Briles Training Log

[briles]

Hi all.

First time poster. After reading through some training logs, I decided to join the party. The feedback seems like it will really help me, so bring it on. My wife and I went through P90x and that got us in the mood for something different. I had read Mehdi's program last summer, but never got around to it. Now, we are a month in and loving it. My numbers are a little out of whack because I broke many of Mehdi's rules. I was impatient to get going, had no fear that the inevitable failure would sap my motivation and so I moved most of the exercises along quickly. I am now reaching levels that are challenging, in some exercises.

Currently,

Squat 155 lbs 5/5/5/5/5
BP 150 lbs 5/5/5/5/5
Inverted Rows 8/6/6 (Progress is very slow here)
Push Ups (+40 lbs) 10, 8, 7
Reverse Crunches 3X12

AND

OHP 105 lbs 5/5/5/5/5
DL 175 lbs 1X5
Neutral Grip Pull ups 10, 6, 5
Prone Bridges 3X40 sec.

What seems weird to me is that by looking through others logs, it seems that my OHP is up there, but none of the other lifts are. That's fine, because I am just a month in. I am nearing failure on OHP and am challenged on the other lifts. I don't think failure is imminent, but it's getting there. Anyway, my long term goal is 5X5 BW BP and 5X5 1.5 BW Squat, but those actually seem impossible at this point. I will stay with it and see how far I can go. Thanks to Mehdi for the program -- hope this blog does make you some money. It's inspiring people -- I am from Canada and it has reached here.

[briles]

Got up this morning for the workout. As expected, OHP was my first failure. I wasn't too disappointed, though, since it was a failure on the fourth set (5, 5, 5, 4, 3). I was pretty happy that I got to 110 lbs before failing. I tried to gut it out, but it just wasn't happening.

Squat seemed very weird this morning. I was doing 160 and it felt like a lot more. After completing set 1, I redid the math and realized I was actually doing 170. I wasn't really sure what to do with that, so I just went with it. I completed all 5 sets, though not with ease. I guess I will go up to 175 lbs next time, though part of me wants to stay at 170. It's the first time that's happened.

Deadlifts are becoming a challenge and I like it. I am not close to failure, but at least now I feel it.

The last couple of weeks I was absolutely maxing out on pullups on the first set, then paid the price on the next one (10, 5, 4 and 10, 4, 5), so this time, I decided to cut it a bit early on set one. I was happy with the result (7, 7, 6). I want to get to 10, 10, 10 on those.

I find prone bridges to be pretty easy to be honest. We've been doing 40 second sets for a while now. Not sure whether I should add weight or just go longer. Opinions would be appreciated.

Squat 170lbs 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
OHP 110 lbs 5, 5, 5, 4, 3
DL 185 lbs 5
Pull ups (Neutral grip) 7, 7, 6
Prone Bridges 4 X 40 sec.

Then hit the showers -- felt tired at the end today, which is a good thing. The program is starting to really challenge me and that's what gets me looking forward to the next workout.

Thanks for reading.

[DaveT]

Great that you've started a log - it will provide motivation when you need it.
The idea is to max out on the pull ups. You're aiming to get 15 on the first set and then you move to adding weight and doing them 3x5 (Check the FAQ on these). So, don't hold back on the 1st set or worry about the 2nd and 3rd set, they will be about 1/2 of the 1st set.
As to the prone bridges, I added 5 secs every time until I reached 1 min. Then I started to do side bridges so that now I do Right/Left/Prone. Again check out the SL5x5 FAQ for more ideas of how to make these harder.
Have you done many of these exercises before? (I don't know what P90x includes, sorry) If not it would be good to vid them so that you can check that your form is good as you have reached a point when the weights are getting heavy and there's an increased risk of injury if your form isn't spot on.
Happy lifting.

[briles]

Thanks for the reply. P90x is a hugely popular infomercial here in North America by a guy named Tony Horton. It is a very intense 6 day a week, 1 hour plus per day workout program (For 90 days). The program alternates between Cardio and lifting with frequent ab work mixed in. The lifting is light -- dumbells and resistance bands. The program got me in shape and also got me interested in weight training, but it definitely didn't prepare me for this. This is just different.

As for form, I think my form is okay as I am constantly reading and watching Rippetoe Youtube videos, but maybe I will video some day. My wife and I work out together, so we watch each other. Thanks for the tips -- I think I will reread the FAQ now that I am in the middle of the program. I will go for the max on the pulls -- I appreciate the tip.

B

[briles]

Not happy with my workout today. I was up late and haven't been eating enough. I think these things affected my workout.

Squat 175 lbs. 5, 5, 4, 5, 2
Bench 155 lbs. 5, 5, 4, 3, 2
Inverted Rows 7, 7, 6
Pushups +50 lbs in rucksack... 3X5
Reverse Crunches 3 X 12

I didn't really mind that I failed, but that I felt like it was mental. I just didn't have my intensity today and it cost me. Squat is very telling. I failed on lift 3 but completed lift 4, which shows me that it was mental, but I may be wrong. We'll see next time. Bench was disappointing also. I decided to redeem myself on pushups and after reading more on this forum, decided to aim for a weight where 3X5 would be a major challenge. So I upped it to 50 lbs from 40 lbs and that was about right. At least I finished strong.

Inverted Rows are very frustrating. I have had trouble getting my chest to the bar, so, after reading the forums, I have gone to the feet flat method for now. At least I am completing them with the right form now, but I need to work to get off that cop out. Oh well. We'll see what happens Sunday after two days of rest. Hopefully, I will conquer 175 in the squat, but I have my doubts. I think that's half my problem.

B

[briles]

06/07/09

Squat 175 lbs 5, 5, 5, 4, 3 (2nd Failure)
OHP 110 lbs 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (Yes!)
DL 195 lbs 5
Pull ups (Neutral grip) 10, 5 Chinups 5
Prone Bridges 4 X 50 sec.

I am still struggling with 175 on the squat. I did accelerate my rise, so I am not too disappointed. Will hopefully get it next time, but wouldn't be too bummed about deloading either. I was really happy with the OHP. When it started getting hard at 105 I read up on perfecting my form and I think that really helped. My hands were too wide originally. DL is still going well. It seems to me that in a way, I am plateauing on Pull ups, but am not sure. Every time I do it, I try to make sure I am going full range of motion. I think that is getting better every time, so my reps are not increasing, but there is improvement. I am maxing out at 10 now -- thanks to Dave's advice. I love forums like this where there are experts everywhere willing to help you.

Brian

[DaveT]

I hope you're not including me in that 'expert' category - I'm very much a novice!
Good going on the OHP - you'll end having a love/hate relationship with this lift because it's so challenging and is the one you stall and deload the most on. However, when you do get a new PR, you're over the moon! At 110lb (50kg), maybe you'd like to join this friendly race.
Good luck with the 3rd attempt at the squat.

[briles]

06/12/09

Squat 160 lbs 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
OHP 115 lbs 5, 4, 4, 3, 2
DL 205 lbs 5
Pull ups (Neutral grip) 11, 5 Chinups 5
Prone Bridges 4 X 50 sec.

I failed on the squat and 160 was the deload. That at least gives me a weight that I can work on my form with. It's interesting how squat form seems to be a never ending battle for weight lifters. I don't think my form is too bad, but it's what I think about the whole time. At some point, I need to focus on just getting that weight up, I think. I wonder if any of you more experience people would shed some light on that for me.

It was still a challenge on the 4th and 5th set. I failed at OHP at 115 lbs. I enjoy that lift, but I have a feeling I am going to learn why everyone loves to hate it. It seems that progress is difficult at this lift. I am sure I will be in that boat now. DL went really well. It's getting very heavy and 1 by 5 is plenty. I am really, really pleased with my pull ups. Three months ago, I could barely do 2 and even then, form would be an issue. I am pretty psyched about the 11 -- progress is so motivating.

Thanks for reading.
Brian

[dsc]

Hi Briles,
Great work on the squats . Don't worry too much about the failure part on the squat - key thing is form which it sounds like you're focused on. I tweaked my back a while ago because of bad form with squats and I had to de-load and work back up. As the weight has gone up, I've decided to keep weight the same for squats for 2 consecutive workouts to make sure I groove good form. As the weight increases your body tends to deviate from proper form as you work hard to move the load so sometimes a de-load is helpful.

Excellent progress with OHP. I've found these to be really hard. I had to de-load before being able to do 115lb and I'm now struggling to get past 120lb.

I've been doing one-leg prone bridges 3 sets for 30 seconds with left leg raised, and 3 sets for 30 sec with right leg raised. I'll allow for 10 or 15 second rest breaks between sets and focus hard on keeping my abs flexed while breathing. These have been getting easier over time but I found them a good challenge/variation from the standard prone bridge.

Inverted rows are tough if you use good form. I had to start with feet on the floor before getting to having my heels on a bench. I've found keeping my chest up somewhat and trying to be as explosive as I can in the pull toward the bar helps - using a grip width slightly wider than benchpress helped me as well.

Great work so far, keep it coming!!

[briles]

Thanks DSC, you brought me back to my log.

Over the last week, I had some progress:

Squat 175 lbs 5X5 -- This after a previous deload at the same weight. Not sure whether I should push to 180 or repeat this, focusing on strict form. I have to decide before tomorrow. What better way to spend father's day than to get up before 7 and hit the weights.


Bench 150 lbs -- My rack has safeties that are too high. They don't allow the bar to reach my chest. The last time I did 150, I did it at the level of the safeties. After failing at 155, I decided to go right to the chest on the deload. As such, I was very happy with this because it was done with full ROM. It sure seems that you work your chest much harder with the full range.

Deadlift 215 lbs -- Haven't hit my max here yet. I like this exercise. It's so old school.

Inverted Pulls 8, 6, 6 -- same old, same old. Debating whether to switch to barbell rows...

Pushups -- went down on weight to 35 lbs, but using pushup bars to increase ROM. Only got 5, 4, 4 with the new form adjustment.

OHP 115 lbs -- last two attempts were 5, 4, 4, 3, 2 and 5, 5, 3, 3, 2 so it doesn't look good for tomorrow. You never know.

I have been lax on my diet lately and have been eating too much crap. I will need to fix that before reaching new highs, I think. Last thing -- the more I read about weight training, the more I think this program is TOP NOTCH. Everything you read says focus on compound exercises and heavy weight. I love Stronglifts and am shocked at how few people have discovered this, worldwide. Mehdi should do an infomercial. It would go!

Brian

[Barry06GT]

Hope you enjoyed a great Father's Day.

You really knocked the 175 pound squats out, way to go.

I agree with you on the dead lift being "old school". Part of the Iron Triethlon of Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, and you have impressive numbers in all three!

.

[briles]

Squat 180 lbs 5, 3, 1, 2, 1 -- Just too much weight for me right now. Debating whether to attempt this again or just deload now. I don't mind failing, but with so few reps, I just don't feel like a got a great workout in.


OHP 115 lbs 5, 5, 4, 4, 2 -- This was my third attempt and now I must deload. Got pretty close, though. Hope to get it on the next run at it.

Deadlift 225 lbs 1X5 -- Been doing a lot of reading about this exercise lately. It's a classic.

Pullups Neutral Grip 10, Chinups 8, 5 -- I am stalling a bit here. I really want to get to 15 on the first run. It's going to take time

Prone Bridges -- After getting up to 3 X one minute, my wife and I decided to try the one-legged variety. That went fine, but I felt like it was harder on my leg than my ab. Will look into another adjustment. I might try the plate switching -- that looks like fun but I only have 2 2.5lb plates.

Two failures and one success. It was not my best day, but not my worst either. This coming week is crazy -- I might only get two workouts in. End of the school year means lots of late night outings for this teacher. It's camping and travel season too, so my progress will suffer. I will try to keep in shape with body weight exercises while I am away.

Brian

Brian

[DaveT]

I love the DL! It's just satisfying pulling big weights from the floor.
I would say give 180lbs another go on the squats. You never know, you may just have an 'off' day, and you'll find it easier on another workout.
Just a question about your pull ups and chin ups. SL5x5 alternates these on workout B i.e. you do 3 sets pull ups only for one workout B and then 3 sets chin ups only on the next workout B. Just wondered whether you were doing a mixture of both every workout B for a reason?

[Barry06GT]

Congratulations on the dead lift. As for the squat, you have a history of moving right up in weight, so as Dave said, you might want to attempt 180 again, and if you still have a low rep, pyramid down until you have all five. That might be more true than de-loading by 10% or 20 pounds.

On the DL, since you are successfully moving a big weight, are you using an alternate grip? If so, how do you determine which palm is facing you?

That is a lot of pull ups, followed by a lot of chins, and you are no light weight!

Congratulations on the workout.

.

[pagangoddess]

Nice work on the deadlift Brian.

As others have mentioned don't deload on squats. Give it another couple of tries before deloading. You may surprise yourself.