Back where I belong - Starting Strength

[haveagreatday]

Without boring you with my backstory, I am recently sober and back in the weight room after too many lost years. About ten years ago, I was pretty strong although my focus was too mirror oriented, ie, my bench 1RM was 325 but so was my squat. I have some decent residual strength from the last ten years of trying to stay in shape. although I have almost exclusively done aerobic work in that time. I am 5'9" and weigh 175-180 depending on the time of day. I am 33, self employed, and happily married with two healthy, delightful kids. I came to Starting Strength and Practical Programming via a pretty circuitous route, but here I am. I would like to thank Mark for putting his ideas out into the world. My decision to get sober was a long time coming, but Mark's more philosophical thoughts along with Jim Wendler's about how to move big weight have influenced my decision to stay sober, particularly their ideas of making a plan and being patient, keeping things simple, facing the reality of weaknesses and kicking self-pity into the sun. My first week is below -

WEEK ONE 9-2-13 to 9-6-13

9/2/2013 (A)
SQUAT warm up x 5 x 3 45
warm up x 5 135
warm up x 5 185
work sets x 5 x 3 205

PRESS warm up x 5 x 3 45
work sets x 5 x 3 115

DEADLIFT warm up x 5 x 3 135
warm up x 5 185
work sets x 5 225

9-4-13 (B)
SQUAT warm up x 5 x 3 45
warm up x 5 135
warm up x 5 185
work sets x 5 x 3 215

BENCH warm up x 5 x 3 45
work sets x 5 x 3 185

DEADLIFT warm up x 5 x 3 135
warm up x 5 195
work sets x 5 235

9-6-13 (A)
SQUAT warm up x 5 x 3 45
warm up x 5 135
warm up x 5 185
work sets x 5 x 3 225 (first set, I was rushing, lost some trunk tightness, and felt a little tweak in my left low back. Did some rolling around on the ground and got a pop and felt better but still had a feeling of weakness. Completed the sets)

PRESS warm up x 5 x 3 45
work sets x 5 x 3 120

DEADLIFT warm up x 5 x 3 135
warm up x 5 205
work sets x 5 245 (skipped due to feeling of weakness in my low back)

I then did 2x5 135 DLs with fat gripz and some fat gripz farmer carries with 55 and 45 dumb bells. My grip is a limiting factor that I will need to improve as the DLs get heavy.

I am pretty frustrated that my lack of focus lead me to tweak my back which still feels a little funky a few hours after my workout but I am comfortable with my decision not to push it on the DL. The press and bench both felt easy all three workouts. My back is very weak. I can do no more than 8 pulls ups and fewer chins at a time. I'm sure they will improve with time but I feel that my pushing movements will continue their head start. I'm not sure this is even a problem, but I need to remember to focus on my weaknesses.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to being part of this community.

[Errant]

Congratulations and good luck! It looks like you're off to a great start

[haveagreatday]

Thanks Errant! I'm thankful to be back.

9-9-13 (B)
SQUAT warm up x 5 x 3 45
warm up x 5 135
warm up x 5 185
work sets x 5 x 3 235 (really focused on the valsalva and got the benefits in 2nd and 3rd sets)

BENCH warm up x 5 x 3 45
work sets x 5 x 3 190

DL warm up x 5 x 3 135
warm up x 5 185
warm up x 5 205
work sets x 5 245 (felt heavy but good. no grip issues today. weight from 9/6 when I skipped DL work sets due to back tweak during squat. DL is now behind schedule compared to squat. learn from my mistakes and keep form paramount).

fat gripz DL 135 x 1 x 10. fat gripz farmer carry 55db x 1.

[Oldster]

Awesome. Just plain awesome!

[Nick Klemetson]

Looks great!

Have you considered a hook grip for deadlifts?

[haveagreatday]

Nick,
I read about the hook grip in the books but, when I tried it (only once), I felt like the weight was slipping as I was coming off the floor as opposed to my grip strength giving out above my knees. My hands are medium sized (ie, a medium sized work glove fits me well). Does the fact that I have trouble off the floor indicate I'm doing it wrong? I'm here to listen and learn so I'll take any advice you have. For what it's worth, I am currently using the DOH grip. I consciously chose that grip when I started this program for purposes of strengthening my grip. As another FWIW, I used chalk today for my work sets and had no issues.

[Nick Klemetson]

Chalk = good.

Some people swear by the hook grip for their heavy deadlifts. I tried it briefly, and it wasn't quite right for me given my current equipment (the diameters of my gym's bars are above average).

I was just curious if you'd tried it. I would stick with DOH as long as you possibly can. Your grip strength will be trained as a consequence of the deadlifts getting heavier anyway.

[haveagreatday]

9-11-13 (A)
SQUAT warm up x 5 x 3 45
warm up x 5 135
warm up x 5 196
work sets x 5 x 3 245

PRESS warm up x 5 x 3 45
work sets x 5 x 3 125

DEADLIFT warm up x 5 x 3 135
warm up x 5 155 (forgot this set because ... I don't know why)
warm up x 5 205 (used 225 - 88% of the work set rather than 205 - 80%. I was lazy and didn't want to unload the 35s for the 45s which is YNDTP territory)
work sets x 5 255

I used a belt today for my work sets on SQ and DL. I did this mostly because I got a good deal (from Rogue 10mm - 4") on a belt and pulled the trigger. I was curious to see how it felt. The ability to fill up with air and push against the belt is obviously an advantage but I felt like I had to be more conscious of my trunk pushing against the belt rather than simply taking a deep breath and tightening up. I plan to experiment with the tightness of the belt, although it looks like only two belt holes are in play unless I drop/gain some significant weight around my belly. Worth noting that I took off my sweatshirt after the squat set so this would obviously affect the fit of the belt. Otherwise the weights felt good.

I really hope that my novice period gains continue for at least this month since I am on track to have both my SQ and my DL above 300lbs by the start of October. It kinda blows my mind to think that I could add 100lbs to my work sets in a month, but I'll be damned if haven't already added 40lb. There's the proof.

I had a very sloppy DL set due to some external stress from the night before (although I did all the sets without struggling). I was experiencing some serious l'esprit de l'escalier while trying to pull not quite 1.5x my bodyweight. Not smart.

[haveagreatday]

9-13-13 (B)
SQUAT
warm up x 5 x 3 45
warm up x 5 135
warm up x 5 205
work sets x 5 x 3 265

BENCH PRESS
warm up x 5 x 3 45
warm up x 5 135 (felt like I needed this extra warm up)
work sets x 5 x 3 195 (still felt really fresh after this. Will try going to 5x5 for press, bench work sets since I feel like I can handle the volume and these exercises only come up three times in two weeks)

DEADLIFT
warm up x 5 x 3 135
warm up x 5 185
warm up x 5 205 (felt like I could have thrown this through the roof)
work sets x 5 265 (need to make sure i'm not getting unnecessary fatigue by lowering too slowly. had to regroup my hands and take a few extra breaths on the 5th rep)

[Str8shutr]

Just looking at your DL warmups, and they seem excessive. When you are doing DLs last, your back is already pretty warmed up from doing all your other work. Most folks here program DL warmups like (my last DL WO):

135x5
225x3
305x1
355x5

I think the excessive warmup could be contributing unnecessary fatigue to your DL issues. My 2 cents. Applies to your other lifts as well.