Reply With QuoteExactly how fat were you? 145 at 5'9 is suuuuper skinny man, but I see you're workin on it. Don't let the fear of getting fat get in the way of becoming a viking!
Former Fat Kid's Training Log
Age: 26
Height: 5'9" and a half-ish
Starting Weight: 145lbs
Social Security Number: kidding
Personal History:
Former fat kid here; lost a lot of weight in high school.
I've lifted weights since I was in college, but never really got anywhere. I had no idea what the fuck I was doing for a long time.
Luckily, since I started the Starting Strength stuff, I've been keeping a record of all my lifts.
Sadly, though, I didn't really get the hang of things and understand when to reset and how much to eat until October, so don't judge the beginning too harshly.
Diet:
Since I'm a former fatass I didn't think it prudent to binge eat and watch my waist blow up from 32" to 38". My progress in the beginning was lacking, however, so I've slowly and carefully been increasing my caloric intake (all noted below). I'm drinking about three to four cups of 2% milk a day, mostly in the early hours. And I'm limiting my carbohydrate intake to the mornings and post-workout (I work out around 11am). My protein intake is at roughly 200 grams or more a day.
*Means did not get full the 5 reps on one of the sets (there's a lot more of these than there should have been)
August 8, 2011
I wasn't comfortable with the Power Clean because I didn't have anyone to show me so I started out without it. I'm hoping to start it soon, though. Also I wasn't paying much attention to calories in the beginning, though I now know I should have.
Squat: 135lbs - 5/5/5
Bench: 105lbs - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 150lbs - 5
August 10, 2011
Squat: 145 - 5/4/4*
Press: 65 - 5/5/5
August 12, 2011
Squat: 150 - 5/4/4*
Bench: 115 - 5/4/3*
Deadlift: 160 - 5
August 15, 2011
Squat: 150 - 5/5/5
Press: 70 - 5/5/5
August 17, 2011
Squat: 155 - 5/4/4*
Bench: 115 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 170 - 5
August 19, 2011
Squat: 155 - 5/5/5
Press: 75 - 5/5/5
August 22, 2011
Squat: 160 - 5/4/4*
Bench: 120 - 5/4/4*
Deadlift: 180 - 5
August 24, 2011
Squat: 160 - 5/5/5
Press: 80 - 5/5/5
August 26, 2011
Squat: 165 - 5/4/4*
Bench: 120 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 185 - 5
August 29, 2011
Squat: 165 - 4/3/3*
Press: 85 - 5/5/5
Vacation in Myrtle Beach
Food: So much
Alcohol: Can't remember
Gym: Don't remember that either
September 6, 2011
Had to reset my weights on everything but the shoulder press and work back up a bit after vacay.
Squat: 155 - 5/5/5
Bench: 115 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 175 - 5
September 8, 2011
Squat: 160 - 5/5/5
Press: 85 5/5/5
September 12, 2011
Squat: 165 - 4/3/3*
Bench: 120 - 5/4/4*
Deadlift: 180 - 5
September 16, 2011
Squat: 165 - 3/2/2*
Press: 90 3/3/12*
September 19, 2011
Reset squat
Squat: 155 - 5/4/4*
Bench: 120 - 5/4/4*
Deadlift: 185 - 5
September 21, 2011
Weighed 152lbs at this point.
Squat: 155 - 5/5/5
Press: 90 - 4/3/3*
September 23, 2011
Squat: 160 - 5/5/5
Bench: 120 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 190 - 5
September 26, 2011
Squat: 165 - 5/3/3*
Press: 90 - 5/5/3*
September 28, 2011
Squat: 165 - 5/5/5*
Bench: 125 - 4/4/4*
Deadlift: 195 - 5
September 30, 2011
In hindsight, I should have reset my shoulder press by this point, but I was a moron.
Squat: 170 - 4/4/4*
Press: 90 - 5/4/3*
October 3, 2011
Figured out a lot more about this program at this point. I hadn't been eating enough so ramped up my calories to 2700-2900/day. I also learned about the proper way to reset.
Squat: 170 - 5/5/5
Bench: 125 - 55/5
Deadlift: 200 - 5
October 5, 2011
Squat: 175 - 5/5/5
Press: 90 - 5/5/5
October 7, 2011
Squat: 180 - 5/5/5
Bench: 130 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 210 - 5
October 10, 2011
Squat: 185 - 5/5/5
Press: 95 - 5/5/3*
October 12, 2011
Squat: 190 - 4/4/4*
Bench: 135 - 4/4/4*
Deadlift: 220 - 5
Adjusting calories to 3000-3200/day.
Starting Weights --> Now
Squat: 135lbs --> 185lbs
Bench: 105lbs --> 135lbs
Deadlift: 150lbs --> 220lbs
Press: 65lbs --> 95lbs
Me: 145lbs --> 155lbs
Last edited by whoisjohngalt85; 10-12-2011 at 09:22 PM.
Member
Exactly how fat were you? 145 at 5'9 is suuuuper skinny man, but I see you're workin on it. Don't let the fear of getting fat get in the way of becoming a viking!
Oh that was a looong time ago ha! I was about 185lbs, but mind you, I was only about 5'4" at the time. My doctor was yelling at me. I dropped about 40lbs since in high school and kept it off as long as I watched my diet.Originally Posted by skipbeat
But you're right, I definitely skimped too much on the calories when I started this and learned my lesson.
Thanks so much for the encouragement!
Time for my monthly update...
Refresher:
Starting Weights (August 8, 2011)
Squat: 135lbs
Bench: 105lbs
Deadlift: 150lbs
Press: 65lbs
Me: 145lbs
*Did not get all five reps on each set
October 14, 2011
Squat: 190 - 5/5/5
Press: 95 - 5/5/4*
October 17, 2011
Squat: 195 - 5/4/4*
Bench: 135 - 4 (long story involving obnoxiously-crowded gym)
Deadlift: 230 - 5
October 19, 2011
Squat: 195 - 3/3/2*
Bench: 115 - 5/5/5
Reset bench, hurt shoulder so no press
October 21, 2011
Squat: 195 - 5/5/4*
Bench: 120 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 240 - 5
October 24, 2011
Squat: 175 - 5/5/5
Press: 80 - 5/5/5
Reset press, reset squat
October 26, 2011
Squat: 180 - 5/5/5
Bench: 122.5 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 250 - 5
Started 2.5lb increases on bench
October 28, 2011
Squat: 182.5 - 5/5/5
Press: 82.5 5/5/5
Started 2.5lb increases on squat, press
October 31, 2011
Squat: 185 - 5/5/5
Bench: 125 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 255 - 5
Started 5lb increases on deadlift
November 2, 2011
Squat: 187.5 - 5/5/5
Press: 85 - 5/5/5
November 4, 2011
Squat: 190 - 5/5/5
Bench: 127.5 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 260 - 5
November 7, 2011
Squat: 192.5 - 5/5/5
Press: 87.5 - 5/5/5
November 9, 2011
Squat: 195 - 5/5/5
Bench: 130 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 265 - 5
November 11, 2011
Squat: 197.5 - 5/5/5
Press: 90 - 5/5/5
Increasing daily calories to 3500
November 14, 2011
Squat: 200 - 5/5/5
Bench: 132.5 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 270 - 5
Barely cranked out the fifth reps on the second and third sets on bench.
Also, my grip finally couldn't hold the deadlift anymore. I switched to a mixed grip on the last three reps and wow did it make the lift easier. I'm going to see how easy it feels next session and consider moving back to 10lb jumps.
November 16, 2011
Squat: 202.5 - 5/5/5
Press: 92.5 - 5/5/5
Came to the startling realization that I can rest more than two minutes between sets. Mind = blown. Made everything significantly easier by bumping rest time to four minutes. Just hope everyone else at the gym doesn't hate me for hogging the squat rack.
Current stats:
Weights (8/8/11) ----> 10/12/11 --> 11/17/11
Squat: 135lbs ----------> 185lbs ---> 202.5lbs
Bench: 105lbs ----------> 130lbs ---> 132.5lbs
Deadlift: 150lbs --------> 220lbs ----> 270lbs
Press: 65lbs ------------> 90lbs -----> 92.5lbs
Me: 145lbs -------------> 155lbs ----> 162lbs
At this point I'm at personal records for every lift, which is awesome. Hope I can keep it up, especially on my bench press and shoulder press which are really sucky and seem a lot lower than most other people at my level.
One thing I wonder is whether having long arms (6-foot span vs my 5' 9-1/2" height) is putting me at a disadvantage for those lifts, but helping me on my deadlift.
Nutrition-wise, I've worked my way up to 3500 calories a day. I was drinking about a quart of milk every day, but it was giving me trouble in the bathroom dept (TMI, I know), so I cut back on that. I'm eating whole grains for the most part, and limiting them to earlier in the day. My waist hit about 35 inches, which sucks, but I guess I'll just deal with it. Hopefully this'll all pay off and getting back down to 32 inches somewhere down the line won't be too difficult. Hopefully.
Member
In reply to the question, long arms make pressing, cleaning and pullups harder, and deadlifts easier.
Congrats on the squat breaking through 200lbs. It looks like it's "hard yards" for you, but you're fighting through and coming out the other side. If you're still around 150, you're coming close to 1.5bw, which is more than a lot of people ever manage.
Member
nothing is TMI on the internet! i think your bench and press are normal relative to your squat mate. are you microloading your squat? that shouldn't be necessary, if you're active in other sports or don't feel like you're recovering you could bump up your protein intake & sleep, and if that doesn't help you could switch over to advanced novice with a light squat day in the middle (you could put your deadlifts on that day too and make 10lb weekly jumps).
overall, good progress on the deadlift, but the other lifts should be climbing much more (2.5lbs on the press and bench per month are... well lets just say not optimal! you just started microloading, so it should be good for a while). stop timing your rest, rest until you feel ready. some days youll need 3 minutes, some days youll need 8, it doesn't matter! don't let something silly like rest times impede your progress.
Thanks, man. That makes me feel a little better about it.
And thank you so much for the encouragement; I really appreciate that!
Thanks for the advice and encouragement, Skipbeat! It helps a lot.
Yeah I started microloading for everything except the deadlift a few weeks ago. Do you think I should bump back up to 5lb increases or see how this goes? I got a little discouraged when I had to do my first reset and didn't want to stall out again. But I'm eating a lot more now so maybe that won't be an issue anymore.
Update I think I'll start posting these every two weeks now. Here's for the second half of November.
November 18, 2011
Squat: 205 - 5/5/5
Bench: 135 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 280 - 5
November 21, 2011
Squat: 210 - 5/5/5
Press: 95 - 5/5/5
November 23, 2011
Squat: 215 - 5/5/4
Bench: 137.5 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 290 - 5
I absolutely just barely got those reps on the squat... switching back to microloading. I hate slowing down, but I hate stalling even more.
November 25, 2011
Squat: 215 - 5/5/5
Press: 97.5 - 5/5/5
November 28, 2011
Squat: 217.5 - 5/5/5
Bench: 140 - 5/5/5
Deadlift: 295 - 5
November 30, 2011
Squat: 220 - 5/5/5
Press: 100 - 5/5/5
December 2, 2011
Squat: 222.5 - 5/5/5
Bench: 145 - 4**
Bench: 142.5 - 3/3
Deadlift: 300 - 5
**Attempted to jump five pounds on the bench press because I was feeling confident and ended up getting pinned after the fourth rep (thankfully, no one saw me as the gym was empty, so I was spared the embarrassment). Won't do that again; will stick with the tried and true microloading which has worked well for me up until this point.
Current stats:
---------- 8/8/11 ---> 10/12/11 --> 11/17/11 ---> 12/3/11
Squat: --135lbs ------> 185lbs ---> 202.5lbs ---> 222.5lbs
Bench: --105lbs ------> 130lbs ---> 132.5lbs ---> 142.5lbs
Deadlift: 150lbs ------> 220lbs ----> 270lbs ----> 300lbs
Press: --- 65lbs -------> 90lbs -----> 92.5lbs ---> 100lbs
Me: ----- 145lbs -----> 155lbs ----> 162lbs ------> 170lbs
Height: 5'9" 1/2
I hit a few psychologically-important numbers this week, with 300lbs on the deadlift and 100lbs on the press, which I'm totally stoked about. I never thought I'd be able to lift this much in my life. Bench press is slowly improving as well.
I am getting kind of bummed about my waist which just hit 36 inches and is now showing through my shirts (not to mention I only fit into two pairs of dress pants I own and one pair of jeans). I hit 170lbs the other day.
I'm thinking I'll continue eating 3500 calories a day at least through the end of the year, though. Then I might refocus on fat loss for a few weeks to trim down a little bit before returning to the program.
Any tips on how to take a temporary fat-loss break would be greatly appreciated. Eating strategies, whether to stick to the same routine, etc.
Member
If they do you have an awesome gym and be proud of it... unless its because they want to get back to curling.
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