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Thread: whelp, here goes nothing

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
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    14

    Default whelp, here goes nothing

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    Little background here:

    I have had no prior background in the weight room until I started this program. A few years ago I hurt my knee while hiking Mt. Bierstadt out here in CO (torn meniscus and ongoing tendonitis). I have had recurring rib injuries from training brazilian jiu jitsu. Since then, I've been having issues with consistency in training and doing anything physical. Add that with working from home full time and I went from 165 to 220lbs in the past 5 years and not in a healthy way. Every time i try to go back to BJJ now, i wind up injuring myself in the first few weeks and wind up taking another break before i can ever get back into it.

    Enemy number one: consistency

    So earlier this year I decided to stop trying to get back into it and focus on getting strong to prevent future injuries. I had a solid intro to SS session with Jayson up in Boulder, CO to learn the lifts and then i got a bit self conscious at the gym and didn't go for a bit. But I just finished my 3rd week of truly doing the program and not skipping and I'm feeling fantastic. I thought I'd start a log here to keep track of progress and to keep myself honest. My goal is to only do The Program (with some hiking on the weekends) until its time to switch to an intermediate program. At that point, I'll start up BJJ again and find an intermediate program that fits my needs at the time. Here goes nothing!

    Sex: Male
    Age: 32
    Weight: 218
    Height: 6'1"
    BF% from 7pt caliper test: 21%

    Staring workset numbers (in lbs):
    Weight: 220
    Squat: 100
    Press: 65
    Bench: 100
    Deadlift: 95

    As of today's workout:
    Weight: 218
    Squat: 170
    Press: 80
    Bench: 120
    Deadlift: 195


    Today's workout:
    Squat: 45x5x2, 80x5, 110x3,140x2,170x5x3
    Press: 45x5x2, 55x5, 65x3, 75x2, 80x5x3
    Deadlift: 115x5x2, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2, 195x5


    What I'm doing right now:
    Workouts tuesday, thursday, saturday. off days i go to the gym to do 15min on the recumbent bike just to get my HR up, sauna, hydromassage, and stretching/foam rolling. nothing taxing, just rest and relaxation to help with recovery

    Workout A: Squat, Bench, Deadlift
    Workout B: Squat, Press, Deadlift

    I'm currently adding 5lbs to my squat and bench worksets each time, 2.5 for the press, and 10 lbs to the deadlift. The plan is to meet with my SSC soon to learn how to power clean (or pendlay row if that's his suggestion) and drop the deadlift increments down to 5 lbs.

    My number one goal at the start was to build consistency. I think I finally accomplished that. I've been eating enough and have been doing enough to help recovery so that I'm not sore the day I go to the gym. One thing though: I'll be going to Costa Rica for 10 days end of May and there won't be any workout facilities. I'll be surfing and swimming every day, so I hope I don't lose too much.

    Anywho, here goes nothing!

    -Jordan
    Last edited by gfxprotege; 04-14-2018 at 01:02 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    69

    Default

    Good luck, consistency and form are the two most important factors for progress which it sounds like you're getting sorted out! From there just follow the program and all should be well.

    What are you looking into after SS out of curiosity? I'm just a month or two into SS too and 5/3/1 definitely looks like a good end goal to go to, but I feel like I should have a step between Workout to Workout progress (SS) and monthly progress (5/3/1)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    14

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Gibby View Post
    Good luck, consistency and form are the two most important factors for progress which it sounds like you're getting sorted out! From there just follow the program and all should be well.

    What are you looking into after SS out of curiosity? I'm just a month or two into SS too and 5/3/1 definitely looks like a good end goal to go to, but I feel like I should have a step between Workout to Workout progress (SS) and monthly progress (5/3/1)
    I'm not sure yet. From what I've read so far, the HLM (heavy - light - medium) program might fit what I want to do best, which is to maintain strength while switching focus to brazilian jiu jitsu training and not overtraining.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
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    14

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    Workset weights:

    Squat: 175x5x3
    Bench: 125x5x3
    DL: 205X5X1

    I went into the workout with a tight lower back, now I'm wishing I had done more of a warm up. I'll be feeling this tomorrow. The good news is that the soreness feels like muscles that just haven't been worked in a while vs pain due to injury, if that makes sense. The tightness was probably due to fly fishing for 8 hours straight on Sunday. This was the first DL set that was tough to pull (but that could have been due to lower back tightness heading into the lifts), so I'm switching to 5lb increments moving forward. I have a session with my SSC on Saturday to fix my OHP and to learn how to power clean or row, depending on what his recommendations are. Looking forward to what comes next
    Last edited by gfxprotege; 04-17-2018 at 04:02 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    14

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    I met with my SSC coach yesterday. Worked on form for squat, overhead press, deadlift, and pendlay rows. Worked up to a 180lb workset on the squat. The press needed some big corrections, so we brought the weight back down to 65lbs. We're also adding in some band exercises (external rotation, lateral raises) to help with my shoulder.

    My workouts will now look like this:
    A: Squat, shoulder warmup with bands, press, deadlift
    B: Squat, shoulder warmup with bands, bench press, row

    Squats, bench, deadlift, and row will all go up by 5 lbs. press will go up by 2.5lb increments.

    Next worksets should be:
    Tuesday: squat 185 x 5 x 3, bench 130x5x3, row 105x8x3
    Thursday: squat 195x5x3, press 65x5x3, and deadlift 210x5x1
    Saturday: squat 200x5x3, bench 135x5x3, row 110x8x3
    Last edited by gfxprotege; 04-22-2018 at 01:52 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    14

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    Todays workset weights:

    Squat: 185x5x3
    Bench: 130x5x3 (Saturday I get to use the big boy plates, huzzah!)
    Row: 105x8x3


    After speaking with my SSC, thursday will be a light squat day (80% of monday, so 150) and then friday will be a progression day (190).
    I'll be adding chinups on deadlift days. starting with 5 full reps from the floor, with a slight pause between each rep. I'll add one additional rep each time until i get to 15 reps. Then I'll start doing 3 sets of max (minus 1) reps.
    I'll be adding back extensions on Fridays. I'll start with 3 sets of 8 with no weight. The following friday i'll use a 5 lb plate, and then gradually work up in weight over time. Not a LP, but just keeping enough weight/volume to help strengthen up my lower back.

    With the new squat program, I'll be going up by 10 lbs a week instead of 15. This last week found me really sore at the end of it, so I'm hoping that the light squats on wednesdays will keep the progression going.

    Saturday will be a lot of fun getting to bench 135, and i look forward to hitting 225 on my squat in a few weeks. I'm bummed that I'll be out of the gym for 10 days at the end of May, but I'm excited to keep things moving once I get back. I think it'll be good to eat a whole lotta good food and get lots of rest and relaxation before continuing the grind.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    14

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    I noticed something pretty great today. And since the internet is *relatively* anonymous, i feel safe sharing it here moreso than with friends and family. I've always been "skinny fat". Lean arms, legs, neck, face, back, but my belly accumulates all the fat. Just before I started starting strength, i was 220 lbs and my belly would cause the elastic waistband of my underwear to flip down. I weigh 218 today, which doesn't really mean anything to me. But my bodyfat % via caliper test is 19%, which compared to 21%, isn't much of a difference. However, my belly is no longer causing my waistband to flip down. I take this as a huge win in my book. I don't look any different in the mirror (in my eyes anyways), but i'm definitely replacing some fat with muscle. This makes me happy.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Walled Lake, Michigan
    Posts
    6,680

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    Congratulations. Keep on going. I went from 44" waist to a 38" without losing any weight. I've drifted back up a bit to 40" but I gained back a few pounds. I've got to get more consistent with HIIT. But good work on your part.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
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    14

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    Today's worksets:
    Squat: 150x5x3
    Press: 67.5x5x3
    Deadlift: 205x5x1
    Chinups: 5 full reps from the floor

    Press was painful. I had my fiance film my 3rd set, so I'll be uploading and looking for advice. Hopefully we can figure out what's going wrong.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
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    14

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    starting strength coach development program
    Worksets today:
    Squat: 190x5x3
    Bench: 135x5x3
    Row: 110x8x3
    Back Extensions (no weight): 10x3

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