Peter’s SS journey

[Petermac7644]

Male, 32, 180 lbs, 5’10”

Lifted on and off in the past. Lost muscle training for a half marathon a few years back. Still weak but trying to fix that.

Been messing around in general training logs here: Focus on barbell clean

Oct. 8

First SS workout Today.

Squat 145lbs 5/5/5

OH Press 110lbs 4
105lbs 5/5

Failed on day 1... hopefully not stuck

Deadlift 175lb for 5

[misspelledgeoff]

Don't start too heavy. Especially on the press, for god's sake. I strongly recommend you drop the press weight to like 95 move up from there. You'll be back up to 110 in a couple of weeks. More important, you set yourself up for an LP that can get your press to 150 + . Don't jeopardize it by starting too heavy. Start light and micro-load early. Ok, rant over. Carry on and good luck.

[Petermac7644]

Don't start too heavy. Especially on the press, for god's sake.

Hey misspelledgeoff,

Is your real name Jeff? I started OH pressing @ 60lbs 6 weeks ago. Went up by 5lbs each session and Monday was my first missed attempt. I'll make another attempt and if I miss then I'll try a reset to 95lbs. My smallest plates are 2.5lbs. Looks like I'm going to have to invest in some micro plates. Thanks for your input - I need all the help I can get

[Petermac7644]

Oct. 10

Weighed in at 180 lbs.

155lbs Squat 5/5/5

130lbs bench press 5/5/5

185lbs deadlift 5

[Petermac7644]

Oct. 12

Success

weighed in at 180 lbs.

165lb Squat x 5/5/5
110lb Press x 5/5/5
200lb Deadlift x 5

165lbs Squat felt heavy but I made it happen. I think 5lb increments from now on. That should still have me squat body-weight by the end of next week.

I'm going to chalk up that last OH press workout failure to adjusting to my new Olympic barbell and receiving the bar from the squat stand versus cleaning the bar from the floor to get it into position. Nevertheless, my 1.25lb plates have been ordered and will arrive before my next press workout so I'm going to start increasing in 2.5lb increments from now on. I might do the same with bench press we'll see how 135lbs goes on Monday.

Back in August just before starting my routine from my other log ( Focus on barbell clean ) I did deadlift singles until I ran out of the plates that I have for my standard barbell set. 200lbs total was heavy but doable. Today 200lbs for 5 felt like no problem at all.

I think SS says to start power-cleans on the 6th workout so I'll reintroduce power-cleans next Friday. Looking forward to that.

For anyone who's reading, how long are you resting between warm up sets? I've been resting ~ 2 minutes or so. I want to get to my work sets quickly but I don't want to accumulate fatigue. Rest between my work sets has been 5-7 minutes.

Today was a good day. Cheers

[Petermac7644]

Oct. 15

Missed my 4:30 AM workout due to toddler not sleeping well the night before. Was able to get my workout in during the evening though. Weighed in at 185 lbs but I'm always heavier at the end of the day. Weighed myself again the next morning and was 182. Seem to be gaining about a lb per week. If I can keep this up I'll be 200 lbs by my birthday in March.

170lb Squat 5/5/5
135lb Bench Press 5/5/5
The last set was more of a pin press since I used some saw horses as spotters and they're a bit too tall. Thought I might fail on the last set but didn't. Going to 2.5lb increases on the Bench Press now.

215lb deadlift x 5
I think I can get another 15lb jump out of the deadlift

[Petermac7644]

Oct. 17

175lb Squat 5/5/5
112.5lb Press 5/5/5
230 deadlift x 5

got my 1.25 lb plates just in time for this workout. Also go my copy of PPST. Looking forward to digging into that. Already I see some differences with the Novice program that I like.

Deadlift was actually more like 3/1/1 because I had to keep resetting my grip. Been trying hook grip but its hard on the hands. I used to do well with alternating grip so I might switch to that if I can't get the hang of hook.

[misspelledgeoff]

Good to see you are continuing to progress. A few thoughts for you...

-if hook grip bothers you (I detest it, btw) just switch to alternating grip.
-on warmups, if you feel like you need to rest 2-3 minutes btw warmups, you might be warming up too much or too heavy. For a 170# work set, a warmup progression might look like: empty bar x 8-10, 95 x 5, 135 x 1, 155 x 1 then do worksets
-Name is Geoff but I live in Texas where the spelling is apparently weird. Friends took to calling me misspelled so I figured I would own it rather than fight it.

Best of luck and keep at it!

[cmw76]

Oct. 17
Deadlift was actually more like 3/1/1 because I had to keep resetting my grip. Been trying hook grip but its hard on the hands. I used to do well with alternating grip so I might switch to that if I can't get the hang of hook.

Hi Peter, Once I started pulling over 300 I went to using lifting straps. Between all the the deadlifts, cleans, rows and chins my tendinitis (golfer's elbow) would flare up. On warmups I use a double overhand until I get to 275 then switch to double overhand, then straps on 315 and up.
Hope this helps.
By the way I'm running a 1/2 marathon on veterans day to support a friend and don't want to lose too much strength. Any pointers would be much welcome.

[claywieczorek]

Peter - nice progress. I am 36, 5'10", 177 lbs, and also have a toddler. We have some similarities!

I have run through most of my LP earlier this year, but had a long layoff, so I am running it again. I rest 5 minutes (maybe a little more) between work sets. The rule on rest between warm ups is only as long as you need (really shouldn't be very long until you are lifting really heavy weights). Check out Barbell Medicine and see what they have to say about rest periods (they are medical doctors).

Please take this as constructive criticism: you do not need hook grip nor straps until you are deadlifting close to 400. We just aren't hitting enough reps at a heavy enough weight this soon in the program to need those things. Use alternate grip with chalk!