rjg91680 starting strength log

[rjg91680]

I'm 29 years old and haven't seriously lifted ever in my life. I've played soccer pretty much all my life, and in the past few years took up running, so I think I'm the prototypical skinny fat guy.

I started on 11-28-2009, at a body weight of 177 lbs, 20% bf. Today I'm at 192 lbs, 22-24% bf. I'm 5' 7"

Here's my progression so far, before yesterday's workout (all in lbs):

Squat: 100 >>225
Bench: 85 >> 115
Press: 75 >> 95
Deadlift: 105 >> 205
Power cleans (just added 1-9-2010): 65

1-12-2010 was my last workout before last night. No excuses for the time off except that I was in Vegas for my wife's 30th birthday.

During my last workout my squat form really sucked - I definitely was doing leg presses because my quads hurt like hell the next day. Combined with a 9 day training hiatus, I decided to back off a little on my squat to work on form and get back into the swing of things.

Session 15, 1-21-2009

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
85 x 5
125 x 3
165 x 2
205 x 5 x 3

Bench Press
45 x 5 x 3
65 x 5
85 x 3
105 x 2
120 x 5 x 3

Power clean
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
70 x 3 x 5

Squats felt really good - no weird soreness today. Power cleans were introduced recently and the bar felt really heavy, so I'm pretty sure my form sucked. Videos for everything coming soon.

[Mr.City]

I've had the same problem with squats.

[rjg91680]

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
85 x 5
125 x 3
165 x 2
210 x 5 x 3

Press
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
75 x 3
85 x 2
97.5 x 5 x 3

Deadlift
135 x 5 x 2
165 x 3
195 x 2
215 x 5

All of the weights felt pretty heavy today. This time on squats I definitely shoved the knees out and waited until the stretch in my glutes/hamstrings to come up out of the hole. Quads aren't sore, so I think I'm doing it correctly.

Press continues to be difficult. Last time I did something funky to my shoulder and had some discomfort today on all of the reps. I didn't think I'd get the last one in the last set, but it went up.

Deadlifts are progressing nicely. I'm still using double overhand grip. I'll go to alternate grip when the regular grip fails me.

[rjg91680]

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
135 x 3
175 x 2
215 x 4/5/5

Bench press
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 3
105 x 2
125 x 5 x 3

Power clean
45 x 5 x 3
55 x 5
65 x 3
75 x 2
85 x 3 x 5

Weird training day. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and had a lot of coffee today to compensate. I don't drink coffee much, so I think that the lack of sleep + caffeine did weird things.

I didn't think I'd get that last rep on my first work set of squats, so I just pussy-ed out and racked the bar. Then I saw some dude deadlift 570 and I decided to man up and just do my squats. They were hard. On the last rep of the 2nd and 3rd work sets I think my back was a little too horizontal and I did a little good morning.

I think that I need to get my deadlift numbers up to keep progressing on my squat.

Bench and power cleans both went up very easily.

[rjg91680]

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
135 x 3
175 x 2
220 x 5 x 3

Press
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
75 x 3
85 x 2
100 x 5 x 3

Deadlift
135 x 5 x 2
165 x 3
195 x 2
225 x 5

Overall the workout was fairly easy today. I've been picking up on stuff other people have been saying on other's form checks.

On squats I worked on being more explosive out of the hole. Worked great.

Press is usually tough for me, but today went up without too much trouble. Finally triple digits on this.

Deadlifts were not too bad today too. I re-read SS deadlift chapter and realized that I was pretty much doing SLDLs. Getting the quads to fire early and locking the hips late really made the movement a lot easier.

Onward and upward.

[rjg91680]

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
145 x 3
195 x 2
225 x 5 x 3

Bench
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 3
115 x 2
130 x 5 x 3

Deadlift
135 x 5 x 2
165 x 3
195 x 2
235 x 5

I went to another gym today because the one I originally go to closes early on Saturday.

Squats were good - this is where I was before I deloaded to work on form. There was one rep where I think I leaned forward too much, but otherwise it went pretty good.

No problems with bench or deadlifts.

I'm going to train deadlifts on consecutive days for this week to get the numbers well past my squat per the suggestion in Practical Programming.

Cool thing - some old fat dude complimented my on my squats. I think he was a weight/powerlifter back in the 80's. He seemed kinda crazy though, but I'll take it.

[rjg91680]

Ever have one of those days when you're sitting on the toilet more than anywhere else? Yeah, that was yesterday. No workout for me. That would have been bad. Especially squats.

I lost about 3 lbs of water weight in the last 24 hours. Stomach is feeling ok today. Will workout tomorrow before I have to travel this weekend.

[rjg91680]

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
145 x 3
185 x 2
230 x 5 x 3

Press
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
75 x 3
85 x 2
105 x 5 x 3

Deadlift
135 x 5 x 2
175 x 3
215 x 2
245 x 5

Did this workout last night.

Squat form was a little iffy on some of the reps - I keep leaning forward too much. Some reps were spot on though. I think I'm going to start lifting my toes.

I increased the press by 5 lbs instead of 2.5 lbs because I went to the alternate gym where the smallest plates they have are 2.5 lbs. That said, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get all the reps.

Deadlift went well. I'm going to train deadlifts maybe 1 or 2 more times until I begin to alternate with power cleans again.

[rjg91680]

Last night's workout:

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
145 x 3
195 x 2
235 x 5 x 3

Bench
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
95 x 3
115 x 2
135 x 5 x 3

Deadlift
135 x 5 x 2
185 x 3
225 x 2
255 x 5

A 5 days break from training plus crap sleep = a brutal training day. Squats were really tough, and some were done with some bad form. I'm still leaning forward a bit on one or two of the reps, and I'm doing a very small good morning on a few of the final reps.

Bench press was a nice break from squats. I'm finally lifting a wheel on each side, which is a cool milestone. All of these went up pretty easy.

As I was completely gassed from the prior two exercises, the deadlift workset was more of a set of 4 with a single added onto the end. I really had to fight through this. I'm still using a double overhand grip, but my hands are pretty torn up. I think I'm going to switch to alternate grip for the next deadlift workset. This will probably be the last time I do deadlifts on consecutive workouts. Back to power cleans!

[rjg91680]

Last night's workout:

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
145 x 3
195 x 2
240 x 5 x 3

Press
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 3
95 x 2
107.5 x 5 x 3

Power clean
55 x 5
65 x 3
75 x 2
85 x 3

I had to cut this session short because I got to the gym late.

Squats were pretty terrible. My form was crap on the first rep of each set - I actually had to step forward to keep my balance on the very first workset rep. I also played around with grip, which was a mistake. On the first rep of the last set my grip was too wide and I could feel my arms holding the bar up instead of against my back. I racked the weight and readjusted my grip and did the remaining 4 reps. Weirdly enough, all of the other reps were fine. It's definitely time for some video.

Press was a little easier than I thought it would be, but still tough. I re-read the press chapter in SS and adjusted my elbows to be in front of the bar and for the bar to rest more on my deltoids.

Power cleans feel weird and slow. I think I knew that the place was going to close so I wanted to get some reps done, no matter how crappy the form was.

[rjg91680]

Last night:

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
145 x 3
195 x 2
245 x 5 x 3

Bench
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
95 x 3
115 x 2
140 x 5 x 3

Deadlift
135 x 5 x 2
185 x 3
225 x 2
265 x 5

I missed a session Saturday because of some stupid circumstances.

This session was HARD. I had an unfortunate gout flare up on Sunday that may have affected things.

Squats were tough. I repeatedly got stuck coming up out of the hole and probably good-morning-ed too much at the end of some reps.

While bench felt light last time, I definitely felt the weight during this session.

Deadlifts were pretty brutal. I tried alternate grip which was weird. I'm not sure if I was able to lock out the last rep.

I need to stop missing sessions.

My eating has been touch-and-go since I have a newfound violent intolerance to milk. I need to find a stomach-friendly alternative.

[rjg91680]

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
105 x 5
165 x 3
225 x 2
250 x 5 x 3

Press
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 3
95 x 2
110 x 5/5/3

Power Clean
45 x 5 x 2 (hang cleans)
55 x 5
65 x 3
75 x 2
85 x 3 x 5

Squats didn't feel as difficult as I thought they'd be; they were easier than the previous workout. I adjusted my warmup set weights and that my have helped. I also concentrated on elbows up - it helped me keep my chest up as well. I've also been eating more the last few days.

Press continues to be difficult. I tried some different breathing and using the stretch reflex at the bottom, both which were relatively new for me. I'll repeat this weight next time.

I'm not even sure how I'm doing on power cleans. The weight feels like it takes forever to rack. I think I'm also taking a little jump forward instead of in place. Definitely time for video.

[rjg91680]

Yesterday's workout:

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
105 x 5
165 x 3
225 x 2
255 x 4,4,2(!)

Bench
45 x 5 x 2
75 x 5
95 x 3
115 x 2
145 x 5 x 3

Deadlift
135 x 5 x 2
185 x 3
225 x 2
275 x 2...2...1

This was a good/bad workout. Squats killed me. That was weird because the last workout went relatively well. I'm going to try this weight again and see what happens.

Bench press is getting more difficult, but I feel like I have a little more to go before I start loading up 2.5 lbs per session. Bench press was never my strong suit, but I hope to change that.

Deadlifts are pretty heavy. The first 2 I did with double-overhand grip, then I took a breather, did 2 more with alternate grip, another breather, then the last one alternate grip.

If I can't get all of the squat reps for the next 2 sessions, I guess I'll have my first official stall. If that happens, I might start putting in a light squat/front squat day in the middle of the week. I've never done front squats, and they look like a good complement to back squats.

Since my press stalled last time, I'm also thinking about adding some chin-ups/pull-ups.

[rjg91680]

Last night's workout:

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
105 x 5
165 x 3
225 x 2
255 x 5,5,3

Press
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 3
95 x 2
110 x 5 x 3

Power Clean
45 x 5 x 2 (hang cleans)
55 x 5
65 x 3
75 x 2
95 x 3 x 5

Squats continue to be hard. Missed the 4th rep of the last set. I'm getting really winded after 4 reps of each set. I wonder if it's time for me to do some....CARDIO (DUM DUM DUUUUUM). Seriously though, the first 2 or 3 reps went up pretty easily, but I was out of breath and just could barely do the last 2 reps of the 1st and 2nd set. I have the net 2 days off so we'll see if that's enough rest to get me past this.

Press went up pretty easily. I feel that my form is spot on, with minimal layback. My cues: keep elbows slightly in front of the bar, have the bar rest on the heel of the hand, keep the bar close to my face, and tighten everything up. Works for me.

Power cleans went surprisingly well. The past few times I had some wrist pain immediately after and the days after I did this exercise. I re-read the PC chapter of SS before my workout to help with my form. This time, before I did anything I racked the empty bar with a few times with different widths, and ended up widening my grip. I also loaded the bar with bumper plates and just dropped it after each rep, taking away more wrist stress. Today my wrists feel fine. I just need to work on elbows up and keeping the bar path close to my body.

[rjg91680]

Last night's workout:

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
105 x 5
165 x 3
225 x 2
255 x 5 x 3

Bench
45 x 5 x 2
75 x 5
95 x 3
125 x 2
150 x 5 x 3

Chin-ups, assisted by using wide white band
7, 6, 7

I finally got through all three sets at 255. While it was difficult, it went up easier than I had anticipated since the last two times I tried I didn't get all of the reps. It looks like the 2 days off did some good. I did manage to tweak my left quad during one of my warm-up sets, which was weird. I also tweaked my shoulder during the last set.

I probably had the sloppiest looking bench performance ever known to man. There was a guy push pressing more than I was benching a few who was definitely staying a little closer in case I needed a spot. I managed to get all of the reps up. I never had much upper-body strength.

I've decided to change up the programming a little and give myself some rest and variety. I added chin-ups, but haven't done a bw chin-up in 2 years when I was 40 lbs lighter. Again, sucky upper body strength.

Now programming will look like this, from Practical Programming:
Workout A
Squat
Bench
Back extensions
Chin-up/Pull-up

Workout B
Squat
Press
Deadlift/Power-clean

When I have to reset, I'll probably throw in the light squat day as well. Hopefully I can keep going on the linear progression for a little while longer.

[rjg91680]

I've been eating crappy, sleeping crappy, and everything caught up. Here's today's workout:

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
105 x 5
165 x 3
225 x 2
260 x 0
225 x 5 x 2
225 x 3

My regular gym closes early on Saturdays, so I went to my alternate. When I got there, the safety bars in the power rack were set above my head. It's one of those crappy Hammer Strength racks...the bars slide down and have pins that lock them in place. This particular rack's bars didn't want to go down, so I ended up unscrewing the pins out and hammering the bars down with a 10 lb weight to get it to the correct height. That was fun.

I did all of my warmups but the movement didn't feel quite right today. I put 260 on the bar and as soon as I descended I dumped the weight onto the bars.

I decided to back off and do some sets of 225. The first and second sets were ok...during the third set I tweaked my knee. That, along with shoulder pain, pretty much kept me away from doing anything else today.

I probably should have recognized that fatigue has been creeping up on me since it took me 3 tries to hit 255. I should have just backed off instead of pushing through and fatiguing myself.

If my knee feels ok on Monday I might proceed to backoff as prescribed in PP, with a workout of mainly warmups. We'll see what happens.