wdkrnl's log

[wdkrnls]

Hello Everyone,

I'm a completely novice lifter. I've never done any weight training before in my life until 7 weeks ago when I got my copy of Starting Strength in the mail. Since then I've been hitting the gym 3x a week with religious consistency. However, I haven't yet added power cleans to my workouts. I know they are really important so I'm making learning them my top priority. I've just got the BBT DVD in the mail as well, so hopefully I can get it learned pretty quickly.

I'm 23 years old, weigh 200 lb and am 6' 2" tall. I'm probably at a really high bodyfat percentage. I store a lot of visible fat in my chest, midsection, hips, and butt. I lack a good deal of flexibility and have a protruding butt and stomach. I believe it to be a rather severe case of hyperlordosis.

I have been having trouble progressing on presses but squats and deadlifts have been going up very consistently.

Right now I'm at:

SQ: 195#
DL: 215#
PR: 85#
BP: 140#
PC: Not yet

I can do 3\3\3 chin ups right now and only 1 pull up.

Today I did squats, deadlifts, standing presses at the relevant above numbers. I'll try to get some videos up of my form on all the exercises as soon as possible.

[wdkrnls]

Worked out today before new years party. Deadlift went up 10 lb but squat stalled due to poor form leading to rounded back. I think I'm going to deload until I feel comfortable that I'm not going to hurt my back. Bench press is still stalled at 140# :(. I can do 8 reps with it though. I'm hoping next time to make it.

[wdkrnls]

Okay... I'm back to being more regular. End of vacation was pretty hectic. Anyway,

Monday:

Squat 175# 5/5/5
Bench 145# 5/3/5
Deads 235# 1x5

Wednesday (Today):

Squat 185# 5/5/5
Press 95# 5/5/4
Deads 245# 1x5

I probably could have completed all five reps on bench on monday, but had a new spotter who was bar touch happy. Not a big deal. I'm going to try microloading it next time. Press today went well except for the last rep of the last set. I got it up, but I lost lock to do it. I'm planning an extra trip to the gym just to mess with power cleans this weekend.

Also, chins and pullups have regressed since not really doing them over break.

3/2/2 on both monday and today

[wdkrnls]

Went Saturday because got to gym too late. Everything went up except for chins. Micro-loading seems to be working well.

SQ: 200# 3x5
BP: 147.5# 3x5
DL: 255# 1x5

chins: 2/2/1/1

I did hurt my left forearm while deadlifting with the alternate grip. I don't know if it will clear up by Monday.

[wdkrnls]

Probably not very useful, but I have these goals by March 31st:

315# squat
175# bench
125# press
400# dead
135# clean

[wdkrnls]

I just found out I haven't been really doing sets of deadlifts. I have been taking too long to reset the bar angle and my feet position. I'm not sure whether I should try again at 255 with less breaks or if I should try going down to a lower weight.

[wdkrnls]

Last night I did:

SQ: 205# 5/5/5
PR: 100# 5/5/3

Back extensions 1x15 weighted
1x15 unweighted

Chins: 3/2/2/1

Weighted situps:
1x10 unweighted
1x10 10 lb weight
2x10 25lb weight
1x5 25 lb weight

[cervicornis]

Good work wdkrnls. Those are some serious goals for the end of March. Good luck.

[wdkrnls]

Thanks cervicornis!

I went wednesday night really late and had to rush to get squat and bench done before closing. I'm going to try to get back in tonight for deadlifts. I've got some work to do before then, though.

Last night went well otherwise:

Squat: 215# 3x5
Bench: 150# 3x5

I decided to try going up by 10# on squat because the last few workouts have been easy. I'll try for 225# next session.

Bench was a slow grind and I was worried because I didn't have a spotter. Fortunately they all went up. It looks like I'm going to be stuck on 2.5# jumps for the foreseeable future.

[wdkrnls]

I made some measurements of myself today and found that I haven't gained as much fat as I thought I would. My waist actually decreased by an inch and my thighs by 3 inches in the last month despite gaining 10# total weight.

[wdkrnls]

Last Friday I did:

Squat: 225#
Dead: 225# 1x5, 275# 1x2
Press: 100# 5/4/5

I finally hit 2 plates each side! Just one plate more to go for my first goal. Squats were tough. They made me sore for a few days. I'm going to switch back to 5# increases on them until I get my diet sorted out.

Deadlifts need technique work. I managed to keep my back straight on the lower weight, but I'm having trouble doing it on the heavier weight. Also, I actually did a set. That was much harder than the clusters I had be doing.

I'm going to try to go up on presses next time as I was able to get the 3rd set. Of course, 2.5# increase for them.

Also, I'm switching to T/H/S schedule due in order to accommodate my training partner.

[wdkrnls]

Last night I forgot to bring my washers, so I tried a 5 lb jump on bench press and... wait for it... I stalled! Everything else went fine though. Squats are starting to feel really heavy!

Squat: 230# 5/5/5
Dead: 250# 5
Bench: 155# 5/5/2

[wdkrnls]

This week sucked. I missed thursday because of sickness. I went friday (without eating anything before hand) and saturday because I got to the gym right before it closed.

Friday
-------
Squat: 235# 3x5
Press: 95# 1x5
Chins: 3/3/2

Squats where really tough. I really had to fight for the 4th and 5th reps of the last set. Hopefully these will get easier after I've had a few more calories pre-workout.

Saturday
----------
Press: 95# 4x3, 85# 2x5

I was only doing 4x3 because my neck has felt stiff all day and I was hoping to avoid the form problems I have been having with 4th and 5th reps. Also, my sickness really seemed to hammer the press, so I didn't attempt 100# again.

I spent time in between press sets working on power cleans. I made some progress with getting into rack position. But it was slow going learning it on my own. I'm racking the bar much later than I am landing. It will probably be a few more sessions before I really feel comfortable enough to add weight.

[wdkrnls]

Today didn't go that great.

Squat 3x5 45# 1x5 95# 1x5 135# 1x5 185# 1x2 225# WS: 240# 3x5
Bench 157.5# 1x5 45#, 1x5 95#, 1x3 135#, WS: {1x4, 1x3} 157.5#, 155# 1x2, 1x5 125#
Dead 1x5 135#, 1x5 225#, WS: 255# 1x5

Pressing is still stalling. I think I'm going to reset to 150 on bench and do strict 2.5# increases. My gyms no chalk policy is really starting to piss me off. I know gloves aren't ideal, but I'm thinking of trying them just to see if they are better than bare hands.

[Mr.City]

Have you tried bringing your own chalk?

[Gottatri2lift]

I have dealt with gyms with a no chalk policy as well. I used a rock climbing chalk bag which minimized the visibility and no one ever said anything to me. Also if you maintain a clean workout site usually the desk people don't care. I think, the no chalk policy is b/c of people causing a mess or over chalking and clapping to make a cloud of chalk, etc....

Fuck gloves - I think it hurts feedback.

[wdkrnls]

Squat
--------
WU: 3x5 45#, 1x5 95#, 1x5 135#, 1x5 185#, 1x3 #225
WS: 3x5 245#

I didn't feel very good after doing these. I have a lot of soreness right above my tailbone. I noticed I was letting my back collapse downward out of the hole. I'm going to keep this weight for next time and see if I can clean up the form.

Press
-------

WU: 1x5 45#, 1x3 85#
WS: 3x5 97.5#

These went up fine and dandy. Hopefully next time I can finally get 100# out of them.

Assistance:
-------------

Weighted situps: 1x8 unweighted, 3x8 25#
back extensions: 3x15 unweighted
lat pulldowns: 3x5 100#

I also worked on power clean form, but I am still having way too much trouble racking the bar. I'm too inflexible. I can't get the bar up high enough and keep all of my fingers under it.

PS:

Thanks for the tip on the chalk bag Gottatri2lift. I'm going to get me one of those!