Bye-bye BBing BS: Journal of my 5x5 a la madcow2

[Madcow2]

Since I know Tweakle has a good dead, I'll add that those pulling over double bodyweight for the duration of the program generally scale down that lift to 3x3 for the duration. Stronger lifters might also break out the Wed workout into 2 sessions or separate days if it gets too taxing.

The whole idea behind loading/deloading is that the initial volume is meant to be too much. It can't be sustained for more than a fixed number of weeks before dropping someone into overtaining. You scale right to the point of overreaching and then deload. The body can handle a lot more load over a short period than it can over an infinite one so this manipulation of accrued fatigue results in delayed compensation/adaptation - a rebound like effect which shows up in the deload period. This is a quick and dirty explanation: http://forum.mesomorphosis.com/showpost.php?p=48&postcount=3

 

[Guinness5.0]

yeah, it could be worse you could get fat guys and 18 year old kids asking for advice..then completely ignoring it and doing 100's of sets with light weights.

I get that a lot too but I block it out of memory. I choose to save my alcohol-mangled brain cells for the short-shorts girls.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 2

WEDNESDAY

Squat 5x5- 275
Standing Military 5x5- 165
Deadlift- 345
Chins- 5x5
abs


Comments:

-I lowered the squat weight a bit so as to have a bit more in the tank for deads. I think it was a good move.

-I'm totally new to standing military. I find that the initial porion of the lift to be much more difficult than the top half. I imagine that this will shift once I become acclimated to the exercise. Sound right? Seriously, once I got it part way up it shot up to lockout. As of a few weeks ago I was using 100 pound dbs for 6-8 reps on seated presses so there seems to be some imbalance between stability and pure shoulder strength. I should probably add that this week felt easier than last week on this lift.

-Weight is the same this week for deads but quality improved greatly. I thought I was deadlifting fine when I started a few years back, but I was starting from a standing position (loaded the plates while the bar was on the hooks in the power rack) and then dong touch-and-go from there, so I've got lots of room for improvement. Once the bar is past my knees it feels damn near weightless at 345. BTW I was using 405 for 8 reps at the end of my touch-and-go days. I'll bump it ten pounds next week.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 2

FRIDAY

Squat 1x5- 225, 275, 295, 315, 355 (only got 4)
Bench 5x5- 265
Row 5x5- 235 (only got 4 on last two sets- grip limited)

Comments:

-I thought squats would be no problem at all. I'm really surprised at how difficult 355 was. I was seeing stars and shit by the fourth rep. I suppose if I had a spotter I'd have done another, but it was rough alone so I quit rather than pass out. Honestly, my focus wasn't dead-on like usual and I think that was the difference. All the sets leading up to 355 felt odd. Maybe I'm getting loaded up already?

-Bench was great- tough but never a doubt that I'd get my reps. Since I'd been avoiding barbell bench for a while, I was forced to be conservative, and strength seems to be returning in this movement at an ideal rate with regard to the timing and incremental increases of the 5x5 system.

-Rows surprised me as last week was no sweat grip-wise but I just dropped the damn bar on the last rep of the last two sets. I don't even bring my straps to the gym anymore, but I guess I'll have to start.

-I'm up to 250 so far, and bf has increased just perceptibly.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 3

MONDAY

Squat 5x5: 335
Bench 1x5: 135, 185, 225, 275, 295 (for 4)
Row 1x5: 135, 185, 195, 225, 255


Comments:

-skipped abs as I had to meet the family to see Star Wars, which was awesome (the movie, not skipping abs).

-great day. Focus was back and I think I had an epiphony on squats- my third, fourth, and fifth sets were easier than my first two sets. I just seemed to hit a groove. Seemed like a coordination thing. The movement just kinda smoothed out for me.

-I failed on bench. No biggie though. I'll get it for 5 next week then I'll be putting up 3 wheels during the intensity phase.

-I was pumped from bench so I got a tad aggressive on the rows. The last rep wasn't pretty, but it wasn't awful either. All in all a great day and a promising start to week 3.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 3

WEDNESDAY

Squat 5x5: 275
Standing military: 175x5, 175x5, 175x5, 175x4, 155x5
Deadlift: 355 for 5x5, then 375x1, then failed 405x1
Chins 5x5: BW

Comments:

-I've actually got some DOMS from squatting. I flew through them because I figured that the light weights aren't gonna load me up if they're not difficult at all. Just about a minute or so between sets. It was kinda tough. Question (if anyone's still reading this): would it be better to increase the weight and the rest interval, or do as I did today?

-I thought OHP would be fine, but then again weight is inceasing fastest on this exercise in terms of percentage, so failing ain't too bad I suppose.

-I anticipated DL's being fairly easy today, and I was right. Switching from touch-and-go to true DEADlift showcased the weakness in my ability to break the floor, but it's coming around. I got OWNED by 365 the first time I tried it properly about 4 weeks ago, and that was one week after using 405 for 8. 375 was fairly easy for the single- just a split second of hesitation at the bottom , then up, up and away (hehe). 405 went about two inches off the ground and stalled- basically exactly the way 365 felt when I failed with it earlier (and I was fresh then). Question: Is it an awful idea to do these singles at the end, keeping in mind that the only difficult part of DL'ing at my 5x5 weight is the initial phase of the movement?

-Another good day. Can't wait to DL next week. Please feel free to comment/ask questions BTW.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Hey madcow2,

Hopefully you're keeping an eye on me and I wanted to ask you if doing some heavy rack pulls from the lowest power rack setting would be beneficial in speeding things up for my deadlift poundage. I realize that DL is the most taxing movement in terms of loading/recovery, but in my case the upper half of the movement is EASY for now, so this may be affecting the amount of loading I'm receiving. I have zero overtraining symptoms as of now, and don't feel like this is tougher (in terms of fatigue upon completion of the workout and recovery upon the following day, which I realize are subjective parameters) than my previous bodybuilding split yet, but I was doing tons of compound movements for each bodypart and working out for an hour and a half easily every time.

So to specify, I was thinking rack pulls (something along the lines of 2-3 triples with 20-30 lbs more than my working weight) following DL's next week might speed things a tad. Or conversely, would it be better to, say, load the bar up with 25's and pull from extra low to boost my initial pull? Or should I just let things progress on their own? Thanks in advance.

 

[Madcow2]

I guess it's a little late but you want to avoid pulling heavy singles in the dead specifically. It doesn't seem harder but failing on the dead is a big CNS drain. Everyone's dead is stronger in one portion of the pull than another, yours is weak at the bottom and compounded by the old touch and go. Live with it for now - such is the consequence of your training and rack pulls aren't going to change it right now. The best way to get better at this is to train lower, standing on a set of 45lbs plates, using 25's or 35's rather than 45's, or using a snatch grip (out super wide - mine is almost collar to collar). This might not be something you want to do right now but think about it for later. If you want to get more stimulus from lighter weight, focus on accelerating the bar and keep it moving through the dead. Alternatively, clean pulls can work here too but they'd likely be very heavy for you.

Also, you aren't looking for overtraining symptoms, the goal is overreaching not overtraining per se. Overreaching is just on the cusp of overtraining where fatigue isn't too bad yet and performance hasn't seriously degraded. If you were fatigued the 2nd workout of week 3 there'd be a problem.

Don't rush the squats, 1 minute between sets is going to make these a lot harder and more taxing. The point is just to add some volume, you need your strength for the important workouts. I'm not saying take 5 minutes but 2-3 is appropriate for these.

Worry less about the small stuff. After you have finished the volume phase completely, have deloaded and are a good way into the intensity phase (if you choose to run the 3x protocol - can't remember) if you believe you weren't adequately taxed you can then consider adding volume to the Friday workout in the form of adjusting the number of constant weight sets rather than ramping the weight set to set.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Thanks a million bro. I'd throw some k your way but I gotta spread it around first.

I guess I can be patient

 

[Madcow2]

You'll be fine. It's like only squatting 1/2 way down. Someday, you have to bite the bullet and drop the weight for a while - trying to patch things with some partial squats thrown in isn't the best way to go about it. Pretty soon though the weight is back up and it's all but forgotten.