I have never touched a barbell in my life (Starting Strength)

[pancakewaffles]

Background
Hello everyone! I'm 16 years old and after starting SS, I have to say that I have never enjoyed lifting so much. It's very self-satisfying to hit a personal record each session. I think I'm naturally weak because a lot of the "I'm weak/First time lifting" loggers start out a lot stronger than me (almost double my starting lifts). Hopefully all of that will change soon.

Health
I'm a senior in high school so I can't always expect 8 hours of rest, especially with varsity swimming (we practice 2 hours a day, 6 days a week). I lift RIGHT AFTER practice. That's just how it fits into my schedule and there's no possible time to lift beforehand (practice is right after school). Most of the time when I get under the bar, I'm sore/wiped out from swimming. I do sleep a lot on weekends though. Before I started lifting, my diet was poor at best. I ate whenever I wanted, and it was usually a combination of brown rice, vegetables, and fish. Now that I'm trying to make strength gains, I'm eating a lot of meat and attempting GOMAD.

Routine
Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press
5x3 Power Clean
2x8 Chin-ups

My Starting Stats (Session #1) 11/8/2011
Height: 5' 6"
Weight: 128 lbs
Squat: 95 lbs
Bench: 85 lbs
Deadlift: 75 lbs
Press: 50 lbs
Power Clean: 45 lbs
Chin-Up: BW

My Current Stats (Session #18) 12/17/2011
Weight: 139 lbs
Squat: 165 lbs
Bench: 110 lbs
Deadlift: 175 lbs
Press: 70 lbs
Power Clean: 100 lbs
Chin-Up: BW

My Goals
Squat: 225 lbs
Bench: 185 lbs
Deadlift: 315 lbs
Press: 135 lbs
Power Clean: 135 lbs
Chin-Up: BW + 25 lbs

[pancakewaffles]

Saturday November 26, 2011 (Session #9)

First session where I failed on sets.

Weight: 134 lbs
Squat: 130 lbs -> Huge improvement from last time.
Bench: 105 lbs -> Failed on the last two sets (5/3/2). I might clock it down since I have been struggling with the bench for awhile.
Deadlift: 130 lbs -> It's finally caught up to my squat!
Dips: BW + 20 lbs -> Again, another failed set (8/5). I'm not that surprised though since weighted dips are hard. I'll keep it the same weight for next session

Other thoughts: Upper body workouts are hard.

[spiderman]

Background
Hello everyone! I've been doing SS for the past two weeks and a half and I have to say, I have never enjoyed lifting so much. It's very self-satisfying to hit a personal record each session.

Welcome.

Background
I'm a senior in high school so I can't always expect 8 hours of rest.

Why does being a senior in high school mean you cannot prioritize at least 8 hours of rest per day? That is something athletes have to learn how to do: set priorities to maximize performance.

Background
I'm also on the varsity swim team (we practice 2 hours a day, 6 days a week) so I can't always expect a rapid recovery. I'm also on the varsity swim team (we practice 2 hours a day, 6 days a week) so I can't always expect a rapid recovery. My diet is poor at best. I eat whenever I want. It's usually a combination of brown rice, vegetables, and fish.

Do you want to eat better and do you have the discipline to make that change in your life? Are you drinking a GOMAD?

[Carlos Daniel]

I'll keep it simple: your success on this routine is going to be directly proportional to how much you eat. If you eat a LOT, you'll make good progress and you'll get big and strong and nail the whole cheerleading squad. If you don't, you'll keep failing at a 105 lbs bench and you'll find yourself a year from now benching 145 or something equally mediocre and wondering why you're small and skinny and why chicks don't want to fuck you.

So, take care of your diet. Replace the brown rice for eggs, replace the fish for beef and replace the water for whole milk.

Oh, and drop the dips. They are not on the program.

No, they're not.

[pancakewaffles]

Sorry, I should have clarified. That was my starting health before lifting. I've been trying to improve it and it's gotten a little better, but not the ideal situation.

I sometimes get 8 hours of sleep, but it's more often 6 during the school week. Practice ends around 7 pm. Then if I go to the gym, I'll get home around 8-8:30pm. Once I'm home I do my homework, eat dinner, and shower which I usually finish around 11:30 and roll into bed. By the time I actually fall asleep it's 12 (it takes me awhile to fall asleep). And then I wake up at 6am for school again. Sometimes I have to wake up at 4am if we have morning practice/doubles.

I'm trying to improve my sleep routine by getting things done faster and earlier. I have been getting more time catching z's but sometimes my teachers all just decide to give tests on one day, so it's not always possible.

About my diet. I've always had a small appetite, so the whole eat, eat, eat thing has been hard. Don't get me wrong, I'm trying. I'm eating 5-6 meals a day now (thanks to swimming and lifting). I went hard at thanksgiving this year too. I'm up to 1/2 GOMAD right now (I stopped drinking water. I now only drink milk), I'll be at GOMAD soon. I'm actually a little worried about GOMAD since it'll cost me $4 a day. I'm already struggling trying to afford the half GOMAD. I'll just have to work more hours busing, I guess. Oh and I'm not that skinny since I'm short, but putting on pounds doesn't bother me. I just want to be strong.

Quick question. What would you guys recommend as a economic meal. I buy my own food and cook for myself, so I can't always eat steak and other things. I just bought a whole bunch of cans of tuna when they were on sale for $0.50 a can. Obviously I'm not gonna eat tuna everyday and get mercury poisoning, so I'm gonna need something else. Right now, I mostly eat ground meat, eggs, and milk.

But you're all right, I need to focus more on the out of gym stuff.

[Carlos Daniel]

Sorry, I should have clarified. That was my starting health before lifting. I've been trying to improve it and it's gotten a little better, but not the ideal situation.

I sometimes get 8 hours of sleep, but it's more often 6 during the school week. Practice ends around 7 pm. Then if I go to the gym, I'll get home around 8-8:30pm. Once I'm home I do my homework, eat dinner, and shower which I usually finish around 11:30 and roll into bed. By the time I actually fall asleep it's 12 (it takes me awhile to fall asleep). And then I wake up at 6am for school again. Sometimes I have to wake up at 4am if we have morning practice/doubles.

I'm trying to improve my sleep routine by getting things done faster and earlier. I have been getting more time catching z's but sometimes my teachers all just decide to give tests on one day, so it's not always possible.

About my diet. I've always had a small appetite, so the whole eat, eat, eat thing has been hard. Don't get me wrong, I'm trying. I'm eating 5-6 meals a day now (thanks to swimming and lifting). I went hard at thanksgiving this year too. I'm up to 1/2 GOMAD right now (I stopped drinking water. I now only drink milk), I'll be at GOMAD soon. I'm actually a little worried about GOMAD since it'll cost me $4 a day. I'm already struggling trying to afford the half GOMAD. I'll just have to work more hours busing, I guess. Oh and I'm not that skinny since I'm short, but putting on pounds doesn't bother me. I just want to be strong.

Quick question. What would you guys recommend as a economic meal. I buy my own food and cook for myself, so I can't always eat steak and other things. I just bought a whole bunch of cans of tuna when they were on sale for $0.50 a can. Obviously I'm not gonna eat tuna everyday and get mercury poisoning, so I'm gonna need something else. Right now, I mostly eat ground meat, eggs, and milk.

But you're all right, I need to focus more on the out of gym stuff.

Eggs are cheap, chicken is cheap too as is ground beef. Tuna as you mentioned, is a fairly economical source. Bananas, rice and potatoes for carbs, butter for fat. As an occasional treat, a nice steak or some salmon is a nice change of pace. Peanut butter is caloric as hell, get some.

You don't need that many meals, just eat how many you want/can. Eat according to the following pattern: eat solids first, drink milk AFTER the solid food. I have found that even after being full, I could down a liter of milk, while the contrary wasn't true.

I give you Carlos Daniel's muscle sludge (now with extra awesome)

-Two scoops whey
-5g creatine (optional)
- a slab of ice cream (go crazy)
-two golf ball sized portions of peanut butter
-milk to taste.
-Blend.

[pancakewaffles]

Thanks for the tips! I already have most of those foods lying around the house, but now I'll be making sure I eat them. I don't think I'll be able to get the muscle sludge though. A thing of Whey and Creatine in my area is $70 (Money I don't have).

[Carlos Daniel]

Thanks for the tips! I already have most of those foods lying around the house, but now I'll be making sure I eat them. I don't think I'll be able to get the muscle sludge though. A thing of Whey and Creatine in my area is $70 (Money I don't have).

Where do you live?

[pancakewaffles]

I live on Long Island, part of New York. And I'm trying to save up for the 3rd edition of Starting Strength (which I should be able to buy after next weeks paycheck).

[Carlos Daniel]

I live on Long Island, part of New York.

http://www.trueprotein.com/Product_D...id=22&pid=6843

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