Justin Roehm's Starting Strength Journal

[Justin_Roehm]

Hello everyone. My name is Justin. I am 25 years old and I have decided to do the starting strength workout to get my strength back.
Over a year ago I was in pretty good shape. I was 6’1” and about 200 lbs lean. I could bench 200 lbs, squat 315 lbs, and deadlift 405 lbs. Now I am 235 lbs and much less strong. I have kept much of my muscle, but I am no where near as strong as before (which I don’t think was super-strong to begin with).
My goal is to get all of my lost strength back and then some, if possible. After that, I may make the decision to bodybuild or powerlift, or a little of both. I also like MMA, which I will hold off on until I get my base strength.
Oddly enough, the routine I used to build strength and mass was similar to Rippetoe’s method. I would work out 3 days a week and do multi-joint exercises: Squats, deadlifts, bench presses, shoulder presses, pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, rows, and powercleans.
Here we go:

September 1, 2010:
Squat: 95 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Bench Press: 75 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Deadlift: 135 lbs X 5 reps X 1 set

September 3, 2010
Squat: 105 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Press: 45 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Power Clean: 45 lbs- I just worked on getting the form down with the bar. I did a few sets of several reps

[Justin_Roehm]

I had a nasty cold for over a week so unfortunately, I had to stop working out. Also, I figured since I did not get that far in my progress that I should probably just reboot fresh.

September 13, 2010:
Squat: 95 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Bench Press: 75 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Deadlift: 135 lbs X 5 reps X 1 set

I don’t know if it is because my muscles are adjusting because of the muscle memory factor, or if I have actually gotten stronger from what little I have done so far, but the weight today felt pathetically easy. I am going to keep jumping the weight up in steady increments though, and hopefully I should feel a slight challenge again pretty soon.

By the way, I changed up my diet. I eat three plates of food a day, and “snack” on milk, nuts, and fruit between plates. My first plate consists of 3 eggs smothered in cheese, sour cream, and salsa; a third of a can of beans; a third of a bag of cooked mixed veggies; a table spoon of flax seed oil, and a glass of milk. My second plate consists of a pack of tuna or salmon, a third of a can of beans, and a third a bag of cooked veggies, with a glass of milk. My final plate consists of grilled chicken, tilapia, or salmon, and the rest of the beans and veggies, with milk. I drink a big protein shake of milk and protein powder after workouts. On Saturdays and Sundays, I make sure to eat what I want, including enough carbs to make me sick of them until the next weekend.

[slowjoe]

I had a nasty cold for over a week so unfortunately, I had to stop working out. Also, I figured since I did not get that far in my progress that I should probably just reboot fresh.

September 13, 2010:
Squat: 95 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Bench Press: 75 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Deadlift: 135 lbs X 5 reps X 1 set

I don’t know if it is because my muscles are adjusting because of the muscle memory factor, or if I have actually gotten stronger from what little I have done so far, but the weight today felt pathetically easy. I am going to keep jumping the weight up in steady increments though, and hopefully I should feel a slight challenge again pretty soon.

By the way, I changed up my diet. I eat three plates of food a day, and “snack” on milk, nuts, and fruit between plates. My first plate consists of 3 eggs smothered in cheese, sour cream, and salsa; a third of a can of beans; a third of a bag of cooked mixed veggies; a table spoon of flax seed oil, and a glass of milk. My second plate consists of a pack of tuna or salmon, a third of a can of beans, and a third a bag of cooked veggies, with a glass of milk. My final plate consists of grilled chicken, tilapia, or salmon, and the rest of the beans and veggies, with milk. I drink a big protein shake of milk and protein powder after workouts. On Saturdays and Sundays, I make sure to eat what I want, including enough carbs to make me sick of them until the next weekend.

I think the strength will return a bit quicker than it came the first time. Might be worth going for 15-20lb steps on squat and deadlift until a workout feels hard.

GL, hopefully we'll see 250lb squats before Christmas

[Justin_Roehm]

I agree. I am going to do 15 lb jumps on squat and 20 on deadlift until lifts "slow down. I think that is an achievable goal before Christmas.

[Justin_Roehm]

September 15, 2010:
Squat: 115 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Press: 50 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Power Clean: 55 lbs X 3 reps X 5sets

Today felt much more closer to where I needed to be. My reps were slower, but still doable with proper form.

[Justin_Roehm]

September 17, 2010:
Squat: 125 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Bench Press: 80 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Deadlift: 155 lbs X 5 reps X 1 set

[Justin_Roehm]

September 20, 2010:
Squat: 135 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Press: 55 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Power Clean: 65 lbs X 3 reps X 5sets

September 22, 2010:
Squat: 145 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Bench Press: 85 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Deadlift: 175 lbs X 5 reps X 1 set

[Justin_Roehm]

September 24, 2010:
Squat: 155 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Press: 60 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Power Clean: 75 lbs X 3 reps X 5 sets

During Friday’s workout the squats felt tough, so I decided to go up only 5 lbs for the next workout. I have really been focusing on keeping a great form while I squat too. I am used to doing high bar squats, so it felt a little weird doing low bar squats but I think I am getting it. I put the bar right below my traps but right above me posterior delts. I keep my head straight and lean forward a bit (while keepin my lumbar natural) while going down. I push my knees out and go just below parallel but not too far. Then I drive my hips upward instead of focus on straightening my back. Even though it felt weird at first, I can see how it is easier to squat more weight.

Also, I keep jumping my powercleans up by 10 lbs because they are still too light (although I am working out the form). Hopefully, they get just enough that I need to jump soon while still maintaining good form. All my other exercises seem on the light side still, but I don’t want to move up too quickly.

I had to push my Monday workout to Tuesday because the gym had a power outage.

September 28, 2010:
Squat: 160 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Bench Press: 90 lbs X 5 reps X 3 reps
Deadlift: 195 lbs X 5 reps X 1 set

[Justin_Roehm]

September 30, 2010:
Squat: 165 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Press: 65 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Power Clean: 85 lbs X 3 reps X 5 sets

I am still trying to get the form of these low squats down. I am watching the starting Strength DVD, and saw all of Mark’s Cross Fit training videos. (That is awesome stuff if anyone hasn’t watched those). I am used to high-squats, so it is a challenge to adapt to the different back position. It would help if my forearms weren’t so long and my shoulders were more flexible. But I will stretch them out and do my best. I also think I go to low in the squat (to flex my lumbar a bit and give that butt wink). I think if I cut it off at parallel and bounce back up while driving my hips, then that will allow me to squat higher loads more easily.

On the flip-side power cleans still feel too easy. I haven’t really needed the jump to force the load up (although I do incorporate the jump to get the form down). Hopefully, by next week the weight will just be too heavy for me not to jump. That is what I am shooting for.

The gym being closed turned my workout week into a bi-week instead of a tri-week. Unfortunately, I could find the time to fit in a workout today. No worries. I will continue the tri-week on Monday. 3 days off didn’t hurt my progress before and it should do it now either.

[Justin_Roehm]

October 4, 2010:
Squat: 170 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Bench Press: 95 lbs X 5 reps X 3 sets
Deadlift: 215 lbs X 5 reps X 1 set

I think I finally found the optimal position for the bar on my back for low-squats. The bear is right under my bone and held tight by my forearms. I cannot really grip the bar with my hands like this so I just hold the bar in place with my forearms and throw my hands over the bar (some guy did this in the Starting Strength DVD). The load felt really heavy today (maybe because I am still getting the mechanics down of the low squat). I hope I can get the form down completely without having to reset.

On the other hand, the bench and deadlifts felt fine. I am making good steady progress on both of these lifts. I finally got my deadlift over 200 and it still feels like I could go much heavier.