starting strength and milk

bigstar

Sunday

Squats
20kg x2x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
80kg x2
97.5kg x2
95kg x2x2

OH Press
10kg x2x5
15kg x5
20kg x3
30kg x2
40kg x3x5

Power Clean
20kg x2x5
30kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5x3

some ab work too
standing pulldowns 48kg x10,5
side bends 12kg 2x10 each side

another crap squat session, have to drop them back next week, theyre just getting harder, i dunno whats up with me. press was hard but pleased to get all 15 reps. power cleans were hard too but theyre getting better. tried the standing pulldowns again, much harder than kneeling. gonna stick to sit ups and twist sit ups for while till i need to add weight then do the pulldowns etc.

mikemac

good work bigstar, fair play

bigstar

Tuesday 31/3/09

Squats
20kg x2x5
40kg x5
50kg x3
65kg x2
85kg x3x5

Bench
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x3
50kg x2
62.5kg x3x5

Deadlift
20kg x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
85kg x2
115kg x2 really badly
112.5kg x2ish

dropped the weight back for the squats today. felt ok, kinda heavy but the bar went up ok. ill see how they go over the next week.

happy with the bench, it felt very hard last week. it was still hard today but better.

Deadlift was a bit of a mess,was in a bit of a rush, didnt realise i was jumping 30kg to the work set. 115kg felt like a tonne, my form was not good so i dropped the weight a bit but i was wrecked by then ill try 112kg again on saturday

bigstar

Thursday 2/4/09

Squat

20kg x2x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
70kg x2
90kg x3x5

Press

10kg DB x2x5
15kg DB x5
20kg BB x3
30kg x2
42.5kg x3x5

Power Clean

20kg x2x5
30kg x5
40kg x5
52.5kg X5x3

Wide grip pull ups
9,2,2

some crunches and
side bends with 10kg

it was good enough yesterday, was waiting half hour for a free cage but after that it was ok. squats feeling a little better, hard enough though. i want 100kg before May.

press was damn hard. reeally struggled to get the bar up for the last rep didnt think it would go up, but i did eventually, while my form had gone for a little holiday.

cleans are getting heavy now, form feels pretty good though so far, 55kg might be a test of that.

pull ups were hard, after the first set i was wrecked, could on get 2 followed by 2:eek:

overall pretty good and fairly long.

bigstar

and my weight for eroo

10st 7lbs monday morning

thats ok with me id say i was a fair bit under 10st to begin with so im still on course after 6 weeks

eroo

bigstar wrote: »

and my weight for eroo

10st 7lbs monday morning

thats ok with me id say i was a fair bit under 10st to begin with so im still on course after 6 weeks

Ya thats probably the case alright! Well done though, the squats are going very well for ya.. just got mine to BW the last day, so I know how hard it can be.. keep it up!:)

bigstar

Sunday 6/4/09

weight: 10st 10lbs. got a new scales yesterday, i thought the old one was a bit off and it was, 11st looks a lot closer than last week.

Squats
20kg x2x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
80kg x2
92.5kg x3x5

Banch
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x3
50kg x2
65kg x3x5

Deadlift
20kg x5
40kg x5
60kg x5
80kg x3
90kg x2
112.5kg x5

Squats were good, still hard and heavy but i think im good to get to 95kg and hopefully get all 15 reps at 97.5 by the weekend.

bench was really hard i dont know if ill get to add to it this week and finish all the reps but we'll see.

deadlifts werent that great, i got through it ok enough but im sure my back was not straight, except maybe for the very last rep when i made the effort to fix it. ill see how i feel when im warming up this week but its feeling fairly heavy by 90kg.

happy with my weight, i had a feeling the scales was off so to be a few pounds heavier is great. id say im easily a stone heavier than when i started, happy days.

eroo

Good stuff! How are you finding the bench?

bigstar

eroo wrote: »

Good stuff! How are you finding the bench?

very hard, its getting very slow pushing the bar up. lately im using the power cage so if i cant get it up the bars will catch the oly bar, its getting that hard. so far so good though.

i changed my technique a bit a couple of weeks ago, started squeezing my shoulder blades together, it feels a bit better tbh. i really want to get to 70kg and then see where i am.

bigstar

Tuesday 7/4/09

Squat
20kg x2x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
80kg x2
95kg x3x5

Military Press
10kg x5
15kg x5
20kg x5
30kg x3
35kg x2
45kg x5,3,2

Power Clean
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x3
45kg x2
55kg x5x3

well today the squats felt better than they have for while. felt very solid and they were fast enough. first time in ages the bar hasn't felt so heavy out of the rack. i really hope i get through the 97.5kg.

press wasnt great its been getting harder every week but its a massive improvement, i think i struggled with 25kg not so long ago.

power cleans were hard too. 55kg felt so heavy and slow. i got tired as the sets went on, ive been dropping the bar to my thighs and it really takes a bit out of me.

overall, happy with the squats again, and hopefully saturday will be a bit better for the press and clean.

eroo

bigstar wrote: »

very hard, its getting very slow pushing the bar up. lately im using the power cage so if i cant get it up the bars will catch the oly bar, its getting that hard. so far so good though.

i changed my technique a bit a couple of weeks ago, started squeezing my shoulder blades together, it feels a bit better tbh. i really want to get to 70kg and then see where i am.

Same here bud! I find it the hardest to make any progress on it at the moment.. am at 67.5. My gym is ****e so I've to ask people to spot me as the gym doesn't have cages:(

Keep it up though, it sucks but it's all worth it the end.. and very nice work on the deadlifts

bigstar

Thursday 9/4/09

Squats
20kg x2x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
80kg x2
97.5kg x3x5 PR woohoo!

Bench
20kg x2x5
30kg x5
40kg x3
55kg x2
67.5kg x3x5

Deadlift
20kg x5
40kg x5
60kg x5
80kg x3
92.5kg x2
115kg x1x5

Yes! broke through on the squats, well pleased with that and my speed was fairly good till the last rep or so. well pleased.

Benching was good too the first set was a bit easy(ish), the rest felt decent enough. i reckon 70 will be ok(ish). good stuff so far.

Deads were good really good. i was half thinking of doing another set. really felt fast just up and down without any stalling.

good day today, everything was good. i usually feel wrecked after deadlifts but today i was fine. good good day.:D

bigstar

Saturday 111/4/09

Squats
20kg x2x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
80kg x2
100kg x3x5 WOHOO!

Military Press
10kg x5
20kg x5
30kg x3
40kg x2
47.5kg x4,3,2

Power Clean
20kg x5
30kg x5
35kg x5
40kg x3
47.5kg x2
57.5kg x5x3

super sqauts today 100kg wohoo!. felt fairly good too, knees felt strong, no buckling. man it felt good.

press wasnt so good. i didnt realise i missed 45kg last time not 47.5 so now i feel better about it. ill try 47.5 again and if i miss it ill drop it back. its gettin very hard and my back does be all over the place.

cleans were decent. theyre getting better every time. today wasnt too hard.

delighted with the squats. massive milestone. cant believe i can squat 100kg. ive got the skinniest legs imaginable, but theyre getting bigger. WOHOO!

DM-BM

bigstar wrote: »

delighted with the squats. massive milestone. cant believe i can squat 100kg. ive got the skinniest legs imaginable, but theyre getting bigger. WOHOO!

Yeah, it feels good, doesn't it.

I've been reading this since you started, it's going well, keep it up.

If I were you I'd nearly go back to 45kg on the press and get your 3 sets of 5, it's a very easy lift to get carried away with and stall.
You might even need to get 0.5kg plates so you can progress at 1kg increments. I just used normal (non olympic) 0.5kg discs with cable ties attached to slide on to the olympic bar.

bigstar

DM-BM wrote: »

Yeah, it feels good, doesn't it.

I've been reading this since you started, it's going well, keep it up.

If I were you I'd nearly go back to 45kg on the press and get your 3 sets of 5, it's a very easy lift to get carried away with and stall.
You might even need to get 0.5kg plates so you can progress at 1kg increments. I just used normal (non olympic) 0.5kg discs with cable ties attached to slide on to the olympic bar.

thanks.

i was thinking of doing something like that, getting some 2 inch washers or something to make up 0.5kg, but i might try the cable tie thing.

eroo

Congrats on the squats bigstar.. keep it up.. that's impressive!

bigstar

eroo wrote: »

Congrats on the squats bigstar.. keep it up.. that's impressive!

thanks man. the squats just keep getting better, my legs are getting bigger too which is great.

bigstar

Tuesday 14/4/09

Squats
20kg x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
80kg x2
102.5kg x3x5

Bench
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x3
55kg x2
70kg x2x5,1x4

Dealift
40kg x5
60kg x5
80kg x3
100kg x2
117.5 x0

deadlifts were really disappointing couldnt even get 1. i was rushing a bit though so hopefully that was it.

on the other hand squats were good. wasnt sure id get them all but i managed it and speed was good so happy with that.

bench was good too. i missed the last rep cause i wasnt sure if i could get it back up and id no spotter so i played it safe, not too bothered though.

they have a glute ham raise and reverse hyper machine in the gym now so as soon as im done with SS things should be fun. i was looking for a god lower back exercise to do now i have 2.

bigstar

Thursday 16/4/09

Squats
20kg x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
85kg x2
105kg x5,4,3

Press
15kg x5
20kg x5
30kg x3
37.5 x2
45kg x5,3,5

Power Clean
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x3
50kg x2
60kg x5x3

Tried a couple of reverse hypers - not for me.

Squats were bit weird, i got 5 in the first set but the last rep was almost not coming up. I got kinda freaked out that i might not get back up so I stopped when the rep got slow. Knees were a bit wobbly, just felt off.

Press was weird too i dunno how i got 3 in 2nd then 5 in the last set.

Clean was hard, felt a bit unstable catching the bar a few times, my lower back really feels this.

Tried the reverse hyper machine, got the weirdest sensation in my lower back, kind of like electrocution, did not like that.

Wasnt the worst but wasnt the best either. The place was roasting and I felt a bit sick after the first set of squats.

After Saturday im going to change things a bit. The cleans really wreck my back/arse area. Going to start rows and pullups and a few other things and see how it works out.

my weight on saturday was 10st 11lbs, ive been eating more this week so i hope it keeps going up. i set my self a goal initially of a stone in 12 weeks, which id say ive passed, (weight in clothes at start was 10st now im always more than 11) but 11st butt nekid by 9 may is the goal now.

bigstar

Saturday 18/4/09

weight: 69.5kg

Squats
20kg x2x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
80kg x2
105kg x3x5

Bench
20kg x5
30kg x5
45kg x3
55kg x2
70kg x3x5

Deadlift
20kg x5
40kg x5
60kg x5
75kg x3
95kg x2
117.5kg x5

good enough day. squats and bench went well, felt strong in both.

deeadlift was hard though, its getting to be too much doing squats and deadlifts together. im always fairly knackered by the time i come to the deads. i dont know how my form was either. gonna have to change something.

weighed myself this morning: 10st 13lbs/69.5kg. nearly there now.

bigstar

Tuesday 21/4/09

Squats
20kg x5
40kg x5
65kg x3
95kg x2
107.5kg x3x5

Press
10kg x5
20kg x5
30kg x3
37.5kg x2
45kg x3x5

T-Bar Row
10kg x5
15kg x5
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x3x5

Wide grip Pullups
1x8
1x3

45deg Calf Raise
15kg x5
30kg x5
45kg x5
50kg x3x5


changed things a bit today. wanna do some extra stuff like pullups/dips/rows and some calf work for my crappy calves.

squats went well, didnt expect to get them all its getting very heavy and slow again, but i got them all anyway. must get some vids to make sure im good formwise.

press was hard hard hard. barely got all reps, i extending my lower back something awful too. i hope i get some joy with this soon.

first time doing t-bar rows. prefer one arm or BB rows. other than that it was ok. not sure where i should be with rows ill see in the next few weeks

pullups were tough. cant understand the drop off from 8 to 3 and barely 3 at that. gonna work on these more.

starting calf raises. mine are ridiculous, like a 10 year old girls. dunno about the machine, might just do standing DB raises instead.

long session for me, nearly 2 hours :eek:. im used to being in and out pretty fast if im not waiting on anything.

cardio,shoot me

when i used to do calf raises i did them on a step in the smith machine, although i guess as long as u pause at the bottom any method would work.

bigstar

thanks i might try that. im just seeing which things work atm, i think ill go through a few calf exercise variations before i settle on the ones i prefer/see best results from.

bigstar

Thursday 23/4/09

Squats
20kg x5
40kg x5
65kg x3
90kg x2
110kg x2 Really bad ones
107.5kg x3,2 Not very good either

Bench
20kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x3
60kg x2
70kg x2x5,1x6

Deadlift
40kg x5
60kg x5
80kg x3
100kg x2
120kg x5

Dips
1x12 BW
1x10 BW
1x8 BW

45 Deg Calf Raise
15kg x5
30kg x5
45kg x3
60kg x3x5

so so workout. squats were crap 110kg was a tonne and i was smashed after trying it, so 107 was too much too.

bench was ok i did an extra rep instead of adding weight. meant to do 3x6 but forgot.

deadlift was good. very heavy and it was a bit of work extending my hips at the top and pulling my shoulders back.

dips were good, gonna like these.

im sticking with the 45 degree calf raises ftm. i figure it isolates them more than standing calf raises, well see.

still feels really long. pisses off at the squats being so sh1t.
decided to start some swimming or such too, belly needs to go.

bigstar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fUpXRCZp-M

my vid of the last set, any of the more knowledgeable wanna comment.
i wanna make sure its right cause things are getting fairly heavy, or at least that im not doing things really badly.

gnolan

Depth is definitely fine, but maybe a touch too much though, so much so that your lower back is rounding deep in the hole......i think

Not too say you shouldn't go that deep, but perhaps you can't go that deep without rounding your back

bigstar

yeah i noticed that myself. i wasnt concentrating enough on my core, i was bit annoyed that i wasnt getting the reps. the second rep is less severe cause i made the effort then.

is there anything to work on this. ive been doing leg swings and hip circles and lunges to try stretch my hip flexors and hams.

gnolan

Sometimes i think it can be as simple as not going so deep, it looks as though you could come up a good three inches and still be comfortably below parallel. The deeper you go the more your back will round. Try bring it up a few inches and check the video again.

Also push your feet about more either side a good bit more, from my experience i can go deeper without any rounding; also seems to help get the adductors involved in the movement.

I know I was called up on having my elbows back too far, yours don't look so bad but the further forward you have them the tighter your upper back will be and will help to keep your chest up.

bigstar

Saturday 25/4/09

Squats
20kg 1x5
40kg 1x5
65kg 1x3
85kg 1x2
110kg 3x5

Military Press
10kg 1x5
15kg 1x5
20kg 1x5
30kg 1x3
40kg 1x2
47.5kg 1x5,2x4

BB Bent Over Row
20kg 1x5
30kg 1x5
40kg 1x5
50kg 3x5

Wide Grip Pullups
2x6
1x3

45 Deg Calf Raise
20kg 1x5
35kg 1x5
50kg 1x3
70kg 3x5

Plank
3x30sec

Side Plank
1x30sec each side

good session last night. chuffed with the squats, didnt think i was gonna get them but the first set was good and the rest were pretty good too.

press wasnt as good, if i miss it again ill drop it back.

bent over rows are new but i prefer them to the t bar rows, felt good enough.

pullups were better this time too. went for 3x6 instead of trying to do as many as i could on the first set and they were better thanks to bossarkys advice. when i get all 3x6 ill try one set to failure to see if ive gotten more, then ill go for 3x7 and test my max again.

calf raises were ok ill go for 80kg next.

planks were ok too, hard enough though.

BossArky

Your 110kg x2 squat video above looked easy. Good work!

Glad the pull ups are working out.