november when you didn't lift? isn't life much better now?
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band pull aparts 3x10
bench 2x10 @ 45, 1x6 then 3x8 @ 75
good morning 3x10 @ 95
low bar squat 2x10 @ 45, 1x10 @ 95, 3x6 @ 135
deadlift 1x8 @ 135 and 3x5 @ 185
facepull 3x10 @ 35
Getting back into the lifting after having the time off from that pesky cold. Will be getting more program focused soon with another peak cycle.2 -
Stronglift Rest Day
Kettlebell Swing
Goblet squat-3X5X 30
Russian kettle bell swing-13 X7X 30
I am going really light on the amount of weight of the strength training. I am still experiencing pain in my shoulder but, not while I am working out.2 -
trainer day. it's a stat so i thought he was closd and then got all confused and took a long nap and . . .ugh. anyway, point is i was late and not entirely settled when i got there, but 3's week is done.
bench 65/75/85. GAH that last set at 85 is hard. totally one of those no-more-reps things. so just for spite i took the plates off and re-did the first set for 8 reps at the end.
mr squats said something encouraging. i wasn't exactly down about it, but i commented that 85 pounds is exactly the weight where i hit the 'wall' that sent me to wendler all those months ago. and still it's just as hard here as it was when i was on 3x5. as a matter of fact i'm not sure i could even do 85 for three sets of 5 atm.
but i said, kind of mocking myself for clutching straws, that at least i know i can do 70 or 75 pretty comfortably now. he said that's where it's actually at. his top squat weight is still pretty much what it was when i joined this group more than a year ago. but, he said, his 'bottom' squat has been closing the gap with the top one over this year. right now he can't squat much more than 520 or so, but he can load up 475 and keep going all day.
so apparently that's a valid measure of progress, once you're a non-noob. makes me curious too, to find out what happens when your bottom weight meets your top one, so i guess i'll keep trucking with that thought in mind.
squats were 'freestyle' - mr. t's nice word for when you've got a lift that's broken. couldn't get a good rack for front squatting, but i took the back squats up to 75 and did 3x5 there. that's not progress compared with my last-weekend stuff, but i'm deciding to trust the process and have confidence that more weight will come.
and axle deadlifts. not seriously because i have bbb deadlifting plans for tomorrow and i want to save myself
but mr t's optional challenge this month is amrap on axle deadlifts over 5 mins. the other woman in the group did it for real at 95, so i tried a few reps just for curiosity about how the bar feels. different, is how. 1 -
hypertrophy/whatever/bbb day.
ohp 10x5@45. was i out of my mind? probably :P i think my target 'real' weight at the end of the week will be 65, and that's the 95% mark. so i don't think my training weight should be much over 70 right now and was this is way over the 50% recommendation for boring but big. but i found a rack and i could not find the small bar, so i just yolo'd it. at least i didn't try to do 5x10, so there's that.
actually, in sets of 5 it was not bad at all. i thought i'd gas out after about half of it, but that didn't happen at all. i took rest time, i did it in sets of 5, and i felt almost totally fresh for each of them all the way up to the last reps of the last set. it almost felt as if i was getting stronger, up to that one. so i pressed 2250 pounds today, guize.
and then i did squats instead of going on to my bbb deadlift for 50 reps. front/back alternation in 5lb jumps up to 70 again, or mmmmaaaaybe i made 75. that's exactly the same as what i did last week, but i did these ones s-l-o-w-l-y after the first couple of sets, in order to make far more sure of my form. so i'm calling that a progression in 'overload' terms, because it sure as heck was. i liked the form though. liked how smooth and solid it felt all the way from the top to the bottom and back up again. liked how i didn't get pinches and i think i escaped buttwink at least most of the time. and my legs just felt solid as heck.
so front squats rock. alan thrall is right: do your front squats. it was so much easier for me to stand with the bar racked on my delts, and just 'feel' how and where the weight was distributing itself through my body to get to the ground.
oh yeah. and my week ended last night so the total volume for 3's week was just under 3000lb.1 -
amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »I'm a total noob to 5x5 but I'm getting started! I hired a personal trainer for a few sessions and we're going through each of the lifts and getting form down really well, then I'll be off on my own soon. Today was deadlifts. Per the trainer, I've got beautiful form and great body awareness (thank you, dance training), and the 45 lb empty bar was pretty easy. He went ahead and loaded up another 20 lbs on and I did a few sets at 65 without too much difficulty. Has anyone started 5x5 at a higher weight than the app recommends? It seems silly to go back to 45 if I can do 65 with good form and without strain, but again--noob. Also, does anyone else use a hex bar instead of straight bar for deadlifts? That's what the trainer showed me with, as he said it's easier to do the correct form since you don't have to worry about (improperly) swinging the bar forward to clear your knees as you come up. He said he uses the hex himself, and he deadlifts 500 lbs. Thoughts?
I have two more training sessions, so I'm going to have him help me get OHP and bench press form sorted, and hopefully we can squeeze barbell row in as well. I'm excited!
Welcome to SL 5x5. Deadlifts generally get started off at a higher weight than the other lifts. I think I started DLs at 95lbs. I've always used the straight bar. Like @canadianlbs said, if you are DLing less than 135 lbs and not using bumper plates, it's important that the bar is started at the proper height. I lift at home and used the bases to a step aerobics step to support the weights on both sides.
I did not start OHP with the 45lb bar. I started with a 30 lb fixed weight bar and worked up from there.
Great job on your good form!1 -
canadianlbs wrote: »and then i did squats instead of going on to my bbb deadlift for 50 reps.
i don't think i'm grokking the 'rest day' concept. i went back there today and did these. 10x5 at 100 pounds, with a let-go-reset after almost every rep. and rows 3x5 at 70 pounds, and i'm done.1 -
1's week \o/ wow, for having spent the whole cycle thinking i was just rehabbing myself, this one's gone fast. i have dl and press in t-space on friday, and i'm feeling kind of sciatica after all those deadlifts. so i just did both of my bench and squat chores so as to leave two full recovery days.
bench 70/80/90. couldn't get the extra rep that i tried for to go back up, but still doing 90 for a rep and a half felt like a victory. and once i'd checked the mandatory box, i took some weight off and did 2x5 of pin-pressing from the bottom up, with 55. staying solid enough across the upper back to really shove through the shoulderblades when i'm at the bottom of the lift is my problem with bench, so we'll see from here in.
squat 60/70/80. i actually did the wendler rep scheme instead of my high-volume faffing around, so maybe i might just maybe maybe put them back into the deck next cycle. i'm not sure about them, tbh. the hip pinch is gone, which is great - and i credit the front squats and the extra glute work. so is the s.i. click. so they feel very strong and smooth, and i certainly dealt with the weight even in the front squats. but there's the sciatica now. i'm not at all sure that i'm keeping a tight lower back and i think i still have a buttwink challenge in front of me.
didn't do anything else, except for band pulls and cable pulldowns as assistance work during bench. didn't feel like it, so there. i benched 90, i'm a badass.
next cycle i am GOING to get that bench press with 25lb plates. it's gonna happen, that's all. i don't even care if my squat's still lagging.1 -
Thanks for the replies, canadianlbs and sumiblue. Re: Canadian's suggestion about squats, we actually did start with squats in my first training session. We didn't use the bar, so I will ask him to check my form using the bar, but I have been doing squats at home with dumbbells for some time so I am at least in a similar position when I train at home. In the training session, we did squats with a fixed weight bar of about 20 lbs, which seemed plenty manageable.
As for the deadlift, the 10lb plates are not as big as the 45s, and the trainer didn't say anything about putting them on top of anything. I pull the bar from the ground, with a couple of pads underneath that raise the bar up maybe 1/2". I think I will also ask him to watch my form on the deadlift with a straight bar, and see how that feels. I did notice my quads feeling the DL more than I'd expected from my reading, so maybe that is a difference in using the hex bar. I'll have to ask if they have bumper plates at the gym.
I'm looking forward to learning the bench press and OHP soon! Thanks for the tips.
Oh, and thanks for the nod to the username, Canadian
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monday i FINALLY moved up to the bar and 45lbs on the OHP. i actually found it to be a much easier transition than i thought it would be going from the 2 20lb dumbbells to the bar. will stick with the bar for another session on saturday to make sure my form is kosher but it felt good and my traps definitely appreciated the shrug at the top of the lift. by 'appreciated' i mean hated, but in a good way.
after some groin pain in my squats (aggravation of an injury that will never fully go away) i reexamined form and realized i'd slowly been allowing my stance to widen, brought my feet back into shoulder width and i feel much better about it now. ready to move up to 100lbs today i think. ack! my original goal was to squat 100 by xmas, then moved it up to thanksgiving, and now it looks like it will be today. i don't know why i get so nervous just about 5lb increments on squats.
deadlift monday was 140lbs, just because i wanted to see how silly the 2.5's looked next to the 45's. @amyinthetardis1231 i use the hex bar for deadlifts and i've liked it so far. i may try with the olympic one day, but i feel secure in the hex for now.
today sticking with benching at 65lbs, i have a really hard time hitting all my 5x5 reps with these. i've also been considering narrowing the grip to give some action to my triceps. @canadianlbs thoughts? anyone else have bench grip anecdotes or advice?
rows are at 85lbs today. no matter what, i can't make these feel natural. they are hard as *kitten* for a few sessions at whatever weight they are, then all of a sudden they feel too easy. i never get the moment where it all clicks.
i'm still getting a lot of DOMS from squats every session, or maybe the combo of squatting at night then running the next morning and stiffness. who knows. anyway, i kind of liked this long form post instead of just listing the lifts and weights.
thanks
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Jessi, thanks for the shoutout. I'll play around with trying both bars and see what I like best, but if it doesn't make a huge difference either way, I'm not worried about it.
Does anyone do front squats? I went over squats with my trainer again today, and we did both back and front squats. Back squats are easier, but put a lot of pressure on my wrists, where I have pain and mobility issues when I have to push them back at all. Front squats were a little more challenging, and I already have bruises coming up on the front of my shoulders from the bar (55 lb bar, I believe). Is there any way to alleviate the bruising from the bar on the front of my shoulders, or is just a matter of picking my pain? If it's the latter, I'll stick with front squats because I need to be able to pick my toddler up and I can't do that when my wrist gets inflamed.0 -
jessiferrrb wrote: »today sticking with benching at 65lbs, i have a really hard time hitting all my 5x5 reps with these. i've also been considering narrowing the grip to give some action to my triceps. @canadianlbs thoughts? anyone else have bench grip anecdotes or advice?
um. so, all i can really tell you about bench is the various ways that i've made various kinds of mistake. my 'groove' feeling is very hit-and-miss with them. i just found this though. our old friend mark rippetoe doing a bench tutorial that i havne't seen yet. i picked it up at the point where afaik he stops reminiscing and starts to teach.
haven't watched it yet, but i was looking for something else from him that i do remember liking a lot. the stuff that he says about bench in starting strength always seemed very straightfoward and lucid to me, so i assume he hasn't taken on one of his strange belief-quirks since then.i kind of liked this long form post instead of just listing the lifts and weights. rows suck. until they work and then suddenly you decide you love them . . . and then they go back to sucking again. it's really hard to find a challenge level that is just right. i've actually stopped counting them as a 'full' lift because trainer day, and it's just more convenient for me to rotate them with chins/pullups as my assistance work for the back and lats. so fwiw under that protocol i do them with assistance rep scheme: 3x8-12, with weight i can handle. as opposed to 5x5 at weight i'm pushing my limits on. 1 -
yay! i did 1's week and i really like how the last workout went.
press 50/55/60. i was strong the whole time and i got FOUR on my final, 'top' set. mr t was extremely impressed.
deadlift 125/145/160 and i threw on his little 3/4 pound collars just to be able to say i pwnd it. i went for four on that one as well, and lost count. so my fourth-to-make-sure might actually have been number five.
feeling good. the deadlifts were heavy even in the mid set. and then they were heavier still when i did the first 160 rep. normally i would have been discouraged or a little daunted, but i think because i did all that hypertrophy on monday, my mindset has changed. i just felt too due to be able to do this to take 'heavy' for an answer from it. so i thought 'well, if it felt heavy then you were not tight enough so get tighter first.' and i think five was all i had, but i also got that feeling like it would have gotten easier and easier if i had kept up with it, instead of getting harder.
so i'm really happy with this cycle. everything's up, i feel solid, especially for getting those extra reps in the top weight of the entire cycle. and tomorrow i'll hypertrophy my squats and bench if everything's feeling okay. and then it's deload.2 -
Went to gym yesterday but was home late and had work this morning early (not scheduled that early but was asked the previous shift if I could go in earlier than set) so I didn't post things afterwards. Trying to type now but it's taking me longer to type because cat thinks she needs to be in my lap.
Lifting went okay and I did upper body except minor thing. Not sure what caused the issue but for the last three days my left elbow has been causing me problems. It's not sharp but there is dull pain on a regular basis. Not lifting per se as they happen at random depending on how my arm is held and such. Quite a nuisance as the left is my good arm and not supposed to be giving pain. Had the minor aches when lifting too, push press, but hasn't been bad at all.
band pulls - 3x10
push press - 2x8 @ 45, 3x6 @ 65 and 1x6 @ 70 with straps (trying it out)
cable bicep curls - 3x8 @ 35
tricep pushdown - 3x10 @ 35
clean - 3x8 @ 50
20 minute jog on treadmill
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amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »Does anyone do front squats?
i'm, um, doing them right now, as far as i know. i'll find out tomorrow, i guess. i'm so hit-and-miss with squats in general, sigh.
with the wrist problem on back squats . . . i should ask if you're doing high bar or low bar, although i don't think i could even set up for high bar so my thoughts may be of limited use if you're different. afaik your hands aren't really meant to actively support or control the bar, in lowbar. they're just there to 'trap' it against your shoulders, if that makes sense.
my first thought is that you can widen your grip if that's what it takes to keep your wrists straight. so long as you remember to keep your upper back 'tight' it's just as good. accommodating your own body's needs is more important than meeting some specification for width.
second thought is that an open grip is fine if that works better for you [maybe not for high bar, idk?]. i take a grip on the bar like i'm giong to bench or press, but once i duck under i release my thumbs and just hold it with the heel/blade of my hand. the way my hands are shaped, wrapping my thumbs forces my wrists and forearms into an angle that i don't like and can't get comfortable with.
and finally, for squats in general: i have to keep re-learning this one myself. but messed-up mobility for me and the squats almost always turns out to equal tight pectoral muscles. pec major and minor can both mess me up, in slightly different ways. so maybe check that out? a lacrosse ball and a wall can be a pretty powerful combination where your pecs are concerned. and if your trainer hasn't shown you how to do broomstick 'dislocates' take a look at that too. first part of warmup for me is a lot of dislocates and i kind of linger at the points in that rom where i'm tight.
for front squats, idk if the bruises are typical? i think i've had it worst when i was using the crossed-arms 'california' grip because your arms are internally rotated, which is against the line of force of the bar itself. so you can't really get as braced or fight back against the weight in the way that you can when you do the traditional grip. but idk if that grip will be feasible for you, since it also puts a pretty good bend in your wrists.
dk if any of that helps. if you squat high-bar, maybe someone else has some thoughts because i'm not even sure what the mechanical necessities are around that.0 -
amyinthetardis1231 wrote: »Jessi, thanks for the shoutout. I'll play around with trying both bars and see what I like best, but if it doesn't make a huge difference either way, I'm not worried about it.
Does anyone do front squats? I went over squats with my trainer again today, and we did both back and front squats. Back squats are easier, but put a lot of pressure on my wrists, where I have pain and mobility issues when I have to push them back at all. Front squats were a little more challenging, and I already have bruises coming up on the front of my shoulders from the bar (55 lb bar, I believe). Is there any way to alleviate the bruising from the bar on the front of my shoulders, or is just a matter of picking my pain? If it's the latter, I'll stick with front squats because I need to be able to pick my toddler up and I can't do that when my wrist gets inflamed.
Check out Alan Thralls video on how to squat on YouTube. Your wrists shouldn't be bent & your thumbs should be outside the bar-not wrapped around it. His pointer is to imagine you are trying to bend the bar around your back.
I don't love front squats but I do them. I'm actually doing PHUL, not StrongLifts now.0 -
hypertrophy/formkeeper day. bench press and squats, both 5x10@50 pounds.
i did the front squats as well. not as happy with form on any of them as i was the last time, but i think i kept it all decent enough that it will hopefully count towards the muscles i'm actually trying to benefit by doing all this.
and a kid - a male, muscly kid - scuttled over between my fs sets and asked me to help him get his fs form right. he couldn't rack the bar on his delts at all, so i ended up just showing him lat and tricep stretches to help him with getting his elbows free to come up. but still i was very very offensively proud of myself being good enough at that part at least, to be shoulder-tapped and interrupted like that.
obeyed my own something-that-grew-on-a-plant rule afterwards and walked there and back, so pretty satisfied with myself atm.0 -
*raises hand*
I do front squats too. However, I get more pain in my hand/wrist from front squats than either high bar or low bar. My right hand has some issues so it gets achy on a regular basis as I work retail so even just picking up a big bottle of water can cause discomfort at times. I get some redness from the bar but haven't bruised from doing front or back squats, though I haven't gotten above 100 yet on the front ones. I like all of the variations when it comes to squats. I need to do some squatting tomorrow.0
