Today's 5 x 5 workout and some fun facts

[Jim Ouini]

I want to work on hamstring strength, so I'll wait for my next cycle.

I don't want to add variables even though I had some left in the tank, at least this week.

Thanks.

 

[Tom Treutlein]

No responses to post #24, madcow?

 

[Madcow2]

No responses to post #24, madcow?

No - screw that guy.

It seemed just a status report with a back tweak thrown in. I'm guessing it's going okay? You didn't really provide much outside where you were, that you mildly tweaked your back, and that you were opting for the 3x deload schedule. Nothing sounds off. Do you like it so far? How are you feeling one it?

 

[Tom Treutlein]

Love it, thus far. Squatting thrice a week is intense. I'm actually about to go train in a few minutes. I usually feel a bit tired in the morning, even with 7-8 hours of sleep, but I think it's more of me taking a while to get going in the AM, rather than an overload issue.

I just want to make sure I grow off this, and my job is very unforgiving sometimes, so I'm hoping to just throw in some more calories.

 

[blut wump]

First time ditching the touch and go. I reset my hands after each rep. Holy shit it makes it harder

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones but I always feel that when I've lowered the bar back to the ground that it has gone back down precisely in my groove. As such I just give a half-second pause to feel that I've relaxed the bar on the ground and then pull again. Like you mentioned for yourself, I like to mess around for a few seconds being sure that hands and the like are just right before that first lift.

I also deaded the weight back up to the rack to take the weights off, conventional

I also messed around with pullthroughs for the first time. 3 x 10-10-8 at 80, 100 and 110.

You're reminding me of my week 6. It felt like there just wasn't enough volume and I kept wanting to do more. I was doing abs work already and added in grip work to burn some of the extra time I felt I owed myself in the gym.
Week 7 felt like a real workout again and then you're into weeks 8 and 9 which, I realised afterwards although madcow saw it at the time, left me having loaded again. I'd suggest you not be afraid to spread week 9 over a week and a half or even 8 and 9 over three weeks. Just see how you start to feel when you are hitting your 3-rep limits.

I keep thinking of trying pull-throughs. Must get a round tuit.

 

[Jim Ouini]

You're reminding me of my week 6. It felt like there just wasn't enough volume and I kept wanting to do more. I was doing abs work already and added in grip work to burn some of the extra time I felt I owed myself in the gym.
Week 7 felt like a real workout again and then you're into weeks 8 and 9 which, I realised afterwards although madcow saw it at the time, left me having loaded again. I'd suggest you not be afraid to spread week 9 over a week and a half or even 8 and 9 over three weeks. Just see how you start to feel when you are hitting your 3-rep limits.

Yeah, I think especially after week 4, wks 5 and maybe 6 you're left thinking - 'That's it?' (Well today's deadlifts were hard, actually).

Thank you for the relaying the personal experience and recommendation; I'll definitely be conservative the next few weeks.

For someone who's always been in the gym (doing the 1 bodypart per week routine for many years) it's tough for me NOT to think about going almost everyday, and if it gets to that point, spreading out 6 workouts in 3 weeks will be tough

But that's part of the paradigm shift for me, being able to see my workouts in terms of blocks, as opposed to individual weightlifting sessions. The proverbial 'big picture'.

 

[blut wump]

I felt the same when I saw the 2x per week option for the intensity phase. I thought "how could that possibly be enough time in the gym?".

I'm still not sure it'd be enough during weeks 5 and 6 but I have been thinking that switching to the 2x per week schedule for weeks 8 and 9 might be sensible, maybe even 7, 8, 9 to avoid loading the body back up again. At that point I think it might be worth giving the 2x protocol a whirl all the way through the intensity phase and fill in with cardio and core work.

GhettoStudMuffin tried it and his journal is on here entitled "A lifter's Iron log". he starts the madcow 5x5 on page 10.
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=346149&page=10&pp=20

 

[Madcow2]

I felt the same when I saw the 2x per week option for the intensity phase. I thought "how could that possibly be enough time in the gym?".

I'm still not sure it'd be enough during weeks 5 and 6 but I have been thinking that switching to the 2x per week schedule for weeks 8 and 9 might be sensible, maybe even 7, 8, 9 to avoid loading the body back up again. At that point I think it might be worth giving the 2x protocol a whirl all the way through the intensity phase and fill in with cardio and core work.

GhettoStudMuffin tried it and his journal is on here entitled "A lifter's Iron log". he starts the madcow 5x5 on page 10.
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=346149&page=10&pp=20

If you actually sit down and calculate the differences in load via worksets the 3x and 2x are not horribly different (basically I'm only counting the top set of the pyramid). There is a noticable difference in intensity because obviously your best 3x3 is lower than your best 1x3 but we are only talking 9 reps total over a week (1x3 hits squat/bench/row). Still it can wind up being a bit much because a lot of people may not recover sufficiently from the loading phase before this begins to build too high. If you can deload and keep the weights light with the 3x you can swap over to a 2x protocol after a few weeks and continue to raise intensity - it might be useful to peak out with doubles and singles with an eventual psuedo-competition/testing day further out.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Hm. Well my plan is to stick with 3x deload for this run through. I'm being real careful to add only 5lbs week to week on all my lifts up until my record weeks even though I *probably* could do a bit more (except for benching).

I don't know exactly what my 1/3 x 3 maxes are for wks 8-9 but I'm going to extrapolate from my 5RM I used in Wk 4.

I guess I have to be somewhat adaptable with these numbers since I definitely feel stronger, especially in my deads, glute tweak notwithstanding.

4/21 update (Wk 6 intensity)

Hammies/glutes feel pretty sore. Probably from the pullthroughs (didn't really feel them as I was doing them, though)

BW 186.6. Could be that I stuffed myself with an extra 1000 cals yesterday; even randomly I've never been this heavy though *crosses fingers it's not a fluke*

 

[Jim Ouini]

Today' workout Wk 6 Day 3

First of all the friggin neighbors decide to have their friggin tree cut down at friggin 7am in the friggin morning, friggin chainsaws and wood chippers, the whole friggin bit.

So waking up an hour early didn't sit well, I was a little bleary eyed during the workout

Squats (1 x 3)
135 x 5
185 x 2
225 x 1
255 x 1
275 x 1
295 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1
350 x 3 (belted)

Last set was a parallel squat I think, I know I didn't get as deep as my warmups. I'm still working on my ATF form, mostly how much forward lean I can get away with and how much I can 'tuck' my butt at the bottom; regardless it all goes out the window on my workset

Hopefully it's not too many warmups but with my new form I need to practice.

Bench (3 x 3)
135 x 5
185 x 2
225 x 1
235 x 3 x 3

These felt pretty good, especially since last weeks bench didn't go that well and this is my weak exercise.

BB row (3 x 3)
135 x 5
185 x 2
240 x 3 x 3

Also felt strong on these; only slightly used body english on my worksets and really felt my back pull the weight up.

Weighed myself afterwards and came in at 187, pretty happy with that. Started the program at 178 or so, and on BB program fluctuated between 178 and 183 for years (admittedly wasn't eating to gain, though)