6.66 Imperial Pints (SS in UK)

[sjohnb]

Obligatory rambling first post:

Age 45
5’9
Starting BW around 12st 5 / 173lb / 79kg

Never been remotely strong. No arse. Sort of skinny-fat I guess. Used to run a bit. Desk job. Injury-prone.

Bought and read the book a while ago but hardly ever been in a gym and never picked up a barbell till July this year. Started “training” with personal trainer at local sports club in mid-July. Standard fare – lots of machines, high reps, do it till failure etc. Got him to show me some barbell stuff too but again high reps, helping on bench etc. Ditched the trainer and started SS a couple of weeks ago. Getting enough sleep is proving a challenge (work/kids/blah). Trying to eat more especially protein but could do better. Train early morning before work.

I don’t like kg’s – I’m old enough to still think in imperial measures and the numbers just look smaller… But British gyms have kilo plates so there we go. A 20 is a 45, near enough.

Gym had one 1.25kg (2.75lb) plate (the other got nicked and replacing it obviously hadn’t occurred to them) so I bought another one off ebay so I can do 5lb-ish jumps. I also bought some appallingly machined 0.5kg (1.1lb) plates for smaller jumps on presses when I need them. I’ve asked the manager if they’ll get some proper microplates, it might happen...

Story so far:

06/09/16 (with PT)
Squat 40 (reps/sets?)
Bench 40 (reps/sets?)

09/09/16 (with PT)
DL 50 (reps?)
Press 20 (1x10 I think)

13/09/16 (solo)
Squat 45 3x5
Bench 42.5 3x5
DL 60 1x5 – a lot easier with full size plates – having to put bar on a couple of aerobics steps for warmup sets.

16/09/16 (final PT)
Lots of stuff. Knee hurt by the end.

19/09/16
Squat 47.5 3x5
Press 22.5 3x5
DL 65 1x5

21/09/16
Squat 50 3x5
Bench 45 1x5, 40 2x5
DL 70 1x5
Poor form on benches, left side wandering around a lot. Didn’t feel heavy but lack of control so reduced the weight.

23/09/16
Squat 52.5 3x5
Press 25 3x5
DL 75 1x5
Barbell curl 20 1x10
First squat workset was hardest. Need to concentrate on keeping back tight. Possibly going too low?
Much gurning on deadlift.

24/09/16
BW = 12st 11 / 179lb / 81kg

26/09/16
Squat 55 3x5
Bench 42.5 3x5
DL 80 1x5
Squats felt easier than the last workout, possibly due to extra day’s rest. Need to keep it tight…
Corrected foot position on deadlift, had previously been pointing forward so angled toes out a bit. Felt easier.

28/09/16
Squat 57.5 3x5
Press 27.5 3x5
DL 85 1x5
Filmed squat sets 2 and 3. Wasn’t hitting depth on set 2 so tried to go deeper on 3. Still a bit hit and miss. Also noticed wrists in extension – perhaps lack of shoulder flexibility so will widen grip next time.

30/09/16
Squat 60 3x5
Bench 45 3x5
DL 90 1x5
Barbell curl 20 1x8
Filmed squat work sets. Not getting quite low enough, and what some would describe as butt wink at the bottom. Losing a bit of control on the left side particularly, left wrist going under the bar when it gets tough despite arms starting in correct position. Tried to focus on pushing knees out (reasonably successful) and vertical bar path (less successful). Bit of good morning action on a couple of reps, and managed to knock the rack on the way up on penultimate rep. Probably going to reset to 50kg and try to get form right.
Deadlift seems ok though. Will switch it to every other workout next week.

[sjohnb]

03/10/16
Squat 50 3x5
Press 30 3x5
Assisted pullups -80lb 2x10

Reset squat by 10kg after wretched form last week, seemed a bit better today. Will add 2.5kg a session again and see how it goes.
Press to increase by 1kg/1.5kg a session from now on.
First workout without deadlifts, doesn't feel right not being battered at the end! need to look at power cleans as there's no bar for chins in the gym, just a wide grip assistance machine.

[sjohnb]

05/10/16
Squat 52.5 3x5
Bench 47.5 3x5
DL 95 1x5

Squat form not terrible. Left arm dropping a bit with wrist extending. Shoulder flexibility an issue so might go 1" wider on grip and see how that works, or just concentrate properly.
Benches felt ok-ish, left side trying to let the right do all the work as usual. Another thing to work on.
Deadlift went up 5 times, glad I didn't have to do 6. Had planned to go for 100kg on Monday, after today I'm tempted to move to 2.5kg jumps straight away. Form felt ok but was definitely near my limit. I guess that's the point! Today was the first time grip felt hard too, wasn't remotely an issue at 90kg.

[sjohnb]

07/10/16
Ill in the night, missed training.

10/10/16
Squat 55 1x5, 50 2x5
Press 31 3x5
Assisted pullup -70 1x8, assisted chinup -60 1x8

Squats felt very unstable, swinging side to side, reset to 50kg again to work on form. Not quite sure wtf going wrong. Maybe thinking too much about wrist/elbows/grip/knees instead of just getting tight and driving the hips up. A trip to the SS coach in London is in order...
First use of the little 0.5kg weights on the press, seems daft to increase by so little but it should soon add up.
Chinup machine has choice of ridiculously wide grip or narrow palms-facing grip. Will alternate from now on.

[peez]

Welcome to the forum - you're on the right path. Good progeress so far! My stats are almost identical, but I have small head start.

If you can see a SSC that could be a huge help. Folks on this forum how have seen him rave about him.

[sjohnb]

Thanks peez

[sjohnb]

12/10/16
Squat 52.5 3x5, 1x3
Bench 50 3x5
DL 100 1x5
BB curl 20 1x10

Tried to amend squats as per advice on Technique board, mixed success. The bar was a bit lower but I'm still dropping like I've been shot. Work in progress.
Bench ok, gonna move to 1kg and 1.5kg jumps from now on.
Decided to stick with 5kg jumps in the deadlift for one more session. Pleased with the 100kg. Grip felt ok. Bit of a strain in left glute (same as last week) but should be alright.

[sjohnb]

14/10/16
BW 12st 13 / 181lb /82kg
Squat 55 3x5
Press 32.5 3x5
Assisted chinup -50lb 3x5
BB curl 20 1x10

Squats a lot better today. Managed to get the bar low enough at least in some sets. Bruises on my scapula from last time kind of gave me the subtle hint that it needed to go lower. I looked at a load of photos of high bar vs low bar on the internet too. Needed quite a wide grip though, my shoulders are very tight.
One of the personal trainers came by as I was looking at the set I'd just filmed on my phone. He had a look and said I was going deep enough but I needed to lift my head up so that I could keep my back more vertical… ;-)

[sjohnb]

17/10/2016
Squat 57.5 3x5
Bench 51 3x5
Assisted wide grip pullups -50lb 3x5

Squat form is slowly improving. Lower back still rounding at the bottom though. Just got to keep working on it.

[sjohnb]

Ok so something (probably the pullups but possibly trying to force bar into low position for squats) has given me a bit of pain in my left shoulder, the rotator cuff area. Nothing too painful, but I've been taking it easy the last few days. Had booked to visit SS coach on Sunday so he's asked me to let him know tomorrow if I want to postpone. Bugger. I is stupid sometimes.