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Thread: Ken's Barbell Prescription

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2018
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    13

    Default Ken's Barbell Prescription

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    Male, 53, 6'3", currently 220# / 100kg (DEXA scan April 2018 reported 25.5% fat), 9 workouts into my SS novice LP. I'm really excited to have found the SS community!

    Overweight/overfat most of my life, low(high!) point recently 281# (Feb 2016). Problem is I love to eat...and eat...and eat. Savory (fat/carbs) more than sweets, although I've been known to down a pint of ice cream from time to time. Lost over 60# (and gained it back slowly) and got into relatively good shape several times in my life (@ 21yo 260#->190#), (@26yo 220#->185#, ~@42yo (250#->220#), mostly through caloric restriction (not counting/tracking, though) and tons of LSD cardio (swimming a mile or two 2-3 times/week).

    February 2016 got freaked out that I had trouble standing up from the floor and that my knees and hip were starting to complain, felt terrible in general. Decided it's get in shape now or lose the opportunity forever, as I'm not getting any younger.

    Went from 128kg -> 108kg from Feb 2016 to August 2016, strict measuring / calorie / macro counting on MyFitnessPal (first time I've ever done this), "HIIT" (sprint/rest) treadmill (no more LSD cardio, cut out swimming as it aggravated my shoulders), intermittent fasting (16/8), weight lifting, but all dumbbell/machine upper body isolation only. Then major life transitions hit (lost my wife to cancer) wreaked havoc and gained back to 116kg in early 2017, got control and again counted calories and resumed lifting. Back to about 110kg by May, 2017. Met a wonderful woman who's also into working out and clean/homecooked eating (we're still going strong, yay ), continued counting eventually, and via a few more cuts (Oct & Nov 2017, Jan - March 2018) got down to where I am now, ~100kg.

    Found Starting Strength via Michael Matthews "Bigger Leaner Stronger". I've been leery of the barbell because frankly it scared me, being a tall guy with a history of occasional severe & debilitating lower back pain (diagnosed with a herniated disk or two 10 years ago). The idea of working with really heavy weights freaks me out a little. But I read "The Barbell Prescription" and the fictional scenario of Fat Phil's early decline and painful death, together with seeing my mother's decline and death [partly due to lack of strength and shape starting in middle age] helped to motivate me to dedicate myself to the SS path anyway. "Dude, your back hurts because you DON'T deadlift" has become my motto. I want to get strong, but I want more not to get badly injured. I'm hoping to find a happy medium between building and maintaining strength and muscle mass and not requiring joint replacements or lengthy recovery periods from injury. I'm not competing with anybody but myself and have nothing to prove to anybody. Health, fitness, (and a nice look in the mirror) are my goals, not to join any 1k (or even 500, 400, etc.) clubs.

    I've been on a cutting mindset for several years now, and with my tendency to gain trunk fat really quickly [and lose it slowly], the idea of a caloric surplus to support the novice progression is somewhat unsettling. I do NOT want to gain a lot of fat, as I've just started to begin to look decent without clothes [I finally "have muscles" in my arms!] and to fit into almost "normal" sized jeans. From the start of 2018 I've bought into the "gram of protein per lb of body weight" protein goal and have been consistently supplementing with whey protein to help make that goal.

    I toyed with some basic barbell stuff at very light weights [empty bar, just a few small plates] (RDL, bench, poor form press, and smith machine squats [yeah yeah I know]) initially. I don't live in the US, so I waited until I had a US business trip opportunity to work with an official SS coach to get started on the "real" lifts.

    WO #1 4/28/2018 [coached]
    Squat (all my squats are presently high bar, shoulder mobility prevents low bar for now) 95#x5
    Bench 85#x5
    Deadlift 115#x1x5

    WO #2 5/5/2018 [coached]
    Squat 105#x5x3
    Press 55#x5x3
    Deadlift 155#x5x1

    (All weights in KG from now on)

    WO #3 (A) 5/10/2018
    Squat 20x5x2, 30x5x1, 40x3x1, 45x2x1, WS: 52.5x5x3
    Bench 20x5x2, 27.5x5x1, 32.5x3x1, WS: 40x5x3
    Deadlift 40x5x1, WS: 72.5 FAIL (Holy Shit that's Heavy! My excuse is I was jet lagged, probably was bad form), reset to 60x5x1

    WO #4 (B) 5/12/2018
    Squat 20x5x2, 30x5x1, 40x3x1, 47.5x2x1, WS: 55x5x3
    Press 20x5x2, 24.5x2x1, WS: 27.5x5x3
    Deadlift 40x5x1, WS: 62.5x5x1

    (sick for a week, stomach flu, lost several kg)

    WO #5 (A) 5/19/2018
    Squat 20x5x2, 30x5x1, 40x3x1, 47.5x2x1, WS: 55x5x3
    Bench 20x5x2, 27.5x5x1, 35x3x1, 40x2x1 WS: 45x5x3
    Deadlift 40x5x1, WS: 62.5x5x1

    WO #6 (B) 5/21/2018
    Squat 20kg x5x2, 35x5x1, 40x3x1, 45x2x1, WS: 55x5x3
    Press 20kg x5x2, 25x5x1 WS: 27.5x5x3
    Deadlift 40kg x5x1, WS: 65x5x1

    WO #7 (A) 5/23/2018
    Squat 20x5x2, 35x5x1, 45x3x1, 50x2x1, WS: 57.5x5x3
    Bench 20x5x2, 30x5x1, 37.5x3x1, 42.5x2x1 WS: 47.5x5x3
    Deadlift 40x5x1, WS: 67.5x5x1 Felt good.

    WO #8 (B) 5/26/2018
    Squat 20kg x5x2, 35x5x1, 45x3x1, 55x2x1, WS: 60x5x3
    Press 20kg x5x2, 25x5x1 WS: 28.75x5x3 wrists feeling uncomfortable, too extended?
    Deadlift 40x5x1, WS: 70x5x1 Heavy! Felt a twitch/pop/something in the lower back on the first rep. Lower back pain when moving in bed for 2-3 days, better now.

    WO #9 (A) 5/28/2018
    Squat 20x5x2, 37.5x5x1, 47.5x3x1, 57.5x2x1, WS: 62.5x5x3 The reps on the final set seem to take forever, but video shows a normal cadence. Feels muuuch slower under the bar!
    Bench 20x5x2, 32.5x5x1, 40x3x1, 45x2x1 WS: 50x5x3 Just starting to feel a bit heavy, still plenty of gas left though
    Deadlift 40x5x1, WS: 72.5x5x1 HEAVY! But no popping in the back. Holy shit, how do people even deadlift their body weight? This is heavier than anything I've ever lifted in my life. Not sure how long I can keep adding 5lbs per workout. Curse this lanky tall frame of mine. which produces way too much leverage on the back.... Oh, and something now hurts in my left index finger highest joint. Welcome to the lifting life? Constant pains?

    Measurements: 5/29/2018
    body weight 100kg (220#) -- trying to up the calories to maintenance and even surplus levels, holding steady at about 100kg for a week now
    Waist 39 3/8"
    Chest (still lots of trunk fat there) 41 1/4"
    Hips 42.5 1/2"
    Neck 15 5/8"
    biceps 12 1/2"
    Mid Upper Thighs (standing) 21"
    Calves (standing) 16"
    Last edited by Bogatyr; 05-29-2018 at 03:21 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
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    Walled Lake, Michigan
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    220-240 for a 6'3" man is not overweight if one is strong. Setting the measurements aside because everyone is different and I don't know much about physiology you are indeed starting off with very low lifting numbers. But that just means that it is good that you have started and great that you are using the safest most effective program in existence. Keep it up.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2018
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    13

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    Quote Originally Posted by carson View Post
    220-240 for a 6'3" man is not overweight if one is strong. Setting the measurements aside because everyone is different and I don't know much about physiology you are indeed starting off with very low lifting numbers. But that just means that it is good that you have started and great that you are using the safest most effective program in existence. Keep it up.
    Thanks...I'm probably not strong enough . The weight numbers are kg not lbs.... sure seems heavy enough to me!

  4. #4
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    May 2018
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    WO #10 (B) 5/30/2018
    Squat 20kg x5x2, 40x5x1, 50x3x1, 60x2x1, WS: 65x5x3 Last rep slow! Warmups felt great, working set felt clumsy
    Press 20kg x5x2, 25x5x1 27.5x3x1 WS: 30x5x3
    Deadlift 40kg x5x1, WS: 75x5x1 Felt pretty good today! No back popping, no finger issues.

  5. #5
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    Mar 2013
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    Walled Lake, Michigan
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    Good progress. Yes, I understand that the weights are in kg. Why not check in with an online coach. E.g., Dr. Sullivan and Andy Baker specialize in masters lifters such as you and I are.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2018
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    Default 6/3/2018 workout 11 (A)

    BW 100.4 kg
    3g creatine and 15g protein (whey isolate) pre-workout (30 mins), 40g protein (WI) post-workout (10-15 mins)

    all lifting weights in kg


    WO #11 (A) 6/03/2018
    Squat 20x5x2, 42.5x5x1, 52.5x3x1, 62.5x2x1, WS: 67.5x5x3 Trying not to go down too slowly, all sets felt pretty good.
    squat ws #1
    squat ws #2
    squat ws #3
    don't seem to be getting below parallel on the working sets, just a tad lower needed I think

    Bench 20x5x2, 35x5x1, 42.5x3x1, 47.5x2x1 WS: 52.5x5x3 Still plenty of gas left
    bench ws #1
    bench ws #2
    bench ws #3

    Deadlift 45x5x1, WS: 77.5x5x1 wore the belt for the first time, while heavy all reps felt doable, felt good!
    deadlift warmup 45x5x1
    deadlift ws 77.5x5x1
    Last edited by Bogatyr; 06-03-2018 at 10:14 AM.

  7. #7
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    May 2018
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    Measurements 6/4/2018

    BW 100.4kg

    (not accurate? big fluctuations)
    waist 39 1/2"
    hips 42 3/8"
    chest 41 1/2"
    neck 15 1/4"
    standing mid thigh 21 1/4"
    standing calve 15 7/8"
    bicep 12 1/2"
    Last edited by Bogatyr; 06-03-2018 at 11:16 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2018
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    13

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    BW 100.5kg

    WO #12 (B) 6/05/2018
    Squat 20kg x5x2, 45x5x1, 55x3x1, 65x2x1, WS: 70x5x3 Almost failed a rep in 1st working set. 2nd set better. 3rd set used a belt for the first time in squatting and the set went smoothly
    Press 20kg x5x2, 25x5x1 27.5x3x1 WS: 32.5x5x3 Heavier, forgot my fractional plates today so I made 2.5kg jump instead of a 1.25kg jump that I normally do. Couple of slow reps but got through them all.
    Deadlift 40kg x5x1, WS: 80x5x1 Heavy but felt good, used the belt for the working set, it seems to help quite a bit, perhaps all mental?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    13

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    BW 100.5kg

    all lifting weights in kg


    WO #13 (A) 6/07/2018
    Squat 20x5x2, 40x5x1, 60x3x1, 60x2x1, 70x2x1, WS: 72.5x5x3

    Bench 20x5x2, 30x5x1, 40x3x1, 50x2x1 WS: 55x5x3

    Deadlift 40x5x1, WS: 82.5x5x1 heavy! Felt like the entire load was focused on the lower back

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    13

    Default

    starting strength coach development program
    BW 99.5kg

    all weights in kg

    WO #14 (B) 6/10/2018
    Squat 20kg x5x2, 45x5x1, 65x3x1, 70x2x1, WS: 75x5x3 too far on my toes coming up one rep. Probably because I'm trying to do highbar squats like lowbar. All working sets and final (x2) warmup with the belt

    Press 20kg x5x2, 23.5x5x1 27.5x3x1, 30x2x1 WS: 33.636x5x1, 33.636x4x1 33.636x3x1 First failed SS sets. Not getting enough of the initial "bounce". "You're not doing the program" (eating at a caloric deficit).

    Deadlift 50kg x5x1, WS: 85x5x1 Oh good Lord that's heavy. Didn't think it was going to come off the floor at first. After the first rep the rest fall into place. Shoulders too far forwards over the bar in the setup perhaps. Working set with the belt. 50kg warmup maybe too heavy, takes too much away from the working sets?

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