Better late than never; Training in my 30's, a memoir
Hello,
I am semi-new to training and wanted to record an account of my progresses, struggles, etc. Mostly to keep me in check and accountable. I am always open to advice and tips! I just started the Starting strength program a little less than 1 month ago and so far so good! A little bit of background about myself;
31 years old, Female
149 lb
5' 8'
I never played any sports growing up or trained at all. I was pretty unhealthy; heavy smoker from a very young age, bad choices, you get the drift. I have always been very outdoorsy, lots of hiking, but aside from that zero fitness. I quit smoking at 28 and got into Crossfit for about 2 years. This was on and off due to back issues. Mostly off. Back problems have been a life long issue but I think were confounded by bad form on my part and trying to lift too much too soon. Not that it really matters much, But at the end of the two years my numbers were as follows:
Backsquat: 210 (highbar)
Frontsquat: 165
Bench press: 125
Strict press: 110
Deadlift: 250
Clean: 150
Clean and Jerk: 145
Snatch: 115
With squatting I had major issues keeping my knees out and one knee would essentially cave and kiss the other. I also had a huge hip sway. These were mostly fixed through physical therapy and it is believed that I was unable to activate one glute due to possible nerve damage. I was a pretty rowdy kid so there is certainly many instances when this damage could have occurred!
Got my glute firing and things seem to move well now. No hip sway. Overall, I really enjoyed working out, but I was not a huge fan of cardio or HIIT training. I really just enjoyed working with a barbell, especially olympic lifting. After a year of physical therapy I had ALOT of life happen at once and was out of the gym essentially until 1 month ago. I decided to forgo crossfit and do what I enjoy most, playing with a barbell. While I would love to end up olympic lifting I think it is important for me to take a step back and first work on getting strong the right way, slow and steady. I also learned how to snowboard 2 years ago which I love, so I want to get stronger as this will translate to longer runs without feeling like my legs are falling off haha!
So here is my journey!
I don't think it necessary to make a post for each of my workouts prior to today, it has been the standard novice progression. I will make posts for all workouts from now on but here is my starting point and where I am almost a month later. 3 Training days per week. I was pretty conservative my first session.
Starting:Mid October 2019
Backsquat 3X5: 90#
Strict Press: 3X5 60#
Bench Press: 3x5 65#
Deadlift: 1x5 105#
And Now: Early November 2019
Backsquat: 3x5: 130#
Bench: 3x5: 80#
Strict press: 3x5 70#
Deadlift: 1x5: 155#
Sidenote: I have been too conservative on the strict press as it moves too easily for all 5 reps, will increase to 80# in tomorrows session and see how that feels.
Cheers!
-Ally