Zeppelin Rambles On

[Zeppelin]

Welcome. I hope you find the books helpful; the program is the only thing that has ever worked for me despite a couple of decades of on and off screwing around in the gym (the detailed instructions on how to do the lifts really help). No doubt you'll find yourself getting even stronger in a hurry.

I'm enjoying the books, especially the Practical Programming as it's a bit more to the point and easily readable. The photos and diagrams in SS are immensely helpful, but the anatomy is a bit overwhelming at times. I'll read it all, but I definitely don't absorb it all.

[JWilmot]

Welcome Zeppelin! Not sure where your located in Texas, but there are a couple SSCs in San Antonio. I went to Austin Baraki and the dude knows his stuff. He made a few small changes to my form and gave me a few cues to work on, and it made a big difference in both my confidence and ability to lift. Worth the time and money!

[carson]

Appreciate the note. I'm currently a bit skeptical about how long I'll be able to LP, because I have a hard time mentally accepting I can move some of the weight required. It's also hard to envision myself gaining 30#. It's going to be interesting to see what happens.

I'm not far from Kingwood. I might have to swing over there to meet Andy at some point. I think he's a fellow Aggie.

I'm glad that you have a coach handy. Don't let your doubts defeat you. I'm 69 and deadlift 335. I was never did any strength training until I was 66.

[Agilic]

Appreciate the note. I'm currently a bit skeptical about how long I'll be able to LP, because I have a hard time mentally accepting I can move some of the weight required. It's also hard to envision myself gaining 30#. It's going to be interesting to see what happens.

I'm not far from Kingwood. I might have to swing over there to meet Andy at some point. I think he's a fellow Aggie.

At 6'2", don't be surprised if you're told you should eventually gain 50+ lbs, let alone 30. Obviously how much and how fast is dependent on your goals. Gain weight, add just a little bit of weight on the bar each time, and you will be shocked at how strong you are months from now.

[Zeppelin]

Welcome Zeppelin! Not sure where your located in Texas, but there are a couple SSCs in San Antonio. I went to Austin Baraki and the dude knows his stuff. He made a few small changes to my form and gave me a few cues to work on, and it made a big difference in both my confidence and ability to lift. Worth the time and money!

I'm near Houston. I definitely have a few coaches in the area. Appreciate the recommendation.

[Zeppelin]

At 6'2", don't be surprised if you're told you should eventually gain 50+ lbs, let alone 30. Obviously how much and how fast is dependent on your goals. Gain weight, add just a little bit of weight on the bar each time, and you will be shocked at how strong you are months from now.

Yeah, my wife and I were laughing last night at how everyone on here is like "YOU'RE SKIN AND BONES!" I'm not really sure what I should weigh. I don't have a number in mind. I know when I was 158, I was pretty dang lean and wanted more mass. I actually like how I look now at 175 and that's kinda been a weight I've gravitated to since high school, although my composition is a lot better right now.

I've been as high as 202lbs before and that was not a good look for me, but I was also probably around 25% bf.

I'm just going to lift, try to eat a lot but not poorly, and see what happens. I do need to read that To Be A Beast, too, and see how I want to incorporate that in.

[Agilic]

Yeah I mean aesthetics are obviously personal opinion but most on this board definitely favor having more mass and being stronger than the look of low bf%. How much fat you gain will largely depend on diet and how quickly you are willing to gain weight for gains on the bar and therefore strength.

[waistline warrior]

I'm definitely going to give plain novice a shot. I'm somewhat at a loss of where to start since I already know I can do the above weights 3x5, but it's a fight. .

Doing the weights and doing the weights correctly may be two different things. Although its been said several times work with a coach. They will watch/guide/view at what point your form breaks down and make recommendations from there.

I am biased due to training at a Starting Strength Gym. It's a great atmosphere.

Welcome to the boards.

[Zeppelin]

Appreciate the welcome. I agree with your assessment on proper form and am definitely planning to utilize these boards and possibly visit a coach if time permits.

[Zeppelin]

Stats: 176.4lbs at 6'2"

Warmup:

Did Agile 8 -- foam rolling, stretching. I'll probably relegate this to evenings from now on. I found that the SS warmup embedded in the app was sufficient. I did find that I'm not as flexible as I used to be, though, due to the weightlifting I've done this past year with little emphasis on mobility.

Set my initial weights in the SS app at 90% of what I had been working with to allow myself to focus on form.

Squat: 175x5x3

Screwed the warmup up by doing extra sets of 5. I didn't realize the app tapers the reps down to 3 and then 1 as it nears your working weight. Did unnecessary reps.

Working sets felt good, but not too easy.

Press: 95x5x3


Screwed the warmup up again. This really hurt me here as fatigue took a toll on the final reps.

These were tough for me. The past few months, I'd been experimenting with dumbbells, Smith machines, etc., to try to break through a plateau. It's going to be challenging to add linear weight here for me. Good thing I just bought some fractional plates.

Using the hip drive/layback is new for me and a bit awkward. I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly. Also using the grip suggested in the book is new, too. I need some work here.

Deadlift: 225x5x1

Did the warmup reps correctly, except I had accidentally entered my squat weight (175) instead of 225, so it was a bit light.

The working sets were not a problem except I did them with double overhand grip instead of mixed grip which I've been using for basically an entire year. It definitely makes it more challenging to keep the bar in my hands.

Questions:

a) The app told me to wait 72 hours before my next workout. This seems like a mistake. I was planning to do Day 2 on Wednesday per the book -- 48 hours delay.

b) The app told me to move to power clean since I can DL my bodyweight. I'm going to wait until Week 3 to introduce. OK?

c) How important is it to use overhand grip? I really prefer mixed, but I suppose the idea is that overhand grip transfers nicely into the PC? Is that the reasoning? I've read the chapter on DL, but have not got to the PC chapter yet.

Thoughts:

a) I liked the workout. It was nice to focus on just three lifts and not have a bunch of accessory exercises to do afterwards.

b) The warmup takes a bit more time than I expected, but I suppose I'm fine with that.

c) I'm a little wary about doing squats again so soon. I've been running them once a week for the past year, so that's going to be the biggest adjustment for me.

Sleep and Nutrition:

I suppose I'll make it a habit of posting the previous day's sleep and calories. I didn't track calories yesterday, but I've decided to aim for around 3,000 today. I'm already at 1660.

Probably slept about 7 hours last night.

Appreciate any thoughts/tips/encouragement, etc.