Quietchef's Journey.

[quietchef]

Good morning > 35.

Avid lurker, occasional poster here.

Thought I'd share my training journal online through this site to possibly get more input. As I'm still a newb, maybe approaching novice, I can use all I can get.

Where I'm at right now:
-Lost ~80# 5 years ago, stalled out at 230# with some mild weight training and tons of cardio.
-3 years ago, started inconsistently weight training with a traditional 3 day split. Didn't have nutrition in line and wasn't progressing in resistance.
-About 2 years ago, Started consistently hitting the weights, but nutrition was still all over the board.
-Nov 2013 started Stronglifts 5x5, maxed out in April 2014 with resetting all lifts at least once.
-Took two weeks off and did some light lifting, call it a deload if you like, to figure out my next step.
-Liked SL 5x5, just not eventually maxing out on all 5 lifts at the same time. It was too mentally taxing. So I came up with the bright idea to rotate through rep ranges. So following SL A and B workouts while each gets rotated through a 4x4, 6x6, and 8x8. I'm in week 9 now and enjoying the hell out of it. I'll attach a pic of my dry erase board to help anyone understand what I'm saying.

[quietchef]

[quietchef]

Deadlift 4x4 @ 265#
Squats 6x6 @ 170#
OHP 8x8 @ 70#
Skullcrushers 5x10 @ 35#
DB rows 5x10 @ 40#
Decline BB BP 5x10 @ 95#

OHP was a challenge.  Grip giving out on deads, had to use straps for 3/4 of the sets. Squats felt light.  Today's my Monday.  Hopefully stupid is kept to a minimum.

[Flounderbout]

I quite like the cycling idea. Although 8 x 8 of anything is pretty brutal!
How did you work out the weights for each rep range?

[quietchef]

I took the original premise of SL 5x5, and started super light on the 8x8, took my ending 5x5 weights x60% for the 4x4, and put the 6x6 in between. The 8x8 is especially humbling considering I added an element that was lacking in SL of intensity. Rest time between sets is between 30-60 seconds. Keeps me moving along whereas in the 5x5 it was turning into 5 sets of my 5rm. On all rep/set schemes I try to progress by 5-10# each time or stall until I can get all of my target.

It is a far slower progression than the 5x5, but it is working for me.

[yaaar]

Sounds like you've already gone through what I'm starting to go through now.

Best of luck!

[quietchef]

Benchpress 4x4 @ 170#
BOR 6x6 @ 125#
Squats 8x8 @ 130#
Cable tri pressdowns 5x10 @ 35#
EZ Bar curls 5x10 @ 45#
Hamstring curls 5x10 @ 35#
BB Upright Rows 5x10 @ 65#
Bosu crap & axe chops

Feeling some tendinitis, so cut back the poundages on anything involving the elbows. Other than that, everything is going well.

[quietchef]

Sounds like you've already gone through what I'm starting to go through now.

Best of luck!

Thanks. Remember that it's a marathon. Enjoy the journey.

[quietchef]

Obligatory page 1 selfie. Added effects and deceitful lighting, of course.

[quietchef]

Squats 4x4 @ 225# (fail on last set)
OHP 6x6 @ 95# >
Deadlift 8x8 @ 175#
Hodgepodge of a few core stuff.

Deads got a serious sweat going.

Life's good.

[quietchef]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooe5S...e_gdata_player

[conoutlook]

Following dude.... keep up da good work bro

[quietchef]

Following dude.... keep up da good work bro

Thanks. It's been a long journey.

[quietchef]

BOR 4x4 @ 175#
Squats 6x6 @ 175#
Benchpress 8x8 @ 130#

SS
Reverse BB curls 5x10 @ 45#
EZ Bar curls 5x10 @ 50#

SS
Cable tri pressdowns 5x10 @ 55#
Dips 5x20

Bosu stuff.

Rows rocked, definitely felt them in my lats. Squats turned up the heat. Benchpresses were brutal, missed last 2 reps. After that, it just seemed to be a superset kind of morning. Pump achieved.

[quietchef]

Today was total crap.

OHP 4x4 @ 115#
Deadlift 6x6 @ 225#
Squats 8x8 @ 135# (DNC)

Just couldn't find my inspiration this morning. Called it a day, focus on the next day. Been here before, sure iit'll happen again.

[quietchef]

Squats 4x4 @ 230#
Benchpress 6x6 @ 150#
BOR 8x8 @ 95#
Cable tri pressdowns 5x10 @ 45#
EZ Bar curls 5x10 @ 35#

Squats went slow, lots of effort. Starting to be a mental game. Bench felt easy the first 2 sets and the last 2 sets were real grinders. BOR turned up the heat. Then a quick ego stroke arm workout. Now off to work.

[quietchef]

Deadlift 4x4 @ 275#
Squats 6x6 @ 180# (fail last set)
OHP 8x8 @ 70#
DB rows 5x10 @ 50#
DB flies 5x10 @ 25#
Bosu stuff.

Deads felt heavy, especially breaking off the floor. Squats cranked the heat up, couldn't get all 6 on the last set. OHP was good, this one was a redo from last day I had 8x8 and made a notation regarding difficulty with it.

Have stepped on the scale a few times in the past week, and let's just say mind blown. Like a 10# jump in 2-3 weeks. WTF? No sweat, just gotta rein things in for awhile.

[quietchef]

Quick edit.

Felt frisky, switched up DB rows from 5x10 to the following :
30# x 10
40# x 10
50# x 10
60# x 10
70# x 10
80# x 10
90# x 10
100# x 8
110# x 6
120# x 3
130# x 1

And a pic of a home gym 130# DB:

[quietchef]

Benchpress 4x4 @ 175#
BOR 6x6 @ 135# (tough, given Monday's stupidity)
Squats 8x8 @ 135# (fail: 8,8,8,8,7,5,0,8)
And building on Monday's, today I'm doing a pseudo push day:
Decline benchpress 3x10 @ 95#
DB press 5x10 @ 50#
DB flies 5x10 @ 25#
Cable tri pressdowns 5x10 @ 55#

God bless training on a day off of work.

[quietchef]

Squats 4x4 @ 235#
OHP 6x6 @ 100# ( fail, 6,6,6,6,4,2, followed up with 85x6, 75x6, 65x6, bar x 10)
Deadlift 8x8 @ 180#

And that's about it for today. Took some measurements, but nothing to report in terms of change. 3# heavier than last month, tape is within 1/2 inch of all previous recordings.

Y'all have a good weekend. See ya Sunday morning.

[quietchef]

BOR 4x4 @ 185#
Squats 6x6 @ 180#
Benchpress 8x8 @ 135#

BOR were rough, squats really got me sweating, BP were more mental than physical the last two sets. Feeling it in the forearms. Gonna switch things up in the diet relm starting Tuesday. Got down to 209, then in less than a month bounced above and beyond to my current 2-upper teens. Gonna do a little experiment.

Life's good. Sunday training is always short 'n sweet, gotta go flip some omlets.

Lol'ing at guys who say a 55 hour workweek leaves them with no time to train.

Cheers.

[quietchef]

This concludes "week 12" of my modified SL 5x5. Definitely approaching new territory. Progress.

OHP 4x4 @ 120# ( fail, 4,4,3,1; 100x6,4,4,4)
Deadlift 6x6 @ 225# Nirvana
Squats 8x8 @ 135# Lost intensity.

Complete stall on OHP. Will have to go back to my logs in April/May to see where I was previously.

Deads were transcendence. No other way to describe it. But either way it took something out of me where I just couldn't get the squats done with under 60 seconds of rest between sets.

Weird.

Did some assistance work with lat pulldowns, tri pressdowns, cable crunches. Nothing to write home about.

[yaaar]

Seems most people hit the roof on OHP first, nice numbers though. Looks like you were fine with 115# previously so you've found the limit! Now to work on it.

Nice job!

[quietchef]

Seems most people hit the roof on OHP first, nice numbers though. Looks like you were fine with 115# previously so you've found the limit! Now to work on it.

Nice job!

Disappointed that I just scrolled back on my other online journal to see my SL 5x5 at the beginning of this year, I topped out at 115#. Theoretically I haven't got much stronger in the past 4 months on this lift.

Won't stop me from trying though.

[yaaar]

Interesting sidenote, check RockCod's journal for today's post. He's beginning to stall at about the same weight. You're in good company.

I've got OHP coming up this morning as well, but I'm only at 70# starting "Week 5".

[quietchef]

Squats 4x4 @ 240#
Benchpress 6x6 @ 155#
BOR 8x8 @ 105#

Squats are definitely a PR. I believe I left off the 5x5@235#. Bench was uncomfortable for whatever reason. BOR got the heart pumping and sweat flowing.

Life's good.

[quietchef]

Deadlift 4x4 @ 295# (Fail 4,4,4,3,3,4)
Squats 6x6 @ 185# Tough.
OHP 8x8 @ 75#
Little stuff, etc

Great day.

[quietchef]

Benchpress 4x4 @ 180#
BOR 6x6 @ 135#
Squats 8x8 @ BW*

After my Monday's session, took the wifey out for a hike with a picnic lunch at the summit of a nearby hill. About a 1000' elevation gain from bottom to top, so hard to call it a mountain. Long story short, doing squats at BW is just fine with me today. Between that and a bad sandwich for my picnic, I'm just happy to get a session in today. Friday will be better.

Cheers.

[yaaar]

I went hiking Saturday after squats. About the time I started the first hill I thought to myself "What the hell am I doing?!".

[quietchef]

Yup, keep a good pace and it actually helps blood flow and the majority of the time, little to no doms the next day. Probably the only cardio I get, but it's enough for me.