My Starting Strength Journey; A training log for self-motivation.

[PJL83]

Hi All,

UK based, age 37, male, 16st (ish), 5ft 9in.

Until 3 weeks ago I had never lifted a barbell in my life. I've joined gyms in the past and done cardio and some training on the machines but never stuck to anything. I'm not one for running so I chose to do some strength training and came across Starting Strength. I'm in week 2 of the programme now. Obviously my goal is to get stronger but the real goal is to get off my @$$ and feel better about myself; mentality and physically. It's been a long time since I've done anything and after lockdown I was feeling a bit low and I've definitely put too much weight on this year!


28.08.20 (Day 0)
Started off at a friends home gym. He's trained for years and agreed to help me get started. I wanted some idea of my max lifts to have something to gauge against periodically. I know it doesn't mean much as it's a personal thing but for me I like to see tangible results so I thought this would be a good marker for future reference. These weights were only calculated due to lack of weights; I was actually lifting 40kg bench/60kg squat & DL.

Results;
Squat 90kg
Bench 65kg
DL 100

Really enjoyed the session and felt really pleased with myself afterwards. I felt I could have done more on squats and I felt a little dizzy after the DL's. I ached for 3 days afterwards!


Day 1 - 02.09.20

Squat 30kg - 3x5
Bench 30kg - 3x5
DL 50kg - 1x5

Felt great afterwards. It all felt a bit easy but this was my first day proper in the gym so I was really up for it. I wanted to start small and build from there.

Day 2 - 03.09.20

Squat 35kg - 3x5
Press 35kg - 3x5
DL 55kg 1x5

Not ideal with no rest day but I was felling good and travelling for work meant this was the only way I could fit 3 sessions in for the week without too big a gap between. The press was hard but I did it. In hindsight I should have started lighter as this was my first ever press.

Day 3 - 06.09.20

Squat 40kg - 3x5
Bench 40kg - 3x5
DL 60kg 1x5

Felt good. Very happy to tick off the first week. The only downside was I filmed myself for the first time to check form and things were far from perfect so decided to pause on the weight increases until I'm more comfortable. Although it felt good; I could definitely be tighter and more controlled on the squat and DL particularly.

Day 4 - 08.09.20

Squat 40kg - 3x5
Press 30kg - 3x5
DL 60kg 1x5

Today was a real drag. I just wasn't feeling it at all. Maybe the first week buzz had gone, definitely felt tired and no doubt a little deflated with my form check BUT - I still got out and did it and I'm still motivated so feeling good! I started the press at 40kg but after the first 2 reps it just felt too heavy so I dropped it down and pushed them all out.

Sorry for the long first post but now I'm caught up I'll try to update regularly. I'll be hanging around the forum for tips, knowledge and motivation. If you've made it this far then thanks for reading and good luck with your own journey.

Thanks
Paul

[PJL83]

Day 5 - 10.9.20

Squat 40kg - 3x5
Bench 45kg - 3x5
DL 62.5kg 1x5

I could so easily have turned the alarm off and gone back to bed this morning but I didn’t. I decided to up my bench and DL. Happier with my squat form now so will add a bit next session. I was warned that week 2 was one of the hardest weeks and I can see why! It’s purely a mental game now to keep myself motivated.

I’ve got this!!!

[Lardo McFatterson]

I'm doing session #4 tomorrow, so you're a veteran lifter by my standards. My goal is to be like you in 3 days.

[PJL83]

Haha. Good for you mate and good luck 👍🏻

[PJL83]

Day 6 - 13.09.20

Squat 45kg - 3x5
Press 32.5kg - 3x5
DL 65kg - 1x5

Squat - weight felt easy. Still not 100% confident in my form.
Press - last 3 felt hard. Really had to push them out.
DL - felt fairly easy.

[PJL83]

Day 7 - 15.9.20

Squat 47.5kg - 3x5
Bench 47.5kg - 3x5
DL 70kg 1x5

Loved this session. I felt terrible when I woke up but dragged myself to the gym and felt amazing afterwards. I decided to up the deadlift a bit and I’m glad I did. Smaller steps from now though as I definitely felt it! :-)

[PJL83]

Hi All,

I stopped posting after every session but I'm still going. I've just completed week 4 (12 sessions).

Day 12 - 25.09.20

Squat 70kg - 3x5
Press 40kg - 3x5
DL 90kg - 1x5

Very happy with progress so far. I'm getting close to a body weight DL which is a nice milestone for me mentally. My last bench on Day 11 was a real grind; even to the point I almost failed on the last set of 5. I'll be adding 2.5kg and taking a longer break tonight in the hope that I can keep progressing. In hindsight I probably started low on squats and deadlift but it's felt good progressing through the weight - I'm really feeling it now though which is a good feeling!

Thanks for reading.
Paul

[BrooklynJerry]

Nice progress, keep at!