A Weak Persons Journey To Strength...

[LuNa]

First of all, a bit of background information. I was born in The Netherlands and i am now 22 years old, 6" 1 and 220 lbs. I have had this weight for a long period of time (since i was 15, give or take). When i was 17 i decided i was done being that heavy and i dropped 55 lbs. It all slowly came back on when i went to university. I have never done any real weightlifting or sports, except for the occassional game of squash.

In January of this year i moved to Australia to attend university there and i decided it was time for me to change. I started working out, without any knowledge thinking i would be big within a week. How wrong i was.

I am now four weeks into Starting Strength after being directed to that program by Nockits. It has become pretty clear that i am incredibly weak for my weight. I see guys half my weight lift double the amount of weights i am. It is pretty frustrating sometimes, but i keep trying. Maybe i am just being a little bitch, so i really need to get a grip.

I decided to start a journal so i can keep an eye on my progress and to maybe get some help from you guys who have already helped me so much. So, here it goes.

Today was workout B of the program so i started with
Squats
5xbar
5xbar
5x20kg
5x40kg
3x50kg
1x52.5kg
3x5x55kg <-- i was really tired after doing these

Press
5xbar
5xbar
5x10kg
5x15kg
3x20kg
1x22.
3x5x25kg <-- failed on the first set after 3 reps, second set after 2, third after 1. Third time i am doing this weight and it just does not seem to get stronger.

I have been doing the row instead of the power clean because i read that without a coach it would be really difficult to get proper form down. However, with trying to be less of a little bitch i tried to do the power clean today. Not sure what the reps were at first (trying to nail the form) but i am sure i did the following:
5x3x20kg

Was not able to do my chins because 4 people were hogging the assisted machine and i cant do them by BW alone. First week of doing dips and chins btw.

Diet: 3300 Kcals, 294 grams of protein.

[LuNa]

Squats:
5x2xbar
5x20kg
5x30kg
5x40kg
3x50kg
1x55kg
5x3x57.5kg <-- squats felt solid, will increase them again with 2.5kg

Benchpress:
5x2xbar
5x10kg
5x20kg
3x30kg
1x37.5
5x3x40kg <-- A lot better than on Monday. Will increase with 2.5kg on Wednesday

Deadlift:
5x40kg
5x60kg
5x80kg
3x90kg
1x95kg
1x5x97.5kg <-- Form was a lot better. Need to work on it a bit more, but will increase with 2.5kg for Wednesday

3x8 assisted dips

Pretty solid workout, going to double my squat and i have not been doing it for long, so pretty happy.

[ChickenLegs83]

Keep at it, bro.

Don't worry about what anyone else is doing and just hit your sets hard.

Just go to class, eat, train, sleep and repeat.

Also, I wouldn't advise doing clean without proper coaching.

Olympic lifts and their variations are very form intensive and shouldn't be self-taught.

Look into picking up video if you can't find a local instructor.

[LuNa]

Keep at it, bro.

Don't worry about what anyone else is doing and just hit your sets hard.

Just go to class, eat, train, sleep and repeat.

Also, I wouldn't advise doing clean without proper coaching.

Olympic lifts and their variations are very form intensive and shouldn't be self-taught.

Look into picking up video if you can't find a local instructor.

Thanks mate! I have already been reading on the clean, watching numerous videos and taking it slow to get the form down. It does feel like it is too good of an exercise to not do so i really want to get the form down and start doing it.

[ChickenLegs83]

Thanks mate! I have already been reading on the clean, watching numerous videos and taking it slow to get the form down. It does feel like it is too good of an exercise to not do so i really want to get the form down and start doing it.

Good to hear.

[nockits]

hey bud, looking good. i'm assuming the weights your listed are excluding the bar weight? keep in mind that the bar is another 45lbs (20kg?), so you can add that directly to the total.
keep it up, you're gonna be a monster! i was in your shoes not too long ago!

[LuNa]

Thanks Nockits! Yeah everything is without the weight of the bar. Do people normally post their results incorporating the weight of the bar? Can't wait till tomorrow!

[LuNa]

Squat:
5xbar
5x20kg
5x40kg
3x50kg
1x55kg
3x5x60kg <-- Squats felt great. Upping the weight once again.

OH press:
5xbar
5x10kg
5x15kg
3x20kg
3x5x25 <-- failed in the first set after 4 reps. Went down to 20 and finished the other two sets. Cannot seem to increase the weight on this exercise. I will stay at 20 untill it becomes really easy.

Power Clean <-- practiced alot with the bar. Then did 3x5x20kg and the last set was the best with much better form. I am going to keep the weight like this until i really have the form down for every rep.

OVerall, pretty good workout, lots of sweat!

[LuNa]

Awesome workout today. Everything felt right. Form was good and the gym was quiet.

Squat:
5xbar
5x20kg
5x40kg
3x50kg
1x60kg
3x5x62.5kg <-- Form was a bit off on the last rep of the second set. Third set felt great, form was much better. Increasing it again.

Benchpress:
5xbar
5x10kg
5x20kg
5x30kg
3x35kg
1x40kg
3x5x42.5kg <-- Failed in the first set after the third rep. Dropped the weight to 40kg and finished the second and third. Will try this weight again next week.

Deadlift:
5x50kg
5x70kg
5x80kg
3x90kg
1x95kg
1x5x100kg <-- Felt awesome. Form was better, got my ass down a little which was necessary. Will be increasing this next week.

3x8 Assisted Dips on number 13 <-- Completed all sets so will try next week on number 12

Diet was off on Tuesday and was lacking a bit of sleep on Monday night so will have to pick it up today. Good thing i am starving!

[LuNa]

Squat:
5xbar
5xbar
5x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
1x62.5kg
3x5x65kg <-- I am really starting to feel proud of my squats. It is not that impresive yet, but when i started i could not do 40kg for 3 reps. When i was warming up with 40kg it felt super light. Increase!

OH Press:
5xbar
5xbar
5x10kg
3x5x20kg <-- felt good, form felt a little bit different, better. Gonna give it one more shot on 20kg and make it feel really easy.

Power Clean:
5xbar
5xbar
5xbar
5x10kg
5x3x20kg <-- Form was sooo good imo. It even felt really light. Will start increasing it SS style from now on and see where that will take me.

Chin ups: 3x8 on number 15 assist. Did all reps so will try and go on 14 next time.

Did not gain weight this week which gives me the idea i could be eating more. It feels really strange for someone that sees themselves fat to eat 4000 calories. Going to give it a shot and see where that takes me.

[LuNa]

Squat:
3x5xbar
5x40kg
3x60kg
1x65kg
3x5x67.5kg <-- had some new shoes on with a much flatter sole which was definitely a different feeling. Kept falling over when i was trying to stretch in the hole. After the warm up with just the bar, everything felt great and the work sets were pretty solid. It felt heavy, but i am sure i can do more.

Bench press:
2x5xbar
5x20kg
5x30kg
3x35kg
3x5x40kg <-- still felt pretty heavy, for some reason i can not get past this. Will try one more time and if it feels good go up again.

Deadlift:
5x50kg
5x70kg
3x90kg
1x100kg
1x5x102.5kg <-- felt pretty solid, but i feel that my back might be rounding at the lower part. Will try some stretches to increase hipdrive. All in all felt good. Increase.

Assisted Dips on 12: <-- felt really easy so will be trying 11 next time.

I felt a bit tired before and during my workout. Guess i did not sleep as well as i thought. Also thinking of trying some creatine. Will keep going for some time though untill i know a little more about it.

[benno]

Hey mate, Good to see your giving SS a go! Looks like your coming a long way already! All the best, you'll be massive in no time! Will be watching

[LuNa]

Hey mate, Good to see your giving SS a go! Looks like your coming a long way already! All the best, you'll be massive in no time! Will be watching

Thanks alot mate! Loving the program so far and really enjoy the advice of everyone with more experience.

[LuNa]

Squat:
10xbar
2x5xbar
5x40kg
3x60kg
1x65kg
3x5x72.5kg <-- Squats felt good. Form was a little better with my new flat sole shoes. My back was still a bit sore, which is probably because i had to use it more with the new shoes. They felt good though.

OH Press:
2x5xbar
5x10kg
5x15kg
3x20kg
3x5x22.5kg <-- Felt pretty good. Heavy still so i am going to give it another try. Really want to break through my 25kg.

Power cleans:
3x5xbar
2x5x20kg
5x3x22.5kg <-- felt really good and not heavy at all. Form seems to be getting tighter with a heavier load. Love doing these at the moment.

Good workout. Had lower stress levels today. Looking forward to Friday and then a long weekend off.

[benno]

Nice squattin! Keep at it mate.

[LuNa]

Squat:
3x5xbar
5x40kg
3x60kg
1x70kg
3x5x75kg <-- i noticed i wrote the number wrong last time. It was supposed to be 70 kg previous work-out. However, i thought instead of correcting it i might aswell make the lift fit the supposed figure. They were heavy as hell but i finished all reps.

Bench press:
5xbar
5x20kg
5x30kg
3x35kg
1x40kg
3x5x42.5kg <-- First thought it would have been better to try 40kg again, but i felt so psyched after my squats, that i had to try. They were heavy and form was a bit sloppy, so will keep it at this weight for now.

Deadlift
5x50kg
5x70kg
3x90kg
1x100kg
5x105kg <-- Felt solid. Tried to pretend as if i was standing up with the weight, instead of lifting it up. The flat sole shoes really help keep the weight on the heels. Loving it. Increase!

Dips 3x8 on 11 <-- loving these dips. Finished all reps so will do them on 10 next time.

Incline sit-ups <-- I LOVE THESE!!! It is hard work, but i really feel my abs working which is great. Did 15 reps so next time will be the highest incline.

Great workout. Diet and sleep were off on Thursday because i had a really important presentation at uni. So felt a bit off at first, but it came back to me after doing squats. On Monday the gym is closed and i have an exam on Tuesday, so will miss a day. A bit pissed off about that, but maybe the rest will do me good and i will pick up the race for my own bodyweight squat on Wednesday. Will also start using Creatine on Monday.

Mental note to self aswell: EAT MORE!

[benno]

Good strength increase in all best lifts mate, keep at it! AND EAT EAT EAT.

[LuNa]

Good strength increase in all best lifts mate, keep at it! AND EAT EAT EAT.

Thanks alot! Been reading around other peoples journals and i am starting to get a bit worried about if i am doing the right thing. I feel fat (i am fat) and it feels weird eating my ass off every day. Counterintuitive so to speak. However, i am going to keep doing it, because my lifts are steadily going up and i do feel stronger than ever. Just dont want to have to do a cut that will take away all of my gained muscle (if any) in the end.

[benno]

Thanks alot! Been reading around other peoples journals and i am starting to get a bit worried about if i am doing the right thing. I feel fat (i am fat) and it feels weird eating my ass off every day. Counterintuitive so to speak. However, i am going to keep doing it, because my lifts are steadily going up and i do feel stronger than ever. Just dont want to have to do a cut that will take away all of my gained muscle (if any) in the end.

Just eat as clean as you can mate, but ALOT. A clean bulk ownzzz

[LuNa]

I am eating really clean, or atleast as much as possible. Thanks for the info and will keep going. If in the end it didnt seem to work i atleast learned a lot .

[LuNa]

Had the worst day today. After having Monday off i thought i was ready to get at it again. Appearantly i was not. After doing a couple of light warm up sets for my squat i decided to take a look at my form with the use of the mirror. My form was terrible. I had no idea. All this time i thought i was doing it better, because i was squatting below parallel but i actually wasnt. My lower back was rounding enormously. I tried to focus on it a bit more while working up to my working sets, when something popped in my knee and a slight pain creaped in. I got so pissed off that i left the gym. I watched a lot of the Squat RX clips and been doing some wall squats. I videotaped them and it looks horrible. I am going to do some light box squats the coming time and work on my form before i try the higher weight again. Im also going to do the stretches everyday that are outlined in Squat RX#1. The wall walk was pretty intense. I had no idea i was that inflexible, really.

Well lets hope i can improve on my form and do those wall squats without rounding and falling over.

[benno]

Had the worst day today. After having Monday off i thought i was ready to get at it again. Appearantly i was not. After doing a couple of light warm up sets for my squat i decided to take a look at my form with the use of the mirror. My form was terrible. I had no idea. All this time i thought i was doing it better, because i was squatting below parallel but i actually wasnt. My lower back was rounding enormously. I tried to focus on it a bit more while working up to my working sets, when something popped in my knee and a slight pain creaped in. I got so pissed off that i left the gym. I watched a lot of the Squat RX clips and been doing some wall squats. I videotaped them and it looks horrible. I am going to do some light box squats the coming time and work on my form before i try the higher weight again. Im also going to do the stretches everyday that are outlined in Squat RX#1. The wall walk was pretty intense. I had no idea i was that inflexible, really.

Well lets hope i can improve on my form and do those wall squats without rounding and falling over.

All the best, keep working at it.

[LuNa]

Box squat:
5xbar
5x20kg
5x40kg
3x5x50kg <-- Felt so much better. The box gave a more secure feeling when sitting back and my back felt tight the whole way down. The box was higher than i normally go, but my lower back rounds at parallel so i though it would be good to start there. Will be increasing the weight SS style until i get back up to the point where i left off. Hopefully with a much better squat.

OH press:
5xbar
5x10kg
5x20kg
3x5x22.5 <-- Failed on the last rep, however they felt lighter than last time. Once or twice more should do the trick.

Power Clean:
5xbar
5x20kg
5x3x25kg <-- warming up is better when there is a little bit of weight on the bar so only limited warm up. They felt good. Tried to bent my knees a bit more while racking it. Felt solid.

Chin ups: 3x8 on 14 <-- Failed on 4 reps at the last set. These are really intense. There is no reason anyone would be doing curls unless they can atleast do these without help.

Reverse hypers: 3x8x10kg <-- These felt really good. My lower back felt tight afterwards, but good tight. Hope this will help in my search of a better squat. Also decided i am only doing these on training day B. Otherwise it is too much for my lower back, after doing deadlifts on A.

Core work: 3x15 incline sit ups <-- Heavy, failed on the last set. It feels good doing more core work. Also to give me a hand getting better form in my squat.

Great day, much better than Wednesday. Really happy about the box squats, was less stressed aswell. I decided to take shorter resting periods in between the squats to keep intensity high even though i dropped the weight. This also took my total time within the hour. Will keep this up!

Note: on the way to the changing rooms i came across a real powerlifter. Followed him back to the gym, but then thought i was probably coming across a bit creapy. Decided i would go change. Could still hear the weights drop when i was changing. I loved the sight of him, so massive respect to anyone doing any sorts of serious powerlifting! Showed the curlers in the squatrack a thing or two .

[LuNa]

Squat:
5xbar
5x20kg
5x40kg
3x50kg
3x5x55kg <-- Felt really good. I upped the weight by 5kg and will do so until i reach 65kg or when it feels to heavy to keep good form. I used the box as a reference this time, not to sit on it. Felt pretty good. I want to find a slightly lower box though, squatting lower feels better.

Benchpress:
5xbar
5x20kg
5x30kg
3x35kg
1x40kg
3x5x42.5kg <-- it was heavy but i finished all the reps. Going to put it to 45kg which is probably going to kick my ass. I love doing dips, because i really feel that they help with my bench.

Deadlift:
5x50kg
5x80kg
3x100kg
1x105kg
1x5x107.5 <-- I almost failed on the last rep but i was able to grind it out. It was due to my grip, not because it was too heavy. Need more chalk!!!!

Dips 3x8 on 11 <-- i failed on the last set after 5 reps. I took only a minute break between sets which is the reason i failed. Not sure if i should take a longer break and finish the set, or shorten the break. I am going for the latter and keep it at 1 minute.

Good training day! Ab work was heavy because i was still sore from Friday. Will hopefully pick that up again on Wednesday. I really feel that all the stretching i am doing is helping. Lets hope i can keep my form when i get back to my old squatting weight.

Note: the program is amazing. For someone that has always been fat and needed to watch his intake, i am loving it. I can not seem to eat enough. I am now up to 4000 calories a day and i am still not gaining weight. Feels so unnatural .

[benno]

Good to see everything is coming back on track mate.