Total Beginner - SS log + I want to be a beast asap

[oso0960]

How easy are the lifts to you right now? BTW, great start on a great routine

 

[JDid23]

don't worry about OHP's.... they're very hard to progress 5 pounds with each workout

 

[rrluthi]

How easy are the lifts to you right now? BTW, great start on a great routine

I am easily progressing on squats and deads. The 5 pound increase on squats doesn't bother me too much, actually. I get the weight on my back and i'm like "oh shit, this is heavy" but then I can squat it no problem. And I'm going all the way down on them too, like the book says: I hit my calves with my hamstrings. Doing squats 3 times per week, every now and then if I don't eat right or go too early in the day, they can be tough, but I can always grind through them. If everything is right leading up to the workout, they are super easy.

On deadlifts, I totally underestimated where I would be at, and started the program way too light. Once I actually got the form down, I jumped up like 60 lbs without any problem. I need to reprint my progress sheet to reflect this.

Bench press, I'm really wobbly on it. My balance is terrible. I struggle a lot increasing 5 lb each workout, depends really on how I eat and sleep before, whether I'm going to get that increase or not. On the other hand, compared to where I started, it's night and day. I can go all day on what my 5RM was just three weeks ago. Just practice I think.

The barbell Rows are no problem at all. I've been able to increase these each workout. I really want to learn power cleans. I practice all the time with just the bar, but I have no idea how my form is on these, and I have someone who is going to show me soon and give me feedback.

OHP is very difficult. All ready i'm down to increasing 5 lb every other workout. The first 2 times I was able to increase, but since then it's been tough.

 

[oso0960]

Bench press, I'm really wobbly on it. My balance is terrible. I struggle a lot increasing 5 lb each workout, depends really on how I eat and sleep before, whether I'm going to get that increase or not. On the other hand, compared to where I started, it's night and day. I can go all day on what my 5RM was just three weeks ago. Just practice I think.

The barbell Rows are no problem at all. I've been able to increase these each workout. I really want to learn power cleans. I practice all the time with just the bar, but I have no idea how my form is on these, and I have someone who is going to show me soon and give me feedback.

OHP is very difficult. All ready i'm down to increasing 5 lb every other workout. The first 2 times I was able to increase, but since then it's been tough.

I don't know how much time you can or want to spend in the gym, but I think you would greatly benefit from form practice on your off days. Maybe do 5x10 with the bar as a warmup before you start benching? You'll definitely get your balance eventually.

Like JDid said, don't be frustrated with your OHP. 2.5lbs gain every workout is still excellent progress. When you start stalling on your squats/deadlifts, then you should take action and switch to a weekly progression.

 

[rrluthi]

Workout A again today, was cut short due to the gym closing for NYE.

Squats:
warmup: 2x5 - 45
warmup: 1x5 - 65
warmup: 1x5 - 95
warmup: 1x5 - 115
working sets: 2x5 - 170 PR seemed easy, so I went ahead and:
working set: 1x5 - 175 PR

Bench Press: cut short, wanted to get some deads in.
warmup: 2x5 - 45
warmup: 1x5 - 65
warmup: 1x5 - 95
warmup: 1x5 - 125
working sets: 1x5 - 140

Deadlifts:I was in a massive hurry to get this in, didn't do full warmup routine. Still managed to increase to 235 though.
warmup: 1x5 - 135
working sets: 1x5 - 185 PR
working set: 1x5 - 235 PR

 

[rrluthi]

Squats: Thought I would try to get another 10 lb increase, but really struggled and started to lose form on the last 2 reps of the set, so dropped down to 180 for the last 2 sets.
warmup: 2x5 - 45
warmup: 1x5 - 65
warmup: 1x3 - 115
warmup: 1x2 - 135
working sets: 1x5 - 185 PR
working sets: 2x5 - 180 PR

Press: I guess all the drinking from new years was balanced out by all the steak and pork I ate. I can't believe I was able to do this so easily.
warmup: 2x5 - 45
warmup: 1x5 - 45
warmup: 1x3 - 65
warmup: 1x2 - 75
working set: 3x5 - 95 PR

Barbell Rows:
warmup: 2x5 - 45
warmup: 1x5 - 65
warmup: 1x3 - 85
warmup: 1x2 - 115
working set: 3x5 - 140 PR

 

[rrluthi]

Maybe the new years partying caught up to me a few days late, because yesterday sucked terribly. I lost ground on my squats, was only able to hit 175 x 5 x 3 sets. Bench still stalled, Deadlift was the only one that went up . 245 x 5

I think I need to eat better / drink less, and maybe switch over to the 5x5. It has been a month now since I started Starting Strength.

 

[JDid23]

i wouldn't be too disappointed with new years catching up to you. You just started on rippetoes and if your lifts stall, try monitoring your diet. You did increase on most of your lifts real fast, but you're doing a hell of a job man. keep it up!!

 

[rrluthi]

wouldn't be too disappointed with new years catching up to you. You just started on rippetoes and if your lifts stall, try monitoring your diet. You did increase on most of your lifts real fast, but you're doing a hell of a job man. keep it up!!

Thanks.
I'm going to keep going with it for as long as I can. I'm back to eating clean again now so hopefully soon things pick up for me. Sometimes I wonder how much is psychological, like if I know I ate like crap I wonder if feeling weak is just the mental side of me knowing I'm not prepared for my workout. I know that if I am well prepared throughout the day and over the course of the entire week, everything seems to fall into place both mentally and physically. I'm also probably not eating enough food right now to make the gains I was making before, so I'm going to re-evaluate my caloric intake.

When I was first starting out I was mostly concerned with dropping bodyfat, so I planned my diet accordingly. I kept eating at maintenance and started hitting the weights. I've been eating the exact same things for the last two months. Perhaps at this point I need to eat at a surplus. Time to do some more diet research I guess.

 

[rrluthi]

Felt so much better today, I don't know why exactly. The bar just started to piss me off or something and my lifts went up easy enough. My bench has never felt better than it did today. I have been eating clean the last few days, or maybe monday was a fluke.

Squats:
warmup: 2x5 - 45
warmup: 1x5 - 65
warmup: 1x5 - 95
warmup: 1x5 - 135
working set: 3x5 - 185 PR

Bench Press:
warmup: 2x5 - 45
warmup: 1x5 - 65
warmup: 1x3 - 95
warmup: 1x2 - 125
working sets: 2x5 140
working sets: 1x5 - 145 PR

Deadlifts:
warmup: 1x5 95
warmup: 1x5 135
warmup: 1x2 - 185
working sets: 1x5 - 225 overhand grip I love the forearm pump you get with the overhand grip.
working set: 1x5 - 245