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m_hoop Joins Cult, Chases Numbers
Hey guys and gals,
So, I think I've come to a realization that only can be achieved with age and a reasonable amount of humility - I'm a novice. I've been exercising one way or another since college. At one point or another, I've put up some reasonable numbers; 255 bench press at 135lbs, 325 deadlift at 140lbs, never over a 265 squat. I lifted weights, I ran a lot (military, hooyah), all that stuff. But it was just exercise. I fell victim to the 'program schizophrenia' mentality and couldn't stick with anything. When you pair that with me being relatively underweight and constantly chasing that with no success, it was an exercise in wheel-spinning. As long as I can remember, I've wanted to tip the scales at 160. A strong, relatively lean 160. Not 'shredded' or 'ripped' or whatever the phrase is, but strong. 160 has always been the goal and I don't think I've ever been close. I bought Rip's book, I'm reading it now (along with the forums), and today I started lifting (the right way). Goal here is to maintain the accountability to a program for more than the three or four weeks that I usually take to get tired of something. Hopefully, if I can get final cut to cooperate, I'm going to have my last set posted for form progression each workout. Missed it today because the wife and I decided to watch Revenant instead. Whatever.
Stats:
Sex: Male
Age: 32
Follicle status: bald. Quite bald.
Weight: 140lbs even, today.
Day 1 (One) - Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Chins
Squat:
165 x 5 x 3
Bench:
145 x 5 x 3 (this started at 155, but I overestimated)
Deadlift:
205 x 5 x 1
Chins:
13, 10, 7 - underhand
Notes; narrower, strict grip on the bench press is a beast, and it's humbling. I re-read the chapter on the squat this morning during Jury Duty (ugh) out of SSv3 and a few of the cues REALLY helped. I've never LBBS'ed before and, despite some discomfort, I really felt it lock in place and was able to concentrate on hip drive. Felt good.
Oh, and each day I'm going for the gallon of milk plan. Because I got started late today, I didn't hit it. Strike one.
- hoop.
Member
Welcome to the forum!
You are starting high, relative to BW ... but that's because of you weight. Looks like you are fixing that. There are plenty of other ways to meet the nutritional needs of a growing mammal - but if you can handle GOMAD - go for it! Good look, we'll be following along.
If you can, go see a SSC - you are lucky to have many available in TX.
Member
Welcome. What is your height?
Member
Height. Derka derka. My bad.Originally Posted by carson
I'm a shade under 5'9".
Member
Day 2 (yesterday) in the books -
Stats:
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 142 lbs last night.
Also still bald.
Day 2 (Two) - Squat, Press, Power Clean, Chins
Squat:
175 x 5 x 3
Press:
95 x 5 x 3
Power Clean:
135 x 3 x 5
Chins:
15, 8 - underhand
Notes; I am absolutely uncomfortable doing the LBBS, but not because my form buckles. I'm actually finding the 'chest up, elbows back' method of locking the bar in really helpful. My skinniness is what's killing me. The area that the bar is sitting on near the outside of my scapula is murderously sore; I mean, tender to the touch and it cause me some issues yesterday. Because of the pressure/pain, I definitely stayed a little more vertical than I probably should have. Presses were a humbling moment for me. See, I made a mistake when I took my max for training. I had my grip waaaay too wide. So, when I focused and narrowed it, I found that my projected weight was a little on the heavy side. Either way, I got my sets/reps in and I don't think my form broke. Power cleans were fun - I have a little experience with olympic lifting so it felt good to do this again. I can catch 135 with minimal knee bend, so I think it's probably right where I should be. Managed 2 sets of chins because I was smoked and dinner was ready.
Other important things - I discovered that I have no 2.5 lb plates, so hitting even numbered lift days is hard. That sucks, so I ordered some. I also discovered that my phone has almost no memory, so my video montage idea for the last set is tough to do right now.
GOMAD Status: Listen, drinking a gallon of milk per day is damn hard [with no plan]. My first day I think I started a little too late to actually get the milk down. Yesterday I gave a reasonable go at it and discovered that around a half-gallon in I could totally do it. But, the downside is that I was not hungry almost at all. When you combine those two things with the fact that I still made myself eat, I was uncomfortably full most of the day - including my workout. So, today I'm trying something different. I'm effectively eating 3 meals today and between them I'm going to drink about a quart of milk. If I eat dinner early enough (which I should), I should be sitting pretty for my gallon.
- hoop.
Member
Now a PC already near BW and 15 chins - wow. You are off to a great start. Not sure how much this will do for your follicles but I think you'll go quite far on this program. Bon appetit!
Member
Flash edit: These are my 'last set' day 2 lifts. Apologies that it was filmed on a potato.
Squat angle needs to be better - we had to jack around with the garage because of the storms in N. Texas the other day.
Member
Yeah it'll put hair on your chest (and maybe your back) but not your head.
Member
Well this first week finished with a screaming start.
Listen, I understand that accountability is a big part of progress, and I think I made a judgmental error in my timing. My plan for last week was to exercise Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday because I had plans on Friday. Tuesday and Thursday were fine - up to and including sticking to the food plan. The scale was trending up in small increments, I was appropriately sore, and things were looking good. Then the wheels came off. I slept like absolute ass on Friday night after not getting home until midnight and got up at 5, then I got busy at home, and on Sunday I spent most of the day <insert reasons here>, so I missed my third workout. Awesome. To heap on, this weekend I get to see my son for the first time in months (this is an upside, not a negative) but that means that my only real workout days until next Monday are today through Thursday and maaaaybe Friday morning. We'll see.
On the upside, I did get my 2.5lb weight plates in.
I think my plan for THIS week, now that I'm all set, is going to be this - start the program over since I was only technically two days in and now I have the appropriate weight jumps. I can start today and should be able to stay on track. Still eating right (with the exception of the weekend, because I mean come on, live a little AND get strong) and making sure I stay accountable - like I said, I just mis-played last week.
We'll see how this week goes.
-hoop
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