abears 5X5 journal part 1

abear · Dec 13, 2005

WOLVERINE said:
abear, great stats on the bent over row. keep up the good work. just to clarify, this is the bill starr program right?

yea, one of the many variations. this is pretty much the intro to dual factor training.

abear · Dec 13, 2005

Champr23 said:
Yeah abear. Way to go. Do it!

Anyway I was wondering for deadlifts, I heard its pointless to start from the ground. I see you start from the knees. Which way do you think I'd be better off?

start from the ground. i neglected my deadlift form for too long and i screwed myself. i'm having to relearn the movement and also strengthen my lower back/glutes/hams right now.

abear · Dec 13, 2005

MIR said:
Going strong there, abear! With deadlifts, if there's one thing I've learnt over three years of training, it's that form is always the #1 important thing, with weight coming far away as the #2, so I think your decision would be a wise one. Another thing is to intentionally cheat or make the movement less mechanically demanding to get more weight moving, but for other times, it's wise to give most of your attention to form. And to Champr's question, I'd go as far down as possible without the form starting to break, just as with squats. I definitely don't agree with starting from the floor being pointless.

yep, gotta lift it correctly. i'm not to happy about where i'm at right now but i have to keep going forward

evolution · Dec 13, 2005

Your lifts are looking good. Keep up the work.

MIR · Dec 13, 2005

abear said:
yep, gotta lift it correctly. i'm not to happy about where i'm at right now but i have to keep going forward

That's just the right mentality.

I 2nd evo's comment.

jenn · Dec 13, 2005

hey abear thats awesome you guys are so inspiring. makes me keep going and challenging myself. way to go mate.

abear · Dec 16, 2005

jenn said:
hey abear thats awesome you guys are so inspiring. makes me keep going and challenging myself. way to go mate.

thanks jenn

abear · Dec 16, 2005

DELOAD WEEK 7 - WORKOUT 2

6:07PM - 6:53PM

squats 3x3 85% of monday

warmup 45x5x2 95x5 115x5 135x3

170x3 170x3 170x3

good mornings

45x5 65x5 95x5x3

rack pulls

45x5 65x5

overhead press 3x3

warm up 45x5 65x5 85x5

115x3 115x3 115x3

chins 3x3

bwx3 bwx3 bwx3

couple things going on here

first when i was doing rack pulls i caught myself shrugging my shoulders as i was pulling up. so i caught something i was doing wrong and when i corrected it, i noticed some improvement in my form.

second, i also noticed the lifts being somewhat easier so i'm beginning to see what this load/deload is all about.

third, took a good look in the mirror and can notice improvements in my chest and in my quads especially right above the knee. i have heard that this is a sign of going deep in the squat and i have been getting down there.

fourth, beautiful frickin' full moon tonight. i kept going look out the window at it. nothing to do with the workout but i enjoy that

feeling very good about where i'm at right now.

evolution · Dec 16, 2005

abear said:
DELOAD WEEK 7 - WORKOUT 2

feeling very good about where i'm at right now.

Good stuff man! The shrug is a good thing when put on the end of the rack pull (just food for thought). Squating low is a beautiful thing unless you're a powerlifter.

MIR · Dec 16, 2005

abear said:
third, took a good look in the mirror and can notice improvements in my chest and in my quads especially right above the knee. i have heard that this is a sign of going deep in the squat and i have been getting down there.

That's definitely correct.

Good job with your training, abear!

abear · Dec 16, 2005

evolution said:
Good stuff man! The shrug is a good thing when put on the end of the rack pull (just food for thought). Squating low is a beautiful thing unless you're a powerlifter.

on the END.

got it

jenn · Dec 16, 2005

lol i love squats too abear great job, keep it up.

abear · Dec 19, 2005

DELOAD WEEK 8 - WORKOUT 1

3:12PM - 3:58PM

squats 3x3

warmup 45x5x2 95x5 135x3 185x2

210x3 210x3 210x3

bench press 3x3

warmup 45x5 85x5 110x5 135x2

150x3 150x3 150x3

bent-over row 3x3

warmup 45x5 85x5 100x5 115x2

130x3 130x3 130x3

newf · Dec 20, 2005

abear, i've been looking over madcow's thread on this variation. How's your progress in the lifts? I'm thinking of starting the one your doing next week. I done enough hypertrophy programs for a while i want to improve my strength on the core lifts.

abear · Dec 20, 2005

so far i believe in it. of course, this is my first run thru so i'm basically establishing totals to be able to work with in the next few training cycles. but yesterday i did 150 on the bench and 130 on the row and i was only able to get maybe 1 or 2 reps with this during the summer and yesterday i did 3x3. i also have my calories up around 3400-3600 right now.

i honestly feel that when i try for new one rep maxes in april i will crush my old totals.

newf · Dec 20, 2005

abear said:
so far i believe in it. of course, this is my first run thru so i'm basically establishing totals to be able to work with in the next few training cycles. but yesterday i did 150 on the bench and 130 on the row and i was only able to get maybe 1 or 2 reps with this during the summer and yesterday i did 3x3. i also have my calories up around 3400-3600 right now.

i honestly feel that when i try for new one rep maxes in april i will crush my old totals.

Cool, i have a question since you done alot of reading on this.

Should i start with the intermediate or advanced variation? I have ample experience with the core lifts so i'm leaning towards the advanced.

Is there any guidelines to be meant?
IE Deadlift 2x bodyweight, Bench bodyweight etc?

abear · Dec 20, 2005

i'd agree with the advanced also. if i can tolerate most definately you will.

the only guidelines stated are to know your one and five rep max. then of course to start light and build momentum. they put it like this for loading:

week 1: easy
week 2: medium
week 3: hard
week 4: brutal

week 3 should be our current 5 rep max and week 4 would beat that.

newf · Dec 20, 2005

abear said:
i'd agree with the advanced also. if i can tolerate most definately you will.

the only guidelines stated are to know your one and five rep max. then of course to start light and build momentum. they put it like this for loading:

week 1: easy
week 2: medium
week 3: hard
week 4: brutal

week 3 should be our current 5 rep max and week 4 would beat that.

Thanks abear, i don't mean to hijack your journal but...

Do they suggest close to or failure on the last rep of the last set? If you go easy i guess that won't happen.

Going to figure out my fiber domaince of each muscle this week and my 5RM. I'll be starting the program Monday

abear · Dec 21, 2005

no, nothing really about going to failure or failure playing any significant part.

they're more concerned with 2-factor training (fatigue and fitness). how fatigue disipates and fitness continues.

abear · Dec 22, 2005

DELOAD WEEK 8 - WORKOUT 2

3:09PM - 3:57PM

squats 3x3 85% of monday

warmup 45x5x2 95x5 135x5 155x3

180x3 180 180x3

good mornings

warmup 45x5 65x5

105x5 105x5

rack pulls

45x5 65x5

overhead press 3x3

warmup 45x5 65x5 95x5

120x3 120x3 120x3

chins

bwx3 bwx3 bwx3

good news: very happy with the overheads. my max is 135lbs and i handled today very well. also dont go back to work till tuesday

bad news: feels like i'm getting sick. my nose is raw right now. oh well, next week is gonna be the last week of this training cycle.