Asparagus Strength Journey

[asparagus]

Skipping today's workout. I no longer notice a strained feeling in my back, but in certain positions it still feels a little off. Pulling a back muscle is not something I want to deal with, and considering today is Deadlift day I think it's better to wait until Monday. I've cancelled an event on Monday so I'll be able to lift all three regular days next week.

[mrbear666]

better safe than sorry mate, nothing worse than a long term injury is there.

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Good call there, I'm sure it will come right pretty fast.

[asparagus]

5/3/1 Lead-up to 1RM Test

5x100 jump rope w/ 5x3 widest grip pullups

2x5x100 lbs clean and press

Deadlift, no belt, no chalk:
5x135 lbs hook, very slow
5x195 hook, slow
5x245 hook
3x290 hook
3x330 hook
3x370 over/under
2x405 over/under PB
1x445 over/under PB

GHR, +10 lbs plate at chest: 3x10
Dumbbell OHP, 3x5x50 lbs
Lat Pulldown: 20x100 lbs, 2x10x120

Wanted to get a feel for pulling heavy, since I've been working so far below my max pull for the last 6 months. The heaviest I've pulled on a set since I set my max before 5/3/1 is 380 lbs, 83.5% below my theoretical max of 455 lbs. I intended to pull 1 at 405 and then 1 at 425, but when setting up for 405 I told myself I'd pull 2. Which I did, as singles. Then in my rush to set up for the 425, I put 2x10 lbs plates on each side instead of 1 and didn't realize it until the bar hit the floor after the pull. It was a really tough pull. While it was going up I was thinking to myself "shit this 425 is pretty heavy, going for 465 is going to be a bitch!" I think 465 is still going to be a bitch, but I've got a better feel for how hard it will be after today's pull. My hips shot up right at the beginning and I ended up with a pretty stiff-legged pull, but I kept my core and back tight and up it went.

Was feeling funky afterwards so I hit all sorts of weird assistance, with the dumbbell press and lat pulldowns. Not sure why, but I wanted to get some shoulder and back work in so those seemed to do the trick. First time I've used a machine since I started Stronglifts 5x5 back in February 2011.

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Great DL mate, congrats !!

[asparagus]

Thanks!

5/3/1 Lead-up to 1RM Test

5x100 jump rope w/ 5x3 widest grip pullups

Bench
10x45 lbs
5x85
5x125
3x160
3x180
3x205
1x225 PB
1x235 PB w/ stupid spotter
1x240 PB w/ stupid spotter

DB row: 2x10x50 lbs, 20x85 lbs
Dips: 5x11
Squat, high-bar, ATG: 10x45 lbs, 10x135, 2x6x225

Bench went well, with the exception of the stupid spotters. I had a good spotter for the 225 attempt, but he wandered off so I had to find others. The 225 went up pretty easy as I expected it too. For 235, there was a "personal trainer" lifting on the bench next to me so I asked him for a spot and told him "no assistance unless I'm about to crush myself". I figured as a personal trainer he would be OK - nope. As soon as the bar slowed down about 3/4 way up, he had fingers on the bar, even though I was growling "I got this". If I can get the bar 3/4 of the way up, lockout will be slow but I can pretty much always finish it at that point. I figured I'd go for 240 with a different spotter, same instructions. Same result. As soon as the bar slowed at 3/4 way up he had fingers on the bar. Why can't people follow instructions? Again, I knew I could lock it out, but it was going to be hard. 250 next week will be a grinder. Hopefully I can get a decent spotter for it.

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Nice benching ~ where did you get the 'stupid' spotter from ?!

Hey, I would really appreciate any feedback on my new training programme. Just posted it up in my journal, thanks bud. What you got on for the weekend?

[asparagus]

The "stupid spotters" were just guys working out around me in the gym. The first one had on an official gym "personal trainer" shirt, so I thought he would be ideal for spotting, but I was proven wrong. I decided to find someone else for the final set, but they weren't any better.

[asparagus]

5/3/1 Lead-up to 1RM Test

5x100 jump rope w/ 5x3 widest grip pullups

Squat
2x5x45 lbs ATG
5x95 ATG
5x145 ATG
5x195 ATG
3x235 ATG
3x270 parallel
3x305 parallel
1x325 parallel
1x345 parallel PB

No assistance today, it was late and I wanted a quick lift to finish the week. Squats went really well. Lost focus on the 235 set, got it back after the 270 set. The 1x345 wasn't that hard, I could easily do more, but it will wait until next Friday to finish my max test off with a bang before starting my 2 week break.

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Can I ask why you switched from ATG to parallel during the sets? Just curious really, as I find ATG easier for me as the weight goes up; I find trying to stop at parallel quite hard on my knees.

[captfit]

I had a quick question mate , by the time you reached your Personal Best in Squats during your 5x5 days were you still able to squat thrice a week with regular weight increments ??

[asparagus]

Can I ask why you switched from ATG to parallel during the sets? Just curious really, as I find ATG easier for me as the weight goes up; I find trying to stop at parallel quite hard on my knees.

I find I have no trouble with my knees stopping at parallel. The trouble I have with going ATG on my heaviest sets is the bar position on my back. I suppose it has to do with my body dimensions, but I have trouble keeping the bar higher up on the back once I get low. It slips down a little and that means the leverage changes and dropping my ass too low means my top needs to drop pretty low forward to compensate or I'll tip over. This is much harder on my core and doesn't feel very safe. I suppose if I put more work into keeping my upper back/shoulders/arms tight then the bar wouldn't slip and I'd be able to get a better deep squat. For now, when I get heavy, I'm sticking to parallel as it feels more comfortable for me (and I can lift heavier ).

[asparagus]

I had a quick question mate , by the time you reached your Personal Best in Squats during your 5x5 days were you still able to squat thrice a week with regular weight increments ??

Well, as I progressed on Stronglifts 5x5 every weight increment was a new personal best!
However, once the weight started getting heavy on all my lifts, I had to prematurely switch to 3x5 as the workouts were taking too long. Including walking back and forth to the gym, warmup and stretching before and after, 5x5 with 2+ minutes rest in between sets was taking longer than the 1 hour gym time I had available (I lift on my lunch breaks at work and need to get back to the office on time). The same thing happened on 3x5 when I started needing 3 minute rests in between sets, so I switched again to 1x5 sooner than the program called for.
However, the brief answer to your question is yes, the first 5 months of the program at least, perhaps longer, I was doing 5x5 and squatting heavy 3x week with regular increments.

Once my deadlifts starting getting challenging, I started doing only lighter squat sets on deadlift days. Also, towards the end of my Stronglifts days, I was not progressing on squats each day, but usually only once every 2 to 3 squat workouts. The same with deadlifts, it was usually 2 deadlift workouts for each weight progression.

I also went through many deload periods. Some were because I had taken a few extensive (3-6 week) breaks from lifting, others because I stalled on progression.

This is probably more than you were expecting from an answer to your question, but I felt like extrapolating to give a bit more background to my answer. Every lifter will experience different progression. Keep lifting, you'll like the results!

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

I find I have no trouble with my knees stopping at parallel. The trouble I have with going ATG on my heaviest sets is the bar position on my back. I suppose it has to do with my body dimensions, but I have trouble keeping the bar higher up on the back once I get low. It slips down a little and that means the leverage changes and dropping my ass too low means my top needs to drop pretty low forward to compensate or I'll tip over. This is much harder on my core and doesn't feel very safe. I suppose if I put more work into keeping my upper back/shoulders/arms tight then the bar wouldn't slip and I'd be able to get a better deep squat. For now, when I get heavy, I'm sticking to parallel as it feels more comfortable for me (and I can lift heavier ).

Fair enough mate, but as long as you put in a good amount of time working your posterior chain that will help heaps.

Safety is key though, and good work on your squat PB. Big weight moved there

[asparagus]

Had to skip my gym session yesterday because I left my gym shoes at home.

5/3/1 1RM Test Week

5x100 jump rope w/ 5x2 widest grip pullups

OHP
8x40 lbs
5x70
3x100
1x135
1x150
1x165 PB
175 fail
175 fail
1x170 PB

Deadlift, no belt
8x135 lbs hook
5x185 hook
3x275 hook
1x365 hook
1x405 over/under
1x435 over/under, chalk
1x460 over/under, chalk, PB


I had a feeling that 5 lbs over my theoretical 1RM for OHP was a bit much to try for, but I went for it anyway, twice. Then I dropped down to 170 and pushed it out. This actually helped me realize that I need to do a bit of assistance work for my triceps, as the transition from delts to triceps is the hardest part of the lift. I have similar difficulty on the bench press.

OHP @ 175 lbs fail:


OHP @ 170 lbs, fair bit of growling:
I think there's a little bit of cheat on this one that I didn't notice until watching the video. I picked it up from the rack and went straight into the press, possibly using a little bit of torso lift to add momentum. I should have stepped it out and pressed it. However, given that I was able to start 175 from the chest, I'm sure I could have done 170. I was just pissed that I couldn't hit 175 and rushed it.


Based on my performance on OHP I dropped my deadlift target by 5 lbs, so only 5 lbs over my theoretical 1RM instead of 10 lbs. Deadlift went great, but I was interrupted after my 405 lift and after my 435 lift to give squat instruction to someone, which took 5 minutes each time and threw me off my rhythm. Although I suspect it was also beneficial to get a little added rest in between lifts. Looking at the video, my form is terrible on the final lift. It looks like I'm lifting with a totally rounded back, although when I pulled I had everything sucked in nice and tight and didn't feel any strain or notice my form being off.

Deadlift @ 435 lbs, fair bit of growling:
Slight rounding, although it might seem that way due to the camera angle. It didn't feel as if I was rounding my back...


Deadlift @ 460 lbs, loud with the growling! Even more so because of the echo in the place:
Looks like really poor form on this one. Again, it didn't feel like I was rounding my back, but it certainly looks that way. Again, perhaps it's the camera angle, but I'm not so sure. I was feeling pretty stoked, so I held the bar there for a bit. Once I calmed down a little I realized I should put it down. I definitely could have done 465, but that will come another day. So loud! Everyone in the free-weight section of the gym stopped and watched me lock it out since I was making so much noise.