Roscoe's Training Log

[Roscoe]

Initiated the Starting Strength A/B program October 14th, 2015 following program strictly since then.

Age: 43
Height: 5'7"
Start weight: 185
Background: Started doing floor presses (due to not having a bench) at the age of 10 with a Ted Williams weight set from Sears. Stayed active but never focused on developing strength as it wasn't my weakness. Done a lot of crossfit and GPP type training over the last 15 years to stay fit for playing in the mountains. Last two years worked specifically on building an aerobic base with not much progress despite 10-15 hours per week of training. Finally accepted my endomorph body may not ever adapt to the BMI necessary to excel at endurance sports and have come to the light. Looking forward to seeing how long the Linear Progress holds up. Wife has even joined me on a few garage sessions.

Worksets:
October 14: Squat & Dead - 3x5 @ 165, Bench - 3x5 @ 135
October 16: Squat - 3x5 @ 170, Press - 3x5 @ 85, Clean - 5x3 @ 115
Linear Progress since then
November 9: Squat - 3x5 @ 220, Press - 3x5 @ 110, Clean - 5x3 @ 140
November 11: Squat & Dead - 3x5 @ 225, Bench 3x5 @ 165
Body Weight up to 195
Lifts feel controlled, seems like my body has worked through the initial cranky knees and shoulders, sleeping and eating well, thank you for this simple program!

[Randy Scheingold]

Hey Roscoe - Welcome to the forum. Your stats look very similar to mine when I started. If you stick to the program you will see some great gains. May not be as quick as a 20 year old, but in about 8 months I was able to add 200 lbs to my DL and 190 pounds to my squat (that's at 1RM). At work sets, I 've added at least 150lb to each lift. Similar % increase for Press. BP not as good, but I started with a much better Bench in comparison to everything else.

Learning from my mistakes....make sure you:

1) video tape your sets....it can takes a while to get Squat & DL form nailed. And if you don't nail depth on squats....you'll waste a lot of time resetting later on when you eventually fix it.
2) get an SS Coach to review your form if you can afford it, if not, post form checks a lot
3) Read the books (many times)
4) Don't let yourself stall....microload press/bench and dont' stick with 10 lb jumps on Squat/DL for too long
5) Realize that just because your LP may not last as long as someone younger...you can still make great/rapid progress on an intermediate program.

I'll keep an eye on your log to cheer on your progress.

Also - I just noticed you put 3x5 for Dead. You should only be doing 1x5 for now. As the weights get into the high 200s/low 300s....that should be plenty of work to drive adaption.

[Roscoe]

1 & 2) I think there's a SS coach not far from here, I'll check with him for a consult.
3) I have Starting Strength and keep re-reading various sections. Any others you recommend?
4) Noted
5) Planning to milk the LP dry and reset when it stalls
*) Think I should jump the weight up on DL? One set isn't real hard, hence the additional sets. Recovery seems fine for now.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Randy Scheingold]

Are you doing 5 or 10lb jumps on the DL now?

The other key book to read is Practical Programming for Strength Training (3rd edition). This one goes through programming and how to transition to Advanced Novice and then

Intermediate (and beyond). It is a very easy read....less technical in nature than Starting STrength and is really the 2nd half to learning the program. Starting Strength teaches form. Practical Programming, covers sets/reps/what exercises to do...(i.e., programming) as you get more advanced.

also, there are a ton of good videos on this site...check those as well.

[Roscoe]

10 pound jumps on the DL currently.

I've watched and rematched the entire library of vids on the Starting Strength YouTube page. Very informative.

[Roscoe]

Squat: 3x5 @230 (posted form check vid)
Press: 3x5 @ 115 (felt strong)
Clean: 5x3 @145 (felt wacky, didn't get a good angle on video)
Pull-ups: 3x5 @ BW of 195

[Roscoe]

Saturday had a great massage.
Sunday went on an easy mountain bike ride.

5 minute jump rope and shoulder breakers to get warmed up a bit, pretty cold in the garage this morning.

Squat 3x5 @ 235 (hit good depth, still working on getting the bar lower on my back)
Bench 3x5 @ 170 (feels good)
Dead 1x5 @235 (started using the hook grip, feels a little strange but solid)
Chin Ups 3x5 at BW

[Roscoe]

I think I achieved a low bar position today because I could actually feel the bar on the back of my deltoid.

Worksets
Squat 3x5@ 240
Press: 3x5@ 120 (felt heavy)
Clean: 3x5@ 150 (form feels wacky but weight feels light, will post a vid later)
Chins: 3x8 @ BW (probably ready to add some weight)

[Roscoe]

Had to hustle through the workout today to make an early appointment. Won't make that mistake again as the squat and dead form felt like garbage. Could've slept more today as well, pretty groggy and sluggish this morning.

Worksets
Squat: 3x5 @ 245
Bench: 3x5 @ 175
Dead: 1x5 @ 245

[Roscoe]

Didn't sleep well and work out suffered a bit. May need to find a snack to eat as soon as I get out of bed. Tanks been a little empty for the workouts lately. Body weight seems to have stuck at 195 for the last two weeks.

Worksets:
Squat: 3x5 @ 250
Press: 3x5 @ 120 (again after my second rep at 125 failed)
Clean: 5x3 @ 155 (felt good although I noticed the bar is occasionally hitting my new gut on the way up and down)
Chins: 3x5 @ BW