The only problem was that my gym didn't have a squat rack. It was only $10/month, and with a part time job, I couldn't afford much else. So, I did my squats in the smith machine. Don't do that. I also didn't follow the 5x5 for benching. I thought I could do it faster on my own. I was consistent with my workouts, going three times per week. I deadlifted, overhead pressed, and rowed per the program. Three months later, I won the competition. Everyone else had quit working out, but I made steady progress. What I didn't know then was that by not following the program exactly, I hadn't progressed as far as I could have. My gym transitioned to a Planet Fitness, throwing out all barbells as well as any hope of following this program. I accepted a job in Arizona, moved out there, and stopped working out while I found a place to live.
Fast forward to October 2013. I found a gym with a power rack, two squat racks, and no closing time so I could squat heavy at 3:00AM if I wanted to. And I did. I have always been a "skinny-fat" guy (you know, the gamer physique) and I was on a mission to see what could have been if I had followed 5x5 to the letter. Integral to my success with this program was my joining the Stronglifts "Inner Circle." It is a forum with other guys experiencing similar problems with various powerlifting programs. I found I could vent there, share my successes there, and get invaluable advice from experienced lifters. I paid the nominal fee and joined. I will emphasize it again: I couldn't have done it without the Inner Circle.
January 11, 2014 6:30AM. I woke up to hearing my name: "John! Hey man, it's 6:30, almost time to go." It was Chris Hartle, a guy I hadn't known just three months earlier, but was now my go-to for lifting motivation and advice. The previous night, I had driven five hours to his house for a powerlifting competition hosted nearby by another "Inner Circle" member. I grabbed a cup of coffee, and we set out, unsure of what to expect.
We arrived to find about twelve lifters of varying experience warming up in the lone squat rack in Jeff's garage. It was Saturday morning in a very nice part of town near wine country in California. I'm sure his neighbors were very intrigued by the group that was stretching while ACDC blared. The plan for the day was to squat, bench, and deadlift until about 1PM. After the competition, Jeff and his wife had prepared a small feast for us to devour while we watched the NFL playoffs.
My "competitors" ranged in size from 5'5" 150lbs to a bodybuilder who was probably 6'1" 225. I weighed in at 194, the heaviest I had ever been. We were all there for the fun of it, and we all screamed and cheered to help a guy get out of the hole at the bottom of his squat. I've never been in such an environment.
I stepped up and starting warming up to squat. We all took turns with five reps of the bar, five with 95 lbs, 5 with 135, and so on. I was encouraged because as I squatted, I heard, "wow, damn, perfect form man" and "I'm jealous of your form." I assumed they were just being nice. When it was my turn up, I opened with 315. A few weeks back, I had hit 335 in the gym, albeit with questionable depth, so I was confident in 315. It flew up. Chris also opened with 315 and he nailed it. We both were still on the 5x5 program and we were at the same weight for pretty much all the lifts. We pushed each other to get better.
My second lift was at 340, a 5 pound PR. All lifts were recorded to be analyzed later, but my depth was good. I could feel my stretch reflex at the bottom of my squats and I was bouncing out of the hole with no problem. Chris also squatted 340 with no problem. My final lift was at 365, a 30 pound PR that would be incredible progress after squatting for just three months. The lift was a little slow, but it was smooth and I could hear my guys behind me screaming. "COME ON! LET'S GO! YOU GOT THIS!!! AHHHHH!" Hitting that gave me confidence for my other lifts. Chris seemed to lose his balance with 365, a weight I know he was strong enough to lift, so he lost it.
Next up was benching. I got 215 in the gym about a month prior, but this was my worst lift. My form was not very good. I didn't understand leg drive, and I even struggled with hand placement on the bar. I had nagging neck and shoulder pain as a result. I started with 215 and it went up without issue. My second attempt was at 225 and it also went up, although it was ugly. My form needed a lot of work. I don't think 230 ever made it more than a few inches off my chest. I'm not sure, but I think Chris ended with 225 as well.
Deadlifting is where boys become men. It's probably my favorite lift. My first attempt was at 335. I chalked my hands, got into a zone, and pulled it no problem. Attempt two was at 365 and it stood no chance. To this point, Chris had pulled the same weights and we were both feeling unstoppable. Waiting for my third attempt, I listened to Master of Puppets through the speakers and got my mind right. For me, the only sticking point I have is getting the weight off the ground. I know some guys struggle with locking the weight out and stuff like that. It's mental for me. Getting the bar off the ground is the hardest part.
Watching the video now is funny to me. Master of Puppets literally ended one second before I began my lift. It was between songs, and the silence was deafening, everyone watching to see what this skinny guy could do. I pull as hard as I can and scream because I've never come close to lifting this much weight. It flies up my legs with no problem. It actually felt light. I get out of the way and watch Chris kill that weight, too. After lifting and stretching and loading barbells for other guys for about five hours, we were spent. We ate brats, drank beer and watched football.
Chris and I drove back and stopped for a victory Starbucks on the way. We talked of what we could do in 2014. After just three months we hadn't missed hardly any reps in the gym. I was aiming for 405/255/455 in April's competition. We stopped to play some pickup basketball and that's when I realized just how tired I was. I drove back to Phoenix that night. I couldn't wait to get back in the gym!
So, just how did my results compare with the three months from January-March 2013?
It's not even close. I want to focus on the benching part of those graphs, the red line. On the left, I screwed around and just tried to do as much as possible. At the end, I could barely bench 170 lbs. And 170 was rough. On the right, I did the 5x5 program and progressed to where I could bench 200 for 5 sets of 5, with much better form. On the left, I started lighter with my deadlift and squat, so that has a little bit to do with the big difference by the end, but not that much. It doesn't explain why I didn't miss reps on my squat until 325 lbs or my deadlift until 315 lbs. On the left, however, my squats in a smith machine stalled at 190 lbs. And again, it was a rough 190. Smith machines are not natural. You are setting yourself up for failure at best, and at worst an injury. Squatting, though, is as natural as breathing.
Thanks to this program, in 3 months, I went from not working out to a 980 lb total. My knee pain went away. I was getting hit on in the gym. My confidence went through the roof.
A large part of powerlifting and even heavy strength training is mental. The impossible often seems so until it is proven to be possible. If I would've set my sights on a 365 pound squat in just three months, I probably would've started missing reps in anticipation. I would've psyched myself out. Instead, I focused on getting the next rep. I didn't fear failure, although I didn't know what that would look like either.
Arnold Schwarzenegger tells a story of his bodybuilding days when he could do calf raises of 315 pounds, the most he had ever seen anyone do to that point. His bodybuilding buddy, Franco Colombu, surely wasn't aware of any such physical limitations as Arnold witnessed him blast calf raises of 1,000 pounds. After seeing that, the weight Arnold used skyrocketed. The limitation he placed on himself was purely mental. You can achieve success in the gym and in life if you ignore the impossible and focus on the next rep.
My squat soon stalled with the 5x5 program at 325 pounds, the second most I had seen anyone progress to until that point. The most was a young man (read: kid) in New Zealand by the name of Daniel Yska. He was 18, and progressed to 397 lb with this program, eventually squatting 440 pounds in the 198 lb weight class. Damn impressive.
I was proud of my 325, until I saw what Chris did.
We arrived to find about twelve lifters of varying experience warming up in the lone squat rack in Jeff's garage. It was Saturday morning in a very nice part of town near wine country in California. I'm sure his neighbors were very intrigued by the group that was stretching while ACDC blared. The plan for the day was to squat, bench, and deadlift until about 1PM. After the competition, Jeff and his wife had prepared a small feast for us to devour while we watched the NFL playoffs.
My "competitors" ranged in size from 5'5" 150lbs to a bodybuilder who was probably 6'1" 225. I weighed in at 194, the heaviest I had ever been. We were all there for the fun of it, and we all screamed and cheered to help a guy get out of the hole at the bottom of his squat. I've never been in such an environment.
I stepped up and starting warming up to squat. We all took turns with five reps of the bar, five with 95 lbs, 5 with 135, and so on. I was encouraged because as I squatted, I heard, "wow, damn, perfect form man" and "I'm jealous of your form." I assumed they were just being nice. When it was my turn up, I opened with 315. A few weeks back, I had hit 335 in the gym, albeit with questionable depth, so I was confident in 315. It flew up. Chris also opened with 315 and he nailed it. We both were still on the 5x5 program and we were at the same weight for pretty much all the lifts. We pushed each other to get better.
My second lift was at 340, a 5 pound PR. All lifts were recorded to be analyzed later, but my depth was good. I could feel my stretch reflex at the bottom of my squats and I was bouncing out of the hole with no problem. Chris also squatted 340 with no problem. My final lift was at 365, a 30 pound PR that would be incredible progress after squatting for just three months. The lift was a little slow, but it was smooth and I could hear my guys behind me screaming. "COME ON! LET'S GO! YOU GOT THIS!!! AHHHHH!" Hitting that gave me confidence for my other lifts. Chris seemed to lose his balance with 365, a weight I know he was strong enough to lift, so he lost it.
Next up was benching. I got 215 in the gym about a month prior, but this was my worst lift. My form was not very good. I didn't understand leg drive, and I even struggled with hand placement on the bar. I had nagging neck and shoulder pain as a result. I started with 215 and it went up without issue. My second attempt was at 225 and it also went up, although it was ugly. My form needed a lot of work. I don't think 230 ever made it more than a few inches off my chest. I'm not sure, but I think Chris ended with 225 as well.
Deadlifting is where boys become men. It's probably my favorite lift. My first attempt was at 335. I chalked my hands, got into a zone, and pulled it no problem. Attempt two was at 365 and it stood no chance. To this point, Chris had pulled the same weights and we were both feeling unstoppable. Waiting for my third attempt, I listened to Master of Puppets through the speakers and got my mind right. For me, the only sticking point I have is getting the weight off the ground. I know some guys struggle with locking the weight out and stuff like that. It's mental for me. Getting the bar off the ground is the hardest part.
Watching the video now is funny to me. Master of Puppets literally ended one second before I began my lift. It was between songs, and the silence was deafening, everyone watching to see what this skinny guy could do. I pull as hard as I can and scream because I've never come close to lifting this much weight. It flies up my legs with no problem. It actually felt light. I get out of the way and watch Chris kill that weight, too. After lifting and stretching and loading barbells for other guys for about five hours, we were spent. We ate brats, drank beer and watched football.
 |
| Me, about to pull 385 in Jeff's garage. Don't let his kids' paintings in the background fool you; we were warriors. |
Chris and I drove back and stopped for a victory Starbucks on the way. We talked of what we could do in 2014. After just three months we hadn't missed hardly any reps in the gym. I was aiming for 405/255/455 in April's competition. We stopped to play some pickup basketball and that's when I realized just how tired I was. I drove back to Phoenix that night. I couldn't wait to get back in the gym!
So, just how did my results compare with the three months from January-March 2013?
It's not even close. I want to focus on the benching part of those graphs, the red line. On the left, I screwed around and just tried to do as much as possible. At the end, I could barely bench 170 lbs. And 170 was rough. On the right, I did the 5x5 program and progressed to where I could bench 200 for 5 sets of 5, with much better form. On the left, I started lighter with my deadlift and squat, so that has a little bit to do with the big difference by the end, but not that much. It doesn't explain why I didn't miss reps on my squat until 325 lbs or my deadlift until 315 lbs. On the left, however, my squats in a smith machine stalled at 190 lbs. And again, it was a rough 190. Smith machines are not natural. You are setting yourself up for failure at best, and at worst an injury. Squatting, though, is as natural as breathing.
Thanks to this program, in 3 months, I went from not working out to a 980 lb total. My knee pain went away. I was getting hit on in the gym. My confidence went through the roof.
A large part of powerlifting and even heavy strength training is mental. The impossible often seems so until it is proven to be possible. If I would've set my sights on a 365 pound squat in just three months, I probably would've started missing reps in anticipation. I would've psyched myself out. Instead, I focused on getting the next rep. I didn't fear failure, although I didn't know what that would look like either.
Arnold Schwarzenegger tells a story of his bodybuilding days when he could do calf raises of 315 pounds, the most he had ever seen anyone do to that point. His bodybuilding buddy, Franco Colombu, surely wasn't aware of any such physical limitations as Arnold witnessed him blast calf raises of 1,000 pounds. After seeing that, the weight Arnold used skyrocketed. The limitation he placed on himself was purely mental. You can achieve success in the gym and in life if you ignore the impossible and focus on the next rep.
My squat soon stalled with the 5x5 program at 325 pounds, the second most I had seen anyone progress to until that point. The most was a young man (read: kid) in New Zealand by the name of Daniel Yska. He was 18, and progressed to 397 lb with this program, eventually squatting 440 pounds in the 198 lb weight class. Damn impressive.
I was proud of my 325, until I saw what Chris did.
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