A weak guy's journal

[Chino Macrayne]

I'm tired of being weak and I'm tired of starting many programs and quitting and then blaming the programs for my lack of progress. So I decided to make a log on the internet for everyone to see. This is where I'll post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If I don't post here on those days then I'll know and everyone else will know exactly why I'm not progressing. It won't be because of my program or genetics or some other lame ass excuse people like me make for our failures. It'll be because I got lazy and skipped workouts and it will be right here for me to see. This log will keep me accountable.

I'm doing the original Starting Strength workout. I'm not concerned about my physique. I just want to be able to lift heavy. I can worry about definition once I develop my foundation. Right now I'm 5' 11" and weight 145 lbs. I am extremely weak and I don't even want to specify my age but I'm over 20 and less than 25. I just want to get strong and I want to do it before my testosterone levels start naturally going down in a few years. I'm going to make the best of the time I have left with peak testosterone.

Okay look this is the program I'll be doing for those that don't know the original SS program. I'm sure we all know this since we're on a SS forum but here it is anyway.

Monday
Squat 3x5
Bench 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

Wednesday
Squat 3x5
Press 3x5
Power Clean 5x3

Friday
Squat, Bench and Deadlift again. And then the following week I start Monday with the Squat, Press, Clean and so on...

Today is Friday and once I get out of work I'm will do my first workout and log it. Because my muscles will be initially sore like it always happens when you haven't lifted in a long time the two days break should be good until I lift again on Monday.

Since I am a beginner I hope to be adding 5 lbs to an exercise every workout. Of course I'm not dumb enough to be expecting a huge difference in 3 months but it'll be interesting to see how much I've gone up in 1/4 of a year.

If I skip a single workout...THEN I DESERVE TO BE SKINNY AND WEAK

so here goes.

[wakxed]

keep yourself motivated and you won't be disappointed. im a skinny lad as well but am enjoying the progress so far. i'll be checking in

[Sven]

Take this anger and focus it on your goals, don't let it knock you down, sometimes stuff will happen and you'll get off track. When that happens just pick yourself up and get back at it. You've got the right idea, the youth, the information. Go for it! I'll be watching.

[Chino Macrayne]

Friday, 3/15/13

Here is my first log entry. As expected I am incredibly weak. Here are my maxes.

Squats: my max is only 160 lbs. I actually did 165 but my form became compromised and I hurt my lower back. I still did all 5 reps but everyone was staring like "why the hell is this idiot leaning forward so much?". So I'm estimating my max is 5 lbs less than that.

Bench: damn this hurt my ego but only 135. Less than what i weigh.

Deadlift: as I said I over exerted my lower back with squats so I did 175.

So these are my maxes and every workout I'll try to add 5 lbs.

My backs not hurt too bad but this weekend I'm definitely going to practice the form with lighter weights. I also have to learn the power clean form for Monday.

Am I weak? Of course I am. Am I doing something about it? Fuck yeah. This is where it all starts.

[Sven]

These are all very good numbers for a start, maybe too good. If you are lifting these to start you're not that weak. Don't worry about how much you lift right now but on mastering the proper form so that you can gain and maintain Linear Progression as long as you can. Injuries screw that up. If you tweaked your back on the first visit that is a sign to be somewhat more cautious. Good luck.

[luke.conrad]

Just want to piggyback on what Sven comment. You should not be using 5RM for your first workout. Start TOO light. Avoid failure. Good luck!

[Chino Macrayne]

Monday 3/18/13

Today was my second day and I did workout B which is squats, press, power clean. I followed everyone's advice and went a little lighter on the squats than I did last week. No back pain or anything this time.

I also took a video from a 45 degree angle so I can look at my form. Earlier, before I started this log, I posted a few videos of my squat form in the technique section so based the video in which I finally got it right I know what good form looks like and mine looked okay.

Today I squatted 160 which felt EASY, pressed 75, and power cleaned the empty bar. Still trying to learn the power clean. I was going to practice it over the weekend but didn't have time to do that so I'll practice the empty bar some more tomorrow.

Wednesday I can't wait to increase my squat and bench by 5 lbs.

[Chino Macrayne]

Wednesday 3/20/13

I didn't have Internet yesterday so I couldn't post this until now. Yesterday my squat went up 5 lbs back to what I attempted my first day and this time it felt a lot easier.

My bench...I attempted to go up 5 lbs but on my second and third set I couldn't do 5 reps so I'm still stuck at 135. Bummer.

My deadlift didn't go up either its still at 175. I tried adding 5 lbs but couldn't even move the bar a bit, it was frozen to the floor.

So these are my stats for Wednesday.

[Chino Macrayne]

Unfortunately I couldn't go on Friday because I had to work a double shift at my job which happened because another employee called out last minute. When that shit happens I can't really do anything about it so there's no entry for Friday I'm afraid.

3/25/13 Monday
I did squat, bench, deadlift.

My squat almost went up to 175, however, the last set I could only do 4. I have this horrible nagging feeling like i gave up too quickly and i should have kept trying until i did 5 or my legs fail completely and the bar drops on the safety pins.

My bench did go up at last to a still pathetic 140 which is almost my body weight yay.


My deadlift went up by 5 lbs to 180.

[Chino Macrayne]

So here's the thing since I recently moved out of my parents and I don't own a smartphone my Internet access is limited and I won't be able to post every time I go. I can still log what I did on that day but I might not log it that same day.

So that being said here are my Wednesday and Friday entries.

Wednesday 3/27/13
Squats- since I couldn't finish all my reps last time I did the same weight again and this time i did the whole 3x5. It actually felt a little easy so I wonder if I should have gone heavier.

Press- went up. 85.

Clean- also 85. I could do heavier but I'm trying to master the form and keep increasing little by little.

Friday 3/29/13
This was a great day. All my lifts went up.
Squat-180 and felt like I could have done more.
Bench-145 (body weight) finally
Deadlift-185