But I did. These guys have been a great help and encouragement through some tough times for me and they probably don't even realize it. - Pagangoddess
I recently started working out following a guide on a fitness board and just recently saw a thread mentioning Stronglifts. After checking out the site I've been reading quite a few of the articles in the past week, and it seemed a good idea to sign up, especially after checking out the forum, which seems really good and friendly to inexperienced lifters like myself.
I've been lifting for about a month now, and it's my first time taking my body seriously. At the age of 22, I figured it was about time. I've always been skinny, but I really want to build some muscle as I feel I'm limited by my lack of strength. The aesthetics of a well trained body also apply, but gaining strength is my main motivation. I'll give you an outline of my program and development below, just to let you know where I'm at:
This is what I started out with:
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 127.5 lbs
(All exercises are 5x5 unless noted otherwise)
Monday:
Deadlift: 66 lbs
Barbell bent over rows: 44 lbs
Lat pulldowns: 44 lbs
Wednesday:
Squat: 66 lbs
Front squat: 44 lbs
Lunges: 26 lbs dumbbells
Friday:
Bench: 77 lbs
Incline dumbbell bench press: 16.5 lbs dumbbells
Overhead press: 33 lbs
Weighted tricep dips: 22 lbs
This week:
Monday:
Deadlift: 88 lbs
Barbell bent over rows: 66 lbs
Weighted pullups: No weight. Couldn't manage more than 3x3, and failing at the second rep in the third set.
Situps: 2x20
Wednesday:
Squat: 110 lbs (bad technique/form, wasn't able to go as deep as I should, and couldn't keep knees facing out. I cut the fifth set)
Front squat: 88 lbs (same problems as with the squat)
Lunges: 33 lbs dumbbells
Situps: 20x2
Friday:
Bench press: 88 lbs
Weighted tricep dips: 27.5 lbs
Incline dumbbell bench press: 22 lbs
Barbell overhead press: 33 lbs
Inverted crunches: 5x5, holding on to a heavy ass dumbbell. Also bad technique, will read up.
I weighed in at 137.5 lbs today.
As for nutrition, I don't have a specific diet nailed down yet. I eat oats with milk for breakfast, two sandwiches with cheese and an apple/orange for lunch, work out, have a can of tuna and some milk with oats post-workout, eat something for dinner, and have some fruit before I go to sleep.
Current goals:
Squat 1.5 times my bodyweight
Bench press my bodyweight
In general: Gain muscle, get stronger, acquire good lifting technique, establish a good diet for bulking up... and not giving up! I'm looking forward to participate here.
Questions: As you can see, I mostly do compound lifts, but I focus on mostly one muscle group per workout, eg. back monday, legs wednesday and chest/arms friday. In the Stronglifts guide, the workouts are composed of exercises training all the muscle groups. Do you guys have any thoughts about what would be best? I suspect I might be able to lift more if I didn't do exercises stressing the same muscles thrice in a row.
All the best,
Cenyon
