Newb log for Starting Strength

[mlcampbell43]

Hi, all. A little about myself. I'm 35 years old. I'm 6' 227 lbs, approximately 17% BF. I realized how out of shape I was about 5 months ago and started doing aerobic exercise to lose weight. I didn't lift during this phase but I am now committed to making lifting a part of my life. Before I started exercising, I weighed 280 lbs at who-knows-what BF%. So, I have lost a lot of weight but I am not where I want to be yet. I downloaded the Starting Strength book and Video and have decided to start there. Today was my first day and I am starting a log. I am going to be very serious and post all my workouts in a timely manner. Any feedback from anyone would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Today was Workout A and I found what is to be my working weights.

Squat
135 lbs. 5x- Good form and pace. Was able to do these fairly easy but they were more
challenging than I thought they would be.
145lbs. 5x- Again good form and pace. Again more challenging than I thought.
155 lbs. 5x- Good form and pace. Starting to feel it though.
165 lbs. 5x- I was able to maintain good form and pace through out. However I felt my lower
back struggling on the last one. I think this should be my working weight.

Bench- I had a bad injury to my rt. shoulder a couple of years ago from the military so I
started low on this to make sure I build it up properly.
125 lbs. 5x - Good form and pace. Easy
135 lbs. 5x- Good form and pace. Easy
145 lbs. 5x -Good form and pace. Got hard all of the sudden. Felt it in my rt shoulder.
155 lbs. 4x- Good form. Couldn't get the last rep. I should go back to 135 lbs. to start.

DeadliftP
135 lbs. 5x- Good form and pace. REAL easy.
155 lbs. 5x- Good form and pace. REAL Easy.
175 lbs. 5x- Good form and pace. Pretty easy.
195 lbs. 5x- Good form and pace. Got harder pretty fast.
215 lbs. 5x- Good form. Pace was a little off but I got all 5 without too much work.
I think 205 lbs. should be my working weight.

This was my first day. I would appreciate feedback on my working weight and if you agree with what my working weight should start at. Thanks again.

 

[JDid23]

hey man-- you've definitely come to the right place! losing weight is going to be more about diet than what you do in the gym

don't quote me on this, but i am pretty sure rippetoes (if you're talking about starting strength) is 3x5 with the same amount of weight for your working sets (not including warmups).. it's funny because when i thought i was doing rippetoes i was only doing 1 working set per weight.

- for squats, it's good that you are able to spot when your form is bad. I think that if you struggle with 165, you should try to lower the weight on your warmup sets. Start with the bar, then go 95, 115, 135, 165 for your working sets (imo) Do you go deep or to parallel?
- for bench, it seems a bit high when compared to your squat. However, if you've been benching longer than you've been squatting it's okay and should even out in the future.. If 145 was easy and 155 was hard ,why not start at 145? Also, be careful with your shoulder when benching. Stretch it before if it continues to hurt...
- for deadlift, by pace do you mean touch and go? If you do, you don't have to lift the bar right up again when it touches the ground. Which type of grip are you using? 205 is a fine weight to start.. try to increase 5 pounds per workout, and you can go for 10 if it feels too easy.

keep up the good work man!

 

[mlcampbell43]

Thanks for the help. To answer your question I go pass parallel on my squats.
The reason that my workout looked this way was because I was trying to find what my working weights would be. I think I over did it though lol. I have had DOMS so bad this weekend that I can't walk normal LOL! I have them mainly in my quads...well really my whole thigh. I was able to go in on saturday and get my working weight on the overhead press. I wasn't able to do anything with my legs so I just rode the bike for 30 minutes. That wasn't fun at first. Now that I have my working weight for everything I am going to follow the program to the letter starting Monday morning (later this morning). I'm tweeking my diet a little because I do not want to put on too much fat again. I'll post my workout later today.

 

[JDid23]

haha DOMS is definitely prevalent especially in the quads in the beginning. When i started, 3 days after my first squat workout i fell down when i got out of bed.. It goes away relatively quickly though

 

[mlcampbell43]

LMAO...I fell down trying to get on the toilet!!! Thats funny as hell bro! I was worried about making through my workout out today...but I did and it wasn't too bad. I warmed up and stretched for like 45 minutes before I started though. I'm going to post my workout log in a new post below. Take it easy.

 

[mlcampbell43]

Ok, I got all my working weights and got DOMS really bad in the process. Was worried about making it through this workout, but with good warm up and stretching I was able to make it through it relatively easy. Here is the log of this workout

Squats
45 lbs. x 2 x 5
55lbs. x 1 x 5
85lbs. x 1 x 3
115lbs. x 1 x 2
145lbs x 3 x 5 Working Set

Bench
45lbs. x 2 x 5
65lbs. x 1 x 5
90lbs. x 1 x 3
120lbs. x 1 x 2
135lbs. x 3 x 5 Working set

Deadlift
80lbs. x 2 x 5
120lbs. x 1 x 3
170lbs. x 1 x 2
205lbs. x 1 x 5 Working Set

All were completed with good form and no real problems with weight. My back was a little tired after Deadlifts and thats about all. I was surprised that I was able to squat with how sore my thighs were but after warmups they really weren't all that hard. My bench, while completed easy , was the hardest lift. I think that has to due to my bad shoulder. I'm taking the bench slow, I'm only going to up the weight by 5lbs a workout no matter how easy it was. Is this a good idea? Also, I'm taking a 2 minute rest in between the working sets. Rippetoe says to make sure to take sufficient rest to ensure good form. Do you think that 2 minutes is too much or too little? Thanks for all the help

Martin

 

[JDid23]

it's rippetoes program-- listen to him

the back tiring after deadlifts is fine, and DOMS will go away soon dnt worry

 

[mlcampbell43]

My gym doesn't have bumper plates. Should I still do the clean and just set them down easy like I have been or switch to the row? I would like to stick to the program exactly. I was just wondering if setting the weight down easy would matter.

stupid noob question...i know

 

[JDid23]

My gym doesn't have bumper plates. Should I still do the clean and just set them down easy like I have been or switch to the row? I would like to stick to the program exactly. I was just wondering if setting the weight down easy would matter.

stupid noob question...i know

dont worry about weight banging unless they tell you.... when i deadlift on my last rep and it takes almost every ounce of me to lift it, it always bangs like fuck. I only use bumper plates sometimes. I'd do the cleans anyway, but if you prefer rows and don't think your form is good with cleans i'd personally switch to rows... some might tell you differently, but do whatever you enjoy and feels more comfortbale imo.

 

[mlcampbell43]

Today was a great workout. All the lifts went well and actually everything seemed to be easier despite the increase in weight. DOMS are pretty much non-existent now and I have just normal soreness. I have decided to add a bit of cardio to the workout. I am now doing 20 minutes post workout on the bike and 40 minutes on the bike on the off days. Anyway, here is my log for today.

Squats
45 lbs. x 2 x 5
65lbs. x 1 x 5
85lbs. x 1 x 3
135lbs. x 1 x 2
155lbs x 3 x 5 added 10lbs.

Overhead Press
45lbs. x 2 x 5
55lbs. x 1 x 5
65lbs. x 1 x 3
85lbs. x 3 x 5
Pendlay Rows
45lbs. x 2 x 5
60lbs. x 1 x 3
80lbs. x 1 x 2
95lbs. x 3 x 5