Sendero's "Kethnaab's Novice Program Adjustment" Journal (aka Rippetoe - Modified)

[Sendero]

Starting Vitals

26 year old Male
5' 10" in Height
158lbs in Weight
??% Body Fat (never been pinched)

History

I lifted weights in High School primarily to train for Soccer and general fitness. At my peak I weighed 178lbs, could run the mile under 6 minutes, and sprint a 4.5 40-yard dash. But a nasty knee injury (no surgery) ended my “career” and I became a bum.

Goals

I don’t have any grand delusions of being as good as or better than my high school form. Ideally I would like to build a solid core for a nice physic and maybe focus on speed training at a later date. I currently don’t play any Soccer, but I do race Shifter Karts which can be very brutal on the body core. In a nutshell: I would like to get stronger, make a life-altering change, and look decent naked. I figure if my journal is public, it will push me that much more to stick with the regiment and not "cheat" my progress by skipping steps. Feel free to offer advice or heckle in the event I fall down on my goal.

Big thanks to Kethnaab for his incredible writeup (found here), without your "no-bull****" wisdom many of us would be lost!

[Sendero]

1-22-07 Workout A

Pre-workout: 5 minutes on the Bike followed by arm and leg stretches.

Squat

145 x 3 x 5/5/5
Notes: Bar speed was good even though I was struggling on that last rep of set 3. With concern about a knee injury, I used a machine today. I don't know what you would call it, but it has the bar mounted on two vertical rails and safety latches that require you to rotate the bar aft to disengage and safety stops to keep the bar from crushing you. I did this in case my knee decided to take a walk so I wasn't laying under a weighted barbell. As far as I can tell, this machine provides no assistance and forces correct movement (provided you stand correctly).

Bench Press

95 x 3 x 5/5/5
Notes: Bar speed was good although I "shake" during the entire exercise. I probably could of used more weight, but I am asymetric and strength favors my right arm. Hopefully my left will catch up in due time.

Deadlift

145 x 1 x 5
Notes: Bar speed was good. I wasn't quite sure how my knee would react to this exercise so I went a little light. Deweighting after every rep, I felt like I could do more but I think I'll save it for later.

Post-workout: Floor stretching for 10 minutes.

[kethnaab]

kethnaab's a dork, WTF you listening to that guy for?

question though:

Deadlift

145 x 1 x 5/5/5

that confuses me. 1 set of 5 or 3 sets of 5?

[Sendero]

kethnaab's a dork, WTF you listening to that guy for?

Because I want "bicep peckts" and "teh six pakc" for teh hotti3's!

question though:

Deadlift

145 x 1 x 5/5/5

that confuses me. 1 set of 5 or 3 sets of 5?

I was using a "template" I made for easy formating, but I copied the wrong thing to many times. It was really 1 set of 5, but you caught it before I could edit it.

[Sendero]

1-24-07 Workout B

We'll, I would like to be able to tell you that I had a great workout this morning. But there's one small hitch; the gym was closed. I normally go at 5:00am due to busy work/social life schedule, but this morning I arrived to a full parking lot and locked doors. There were twelve of us there waiting in the cold so I'm not the only one who was left wanting. I've tried calling the gym corporate office, but I haven't been able to get an answer. Unfortunately this is the only gym which my company has a discount with so looks like I'm stuck for now (I signed a contract).

Hopefully I can make contact by tonight and find out if they are going to be open tomorrow.