skills101 SS Training Log

[skills101]

Body Stats:
19 yr. old Male
5'8'' 165 lbs.

Background: I have been on SS for about 6 months, cutting for most of it to 150 lbs. Now, I'm finally on GOMAD, and have gained ~10 pounds in one month. My lifting stats have also improved significantly.

I'm a second-year pre-med student at UC Irvine, with the high hopes of either being a physician or being involved in medical research. At my peak, I was a homely 230 lbs. In a period of two years, I lost about 80 pounds, and now it's time to gain it all back the right way.

Goal: A lean 185 lbs and strong. We'll take it from there.

*Baseline Lifting Stats:
Squat- 200 (lbs) x 3 x 5
Press- 190 x 3 x 5
Power Clean- 115 x 5 x 3
Bench Press - 140 x 3 x 5
Deadlift- 235 x 3 x5

*My stats as of this posting.

[skills101]

BW = 165.4 lbs

Today's Work Sets:

Squat: 240(lbs)x1x5, 240x1x4, 240x1x1
Bench Press: 150x3x5
Deadlift: 275x1x3, 270x1x5

Bench and DL went well today, and I'll be adding 5 to each next go around.

The last set of squats were a disaster, I tried one more set after that and couldn't even do one rep. Major fatigue, will maintain that weight next go around.

[beastmaster103]

I'm no expert on this site - and don't claim to be - but how could you have been on starting strength and been cutting weight? And 80 lbs, no less!

Your lifts to bodyweight ratio is much better than mine...way to go, but I just was confused by that statement.

Good luck on achieving your goals.

[skills101]

I'm no expert on this site - and don't claim to be - but how could you have been on starting strength and been cutting weight? And 80 lbs, no less!

Well, most of the "cut" was just a result of more activity and eating less - I didn't start SS until the last ~10 pounds, and that was just maintaining muscle mass and learning form. I agree, you can't really "start strength" if you're cutting...

Thanks for your input--

[skills101]

BW = 165.8

Today's Work Sets

Squat: 240 (lbs)x1x4, 240x2x3 -- Failures on all three.
Press: 115x1x3, 112.5x3x4
Power Clean: 145x5x3

Decent day, except for squats. This is my third workout trying 3x5 at 240. I'm hoping to get it this next workout, since it's only a 5 lb jump from my most successful workout. Must...eat...more...

[jameson]

Just a quick thought. How did the 235x5x3 feel last Monday? I'm inclined to think you started a little heavy. You said you've been on "SS" for 6 months - how steady have you been with progression?

[skills101]

Just a quick thought. How did the 235x5x3 feel last Monday? I'm inclined to think you started a little heavy. You said you've been on "SS" for 6 months - how steady have you been with progression?

For most of it, I was maintaining weights, not adding, while I was cutting. In retrospect, that was a huge waste of time, and may have impacted novice gains, but I stubbornly wanted the satisfaction of weighing in at 150 for the first time since I was a kid.

But in the last month, I've gained more than 10 pounds, and with it a lot of strength gains. Looking at my paper log, in one month my lifts went from...

Squat 200 --> 240
DL 235 --> 270
Press 85 --> ~110
Bench Press 140 --> 150
Power Clean 105 --> 145 (lotta noob gains, I started PC's late)

The struggle at 240 might be because my weight gain has been tapering off, despite GOMAD. 235 was not exceedingly hard, and my workout partners told me I didn't cheat on depth. Sleep has been good as well. Because of all this, I just plan on eating a lot this weekend and hopefully returning to conquer 240 .

Thanks for posting, if I don't make it next time I'll be hitting you guys up for advice...

[skills101]

No Weigh-In Today

Today's Work Sets:

Squat: 240 x 1set x 5 reps, 240x1x4, x240x1x3
Bench Press: 155x1x5, 155x2x3
Deadlift: 275x1x5

Squat volume went up, but I still failed on the last two work sets. I have two days rest ahead of me... I guess I'll try again then... Will also maintain bench weight for next time.

Form checks for deadlift and squat are included below. Squat was the last work set, 3 reps then failure. Houston, please advise.

Squat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ildjFw5HvYU
Deadlift: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLalXZf72u0

[burnsco]

very simple fix for this. lower your weights. you started way too high, if you look through other logs on this site you will see most people start their squat at less then 200lbs. It's better to work your way slowly into this program then have an ego and start super high!

[skills101]

very simple fix for this. lower your weights. you started way too high, if you look through other logs on this site you will see most people start their squat at less then 200lbs. It's better to work your way slowly into this program then have an ego and start super high!

I started the program ~6 months ago squatting 95 lbs. The baseline lifting stats were simply my stats at the time of the OP.