My Stonglift's 5x5 Log

Training Training Logs
61

Thursday, my lower back felt very worked, so I took the day off to be “fresh” for today’s workout. Unfortunately, the lower back irritation worked it’s way to my glutes. The right glute was so bad, there was a visible “rigid” running from my tail-bone to m hip. My wife worked me over pretty good and the muscle was more loose, but I was no where near 100%. I would say that I was more like 80-85%. I felt that my right side was not wanting to cooperate during warmups, but it wasn’t terrible. I taped my heavier warmup sets and I noticed that I was hesitating once I hit the hole. That is BAD. And, my speed was less than desired once I got above 183kg.

To make a long story short (too late): the goal was 2x2 w/233kg. That didn’t happen. First rep was good, but I didn’t have the drive from my right side to keep steady. I drifted right and lost the weight. It was the first weight that I missed in 7 months and it was somewhat disappointing. The second set, I couldn’t even get the first rep. The descent was smooth, but I didn’t have any “pop” to get out of the hole.

I may add a couple sets of negatives in the 250kg neighborhood into my last heavy squat workout.

Squat-
1x2 183kg(405lbs)
1x1 206kg(455lbs)
1x1 222kg(490lbs)
1x2 233kg(515lbs) FAIL!!!
1x2 233kg(515lbs) BIGGER FAIL!!!
**Even though I didn’t hit the numbers that I wanted, my posture was almost spot-on for all reps except the crash-and-burn second rep.

Bench-
4x10 111kg(245lbs)

Bent-Over Rows-
3x10 61kg(135lbs)

Single Arm Pushdowns-
2x8 27kg(60lbs)

Squat- Modified Peaking Cycle - YouTube

62

Damn, you got a long way to travel for them squats!!!

Even though you missed, that’s impressive weights you’re moving.

63

Thanks, mahwah. It’s one of those times that I wouldn’t mind being a couple inches shorter. And according to almost every powerlifter or coach, I am way under weight. It makes it hard to find videos of lifters my height without an over-exaggerated power-gut.

64

Today, I took a different approach to deadlift day. Since I didn’t leave the office till 9 this morning, I knew that I wouldn’t get to sleep till at least 10:30 and be forced to get up 3 hours later to eat and prep for the gym. So, instead, I chose to stay up and go to the gym before going to bed. I only wanted to do dead’s and take off, topping out at 206kg for a double. The key for today was to hopefully finally find my groove, which didn’t happen. It’s funny, I drop my hips before the pull, but my ass shoots up before the weight breaks the floor (kinda like a Jouko Ahola pull, but without the freakishly long arms and half the weight).

The older I get, the more I have been lifting in a fashion that my body can lift and not trying to fit the “mold” of what a perfect squat or deadlift looks like. I used to squat with a wider stance, but once I switched to a “conventional” stance my squat has done nothing but improved along with my hip and lower back health. I still have some technique issues, but none are so severe as to cause me joint pain like wide-stance. I tried pulling sumo and my hips would get absolutely fried. With a narrower stance, I have to pull about 6 inches more, but I feel more natural and comfortable. I’m 6’4 with long legs and not so long arms. I will never probably never have a great pull, but I won’t sit here and say that I can never break 300kg. It will just take more work and technique to get there. I doubt if I go far, but I will GO nonetheless.

DL
1x2- 183kg(405lbs)
1x2- 206kg(455lbs)
1x1- 170kg(375lbs) *That was going to be a few sets of 3, but I threw up my breakfast and called it a day. I think it was just because I had been up all night.

DL- DL #3 - YouTube

65

So, two updates in one. Friday was TERRIBLE. I was having lots of issues hitting weights that I should have been doing doubles with fairly comfortably. First was 161kg(355lbs), I had issues unracking and couldn’t get tight for the press. I had to break form just to get it re-racked. I dropped to 156kg(345lbs) and still had issues with the weight. Same issue with unracking, but I got one clean rep. It was just a lot more difficult than it should have been. So, I dropped down to 151kg(335lbs) and managed a decent single. All in all, a very disappointing day.

I spent all weekend thinking about my DL until it was time to go to the gym and squat. I have to admit I was fairly worried after last weeks debacle. I had to get 2 singles with 238kg(525lbs). My speed was awful with my warmup weights, but I wasn’t pausing in the hole like I have caught myself doing lately. When I unracked and walked out, I was surprised with how much heavier the weight felt compared to last week. I had negative thoughts as I descended into the hole, but once I hit “bottom” I sprang right out of it like I had been drilling. I felt really good about that set, so I bumped the weight up just a little to 240kg(530lbs). If I was surpried by how heavy 238kg felt, I almost went into shock when I was walking this one out. 2kilos should NOT make that much of a difference, but that shit HURT. Same drill: Deep breath, break at the hips, chest up, SPRING OUT OF THE F-ING HOLE!!! I almost got doubled over when I came out of the hole, but I recovered pretty quickly and pretty well. It wasn’t the prettiest rep, but it’s now in the bag and leaves me with positive thoughts leading up to the meet. To get the feel, I went ahead and loaded 254kg(560lbs) for a slow negative. I just don’t know how I am going to get there for a full rep, that was ridiculous!!! Maybe some more Russian magic…

Squat- Last Squat Day - YouTube

66

You are definitely a fighter undesired. Your tenacity is extremely motivating. And keep in mind that the 560 pounds may have felt really heavy today, but on meet day circumstances may be altogether different.

67

[quote]mrodock wrote:
You are definitely a fighter undesired. Your tenacity is extremely motivating. And keep in mind that the 560 pounds may have felt really heavy today, but on meet day circumstances may be altogether different.[/quote]

560 will be for the meet in October. This meet will just be 540, with the rest of my lifts only being 90-100% (no other PR’s will be attempted).

68

[quote]undesired08 wrote:
mrodock wrote:
You are definitely a fighter undesired. Your tenacity is extremely motivating. And keep in mind that the 560 pounds may have felt really heavy today, but on meet day circumstances may be altogether different.

560 will be for the meet in October. This meet will just be 540, with the rest of my lifts only being 90-100% (no other PR’s will be attempted).
[/quote]

I see, I see. All the best!

69

Yet another “disappointment” at the gym. Dead’s did not go as planned today. It was partly my fault for overestimating myself in this condition. I have had about 6 hours of sleep over the last 60hours, but I knew I had to get this last DL’ing session in to prep for next Saturday.

When I laid out this “extended peaking phase”, I had planned for a double with 217kg(480lbs). But, thoughts of 224kg(495lbs) for a double clouded my mind this past weekend. Even though my quads and hip flexors were still on fire from Sunday’s squat session, pulling 224 was the “right” thing to do.

I swung by Sonic for a plain hamburger, since I just woke up from my 3 hour nap and hadn’t had a meal in 5hours. That was “smart”.

Stretching was a chore. Muscles I didn’t know I had hurt, like abs. WTF are they and why are they in my body! When I started pulling, the warmups were ok. But, bending over forced me to burp hamburger. I thought to myself that I really should do 217, cause that would be “in the bag” in my condition. Didn’t happen.

I loaded 224 and pulled the first rep. It was ok, but I got up on my toes a little once I got around my knees (in the vid, you can see my left foot bouncing at that point). I had no energy to really fire the weight up. It wasn’t a grinder, but I tried to “control” the speed too much and ended up creeping along. When I released the bar and rest, I felt ok until I bent down and started pulling.

I didn’t even break the floor on the second pull. I chalked it up to not being mentally prepared and backed off. Since 224kg felt pretty good, I decided to do a single at 233kg(515lbs). That was the second mistake today. Or, is that the third? I don’t know but it was a mistake. I made two attempts, neither got past my knees.

I have to chalk today up to stupidity, but I had to get some pulls no matter if I were going on no sleep. And, missing weights when I have so may things working against me is a LOT better than missing weights when I feel good and well-rested. All-in-all, I don’t think I am going to bench or pull on all 3 attempts, so 233 will be an “ok” second attempt.

DL(if you can call it that)- DL #4 - YouTube

70

My last “real” workout prior to the meet was completed on Thursday. I wasn’t expecting much, since it was bench day. I chose not to put any squat reps in, so I could give my hip flexors a little more rest. The work sets were all singles and I felt fairly comfortable under all the weights, even the massive failure with 165kg(365lbs). Work sets were as follows:

142kg 315lbs
151kg 335lbs
158kg 350lbs
165kg 365lbs
156kg 345lbs

Bench- Last Bench Session - YouTube

I will have some light sessions leading up to the meet next Saturday and I expect to post some modest numbers there. My next training cycle will be the extended russian power routine.

As far as Stronglift’s 5x5 is concerned, I liked it overall. But, I know my body pretty well and there is no way I would have been able to keep pace with the deadlift program AND stayed healthy. And health is my primary concern. If I can’t stay healthy, I can’t train. Pretty simple.

Since squatting more frequently, I have severely neglected my other lifts. But, I will take a 50+kg increase on my squat and losing 15kg my bench over the past 7-8months any day.

Deadlift training was no where to be found until it was injected over the last 4 weeks and my numbers are right around where I was the last time I seriously trained my dl, which is nothing to be proud of imo. I will see where we stand with the dl at the end of the year and if it’s not over 250kg, changes will be made.

71

Well, I guess the 5x5 cycle plus the modified peaking was better than I thought. I went to Russellville with a 1400 in mind, which would be around 95-97% of my gym lifts and came out a little better than that while leaving at least 20lbs on the platform.

The meet was in lbs, so it will be easy for Modi to read :-D.

Squat- 540 (after I almost missed my opener of 495)
Bench- 370 (could have gone at least 380)
Deadlift- 520 (could have hit 530)
Bodyweight- 266 (decided to dry out and see how low I could get. 5 to 8lbs off of my usual morning weight “ain’t too bad at all”)

The Top Hogs put on such a good meet that I am thinking about skipping the NASA meet, so that I can go south and lift with them in November. What a great group of guys. I will decide over this relaxing off week.

72

Really nice work undesired, way to go man!

73

Nice lifting and solid total. Seeing how far you have to move the bar in your videos makes me feel good to be only 5’8". Again, nice work.

74

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Really nice work undesired, way to go man![/quote]

Thanks, mrodock. It felt great getting on the platform again. The only thing that was missing was my wife (vacationing in cali).

75

[quote]novaeer wrote:
Nice lifting and solid total. Seeing how far you have to move the bar in your videos makes me feel good to be only 5’8". Again, nice work.[/quote]

Thanks Novaeer. I am just trying to not get left too far behind by you guys :-D. Speaking of height, this was my first meet using a monolift and luckily we got to warm up on it. On my first warmup, the plates were hitting the counter-balance, so I had to walk the weight out. The floor was a little softer than I am used to, and I really struggled getting settled on my first attempt.

I decided to not walk out on the second and the guy working the mono didn’t hear my say I was not walking out this time, so I had to tell him after I unracked it, cause he didn’t pull the lever. After the squat, some of the guys were laughing and said “don’t you know you have to keep the big breath in and not talk”.

Also, I had a great spotter, but he had never spotted someone as tall as me. After the first attempt, he picked up on my movements really quick. Being a 6’4" kinda-powerlifter does create unique challenges.

76

[quote]undesired08 wrote:

Thanks Novaeer. I am just trying to not get left too far behind by you guys :-D. Speaking of height, this was my first meet using a monolift and luckily we got to warm up on it. On my first warmup, the plates were hitting the counter-balance, so I had to walk the weight out. The floor was a little softer than I am used to, and I really struggled getting settled on my first attempt.

I decided to not walk out on the second and the guy working the mono didn’t hear my say I was not walking out this time, so I had to tell him after I unracked it, cause he didn’t pull the lever. After the squat, some of the guys were laughing and said “don’t you know you have to keep the big breath in and not talk”.

Also, I had a great spotter, but he had never spotted someone as tall as me. After the first attempt, he picked up on my movements really quick. Being a 6’4" kinda-powerlifter does create unique challenges.
[/quote]

Yeah, monolifts aren’t designed for guys much more than 6’ tall; plus, if you’re not used to using them they can really throw you off.

77

I started up a new log, but since I finally got the video of my July meet I wanted to post it in here, since it was 5x5 induced.

Also, here is a link to the new log for those who care:

http://tnation.tmuscle.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_log/lack_of_focus_log