Newb in NYC

[Bloodninja666]

Years of 90-hour work weeks in a desk job have done a number on my body, and Ive decided to make time for SS to reverse this damage. Ive put on a lot of blubber on my torso, and never really had any strength to begin with. This is my first foray into strength training.

Age: 26
Ht: 5'11''
Wt: 195
Bf: 25% I would guess

Im starting my 3rd week of the program and haven't felt better. Here is what I lifted last Friday, which I feel accurately represents my strength after using the first 2 weeks to nail down form and see what Im capable of:

Sq: 180
Dl: 215
P: 87
BP: 127
PC: 95 (still hammering out form here.)

Caloric Intake about 3,000 a day, but plan to increase this to 4,000 now that weights Im lifting feel heavy.

My hip flexors are holding me back on the squat. I feel like my hams and ass could handle much more weight, but hips are damn sore. Anyone able to advise on this- would it make sense to rest the hips or continue to train through it? There is no pain when Im resting, but I get a few sharp blasts through the day when I take a funny step walking.

Anyone else training in the city, and if so what are the best gyms?

I will update this blog on Fridays. Any encouragement or tips would be welcome!

[Mr.City]

I had the same problem for a couple days on my squats. You may be letting your knees slide forward at the bottom.

[JC400]

Like Mr. City says watch out for your knees sliding forward, may or may not be the cause of the pain but its a bad habit to have and its amazing how many of us make this mistake!

[misspelledgeoff]

Hey Blood,

I'm concerned your not recovering properly (thus the hip flexor pain) becasue your not eating enough. 3K is way low and 4k is borderline at best for a guy your size.

remember, belly fat is easier to lose than muscle is to gain. And the belly fat will come off a lot easier when you have an extra 35 pounds of muscle to help with metabolism

[Platus]

I second Geoff's recommendation. If you really are at or near 25% body fat and you are training hard then you can probably expect that percentage to come down despite a relatively high caloric intake. I have also found that making sure to get 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight keeps me from getting too sore.

[Bloodninja666]

Thanks for the tips guys.

I feel like I am prone to the knees sliding forward. Are there any good cues to correct this?

After reading around a bit more today, I'm sold on the big-calorie diets. I'll be eating everything in sight for the near future. The first Costco just opened in the city this weekend, so that should help keep me stocked in the 3 main food groups (beef, pork, chicken.)

[JmastaUSMC]

COSTCO is an awesome supporter of 70's big appetites. Good luck with your workouts and happy eating!

[Platus]

I have just started correcting some knee sliding of my own. The "terribly useful block of wood" from SS works pretty well. I have been practicing technique with an empty barbell and I have found that just being very conscious of the tension in my hamstrings helps me to perceive if my knee placement is good or not.

[JLascek]

This is definitely a form issue. The fellas here have helped so far. Think about the knees going out first, then sitting back (which is what happens in the TUBOW deal).

Your main dietary concern in these beginning stages is protein.

[Bloodninja666]

It was a mixed week of training. Overall I grade it a C.

Wednesday:

Went well

SQ #185x3x5. Lascek's (thanks man) tip worked very well and I felt the hip drive more than any session so far and lifted the weight easily.

P #92x3x5. Gave the very last rep a bit of a liftoff with the knees, but otherwise good.

PC#95x5x3. Finally feel comfortable with the form on this lift.

Friday:

Disaster on the squat. I could tell during warmup I was in for trouble, but went for it.

SQ #190xfail. Got 2 frightening reps in. My hips just felt destroyed. In addition to my hip flexors mentioned in above posts, tendons/muscles on the outside of my hips were giving way. Basically I felt like I was driving the bar with every muscle in my hips except the glutes and hams.

My theory is that in tweaking my form Wednesday, I activated some tissue I had not been using in previous weeks due to poor form, and gave those tissues more weight than they were ready to handle. The odd part, though, is that my hips didn't feel bad at all Wednesday night.

Will play it by ear Monday, but may end up deloading by 25lbs.

BP #130x3x5. Felt so strong I didnt even bother with a spotter. Will make a 5lb jump next workout.

DL #225x1x5. Used the reverse grip for the first time and lifted this weight rather easily despite some lingering hip pain from the squat.