Shox bulking log

[Shox]

today:
72.5kg squat 5x5 made it
Military press 32.5kg 5,5,4,4,3 (Will stick with this weight next session =[)
deadlift 70kg 5x5 (got my technique sorted)
Bicep curls (couldnt do chins as my elbows hurting so thort id rest it)
lateral cable raises
3x25 crunches

Ate like a beast today. Glad my squat is progressing

[Shox]

Today:
Squat 5x5 75kg (warmed up well too.. thinking of deloading soon to work on technique though)
Bench 5x5 52.5kg (Last 2 sets were hard)
Inverted row 7,6,5
Press ups (+10kg) 10, 9, 7
Reverse crunches 3x15 (Reevaluated my technique and made these much harder)

posting stats 2moro morning

[Shox]

Stats:
Weight: 83.2kg
Waist at largest point: 34 inches
Waist at abdomen: 33 inches
Bicep: 13.25 inches
Forearm: 10.5 inches
Chest: 39.5 inches
Thigh: 22.5 inches
Calf: 15 inches

[Shox]

Okay, i've deloaded on everything but bench to work on my technique.

Squat 60kg 5x5 (quite easy, felt a lot easier on my back when squeezing my ass)
Military press 30kg 5,5,5,3,3 (Completely changed my technique, squeezed my ass while pushing, and brought my elbows in, my elbows were flared before, made this workout much harder but felt it much more on my shoulders)
Deadlift 60kg 1x5 (Easy, perfected my technique after watching rippetoes video)
Chin ups, 3 sets of negatives
Tricep pulldowns 3x8
Russian twists with cables instead of planksm thought id swtich it up a bit

Workout somehow felt harder today despite lower weights, but i had a lot less back pain than usual. We'll see how it goes at work.

[Jimmie]

I have also found squeezing your glutes makes a big difference to shoulder presses. When doing squats I can only hold my glutes when upright, as soon as I start squating, I cant seem to hold them. Do you manage to hold yours for longer when doing squats?

[jfh26]

Hey, thanks for stopping by my log. Looks like you're making progress, and I see you recently took a deload to work on technique. I think I may do that with squats now that I'm at the BW mark. Keep it up!

BTW, I live in Dover, Hew Hampshire in the USA - I think you were talking about the UK. Sorry

[coryK]

Interesting thread here on glutes/squeezing & squats. Basically, you can only squeeze your gluets at the top of your squat, since on the way down you're stretching them thus it's impossible to squeeze them:

i-find-it-impossible-to-flex-glutes-during-squats-t19216.html

[Shox]

Yeh jimmie, i squeeze them at the bottom, and it sort of pushes me up. You can't squeeze them whilst going down (in my experience);.

[Shox]

squat 5x5 - 62.5kg no back pain, form definately improved.
Bench 5x5 55kg - 5, 3, 1, 2, 1 - this has pissed me off so bad. 52.5 kg wasnt that hard so why cant i break 55kg? This is EXACTLY where i got stuck last time i did stronglifts and it caused me to end my session prematurely because i was so pissed off lol . I had a heavy nights drinking last night so maybe that didnt help, but i dont think ill ever break 55kg EVER.

[Jimmie]

[quote="Shox"] This is EXACTLY where i got stuck last time i did stronglifts and it caused me to end my session prematurely because i was so pissed off lol . quote]

I did the very same with squats last year, just could not do better than 77kg, so I dropped the 5x5, but this time round I'm going to master the squat and achieve 1.5x bodyweight lift before the end of next year.
Just stick at it, and Im sure you will improve on the bench, just keeping checking your technique is spot on, give it time, your reaching last times goal, so do it and better it.

[Shox]

benching is driving me mad.. i can do 5x5 52.5kg fine, but cant even come close to 55kg..

[coryK]

Wish I could give you some advice man...all I can say is that I'm rootin for ya! We're in this for the long haul, so stick with it and hopefully you'll break 55 soon.

[jfh26]

I was having the same problem on my bench a few workouts ago. This may seem simple, but I got through it simply by focusing as hard as I could on keeping my entire body tight. It's amazing how much difference it makes. I did 75kg for 5x5 last time, and it was easier than when I did 70kg two workouts before when I thought I was going to stall. Really focus on making that solid base for the bar to move up and down on, and you will probably be able to squeeze a bit more out of your bench this time around.

[coryK]

Haven't heard from you in a while...how's the bench going?

[Shox]

yeh been busy, had a week off since it's freshers week and ive basically spent the last week perminantly drunk. WIll be starting again on monday
Hows it goin for u cory?