To Mediocrity, and Beyond!

[Dave Paauwe]

Hey yall. Ready for yet another awkwardly long and self-absorbed log intro? I sure hope so! I've been lurking on these forums for a while, and decided to post my training log in attempt to stay accountable and it seems kind of fun.

I am 33 years old, about 205lbs at 5' 10', and I don't think I'm too fat. The digital BF counter says around 19%. Whatever. Screw abz. I want to get stronger and fitter for health and for playing with my kids and with my friends. We moved last year to central Virginia (Lynchburg), and I want to always be up for adventure be it hiking, mountain biking, sports, travel, or whatever. My wife also does barbell training (squats 270 for reps) and GPP, so I need to at least catch up to her, right? I never seriously played a sport in school, and I never did any kind of weight training until recently.

I started SS/LP last summer and was progressing well. Then the school year began. My son started kindergarten and my daughter started going to daycare. 2x disease vectors = me (and the rest of the family) being sick with various colds, flu, pneumonia and bronchitis from September to January with the exception of a week here and there. We all seemed to get over everything after New Years, and I felt ready to go back to the gym. I lost about 25lbs since summer and knew I was pretty weak. I started back on 1/16.

Let me get this out of the way: currently, I Am Not Doing The Program. I go to the YMCA Express across the street on my lunch hour. Instead of doing 3 days per week, I decided on 4 slightly shorter days to fit it into lunch hour. Here's the programming:
Monday: Squat then Press
Tuesday: Bench then DL
Thursday: Squat and Press
Friday: Bench and DL

I have been following the 3x5 set/rep scheme with these exceptions:
-final set for all lifts is 5+
-DL only gets 1 work set, but it's 5+ reps

The thinking is that the 5+ squats make up for only squatting 2x/week and adds volume to the others. I'm really liking this 4 day/wk setup I have right now. If anyone has any thoughts or sees any potential problems, please chime in.

Auxiliary work is as time allows: DB rows, inverted rows, push-ups, dips, and sometimes a grip workout after deadlifts like static holds or farmer's carry. Chin-ups happen at home with the chin-up bar between the kitchen and dining room. You go through the door, you do a chin-up.

Jan 16 starting lifts (for 3x5+), in lbs:
Squat, 145
Press, 75
DL, 185
Bench, 135

Near-term milestones for working weights:
Press 135
Bench 225
Squat 315
Deadlift 405

[Dave Paauwe]

This week's workouts:

Monday 2/3/14
Squat 45x5, 135x5, 205x5, 5, 8
Press 45x5, 85x2, 95x5, 5, 7
Aux: Press 45lb x15, DB Row 60lb x8, 8, 10

Tues 2/4
Bench 95x5, 135x2, 160x5, 5, 5
DL 135x5, 205x2, 240x9 (s'posed to be 235, but accidentally put a 10lb plate on the right side instead of a 5, which I noticed when removing the weight. D'oh.)

Thurs 2/6
Squat 45x5, 135x5, 215x5, 5, 7
Press 45x5, 85x2, 100x5, 5, 7
Aux work: Inverted rows 3 sets of 8 alternated with 3 sets of dips 3, 3, and 5 reps. Then DB rows 65lb x 8, 8, 8

Friday 2/7 (Today):
Bench 95x5, 135x3, 165x5, 5, 5
DL 135x5, 205x3, 245x9
Asssitance work: Volume DL at 135lbs x 20

[Dave Paauwe]

Did chin-ups intermittently in sets of 3 or 4 throughout the weekend.

Monday 2/10 Decided to switch to 5lb increases on squats since I have done 10lb jumps for the last 3 weeks.
Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 220x5, 5, 7
Press: 45x5, 85x5, 105x5, 5, 7

I didn't do anything else today because I was running out of time, and I'm not sure if extra working is helping or hurting right now. Going back and reading Starting Strength and some of Mark's other articles, it sounds like the novice shouldn't do anything but the lifts for a couple months at least. I can live with that, so I will drop the assistance/auxiliary work for now, but I am still going to do 5+ reps on last sets unless there's a good reason not to.

[peez]

Welcome to the forum, Dave! Looks like you are well on your way and found a good way to squeeze the program into YOUR lifestyle. ! I know how these two-legged petri-dishes bring home all sorts of fun bugs! Oh, and pretty impressive numbers for your wife - and great motivation for you to catch up!

I'm a noob myself ... but happy with the progress so far. Keep it up - we'll be watching!

[Dave Paauwe]

Thanks Peez. All our health turned a corner after New Years and no illnesses so far since (knock on wood). I guess we're pretty thoroughly inoculated by now.

Tuesday 2/11
Bench: 45x5, 95x5, 135x3, 170x5, 5, 7. Bench felt good today.
Dadlift: 135x6, 225x2, 255x8, Rep PR at this weight
Dumbbell Rows, 40lb: 12, 12, 20. I know I said I'd drop the extra stuff but I felt like I should do something to work the back, biceps, and grip and I have a rest day tomorrow anyway.

Deadlifts were tough today. Felt like much more than a 10lb increase. Was really feeling this in the lower back. Not sure I had great tightness there or was rounding slightly or what was up. Just kept telling myself to sit back in it and tighten the back. Definitely didn't sleep enough or drink enough coffee before this workout.

[Dave Paauwe]

2/13 and 2/14
Was busy getting snowed in. About 10" in as many hours. I pulled the boy around the block in his sled and built a snow fort for an hour. We'll just call it GPP/conditioning. I felt like I could use a few days off from the gym anyway.

[Dave Paauwe]

Monday, 2/17
Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x2, 225x5, 5, 7. Rep PR for this weight
Press: 45x5, 95x3, 110x5, 5, 5. Weight and rep PR
All the work felt hard today, but it all went up without form breaking down (much).

Observations after 1 month on linear progression:
-My waist size has either stayed the same or shrank while I have gained about 5lbs, up to 210. That seems good.
-It's possibly time to switch to smaller weight increases. I'm not in a hurry to stall.
-I need to work on shoulder and/or wrist flexibility. Right wrist is in pain after squatting from stress. I cannot keep my wrists straight with in the low bar position. I have tried wider grip, but feel like I lose upper back tightness and the weight feels heavier. Maybe I need to try even wider still or I need different cues. Time for form check? Anyone else have any wrist/grip tips for the squat? I'll check Starting Strength for this later.

[Kooline]

Are you doing the thumbs over grip? Because if you do the thumbs under it puts stress on the wrist joint.

[Dave Paauwe]

I have been doing thumbs over the bar. I actually tried thumbs wrapped under on a couple sets today and it felt like the it didn't push my wrist back as much. Not sure what I should be stretching, my shoulders, back, or wrists.

[Kooline]

Have you thought about wrist wraps?