Journey through Starting Strength

[Bill87_old]

Hi All,

Previous lurker now hopefully a daily, minimum weekly, poster.

A Little About Me;

As you can probably see from my Username, i'm Bill and I was born in 1987, making me 22 and in two months time 23. I've never had a body in which I was greatly happy with, prior to being 16 I was reasonably fit and went on my bike everywhere. I started work at 16 and going by Bike everywhere stopped, I started working a few miles from home and got a lift there and back, I then moved to working closer to home but the lazyness had kicked in and I even got a run there! Not long before turning 17 my Gran passed away and it hit me really hard and I piled on the pounds, now five years later I weigh 212 Pounds or 15st 2lbs depending on how you measure things.

Anyway, continuing with the present, I have been lifting weights on and off in my home for 1year+ and my progress has been pathetic for want of a better word as I have not truly stuck at it. I've been going to the Gym for the past two weeks now but haven't ventured into the Free-Weight Area due to nerves, i'm now planning on stepping into the unventured today and hope I do it. The Main reason I haven't done this is due to the fact that it's full of "pretty boys" who all hang around the one bench in multiple number up to 5 + 6 and in all honesty I hate it.

Hopefully I can get into gear and make this transition, I hope I can get the encouragement and tips and pointers when needed from you lot. I'm off to work now but will post my diet for the day once I make it there, from there I will post how I done at the Gym tonight.

Onwards and Upwards!

Bill

[Bill87_old]

Okay, so I posted(or thought I did) the planned diet for the day this morning but it's not here. I blame the Work Computer.

Anyway, my diet for today so far looks like the following;

Meal 1- 50g Swiss Style Muesli w/ 100g Greek Style Yoghurt

Meal 2- 30g Protein Shake w/ Water

Meal 3- Garlic Chicken + Quinoa w/ Peppers and Onion(pretty sure I found that recipe on here but can't remember where so sorry to whoever posted it)

Meal 4- 30g Protein Shake

Meal 5: Pre-Workout- Chicken with mixed veg and peppers

Meal 6: Post Workout- 30g Protein w/ 50g Maltodextrin

I'm still to have at least one other meal, possibly one more meal and some peanuts but my daily intake is the following;

1909kcal, 66g Fat, 133.4g Carbs, 194.7g Protein

I worked out my daily intake a while ago and it was to be 2785kcal.

I got myself into the free weight area of the gym after a 10 minute warm-up tonight, a little bit of walking on the treadmill. I'm doing Starting Strength so going with three basic exercise to start with, someone was in the Squat Rack when I went down so I started with the Bench Press. I had a spotter who helped with this a bit and i'll drop the weight next time to make sure I am doing it well and progress instead of struggle.

Squat - 3x5 - 60kg
Bench Press - 3x5 - 60kg
Deadlift - 1x5 - 60kg

As I said the spotter helped on the Bench Press and I don't think this will have done me any justice although I got the majority on my own, Squat was A-OK and done this without a spotter, Full ROM and i'm pleased with it. Deadlift was good aswell, except I have sore wrists and I believe this is down to my grip. I'm going to go back and read up on these exercise so that I drill the technique into my head.

Please critique if you feel like it.

Overall, good day which i'm very happy with. Now, dinner time!

Cheers,

Bill

[Kirra]

A few tips.

If the squat rack is taken, ask the guy who is using it if you can lift in between his sets. Usually people are cool and will let you. If he's an ass just wait. You do squats first in SS as they get your body warm and ready for the rest of your lifts.

You most likely started too high. You should not need a spotter at all the first few weeks.

From the Starting Strength wikia:

The way the "first day" is explained in Starting Strength, the trainee warms up with the bar, then adds a bit of weight and does a set of 5. The bar speed will be identical from set to set. Continue to add weight and do sets of 5 until the speed of the barbell begins to slow.. Keep the weight there and perform 2 more sets with this weight. That is your first "3 sets of 5" workout for that exercise.

Yes, this is low. It allows for a certain fudge factor that is present when dealing with a novice's ability to evaluate his own technical performance.

Generally, if a newb says "I benched 135 x 5 for the first time, my technique was great!", what he really means is that "I benched 135 x 5, but I probably should've only used about 120 or 125"

Be on the safe side, start lighter than you think you need to, and go from there. This also helps develop a base of conditioning with slightly less weight than absolute max, which helps reduce initial DOMS.

Let me say that once again.

Start off using weight that is LOWER than you think you can handle, and progress upward. It is better to use weight that is too light than weight that is too heavy.

Also, eat alot. 2000 kcal is way too little for SS.

Oh, and do power cleans (I'm assuming you were gonna do rows).

Good luck!

[Bill87_old]

You most likely started too high. You should not need a spotter at all the first few weeks.

I definitely went too heavy last night, wrists are pretty sore and I think that's the reason aswell as maybe not lifting properly. I think it was the deadlift that done it, that was the only one that I felt that I never neared 100% in tehcnique.

I think i'll probably drop it to 40kg, keep the Squat at 60kg and drop the Bench Press to 40kg aswell but i'll see how that goes, might drop it to 30kg.


Also, eat alot. 2000 kcal is way too little for SS.

I'm taking in around 2800kcal, my maintenance is around 3300kcal so I have dropped it the 500kcal. I'll see how it goes and depending on gains/hunger i'll either increase or decrease but as it goes just now the 2800 is doing me well.


Oh, and do power cleans (I'm assuming you were gonna do rows).

Is there any particular reason you suggest doing Power Cleans over Rows? I've done Rows before and I must say I enjoy them but my experience is not the greatest.

Cheers,

Billy

[Kirra]

I'm not the one suggesting power cleans over rows. Mark Rippetoe is. Power cleans are actually in the program, rows have been added by other people.

From a thread on these forums:


Question - I want to be a bodybuilder, not an Olympic lifter, why should I do cleans?

For a variety of reasons

1) Incredible traps
2) Great explosiveness which helps in deadlifts and squats
3) Grip and forearm development
4) Deltoid development
5) Technique improvement for initial pull from floor on deadlifts
6) Variety

A quote from Rippetoe himself:


(A thread from someone worried about learning/doing power cleans by himself)

Usually, people just feel intimidated by anything that resembles a technical exercise and just would rather not do them. This is just being a pussy, and sets a bad precedent for the management of both training and life. I think the Starting Strength includes an understandable method for learning to power clean, and just in case it's not simple enough I rewrote it for the new book so that it is even simpler. You don't really need bumper plates to do them if you don't have access, so that doesn't wash either. They are in the program because an explosive movement is a valuable contribution to power production, and they make deadlifts get stronger faster.

Okay, you don't need a coach to learn power cleans, because we fixed things up so that you can learn them out of the book. And what exactly is the downside of trying to learn them and failing? Firing squad? The ****ing bodybuilders making fun of you from the safety of the dumbbell rack? Loss of wages? Just try them before you decide you can't learn them without a coach.

Another one from Bill Starr, a famous strength coach:


If your program allowed you to do only one exercise, [the power clean] would be the best.


I definitely went too heavy last night, wrists are pretty sore and I think that's the reason aswell as maybe not lifting properly. I think it was the deadlift that done it, that was the only one that I felt that I never neared 100% in tehcnique.

I think i'll probably drop it to 40kg, keep the Squat at 60kg and drop the Bench Press to 40kg aswell but i'll see how that goes, might drop it to 30kg.

I'd drop it to 30kg. It's much better to start lower, than start too high and stall more quickly.



I'm taking in around 2800kcal, my maintenance is around 3300kcal so I have dropped it the 500kcal. I'll see how it goes and depending on gains/hunger i'll either increase or decrease but as it goes just now the 2800 is doing me well.

Duuuude! No. You NEED to be gaining weight if you intend to do SS. Unless you are pretty overweight you should be taking in around 4000 kcal.

Check this out:

http://startingstrength.com/articles/clarification_rippetoe.pdf