Monster in the making :)

Antisocialiser

Age: 24

Weight: 73kg

Height: 5 ft 9

Started 'The Starting Strength Practical Programming Novice Program' today and thought id start a log and stop all the lurking. Although ive done some weights before im definitely not in anyway advanced and thought that a well-structured and well-tested workout routine would be a great way of getting stronger and faster. Im mainly keeping the log in order to stay focused and motivated and also to avail of any advice from all you guys. I recognize that my lifts have started out quite light but im committed to increasing these as much as possible. For anyone who isnt familiar with it this is the program:


Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench press / Press (Alternating)
Chin-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press / Bench Press (Alternating)
1x5 Deadlift

Workout C
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press / Press (Alternating)
Pull-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps

Im hoping that committing to the 3 sessions a week with proper rest days will afford me the best chance of reaching my goals.

Squat: 100kg
Bench:80kg
Press:60kg
Deadlift: No idea as i havent done it before
Chins: 3 sets of 15
Pullups: 3 sets of 15

I look forward to your ongoing criticism and advice... hopefully anyway.... time to get my strength on eek:eek:

Antisocialiser

Work out A

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
50kg - 3x5

Bench press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
45kg - 3x5

Chin-ups
1x10
1x8
1x4

Im resisting the urge to get greedy with my start off weights and instead the plan is to continually and consistently increase the kgs.

Squat felt fine, just like a good stretch really. Focused on technique and stayed at this weight as the bar slowed a little bit.

Bench was the same. Found it quite easy. (im sure this will change in a week or so) :pac:

Chins - think i busted it on the first set and probably should have taken more rest between the second and last.

Antisocialiser

Workout B

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
50kg - 1x2
55kg - 3x5

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x5
35kg - 3x5

Deadlift
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5

Squats were grand, i made sure i got good and deep

Press was fine but had a slight bit of shoulder pain due to a previous footballing injury.

I didnt want to rush the deadlift without proper technique so im gonna study a few more vids and try and nail it. But the 40kg felt really light...probably cause it is

I cant wait to get those numbers up now

Antisocialiser

Workout C

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x3
50kg - 1x2
60kg - 3x5

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x3
50kg - 3x5

Pull-ups
1x10
1x8
1x5

Felt kinda horrible after a lock-in down the boozer on sunday...:( But carried on and pushed it out anywho.

Squats are finally feeling like im gettin a bit of resistance but still grand just takes a little push to get back up

Bench press again felt fine.

Pull ups was frustrating as i was so close to 11 and 9 in the first two sets but good to at least add 1 onto my chin up numbers

Just after a savage fry-up gooooooood times

Antisocialiser

Workout A

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x3
55kg - 1x2
65kg - 3x5

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x3
40kg - 3x5

Chin-ups
1x13
1x9
1x6

Squat felt like a controlled challenge. Good form throughout although quite slow on the last rep. I know ill be fine for 70kg on sunday but should i perhaps do 67.5kg to keep my technique solid? hmmm

Same story with the press....

1st set of chins felt real easy and couldn't believe i did so many *proud*
2nd and 3rd were also relatively big improvements.

Overall happy with the lifts and the technique but abit concerned about sacrificing one for the other. Previous PR's possibly adding to this....

JimmyR

yeah I think your making too big of jumps mate.

If you feel the lifts are getting tough already then you want to lower the increase.

Go to 2.5kg increase for squat and find something that weighs around 1kg and tape it to the bar or something for upper body lifts. You want to continue the linear progression for as long as possible.

Antisocialiser

Workout B

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x3
60kg - 1x2
67.5kg - 3x5

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x3
50kg - 1x2
55kg - 3x5

Deadlift
20kg - 1x5
40kg - 1x5
50kg - 1x5

Moderately glad i didnt jump up another 5kg as i found the squats quite hard and struggled to keep them as good form as they've been. With the last rep or two i found the shoulders moving a little slower up than the hips. My 3x5 PR has been 82.5 but i honestly think my technique must have been balls with little to no depth previously got my brother to video me on set 2 and they look good to me but i should get something up for a critique shortly.

Some shoulder pain again with the bench but apart from that it was grand.

I was happy enough with the deads - still quite light for me

cheers for the advice Jimmy R! :cool:

Antisocialiser

Workout C

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x3
60kg - 1x2
70kg - 3x5

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x3
40kg - 1x2
42.5kg - 3x5

Pull-ups
1x11
1x6
1x7

Squats - very pleased with these
Press - went grand but may struggle with 45kg. Have no idea how i would go about adding 1kg to the bar
Pull-ups - arms were drained for the second set.. i dont know what happened here but i suppose i added 1 on to the total from my last workout C :pac:

On a side i need to replace my myprotein impact whey as its running low and was considering some creatine from there too.... any opinions?

duckysauce

monster

Antisocialiser

Workout A

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x3
72.5kg - 3x5

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x3
50kg - 1x2
57.5kg - 3x5

Chin-ups
1x13
1x10
1x8

Apart from the squats feeling heavy everything went fine Ordered my impact whey chocmint but decided against the creatine after digging up a few threads on the subject.

Antisocialiser

Workout B

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
52.5kg - 1x3
70kg - 1x2
75kg - 3x5 BW

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x3
40kg - 1x2
45kg - 3x5

Deadlift
20kg - 1x5
40kg - 2x5
60kg - 3x5

BW squat =

Antisocialiser

Workout C

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x3
70kg - 1x2
77.5kg - 3x5

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
50kg - 1x3
60kg - 3x5

Pull-ups
1x12
1x8
1x7

Squats felt very heavy tonight but got 'em pushed out anyway.

Bench felt grand feel like ive loads left here...:cool:

After the first set of pullups i felt emptied but added a few from the last session. Hoping for a few PB's over the next week or two in all lifts

Antisocialiser

Workout A

Squat
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x3
70kg - 1x2
80kg - 3x5

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x3
40kg - 1x2
47.5kg - 2x5 1x4 Fail

Chin-ups
1x11
1x6
1x5

Damn you arthurs day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very bad and hungover session today... forced myself into the gym.
Squats werent the best reps but got them all banged out. Chins felt horrible nothin in the tank.

Very disappointed with the press. Failed the last rep. It didnt feel as heavy as i just felt drained. Dont think ill reset due to the tiredness and hangover i was suffering.

Gah*

d'Oracle

Antisocialiser wrote: »

Very disappointed with the press. Failed the last rep. It didnt feel as heavy as i just felt drained. Dont think ill reset due to the tiredness and hangover i was suffering.

It happens.
As you get tired you can loose your form and not realise.
Bar only has to move a little bit forward to kill your rep at the end of a set.

Antisocialiser

Cheers d'Oracle. Re-read the starting strength wiki and i realised ive got 3 strikes before a reset. Im fairly confident I can make the reps on tuesday. Onwards and upwards.:cool:

Antisocialiser

Workout B

Squat
20kg - 2x5
50kg - 1x5
65kg - 1x3
75kg - 1x2
82.5kg - 3x5

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
50kg - 1x3
60kg - 1x2
65kg - 3x5 PB

Deadlift
50kg - 2x5
60kg - 1x3
70kg - 3x5

Personal best on the bench I couldn't remember if i did 60 or 62.5 last tuesday so i bumped it up anyway and found it totally fine. Really pleased with this... hopefully loads more in the tank

Squats - 1st and 3rd set felt grand. Stumbled on the 2nd set and found the 4th and 5th rep quite hard.

Deadlift - really think i need to look at my form here as i have a bit of pain in my lower back. /runs off to youtube.

Can't wait til tuesday when if all goes to plan ill be recording PB's on the squat and press too.:cool:

Also big thanks to Kim Wilde for providing the background moosic to my bench PB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDy4nT4lG1A

Antisocialiser

Workout C

Squat
20kg - 2x5
50kg - 1x5
65kg - 1x3
77.5kg - 1x2
85kg - 3x5 PB

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x5
42.5kg - 1x3
47.5kg - 3x5 PB

Pull-ups
1x11
1x8
1x7

Had to push training forward a day due to my Rover 25 acting the candyman.

Although 2PBs =

Squats felt real heavy and technique was probably shaky for the last rep or two of each set but i pushed them out so go me

Overhead press felt grand - must have been fridays hangover...

Pull ups *gah* seem to have stalled a bit. I might try and do a few sets at home outside of the program to remedy this.

Antisocialiser

Workout A

Squat
20kg - 2x5
50kg - 1x5
65kg - 1x3
80kg - 1x2
87.5kg - 3x5 PB

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
52.5kg - 1x3
62.5kg - 1x2
67.5kg - 3x5 PB

Chin-ups
1x12
1x10
1x9

Squats felt realllllllllllly heavy so there was increased rest time and shaky reps but i got there and its another welcome PB

Bench press felt relatively easy the last session but these were challenging. Very happy with it though

Chins were solid. May not have been moving that much due to the fact im now 12stone or 76kg

GOMAD FTW.

Antisocialiser

No gym in a week due to moving into a new house, university, hangovers and other poor excuses.

Workout B

Squat
20kg - 2x5
50kg - 1x5
65kg - 1x3
77.5kg - 1x2
85kg - 3x5

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x5
40kg - 1x3
45kg - 1x2
50kg - 3x5 PB


Deadlift
50kg - 2x5
60kg - 1x3
70kg - 1x2
80kg - 1x5 PB

Felt i would have struggled big time with the squats so knocked them back a session.

PB's in the press and deadlift were nice and felt grand.

No more missed sessions - mr. consistency from now on

Antisocialiser

Workout C

Squat
20kg - 2x5
50kg - 1x5
67.5kg - 1x3
80kg - 1x2
87.5kg - 3x5

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
55kg - 1x3
65kg - 1x2
70kg - 3x5 PB

Pull-ups
1x10
1x7
1x7

Squats were fine although for some reason rep 5 was hairy in each set but i knew id get it up.

Bench felt heavy but happy i busted em out

Pull ups were piss poor... really gonna have to start my offdays with 3 sets to failure...

BW bench not too far away

Antisocialiser

Workout A

Squat
20kg - 2x5
60kg - 1x5
70kg - 1x3
80kg - 1x2
90kg - 3x5 PB

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x5
40kg - 1x3
50kg - 1x2
52.5kg - 1x5 1x4 1x2 Fail

Chin-ups
1x11
1x4
1x6


**** session.....squats were ****ing killer the last 2 reps in each set both being all over the place and probably high. In two mind whether to stick with this weight on friday?

Press - i have no idea how 50 was comfortable and 52.5 totally crushed me.... the week off mustnt have helped.... gutted.

Chins - absolutely ragin with myself at this stage and also wrecked. Was on a tight schedule to get to class so rushing everything defo didnt help.


*sob*

Antisocialiser

Workout B

Yesterday's workout

Squat
20kg - 2x5
50kg - 1x5
70kg - 1x3
82.5kg - 1x2
90kg - 3x5

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
50kg - 1x3
65kg - 1x2
72.5kg - 3x5 PB


Deadlift
60kg - 2x5
70kg - 1x3
80kg - 1x2
90kg - 1x5 PB

Squat still felt heavy and sets 1 and 2 were almost more brute force and ignorance but when i relaxed and focused on hip drive the last set felt better. Going to stick with this weight for one more session hopefully.

Bench press was the hardest yet - i was moving my body under the bar to get it up as i had no spotter. Ill take the PB tho.

Deadlift - this is getting heavy....

I feel my newb gains are running out....:pac:

Antisocialiser

Workout C

Squat
20kg - 2x5
50kg - 1x5
70kg - 1x3
82.5kg - 1x2
90kg - 2x5 1x4 Fail

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x5
40kg - 1x3
45kg - 1x2
52.5kg - 2x5 1x4 Fail

Pull-ups
1x10
1x7
1x5

FML

Antisocialiser

Workout A


Squat

20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
70kg - 1x3
80kg - 1x2
90kg - 3x5

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x3
70kg - 1x2
75kg - 2x5 1x4 Fail

Chin-ups
1x11
1x7
1x5

My squat technique was alot better but after 3 sessions of this weight it still feels heavy. Im gonna try and hit 92.5 next session and if im destined to fail i probably should get it over with so i can reset. I focused on sitting down into the squat and driving my ass out of it a la rippletoe.

Bench was a challenge but i probably could have got the last rep but i was too scared to go for it with no spotter.

On a side note my workout took me 1hr30min approx (about 40 min for squat 30min for bench and 20min for chins) - is this too long? i really felt i needed the recovery...:pac:

Finding it harder to stay positive when the progress has seemingly stalled

Antisocialiser

Workout B

Squat
20kg - 2x5
50kg - 1x5
65kg - 1x3
82.5kg - 1x2
92.5kg - 1x5 1x3 1x1 Fail

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x5
40kg - 1x3
45kg - 1x2
52.5kg - 2x5 1x4 Fail - Reset


Deadlift
60kg - 2x5
70kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x2
100kg - 1x5 PB

G86

Antisocialiser wrote: »

100kg - 1x5 PB

Nice one:)

Antisocialiser

Thanks G86, i suppose every cloud has a silver lining

Also great work on the DL yourself!

Antisocialiser

Workout C

Squat
20kg - 2x5
50kg - 1x5
65kg - 1x3
82.5kg - 1x2
92.5kg - 2x3 1x1 Fail

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
50kg - 1x3
65kg - 1x2
75kg - 1x5 1x4 1x3 Fail

Pull-ups
1x10
1x8
1x5

A combination of trying to improve my form and heavy weight is making me suck. Im going to reset my squat and work back up with uber technique from wednesday

Disappointing bench press also - only failed in the last set the last time i was benching

Antisocialiser

Workout A

Squat
20kg - 2x5
45kg - 1x5
65kg - 1x3
75kg - 1x2
82.5kg - 3x5

Press
20kg - 2x5
30kg - 1x5
40kg - 1x3
47.5kg - 2x5 1x4 Fail


Chin-ups
1x11
1x7
1x5

Squats were hard but i kept good form throughout and focused on keeping my back straight and pushing up with hip drive. I know longer feel like im doing whatever i can to get the weight up - ill try my best with good form *i think* and if i fail... i fail.

I think i screwed myself on the press by taking very little recovery - although im not sweating it ill get them the next time.

After watching the rippletoe vid on fixing the hip drive in the squat ive put it into practice. Im definately feeling it more on my hammys but my lower back was in bits even through the warmup... is this normal? It was a dull doms-like pain which subsided after the workout.

mrpink6789

Lower back pain on the warm ups doesnt sound too good, maybe upload a video so people can see your form? I get a minor dull like pain about 7-8 hours afterwards for an hourish but definitely not during or straight after.

Like you I didn't take enough recovery at 45k on the press so I paid for it by failing on my last set, should get it next time.

Antisocialiser

Workout B

Fridays Session

Squat
20kg - 2x5
45kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x3
75kg - 1x2
85kg - 3x5

Bench Press
20kg - 2x5
40kg - 1x5
55kg - 1x3
65kg - 1x2
75kg - 1x5 1x4 1x5 Fail Reset


Deadlift
60kg - 2x5
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
110kg - 1x4 1x1 Fail

@mrpink: thanks man i have a few vids on my phone but cant figure out how to get them on the computer yet - must look into it. Friday's session wasnt painful at all though so hopefully thats the end of it.

Squats were grand - nice deep and controlled

Almost got murdered under the bench for the 2nd set as i didnt have a spotter Wont be doing that again

Would have had the deadlift but my grip slipped. Might be time to invest in some chalk...