Reply With QuoteWelcome. You have made solid gains. Keep up the good work. I recommend that you check in with a certified Starting Strength coach. He or she can keep you moving in a proper direction and one that avoids injury.
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Ed's SS training log
I’ve been lurking for a little.
Male, 42, 5’9”, 195 lbs
My background came from distance running. I competed in college in cross country and track, I was a better middle distance runner than long distance. My weight lifting background consisted of higher rep, lower weight was it was believed in the 90’s that doing so would get you strong without adding bulk, and during off and on weight lifting going through adulthood, that’s what I did.
Fast forward to after I turned 40, I had stopped running for several years since my achilles tendons would inflame frequently, and I had gone from where my body weight was in the 150’s and I was over 210 and that extra weight was not muscle. I had a few friends die of heart attacks and decided I wanted to get back into shape and started to try to lift weights again around Dec 2017 and tried to run 3x a week instead of my 7 days a week that I had always done before. I followed no program and wanted to get more structured.
I started using All-Pro from the bodybuilding.com forums around February 2018 but I found that I just had a hard time with some of the 10% jumps and the incrementing reps just didn’t seem to get responses from my body. Around August I moved to SL 5x5 and followed the instructions to start with just the bar so the first two months was pretty much regression. When my weight started getting higher, my form on the squat was horrible and I suffered a goin pull, and after I got over that, I had a lot of pain in my hip flexor which would get bad enough that I have to keep taking time off and deloading.
Around February of this year I found SS and bought the book. I deloaded, moved to low bar squat as prescribed and worked heavily on form. I still had hip pain, and groin pain which seemed to keep getting the better of me. I stopped running completely and it seemed in just one week, that seemed to have solved that pain. I believe I’m getting close to going intermediate for the bench and press. I’m going to milk LP as much as possible but even micro-loading is still pretty darn tough, at least for the bench. I’m going to include my workouts since going to SS for brevity.
2/18/2019
Squat 3x5x175
Bench 3x5x190
Power Clean (first workout with it so I wanted to learn it) 5x3x45
2/20/2019
Squat 3x5x180
Press 3x5x120
Deadlift 1x5x260
2/22/2019
Squat 3x5x185
Bench 3x5x195
Power Clean 5x3x55
2/25/2019
Squat 3x5x190
Press 3x5x122.5
Deadlift 1x5x265
2/27/2019
Squat 3x195
Bench 4,0,0x200 First fail at this weight
Power Clean 5x3x65
3/1/2019
Squat 3x5x200
Press 3x5x125
Deadlift 1x5x270
3/4/3019
Squat 3x5x205
Bench 5,5,3x200 Second fail at this weight
Power Clean 5x3x75
3/6/2019
Squat 3x5x210
Press 3,3,4x127.5 First fail at this weight
Deadlift 1x5x275
3/8/2019
Squat 3x5x215
Bench 5x3x200
Power Clean 5x3x85
3/11/2019
Squat 3x5x220
Press 127.5 4,4,4x127.5 Second fail at this weight
Deadlift 1x4x280 tweaked lower back.
Knew that my form wasn’t great, and I was rounding my back. Paid the price for not correcting it. Next two weeks off doing Starr protocol with squat to address it. Took a big deload
3/25/2019
Squat 3x5x185
Bench 3x5x165
Power Clean 5x3x85
3/27/2019
Squat 3x5x190
Press 3x5x105
Deadlift 1x5x230
3/29/2019
Squat 3x5x195
Bench 3x5x170
Power Clean 5x3x95
4/1/2019
Squat 3x5x200
Press 3x5x107.5
Deadlift 1x5x235
4/3/2019
Squat 3x5x205
Bench 3x5x175
Power Clean 5x3x105
Chinup 4,4,3 (weak)
4/5/2019
Squat 3x5x210
Press 3x5x110
Deadlift 1x5x240
The next week I hiked the AT section of the Great Smoky National Park. Following week I had taken a few days off, but then due to work list that entire week, so two weeks off. I took a deload to stay on the safe side
4/22/2019
Squat 3x5x195
Bench 3x5x170
Power Clean 5x3x105
4/24/2019
Squat 3x5x200
Press 3x5x105
Deadlift 1x5x225
4/26/2019
Squat 3x5x205
Bench 3x5x175
Power Clean 5x3x115
Chinup 3,3,2 (Darn...)
4/29/2019
Squat 3x5x210
Press 3x5x110
Deadlift 1x5x235 (As no issues with back at all and had been working on form, I went to 10 lbs increases)
5/1/2019
Squat 3x5x215
Bench 3x5x180
Power Clean 5x3x120
Chinup 3,3,3 (OMG, I suck at this...)
5/3/2019
Squat 3x5x220
Press 3x5x115
Deadlift 1x5x245
5/6/2019
Squat 3x5x225 (big mental milestone for me hitting that 4 plates on the bar)
Bench 3x5x185
Power Clean 5x3x125
Chinup 3,4,3 (Am I going to ever see improvement in this?)
5/8/2019
Squat 3x5x230
Press 3x5x117.5 (went back to 1.25 micro plates for the lift)
Deadlift 1x5x255
5/10/2019
Squat 3x5x235
Bench 3x5x190
Power Clean 5x3x130
Chinup 4,4,3 (horrible...)
5/13/2019
Squat 3x5x240
Press 3x5x120
Deadlift 1x5x265
Went on cruise this week. Worked out on the ship using the dumb bells that they have as they didn’t have free weights to just make sure I didn’t lose anything. Seemed to work.
5/20/2019
Squat 3x5x245
Bench 3x5x195
Power Clean 5x3x135
Chinup 3,3,12* (Last rep started using green elastic band, I need some volume or there will be no improvement)
5/22/2019
Squat 3x5x250 (getting to be a real killer, in terms of being almost totally exhausted following this)
Press 3x5x122.5
Deadlift 1x5x275
5/25/2019
Squat 3x5x255 (Very hard, but got it up, but even with long rests feeling wiped out from this)
Bench 3x5x200
Power Clean 5x3x140 (Not happy with my form, think I was using my arms, planned on deload to put a little more focus on performing correctly)
Chinup 12,12,10 Green band (will do one more with Green band before I move to the next lighter band)
5/27/2019
Squat 3x5x260 (Had debated on waiting to hit a stall, which I was probably heading for quickly before I added a belt, but decided after reading how the best way get unstuck is to not get stuck and it seemed I hit a weight where some posts by Rip and others indicated adding a belt wasn’t going to be a negative, and I am over 40 so this was the first time I used a belt, as I had one I had purchase for when I would need it. Felt like cheat mode was engaged. Allowed me to get my core REALLY tight like I had never had it before. I had never really felt the bounce that much when coming up from bellow that much, but after dropping below parallel and coming up this time, it felt like I was shooting up and the plates rattled at the top of the lifts, which I something I hadn’t done since the mid 150s. I was also not completely dead. I don’t know if this is just a newbie thing, but wow!)
Press 3x5x125
Deadlift 1x5x285 (Used belt on this one. Weight still felt heavy as hell and it wasn’t some magical experience like the squat but I did feel the really tight core contraction.)
5/29/2019
Squat 3x5x265 (squatting with belt didn’t feel as magical as last time but still feel the bounce when coming back up)
Bench 5,3,2x202.5 (moved to micro 1.25 lbs plates. The first set I got 5, but that last one was a grinding slow lift that could have gone either way so the first set should probably be considered a 4) First fail at this weight
Power Clean 5x3x130 (Cleaned up a little bit but felt like jump position was not right. I think I’m going to repeat at this weight and try to clean that up)
Chinup 3x12 Green band (moving to the next lighter band, which in my gym is blue, next workout)
5/31/2019
Squat 3x5x270 (Magic is almost gone, but still feeling bounce and not exhausted but the weight is definitely feeling heavy)
Press 3x5x127.5
Deadlift 1x5x295 (Felt very heavy, but I pulled and it came up.)
And now you’re up to date.
Member
Welcome. You have made solid gains. Keep up the good work. I recommend that you check in with a certified Starting Strength coach. He or she can keep you moving in a proper direction and one that avoids injury.
✓ Member
Thanks Carson. I would like to, but the closest SS coaches are in Atlanta, and that's over 2 hours. Not impossible but it would take a special effort and time is at a premium for me right now. I have been considering the online coaching. I will just have to find a way to hide that charge from my wife...
✓ Member
6/3/2019
Squat
Warm up
2x5x45, 1x5x105, 1x3x165, 1x2x220
Work sets
3x5x275
Notes: Very hard workout. Got all the reps but was requiring more rest, and the exhaustion followed me.
Bench
Warm up
2x5x45, 1x5x85, 1x3x125, 1x2x165
Work sets
3x5x202.5
Notes: Felt wore out from the squat. I'm surprised coming off my failure last week at this weight and just how I was run down from the squats that I finished this. I did make an adjustment to my form where I did a better job of driving back with my quads pinning my shoulders down so I think that helped and I was happy to have success at this weight.
Had to stop after the bench as my wife needed the vehicle so I had to rush home from the gym. I'll try to get my power cleans and chinups tomorrow. I was taking a lot of rest between the squats and it wore me out. I figure now that I'm starting to hit heavier weights it's just the name of the game. I'm going to see how this affects me on Wednesday. If I don't feel like I recovered, and especially if Friday is bad I'll switch to advanced on the squat where I'll make Wednesday a light day going forward but I'll see how things turn out first.
✓ Member
6/5/2019
Squat
Warm up
45 2x5, 105 1x5, 165 1x3, 225 1x2
Work sets
280 3x5
Press
Warm up
45 2x5, 70 1x5, 90 1x3, 110 1x2
Work sets
130 3x5
Deadlift
Warm up
95 2x5, 150 1x5, 200 1x3, 255 1x2
Work sets
305 1x5
I was presently surprised that the squat did not wear me out like last time and I felt pretty strong, even though the last rep on the 3rd set was a bit of a grind. No need for now to move to advanced novice on it. I'm not sure if last workout I was just having a bad day or what. Press felt good too. Had more in the tank for sure. The deadlift... That was the toughest work set. I felt like I wasn't going to get the bar off the floor, but I kept pulling and it came up. It's almost like you have to suspend your disbelief and just pull as even though it feels like there is no way it will make it up when you start pulling it just seems to come up.
✓ Member
6/7/2019
Squat 285 3x5
Bench 205 5,5,4 - first fail at this weight
Power Clean - 135 5x3
Chin up with green band (in prior posts I was actually using the blue band, bad memory sorry) - 6,6,4
Had a Dr.'s appointment this morning so worked out following that. Squats were heavy, and the last rep was a grind. When I was doing my warm ups for the bench it felt like I hadn't really recovered from the squat yet. Took a 6 min rest between warm ups and work sets but still kinda felt worn out. Was taking between 6-7 minutes rest between the sets and just felt used up. While benching it seemed like the first rep of each set was really hard then I would get going and I just hit failure on that last rep. I might experiment with a 10-20 break between finishing the squat and starting warm up for the bench. However I was thinking I was coming close to using up LP on the bench.
✓ Member
6/10/2019
Squat 290 3x5
Press 132.5 5,5,3 first fail at this weight
Deadlift 315 2 first fail at this weight
The squat was heavy and it was a grind to get the last rep but I wouldn't call it a bad workout. The press I just didn't seem to be able to get the arch and bow motion going. Completely stalled in the last set. The deadlift, I got it off the ground and it was very tough. On the third rep, ran completely out of steam and it came back down. I tried to reset up just to see if I could get it up, and I couldn't budge it off the ground so I called it. So today was a little success with a large helping of fail. While I can't say for certain it was the cause, I got my updated tetnus shot on Friday right before my last workout where I failed my bench. I felt completely crappy the rest of Friday and pretty much the entire weekend so I am wondering if my body responding to it wasn't recovering. I don't want to blame everything on it but I've been eatting a lot, and I've been getting decent sleep and I do not skimp on the rest between sets but I'll see if I need to adjust those. Also I do not think I can do 10 lbs jumps on the deadlift anymore so if I make it past this weight I'll be doing 5 lbs jumps going forward. The only thing I'm concerned about is that my squat is poised to come really close to my DL however I'm thinking if I am having this amount of difficult with the DL my squat might stall soon. I had planned that when I get a missed set on the squat I would deload and move to advanced novice on it so I guess I'll keep following that plan.
✓ Member
Not long ago, I got my booster shot, and I felt awful for several days after -- feverish, shakes, chills, nauseous, etc. It was bad enough that my wife was getting close to taking me to the hospital, concerned that I might be having an adverse reaction to the booster. I'm almost sure it was a DPT shot that I had to get before going on a vacation to Belize. So, I wouldn't be too quick to discount the possible effects of the tetanus shot on your performance. Give it another try in your normal rotation, and if the lift doesn't improve as you feel better post-shot, then consider your transition to the next phase.Originally Posted by epurvee
✓ Member
Wow, sounds like you had it a lot worse than me! For me, I felt run down and all my muscles ached through Sunday, and not the post workout soreness type of feeling. I didn't have the achy feeling Monday so I'm hoping that if the tetnus shot was an issue that I'll pass my bench.
✓ Member
6/15/2019
Had a business trip, and despite my plans of working out while traveling and not drinking too much, I ended up drinking too much every night and dragging myself into the meetings each day. Got home later Friday so I worked out Saturday morning.
Squat - 295 3x5
Bench - 205 3x5
Power Clean - 140 5x3
Chin up - green band 7,6,5
The squat was a killer. I was hitting what almost felt like muscle failure, but was still able to grind it out, by the 3rd rep of the 2nd and 3rd set. I then took a 10 minute rest following the squat before starting the bench warm ups. I think that probably helped. The bench didn't seem like a big deal. Everything was moving and nothing was slow until the last rep of the last set. For the Power Clean I'm still concerned about my form. When I use weights under 130, its like I can make the bar come flying up. About when I get to about 135 and up I feel like I'm cheating and using my arms. Feeling like I really need in person coaching on that lift but the distance to the closest coach (Atlanta) is large enough its just not something I can do with my current schedule. Chin ups still suck but hopefully I'm getting enough volume in to see some improvements there.
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