bean counter's novice log (29yo, 6')

[bean counter]

I've been following a SS Novice program for around three months now. Gains have been fairly slow and steady so far, but the weights are now feeling heavy. I hope that keeping a log here will provide me with accountability and further motivation to continue with the progress that I've made.

Here are my details:

Height: 6' 0" (183 cm)
Age: 29

Starting Weights (18 January)
Bodyweight: 67 kg (148 lbs)
Squat: 50 kg (110 lbs)
Bench: 55 kg (121 lbs)
Deadlift: 75 kg (165 lbs)
Press: 30 kg (73 lbs)

Latest Working Weights (24 April)
Bodyweight: 73 kg (162 lbs)
Squat: 86.25 kg (190 lbs)
Bench: 70 kg (154 lbs)
Deadlift: 120 kg (265 lbs)
Press: 45 kg (99 lbs)
Power Clean: 42.5 kg (94 lbs) [Only tried a few times]

Program (3* per week)
Squat 3 X 5
Press / bench 3 X 5 (alternating)
Deadlift 1 X 5 (1* per week) OR chin-up / PC

I have read SS3, PP3 and watched the SS DVD. I will provide more background in due course, but wanted to get this log set up before my next workout is due tomorrow.

[peez]

Welcome to the forum - that's respectable progress, esp. on the squat and deadlift! What do you do for nutrition?

[bean counter]

Welcome to the forum - that's respectable progress, esp. on the squat and deadlift!

Thanks! I'm currently increasing all my lifts by 1.25 kg per successful workout, except for the deadlift which is 2.5 kg. I feel that my progress is slow compared to many others as well as the guidance in Rip's books. But if I extrapolate my current rate of progress over weeks and months the outcome looks good, so I'm not too worried about speeding up.

What do you do for nutrition?

I am aware that by the standards of this board I'm very skinny. I started eating a lot more than before a couple of months back and my bodyweight has steadily increased since. Body fat has gone up a little, but I think my gains are mostly muscle.

I know that there's plenty I could do to improve this, but in the interests of full disclosure, this is what I'm eating today (a non-training day).

Breakfast: Cereal, yoghurt, banana, protein shake
Lunch: Mackerel and salad
Snack: Mixed nuts, turkey breast
Dinner: 400g minced beef, vegetables, sweet potato
Snack: Dark chocolate

[bean counter]

26 April 2014

Bodyweight: 74 kg

Squat:
20 kg: 2 X 5
40 kg: 1 X 5
60 kg: 1 X 3
70 kg: 1 X 2
87.5 kg: 3 X 5

Press
20 kg: 2 X 5
25 kg: 1 X 5
32.5 kg: 1 X 3
37.5 kg: 1 X 2
45 kg: 2 X 5, 1 X 7 (AMRAP)

Power Clean
30 kg: Technique
35 kg: 1 X 3
40 kg: 1 X 3
45 kg: 5 X 3

Chin
Bodyweight: 10, 10, 7

Squats were a new max working weight for me. For the past couple of workouts I've had a sharp pain in my left shoulder with my working weights, which has persisted for about 24 hours afterwards. I think this was due to too low a bar position. I corrected for this today and the pain only came on in the second set and not as severe as previously, so hopefully this will resolve in time. Rep 15 was slow, but I was confident throughout.

Press was a repeat of my previous maximum sucessful weight. I failed at 46.25kg a couple of weeks ago and have been working back from a deload. Since I hit 7 reps at 45 kg I feel good about my chances with 46.25 kg next press workout.

Power clean was only my third session on this and an increase on 42.5 kg last time. I only get a chance to try this out at the weekend when the gym is quiet. The empty bar feels completely different to me than 30kg, so that's what I've been practising with. My technique practise was:
Hang position
Drop from rack position to hang position X 3
Hang position to jumping position and jump with straight arms X 3
Hang clean X 3
While all the weights went up fairly easily I know my technique is terrible. I filmed the last set and it is much too embarrasing to share. My back was rounded at the bottom, partly due to the small diameter of the 10kg plates I was using. The bar then crawls up my legs, before rebending the knees and shrugging the weight up. I need to go back to basics. To add further insult another member was snatching 60kg with good form at the same time - something I've never seen in my gym before.

Chin was an afterthought as I didn't feel too fatigued from the power cleans. But I have been hitting 10,10,10 recently, so either my motivation or energy levels weren't quite up to the job.

The whole workout took 1 hour 20, which is my longest ever; usually I'm done in an hour. Rests for squat, press and chin were 5 - 6 minutes. Power clean was only 2 - 3 minutes as the weights are still light.

[bean counter]

28 April 2014

Bodyweight: 74 kg

Squat:
20 kg: 2 X 5
40 kg: 1 X 5
60 kg: 1 X 3
70 kg: 1 X 2
88.75 kg: 3 X 5

Bench Press
20 kg: 2 X 5
30 kg: 1 X 5 (mis-load, should have been 35 kg)
45 kg: 1 X 3
55 kg: 1 X 2
71.25 kg: 3 X 5

Deadlift:
60 kg: 2 X 5
80 kg: 1 X 5
90 kg: 1 X 3
105 kg: 1 X 2
122.5 kg: 1 X 5 (right hand under)

New maximums on all three exercises, so a successful session all round.

Squat felt very heavy and my form started to suffer, but no major issues. The shoulder pain from the last few sessions did come back, but not as bad as before, so I think this is on the mend.

The squatting related shoulder pain could only really be felt during the unracking of the bench press, so didn't negatively impact the exercise itself. Rep 5 on all three sets was slow and ground out. I increased my rest times to 6 minutes to make sure that I got all the reps in.

For the deadlift this was the first time I've tried mixed grip. I pulled the first warmup set double overhand and then alternated mixed grips for each subsequent set. Right hand (dominant) under felt stronger, so this is what I used on the working set, although I intent to try and switch this for the next deadlift day. In future I don't plan to use mixed grip for the warmups, but this time I needed the practice.

Mixed grip definitely helped, even thought I didn't feel my grip was too close to failing previously - just difficult. I felt that I was keeping the bar closer than usual and bringing in more hamstring. I lost count during my working set and think it's more likely than not I actually did six reps. Given my lack of certainty I'm counting it as five and will take this as a reminder to pay more attention in future.

[bean counter]

1 May 2014

Bodyweight 74 kg

Squat:
20 kg: 2 X 5
40 kg: 1 X 5
60 kg: 1 X 3
70 kg: 1 X 2
90 kg: 3 X 5

Press
20 kg: 2 X 5
25 kg: 1 X 5
32.5 kg: 1 X 3
37.5 kg: 1 X 2
46.25 kg: 2 X 5, 1 X 6

Bodyweight Chin
10,10,11

I got all the squat reps in, but none of them were attractive. Reps 4 and 5 of the working sets were a grind and my form was getting very assymettrical. Rep 15 may have been a bit shallow. These difficulties are probably linked to me feeling a bit nauseous at the start of my training session, as I sometimes do at 6.30 am. Saturday's session should be at a more sensible time, so I can assess if things are better then. It's good at least to hit a round number like 90 kg though.

The press by contrast went very well, as I finally hit the 46.25 kg mark which caused me to reset a couple of weeks back. I even managed a sixth rep on the last working set.

I surprised myself by going for and getting an eleventh rep on the final chin up set, as on the second set rep ten was so slow that I wasn't confident I'd even get ten the third time around. When I started doing chin ups I used to get my shoulders to the bar. Now I only get my chin over the bar, which isn't so great a ROM, but I'm now consistent about this standard, so can compare workout to workout progress on this basis. I do try to use a slight stretch reflex out of the bottom as well.

[Levon_Xidyn]

Nice work, you'll be hitting that 100kg squat soon!

[bean counter]

3 May 2014

Bodyweight: 75 kg

Squat:
20 kg: 2 X 5
40 kg: 1 X 5
60 kg: 1 X 3
75 kg: 1 X 2
91.25 kg: 3 X 5

Bench Press
20 kg: 2 X 5
35 kg: 1 X 5
45 kg: 1 X 3
60 kg: 1 X 2
72.5 kg: 3 X 5

Deadlift:
60 kg: 2 X 5
80 kg: 1 X 5
90 kg: 1 X 3
105 kg: 1 X 2
125 kg: 1 X 5 (left hand under)

3 more new maximums - the LP is on track. As I know I can't train on Monday there will be an enforced two day rest after this session, so I made it 'Friday', rather than 'Wednesday' as it should have been - which means deadlifts.

Squat went much better than Thursday. The weight didn't go up any easier, but I felt much more solid in my technique. The third set coincided with the crescendo of System of a Down's Sugar on my mp3 player, which got me psyched up. Given that I'm working in kg it's a fairly arbitrary accomplishment - but I'm happy to note that I've now passed 200 lbs.

I successfully completed the bench reps, but the fourth rep of each set was sufficiently slow that I wasn't certain the fifth would come. I even asked for a spot on the third set, which I don't usually do. Given the weights I'm using aren't huge, when I fail a bench rep I'm happy to call out for someone to come and help unpin me, rather than have them hovering there all the time. I think this has only happened twice though. My grip was a bit too wide on the third set; I was focusing too much on the other parts of my set-up.

Unlike squat, bench and press I have never failed a deadlift rep, but this may happen soon. The weight went up much more slowly than last week and the technique didn't feel so solid. I also took multiple breaths while resetting between reps. Left hand under wasn't as natural as right hand under on the mixed grip, but I still intend to keep switching each session.

I just filled up my first log book. I'm using Field Notes, which are nice and compact, with one page per workout. Given one wasted page this now means I've had 47 workouts since I started tracking my progress. I also took an overall look at my figures and noticed that my press passed 100 lbs this week.

Another way I've been looking at progress is by adjusting the PP / ExRx strength tables by 87% to get 5RM figures. My bench press is one jump away from the intermediate level on this basis and also closing in on bodyweight. Deadlift got to intermediate a while ago and squat / press are between novice and intermediate. I know this isn't very scientific and doesn't mean much, but having some kind of benchmark to aim for helps motivate me.

[bean counter]

6 May 2014

Bodyweight 76 kg

Squat:
20 kg: 2 X 5
40 kg: 1 X 5
60 kg: 1 X 3
75 kg: 1 X 2
92.5 kg: 3 X 5

Press
20 kg: 2 X 5
25 kg: 1 X 5
32.5 kg: 1 X 3
40 kg: 1 X 2
47.5 kg: 2 X 5, 1 X 6

Bodyweight Chin
10,10,10

After a couple of days socialising, drinking and eating poorly I didn't feel well prepared for this session. My bodyweight doesn't usually fluctuate much between sessions, so I was definitely surprised to have gained another kilo already. I've also mysteriously picked up a shin splint type of pain in one leg, despite not running around or doing anything out of the ordinary to cause it. Thankfully it doesn't affect my squatting, but it's very uncomfortable while walking around.

I was strong enough to complete a new maximum for the squats, but my balance wasn't great. I nearly lost it on the second or third rep of the first working set when I let the weight drive me into the hole too quickly, but managed to squirm my way back up with ugly form. I had to breathe between reps more than usual. Just before the final rep of the third set I finally realised I'd been looking in the mirror (wish it wasn't there), looked down and ground out a powerful last rep.

The press went well with increased weight and I managed more than five reps on the last set again. Progress on this feels good at the moment thanks to my reset a couple of weeks back.

Chins were tough to complete, but I was lifting more bodyweight than previously, so completing the sets represents progress here.

[bean counter]

8 May 2014

Bodyweight 76 kg

Squat:
20 kg: 2 X 5
40 kg: 1 X 5
60 kg: 1 X 3
75 kg: 1 X 2
93.75 kg: 3 X 5 (PB)

Bench Press
20 kg: 2 X 5 (dumbell)
34 kg: 1 X 5 (dumbell)
40 kg: 1 X 3 (dumbell)
60 kg: 1 X 2
73.75 kg: 1 X 5, 2 X 4

Deadlift:
60 kg: 2 X 5
80 kg: 1 X 5
100 kg: 1 X 3
110 kg: 1 X 2
127.5 kg: 1 X 5 (PB, right hand under)


This was the best squat session I've had in quite a while. Recalling my tendency to watch the mirror from Tuesday I focused on looking down, although the last two sets of the third set did turn slightly into squatmornings anyway.

I would be interested in anyone's thoughts on my 1.25kg per session progression. There is another thread going at the moment where the consensus seems to be that 2.5kg (5 lbs) should be the minimum. I'm sure I could have got 95kg 3x5 today, but I don't usually feel confident of that sized jump. 1.25kg is working for me and I'm happy enough with this speed of progression.

Bench press was my first failure on any extercise since my deload a few weeks ago. Rep four of the first set was a grind and rep five was barely completed. So after a very slow rep four in the last two sets I didn't even try for five as I knew it wouldn't happen. This is despite six minute rests. I will repeat this weight next time. The first few warmup sets were with dumbells as I had to wait for the bench to become free.

It's only been five days since my last deadlift workout, but I'm not certain I will get to the gym this Saturday, so brought the session forward. This went much better than 125kg although I think my back was rounding on reps four and five since I had to extend it to finish the lift.

I added in an off-programme 60kg X 10 bench, 1x5 and 1x10 bodyweight chins while tidying up from the deadlift and going to and from the changing room.