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Thread: Raskolnikov's Log

  1. #1
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    Nov 2009
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    Default Raskolnikov's Log

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    I've decided to start lifting again after about a year away from the gym. I lifted throughout college and I spent my time benching, pressing, deadlifting, squatting, etc., but I was always very inconsistent, and my work ethic sucked. I basically had workout ADD and would hop from one program to the next, usually depending on which internet guru I happened to be reading at the moment. I put on some size -- went from 185 to 230 lbs -- but was never very strong. When I quit lifting, I also quit eating, and in less than a year, I managed to lose roughly 40 lbs.

    Anyways, I've decided to give Starting Strength a go. As of right now, I'm 6'2" 195lbs, up about 5 lbs over the last three weeks since returning to the gym. In that time, I've just been doing my own thing in the gym with no real rhyme or reason.

    Today was day 1 of Starting Strength (I'm following the Practical Programming Novice Program):

    Squat:
    45 x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 165 x 3, 185 x 2, 205 x 1, 225 x 3 x 5

    Press:
    45 x 5, 60 x 3, 80 x 2, 100 x 1, 115 x 3 x 5

    Chins:
    BW x 12, x 10, x 6

    Any advice or comments are welcome!

  2. #2
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    Nov 2009
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    Squat:
    45 x 2 x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 165 x 3, 190 x 2, 210 x 1, 230 x 3 x 5

    Bench:
    45 x 2 x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 3, 155 x 2, 175 x 1, 185 x 3 x 5

    Deadlift:
    135 x 5, 185 x 3, 225 x 2 x 2, 265 x 2 x 1, 305 x 5

    Body weight this morning: 193


    Notes:

    Not really sure if I'm warming up correctly -- any recommendations on that front are welcome.

    Everything felt pretty easy, but I wonder if I'm starting to heavy? Looking ahead a few weeks, I can see myself hitting a roadblock. I definitely need to straighten my diet out and make sure I'm eating enough if I'm going to avoid that.

    Also, I was thinking about adding power cleans to my press day, which I suppose would make my template just like the Starting Strength template with the addition of chins/pull-ups. I'm assuming there's probably a good reason Rip didn't design the template that way, so would that be too much volume? Would I be better off just dropping the chins/pull-ups in favor of power cleans? Or should I leave things as they are now?

  3. #3
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    Nov 2009
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    Hi Ras program and numbers look good.

    Quote Originally Posted by Raskolnikov View Post
    Everything felt pretty easy, but I wonder if I'm starting to heavy? Looking ahead a few weeks, I can see myself hitting a roadblock. I definitely need to straighten my diet out and make sure I'm eating enough if I'm going to avoid that.
    I think you have answered your own question there. Weights will be fine and you will get stronger just sort your eating out! If you stall this will be why you have already said it.

    With regards cleans and chins. I would stick with SS how Rip originally intends it to be done. Drop chins and do PC's at least for first month, then if you really want to change it maybe rotate chins and PC's the same as you do with Bench/Press? Even though your workouts may be easyish now when the squats start getting heavy you will need all the recovery you can to maintain progress. No point messing it all up by trying to squeeze chins and PC's in.

    If you look through Rip's Q&A you will see a familiar denominator with people that do not get much out of the SS program. They don't eat enough and they mess with the program! It really is that simple.

  4. #4
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    do the PCs. I am a total PC convert. Great upper back work and makes your traps bug out. nothing like a big yoke.

  5. #5
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    Thanks for the feedback, guys! Power cleans and lots of food ... got it!

    Unfortunately, after my thrid Thanksgiving dinner of the week last night, I got very, very ill. It was ugly. I haven't been able to keep anything down in almost 24 hours and I feel like roadkill. So it's not looking like my workout tomorrow is going to happen. And I'm assuming a deload will be in order when I do return...

  6. #6
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    I'll definitely be missing today's workout. after roughly 36 hours of not being able to keep anything down, water included, I've started eating again. I managed to get down half a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of milk -- hardly what I would call a meal, but a good start. I feel incredibly weak. Just standing up has me winded and light headed. I don't know what the hell I got hit with, but it's a bitch!

  7. #7
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    Does not sound good. At least you are starting to feel on the up.

  8. #8
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    I woke up today feeling all back to normal... now I just need to get some damn food in me! I'll be lifting tomorrow, but I'm definitely going to deload a bit. I figure I can just take bigger than normal jumps, asuming everything feels up to par, until I get back to where I should be. So with the substitution of power cleans for chins/pull-ups, tommorow should look like the following:

    Squats: 205 x 3s x 5s
    Press: 115 x 3s x 5s (I started this one pretty light, so no deload should be necessary)
    Power Cleans: 135 x 5s x 3r

  9. #9
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    I'll be off to the gym in a few. I dusted off my old VS Athletics weightlifting shoes; I hate power cleaning in the chucks. However, they are the ones with the super tall heel (made before they reduced the heel height), so I'm not sure how they'll feel with low bar squats. Before my lay-off, I stuck pretty much exclusively to high bar and front squats. I've tried deadlifting in them and that's definitely a no go. But, assuming they work well for squats, I can always just take them off when I deadlift. Anybody have any experience with these shoes?

    Anyways, bodyweight this morning is down to 188. I guess that's not too bad all things considered -- much of it is probably water weight anyways.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    12/3

    Squats:
    45 x 2 x 5
    95 x 5
    135 x 3
    160 x 2
    185 x 1
    205 x 3 x 5

    Press
    45 x 2 x 5
    70 x 3
    95 x 2
    115 x 3 x 5

    Power Clean
    95 x 3
    115 x 3
    135 x 5 x 3

    Notes:
    Squats: Pretty easy, but 205# today felt about as difficult as 230# did on Sunday, so I think the deload was a good idea. I think I'll probably jump back up to 225# on Saturday, then, depending on how that feels, 235# next Tuesday. Oh... I'll defiitely be sticking with the weightlifting shoes -- night and day difference.

    Press: I think the extra stability added by the shoes helped a lot here. Today actually felt lighter than my last press workout, despite losing 5 lbs in 3 days.

    Power Cleans: Felt great to power clean again. Form wasn't rusty. As it turns out, I started quite a bit lighter than I really needed to. Should I make 10lb jumps until things get difficult, or should I stick with 5lb jumps?

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