SS questions

[Swordfish]

Hello,

Just learned about this forum recently. I'd been doing isolated exercises during my workouts in the past. Just last year I started learning about compound lifts and Starting Strength on an unrelated forum.

I started doing Starting Strength a short time ago. I have two questions. One, I saw Mark mentioning somewhere (not sure if it was on a forum or in the book) that we should be increasing our weights 10 pounds every workout. Thats definitely not happening with me. I must also say that for some reason I'm much weaker than pretty much anyone on this forum. Last I squatted I did 85 pounds, and that was after a good month or two of working out. Last bench was 105, DL was 95 I believe. But I digress. So we're supposed to be increasing 10 pounds per workout but that's definitely not happening with me. Something wrong there or is it just because I'm so much weaker that I won't progress as fast?

Also, I got a fitness evaluation recently and it turns out I'm 26% body fat! Wow that's pretty high. I don't actually look that fat but when I'm home and chilling out I can definitely see a belly. So with this level of fat is SS still the right program for me or should I be going w/ something more oriented towards fat loss? My goals in working out were originally to get bigger / stronger, but losing fat should obviously become a priority now.

Best,
Dan

[Rusi]

Welcome to the forum!

The squat increases 10lbs ONLY for 1-3 weeks. After that you have no choice but to switch to 5lbs increases.

The deadlift increase by 10lbs every time for months. The movement allows you to add more weight because the muscle responsible for the deadlift (mainly back, legs and forearms) are getting stronger faster.

The bench press starts with 5lbs and then you go to 2.5lbs ...

The press starts with 5lbs and then you may go as lower as 1lbs.

The power clean behaves like the bench press and is usually just a little lower.

In general your lifts should be like that:

Deadlift > Squat > Bench Press > P. Clean > Press

Off course nobody is going to kill you if there is slight deviation or something.

[RobCor]

Hello,

Just learned about this forum recently. I'd been doing isolated exercises during my workouts in the past. Just last year I started learning about compound lifts and Starting Strength on an unrelated forum.

I started doing Starting Strength a short time ago. I have two questions. One, I saw Mark mentioning somewhere (not sure if it was on a forum or in the book) that we should be increasing our weights 10 pounds every workout. Thats definitely not happening with me. I must also say that for some reason I'm much weaker than pretty much anyone on this forum. Last I squatted I did 85 pounds, and that was after a good month or two of working out. Last bench was 105, DL was 95 I believe. But I digress. So we're supposed to be increasing 10 pounds per workout but that's definitely not happening with me. Something wrong there or is it just because I'm so much weaker that I won't progress as fast?

Also, I got a fitness evaluation recently and it turns out I'm 26% body fat! Wow that's pretty high. I don't actually look that fat but when I'm home and chilling out I can definitely see a belly. So with this level of fat is SS still the right program for me or should I be going w/ something more oriented towards fat loss? My goals in working out were originally to get bigger / stronger, but losing fat should obviously become a priority now.

Best,
Dan

List everything you eat on a daily basis. No lying. Everything. Also age, bw, etc.

[LudwigVan]

I started doing Starting Strength a short time ago. I have two questions. One, I saw Mark mentioning somewhere (not sure if it was on a forum or in the book) that we should be increasing our weights 10 pounds every workout.

If you have the book, re-read the programming chapter, which explains how to progress.

Last I squatted I did 85 pounds, and that was after a good month or two of working out. Last bench was 105, DL was 95 I believe.

The only problem here is that you're benching more than you're squatting and DLing, which should not be the case. If you have a history of benching but not squatting or DLing, that could account for this, but if you're following the program this ought to correct itself pretty soon because you should be able to increase your squat and DL pretty quickly at first.

[Carlos Daniel]

Read this http://startingstrength.com/articles...n_rippetoe.pdf
And this http://startingstrength.com/articles...s_rippetoe.pdf

[Swordfish]

Thanks guys for the responses.

I think I might have asked my questions in the wrong order. My main question was whether I should actually be on Starting Strength or not. Generally I'd like to be bigger / stronger but now my fat % seems to be getting out of control, which leads me to this question.

My question about the weight increases was because my deviation wasn't exactly slight. Even in these articles that were posted in the 5th post Mark says he's never seen anyone who didn't increase 10 pounds in each of their first 6 squat workouts. That certainly didn't happen with me. But maybe that's because I started sooo low? Mark mentioned a STARTING weight of 135 pounds, while for me I got to 85 pounds after a month or so.

The only problem here is that you're benching more than you're squatting and DLing, which should not be the case. If you have a history of benching but not squatting or DLing, that could account for this, but if you're following the program this ought to correct itself pretty soon because you should be able to increase your squat and DL pretty quickly at first.

Indeed, I bench distinctly more. I was told by a trainer once I have very weak legs. And yes benching has always been a staple exercise so I did that more. I think I still did work on my legs somewhat in my earlier years but it was never squatting, more machine ones.

List everything you eat on a daily basis. No lying. Everything. Also age, bw, etc.

This will be a bit harder since that changes every day.
To start off I'm turning 30 this month; weight was 170 last I checked my nude weight (which was about a month and a half ago while I was still working out). Yesterday it was 165-168 w/ light clothing. Actually its interesting, I was told by a friend I'm looking skinnier, which I didn't make much of since he seems to say that quite a bit. But could the 6 weeks of not working out be making me look skinny?

Let's see, I usually have about 2 large cups of tea every day. 2 creams 1 sugar. Plus a number of cups of green tea with maybe 1/4 tsp sugar.
Start the day w/ a bowl of oats with a tsp of honey.

Today I didn't get a chance for a proper lunch, around 12:30 I had a carrot muffin w/ a cuppa tea.
At 5 had a bagel w/ assorted veggies (lettuce, green peppers, tomato etc).
Then a bowl of tomato soup when I got home. And although I'm not hungry I'll prolly eat some rice or spinach and chicken b/c of my habit of eating while watching TV. (its interesting talking so candidly).

But today wasn't very typical. Yesterday:

Oats for breakfast. 8:00
Tea, buy at 9:00, will last me 45 mins.
Lunch at 2, yesterday was Vietnamese Pho Beef soup. I haven't had that many lunch options actually, have found few 'restaurants' in my area. Sometimes I goto Taco Bell and get a bean burrito w/ fries supreme (ie fries, cheese, beans), or two Bean Burritos. If not Taco Bell I'll go Japanese, that would be rice or udon noodles w/ some kinda sprouts or something, and some mushrooms. Other option is Arabic, falafels with rice and some salads.
Another cup of tea.

Dinner is homemade but changes - my fridge currently has chicken and spinach, and rice (takeout store).

I should add I really dont know much about nutrition. I was thinking of Lyle McDonalds books (heard a lot about him, not so much about the books) but didn't know which book to get - he has so many!

[Swordfish]

ooh ooh a couple more questions I forgot to add earlier.

In the last 6 weeks although I haven't been to the gym I've occasionally done a couple non weighted squats at home. I feel some pain in my knees. What's the solution? Is this an error in form which can be corrected or is it something else? I've heard of knee pain related to squats but I seem to recall Mark saying if you squat deep you wont have that pain. I believe I am indeed squatting deep enough.

Also, do squats hurt the back? I have a weak lower back, have soreness there. Although I don't feel pain while squatting, I do feel pain after workouts. I dont think deadlifting is doing it and it certainly isnt the benching or pullups (not doing the clean).

For Starting Strength squats, I know you're not supposed to let your knees go ahead of the toes but I've also heard the head shouldn't go ahead either. Is that correct? In fact the person who told me about SS told me that, said a good way to make sure you're doing right is to put your toes against a wall then squat. I cant do that at all, even without weight, I'm OK w/ my knees but I cant squat w/o my head coming in front of the toes. But also in the SS logo the squat being shown, the head if definitely further ahead of the toes. Soo...?

Finally, how can I better my lower back if anyone can advise?

Sorry about the excessive questioning, thanks!

[MikeC1]

Your low starting numbers and difficulty adding weight suggests that you're coming from a long sedentary history. For most people that played some sports throughout their life, their bodies seem more ready to get stronger quicker. For them, 10 lbs more each week is practical, but it doesn't have to be that way for everyone. If you are still challenged with 5 lb increases each week, then go with that. There's nothing wrong with it, and for some people it's completely appropriate. The SS program is definitely appropriate for you, if you have no serious injury history, and if your goal is to gain strength.

Your diet looks pretty atrocious, so of course improving your diet will improve results in the gym. It's a huge topic though, and it will just take time to get a good handle on that.

Do you have the Starting Strength book? Most of your questions will be answered in it. Regarding pain questions, post some form checks, otherwise it's impossible to know.

[Carlos Daniel]

Your diet seems completely devoid of protein. No wonder you didn't gain jack shit.

[Swordfish]

thanks for the feedback.

i actually didnt realize my diet was that bad until i typed it out there - and even then didn't realize it was as bad as you guys are saying. not that i spent a long time thinking about it but since i dont eat fastfood much i figured im OK. what would be a good place to learn from? I'd rather not read 10 different sources, preferably just one book would be good. I've heard great things about Lyle but he has a number of options, not sure which to go w/? I should add I dont really know how to cook and avoid meat and eggs. I guess I could do fish as long as it was wild not farmed. Well I'd be able to do the same w/ beef if that could be proven that it was completely free range. Not so much the slaughter that I object to, more the hellish confinement, which is why I avoid eggs as well.