Ericpad: Starr 5x5 int - log

[djeclipse]

Hey All -

I just started my Starr program today. A little background on me first before my results though. I'm 32 years old. I'm 6'0" - 179 lbs. I'd like to get to 190 in the near future (2 - 3 months)

I'm pretty athletic and have been playing sports most of my life (football, hockey, and lacrosse). This is the first time I've ever gotten serious about weight training though. Instead of weight training I've relied on running and sports to keep me in decent shape through the years. I recently got back into football (competitive mens flag football) and I realized quickly that I need more strength . .in addition . .I've always wanted a stronger body and better physique.

Starting in January I did p90x. It worked well as I went from 186 to 174 and had a decent ripped kind of look. After 8 weeks I realized that although I was fit I wasn't getting any stronger so I started going to the gym.

My first 4 weeks in was a program called the asteroid freak program that was developed by USP Labs to go along with one of their supplement stacks. It was a pretty lame program but it got me into the rhythm of going to the gym 4 - 6 times per week which was good.

My next 3 weeks was doing a 4 day push pull routine from the Men's Health Power Training book. It was a good program but It seemed like I was doing so many different exercises that I wasn't making progress (I know 3 weeks is too short to determine that).

So I decided last week to stick with the basics for a couple months and increase my base level of strength and hopefully add some pounds of lean muscle mass. I looked at Rippetoe and I looked at Starr . . .I'm still unsure of which I should be doing and maybe some of you can help me out. I ended up picking starr because I really like the Madcow write-up and spreadsheet to help determine weights.

I began today . .here were my results:
Squat:
5 x 110
5 x 125
5 x 145
5 x 165
5 x 180

Bench
5 x 75
5 x 90
5 x 100
5 x 115
5 x 125

Row
5 x 70
5 x 80
5 x 95
5 x 105
5 x 115

2 sets of weighted hypers (10 lbs - 20 reps)
4 sets of weighted situps (decline 10 lbs - 15 reps)

I felt like I could do more weight on most exercises and I wasn't completely spent at the end of my workout. I'm wondering if maybe I should re-adjust my weights for my next workout or if I should just keep going with these weights for now. I know my numbers are low . . .I do expect them to increase rapidly though.

Go back and read madcow's site again, read the part about progression which is the foundation of this program (well I guess the core lifts are the foundation, the progression is the brick and motrot ).

It is supposed to be easy your first day, if you are failing, or near failure on your first day starting this program you screwed up when picking your starting weight's pretty bad.

What are your current 5 rep maxes?


On a side note, it is good to see this board getting back to good training, it was getting pretty bad with all the crappy BB type splits I saw here when I came back not too long ago.

 

[ericpad]

Go abck and read madcow's site again, read the part about progression which is the foundation of this program (well I guess the core lifts are the foundation, the progression is the brick and motrot ).

It is supposed to be easy your first day, if you are failing, or near failure on your first day starting this program you screwed up when picking your starting weight's pretty bad.

What are your current 5 rep maxes?


On a side note, it is good to see this board getting back to good training, it was getting pretty bad with all the crappy BB type splits I saw here when I came back not too long ago.

Some of my 5RMs are calculated by my 10rm since that is what I had done most recently as follows:
Bench actual 10rm: 115 - calculated 5rm: 136
Squat actual 10rm: 165 - calculated 5rm: 196
Dead actual 5rm: 185
Incline actual 10rm: 105 - calculated 5rm 124

The spreadsheet in the madcow writeup calculated those 5rms for me.

I understand that first few workouts will feel easier. Also, the routine I was doing previously had me doing 4 sets of 10 so the volume in this program in the initial workouts is lighter and that is what my comparison was based on.

 

[djeclipse]

Some of my 5RMs are calculated by my 10rm since that is what I had done most recently as follows:
Bench actual 10rm: 115 - calculated 5rm: 136
Squat actual 10rm: 165 - calculated 5rm: 196
Dead actual 5rm: 185
Incline actual 10rm: 105 - calculated 5rm 124

The spreadsheet in the madcow writeup calculated those 5rms for me.

I understand that first few workouts will feel easier. Also, the routine I was doing previously had me doing 4 sets of 10 so the volume in this program in the initial workouts is lighter and that is what my comparison was based on.

I would suggest getting your actual 5 rep maxes, why would you use some stupid spreadsheet and literally guess your 5 rep maxes when you can spend a day and get your real 5 rep maxes?

you need a starting point, guessing at them is not the way to go.

 

[ericpad]

I would suggest getting your actual 5 rep maxes, why would you use some stupid spreadsheet and literally guess your 5 rep maxes when you can spend a day and get your real 5 rep maxes?

you need a starting point, guessing at them is not the way to go.

Few reasons . .I've read that many people have used those numbers and had good success. Also, the numbers that came up seemed to be pretty reasonable to me based upon what I've been lifting for the past several weeks. Finally, I thought there was little risk in starting a little low and working my way up as opposed to starting too high.

That said, I may actually test them for real on Friday (workout day 3 for me) this week and adjust my numbers accordingly for next week.

I'm motivated to do this and committed to building this the right way. I'm relatively new and still reading and learning as much as I possibly can. I'm not on this board looking for quick answers to things I should have already researched, rather I'm interested in opinions from those far more experienced than me. Best way for someone like me to learn and grow in my opinion.

 

[djeclipse]

Starting conservative is the way to go, it will give you better momentum and help make those PR runs even longer.

I am simply saying it is nice to have a real/ legit base starting point to base your work and improvements on, instead of guessing at them.

 

[ericpad]

Workout 2 - 5/20/09

5 minute warmup run on the treadmill, some stretching, body weight squats, 5 squats with bar only.

workout:

Squat
5 x 115
5 x 135
5 x 150
5 x 150

Incline Bench
5 x 85
5 x 95
5 x 105
5 x 115

Deadlift
5 x 120
5 x 135
5 x 155
5 x 175

Chinups / pullups:
9 - chins
6 - pull
5 - chins
5 - pulls

decline situps
12 / 20 / 16 / 14

The workout felt good today. My abs and stomach area were still a little sore from the weighted decline situps I did on monday but I had no DOMS from any of the lifts I did on Monday so that was good (though my legs were a little sore from playing lacrosse for 2 hours last night).

 

[djeclipse]

Workout 2 - 5/20/09

5 minute warmup run on the treadmill, some stretching, body weight squats, 5 squats with bar only.

workout:

Squat
5 x 115
5 x 135
5 x 150
5 x 150

Incline Bench
5 x 85
5 x 95
5 x 105
5 x 115

Deadlift
5 x 120
5 x 135
5 x 155
5 x 175

Chinups / pullups:
9 - chins
6 - pull
5 - chins
5 - pulls

decline situps
12 / 20 / 16 / 14

The workout felt good today. My abs and stomach area were still a little sore from the weighted decline situps I did on monday but I had no DOMS from any of the lifts I did on Monday so that was good (though my legs were a little sore from playing lacrosse for 2 hours last night).

Your abs will be conditioned to the work and you probably won't be sore after next week.

How often do you play lacrosse? Is it a rec league, or an actual league? Every tuesday, or all throughout the week?

 

[ericpad]

Your abs will be conditioned to the work and you probably won't be sore after next week.

How often do you play lacrosse? Is it a rec league, or an actual league? Every tuesday, or all throughout the week?

During the last several weeks (prior to starting starr) i've been doing core work (cable wood chops, core rows, planks) but not any situps or hanging leg raises so I kind of expected to have some soreness in that area. It's all good though. Makes me feel as if I put some solid work in.

Lacrosse - I just started back into last night after being off for a few months. Presently it is every tuesday night. It is called the "pre-mohawk" league and is pretty competitive. Many excellent D1 college players and former college players. This current session is in preparation for the summer league we have here in Albany, NY called "The Mohawk Lacrosse Club". Once that starts I'll be playing about twice per week.

Do you play? I love it . .can't get enough of lacrosse. Best sport in the world in my opinion.

 

[djeclipse]

During the last several weeks (prior to starting starr) i've been doing core work (cable wood chops, core rows, planks) but not any situps or hanging leg raises so I kind of expected to have some soreness in that area. It's all good though. Makes me feel as if I put some solid work in.

Lacrosse - I just started back into last night after being off for a few months. Presently it is every tuesday night. It is called the "pre-mohawk" league and is pretty competitive. Many excellent D1 college players and former college players. This current session is in preparation for the summer league we have here in Albany, NY called "The Mohawk Lacrosse Club". Once that starts I'll be playing about twice per week.

Do you play? I love it . .can't get enough of lacrosse. Best sport in the world in my opinion.

I don't play Lacrosse, tried a few times, never really got into it. It is a great sport, tough players, lots of running, but just not for me. I played rugby and soccer, now that I am older, I just play soccer.

I asked because of leg recovery. If you are squatting 3x per week as well as playing lacrosse 2x per week for 2hrs each time, you may find your squats are lagging, and your legs are on fire/ sore when playing lacrosse due to lack of recovery (pretty much over training).

I kind of got talked into playing for a few teams this summer and I am finding that 2-3 full soccer games per week while squatting 3x per week was too much for me. My legs couldn't fully recover and my squatting as well as ability to actually run was suffering. Because of this I dropped the light squat on wed to give my legs some rest.

If you are feeling the squatting x3 per week and lacrosse 2x per week is too much you may want to do the same. Hopefully you won't have to, if you are younger your body may be able to handle it, but it can be an option in the future if it ends up being too much and you don't want to give up lacrosse (which I am sure you won't).

 

[ericpad]

Workout 3 - 5/22/2009
Great workout today!

Main Exercises
Squat
5 x 115
5 x 125
5 x 145
5 x 165
3 x 185
8 x 145

Bench
5 x 75
5 x 90
5 x 100
5 x 115
3 x 130
8 x 100

Row
5 x 75
5 x 85
5 x 95
5 x 105
3 x 120
8 x 95

Accessory Exercises
Dips
3 sets x 8 reps

Situps
20/20/15

Barbell curls
8 x 70
8 x 70
8 x 70

Standing tricep rope pull down
8 x 80
8 x 90
8 x 90