Gamefreak501s training log & form check - Stronglifts 5x5

Good workout today, weights are going up up and up, yet I haven't any protein supplements just a good regular diet. Plan is to see how long I could keep this up for before I do need a protein supplement.

Seeing a lot of soya in the protein supplements, which although I'm not allergic to it, I don't much fancy experiencing any side effects associated with phytoestrogens! So looking around for a new supplement that doesn't have that in it.

So as to avoid form issues, I bought the smallest box out when I did my warm up sets on my squats and the working sets, forcing myself to go parallel. Actually, ended up going beyond parallel because I tended to tap it with my backside and then go back up again.

Workout A

BB Squats 5x5 @ 105kg
BB Benchpress 5x5 @ 72.5kg
BB BOR 5x5 @ 75kg

Bodyweight 81.3kg

Found my left arm wavering slightly towards the end of my last bench press set, but better than it has been all week, just keeping it tight down the core and back.

Bodyweight is down by .7kg but that might just be water weight.

As I've been so good this week with diet and workouts, I think I deserve my post work out meal - 9" pepperoni pizza, topped with 3 bacon rashers, carrots, peas, sweetcorn and light, light mayonnaise :) Nom nom nom :)
 
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I didn't have a good session today at all.

Workout B

BB Squats 5x5 @ 107.5kg

BB OHP 5/4/2/4/2 @ 55kg :(

BB Dead lift 1x5 @ 110kg

Body weight 83.3kg

Don't know what went wrong today. Perhaps a combination of not eating enough, being hot outside & inside. This was by far my toughest workout, even my squats were challenging :(

Deadlifts were nice and easy at least.

Finished up doing some un-timed laps around the athletics track.

Perhaps my Squats and OHP have both officially plateaued. Hoping Fridays workout goes better.
 
Air conditioning for my backside

Workout A

BB Squats 5/5/5/5/4 @ 110kg
BB Benchpress 5/5/5/5/5 @ 75kg
BB BOR 5/5/5/5/5 @ 75kg

BW: 82.9kg

Didn't quite manage my squats this time around and made the mistake of not going to 77.5kg when I did my BOR (I did 75kg last time).

To top it off I managed to tear my shorts when I was doing my first set of squats!

I think that means I have officially plateaued on my squats!

Still, I have two days off to check on my diet and then I can try 110kg next time.

I had my concerns when I found the 107.5kg sets challenging on Wednesday.

But I ought to stay positive. I've lost count of how many weeks I'm in - but might be worth deloading for a little while. I'll see how my next workout goes and go from there.
 
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I've decided to sort out a few things this week; and will be taking a week off the weights to de-load.

I wasn't overly happy with my last few workouts and I probably haven't been eating right.

I will be doing some running (I do need to improve my CV fitness rather than my strength) and intend to drop my weights by 20% for Squats and OHP and 10% for everything else.

It also gives me some time to get some fractional plates ordered, which I desperately need for my OHP having plateaued once again.

I think it's probably for the best!
 
Worked out my Deload and I'm thinking 10% and 5% respectively from next week:

On Monday 13th July - I want to work out my 1 rep max. I'm thinking of doing the following:

Squats 120kg
OHP 60kg
Deadlift 121kg
Benchpress 87kg
BOR 8k7g

Workout B

BB Squats 5/5/5/5/5 @ 100kg
BB OHP 5/5/5/5/5 @ 50kg
BB Deadlift 5 @ 105kg

Workout A

BB Squats 5/5/5/5/5 @ 102.5kg
BB Benchpress 5/5/5/5/5 @ 72.5kg
BB BOR 5/5/5/5/5 @ 72.5kg
 
So having had a chat with a friend of mine, I'm going to incorporate more running and some sparring into my workout.

We've decided that sparring has it's own benefits for fitness and strength building so I've ordered some mitts and gloves and I've also ordered some fractional 0.25 plates as well, to help with my OHP.

With a bit of luck, a combined sparring/weight-lifting and running routine will a). burn off any stubborn fat, b). make me stronger and fitter.
 
Fitness is activity-dependent, so don't get carried away with one thing or another... just because you can run on a treadmill for ages doesn't mean you will be able to walk from Land's End to John-o-Groats. Or cycle very well, etc.

Unless you are boxing/martial-art-ing, sparring is "just cardio" from a fitness standpoint.

Regarding strength-building, not really either. It will enhance motor pattern and make you stronger in the specific movements (punching kicking) in terms of "expressing" strength, but that won't necessarily help you get "stronger." To do that, you need to lift. :)
 
mrthingyx said:
Fitness is activity-dependent, so don't get carried away with one thing or another... just because you can run on a treadmill for ages doesn't mean you will be able to walk from Land's End to John-o-Groats. Or cycle very well, etc.

Unless you are boxing/martial-art-ing, sparring is "just cardio" from a fitness standpoint.

Regarding strength-building, not really either. It will enhance motor pattern and make you stronger in the specific movements (punching kicking) in terms of "expressing" strength, but that won't necessarily help you get "stronger." To do that, you need to lift. :)
Click to expand...

^ this. I would suggest trying out the "Rest Pause" technique for lifting as it can be used to improve cardiovascular fitness and have a direct carry over to you lifting as your cardio would come from lifting weights in whatever movement you're doing. I would suggest doing it with lighter loads though rather than your top sets to get used to it and not to change the structure of your program. Your 5x5/3x5 is working so stick with it! If you incorporated this as back off sets (or clusters, should I say...) you'd also benefit from the additional volume. This might not be the best idea with deadlifts as you don't want to be fatiguing and losing your form, but if you're sensible with the weight you use, the length of the pause you take and the number of reps you try to do then it could work just fine. Your other option for deadlifts would be to do lots of speed work with short breaks (60sec-90sec) using 55%-70%/75% of your max for triples, doubles or singles respectively. Or, just don't bother with doing it for deadlifts since you might do it for squats, bench and OHP. Play around and see how you feel.
 
Thanks very much for your replies, mrthingyx & Dreamforger,

It looks like I've got some homework to do!

I'm going to probably incorporate the sparring only once or twice a week in that case.

I've always understood rest to be a very important part of recovery, so looking at this routine now:

Monday - Stronglifts Workout A or B
Tuesday - Sparring 30 mins
Wednesday - Stronglifts Workout A or B
Thursday - 45 minutes of CV work
Friday - Stronglifts Workout A or B
Saturday - Sparring 30 mins
Sunday - Rest day

I intend to use the higher energy levels I will have on the first few sets on Workout A/B to add a little rest-pause to increase the intensity but I've read it's not a good idea to do it too often as it gets very tiring.

I was going to find my 1RM tonight, but I think I'm better off just carrying on as normal on my 5x5s.

The 2x Sparring and 1x running day should do a lot for my CV and fitness, especially when combined with rest-pauses on my usual stronglifts workout :)
 
Yesterdays workout went okay.

Had a de-load due to having a week away:

Workout B

BB Squats 5/5/5/5/5 @ 100kg
BB OHP 5/5/5/5/5 @ 50kg
BB Deadlifts 5 @ 115kg

BW Wide grip pull up 10kgx5/5
BW Narrow grip pull up 10kgx5/5

Although I did go up a weight on my deadlift a bit naughty but it felt good.

Because my boxing mitts/gloves haven't arrived yet tonight I will probably go out for a short run tonight - between 30-45 minutes. I usually cover between 2-6 miles depending on how fast I feel like running.
 
Workout A

Oly Squats 5/5/5/5/5 @ 102.5kg
Oly Benchpress 5/5/5/5/5 @ 70kg
Oly BOR 5/5/5/5/5 @ 70kg

BW Dips 11 @ BW+5kg, 8 @ BW+10kg, 12 @ 15kg

30 minutes Sparring

Tonight I'll be doing some more sparring and Saturday I'm looking to do Workout B with added pull ups (wide/narrow). From a CV perspective, I'm going to try to cycle to work it's about 6-7 miles each way so shouldn't take more than 1 hour and 20 minutes and it's a nice easy route.

Sunday I'll take a rest day before I start back up on weight lifting on Monday.

If I can keep this up and my diet in check, I should look good in time for my September holidays abroad :)
 
Yeap what MoNKeE said. How will you ever ingrain the correct motor pattern with 1 working set of deadlifts.

This was the one part of stronglifts i ignored when i did it and was glad I did. 5x5 on deads till that got tasking and then dropped to 3x5 after that but with more warm ups, never did less then that.
 
I have been doing 1 working set of 5 yes and unfortunately, I didn't see both your recommendations before my last workout this morning!

My next training day for deadlifts will be Thursday, so I'll make sure I do 5x5 warm up sets and 5x5 working sets. Instead of 1x5 warm up sets and 1x5 working sets.

I fear that as I had not done this already, I have missed out on potential gains. Still better late than never!

Todays session was okay, tiring but okay:

Workout B

Oly Squats 5x5 @ 105kg
Oly OHP 5x5 @ 51kg
Deadlifts 1x5 @ 117.5kg

Also did some supplemental exercises:

2x8 Nordic Curls
1x5 Wide grip pullups
1x5 Narrow grip pullups
1x5 @ 5kg Wide grip pullups
1x5 @ 5kg Narrow grip pullups

Along with some foam work on my legs.

I did 11 miles of cycling on Saturday and will probably do a little bit of sparring tonight. Tomorrow I'll probably do some running - about 5-6 miles worth. It means that this weeks rest days will probably be Friday and Sunday.

From a supplements perspective I've been taking EQ Elite Protein (Lean muscle and strength) pre-workout and for breakfast the day after - unless I'm not eating straight after a workout, in which case, I'll take it post-workout as well.
 
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Thanks Slya5,

I'll do this when I have my next session on Saturday.

Todays workout was very tiring. I feel like I'm getting weaker, not stronger.

I've also lost weight, I'm now at 81.35kg which is the lowest I've been for a while. I haven't paid much attention to my diet and I still have some stubborn belly fat. I only have a few explanations for this:

1). Not getting enough Protein
2). Eating too many carbs
3). Not eating enough calories

So I'm going to open up the calorie counter app again and follow my diet with a fine-toothed comb.

Thinking the following macros will be best:

270g Protein
150g Carbohydrates
95g Fats

Going to work on a diet plan tonight so that I can get the right percentages.
 
Todays workout:

Workout B

Oly Squats 5/4/5/3/3 @ 110kg
Oly OHP 5/5/5/5/5 @ 52kg
Oly DL 5/5/5 @ 120kg

I had to use a mixed grip for the first time since I started Stronglifts today. My squats weren't great and the callouses on my hand haven't complained so much.

So far diet has been as follows today:

Breakfast

Bowl of porridge oats, with semi skimmed milk, 30g EQ Whey Lean Mass & Strength, 1x banana

Small Glass orange juice

Post Work out

30g EQ Whey Lean Mass & Strength

Lunch

Pilau rice, lots of veg, chopped pork
Low fat vanilla icecream with portion of strawberries

The rest of the day looks like this:

Mid Afternoon

2x eggs, 2x egg whites
2x wholemeal bread with 2tbsp low fat peanut butter

Dinner

Fish/chicken with rice and veg

Late evening

Cottage cheese
50g Almonds

Bedtime

Protein shake

----------------

If I can maintain the diet daily, I think I could probably start making gains. Or perhaps Stronglifts have done what they can for me and I need to go onto a 5/3/1 routine.

Weight still seems to be dropping - I weighed 81.10kg today, which is bad and may explain my poor squats.
 
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Diet today:

Breakfast

Porridge with semi skimmed milk and EQ whey protein
2x Wholemeal bread with peanut butter

840kcals

Snack
2x Whole eggs
50g Cashew nuts
1x Banana

532kcals

Lunch
Mixed veg
1x Chicken fillet
Small portion white rice

400kcals

Afternoon snack
Small portion white rice
2x mackerel fillets in curry sauce

640kcals

With room for 945kcals for my last two meals of the day. (3390kcals)

Dinner

Homemade chicken curry with brown rice

Glass Lemonade
Glass Cola


Macros as follows:

42% Carbs (298g)
32% Fat (102g)
26% Protein (183g)

I want to try to get to at least 180g of Protein by the end of the day which is 1g per pound of body weight. On training days I think I would want it to get to around 200g.

I'll update the thread with my latest macros by the end of the day.
 
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Workout A

Oly Squats 5/5/5/5/5 @ 110kg
Oly Benchpress 5/5/5/5/5 @ 75kg
Oly BOR 5/5/5/5/5 @ 75kg

A very promising albeit late start to the week. Amazing what more calories and a clean diet can do. Body weight now sitting at 81.9kg

Although my underwear did fall victim to the squats and tore as I did my first rep...second pair of shorts I've lost! haha
 
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