BigRed goes 5x5

[BigRed]

StrongLifts Workout #60a/28c weight = 173.0 lb

Squat:
45 lb x 10
95 lb x 5
135 lb x 5
180 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:
45 lb x 10
105 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

DL:
135 lb x 10
155 lb x 5
185 lb x 5
205 lb x 5
225 lb x 5

Chinups:
8/5/5

Was very pleased at how well I did on OHP! I was never able to get 5x5 with 105 lb last Fall even after 3 attempts. This is a good progress!

Also very pleased that I was able to maintain double overhand grip on Deadlifts.

A pleasing day.

[BigRed]

Weird. I don't see my workout from Wednesday here. Maybe I hit preview but forgot to hit send...

StrongLifts Workout #61a/29c Wednesday 2/6/13

Bodyweight= 171.6 lb

Squat:
95 lb x 5
135 lb x 5
185 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Bench:
45 lb x 20
95 lb x 10
145 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Row:
135 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

I decided on Wednesday that with the workouts getting longer due to increased rest needed between sets that I would do both pullups and dips on Friday workouts when I have a little more time, rather than dips every A workout and pullups every B workout.

StrongLifts Workout #62a/30c Friday 2/8/13

Bodyweight = 172.2 lb

Squat:
45 lb x 10
95 lb x 5
135 lb x 5
190 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:
45 lb x 10
65 lb x 5
110 lb x 4/4/2/3/2

Deadlift:
135 lb x 5
155 lb x 5
185 lb x 5
205 lb x 3
235 lb x 5

Dips:
+25 lb x 10/8/8

Pullups:
+25 lb x 2 (wide)/3 (hammer)/2 (close)

Squats are starting to really require some energy.
OHP was clearly more than I could handle. First attempt at this weight. Try again Wednesday.
Deadlift I was happy that 235 was not too hard, and I maintained double overhand grip still. Grip is getting stronger I guess.
Dips was first time I've done these with the added weight since last fall.
Pullups - I had the weight belt on for dips and just thought I'd try and see what it felt like with the added weight for pullups. Maybe next Friday I'll try them with a 10lb plate rather than a 25 and see how that goes.

[asparagus]

Good progress! Keep in mind that if you are doing both dips and pullups together after a strenuous main workout that your performance on them probably won't be as good as when done individually. What I mean to say is don't be disheartened by reduced performance. They should just be an accessory to the main lifts anyway.

[BigRed]

StrongLifts Workout #63a/31c

Bodyweight = 171.2 lb

Squat:
45 lb x 10
95 lb x 5
135 lb x 5
195 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Bench:
95 lb x 10
150 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Row:
140 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Got a bad flu Saturday. Feeling a lot better today, but not 100% and lots of coughing up gunk. Decided to workout anyway. Glad I did. Still moving up, though weights are really starting to challenge me. On rows the last rep or two of each set has a much smaller range of motion than the first couple. Workout #31 is as far as a got last fall before I took 6 weeks off and lost a lot of strength and muscle. When I was on workout 31 last fall I was 9 lbs heavier than I am now. I'd like to be adding a little more bulk, but the past week my weight has kept dropping (I'm sure flu this weekend didn't help). Need to re-group and plan better to get enough calories to move the scale up a little bit. I think one way would be to add oats to my smoothies. I used to always do this, but stopped buying oats a long time ago. No reason not to, oats are pretty good bang for your buck. Hopefully I'll continue to recover from this bug next couple days. Not sure if I've ever attempted 200 lb squats before. If I have, it was back around '05 or so when I tried 5x5 for a couple months and I guarantee I wasn't squatting nearly as deep as I am now. Wednesday should be interesting.

BTW, thanks Asparagus for your encouragement as usual.

[BigRed]

StrongLifts Workout #64a/32c

Bodyweight = 172.2 lb

Squat:
45 lb x 10
95 lb x 5
135 lb x 5
200 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:
45 lb x 10
65 lb x 5
110 lb x 5/4/4/4/4

Deadlift:
135 lb x 5
185 lb x 5
245 lb x 5

Squats were hard, but I made it.
OHP big improvement from last time (4/4/2/3/2 -> 5/4/4/4/4) - maybe I'll make 5x5 next week!
Deadlift - Maintained double overhand grip for 3 reps, then had to switch to alternate grip for last 2 reps. I think I will start increasing the weight by 5 lb each workout rather than 10 lb as I have been doing up to this point.

[BigRed]

StrongLifts Workout #65a/33c

Bodyweight = 172.0 lb

Squat
45 lb x 10
95 lb x 5
135 lb x 5
205 lb x 5/5/5/4/3

Bench
95 lb x 10
155 lb x 5/5/5/5/4

Row
145 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

In general, my energy felt low today. Still recovering from weekend sickness. Still coughing like crazy, especially night and morning. Not sleeping so great. Hopefully next week I will feel better and will able to re-evaluate my eating plan so I can figure out a reasonable way to move the scale number up.
Squats - last two sets might have been able to push through, but I was concerned about my form falling apart too much. My hip and IT band type muscles were tightening like crazy. With an exercise like squats I guess this early in my lifting experience I'd rather be conservative than go for broke and risk harm, at least at this point.
Bench - was surprised I wasn't able to make that last rep!

[captfit]

Get well soon mate and good to see you cruising along your training .

[BigRed]

thanks cap'n! was traveling out of town for the long weekend. just got back this evening. missed a lifting day monday because of it, but I will be at it tomorrow!

[BigRed]

I'm going to stop numbering the workouts. Just doesn't feel necessary. Would be more meaningful if I had never missed a day since I started back in July, but at this point it just feels confusing.

Wed 2/20/2013

bodyweight = 172.2. lb

Squat
45 lb x 10
95 lb x 5
135 lb x 5
205 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP
45 lb x 10
65 lb x 5
110 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Deadlift
135 lb x 5
185 lb x 5
225 lb x 3
250 lb x 5

Squats - range of motion is definitely shrinking. Some of the last reps in the last sets may not be getting below parallel. Curious how people set up video recording to check this. Is there something people use to prop their phones up to get a good angle?
OHP - I was so happy to get all the reps this time! This was my 3rd attempt at 110 and I had no problem getting it done this time.
Deadlift - Was able to do all 5 reps at 250 with double overhand grip, but I was a little panicked about the possibility of the bar slipping out of my hands on the last two reps. Upward and onward!

[BigRed]

Just a very abbreviated workout. Wasn't able to get to the gym in the morning and had to deal with the afternoon crowd. Racks were heavily occupied and I didn't feel like waiting around all day waiting. Just did bench, pullups and dips and got out of there.

Bodyweight = 172.0 lb

Bench
95 lb x 10
155 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Pullups
BW x 7(wide)/7(hammer)/4(close)

Dips
BW x 13/10/8

[BigRed]

Because my work schedule is changing I'm shifting from a Monday Wednesday Friday training split to a Tuesday Thursday Saturday split. Hope this works out.

[asparagus]

Good luck with your schedule switch.

As far as getting video on the phone, I've either used a handy window sill (the rack at my gym is right next to the windows) or one of the boxes for box jumps with small plates to prop the phone up against. You could also use a free bench or at worst just prop it up with plates on the floor next to you.

[C.O.]

Can you tell me more about squats and your lifting routine in general, basically I want to know why you start with lower weight reps and increase them. I dont have the lifting knowledge and have generally done max out lift the most I can until exhaustion, low reps / heavy weights type of technique. What is the benefit from starting lower and increasing throughout your workout?