xorcist Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I recently discovered Rippetoe's Starting Strength program and decided to give it a shot this year in the gym. I've taken the noob version of the program from Practical Programming and swapped in dips for pull-ups since I'm not even close to being strong enough to do pull-ups yet anyways. So the routine I'll be following looks like this Monday SquatBench Press/PressDips Wednesday SquatBench Press/PressDeadlift Friday SquatBench Press/PressChin ups Here are the numbers from my first Monday workout Squat 3x5 @85lbsBench 3x5 @85lbsDips 2x4 I started working out a month ago after almost 2 years out of the gym. I'm starting really low to make sure I don't miss any of my increments and also because I'm just getting over a pretty bad cold and feeling kind of like ass today. These lifts were pretty easy and I don't expect to have any problem hitting my targets on Wednesday or Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xorcist Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 Yesterday I picked up some creatine, so I'm starting on that now. I missed Wednesday, so I did my Wednesday workout on Thursday. Squat: 3x5 @95Press: 3x5 @50Deadlift: 1x5 @95 I also did a few vanity sets on calves and biceps Calf raise machine 10@200 10@260 10@30021s: 21@30 19@35 Then as always, I did a half-hour of cardio on the treadmill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sosso Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Hey, great to see someone doing SS. It really is a great no-nonsense program that will get you strong if you stick with it. Here's some suggestions on improving your strength for pull-ups - http://stronglifts.com/10-ways-to-get-stronger-at-pull-ups-fast/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xorcist Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 3. Do Chin-ups. Start with Chin-ups. Once you can do 5 reps with proper technique switch to Pull-ups. This is basically what I plan to do to get to pullups. I used to have a doorframe chin-up bar at home and before it broke while I was using it once and I fell on my ass I was able to do about 6-8 chinups. I've always had a lot of trouble training my upper back. Until now I usually only use the lat pulldown machine and get stuck at around 80-90lbs. From what I've been reading lately the problem might be that the lat pulldown machine is totally useless. My gym has an assisted dip/chin/pullup machine but I've never seen it unoccupied for more than 30 seconds at a time so I haven't even bothered trying to get in line to use it. I think I'll just work on chins until I can rep out a dozen of them then try switching to pullups. If I still can't do one pullup by then, I'll jump and do negatives or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xorcist Posted January 18, 2010 Author Share Posted January 18, 2010 Squats: 2x5@45 3@65 1@85 3x5@105Bench: 5@45 4@65 2@85 1@95 3x5@100Rack Pull-ups: 3xFDips: 3x4Calf raise machine: 10@220 10@260 10@300 10@320 9@320 At first I thought I was going to have trouble finishing my squat work sets because the first one was kind of tough, but the second two were even easier than the first. This is the biggest benefit I notice while supplementing on creatine; It takes a lot longer to fatigue muscles while doing heavy sets. I decided to start doing rack pull-ups today as an intermediate exercise towards being able to do real pull-ups. This is the exercise where you rest your feet (your heels) on a bench and hang from a bar on the smith machine or a rack with your body bent at the hips in an 'L' shape. Then you do weighted or body weight pull-ups (or chin-ups) on the bar. I couldn't even do one complete rep of body weight which seemed kind of pathetic, but this seems to be a good exercise to get over the zero --> one rep hump for real pull-ups. I expect to improve quickly on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xorcist Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 Squats Warmup 2x5 @45lbs1x3 @75lbs1x1 @95lbs Work Sets 3x5 @115lbs Press Warmup 1x5 @45lbs1x4 @50lbs Work Sets 3x5 @55lbs Deadlift Warmup 1x5 @45lbs1x4 @65lbs1x3 @95lbs Work Sets 1x5 @110lbs Calf raises 10 @180lbs10 @240lbs8 @300lbs10 @340lbs10 @340lbs 21s 21 @30lbs16 @35lbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xorcist Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 Squats Warmup 2x5 @45lbs4 @65lbs2 @85lbs1 @95lbs Work Sets 3x5 @125lbs Bench Press Warmup 5 @45lbs4 @65lbs3 @85lbs1 @95lbs Work Sets 3x5 @105lbs Chinups 3x5 I was able to do one half-assed chinup each set after which I did 4 more negatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xorcist Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 BW: 182lbs Squats Warmup 2x5@45lbs4@65lbs3@85lbs2@95lbs1@125lbs Work Sets 3x5@135lbs I'm starting to feel that 10lb increments on squats every workout is not going to be sustainable much longer. One reason is that I'm definitely not eating as much as I should be because I really want to avoid putting on any extra fat right now. I'm pretty stoked that I have reached squatting a plate below parallel so fast and I'm pretty close to my PR right now for squats. I think that in order to avoid hitting a wall too soon, and to give my deadlifts a chance to catch up I'm going to lower the increments down to 5lbs on squats. Standing Press Warmup 5@45lbs4@50lbs2@55lbs Work Sets 3x5@60lbs These are starting to get pretty hard too, but I feel like I'll be making slow and steady progress for a while still. Assisted Pullups 8@135lbs (counterweight)5@115lbs 5@115lbs I tried using the assisted pullup machine today. Maybe I'll alternate this with rack pullups until I am strong enough to do unassisted pullups. Calf raise machine 10@220lbs10@260lbs10@300lbs10@340lbs10@340lbs dips 3XF I can still just barely do a few partial reps, but I'm definitely improving here. Pushups I've decided to try adding the hundred-pushups program as an 'assistant exercise'. I'll do the prescribed pushup reps on the same days as my SS workouts after everything else. 10, 12, 7, 7, 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewybaws Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Hey man how's it going? Haven't posted in a while, hope you haven't gave up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xorcist Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 Hey man how's it going? Haven't posted in a while, hope you haven't gave up! I'm far from giving up! I took some time off because I got two pretty bad colds back to back and decided that I needed to really let myself rest and recover completely. The whole time I obsessed about getting back to the gym! Monday February 8, 2010 Squats Warmup 2x5@45lbs4@65lbs3@85lbs2@95lbs Work Sets 3x5@115lbs Bench Press Warmup 5@45lbs4@65lbs2@85lbs1@95lbs Work Sets 3x5@105lbs Calf Raise Machine 10@200lbs12@240lbs10@280lbs10@320lbs Assisted Pullups 7@145lbs (counter-weight)5@135lbs3x5@120lbs Dips 764 DB Curls [email protected]10@15lbs[email protected]5@20lbs5@20lbs Wednesday February 10, 2010 Squats Warmup 5@45lbs4@65lbs3@85lbs2@95lbs1@115lbs Work Sets 3x5@125lbs Overhead Press Warmup 5@45lbs4@50lbs2@55lbs Work Sets 3x5@60lbs Deadlift Warmup 5@45lbs4@65lbs3@85lbs2@95lbs1@115lbs Work Sets 5@125lbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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