INDTP, but I want to

[sael]

Hi everyone,

This thread is to keep me motivated, reflect on myself and possibly get some good feedback/advice from you guys.

I'm male, 29y old, 6' tall and weigh 174 lbs. I've been skinny all my life (~130lbs during my teens, ~155 during my twenties) and never really sporty, only been going to a gym-club with friends for the last couple of years, which in truth is more like a sociable cardio-like-thing at one or two trainings a week (and none during school vacation).
I went to a gym twice before, but each time quit after a couple of months due to lacking progress (read: none).

This time I tried again, sadly without much effect. But this time I'm holding on.

Been working out for 5 months now at a subpar gym. The barbell-section is tiny (with no real powerrack) and the trainers are pretty much clueless about barbells.
Been to a new place yesterday which I will be switching to come mid August. So it's my last two weeks now at my current gym and then 2 weeks vacation in Scandinavia :-)


So, my training so far. For the first month I did some machine-based training. I then switched over to more barbell/dumbbell training and for the last month I tried SS. Somewhat. At least I read the book by now and know that INDTP.

But what you guys probably want to see is numbers:


And the body weight in more detail:


It's all in KG and the lifts are barbell+plates. So it's easy to see: I'm weak and there was next to no progress. Only the squat is somewhat improving.

I'm currently not doing any deadlifts or power cleans because there just isn't enough space and I don't want to endanger anyone around me. My current program:

A
Squats 5x3
Bench 5x3
Chin Ups ~6/6/6

B
Squats
Press
Pull Ups ~5/5/5

The problems I see:

• Training: Too many skipped workouts. Can't do deadlifts or powercleans. Tried to train with too much weight (esp. on the benchpress), didn't know about stalling/resetting. Now I did reset, but I think it was too much Don't have smaller plates than 2.5 lbs, which is hard on my bench and my press. Thus can't microload, but think I have to.
• Food: Have been eating far too little. Have a very weak stomach and small appetite, can get to 3k when I really force myself (which is hard on a daily basis). Consume next to no vegs/fruits. Do take protein-shakes on workoutdays
• Regeneration: Rarely get to 8 hours, more like 6-7 hours

Looking forward to the new gym. Lots of big guys and the trainers themselves are big and can provide coaching on the lifts.

So there you have it. Hope I can motivate myself to really follow the program and finally start building some strength.

[carson]

Welcome. Is the problem with deadlifts and powercleans that you are stuck in a small space? Will the new space accommodate at least the deadlifts?

[Lion Heart]

There's many easy ways to get extra calories without feeling sickingly full. Whole milk, peanut butter, pizza, McDoubles etc. You should probably do GOMAD.

[sael]

Welcome. Is the problem with deadlifts and powercleans that you are stuck in a small space? Will the new space accommodate at least the deadlifts?

Hi! The problem is that there is no space caluclated in to work with a barbell from the ground. There is one benchpress rack, a smith machine and between them is a rack that looks like this: . The only free space around those are "pathways" to get to and fro. So when I want to deadlift, I get in everyone's way and I find it neither safe nor do I feel I can focus knowing everyone has to get around me. One of the reasons why I only ever once saw another guy do squats and one guy do Romanian deadlifts.
The new place is much better. There were several guys deadlifting and squatting some serious weights. I forgot to ask about power cleans and dropping barbells, but I said I was interested in coaching for deadlifts and squats etc. and he was like "sure we also do coaching in olympic stuff". There's also Crossfit Zurich, but that's hella expensive and probably wouldn't blend well with SS Couldn't find any other place around here that would really focus on heavy barbell training.

There's many easy ways to get extra calories without feeling sickingly full. Whole milk, peanut butter, pizza, McDoubles etc. You should probably do GOMAD.

Haha, I feel sick only thinking about downing a gallon of milk a day But I think half a gallon should be possible and since I want to make progress I'll go from there and at least try to get there. Sometimes I envy the Americans. Biggest bottle of milk I can find here is 1L

[JasPChuff]

You could probably stand sideways in that rack and deadlift, they don't really require alot of room. Power cleans you might not be able to do but as I said grabbing the bar and standing up with it requires very little space front to back.

[sael]

You could probably stand sideways in that rack and deadlift, they don't really require alot of room. Power cleans you might not be able to do but as I said grabbing the bar and standing up with it requires very little space front to back.

Good idea. Will think of this for my last two trainings there.



First Log:
Squat: 89kgx5x3
Bench: 54kgx5x3
Deadlift: 66.5kgx5
Chin Ups: 7/7/6

Training went fairly well. Lower back felt a bit funny after the worksets, I guess I lose tightness at the bottom, although I'm not sure why. Wan't to record or sort it out with the trainer in the new gym.
DLs felt good, though the technique was probably horrible : D

Sidenote: I have no idea how on earth I should GOMAD. Will keep trying.

[sael]

Here I am, thinking I had rested and eaten well over the weekend:

Squat: 91.5kgx5x3 FAIL
Press: 31.5kgx5x3
Deadlift: 71.5kgx5 (I'm starting to see where this is going to be a challenge for grip-strength)
Chin Ups: 8/7

So I failed on the third set of the squat. Second and third rep were already really slow and I felt like I had no control over my lower back during the bottom position, so I only went to 4 reps. Deadlifts were good. Press felt like I wasn't going to make it next time. One thing worth mentioning: I really need to learn how to draw in all my strenght and push that bar in one swift moment as if I wanted to skyrocket it through the roof (same for bench). I always feel like I'm just pressing enough to get the bar moving...

Question: I feel like 2.5kg increments is too much for my bench and press. Does it make sense to only load one 1.25kg plate on one side? Or should I try to get my hands on 0.5 plates? Maybe I just need to stop eating like a pussy =(

On to my first video, then. Maybe someone can give me a quick feedback because I don't think it's worth a thread in the technique review section :< Also, would a side-view be more helpful? Thanks!
2nd set of the squats:
http://youtu.be/msP8VCLhPvA

[sael]

Squat:
91.5kgx5x3
Again, didn't feel good in the third set. Under workload I find it hard to contract abs and keep my back straight, thus I think I was doing Hyperextensions with 91.5kg on my back. Last reps were kinda shaky and afterwards my lower back felt like some mad surgeon had exchanged my lower back with someone (someone much bigger and flabbier than me) else's lb. Will deload and work on my form. Also might consider doing some sort of stretch warmup for squats...

Bench:
56.5kgx5x3
Went fairly well. Trying to hold my breath. Willl have to reread the where-to-keep-your-shoulders part. Good thing: I feel like my wrists have gotten stronger. Before the reset my wrists would start to cave in and my forearms would burn and throb.

Deadlift:
76.5kgx5x3
All good. Think I could do them faster. Am afraid of the first time the weight won't come off the floor D:

Chin Ups:
8/8-ish

Shopping:
Went ahead and ordered a pair of 0.5kg plates. Also just ran out of milk. How the fff could I let that happen?!

Edit: Oh! Oh! Oh! Almost forgot. This morning I was, for the very first time in my life, over 80kg. Hooray!

[slowjoe]

Gomad isnt all-or-nothing.

Adding a litre a day to your diet is easier and likewise beneficial.

Remember the fact that Starting Strength was forged in an environment where novice lifters were likel to be high school boys needing to add size and strength over the summer for football season inTexas.

That isnt you so you can adjust accordingly. Try a litre a day and add more if that isnt doing what you want imo.

[sael]

Thanks, I'm at 1-2L but can't say if it helped much, as I've been eating and sleeping badly these past few days =(

25.07.204
Woke up stiff as a log and was tired all day. Got home, ate something small, sat in front of the TV and woke up again at 11:40PM D: So much for workout-day.

26.07.204
Squat:
86.5kgx5x3
Felt OK. Still a bit too much work with the lower back...

Press:
36.5kgx5x3
Went fairly well. I'm still unsure about my grip, feel like my forearms are rather long. Last three reps of the third were a bit slow, but I'm inclined to let them count *greed*

Deadlift:
86.5kgx5
So the DL caught up with the Squat. Fingers almost fell of during the last two reps.