The first thing you need to do is apply my life motto: Work To Live, Don't Live To Work
26 years old
6'1
185 pounds
I have been training for a few years but never did the program properly.
Current lifts after a training once every 10 days for almost two years now:
Squat 5RM: 225x5
Deadlift 5RM: around 325
Press 5RM: 120
Bench press: I haven't done the exercise for as long as I can remember.
I don't if this is relevant to determine if I am still a novice but when I first step into a gym a couple years ago I was 150 pounds.
I have a very busy schedule since 2015... working almost 90 hours a week... often not sleeping.
I'm getting depressed losing muscle and gaining fat now though and I'm considering giving Starting Strength a serious run.
Is this a good program for me? (although I'm pretty sure of the answer I'll get)
What are some numbers to aim for at the end of the run?
What do you guys think my starting weights should be?
Thanks.
The first thing you need to do is apply my life motto: Work To Live, Don't Live To Work
you can make it work and yes the program is a good fit
This is good. Do you have any health problems? If not you will have a lot more fun once you're 6'1" 220lbs
This means about a total of 70 trips to the gym. In two years. That's not training. To put that into context, a high level weightlifter is in the gym like 9 times a week. So congrats on have a relatively level of detrained strength.
Yea......this isn't stupendous. Why's your DL so much higher than your squat? Don't worry about bench. More and more now it seems like the only good reason for doing it is to compete in PL, but you probably want to LP it anyway to drive your press. Worry about not benching later.
Again, you're not actually training now, so yes.
I regret to inform you that lifting will not fix your depression and will probably make everything worse. This shit is miserable and only gets worse as you improve. Also, fat guys probably get laid at a higher rate than do meatheads, so there's that.
Any program will be better than your current non-program. If your 5RM #s are accurate, start somewhere around 80% or so of them for 3x5. Better to underestimate than over, as it'll all line up on its own in a week or two anyway. No way to know where you end up at but why does that matter? Just keep going until you can't.
^Thanks for the detailed answer. I'll give it a run!
A lot to unpack with your opening but dud did a good job of breaking it a part. I'd just like to add there is a reason you do all the major lifts; they are compound and hit all parts of your body. If you never bench you are going to have some imbalances and I would say that is pretty obvious already with your OHP and DL numbers.
Do you have your own business because if you don't what kind of slave driving fuck expects 90 hour work weeks. First thing you should do is punch him in the face for taking your life away.