Andrew's training log

[andrewotbc]

I started my training on 25/02/10 (a week ago). I'll post weekly updates. I'm using kgs here because the gyms here use them and it is easier for me to think in those terms.

Starting Stats

Age - 22
Weight - 70.0kg
Height - 5'10
PR 5 Rep Squat - 55kg
PR 5 Rep Bench - 50kg
PR 5 Rep Deadlift - 55kg
PR 5 Rep Press - 30kg
PR 5 Rep Power Clean - N/A
Experience - 2 years' of attending the gym intermittently with poor programming. I experienced novice gains 2 years ago in terms of gaining weight from 64kg - 74kg and this has dropped down since then. I didn't track my lifts back then, but didn't progress all that much with them. My PRs are estimated to some extent for that reason, and because I didn't do that much compound lifting, and none with the form given in Starting Strength.

Goals

Musts

- Reach intermediate level. In quantitative terms, I mean I would like to reach the weights given for intermediates in the tables at the back of PP. These are given below, assuming a bodyweight of 75kg and translated into 5 Rep Maxes.

5 Rep Squat - 100kg
5 Rep Bench - 75kg
5 Rep Deadlift - 115kg
5 Rep Press - 50kg
5 Rep Power Clean - 70kg

- I would like to gain weight in as clean a way as is possible, without sacrificing overly on strength gains

Nice to haves

- Bodyweight - 80-85kg

- Improvement on chins from 3 sets x 4 reps BW to 3 sets x 12 reps BW

- Improvement on dips from 3 sets x 5 reps 20kg assistance to 3 sets x 5 reps BW.

Method

I am putting my faith into the SS community, ie Rip and all the supporting people/documentation. This means following the basic SS workout for as long as I am gaining on the lifts with it, followed by applying the principles in PP.

I am going to be monitoring all of my food intake and measuring bodyweight weekly. I will adjust my macronutrient ratio/total calories to ensure bodyweight increases at approx 0.8kg/week in the early stages and then around 0.4kg/week from then on and that the gains are as clean as possible. I will use some periodization with my diet as well, ie weeks where I eat less, as appropriate for my exercise programming. To start I am not taking creatine or any tablet-type (e.g. glutamine, tribulus) supplements but may use these as time goes on.

I am aiming to get 7-9 hours sleep every night but won't monitor this strictly unless I feel it becomes a problem. I'll limit CV activity to fairly light levels done infrequently as appropriate for good recovery for strength training.

Timescales and long-term goals

I would like to achieve the above goals by the end of 2010. I can only have faith in SS and my ability to stick to the method and hope that this timescale is realistic. If, somehow, I achieve the goals before then, I think I'll carry on until the end of the year anyway and try to increase the lifts further. According to what I've read, the beginner programme will last me about 3-6 months until I stop making gains on my lifts. At this point I will move to an intermediate programme. However, the fact I am not totally untrained may mean this happens sooner. I'll have to wait and see. I hope to milk the novice gains for as much as possible, mainly by eating well.

My long term goals are to be as fit, strong and healthy as possible. I see the best way of doing this to be to get as strong as possible as the first step. After 10 months of strength training I will decide what is the best next step. I think I would quite like to get fitter for football (soccer) and running. But I would like to start that phase a lot stronger.

[misspelledgeoff]

Welcome Andrew.

If your 'must have' goal is 75kg of bodyweight and you want to " gain weight in as clean a way as is possible", then I suggest you rethink whether this is the right program for you.

Now if you said your goal BW was 90kg and you wanted a 150kg squat and you were willing to eat to get there, I'd say you probably came to the right place.

Also, no disrespect but you are 70kg in BW at 5'10". That is skeletal.

[Sami]

End of 2010? You should hit all of your goals by the end of April. :/

[beast]

puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusie!

Talk about low aspirations, most people can do these weights within like a month.

Otherwise you're wasting your money on the gym and concerning yourself with the minutia.

"I am putting my faith into the ss community", nobody can do things things for you, it should be "I am putting my faith into myself".

Also the numbers in PP are bullshit, until I saw A.C doing 405 for sets across i didn't realise it was possible. However I now know it is.

Also the ss program includes eating.

My other favorite quote by Jim Wendler is "nobody got strong just thinking about it"

Plus you're not doing the program if they include dips.

I'm just saying how it is.

[beast]

Sorry if I sound harsh, I'm just trying to get you see the light!

Thanks

[andrewotbc]

Thanks a lot for the comments everyone.

Misspelled Geoff - the 75kg I mentioned was just the weight I was looking up in the table in PP. My target bodyweight was 80-85kg but maybe I shouldn't be too precious about the 85kg limit. I think I'll up the amount I'm trying to gain a week to more like 1kg in the early days and then 0.5kg from then on and see where that takes me (more like 90kg by the end of the year). I've done searches but can't find a huge amount of advice about diet/weight gain programming for SS - what I've found is quite vague when it comes to recommended calories and target weight gains per week, but to me, this amount of weight gain seems sufficient for making the most of SS.

Sami - I just want to be realistic and don't really know what I can get to and how quickly.

beast - Ditto above. I just know that I have been going to the gym for a while and not gained that much and am just cautious that SS will make such a massive difference for me. I agree though that other people have done this with SS and that if I don't it is only going to be my fault. About the dips, I am not doing them or chins to start with but I will probably try to introduce them in a few months. The nice to haves are pretty irrelevant though, the main thing is getting those main lifts up as high as possible.

Thanks again everyone for encouraging me to be ambitious. I am just trying to be realistic when it comes to setting targets because I think that way I am more likely to stick with it and reach them. But if I do reach them sooner than I think I will push on. I hope to post the first week update tomorrow.

[misspelledgeoff]

LOL wat? Are we actually reading the same forum?

At your height and weight, your diet should be GOMAD and everything else not nailed down or still breathing. Target like 7K a day and do the training as prescribed. YOu will hit your strength and weight goals by April.

If you puss around and worry about your abs then nobody here can help you.


Thanks a lot for the comments everyone.

Misspelled Geoff - the 75kg I mentioned was just the weight I was looking up in the table in PP. My target bodyweight was 80-85kg but maybe I shouldn't be too precious about the 85kg limit. I think I'll up the amount I'm trying to gain a week to more like 1kg in the early days and then 0.5kg from then on and see where that takes me (more like 90kg by the end of the year). I've done searches but can't find a huge amount of advice about diet/weight gain programming for SS - what I've found is quite vague when it comes to recommended calories and target weight gains per week, but to me, this amount of weight gain seems sufficient for making the most of SS.

Sami - I just want to be realistic and don't really know what I can get to and how quickly.

beast - Ditto above. I just know that I have been going to the gym for a while and not gained that much and am just cautious that SS will make such a massive difference for me. I agree though that other people have done this with SS and that if I don't it is only going to be my fault. About the dips, I am not doing them or chins to start with but I will probably try to introduce them in a few months. The nice to haves are pretty irrelevant though, the main thing is getting those main lifts up as high as possible.

Thanks again everyone for encouraging me to be ambitious. I am just trying to be realistic when it comes to setting targets because I think that way I am more likely to stick with it and reach them. But if I do reach them sooner than I think I will push on. I hope to post the first week update tomorrow.

[andrewotbc]

Week 1 (22-28 February 2010)

Workouts

I did my first SS workout on the Thursday after being too busy the first few days and wanting to wait till I was well rested before my first workout.

Thursday 25 Febuary 2010

Squat - 3 x 5 x 45
Bench Press - 3 x 5 x 45
Deadlift - 2 x 5 x 50

I did this all as per SS and felt it went fine and that I'd applied the form pretty well. I did 2 deadlift sets because after 1 I felt I could do another, but in future I will limit myself to just 1 and try to get to heavier weights soon.

Saturday 28 February 2010

Squat - 3 x 5 x 50
Press - 5 x 32.5, 4 x 32.5, 3 x 32.5
Chins - 4 x bodyweight, 3 x bodyweight, 5 x (bodyweight minus 5kg) (on assistance machine)

This session didn't go that well. I was unhappy with my squat form because my knees were coming inwards when I came out of the hole. The press was also bad. The weight was too heavy and I couldn't complete the sets. I didn't attempt power cleans but I will have some instruction on how to do them and will read up on them and watch videos and try to bring them in as soon as possible. I did chins as a replacement but I'll drop them for a while once I start power cleans.

Diet and Recovery

I weighed myself on Tuesday morning first thing. I weighed in at exactly 70.0kg.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't count calories but I would think that I had around 2500.
Thursday - 3983
Friday - 3384
Saturday - 3608
Sunday - 3583
Week average - 3130

I then weighed myself again on Monday 1 March 2010 and was 70.5kg. So 0.5kg gain for the first week.

Sleep was not a problem - had 7 hours every night, and usually more like 9. I didn't ache hardly at all after workouts and didn't have much DOMS.

[andrewotbc]

LOL wat? Are we actually reading the same forum?

At your height and weight, your diet should be GOMAD and everything else not nailed down or still breathing. Target like 7K a day and do the training as prescribed. YOu will hit your strength and weight goals by April.

If you puss around and worry about your abs then nobody here can help you.

I'm not pussing around, I just disagree that I need to eat quite that much and that SS is only suitable for people who want to eat that amount. First week I averaged about 3500 calories once I'd started. Then this week I've eaten about 3750 average. I'll see what I weigh in at tomorrow but I think I'll eat at least 4000 every day next week and again see what happens. I really don't think I should go above say 4500 just yet. If I'm making strength gains with 3800-4300 calories then I'm happy. If I'm not making strength gains, I will up the calories every week until I reach the sort of figure you suggest.

[TTT]

Mate welcome to the forums.

Couple of pointers.

1.) You seem smart and also it seems like you think too much about some things.
2.) the general consensus on here is that you need to eat everything and get as big and strong as you can. doesn't have to be that way but you will get hassled for it so either don't post it or just take it on the chin.

if you are 70kg and really eating 4000 cal per day, then you will hit 75kg in a month or so.

If all the compound movements are new to you, just keep practicing them.
over and over.

at 22, you're still young.

there is a general hatred on here for people who even slightly care about how they look so with you starting your posts with "get my calories as cleanly as possible" in a forum of "2 double whoopers for $1.95" style threads, you're going to cop flak and get given the "eat anything that moves" and so forth.

Don't weigh yourself weekly.
Don't get discouraged if/when you start to gain some fat.
Don't look in the mirror for too long

Since you have not done this sort of training before, and you are 22, you will get novice gains again.
so just make sure you "really" are eating those 4000 cals each day.
if you stop increasing in strength or weight, then increase them by 300-500 cals per day... and so forth.
each time you stop making gains in strength or weight, increase food a little.

good thing is that you found strength training at the age of 22..
some of us waste much more time.

good luck

[PVC]

I'm not pussing around, I just disagree that I need to eat quite that much and that SS is only suitable for people who want to eat that amount. First week I averaged about 3500 calories once I'd started. Then this week I've eaten about 3750 average. I'll see what I weigh in at tomorrow but I think I'll eat at least 4000 every day next week and again see what happens. I really don't think I should go above say 4500 just yet. If I'm making strength gains with 3800-4300 calories then I'm happy. If I'm not making strength gains, I will up the calories every week until I reach the sort of figure you suggest.

I think you could do fine on 4000-4500 calories for a while. I've been eating in the range of 4500-5000 calories per day for a while, and I haven't stalled since I started doing this (although I'm currently working on bumping this range up to 5000-5500). However, a month and a half ago I stalled pretty hard on the bench press and the press when I was eating less than 4000 a day.

Just know that when you stall, it's because you're not eating enough. And let me tell you - stalling sucks donkey dick.

[andrewotbc]

Week 2 (1-7 March 2010)

Workouts

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Squat - 3 x 5 x 50
Bench Press - 3 x 5 x 47.5
Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 60 (PR)

I froze the weight on the squats and they were a bit better. I had some help with the form and was told that I didn't have to go quite so low - I was going as low as possible - and so I then was stopping just below parallel (parallel as defined by Rip) and this meant getting out of the hole was not so hard. Another comment someone had was that I was leaning forward a little bit too much and I should be sitting back into my squats a bit more. So I am going to try and concentrate on doing this. Overall I think the form is fine, but I will try to get a video of it as soon as possible so I can ask you guys for your thoughts. Bench and deadlift were both fine.

Thursday 4 March 2010

Squat - 3 x 5 x 52.5
Press - 3 x 5 x 30
Power Clean - 3 x 5 x 40 (PR)

The squats were similar to last time in that I still have a concern about whether my back is leaning too much on the way up, making it into a bit of a good morning. I'll try to take a video the next time I'm in the gym with a friend. The press was a lot better dropped down to 30kg and hopefully can up it back to 32.5kg next time. The previous workout I had some instruction on power cleans and then read a lot and looked at videos. So I gave them a go today and really enjoyed them.

Sunday 7 March 2010

Squat - 3 x 5 x 55
Bench Press - 3 x 5 x 50
Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 70 (PR)

Everything was fine today except still a bit of a concern about my squat form. Next time, I'll try the 57.5 and focus unbelievably hard on keeping the bar above the feet on the hipdrive. I'll get someone who looks like they know what they're doing to watch. If there's still a problem, I'll drop to 47.5 the next workout and work back up from there.

Diet and Recovery

Monday - 3439
Tuesday - 3846
Wednesday - 3877
Thursday - 3694
Friday - 3510
Saturday - 3710
Sunday - 4174
Week average - 3746

I didn't weigh myself first thing on Monday 8 March but I reckon I am around 72.0kg or slightly over because after only a portion of food and about a pint of liquid I was 73.4kg. 72.0kg would be a week's gain of 1.5kg.

I had 1 night where I only had 4 hours' sleep. The other nights were all 7-9 hours. Again, hardly any aching.

[andrewotbc]

Week 3 (8-14 March 2010)

Tuesday 9 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 57.5 (PR)
Press - 3 x 5 x 32.5 (PR)
Power Clean - 3 x 5 x 47.5 (PR)

Squats felt better. I had the first work set videoed but unfortunately I was on the rack which is difficult to film so the video isn't that great. From what I can see though, the bar seems to be well lined up over the feet, but the movements are a bit shaky, I guess because I'm not used to supporting a big weight. Next time, I'll try to get a decent video that I can upload. When I squat I feel that the 5th rep is about the limit, but that I could do more sets because I do not get fatigued. For now though, it is best to keep to the program to avoid overtraining.

The press was fine except last couple of reps of the 3rd set I arced my back a bit but I think they were just about OK. I might buy some microweights for the press because I am not sure I will be able to increase by 2.5kg every time.

Power cleans I upped the weight quite a bit because this is my 2nd time and I was comfortable with the form pretty much and felt I could do more if I use the leg bend more. However, someone pointed out that the weight is sitting too firmly in my wrists and with heavier weights could injure them. I'm thinking about dropping them from the workout for a while and bringing in chins/pull-ups.

[andrewotbc]

Thanks for your comments and encouragement TTT and PVC. I will make sure I have the 4000 every day for a while. I think this should be enough but if I stall I will up the calories.

I would be grateful for people's opinion on whether the basic SS workout or the novice workout in PP would be better for me? Ie, would I be better getting rid of Power Cleans for the time and replacing them with Chins/Pull-ups until I stall for the first time?

I would keep doing deadlifts every other workout and just alternate chins and pull-ups the rest of the time. I know that the choice of which 3rd exercise to do is relatively unimportant, but I want to make sure I'm making the most of it. Power Cleans seem to me to be working more muscles and that they're more useful than chins/pull-ups, but then Rip does say that Power Cleans should only be brought in once you've stalled for the first time. Whatever decision I make now I will still to until the first stall.

[TTT]

I don't think you can really go wrong with any program that involves the 3 power lifting movements and power clean and over head press added in.

I'm 33, 93kg, squat about 100kg more than you do and still consider myself a novice and am still doing a very slight variation to SS.
by very slight I mean wednesdays I do front squat instad of back.
and I do BB rows on monday, deads on wednesday and cleans on fridays.

at this stage, what you need is time under the bar and food in the stomach.

[andrewotbc]

Yeah the program I'm doing is the best one I can do for the time so I'll stick with it until I need to change. Thanks for the advice.

Thursday 11 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 60 (PR)
Bench - 3 x 5 x 52.5 (PR)
Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 80 (PR)

Only had time for 1 or 2 warm-up sets on each exercise and couldn't leave as much time as normal between sets because I went to the gym late (got into the gym at 9pm after jogging there to act as my warm-up and they chuck you out at 9:45). This would have been enough time but, if you don't mind, I'll tell you the full story about why I needed to rush.

Both racks were in use, one by someone who had loads of deadlift sets left so that was a non-starter. The other was occupied by a bloke attempting a 1 rep bench press of 140kg and was being spotted by one of the trainers. I couldn't believe how relaxed the spotter was considering the guy was attempting a weight he couldn't properly manage. The spotter basically just dropped the bar on the guy's chest and it bounced back up to somewhere near the top and the guy forced out the completion of the rep in an ugly manner. Then, after about a 6 minute rest which was just insufficient time for me to think about setting the rack up properly for my squat warm-ups and then reverse the setup in time, amazingly he upped the weight next set to 145kg and did the same thing but then needed the spotter to intervene for the completion. While both me and the "145kg bencher" were standing by the rack during the 6-minute wait, 2 guys who had obviously just strolled into the gym walked up in our direction chatting loudly and happily about what they planned to do. "I think I'll do back today," one said. They then got to the actual weights area, which had been visible all the time, and realised that basically all the equipment was in use. Then they spotted the apparently empty squat rack near me and the 145kg bencher. One of the guys asked him if he was using it. He replied "This guy [pointing at me] wants to use it next". The guy who'd asked the question then glanced at me (as you would if someone points) and involuntarily (I think) did a rolleyes. I smirked back to the 145kg bencher as if to say what a pair of jokers, but in retrospect, the 145kg bencher was the biggest twat of the bunch. I would be worried about the 145kg guy reading this and working out it was me but he has obviously never read SS so I don't need to worry for now! The 2 guys then, frustrated, clambered through the masses in the dumbell area and settled on some bollocks smith machine stuff.

Anyway, I've bought some Converses and these made the squats better. I feel that the form is quite tight but I am a bit worried that the exercise seems to work my lower back more than my quads which I'm not sure is normal. Because of the rush, I couldn't get a video taken today but will definitely do it on Saturday.

Benches were fine. Deadlifts were hard and the first time I've seen why you only should do 1 set. I think this is the end of the 10kg raises but hopefully now I'm doing them and really feeling them I will get good improvements.

[andrewotbc]

Saturday 13 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 62.5 (PR)
Press - 1 x 5 x 35, 1 x 4 x 35, 1 x 2 x 35
Power Clean - 1 x 4 x 52.5, 2 x 5 x 50

Again wore converses and squats felt very good and tight. A trainer at the gym watched my form and said it was excellent, but did mention that the back seemed to be leaning over quite a lot, and more so on the way up. But then said that this was in line with the fact that it's a low bar squat. After he made this comment, I said that I had a digicam with me and asked him he could take a video of my squats. He looked a bit awkward as I asked and then said, "No, I'm not allowed to take videos of trainees." I said, "OK, well I can just get someone else to do it". He said, "Yeah that's fine. Someone once got sacked for taking a video and I don't want to take that risk". How ridiculous. Anyway, seeing as I was again in the hard-to-video rack and everyone else looked busy with their own things, I didn't get video taken yet again. Oh dear. If I'm finding it this hard to get a video taken, how on earth will I get my strength targets! 2.5kg jumps are small in themselves at this stage on the squat but the workouts don't seem to be getting any harder which suggests I am genuinely gaining ability/strength on the squat. Seeing as I squat every 3 times every 6 or 7 days, the weight will get heavy within a few weeks at this rate.

The press was hard today. I was nervous about upping it to 35kg and rightly so. I managed to hammer out the first set but it dropped off after then. I think I'll drop back to 32.5kg and up the weights by 1kg a workout using milk cartons filled with water in plastic carrier bags. I've not heard of anyone else doing this but can't see why it wouldn't work as long as it's secured in using another collar.

Power cleans were bad. Every single rep I didn't finish in the correct position because the bar was still in my hand until I made another effort to drop it onto the shoulders. The first set, I let this phase me and stopped after 4 reps. The next 2 sets I dropped the weight slightly but was still doing this same thing. I still felt that I got most of what you're supposed to out of the lifts, in that I felt the exertion from the power movement. I think the problem with my finish is down to me not shrugging my arms far enough round on the jump and the wrists not being flexible enough to bend back. Also, my shoulders maybe don't stick far enough out to give a good bed for the end of the clean. Next time I will reduce the weight and really concentrate on good form, taking lots of reps on the warm-up sets to try and nail it.

[Erik]

Adding weight that swings around (water in milk jugs?) will probably throw you off a bit. You'd be better off tracking down some washers, or buying fractional plates to take with you to the gym. Also, be aware that moving to micro-loading this early is probably a result of the decision not to eat a lot. Not saying you can't make progress this way, but it will be slower.

[andrewotbc]

Yeah good point about the weight swinging about. I did think about this, but my plan is to use 568ml (1 pint) bottles filled with 500ml water so the weight would not be moving about too much. And I would use small bags which would be secured quite tightly to the bar. But yes, I need to experiment with it first. Unless they work without any problems, I'll order some fractional plates. I found a site which sells them pretty cheaply.

Diet and Recovery for Week 3

Monday - 4398
Tuesday - 4270
Wednesday - 4164
Thursday - 4484
Friday - 4468
Saturday - 4686
Sunday - 4186
Week average - 4379

Weighed myself today after my first workout of Week 4 and was 77.1kg. This was after consuming about 1.5kg of liquid and a fair amount of food over the course of the day, and while wearing clothes and shoes, so I think I'm actually about 73-74kg which means another week's gain of 1kg+. I don't have my own scales so it is very inconvenient to weigh myself first thing - it means going to the gym before breakfast, but I want to get round to doing it soon just to keep an eye on my weight. I don't want to be gaining too much each week.

I think next week I'll go for about the same calories as last week, maybe slightly less, so try and keep it in the 4000-4300 range every day.

Felt aching a bit more than before but still not much. Mostly in the lower back after Workout A days.

[andrewotbc]

Week 4 (15-21 March 2010)

Tuesday 16 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 67.5 (PR)
Bench Press - 3 x 5 x 55 (PR)
Deadlift - 1 x 3 x 92.5

In the squats, I could really feel the weight on my back but still got good depth and form. I upped the weight by 5kg for the first time in a while because I was getting happier with my form. But I'll drop the increments back to 2.5kg from next workout.

Bench was fine, quite unexpectedly because the press has stalled but the bench has kept going for the time.

Deadlift was very heavy and after each of the first 2 reps the bar went down all the way to the floor and I took a second or 2 before lifting it back up. I pussied out of the last 2 reps to an extent because I could probably have forced them but was worried about injuring my back so didn't do them. I think the deadlift was especially hard because the squats had been the toughest so far. I'll drop back to 85kg and work up 2.5kg at a time from next Workout B.

[andrewotbc]

Haha, just realised I completely messed up the deadlift weight today. I think this is the first time I've done this so it's not all bad, but 92.5kg was not what I should have been doing at all. For some reason, when I was in the gym, I thought I had got to 90kg the last workout. Oh dear! Anyway, at least I know now why it was so heavy!

So I'll just carry on where I left off and drop down to 85 next time - what I planned to do anyway!

[andrewotbc]

Thursday 18 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 70 (PR)
Press - 3 x 5 x 32.5
Power Clean - 1 x 5 x 52.5

I did some light cardio a couple of hours before today's workout and won't be doing it again. Some friends play football (soccer) in a cage near where I live and so I went along and played in goal. Even though we play there pretty often, still when I imagined it beforehand, I imagined basically standing still and occasionally reaching my arms out. In reality, I was lobbing the ball out a long way, kicking it out, kicking it away, flinging myself towards it, running out to block shots and running after the ball outside my area. So I was slightly tired out by it and this affected my workout, although not massively. Also, a couple of saves I made bent my wrists and hurt my hands slightly. So I think I should avoid this, or if I do it, do it on an off day.

The squats were quite heavy today, but still managed them with a bit of a struggle and possibly slight loss of form. After I racked the bar after each workset, I had a bit of an ache in my left shoulder, I think from the weight of the bar.

The press wasn't great. The last rep of the 3rd set I struggled with but got there. The power clean I was happy to start with because I did quite a few warm-up sets despite my tiredness and the form was pretty good, with me managing to get the bar down onto the shoulders about a second after reaching the top position. However, on the workset I couldn't get it out of my hands. So this still needs more work. I then tried some more reps with a lower weight rather than persevering with the worksets because by this stage my wrists were hurting, partly because of the football.

I think I'll work on stretching my wrists and playing around with getting the bar into the olympic style front squat/clean position with some moderately heavy weights on in all of my workouts.

I think I'll also reduce power cleans down to once every 3 workouts, because until I get the flexibility into my wrists and the form right, I am wasting a bit of time on them. I'll bring in chins and back extensions into the spare day. I am also going to start doing some weighted abs work at the end of every workout. So my program is going to be a bit more like Onus Wunsler.

[andrewotbc]

Sunday 21 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 72.5 (PR)
Bench - 2 x 5 x 57.5, 1 x 3 x 57.5
Deadlift 1 x 5 x 85 (PR)

Squat was hard and again it hurt my shoulders. The first set was the worst, I think because I was nervous about the weight. The last set was the best, going right to the bottom on all reps. Next time, no excuses but to go right to the bottom. Although it is getting harder each time, I think I can keep the squat going for another few workouts, but I've got to watch my shoulders.

Bench was good, but unfortunately needed the spotter on the 4th and 5th reps of the 3rd set. The last rep of the 2nd set I was right on the verge of needing the spotter and as his hands were just about to touch the bar, I shouted on my exhale "No! Don't touch!" and forced the rep out. Honestly, I'd told him only to touch if I said so but I guess it's hard for them not to when it looks like you're failing. Bench was possibly slightly affected by the hurting shoulder from the squat. Next time I should be able to make the 3 x 5 x 57.5.

Deadlift was hard but no problems. Didn't do the ab work I mentioned last time because it had been a tough workout. I might wait and add it when I reset.

[andrewotbc]

Diet and Recovery for Week 4

Sleep was fine, but a couple of nights only had about 6 hours.

Food was good again. Here's the breakdown of calories. These come from about 3-4 pints of milk a day and normal diet which is moderately clean and well balanced.

Mon - 4171
Tue - 4227
Wed - 4212
Thu - 4214
Fri - 3838
Sat - 3849
Sun - 4132
Week average - 4092

Got my 3800-4300 every day. Don't really know what my weight is. I was 77.6 on Tuesday Week 5's workout but that was late in the day with shoes. I think I'm around 75kg so that's 5kg in 4 weeks with a breakdown of approx +0.5 week 1, +1.5 week 2, +2 week 3, +1 week 4. I'll keep going in the 3800-4300 range, hopefully putting on 1kg a week.

Week 5 (22-28 March 2010)

Tuesday 23 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 75 (PR)
Press - 2 x 5 x 35, 1 x 4 x 35
Power Clean - 5 x 3 x 50 (PR)

This was probably my best workout so far. Squats were very deep and tight all the way through, except the last couple of reps in the 3rd set when I think I loosened my back a bit and the bar rolled a little down my back. Still, they were very satisfying and am very happy with my form now, overall, but still a bit of work to do. Shoulder ache was less bad this time.

Press was excellent, very pleased to almost make the new PR. I got the last set spotted as I suspected a fail and needed the spotter on the 5th rep. Next Workout B, I should be able to make the 35.

I've finally realised that power cleans are supposed to be 5 x 3 not 3 x 5 which helped a lot because my form previously was tending to tail off on the last couple of reps. The 5 sets had very good form I think. At the top, I got the weight quickly and properly into position on my shoulders. Please ignore what I said about reducing these down to once every 3 workoust. I'm going to do them every other workout with linear progression now I think I've got the form right.

I reduced the volume in my warm-up by doing only 4 warm-up sets on squat (2 of these were just the bar) and 2 on the press (1 was just the bar), as opposed to 5 and 3 normally. This seemed to help so I'll try this for a while.

I did 1 set of weighted decline situps (10kg) for 12 reps, then ran out of time. I'll go for 3 sets of 6 reps next time on linear progression every workout.

[andrewotbc]

Thursday 25 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 77.5 (PR)
Bench - 3 x 5 x 57.5 (PR)
Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 87.5 (PR)

I was quite tired from a few busy days without the 7-9 hours sleep so was very pleased to get through all the sets for the first time in a fortnight.

The squat was tough and form might have suffered a bit coming out of the hole. Bench and deadlift were fine.

I did weighted situps 3 x 6 x 15kg on a steeper decline than last time. These were tough but really felt the abs the next couple of days so look forward to keeping these up.

[andrewotbc]

Sunday 28 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 80 (PR)
Press - 3 x 5 x 35 (PR)
Power Clean - 5 x 3 x 52.5 (PR)

This was a very gruelling workout because the squats and press were very tough. The squats were hard work because I didn't get great bounce so getting out of the hole was hard. On the 5th rep of the 2nd set I got to the hole and considered dumping the bar but didn't and forced it up. I took at least 5 minutes between worksets.

The press was also tough - it always feels such a horrible movement standing there not able to use your knees and having to do most of it with shoulders. The 5th rep of the 3rd set was very slow but apart from that was good and glad to finally make the 35.

Power cleans were cool. Form was good except for a couple of the reps where I didn't shrug it round quite as well as I'd have wanted but overall it didn't feel any harder than last week so I'm looking forward to a linear progression for a few weeks on this.

I went to a different gym today without a decline bench with pads to secure your feet so I did 2 x 8 x 20kg weighted situps on the floor. This was a bit pointless really. I'll only do weighted situps on the decline bench in future.

[andrewotbc]

Diet and Recovery for Week 5

I was very busy last week so I didn't always get the 7-9 hours sleep and also stopped tracking my calories on some of the days.

Mon - 4031
Tue - 4597
Wed - ??? (around 3500)
Thu - ??? (around 4000)
Fri - ??? (around 3500)
Sat - 4177
Sun - 4075
Week average - around 3980

So I still basically did OK with the eating (my definiton of OK). I weighed myself on Wednesday week 6's workout, end of day, pre-workout with clothes and shoes and was 78.1kg (78.6kg with my fucking coat on, then realised and took it off!). So a week's gain of around 0.5kg which is on target.

[andrewotbc]

Week 6 (29 March - 4 April 2010)

Wednesday 31 March 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 82.5 (PR)
Bench - 3 x 5 x 60 (PR)
Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 90 (PR)

I had to take another 3 day gap between workouts due to being busy on Monday and Tuesday, but I think the added recovery helped, with another 3 PRs today. I could feel my back for the next couple of days after Sunday's workout so it was good to have the extra rest.

Squats were better than last time but still very hard. I did every rep quite well but with a lot of concentration. Bench was probably easier than last time, so very pleased to see a noticeable gain there, and it's good to be using 20kg plates now. Deadlift was fairly easy (as deadlifts go), so I think I'll increase to 95kg next time to ensure it keeps ahead of the squat.

I didn't do the weighted abs work because I was again in the gym without the right bench, but it's not very important really, although I will try to do it if I can.

Annoyingly the 2 gyms that I use shut for a week from today. I am hopefully going to use a couple or 3 day passes at other gyms to see my workouts through for this week. Apart from that, I have a bit more time for the next few weeks so shouldn't be a problem sticking to the program fully. BTW, in case you're wondering, I'm a member of 1 gym but pay the day rate at another on Sundays because the other one is shut then, and that same one wasn't open today either.

[andrewotbc]

Friday 2 April 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 85 (PR)
Press - 1 x 3 x 37.5, 1 x 4 x 37.5, 1 x 5 x 37.5
Power Clean - 5 x 3 x 55 (PR)

Another very good workout, mainly because I was working out with a good friend and the one who introduced me to SS in the first place. He said that my form was good for the first few reps of the squats sets but for the last couple of reps, my lower back was rounding and my back was rising faster than my shoulders, so this is something to work on. I am still going to continue with the linear progression for as long as possible, even if I cannot avoid this loss of form for a couple of the reps.

Press was tough as expected, but I actually improved set-by-set. This is the first time I've been able to do more reps in a later set than in an earlier one on any exercise. I was spotted by my friend for a 4th rep in the 1st set and 5th rep in the 2nd.

With the power cleans, the 1st reps were generally good but the 2nd and 3rd reps I was generally not racking high enough and then doing another movement to get the bar into the rack position, so my form deteoriated a bit this workout. My friend pointed out that this is probably because after the first rep I was resetting my hand position wider for each of the next 2 reps. So this is something to focus on next time.

I didn't do any weighted ab work but had a go at a couple of assisted pull-up sets just to see where I am at with these. I had to use 12kg of assistance to get 4 reps, but I don't think I could ever do more than 1 pull-up unassisted anyway and that was before putting on these 6-7kg.

[andrewotbc]

Sunday 4 April 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 3 x 87.5
Bench - 1 x 2 x 62.5, 1 x 3 x 60, 1 x 2 x 60
Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 92.5 (PR)

This was a bad workout and my first one for a while. The squat was really tough and didn't fancy a 4th rep in any of the sets. The bench likewise, needed the spotter early on in the first set so reduced the weight for the next 2 and still couldn't make the reps.

When it came to the deadlift, I presumed I would struggle as much on this so didn't go for the 95kg I had intended, and the 92.5 was fine, so this was a bit of a pity.

The workout was at the 4th different gym in the past 5 workouts and I had quite a bit of trouble with the bar. On the squat I am used to having a mirror there which I think helps when it comes to setting the bar on my back. I didn't have a mirror at this gym and the bar felt precarious on each of the sets and was moving about a bit which made the sets harder. Also, I had a bit of trouble gripping the bar, particularly on the bench where my hands were moving a bit on the bar. Chalk might be a good idea, but I'll see how I get on back at a familiar gym next time.

I also didn't get a great recovery after the last workout. I did a lot of moving about and not an ideal amount of eating the day of and the day after the workout. Also, last workout I did pullups. So I think some/all of these things might have contributed today's failures but maybe it was just a bad day at the office. I'll eat well the next couple of days and hopefully get back on track!

[andrewotbc]

Diet and Recovery for Week 6

I again didn't track the calories all of the days.

Monday - ??? (around 3500)
Tuesday - 4043
Wednesday - 4604
Thursday - 4175
Friday - 4060
Saturday - ??? (around 3500)
Sunday - ??? (around 3800)
Week average - around 3950

This was a bit less than I was intending but real life got in the way. I weighed myself after today's workout with shoes and was 78.5 so a slight gain according to that. I think I need to up the calories a bit, but I won't start going overboard yet. I'll go for 4000-4500 a day this week. Sleep was fine. Just the Friday and Saturday where I was quite busy and recovery suffered.

[andrewotbc]

Week 7 (5-11 April 2010)

Tuesday 6 April 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 87.5 (PR)
Press - 3 x 5 x 37.5 (PR)
Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 96 (PR)

I had a decent Personal Trainer have a look at a set or 2 of each of my exercises which was very useful. He said that my squat was going too low and to stop just below parallel rather than "bounce off my heels". The result was that the first set was very good form, as agreed by the trainer and my mate, but the next 2 - I was alone - I think I went back to the old way of using my back to lift the bar on a couple of the reps. Still a big improvement and hopefully this will mean I can keep going for a bit now with the progression.

Press was good. It wasn't too hard to get the 37.5. I did deadlift instead of power cleans because a) I really wanted the trainer's opinion on my deadlift and b) I want to get the deadlift higher asap. I did the deadlift on a smaller bar which was 13.4kg when I put it on the scales (and weighed by difference to check). So I did 95.9kg and it was harder but still had good form and feel that I can do another few kgs with no big problems. I think I'll do deadlift the next 2 workouts as well, because I'll be taking 3 day gaps. This should boost it up to 105kg hopefully.

[andrewotbc]

Thursday 8 April 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 90 (PR)
Bench - 1 x 4 x 62.5, 2 x 3 x 62.5
Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 100 (PR)

Finally, some videos of my squats. Not the greatest angle, but any comments gratefully received. The first set I thought was pretty good but the 2nd (not videoed) and 3rd I struggled but just about got there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM06QQe_Z58 (1st set)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOJeI3Edouo (3rd set)

The bench was again tough but got further this time and was close to making the 5th rep of the 1st set. The deadlift was heavy, with grip a bit of a problem.

[andrewotbc]

Diet and Recovery for Week 7

I had the weekend off this week because I went home and didn't have easy access to a gym. Also, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a bit of extra recovery once in a while.

I didn't track the calories every day. Here are my estimates:

Mon - ??? (around 3800)
Tue - 4414
Wed - 4525
Thu - 3896
Fri - (around 3800)
Sat - (around 3500)
Sun - (around 3300)
Week average - around 3900

Weighed in with shoes pre-workout on Monday Week 8 at 79.5, so 1kg gain this week according to that.

[andrewotbc]

Week 8 (12-18 April 2010)

Monday 12 April 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 92.5 (PR)
Press - 3 x 5 x 40 (PR)
Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 105 (PR)

Squats were similar to last time, with form going off on the 2nd and 3rd sets. This time, knees were coming inwards so I will concentrate on keeping them out next time.

Press was a big surprise how well it went, with not much of a struggle to make the reps - only the last 1 on each set really. It's good to be using 10s on each side. Hopefully this will keep going up for a bit.

Deadlift was very hard, with grip the limiting factor. I'll try and get some chalk.

[andrewotbc]

Wednesday 14 April 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 95 (PR)
Bench - 1 x 5 x 62.5, 1 x 4 x 62.5, 1 x 2 x 62.5

Squat was again very hard with knees coming inwards - if I'd kept them out I wouldn't have made the reps. I think it'll be time for a rest soon but I'll keep going for the time. The squats are taking me about half an hour now because I take about 6-7 minutes between worksets and a few minutes between the heavier warm-ups.

Glad to make the first set of the bench, and very nearly made the 2nd, faltering about a third of the way up on the 5th rep after pausing there for a couple of seconds. I was spent by the time it came for the 3rd set and needed help on the 3rd rep. I think I should make this next time so although I've failed 3 times at this weight, I'll keep going up for now. If anyone's reading, opinions on microloading?? I think I'll go for 65 once I get past the 62.5 and do it a similar way to what I've done with 62.5 - ie add reps each workout.

Unfortunately, I ran out of time and didn't have time for power cleans. I did 1 set of 57.5 but fucked up the 2nd rep so gave up. It looks like these have gone off a bit due to the break I've taken from them. I'm annoyed I didn't get to do a pulling movement. I'll make sure I'm done with warm up and on my first squat warm-up set with absolute minimum of 1 hour until the gym closes in future.

[andrewotbc]

Friday 16 April 2010 Workout

Press - 2 x 3 x 42.5, 1 x 4 x 42.5
Front Squat - 2 x 5 x 50, 1 x 5 x 60
Chins - 1 x 5 x (bw - 10), 1 x 7 x (bw - 10), 1 x 6 x (bw - 10)

I was achy from playing football on Thursday and was going out that evening so didn't fancy a full workout. I would have postponed it till Saturday but knew I'd have a hangover so thought the best solution was just to do a lighter workout today.

The main thing was that I didn't want to squat becuase it would have taken it out of me for the day, so thought I'd do front squats to introduce them for the first time and also maybe help with my rack position. My lack of flexibility in the shoulders/wrists was a bit of a problem but other than that they felt good.

Press was tougher but felt better on the later sets as had happened once before. So I think there's a chance I'll make this weight next time and keep the press going up.

Chins I did with 10kg of assistance to approximate my weight before I started SS. I also did 3 sets of 8 of decline crunches/sit-ups. I did it on a different bench from before - even without weight, this bench really seemed to hit them and I can feel my abs ever since, particularly now 2 days on.

[andrewotbc]

Diet and Recovery for Week 8

Calories:

Mon - 4399
Tue - 3810
Wed - 4424
Thu - ??? (around 4000, but played football)
Fri - ??? (around 3200 + alcohol)
Sat - 4015
Sun - 3777
Week average - around 3950

Not the greatest recovery on Thursday and Friday but other than that pretty good. Yet again had just short of 4000 calories on average and weighed in on Monday Week 9 (today) at 80.3kg pre-workout with shoes, so a gain roughly of 0.8kg.

I've got exams coming up so Week 9 is going to be the last week done per the program for about a month. After this week I will do workouts when I can - hopefully still 2 a week mostly. Hopefully it won't affect my progress too much but for these few weeks, my priorities will be changing. SS is starting to really take it out of me and I need all my energy for revision/exams.

[andrewotbc]

Week 9 (19-25 April 2010)

Monday 19 April 2010 Workout

Squat - 3 x 5 x 97.5 (PR)
Bench - 1 x 0 x 62.5, 1 x 5 x 60, 1 x 4 x 60
Deadlift - 2 x 0 x 107.5

This was the first time the squats were properly properly gruelling in terms of dreading the sets and really pushing for the reps. The first set was OK but then every rep apart from the 1st on the 2nd and 3rd sets was pretty horrible with quite a bit of a good morning-ing and very slow. I think I'm going to go for the 100 next time, just so I can make that target, and then drop back a bit and try to work up with good form. On my 80kg warm up sets now, it seems very easy compared to how it was before and the form is very good. So I think dropping back will mean I can work back up from say 87.5kg with good form.

The squats absolutely killed me, so the bench was a bit of a nightmare. First set, I lifted the bar and started to lower but felt my right hip hurting and gave up. The hip is fine - just aching from the squat because I was positioned slightly wrong on the bench. I dropped the weight to 60kg and didn't quite complete the remaining 2 sets. So bench has now frozen for 4 workouts. I think I'm going to give the 62.5kg one last go - if I make it I'll then microload. If I don't, I'll reset it down to 55kg. Today's workout got me thinking about potentially changing the workout order, but haven't read too much about that so will leave it for now.

When it came to the deadlift my back just didn't want to know and the bar was just not moving off the floor on the 2 attempts I made. I think this is partly because of the good morning style of most of the squat reps.

So I think this was my first actual proper SS workout on the limit. This is what it's about, and it's going to be damn hard from now on because I fear that I've just learned that and I am not sure I'm ready for most future workouts to be like that.

Still, I'm delighted with the squats, and I've impressed a couple of people in the gym on the last 2 workouts I've done them. I also now feel like a bit of a squat evangelist as when I get talking to someone (quite often in my new gym as there is a good atmosphere there and you normally have to alternate on the equipment with other people) and the conversation gets onto squats I end up going into quite a bit of detail and they seem interested.

Abs were still a tiny bit sore from the ab work on Friday so didn't do any. I think long term, abs work will be for the first and last workouts of the week. But I'll basically do it when they're not too sore which might well end up meaning I do it most workouts.

So much rambling... but a lot to get off my chest (which was also the case in the bench press, ha!)

[andrewotbc]

Wednesday 21 April 2010 Workout

Squat - 1 x 0 x 100
Press - 1 x 2 x 42.5, 1 x 1 x 42.5, 1 x 5 x 40
Power Clean - practice
Chins - 1 x 6 x (bw - 10)

I think I was still recovering from the Monday workout, or else this was just one of those days. I didn't fancy the 100kg based on the warm-up sets feeling tougher than normal. But I bunged in the safety pins and went for it, and bombed in the hole. I was in a different rack from normal which doesn't have a mirror. I'm worried I've become accustomed to having the mirror there and lose confidence without it, because the 2 fails I've ever had on the squat have been in racks without mirrors and those occasions are probably the only ones I've used racks without mirrors. It's a psychological thing but it's not ideal. Anyways, I'll try and always use the rack with the mirror as a practical, short-term solution and not worry too much for now as long as I'm making progress.

So I then basically thought let's make it into a lighter day, and did 1 set of 85s, which were a lot tougher than they should have been. The press was also tougher than last time.

Power cleans, I really want to make sure I've got the form down so I think I'm going to start doing quite a lot of practice reps every workout, and do a linear progression up from 40kg and try to keep the form spot on. While I'm quite low weight on the cleans I'll bung in chins on power clean day as well.

I also did decline situps 3 sets of 9 without weight.

In terms of the fact I struggled today, I think this might be an indicator that the advanced novice stage is approaching. But I am going to be working out a bit less frequently for the next month and I think I'll need to reset soon so I should be able to keep squatting heavy every workout for the time.

[andrewotbc]

Friday 23 April 2010 Workout

Squat - 1 x 0 x 100, 3 x 5 x 85
Bench - 2 x 3 x 62.5, 1 x 2 x 62.5
Deadlift - 1 x 3 x 100

Bombed again after bricking it before the 100. So decided to reset there and then down to 85. The 85s I feel I did with decent form, but they really took it out of me for some reason. After the 3rd set my heart was absolutely racing. Then felt knackered and sick.

So struggled with the bench and went so for a lower weight on deadlift. The bench definitely needs to be reset now. I'll go down to 55kg and do a progression of 55, 57.5, 60, 61, 62, 62.5, 63.5...

[andrewotbc]

Diet and Recovery for Week 9

Got through Monday to Thursday with good calories but then messed it up at the weekend. Fell asleep early on Friday and had an excellent 10 hours sleep but without the last meal's worth of calories. On Saturday just before going out, for the first time really thought about my new size and could really feel the added 10kg in a good way. I think I've grown in a good proportion - can definitely feel hams and glutes have grown the most, but also the upper chest area a lot. My legs are definitely a lot bigger than before but they don't necessarily look it because the quads are smaller in proportion.

Unfortunately then messed it up straight after that but it's pretty rare that I'll be drinking/messing up recovery. I think when I do drink I should just make sure I eat the same as normal and then I will barely affect the progress. I think that a big part of following any sort of program is to try and minimise the effect of occasions when you can't stick to the program to the letter. And I suppose trying to minimise the number of the occasions. I think the next 6 weeks are going to be tough to stick to the program but just gotta try and hang in there. Then through summer I should be able to stick to it well and hopefully get to all of my goals. I actually can't wait to be 90kg now, at least for a bit.

Mon - 4183
Tue - 3959
Wed - 4050
Thu - 4098
Fri - ??? (around 3500)
Sat - ??? (around 2800 + alcohol)
Sun - 3095

[andrewotbc]

Big delay between updates (5 weeks) but I have still been lifting in this time. I haven't been writing down much but basically during exams I deloaded and didn't work my way back to setting new PRs until the last couple of weeks, when I've been eating properly as well. My stats are now:

Bodyweight: ~80kg (82.0kg at workout time)
5 x 3 Squat: 105kg
5 x 3 Bench: 62.5kg (5 x 2, 1 x 4 at 65kg)
5 x 1 Deadlift: 110kg
5 x 3 Press: 40kg (5 x 2, 1 x 3 at 42.5kg)

I've stopped doing power cleans and have been doing chins or pullups instead - basically doing the Wichita Falls program. I think I'll only bring power cleans back when I can do 8 rep bodyweight chins (hopefully soon).

I've started using a belt for squats and deadlifts which has helped. Squats are damn hard now - I get nervous before sets and sometimes get sick in my mouth during/after sets.

The weight gain seems to have slowed/stopped, but it's hard to tell because I've only been eating 4000 calories again the past week or so. Maybe I'll up this soon.

I'm on holiday next week so sadly I'm taking a week off, but hopefully it won't reduce my strength too much. It's a hill walking holiday so I'll try to get enough protein and hopefully it will help with cardio/fat loss a bit. When I get back I'll be doing it properly again for quite a while and hopefully can tidy up the rest of my targets.