press should be in front. And my military wasn't very good (it still isn't), so I did push presses to allow me to move more weight, which has a leg drive.
Anyway, in addition to MC2's comment about conventional, this quote from Matt Reynolds stuck in my mind:
So I think when I try DFHT I'm going to pull conventional. Just food for thought for later
|D_J^B_J| said:
Press should be in front. And my military wasn't very good (it still isn't), so I did push presses to allow me to move more weight, which has a leg drive.
Madcow2 said:
I was actually doing conventional deads several months ago before I injured my knee but have been doing sumos up until now.
In that case, would it really be that critical if I were to stop the sumos and have a light week or two of doing conventional deads before ramping the weight up again and attempting new PRs?
Also, the jist of the single factor program is that you should be trying to get new PRs in all of your core lifts (squat, bench, row, dead, etc) by 2.5kg every week or two, right? Then when your PR stalls in one of the lifts you do less reps for one of the preceeding 'warmup' sets. Then when you stall after that, the Monday lifts are 5 x 5 and Friday's lifts are 1 x 5 (increase in volume, decrease in intensity). Then the volume is lowered and intensity is raised (back to 1 x 5 on Monday, lower # of sets, skip the Wednesday squat, etc).
I am taking this from what Glenn Pendlay does to train new lifters when the weight stalls: http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4658227&postcount=235
Whoops, I forgot you were doing that program. I was assuming you were at most a week away (maybe closer) from setting records a la the periodized version (a la ramping the weights to records in 2 weeks). Yeah, just take it easy and work out the kinks and you'll be fine to push harder on your conventional dead in a few weeks.
Friday:
1. Squat:
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
67.5kg x 5 (New PR!
)
The last set was a bit of a struggle - but I made it. Pretty happy about that.
2. Bench:
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
62.5 x 5
Had someone spot me with the last set. I was fine with the first three reps by myself then the spotter touch the bar to 'keep it moving'. Unfortunately he wasn't a very good spotter and he did more work than I would have liked.
I'm a bit worried about my flat bench because it's not progressing as much as I'd like. My squat and DL are progressing fine but 4-5 weeks ago I was still benching 60kg (only a 2.5kg increase in that time). Any suggestions?
3. Bent-over Rows:
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
40kg x 5
47.5kg x 5 (New PR)
On my PR set, the first four reps were fine but I think I cheated by lifting my back to an angle greater than 90 degrees with the ground.
I'll attempt the same lift on my final set next week but will lighten the weight on some of the 'warmup' sets and increase the difference in weihgt between each set.
4. Dips:
BW + 10kg x 8
BW + 12.5kg x 7
BW + 15kg x 5
5. Decline crunches:
BW + 5kg x 15
BW + 5kg x 15
Summary:
Not a bad workout overall. For someone with naturally skinny legs and bad knees, my squat seems to be progressing quite nicely - I've only been squatting for about five weeks and my PR has gone up by 10kg since then.
I'm still worried about my bench though. What should I do? Four weeks ago I was benching 60kg and now (four weeks later) I can't even manage the 62.5kg bench (2.5kg heavier) without someone helping on the last couple of reps. What should I do to allow my bench to progress?
1. Squat:
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
67.5kg x 5 (New PR!
)The last set was a bit of a struggle - but I made it. Pretty happy about that.
2. Bench:
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
62.5 x 5
Had someone spot me with the last set. I was fine with the first three reps by myself then the spotter touch the bar to 'keep it moving'. Unfortunately he wasn't a very good spotter and he did more work than I would have liked.
I'm a bit worried about my flat bench because it's not progressing as much as I'd like. My squat and DL are progressing fine but 4-5 weeks ago I was still benching 60kg (only a 2.5kg increase in that time). Any suggestions?
3. Bent-over Rows:
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
37.5kg x 5
40kg x 5
47.5kg x 5 (New PR)
On my PR set, the first four reps were fine but I think I cheated by lifting my back to an angle greater than 90 degrees with the ground.
I'll attempt the same lift on my final set next week but will lighten the weight on some of the 'warmup' sets and increase the difference in weihgt between each set.
4. Dips:
BW + 10kg x 8
BW + 12.5kg x 7
BW + 15kg x 5
5. Decline crunches:
BW + 5kg x 15
BW + 5kg x 15
Summary:
Not a bad workout overall. For someone with naturally skinny legs and bad knees, my squat seems to be progressing quite nicely - I've only been squatting for about five weeks and my PR has gone up by 10kg since then.
I'm still worried about my bench though. What should I do? Four weeks ago I was benching 60kg and now (four weeks later) I can't even manage the 62.5kg bench (2.5kg heavier) without someone helping on the last couple of reps. What should I do to allow my bench to progress?
Jim Ouini
New member
I'm sure some of the bigger benchers here will have some better advice, I know my bench has been the slowest to make improvements and in the smallest increments.
I use the 2.5lb plates A LOT for benching
I recall MC2 saying that as long as your squat and dead are coming along no worries.
Congrats on squat PR
I use the 2.5lb plates A LOT for benching
I recall MC2 saying that as long as your squat and dead are coming along no worries.
Congrats on squat PR
blut wump
New member
I'd be inclined to agree that so long as you are experiencing clear and definite improvements in the other lifts then not to worry about it too much.
Have you taken a good read through the bench sticky in the Power forum? You might be able to raise your bench with some form changes/improvements. Aside from that you might have to wait for your lats to catch up or you could devote some time to triceps exercises.
Congrats on the PR.
Have you taken a good read through the bench sticky in the Power forum? You might be able to raise your bench with some form changes/improvements. Aside from that you might have to wait for your lats to catch up or you could devote some time to triceps exercises.
Congrats on the PR.
Guinness5.0
New member
That's why your squat is moving along faster than your bench. Any time you're new to a movement progress will be rapid.|D_J^B_J| said:
MONDAY:
Did 12 sets of 20 second all out cycling sprints separated by 1 minute of rest (very slow cycling) preceeding by 3 minutes of warming up and 3 minutes of cooling down.
I intend to do this twice a week for a few months to regain some speed before doing running sprints again. Knee felt fine.
Did 12 sets of 20 second all out cycling sprints separated by 1 minute of rest (very slow cycling) preceeding by 3 minutes of warming up and 3 minutes of cooling down.
I intend to do this twice a week for a few months to regain some speed before doing running sprints again. Knee felt fine.
TUESDAY:
1. Bench:
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
62.5kg x 5
The last set seemed easier then when I attempted it last Friday - I did three reps easily, struggled through the fourth, and needed a little help from a spotter with the fifth to ensure the bar didn't hit the rack.
2. Squat:
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
67.5kg x 5
3. Bent-over Row:
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
42.5kg x 5
47.5kg x 5
I'm not sure if my form was 100% correct on the last two reps of my final set. I think I was cheating and moving my back slightly above horizontal - unfortunately I never see anyone elsein my gym doing this exercise so I won't know for sure.
4. Dumbbell Curls:
12.5kg DBs x 10
12.5kg DBs x 10
12.5kg DBs x 10
5. Weighted Decline Sit-ups:
BW + 5kg x 12
BW + 5kg x 12
BW + 6kg x 12
1. Bench:
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
62.5kg x 5
The last set seemed easier then when I attempted it last Friday - I did three reps easily, struggled through the fourth, and needed a little help from a spotter with the fifth to ensure the bar didn't hit the rack.
2. Squat:
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 5
67.5kg x 5
3. Bent-over Row:
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
42.5kg x 5
47.5kg x 5
I'm not sure if my form was 100% correct on the last two reps of my final set. I think I was cheating and moving my back slightly above horizontal - unfortunately I never see anyone elsein my gym doing this exercise so I won't know for sure.
4. Dumbbell Curls:
12.5kg DBs x 10
12.5kg DBs x 10
12.5kg DBs x 10
5. Weighted Decline Sit-ups:
BW + 5kg x 12
BW + 5kg x 12
BW + 6kg x 12
