EasyStreets 5x5 For Strength

[EasyStreets]

LEGS!

Of course my lifting partner has already parted ways (this usually happens conveniently around leg day) so I was solo once again. Loaded a bit carb heavy this morning with some oatmeal and fruit pre-workout and set out to hit the squats....heres how it shook out....

Squats
430x5
430x5
430x5
430x5
430x5

Got these with ease. I added in two rest pause sets to 30 at 225lbs after the 5x5.

Secondaries for legs
Straight legged deads 3x10
Leg Extensions 3x20

Also threw in some body weight crunches and leg lifts. I did some early morning cardio today 1/2 hour on the bike.
Wednesday and Thursday look to be in the 80s here in Western NY so Im going to enjoy both days off from work with some intense cardio and no gym work. Ill be back in the gym on Friday and Saturday for shoulders, biceps and then back.

[EasyStreets]

Shoulders

240x5
240x5
240x5
240x5
240x5

A great day for shoulders and biceps....well, for shoulders anyhow. This was a struggle but I am stoked to press these numbers at almost my own bodyweight. Ive never really been a big one for barbell Military. Im bringing the bar down to my chin. I hope this is correct as it is the way it was demonstrated to me and I am doing these on a smith.

For secondaries:
Side lat raises 3x10
Rear Delt Pulls 3x10

Biceps included:
EZ-Bar Preachers 3x10-12
Inclined Hammers 3x10

20 mins of cardio on the heavy bag with jumprope.

Back tomorrow.

[Jtbny]

You are doing the smith machine shoulder press correct. Here's a video
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercise...shoulder-press

Doing stand up BB military I bring the bar down to the top of my chest, but on the smith I also go to my chin.

Great workout, if I was your workout partner I would have bailed by now too probably couldn't get out of bed!

[EasyStreets]

You are doing the smith machine shoulder press correct. Here's a video
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercise...shoulder-press

Doing stand up BB military I bring the bar down to the top of my chest, but on the smith I also go to my chin.

Great workout, if I was your workout partner I would have bailed by now too probably couldn't get out of bed!

lol....guarantee he'll be back for chest and triceps on Monday....guaranteed! Thanks for the
video. I have hooks for our Smith machine rack (i use these for squats) and I could do Military Press in free weight form but I feel much more comfy doing these on the Smith. Ive hit the 5 week mark of my 5x5 and although I am still making really good progress, Im going to de-load starting next week and do some volume training for the next 2 weeks. Maybe I can capture my lifting partners interest with some pumps....

[EasyStreets]

Back Day.....

Deadlift
420x5
420x5
420x5
420x5
420x5

Went great today and I even got a half hour of slow cardio in. My secondaries included:

Wide grip lat pulldowns 2x10
Narrow Grip Reverse pulldowns 2x10
Dumbell Rows 3x10

Felt great today and rounded out a great 4 week 5x5

[EasyStreets]

So another week in the books. It definately could have gone better overall as I missed on my bench press goals not once but twice in the past 2 weeks. Im stuck with the numbers I currently have but Im not completely dissapointed. Obviously my back and leg numbers are going great and my shoulders are steady. Im still loosing weight although its at a slightly slower rate than before. Lost another pound of bodyweight this week so Im getting close on my calories. Ill probably leave them as is for now and see where Im at next weekend.

Im basically in for 5 weeks of 5x5 training now if you include the first week of figuring my numbers. Starting Monday I will be de-loading for a week maybe 2. I will be doing some FST-7/volume training for the week. Im going to substitute my main lifts. I will be doing Decline Barbell for Flat Bench, Arnold Presses for Military, keeping squats, and eliminating D/L for at least a week. Ill also be ramping up the secondaries.

My next week back on 5x5 I will be returning to my previous best on all lifts.

Yearly totals to date are:
Flat Bench 320x5x5
Squat 430x5x5
Deads 420x5x5
Military (smith) 240x5x5

[EasyStreets]

Couldnt have picked a better time for a de-load. Ive had the worst stomach virus for the past 3 days and it has completely drained me of any energy. This will hopefully be the only week Im off of the weights. I am totally unable to lift at all right now so instead of the 2 week deload I had planned, it will be just the one week off with no weight training at all.

[Jtbny]

Couldnt have picked a better time for a de-load. Ive had the worst stomach virus for the past 3 days and it has completely drained me of any energy. This will hopefully be the only week Im off of the weights. I am totally unable to lift at all right now so instead of the 2 week deload I had planned, it will be just the one week off with no weight training at all.

Hope you feel better. I know it's going around down here in Fla too.

[EasyStreets]

So not the greatest week for me but I feel rejuvinated. I ended up getting pretty sick but I should be ready to go tomorrow. I will be jumping right into squats for week 5. Kicking off with legs should bring my motivation up for the rest of the week. I will be dropping my weight back 5 lbs on all lifts for this initial week back. I know Ive only been off for a week but I want to see what the effects of this illness have taken on my training and I definately dont want to fail my first week back on program. So tomorrow Ill be back to 425x5x5 to start and I should have a lifting partner.


Thought I would take this time to review my diet and supplement arsenals.

Diet:
My current calorie intake is 3000 per day on average. Im eating pretty clean. Carbs are mostly fibrous after breakfast but sometimes include brown rice or whole wheat pasta in the afternoon. I like to load a little carb heavy on back and leg days. Other than that I usually get in my morning oatmeal and taper off before 4pm.

Macros are on average:
Protein 45%
Carbs 31%
Fats 24%

My supplements at the moment are probably a few too many but Im a sucker....what can I say.

Daily Support: ON Multi,Omega 3,VitaminD (deficiency),BCAAs
Pre-Workout: MF Assault,Tsp Creatine powder, glutamine
Post-Workout: Protein Isolate 60g, Glyco-Maize, Tsp creatine, glutamine, vitamin C

[EasyStreets]

Back at it today with Leg day. Felt a little sluggish and I have a sore throat but I pushed through and got in my workout. Once I got warm it was all uphill. I started my squat routine (after warmups) at 430. For some reason, this felt extremely light to me so I jumped up weight on my second set and still got these easy.....heres what it looks like.

Squat (OLY Bar/No cage or support/Belt)

430x5
455x5
455x5
455x5
455x5

I got these suprisingly easily! Had a partner to check form and everything looked good. Feel great about my progression.

Secondaries only included 3 sets of straight legged deads today.

Im heading off to Niagara Falls tomorrow on a little family get away. Ill be back on Wednesday for shoulders and biceps. In the meantime Im going to try to dial in my diet a bit more. Ive been pretty sloppy the past few days.

[EasyStreets]

Chest

Went in a bit early today to accomodate my lifting partner. I havent been feeling all too well the past few days....think Im getting a cold now. I believe my immune system was run down a bit with the stomach virus and led to this but once I got lifting today I felt good. I didnt look at any of my previous lifts and I went in believing that 325x5x5 was my previous best on bench press....I was wrong. It was only 320. I got 325 for all sets! So I increased.


325x5x5
325x5x5
325x5x5
325x5x5
325x5x5

Felt really good and felt even better once I realized I had made progress!

Secondaries included:
Inclined dumbells 3x10
High Pully Flyes 3x10

For triceps:
Pulley press downs 4x10
Behind the neck press 3x10

Good day overall with no cardio

[EasyStreets]

Been terrible with my logs this week. Yesterday was legs day and today was chest day so Ill be consolodating both days here. Starting this week I have eliminated all of my supplements with the exception of a multi, vit C, and fish oil. I have taken out all caffeine in my diet including my pre-workouts, creatine, BCAAs etc etc. Ive continued to have good gains this week with 2 new bests.....here it goes.

Monday:Legs
Squat
455x5x5
455x5x5
455x5x5
455x5x5
455x5x5

Huge gains! 500lbs reps are right around the corner.

I hade no secondaries on Monday.

Today:Chest
Flat Barbell Press
330x5x5
330x5x5
330x5x5
330x5x5
330x5x5

B-B-B-B-B-BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!

Secondaries Included

Inclined Barbell Press 3x10
Declined Dumbell Flyes 3x10
Pushups 3-failure

Great couple days! Huge jump on squats and a big boost in my bench press. I would love to see 350lbs for reps by July. So far the lack of stimulants and creatine hasnt upset my workouts. I will be kicking off the supps in 2 weeks. For now Im cracking down on my calories (around 3000) and ramping up my workouts a bit with some drops and rest/pause on my secondaries. I will be doing cardio on NON-Lifting days only from here on out though.

[EasyStreets]

So I picked up an overtime shift for tomorrow. I dont feel like pushing my limits by lifting at 0630 so instead Im going to get my cardio in the morning and I lifted on my break here at work tonight. 16hours plus lifting kills me. So I did shoulders tonight and didnt really care for the results too much....

Smith Military Press
245x5
245x5
245x5
245x4
245x3

Missed this big time. I have felt quite fatigued in my shoulders all week. In fact, during my squats, the only issue I had was with my shoulders bothering me holding onto the bar. I shouldnt have tried to increase my weight on this lift and I think next week Im going to return to 235 and see where its at. I think Im warming up enough. Im including some stretching, RC movement, and light military as a warmup before I go into my 5x5. Time will tell.

Secondaries for shoulders:
Dumbell Side Lateral Raises 3x10
Barbell Shrugs 3x10

So not feeling the best about my shoulder work but Friday is a new day. I will be adding a new "arms only" day to my training on Friday followed by back on Saturday. Sunday will be a rest day (im off this weekend). The lack of stims still hasnt affected my workouts but I do feel a little less motivated BEFORE I get into the gym. Once I get the blood moving I think my performance is ok.

[EasyStreets]

So its an off day for me and Im at work for 16 hours today. Ive been reading up quite a bit on some different training principles. I know that I wont be able to hold on to the 5x5 all year although it will be my main training method. Im currently reading up on the principles of MAX OT. Im about half way through the book and I agree with a lot of the principles. Basically maximizing effort in a short window for maximum growth and explosiveness....I like that. The 4-6 rep range really fits my style. There are a lot of similarities to my current program. The big difference is that I am currently running my secondary excersises in the 8-10 10-12 rep range. The MAX OT strategy maximizes secondaries by sticking with the max effort phylosophy. Basically 2-3 sets in the 4-6 rep range with HEAVY weights.

I also got some good tips on warmup sets from the book. It appears that I havent been warming up properly (according to this book) and I will try the principles outlined there and see how they work. May try a few of the principles soon.

[EasyStreets]

Back day today bringing some nice results. Finally jumped my poundages up a bit to catch my squat numbers. Im sorry for the lack of pics....Ill definately get some in this week and maybe a video if I can figure out how to post them. Heres my day.....

Deadlift
455x5
455x5
455x5
455x5
455x5

Got these with some difficulty. My shins got pretty bloodied up. But I got em.

Secondaries included
Wide Grip Pulldowns 2x8
Narrow Grip Pulldowns 2x8
Seated Cable Rows 2x10
Chins 2x8,7

Good day today. Tomorrow Ill be getting a dedicated arm day in and Monday Ill be back to legs.

[Jtbny]

Nice work. Look forward to the pic updates. Vids are easy...just post to you tube then use the YouTube code tags. If you need help just send me a PM and I'll explain it better there as not to clutter your journal up.

[EasyStreets]

Nice work. Look forward to the pic updates. Vids are easy...just post to you tube then use the YouTube code tags. If you need help just send me a PM and I'll explain it better there as not to clutter your journal up.

Probably take you up on that. Im most likely going to record on my I-Phone on Monday. I would like to get some video of a 5 rep squat set. I dont have I-tunes on my pc at home so I think Ill get that when I get out of work tonight. Im pretty sure you need it to upload anything to your PC (not sure though). Ive never uploaded youtube vids either but Im assuming its pretty easy. Ill give it a shot Monday night.

[EasyStreets]

So today was a dedicated arm day. I kept it pretty simple with some high weights and low reps. Biceps and Triceps got hit pretty hard. My back is pretty sore today from my traps all the way to my lower back....even my hams are feeling yesterdays workout.

Triceps
Rope/Cable Pushdowns 5x5
Dumbell BTN Press 3x8
Cable Skull Crushers 2x8

Biceps
Straight Bar Curls 3x6
Concentration Curls 2x8
EZ-Bar Curls 2x10

Tomorrow is an off day from lifting and work. Think Im taking the kids to the park if I can get some descent weather. The cadets are getting pepper sprayed tomorrow though....gonna be hard to stay away from that!
Ill be back at it for legs on Monday and hopefully Ill have some pics/video for anyone interested. Going to be shooting for a 460lbs 5x5 squat.

[Jtbny]

If you don't have one already, sign up for a YouTube account. You can upload vids from your iPhone directly to YouTube, and then post them here. I'll walk you through the posting part when you get then uploaded. No need for iTunes.

[EasyStreets]

If you don't have one already, sign up for a YouTube account. You can upload vids from your iPhone directly to YouTube, and then post them here. I'll walk you through the posting part when you get then uploaded. No need for iTunes.

So I got my legs done today and videod 2 of the 5 sets. I am extremely upset with my form. I wish I would have done this months ago. Im definately not getting enough depth and the video really shows it. I have always lifted by feel and its FEELs like Im getting depth. Unfortunately Im not. I have always used a cage and used the backstop as a guide. I dont have that in my gym as you will see (hopefully) and it shows. Im bending too much at the waist and it is bringing me too far forward limiting my leg depth. I could definately lift the weight at a deeper bend but I have to figure out a way to fix my form. I dont know if its mental...not having a fail safe or what but Im not happy.

Now for the youtube problems. I recorded on my I-Phone and it has the option to send to youtube. I created a youtube account which I can access on the web. I sign in fine. However, I cannot sign in on my phone for some odd reason. It keeps saying wrong username or password. I dont get it. Any help would be appreciated.

As for the lifts today...
Went up to 460 squat but Im so pissed at the form that Im not even going to take it until I see a 90 degree bend....hopefully next week.

Hope to get the vid up tonight so I can get some critisism. Any help appreciated.

[EasyStreets]

Not sure if this link is working because Youtube is blocked here at work. Either way, my depth is garbage. Ill work on it next week with an improved video. Tomorrow is chest and triceps. Ill be shooting for 335x5x5 on bench press. I have another 16 hour workday tomorrow so Ill be in the gym at 0615. I had hoped to get some video on bench but without a partner to film I doubt its gonna happen....we'll see.

[Jtbny]

Let me know if my reply made sense.

[EasyStreets]

Got in a descent chest day yesterday. Ive been working a ton so I came in before work at 0615 and did my routine. Went well...no vid. Next week Ill get it in.

335x5
335x5
335x5
335x5
335x5

Secondaries included:

Inclined Dumbell Press 2x10
Declined Flyes 3x10

Did my triceps workout but couldnt get alot done due to time restraints

Cable Pressdowns 3x6
Overhead Dumbell Press 3x8
Dips 2x10-7

I will be attempting to get in my shoulder work tomorrow. Trying to squeeze a lot of work in so we'll see. Im also helping a co-worker build a deck so my day will be tight.

[EasyStreets]

I think from here on out I will only update my stats if it is accompanied by video. If Im cheating I can be corrected and it will keep me honest on form.

[EasyStreets]

Been so busy the past few days I just realized that the youtube vid wasnt working....Ill try again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B22yU...ature=youtu.be



cant get it to embed for some reason...probably because I have no idea what im doing. Ill have deadlifts and bench up next week. If I can figure this out id like to get a ton of video on here

[Jtbny]

[EasyStreets]

uggh.....thanks man

[EasyStreets]

Got back at it today with a strong leg day. I really concentrated on form and depth with my squats and saw some pretty good results. I did drop my weight down a bit. Im now at 435lbs but I got very good depth. Ill be posting up a video tomorrow. Todays workout went well all the way through...

435x5
435x5
435x5
435x5
435x5

Secondaries:
Stiff legged deads 3x10
Lunges 2x10
Crunches 3x25
Leg Lifts 3x20

Good day all the way around. Tomorrow will be chest day. I think I will be excluding triceps and getting in an independant arm day later in the week. Im seriously considering the Max-OT training Ive been reading about here on the forums and elsewhere. Ive been following Skip La Cour recently and he adheres strictly to this principle. I love the idea and its not far off of the 5x5 program I am currently on. I think I may try it tomorrow. If I do I will be bumping my bench press up to 340 for 4-6 reps and 3 sets. I hate to come off the 5x5 so soon but the more I read the more I like the Max-OT principles.

[EasyStreets]

Chest today. Dropped my sets to 3 but I bumped up my weight a bit. Thought I would try me some Max-OT.

Bench Press

340x6
340x5
340x5

Inclined Barbell Press
265x6
265x6

Declined Dumbell Flyes

160x7
160x6

Pretty short workout. Im really not used to that. We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks....if it lasts that long.

[EasyStreets]

Destroyed the shoulders today. Ive taken the next 2 days off so my workouts are going to be early in the morning to free up the rest of my day. Im sticking with the Max OT training schedule for a while I think. I really enjoy getting the work done and getting out of the gym. Todays workout took about 35-40 mins. Today I decided to take a break from the smith machine military press and do som arnold presses with the dbs.

Todays shoulder workout

Arnold Press (90lb dumbells)
180 x 6
180 x 5
180 x 5

Side Raises (standing 60lb)
120 x 5
120 x 5

Face Pulls (high pulley)

40 x 8
40 x 8

Trap Bar Shrugs (I assume the trap bar weighs 45)

315 x 6
315 x 5
315 x 5

Changed some movements around a bit and feel I got a good workout. Tomorrow will be back day....I love back day. Ill be jumping back in to some deads in the 4-6 rep range area. Ill be shooting for 480 lbs sets and see how it goes. Tonight Im going to post up some progress picks and macro numbers and another squat vid from monday. Tomorrow I hope to get some deadlift video.

Im gonna ask the wife to buy me some versa grips for my b-day. Theyre a bit pricey for the good ones (around $60) but I borrowed a set from a friend last week and they are extremely comfortable. Anyhow...cant wait til tomorrow. Gonna veg out and watch the draft tonight..Im sort of a freak when it comes to the NFL Draft. Love to just hang out like a slug and watch it.