Starting strength not working help for a member of the special population!

[Jimbobjammybob]

Hi folks. Having been a long time reader of the forums I finally decided to make a post because as the title says SS is simply not working for me.

To pre-empt the usual. I must state I have followed SS to the letter or at least attempted to do so.. I love the training formula but I'll explain why I need some help tweaking things. I'll try and keep it as brief as possible and to the point but the situation requires some explaining.


My job 5 days a week is as a bin man ( refuse collector) For roughly 5 hours of my working day I am walking,jogging,running and pulling/pushing bins. Now we work on a weekly rotation...

Week 1 general waste bins weigh from 25kg - 100kg (plus some larger commercial bins that we tag team weighing 100kg-450kg)

week 2 recycling bins weigh 10kg -25kg.

Then back to week 1...

These bins I pull 1 in each hand take a massive toll on my energy levels and also a massive toll on my wrists, forearms, shoulders, back, chest etc.. but only on week 1, week 2 is like a holiday...

So the point here is that I can follow SS on the lighter week of work but on the heavier week at work I just simply do not have the energy or the strength to progress. Also minor injuries are stacking up. I have tennis and golfers elbow on 1 arm and golfers elbow on the other arm along with some scapula issues for flavour..

I am 6 months into SS but honestly feel like I'm wading through a swamp in progress terms as the last 3 months things crawled to a snails pace.

I can't recall my starting numbers and forgive me if these numbers are not the usual format but

DL 330lb for 1x5
SQT 276llb for 3x5
Bench 210lb 3x5
OHP 143lb 3x5

I weigh 222 at 6 foot tall and my body fat % is in the mid-to high 20's but dropping fairly quickly as I started this job the same month I started SS...

I am 39 years old.

Please if anyone can tell me how to tweak SS to suit my lifestyle better that would be great, even just some general pointers in the right direction would be good. Maybe SS is simply not for me..

many thanks in advance and I just want to say these forums have been a blessing to me so far. Jim.

[Szymon]

I weigh 222 at 6 foot tall and my body fat % is in the mid-to high 20's but dropping fairly quickly as I started this job the same month I started SS...

I am 39 years old.

You don't eat enough, you don't rest enough, you have not given your body enough time to adapt to your new job. At your age and job you might want to consider programing for masters +40.

This is where I would start looking for solution.

[RayK]

The eating is the hardest part as Tom Petty sang. I never made any consistent fitness progress for over thirty years because I lived in hotels. I would be on the job before any restaurant was open in the morning, and there were often limited lunch options. I would eat enormous evening meals on the company dime, but they did little good since I was too stuffed to sleep.

Can you take meals with you on the job, and a hand washing kit of some sort? Perhaps some sort of nourishing mash, hard boiled eggs, carrots, and stuff?

[CommanderFun]

You will find physical demands of a new job become less of a physical stress problem as time goes on. Until then, it might help to decrease frequency. "One on, two off" is probably a good idea to try.

[AndrewLewis]

Your technique is almost certainly a problem. You should post to the technique forum as soon as you can.

You are not eating enough. I promise you.

[Jimbobjammybob]

Many thanks for the responses people. Greatly appreciated!

I'll take the eating thing on board for sure and take a look at the alternative training programme and consider more recovery days. I think I'll have to cycle my weeks somehow as on every second week I feel like I can train twice as hard. maybe that's exactly what I need to do.

Jim.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Did you understand the part about technique?

[Jimbobjammybob]

Did you understand the part about technique?

Yes indeed! I am watching Starting Strength vids on the youtube channel that discuss and demonstrate correct form. I am also discussing the form at the gym and having my instructor watch and advise. I watched the video you did on 'the absolute best way to get rid of elbow pain' so that's the next thing I'll be doing at the gym.

I am almost certain the injuries I'm picking up are happening at work because I am fatigued too much and making mistakes. The minor injury rate in my profession is high especially with regards to knees, ankles, wrist and shoulder complaints.

That said once I can get my head around my mobile phone's video features I'll post to the technique section ASAP.

Many thanks.

Jim.

[Jovan Dragisic]

The tendonitis is due to a wrong grip on the squat. It happens at around your squat weight. A bad case of tendonitis fucks with your brain, because you always feel that your arms are going to fall off.