RipStone's 5x5-GFH journal

[RipStone]

Friday, Week 4

(all loads in pounds)

squats:
-135x5
-150x5
-190x5
-205x5
-240x3-----> TRIPLE(felt pretty good about these. still concernd a little bit about depth. i am gonna have to rig up my digital camera and figure out how to use the video feature on it. i am pretty sure its capable of taking 30sec clips).
-190x8-----> BACK-OFF

bench press:
-95x5
-135x5
-155x5
-165x5
-182x3----> TRIPLE (bench press used to be my achilles heel, but thankfully latley i have benn really looking foward to bench pressing. )
-155X8----> BACK-OFF

BB rows:
-65x5
-90x5
-105x5
-120x5
-140x3----> TRIPLE
-105X8----> BACK-OFF

parellel bar dips:
-BW+15x10 (+2.5lbs from last week, minus 2 reps)
-BW+10x10 (same as last week)
-BW+10x8(+2 reps from last week)


DB curls:
-25sx12 (felt like i had a few more in me, but i wanted to save those reps for the sunsequent sets)
-25sx11 (+1 rep from last week)
-25sx8(used hammer curls. +5lbs and +2 reps from last week)

giant set(wanted to finish the workout cus it was draggin a little today)...
-DB incline bent over laterals; 15sx8, 12sz8
-scarecrows; 15sx8, 12x8
-bench dips; BW x15, BWx12

comments: well its been a month and i have to say i am really, really happy with this program. PRs almost every workout now, getting stronger, gaining some size too, anD I feel good about the program as a whole cus I know I am doing something that has worked for so many other people and now its working well for me. Thanks again everyone for your help so far. This is only the beggining for me I am sure of that.

 

[young_squatter]

Awesome workout RIP, I see some PR coming this monday.
I am also going to tape my squat depth to make sure my form and stuff is good.

 

[RipStone]

week 4- sunday

GPP/grip:
-2 sets of DB farmers walks using 90lbs DBs x 30-45secs
-3 sets of DB static holds using 100lbs DBs x 20-30secs
-box jumps(various ways; backwards, 1-legged, fowards)
-3 minuites of stair-climbing

cardio:
-10mins of elliptical
-10mins of incline treadmill walking at 3.5mph, 8.5 incline

comments: gotta keep it interesting. GO BEARS!

 

[Guinness5.0]

GO BEARS!

OMG they friggin DOMINATED today! Delhomme (sp) was a mess by the end

 

[RipStone]

OMG they friggin DOMINATED today! Delhomme (sp) was a mess by the end

Yea, the Bears defense was un-stopable. 8 sacks againt a pretty damn good Carolina line....impressive.

 

[RipStone]

Monday, Week 5

(all loads in pounds)

squats:
-135x5
-155x5
-185x5
-215x5
-240x5(squats felt great today.)-----> PR!

bench press:
-95x5
-135x5
-157x5
-167x5
-182x5(happy, happy, joy, joy, )----> PR!

BB rows:
-7-x5
-95x5
-107x5
-120x5
-140x5(threes a charm )---->PR!

weighted hypers:
-70x10(same as last week)
-70x9(+10lbs, -1 rep from last week)
-60x8 (-2 reps from last week, but the overall workload was greater)

Abs;
-didnt write these down today, but I did twisting hanging leg raises and cable crunches

Comments: most mentally focused workout I had in a while...awsome. really aware of my form today after spending a lot of time reading about form this past week...it payed off. for squats, i pushed my knees out a little further and felt like i was bracing my knees against boards(a mental picture I used). defintley helped me. for bench, i am slowly implementing a PLing form. I am getting used to gett my shoulder blades tight throughout the whole lift and also having a slight arch in my back. for rows, i am just trying to stay at 90* and let the momentum bring me up a little if it has to. all seemed to click today.

questions: for bench and squats i felt like i might have had 1 more rep in me for my max sets...maybe not though. is that ok or should i be using a weight for my max sets that i feel like i have 1-2 more reps in me without a doubt?

thanks.

 

[young_squatter]

Awesome workout rip, PR on everything, great job.
I answer your questions, but I really dont know the answer to that with this routine your doing, so ill bump that to anotherbutters or someone else.

 

[anotherbutters]

Congrats on the flood of PRs!

Just keep increasing the weight from week to week. If you feel like you have to make smaller increases, then I'd say do that, so long as there is the progression. The closer you get to stalling, the harder it's going to become. I had a few weeks of bench and deadlift PRs where I couldn't possibly have done another rep, yet I still managed to increase the weight from week to week.

 

[RipStone]

Thanks YS and AB.

AB- so I guess you are saying that its fine to do your max sets in a way where you are really pushing on the 5th rep and might have not done a 6th rep with good form....as long as you keep progressing everything is good, correct? or is doing max sets closer to failure gonna cause too much fatigue and result in not progressing?

I mean on bench press and squat, my 5th rep was a good rep, but I am just not sure that I could have done 1 more rep with good form....see what I am saying.

 

[anotherbutters]

Yes, I know what you mean. You'll start to hit the CNS a lot more when you start failing, i.e. only getting 4 reps because you failed on the 5th, but I wouldn't worry about it until then. And at that point, you'd drop the weight and ramp up again, so you wouldn't be at failure for long anyway.

I just kept increasing the weight on bench (and everything else). Each week I'd get a little bit stronger, but maybe not quite enough to match the weight increase, so it'd feel a little bit harder than the previous week. I still managed to carry on for quite a while, surprising myself from week to week.

My last couple of PRs on bench were impossibly hard, but I just about managed them with absolutely nothing left in me. Then I stalled. Just keep pushing!