I quit stronglifts.
It's not what you think. Stronglifts 5x5 is a great program for gaining strength and mass. I'm living proof of this, having gained almost 20 lbs of pure muscle in the past 4 months. But at 5'4" and 131 lbs, my body is breaking down. I realize that there are thousands of guys my size who are much stronger than me. I realize that there are thousands of guys who use my working set as their warm up sets. Call me a pussy, but my body is breaking down and I don't want to be one of the thousands of other guys my size who herniate a disc or fuck up their back.
Last night, I had a dream. I dreamed that the next day when I was working out I herniated a disc. I'm dead serious. Today when I was driving to the gym, I was praying to God that he would protect my back. I was pretty scared to get under the barbell today. Nevertheless, I warmed up, loaded the barbell to 210 lbs total, and squatted.
I consider my form to be decent if not better. I know it's not perfect, but from my reading and studying of technique, there isn't anything too fucked up about it, right? If you haven't already seen my form video, check it out.
http://www.askscooby.com/advanced-bulking-up-and-gaining-muscle/yash-squat-and-deadlift-form-check/My first few sets of squats went fine. My lower back, which was still sore from Wednesday's workout, started feeling better. However, after the fourth set, which by the way, I got all 5 reps, which is an improvement from my last workout, my lower back got really tight. I was contemplating whether or not to suck it up and pump out my last set or just stop squatting and move on to the bench press. I was contemplating these options for 10-15 minutes, just walking around the squat rack and to and from the water fountain rubbing my back just thinking.
Call me a pussy again, but I think I made a really good decision when I took out my ipod and took off the weight plates, back still intact. However, this good decision depressed me and took away whatever motivation I had to continue my workout. After the 4th set of squats, I deloaded the bar and went home.
I'm not saying that I'm never going to squat or deadlift again. It's actually really hard for me to quit stronglifts, because in just 4 months I've gained 20 lbs! But for now, I need to just focus on not fucking up my back so bad that I have to deal with the consequences for the rest of my life. So as of today, September 9, 2011, I am no longer on stronglifts 5x5.
So what's next? I don't know, yet. You would be foolish to assume that I'm giving up on fitness. In fact, I could be back on stronglifts in a few months, but first, I need to take a break. My back needs to take a break. I still want to gain strength and mass and I know there is no better way to do that than by squats, deadlifts, and barbell complexes. So I don't know what I'm going to do, yet. But I want to thank you for following me on my Stronglifts journey and thank Stronglifts for the strength and confidence increases I've experienced.
Read more:
http://www.askscooby.com/progress-diaries/yash/105/#ixzz1XTwTPg9VYOU MUST COMPLETE 5 SET, OR YOU WILL BE CURSEDDDD WITH STRENGTH LOSSSSS!!!!!
Just kidding.
No, no one can force you into anything, even you shouldn't. Nothing is set in stone. You have a bad day, then take it easy. You are scared, then deload and focus more on form to make sure even more that you are doing things right. Even if God tell that you must add 5lbs the next work out, you yell it back to him that you'll take the wise route and let your body recover and adapt better by deload.
Just saying, I'm doing the opposite though - I know that 5x5 squat is already taxing enough, but I still can't quit my pistol squat at the end. It's obvious I'm overtraining, but whatever
