jvolkman's Training Log

[jvolkman]

Hi all, I'm Jeremy, a 25-year-old software developer from Philadelphia, PA, USA.

My story is like a lot of others. I've never really been in shape and I've often felt bad about it. I don't like the way I look in the mirror or the fact that I can't lift my own body weight. Over the past few months I've been slipping in and out of mild depression, sitting at home all day alone, and generally feeling bad.

So one day last week I decided to change.

This site is very motivating. Like many, I've always been very intimidated walking into a gym and having no idea what to do. I've had a gym membership for the past year and I've gone (aimlessly) about a dozen times.

So I decided to start both the SL 5x5 program and the anabolic diet. Needless to say it was a huge, sudden change from my normal habits, but I'm loving having something to focus on.

Current body stats: 6'3", 210 lbs and 16-17% fat.

Big goals here are:

• Gain strength
• Cut fat - down to 10-12%
• Learn how to persevere - a skill I unfortunately lack
• Be happy about myself and life

With that said, let's start logging.

P.S., anyone else from Philly?

[jvolkman]

First day of SL 5x5

Squats: 5x5 @ 45lbs
Man these were difficult (first time I've done them). I spent a lot of time focusing on form, and I almost fell backwards a couple of times. Not worried about it.

Bench Press: 5x5 @ 75lbs
Back in college I benched for a couple of months. I think I got up to around 130 back then, so I decided to start a bit higher than 45lbs this time. No problems at 75lbs, although I don't think I was bringing the bar close enough to my chest.

Inverted Rows: 5, 5, 4
I picked the normal method (legs straight out, heels on the floor). I couldn't touch my chest to the bar at all. Next time I'll switch to the easier version.

Push-ups: 11, 5, 2
Not much to say here..

Reverse Crunch: 12, 12, 12
Not sure about my form on this one. I've gotta consult the sample video again.

Overall the first day was good and fun. Looking forward to keeping this up.

[jvolkman]

Having started the anabolic diet on Sunday night, I'm starting to feel a bit of the carb-intake-reduction effects. Mainly some dizziness, fuzziness, and minor headaches. I was worried this would affect the workout but I don't think it did very much.

Squats: 5x5 @ 50lbs
Felt better this time. I'm worried that I don't have the bar far enough back on my shoulders.

Overhead Press: 5x5 @ 65 lbs
I started these from a rack, not the ground. The power clean part of the exercise looked extremely complicated and I wasn't comfortable doing it today before studying some more. I think I'll keep the weight the same until I start the clean portion (hopefully next time).

Deadlift: 1x5 @ 95 lbs
Felt good. I caught myself rolling my shoulders back at the top of the lift. I'll watch this next time.

Chin-ups: 20s, 20s, 26s
Ah, my nemesis the chin-up. I can't do one chin up, so I timed the length that I could hold myself as far as I could pull.

Prone Bridges: 30, 30, 30
Felt good.

Some questions:

• How should I go about learning the clean part of the over-head lift? Should I just go for it next time and fix technique as i go, work on individual portions of it?
• Is there something else I should to to increase strength for chin-ups? If I can't do a single chin-up, should I even attempt a pull-up next time or continue working on the (easier) chin-up?

That's it. Looking forward to Friday.

[ldw]

Hey Jeremy, buy Starting Strength. When my brother told me to, I was skeptical, but then I decided to spend 30 bucks and get it. SOOO helpful. This will help you out so much. Bring it to the gym and consult it between lifts.

http://stronglifts.com/how-to-do-pull-u ... technique/
Scroll down and check out "What if I can't do one chin-up" Lots of tips there.

Stick with it, don't wuss out. Make a list of inspirational quotes, make watching inspirational movies a routine. Don't let yourself persuade yourself that the instant gratification you'll gain from sitting at home is greater than the delayed gratification of feeling content with your body and will power. Do it man, kick ass!

Few reasons not to worry about what other people in the gym think about your technique:
1. Everybody thinks everybody else has bad technique if they have read any shred of information on lifting weights. And if they haven't read anything about lifting weights, and/or don't have very much experience, their opinion doesn't weigh very much.
2. Everybody starts somewhere. Don't let fear of performing badly interfere with you improving your performance or else you'll never get better at anything you suck at. Nobody likes to look foolish, but it will happen if you're inexperienced, just bite the bullet and get this beginning phase out of the way.
3. Do you know any of the people you see at the gym? If not, why do you care? If you do, they'll approve of you being disciplined enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Well, there's my two cents, hope it helps. Btw, I don't have a ton of experience, so take my advice however you want to.


Landon

[jvolkman]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Landon. I've actually got Starting Strength on order.. just waiting for Amazon's Super Saver Shipping to come through.

[nomercy89]

Hey Jeremy,

Best thing you did is that you decided to change your lifestyle. A lot of people think they can't do anything about it and simply don't, but if you know that nobody else is going to change it for you then it becomes a bit scary because you're sitting there waiting for someone/something to come by and save you but nobody comes - btw this is just what went through my mind when I decided to change my sedentary lifestyle a while back -. So, good for you and don't worry about the weights, just concentrate on form and the weights will add up w/out you noticing. Give it a couple of weeks and you won't have to worry about depression anymore. The iron you're lifting is gonna kill it

Big goals here are:

• Gain strength
• Cut fat - down to 10-12%
• Learn how to persevere - a skill I unfortunately lack
• Be happy about myself and life

Your 3rd goal, a very important one and one that I'm focusing on. Actually, come to think of it, we pretty much have the same goals Keep up the good work and good luck.

[jvolkman]

I've neglected to update this log after the previous few workouts. I guess I've been busy adapting to my new lifestyle.

10/3/08
Squats: 55lbs - 5 5 5 5 5 5?
I'm not sure if I did 5 or 6 sets. I lost count. Lesson learned: write down results after each set.

Bench press: 80lbs - 5 5 5 5 5
Felt good.

Inverted Rows: 9 6 2
Using the bent-knee method. Still find them somewhat difficult. I'm not ever really sure where to position my body in relation to the bar when I'm lying underneath it.

Push-ups: 10 6 3

Reverse crunches: 12 12 12
I can't get my knees to my face like shown in the example video.

10/6/08
This workout started off pretty bad. I started off doing 5 sets of 10 reps instead of 5x5, and didn't realize until after my first set of the OHP. Old habit I guess. Needless to say this threw off the whole workout.

Squat: 60lbs - 10 10 10 10 10
Overhead press: 70lbs - 10 5 5 4 3
Dead lift: 100lbs - 5
Chin-ups: 1 2 2 (this was with a jumping start)
Prone bridges: 30s 30s 30s

OHP and Dead lifts were very hard, due to my increased rep counts. Regardless, I'm going to stay at the same weight for both of these exercises next workout.

10/8/08
Squat: 65lbs - 5 5 5 5 5
Bench press: 85lbs - 5 5 5 5 5
Inverted row: 7 5 5 (bent knees)
Push-ups: 13 7 4
Reverse crunches: 12 12 12

Good workout. The bench press especially felt good. Also, I increased my first set of push ups by two reps over the previous workout - that was cool.

Nutrition
I'm almost finished with the 12-day induction period of the anabolic diet. I've started to notice a large increase in energy throughout the day. I'd even describe myself as feeling hyper at times. The carb cravings are decreasing, but I do satisfy my sweet tooth sometimes with some sugarfree jello and whipped cream. This weekend I'm going to partake in my first carb loading. I'll take it slow and keep it to a day or so.