Did first day of SS - some questions

[QSAlexander]

I bought SS last week, and yesterday joined a gym close by equipped with what the program required, and did my first workout.

Background - I'm 32 years old, 6'2" 241 lbs., and about 40-50 lbs. overweight. I haven't touched a barbell since high school. To prepare a little before I hit the gym, for two weeks I did pushups, dumbbell squats, dumbbell deads, and dumbbell bent over rows 3 times a week. I didn?t have much weight for the dumbbells; 60 lbs. total.

Here are the numbers for the work sets, and notes about my first workout yesterday.

Squat: 115 lbs. x 3 x 5
- Squat felt really good, I had no problem going all the way down, but it put me on my toes a bit. I think it is just a flexibility issue that will work itself out in the next few workouts. My last rep was a little shaky, but it seemed mostly from lack of energy rather than muscle fatigue. Legs aren?t too sore today, but my ass is. This, to me, is a fun exercise.

Bench: 115 lbs. x 3 x 5
- Bench felt really good too. I felt some serious stretching at the bottom portion during my warm up sets with the bar, so I didn?t go as heavy as I could have, but 115 lbs. is probably 90% of my work set potential right now. My chest is sore as hell today. This was also a fun exercise for me.

Dead: 95 lbs. x 2 x 5
- My back, top to bottom, was on fire during the first set of deads, but it didn?t feel too heavy. Rather than use it as a warm up set, I kept the weight at 95 lbs. and did one more set, concentrating on opening the knee angle first ? it worked, and the second set was better, but I hit my knees on the way down. I had no problem staying off my toes for this exercise, unlike the squats. The last rep was shaky like on squats, but from lack of energy rather than muscle fatigue ? I think. My hands were brutalized; I hadn?t gotten to your part in the book about grip technique yet, but read it last night, and next time will be better. Unlike the other exercises, this one was not very fun for me. It required so much energy; it really humbled me (even at 95 puny lbs.). I?m going to make myself do it though.

Pull ups: 3x5 with 170 lbs. assistance on cybex (71 lbs. pull ups considering my weight).
- I?m not able to do a regular pull up or chin up. I was going to do assisted chins on the cybex, but it doesn?t have a single bar going across, and the spacing felt too wide at about shoulder width, or maybe a bit more, so I did pull ups. My lower biceps, and the tendons in my elbows are pretty sore today.

Questions:

From my notes above, do you have any helpful comments?

? Squats
- My ass is a little sore, but not too bad, is it OK to increase the weight on the next workout?
- My form felt good, but the lower I was, the more I got pushed on my toes. I think it is flexibility, but could it be something else?

? Bench
- My pecs are super sore, but my shoulders feel good. Is it OK to go heavy during the press on the next workout?
- If my pecs are still really sore when bench comes back, should I sub something else, or do really light sets?

? Deadilift
- Going down I hit the tops of my knees during what I thought was my best set, should I not open the knee angle till the bar passes my knees ?
- My shoulders seemed really rounded, and pulled down, although my back felt straight, and lock out felt good. Should I try to shrug them up, during the pull or just keep pulling them back at the top?
- I was going to sub bent-over rows for cleans, until my deadlift felt perfect. You OK with this?

? Assistance exercises
- I was going to do pull ups every other workout. What other assistance exercises do you recommend I incorporate?
- In the book I noticed a sample program with sit-ups before the barbell exercises. You see any problem with me doing these every workout, at the beginning?
- Should I do back extensions before, or after the barbell exercises?

? Book-related
There are quotes from Heinlen, Hugo, etc. Who is the Sci-fi buff, you, or Kilgore? If you, what are some of your favorite sci-fi books, and authors (just curious, as I just got into the genre a couple of years ago and love it)?

[Mark Rippetoe]

All these questions have been dealt with extensively on this forum, and in the books. Looks like a lot of typing to repeat it all. But I am the Heinlein fan.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Mark,

You always reminded me of Charles Zim from Starship Troopers.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The shitty movie or the excellent novel?

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

The book, of course. I really can't stand that movie. Lets take a book about personal responsibilty and turn it into a movie about facism. I hate the movie at least as much as I hate partial squats. THough I doubt anyone would punch you after telling them to get low on squats.