Okay so I normally rep 360 5x5 without any problem but just tonight I nearly stapled after one rep and had to go all the way down to 225 which is kind of discouraging. Anyone have an idea what’s going on with me?
[quote]leland66 wrote:
Okay so I normally rep 360 5x5 without any problem but just tonight I nearly stapled after one rep and had to go all the way down to 225 which is kind of discouraging. Anyone have an idea what’s going on with me? [/quote]
fatigue?
[quote]fat_powerlifter wrote:
[quote]leland66 wrote:
Okay so I normally rep 360 5x5 without any problem but just tonight I nearly stapled after one rep and had to go all the way down to 225 which is kind of discouraging. Anyone have an idea what’s going on with me? [/quote]
fatigue?
[/quote]
That’d have to be some crazy serious fatigue, only getting a single on a 5x5 weight? (not saying it’s not, just saying its a massive drop). Maybe a mixture of things, bad day, fatigue, getting ill, crap sleep, worse food, any number of things. I doubt anyone on here will be able to give you a definitive answer, especially without an outline of what you normally do/eat/sleep and what you’ve been doing lately etc. My advice would be to make sure you eat and sleep a ton then see how it goes next time and hope it was just a blip (a huge one at that)
3 possibilities come to mind.
- injury… although that seems unlikely since you didn’t mention one.
- you’re exaggerating how much you usually lift. I think this is likely true. Going from 5x5 to 1 total rep is too precipitous a drop to happen in a very short span, barring of course injury. Particularly if you can hit that 5x5 ‘without any problem’
- Your depth is terrible on your squats, and if you go any lower than about a half squat, you get stapled, period. A video would be sufficient to determine if this is the issue.
I don’t believe that fatigue can possibly be the issue here. I know too many people who squat every day to believe this. Hell, I only squat 1 day a week currently, and yet I can promise you that if I hit a 5x5 set at 365 tonight (this is probably close to the max I would want to do for 5x5 anyway), I could show up the next day and come very close to hitting the same numbers.
A possible contributing factor could be technique. I had a similar situation where I finished a Smolov cycle hitting 10x3x350 for my last session. A couple weeks later (taking time off from heavy work) I struggled to put up 350 for a single. Looking back, the problem was that I relied only on my spinal erector to stay upright and had minimal engagement of my lats and abs (wearing a belt masked the problem). My erectors somehow got through the training cycle but were still too fatigued to handle any high intensity work for the next couple weeks. It’s also possible I braced my abs during the training cycle and didn’t a couple weeks later - at the time I didn’t have a good understanding of what a good squat felt like and why. It sucked but it was a learning experience.
[quote]lift206 wrote:
A possible contributing factor could be technique. I had a similar situation where I finished a Smolov cycle hitting 10x3x350 for my last session. A couple weeks later (taking time off from heavy work) I struggled to put up 350 for a single. Looking back, the problem was that I relied only on my spinal erector to stay upright and had minimal engagement of my lats and abs (wearing a belt masked the problem). My erectors somehow got through the training cycle but were still too fatigued to handle any high intensity work for the next couple weeks. It’s also possible I braced my abs during the training cycle and didn’t a couple weeks later - at the time I didn’t have a good understanding of what a good squat felt like and why. It sucked but it was a learning experience.[/quote]
Did you have to drop to 225, as the OP suggested he had to do? This is what I found to be suspect.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
Did you have to drop to 225, as the OP suggested he had to do? This is what I found to be suspect.[/quote]
I was really close to failing that 355 attempt and my chest probably collapsed. I dropped the workload for that session and took the week off. At that point I don’t think I could go much heavier than 5x5x225 because my back was fried. At the most I would guess that 5x5x265 would push me to failure. My erectors were nowhere near recovered until a couple weeks later as I eased back in.
I’m guessing the OP played it safe with 225 and could’ve done more. If it was a struggle to get through that then there could be other problems I haven’t considered. It would be useful to see a video.
[quote]lift206 wrote:
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
Did you have to drop to 225, as the OP suggested he had to do? This is what I found to be suspect.[/quote]
I was really close to failing that 355 attempt and my chest probably collapsed. I dropped the workload for that session and took the week off. At that point I don’t think I could go much heavier than 5x5x225 because my back was fried. At the most I would guess that 5x5x265 would push me to failure. My erectors were nowhere near recovered until a couple weeks later as I eased back in.
I’m guessing the OP played it safe with 225 and could’ve done more. If it was a struggle to get through that then there could be other problems I haven’t considered. It would be useful to see a video.
[/quote]
That’s interesting.
I think there’s a difference between what he’s describing and what you’re describing. He makes it sound like he’s hitting 365 for 5x5 regularly, with relative ease. He says that’s what he ‘normally does’. You were finishing a smolov cycle. I dunno, just my take. But maybe it’s legit.
flipcollar put it nicely without sounding rude…but are the 5x5 360s really “no problem” and done with good form and speed, or are you deluding yourself?
imo it doesn’t really matter why it happened (if you’re not hurting somewhere and it’s not an injury). Just take 2-3 sessions and build back up.
The first day back do something like 225-250 for some reps. Maintain good form and speed. Even if you could do more, don’t force it.
The second day back work up to 315ish as long as your speed is there.
If you feel up for it on the third session, hit the heavy weights again.
If you’re deadlifting between squat workouts use the same logic…the weights don’t have to fly up like it’s only one plate, but if you have to mentally prepare yourself before every set and it’s a struggle, try cutting back for just a week.