recomp time

[kxs]

I just signed up here, mainly because at WBB not that many people are doing the Starting Strength routine. I'll be cross-posting my journal from there to here to hopefully get some more Rip-specific feedback.

[kxs]

I started Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength routine today. This will be my first time in a weight room since '04.

I'm 6'2", 228 lbs, 20% body fat.

Goal: Kind of vague for now, 230ish lbs, 12% body fat

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squats:

135 x 5 x 2
185 x 3 x 2

As soon as I went down for my initial warmup squat, I knew I was in trouble. It didn't feel like a warmup, it felt like it used to feel when I was doing 70% of my 1RM. I'm lifting alone, so by the end of set 4, I stopped as I was afraid if I went down for another rep I wouldn't come back up.

Dumbell Chest Press:

30s x 15 x 1
35s x 10 x 1
40s x 8 x 1
40s x 6 x 1

Crap. This is not a good start.

Deadlift

135 x 5 x 2
225 x 5 x1

I've never done deads before. I think I like them, but I'm sure my form was horrible. I don't like working out alone, at least at first. Once I get back into the swing of things I'll like it though. I tried to keep my back straight, head pointed forward, and my shins are skinned up, so I know I dragged the bar properly.

Barbell Bicep curls

50 x 10 x 1
60 x 8 x 1
60 x 6 x 1

By now I feel like complete crap. This isn't part of SS anyway, I probably won't bother with them again for a while. For now I should be sticking to the program.

Cardio:

20 minutes of running and walking on treadmill


Overall impressions:

I am weak. When I was in high school I was squatting with 3 45s on each side of the bar. However, now I don't do anything, and haven't for a while, and my body has seriously deteriorated. Moreso than I expected. I am disappointed, but I don't feel discouraged. I feel like I just need to keep trying until I make that initial breakthrough. I won't stay this weak if I keep at it.

I also have no endurance. No surprise there. Gaining muscle is more important to me than being able to run an 8 minute mile, but at one point I could run a 7 minute mile, so I'd like ot get back to that. I barely made it a quarter of a mile only running at 5.5 mph. Pathetic.

I have some work to do.

[kxs]

Day two, at long last, now that my bathroom remodel and the holidays are over. I'm disappointed in myself for not getting a good start on this. My workout wasn't great again. My wife and I went to the gym, and I felt obligated to show her what I do and help with some machines, none of which I wanted to use. I did the best machine versions of squat, military press, and low row that I could, but didn't bother recording weight as machine weight won't have much to do with free weights. I barely feel sore at all.

However, wife and I talked and she was actually just as annoyed at having to follow me around as I was at having to lead her around, so we agreed to lift separately and meet up for cardio after whenever we go to the gym at the same time. Hallelujah.

We also worked out a way for us both to go 3 times a week at minimum, which works perfectly. I have half of a Barnes & Noble GC to use for Starting Strength so I can legitimately do the Ripptoe program and answer my own questions when I have them.

[kxs]

Day 3:

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squats:

bar x 10 x 1
90 x 10 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
170 x 5 x 3

Deadlift:

65 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
145 x 5 x 1
165 x 5 x 1

Bench:

bar x 10 x 1
65 x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
115 x 5 x 2
115 x 4 x 1

situps on decline bench (I only lowered my body to parallel with the ground, didn't touch back to bench):

bodyweight x 15 x 1

15 minutes of cardio

edit: I meant to say that I am a wussy wuss man. For someone of my size these numbers are pathetic. But I guess we all have to start somewhere. Hopefully I'll be able to increase the weight consistently as the program describes.

[kxs]

Day 4

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squats:

bar x 10 x 1
95 x 10 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 3

I increased my squat weight by 15 lbs, which is exciting to me. Though the program says I should be able to go up 10 - 15 lbs each session, depending on how the weight feels. I may only try 10 lbs next week, the weight felt pretty heavy by the last set.

Overhead Press

20 x 10 x 1
40 x 10 x 1
60 x 5 x 1
80 x 3 x 1
70 x 4 x 2

I wasn't sure how much weight I could or couldn't do here, so I overshot it by trying 80 and had to back down. Then I couldn't get full sets of 70 lbs. I will try 70 lbs again next time.

Bent Over Rows:

bar x 10 x 1
55 x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
115 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1

I again wasn't sure how much weight I would be able to do with this one, and even 135 felt pretty good, so I'm going to increase to 145 next time after warmup sets to see how it goes. These two younger guys were doing kind of the same exercise next to me, but their backs were incredibly rounded while doing it. Their knees were locked and bottom half of their torsos almost vertical, but then their upper spine hunched over while they rowed. Man it sucked, but I also felt like I'd be a complete ass telling them they were doing it wrong when this was only my 4th day in the gym.

No abs, they still really ache from Monday.

30 minutes of cardio, 2.9 miles on the elliptical. That thing really helps my left knee, which has some sort of undiagnosed (I assume patella) problem.

Overall I feel good about my work. I kind of sucked on military press, but squat felt decent and rows felt great. I'm kind of looking forward to the point that I can add dips and chins/pullups, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

[kxs]

Day 5:

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squat

bar x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
200 x 5 x 3

Good, I'm at 200 lbs on squat. I doubt I'll keep being able to increase by 15 lbs between workouts for too many more workouts. Otherwise I'll be up over 300 in less than 2 weeks! These felt good, but 200 also felt pretty heavy, especially on the last set. I may only add 5-10 or even no lbs next week, depending on how my warmups feel.

Deadlift

65 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1

1 x 65 x 5
1 x 95 x 5
1 x 135 x 5
1 x 185 x 5

Cool, 20 more lbs for deads. I should be able to deadlift more than I can squat, so I expect my dead gains will eclipse my squat gains soon. I didn't even feel like this was too bad. Oh, and I wore pants, so no bloody shins 200+ is my goal for next week.

Bench Press
bar x 10 x 1
65 x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
120 x 5 x 1
115 x 5 x 1
115 x 4 x 1

UGH. First off, I did a terrible job of eating today. I slept through breakfast, ate a sub and some pretzels for lunch, no pre-workout snack, so by my last deadlift set I felt out of gas. Still, it pisses me off that my bench weight sucks so much. I don't feel like I made any progress since last time. I feel like I regressed. It's embarrasing to be as big as I am and struggle with a measly 120 lbs. Heck, in high school I was at least lifting 190 lbs. This sucks.

No abs, I'll do some next week.

20 minutes of cardio, after bench I was just frustrated and had no energy.

edit 2: I went to a newer LA Fitness (my "normal" one is also new, just a few months old vs. a few days old). For whatever reason, the mens' and womens' locker rooms are situation such that men are on the right and women on the left (reverse of my normal gym).

So of course like an idiot I walked right into the womens' locker room on accident after bench. Woopsie.

[kxs]

Day 6:

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squat:

bar x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
205 x 5 x 3

I had to pause between nearly every rep on the last set. I don't think I'll be adding much weight at all on Thursday.

Overhead Press:

bar x 8 x 1
55 x 5 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
70 x 5 x 1
75 x 5 (barely)

This felt fine until the last set: I used a rack that appeared to be designed specifically with overhead presses in mind, as the bench was in an upright position and the bar was at the right height to sit down and lift up. However, it also forced me to kind of reach back behind my head to lift the weight up, and the last time I did this I felt kind of a tight pain in my left shoulder. Later when I was stretching it popped pretty badly, though it felt better afterward. I don't think I"ll use it again, as convenient as it seemed.

Bent Over Row:

bar x 8 x 1
55 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 3

I like this lift, but I was worn out when I did these. I need to be eating more. I should have had one more warmup set, but I skipped it so I could do all 3 normal sets.

20 minutes of cardio

Overall I'm enjoying this program. It's easy to follow (the lifting part, anyway), and I'm already seeing some changes in my body. My arms, of all things, look bigger, my delts are harder, my thighs are getting bigger and firmer, and I also think I"m losing some fat. I feel stronger and more alert than I used to, and I'm enjoying going to the gym. I actually sat down to try to veg out and watch tv last night and got so bored I could hardly stand it.

I got my whey protein, creatine, and fish oil pills today. Looking forward to starting up tomorrow with that.

[kxs]

Day 7

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squats:

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
205 x 5 x 3

Same weight as last time, but it didn't feel so heavy tonight. I will try to increase by 5 or 10 lbs on Saturday.

Bench:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
125 x 5 x 3

That's a bit better. Up 10 lbs from last week, and all 3 sets felt solid. Doing this lift 2nd instead of last helped, I think.

Deadlift:

95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
205 x 5 x 1

I felt strong on this one. StrongER, anyway. That's up 20 lbs. from last time, and my squat and deadlift weights are now the same. I expect deads to start pulling away steadily.


Cardio:

15 min. of elliptical on high incline and resistance.

I still had a lot of energy after my lifts, but not a lot of time, so I pushed hard for 15 min and really had my heart rate up.

I dunno if it's the actual effects of creatine and protein supplements, or a placebo effect, or both, but I just felt better during and after this workout than I have thus far.


edit: I went ahead and measured stuff, thanks to wifey for the assist

waist: 40"
thighs: 26"
calves: 16"
chest: 43"
upper arm: 16"
forearm: 12"
shoulders: 19" across

[kxs]

Day 8

Squats:

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
210 x 5 x 1

These felt ok. Moderately heavy.

Military Press:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
75 x 5 x 1

Kind of an increase of 5 lbs. I may have been ok to do 80, but I wasn't sure.

Bent Over Row:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
140 x 5 x 3

Increase of 5 lbs. I felt kinda sluggish on these.

37 min. of cardio.

I look leaner but still weigh about 230, so I assume I've lost some fat and gained some muscle.

[kxs]

Day 9

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squats

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
215 x 5 x 1 (+5 lbs from last time)

Bench:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
130 x 5 x 3 (+5 lbs)

Deadlift:

95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1 (+20 lbs!)

No cardio.

I haven't lifted since Sunday. And, I forgot to put in contacts and didn't feel like wearing my glasses, so I was lifting blurry-eyed. I just felt kind of flat. Hence I didn't increase my squat much.

I will finally be able to put 45 lb. plates on the bar for bench next time. Heh. I feel like a pussy when I put my tiny little plates on for bench, but if I keep increasing by even just 5 lbs a week I should get to 200 lbs in a reasonable amount of time.

Deadlift felt really heavy, but it felt good to put 225 on there and get it up 5 times. I don't think I'll be doing any more 20 lb. jumps, though. This is the first time it's felt heavy.

[kxs]

Day 10

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squat:

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
140 x 5 x 1
220 x 5 x 3 (+5 lbs. from last time)

Dear God this felt heavy.

Military Press:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
80 x 5 x 3 (+5 lbs.)

This was fine.

Cleans:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 3

Oh crap. My quads already felt tight as a drum from squats. I tried my best to keep the bar close to my body, push with my legs and pull with my traps, leave my arms out of it other than "racking" the bar after the initial pull. On some I know I used my arms on accident, on all my quads felt awful, and I don't feel like I worked my traps or back at all. I have no idea if I did any of them right, and on my last rep I missed it completely. I came back and finished, but I feel like I should be doing this with more weight. I don't see how I can effectively do these after squatting heavy (heavy for me). But there's no good reason for them to be in the program if they can't be done effectively, so I must be doing something wrong.

10 minutes of cardio.

[kxs]

Day 11

I'm wearing my Chucks today instead of crosstrainers, for the flatter soles.

Squat:

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1 (+5 lbs over last session)
230 x 5 x 2 (+10 lbs)

These felt great. I had a lot of energy tonight. I was excited when I went down with 225 and felt I could do more. I thought I could've even added more weight, but I don't want to get stupid and throw out my back.

Bench:

bar x 10 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 2 (+5 lbs)
140 x 5 x 1 (+10 lbs)

These felt good too. I had to push hard to get the last rep up, but at the same time I think I might have been able to add another 5. Hard to know. I think I did the right thing not adding any more. Slow and steady wins the race.

Deads:

95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
235 x 5 x 1 (+10 lbs)

These felt bad, then good. On my third warmup set I got mad because even though the weight wasn't bad, my upper palm has a callus right up under where my wedding ring is. I don't wear my ring while lifting, but the callus kept getting pinched between my palm and the bar, and it really hurt. I went for 235 anyway and somehow gripped better, because the whole set was explosive.

10 minutes cardio, it was late and I had to get to the grocery store.


Overall tonight felt awesome. Mentally I felt like less of a wimp because I was able to put 45s on the bar for bench, which might be stupid, but that's how I feel and it is what it is. My bench still sucks, but at least I"m making progress. My form is a lot better than it was, too. I didn't expect to get 10 extra lbs on each lift tonight.

[kxs]

Day 12

Tonight I forgot to charge my mp3 player. Sucks. On top of that is was "customer appreciation night", which translates into a metric shit ton of people in the gym. I had a hard time focusing, and feel I could've gotten more out of it if I'd just been more mentally tough. I still made some progress.

Squat:

bar x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
235 x 5 x 3 (+5 lbs from last session)

These felt heavy but good. I had trouble focusing tonight. I had a lot of energy, so I think I could've gone for 240.

Overhead Press:

bar x 10 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 3 (+5 lbs)

I barely made it through these. My left shoulder still feels funny from a few weeks ago, but I think the weight was just heavy for me. Progress is progress.

Bent-over rows:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
145 x 5 x 1
150 x 5 x 1

I went back to these and also did some form work on power cleans with just the bar. I'm making progress there, getting the hip thrust movement down. It's easier to flip up the bar without using my arms now, and my muscles are getting better at "remembering" the movements. Not perfect at all, but better.

Tonight was also apparently lightbulb night. A bunch of upper body gorillas all curling and such in front of the dumbell rack mirror. They were all bigger/stronger than me, so I can't talk too much. I just wouldn't want to look like them if I'd put in that much time lifting.

[kxs]

Day 13

Squat:

bar x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
245 x 5 x 3 (+10 lbs from last time)

It was stupid of me to increase to 245. My last set was not good. My form was terrible, I didn't get all the way to parallel, and my last two reps almost got stuck on the way back up.

Bench Press:

bar x 10 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
145 x 5 x 3 (+5 lbs)

This felt ok.

Deadlift:

95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
250 x 5 x 1 (+15 lbs)

Ha ha, woops. I only meant to increase by 10 lbs. today. I didn't bring my old log sheet with me today (record my lifts on a single sheet of paper. Get a book, I know...), so I just assumed I did 240 last week and needed to do 250 this week. My form was decent, so no harm done. My grip about gave out on the last rep though. I may need to switch to over/under grip rather than double overhand grip.

I was tired today. I only got 4 hrs of sleep last night, and ate poorly today. Not enough calories, not enough carbs pre-workout. Given this sloppy behavior, I'm ok with my progress.

[kxs]

Day 14

5 minutes rowing for warmup (never doing this again, since starting this my last two workouts have been crap)

Squat:

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
245 x 5 x 1
250 x 5 x 2

These hurt. Not like they were sore, they just hurt. I'm thinking of taking a week off from squatting starting next week. I got a sharp pain somewhere in my pelvic region after my last set, and some muscle on my upper thigh/waist area doesn't seem to want to stretch out, so it hurts too. 250 didn't feel any heavier than 245, so I figured, what the hell.

Overhead Press:

bar x 10 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
95 x 3 x 1
90 x 5 x 1
90 x 2 x1

Idiot. I somehow added 50 and 45 and got 90 on my 3rd set. Nice grade school math, huh? I'll try 90 again next week.

Bent-over row:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
155 x 5 x 3

155 was maybe a bit much, my form was not as good as last time.

I didn't feel that bad after this workout, but going back over it now, it kind of sucked.

[kxs]

Day 15

Squat:

bar x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1
245 x 5 x 1
250 x 5 x 2

These felt better, I did 2 sets of 5 at 250 lbs. this time instead of 1. Form was better.

Bench Press:

bar x 10 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
115 x 5 x 1
160 x 3 x 1
155 x 4 x 2

Gah, I gotta stop doing this. I put 160 on the bar thinking it was 150, then got discouraged when I couldn't do a full set of "150", and then couldn't even get in 2 full sets of "145" (which was actually 155). Stupid, stupid, stupid. Though I felt better when I realized I wasn't actually losing strength, I just suck at math.

Deadlift (now with over/under grip):

95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
220 x 5 x 1
260 x 5 x 1 - feeling pretty good
275 x 5 x 1 - feeling really good!
315 x 3 + 2 x 1 - HELL YES MASSIVE PR!!!

I did 1 rep thinking I'd do a 1RM PR, felt good, so I did two more, stopped about 20 seconds, went back and pulled two more. Form was good, no Diesel Weasel straining or anything stupid like that. My lower back feels on fire, but it's good.

Now I need to think of a new deadlift goal for 2008.

[kxs]

Day 16

5 min. row machine to warm up

Squat:

bar x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1
230 x 5 x 1
250 x 5 x 1

Mixed feelings on these. The right side of my right thigh, right at the hip, hurts. I lowered the weight today just to work at form, and up until 230 I felt like I was doing better. Then it started to hurt again. I wonder if it might just be hip flexibility. I need that foam roller. I do think my form was better. Stance and depth were better, and I didn't rock forward onto the balls of my feet like I used to do.

Barbell press:

bar x 10 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
90 x 5 x 3

Barely made it through, but I did.

Barbell Row:

bar x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
140 x 5 x 1
145 x 5 x 1

These were fine, but I was tired so I didn't push very hard.

Overall not a great workout. I'll do better next time. Though if I'm being honest with myself I don't feel confident in my squats. The lack of progress is frustrating, as is this pain in my right thigh.

[kxs]

Day 17:

Squat:

bar x 10 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 2
225 x 5 x 1

Lowered weight and focusing on form is boring. But I had little to no pain at the time, and no pain now, so I think my form was much better.

Bench:

bar x 10 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
150 x 5 x 3

This felt fine. It helps to add the correct weight.

Deadlift:

135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1
335 x 3 + 1 + 1

I got stupid on these. I should've just tried for 315 x 5 since I didn't completely get it last time.

My left knee started popping again after a few weeks of being fine. Sucks. But once I switch to my wife's insurance in March I"ll be able to go to the doctor for it.

[kxs]

Day 18:

I was doing house stuff all day, picked up the new flooring for our living room and put a bunch of junk in storage, so I couldn't go to the gym. I had to skip squats.

Overhead press:

45 x 10 x 2
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1 (+5 lbs. from last week, felt really good too)
100 x 5 x 2 (+10 lbs)

Power Clean practice:

reps @ 45
reps @ 65
reps @ 95

These are getting better, my hip movement is way better.

Bent-over Row:

65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
105 x 5 x 1
155 x 5 x 3

Felt heavy but good.

I hate working out at home, but at least I got some work in, better than nothing.

[kxs]

Day 19:

Squat:

bar x 10 x 2
95 x 10 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1
255 x 5 x 1
260 x 5 x 1 (+5 from last time I did squats decently)
265 x 5 x 1 (+10 lbs)

I'm back and ready to squat heavy. Heavy for me, anyway.

Bench Press:

bar x 10 x 2
65 x 10 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
105 x 5 x 1
155 x 5 x 2
155 x 4

Damn. Missed the last rep. Got about half way and then just lost it. I hate being weak on bench press.

Deadlift:

135 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1
275 x 5 x 1
315 x 1 x 2

My back was still sore from rows yesterday I guess. I just had no gas in the tank for 315 x 5. I'm not supposed to lift two days in a row on this program, but my scheduling got all out of whack last week and I had to push this workout in tonight to get back on track.

I"m happy with getting back to squats, but the other two lifts were disappointing, especially bench press. A bittersweet session tonight.

[HIThopper]

Definately making good progress mate, great work, keep it up