Pursuit of strength

[feebes]

I am here to log my endevour upon Rip's Novice Program as outlined in "Practical Programming".

Personal Stats:
Sex: Male
Age: 27
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 197
Bodyfat: ~28% (as measured by an electronic home bodyfat scale of questionable reliability)
Bodytype: Endo dominant / Meso

Workout 1: 02/01/2010
Squats: 155x5x3
Press:65x5x2
Chinups: -85x9x2

I spent some time during this workout experimenting, trying to figure out some good weights, I believe the squats might be a little heavy and the press a little light, but I will go with a linear progression from here.

[feebes]

10/03/2010

Squat: 165x5x3
Deadlift: 185x5x1
Bench: 125x5x2

Squat felt heavy. I'm wondering if I chose too high of a weight too early. I knocked them all out but the bar speed was variable

Deadlift felt good

Just like the last workout I was experimenting with bench weights to find a good one for me to start with. I worked my way up to 125 and knocked out my first 5 no problem. The second 5 was another story. The spotter told me he didn't help, but man, the bar was slow for the last 2 reps. I think I was just getting tired.

[gzt]

re: spotter help. If somebody else touches the bar, it doesn't count. That's the rule. There's such a thing as starting too light, but I don't think you're in danger of it. You catch up quickly. If you're in doubt, go lower and you'll catch up. It'll be a difference of a week or two in like a three or four month program that, hopefully, will be the beginning of a much larger training history. Starting too heavy, however, will get you stuck and that could waste up to a month and not be pleasant.

[feebes]

02/05/2010 -

Squats: Started Too heavy - I am going to reevaluate my starting weight on Monday.
Press: 70x5x3
Pull-ups: -80x8x3

I had trouble with my progression on squats and its become clear I started too heavy. I will go to the gym on Monday and find the lightest weight that slows down the bar or compromises my form and restart from there.

Press felt good

Pull-ups were fine. I am going to failure each set. The rep number I report will be the set where I failed the earliest.

re. spotters: I may have to ask them not to touch. You know how they like to stick their hands under the bar for no good reason.

Either way, the issue I had with the squat is making me rethink all my weights. I don't want to fail again. I am going to do the same reevaluation with the bench-press on Wednesday. Probably the deadlift as well.

[WatsupHannity]

Getting good spotters is a constant nightmare; read my log for numerous such stories. It seems no matter what I say, they always want to get their hands on the bar. Although, I had a guy last week ask me for a spot, and he was like, "Help me on the liftoff, but after that, stand over there and don't touch anything." I may try a variant of that approach from now on. I also find that telling the guy something like, "Now unfortunately, almost everyone gets this wrong, but I have a special instruction for how I like to get spotted, and here it is" can also help, because then they pay more attention.

[Tiburon]

Press: 70x3x5

I think you mean 70x5x3, right? (3 sets of 5 reps)

[El Viejo]

Welcome, Feebes. I wish I knew at age 27 what I know now at 58. You young guys have an incredible advantage with books like SS and the internet. The only criticism I have is with your goals. They are admirable, but much too vague.

Goals should be:

• S Specific
• M Measurable
• A Attainable
• R Relevant
• T Time-bound

Otherwise they are just wishes. I recommend you set short term goals and long term goals. When you attain the short term goals you get a sense of accomplishment that causes you to want to stick to the program and motivates you to struggle towards the long term goal.

Sorry to sound preachy, but I have kids that never took my advice and now I'm taking it out on you guys.

[feebes]

I think you mean 70x5x3, right? (3 sets of 5 reps)

Yes, you're right. I'll go correct those.


El Viejo

Well that makes creating goals a whole lot more difficult.

I appreciate your advice. I'll have to put together some goal-numbers. I agree holding myself accountable to something more specific is a good idea. Thanks.

[K.Diesel]

10/03/2010

Squat: 165x5x3
Deadlift: 185x5x1
Bench: 125x5x2

Squat felt heavy. I'm wondering if I chose too high of a weight too early. I knocked them all out but the bar speed was variable

Deadlift felt good

Just like the last workout I was experimenting with bench weights to find a good one for me to start with. I worked my way up to 125 and knocked out my first 5 no problem. The second 5 was another story. The spotter told me he didn't help, but man, the bar was slow for the last 2 reps. I think I was just getting tired.

If this was the order of your workout, that may be the reason your bench suffered. Put it before your deadlift from now on. Your deadlift won't suffer nearly as much from being 3rd as your bench press will.

[feebes]

If this was the order of your workout, that may be the reason your bench suffered. Put it before your deadlift from now on. Your deadlift won't suffer nearly as much from being 3rd as your bench press will.

Thanks. I'll do that tonight.