DSB's training log

[dsberger]

hi all,

I just started StrongLifts yesterday and have exactly one workout under my belt. I came to this site via Mark Sisson's awesome site, Mark's Daily Apple. I love the paleo fitness idea, and Mark talks a lot about unstructured activity, but for me, for now, StrongLift's regularity and explicit workouts sound like exactly what I need.

Where I am now:
I'm 28 years old, 5'10" and 178 pounds. Using tape measurements and some calculators online, I estimate my body fat is about 26%. I'm not fat fat, but I certainly look kind of soft all over. I ordered a set of calipers from Amazon which should be here soon. I also ordered Starting Strength because I hear such good things about it. I've been sort of dithering around at the gym for a few years. I don't go that regularly. I've definitely gotten stronger but I'm not getting definition and my recordkeeping is horrible so I can't quantify my progress.

Here are a couple goals:

1) Get body fat below 12%. Right now I don't care whether I do this by gaining muscle or losing fat, although I'm hoping to do a little of both. I'm not interested in getting huge for the sake of getting huge. Yet, anyway! That might change.
2) It would be really cool to do an overhead press of my own body weight by my 29th birthday, which is in eight months. This is a dynamic goal since my body weight might change, but looking at the workout progression 170-180 lbs doesn't seem so outrageous in eight months.

My first workout was yesterday and I started right at the beginning with the A workout and a naked bar.

Squat: 5x5, 45 lbs
Bench: 5x5, 45 lbs
Inv. Row: 7, 6, 4 (17)
Push-Ups: 15, 6, 1 (21)
Rev. Crunch: 3x12, 45 lb counterweight

A few comments:

I wasn't even sure my gym had a power rack, since it's a machine-stuffed corporate chain place. It turns out the power racks are sort of around the corner from the dumbbells I usually play with. So that was a pleasant surprise. I figured out how they work with a few minutes of playing around. I felt a little silly with the empty bar, but it's a downtown gym and I went on a Saturday so the place was thinly populated. I'm working on accepting the silly feeling and getting over it.

I have no idea if I was doing the Inverted Rows even close to correctly. Should I be hanging from the bar, not touching the ground when I'm at the bottom? I'm definitely going to have to read up on those and watch some videos before I try them again.

I was pleasantly surprised to bang out 15 push-ups on my first set. In good form, too! After squats and bench presses my own body weight felt refreshingly light. And then I literally laughed at myself for only getting one in my last set.

Those reverse crunches were no joke.

Oh yes, and I also did three or four overhead presses before I left just to make sure I could handle them. I will be fine tomorrow.

[bkklift]

Welcome DSB!

Sounds like you're really committing to your fitness goals, so congrats! It's definitely a good idea to start off with an empty bar and build your way up. Technique and form is crucially important.

For inverted rows, you should be hanging from the bar, not lying flat on the floor, so it sounds like you are doing them right.

For your goals:
1) The best way to reduce bodyfat and improve your physique is through hard physical activity and improved nutrition. Your diet plays a huge role in your body composition. Don't worry about getting too huge, it's not that easy , just concentrate on working out hard.
2) Pressing your weight overhead is a very worthy goal but I think you may find it difficult to do in 8 months. Please don't think I'm not trying to discourage you and I very much hope you prove me wrong but the OHP is the lift that stalls first for most people. Perhaps a good interim goal would be to bench press your bodyweight and then lift it overhead!

Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing your progress.

[ltbs]

hi and welcome to one of the best communities on the 'net, explore the site and all it has to offer, something new everyday, always learning. you are right to start with the empty bar, pretty soon you will feel the heavy weights coming in, sooner than you realise lol.

you seem to have everything in place except.......

.....my recordkeeping is horrible so I can't quantify my progress.......

i have found record keeping to be the most important part of the lifting, not just for 5x5, try to get a small note book to write in to back up this site, at training time it is much easier and takes seconds to make a quick note of lifts, numbers, emotions, questions even, to answer later when you have a clearer head lol, also 2-3 months down the line you can look back and think 'wow i've really come that far'

read the starting strength, also try youtube for rippetoe vids, good luck with your goals and lifts

[dsberger]

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys.

bkklift, I was lowering myself all the way to the ground on the inverted rows. I took another look at How to Do Inverted Rows and I think I've figured it out for next time. Thanks for the warning, I will watch out for that OHP stall. As a lifelong non-jock I just think the idea of lifting my own body weight over my head would be the coolest thing.

ltbs, thank you for encouraging weightgeek behavior. What I like about the 5x5 is that there is a schedule to stick to and an explicit list of things to do, so record keeping is a lot simpler. I bring my list to the weight floor on an index card, I check stuff off, I copy it down on a spreadsheet, boom, done. No more asking myself, "what weight did I use last time? and how long ago was that?"

Today's workout!

Squat: 5x5, 50 lbs
Overhead: 5x5, 45 lbs
Deadlift: 1x5, 90 lbs
Pull-Ups: 4, 1, 1 (6)
Bridges: 3x30s

And the commentary:

I really enjoyed the overhead press. I thought, while I was doing it, "this is fun". Let's see how long that lasts.

Nobody yelled at me while I was setting up the bar for a deadlift, so I guess my gym allows them? Who knows.

Those two single-rep pull-up sets were tragic. Horrible form on both. I have a chinning bar in the doorway of my bedroom and I can usually do more than six. I guess the other lifting wore me out. No matter, I shall carry on.

I'm really impressed with myself for getting a full 90 seconds of bridges. I must remember to bring my cheapo plastic wristwatch next time. Straining to look at the clock overhead was obviously messing with my form.

[dsberger]

Squats: 5x5, 55 lbs
Bench: 5x5, 50 lbs
Inv. Row: 8, 5, 4 (17)
Push-Ups: 15, 5, 1 (20)
Rev. Crunch: 3x12, no counterweight

The squats are getting tougher, subtly. I felt goofy doing the bench with just 2.5-pounders on there, especially since the gym was crowded and I ran into a couple buddies from work lifting one bench over. Nobody asked me to explain myself, haha. The inverted rows were much better this time with the bar high off the ground. I can't get more than a couple with my chest all the way up to the bar, so I have to work on that. I didn't grab a counterweight for the reverse crunches because the gym was hella crowded, and my form suffered a bit but they weren't impossible without one.

After the gym I had a really filling dinner with a couple good friends. I told them about my new gym routine and they thought it sounded cool and like a fun project.

Starting Strength arrived in the mail today so I'm going to read a bit of that before bed.

[dsberger]

Squat: 5x5, 60 lbs
Overhead: 5x5, 50 lbs
Deadlift: 1x5, 100 lbs
Chin-Ups: 3,1,1 (5)
Prone Bridges: 3x30s

I've only gotten through the squat chapter of Starting Strength, and I think it helped. I need to get the rack that faces away from the mirror next time.

Still trying to figure out where to put the bar for cleaning on the overhead.

Resting the bar on the safety pins for the deadlift is not working. The bar rolls in between reps. I should try not releasing it between reps, huh?

The two single-rep sets of chin-ups were a lot more respectable than my single-set reps of pull-ups.

Had a wrist watch for prone bridges, so those were a lot easier.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day. About to dive into a dinner of scrambled eggs and Brussels sprouts.

[bkklift]

Resting the bar on the safety pins for the deadlift is not working. The bar rolls in between reps. I should try not releasing it between reps, huh?

Releasing the bar to reset between reps is fine. It's better to ensure proper form than to rush a set. Just try to keep the time between reps down to a minimum.

[dsberger]

Saturday Morning Weigh-In: 180 lbs

My calipers haven't arrived so I don't have a good body fat measurement yet.

[dsberger]

Squat: 5x5, 65 lbs
Bench: 5x5, 55 lbs
Inv. Row: 8,6,2 (16)
Push-Ups: 15, 7, 2 (24)
Rev. Crunch: 3x12, no counterweight

[dsberger]

Squat: 2x5, 45 lbs; 5x5, 70 lbs
Overhead: 5x5, 55 lbs
Deadlift: 1x5, 110 lbs
Pull-Ups: 4, 0.5, 2 negatives (we'll call this 5.5)
Bridges: 3x30s

The pull-ups keep getting harder as my barbell weights go up. Damn! After my pitiful four-rep first set, this big guy is like, "may I?" and cranks out two dozen. Thanks, brother, that's helpful.

I have indulged my nerdy side and bought a composition book to bring with me to the weight floor. I've noticed a couple other guys with notebooks or binders, so it's not completely unheard of at my gym. I did feel conspicuous with it, though.

[dsberger]

Squat: 2x5, 45 lbs; 5x5, 75 lbs
Bench: 5x5, 65 lbs
Inv. Row: 6, 6, 6 (18)
Push-Ups: 9, 9, 7 (25)
Rev. Crunch: 3x12, no counterweight

I kicked the bench weight up 10 lbs instead of 5, and I'm happy I did. The bench was the only lift that didn't feel at all challenging. This time it felt like real work, but it didn't kill me. I'm going to go up in 5s from now on.

Now that I have a sense of my (in)ability on the bodyweight exercises, I'm going to try to break them into three equal sets. I got a personal best on both the inverted rows and push-ups. I'm still not getting my chest all the way up to the bar on the rows. I forgot to elevate my feet this time.

This weekend is going to be a protein blowout. I'm making a bunch of Cuban mojo chicken tomorrow and on Sunday I'm going up the coast with some friends for an oyster-shucking picnic. I can tell my quads and hamstrings are going to thank me for the bounty of the sea.

[dsberger]

Saturday Morning Weigh-In

body weight: 182 lbs
lean weight: 136 lbs
fat weight: 46 lbs
body fat: 25%

[dsberger]

Squat: 2x5, 45 lbs; 5x5, 80 lbs
Overhead: 5x5, 60 lbs
Deadlift: 1x5, 120 lbs
Chin-Ups: 4, 1, 1 (6)
Bridges: 3x30s

Three solid rest days might have been one too many, but I'm busy on Wed and Fri evenings so I switched to a Tue/Thurs/Sat schedule this week.

[dsberger]

Today's workout:

Squat
2x5, 45 lbs
5x5, 85 lbs

Bench
2x5, 45 lbs
5x5, 70 lbs

Barbell Row
5x5, 45 lbs

Push-Ups
9, 9, 7 (25)

Reverse Crunches
3x12

I have switched to barbell rows because I really don't like the body-weight inverted rows and I would rather have the quantifiable progress of adding weight.

I know that I'm becoming a meathead (and I mean that in the best possible way, you guys) because when I was trying to do squats on the power rack, there was a trainer there and she had some elaborate strap hanging from the pull-up bar. She was having her trainee do push-ups with one foot hanging in this strap. No idea why. Of course all I can think about is everything I've ever read on this site, on the CrossFit site, on Mark Sisson's site, in Rippetoe's book, and I just want to yell at this trainer, Why are you using the power rack for something so stupid?!

[dsberger]

Saturday Morning Weigh-In
or: Who Put Bovine Growth Hormone In My Tacos?

body weight: 188.5 lbs
lean weight: 143 lbs
fat weight: 46 lbs
body fat: 24%

The body composition numbers are all approximate, of course, so they don't add up exactly. I think these numbers are skewed by the ridiculous amount of Halloween office-party food I ate yesterday.