jshaw's Starting Strength log

[jshaw5]

Monday's Workout...

Squat
45x5
90x5
135x3
185x2
230x5x3

Press
45x5
55x5
70x3
80x2
95x5x3

Power Cleans
45x5
60x5
75x3
90x2
105x5x3

Picked up a pair of Chuck Taylor's last night. These shoes are not very comfortable and I can't imagine how people used to wear them for basketball, but they are great for lifting. I could definitely feel a difference squatting with these compared to my running shoes.

I think my form was better on the squats today between the better footing and focusing more on driving my hips and keeping my back tight. As a result, I think the squats were slightly easier than last workout, but still felt pretty heavy.

I don't know what my problem was on the presses, maybe it was my flexibility issues flaring up on the squats, or maybe I zipped through my warmups faster than I should, but my shoulders were on fire before I even started my work sets. Despite that, I still had no problem completing all my reps. I'm not going to do it, but I almost feel like I could handle 10lb jumps on these.

Power cleans were about the same, awkward at first, got a little better as the weight went up, but still having trouble getting the rack in the right position. I can't get my elbows forward, even if I use a wider grip and drop the bar to two fingers. Next time I do power cleans, I'm going to make sure I bring my camera, and I think I'm going to post the video on the SS forums.

[ddog171]

Shoes make a difference on squats, I couldn't imagine squatting in running shoes again. Presses get heavy fast, it is a hard exercise to keep progressing at. After a set of max presses I am usually spent.

[12ccopeland]

Hey there! It's awesome how much progress you've made already; so inspiring to me since I just started SS this week. Definitely gonna keep checking in to see how your goals are looking

[jshaw5]

Wednesday's Workout...

Squat
45x5x2
90x5
140x3
185x2
235x5x3


Bench
45x5
80x5
115x3
135x2
155x2
185x5x3


Deadlift
135x5
175x5
215x3
255x2
295x5


I'm definitely noticing a difference on the squats with the new kicks. Watching the video, I'm pushing that weight up much faster than it feels. I did notice my knees traveled forward a bit on a few reps.

Bench was hard as hell, just barely eeked out the last rep or two. After watching the video, I think I might need to get closer to the rack. I know the book and DVD says to position yourself so your eyes are just on your side of the bar, but I think I'm too far judging by the angle of my arms. I think this is making it more difficult for me to unrack the bar. Further, I think I'm getting into the right position with my shoulder blades pressed together and my back arched, but I think I'm losing most of that when I'm unracking the bar. I think it might be time to start asking for a spotter to help unrack. Also think I am going to drop to 2.5 lb increases, so I'm going to have to find some microloading plates.

For deadlifts, I had just recorded my first warmup to do a quick form check and make sure the camera was positioned properly. I think I might be sitting too deep at the bottom, so I just recorded all sets (not sure what happened on the 215x3, I did it, but when I grabbed the files off the camera, it was gone). I notice my back does look a little rounded from the start, but I think that's a flexibility issue, as I'm trying to get it as flat as possible.

[j2048]

Good job! Are the squats as easy as they look like?

During dead lifts your back looks a bit too round in the starting position of the work set. Warm ups look better. Actually your starting position during warm ups is better. During work set your butt seems too high. Also, you seem to unlock your knees too fast on the way down forcing you to move the bar around the knees - the bar path on the way isn't vertical because of the knee bump.

You're moving some serious weights. Props!

[mellowmarshall]

****in' A man. You are a beast and your lifts are clean. Squats look easy, good depth. Elbows in on bench. L back could be straighter on DL but you're opening up the angle of legs+torso evenly, which imo means you're moving the weight the right way. +1.

[ddog171]

Keep moving those weights. Form looks good.

[jshaw5]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm shocked every time I watch my squat videos, I wish they were as easy as they look. For the bench, I'm going to go pick up some 2" washers to make some micro loading plates, I'm not sure if I can take another 5 lb jump. I'll probably just see how I feel in the warmups. Good point on lowering the bar in the deadlifts, I'll have to keep that in mind.

[LiftingObjects]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm shocked every time I watch my squat videos, I wish they were as easy as they look. For the bench, I'm going to go pick up some 2" washers to make some micro loading plates, I'm not sure if I can take another 5 lb jump. I'll probably just see how I feel in the warmups. Good point on lowering the bar in the deadlifts, I'll have to keep that in mind.

You're making some beastly progress man! Your squats look solid.

Might be a good idea to grab a spotter for benching soon, looks like it's getting quite heavy on those last coupla reps. Keep it up man!

[dk240t]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm shocked every time I watch my squat videos, I wish they were as easy as they look. For the bench, I'm going to go pick up some 2" washers to make some micro loading plates, I'm not sure if I can take another 5 lb jump. I'll probably just see how I feel in the warmups. Good point on lowering the bar in the deadlifts, I'll have to keep that in mind.

I ordered these from McMaster Carr yesterday, they showed up yesterday evening.

91081A046 Plain Steel Type A USS Flat Washer, 2" Screw Size, 4-1/2" OD, .15"-.22" Thick, packs of 1, 1.90 apiece.

Weighed them all - all between 10.15 and 10.50 oz, or 0.63-0.65 lbs, so I'll treat them as 1 pair - 1.30 lbs.

Think I might have to start microloading Press and Bench soon, but no failed reps 3 weeks in yet.

[jshaw5]

Friday's Workout...

Squat
45x5
90x5
140x3
190x2
240x5x3
Brutal workout this morning. Squats were harder than ever, despite the fact that they still look easy in the replay.


Press
45x5
55x5
70x3
85x2
100x5x3
Presses were tough as well, almost lost my balance on one, but still was able to get all my reps. *


Power Cleans
45x5
60x5
80x3
95x2
115x5x3
Power cleans I think are getting better. *I was surprised when I watched the video, my elbows aren't too far away from where they're supposed to be in the rack. *It does look to me like I might be looping up and around to the rack a little bit, rather than pulling the weight straight up and racking under it. *


Pullups
BWx2 plus 6 negatives
8 negatives
I also decided to throw in some pullups at the end of the workout, but I didn't feel like figuring out how to point the camera in the right direction, so there's no video. I was only able to get 2 reps unassisted, so I followed up with 6 negatives by jumping up to the top position and slowly lowering myself down. On the second set, I couldn't even get 1 rep, so I just did 8 negatives. Until I can do a few sets of at least 3 or 4 reps, would I be better off doing negatives, or pullups in the assisted pullup machine?

[mellowmarshall]

preparing to be jealous when you pass me up in a few weeks :/

[jshaw5]

preparing to be jealous when you pass me up in a few weeks :/

Haha pass you in what? You're still way ahead on most of your lifts.

[jshaw5]

Monday's Workout...

Squat
45x5x2
95x5
145x3
195x2
245x5x3

These squats just keep getting heavier and heavier, but I still love them. Hit my end of month goal of 245 with one workout to spare. Next goal is 3 plates. I might have to take a break from the gym at the end of April if my wife needs back surgery, so I'd really like to hit that by the end of April. Not sure how realistic that is, but I'm sure gonna try

Bench
45x5
80x5
115x3
150x2
190x5,5,4

F@$&%!!!!!! Not only did a miss a rep for the first time, my stupid camera decided not to record that set. I had considered going up 2.5 lbs. I went to home depot to see if they had any 2" washers I could use for microloading, but they didn't have anything. I was going to rig up a temporary solution by putting a bunch of smaller washers on a piece of twine tied in a circle to add 1.25 to each side, but I honestly forgot about it until this morning. I was hoping that the use of a spotter to help unrack the bar would help save my strength for the reps. More than anything, I think it helped me keep everything tight and in place, although I think I could still do a better job of planting my feet, arching my back, and squeezing my shoulder blades together. Next time I'll have to wear a tighter fitting shirt that doesn't hang so I can see my setup a little better. I recorded my last warmup set for a form check, I noticed last week that the bar was going up and back a bit. I think my bar path was much better today. The first two work sets went well, 2nd set was actually easier than the 1st, didn't have to tell my spotter to back off in the middle of a rep haha. The last set that didn't record, I had to wait like 10 minutes for a spotter. First 3 reps weren't bad, 4th was tough but I got it, got the 5th rep up about half way. The spotter tried to come in early, I said no I got it, but that bar just would not go any further. I'm going to stick with 190 again next time, if I get that, I'll go with 2.5 increases in future workouts. On the bright side, I still met my goal of 185 by the end of the month.

Deadlift
135x5
175x5
225x3
260x2
305x5

Deadlift was heavy as hell. I had a little bit of back rounding, which I think looks worse because even without a heavy lift, my back just doesn't want to completely flatten out, even though I'm pushing as hard as I can to flatten it out before I start the lift. I think maybe I should get a belt now. Grip is really starting to be a concern as well. I think I need to starting working on some grip training, maybe add some holds after my deadlifts. I want to stick with the DOH grip and strapless as long as possible.

[mellowmarshall]

you are strong as **** dude. btw, i never "switched" to mixed grip, i ditched a motorcycle and broke both hands before i started SS. ive had to rehab my grip strength. i was actually lifting with a brace on for the first few weeks :P i just use DOH until I can't hang on to the bar, which is usually my work set. tonight's 275x5 went up 3 DOH and 2 mixed, that's about the limit of what I can do. DONT SWITCH UNTIL YOU LITERALLY DROP THE BAR!

[hcoyle545]

I cant believe the strength gains you've made since I last checked in on this log.. Keep this progress up man you're transforming into a BEAST

[MatTheCur]

I'm in like Flynn on this one, sir.

I've just skimmed, but you're looking like one beast in the making! When I have a few minutes, will get to the vids and make comments.

Though, looking at your most recent deadlift vid, you should look at making a change or two.

- I doubt your back is as round as you think it is... Probably just fat around the love handles and lower back. Try to keep it as tight as possible.
- Just before you lift, lift up your toes
- When you get to the top of the pull, lock. Jut your hips out and straighten your knees.

Like I said, I'll look at some more vids when I can, those things just popped out at me.

[jshaw5]

Thanks for the feedback. Now that you mention it, I definitely see what you're talking about when it comes to locking at the top. I remember hearing that about lifting the toes, but I thought the book said to keep your weight over the center of your foot. I'll keep both of those in mind tomorrow when I go for 3 plates

[jshaw5]

Hectic day yesterday, so I never got around to posting my workout…

Wednesday’s Workout

Squats
45x5
95x5
145x3
195x2
250x5x3

Not much to say here, same as usual, up 5 lbs, a little harder than last workout, but still progressing. There was someone lifting right where I usually set up my camera, so I wasn’t able to record my first work set.

Press
45x5
60x5
75x3
90x2
105x5x3

Spaced out my warmups and work sets a bit more, shoulders felt better, not so fried by the time I got to my work sets. Work sets felt good, getting heavier though. I figure I probably have a few more 5lb jumps in me before I drop to 2.5lb jumps

Power Cleans
45x5
65x5
85x3
105x2
125x3x5

I feel like these are getting a little better with each workout, but at the same time I have little confidence that my form is something to be proud of. On a positive note, I am certain that I’m touching the bar to my thigh in the right spot as I have a nice bruise there lol.

Pullups
BW-75x5
BW-50x5
BW-40x5
I'm just going to stick with neutral grip for now, I think these allow me to do the most work. I don't have bands and I'm too fat to do more than a couple unassisted, so I'm stuck using this thing for now. Going forward, my plan is do a couple sets of as many unassisted as I can get, then add on a couple more sets on the machine. I didn't do that this workout just because I wanted try out the machine and see how I liked it.

[ddog171]

Presses look strong, you have a lot of room to progress up in weight, keep it up.

Squats look good, though on some of your reps, I am wondering about your depth,maybe an inch or two lower?

[IfNotNow]

Subbed. Getting into SS shortly too... book just came in the mail this week. I'll be following your progress.

[jshaw5]

Friday's Workout

Bodyweight: 233.0 lbs

Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 5 reps (+31 pts)
45 lb x 5 reps (+31 pts)
95 lb x 5 reps (+44 pts)
150 lb x 3 reps (+51 pts)
200 lb x 2 reps (+60 pts)
255 lb x 5 reps (+129 pts)
255 lb x 5 reps (+129 pts)
255 lb x 5 reps (+129 pts)

Squats felt great today, felt easier than Wednesday. My knee felt a little weird the past couple days, but didn’t bother me at all during the squats.

Barbell Bench Press:
45 lb x 5 reps (+36 pts)
80 lb x 5 reps (+45 pts)
115 lb x 3 reps (+46 pts)
150 lb x 2 reps (+49 pts)
190 lb x 5 reps (+95 pts)
190 lb x 5 reps (+95 pts)
190 lb x 5 reps (+95 pts)

Bench felt much better today. The last rep on the last set was a little bit of a grinder, but it felt good to get all my reps. One of the biggest reasons I like my gym is starting to backfire on me. I have the whole weightlifting section to myself more than half the time, which is awesome for the most part, but it sucks when I’m on my bench work sets and I have to wait 5-10 minutes to find someone to spot me.

Barbell Deadlift:
135 lb x 5 reps (+57 pts)
185 lb x 5 reps (+81 pts)
225 lb x 3 reps (+85 pts)
270 lb x 2 reps (+97 pts)
315 lb x 5 reps (+194 pts)

F&%$ YEAH!!! Felt great to get 3 plates. Took MatTheCur's advice, lifted my toes up and pushed my hips out at the top. I think these looked a lot better, but I think I might be exaggerating the pushing of my hips on some reps, plus I think I might be unlocking my knees to set the bar down too quickly.

Hanging Straight Leg Raise:
8 reps (+5 pts)
8 reps (+5 pts)
Hadn’t planned on doing this, but I felt so great hitting all my reps on bench and getting 3 plates on the deadlifts, I had to do something, but at the same time, I think I was too whooped from the deadlifts to much more.

[ddog171]

Three plate deadlift, good Job!

[mjp202]

Damn dude--nice work!

[jshaw5]

Presses look strong, you have a lot of room to progress up in weight, keep it up.

Squats look good, though on some of your reps, I am wondering about your depth,maybe an inch or two lower?

I remember when I did the squats during Wednesday's workout, I felt like I had a few reps where I didn't go deep enough. When I uploaded the videos, I thought they were good, but I rewatched them and I did see a couple that were borderline. Today's squats felt like I was going a little bit deeper.

The 3 plate deadlift is definitely my favorite milestone that I've hit so far. That was the only goal I had for the end of February that I didn't reach, but at least I got it 2 days later. The next round of goals is going to be a bit tougher.

[mellowmarshall]

you're a real *******...respect.

[ngolsen]

tl;dr

Will watch vids later.

Sub to PowderMonkeys log. Got him doing SL instead of SS for more volume.

[jshaw5]

you're a real *******...respect.

Thanks. I still have a ways to go to catch your other lifts.

tl;dr

Will watch vids later.

Sub to PowderMonkeys log. Got him doing SL instead of SS for more volume.

I just subbed it I'll take a look through when I have some free time.

[jshaw5]

Monday’s Workout

I’ll start off by saying last night was probably the worst night of sleep I’ve had since I started doing SS again. Alarm woke me up at 5:20, my initial reaction was no f’in way. After a couple snoozes on the alarm, I dragged myself out of bed, knowing that I couldn’t push this week’s workouts back a day and I wasn’t about to skip a workout. I thought I was going to fall asleep driving to the gym, I had no motivation, no confidence I was going to get all my reps, and I was fairly certain I was gonna say FU to power cleans. However, once I got to the gym and started my squats, my mood just changed, two scoops of jack3d kicked in, and I was more motivated than ever.

Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 5 reps (+31 pts)
45 lb x 5 reps (+31 pts)
95 lb x 5 reps (+44 pts)
150 lb x 3 reps (+51 pts)
205 lb x 2 reps (+62 pts)
260 lb x 5 reps (+134 pts)
260 lb x 5 reps (+134 pts)
260 lb x 5 reps (+134 pts)

After receiving some feedback from ddog and farley about the depth of my squats, I went back and watched my past couple squat videos several times. Previously, I had been going by the fact that my knee is higher than the support bar on the squat rack, and my ass is dropping down below the support bar, so I must be going below parallel. Upon further review, looking at the top of my quads, I saw what they were talking about and I realized my depth was borderline at best. So I decided to really focus on depth this morning. I thought about dropping down in weight a little bit, thinking a 5 lb jump might be too difficult if I also increased my depth, but I decided to just give it a shot first and just lower the weights on the 2nd and 3rd sets if needed. These were definitely the hardest work sets I’ve had since starting, but I was able to stick with the 5 lb jump. Someone was working out where I set up my camera for my 2nd set, so I set it up from behind to get a different view.

Standing Barbell Shoulder Press:
45 lb x 5 reps (+40 pts)
60 lb x 5 reps (+44 pts)
75 lb x 3 reps (+39 pts)
90 lb x 2 reps (+37 pts)
110 lb x 5 reps (+62 pts)
110 lb x 5 reps (+62 pts)
110 lb x 5 reps (+62 pts)

These felt great. I was so pumped after hitting my squats, I just wanted to throw the bar through the ceiling. I think I’m going to stick with 5 lb jumps for maybe 2-3 more workouts, then start microloading. I picked up a couple small chains at Home Depot that weigh 1 lb 4.2 oz each, perfect for 2.5 lb jumps.

Power Clean:
45 lb x 5 reps (+27 pts)
65 lb x 5 reps (+30 pts)
90 lb x 3 reps (+29 pts)
110 lb x 2 reps (+28 pts)
135 lb x 3 reps (+39 pts)
135 lb x 3 reps (+39 pts)
135 lb x 3 reps (+39 pts)
135 lb x 3 reps (+39 pts)
135 lb x 3 reps (+39 pts)

Ended up doing these anyway. I’m still not very confident in my form on these. I think I’m gonna post this video over on the SS forum, see if I can get some more feedback on them.

I’m also contemplating squeezing back extensions and pull-ups into a separate workout (i.e. cleans Monday, back extensions and pull-ups Wednesday, deadlifts Friday). At some point I also need to figure out how I want to starting mixing in some rows as well.

[MatTheCur]

Good looking workout! Couple of things.

1. Watch your knees during squats; they're trying to cave in when you hit the hole. Keep them shoved out/tracked along the angle of your feet.
2. Again, your knees are moving forward a tad at the bottom of your squat. Try sitting back a touch more, not much.
3. Press is wonky. You're moving the bar all over the place. Move your face away from the bar, not the bar around your face. That happens a couple of times, and gets more apparent when you start getting tired. Slow down your reps.
4. When you're cleaning, keep your lower back tight, as if you were deadlifting.
5. It's tough, I know, because I did it too, but start stretching out your shoulders more, because it looks like you're catching the bar with your arms/wrists, and not on your delts.