BWare's Novice Training Log
I've been in the "weight-lifting" world since about 2015, and had the typically terrific "new-bee" experience of very nice results. But they were followed by what felt like a long period of stasis and the natural follow-on of CPH - chronic program hopping. I was first exposed to the scientific basis of training for strength, and started sampling programs that purported to focus on that, but they ran out of gas quickly.
So, I found and read Rip's books (and Sullivan's too, since I'm a "Masters Athlete" - I like that spin on being a geezer!) and elected to start the Novice program, dropping all my previous work with super-sets and drop-sets and rest-pause sets, suspending any plan that talked about sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and "leaving gains on the table" and other marketing stuff like that.
Prelim data: Age - 61; Weight - 183; Height - 5'10"; BF% est 11%
Started clean-slate and pretty light on Saturday, 4 May. Working on following the form and movement patterns observed on Rip's videos, and I'll concern myself with getting to the heavy stuff when I progress to that level. Going low-bar on the Squat was the hardest movement to change, but it seems to be easy to retrain the body to move along those lines. By far, the hardest lift is the Press, but over the week, I've felt like my form for it was improving and my balance is getting better. I still have a tendency to "pop" the bar a bit further forward than over mid-foot, which tends to make me rock forward onto the balls of my feet. I think maybe my grip is too wide, and I'll keep working to refine that lift.
Record:
5/4 (first training session)
Squat -- warm-ups, then 3 x 5 at 155. Low-bar has given me the ability to actually get to a true parallel at this weight. I'll boost this by 20 pounds for next session and see if the increased weight affects the depth.
Press -- warm-ups, then 3 x 5 at 112. This was pretty solid, and feels like it is close to a good training weight for me. Add 2 pounds next time.
Deadlift -- warm-ups, then 1 x 5 at 125. Really easy to keep solid form; add 20 pounds for next session.
5/6
Squat -- 3 x 5 at 175. Still very solid on form; add 20 pounds next time.
Bench -- 3 x 5 at 135. Good form, touched my chest without bouncing. Had to put some plates on the floor to "shim" my feet a bit higher, hardest part was getting to lower back curve set. Add 10 pounds next time.
Deadlift -- 1 x 5 at 155. No problems, add 20 pounds next time.
5/8
Squat -- 3 x 5 at 195. Still solid, although my left hip felt a little loose on the 4th rep of set 3; abductors? Add 20 pounds next time.
Press -- 3 x 5 at 114. Very tough to keep my balance on these sets, and I feel this is about where I am, strength-wise. Go to 115 next time. Work on improving movement pattern and balance.
Deadlift -- 1 x 5 at 175. Still solid; add 20 pounds next time.
Recovery cycle so far seems to be reasonable (no major DOMS or problems sleeping) and my calorie uptake has increased from about 1900 a day to 2500 a day since I started. I'm sure my squat progression will very soon become truly linear (5 pound increases per session), but still feel like I have a lot of up-side on my deadlift before getting to the point of making 5 pound increases per session.