Som's Log - Manlet on a Mission

There isn't much functional difference between the Nikes and Adipowers: both havethe same heel lift

HOWEVER

The Nikes are a lot wider. This is what originally drew me to them. Whilst ramping you up with that 'however' the width of the shoes is a bit of a non-issue, as the first thing you'll do is tighten up whatever shoes you've got on. I have comically wide feed and the Power Perfects are great for holding my feet without any cranking of the laces...However, I bought the Power Perfects as the guys at Pullum Sports explained that there was no real difference between any of them, other than looks. Saved myself £80 in the process.

And they will feel VERY different to your Vibrams - go through a couple of light sessions as you will really have to concentrate on where your back, bum and knees are with squats.

I don't think my feet are any wider than average. Probably get the Adidas just because I can try them on and get a feel for them. The Adipowers look so unfy, not really a good enough reason to get them over the PPII's but... well, I can afford 'em so whatever.

Somnambulist said:

I don't think my feet are any wider than average. Probably get the Adidas just because I can try them on and get a feel for them. The Adipowers look so unfy, not really a good enough reason to get them over the PPII's but... well, I can afford 'em so whatever.

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If you can afford them, do it. They do look awesome.

Then learn to snatch, clean and front squat.

I would <3 to go to a gym with bumper plates and people Oly lifting (i.e. California Strength). There's something purist about it which appeals to me, although azz-thetics are truthfully a little more important to me than raw strength/power (although I would like to be a manlet of strength). Seems a rarity though. I know Crossfit London has that stuff but... well, it's Crossfit and I might get kidnapped by the cult and forced into endless kipping pullups by the 'fittest on the whole Earth evaaar' crowd. Urgh.

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Okay workout tonight,

Squats 97.5kg 5x5 - harder than Monday... I'm sort of wondering whether I'm at the point of doing SL5x5 where my recovery isn't as quick and I should be thinking about switching to Madcow 5x5 or Texas Method or one of the other 'do after 5x5' things. Just before Christmas I wasn't progressing as quickly, if at all, but I'd read about the grind/hard work after noob gains bit so wasn't sure. Wanna get my Oly shoes and see if the biomechanical adjustment/improvement helps. No point jumping to conclusions too quick.

OHP 40kg - bah, worse than Friday - 5, 5, 4 (+1), 4 (+1) 3 (+2). Form could be much better too, oh well try again Monday then deload to 35kg if I fail 3rd time. 35kg goes up so easily compared to 40kg lol.

Deadlift 100kg 1x5 - tried to be more explosive in the first part of the movement to get the weight up past my knees, then squeeze dem glutes, keep head down etc, seemed to worked. Messy last rep still so don't want to up the weight just yet. Always feels DLs are over so quick on Stronglifts. 40/60/80kg warmups then one set at 100 and bang, over. Also feel kind of a cheat because the gym is on a 2nd floor I have to use mats to deadlifts - use x2 which is like 2 inches I guess which knocks the height of the bar up, although even with the 20kg plates it's below the half-way point between knee/ankle so I probably shouldn't worry about it too much. Also I think the 20kg plates aren't as big as the Oly ones anyway so.... still have a fair range of motion to go through, shouldn't worry about it, maybe.

Pic of 20's here:


Chin-ups, 12, 7, 5. Arms get so vascular doing these after deads. Forearms mashed.

Plank x3, can't remember for how long - do it grease the groove style, don't go to total core failure (although tbh it's my arms that feel tired before my guts), but close.

Keep at SL with the squats, you might want to consider eating more if your recovery is slowing down, it makes a massive difference .

As for deadlifts 1x5 has always been a joke. As a min you should really do 3x5 after your warm ups, if you don't want to do that at least to 3x3 after your one set of 5.

Yeah I was thinking of upping my training day cals slightly, currently sits at 140g protein, 265g carbs and 55g fat - in all likelihood I probably eat a bit more than this anyway as I'm not super anal about counting things perfectly, round up, don't bother counting sauces, milk in tea/coffee in the feeding window etc.

I may drop the weight slightly and do 3x5 - when I started off in June having never done any kind of lifting, all I was doing was 5x5 squat/bench/deadlift (after I spent the first 3-4 sessions, working out where abouts weight-wise was hard but do-able w/good form for me).

Cheers.

Decent workout tonight,

Squat - 97.5 5x5 - felt better than Weds. Some reps I can really feel like I've nailed the form, because driving back up feels so much nicer, others not

Bench - 57.5 (5, 5, 5, 4+1, 3+2) - watched a load of vids at work on bench form and decided even though my 55kg on Monday was iffy I'd see what happened. Went pretty well although last 2 sets had to put the bar back and reset form because I lost my tightness. Really makes such a huge difference when you've got that kinetic chain from heels driving into the floor/tight glutes/shoulders pinned in/elbows not flaring

P. Row - 62.5 5x5 - went nicely bar some iffy form on the last reps of the last 2 sets, although I was rushing to get done due to the weather

Intended to do dips and hanging knee raises but wasn't sure if I'd get home if I kept hanging about so ran back and then did a load of pushups and vertical leg raise-lower slowly thingys. Then ate. A lot.

Also some stupid pics because I'm not sure if the relaxed ones show some of the minor gainz I've got since I started lifting.

Caveats = blurry/not very anabolic lighting/full of carbs and water several hours PWO. Took back pic and then had to scurry into my bedroom to take the rest to let people shower, hence the stupid front pic. Also included legs of prosperity as they're further along than my upper body.







Can you tell I'm left handed? Also no idea how to pose, I usually only take my relaxed progress shots rather than tensing/trying to show off what little I have.

Also, strong Marcel Nguyen haircut coming along nicely. Pity I don't have his upper body though.

Mixed bag this evening. Also weigh in today, down a whole 100g from 62.5 to 62.4kg, measurements more or less the same.

Long day trudging in the snow but being wrapped up warm, after I got the train back from work, trudged rather than got the bus (there weren't any) and got in the gym felt ready to engage beast mode.

Squats 97.5 5x5 - first 3 sets I was mashing these out with good depth and form, 4th started to tire and 5th was more of an effort. Still not nailing form on all 25 so even though it's only 2.5kg I don't want to go up to 100. Will see if getting my Oly shoes at some point (snow has postponed my trip to the shop that sells them) helps. Want to get back to 4 big plates grrrr.

OHP - utter ****, 40kg 5 4 3 3 2 - form and strength seem to have abandoned me with this. Deloading down to 35kg and working my way back up again as of Friday. Annoying as hell because I was only having to push press the last couple of reps of the 5th set just before xmas. ****** *** *** *!! Argh.

Deadlift - 100kg x 5 - felt good bar the last rep which I could tell was a bit off form wise. Always seems so undercooked only being 1x5 on SL, over so quick.

Chins - 12 7 5 - meh

Plank x3 - one of my right abs is a bit sore lol, this really is a horribly enjoyable way to finish a workout.

Anyway, going to cry about my OHP a bit more.

Urrrgh!

Squats 97.5 - 5x5 - crappy depth, felt out of gas after the first set, nothing in my legs, forced myself to finish it even if they were 2/3rds of a proper squat. Waaaah

Bench 57.5 - 5, 4+1, 4+1, 3+2, 3+2 - always get halfway through most sets and have to rack the bar and reset because I lose all the tightness/locked shoulders from the set up - soooo frustrating. Ropy form from set 3 onwards in general anyway. /wrists

P. Rows 62.5 5x5 - done in anger lol, got about 20/25 reps with good form, unacceptable!
Dips - 15, 8, 5 - had to do v. quickly as gym was closing (barely 30secs rest between sets)
Vertical leg raises (slow negative) 12 12 12

Mehdi says that lighter people generally hit the wall with progress on SL 5x5 earlier and therefore need to switch things up programming wise quicker than someone heavier. I know my squat hasn't really improved much for a while now, well, the form has but the weights haven't gone up. I'm kind of on the fence.

Do I need to man up and keep grinding away at SL? Should I move onto... something else (where I'm not squatting x3 a week)? I've deliberately been eating a bit more this week on workout days although it's already a surplus (rest days are a moderate cal deficit, although protein is just as high, if not higher than training days) but so far both my works have been mixed bags. I always read that you should be prepared for a few workouts to be duds though, and I'm too much of a noob to really feel like my decision making will be good lol. Confuzzled.

Thinking of doing Madcow tbh, it's the natural progression from SL after all, should keep me going till summer... the main difference is in the squatting and the sets/progression, which works for me as it's squats I'm feeling the hurt from most haha.

For the experience people on here, could you help me come up with some of the assistance work? Madcow is basically:

Monday
Squat/Bench/Row:
Ramp-up sets 4 x 5 reps (progressively heavier load)
Heaviest set 1 x 5 reps

Wednesday
Squat:
Ramp-up sets 2 x 5 reps
Heavy sets (much lighter than Monday) 2 x 5 reps

OHP/Deadlift
Ramp-up sets 4 x 5 reps
Heavy set 1 x 5 reps

Friday
Squat/Bench/Row:
Ramp-up sets 4 x 5 reps
Heavy set 1 x 3 reps (heavier than Monday, slightly)
Deload set 1 x 8 reps (same weight as the heavy set on Weds)

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Weights are calculated on a spreadsheet. Unlike SL you're not alternating A/B workouts so it's the same plan each week. Sooooo - assistance work.

Things I definitely want to include:
Chins (Weds?)
Dips (Friday?)

Not sure what other stuff would be good assistance work (before anyone asks there's no GHR machine, sigh) or rep ranges. For core stuff I like planks but not sure what else to throw in either, or what day. Advice appreciated.

Chins/Dips/Pull Ups/ Ab stuff (pick from many - work up towards dragon flags though)

kd

Candlesticks, side planks, standing/kneeling barbell rollouts, back/front lever, etc...

Body saw, land mines, reverse crunch, standard plank.

kd

Spoilt for choice! Levers look a bit advanced for me!

I don't want to go OTT on the assistance stuff so I'll probably stick to chins/pulls and dips. Also IIRC on SL5x5 you switch to 3x5 on the exercises you keep failing on then 1x5 and it's only then you switch to Madcow, so I should probably try that first.

Seriously need to do more ten 1 working set on deads. When I did SL I was on 5 working sets and eventually dropped to 3

Your advice was noted.

Good times in the gym tonight.

Squats - as per SL guidelines, this is now 3x5 for working sets because squatting 5x5 three times a week seems to have run me into the ground and I feel like this is the right time to change

Bar x lots
40 x10
60 x5
70 x2
80 x2
90 3x5 (3 sets of 5)

Deload from 97.5kg to ease me into this as my legs were spent on Weds and I wanted to go a little easier on them today so they'll be even fresher Monday. Good depth, got out of bottom fairly quickly.

OHP - 2nd deload (3rd time = move to 3x5), from 40kg to 35kg. Piece of cake, more or less. Discovered that if I didn't look at myself in the mirror it got easier too (stupid mirror straight in front of squat rack!), form felt tight (along with quads/abs/glutes), weight flew up and down.

Bar 2x5
25 x5
30 x3
35 5x5

Deadlift - deloaded a tiny bit as I was going for 3 sets rather than one as per Syla's advice. Applied the godly liquid chalk for the first time - that stuff is magik! - all double overhand bar the last set of 5 which was mixed grip, felt pretty good although I really need to film myself to see what's happening from the side when I tire.

40 x10
60 x6
80 x3
95 3 sets x5

Been neglecting pullups (medium grip) to do chins and hammer grip chins/pulls, so decided to man up. Bodweight:
10
5
4

...yeah, harder than chins! Did better than expected though. Again, liquid chalk really helped w/grip

Plank x3 - didn't time it just held on for dear life
Side plank x1 each side for the lulz

Finished off with some barbell broseph bicep curlz just because pullups are less bicepy than chins, just the 20kg Oly bar - 3 x 8, cheating the last few reps of the last set because I was spent.

Felt good though and for once I'm not dreading squats on Monday. Will be 5x5 on bench and rows but like the press, not sure how much longer they'll stay that way, but I won't jump to 3x5 until I've failed to progress after the 3rd stall/deload.

Somnambulist said:

Finished off with some barbell broseph bicep curlz just because pullups are less bicepy than chins, just the 20kg Oly bar - 3 x 8, cheating the last few reps of the last set because I was spent.

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Please tell me that a) you don't have anything else you could have done brocep curls with, and b) you didn't do it in the squat rack!

Solid session though. Did not know that after three deloads on SL you're supposed to drop down to 3x5. Will have to remember that for future....

kd

Fear not, the gym is empty Friday night - there was only one other guy in there.

Yeah on Stronglifts if you have to deload 3 times, you move to 3x5 reps. When the same happens for that, you move to 1x5 reps. When this happens with squats (as they're the meat and potatoes exercise), you end Stronglifts 5x5 and move onto something else - a lot of people go straight to Madcow which makes sense as it's very similar to SL but you're working at different intensities over the week and there's no ABA BAB alternation.

Monday's 'A' workout

Squats
Bar x lots
40 x 10
60 x 4
70 x 3
80 x 2
92.5 5x3
60 x 5x2 3 sec pause in hole


Felt okay moving back up towards 100, definitely a little less worn out dropping sets to 3 not 5. Added a couple of BW paused sets at the end with a lighter weight just to get a feel for how I'm sitting in the hole. Hopefully should have Oly shoes this time next week.

Bench
Bar x 10x2
30 x 5
40 x 5
50 x 2
57.5 5x5

Pretty good bench, tried to focus on 'pulling the bar apart' as well as maintaining tightness, which is a big problem I have as I tend to finish the set having lost all the tension I create (copying the Dave Tate stuff on bench form). Not 100% happy with my form still though and grip width is still something I'm experimenting with even after all this time.

P.Row
40 x 5x2
50 x 5
62.5 5x5

Tried to be explosive. Form on this is... hard to gauge properly, not sure if I'm engaging lats enough etc.

Dips
15
8
5

Not sure if I should get the weight belt out for the first set now...

Reverse crunches 12x3

Pasta, oats, fruit and Soreen PWO, nom nom.