Starting Strength Weekly Report


July 18, 2022


Num Lock Edition

On Starting Strength


From the Coaches
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In the Trenches

grace clean and jerks 22 kg at testify strength and conditioning
Grace cleans-and-jerks 22 kg as she continues practicing her Olympic lifting. Grace trains with her dad, mom, sister, and brother-in-law at Testify Strength & Conditioning in Omaha, NE. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]
michael helps Holly rack the bar after a set of bench presses
Michael at a Saturday morning class helping Holly rack her bar after a bench press set. [photo courtesy of Arthur Frontczak]
abby smiles as she locks out a deadlift pr at starting strength cincinnati
Starting Strength Cincinnati member Abby smiles through a deadlift PR in the 7am session as coach Camisha, fellow member (and proud mom) Angie, and apprentice Tony look on. [photo courtesy of Lucas Schroeder]
roslyn lehman at starting strength oklahoma city
Roslyn Lehman at Starting Strength OKC. [photo courtesy of Greg Herman]

Best of the Week

Hey RIP. Am I condemned to never doing push-ups again?

ChessGuy

30 years ago I increased my pushup count from 35 reps to 50 reps by incorporating 2X8 dips.

Now I'm using a machine with a selectable counter weight to do dips. I'm stuck on 3X5 machine dips twice a week with 120lbs counter weight.. I'm 226 Lbs now as opposed to 1989 when I was 211.

Tonight I pulled 185 lbs X 5 and squatted 135 3X5.

Is it possible to be an upper body eunuch while having good results on lower body exercises?

I am 70 years old.

Mark Rippetoe

What are your bench and press numbers?

ChessGuy

My best bench ever was 150 and my best press was 72. Once I was stuck I stopped trying and the heal issues came into play.

I'm doing dips, squats, and deads twice a week. The squats and deads are coming along nicely after 8 workouts. Dips are stuck. I like them, though.

Mark Rippetoe

As long as you're having fun, carry on.


Best of the Forum

are my numbers good enough to compete?

sirlinx

So I just finished my LP with the only lift still going up being the deadlift, but because squatting 3x a week made me very tired and unable to process work (I work in front of a computer all day and my mind was not all there, feeling much better now that I've moved on) I decided to move on from my LP altogether. I'm mostly wondering because I'm starting to want to compete. There's a competition at the end of the year for just deadlifts, but I always thought my numbers were still poor especially when compared to things I see online. I just wanted to see where I was at and searched for strength standards online and came across two tables (one from SS), both tables are telling me I'm either late intermediate or pre advanced, which I find hard to believe since Monday of last week I was still running my LP. Now I ran a calculator to get my PR's, this is because I've never actually tried to lift singles and see what my PR was before, so I will post my actual working numbers as well as the calculator's estimation. Are these good numbers to start competing?

I'm 42, 165cm - 5'5, body weight 75kg - 165 lbs

actual working numbers:

  • squat - 3x5 141kg / 310.2 lbs
  • press - 3x5 60kg / 132 lbs
  • bench - 3x12 71kg / 156.2 lbs (I was benching mostly for hypertrophy because I benched at home alone and not at the gym)
  • deadlift - 5 reps of 152kg / 334.4 lbs

calculator estimations for PR:

  • squat - 159kg / 349.8 lbs
  • press - 68kg / 149.60 lbs
  • bench - 102kg / 224.4
  • deadlift - 171 kg 376.2 lbs

Mark Rippetoe

I don't understand your question. If you want to go to a meet, it doesn't matter what your numbers are because you are going to get beaten the first few times you enter. Competition motivates your training, and if you wait until you know you'll win to enter a meet, you're not a competitor.

sirlinx

I don't have any aspirations of winning, I just want to get some experience. But I don't want to get laughed at either. I have no idea if these numbers are good enough to start competing because I'm the only guy who trains for strength in my gym so there's nothing to compare them to.

Mark Rippetoe

Then go to a meet and watch. Nobody laughs at anybody who has the balls to enter the meet.





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