wdkrnl's log

[wdkrnls]

Hello Everyone,

I'm a completely novice lifter. I've never done any weight training before in my life until 7 weeks ago when I got my copy of Starting Strength in the mail. Since then I've been hitting the gym 3x a week with religious consistency. However, I haven't yet added power cleans to my workouts. I know they are really important so I'm making learning them my top priority. I've just got the BBT DVD in the mail as well, so hopefully I can get it learned pretty quickly.

I'm 23 years old, weigh 200 lb and am 6' 2" tall. I'm probably at a really high bodyfat percentage. I store a lot of visible fat in my chest, midsection, hips, and butt. I lack a good deal of flexibility and have a protruding butt and stomach. I believe it to be a rather severe case of hyperlordosis.

I have been having trouble progressing on presses but squats and deadlifts have been going up very consistently.

Right now I'm at:

SQ: 195#
DL: 215#
PR: 85#
BP: 140#
PC: Not yet

I can do 3\3\3 chin ups right now and only 1 pull up.

Today I did squats, deadlifts, standing presses at the relevant above numbers. I'll try to get some videos up of my form on all the exercises as soon as possible.

[wdkrnls]

Worked out today before new years party. Deadlift went up 10 lb but squat stalled due to poor form leading to rounded back. I think I'm going to deload until I feel comfortable that I'm not going to hurt my back. Bench press is still stalled at 140# . I can do 8 reps with it though. I'm hoping next time to make it.

[wdkrnls]

Okay... I'm back to being more regular. End of vacation was pretty hectic. Anyway,

Monday:

Squat 175# 5/5/5
Bench 145# 5/3/5
Deads 235# 1x5

Wednesday (Today):

Squat 185# 5/5/5
Press 95# 5/5/4
Deads 245# 1x5

I probably could have completed all five reps on bench on monday, but had a new spotter who was bar touch happy. Not a big deal. I'm going to try microloading it next time. Press today went well except for the last rep of the last set. I got it up, but I lost lock to do it. I'm planning an extra trip to the gym just to mess with power cleans this weekend.

Also, chins and pullups have regressed since not really doing them over break.

3/2/2 on both monday and today

[wdkrnls]

Went Saturday because got to gym too late. Everything went up except for chins. Micro-loading seems to be working well.

SQ: 200# 3x5
BP: 147.5# 3x5
DL: 255# 1x5

chins: 2/2/1/1

I did hurt my left forearm while deadlifting with the alternate grip. I don't know if it will clear up by Monday.

[wdkrnls]

Probably not very useful, but I have these goals by March 31st:

315# squat
175# bench
125# press
400# dead
135# clean

[wdkrnls]

I just found out I haven't been really doing sets of deadlifts. I have been taking too long to reset the bar angle and my feet position. I'm not sure whether I should try again at 255 with less breaks or if I should try going down to a lower weight.

[wdkrnls]

Last night I did:

SQ: 205# 5/5/5
PR: 100# 5/5/3

Back extensions 1x15 weighted
1x15 unweighted

Chins: 3/2/2/1

Weighted situps:
1x10 unweighted
1x10 10 lb weight
2x10 25lb weight
1x5 25 lb weight

[cervicornis]

Good work wdkrnls. Those are some serious goals for the end of March. Good luck.

[wdkrnls]

Thanks cervicornis!

I went wednesday night really late and had to rush to get squat and bench done before closing. I'm going to try to get back in tonight for deadlifts. I've got some work to do before then, though.

Last night went well otherwise:

Squat: 215# 3x5
Bench: 150# 3x5

I decided to try going up by 10# on squat because the last few workouts have been easy. I'll try for 225# next session.

Bench was a slow grind and I was worried because I didn't have a spotter. Fortunately they all went up. It looks like I'm going to be stuck on 2.5# jumps for the foreseeable future.

[wdkrnls]

I made some measurements of myself today and found that I haven't gained as much fat as I thought I would. My waist actually decreased by an inch and my thighs by 3 inches in the last month despite gaining 10# total weight.