CharonRower's ICF 5x5 Log - Yes, I'm 6'2'' and 156 lbs

[CharonRower]

I am in. Going to see how your log goes. Glad to see you are eating right.

Cheers mate! Mirin your stats, you're where I wanna be (both height and weight) at 15% bf sometime

Edit: Second page, we all gonna make it brahs

[CharonRower]

Squats - 72,5x5x5 - Was heavy, but got em. Took extra rest for the last set.
Deadlift - 97,5x1x5 - Took longer with the setup between reps, but my lower back still rounds. Not sure what Im doing wrong. Will try widening my stance and sitting back further when I try 100kg next time.
Press - 35x5x5 - Narrowed my grip and did false grip. When you reset, working on technique is a good idea IMO, and Jason Blaha recommended to do this. Guy in my gym told me to widen my grip. Just another example of people in my gym giving bad advice.
BOR - 55x5x5
CGBP - 42,5x3x8 - Heavier than expected since it was a reset
Barbell Curls - 27,5x3x8 - Will just keep doing this weight untill I can do 10 reps or something, seems I keep bouncing back to it when I try to go to 30.
Weighted Decline Crunches (Plate on head) - 5x12, 7,5x10, 7,5x10 - Ussually pretty tired at the end of each session, so I dont really give it my all to progress on ab work. Ah well, still going forward. Hurts my back a bit though.

Squats Today: (sorry about the camera angle, guy I asked to film was a noob at filming)


Some eats:
- Part one of my dinner tonight. 4 pulled pork burgers. Gonna have another 2 in 20 mins
- Steak, potatoes and bernaise sauce. Hnnnnng, look at the glaze on that bitch
- Another pulled pork burger from another day. In a proteinbun (Has aroound 400 kcals, 30g protein, 16g fat and 16g fiber, and its delish). Ditching them for now since I need more carbs and less fat/protein tho.

Some feels:
Went to the gym at work today, as my regular gym closes earlier on weekends (15:30), and I got up at 14:30 (had a shift yesterday). Did my starting bulk (2 weeks into the bulk) pics at this gym, and wanted to take some progress pics today (10-11 weeks into the bulk), but my phone ran out of power. Ive put on around 1,5-2 kg and from what I saw in the mirror, I look bigger. I feel like Im getting more definition, due to maintaining a relatively low bf, but actually getting some muscle on me.
Still cant get the idea of calorie cycling out of my head. I have 2 shifts this week (Fri and Saturday). I would eat 3000 kcals every day if I didnt have the shifts, but each shift burns around 700 kcals, so I gotta bump it up. Just not sure if body comp is the same if I eat 3200 every day, or 3000 everyday and then 3700 on Fri and Sat. Just seems like a large jump, but Id prefer to just eat 3200 every day.
Not sure if Im doing crunches right. It hurts my spine more than it burns my abs :/

Song for the ladies:

[CharonRower]

Squats - 75x5x4 - I went for a fifth rep on the first set but got stuck on the bottom, so I just continued to do sets of 4. Retrying Wednessday (might have something to do with me eating before going, because when we go up in incriments of 2,5kg, and extra 1-2 kg of bodyweight from food/water has a lot to say).
Bench (paused) - 55x5, 55x4, 52,5x3x5 - Since I switched to pause bench last time, Im giving 55 one more shot. Otherwise, Ill reset.
BOR - 62,5x5x5
Shrugs - 85x3x8
Skullcrushers - 22,5x3x8
Chin ups - Bwx3x6
Hyperextensions - 20x2x10 - Feeling these a lot in my hamstrings actually. Might be ****ing em up.
Weighted Decline Crunches - 20x2x10, 20x6 - Wierd, always the last set on these that sucks. Been going to 3 different gyms, so the angle on the bench isnt always the same.

Pretty brutal session, took way over 2 hours, even with supersetting shrugs and crunches. Sessions where I hit failure on either squats or press ussually suck. Was a bit tired today as well.
Also ran 3 km in 18 mins yesterday, but it was mostly uphill, so I think my cardio is getting better.

[CharonRower]

19/8 Off day
Ran 5 km in 28 mins on a machine.
Did planks:
1 min 30 sec bw
1 min with 10 kg plate on my back
1 min with 10 kg plate on my back

Then did some stretching and stomach vaccums.

[CharonRower]

Squats - 75x5, 75x3, 75x5, 75x4, 75x4 - Got stuck on the bottom on the fourth rep the second set, and the fifth rep on the fourth and fifth. Going to reduce to 67,5 (10% reset). Think I got stuck on the bottom for a few reps due to me finally learning how to break at the hips, so Im getting used to the new form. Good thing Im reseting so I can get the motor pattern ingrained (because my squat looks a lot better this way).
Deadlift - 100x1x5 - Still got some lower back rounding at the pull. Trying to fix.
Press - 37,5x5x5
BOR - 55x5x5
CGBP - 45x3x8
Barbell Curls - 27,5x3x8 (extra set of clips for 1 lbs microload)
Weighted Decline Crunches - 20x10, 20x6, 20x6 - Dont know how to progress on this. Just gonna keep going with 20 kgs on my chest untill I can get 20 I guess.

I think running is starting to impede my recovery for squats a bit. Jason mentioned that might happen when you incorporate running into the routine, and that it would go away after a few weeks. Good timing for the squat reset I guess.

[CharonRower]

21/8 - Off Day
Ran 25 mins, think it was between 4-5 km.
Did 3 sets of planks with 12,5 kg on my back for 1 minute.
PE teacher told us that we should start doing HIIT, I said phuck off im squating heavy 3x a week, dont need your HIIT to phuck with my recovery.
Just doing LISS.

[spicewood1990]

soon as this routine burns out, cut all the isolation and milk that 5x5 for as long as you can then drop to 1x5 and bleed that, then reevaluate your goals, i went into it with the plan of bodybuilding but have since moved onto the texas method with goal of powerlifting

which ever route you take you should definitely bleed out the 5's before making a decision and dropping all the extra isolation and accessory chit for a couple months while you truly milk linear progression on your big 3 isnt going to hurt either of your goals in the long term it will just give you the best base for which ever one you choose.

good luck and enjoy, its a great program but you definitely burn out quicker on it then you do strong lifts or ss

[CharonRower]

soon as this routine burns out, cut all the isolation and milk that 5x5 for as long as you can then drop to 1x5 and bleed that, then reevaluate your goals, i went into it with the plan of bodybuilding but have since moved onto the texas method with goal of powerlifting

which ever route you take you should definitely bleed out the 5's before making a decision and dropping all the extra isolation and accessory chit for a couple months while you truly milk linear progression on your big 3 isnt going to hurt either of your goals in the long term it will just give you the best base for which ever one you choose.

good luck and enjoy, its a great program but you definitely burn out quicker on it then you do strong lifts or ss

Thanks for the tips mate. I planned on going down to the cutting version, then cutting out acces and so on when I burn out.

[CharonRower]

Average Weight This Week: 73,02 kg
Average kcals this week: 3162 kcal

Workout:
Squats - 67,5x5x5
Pause Bench - 55x5x5 - Finally got this. Cant wait to get to 1 plate lol.
BOR - 65x3, 62,5x4x5 - Phailed, retrying next workout.
Shrugs - 87,5x3x8
Skullcrushers - 25x8, 25x8, 25x4 - Meh. Retrying I guess.
Chin ups - bwx6, 2,5x5, 2,5x4,5 - Means I added 2,5kg to my bw.
Hyperextensions - 20x2x10 - These hurt my hamstrings. Maybe Im not isolating my lower back properly.
Weighted Decline Crunches - 20x3x10 - Finally.

So my weight is progressing nicely. I changed my time of weigh ins due to starting school again, so I was ecpecting an initial spike of +200/300g, so if we set that aside, Im up 0,5kg in 2 weeks, which is perfect.
Little annyoed at how long workout A takes. Seriously, always over 2 hours, even when supersetting some stuff, but I went to the gym with some friends today, so probably spend a bit too much time talking.

[CharonRower]

23/8
Off Day - Ran 3 miles in 29 mins and 10 secs (fasted, so had to stop a lot during the end due to side pains)

[CharonRower]

Squats - 70x5x5
Deadlift - 102,5x1, 100x5 - Did a very strict form where I would not let my lower back cave/round, and I could only manage 1 rep. I then did 100, first 2 reps were good, but then I sort of cave in. Considering a reset very much (building back up from 85 or so).
Press - 40x3x5, 40x2x4 - Stuck on 40 again. Will retry.
BOR - 57,5x5x5
CGBP - 47,5x3x8
Barbell Curls - 30x3x8 - I use clips to microload, since a set of clips is 1 lbs. I wasnt going to add clips, but the damn weight fell off the bar, so I had to. Still got my reps tho, even though the last rep was a struggle.
Weighted Decline Crunches - 20x12, 20x10, 20x8

Some eats:
- Pulled pork burgers with a big piece of fiber chocolate cake (20g of fiber pr 260 kcal) and a nice cold glass of milk - ****ing amazing cake, going to make more of those for sure.
- More cake, this time with glaze. So filling and so delicious. Considering eating an entire cake for breakfast (around 1200 kcals, but also 80g fiber).
- Fried onions with potatoes, bernaise sauce and lean beef.
- Todays post workout dinner meal - Pulled pork burgers with potatoes and 0,7L chocolate milk.

Also, just got some more protein bars in with cookies and cream taste (40 bucks for the entire case):


Some feels:
Workouts are very taxing lol. Hoping the cardio will start improving my work capacity a bit soon, so I dont feel so sluggish mid-session.
Really debating if I should reset deadlifts. I cant keep my back straight and get 5 reps, so I think I should, but on the other hand, I dont want to be a pussy and regress.. sucks.

Song for the ladies:

[CharonRower]

26/8 - Off Day
Ran 5 km in 24 mins and 58 seconds.
Did 3 sets of planks for 1 minute with 15kg on my back.

Hoping I can get a 5k time of 20 mins in the next few months without it impeeding recovery for squats too much. Going to up my speed slowly. Today was 12 km/h, next time I think Ill go for 12,2 and so on.
Speaking of impeeding recovery for squats, Im going out drinking for the first time in months tonight and have to spend 2-3 hours swimming tommorrow (at 8 am, so cant workout before). Going to be fun, come@mesquats.

[CharonRower]

Squats - 72,5x5x5
Bench - 57,5x5, 57,5x4, 55x3x5
BOR - 65x4, 62,5x4x5 - Reset to 60
Skullcrushers - 22,5x3x8 (added an extra set of spring clips for 1 lbs increase)
Chin ups - 2,5x5, 2,5x5, 2,5x4

Poverty workout. Very little sleep and had to go do race swimming in the morning whilst hungover. Also ate first meal of the day 20 mins before squats, so I was really not feeling it today. Also took a long time due to excessive rest because I was working out with a female friend of mine, so switching weights and helping her took some time. I completely forgot about shrugs, and mid-set hyperextension I was like phuck this, Ive been here for over 2 hours, Im going home.
Poor work morale today, but oh well. Going to do better on Friday (and going to reset deadlifts to around 82,5, so I can work on my form).

[CharonRower]

28/8 - Off Day
Ran 5 km in 23 mins and 40 seconds.
Utilized a different running style where I sort of jump further but take less steps, if that makes sense. I think that style will have more carryover from strenght training.

[CharonRower]

Average Kcal for this week: 3081
Average Weight for this week: 73,36

Squats - 75x5x5 - Easy actually lol. Reset really helped - also squatting with hangover probably counts as overreaching, haha.
Deadlift - 90x1x5 - Reset to 90 due to my lower back rounding on reps (its still slightly there on rep 5, but not at all to the same degree as before).
OHP - 40x5x5 - Finally, geez.
BOR - 60x5x5
CGBP - 50x2x8, 50x1x7 - I couldnt lock it on the 8th rep, was around an inch short of lock out so the spotter grabbed it. Will do this weight again and nail it next time (god I love CGBP).
Barbell Curls - 30x3x7 (extra set of clips for 1 lbs microload) - Couldnt get 7. My bicep strenght and size seems to be going nowhere, I dont get it.
Weighted Decline Crunches - 20x2x10, 20x1x8

Squats today:


Deadlifts today:


Some feels:
Hate that my bicep size (yes measured, its up about 0,2cm in 1 month) isnt progressing, but my chest is up a few cms and my waist is the same or slightly lower, and Im also gaining weight (gained 0,5kg over the last 2 weeks, which is great) and getting stronger, so muscle must be being built somewhere.
Cardio is starting to help a lot on rest times between sets, maybe soon I wont have to be in the gym for 2 hours+ yay.

[CharonRower]

30/8 - Off Day
Ran 4 km (no idea of the time, but slow as ****) and walked 1 km (phone ran out of power, cba running with no music).

Some eats:
- Burgers with some potatoes fried on the pan
- Entrecote beef with potatoes and bernaise sauce
- More entrecote ^^
- Fiber chocolate cake with jizz (not srs)

[CharonRower]

Squats - 77,5x5x5 - Almost 1 and a half plate, yay
Bench - 57,5x4, 55x4, 55x5, 55x5 (very sloopy last rep), 55x4 - First set ****ed me. Also think spotters have been lying to me about helping previously lol. Anyway, resetting to 50.
BOR - 60x5x5
Shrugs - 90x3x8 - Considering dropping this. Adds time and really doesnt matter imo (and Jason mentions this in a Q and A as well). Tired of workout A taking so damn long.
Skullcrushers - 25x2x8, 25x1x7 - Think I might be unintionally be limiting the ROM on this or phucking up form. I hate skullcrushers, would much rather do CGBP...
Chin Ups - bwx5, bwx5, bwx4 - Regression.. wtf?
Weighted Decline Crunches (plate on top of head) - 7,5x8, 7,5x8, 5x8 (more strict, think I cheated a bit on first few sets)
Hyperextensions - 22,5x2x10

Did some supersets and got done in just under 2 hours.

Some eats:
- Danish pastory known as aebleskiver - basicly a clump of dough thrown into a frier. Served with marmelade and powdered sugar (hnnnnnnnnnng).
- Today's breakfast - Rump steak with creme fraiche, a bit of salad and some potatoes, topped off with a bowl of honey cheerios and 2 dl of 0,5% milk
- Today's dinner - Pulled pork, marianated spare ribs, potatoes, bernaise sauce and salad. **** was reaaaaaaally good.

Song for the ladies: DAD - Everything Glows

[Zshue2]

You're killing the food maneee... Progressingggggggg

[CharonRower]

You're killing the food maneee... Progressingggggggg

Yea buddy, haha
Im actually considereing upping kcals a bit, since I have started counting some stuff I didnt use to that adds to about 50 kcals a day, and Im also gaining a bit too slow. Ill see what my average is this week and maybe do 3200 next week
EDIT: **** it, upping to 3200 now, phuck wheelspinning (gaining too slow before anyway, and counting more stuff, so probably just a 50-100 kcal increase anyway).

[CharonRower]

2/9 - Off Day
Ran 5 km in 24 mins and 8 secs. Think Ill go for 6 km in 30 mins to decrease the intensity a bit to not phuck up squats the day after.
Did 3 sets of planks with 22,5kg on my back. Did 60 secs, then 45, then 45.
Did 3 sets of stomach vaccums for 20 secs each.

[CharonRower]

Squats - 80x3, 75x4x5 - Failed the fourth rep (was ugly) and decided to back off. Retrying on Friday.
Deadlift - 92,5x1x5 - Asked a guy to film to make sure my lower back wasnt rounding, but he phucked up.. Im going to assume it didnt, as I didnt feel it giving in, and he said it didnt.
Press - 42,5x4, 42,5x3, 40x3x5 - Cool that I can backoff with what I failed a week ago, but still unhappy with fail.
BOR - 55x5x5
CGBP - 50x7, 50x6, 47,5x8 - God damn lying spotters lol (lifted by myself today and couldnt even get what I did last time). Resetting to 45.
Barbell Curls - 30x2x8, 30x1x7 (with extra set of clips for 1 lbs increase) - Why cant I progress on this shiiiiiiit. Resetting to 27,5 again..
Weighted Decline Crunches (plate on head) - 5x3x10

Some feels:
Phuck it, I was going to up to 3200, but Im upping to 3300. My strenght shouldnt stall this much this early, and now it's happening on every lift (and yes, I push myself, if my program says I gotta do 5 reps, I go for 5 reps, idgaf). I guess my maintainence must be around 3k, its just weird, because I only needed 3500 during the summer, and I worked a physical job 5 days out of the week. But yolo, Id rather be a bit over than a bit under at this point, and I shouldnt be stalling this early, so I guess I must have reached a new maintainence at 3000.

Some eats:
- My usual school lunch - some potatoes, a burger, and a pulled pork burger
- Yesterday's breakfast - 100g cheerios, 300g milk, a burger and some diet gatorade.
- Yesterday's dinner - beef and pulled pork with potatoes and bernaise sauce
- Tonight's dinner - 2 pulled pork burger, potatoes, root vegetable fries (god they were good as ****, better than regular fries srs), pulled chicken and some ketchup (around 1300 kcal total)

Song for the ladies:

[CharonRower]

4/9 - Off Day
Ran 6 km in 32 minutes and 7 seconds (going to start doing more distance with less intensity to ensure this is not what is causing squat stalls, so next week I think ill 6-7 km at 5:30 min/km).
3x planks with 25 kg on my back for 45 seconds (45 seems like a good amount of time. Once I can do a minute I think Ill bump it up to 30 kg for 45 secs and so forth).
3x stomach vaccums for 30 secs

[CharonRower]

Average Weight This Week: 73,44 (Up 80g from last week, and 580g from the past 3 weeks)
Average Kcal This Week: 3280 (Underate a bit at the start of the week, then decided midway to up kcals)
Squats - 80x5x5, 80x1x3 - On the fifth set, I lost my tightness/balance in the fourth rep, so I just got stuck on the bottom. I knew it was just a form problem, so I did a sixth set and got 5 reps, so Ill continue to up the weight.
Bench - 50x5x5
BOR - 62,5x5x5
Shrugs - 92,5x3x8
Skullcrushers - 25x3x8 - Still feel like Im cheating on these, not keeping em elbows together enough as I go down. Will add clips to this weight next time.
Chin Ups - bwx5, bwx4, bwx4 - Regressing on chin ups, wtf
Incline Curl - 10x10, 12x6 - Decided to add an iso to biceps today because chin ups were ****. Might start doing curls instead again, or maybe drop shrugs and do both (since IDGAF my traps and Jason said the shrugs didnt really matter).
Hyperextensions - 25x2x8 - Going to go for 10 reps next
Weighted Decline Crunches (plate on head) - 6,25x10, 6,25x6, 6,25x8 - I feel these are so easy to cheat on with the plate on the head.

Some thoughts:
I think upping my kcals was a good idea. I didnt even get 4 reps with 80 last time, and now its up to 5. I also think decreasing the intensity on cardio was a good call, so I think I will go over to more distance running and build endurance that way, and then the strenght from the squats should help my 5k time if I ever need it.
Hoping bench will progress quicker from now on. I heard that bench goes up a lot with kcal intake, and based on my calculations, Ive only been at an approximate surplus of 100-150 kcals (which is why Im throwing 200 more kcal on top of it, as I only gained 2/3 the weight I wanted the last few weeks, and that was at 3100 kcal).

Squats Today:

[CharonRower]

6/9 - Off Day
Ran 5,9 km in 35 mins (LISS)
Laid out my kcals for the week. After re-thinking and asking in the nutrition section, Im going with an average of 3250. Tomorrow Ill eat 2600, then 3300 for the rest of the week, except Friday, where I have work and need and extra meal, so Ill do 3650 that day (average then becomes 3250). Since I've been struggling a bit with strenght gains on a lot of lifts, Im interested to see if progress will come easier on the proper amount of kcals.

[CharonRower]

Squats - 82,5x2x5, 82,5x1x4, 80x2x5 - Going to try 82,5 again
Deadlift - 95x1x5
Press - 42,5x1x3, 40x5, 40x3x4 - Dafuq
BOR - 55x5x5
CGBP - 45x3x8
Barbell Curl - 30x3x8 - Just going to repeat this untill its easy
Weighted Decline Crunches (on head) - 6,25x3x8

Deadlifts Today:


Some eats:
- Spareribs and pulled chicken with boiled potatoes and bernaise sauce
- Pulled Pork burgers with boiled potatoes and ketchup
- Kangaroo steak with boiled potatoes and bernaise sauce
- Cereal, some buns with butter and ham and some gatorade
- Pulled Turkey burger, beef and ham/egg/onion/cucumber/ketchup and some boiled potatoes
- Pulled Pork burgers and half a chocolate cake with glaze

Song For The Ladies:

[LeanAsFuark]

God stil! Bare kør på. Dit dødløft, uff det trænger til noget arbejde.
Du går for langt ned i knæerne du skal ikke lave den som et squat, og så når stangen kommer op over knæerne lad som om at du bare skal kneppe den og stram din røv på god dansk. Du skal virkelig bare hip thrust stangen, hvis du ved hvad det betyder.
Skriv hvis du får brug for hjælp

[CharonRower]

God stil! Bare kør på. Dit dødløft, uff det trænger til noget arbejde.
Du går for langt ned i knæerne du skal ikke lave den som et squat, og så når stangen kommer op over knæerne lad som om at du bare skal kneppe den og stram din røv på god dansk. Du skal virkelig bare hip thrust stangen, hvis du ved hvad det betyder.
Skriv hvis du får brug for hjælp

Jeg har virkelig lange ben mate, og mine baglår er ikke så fleksible (jeg arbejder aktivt på det ved at strække dem ud 3 gange om ugen). Men ja, jeg kæmper lidt med min dødløft form, men jeg ved godt hvad du mener med hip thrust
Kan godt være jeg skriver senere

Off Day - 9/9
Ran 5 km in 27 min and 14 seconds.
Scale was up to 75,5 this morning, what. I only increased by 150 kcals haha. Going to keep it up though, just water weight.

[LeanAsFuark]

Jeg har virkelig lange ben mate, og mine baglår er ikke så fleksible (jeg arbejder aktivt på det ved at strække dem ud 3 gange om ugen). Men ja, jeg kæmper lidt med min dødløft form, men jeg ved godt hvad du mener med hip thrust
Kan godt være jeg skriver senere

Off Day - 9/9
Ran 5 km in 27 min and 14 seconds.
Scale was up to 75,5 this morning, what. I only increased by 150 kcals haha. Going to keep it up though, just water weight.

Se den her, han er vild og ved hvad han snakker om. Han har dødløftet 270kg+ og vejer under 60kg

[CharonRower]

Se den her, han er vild og ved hvad han snakker om. Han har dødløftet 270kg+ og vejer under 60kg

Det kunne være fedt, hvis du så rent faktisk linkede noget, haha

[LeanAsFuark]

Det kunne være fedt, hvis du så rent faktisk linkede noget, haha

Hahaha ****, undskyld!