42yo Procrastinator

[Adrian351]

Finally getting round to my starting strength program - it's been great fun.

I've been going for 6 weeks now....certainly stronger now than when I was 21.

Starting Stats:
42yo
6"
95kg (209lbs)
Body Fat about 29%

After the first week of squats, talk about DOMS!! Couldn't walk properly for a week!!

I was discussing my program with my brother last week and he tells me I've misread the numbers of sets for my program - I've been doing 8 sets for everything!! I was wondering why 8 sets of dead lifts after squats was always so hard!

Starting Numbers.

Squat
20x5x3 (44lb)
30x3 (66lb)
50x2 (110lb)
50x5 (110lb)
50x5 (110lb)
50x5 (110lb)

Bench
20x5x2 (44lb)
30x5 (66lb)
40x3 (88lb)
40x2 (88lb)
50x5 (110lb)
50x5 (110lb)
50x5 (110lb)

Dead Lift
30x5x2 (66lb)
40x5 (88lb)
50x3 (110lb)
60x2 (132lb)
60x5 (132lb)
60x5 (132lb)
60x5 (132lb)

Press
20x5x2 (44lb)
30x5 (66lb)
30x3 (66lb)
30x2 (66lb)
35x2 (77lb)
30x5 (66lb)
30x5 (66lb)

Power Clean
25x5x2 (55lb)
30x5 (66lb)
30x3 (66lb)
40x2 (88lb)
40x5 (88lb)
40x5 (88lb)
40x5 (88lb)

[Adrian351]

6 weeks in I've made a bit of progress.....way more to go though! Time to go eat!

Weight now 101kg (222lbs)
Body Fat about 23%

Squat
50x5x2 (110lb)
70x5 (154lb)
90x3 (198lb)
100x2 (220lb)
120x5 (264lb)
120x5 (264lb)
120x4 (264lb)

Bench
50x5x2 (110lb)
80x5 (176lb)
80x5 (176lb)
80x4 (176lb)

Dead Lift
100x5x2 (220lb)
130x5 (286lb)
130x5 (286lb)
130x4 (286lb)

Press
20x5x5 (44lb)
30x5 (66lb)
30x3 (66lb)
47.5x5 (104lb)
47.5x5 (104lb)
47.5x4 (104lb)

Power Clean
40x5x3 (88lb)
50x3 (110lb)
50x2 (110lb)
60x5 (132lb)
60x5 (132lb)
60x8 (132lb)

[Lion Heart]

Great progress in such a short time mate! The wonders of simple linear progression and ample food :-)

[OzDamo]

Welcome Brother. Your doing good young one.

[motor1]

Keep up the good work

[Adrian351]

Well, I got lazy last year and after several months I stopped working out back in July 14. But in 2015, haven't missed a session and motivation is good!

I've been going solid since 1st Feb (4.5 months).....I've only been doing 2 workouts a week (only workout A)...Mon & Fri, but after reading Starting Strength again last night, I see that needs to change and I need to get back to basics and alternating A & B.

My goal is to hit the 1000lb club soon, so I got focussed on the big 3: squats, bench & deads.....plus pull-ups/decline abs/bicep curls as accessory exercises. But I see that skipping power cleans has probably hampered my dead lift progress.

I'll list my 2 Feb 2015 numbers and 12 Jun 2015 numbers directly under: 100kg (220lb) body weight in Feb, now 107kg (235lb).....in 4.5 months.

Squat 2 Feb
40x3x5 (88lb)
70x1x3 (154lb)
80x1x2 (176lb)
100x3x5 (220lb)

Squat 12 Jun
40x3x5 (88lb)
70x1x3 (154lb)
100x1x2 (220lb)
140x3x5 (308lb).....it's nice to see 3x20's hangin off each side!!

Bench 2 Feb
40x2x5 (88lb)
50x1x5 (110lb)
75x3x5 (165lb)

Bench 12 Jun
40x2x5 (88lb)
60x1x5 (132lb)
104x3x5 (229lb)

Dead Lift 2 Feb
50x2x5 (110lb)
80x1x2 (160lb)
110x3x5 (242lb)

Dead Lift 12 Jun
50x2x5 (110lb)
120x1x2 (264lb)
156x3x5 (343lb)

Nothing to report on Power Cleans or Press unfortunately, but I can now do 20+ pull-ups which has been building some good lat and bicep strength.

Haven't tried for any 1 x max reps yet, but WRT my 1000lb goal, I'm sitting at 880lbs adding my normal 5x3 weight. I think the usual amount to add is 10%, so I'm guessing I'd be up around 968lbs.....not far to go.

I've dropped all cardio this year and I think that's also hurting my recovery times between sets....sometimes it's 10+ minutes before I get under the bar each time, so my overall workout times are blowing out to 2.5hrs.

I just realised today that I've been doing 5x3 for my dead lifts instead of 5x1.....no wonder mowing the lawn on Saturday mornings has been so difficult!

Do you guys recommend just putting in some extra warm-up sets and dropping down to just 1 power set?.....I guess that's what the book says!

Oh, and now none of my damn clothes fit! I've had to get rid of several suits, shirts, jeans and trade in all my work uniforms!!

[Agilic]

Yeah, 3 sets of near max effort deadlifts is insane. 1 set of 5 is plenty taxing to force adaption.

Also, I would start pressing asap as I have read that if you only bench or only press it can easily cause muscular imbalances in and around your shoulder leading to injury. Not to mention pressing is just awesome.

[Adrian351]

Good call...thanks!

[Adrian351]

Well, only doing ONE set of DL has been working great! I've been having better progress compared to accidentally smashing myself with 3 x power sets.

Note to self....read the book closer!

Tomorrow is the end of 5 months since starting, so I'm going to have my first crack at doing 1RMs.....crunching the numbers, I think I'm within reach of hitting 1000lbs on the big 3.....fingers crossed!!

26 June
Squat 3x5 143kg (294lbs).....hoping for 1RM 160kg (352lbs)
Bench 3x5 106kg (233lbs)....hoping for 1RM 120kg (264lbs)
Deads 3x5 162kg (356lbs)....hoping for 1RM 180kg (396lbs)

Better get ready for a huge breakfast!!

[bean counter]

Tomorrow is the end of 5 months since starting, so I'm going to have my first crack at doing 1RMs.....crunching the numbers, I think I'm within reach of hitting 1000lbs on the big 3.....fingers crossed!!

26 June
Squat 3x5 143kg (294lbs).....hoping for 1RM 160kg (352lbs)
Bench 3x5 106kg (233lbs)....hoping for 1RM 120kg (264lbs)
Deads 3x5 162kg (356lbs)....hoping for 1RM 180kg (396lbs)

Better get ready for a huge breakfast!!

I recently hit a 160 kg squat when my best set was 145 kg X 4 and a 180 kg DL having pulled 165 kg X 5, so those look like reasonable targets. Your bench is better than mine so I can't offer you any encouragement there other than to go out and give it your best shot!