Mike D's Training log

[Mdemarco]

Hello everyone,

Im a 29 year old man thats just getting back into any kind of training after about 10 years of a pretty inactive lifestyle. The most exercise I really ever got was at work from which I am a construction electrician, so thats not all that physically demanding 90% of the time. In high school i played football and wrestled so I have done a minimum of weight training and have been exposed to the basic barbell lifts before, although after reading Starting Strength and Strong Enough i would say that my trainers didnt really have a good grasp of exercising for strength because we mainly did a few power cleans and machine circuit burnouts and the like with a small amount of leg press mixed in. At the time I THOUGH i was squatting around 300 at a 160lb bodyweight but im almost 100% certain they were quarter squats and definately not full parallel squats. With that as a reference i decided to start really light and work my way up so I wouldnt be doing controlled falls to the crapper everytime I needed to use the restroom.
These are my current numbers after 2 weeks of working out. Sorry for the wierd weight numbers but im pretty sure the olympic set I have is based on Kilograms or something odd. Its from a Weider Pro Powerrack i bought from Sams Club. I learned of this site from Stronglifts and Im actually switching over to Starting Strength starting next week so all these numbers are at 5x5 right now.

age 29
weight a pudgy 270

First lift day was 5/29/2012 and i started with these numbers <light i know>
Squat : 67
bench : 67
barbell Row : 67
Press : 78
deadlift : 111


As of 6/13/2012

Height 5'8.5"
Squats: 166
bench : 122
press : 116
Deadlift 177
barbell row: 122

Ive been adding 11 lbs on squats and Deadlifts every lift since its been really easy to get my sets done each time and have add 10 a few times to bench. Im excited about adding the Power clean into the mix this week. Im not doing GOMAD due to my already high bodyfat content but i do drink a lot of milk already because i love the stuff. Im trying to eat "CLEAN" aka not too much fast food or fried food but im not really restricting myself because I dont want to lack recovery ability.
Only supplement ive been taking is a Protein powder just to make sure im getting an over abundance of protein.

Any suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated or things i should be doing immediately to improve my chances of a good 12 weeks of Linear progression. I will NOT miss a training day unless I find myself too injured to do an exercise.

Thanks all
Mike DeMarco

[Mdemarco]

As of 6/15

Starting Monday I'm on a pure SS novice program regime. I'm going to start power cleaning and drop the barbell rows in order to come into line with the SS program. Not really sure what a good weight to start my power clean at although I know I can do 133 lbs pretty easily since I do it every time I switch from presses to deadlifts and reset the bar for the next session. I have power cleaning experience and have pretty good form with it. Any suggestions on this subject or definitely welcome. All working sets are now to be 3x5 instead of 5x5 from now on and I think I'm done with 10 lb increases on everything except for deadlifts.

Current numbers going into SS from strong lifts are

Squat 177lb
Bench 133
Press 116
Deadliift 177

I'm going to start power clean at 133 unless told otherwise
Thanks all for the views
Mike D

Current numbers after Friday 6/15/2012 workout

[Mdemarco]

Today was a rest day that I hope I didn't screw up my rest with. Went to Six Flags here in St. Louis where it's feels like it's 10000 degrees out. Felt a twinge in my lower left back area just above my ass after about 5 hours walking/ standing around. Hoping it was just fatigue and not something else I couldn't tell. Ice or heat I wonder would be better. Gonna put a heating pad on it see what's what.

[Mdemarco]

6/18
Felt great today. Watched a few videos and reread squat form from SS and really tried to get the bar low on my back as I believe I was doing a more of a high bar squat. Tried to focus on driving my hips up instead of lifting my chest and the entire squat felt a million times more natural and smooth than before. I'm trying to find a way to film myself so I can get you guys to critique my form.

Today's lifts.
Squat 182
Press 121
Deadlift 200

Squat was definately easier than last time probably because of form fixes
Press starting to get heavier at end of 3rd sets
Deadlift was still pretty easy

My bodyweight jumped a bit unexpectedly to 277 even though I haven't changed my diet too much
No lower back fatigue so that's great

[Mdemarco]

6/20
Felt good overall today. Decided to post my first Squat form check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBtks...ature=youtu.be
Hopefully I get some good replies and not just YNDTP or the dreaded "thats not the squat we teach" since im kinda gropin in the dark here

Todays Lifts
Squat 188 3x5
Bench 144 3x5
Deadlift 215 1x5

Gonna start tapering off my dairy intake (gonna be tough I drink a lot of milk normally) so i can get rid of this big ol' belly of mine. Not sure of a good Macronutrient % to go with but im sure the forums will have something if I do a bit of searching. maybe aim for 3300 calories a day and tweak it up and down from there till i at least get a little less FATTY.
Thanks for viewing anyone that takes a peek

[Mdemarco]

6/22
Felt really good today. Put power cleans into the mix today and after a few practice seemed to remember how to do them with pretty good form from when i was in high school.
Accidentally added more the my squat then I wanted to but thats ok since i was able to hammer out all 3x5 of them without a hiccup.

Todays lifts
squat 204
Press 127
power clean 111 <probably coulda done a little higher of a work set than this, ill add 10 pounds to next workout I guess>

Some input I got on my squat from the technique video i posted really seemed to help. Thanks guys.

[Mdemarco]

6/25
Man that weekend rest really helped. Lower back felt great and not tired after all sets were finished. Cleaned up squat form a lot and it's showing. I got a little overzealous on the increases today but with no adverse effect all sets were smooth.
All sets for 3x5 except deadlift
Squat 215
Bench 155
Deadlift 1x5 @ 230

Thanks for viewing these logs keep me going.

[Mdemarco]

6/27
All lifts went very well. Press is heavy but feels real good to do. Cleans were fun again
Squat 220
Press 133
Cleans 122

This was also one of the first times I've lifted with a little residual soreness. Not much and diet related I'm sure.

[Mdemarco]

6/29
I was amazingly unmotivated today. I think I was worn out from helping my brother move yesterday in the 108 degree heat. I almost gave myself a three day rest until Monday, but I couldn't bring myself to miss a workout. I intstead decided the only thing I could do to remedy all of this was to load the fuckin bars up with more weight then normal and punish my pussyness.

Squat 243
Bench 160
Deadlift 265
Everything went very well, except my grip really wanted to fail on the last rep of the deadlift. Should I start using straps or not...

Take that motivation

[Mdemarco]

Rewarded myself for not being a pussy with a porterhouse steak smothered with sautéed mushrooms and onions. Thank you Traeger for making it perfect.