grittypop's SS Novice Routine Reboot (33, 5'10")

[grittypop]

Basic Info:
Male, age 33, 5'10", 156 lbs.

Lifting background:
Several years ago I ran a couple marathons and wasted down to 120 lbs, but climbed back up to 130 lbs before I started lifting. Starting Strength was my first program, which I stuck with for two whole months (oops), getting up to around 150 lbs.

And so began the program-hopping. I tried variants of Pavel's Power to the People, Wendler's 5/3/1, Berardi's Scrawny to Brawny, Madcow 5x5, Dan John's Mass Made Simple, and Dan John's 40-Day Workout with the Waterbury PLP Challenge thrown in.

It was fun to try out the various approaches, but after a month-long vacation and layoff from lifting, I'm ready to take my numbers back up and see whether I can push LP farther and follow the program a little more closely.

The first time around I wasn't using great form and injured my back. I never went to a doctor, but I think it was a bulging disc that gave me some pain for around six months. It seems to have healed by now, but I'm still a little paranoid about heavy squats and deadlifts.

I train alone in my basement (but I like it that way). I don't currently do any running, just a couple 30-minute walks each day.

Best Lifts:
Squat: 1x285 lbs
Bench: 1x215 lbs
Deadlift: 1x300 lbs
Press: 1x130 lbs
Power Clean: 3x130 lbs

Body composition:
height: 5'10"
weight: 156.0
waist: 30”
est. body fat based on 3-site caliper test: 14.25%
est. body fat based on scale: 14%

The scale reads 11.0%, but I got a Bod Pod measurement once and it was around 3% greater than the scale, measured an hour apart. All scale measurements in this log will factor in that boost, since it seems pretty consistent with the calipers too.

My numbers make me look pretty small, but I look a lot better than I did a couple years ago, that's for sure. I still have the typical skinny-fat problems of a mushy tummy and chest. Hopefully some weight gain will help fill my chest out without making my manboobs even more voluptuous.

Goals:
Would like to end up weighing at least 170-180 lbs at the same or lower body fat percentage. A 405-lb deadlift, 315-lb squat, and 225-lb bench sound like pretty ambitious goals before moving on to something like the Texas Method.

Nutrition:
My maintenance intake seems to be around 2600-3000 calories per day, which I've bumped up to around 3500-3800 at the moment. I'm doing somewhere between 1/2 and 5/8 GOMAD (8-10 cups of whole milk per day). Average macros are around 175g fat, 330g carbs, 190g protein. Supplements are a multivitamin, vitamin D, and fish oil. I enjoy my coffee every morning and a drink most nights (never more than two). I used to take creatine and eat lots of whey protein but I dropped both of those a while back (not opposed to adding them back at some point).

Note:
I'm actually a few weeks into my reboot of the Novice progression, but I'll update the log with individual posts for each workout until I'm all caught up.

[carson]

Welcome. I'm looking forward to your updates.

[grittypop]

Then I guess I'd better get cracking!

A couple general notes on the format: I'm not including the warm-up sets, but I'm following them as calculated on the standard SS spreadsheet. Sometimes I end up skipping the second set of five with the empty bar (whoops), and on deadlifts I just start at 135 lbs, even when I'm supposed to start lighter.

I also like to record the perceived difficulty of each set as a percentage of 100, just so I get a sense of when I'm starting to push the limit, when I might be feeling more fatigued than usual, etc.

8/11/14 - Starting Strength #1 - Original Novice - Workout B

weight: 156.0, 14% bf (scale)

Squat:
185 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 78, 79, 79%)

Bench Press:
150 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 80, 79, 80%)

Deadlift:
205 lbs
5 (diff 78%)

I started with workout A, but based on the day I eventually added power cleans, this was really a "B" workout. I also reset my lifts 80% based on where I left off before my little vacation, and started with the basic "deadlift every session" approach.

[grittypop]

8/13/14 - Starting Strength #2 - Original Novice - Workout A

weight: 155.4, 13.8% bf (-.6 lbs, 0.2% bf from first session)

note: started 1/4 GOMAD with whole milk today

Squat:
190 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 81, 79, 80%)

Press:
90 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 79, 79, 80%)

Deadlift:
212.5 lbs
5 (diff 79%)

Started out with jumps 7.5 lbs on deadlifts, since I thought 10 lbs might be a little too aggressive.

[grittypop]

8/15/14 - Starting Strength #3 - Original Novice - Workout B

weight: 155.8, 13.7% (-0.2 lbs, -0.3% bf from first session)

Squat:
195 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 80, 81, 81%)

Bench Press:
155 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 82, 80, 80%)

Deadlift:
220 lbs
5 (diff 81%)

Seems like 1/4 GOMAD isn't enough, since my weight isn't really climbing yet.

[grittypop]

8/17/14 - Starting Strength #4 - Original Novice - Workout A

weight: 154.8, 13.7% bf (-1.2 lbs, -0.3% bf from first session)

Squat:
200 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 82, 81, 88%)

Press:
95 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 82, 78, 81%)

Deadlift:
227.5 lbs
5 (diff 84%)

My work schedule is light right now and I'm feeling like 48 hours is enough to recover, so I'm skipping the 2-day break for the first few weeks until things start getting difficult and my schedule is busier.

[grittypop]

8/19/14 - Starting Strength #5 - Original Novice - Workout B

weight: 156.0, 14% bf (same as first session)

Squat:
205 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 82 85 83%)

Bench Press:
160 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 81 79 84%)

Deadlift:
240 lbs
5 (diff 84%)

Decided to stop the weird 7.5 lb jumps with the deadlift, so I moved up 12.5 lbs this time to make an even number. Will continue with 10-lb jumps as long as I can.

Not gaining weight so bumping up to 3/8 GOMAD.

[grittypop]

8/21/14 - Starting Strength #6 - Original Novice - Workout A

weight: 153.6, 13.6% bf (-2.4 lbs, -0.4% bf from first session)

Squat:
210 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 84, 83, 87%)

Press:
100 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 83, 79, 81%)

Deadlift:
240 lbs
250 (diff 85%)

It's been discouraging how difficult squats have felt since I've been back. Right now 210 feels like 240 or 250!

Still losing weight?! Bumped milk up to 1/2 GOMAD (8 cups a day). Calories today were 3793 with 169g fat, 334g carbs, 193g protein.

[grittypop]

8/23/14 - Starting Strength #7 - Original Novice - Workout B

weight: 155.2, 13.8% bf (-0.8 lbs, -0.2% bf from first session)

Squat:
215 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 83, 84, 85%)

Bench Press:
165 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 84, 82, 82%)

Power Clean:
95 lbs
3, 3, 3, 3, 3 (diff 60, 59, 59, 60, 60%)

Added the power clean, since deadlifts were starting to feel a little intense. Started the cleans very light, since I'm pretty undertrained on those.

[grittypop]

8/25/14 - Starting Strength #8 - Original Novice - Workout A

weight: 155.0, 13.6% bf (-1 lb, -0.4% bf from first session)

Squat:
220 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 84, 82, 88%)

Press:
105 lbs
5, 5, 5 (diff 86, 84, 85%)

Deadlift:
260 lbs
5 (diff 87%)

Deadlifts getting hard...could feel my grip slipping at the end (I use double-overhand).

Bumped milk up to 5/8 GOMAD (10 cups).