11th week into mass phase
I have completed the 10th week of my 5×5 mass building program as of today. My main goal for 2008 was to regain my strength lost from surgeries in 2007. I can officially say that I have accomplished 2 out of 3.
For bench, I am now back at 285 for 3 reps today and will be going for 5 reps on Tuesday. That is the most I have ever done. Next Saturday I will be at 290 for 3 and it will be an all time PR! 315 for 5 by the end of April is what I am shooting for. I have consistently added 5 pounds to my top set over the past 10 weeks and with 6 weeks to go I believe this will be accomplished.
For Deadlifts, the most I had ever done was 315 for 5 reps and I did 355 for 5 reps last Thursday. I will be going for 365 on my top set this Thursday. I would like to get 405 for 5 by the end of the summer.
Squats however are not coming along all too well. I have to remember that is has only been 4 1/2 months since my low back microdiscectomy and it took almost a full year to get my strength back on bench press after my neck surgery. So hitting PR on Deadlifts this soon is most encouraging to me. My hip flexors were not put under any load for most of 2007 due to the surgeries and this has caused the majority of the hold-up in getting my strength back more quickly with a load on my shoulders. That is at least where I feel the most of the problem when going deep with my squats. However, I do see progress over the past 10 weeks (I got 285 for 3 on my top set today) so I am about 15 pounds short of PR squats (300 for 5 reps is the most I have ever got). 315 for 10 reps on squats is going to be at least 4-6 months out but it will be conquered.
The second goal of 2008 was to train hard but smart. This I feel is the other reason my squats are lagging behind. I would rather see gains come slowly and injury free than to go through what I did last year though. I felt like I was taking 1 step forward and 3 steps back for the whole year of 2007. Everything so far is progressing nicely. I hope and pray that I don’t hit any pitfalls.
Time for some sleep. Lift, Eat, Sleep, Repeat!
March 15, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Nice progress Bobby!
March 15, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Great progress. I still have trouble with the heavier weights, but it still has me curious none the less to give it another try sometime. Still slingin’ more weight than a lot of us!
March 16, 2008 at 6:39 am
Most impressive Bobby! Very cool to see your relentlessness after surgeries. Nothing short of an inspiration bro.
March 18, 2008 at 3:03 am
Great work bro!
Training hard but smart so far in ‘08 has paid excellent dividends back!
-Jeff
March 22, 2008 at 8:39 am
Hey there! Just thought I’d stop by and say Happy Easter! Be careful with those squats….