The Syla5 Files

Well, i am a confirmed non-fan of morning training. Squats this morning at 107.5x5 were hard :(. Considering that mid cut i repped out 115x5x5 at the meet i am disappointed with today.

Maybe i just need to get used to doing heavy again.

Rest of the work out was only slowed down due to specific bits of equipment being in use just as i needed them! roll on Friday
 
Deception said:
Ouch, sorry to hear man. What warm ups/stretches did you do prior? I've noticed I'm quite stiff in the morning and have to really hit my hips in order to get squats working for me,.
Click to expand...

its nothing to serious really, i just havent squatted heavy (110+) since the meet, and before that it was also a while since i was squatting 110+ as well.


As for warmups, i do the bar, then i do some cross band walks, then i do the mobility wad hip opener, and i did some warmups, 55x5 75x3 95x2 then on to my working sets.

I think its a little bit of no strong squatting for a while, and no substantial fuel in my body from eating a full days diet!

I have a video that i will upload and my concerns re form at that as i get heavy my knees collapse in, i force them out again, but i need to understand where this weakness is coming from and how to get rid of it.
 
i squat bare foot anyway, also this only happens at the bottom of the rep, i can easily force the knees back out again. I am wondering if it is a tight something or other that is causing the issue. On the plus side, my depth seems to be better with no tuck which i am happy with :)
 

there we go 107.5x5 first set from this morning, 2nd and 3rd sets belted up so a little more stable but still similar knee issues.
 
5's week 2 has come to a close.

Totals for the big lifts at the end of this week were as follows:

Deadlift 125
Squat 107.5
bench 70
OHP 47.5

All done for 3 sets of 5

I wasnt to please with my squat or deadlift performances but i think this is a combination of not lifting anything heavy in quite a few months and also never lifting heavy in the mornings.

Deadlifts 2nd set on video, although i didnt rest up long enough between sets, the angle isnt great, but i still feel the wider stance is more beneficial then my old stance.


next week i am going to carry on with 5's but i think the weights wont change much, as i will be squatting twice next week i am going to stick with 107.5 on monday and then move to 110 on friday. Deads i shall keep at 125.

Considering my body weight is now around 69kg i am happy with these numbers for my first post cut heavy lifts, but i want to push cycle 2 harder!
 
Delvis said:
Well yes. But if his knees are popping in at a low point (which to the video it doesn't seem like anything) then I would presume there is some tightness somewhere.
Click to expand...

i dont know if lie is talking about my DL video or not lol.

As for your thoughts on my squat, knee issue, i am thinking the same, some kind of tightness, but i am wondering if it is a weakness somewhere that i need to work on.

Going to change a couple of the exercises next time i hit 5's. I am ditching leg press for walking lunges and BB curls for chin ups as i think this will be better over all :)
 
icecold said:
Don't be a pussy! ;)

You have an easy 5kg on the squats and more on the deads if you tighten up.

Knees coming in during the squat is definitely not a hip tightness issue here, just weak/poorly conditioned glute medius and VM.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the pep talk and advice, more good squating it is.

LiE said:
You can always join the gym bunnies on the mat for some glute bridges ;)
Click to expand...

...............:D
 
Week 3 of the 5's cycle one has begun.

Squats this morning felt better then last week for sure, and considering i still have back doms like a small elephant has given me a massage from deads on friday, i am pretty pleased with that.

110x5x3. My target for this first cycle is supposed to be 115x5, i will be doing this on friday but i will be looking to push this a little. If i can match or exceed this i will be happy considering all my maxes were sent in the evening, and I definately notice a difference in morning training.

Rest of the session was pretty similar.

Pulldowns 70kg
Dips BW+25kg
OHP i repeated 47.5 as i failed on the last rep of set 3 last week. Hit all 3 sets this morning.
Calf Press rather then go heavy and less reps (was supposed to do 245x5) i decided to throw in a little volume here so did 220x10x3 (done on a leg press)

Roll on the rest of this week and then i might carry on the 5's for another week as its good to be lifting heavy again :D
 
its hard to tell, I still dont think I am getting the most out of my body at that time in the morning, and it takes a little longer to get warmed up and stretched out. Apart from that i am happy with it. Sets me up nicely for the day.

Strength wise, its hard to judge how i am comparing as all my previous pb's were set pre cut and in the afternoons. I will see how cycle 2 of hst goes and then i think i should be able to compare pb's after that.
 
icecold said:
I'm glad you pushed for more weight :)
Click to expand...

technically i should have been doing 115x5x3 by friday last week so i am a bit behind today :(

I will push for 115x5x3 on friday and if sets 1 and 2 go well i will wack on another 5kg and see how 120x5 feels. I would be disappointed if i didnt at least get 115x5x3 at the end of this cycle.
 
Day 2 of week 3 of 5's back to some heavy deadlifting.

On monday i was still feeling the doms from fridays 125x5x3 deadlifting. As stated things felt slow on friday.

Coming in today i was apprehensive but determined.

Deadlifts
60x5 90x3 110x2
125x5
felt nice and solid
130x5
130x4 :( still felt good but i could feel the pump in my lower back, so i left the last rep on the floor.

as far as i am aware 130x5 is a new current bw PB. I believe i have done this before, but without looking through my logs i have no way of remembering for certain.

Rest of the session

Bench 75x5x3
RDL 85x5x3 (PB)
leg Press 290x5x3
BB Curl 35x5x2 damn i was blitzed by this point.

I have one day left of 5's and then i will be on a weeks deload. I shall post up my planned 2nd cycle :)
 
Last edited:
damn, posting from work so cant see the vids myself, have to upload from the phone and then try and link them lol.

Will fix when i can........any better?
 
Last edited:
spot on with that dom, i know my negative is rubbish! and i need to make sure i hip hinge. There is no reason i am lowering slowly other then poor negative technique.

I shall keep all the mentioned tips/ques in mind :)
 
So week 3 of the 5's is over and done with and i think i am happy in saying i have adjusted to morning training. Lifts are feeling better, and now i have lifted heavy(ish) again i am happy that i will make some good progress over the next cycle and beyond.

Todays session:

Squats
Warm ups 60-100 some reps

Working sets 115x5x3

Here is the first set unbelted, sets 2 and 3 were belted - i was going to push set 3 at 117.5 but after watching the first set back i decided to focus more on the depth of the squat over the weight today.

Pull ups (changed from pull downs)
bwx5 5x5x2

Dips 25x5 27.5x5 30x5 love weighted dips :)

OHP 50x5 50x4 50x4

Calf press 220x10x3 fell the pump, again love these i have big(ish) calfs possibly due to my short legs.

Next week it will be on to a deload, i plan on making a few minor changes to the work outs, i will post up some updated lists shortly, and i have prepped my new work out and loads to remove cross over, so cycle to looks like it is going to be more fatigue in but hopefully more rewarding.

Weight overall has stayed pretty similar from the start of cycle 1 to now, i have gone from 11st 2lb down to 10st 13lb and back up to 11st 2lb through to cycle, i am hoping that i am still ditching a little fat while adding so lean mass, only time will tell.
 
i was looking back through some of my older videos, squatting 120x8, but since then i have dropped over a stone and half in weight! also i am getting a good 3" more depth now as well. I think better aclimatisation to heavy lifting in the next cycle will help.

The lowest weight i will be squatting from 15's will be 80kg and it doesnt go backwards at any point, unlike cycle 1.

Hoping that through 15's and 10's i can work on faults and then build on PB's for 5's
 
A quick update on my deload. So far i have skipped my monday session, up until 9pm on sunday night i was fine, then out of nowhere, bam, a full blown cold!! first time i have been properly ill since last october. Seeing as this is my deload week, i skipped yesterday, but i am planning on going in tomorrow for some light work and then again on friday.

My overall goals from the gym are a combination of strength and asthetics, currently focusing on the asthetics side of things, looking to add some good clean mass, then i will focus on the strength side, and switch between the two until i get to a size and look i am happy with and then i will probably focus on the strength and general functionality of that strength a bit more.

As for my bulk progress, well i am keeping a close eye on things and since starting this HST routine my weight has hovered around the 11st 2lb mark, i dipped to 10st 13lb about a week in to my bulk, and have since risen back to around 11st 2-3lb. This being week 10 of the bulk i would consider this a reasonable place to be. I can see a visual difference but thats mainly because i am looking for it i guess.
 
Confirmed my weight this morning, fully dressed 11st 4lb, so I think I can easily say I have gained 3lb in the last 9 1/2 weeks. Gonna stick with my diet as is as already seeing a little added fat and don't want this to get outta control.

Today I went the gym and it felt good even though I feel rough.

I decided to give box squats a go to see if they will help me get out of the hole while keeping my knees out.

Here goes, critique away.
 
last day of the deload week, went in a did some deadlifts mainly to practice my negative, engage hip hinge first etc.

I think it went ok, lets see what you guys think.


Next week i start cycle 2 and i am actually looking forward to the brutality of the 15's and 10's weeks again should be fun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom