Getting started on my first NLP

[niekz]

Hey folks. I'm about 2 weeks into my first ever NLP.

My stats:
Age 31
Height 176cm (5'9"?)
Weight 182kg (yes, you read that correctly)

I've lifted on and off in the past, never seriously for more than a couple months for no
reason other than my own willpower. Recently I got quite a scare with kidney problems,
and i'm working my butt off to course correct and be a better person.

As stated above, im 2 weeks in, want to do some weekly posts about my progress, perhaps
there are others in the same boat as I am and can give them (and me) some motivation long term.

I started off low, since bodyweight movements are hard at my weight, building up slowly, making sure
I concentrate on proper form as far as I can manage with every workout.

All lifts follow the same structure
1x5 warmup with barbell only, then 3x5 working set (1x5 for deadlift ofc) with my working weight (once I get up past a week 3 I will likely add another warmup set when the weight gets heavier)

Monday 19/02
Squat - 20kg
Bench - 20kg
Deadlift - 60kg
Notes - Workout felt light, but not going to get ahead of myself, progress over perfection

Wednesday 21/02
Squat - 25kg
OHP - 20kg
Deadlift - 65kg
Notes - Squat form sucks, struggle to go low enough for me to consider it being good due to stiff ankles/calves. Hoping this improves over time

Friday 23/02
Squat - 30kg
Bench - 22.5kg
Deadlift - 70kg
Note - Squat felt just as bad today, very stiff ankles, ill watch it for another week and then perhaps add some stretching to my daily.

Monday 26/02
Squat - 35kg
OHP - 22.5kg
Deadlift - 75kg
Note - Squats felt a little better today. Deadlifts felt horrible, felt like I rounded my back too much. No pain after, but ill feel it next morning..

Wednesday 28/02
Squat - 40kg
Bench - 25kg
Deadlift - 80kg
Note - Almost skipped today's workout, was 40C outside and my home gym was baking like a sauna. Ended up doing an evening workout instead. Felt good that I got it in even though I wasn't feeling up to it. Squats today felt great, and with the weight increasing on my back, I feel like my form is improving day by day.

A note - I know I am severly overweight (obese). I have pain in many parts of my body daily, and have had severe backpain for at least a decade as well as a slipped disc about 8 years ago. I've been living in pain ever since. However, after 1 week into my NLP, my back pain is gone. Completely. I hope this lasts, but this is the best i've felt in close to 10 years.

[Lee Pinac]

Great work. Keep it up. Joints that haven't had to move through any extended range of motion for years will let you know that they aren't happy when you do so.

I came across a good warm up schedule on either one of the SS videos or a podcast. I'm not sure which. For Squat, Press and Bench Press: 2x5 with empty bar, 1x5 with 50% of your work weight forsaid exercise for the day, 1x3 with 70%, 1x1-2 with 90%, 3x5 with work weight. For Deadlifts, since you should be fairly warmed up from Squats, 1x3 with 70% and 1x1 with 90%. For deadlifts, I add in 1-2x5 with the empty bar and 1x3 with 50%. For all warmups, if you are lifting over 100 lbs on a warm up set, dont mess with 2 1/2 lbs plates and if using over 200 lbs on a warm up set, don't mess with 2 1/2 and 5 lbs plates. I'm not sure what that translates to in kilo plates. Hope this helps.

[carson]

I'm not sure where you live given that your workout place is hot. (Maybe South America?). Anyway, I'm not familiar with people who are trying to safely strength train with your dimensions. I sincerely wish you the best. I also encourage you to find a Starting Strength Coach even if you must travel to see him or her. If you can find a coach even through online coaching try to find one with medical training. Thankfully I work with Dr. Jonathon Sullivan who is an MD and has a PhD in physiology. He's a Godsend.

[Maybach]

I will comment that "stiff ankles" is often blamed for problems getting to adequate depth, when the problem is actually one of balance. If too much of your weight is behind your feet when you bend over, going deep will cause you to fall over. This *usually* goes away once weight is introduced, but if you're especially heavy, the addition of the weight might not actually change things all that much. Try squatting with a light (say, 5 kilo) weight held out in front of you and see if that makes it easier to hit depth, and look for that position when you have the bar on your back. It is almost NEVER the case that "stiff ankles" prevent someone from hitting depth on a low bar squat.

And I had better see a Friday update this weekend.

[carson]

Also, make sure you have proper weight-lifting shoes. Squishy ones will not work. Gym shoes are not lifting shoes.

[niekz]

Wow, I didn't expect to receive so many comments a day after I posted, thank you for everyons input and support

Great work. Keep it up. Joints that haven't had to move through any extended range of motion for years will let you know that they aren't happy when you do so.

I came across a good warm up schedule on either one of the SS videos or a podcast. I'm not sure which. For Squat, Press and Bench Press: 2x5 with empty bar, 1x5 with 50% of your work weight forsaid exercise for the day, 1x3 with 70%, 1x1-2 with 90%, 3x5 with work weight. For Deadlifts, since you should be fairly warmed up from Squats, 1x3 with 70% and 1x1 with 90%. For deadlifts, I add in 1-2x5 with the empty bar and 1x3 with 50%. For all warmups, if you are lifting over 100 lbs on a warm up set, dont mess with 2 1/2 lbs plates and if using over 200 lbs on a warm up set, don't mess with 2 1/2 and 5 lbs plates. I'm not sure what that translates to in kilo plates. Hope this helps.

Thank you, yeah, sedetary lifestyle, living like a slob, not moving more than 2k steps a day, im definitely noticing I need a ton
more fexibiity work just to get farther to the "normal" range of motion for anything tbh. Ill definitey give this warmup a shot

I'm not sure where you live given that your workout place is hot. (Maybe South America?). Anyway, I'm not familiar with people who are trying to safely strength train with your dimensions. I sincerely wish you the best. I also encourage you to find a Starting Strength Coach even if you must travel to see him or her. If you can find a coach even through online coaching try to find one with medical training. Thankfully I work with Dr. Jonathon Sullivan who is an MD and has a PhD in physiology. He's a Godsend.

Close (or at least in the right hemisphere) - South Africa. I'll definitely be reaching out to local coaches that have the relevant
background, ive unfortunately been struggling since the majority around here are nutritionist based or lean towards bodybuilding
with a "you should be eating near nothing" attitude. For the time being, im focussing on being as safe as I can possibly be,
albeit probably slowing down my progress somewhat. I'll get there eventually, I'm not giving up.

Also, make sure you have proper weight-lifting shoes. Squishy ones will not work. Gym shoes are not lifting shoes.

Hey, yes, next on my list after another pair of 20s. Im currently using a pair of Reebok Combines from many moons ago.
They are definitely not ideal (no raised heel), but they aren't squishy running shoes either at least.

I will comment that "stiff ankles" is often blamed for problems getting to adequate depth, when the problem is actually one of balance. If too much of your weight is behind your feet when you bend over, going deep will cause you to fall over. This *usually* goes away once weight is introduced, but if you're especially heavy, the addition of the weight might not actually change things all that much. Try squatting with a light (say, 5 kilo) weight held out in front of you and see if that makes it easier to hit depth, and look for that position when you have the bar on your back. It is almost NEVER the case that "stiff ankles" prevent someone from hitting depth on a low bar squat.

And I had better see a Friday update this weekend.

Thank you for the insight, I suspect you're correct (you definitely have better insight into this than I do). I'll just add, I might
have used the wrong wording. When I said stiff ankles, I meant that after forcing myself low low (without a bar and with holding
onto a pillar and pushing myself down into the squat position, that it feels like the area where (tendon? calf?) attaches to the back
of my heel pulls tight, and then remains so for about 24 hours after making it hard to walk. I can't say its painful, but its on the
edge of what I would consider pain vs soreness.

I have tried something today (placing 5lb plates under my heels). It has helped me get to a lower position with the squat,
not quite the depth id like, but still lower than what I could before. Now i do feel the outer part of my hips tentioning at the bottom of the
squat which I didn't before (I can't say if this is a good thing or not?).

The plates under my heels aren't ideal - im looking at better shoes once the suppliers near me have stock (I wear 13s - most seem to only stock 11s or 12s here in South Africa and they are
incredibly expensive...)

Also, as requested

Friday 01/03
Squat - 45kg
OHP - 25kg
Deadlift - 85kg

Holy hell that got heavy quick. My squat feels a TON better after adding a slight lift to my heels, and I can now feel my hips
working which is great. OHP kicked my ass today, and it already feels like ill have to slow down to smaller increments... At
least I got all the sets done. For deadlift, I get the feeling im reaching the point where weight increases need to slow down as
well, if i have to guess id be able to add another 10% before starting to miss reps.

[w35773]

You're doing great! I'm not a coach but 2 kg on the big lifts and 1 kg on the presses might be advisable. Stick with it and keep us updated!

[Maybach]

I understand what you mean: it's a pretty common problem. My point is that it's probably due to an error elsewhere. Most people tend to "high bar" their squats, which means their knees have to track further forward, and *this* can be impacted by ankle mobility. But you can hit depth on a low bar squat with nearly vertical shins. Your knees shouldn't have to track forward past your toes, if even that far.

Elevating the heel can help if your knees have to track forward especially far, but is best done through lifting shoes. Get yourself a pair.

[niekz]

Monday 04/03
Squat - 50kg
Bench - 27.5kg
Deadlift - 87.5kg

Notes:
Start of week 3 on my NLP. Today was my first real bad day. Woke up with a stiff back, pain in my hips, a headache that feels like its worse than I've had in a while.
I got up, I had some water, and I did my workout anyway. I can't say I feel 200% better afterwards, but I do feel good about not even thinking about skipping a day.

My workout today felt rushed (and looking back I suppose it was - 35mins vs usual 50+mins). Kept the 5kg increment on the squat... I'm so close to squatting that
first set of 20kgs that I want to push this week and see it done before I start to slow my increments. Bench was... meh. Bench, out of all the exercises has felt light to
me since day 1, but I decided to start slow and progress upwards so that I can make sure I don't rush anything. It'll get heavy eventually...

Deadlift today. This was hard. It was heavy. and I like it. I went up 2.5kg instead of my usual 5kg as last time around it felt like I was barely making it happen. Im glad I
did, I am nearing my current ability when it comes to deadlift (or at least, that's what it feels like to me). I still progressed, which Im happy about.

All in all, feel good about today's workout. My backs stiff, but I think that's to do with sleeping in a colder room than usual with a bit of an odd sleeping angle (dogs...)

[niekz]

Wednesday 06/03
Squat - 55kg 3x5 (+ 20kg 1x5 warmup, +40kg 1x5 warmup)
OHP - 27.5kg 3x5 (+ 20kg 1x5 warmup)
Deadlift - 90kg 1x5 (+ 60kg 1x5 warmup)

Altered my rest interval - 3mins between rest sets, 6mins between work sets. This seems to help a ton with recovering for the next set (prev was 2mins for rest sets, 3mins for work sets)

Notes:
Squat felt good today. REAL good. I'm getting better and better depth with every workout, and it feels good pushing the weight. Hard, but good
OHP was fucking heavy today. I figured i'd push it today and get another 2.5kg increase in before moving to 1kg increases next week. Feels bad that
its this early, but my arms/shoulders have always been weak.
Deadlift was real heavy. another 2.5kg increase. My form feels like its both getting better but also falling apart towards the end of the set, and I find myself
rushing towards the end. From Friday I need to work on stopping dead at the bottom and restarting, at the moment it feels more like a continuous movement
rather than a consistent pull from the floor.

All in all, good workout today. I can smell how close I am to squatting a full plate per side. Friday will be hard, today was already reaching a point where I know
if I did another set i'd fail a rep. Progress is progress