Becoming a Real RAW Woman: Lindsey's Strength Journey

[Linds]

HI! I’m Lindsey, 24-year-old female, 5’5”, 140lbs. My first memory of taking interest in becoming/being strong was the cliché high school weightlifting class, where I did respectably in my all-male class. Did a semester of track in high school, a couple years in college, discovered a passion and have continued to lift on my own since then.
However, without much serious, comprehensive strength coaching in my past—particularly in programming—I’d say I only about 20% knew what I was doing. I had learned decent form in the basic power lifts during my track days but only performed squat, bench, and press with any regularity, and isolation training, pyramids, and lack of a training log were just a few of my novice errors. Nonetheless, in my best days of solo training I did max out at 275 on squat and around 155 on bench. Training frequency after college was inconsistent--anywhere from 0 to 5 days a week--never going more than a few weeks without working out but still basically just free styling.
In recent months I have decided to finally get serious about the shit, get in the gym and work out with like I mean it with focus, structure and direction. I would like to see how strong I can get on my own--no suit, no wraps, no belt--and then take it to the next level (I’m very interested in raw powerlifting). I read Starting Strength as my first real research into the topic and am going to start my training using Rip’s novice program as a base, editing my routine as I learn more. Today was Day 1:

Warm-up: bike 5 min.

Squat:
45x5x2
95x5
135x5
185x2
205x5x3

Bench Press:
45x5
65x5
85x5
95x5
125x5 (felt this was too heavy to complete two more sets)
115x5x2

Back Extension:
25x12x4

Chin-ups:
BWx5x4

There is no Roman Chair in my gym. There are also no bumper plates. I am looking for a new gym. I don't know what to call the machine I did back extensions on, but it places the body on an upward angle above parallel at full extension. Not sure how this affects the exercise. I did a superset with the extensions and chins (if this is the proper term?), performing one set of each, rest and repeat for four sets. My gym shoes are currently running shoes, so I am doing my squats in socks until I buy a pair of Chucks. No one has gotten on my case about it thusfar.. I also realized today that I had previously been doing chins/pull-ups wrong. What a difference full range of motion makes! The nausea I experienced at the end of the workout was surprising, yet in a small way satisfying. Great first day.

[Manimal]

205 for your first SS workout?!?! you are a monster! ( I mean that in a good way).

[Viola]

Well it will be interesting to see how you improve those wimpy numbers after a bit of proper training. hahaha. Holy Moly kid, nice numbers! I will be watching your log. Welcome!

[melody]

You have really good numbers! Looking forward to watching your log.

[Linds]

Thanks for the support everyone! Just finished up with Day 2:

Warm up: bike 5 min.

Squat:
45x5x2
95x5
135x5
185x5
210x5x3

Press:
45x5x2
65x5
70x5
75x5
80x5 (too heavy for work sets)
75x5x2

Deadlift:

95x5x2
135x5
165x5
195x5
215x5
215x1 (just for good measure?)

Today was a very guess-and-check day. I've only ever done presses in 4x10-55ish-lb.-weight style. Today's press workout was tough; I definitely don't feel strong in that exercise yet. I never did deadlifts outside of track because I always felt I was doing them wrong, which I know now was because I didn't fully understand the exercise nor did anyone who tried to teach me. Today was the second time; last week my last work set was at 195lbs. so I'm fairly pleased with today. But with my squat being almost the same weight, I feel I should have pretty aggressive gains in the beginning weeks of this program.

[John Hanley]

Great numbers... By why so many warm-up reps? Part of the guess-and-check thing?

Also, what T&F events did you compete in?

[Linds]

Hey John - For these first few weeks I'm following the exact workouts shown in SSBBT as the "typical beginner's program" ("Onus Wunsler" training log on pg 300-301), and there are a few more warmup sets for the first days' workouts. And I did have to adjust the weight on some of my work sets last time. I definitely prefer this warmup method, especially for squatting (I used to just throw 135 on for a set of 10 and call that my warmup). I feel much stronger during work sets this way.
In college I did the heptathlon for a year and then switched to triple jump for a year (due to the head/multi coach leaving unexpectedly and the jumps/speed coach taking over). I was strong and had good form, but didn't have natural speed and struggled with translating weightroom power onto the track. So I decided to stick with lifting! I hate running anyway.

First week of SS training is officially complete! Day 3 felt good:

Warmup: bike 5 min.

Situps: 10x10x4 (waiting for the squat rack..)

Squat:
45x5x2
95x5
135x5
185x2
215x5x3

Bench Press:
45x5
65x5
85x5
95x5
120x5x3

Back Extension:
25x12x4

Chins:
BWx6
BWx5x3

Squats felt good today. I would like to switch to a M-W-F training schedule next week, so I'll probably keep my squat weight the same since I will only have one day of rest before the start of next week's training. I'm glad I completed my bench work sets today (they were tough), but I'm not getting excited until I hit 135. Patience..

[Sven]

Looking good! I'm impressed. Keep it up, good luck.

[John Hanley]

Thanks for explaining the warm-ups. Makes sense to get more light reps while the movement is new. That said, your squat crushes young Onus.

I'm a former T&F guy. Recruited as a decathlete, but bombed with pure footspeed, and became a thrower.

[Oldman]

Nice lifts, Linds!