Paulus' Training Log

[Paulus]

Hi, I'm Paulus. I'm 5'11"/180 cm and currently weigh 180 lbs/82 kg. I'm 24 years old. I will be using StrongLifts 5x5 v3 programme. I'm a complete newbie at strength training. I'm simply going to use this first post to post a little about what led me to start strength training.

I never was much of an athlete. I was more of a computer geek. I looked down on the jocks, thinking I would outsmart them. Turns out I'm not as smart as everyone expected. I also realized how stupid it is to look down on someone just because they're physically fit and I'm not. I guess I had confidence issues.

I used to play tennis, but I was bored with it. Because I wasn't progressing, it became a chore instead of a fun activity.

Later on, I switched to swimming, mostly because my dad was really strict, and I had to do as I was told. But swimming also got boring. I especially disliked the getting-into-the-water part, I found it very unpleasant. I also got skin rashes in my crotch from the chlorine. Anyway, I was quite good at swimming, but never competed. It was something I could do once a week, but only rarely twice and never three times.

Looking back on high school, I had some classmates who played ice hockey, and they were really strong and fit. They went to the gym several times a week and looked - and seemed to feel - very healthy.

Later on, I stopped exercising altogether. But it's really difficult to feel well in a totally underused body. Sitting all day long, everywhere, using the computer for extended periods of time.

I started doing some exercises customized for me by a physiotherapist to relieve back pain that I had from sitting.

Sometimes I still have wrist pain from computer overuse.

Anyway, this summer I hit 180 lbs of weight, and trust me, it's not muscle. I had some pretty bad eating habits.

I have had some bad locker room experiences earlier, so I wasn't very keen on undressing in front of others. This was what mostly bothered me with any sport. It may sound ridiculous, but if you have low confidence it can be really debilitating.

I had been interested in trying strength training a bit earlier. I read a lot of articles at T-Nation and such. My attitude changed a bit. I realized strength training is real hard work with real hard science behind it and can be very rewarding, and since there is so much good information on the Internet it would be easy to find a suitable program. I wanted to get fit, healthy, and strong. Only recently had I mustered the courage to try strength training!

Coming up: my first session.

[sgi4950]

Hi Paulus and welcome to the forum. You'll find a lot of great people here, with every level of expertise that you can imagine, that will be happy to help you out with any questions you may have. Look forward to following your progress.

[Paulus]

thanks

Session 1

Went to a downtown gym. Expensive. Located in a cellar, five rooms, one for cardio, one for aerobics, three with barbells and Smith machines.

I was really nervous upon entering so I just spent some time looking around and checking out the equipment. There were other people around and they were really fit. Anyway:

Squat 5x5 @ 40 lbs (bar only)
Bench Press 5x5 @ 40 lbs (bar only)
Inverted Rows X Found no equipment to do it with. Can anyone suggest some other, similar exercise? At this point a hall coach discovered me and gave me some advice on what exercises to perform, told me to work on core strength, abs especially.
Push-ups 3x10
Reverse Crunch 3x12

Was completely exhausted by the end of it all. Didn't bring a water bottle, got very thirsty. Will bring one next time. Nauseating!

Since this gym has no 5 lbs/2.5 kg or smaller weights and is so expensive, I will likely scout town for other gyms.

[Paulus]

Session 2

Found a better gym. Lower cost, better equipment.

Squat 5x5 @ 22.5 kg/50 lbs
Overhead Press 3x5+1x4+1x1 @ 20 kg/44 lbs. Stalled a bit in the end. Really hard exercise so far. Won't add weight until I can do 5x5 correctly. Got some cues from a guy training, should bring my chest up a bit more.
Deadlift 1x5 @ 40 kg/88 lbs. No problems here.
Pull-ups 1x1. Yeah. Working on it.
Prone Bridges 3x30sec. Exhausted afterwards.

Good session all in all.

[ProteinShake]

Inverted Rows X Found no equipment to do it with. Can anyone suggest some other, similar exercise?

Hi. Not sure if you need this advice anymore, but at my gym I just use a smith machine with the bar set to position 9. I also use the smith machine for pull ups and chins etc.

Good luck with the program, you'll enjoy it. It is definitely addictive continually adding weight.

[Paulus]

thanks for the advice ProteinShake.

Session 3

Squat 5x5 @ 25 kg/55 lbs
Bench Press 5x5 @ 22.5 kg/50 lbs
Inverted Rows. Used Smith rowing machine. 3x12 @ 15kg/33 lbs
Push-ups X. Was too exhausted to do any :0
Reverse Crunch 3x12 with 2x10 kg/22 lbs barbells in hands. Tiring exercise!

[Paulus]

Session 4

Squat 5x5 @ 27.5 kg/60 lbs
Overhead Press 5x5 @ 20 kg/44 lbs. No more stalling! Yay!
Deadlift 1x5 @ 42.5 kg/94 lbs.
Chin-ups 3x2. Better.
Prone Bridges 3x30sec.

This professional bodybuilder was doing some exercise on a Smith machine using 540 lbs of weight. I was squatting 60 lbs next to him.

[sgi4950]

Session 4

This professional bodybuilder was doing some exercise on a Smith machine using 540 lbs of weight. I was squatting 60 lbs next to him.

Ha, ha...that would make a great picture! I'll bet your form was better than his. Good job finding another gym that you liked better and for getting under the bar and squatting next to the guy on the smith machine. Wonder who uses a smith machine with that kind of weight and for what purpose?

[Paulus]

Session 5

Squat 5x5 @ 30 kg/66 lbs
Bench Press 5x5 @ 25 kg/55
Rows 2x15 + 1x20 @ 20kg/44 lbs
Push-ups 3x1+2x1+1x1
Reverse Crunch 3x12

[Paulus]

Session 6

Squat 5x5 @ 32.5 kg/72 lbs
Overhead Press 5x5 @ 22.5 kg/50 lbs. Almost stalled again. Hard exercise. Perhaps I need to improve on my technique.
Deadlift 1x5 @ 45 kg/99 lbs.
Pull-ups 2x2+1x1.
Prone Bridges 3x30sec.

I'm somewhat confused regarding the deadlifts, am I supposed to up the weight 5 kg/10 lbs every session, or only 2.5 kg/5 lbs? The Excel chart says 10 lbs?

[Paulus]

Session 7

Squat 5x5 @ 35 kg/77 lbs
Bench Press 5x5 @ 27.5 kg/61 lbs
Rows 3x15 @ 25 kg/55 lbs
Push-ups 3x3. Improving
Reverse Crunch 3x12 with 2x10 kg/22 lbs barbells in hands.

[Paulus]

Session 8

Squat: 2x5 warmup (bar only) followed by 5x5 @ 37.5 kg/83 lbs
Overhead Press 3x5 + 4x3 @ 25 kg/55 lbs + 1x5 @ 22.5 kg/50 lbs. Stalled on fourth set, therefore reduced weight on last one.
Deadlift 1x5 @ 47.5 kg/105 lbs. I've decided to use the 2.5 kg/5 lbs/deadlift set progression, it's hard enough as it is.
Chin-ups 3x1+1x1+1x1.
Prone Bridges 3x30sec.

Hard session, I had lots of sweets yesterday. I need to keep my diet under control.

[Loren]

Hard session, I had lots of sweets yesterday. I need to keep my diet under control.

Paulus, good work and congrats on getting your program underway. I am a newbie myself.

Getting your food intake sorted out is a good idea, but having something "under control" is hard to measure. If diet is something you struggle with, perhaps set a concrete, tangible, achievable goal for yourself like, "Today I will have only one piece of candy". Get that under your belt and build from the initial success, like you are doing with your 5x5 program.

[RobP38]

Great workouts so far Paulus and good on you for changing your mindset and life. I too am a beginner and have found strength training incredibly valuable for feeling and looking better. While the gains are slow, just remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint!

[Paulus]

Session 9

Squat: 2x5 warmup (bar only) followed by 5x5 @ 40 kg/88 lbs
Bench Press 5x5 @ 30 kg/66 lbs
Rows 3x15 @ 30 kg/66 lbs
Push-ups 3x3
Reverse Crunch 3x12 with 2x10 kg/22 lbs barbells in hands