Paul's "My So Called Lift"

[Strega]

Overdue in creating a log so I’ll do a catch up and start documenting on a regular basis. I am 56 years old, 5’6” and currently weight 193 pounds. I resemble Homer Simpson a lot more than someone that’s been lifting for a few months. Deep inside my fat I’m an ectomorph screaming to get out. During high school I ran distance three seasons a year and graduated at 118 pounds soaking wet with a 28 inch chest. I lifted a bit in my early 20’s to end the humiliation of having to shop in the boy’s department instead of the men’s. Achieved my shopping goal and every 5 years or so I’d pick up weights for a few months and quit.

Many years flash by… September 2014 I woke up fat, old and weak at 195 pounds with 30% body fat, chest measurement of 42”, biceps under 14” and fairly small wrist and hands. Like so many other things I would love a do over. That sort of sets the stage of the mess I started with.

Sept 2014 I started using Mehdi’s StrongLifts apps on my phone and a lot of walking. If you are not familiar with StrongLifts it’s a basic 5x5 program. Three workouts per week, three core exercises and 5 sets of 5 reps for each lift starting out with an empty bar. Added weight every workout and after a few months I was stronger and my weight dropped to 173 pounds. So by the end of Dec 2014 my squat passed 165 and my deadlift hit 180. I became very aware that despite watching videos online and previous lifting I had no idea what proper form is.

I discovered the book SS and found a trainer in Maryland (Diego Socolinsky at Fivex3 Training) about an hour away from my home. I set up a session for a private one-on-one session for the first Sunday in Feb 2015 to get started. Diego was amazing and I learned an awful lot. I decided to dump my old saw-tooth squat rack that I was tripping over and do a complete refresh on my basement gym. Lost a lot of time in the revamp and started up doing SS on 04/06/2015.
So that’s where I start.....

[peez]

Welcome to the forum, Paul - you are on the path to full beasthood now! Looking forward to following along!

[carson]

Welcome. You've found the Gold Standard and a certified SS coach. Excellent start. I'm eager to see your progress.

[Strega]

Thanks Guys!

So my first update, I assume we leave off warm ups and such. I decided that since I had a lengthy break I’d start low and try to continue with a longer linear progression. Trying to lift twice per week (currently Monday and Thursday are my ideal days) due to my being 56 I’m told that I was doing too much with the StrongLifts program and that I should gain more by with less stress. Sucks to lift twice per week as its sort of admitting I’m old?

Session #1, 04/06/2015
Squat - 120 3X5
Bench Press – 120 3x5
Dead Lift - 120 1x5

Session #2, 04/10/2015
Squat - 125 3X5
Press – 65 3x5
Power Clean - 45 5x3

I don’t really know how to do Power Cleans so I’m basically just doing these as an aerobic exercise. Practicing with just the bar and not really keeping a strict count on reps, sets or time. I keep this trend with PC’s up for several months I should have switched over and added chins or something else.

Session #3, 04/13/2015
Squat - 130 3X5
Bench Press – 125 3x5
Dead Lift - 130 1x5

Session #4, 04/17/2015
Squat - 135 3X5
Press – 70 3x5
Power Clean - 45 5x3 (still just tooling around on these)

Increase all lifts 5 pounds per session, except for Deadlift that I increase 10 pounds each session.

Everything seems routine until....

[Strega]

Lucky 13

A few observations: I struggle to get the bar low on my back and I am not going deep enough in my squat. For now it’s one giant frustration I set my hands and try to wiggle down and it never seem exactly right. Also I’ve not done much walking and the weight is starting to come back on. I’m sure some of the weight gain is due to muscle but I feel as if that’s minuscule, compared to the overall fat gain. Lucky session 13 brings me a shock on bench. I missed getting 5 reps in my last set and I’m shocked. I legitimately had one rep max of 208 in bench “x” number of years ago. I can’t honestly recall how many years ago but I figured with having done the StrongLifts things for a few months that I would not have missed until about 170.


Session #13, 05/26/2015
Squat - 180 3X5
Bench Press – 150 2x5, 1x3 (fail)
Dead Lift - 180 1x5

I am also concerned here that I am moving up in squats but maybe I should have repeated a week or two along the way given that I don’t feel my depth was right.

[carson]

I know what you mean about old people having to limit oneself to less than three times a week. When I hit 67 I switched to twice per week. You are concerned about squat depth and/or technique. If possible, put up a video in the technique section. I always list warm ups.

[Strega]

Carson,

Thanks for the suggest to list warm ups. I'm still up in the air on twice or three times per week. However the coach recommendation was I was doing too much. Add to that I have an 8 year old daughter (second marriage) and she keeps me pretty busy. It's always a balance..... Regarding the squat I think I'm making progress however by "back dating" all this info and creating a log I'm putting my current state at the time for "completeness" of record keeping...

[Strega]

Session #14, 05/29/2015
Squat
Warm Up
45 2x5
70 1x5
110 1x3
145 1x2

Work
185 3x5


Press
Warm Up
45 2x5
50 1x5
65 1x3
80 1x2

Work
95 2x5
95 1x1 (fail)


No go at all, felt very weak when I started. It's weird by my arms seemed sore from the start right after the squat.


Power Clean – still using these as an aerobic session.



Session #15, 6/1/2015
Squat
Warm Up
45 2x5
75 1x5
110 1x3
150 1x2

Work
190 3x5



Bench Press
Warm Up
45 2x5
75 1x5
105 1x3
135 1x2

During the warmup I use the plate switching time as my rest, after the last warmup set should I rest and if so how much?

Work
150 3x5

Rested 3 minutes between each set, erasing last week’s failure in set 3.

Deadlift
Warm Up
75 2x5
110 1x3
160 1x2

Work
190 1x5

These seem pretty easy so far.

[commanist]

I'm still up in the air on twice or three times per week. However the coach recommendation was I was doing too much.

Diego is the man and you should listen to what he says. Not that I'm biased or anything. (I lift with Diego and Emily as well and also come from about an hour away to do so.)

Welcome aboard! Looking forward to watching your progress.

[Strega]

Diego is the man and you should listen to what he says.

I agree, the one session I had was awesome and hope to get back again this month. I should have stated my concern this way...

"I'm still up in the air on twice or three times per week. Because to so is admitting I'm not in my 30's and it's another jab at facing my mortality"

Pretty much up until about age 45 I could close my eyes and I was 18. In my early 50's I went to bed one night and woke up 34, it was horrifying. Passing the mid point of 50 I'm still struggling with it all.