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Thread: Balikati's Log

  1. #11
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    August 5 2022 Friday
    Today I had a very tiresome day and by the time I went to the gym I hadn't eaten anything except a banana for 7 hours.

    •Squat 1x5 137.5kg, 2x5 122.5kg
    Could only do 2 reps. Second one was a grind, it took around 5 seconds to get it up. I proceeded to do 3 singles with only a couple minutes inbetween after that. Better than leaving it at 2 I think. It also slightly messed up my left shoulder and elbow. This used to happen when I first started lifting, and I injured my elbow once too. It stressed me out a little bit so I thought I'd do the back off sets high bar. I did 2 reps, wasn't a grind but I was so devoid of energy I just couldn't go down for the third. It was the first time I did a high bar squat, and now I've observed firsthand how it's more difficult than low bar. Didn't help with my shoulder though so I switched to low bar again. Since the first one ended up being a double I thought I'd continue that way today so I did 5 more doubles with 122.5.
    This no stretch issue is becoming a problem for me. When I am doing the back off sets, I go all the way down to the Earth's core and get a nice stretch and bounce out of the hole. With the work sets I try to do them only slightly lower than parallel as prescribed and there's absolutely no bounce whatsoever. It's basically a box squat without the box. I don't know how to remedy this.
    After the squat session was done I was so tired and sleepy that I was basically yawning in the middle of a workout. Also felt very hungry too.

    •Overhead Press 3x5 55kg
    I didn't want to skip this, but I felt so tired that I couldn't bring myself to do it the way I normally do. So I did it the way I've seen called Press 1.5 in these forums before. First rep; Valsava, hip thrust and lockout at the top, hold it there, exhale, Valsalva, bring it down, bounce and back up. Probably won't do it like that again but it felt nice.
    I did 4, 4, 3, 3, 1.

    Barbell Curl 3x10 40kg
    There was no way in hell I had enough energy left for this so I skipped it.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by balikati View Post
    August 5 2022 Friday
    Today I had a very tiresome day and by the time I went to the gym I hadn't eaten anything except a banana for 7 hours.

    •Squat 1x5 137.5kg, 2x5 122.5kg
    Could only do 2 reps. Second one was a grind, it took around 5 seconds to get it up. I proceeded to do 3 singles with only a couple minutes inbetween after that. Better than leaving it at 2 I think. It also slightly messed up my left shoulder and elbow. This used to happen when I first started lifting, and I injured my elbow once too. It stressed me out a little bit so I thought I'd do the back off sets high bar. I did 2 reps, wasn't a grind but I was so devoid of energy I just couldn't go down for the third. It was the first time I did a high bar squat, and now I've observed firsthand how it's more difficult than low bar. Didn't help with my shoulder though so I switched to low bar again. Since the first one ended up being a double I thought I'd continue that way today so I did 5 more doubles with 122.5.
    This no stretch issue is becoming a problem for me. When I am doing the back off sets, I go all the way down to the Earth's core and get a nice stretch and bounce out of the hole. With the work sets I try to do them only slightly lower than parallel as prescribed and there's absolutely no bounce whatsoever. It's basically a box squat without the box. I don't know how to remedy this.
    After the squat session was done I was so tired and sleepy that I was basically yawning in the middle of a workout. Also felt very hungry too.

    •Overhead Press 3x5 55kg
    I didn't want to skip this, but I felt so tired that I couldn't bring myself to do it the way I normally do. So I did it the way I've seen called Press 1.5 in these forums before. First rep; Valsava, hip thrust and lockout at the top, hold it there, exhale, Valsalva, bring it down, bounce and back up. Probably won't do it like that again but it felt nice.
    I did 4, 4, 3, 3, 1.

    Barbell Curl 3x10 40kg
    There was no way in hell I had enough energy left for this so I skipped it.
    Hey Balikati,
    I see you're a young guy like myself, so I feel like trying to help you in your strength journey.
    And I gotta be honest, you're simply not doing the program.
    From what I understand you have been inactive for a long time, so I'm guessing bodyfat percentage is pretty high.
    Your numbers are not terrible, but after 6 months? You should've lost a bunch of weight and your numbers should be higher.

    Keep this simple.
    Stop doing curls, stop doing chin-ups.
    Go back to square one, find a weight that you can do for 3 sets of 5 without having to grind, get your form checked on the forum (mainly squat and/or deadlift) and add 2kg increments on the squat and 2,5kg on the deadlift. Learn how to power clean and use 2kg increments
    Be consistent with your nutrition. One banana in 7 hours should never happen. Get at least 200gr of protein in you, keep the fats low and eat a sufficient amount of carbs (if you need specific advice on nutrition you can ask Santana on the forum). 5-10g of creatine a day can also help a lot with maintaining energy levels throughout the session.
    Trust the process, and don't add anything of your own, you will only waste your time, someone else already did all the thinking for you, you just have to execute.
    Read the books or the articles, or watch the videos a thousand times if necessary.
    You will be amazed by what you can accomplish.
    And don't get discouraged. If you look at my log, I've been attempting to finish my LP for 2 years basically, and I kept learning with every mistake I made, which always happened whenever I didn't follow the program, and still got a long way to go.

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by francesco.decaro View Post
    And I gotta be honest, you're simply not doing the program.
    Hey, thanks for your message. Yeah I'm not doing the program right now. But there's a specific reason for that which pertains to my personal life which is described in the thread linked in my first post here.
    The numbers seen here are what I got them to in around 4.5 to 5 months. Ever since then I'm just trying to maintain them, until I can resume doing the program. Bp and ohp have gone down a little.

    Yes I'd been inactive for quite a long time before I started doing the program. And as a matter of fact I had never done any weight training whatsoever in my life before I started the program. I never had it checked but I'd assume my bodyfat percentage was around 25 when I started at 85kg. It was probably the same after 5 months of doing the program when I was 100kg.

    I do power cleans too, just did them at 77.5kg this Wednesday.
    About nutrition, that's actually the reason I'm not doing the program now. Like I said it's in the post above. When I was doing it I ate between 250 to 300grams of protein and made sure calories were never below 4000, got above 5000 most of the time. Ate em clean too, cooked it myself and all. But now things are kinda different. Although what happened yesterday with the 7 hours was an anomaly, just because of the day I had. That might be why the squat and press sessions were like the way they were yesterday. Because I'd done 135 and 55 without any issues like those in the previous workout and normally these are weights I passed over more than a month ago. I'm going to see what happens on Monday.

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by balikati View Post
    Hey, thanks for your message. Yeah I'm not doing the program right now. But there's a specific reason for that which pertains to my personal life which is described in the thread linked in my first post here.
    The numbers seen here are what I got them to in around 4.5 to 5 months. Ever since then I'm just trying to maintain them, until I can resume doing the program. Bp and ohp have gone down a little.

    Yes I'd been inactive for quite a long time before I started doing the program. And as a matter of fact I had never done any weight training whatsoever in my life before I started the program. I never had it checked but I'd assume my bodyfat percentage was around 25 when I started at 85kg. It was probably the same after 5 months of doing the program when I was 100kg.

    I do power cleans too, just did them at 77.5kg this Wednesday.
    About nutrition, that's actually the reason I'm not doing the program now. Like I said it's in the post above. When I was doing it I ate between 250 to 300grams of protein and made sure calories were never below 4000, got above 5000 most of the time. Ate em clean too, cooked it myself and all. But now things are kinda different. Although what happened yesterday with the 7 hours was an anomaly, just because of the day I had. That might be why the squat and press sessions were like the way they were yesterday. Because I'd done 135 and 55 without any issues like those in the previous workout and normally these are weights I passed over more than a month ago. I'm going to see what happens on Monday.
    Oh yes, I remember now. I gave you some advice on that thread as well.
    Having a hard time getting by financially is not an excuse to needlessly put curls in your training program. In fact, it's the opposite. You need to manage your stress levels as optimally as possible. And doing curls is adding useless stress. I believe you can do the program as written, which you are not at the moment.
    You do not need 4000kcal a day.
    Eggs, milk and fruit can't be that expensive.
    Trust me. Or Rip and all the other members.

  5. #15
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    August 8 2022 Monday
    Started a new job today. It might take some time adjusting.

    Squat 3x5 125kg
    I decided to revert back to 3x5s instead of top and back off sets. For some reason this was more tiring than I'd anticipated. I've no idea why a 125x5x3 fatigued me more than the last 135x5 + 125x5x2 I did.

    Bench Press 3x5 87.5kg
    Right elbow was hurting at the bottom and even during warmups the weight wasn't moving the way it should be so I skipped it. Whatever happened to my arm probably happened during the Friday session. Had this happen to my left arm before but right's a first.

    Power Clean 4x2 77.5kg
    I warmed up for this too and elbow hurt a little. I skipped it because I was pissed the fuck off about the bench not because of how my arm felt though.

    Chin-up 3xF
    3, 2, 1. Elbow didn't hurt during this but I didn't feel as strong as the last time I did chins on Wednesday, as if I couldn't recover from last week's workouts. Not supposed to happen on a monday so I don't know what that was about.

    Forgot to weigh myself.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by balikati View Post
    August 8 2022 Monday
    Started a new job today. It might take some time adjusting.

    Squat 3x5 125kg
    I decided to revert back to 3x5s instead of top and back off sets. For some reason this was more tiring than I'd anticipated. I've no idea why a 125x5x3 fatigued me more than the last 135x5 + 125x5x2 I did.

    Bench Press 3x5 87.5kg
    Right elbow was hurting at the bottom and even during warmups the weight wasn't moving the way it should be so I skipped it. Whatever happened to my arm probably happened during the Friday session. Had this happen to my left arm before but right's a first.

    Power Clean 4x2 77.5kg
    I warmed up for this too and elbow hurt a little. I skipped it because I was pissed the fuck off about the bench not because of how my arm felt though.

    Chin-up 3xF
    3, 2, 1. Elbow didn't hurt during this but I didn't feel as strong as the last time I did chins on Wednesday, as if I couldn't recover from last week's workouts. Not supposed to happen on a monday so I don't know what that was about.

    Forgot to weigh myself.
    Remember to not get too emotional during your sessions. If something doesn't work, you ask questions and figure out why.
    Also, Chin-ups are supposed to be put in the program as a substitute for Cleans and Deadlifts, and not done in the same workout, so you are adding more stress than needed.
    It doesn't seem like a lot, but it adds up.
    Remember my advice, lower your increments on the squat to 2kg, not 2,5kg.
    If you are under recovered because of lack of calories, 2.5kg is not sustainable, even if you do a deload.


    (Not trying to be a dick here, just trying to help out a fellow lifter)

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by francesco.decaro View Post
    (Not trying to be a dick here, just trying to help out a fellow lifter)
    All good. It was your suggestion that made me decide going back to 3x5 for the squat. The weight might not increase much until my nutritional problems are resolved but it'll happen sooner than later. I'm going to reduce chin-ups to once a week too. I already do pulls on monday and wednesday and none on friday. So I'll push the chinups there.
    About plates, lightest plates I have are two 1.25kg plates. And they're mine, not the gym's. Lightest plates the gym has are 2.5kg. If I notice the jumps are becoming too heavy to handle I'll figure a way. Plates lighter than 1.25 that would fit a bar aren't commonly found in my country.

    August 10 2022 Wednesday
    I hate coming home from work and having to cook food every single day especially on gym days. I'm gonna buy a microwave and do meal prep. Today I felt under the weather a little bit but it turned out fine.

    •Overhead Press 3x5 52.5kg
    Was nice and easy. But smoked my right arm it was feeling numb on the deltoid and inner elbow area. Eccentric and concentric movement didn't hurt. Holding the bar at the bottom did, but only slightly.
    •Deadlift 1x5 150kg
    It had been 20 days since my last deadlift session so I figured I'd lower the weight to 150kg. When I was done with the set it felt like I made the right decision.
    •Barbell Curl 3x10 40kg
    Skipped this again.

    I weighed 97.2kg.

  8. #18
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    August 12 2022 Friday
    Will have to skip this session.

    A rather weird thing happened so I will post about it. While I was leaving work yesterday I noticed my right ankle was hurt. Any movement of the joint, to stand on it and to walk hurt a lot as if it was badly sprained. But nothing of the sort happened neither that day nor the day before. Before, like a month ago, I did actually twist both of my ankles on separate occasions but never got injured because of it. I'd even thought to myself it must be because training got the joints and everything stronger and less prone to injury. So I was very surprised and curious as to what the hell could have caused this.
    It got gradually worse and by the time I was at home I was limping. And eventually it became so painful that I couldn't even limp, I had to bounce with my left leg to get to somewhere. I had a fever too.
    Friend of mine took me to the ER and turns out the reason was a mosquito bite. They said it was this tropical subspecies of mosquito that wasn't used to be found here until last year and that people could develop an allergic reaction after they get bitten for the first time. This fucker bit my ankle in 3 different spots and it took a day for the swelling to begin. The swollen area on my ankle became too big and damaged the tissue around it. They gave me two antihistamine shots and some gels and told me it should be fine by Monday.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by balikati View Post
    All good. It was your suggestion that made me decide going back to 3x5 for the squat. The weight might not increase much until my nutritional problems are resolved but it'll happen sooner than later. I'm going to reduce chin-ups to once a week too. I already do pulls on monday and wednesday and none on friday. So I'll push the chinups there.
    About plates, lightest plates I have are two 1.25kg plates. And they're mine, not the gym's. Lightest plates the gym has are 2.5kg. If I notice the jumps are becoming too heavy to handle I'll figure a way. Plates lighter than 1.25 that would fit a bar aren't commonly found in my country.

    August 10 2022 Wednesday
    I hate coming home from work and having to cook food every single day especially on gym days. I'm gonna buy a microwave and do meal prep. Today I felt under the weather a little bit but it turned out fine.

    •Overhead Press 3x5 52.5kg
    Was nice and easy. But smoked my right arm it was feeling numb on the deltoid and inner elbow area. Eccentric and concentric movement didn't hurt. Holding the bar at the bottom did, but only slightly.
    •Deadlift 1x5 150kg
    It had been 20 days since my last deadlift session so I figured I'd lower the weight to 150kg. When I was done with the set it felt like I made the right decision.
    •Barbell Curl 3x10 40kg
    Skipped this again.

    I weighed 97.2kg.
    I would normally tell you to get a consultation with an SSC, but I imagine it'd be difficult given your financial situation

    If you are training three times a week and you are not losing weight quickly, just do the program as it is written. There is no reason to not Squat or to include Curls. I think you might need to read the gray book.
    Not having microplates is an issue, especially on pressing movements.
    2.5kg increments on the Deadlift are ok.
    You should introduce a light squat day, which you alternate with your heavy squat day, using 80/85% of your weekly 5RM, for 3 sets of 5.
    It looks like this:

    Monday - Squat - 125kg
    Wednesday - Light Squat - 105kg
    Friday - Squat - 127,5kg

    Monday - Light Squat - 107,5kg
    Wednesday - Squat - 130kg
    Friday - Light Squat - 110kg

    All sessions are 3 sets of 5 reps.
    This allows you to keep the same volume (in your case it actually increases it) but gives you more time to recover between heavy sessions.

    You definitely cannot do 2.5kg increments on your Press if you do 3 sets of 5. But you can't decrease the volume or you won't get an adaptation. So my suggestion is you just try to do 15 reps in total. Even if you have to do 5 or 6 singles by the end of it. So it might look like this:
    5,4,3,3 or 4,4,3,2,2 or 3,3,2,2,2,1,1,1
    Of course rest between sets should be minimized, so it shouldn't take you longer than a regular 3 sets of 5.

    For the bench I would say you can switch to 3 sets of 3 reps. It's not a lot of volume, but you're a big guy, you should be able to keep it going.

    Power Cleans for 4 sets of 2 are ok I think, since you can only do 2.5kg increments, but you need to alternate them with your Deadlift and stop doing chin-ups. When your Deadlift starts failing, you can add chin-ups as a SUBSTITUTE.
    Which means you do:

    Monday - Deadlift
    Wednesday - Chins
    Friday - Power Cleans
    Monday - Chins
    Wednesday - Deadlift
    Friday - Chins

    And so on. If the weight gets too heavy on your Cleans, just do a whole bunch of singles.

    If your situation is temporary, this should be enough to drive progress until you can go back to having microplates and recovering properly.

    This is just my suggestion as a fellow young lifter. I am not an SSC

  10. #20
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    starting strength coach development program
    Skipped gym this week. Monday was because of my ankle. Wednesday and Friday were because of work. I'll be back next Monday.

    Quote Originally Posted by francesco.decaro View Post
    There is no reason to not Squat
    I normally did the light squat on wednesdays but I had stopped it two months ago when I started this cut. It's not exactly a cut per se either, I'm not following a specific diet with the purpose of receiving a specific result in weight or fat loss or whatever. I still eat relatively more compared to normal people if that's how you'd describe them, but not enough to feed a body of my weight that does weight training. My guess as to why the loss of weight isn't as quick as one would expect is because of all the skipped sessions in July and this month. In June I'd lost 3kg in 2 weeks.
    For the light squat I used to do
    Monday - Heavy
    Wednesday - Light (70% of Monday)
    Friday - Heavy (+2.5kg of Monday's)
    And repeat the same weekly. But what you're suggesting makes more sense to me. I think I'll do that.

    Quote Originally Posted by francesco.decaro View Post
    You definitely cannot do 2.5kg increments on your Press if you do 3 sets of 5. But you can't decrease the volume or you won't get an adaptation. So my suggestion is you just try to do 15 reps in total. Even if you have to do 5 or 6 singles by the end of it.
    Yes, as a matter of fact 2.5kg increments were a problem even when I ate 5000kcal and 250grams of protein daily. But I wasn't completing the number of reps to 15 then, I do that now. I did it that way on August 5th.

    Quote Originally Posted by francesco.decaro View Post
    When your Deadlift starts failing, you can add chin-ups as a SUBSTITUTE.
    The issue for me with the deadlift - chin - pc programming the way you've written is that it inevitably results in a day with both ohp and pc sessions every other week and these two movements interfere with each other especially now that I don't eat enough. I'm still going to give it a try. We'll see how it goes.

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