Sculelos Weight Log and Profile (with pics)

[Mercere]

Yes, the reason on squats is that with heavy weight I mess up my form and that absolutely murders my body, if I stick to a weight that I can manage smoothly then I feel great, but since I lowered the weight a little I am doing more volume to make up for the lack of weight. (Some days I will still go heavy though, just not everyday)

Can you be more specific? How do you mess up your form? Do you feel pain? Heavy squats are the main driver of this program, so messing with them is not a very good idea.

 

[Sculelos]

Can you be more specific? How do you mess up your form? Do you feel pain? Heavy squats are the main driver of this program, so messing with them is not a very good idea.

If I go too heavy my depth sucks or I lean forward and do a good morning out of my squat. Both of them are bad and I just wanted to avoid them today, plus I think working with a little more volume might be good for me since I seem to recover really fast with squats.

I should probably go to a more advanced program since I can't increase my lifts on a day to day basis, but I believe that modifying Rippetoes workout to suit my needs is better then altogether abandoning it until I no longer can squeeze progress out off it.

 

[beerdrinker]

Maybe instead of going to a more advanced program, you should reset the weight to what you were doing 3 to 4 weeks ago. Ramp back up from there. I did that a couple of times my first run with the 3x5, and it worked wonders.

 

[Mercere]

Maybe instead of going to a more advanced program, you should reset the weight to what you were doing 3 to 4 weeks ago. Ramp back up from there. I did that a couple of times my first run with the 3x5, and it worked wonders.

Exactly. This kind of stalling is bound to happen. Your first approach should be to reduce the load 10%. Then work your way up again. If that doesn't work, go for front squats, or light back squats on Wednesday, you'll still be making two PRs on squats per week. To be brutally honest, your lifts are not near a point that you need a more advanced program. My suggestion would be to stick to 3x5 on squats to stimulate progress. Doing lighter loads more isn't the same thing. If you aren't squatting heavy, you are not doing what you should be doing.

If your goals have changed however, such as wanting more hypertrophy oriented program, you should look into those instead of modifying the Rippetoe. You'll get there faster that way.

 

[Sculelos]

Yeah, I'm going back to lower sets, higher weight on the next workout day.

165lbs isn't exactly light for me though, only 15lbs lighter then what my heavy squat day was a few days ago.

Really my squat hasn't improved in number much in the past month or so but I have switched form Parallel to ATG and I've also gone from leaning somewhat forward in my squats to almost being upright now.

But yeah have definitely been dealing with glute and leg soreness this month, first it was my left glute, then my right inner leg, then my right glute, then both glutes... going ATG is just a pain in the ass, literally.

I'm sure my body will get used to it though. If my ass isn't to sore I'll definitely be doing heavy squats next workout day.

Edit: And I know my lifts are still kinda low, but look at my beginnings and you should see that I've came quite a far ways so far.

I like to push myself but I also listen to advice from more experienced lifters since I'm sure thats the main reason I have been as successful as I have.

 

[Mercere]

Yeah, I'm going back to lower sets, higher weight on the next workout day.

165lbs isn't exactly light for me though, only 15lbs lighter then what my heavy squat day was a few days ago.

Really my squat hasn't improved in number much in the past month or so but I have switched form Parallel to ATG and I've also gone from leaning somewhat forward in my squats to almost being upright now.

But yeah have definitely been dealing with glute and leg soreness this month, first it was my left glute, then my right inner leg, then my right glute, then both glutes... going ATG is just a pain in the ass, literally.

I'm sure my body will get used to it though. If my ass isn't to sore I'll definitely be doing heavy squats next workout day.

Edit: And I know my lifts are still kinda low, but look at my beginnings and you should see that I've came quite a far ways so far.

I like to push myself but I also listen to advice from more experienced lifters since I'm sure thats the main reason I have been as successful as I have.

You've made excellent progress I wasn't trying to take anything away from it. I'm just saying for a young healthy male like you, there is more room for improvement before going into more advanced routines such as weekly periodization and loading/deloading periods.

ATG is the way to go... Your body will get used to it soon. The only way to overcome soreness is to do them. If you've stalled on the squats, do 165 for 3x5 (don't add more volume, this is backoff) then increase the weight gradually in every workout (say 5 pounds) to the point where you've stalled and go for a PR again. Don't lower the weight more than 10% in these periods as you will lose neural efficiency. So stalling point: 180 * .10 = 18, a 15 or 20 pound reduction is about right.

 

[Sculelos]

You've made excellent progress I wasn't trying to take anything away from it. I'm just saying for a young healthy male like you, there is more room for improvement before going into more advanced routines such as weekly periodization and loading/deloading periods.

ATG is the way to go... Your body will get used to it soon. The only way to overcome soreness is to do them. If you've stalled on the squats, do 165 for 3x5 (don't add more volume, this is backoff) then increase the weight gradually in every workout (say 5 pounds) to the point where you've stalled and go for a PR again. Don't lower the weight more than 10% in these periods as you will lose neural efficiency. So stalling point: 180 * .10 = 18, a 15 or 20 pound reduction is about right.

Yea, I'll just keep increasing and resetting I guess, I know I'm still a novice lifter at best so no hard feeling there, I'm sure advancement will come soon enough, and yea doing atg is definitely the way to go, which is why I've spent so much effort switching to it.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #62 10-25-07

Well my overall lifting goals have changed a bit, no longer do I want to be super strong or huge, but I do want to be lean, fast and fairly strong, to implement that I'm first going to cut to a satisfactory level then slow bulk from there on until I need to cut again. And no I'm not cutting because I think I'm fat, I'm cutting because I stand and walk around all day and carrying 15lbs of extra fat isn't doing me any favors.

As for todays workout it went well, I'm still doing some assistance work and keeping it pretty close to rippetoes original format although I might do a little bit extra from time to time or switch it up a little.

Weight: 213lbs.

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3x4, 155x5, 165x5, 175x5, On the 185lbs squats I didn't go to atg, only parellel, after a few sets of that I switched back to atg and thats where I'm going to stay, probably won't ever do any parellel squats ever again. (All my reps where in excellent form)

Military Press: 45x5, 75x5, 95x5, 85x5, 85x5, these were good, got all the reps I intended to do in.

Barbell Rows: 135x5, 155x5x2, 165x5x2, These where awesome as well.

Pull-ups: 3x4, 2x1, today I was managed to do 3 pull-ups in a row multiple times, I think when I drop down to 200-205lbs I will really be able to crank these out good.

Overall a good workout, as I said before I'm going to cut down to around 200lbs by next year then just slow bulk for a very long time hopefully.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #63 10-27-07

Good workout today, everything seems to be going well...

Weight: 211lbs

Squats: 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 165x5, 175x4, 170x5, great from and these felt really good today, ATG is definitely the only type I will be doing from now on.

Bench: 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 155x3, 150x4, 145x5, 145x3, Kinda went light on these since I wasn't fully recovered from last time.

Deadlift: 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 255x5, Yay, set a new deadlift PR today.

Other stuff: Nothing notable but I was able to do 4 Pull-ups in a row, as well kinda skimped on ab stuff because it seems like deadlifts kill my abs already.

So overall a great workout today.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #64 10-30-07

Another good workout, not going to cut for much longer as the fat seems to be rolling off me... probably will start bulking again in December.

Weight: 214lbs

Squats: 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 165x5, 180x5, 180x4, 175x4, seem to be increasing a bit on these again.

Military Press: 45x5, 65x5, 95x5, 95x3, 95x2, 85x5, my arms were slightly shot today, but I did manage to get my reps up anyways.

Barbell Rows: 135x5, 175x5x3, same as above.

Overall good workout though, my strength still seems to be increasing despite the decrease in calories.