Eastbay's Training Log

[eastbay]

After looking in the forums and lurking I have decided to give Strong Lifts a try

Following the guidelines from Mehdi

40yrs old, male, 5'11", 163, and about 14.5% body fat (at least that is what the electronic measuring device tells me)

Strength-wise I am not sure about what my stats would be for some of these lifts because I never did them that consistently and I did not try to figure out 1 rep maxes, I just started with the program on Monday, but from past workouts over the last three months I would guess I am around these numbers.

Squat - 155 - 10 times
Deadlift - 185 5 times
Bench - 155 10 times
Overhead Press 55 10 times
Pull Ups - BW 8 times
Chip Ups - BW 5 times

Short Term Goals (3 months) - Squat 1.0+ x my body weight, get to 10% body fat (lose about 8 pounds I guess)
Long Term Goals (6 months) - Squat 1.5 x my body weight, gain 10 pounds of muscle

I am coming back into fitness and general health after a long period where I did not really take care of myself too well. In August of 2009 I was 195 pounds and that was mostly fat I really focused on cleaning up my diet (no sugar, no bread, little starches, lots of protein, vegetables, fats, and some fruit) and I saw dramatic changes (ie I lost over 30 pounds at 40 years old in three months) and I found myself getting stronger which was really encouraging because I had felt like I had traveled down a road that had no way back.

So where I want to go with strong lifts is to continue to get stronger (obviously I suppose) and to work on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The thing I have noticed is that my strength numbers have not really changed. I mean the weights and reps I can do now, I used to do when I was in my 30s and even before that in my late 20s. So what I am hoping is that the structure of this program will allow me to actually make strength gains. I also have Starting Strength and some fractional plates and iron woody bands I got when I was working on losing weight last year in my haphazard fashion.

I am following empty bar workouts to get my form in line, and reviewing online resources, and my starting strength book (I wish I had had this when I was 20!) to keep the form good. I may increase a little faster on the exercises I know pretty well or just jump them up to 95# and slowly increase from there.

Anyways I will post each workout here ! Thanks for any and all comments and advice!

[eastbay]

2/1/2010 Workout #1 (all in pounds, and US style MM/DD/YYYY)

Squat 45 lbs - 5x5
Bench 45 lbs - 5x5
Inverted Row BW - 12/8/8
Push Ups BW - 21/12/12
Reverse Crunch (held onto a post so weight is infinite I suppose, lol) 3x12

The Inverted Rows and Reverse Crunches were new and hard but I really enjoyed them. Its fun trying new exercises !

What I think I will do is increase the bench and the squat by 50 lbs each, and then increase per program. I think my form is pretty good but I have never videoed myself doing these exercises so who knows ?

My diet will continue like its been, pretty clean with occasional derailments

[eastbay]

2/3/2010 Workout #2

Squat 90 lbs - 5x5
Overhead Press 45 lbs - 5x5
Deadlift 90 lbs - 1x5
Pull Ups BW - 9/5/3
Prone Bridges BW - 30sec x3

Again its only the first week so I expect it to be easy for a while but that is okay because it is helping me get a gym routine scheduled and getting in and out of the gym in under 45 minutes is awesome.

I felt like my form for the overhead press, which I never do needs some work. I think I was moving the bar around my nose because it was so light. Going to review form notes in Starting Strength again and check youtube for some clips of coaching on the basic lifts for workout A and B before Friday.

[eastbay]

2/5/2010 Workout #3 (all in pounds, and US style MM/DD/YYYY)

Squat 115 lbs - 5x5
Bench 95 lbs - 5x5
Inverted Row BW - 9/7/8
Push Ups BW - 16/9/8
Reverse Crunch 40 lbs 3x12

My form was much better on the Inverted Rows, I concentrated bringing my chest to the bar, I think this is a more accurate representation of my strength level rather than the first workout where my form was not as good. Still getting the hang of the reverse crunches, I think I need to work on them a bit more and look on the internet for some video.

I increased my squat a little more than I should have but I will work from here and keep to the 5 pound increments.

Loving doing squats three times a week though

[eastbay]

I do have to say its really positive reinforcement for increasing the weight each visit, even if it is just a little bit. I really like this aspect of the program, I am looking forward to next week - which I would never do before.

As an aside, watching people squat on smith machines makes me want to talk to them. How do people deal with that ? I mean I saw this guy do this quarter squat with 315 pounds on the bar, but he barely moved ! Is there a point to that type of exercise ? I just let him be, but man it was distracting -- I just wanted to tell him to drop plates and actually do a full squat and not get caught up in the weight but I resisted.

Anyways, week one completed successfully.

[eastbay]

2/8/2010 Workout #4

Squat 120 lbs - 5x5
Overhead Press 50 lbs - 5x5
Deadlift 115 lbs - 1x5
Pull Ups BW - 7/4/3
Prone Bridges BW - 30sec x3

Yay, the start of week two !

Squats again were great. I love squats, there is something wrong with me I think

My form on the overhead press was a lot better, I really concentrated on keeping the bar path vertical and I re-read the chapter on Starting Strength -- I think I need to curl up with this book and review form before each workout for the next couple of weeks so it is ingrained in me before the weights start getting harder.

Deadlift form was a lot better so I am happy about that. Do people let the bar rest on the ground before doing their next rep or just bring it down and bring it right back up again ?

I also did 24 push ups and 8 chin ups before I realized I was supposed to do Pull Ups - lol. I might have tired myself out but then again it was nice again to see my strength feel like it was improving.

[Magician]

I think you should mantain the lower weights.

They will be increasing fastly, and there´s no hurry.

You´ll develop strenght beginning lighter, believe me. You´ll chek it with the BW exercises.

Best wises,

Max.

[eastbay]

@magician - thanks for the feedback! yes i am going to try to keep with the recommended weight increases from here on out.

[eastbay]

2/10/2010 Workout #5 (all in pounds, and US style MM/DD/YYYY)

Squat 135 lbs - 5x5
Bench 100 lbs - 5x5
Inverted Row BW - 10/10/7
Push Ups BW + 5 lbs - 15/15/9
Reverse Crunch 35 lbs 3x12

I could not find any 5 lb weights or or more than 2 of the 2.5 pound plates for squats, so its higher than last time but it still felt fine, though i could start to feel the weight a bit more.

Of course when I went into the common room of the fitness gym used for yoga classes and the like to do my reverse crunches, I found the 2.5 and 5 pound weights scattered all over the place. Argh !!! Well next time I will know to look there for them -- but people really need to be more considerate!

Still loving the workouts and looking forwards to deadlifts and squats on friday.

[eastbay]

by the way, i did gather them up and put them on proper racks even though my workout was done by that point. it took several trips to accomplish.

sigh, wish people were not so lazy or self-absorbed in the gym. grr.

on the plus side, i just read a thread over on rere's log which put a smile on my face so i am not quite so frustrated now - lol.

[eastbay]

2/12/2010 Workout #6

Squat 140 lbs - 5x5
Overhead Press 55 lbs - 5x5
Deadlift 125 lbs - 1x5
Pull Ups BW - 11/5/4
Prone Bridges BW - 30sec x3

i think the form was good on all exercises. i do the squat and the deadlift with just socks, i just take the shoes off. it feels better than using my cross-trainers more stable to me.

alright week #2 is done, looking forward to next week. i think i have a lot of room to go on all these exercises, though i would say the deadlift is the most intriguing because i am _really_ concentrating on improving the form on this one and its feeling a lot better than it used to when i did it before.

BW 165.8 i figure i will weigh myself every two weeks.

[eastbay]

2/15/2010 Workout #7 (all in pounds, and US style MM/DD/YYYY)

Squat 145 lbs - 5x5
Bench 105 lbs - 5x5
Inverted Row BW - 11/7/5
Push Ups BW + 10 lbs - 12/8/9
Reverse Crunch 30 lbs 3x12

I forgot to post this yesterday ... another good workout. Nothing else to report. If all goes well the end of the month will see me at 1x BW squats !

[eastbay]

2/17/2010 Workout #7

Squat 150 lbs - 5x5
Overhead Press 60 lbs - 5x5
Deadlift 135 lbs - 1x5
Pull Ups BW - 10/5/3
Prone Bridges BW - 60sec x3

The squats felt a little tougher this time, which is a first. I am nearing my usual weight limit, so it will be interesting to see how I respond to the training program and if I can put some additional weight on the squats.

Everything else felt pretty good. The deadlift form was pretty good from what I can tell. That is going to be tougher starting next week as it starts to catch up and surpass my squat weight.

I need to check the articles to see what I can do for the prone bridges, these just seem a little to easy for me.

[DblMx]

I need to check the articles to see what I can do for the prone bridges, these just seem a little to easy for me.

Are you keeping your body straight? A raised backside makes them far easier than they should be. If that's not the problem maybe you could start using plates to increase the load.

[eastbay]

@dblmax - Thanks! I will have to check my form in the mirror in the mirror next time on Monday. I will go back and re-read the article on this site on how to do the bridges correctly. You are right, if the form is good, then I will need to do something to stretch myself a little bit more.