A Blessing in Disguise - Starting Over the Right Way with NLP
Me. a 32 year old dad with a new home gym and sore knees. I like nice guns, good food, and strong drink.
My physical stats.
- 6'0" in height
- 220 pounds in weight. I have been as much as 250 pounds and as little as 210 pounds in the last few years.
Why do I train.
- As I reach middle age, I want to be harder to kill.
- I don't want to be broken down and fat at 45 like so many guys I know who just gave up.
- I want my daughters to see their dad doing things that are hard.
- I want to enter a powerlifting meet within the next three years; I'm pretty sure I have some competitive fire left over from my high school wrestling days.
My training history.
I started a little over a year ago in my local gym with Stronglifts 5x5. I started with the bar and did what felt natural - i.e. I did all the lifts wrong. I did my 5x5s faithfully and transitioned to the Madcow program after about nine months. Shortly before the pandemic closed my gym, I accomplished these one rep PRs:
- 385 lb Squat (high bar with caved knees, probably above parallel)
- 395 lb Deadlift (low hips, bar over the toes, wide stance, snatch grip, trying to lift with my quads)
- 225 lb Bench Press (bounced off the chest)
- 130 lb Press (wasn't training the press seriously)
My best working sets were:
- 305x5 Squat
- 320x5 Deadlift
- 190x5 Bench Press
- 125x5 Press
The pandemic.
And then COVID came, and it saved me from myself. I think I was getting close to injuring myself seriously. I ordered a power rack and a bench, and while I waited I had three months to rest and read about why squats and deadlifts were beating the shit out of my knees. This research and reading led me to the Starting Strength web site and You Tube channel. Learning about the mechanics of the low bar squat was like an epiphany. I ordered the blue book That Day.
So here I am. De-trained, re-educated, and ready to start over the RIGHT way.
Commence my Novice Linear Progression.
I recorded my form and bar speed and decided my starting weights are:
S(quat) - 185
P(ress) - 85
B(ench) - 135
D(eadlift) - 205