John's Training Log

[baughmjk]

Hello forums!

I found stronglifts.com after reading mehdi's article at getrichslowly.org about saving money while eating healthy. After linking over and checking out a few articles I signed up to download the 5X5 beginner strength program. I've been lifting off and on for the past 8 years or so, but I've always had trouble pushing myself to the next level. The 5X5 program caught my attention because of the constant weight increases and deloading routines. The simplicity in the number of exercises was very attractive to me. Also, my workouts had been gradually moving away from machines and towards barbells and dumbells, so 5X5 fit in as the next step.

As of this post I am 23 years old, 6'0" and 175lbs. I finished my third workout of the program this morning. I decided to start with weight slightly above the empty bar, and increase 10lbs/workout for most lifts until I get closer to where I was before starting the program. I would go with some % of max, but I have no idea what my max is for any of these lifts.

Day 1 (5/21/08):
Squat-65lbs
Bench-95lbs
BB Row-65lbs
Dips-14,8,8

Day 2 (5/23/08):
Squat-75lbs
Press-70lbs
Deadlift-95
Pullups-4,3,3

Day 3 (5/27/08):
Squat-85lbs
Bench-105
BB Row-85
Dips-15,9,8 (definitely time to add some weight here)

So far I've been trying to take advantage of the lower weights to work on my form. My lower back has been bothering me after lifting, so I'm going to be focusing on that for now. Today I noticed that I was seriously rounding it during rows. I locked it in during the last set, but will continue to keep an eye on that as well as my squat form.

So what are my goals? Basically to see what I can do/learn/be. Since being released from the educational system I have taken on three goals--to improve myself physically, financially, and personally. I want to be strong in all areas of my life. This will involve working out, eating right, saving and investing, learning/trying new things, and becoming involved in the community. The kind of people and advice I've seen on this website seem to fit in well with those goals. Hopefully my experiences can help someone else along the way.

-John

[bigwhat62]

welcome john. i think you are making a great investment in putting time in to do the 5X5. i know you are in week 1 but in the next few weeks you will start feeling and seeing changes. even though you have been in/out of lifting for 8 yrs i was in the same position as you. once i took eating and the program serious i have been able to take it to the next level there has been lots of success with the program, mehdi gives the tools but its up to the user to use them. take advantage of his blog, you will find tons of tips on lifting, food, stretching/mobility and so much more. thanks for sharing your log with us.

[baughmjk]

@bigwhat62 Thanks for the welcome! I am definitely looking forward to seeing those changes and digging into the blog a little more.

Day4 (5/29/2008):
Squat - 5X5X95
Overhead Press - 5X5X75
Deadlift - 1X5X115
Chinups - 7,4,3

Body weight - 176.5lbs.

Squats were a little heavy today. It's strange knowing that I used to do 135 with absolutely no problem. Of course then I was only going parallel at the very most. When I came in this morning there was a guy squatting >300lbs, which impressed me until I noticed he was only squatting down a quarter of the way. As for me, I'm going to cut back to 5lb increases on the squat from here on.

Overhead press was also tough today. I think I may be close to stalling already on those.

Deadlift was no problem. 1X5 hardly seems like enough. Just when I get going it's already over.

Not much to say about the chinups. Needs work. I look forward to having to weigh myself down for those.

I bought some whey and instant oats today so I can add that post workout shake to my routine. No lower back pain today. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

[bigwhat62]

i see dudes racking up the plates and only doing partial squats. too bad, all their energy and time wasted. changing down to 5 lbs a workout on squats is not a bad thing. if you think about it you will be increasing your squats 15 lbs/wk which is pretty nice. deadlifts will most likely be your strongest lift and your probably right about the OHP. i think i went immediately into 5 lb increases there. keep it up bro!

[Mouse]

Don't worry about the Press - most stall on this first

Stick with the 1x5 Deads. When your squat weight goes up, you'll be glad of only doing 1x5 Deads when you're squatting 3x a week.

[Doo]

You really should have started with empty bars. It seems you may have been a little greedy to get to some decent weights. I started StrongLift in mid-January and had been squatting 225lb (but not near parallel) the fall of 2007 and I still started with empty bars. I didn't stall until Week 7 and that was the seated press (ceiling is too low for overhead press) at 5x5x90lb. It's slow progress at first but I think well worth it.

There are two benefits to starting empty and adding only 5-10lb per workout. You can focus on form which you already acknowledged and you allow time for your neuromuscular system to be (re-)developed which provides a basis for continued gains later on.

[baughmjk]

Thanks for the encouragement guys

@Doo I believe you are right my friend. At this point I think I'm going to cut back all my weight increases to 5lbs. Hopefully the fast start won't hinder my training too much.

[Choa]

Concerning the lower back pain, I actually checked my squat technique today while I was warming up and I found that I might indeed be rounding my back when I go deep with my squats. Thanks for helping me point that out. And as for the weight incrementing, I too get a little anxious sometimes to get to lifting big plates, but it's good stop thinking about now and think about what you will be lifting in a few weeks.

[baughmjk]

Day 5 - 5/31/2008
Squat - 5X5X100
BP - 5X5X110
BBRow - 5X5X90
Dips - 5X5X10

I did some stretches before squats today, it's still heavy, but manageable. I think I'm just now starting to push my comfort zone with those, which is good since that was always my problem in the past. I would stop pushing myself to the next highest weight.

No problem with BP. Still just added 5lbs since I'm taking it slow from now on.

Paid a little more attention to form with the rows--gotta keep that back straight.

After my workout I saw that Mehdi had posted in Doo's log about moving to 3X5 weighted dips and alternating with pushups. I may look into doing that.

[baughmjk]

Day 6: 6/2/2008

Squat - 5X5X105
OHP - 5X5X80
Deadlift - 0X5X125
Pullups - 4,4,4

Almost lost my balance a couple times with the OHP. It's getting pretty heavy. I managed to crank out 5X5, but it wasn't pretty.

F@#$ed up my deadlifts. I think I was using too much of a squat movement. I'm not sure what exactly the problem was, but I could tell I was not doing them right. Next time I'll keep that weight and review my form.

Improved on pullups. I really like the body weight exercises. The idea of being able to move my own body around appeals to me.

Not the best workout, but I'll get it next time. Stayin positive

[bigwhat62]

looks like you are ready for weighted dips. i know you are still working up your bench press but the weighted dips will help out bench in the long run.

[baughmjk]

for dips--how much do I add each workout? Last time I used 10lbs for 5 sets of 5. I was thinking of adding 2.5lbs each workout and doing 3X5 dips. Is that enough?

[bigwhat62]

for dips--how much do I add each workout? Last time I used 10lbs for 5 sets of 5. I was thinking of adding 2.5lbs each workout and doing 3X5 dips. Is that enough?

i would do 5 lb increases.

[baughmjk]

Day 7 6/4/2008

Squat - 5X5X110
Bench - 5X5X115
BBRow - 5X5X95
Dips - 3X5X15

Squats for the last couple workouts have been heavy, but manageable. Sometimes I'm a little slow coming up, but I can tell that I'm not going to fail. This is good, I suppose it means I'm building up those muscles

Bench - still easy. Got to move to the next bigger size plate. 20 more lbs and I get to use the 45s! Wooo, big plates!

I felt pretty solid on rows. Form felt good, weight felt good. I have a question though, when I pull the bar up, it hits just below my pecs. Should it actually be hitting my chest or is this ok?

Increased 5lbs and moved to three sets of five for dips. The last set was hard, but I got through it with no problem. I'm still going significantly below parallel with these.

Body weight today was 180. Monday it was 176.5! I think a lot of that is because I don't drink as much water on weekends, but still I'm pretty sure that's not all water. I just hope more of it is muscle than fat from my increased calorie diet. I'm going to check at the gym and see if they'll do body composition tests--I know they have one of those machines where you stand and grab the handles and it gives you all kinds of body comp information.

[Buffalo150]

John-

Nothin' better than that first time throwing a 45 on the bar.

Can't wait to read your reaction when you get there.

Go get 'em...

-Bflo