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Thread: My Journey to Get Stronger

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Posts
    69

    Default My Journey to Get Stronger

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    Hello everyone,

    Here's some background on me. I'm a 22 year old male 6 ft 0 inches tall. I have run the LP a couple of times. The first time was a couple of summers ago. The last time was last summer. Both times, I did manage to make a lot of good strength gains but then I stalled out because of school and life and ended up losing a lot of hard earned weight and strength. I know how to eat and gain weight but it's hard for me to, but I know it's worth it to get stronger. Needless to say, I've been a bit of a yo-yo-er in my strength training endeavors but I feel that is about to change.

    I've learned from a lot of the mistakes I made in previous LP's. I've been in the process of cleaning up the form on a lot of my lifts and it has gotten better. My presses are solid, my deadlift is pretty solid, and my squat is getting there. Last summer, I made some PR's on all my lifts but the form was questionable on some of them to say the least. I managed to bring my bodyweight from about 175lbs to about 205lbs. Mind you, I was also working two jobs doing landscaping and worked for a moving company. Needless to say, my recovery wasn't great, but I put in effort and managed to hit PR's. Being a young male, I can beat the crap out of myself and still get decent results. I squatted 265lbsx5x3, benched 195x5x3, deadlifted 295x5 and pressed 125x5x3. I definitely felt that I left some gains on the table but the reason I stalled out was because I got too busy with school.

    Alright, I know this is turning into a long rant, but I thought it was important to tell you guys my story. I lost a lot of weight and all my strength because I let myself go so I could focus on school and I wasn't eating enough. Hopefully, now that I'm done with school and I'm taking some time off, I will have a chance to build some momentum and hopefully sustain it for a few years.
    Last edited by yoyoswole; 07-12-2019 at 12:13 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Posts
    69

    Default

    I had my first official workout of my new LP today.

    My bodyweight was 173lbs this morning. I know I can get back up to 200 pretty quickly, I've done it twice before.

    Squat 95x5x3
    Press 85x5x3
    Deadlift 135x5

    Yeah, I know, my squat is pretty weak, but I'm compensating for all the ego lifting I did. I took a lot of weight off the bar and now i'm starting at a conservative 95 lbs but I want to really nail down the form while it's light. Since we squat every session, it will blow back up to 2 plates in no time.
    Last edited by yoyoswole; 07-12-2019 at 02:58 PM.

  3. #3
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    Jul 2019
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    69

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    My 2nd session went well. I'm starting strong by eating over 4,000 calories the last couple days and will continue this momentum today. Squat is the one that isn't quite there yet but it's feeling better. I can feel my hip drive improving especially on the warm up sets. The first squat set, I felt like I wasn't driving my hips enough but the next 2 sets improved my hip drive somewhat. Hopefully I can nail down the squat form within the next couple weeks while it's still light.

    Weight in pounds

    Squat 105x5x3
    Bench 135x5x3
    Deadlift 150x5

    The 15 pound jump in the deadlift felt good. Weight went up smoothly. I'll probably do 15 pound jumps for my deadlift at least one more time. Of course, I'll play it by ear so that I don't get stalled out. My deadlift is very solid. A year ago, my deadlift form was bad probably because I was lifting too much weight and I just didn't have the form down. Now, I'm doing the chest up and I'm doing a great job keeping the bar touching my body and over my midfoot the whole time. Very happy with the deadlift.

    Overall, I'm happy with the way this session went. I completed all of my sets no problem. The thing I've been struggling with the most is eating. It's hard for me to eat over 4,000 calories. I find myself sitting at the table eating for hours. I'm glad that I have the luxury of a lot of time on my hands right now. It must have taken me an hour to finish my breakfast, but I got it in. Now that my training session is done, I feel my appetite starting to come back. I've got some brown rice in the cooker and I'll heat up some chicken drumsticks and probably whip up a protein shake with a lot of calories as well.
    Last edited by yoyoswole; 07-12-2019 at 12:03 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Walled Lake, Michigan
    Posts
    6,681

    Default

    Welcome. Do you live within a couple hundred miles of a SS coach? He or she can cue on correction of some mistakes which may help you keep from getting hurt and keep and help you find a pattern that will keep you going. If the cost is too high think about a visit every few months just to keep the technique on target.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Posts
    69

    Default

    Hi Carson, thanks for the reply. I don't live near a coach, but I'll think about doing online coaching or form checks.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
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    69

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    Today I went in for a form clinic with Dan Raimondi. He helped me out with my lifts. There were a few cues and corrections he gave me that were quite helpful. I'm glad I went in even though there were only minor things to work on. I'm more confident with my technique now. We also worked on powercleans and I feel better about them now. Of course, it's a work in progress, but it's getting there.

    Squat 135x5x3
    Press 85x5x3
    Bench 145x5x3
    Deadlift 185x5
    Power clean 65x3x5

  7. #7
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    Jul 2019
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    Another training session in the books. I was a little bit short on recovery after having to travel to get coaching on monday. The training session was a little bit hard but I kind of expected it. I still chose to go up in weight as planned. Still working on squat form and using the new cues I received. Second set of squats felt very good. By the third set, I could tell I was relaxing at the bottom a little too much. I need to remember to cut them off because my tendency is to go a little too deep. Deadlifts went pretty well, but I need to remember to keep the bar close and push the floor with my quads. Slowing down and taking my time would probably help because I tend to rush to get the set done.

    Squat 145x5x3
    Press 90x5x3
    Deadlift 200x5

  8. #8
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    Jul 2019
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    69

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    A good session to close out a week of training.

    Squat 155x5x3
    Bench 150x5x3
    Deadlift 210x5

    Overall, form is getting better. Not perfect, but I'll keep working on it. Happy with the progress so far especially the deadlift. I started at 135 not even 10 days ago. Granted, I started out lighter than I needed to, but there's no doubt I've made a lot of progress. I've added 75 pounds to my deadlift and I am now at 210. I think I have another couple 10 pound jumps in me but I will switch to 5 pound jumps sooner than later because the last thing I need is to stall this early in the program. I'm also gaining weight. Even though it's been difficult, I have managed to put on about 10 pounds so far. Eating is the hardest part for me, but I'm doing what I need to do, and it's showing in the results I get in the gym. Gonna be hitting 2 plates on deadlift again before I know it, but this time with better form.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Posts
    69

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    Yesterday's workout was a repeat of monday's workout. I didn't recover enough to go up in weight this time. Now, I'm back on track and will eat big today and tomorrow so the next workout I can go up in weight again.

    Squat: 165x5x3
    Press:95x5x3
    Deadlift: 220x5

    Overall, I'm happy with the way things are going so far. Now, for tomorrow's workout, I will be doing power cleans instead of deadlifts. In the past, I would wait too long to stop doing deadlifts every workout. Now that the first couple weeks of fast gains are over, it's time to dial it back just a little bit so I can recover better. I will also start 5 pound jumps for squats and deads. Overall, I'm progressing as expected.

    Monday I will be deadlifting 2 plates for a set of 5 again. Looking at my numbers right now, they aren't high, but they're moving up very quickly. I'll get to where I was before and then some before too long.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
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    69

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    starting strength coach development program
    Another workout in the books. Friday's workout went well, although not perfect. I completed all the reps and sets for all three lifts. The squat, even though I've cleaned it up quite a bit, It's still my most challenging lift. On the second set, I lost balance on the third rep. I fell forward a little bit but I reset my stance and completed the set without a problem. It was slightly embarrassing but not a big deal. I think I still need to work on cutting them off a bit. I'm doing better on the warmup sets but once I get to the work set weights, it's hard to not relax in the bottom. I might use a belt for monday's workout and see if that helps.

    Squat 170x5x3
    Bench 155x5x3
    Power clean 70x3x5
    Last edited by yoyoswole; 07-29-2019 at 04:53 PM.

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