37 and on a linear way to strength (already need to buy new t-shirts)

[Matthias Hefti]

Hello everybody,

I’m a almost 37 year old man living in Switzerland. I’m working in a machine building company in the first-time operation department. I'm married and proud father of a daughter. Please be gracious with my mediocre English.

All of my life I was non athletic. In 2009 I joined a local globo gym, but had neither fun nor progress on my training (mostly machines, some cable pulls). About 4 years ago I started to ride a mountain bike and really start to enjoy sports more and more. To optimize my performance I started some body weight exercise program last year and made good gains. Since November 2016 I joined a small, new opened gym in my region and started some CrossFit-like training and really enjoyed the barbell work the most. So the gym owner suggested me a linear progression.

I started with front squat/bench press/Deadlift on Tuesday and front squat/push press/power clean on Thursday and continued the WODs on Saturday. I worked myself up to:

60kgx5x3 front squad (132lbs)
45kgx5x3 bench press (99lbs)
40kgx5x3 push press (88lbs)
75kgx5 deadlift (165lbs)
35kgx5x3 power clean (77lbs)

Then I bought the book SS:BBT, read several articles on this website and finally decided to follow the program as written. I made some setbacks on my lifts, introduced the low bar back squat and stopped the WODs.

[Matthias Hefti]

My Starting Stats:

Gender: Male
Age: 36 (almost 37)
Starting Weight: 90,5kg (200lbs, almost a real man), about 20-25% body fat
Height: 183cm (6‘)
Training Days: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Programming:

I follow the chin up progression as described by SSC Niki Sims in the recent article „Training the Chin-Up“. I manage my warm up sets with the Starting Strength App.

[Matthias Hefti]

My first week:

Tuesday, 14.3.2017
Squat: 50kgx5x3 (110lbs), very easy, +5kg on next workout
Press: 32.5kgx5x3 (72lbs)
Deadlift: 70kgx5 (154lbs)
Chin Up: 3 sets, 7/5/5 reps (band assisted, 2 purple bands)

Thursday, 16.3.2017
Bodyweight: 91kg (201lbs)
Squat: 55kgx5x3 (121lbs), not so easy, back to 2.5kg steps
Bench Press: 45kgx5x3 (99lbs)
Power Clean 40kgx3x5 (88lbs)
Chin Up: negatives, 6 sets of 1 rep, can keep the descent speed slow (0,0,3)
Pulldown: 60kgx8x2 (132lbs)

Saturday, 18.3.2017
Squat: 57.5kgx5x3 (126lbs)
Press: 35kgx5x3 (77lbs)
Deadlift: 75kgx5 (165lbs)
Chin Up: 3 sets, 9/6/5 reps (band assisted, 2 purple bands)

[Matthias Hefti]

Second Week:

Tuesday, 21.3.2017
Squat: 60kgx5x3 (132lbs)
Bench Press: 47.5kgx5x3 (105lbs)
Power Clean 42.5kgx3x5 (94lbs)
Chin Up: negatives, 6 sets of 2 reps, still can keep the descent speed slow (0,0,3)
Pulldown: 62.5kgx8x2 (138lbs)

Thursday, 23.3.2017
Squat: 62.5kgx5x3 (138lbs)
Press: 37.5kgx5x3 (83lbs)
Deadlift: 80kgx5 (176lbs)
Chin Up: 3 sets, 11/8/6 reps (band assisted, 2 purple bands)

Got some cough and light fever on Friday, that raised over 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) on Saturday, so I skipped the last workout of this week.

[Matthias Hefti]

Third Week:

I recovered good over the weekend from my sickness, but decided to skip another workout for full recovery and to repeat my last workout one-to-one.

Thursday, 30.3.2017
Squat: 62.5kgx5x3 (138lbs)
Press: 37.5kgx5x3 (83lbs)
Deadlift: 80kgx5 (176lbs)
Chin Up: 3 sets, 12/9/8 reps (band assisted, 2 purple bands)

Saturday, 1.4.2017
Bodyweight: 91.5kg (202lbs)
Squat: 65kgx5x3 (143lbs)
Bench Press: 50kgx5x3 (110lbs)
Power Clean 45kgx3x5 (99lbs)
Chin Up: negatives, 5 sets of 3 reps, descent speed increased during the sets (0,0,2-3)
Pulldown: 65kgx8x2 (143lbs)

[Matthias Hefti]

Fourth Week:

Tuesday, 4.4.2017
Squat: 67.5kgx5x3 (149lbs)
Press: 40kgx5 (88lbs), only 4 reps on set 2 and 3
Deadlift: 85kgx5 (187lbs)
Chin Up: 3 sets, 5/4/4 reps (band assisted, 1 purple band)

Thursday, 6.4.2017
Squat: 70kgx5x3 (154lbs)
Bench Press: 52.5kgx5x2 (116lbs), only 4 reps on set 3
Power Clean 47.5kgx3x5 (105lbs)
Chin Up: negatives, 5 sets of 3 reps, descent speed still increased during the sets (0,0,2-3)
Pulldown: 67.5kgx8x2 (149lbs)

Saturday, 8.4.2017
Squat: 72.5kgx5x3 (154lbs)
Press: 40kgx5x3 (88lbs), extended rest, not really a problem this time
Deadlift: 90kgx5 (198lbs), used hook grip on my workset for the first time
Chin Up: 3 sets, 6/5/3 reps (band assisted, 1 purple band)

[Matthias Hefti]

Fifth Week:

I reread the article for the chin up progression and go down to two sessions per week on Tuesday and Saturday to not compromise my regeneration.

Tuesday, 11.4.2017
Squat: 75kgx5x3 (165lbs)
Bench Press: 52.5kgx5x3 (116lbs), extended rest
Power Clean 50kgx3x5 (110lbs)
Chin Up: negatives, 5 sets of 3 reps, descent speed increased during set 4 and 5 (0,0,2-3)
Pulldown: 70kgx8x2 (154lbs)

Thursday, 13.4.2017
Squat: 77.5kgx5x3 (171lbs)
Press: 42.5kgx3x3 (94lbs), only 3 reps per set possible, need to switch to microload soon
Deadlift: 95kgx5 (209lbs), very hard

According to some form problems i deload my power cleans to 40kg (88lbs)

Saturday, 15.4.2017
Bodyweight: 92kg (203lbs)
Squat: 80kgx5x3 (176lbs), really hard, form not consistent
Bench Press: 55kgx5x2 (121lbs), only 3 reps on my last set, need to be patient on rest time
Power Clean 40kgx3x3 (88lbs), very hard and inconsistent in form
Chin Up: 3 sets, 6/5/4 reps (band assisted, 1 purple band), to tired from the power cleans

[Matthias Hefti]

First Month Review:

I'm really impressed. The program worked fine for me until now. I had some progression problems with the press and the bench press, but still on course. My body reacts very good on the rep scheme. I built up some mass (almost lean), mostly on arms, chest and shoulders. My wife suggested me to buy some new t-shirts. Because some lack of sleep (3 months old, sweet daughter), my regeneration is not optimal. No major pains until now, only some fatigue in the lower back.


First Month Conclussions:

- stay on the program
- deload the squat and deadlift around 10kg each to improve form and regenerate lower back
- improve form sustainable on the power clean
- organize some 0.25, 0.5 and 1 kg plates for the press
- belt and lifting shoes (I will bring forward an appropriation request)
- make some footage of my lifts for form checks here on the forum

[carson]

Your English is just fine. I'm humbled by the fact that I only speak English. I used to read Greek, Latin, German, and French but I doubt that I could even do that now. To be able to read and write in more than one language is to be commended.

You are making nice progress. If you have the opportunity and the equipment you may wish to post some of your lifts for technique checks.

Just wait until you can Deadlift your body weight and then Squat your body weight. Those will be exciting days. Keep up the good work.

[Matthias Hefti]

Thank you very much for your motivating answer, Carson. I'm really impressed about your work under the bar. My French is also almost forgotten, not to mention my Latin. My deload yesterday was good, so my lower back is almost recovered. So back on my progression tomorrow. Posting my lifts is planned. Would be a honor to have you back on my log someday.